"I can't believe summer's here already." Hermione explained as she unceremoniously shoved Crookshanks into his basket.
"Joy." Harry said sarcastically. "I'm sure the Dursley's will be happy. We always have such a fun time together." He ran his hand through his hair and smiled unsuccessfully. "Come on, let's find an empty compartment." Picking their way through the packed hallways of boisterous students celebrating the newfound lack of school stress, they eventually found seats near the end of the train.
"But honestly, we only have two years left at Hogwarts! It's unbelievable, isn't it?" Hermione began, her mind once again reeling with thoughts of N.E.W.T.s and career meetings. "Have you two any idea of what profession you want to enter?" she asked as a multitude of possibilities assaulted her. They both half-heartedly mumbled something about Aurors and she regrettably decided to drop the subject. Hermione studied Harry, wishing there was some way she could help him. The death of Sirius was still so recent, she could see how much pain he was in, but try as she might to distract him it would not take long before he would lapse back into a gloomy silence. Ron seemed to have a bit more luck with his sheer ignorance, he would haul out a game and not rest until Harry agreed to play it.
A few hours later the train came to a jerky stop. Harry and Ron slowly cleaned up the rubble of a rather morbid chess match as Hermione looked out the window to see smiling parents eagerly awaiting their children to exit the train. She would, of course, have to wait until she crossed the barrier to rejoin with her own in the muggle station.
"Okay, well have a good summer, both of you!" She said to Ron and Harry after they had heaved their trunks onto the platform. She gave them both a hug. "And you must write!"
"Don't worry, we will." Ron promised, somewhat red around the ears. He then quickly leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll miss you." He whispered. Harry quickly became critically interested in a lose thread on his shirt.
"Um, I'll miss you too Ron." Hermione stuttered, flabbergasted but yet somewhat impressed. She had suspected that Ron fancied her, yet she didn't think he would ever be able to pluck up enough courage to show his true feelings. And her own pride issues had prevented her from pushing him to do so. "I've got to go; mom and dad will be waiting. Goodbye!" She waved once more; hoping she wasn't blushing too badly, then briskly crossed the barrier. Her parents were nowhere in sight. That's odd, she thought to herself. They're always on time. She walked the length of the station and back, trying to stay out of the paths of bustling muggles. Unsure of what to do, and her arms getting sore from the luggage she was pulling, she found an empty bench and sat down. Comforting Crookshanks through the small gaps in the basket, she felt a lump of worry set in her stomach. Where are they?
Finally she saw two familiar figures approaching. She jumped up. "What happened?" She asked anxiously.
"It was nothing, bad traffic." Her father said, grabbing her luggage and heading towards the exit. Hermione looked at her mother quizzically who spared her a nervous smile before quickly turning away to follow her husband. What's wrong? Hermione thought, concerned that something awful had happened while she was at Hogwarts.
She got into the back seat of their vehicle, still eyeing her parents suspiciously, waiting for one of them to break down and reveal some horrible truth that they had refrained from telling her while she was busy with her studies.
"How was school?" her mother asked after a while, breaking the abnormal silence.
"It was good." Hermione replied, staring out the window. She noticed a tawny owl sitting atop the remains of a dead tree stump, and absentmindedly wondered if it was wild or else belonging to someone in the wizarding world. The sun was beginning to set and the landscape rolled by, but Hermione began to notice that the landscape was not at all familiar to her. They always took the same route home and Hermione knew they should be entering the suburbs by now, but instead they were cruising by a dark forested area.
"Um, father, where are we going?" she asked nervously.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll be home soon." Her father replied in a monotonic voice.
"Dad?" she asked again. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned forward, studying her father's face. It was blank. What's wrong with them? Her mother was the same as well.
Suddenly it hit her and she scolded herself for not coming to the conclusion sooner. They're under the Imperius curse. She felt a shiver go down her spine. The ministry had just recently been forced to realize that Voldemort had indeed returned, and though the Daily Prophet had not yet reported any incidents, Hermione could not ignore the fact that the Dark Lord was keen on killing muggleborns. She pulled out her wand and tried to break the curse set upon her parents yet was unsure if the unforgivables could even be undone by outside sources - at any rate, the counter spells she knew of had no effect.
"Please don't do that, sweetie." her father said icily, looking at her in the rearview mirror.
She contemplated whether or not she'd survive throwing herself out the door. They were travelling highway speeds, so it was not really a tempting thought, plus she would never abandon her parents. She carefully tried the back doors for good measure, but they seemed to be magically sealed as even the locks wouldn't budge. So Hermione sat back, bracing herself for whatever lie ahead. Several trying minutes went by. Hermione tried to keep herself calm, holding down a strong urge to scream or madly throw herself about the vehicle in attempts to break out. But she knew in the end the best possible thing for her to do was to remain rational. She stroked Crookshanks and waited.
Suddenly she felt the car slowing down and then turn onto a long paved driveway past large iron gates which were already open. Hermione peered through the front window to see an immense mansion looming in the darkness ahead.
The car stopped. Crookshanks hissed and jumped off her lap. Hermione tightened her grip on her wand as the car door opened on its own accord, flooding the interior with a faint light. Cautiously she exited the vehicle, a nervous sweat beading on her forehead. She gasped as she heard footsteps approach behind her. Swinging around, she saw a masked figure walking up the driveway towards the car. Before she could realize what was going on, she heard a deep voice utter "Avada Kedavra," and saw her parents slump down in their seats.