Love the Unloved

Chapter 25

Harry was beside himself by the second day that Hermione had not made an appearance. Her password had been changed and no one had bothered to go check on her, except Harry and Ginny, but then again, it was the weekend so everyone just assumed that she had locked herself away in her rooms. Harry knew that something was up though. Even through this difficult time, she had always made an appearance in the library and this was the second time that she was not there when she usually was.

The green eyed boy looked up when he saw Ron laughing and talking with Lavender as they made their way out of the portrait hole. He looked at Ginny who seemed to be thinking the same thing. Harry narrowed his eyes and got up.

"I'll be right back," he said and stalked up to their bedroom. Harry looked over at Ron's bed and walked over and began to sift through his drawers.

"What are you doing, mate?" Harry turned to look at Neville who was watching him curiously.

"I am trying to find out if Ron has been keeping secrets. I have a feeling he had something to do with this whole thing that started between Hermione and Snape," he replied and continued digging through the drawers.

"Um…Harry…"

"Yeah?"

"He's been getting into his trunk a lot lately," Neville said quietly, wondering if Ron really did start this.

Harry looked under the bed and pulled out the tattered old trunk and flipped it open. His blood boiled when he noticed the Marauder's map sitting within it and quickly snatched it up. Gritting his teeth, he moved some things out of the way, here and there and then came across something that struck him as odd. Ron didn't keep a journal. Frowning, he reached in and picked it up.

"What's this?" he murmured.

"I don't know. I've seen Ron read it sometimes, but he closes his curtains when he does," Neville said with a shrug. Harry opened it and looked through the pages, recognizing the handwriting. Apparently, Neville did too.

"Blimey! That's Professor Snape's!" he gasped.

Harry had a sinking feeling in his gut and for once really hoped that he was wrong about Ron. He really hoped that his best mate for all these years hadn't stooped to this level but as he stopped at one of the newer entries, he knew that it had been Ron. It had always been Ron.

I have found myself ensnared by Hermione's brilliance and beauty. I do not show her much, but I she is a light that I had never thought I would find. I am still a little unnerved by the fact that she knows some of my horrible past, but I do not discuss it with her. It is only by chance that she had found that wretched photograph my sick father had taken, but in a way…it is somewhat comforting to know that I do not have to completely hide from her. She knows more about me than anyone else I know and even then it is not a lot. I do not tell her about what happened to me…

Harry did not finish the rest of the entry because he did not have the right to read such private thoughts. Neville had taken a glimpse at the entry and then looked at Harry. It was obvious they both knew who the real culprit was in this case and Neville thought for once that Harry looked scarier than Snape at the moment.

"That sorry bastard," he hissed. "He stole Snape's journal and has been reading from it and telling people that Hermione had told his secrets."

"Why would he do that?" Neville asked in disbelief.

"Because he wanted her. He was so jealous of the fact that she was in love with someone else that he wouldn't leave any of us alone about it and now all of sudden, he's not asking questions or going after her…nothing," Harry said and stalked over to his own trunk and opened it to see that his Invisibility cloak was thrown haphazardly inside. He always folded his things neatly and he knew he had kept his trunk tidy and hadn't touched it since term began.

"He used your cloak to get into Hermione's rooms," Neville concluded and then narrowed his eyes. "Look what he has done to her and her reputation." It was a rare thing for Neville to get angry, but he had a strong loyalty to his friends and this was complete betrayal.

"He's going to be sorry for this," Harry seethed and shrunk the journal, sticking it in his pocket. He hurried down the stairs and was about to walk out when Ginny stopped him; tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Harry!"

"What's the matter?" Harry asked in concern.

"Crookshanks brought this to me! We have to find her! We have to find her!" Ginny said in a panic. Harry quickly took the letter and read it and felt the color drain from his face.

"Oh no…"

"What's going on?" Neville asked and read the note that Harry handed to him. His eyes widened and he looked at his two friends in distress.

"What are they talking about?" Ginny asked tearfully.

"Her parents." The other two Gryffindors looked at Neville. "She always said that she most valued her parents because they were the most wonderful people she had met. I remember because I always wondered what it would be like to have parents in my life."

"What if they were waiting for her at her parent's house?" Ginny gasped.

"Let's go!" Harry said and grabbed his cloak and ran out of the common room with Ginny and Neville at his side. The three of them pushed past students who gawked at them in wonder and made their way to toward the front gates.

"If anything happened to Hermione, I'll kill Ron myself," Ginny said angrily through her tears and once the three of them were past the gates, they apparated.

They stood in front of Hermione's parent's house which looked oddly still and approached it with their wands drawn. Harry's heart was beating wildly in his chest as he magically opened the door and looked inside the dark house. He staggered back slightly when a waft of rotting stench hit his face. Ginny and Neville coughed and covered their noses and mouths with their hands. Fear gripped Harry as he walked slowly inside. Hermione was like his family and although they had their spats, he loved her like the sister he never had.

The three of them were careful as they looked through some of the rooms, but there was a sickening feeling in the pits of their stomachs as they approached the sitting room. Neville reached around the wall corner and flipped on a light. In that instant, they felt as though their hearts had stopped. Harry was the first to react, letting out an anguished cry.

"HERMIONE!"

He ran over to her and grabbed her limp body, quickly pulling her away from her dead rotting parents. Ginny dropped to her knees at his side and quickly brushed the matted and bloody hair from Hermione's face. She was paler than they had even seen her and her skin even had a grayish tinge to it. Ginny was sobbing as she turned Hermione's pale face toward her.

"She's lost so much weight," Neville said softly, a look of concern all over his face as he knelt down next to Ginny.

"I didn't know she was this sick," Ginny sobbed.

"None of us did…" Harry said in despondently. Tears fell down his cheeks as he looked at her and then he saw it. The barest movement of her throat. His eyes widened and he gasped in shock. "She's alive!"

Ginny ran her wand over her friend and let out a cry of relief. She looked over the girl to find that although she was clearly unhealthy, the blood on her clothes was not hers. Harry cradled her and shook her slightly, trying to get her to wake up.

"She needs a medi-witch now! We need to get the Aurors out here as well," Ginny said. Neville didn't hesitate or think about it as he cast a Patronus.

"Get Healer Janson!" he told the white wispy Squirrel and then gave the address and told it that it was an emergency.

"Do you think we can apparate her to Hogwarts?" Ginny asked.

"No. I don't think she should be apparated until a Healer has stabilized her and made sure that she is alright to travel that way. Besides, right now…I don't want Madam Pompfry anywhere near her," he growled, having heard from Hermione about the medi-witch's indifference to Hermione's black eye some weeks ago.

"Healer Janson takes care of my parents. She's excellent, Harry. She'll help Hermione," Neville said and looked at the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Tears burned his eyes and he blinked them back as he thought about Hermione's devastation. He had always envied her for having such great parents and now he couldn't help but realize he was lucky his were still alive.

"Hermione, come on…please wake up…" Harry sniffed.

"Ha…arry…."

The voice was cracked and faint, but it was Hermione's none the less. Harry held her tighter and cried openly. Ginny was sobbing as she held Hermione's limp hand in hers and telling her to hold on.

"Please Hermione…we need you…hold on…everything will be better…we know what happened…" Harry choked, but even if everything came around at Hogwarts, it wouldn't matter because her parents were still dead.

"Mum…does…n't like…yell…ing…dad's slee…pin…" Hermione rasped and then fell unconscious again, her breaths coming out ragged and shallow.

"Oh man…she's delusional…" Neville said sadly and shook his head.

"How could this have happened?" Harry asked softly.

"This is unbelievable… If no one had found out about her and Professor Snape…her parent's might have been safe," Ginny said and then Harry's expression darkened.

"Ginny…I'm sorry, but Neville and I found out who it was that started this," he said, but before he could tell her the door burst open and a woman in a Healer uniform came running in with a couple of Aurors.

"I'll take her," Healer Janson said and immediately began to run diagnostics on her.

Harry, Ginny, and Neville stood back and watched as the Healer set to work with another co-worker of hers and three Aurors began to work on the bodies of the Granger's. Harry's gaze immediately landed on Tonks who looked as though she was working hard to hold it together, but worked diligently none the less. Kingsley documented everything and then walked over to the three of them.

"What happened here?"

Harry told him what happened and handed him the letter that had been sent to Hermione. His expression darkened and his jaw tightened as he looked it over and then looked at the frail girl being treated at the moment.

"Why is she so thin?"

"Everyone alienated her because of rumors going around the school about how she and Professor Snape were in a sexual relationship. Even the teachers started to treat her badly because they believed Hermione had been the one to tell everyone about Snape's childhood," Ginny said quietly.

"You are referring to the alleged sexual abuse?" he asked.

"It's not alleged…it really did happen," Neville cut in softly. Kingsley's face softened slightly.

"I believe it did. I say alleged because it was never brought before court; wizard or muggle. I have only recently been hearing about some of the stories that supposedly happened from some of my co-workers. However, I do not see how anyone could believe Hermione did this," he said, his expression hardening again.

"We tried to tell them all that, but no one listened. Students were cruel to her and teased her and even tried to start fights with her and no one helped her but us and Professor Lupin," Ginny said angrily through her tears.

"I will be addressing the misconduct of the Hogwarts Professors for this," he said angrily and looked at Tonks.

"I didn't know of it. Remus did mention that some of the students had been cruel to her, but he was always too angry to talk about it and I don't see him much during term anyway," she said softly, her eyes full of remorse.

"We must take the bodies and examine them as soon as possible so that the proper arrangement for their burial can be done," Kingsley said.

"Of course, sir," Tonks said and with a few waves of her wand, the bodies were bagged and sent with the other Auror.

"Come, we will be taking Miss Granger to St. Mungo's," he told the three.

"I have to go back to Hogwarts first," Harry said firmly and looked at Ginny. "I need to talk to Ron." With that, the boy disapparated and Ginny realized what he meant.

"It was all my brother's fault…" she whispered and felt fresh tears sting her eyes.

"Auror Kingsley," the Healer addressed.

"Yes?"

"We need to get her to the hospital now. Her magic is almost completely depleted and I can't even begin to guess when the last time this girl had a proper meal," Healer Janson said. The dark skinned man nodded and looked at Tonks.

"Secure the area," he told her.

"Done, sir, and I already sent for some backup to help."

"Very good."

With that, he motioned for Ginny and Neville to give him their hands and when they did, they were all apparated to St. Mungo's. They followed Kingsley to the waiting room and sat down, not caring that they were covered in blood. Neville heard Ginny sniff softly and looked over at her to see her eyes were filled with tears again, but this time it was different. It wasn't just the fact that her best friend was in the hospital and hurting because of the loss of her parents, it was because her brother was the entire cause of it.

Inside Hermione's room, Kingsley stood by and watched the Healers working on her. She had to be given several potions to stabilize her and was also being evaluated by a Healer from the Mental Trauma Ward. Kingsley could hear the girl mumbling as she came in and out of consciousness.

"I'm comin…to see you…mum…dad…"

"She is completely unaware of us," a Healer stated.

"I didn't…mean…for…the bad men…to get you…

"We need to get her some nutrients now."

"They we…re mean…to me..."

"We will need to evaluate her mental status."

"I loved…him…he left me…"

"She's completely delirious."

"I didn't…do it…"

Kingsley swallowed hard and walked away from the scene, leaving the room and making his way back to the lobby. He walked over to Ginny and Neville and sat down next to them, running his hands over his face.

"Is she going to be alright?" Neville asked.

"I am not sure…I think her mental state is questionable, but after seeing what she saw…I can understand why she might not be sound in mind as of now," he replied and then looked at Ginny. "There are rumors about Severus Snape and Miss Granger being in a relationship…is that true?"

"She loves him…" Ginny said uncertainly.

"There is no policy against students of age dating a Professor as long as the grading is administered by the Head of school rather than the teacher involved, but I want to know for my own personal curiosity." There was silence for a moment before Ginny nodded.

"They were dating of sorts. They had not had sex or anything, but she was in love with him. She has been for years," the red-headed admitted.

"Will you tell me what you know from the beginning and how it led to her current condition?" he asked. Ginny nodded and began to tell him what she knew.

Severus sat at his desk with his head buried in his hands. He couldn't get Hermione off of his mind, especially now that he doubted what he thought he knew. He ran his hand over his face and then stood up. The man walked slowly out of his office and into the corridor that would lead to their rooms. He came to a stop in front of Hermione's door and swallowed. He couldn't deny that he missed her. It had been so long since he had last touched her and he missed it dearly. His birthday had come and passed and he barely noticed it.

He strode over to his room and entered and then walked over to the door that divided both his and Hermione's room. Raising his wand, he lowered the wards and entered her rooms, expecting to see her curled up on the sofa. He frowned when he noticed that she was not. Severus walked over to her bedroom then and opened the door.

"Hermione I-" he stopped when he noticed that she was not there either. His eyes narrowed. "What the bloody fuck are you playing at?"

He searched her rooms, but didn't find her anywhere. In fact, her rooms looked as though they had not been used in days. His frown deepened and he found himself suddenly worried. If she hadn't been there for several days then where the hell had she gone? He had heard of her fight with Miss Brown and how she had run off, but he was sure that she had been hiding in her rooms the entire time because she didn't want to face anyone.

Feeling hallow and discomforted, he left the rooms and headed out of the dungeons. Severus stormed past several students, deciding that he needed to speak to the Headmistress. He wanted to find out the truth. He needed to because he wasn't sure if he could deal with not truly knowing if Hermione had caused all of this or not.

He then heard several students gasping in shock and stopping in their tracks to stare at something down the other corridor. Narrowing his eyes, he strode over and pushed several of them out of the way, only to come to a halt himself. Walking down the corridor from the castle grounds was Harry Potter, covered in blood with a murderous look on his face.