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~Creelluka
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(edited as of 10-3-2015
July 2, 1997
"They're dead." Hermione Granger sobbed. She was sitting in a chair at the shiny kitchen table of her Obliviated parents' home in Australia. Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, and a weary Alastor Moody sat at the table with her. Or rather, Headmistress McGonagall and Mad-Eye Moody did, Snape was standing to the side as if trying not to be seen. His face was a mask of disgust and boredom, but on the inside, pity, empathy, and remorse whirled inside of him.
"I am very sorry for your loss, Miss Granger." Minerva consoled. A muscle in Snape's cheek twitched briefly as he clenched his teeth, remembering how little words like that helped.
"I sent them away so this wouldn't happen!" The girl wailed.
"You didn't know it would happen," Minerva contradicted.
"Here you go, girl, take a sip o' this," Mad-Eye offered Hermione a flask, she took a tentative sniff of the Firewhiskey inside, then chugged it all. Moody gave a soft huff of annoyance.
Hermione took a shuddering breath. "Who did this?" she asked.
"Tobias." It was the first time Snape had spoken since apparating to Australia. Hermione looked at him, her red, tearful eyes and blotchy face regarded his cold, emotionless, black eyes and wax-like face.
"Who's Tobias? A Death Eater?" Hermione asked.
"A Muggle. My father."
"Your fath-"
"Yes, Miss Granger. My father killed your parents. He also killed my mother, a witch, seventeen years ago. I can only assume that when he fled London, he came to Australia, where he encountered your parents and killed them." He interrupted. He said all this emotionlessly as if he were reading off of a grocery list.
"What am I going to do?" She asked rhetorically. "Without them?"
Hermione fell silent and looked at her limp hands in her lap. Minerva held her while Mad-Eye and Snape had a furious, silent argument.
Moody glared at Snape. Snape raised an eyebrow at Moody. The Auror jerked his head towards the Gryffindor girl. The spy clenched his teeth and slightly shook his head. Moody's 'mad eye' seemed to bore a hole into Snape. Snape stared back. McGonagall looked up to see the two men glaring at each other and guessing what it was about, entered the silent conversation by catching Snape's eyes and nodding firmly. Snape wrinkled his nose and curled his lip into a sneer of disgust.
Just then, Remus Lupin entered the kitchen, he had been sniffing around the house for scents and had just finished.
"Got his scent, Severus," The werewolf said. "Sorry it took a bit of time, there was a lot of blood." He flinched and glanced at Hermione, she had started crying again. Minerva glared at Remus, who flinched again under his former Head of Houses' glare.
"You will be staying with Remus and Professor Snape, Miss Granger," Minerva said to the girl, who had quelled her sobbing once more.
"W-what? What about the Weasley's, can't I stay with them? Or at Grimmauld Place?" Hermione begged. Snape didn't blame the girl for trying to change the Headmistress' mind, he didn't want to deal with her either.
"I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but that really is the best place for you to be right now, in time, you'll see." McGonagall apologized. Hermione hung her head in resignation.
"You have no need to worry about funeral preparation, The Order will take care of that, Miss Granger," McGonagall promised. Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes once again.
"Compose yourself, Miss Granger, we'll be leaving as soon as I finish making plans with Headmistress McGonagall," Snape demanded as Hermione took deep breaths to banish the new wave of tears.
Ten minutes later, the details were squared out and it was time to leave.
"Headmistress, will I still be able to go to Bill and Fleur's wedding? Everyone is expecting me." Hermione asked, hoping that she wouldn't have to stay the entire summer with her Potions Professor and a werewolf, however nice said werewolf may be.
"We'll see, Miss Granger, now hurry along, you don't want to miss the portkey to the Australian Ministry of Magic, you'd have to go diving, seeing as the Ministry is located beneath the Great Barrier Reef." McGonagall attempted to lighten the mood. Hermione gave her role model a small smile.
Stepping up to the broken quill the Ministry had given them as a portkey, Hermione placed her finger between Remus' and Professor Snape's. A few seconds later, a tugging behind each of their navels alerted them to the start of their short journey.
After the three new flatmates disappeared, Minerva sighed.
"What's wrong?" Alastor asked.
"I worry about them, before now, there hadn't been a trace of Tobias in almost twenty years, why now? Why Miss Granger's parents?" She answered.
"I don't know, Minerva, I'm just an old Auror, I leave the thinking up to people like you."
They both grasped their portkey and within a few seconds, were gone.