Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling

Unexpected Truths

Chapter One

Harry and Ron were sitting in the drawing room at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, n. 12 Grimmauld Place, playing chess; as usual, Ron was still winning every game, but not that easily anymore: after six years it seemed Harry had learned some of the basic strategies and their counters. Not that Harry cared very much if he lost or not: the whole point of the game was to distract him from what would happen in the next few days, a sort of last peaceful moment before they had to leave the Order headquarters and start looking for Voldemort's horcruxes.

During these games their choice of conversation topic was of course their other best friend, who was, at the moment, absent.

"Ohi, Harry, where did you say Hermione is today?" asked Ron.

"She went to visit her parents, and I for one am glad that she was able to do it, she deserves some time with them before we set off to search for the damned horcruxes; we don't even know how much time that will take and she has every right to be with them", replied Harry.

"Uhmpff, I'll never understand why she wants to stay with some stupid muggles instead of here with me"; the surly redhead's answer caused Harry to look him straight in the eyes.

"Ron, do I have to remind you that you just insulted her parents? She may not be here, so she cannot hear what you just said, but I think she would be really annoyed if she were. After all she is your girlfriend and, if your relationship proceeds in that direction, they will be your in-laws one day: you will just have to understand and accept them, for Hermione's happiness; I assure you they are very good people".

"Bah, whatever." Not exactly the answer Harry had hoped to get from Ron, but he supposed those were problems he and Hermione would have to settle between themselves. Still...

"Well, I know our styles when dealing with our girlfriends' parents are different, but it would do you no harm to try; look at me, your parents still like me, even if I broke up with Ginny at Dumbledore's funeral." Looking at Ron's reaction when he said this, Harry could easily see that his last comment had nearly done more harm than good with the current subject, so Harry dropped it and went back to try and win his first game at wizard chess against Ron.

After enjoying a quiet lunch with her parents, Hermione decided it was time to talk about what she was about to do in a few weeks time.

"Mum, Dad? Can we talk for a few minutes?" Her voice was almost pleading, a clear indication that her chosen topic would not be liked by her parents.

"Sure, dear. What do you want to talk about?" Her mother voice was almost completely devoid of any indication that she had caught on her daughter's tone at once. However, Hermione was too bright to be fooled by it.

"Well, you see..." and in the following hour, Hermione proceeded to tell her parents about what she, Harry and Ron had to do, with actually as few details as possible, instead of returning to school for their seventh year "...so we will be leaving in a few weeks time. I will not tell you where we are going, mainly because we do not know either, but also because your minds are not protected and any wizard with at least a passing ability at legilimency would be able to get that information from you, whether you want it or not."

Her father was less than thrilled with her explanations and had no qualms telling her so. "Hermione, we understand that you want to help your friends, but from what you said, it's going to be a very dangerous journey and I do not want you anywhere near those bloody objects!"

"I don't want to have to do this either, Dad, but I want to do it: it's my decision to make and I will not change it. I'm sorry if what I'm about to say will sound harsh, but I could easily enough have your memories of me charmed so you would not even remember you have a daughter, then ship you to the other side of the planet to hide you from the war that we are fighting. I don't want to do that and I would very much appreciate you being here to support me along the way instead." It was clear that their daughter had carefully rehearsed this conversation, so in the end, as the wonderful parents they were, they relented and told her that she would always have their support, whatever path in life she choose to follow.

It was her mother that summed it up: "Hermione, you know that we will always be here for you, even if we do not like what you decide. Never forget that."

"Thank you Mum, I won't."

Outside the Grangers house about a dozen masked figures choose that moment to apparate as silently as they could around the property and immediately set out to weaken and breach the wards that protected the house. Unfortunately, those where very standard wards, nothing like what protected n. 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging, for example, so the methods used to get rid of them where also well known, to the point that no sound was made until the moment the entire magical construct collapsed.

Unfortunately for the Grangers, no Order member had been posted to guard the house, because, Hermione's connection with Harry Potter notwithstanding, the Granger family was not considered a target worthy of active protection. However that single decision would have big consequences from that moment on.

All the Death Eaters present rushed to storm the house from all sides, but the final result would have been the same even if they had taken their sweet time: outnumbered twelve-to-one, Hermione did not last much in the fight, and was easily overpowered.

Just for fun, the Death Eaters cast a few curses at Hermione's parents, laughing when both fell to the floor and started convulsing. After a few minutes, Mrs. Granger was already unconscious, given that she had been hit more than her husband, while he was struggling to try and stand. The attackers leader realized that the entertainment value of the situation was rapidly diminishing, so he ordered his men to start going back to their hideout.

Before he left, however, he said: "Well, it's been a fun afternoon and we got what we wanted: the brightest witch of her age! Eh, eh, eh! I wonder if, after tomorrow, she will be referred to as the brightest Bitch of her age, it would describe her much more accurately... or better even, the brightest whore... Just be sure you tell Harry Potter that the Dark Lord will be pleased with his new plaything, at least for now... you never know when his... fancy... is going to change! Ah, ah, ah." And with that, the Death Eaters apparated away, but not before one of them cast the dark mark above the Grangers' house while another finally rendered Mr. Granger unconscious with a new repetition of the Cruciatus curse.

The visible result of the brief skirmish was that some parts of the house had caught fire and was now burning steadily, but the emotional damage was much heavier, and it had not even shown itself completely.