She looked out the window, staring at a tree outside the Hogwarts Express window, watching it until it disappeared into the wooden panel on the other end of the window. She did this over and over, over and over, listening to her music, thinking about how different this past summer had been.

And I'd give up forever to touch you

Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't want to go home right now

She missed them. Her parents: the only people who ever truly listened to her. She remembered that night so clearly. It had been embossed in her head since it happened. She even remembered the taste in her mouth: mint chocolate chip ice cream, because she had just come home from an ice cream run with her boyfriend. Ian. But she also remembered another taste in her mouth. A stinging, warm, salty taste: tears. Ian told her that he didn't want to be with her because she was too reserved, too boring for him. He wanted someone who would go crazy and have fun with him.

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

Cause sooner or later it's over

I just don't want to miss you tonight

She knew that they were gone. She knew that they would never be coming back. She knew all of this, yet she didn't want to believe it. She wanted to bring them back. She didn't care if this meant the war was still going on, she wanted them back. The war. That's how they died. She thought that since Harry had finally killed Voldemort, all would be fine, and everything would be 'normal' again. Though the only normal she knew was preparing to fight him and helping Harry defeat him. But nothing was normal after that night. She came home to an empty house, thinking that her parent's had gone out to dinner, or had already gone to sleep. She went into their room. She glimpsed, and slammed the door in front of her. She opened it for another peek. There were her parents. On the floor. Lifeless. White. And on the floor in the middle of both of them…was a dark mark in thick, red lines of blood. She fainted right at the door. The next thing she knew, she was lying in a bed. She looked around and saw Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape.

"At last, you're awake, Ms. Granger." Professor Dumbledore said.

"..P-professors? Wha-what am I doing here? Why am I in this bed? OH MY GOD. MY PARENTS. Where are they? What happened? I want to see them."

"Calm down, Ms. Granger. I'm…I'm afraid that will not be possible. Your parents…they've…"

"What? TELL ME."

"First, I must tell you a story…"

And I don't want the world to see me

Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

She broke out of her daze and heard voices, calling her name. She knew who it was, and she was dreading this moment. They would be here in five seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two.

"Hermione! We've been looking for you! How come you're not sitting with us?" One boy said with incredibly false cheer.

"Yeah, Herms! We almost forgot to change into our robes without you telling us to!" The other said, nudging the first in the side, laughing loudly and boisterously.

"Hello, Harry. Hello, Ronald. I don't want to talk about it. And of course you forgot, because I do everything for you and have to take care of you buffoons like I'm your mother! Now, leave me alone."

"But, Hermi-"

"GO!" They slid the compartment door shut and scampered down the hallway.

She wondered why they couldn't just let her be and leave her alone. Probably because they didn't know about her parents. No one did besides the three professors. She didn't want them to know. They would just falsely pretend to take interest and care about her. But she knew they didn't, and they knew they didn't, so why did they even pretend. Oh right, she thought, because I help them with their schoolwork and they would not have passed any of their classes without me. They never even tried to know her. All they wanted to know were her answers. And her thoughts about an assignment, so they could steal them for their essays. She was tired of it. They would never understand her, because they never tried to, and now she would not let them. It had been way too long.

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming

Or the moment of truth in your lies

When everything seems like the movies

Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

She had been lying to them for so long. To everyone. Everyone thought that she enjoyed being the quiet bookworm friend of Harry Potter. But she didn't enjoy it at all. She always felt used and unimportant, but she didn't know how to tell them ever. But after this summer, with all of her sorrow and difficult times, she has finally given up on being sweet and wonderful and going along with everything they say. She decided that she wanted to only be herself now. And she was going to spit all that crap they fed her right back in they're faces. She'd been taking it too long. She'd taken too much pain. Pain. The one thing that kept her going, because it was the one thing that she could count on. Because it was continuous in her life. She was never truly happy. She rolled up her robes. She looked at her arm. Lines, lines, and more lines. Some faded and some dark and on the surface. Then she put her head between her legs and tried to take her mind off of it. She didn't want to be sad anymore. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.