Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character except for Rhea. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. sigh

Happy 17th Birthday Rhea! That was the first thing Rhea saw when she arrived home after her daily jog by the road. Her mother Hermione went over to her daughter and hugged her. The hug seemed to last forever. Then Rheas father went over and joined in on the hug. They let go and gave Rhea her present, a little charm bracelet with a charm of the number 17 hanging on it. It was her favorite number, the age when you can be considered as an adult but you can still be a kid. Next came the cake. It was made by Hermione herself. The three of them just talked, they enjoyed each other's company. They were all that they had.

It was hard to make real friends when you lived in a small village in the Amazon. Rhea lived an exotic life with her family. Hermione's life was potions, so it was only obvious that they lived in place with the most variety of plants for potions on earth. Rhea's father ran the apothecary that the family owned; they exported products to England and other countries. The family was well known as among the best in the potions business. Rhea had been home schooled her whole life. The small village did not have a school since most kids went to places like Hogwarts to learn. Rhea had the opportunity to go to Hogwarts but she just couldn't leave her parents. She lived the life of adventure with her family. By the time Rhea was 10 years old she had been to all the countries in South America because Hermione traveled in search for ingredients.

Rhea's friends were all adults. She wished she at least had one friend her age. She heard the stories of her parent's days at Hogwarts and wished she had friends as close as her parents had. Rhea did have people she could rely on though. Not only were her parents always there for her but she also had her "uncle", her "aunt", and her godfather. Although they lived in London and its outskirts she still got to see them often. They had known Rhea her whole life just like they knew her parents for most of their lives. She always felt a connection with her godfather. They didn't speak much or see each other much because his job as an Unspeakable in the Ministry of Magic required silence but there was just a special connection they both felt, like they could rely on each other for anything.

As Rhea ate her second slice of cake she looked at her mother, it made her very sad. Her mother was sick and she showed too. She looked pale and it took her a lot more time to do simple activities such as climbing the stairs. This only made the cake taste even sweeter because Hermione must have put all her energy and effort into making this day special. Rhea wanted to be like her mother and research potions; hopefully she would once and for all find the cure Hermione had been searching for, for twenty-one years. Hermione looked so fragile and weak but she was just thirty-eight years old. She looked very young for her age, but she no longer had the energy to do anything.
Rhea went to bed smiling, she was a year older and she had her whole family by her side.

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Hermione lay there taking her last breaths. Rhea was at her bedside. She couldn't stop crying, how could you if you were losing your mother. Rhea was trying to be strong, trying to understand that in a few hours she might not have her mother anymore, but she couldn't. This wasn't supposed to happen, not to her. Rhea couldn't lose her mother; she hadn't ever lost a family member. She never met her grandparents and her parents were only children so she never missed them, her parents, and her other three family members were all she cared about. She had just celebrated her birthday a week ago now that week seemed like an eternity ago.

Rhea held on to her mother's hand. Her mother looked like the most beautiful woman in the world. This only made Rhea cry even more, how can a person so caring, so beautiful, so generous, and loving like her mother be taken from this world?

Rhea hears a bird at the window and turned to look out the window. The sky was blue; it was a beautiful day. The threes also caught her eye. That was all you could see around you, all those greens had always made Rhea want to just live in a tree but she had always resisted temptation. Why did those trees look so alive when her mother was dying?

Hermione started to cough violently and then she calmed down. Hermione looked at her husband who was at the other side of the bed, holding her other hand, his eyes were bloodshot. He too had been crying and he had been looking after his wife for over a day without any sleep. Hermione smiled, no matter what happened her husband always made her smile, they loved each other dearly. Then Hermione looked at Rhea and water soon filled her eyes. It was too soon for the two of them to be separated. Hermione knew the pain of losing a parent, in her case both parents. Hermione's parents died when she was twenty-two. Hermione knew she didn't want to abandon her daughter at such a young age but she knew she a couple of hours left to live and nothing could stop death from coming, not even the strongest magic.

Rhea moved to the other side of her bed in order to be with her father. They needed to be close. No words were spoken, they just embraced each other.

Hermione had another cough attack this one was worst. The medi-witch had said this would happen near the end. Hermione wanted to die naturally so she let this happen but she didn't want to see her family suffer by looking at her like that. They refused to leave her side. This time Hermione coughed up blood and fell back on her back unconscious.

Rhea panicked, she checked her mother's vital signs and cried even more, not because her mother had passed away, she didn't, she cried because she couldn't take it anymore. Rhea left the room feeling guiltier than she had ever felt before. She felt so helpless. Rhea decided she had to do something, she ran. Her father called after her but she ignored him, he couldn't leave Hermione's side to go after Rhea.

Rhea ran and ran. She tried to clear her mind but she just couldn't erase the image of her mother in pain from her head. She suddenly got an idea. Rhea jumped up and down. She didn't know how it hadn't occurred to her before. Now Rhea started to run in a different direction, she was going to save her mother.

Wow that was long. Next chapter will include our favorite characters and as you may have noticed there are names missing in this chapter, I did it for a reason. You'll find out whos who soon. Oh yeah more talking in the next chapter.
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