Title: Inescapable
Chapter: Pensive Past
Author: Irishpiratess
Word Count: 3183
Genre: Drama/Romance, a bit of mystery (at its most mundane).
Warnings/Labels: time travel fic, some (unrequited) slash, HPBcompliant, mentions of alcoholism and depression, secret relationships, flashback fic. The only ships I can divulge without somehow giving away some point of the plot are HPGW (I usually don't like them- but their relationship isn't spotlighted in this fic), NLLL, and ADMM (but also not spotlighted, only mentioned in passing, as Dumbledore is dead).
Summary: Seven years after the simultaneous deaths of Harry Potter and Voldemort that marked the end of the war, the Minister of Magic fumbles to make up for past actions against the nine remaining of the Order. Unknowingly, he uncovers a long-hidden secret that a certain member Order had hoped never to divulge. Immediately following this, the nine are stuck together in a broken-down elevator, where they begin to learn the most precious secrets of one Hermione Granger. Can she learn to trust them all, or will she be too prideful and conscious of their reactions to divulge?

Please, reread chapter 1. I might have changed a few things (names, dates, etc) and want to keep everyone from being confused. Hopefully the new version of this fic will be much smoother reading than the old would have been.

Later, Hermione would highly suspect some sort of divine interference- perhaps a last laugh from Dumbledore, who would want nothing more than the remaining nine defenders of the Light to be stuck on an elevator together for several hours. But, for the time being, she could do nothing but stare at the elevator wall, silently waiting for the lights to come back on.

"Lumos," muttered McGonagall, and a soft light sparked from the tip of her wind. She glanced around. "Severus? Are you quite alright?"

"Yes," he mumbled in return, voice hoarse. "I'm fine."

Ron slid to a seat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and sighed, closing his eyes.

After a few minutes, a small paper airplane popped into existence next to McGonagall's head. It read:

We're sorry for the inconvenience. The storm has shut off much of the building's power, and, as we do not have a back-up grenador, it could be between 45 minutes to 3 hours until power is restored.

"Oh, lovely." Hermione cried. "The one time we go to the branch in a Muggle area, in a Muggle building, with Muggle electricity! And for God's sake, if they're going to build a building, buy a back-up generator, and make sure you know how to spell it!"

"Calm yourself, Miss Granger." McGonagall said tiredly.

"I can't go anywhere, with these anti-apparition wards! I have to go home!" Hermione cried, rounding on her former teacher.

"To your daughter?" Severus sneered, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione didn't answer at first, then said slowly, menacingly, "Don't you dare presume you know anything about my life, Snape."

McGonagall noted how his brow twitched towards a frown, but said nothing other than to remind Hermione to use his title. She merely laughed sardonically.

"Okay, then, Professor Snape." A strange glint came into her eyes as she snarled this.

"Mione, calm down." Ron said tiredly, trying to persuade her. "I think we're all just a bit in shock that you have a mystery daughter."

"Hermione, sit down." Ginny demanded, crossing her arms and coming to sit next to her brother.

Sighing, the curly-haired witch complied, but kept at least a few feet away from everyone else in the elevator. Then, as if just to prove that she couldn't escape the situation, Luna came and sat next to her, offering her emotional support. Neville sat close next to Luna, and Tonks decided to sit close, as well as Remus.

"Begin with the basics." Ginny said professionally. "How old is she?"

Hermione closed her eyes, knowing that this was the end of everything she had worked so hard to protect.

"I'd rather not talk about this," she whispered, and the others were surprised at how frail her voice sounded. "I'd really… really rather not talk about this."

"Gin, just leave her alone, she doesn't wanna-"

"Shut up, Ronald." Ginny said fiercely. "You know you're already low in my books; don't make the situation worse."

Ron bit his lip and returned to silence, playing with the hem of his sleeve.

"I agree with Mr. Weasley." Severus interjected. "Miss Granger's life is none of our business."

"Your business." Neville corrected, glaring at his formerly feared teacher. "You aren't her friend, you're just her old Potions teacher. Who, by the way, made her life miserable every day, for no reason but that she's muggle-born. Her having a daughter doesn't make a difference to you."

Hermione grimaced as Neville said this and waited for a response; she just wished this hadn't happened, and envisioned a few particularly slow and painful deaths for Minister Hall.

"On the contrary, Mr. Longbottom." Snape replied icily, and Hermione stared at him in shock, willing herself silently to melt through the floor. "I was especially harsh on Miss Granger because she needed the challenge."

No one seemed to catch Hermione's sigh at these words; or, if they had, they took no notice of it.

"Hermione, just start at the beginning," Ginny suggested calmly, "with when you disappeared."

The reluctant witch sighed.

"Very well. But don't expect it to be a short story." Hermione gazed warily around at the elevator's occupants, and they all stared back.

Ron, in particular, seemed interested in the story; considering our relationship when I left, Hermione mused to herself, I don't suppose his wondering if he's the father is too far-fetched.

"The reason for my departure in seventh year is… unimportant." Hermione said uneasily, and someone in the elevator, though she wasn't sure who, let out a snort. She continued as if not hearing this. "But I was not pregnant, nor on the run from Death Eaters. It just simply got to a point where I needed to get away."

"It was all those snorgbugs, wasn't it?" Luna said, as if this were a proven fact. "They drove me batty, as well."

Hermione stared at the girl for a few seconds before turning her face back to her lap and pretending she hadn't heard her.

"At first, I had nothing. As you all know, my parents had been killed in the beginning of the year…" She trailed off uncomfortably, then shook her head. "So I took what money I had been left by my parents, and moved back to the muggle world."

The burning gazes of the eight Order members boring into the crown of her head (as that was what was currently pointed towards them) did not go unnoticed, and she lifted her head to stare back at them.

"Yes," she said, a bittersweet note to her voice, "when I returned last year, I had brought back a daughter."

Ginny made an odd face and opened her mouth to speak, but Hermione cut her off.

"Her name is Sara Elizabeth Granger." She said quietly, and an odd feeling swept over her.

What was that?, she thought, annoyed. Relief? Can't have been. I've worked too hard against this…

But, she realized, it must be- she'd been hiding secrets for almost eight years. The biggest one was behind her now.

"She's three years old on July 22nd," she continued, "and God only knows how much she acts like her father."

"You know who the father is, then?" Ron asked in a strangled attempt to sound casual.

"Yes, Ronald, I know who the father is." Hermione snarled. "What do you take me for?"

"Well- I…" He sighed in defeat and remained silent.

"Hmmph." Hermione glared at her old friend before shaking her head. "But… I guess I'm getting ahead of myself…"

And, heaving a great sigh, she pushed her memories into the minds of the eight remaining members of the Light.

She was 21; supposedly a happy age, one used to grasp at the last straws of immaturity and party away the year.

Hermione had, by that point, done her share of partying, and then had continued to pick up the shares of others who had gone home early or stayed in the house to watch their favorite shows on the telly.

"Hermione!" Her boss barked at her, angered. "That's the third time this week you've been late!"

"Sorry, Mr. Chandler, I haven't been sleeping well lately." Hermione replied, tossing her coat onto the coat rack and sitting down at her receptionist desk.

"If this goes on, I'm going to have to let you go." He said angrily, and closed his office door behind him.

Rolling her eyes, the overtired woman took out a bottle of water and a smaller, orange bottle; she took out one pill and swallowed it down with the water, then replaced the prescription bottle in her purse, leaving the water on her desk.

"Hey, Harmony."

"Hi, Marmalade." She glanced up at her friend, amused at their insistence on using badly chosen nicknames. But, upon looking up from her desk, the fluorescent lighting caught her in the eyes, and she grimaced, restraining from clutching at her throbbing skull.

"Hangover again, 'Mione?" Her friend frowned in sympathy. "You need to chill out."

"Butt out, Adelaide." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. My friends and I just like to go out a lot."

"You've come in with a hangover every day this week, Hermione." Adelaide rolled her eyes, leaning against the desk. "Keep it up and Chandler's gonna fire you."

"I said drop it."

Adelaide's eyes widened at the infuriated look in Hermione's, then narrowed. Angry, she stalked back off to her desk.

Hermione shook her head, scowling at both her pulsating head and her friend's incessant prying, took her bag, and headed off to the bathrooms.

"Mione?" Adelaide's voice was small as she timidly stepped into the bathroom. "You in here? Listen, I'm sorry I was being so-"

She stopped dead at the sight in front of her.

"Hermione…" She shook her head, cursing under her breath, as the drunk girl looked up at her. "Hermione, get up."

Hermione's face contorted in confusion as she wondered why she had to be this way, and, being drunk beyond control, began crying.

"Del'ade, I'unno, why'm I so…" Hermione struggled to find the right word in her haze, but waved the sentence away as if she had never said it. "You… y'won't… y'won' tell Chan'ler… will you?"

"Hermione, honey…" Adelaide shook her head, struggling to keep her composure. "I hate to see you like this."

"Adelai'!" Hermione slurred angrily. "Tell me you won' tell Chan'ler!"

"C'mon." Adelaide said, helping her to her feet. "Oh, Jesus…"

Angry, she threw the nearly drained Smirnoff bottle in the trash and hurriedly covered it with some paper towels.

"You need help, Hermione."

"S…screw you!" She yelled. "I… I don' need you. I…. I'm fine! I don' need any help."

Angry, a very drunk Hermione ran out into the office.

"I quit!" She screamed at her boss, who had frozen in surprise while coming out of his office door with a fax in hand.

"Hermione!" Adelaide yelled after her. "Why won't you just admit it!"

"I don't need your help!"

Hermione gave a stifled, dry sob as she extracted her mind from those of the others. Several of the others had strangely haunted looks on their faces, as if they could never imagine the Insufferable Know-It-All Granger being such an emotional wreck- a drunk, no less.

Someone in the elevator let out a slow breath, and Hermione bit her lip.

"It's no one's fault but my own." She said slowly. "Anyone in this elevator thinking they may have made me depressed at any point in my life should throw the thought from their head. I was depressed because I knew I couldn't stay where I was happiest."

"Why?" Ron asked miserably. "Why did you leave me?"

"There was more than just you, Ronald." Ginny snapped, frowning.

"This is Hermione's story. Let her talk. I'm rather enjoying the story." Luna said vaguely; her dreamy state had not been lost as the years had worn on.

Neville cleared his throat embarrassedly at his girlfriend's seemingly tactless enjoyment at Hermione's painful past, but Hermione merely gave a small smile.

"Thank you, Luna." She said quietly. "I don't think it's quite time for me to explain my departure yet. I think, maybe, we'll start with a bit after that…"

"Okay, so, this is your desk, and that concludes our wonderful tour of the office." Mr. Chandler proclaimed sarcastically, then broke into a grin. "But, really, Miss Granger, I promise you'll fit right in here. You seem like a hard-working woman."

With that, Hermione, aged 19, had settled into a career.

It wasn't an extremely high-paying job, or an entertaining one, being a receptionist. But, she reasoned, it gave her enough money to live, and when things were slow, she was free to use the Internet as she pleased. Usually, she took this time to order books online or such things. She especially liked to order books about witches and wizards, and then discount everything the characters did with the true logic of magic.

As she ordered a book about the rivalry between witches and vampires, thinking of what her old friends might have said at this unusual work activity, her heart panged, and she bit her lip, staring down at her desk. No. I won't think about it.

She kept thinking about it all day, and continued on into the night, taking her musings to the bar. There, she ran into a new co-worker, Adelaide, who introduced herself.

"Harmony, did you say it was?" The polite woman asked.

"Hermione." She corrected, finishing her second drink. "But I suppose that would make you Marmalade?"

"I suppose that's only fair." Adelaide raised an eyebrow, laughing, and ordered another round.

"So, that was it?" Ron asked incredulously, all past forgotten. "You just moved back and suddenly you're a muggle again?"

"No, Ronald." Hermione gritted, retracting her mind and memories from those of the others. "I still used my magic. I just lived in the muggle world."

"I still would like to know why you left." He answered, not backing down.

Sighing, Hermione shook her head, and her gaze flitted around the cramped space before coming back to her old boyfriend.

"I don't want to discuss my reasons for leaving just yet, Ron." She said in a small, tightly restrained voice. "I already made that clear."

"Well, we're not going to under-"

"Let the woman be, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall reprimanded him, scowling. "Can you not see that even sharing the smallest memories with us is taxing enough as it is?"

Embarrassed, Ron sank into himself, and Hermione sighed, her mind jumping between which memories she should choose to share next. Reluctantly agreeing with Ron, she knew they would never understand until she showed them the beginning.

Clenching her fists in her lap, she brought another memory to the front of her mind and, with a bit of reluctance, pushed it into the minds of the eight others…

A much younger Hermione rushed into the Great Hall, late.

"Hey, 'Mione." Ron looked up from his food briefly, smiling.

"Hey," she sat down next to him, smiling tiredly and forcedly at her friend, formerly boyfriend. "Where's Harry?"

"Oh, off somewhere." Ron replied vaguely around his pancakes, and Hermione nodded; it was unwritten code for Harry's missions to find Voldemort's Horcruxes. "Speaking of missing people, where were you last night?"

"Detention with Snape." Hermione replied brusquely, pulling some toast, bacon, and eggs onto her plate.

"Again?" Ron replied incredulously. "That's the fifth time in the past two weeks. Swear to Merlin, that guy has it in for you."

"That must be it." She replied, shrugging, then cast a distasteful look at her plate. "I'm not that hungry, after all."

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Ron said cautiously. "In your case, I wouldn't be. I mean, that much time, forced to spend with that greasy git, I'd go mad."

"Hmm, that must be it, as well." A small smile tinged her lips, and she began to stand. "Thanks, Ron, you've made me feel loads better."

"We already know how that happened." Ron said crossly. "Get to when you left."

"You'd go mad with me, the greasy git, would you, Mr. Weasley?" Snape said sarcastically. "Please be reassured that I would never choose you for my company, and hope that I may never have to grace your presence again after this."

"Oh, stop it." Hermione gritted. "You know why he felt the way he did."

The professor remained silent, but then smirked.

"And I'm sure it must have been all those detentions that made you just so edgy." He replied smoothly. "Spending all that time copying and grading essays, forced to spend time with me, the great git of the dungeons, eh?"

Hermione glared at him, then shook her head.

"You just don't have enough empathy in you to understand, do you?" She finally muttered. "Forget it. Next memory."

"Wait!" Ron cried. "You can't just move on. That was the day you left… the letter you got… and-"

"I said, next memory." Hermione said firmly.

"Hermione, it is important that we fully understand the reason for your leaving." Luna said wisely. "And I'm sure Ronald will be quite angry until you tell him, most likely not paying any attention to your story."

Hermione bit her lip, looking at the woman next to her, and sighed; though vague and odd, Luna was usually right.

"Alright." Hermione sighed. "Ron, do you remember when… when we broke up?"

"Yeah." He replied uneasily, avoiding her eye, and his ears grew pink. "Y'know, I still-"

"Ron, it's been seven years. Can you please grow up and get over it?" Ginny snapped at her brother. "Hermione, proceed."

"I didn't tell many people my real reasons." Hermione said quietly. "In fact, only one person alive knows why."

Ron's brow furrowed as he struggled to comprehend that We're just too different and I preferred being friends was not the true reason for her dumping him all those years ago.

A slight cough echoed throughout the dark elevator, and Minerva suddenly realized the absurdity of their sitting in the dark. She quickly conjured a small lamp, such as one might use camping, and set it down in the middle of the tin box. She then extinguished her wand and settled comfortably against the wall, her once imposing posture having deteriorated with age.

"Actually, Professor, I would prefer it were dark." Hermione said uncomfortably. "It's easier if I don't have to see you…"

A little surprised, the elderly woman sent the lamp away, and the elevator was once again thrown into darkness.

"Thank you." Hermione whispered, and she felt Luna squeeze her arm in support. Though she knew the woman couldn't see it, she nodded thankfully in her direction, before pulling away, curling into a ball in the corner of the small compartment.

She cleared her throat, and opened her mouth as if to speak, but then abruptly closed it. The darkness in the elevator was complete, and she felt comfortable knowing she wouldn't have to see her old friends' faces as they learned all the secrets she'd been hiding. A heavy hand snaked its way through the group and lightly squeezed her left knee before returning to its owner; she was unsure of who it was, but presumed it was probably Ron.

"Where is everyone?" She whispered softly.

"Right here," Ginny's voice came from her immediate right.

It seemed that the group had assembled in a bit of a semi-circle around her; from the right, it started Ginny, then Ron, followed by Minerva. Behind Minerva, against the far wall, sat Snape. Next to Minerva was Tonks, who was splayed out against Remus. Neville sat next to him, and, at Hermione's left, Luna offered her support.

"Um…" She let out a wavery breath, and someone else in the room sighed heavily, as if hearing this would break their heart, as they knew it would. Minerva send an annoyed glance at Ron, but, his sight adjusting to the dark once more, he merely shrugged in response. "Well, I guess… it all starts with a trip to Hogsmeade."

She sucked in one last shuddering breath before pushing the memory to the minds of the eight.

There you are! Please review with any suggestions, questions, etc. If I get no reviews, next chapter will be up between one and two weeks. One or two reviews, it will be up Monday or Tuesday. Three or four I'll do it Saturday. Five or six I'll do it friday... and so on...