Disclaimer: I do not own any canon characters or situations in the Harry Potter Universe; nor am I paid for this. I just play in their world in no small thanks to Rowling's generosity.

Warnings: Story content contains strong language, violence, and graphic sexual scenes.

A/N: Okay, here's Chapter 25! Again, a bit early; but I've taken one too many long breaks so I feel indebted to all my wonderful readers. I apologize for any errors I might have missed! I hope you enjoy! xo

Hermione sat in the garden, curled up on an iron-laced bench swing with a book about various magical plants in her lap. She smiled as she remembered how enthusiastic - if not a bit self-deprecating - Neville was when he spoke about the subject. The instant Hermione had shown interest in the subject he had returned the next day with the rather large tome - much to the exasperation and amusement of his Gran.

"Hermione!"

Startled, Hermione looked up from her book and turned to peer over her shoulder. She smiled, her brows slightly lifting upwards, as she watched Neville jog towards her. Speak of the devil. "Why hello, Neville. I wasn't expecting a visit from you today. Are you alright?"

Neville nodded eagerly, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I'm fine, thanks. Gran needed to pop in for a moment to sign some things; but that's not why I'm here to see you."

Her brows rose further. "Then what brings you by?"

His smile was so large and dripping with such excitement, Hermione couldn't help but giggle. "My, something certainly has you worked up this afternoon. Well, out with it then. What is it?"

"The Ministry is assembling the Wizengamot for a hearing of some sort on the third of August and Gran says she has to go; but it's on the same day she is supposed to take me to Diagon Alley to gather my things for school! She said we could go before or after, but I need to go that day because Selina Sapworthy's new book release is that day! So. She said I can go with you!" he jumped excitedly,

"Now, listen here, boy. Don't you go putting words in my mouth. I said you may go with her, but only if she so desires to take you."

Hermione flicked her eyes over Neville's shoulder and smiled. Augusta Longbottom was an intriguing woman composed of both old-fashioned pureblood standards and modern ideals. She also had a very fierce, if somewhat stern, love for her grandson.

Over the past four weeks, she had watched the older woman love and spoil the boy unconditionally and in the next breath redirect him from some of his more over-dramatic tendencies with nothing more than a raised brow. She had watched Augusta smile proudly when Neville started talking about his plants; to turn around and give him a gentle nudge with the tip of her cane when he began getting too nervous and stuttering.

Throughout that time, Hermione learned that even though Neville's parents were mentally absent in his life, he did not go without love and that made her happy. "I'd be delighted to accompany him, Lady Longbotto-" she paused at the soul-piercing glare she was receiving, "...Augusta."

Augusta nodded and looked towards her grandson, "Neville, we better be going if we're to meet the Bones family on time. Say your goodbyes." She looked back towards Hermione, "I'll be in touch."

"Remember, Hermione, third of August!" Neville waved and turned on his heel to follow his grandmother off the grounds.

Hermione shook her head and turned back towards her book as she heard the faint pop of the two disapparating. Humming under her breath she let her eyes drag across the pages looking for where she had left off. She hadn't been immersed in the text for more than five minutes when another pop sounded behind her. She placed her hand on the page, "Honestly, Neville? I'm going to tell your Gran to purchase you a Remembrall if you continue forgetting things." Laughing at her own inside joke, she turned around and spotted another familiar face. "Oh, hello Professor."

He chuckled, "Hello, Miss Granger, I'm afraid I'm not Mr. Longbottom. However, do you mind if I join you instead?"

She shook her head, moving to place her feet back on the ground. She bent over and grabbed a leaf that had fallen from a tree nearby and tucked it into the book's spine before closing it. Setting it aside, she turned her body to fully face the Headmaster as he took a seat next to her. She softly laughed as a contented sigh escaped him. He glanced towards her out of the corner of his eye and smirked, "My legs aren't what they used to be, I'm afraid."

Hermione laughed again, lazily flicking her hand towards her own legs. "My legs can empathize, Professor."

He nodded and relaxed further on the swing, crossing his legs at the ankles. "So, I spoke with Healer McGuire. He says you should be released in a week's time. What will you do?"

She bobbed her head side-to-side as she thought on his question. "Well, I've apparently been recruited in taking Neville to Diagon Alley for school supplies and a certain book he's practically salivating over. After that…? I'm not sure, but I'll figure it out. Having lived the life I have, I always manage to figure it out...eventually."

"Would you tell me? About your life, that is."

Hermione turned her head away, her eyes staring unseeingly at the small copse of trees that littered the grounds. She listened as the birds chirped from the perches high above and sighed. "Does Grindelwald exist here?" she paused, only continuing after Dumbledore nodded, "Right, then. There were two major wars after Grindelwald was put down - bully for you for that. The first happened just after I was born. A lot of good people died, but so did the villain of this story. Or so everyone thought. Right before he died, he attacked my brother and his family. Killed his parents and just disappeared after trying to kill him. For years people thought it was finally over. It wasn't until my first year at Hogwarts that we discovered how utterly wrong we were."

She inhaled, wrapping a curl around her finger. "It was that year that we learned he hadn't died. He was somehow still alive; but to maintain some form of existence he had to possess someone. That someone turned out to be our Defense Professor. Every year after that, we - my brother and I - along with our friend, fought against him at every turn." she grunted, "I suppose you already know who I'm talking about so I might as well just call him by his name." she cleared her throat. "Voldemort. That's who it was. It wasn't until our fourth year that everything went topsy-turvy in the worst kind of way. Voldemort's little minions captured my brother and used his blood and a very dark ritual to resurrect him. It...it didn't go completely as planned, I think."

She shuddered at the memory a noseless, grey-skinned face with angry red eyes. "That's when the second war started. Well, when people started believing my brother wasn't just spouting crazy, that is. We fought for years, but it didn't come to a head until what was meant to be our seventh year. We didn't attend that year as we were looking for the things that gave Voldemort power - horcruxes. One by one, we took them out...and then…"

Hermione attempted to blink away the blurriness that had claimed her vision. Dragging the back of her hand across her eyes, she sniffled. "The time for the Final Battle came and was fought on the grounds of Hogwarts. My brother went up against Voldemort and they were both struck down. The only thing is my brother never took another breath. Voldemort had caught on to what we were doing and had created another one of those things, days before the Battle. A potioneer, who we had thought was on our side, had previously readied a form of resurrection potion in the event Voldemort failed. Within twenty minutes that abomination was once again standing."

She cleared her throat, trying to rid herself of the overly-large lump holding out there. "It was a hell you could probably never imagine. It was that day I saw my life destroyed. There were so many bodies, so many unseeing eyes. The worst was seeing my brother lying lifeless on the dirty stones of the courtyard. I ran to him and apparated out, burying him in a peaceful glade far away so no one would find him. Then, I ran like a coward - my foot already halfway in the grave, I suppose - as I was slowly beginning to bleed out. I finally took up residence in a warehouse outside of London so that I could heal my wounds. It wasn't but a few days later that Voldemort magically projected the scene of my best friend and his family being hung in front of the Ministry for being blood-traitors."

She took a deep, shaky breath; clasping her hands tightly in her lap. "After that, time seemed to change without my noticing. Days quickly turned into weeks, which just as quickly turned into months. Throughout all of that I watched more friends die and commit suicide, than should be healthy for my psyche. It is a true wonder I have not gone insane. I spent a lot of my time trying to find the remaining horcrux. I figured if I found it, I'd destroy it, then face that insane bastard. If I died in the process, then so be it."

"However, with time passing and no progress being made, I began to watch the world around me. Muggleborn witches and wizards were being executed left and right; enough so that they should've been listed on the endangered species list. Blood-traitors and poorer half-bloods received the same treatment as the muggleborns. The only ones who remained were the followers of the Dark Lord and the half-bloods who possessed enough money to make their lives valuable for that much longer. That was when I realized that there was no point in searching for the last horcrux. The people did not want change, they were ecstatic about what had already happened."

Hermione took another deep breath as her throat constricted. "There were so many times I thought about offing myself. It would've been so easy. Just do it. That's what I would tell myself, but then I would get so angry for even considering that as an alternative; and so I would go out and hunt Death Eaters. They caught on quick enough, because they started hanging up my picture everywhere - muggle and Wizarding London both. I couldn't step foot outside unless I was disillusioned, but even then that's not always foolproof. I eventually got to the point where the only time I would leave my hideout was to retrieve food from the grocers or bins behind restaurants."

"For three years, I struggled to stay alive. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I found an ally in an old friend. A boy I had attended school with. He helped me take out a particularly nasty woman that had made it to my Top Three." she paused, but kept her eyes averted towards the trees. "Don't look at me like that. I did what I had to do and I don't regret it. The people I killed, deserved it thrice over. They enjoyed the torture, rapes, and killings. Reveled in it, actually. The woman, especially, loved hurting children. Her worst mistake was thinking she would ever get away with hurting my brother."

She let the anger consume her, let it wash away her sorrow as the ghostly sounds of Umbridge's head hitting the stone floor reverberated in her head. "After she died, we tried to escape; but we weren't quick enough. They had thrown up an anti-apparition spell, trapping us inside. We were surrounded, so we fought. It was when a wizard I hadn't seen tried to curse me that my friend sacrificed himself to save me. I held him as he died. Held him as his body turned to ashes and slipped through my fingers like so much dust."

"I had been so trapped in my grief that the potioneer who had revived Voldemort was able to sneak up on me...and then another wizard appeared out of nowhere. While they bickered amongst one another like children, I made my escape; but, again, I wasn't fast enough...or in this case nimble enough, I suppose. I tripped over a bloody branch and went arse-over-tit into that clearing where Theo found me. They caught me and one of their spells is the one that sent me here."

"So, as you can see, I'm no more than a coward who was holding onto life by just a thread of sanity." she mumbled, her shoulders shaking as her roiling emotions overwhelmed her.

Dumbledore stared at the young woman next to him in awe. There was no other word for it. She had been through more than hundreds of people experience in even a fraction of their lifetime. He was astounded by the strength and resilience in the girl, granted he knew it was there as she identified herself as a Gryffindor; but to have come this far and still have the will to live? Gods. She was a rare one indeed, as he wasn't even remotely sure he could've done it himself.

He cleared his throat, placing a gentle hand atop her clenched ones causing her to meet his eyes. "You are an incredible woman, Miss Granger, and I mean that with every fibre of my being. There isn't one other person that I know - and I've met a lot of people over my lifetime - that could do any of the things you did and remain strong at the end of it all. You are most certainly not a coward. What you are is a survivor and a bloody good one at that."

Hermione smiled, a faint blush painting her cheeks. She began to awkwardly pull at her hospital gown as she mumbled a quiet thank you.

He nodded. "Now, I have a proposal for you, my dear. One I'd very much like you to consider."

"Okay…"

"I find myself in need of a Defense Professor, as my last one left under...dubious...circumstances."

Hermione paused, "By dubious do you mean cursed?"

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose, "What? Of course not, my dear! He was arrested by Aurors for smuggling Dwarven relics out of the country. He's currently in Azkaban."

Hermione sighed, looking down at her slightly twitching fingers. "As much as I appreciate the offer, Professor, I must decline. I can't exactly teach at a school where a younger version of me is attending. I do believe that would have too many people questioning things they shouldn't be. It's probably best if I simply disappear."

Dumbledore hummed, his hand stroking his long, white beard. "Indeed, I quite understand your predicament, Miss Granger; however, I have discovered something quite curious. Although, I'm not sure what it means."

She frowned, a thin line forming between her brows as she looked over at her old Headmaster. "What is it?"

He sighed and turned his head to face her full on, "We do not currently possess any record of a Hermione Granger receiving an invitation to Hogwarts."