A/N: A new story that hopefully you all end up liking. As a one time disclaimer, nothing written here is mine and this story is only written for fun.

The house seemed to be at full capacity as the Burrow celebrated the second year of peace.

The twins had, as usual, sprayed the house with streamers and there was the occasional tricked pastry hidden amongst the safe ones. It was the one time of year when everyone managed to make time to get together in honor of their fallen comrades. They would each of them pay their respect in the morning and then celebrate their life throughout the night. Molly Weasley was in her glory, churning out food and drinks like the perfect hostess. The joy on the woman's face was always so evident on the day of peace as she counted her lucky stars that no one in her large family had been taken away from her.

Hermione walked around the outside of the home and stood in front of the make-shift memorial that they had made on the large tree outside. There were flowers all around the base and candles floated around it, illuminating the pictures and personal effects of the ones they'd lost. Her eyes scanned over each one. Colin Creevey's camera rested at amongst the flowers while a picture of his younger brother was posted on the tree above it. A picture of Padma and a picture of Justin Finch-Fletchley, both smiling at her. There had been so many killed by the end. She felt herself grow teary eyed as she saw the picture of her favorite teacher, Professor McGongall standing proudly in front of Hogwarts next to their old headmaster with a tight lipped Snape at his side. She sighed sadly as her eyes ran over so many more, and slowly turned back to the house and into the warm party.

Looking at the small memorial made her thankful that her family had made it out alive and she wondered if they had arrived yet for the celebration.

She made her way to the corner of the room, watching over the party with a bittersweet smile.

"Are you hiding?" Harry asked, practically having to yell over the noise being made by the crowd of people. Hermione turned at his voice and smiled widely, shaking her head and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Did you just get back?" She asked him, hugging him tightly. His frame had built in the two years since they were battling Voldemort and nowadays, she found herself having to lift herself onto her toes in order to give him her famous hugs. He held her firmly, nodding his head in reply. After Voldemort's fall he started his own small tradition of going to his parent's grave every Halloween and Day of Victory, something he insisted he do alone in the two years that had passed.

They stayed like that for a moment, content with one another until a pair of strong arms nearly knocked the both of them onto the floor.

"DID YOU JUST GET BACK?" Ron's voice boomed in both their ears as he hugged them both tightly. The two rolled their eyes and squeezed him back despite his movements to sway back and forth with them. The spicy smell of firewhiskey was on his breath and he was red faced, giving Hermione a sloppy kiss on the cheek and a rough clap to Harry's back.

"Yeah! Where's Luna?" Harry asked, trying to distract him. Instead, he earned himself another hard smack to his back as Ron let go. He gave them both a toothy grin, the haziness in his eyes showing that he had gone from buzzed to silly drunk already. He wrapped his arms around Hermione – much to her displeasure – and in doing so pulled her up until her feet weren't touching the ground.

"HERMIONE! I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I STILL LOVE YOU AS A FRIEND!" He yelled happily, ignoring her protests to let her down. He was beginning to attract the attention of some of his old classmates causing them to laugh heartily at the two of them.

"Harry! Get him off of me!" Hermione yelled, swatting Ron's shoulder roughly. "Ronald Weasley, let me down, you rotten oaf!"

Harry stood alongside the twins, all sharing in the laughter as Ron looked at her in what appeared to be as seriously as he could.

"Really, Hermione, I do love you! I just love Luna in that way, you know? I don't want you to be angry with me!" His words slurred and Hermione found herself kicking to no avail as he overpowered her easily. She huffed, craning her neck to see that even Luna was watching them with a smile on her face.

"Tell the lad you love him!" She glared at Fred and George as they egged Ron on.

"Ronald, I'm the one who set you up with Luna. Now, I love you too but if you don't let me down I'm going to hex your reproductive organ off!" She warned, trying to sound stern as he smiled goofily at her. He frowned at the thought and finally looked down to see that Luna had put a hand on his arm.

"I think she's trying to tell you to let go, love." Luna told him gently. Hermione looked at her as if she were an angel and Ron obliged by dropping her.

"It's not what it looks like, Luna!" He cried, causing everyone in the room to laugh at him all over again. Hermione rolled her eyes as she regained her footing, a large smile on her face as even she had a hard time being angry with the man when he was like this.

"I know, Ronald." She told him airily, giving him a pat on the chest. Hermione watched as Ron happily turned and lifted Luna off the ground taking the groups attention along with him as he tried to dance with her.

"Some help you are!" Hermione told Harry, glaring at him as she tried to straighten out her now wrinkled dress. He grinned at her, shaking his head.

"I don't recall you helping me out when he did that to me last year. In fact, I remember you standing there and taking a picture of it." He told her, rolling his eyes as a grin swept over her face. She remembered the incident clearly as she had the offending picture on her desk at work.

"Completely different though, you both were drunk." She argued, the two making their way to the kitchen. The best friends began to talk and eat the always miraculous makings of Molly Weasley, enjoying the Victory Day party as well as watching Victoire play more with the wrapping paper than her actual presents.

"I can't believe she's a year old already!" Hermione told Fleur, giving her a peck on the cheek before leaning down and kissing Victoire's head.

"I cannot believe it either! Where are your little sister and your family? I was hoping Victoire could have a playmate since Teddy is sick." Fleur told her, her English sounding a hundred percent better than it did when she was in the Triwizard tournament even through the still heavy French accent.

Hermione's brow furrowed as she had begun to wonder where they were not too long ago either. After the war had ended, Harry and Ron had accompanied her to Australia in the hopes of finding her parents and restoring their memories. While they hadn't been hard to track down, the side effects to forgetting they had a daughter had been a great surprise to Hermione. A few months after relocating to Melbourne, her mother and father decided that the only thing missing from their lives was a child of their own. By the time Hermione caught up with them, she found that she had a two month old sister named Calypso Olivia Granger. The two year old was greatly spoiled by her big sister and a frequent visitor to the burrow.

"Actually, I'm not so sure where they are. I left a portkey with them yesterday; I thought they would be here by now." Hermione told her, suddenly becoming a bit worried. Her parents were nothing if not punctual and she wanted to curse herself for not checking in earlier. Their tardiness mixed in with Hermione's slight paranoia slowly but steadily filled her brain and she began looking cautiously around her to see if her parents had arrived without her noticing.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Fleur asked, concerned. At hearing the question, Harry turned from his current conversation with Molly and Bill to look at his best friend. She stood, looking into space and Harry could practically see the wheels turning in her head as worry lines began to etch onto her face. Hermione blinked at the blonde woman in front of her, nodding her head with a blank stare.

Something's not right. Something's not right. She told herself, a sudden cold stab in her gut. Just as she was about to excuse herself in order to apparate home, she felt Harry's hand on her elbow.

"Hey, what's wrong-"

He stopped short as he felt the warmth of his Auror's pendant and cursed in annoyance, grasping the chain around his neck and pulling it out from under his robes. It used the same protean charm as their old D.A. galleons to discreetly alert off-duty Aurors that their back up assistance was required. As he turned the back of the flat surfaced pendant, his jaw went slack and he looked up to see Ron running towards the medicine cabinet for a sobering potion. Hermione watched them both, grabbing Hurry's wrist worriedly.

"What is it? Why are you both being summoned?" She asked, the mantra in her head making her more and more nervous. She turned to see Ron was already walking up to the both of them looking a bit green from the sobering potion but sober nonetheless. The goofy grin and hazy eyes were long gone as he reached them. A hushed crowd began to form as they realized that something was amiss.

"Look, Hermione, stay here and we'll come and get you as soon as-" Harry started, unable to stop Hermione as she reached up and snatch the pendant chain from Ron's neck, pulling him down roughly as the pendant slipped into her hand.

Number 116 Tottenhall Road, London – Immediate apparition required.

She could barely hear Harry demanding Fleur to keep her at the Burrow and Ron pulled the pendant out from Hermione's hands. The two left instantly after and she could feel Fleur and lead her to sit down.

They were being summoned to her parent's home.

The logical part of her brain told her that it was officially Auror's business and that she should wait for Harry and Ron to get her and tell her the relieving news that everything was alright. The other part of her brain, the reckless Gryffindor part, told her that she should've already left.

So although it caused everyone to worry greatly, it came to no ones surprise that Hermione moved away from her watchers and disappeared with a 'pop'.

She could feel the familiar muggle repellant wards and the notice-me-not charm hit her as she arrived at the back corner of her parent's home and stood very still as a host of Aurors appeared in front of her with their wands pointing at her warningly.

"This is a DMLE crime scene and you are not authorized to be here, drop your wand and any other weaponry or we'll disarm you by force and you will be sent to the ministry immediately!" The Auror looked to be her age but she couldn't place him. She starred defiantly at all of them, ready to open her mouth to defend herself when she found they all moved in closer at her movement. Deciding to try to explain herself instead of start a wand fight, Hermione put her wand on the grass in front of her, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"This is my parent's house. My name is Hermione Granger." Her voice wavered as she could see shadows moving around in what would be her sister's nursery and more in her parent's bedroom. A man pushed through the group of Aurors and Hermione recognized him instantly.

"Seamus! Seamus, what's happened to them?" Her voice cracked and the tears of worry felt warm against her face as she asked her friend and classmate.

"What was I trying to turn my water to in our first year of school?" He asked carefully, making her realize that he was trying to see if it was truly her. She closed her eyes, trying to pass the fear running through her in order to answer him.

"Rum, you were trying to turn water into rum." She told him, her eyes shooting open as she answered. Seamus nodded, motioning for the rest of the Aurors to put their wands down. He walked up to her, picking her wand up and handing it to her. It was then that she realized that although the group of wizards was no longer poised to attack her, they remained in a formation to block her from going into the house.

"Hermione, its best you don't go inside…" Seamus whispered, trying to sound as discreet as possible.

Please, God, no. Please. She felt herself begin to sway as she looked at her house and back to her old classmate.

"Seamus, please, just tell me if they're okay." She begged, reaching out to steady herself.

"I don't think-" He stopped as he heard an Auror call out to them. She shot her head up and while the Aurors were distracted she took her chance to push through them and ran to the back entrance of the house. Just as she was about to make her way inside two men held her back, struggling to keep her still as she kicked and fought against them. Through the glass door she could see that the furniture was upturned and her mother's china cabinet had been pushed over, leaving a spray of glass throughout the room. Fighting against them, she tried to grab her wand, intending to blast her way through if she needed to when the Auror holding onto her spoke.

"Hermione." She looked up to see that Harry and Ron were the ones trying to keep her from entering the home, pulling her away from the door.

"Let me go! I need to see them!" She screamed, beginning to fight them again, her mind racing so fast that she didn't realize that Ron had taken her wand.

"Calypso is missing, but your parents…I'm sorry, Hermione." Harry told her, pulling her as close to his chest as humanly possible. He felt her stiffen in his arms, her knees buckling under her as sobs wracked her small body. Ron stroked the back of her hair, his own tears slipping from his eyes as he watched his best friend and former lover cry out horribly. He moved his arm around her, his forehead pressed against her temple as Harry whispered quiet soothing sounds. The boy-who-lived held the now orphaned girl and suddenly felt the bittersweet gratitude of not having to feel the fresh pain of losing your parents while being old enough to understand what was going on.

The three stood like that for what seemed like ages until Ron looked up at the sound of Aurors rushing into the garage. He let go of Hermione and craned his neck out to see what was going on.

"I'll be right back." He told them, his wand ready as he jogged around the corner and into the garage.

Harry winced as Hermione's nails dug into his arm and he kneeled on the ground carefully so that she wouldn't slip through his hold on her. He could feel the wetness from her tears pooling in the shoulder of his shirt and tried helplessly to calm her down.

"I'll find who did this, I promise." He whispered, pulling her curly brown hair away from her forehead where it stuck to the sheen of sweat. Her sobs, while still quiet, filled his ears as if they were canons going off around him. For what seemed the millionth time in his short life, Harry found himself thinking about how harsh and unfair life could be. He'd lived his entire life wishing he'd known his parents or at least had a true memory to recall of them, now he found that he couldn't imagine having that piece of normalcy taken away from you so instantly and repulsively. It wasn't even his parents on the floor in that house and yet he felt as if he were hit by a bus.

The time of peace was at an end and this was the starting act.

"Bring them back." Hermione whispered softly.

He knew it wasn't so much for him as it was an empty prayer to anyone with the power to do so; he could fill days with the moments where he had once said, wished and prayed those exact words. The feeling of emptiness that accompanied those three words made Harry hold her tighter, feeling his tears pool at his chin before falling in her hair.

"Harry!" He looked up from where they were sitting and almost fell back in shock as he saw Ron walking towards them with a silently crying, wide-eyed toddler.

"Hermione, its Calypso!" He told her hurriedly, trying to pull the girl up to see her. Hermione blinked at him blankly, turning her head slowly to see the squirming toddler looking around in shock. She let out a strangled cry before pulling her arms out shakily as Ron gently placed the little girl in her arms. The small child put her short arms around her sister's neck, and Hermione cried as the two rocked back and forth, squeezing Ron's hand in thanks. She could barely feel one of the Aurors wrap a blanket around the both of them as she held the last piece of family she had left.

There was an eerie calm as Hermione sat waiting at St. Mungo's. Harry had just finished speaking to the head healer after his completed assessment of Calypso and was slowly making his way over to her. She was starring blankly at the wall in front of her, her party dress grass stained and her face puffy and red. Ginny and Luna flanked both sides of her while Ron watched her carefully, looking nervous and unsure of himself. Harry thought that she looked like a twelve year old all over again, petrified in a hospital. She turned her blank gaze towards him as he squatted down in front of her.

"Is she alright?" Her voice sounded hoarse and raw from the crying and yelling she had done earlier and she coughed slightly.

"The healers said the reason she didn't make any noise wasn't from a direct spell. They have reason to believe that your mother or father-" He winced as she blanched at the mention but pressed on. In the corner of his eye, he could see an Auror make his way to guard the room where the little girl was currently sleeping.

"Reason to believe that in their rush to hide her from their attackers, that your mum or dad might've used a bit of accidental magic on her, causing her to be unable to make any noise. Either that or Callie could be magical and in her frightened state could have sparked her own accidental magic. Other than a bit of a bruise on her back, most likely from being pushed away from being seen, she's fine. The healers fixed whatever silencing charm was on her and she's sleeping. They sent out for a social worker that you have to talk to and in a few hours you can take her home." He told her quietly, watching as she shook her head.

Where's home supposed to be for us now?

She wanted to say scream it at someone. The feeling of Luna rubbing her back while Ginny squeezed her hand gently was starting to annoy her. In her heart she knew that they were doing the best they could in this situation but her head told her that she only wanted Harry and Ron there. The two boys appreciated the treatment their girlfriends were giving to their best friend but Harry and Ron could tell that the usually calm Hermione was beginning to get overwhelmed by them. After all, they knew that Hermione was a private person and didn't imagine that she enjoyed talking about the situation in front of other people right now.

"Ron." Harry whispered, pulling him to the side. The two walked until they were out of earshot but made sure they could still see the three women sitting.

"I think it might be best if we got Luna and Ginny out of here. I know they're just being kind but I think if Hermione sees another expression of pity tonight that she might hex someone. I'm surprised she hasn't done anything yet." Harry whispered worriedly, sneaking a look over at them. Ron nodded in agreement, rubbing his face tiredly.

"I'll send Ginny back to the Burrow and tell her to clear out a room for Hermione. Luna and I will go back to the house and she can pack the essentials for Callie." Ron said quietly, running his hands through his red hair. He felt guilty for it but right now all he wanted to do was hug his parents and thank whoever was responsible for keeping all of his family alive when the odds were terribly against them. He didn't want to admit that he was happy it wasn't him sitting in that chair.

"Are you alright to apparate? The sobering potion must be killing you." Harry commented as the two slowly made their walk back to the girls. Ron grunted tiredly as he tried not to let on that the splitting headache was practically running a knife through his brain and that once he had the chance he'd be throwing up everything he ever ate in his life.

Ron quickly sent off Ginny and Luna, leaving Harry to lead Hermione over to the room with the toddler was sleeping. She fixed the blanket on her, tucking her in gently. Her hand reached out and smoothed the soft hazel colored curls atop her head and was careful not to disturb her.

She stood quietly and started going over the facts in her head. After they escorted Hermione and her sister to the hospital, Ron and Harry were informed that it had appeared that a group of witches or wizards had broken into the home and killed her father instantly and then her mother once they found her trying to run away. A Ministry trace on heavy magic being done in a unregistered muggle neighborhood had set off the Aurors but they were too late; the first Auror on the scene had been petrified with a bad memory spell placed on him before his attacker fled. They were almost positive it had been Voldemort sympathizers that caused the tragedy but were going to pursue any leads possible.

A stirring had risen in the DMLE as this had been the first group attack on anyone since the fall of Voldemort two years to the day. The same whispering paranoid questions were sent amongst them as they wondered if a new dark lord was at work or if Voldemort was not as dead as they thought. Harry felt as if a bomb was ticking away on what he had built up to be a stable life as he thought of Voldemort returning somehow. He was not blind to the fact that there were co-workers already looking at him for answers, some already with distrusting glares that told him they thought he had lied about killing Voldemort.

In the back of his mind he was already going over the last battle, making sure of it for himself.

"She must've been so scared." Hermione whispered; it being the first thing she said since they'd gotten into the room. She continued stroking the little girl's hair, starring at her for a second before tears began to slide down her face again. Harry pulled her once more towards him, letting her cry again into his shoulder as he hugged her tightly. The two stayed like that until a soft knock on the door caused both of them to look up. A woman in a black robe quietly entered the room, her department logo on the left breast pocket. She looked to be in her mid forties, her skin wrinkled around her eyes and mouth, her hair had signs of gray even as it was tied in the tight bun behind her. Harry thought fleetingly that the woman looked much like the late Professor McGonagall had on their first day of school.

"Ms. Granger, I'm Annabelle Jenkins. I'm the assigned social worker for your sister's case. Would you like to step outside with me so that we don't disturb her?" The woman's voice was surprisingly soft even as she looked intimidating standing at the door. Hermione nodded, slipping the blanket onto the bedside chair and surprised Harry by slipping her hand in his. Without another thought, he squeezed back and followed her outside, the Auror closing the door behind them gently.

The woman magicked the chairs they were once sitting on so that Harry and Hermione could face her. She tapped the attaché case that she held and around them papers flew out alongside a quill. It reminded Harry of Rita Skeeter's interview with him during the Triwizard tournament.

"Do I have your permission to use a recorder quill for our conversation?" She asked, earning a solemn nod from Hermione.

"Do you understand that everything you say will be recorded and could possibly be used in magical court?" Again Hermione nodded, looking over at the room worriedly. Harry squeezed her hand again, trying to assure her that her sister was safe.

"I'd like to start off by saying that I'm deeply sorry for your lost and to extend my deepest condolences. I understand that this is a terrible time for this sort of thing so I'll try to go about my business as quickly and thoroughly as possible so that you can get back to your family. Do you understand that although you come from a muggle family, your status in the wizarding world and the circumstances surrounding your parents passing means that the Magical Child Protective Services will be taking over your sisters case?" She asked carefully.

"Yes. What about her muggle records? Once my parent's death-" She took a deep breath, squeezing Harry's hand tightly as she paused.

"Once their death certificates are filed, won't the muggle social workers have their own process that might interfere with this one?" Hermione asked. Harry blinked blankly at his best friend, trying not to appear as amazed as he felt; he couldn't believe that she was holding herself together so well. He remembered not being able to think in full sentences when Sirius died.

"I'll take care of any and all paper work regarding you sister, including filing it with the necessary branches of muggle government. In cases such as these, the Code of Secrecy comes into effect as there are too many magical elements for the outside world to become aware of. It's just as the Auror's will need to file necessary documents in lieu of muggle police. Now, are there any other family members that could possibly take care of your sister? Or did your parents live a standing will as to who would take charge of her?" The woman asked gently. Hermione shook her head at the question, rubbing her face tiredly as she did so.

"No, my father grew up in an orphanage and my mother was an only child. My grandparents passed away about five years ago. I don't know about any sort of Will, they never spoke about it. I'm sure they had one, my parents were very cautious people." She felt dizzy, the truth sinking it that she was not only an orphaned but now had no other blood relatives to call to. The fact that they weren't a large family had never truly bothered Hermione before as her parents had showered her in attention and love her entire life. While there were days when she was lonely, it never really hit her that once her parent's died she would be alone. Her mind strayed to the toddler in the other room and she corrected herself, almost alone.

"Our deepest wishes are that children stay with their biological family in this case, being you; however, you're much younger than most people we deal with. I have to warn you that since the war ended there's been a surge of orphaned children waiting for homes, most are in orphanages or care homes. So you find yourself unable to care for the child or if there is no other immediate claim, we could try to find a foster family but it would take-"

"What? No, absolutely not! Of course I'll take care of Calypso, I'm not just going to throw her to the wolves!" She yelled, her voice breaking and sounding infuriated by the idea that someone would take her younger sister away from her, especially after they had lost so much already. The woman looked taken aback at first, her palms out in front of her. Harry grabbed Hermione by the shoulders practically forcing her into his side. She began to sob into his neck, the entire process being too much for her to handle.

"I'm very sorry for upsetting you Ms. Granger. I had no intention on implying such a thing, it's merely our procedure in order secure guardianship over orphaned children." The woman told her a bit stiffly as she did not enjoy being yelled at for doing her job. Harry gave her an annoyed glare and rubbed Hermione's back gently, trying to soothe her as best he could.

"Calypso isn't going anywhere. We'll fill out whatever forms we need to but Calypso stays with Hermione. End of story." There was an authority in the young man's voice that made her nod carefully before flicking her wrist and closing up her case. If the boy-who-lived wanted it so, Annabelle Jenkins knew that there was no one, with the exception of perhaps the Prime Minister, that would say no. Not when the wizarding world owed their lives to the actions of the two young adults sitting across from her.

"I'll be in touch." She told him quickly, standing and leaving without so much as a goodbye. As soon as she left it seemed she was forgotten and Harry lifted the crying and tired Hermione back into the private room where her sister was sleeping.

"Harry, she stays with me. You make sure she stays with me." Hermione told him. He just held her tighter, knowing that it wasn't a request but an order coming from the small witch. It was the first thing Hermione had ever really asked him for that didn't involve himself and it pained him to realize it.

"I promise."

They stayed this way until the sunrise, three orphans all without a clue as to what would come next.

A/N: Thank you for reading, please send me your thoughts! - Lyssa