August, 1978

Once again, Severus Snape found himself storming through the vast cavernous Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. It was easy to ignore the bustling of the other witches and wizards. He had the path virtually memorized. After he'd walk past that horrid fountain, he stopped at the security desk, preparing himself for the snotty retort from the receptionist.

The overly painted witch chomped on her chewing gum like it was cud. She looked up above her issue of Witch Weekly and rolled her eyes. "You again?" she asked.

Severus didn't reply, but simply stared her down as he threw down his wand for the usual inspection. She retrieved it and ran her usual checks. Severus swore she purposely took longer just to spite him.

Finding nothing wrong with the wand, she handed it back to the owner. "Basement, Level 2," she said, but Severus had already left for the lift across the way.

Interoffice memos flutter in and out of the lift as he pressed the button he needed for his destination. He ignored the remainder of the people inside. Most likely, they were judging him anyways for his shambled attire, but he didn't care. Severus wasn't affluent by any means, being a halfblood and having a dead-beat father. Plus, he was about to move across the continent. His best robes were already packed away and sent to Durmstrang, where he was going to be attending for his Masters in Potions.

The floor chimed, "Level 2: Department of Magical Law Enforcement," and Severus stepped out as soon as the doors opened for him, along with many memos flapping towards their intended recipients. The large double doors around the corner from the lift was where Severus was heading, and he quickly made his way inside the office.

"Auror Wade Stephens, please," he said to the attendee who greeted him at the door, although Severus knew where his cubicle was, he wanted to keep face so that he wouldn't jeopardize what he was there for.

"No need, Shelby, I'm right here," the auror said to the receptionist. Wade, a wizard with a full head of hair and a chin strap beard ushered him past the long line of cubicles, engaging in small talk (or whatever constituted small talk for Severus, a natural introvert) and into one of the more private interview rooms.

Severus sat down while Wade shuffled through a few folders. "I came by to see if you had any updates for me," he began. "I also needed to remind you that I'll be moving out of the country in two weeks time, so you'll need to notify your owls if you catch a break in this case."

"Ah, that's right," Wade replied. "You're off to Scandinavia. Durmstrang, am I right?"

"Correct. I'm getting my Masters in Potions," he said rather emphatically.

"Jealous. Never in my life have I left Britain, but being a work-a-holic has kept me inside my cubicle. I've always wanted to travel, especially North. War hasn't touched that part of Europe..." his voice trailed off as he found the document he was looking for. "Well, Mr. Snape, I have some...interesting news to report to you today. Although, I'm not quite sure what you'll make of it."

Severus straightened up in his chair. "That's better than what we've had so far." In fact, there had been no new leads or clues to help lead them to the whereabouts of Hermione Granger, who had vanished after a Time Shift six weeks prior.

Wade faced Severus, his fingers folded and resting on his lips, as if he was trying to form the words he wanted to say without setting off the younger man's temper. "Could it be possible that your Hermione Granger went by another alias? Or, perchance, Hermione was not her real name?"

Severus shook his head. "I'm quite sure she had no other name but that one."

Wade sighed. "Here's the thing, Severus. Nothing of your account and Professor Dumbledore's accounts are making sense. It's like we have a hundred puzzle pieces, and none of them are part of the same picture." He shuffled through a pile of papers and presented one to Severus. "These are the only records of a Hermione Jean Granger's existence in all of Great Britain."

Severus studied the paper. It was her admissions form dated October 1977, and below was her transcripts. Severus noted that no prior education was listed on it. "She transferred to Hogwarts. She had some education in France."

"There are no records of transcripts at Beauxbaton with that name."

"So you're saying she appeared just as suddenly as she disappeared?"

"As ridiculous as that sounds, yes," Wade replied, putting the single piece of paper away. "You mentioned she was muggleborn, so we searched her name within the birth records of Europe, muggle and magical. No signs of a Hermione Granger anywhere born within the past three decades. If there is any more information you can share with me that you haven't mentioned yet, now would be the time."

Severus took a deep breath, unsure of what he should do now. There was one major detail he was leaving out, one that could jeopardize the safety of the woman he loved, should he reveal it. Hermione had revealed to Severus that she was a runaway felon, guilty of attacking a Ministry official, and that she had fled to Hogwarts to hide. Using an Unforgivable Curse automatically sent you to Azkaban. But if she did go by another name, the Ministry would know who had attacked one of their own. It was his last shot, even though it could potentially send her behind bars for life. At least he would know where she was if they found her.

"There is one thing about her I haven't told you," he admitted somberly. "But please be lenient with her when you make the connection."

Wade leaned forward, reaching for his quill. "I'm listening."

And reluctantly, he told him about Hermione attacking the Ministry official with the Imperius Curse last fall. "I don't know what her motives were, Wade, but she never acted without purpose. She was stealing something, and that's all that I know for the sake of her safety and freedom."

Wade shook his head. "I'm sorry to tell you, Severus, but there has been no such attack in the Ministry."

Severus raised his eye incredulously. "Maybe you weren't notified of the attack."

Wade laughed. "Do you realize where you are sitting, boy? An attack with an Unforgivable Curse would surely fall under this department. Trust me when I say there was no internal attack at the Ministry, especially with an Unforgivable."

For the first time, Severus realized he really didn't know Hermione at all. "Why would she lie about something like that?"

Wade shrugged his shoulders. "To impress you? To scare you? Your guess is as good as mine. Now, I can go ahead and ask our ambassadors if anything of what you have told me was reported in other countries, but I have a feeling if she doesn't exist there now, then this incident probably didn't happen, either." Severus was visibly crestfallen. The auror had no other options he could take, except to wait to see if something uncovers later on. "Now Severus, the case may be cold now, but we'll be on it. If anything of the sort arises, if Hermione shows up randomly, we'll notify you immediately. There's no reason to lose hope."

Severus straightened up, physically composing himself and thanking the auror for his time. But as he stormed out of the department and back towards the exit of the Ministry, his will to live was slowly crushed under the weight of all that he had taken in that afternoon.

Hermione Granger, the woman he loved, the woman with so many secrets, seemed to have appeared as suddenly as she had vanished that day in June. After recollecting what Wade had told him, it was harder and harder to convince himself that what he had with Hermione was real.

After all, Hermione Granger was the girl who never existed.