"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER!"
The voice squealed loudly. It sounded as if Molly Weasley was directly in her ear, even over the sounds of the train station.
Hermione turned around to see the Red Head witch storming down the platform. Her face matched the exuberant hair color as she approached Hermione, with a clear war path.
"Where in the Bloody Hell have you been young lady!?!"
She shrieked at Hermione. Hands in balled fists at her side.
"I was uh.. I was in Pars." Hermione stammered.
After she and Ron broke up she didn't really feel apart of the family anymore. With the war over, and Ron and Harry departing for Auror training for therest of the year to make the Wizarding World safe again, Hermione set off alonr to find her parents.
She hadn't yet found a sure way to reverse the obliterate spell she had reluctantly cast upon them, but it didn't matter. She had read that the spell she used could be broken if the victims were reunited with the thing their souls longed for. She had daftly believed it.
When she got to Paris and found them, she lost all sense and ran to them. Hugging them tightly. They didn't return the embrace. They didn't smile. They didn't remember. Instead they stiffened and thought she was a crazy transient.
Still, she was unable to leave. Sne kept her distance, acted like an average tourist and rented a flat 2 streets down from her Parents new home. She was still answering owls and keeping in contact with everyone. She was still pretending sgevwas strong. But she could only hold out for so long.
When she thought she was srong enough, she secretly visited their home. She smiled sadly as her father sat in a large cozy armchair eeading a book near a lit fire place. So many years she had sat underneath a similar chair reading with him. It sent a silent pang through her heart, but inside she was somewhat relieved that even now he still hadn't changed.
Hermione was ready to leave but something caught her attention. Her mother walked through a shadowed doorway, holding an infant. The little girl stared up at the mother with a sense of wonder, and the proud mother stared back with a sense of utter admiration. She watched heart broken as her father too stood up to hold the tiny child.
Silent tears streaked down Hermione's face as she watched from outside as they played with the 1 year old baby they had created. They were in bliss, living so happy. Without her.
It was too much for Hermione's heart. She swore she could feel it shatter. She barely made it back to her flar before she crumpled into a ball. She lie in the fetal position as she sobbed loudly to herself.
No one was there to comfort her and she wished she was that loved little baby her family had unintentionally replaced her with. She had never really resented anyone, much less a sweet, innocent child.
For the rest of her break Hermione didn't right back or return any owls. It was a sort of punishment. She felt that she deserved to be alone. That everything was her fault.
She ended up fighting herself alternating between getting violently angry with herself and others and crying her heart out every night. She had never felt so low in her life.
After yelling at herself to get up, and stop loathing herself and her family. She left the house to finally get food, but ended up at a near by pub. It as worn down and grimy and mostly empty. Just like Hermione herself.
She spent the next week or so drowning herself in self-pity and fire whiskey. In a week, the bartenders and anyone else that came to the Drunken Gnome knew her name.
So many nights Hermione contimplated using the obliterate spell on herself. It was just so tempting, in a single moment the pain inside of her could simply disappear.
One drunken night she almosr did it, but the memories of her family loving her sent her into a tearful fit. When she sobered up the next morning, she cast an incantation, to keep her wand from working when she was intoxicated. Hermione had never felt so weak.
That was the last straw. She had to change or she would go barmy.
It took her most of the summer to remember who she was, and to peace back the jigsaw pieces her life had been reduced to. She returned to her studies, catching up on all the reading she had put aside because of her emotional troubles.
By the time she felt some what less miserable, the school semester was close to beginning and she still wasn't ready to talk to anyone. Explaining her absence to her friends and family would be even more painful than being sad alone.
All the letters she had tried to respond to just left her in silent tears. She ended up in London alone, without talking to anyone who loved her and she felt extremely guilty. All that guilt came rushing back as Molly Weasley scolded her for her unexplained absence.
The motherly woman reminded Hermione of her own strict mum, and tears welled in her eyes.
"What do you have to say for yourself young lady?!" Mrs. Weasley demanded.
The hot tears streaked down Hermione's face.
"I'm so sorry Mrs.Weasley. It was truly rotten of me to dissappear on you after you welcoming me into you and your family's lives. I just-."
Hermione grew too choked up to finish but it didn't matter. The portly woman was already enveloping her in a warm embrace, petting her long curlg hair.
"It's alright Hermione. All is forgiven." The warm cooing in her ear made Hermione feel both better and worse. Molly pulled back from the hug gripping Hermione's shoulders.
"Just promise me you won't ever do it again."
Hermione nodded vigorously unable to speak. Molly smiled at Hermione thoughtfully and pressed a kiss on her forehead. Hermione smiled back through the tears.
Less than three seconds later Hermione's eyes were overflowing again when they fell upon the red head she had always thought of as a sister. Hermione and Ginny ran to each other colliding in a mess of tears.
When they parted both girls were wiping away tears.
"Hermione I swear on Dumbledore's grave, if you ever do anything as daft as going abroad and cutting off all communication again, I will track you down and put you 6 ft underground."
Hermione laughed, new tears streaking down her smiling face. She had missed this all the time she had spent away in Paris. Somehow she had convinced herself that she was unloved, but in just these few minutes two people had made her feel the love she had craved while being a hermit.
Seconds later the train pulled into the station and Hermione and Ginny climbed aboard, waving to the teary eyed Mrs.Weasley that waved from platform 9 3/4.
When the event train left the station the two girls settled down and began to catch up.
"Paris huh? Did you meet a handsome beau that swept you off your feet or what?" Ginny teased, wiggling her eyebrows at Hermione.
Hermione rolled her eyes giggling.
"Noooooo but I made friends with a bartender named Chase. He wasn't in anyway handsome but he did know how to brew a good butter beer." Hermione joked.
Ginny rolled her eyes at her friend.
"You spend almost 4 months in the city of love and you didn't hook up with a single hot. french guy. Bloody hell Hermione, at this rate you'll never get over Ron."
Hermione gasped in amusement.
"Me. You and Harry broke up ages ago and I bet you still haven't had a good shag." Hermione teased.
"For your information, I had a bit of a summer fling spree going on. And I did a bit of experimentation."
Ginny said blushing. She played with her bracelet not making the slightest eye contact with Hermione.
"What!? Ginny with who?"
Hermione and Ginny had both expressed the intrest in experiencing being with another woman, but she had always thought of it as a fantasy they shared, nothing serious. Apparently she had been wrong.
"Well Luna came around to -"
"OMG LUNA, YOU SHAGGED LUNA?!?!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Well yeah, she's pretty cute and she has an amazing body. Why not have a little fun?"
Ginny still hadn't looked up, but Hermione could see the red in the girls cheeks.
"Merlin you've done a bit of growing up while I was gone." Hermione said.
"Well you were MIA, and I needed a way to keep myself busy in your absence. You still haven't told me what you've been up to all this time."
Now it was Hermione's turn to shy away. Though she loved Ginny, she still wasn't sure the girl would understand. She dpjust wasn't eeady to tell her yet.
"Nothing as entertaining as you. Next thing I know you'll be telling me you went a shagged a Slytherin." Hermione joked, quickly deflecting the topic of Paris.
Ginny's mouth flew open with protest.
"Even if I did, I would never tell you, the humiliation would be too great. Plus Ron and the lot would crucify me if they ever caught me bringing a Slytherin home for Christmas dinner. A Slytherin? I'm not that barmy."
As if on cue the compartment door swung open. The wizard standing in the door was was tall with slightly tanned skin and bleach blonde hair accompanied by a pair of steeley grey eyes. He was undoubtedly sexy, until Hermione recognized him.
Malfoy.
"And what's wrong with Slytherin?"
Both girls turned their heads to see a tall handsome boy standing in the doorway of their compartment next to Malfoy. His voice was as delicious as his carmamel exterior draped in Black and Green robes.
Ginny's face blushed red as the boy trailed over her body. His question still floating in the in the air around them unanswered, he replaced it with another.
"Mind if me and my friend squeeze in with you? We've had rather rubbish luck finding a suitable compartment. Too many first years running around."
His smile lit up the cabin and Ginny nodded, much to Hermione's dismay. The boy sat down and Hermione remembered seeing him in one of her previous years.
"Oh wait I remember you. Zabeen, isn't it?" Hermione asked.
"Close enough. It's Zabini, but I would be honored if you too beautiful ladies would just called me Blaise." He smiled again, bringing both of the girls to return it.
"Your Granger right?" Hermione gave him a curt nod before he continued, "and I bet my big toe that you're a Weasley. The hair's a dead give away. I've always loved red." He winked.
Hermione chuckled when Ginny's face matched her hair.
Malfoy still hadn't budged. The grey eyes narrowed as they met Hermione's.
"Granger, a word?"
It wasn't his usual sneer. He sounded serious. So against her better judgement, Hermione stood up and smoothed down her skirt and joined Draco outside of her compartment.
After a short walk both students stood infront of the water closest at the end of the cart. Hermione rested against the wall and Draco stood in front of her, eyes narrowed.
"What's this about, Draco?" Hermione asked.
"Potter spoke at my father's trial, and I want to know why."
"I have no clue." Hermione answered truthfully. She hadn't spoken to either Harry or anyone else since she left, but she wasn't going to tell Draco that.
"What did Harry say?" she asked.
Draco searched her face.
"Don't play stupid with me Granger, I know you had something to do with his shining testimony. He's to idiotic to do that alone." Draco said.
"Draco I have no clue what you're talking about. Harry hasn't said a word to me about you. If you would just tell me what he did, I might be able to help you." Hermione said.
Draco took a step forward closing in on Hermione. His grey eyes burrowing into Hermione's.
"You expect me to believe that you had nothing to do with Potter coming to my father's trial and testifying that he was held against his will in his own home by Voldemort?" Draco fumed. His fists were balled up at his side.
"Yes, because I didn't. Why in the bloody hell does that make you so upset, keeping your psychotic father out of Azkaban sounds like he was doing you a favor." Hermione spat out in return.
Draco's fist crashed into the wall behind Hermione, inches away from her head.
"WHY, DID HE DO THAT!?" Draco yelled. His face was two inches away from hers.
His eyes blazed with hate. Hermione searched them and found something that she had found so many timws etched into her own. Anger, sadness, confusion, but mainly she saw a cry for help in Draco's eyes. And Hermione's couldn't help but soften.
"Ahhh Hermione, Draco. Good. I need to have a word with the both of you." Professor McGonagall interrupted.
Hermione stiffened immediately, but Draco just stared into Hermione's eyes. Hermione tried to drop eye contact, but his gaze was almost magnetic.
"When you've both finished up here, please come to the front cabin. I believe you both were chosen as head students for your last year. I need you both to be there for an announcement. I trust you both can find your way there without my help, I have more students to round up."
With that the older witch left and Hermione too, snuck away.