A/N: New story time! Yay! I've been planning on writing a Severus/Hermione story for AGES, and I finally got help in starting on it. Super huge shoutout to silver-nightstorm for helping me with ideas for this story. This chapter'll be short – it's meant to be like.. a teaser. Anyways, enough of my rambling. Just a hint, reviews are mucho loved.
It had been two years since the Battle of Hogwarts, and everything seemed to go back to normal. Harry's scar hadn't hurt not once, and was living at the Burrow with the Weasleys. Ron was the same old normal Ron. Hermione had finished up her education at Hogwarts and now... well, she had set out on an adventure of her own.
The brunette hadn't been able to get her parents off her mind since the battle ended. She knew that they would have been so proud of her to hear of her accomplishments. She felt so lost – her parents obviously had no idea who she was anymore, since she had Obliviated herself from their memories. So she decided now was as good a time as any to go and find them. How she was going to tell her Muggle parents that she was their daughter and she had used magic to erase their memories, she wasn't sure, but she was sure she would come up with it when she got there.
When she returned to London, an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia washed over her. She hadn't been back here in about two years. Everything had happened here. But most of all, she had wiped her parents' memory here. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and pushed on. She didn't know where her parents were – for all she knew, they were somewhere completely different. They could have moved house. They could be anywhere. They could even have left England. The thought made her shiver, and she pulled her black jacket tighter around her. The cold winter wind nipped at her nose and cheeks. She definitely hadn't missed that.
She spotted a public phone box out of the corner of her eye, and her dark brown eyes lit up. Maybe they would still be around... She bit her lip and opened the door, shutting herself in. She rummaged through her jacket pockets, hoping that she had some Muggle money with her. Luckily, she had a few quarters. She inserted them in the slots and held the phone to her ear with shaking hands. The device held against her ear was a foreign feeling – she hadn't used a phone at all during her education at Hogwarts, and afterwards she hadn't any use for it. She dialed in her mother's cell phone number, her stomach filling with dread and heart pounding against her ribs.
And then, she got an answer.
But, it wasn't one that she had been hoping for. "Hullo?" came a deep, gravelly voice – one that definitely didn't belong to either her mother or her father.
"Um, are Kate or George there?" she asked quietly, her voice cracking.
"Sorry, sweetheart, you've got the wrong number," replied the gruff voice, and there was a click, and the line went dead. Tears stung Hermione's eyes, and she wiped them away quickly. She hung up the phone with more force than intended, and buried her face in her hands, allowing herself a moment of weakness. She finally gathered her composure and took a deep breath. She had to find them some way, somehow.
She rubbed her arms as she headed down the street. Snow had started to fall and was dotting her not-so-bushy hair. Her lip was trembling. She didn't know what she had been expecting. Was she expecting them to just show up and be right where they were the whole time? They didn't have a daughter – they could travel and do whatever they wanted. She did remember them having a certain fondness for Australia... The familiar feeling of dread pooled in her stomach and she tried to push the thoughts away. She hoped they wouldn't go somewhere like that, somewhere that far away. She took another deep breath and headed down the street.
It wasn't quite so easy to travel this way – she couldn't Apparate, and using the Floo network would be practically useless. She couldn't imagine how a Muggle would feel if she suddenly came out of their chimney. Riding a broom was completely out of the question. But at least she was getting some exercise. She was getting rather close to her street, though.
As she approached her street, Hermione found her heart racing even faster. She bit down hard on her lip as she approached the house. It was pretty much exactly how she remembered it... except her parents' car wasn't in the driveway. Her mind filled with horrible, pessimistic thoughts. What if they really were in Australia by now? It had been two years, after all... She steeled herself for what was coming and knocked on the door. She heard shuffling around, but no answer. She peered through the windows. There was no doubt that she could see a figure in there. Someone was moving around, someone who didn't want her to know that he or she was there. She returned to the door, knocking loudly. "H-Hello? I'm looking for my mum and dad," she called.
But even still, there was no answer. Hermione pursed her lips – this was getting aggravating. "I'm going to come in there if you keep ignoring me!" she called into the house. She waited another minute, two minutes... nothing. She opened the door, which was miraculously unlocked, and tiptoed through the house. It was quiet, and... filthy. Her parents obviously hadn't lived here in ages. This made her heart sink even more. But that meant that someone lived her and wasn't taking care of the house, and that alone was enough to make her even more angry. "Who's in here? I'm not kidding, I'll come and find you!" she called out. She heard more shuffling, some banging about, and a grunt. But still, no answer. She kept as quiet as she could, following the source of the noise.
And finally, Hermione came upon the dining room – a mess, a shamble of what it used to be. It pained her to see her only home in such a state. She came upon the figure, robed in all black. And somehow... they looked extremely familiar. The long, greasy black hair, pitch black robes, small frame, pale skin...
Her dark brown eyes widened. "Professor Snape?"
