Chapter 7 If Hermione Fell
I stood in the doorway leaning, feeling almost content with the world, and that was blasted from me in the form of two sentences.
"Everything is fine Aunt Hermione."Lucas said quietly to Miss Granger"it's just that your cats arrived with a note, and their is a man at the house, a Mister Burns looking for you."
"Mr.Burns! Mr.Burns died three years ago!" MissGrangercried in alarm.
This mourning was shaping up to be just 'great'. It only became worse when Miss Granger shoot off toward the house like a seeker. I only pause to sigh tiredly before I took off after her, stupid girl, if the 'Mr.Burns' at the house was a Death Eater then she was running once again right into the trap. Blaster Gryffindore's and their 'Act before you think' ways.
It wasn't long before I had caught the girl, and found myself tripping over her and falling to the ground like a fool. I watched her roll away from me and then try to stand and run again. She regained the her ground, but i grabbed her ankle and tripped her again.
I was shocked when her frantic eyes turned to me and I found her wand inches from my face. I scoffed at this, who did she think she was kidding holding a wand to me? I swatted the wand away as if it were a mere trinket. "Calm down!" I yelled at her. She didn't hear me, but she closed her eyes and tried to calm down, but when her eyes snapped open she was even more panicked then before.
Once again Miss Granger tousled and pushed at me, but I held her still and snarled at her "Calm down! If it is a Death Eater then your going to have to put your Gryffindore need of charging in aside, your giving up the advantage of surprise, and they will kill you!"
She calmed down at last and shook her head letting me know she understood.
I pulled myself up and stood over her, looking down into those pitiful big brown eyes was enough to kill me, grudgingly I held out my hand and pulled her up as well.
"We need to see who this 'Mr Burns' really is, so if your quite calm we will sneak into the house." I said pulling out the 'Professor Snape' instead of this softer version her sad eyes were inspiring.
She nodded and seemed to pause and think, she once again looked panicked as she answered "The bas... basement has a window that we can slip into." she looked as if she rater kiss a blast ended skewrt.
I nodded and we made our way to the basement window, where I was quick to unlock it and slip right in. I glanced around and knew we were in the same part of the house her parents had been murdered. I tell you autocratic Readers, that this one step of slipping into the basement through the window was the easiest for me and the hardest for her, I hate to say it but even then her courage was astounding.
I signaled for her to follow and soon saw her feet and then legs drop through the window, I grabbed her to steady her for she is much shorter then I am. She turned and looked at me and knew that if she looked around she would loose herself to her grief. I breathed deep trying my hardest to retain my patience, I knew that I would need her help if it was a Death Eater upstairs.
I grabbed her elbow and holding her gaze I led her through the basement and up the stairs where we stopped to listen at the door. There was loud laughter through the house, and it was only one person laughing highly suspicious to me.
We listened further and again the loud laugh rained through the halls, Miss Granger scared the life out of me by jumping up and screaming "JAMES!?" I stood there a bit shocked as she unbolted the door with wandless magic (not even realising it herself) and ran inside completely forgetting I was alive and called out "James! Is that you!"
"Hermione!" I heard a younger male voice shout.
I followed Miss Granger, slower to be sure, and saw a young man in muggle business attire rush and pick Miss Granger up and spin her around like a lover home from war, I didn't like him.
"Hermione look at you! Your a woman now!" The tall oaf proclaimed, he was obviously blind if he thought the poor scrawny thing was anything like a woman, then again hadn't Draco (who has Malfoy standards) said she was lovely? I growled and threw the thoughts from my head.
I focused on the display in front of me, he might not of been a Death Eater, but this Jameswas still untrust worthy.
"And you are an old man!" She said as she pointed to his goatee, and I rubbed mine feeling slightly wounded, if James was an old man then was I ancient to her? What about Dumbledore was he knocking on deaths door?
"Hush you!" he laughed, and I didn't like his laugh at all, it was one of those fake cocky self important laughs, I hated this boy already.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry for your lose. I told your father constantly that he should buy a security system, but I never thought something like this would ever..." I could fell his pity for her from where I was standing, and I knew that it was irking the proud lion to be pitied. "I'm so glad your alright, and I'm so glad to see you."
"Hermione come and sit here in the kitchen, we have much to speak with Mr. Burns about." I heard Madam Granger say, her tone was more grave then I had heard it.
"Yes ma'am." Miss Granger answered respectfully, and she approached her grandmother to share their much loved ritual embrace.
"Did you sleep well." Madam Granger asked in that amazingly strong yet gentle voice of hers.
"No ma'am." Miss Granger answered.
"Now Professor Snape then, how did your rest fare?" she asked turning her head in my direction. Had it been anyone else that was able to do that I would have constantly had a case of the collywobbles, yet from this woman, I felt a mixture of softness and strength missing from most women.
Mr. Burns seemed to find me a threat as he turned and stood between me and Miss Granger with his arms crossed in a defencive stance. What he didn't know was that his defencive stance is the most tell-tale sign of insecurity, as his arms were crossed over his chest not in a aggressive stance but he was hiding himself from me, even if he didn't realize it.
I looked at Mr. Burns to stare at him sensehe had just noticed my presence. He was looking at me as if sizing me up and finding that I came up short, and I gave him the most condescending look I could muster, I hated him and I was pleased when he recoiled a bit. Then I turned and looked to Miss Granger who was blushing and I couldn't help smirk in amusement at her.
"Good mourning Madam Granger, my rest was well when it came to me, how was your sleep? I answered politely to the one person who noticed me standing there, ironically a blind person.
"Sleep seems to be more evasive lately." She smiled. "Come, I believe breakfast is much needed, and some tea." She directed us into the kitchen.
AS I didn't trust this new comer Burns I made sure to be closer to Miss Granger then he was at all times, at the time I regretted doing this because being so territorial created a protective feeling in me for the scrawny Gryfinndore.
Miss Granger refused to let her Grandmother cook again and we all three went to the kitchen. Miss Granger tried to cook unsuccessfully as I was a foot step behind her every move and Burns would shut up about all he had done in the last seven years. I much enjoyed demeaning his accomplishment by making various faces, and was pleased to see that he looked pained every time he caught my face.
Miss Granger finally became exasperated and kicked him out claiming "I can't get anything done!". Surprisingly he smiled and said "Same Ol' Hermione" and left, how easily he was wipped I thought.
Then Miss Granger turned to me. "What are you doing?" She asked raising a brow at me.
"What the Head Master commanded of me, Miss Granger." I answered calmly refusing to be wiped like that dog Burns.
"The Head Master told you to glue yourself to my side?" She asked mockingly, so I was getting on her nerves, huh? How amusing, for me.
"Yes." I said plainly with a nod. "If I feel anyone untrust worthy is afoot." and I did.
"James?" she asked surprised.
"Yes." I nodded again.
"Whats wrong with James?" she inquired a bit wounded.
"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling about him, I do not like him." I said and I thought of the laughing we had heard in the basement, that horrible laughter.
"James and I grew up together!" Miss Granger defended.
"It sounds like you haven't had much to do with him in ten years Miss Granger." I said solemnly.
"Well no I haven't, but he was my best friend growing up. And his father was a much loved friend of the family until his death three years ago."
"Why did the two of you stop talking?" I asked with a raised brow, and knew that what ever her answer was it would prove me right.
"I don't..." she was about to say something but he eyes went blurry as she focused on her thought. Clearly suffering a flashback from her PTSD, and of course I unashamedly used Legilimency to see what she was seeing. And I saw everything from her point of view.
Despite James being five years older then I was we were still friends, James was like a hero to me growing up. He was always hands om, and the smartest boy in his school. Before I was in school I constantly heard James' father bragging on his accomplished son. This inspired me to be as smart as I could be, I began to learn to read and write thinking that being smart would make me as loved as James.
When I went to school the teachers were shocked that I could read and write, and I began to receive the same praises that James used to. Mr.Burns was like a Uncle to me, and he was always raving about me and James. He used to insist that James and I would marry when we were older.
The more I excelled the more distant James became. The more Mr.Burns admired me the more James avoided me, until over the years James would only come near me if forced.
On one of these forced occasions I was ten and playing in the creek, James was sitting a good distance away from me reading, and I would urge him to come join me, and pout when he refused.
"James! Look its a turtle! Come see it!" I yelled to him.
"No! Leave me alone Hermione! I want to read!" He called back.
"Please James!" I begged.
"NO! I said I want to read!" he hollered back in anger.
I was so upset, I was always trying to please him, and he acted like he hated me. Something snapped and as I clinched my fist by my sides and the book flew from his hand a good ten feet in the air and burst into flame. James screamed and then turned to look at me, he shrieked again and pointed at me, I looked down to see what I would later learn was residue of magic wrapping like blue flames around my hands. It didn't hurt but it was shocking.
Even worse was James horrible reaction, "You... you did something bad!" he backed away from me. "Something isn't right with you!" and he turned to run away from me.
"James! I... I..." anything I could have said was drowned with tears and sobs.
Over the next year more and more signs of magic were obvious. Mr.Burns informed us that he had a cousin who had gone to a school for magic. He seemed obsessed with what I could do, but James refused to come to the house with his father, and the only other times I chanced to meet James he would curse at me, and tell me to leave him and his father alone.
Then my Hogwarts letter came, and I jumped at the chance to leave my sad friendless life behind, I was lonely.Everything cleared and I looked down into those big brown eyes which were brimming with tears and so pained.
"I haven't remembered that in almost nine years." She said through the tears.
"I can't say that I blame you Miss Granger, but now I understand why I don't like Mr.Burns." I said calmly.
She raised her brow in a silent question, and I was about to elaborate when the dinning room door swung open and a furious James strode through the door.
"Forgive me Hermione, but I believe I will leave now. But first I must inform you that your parents left every detail of there estate in the capable hands of their new Lawyer."
"Who is their Lawyer?" She asked James clearly fighting to hold back the tears in her eyes.
"I am." He answered proudly. "You will need to stop by the office tomorrow and we will go over the will, and all the other things they left in my care. I have scheduled you an appointment at ten o'clock and we will settle things. Good day Hermione." HE said and he crossed to kitchen to give her a kiss on the forehead, and before I could pull him off it was over.
"Good day, James."She said hollowly, and we watched him leave.
"I will go with you tomorrow Miss Granger, but for now you should finish cooking." I said, and now that James was gone I turned and went into the Dinning Room leaving Miss Granger to with her thoughts.
A/N Hey! I'm back. I thought my week was hard on the last chapter for Wrapped around you finger, but this week I got a new part time job, with full time hours. It's been really hard working everything out, my schedule is nuts. I get up at 6 to take my sister to her school, come home and then go back to bed until 9 then putt around the house until 12 then it's off to work. So I'm trying to work everything out so I can keep writing, but right now there is no time. And I'm just as sad as you guys are about that.