Hermione was freaking out. It wasn't even her trial, she wouldn't actually have one, but her mind was gone anyway. It was completely full of nerves and worried thoughts about whether or not her research would be enough. Because despite what she'd told Draco and what she'd insisted in her letters she didn't know. She had no way of knowing whether or not things would be okay and if they would get to continue trying to figure out what they were to each other. She didn't know and that absolutely terrified her, because Hermione wanted to know everything.
She ran her hands over her face and continued pacing around her room. She hadn't felt like she'd had a real home outside of Hogwarts for the past year, because going home meant living in the house without her parents. So she'd settled between the Burrow and Australia. But now she was back in her own room, with her father just down the hall as they tried to go back to being normal. It was different, without her mother there, but they were trying and that was the important part.
Her father hadn't been too thrilled upon hearing how her relationship with Draco had escalated since she'd last seen him. He was still caught up in the fact that she used to come close to tears if he was mentioned because he'd always used to make her feel so rotten. He'd gotten more used to the idea since she'd been back and he'd been able to tell just how much Draco meant to her now. He'd even offered to escort her to Draco's trial that afternoon, though Hermione knew that couldn't happen because he was a muggle. It was still a nice thought, though, and she appreciated her father greatly for it.
Hermione closed her eyes as she continued walking back and forward across her floor. She knew the floor plan well enough to know where things were, though she did stumble because of a few stray books. It was the stack of books she hadn't remembered that sent her tumbling to the floor and sent her father bursting into her room. "Hermione?" he asked, his voice laced with panic. It disappeared when he saw that she was all right, and he reached down and helped her up. "What are you doing, dear?"
"I was pacing," she said, frowning at the books. It was probably the first time she'd really done that, but she was irritated that tripping over them had interrupted her thoughts of Draco and the trial. "And thinking, okay? That's it. Okay, fine, I was thinking about Draco, Dad, will you stop prying?" she snapped.
Her father could only laugh at her frustration, which didn't help Hermione's mood. "Hermione I only asked what you were doing. I didn't ask about him,"
"Sorry," she muttered, folding her arms across her chest and sighing heavily. "It's just that-"
"He goes on trial today. I know. And you're worried about him,"
"What if it's not enough? What if my research isn't enough and he ends up going to Azkaban? You haven't seen people after that place, but I have and it's awful,"
"Hermione I'm sure he'll be thankful that you cared enough to try. That's what matters, after all. And maybe he will get punished, maybe he will go to that place, but if he's changed as much as you say then maybe it will only be for a year or two," he said, patting her shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile. "I will have to meet him though, you do realize this right?"
"Dad," she groaned, hugging him all the same. "Thank you,"
"It was my pleasure. At least you've calmed down a bit. Though I do think it would be wise for you to contact one of your friends. They would probably be able to handle this entire thing better than I would,"
"Would you mind if I went to see Harry?"
"Of course not," he smiled. "As long as you come back tonight and tell me how this trial goes,"
"I wouldn't dream of staying away," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll be back tonight-Have a good day!" she called as she ran down the stairs and grabbed her wand from the kitchen. A second later she'd Disapparated and landed at Andromeda Tonks' front door. As far as she knew that was where Harry currently was. He'd written her, saying that Teddy had been doing a lot of accidental magic lately and Andromeda wanted another person around the house to help out.
With a slight hesitation, as it was about ten in the morning and Hermione didn't know if anything important was happening, she knocked on the door. It was thrown open almost immediately and a toddler was shoved into her arms. "Hermione I'm so glad you're here. He's been asking for stories nonstop this morning and you know Harry and I can't do them as well as you can!" A relieved looking Andromeda Tonks ushered her into the house and shut the door behind her, shaking her head slightly.
"Oh, I-" Hermione began, offering Teddy a small smile as he threw his arms around her neck in a hug.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry. You must be here for Harry, I should have known. Today is Draco's trial, right? Harry's told me all about you two. Of course you'd want his support,"
"No, it's fine," Hermione assured her, following Andromeda into the kitchen. Harry was sitting at the table with a tired look to his eye and a cup of coffee clutched tightly in his hands.
"Hermione what are you-Oh shit, is that today? Oh sh-Sorry Andromeda, be careful of language with Teddy I know, I forgot for a moment,"
"Don't worry about it. I'm stressed too, I've slipped up this past week as well. Here, Hermione, I can take Teddy and the two of you can talk," she said, reaching for her grandson.
"Actually I could read him a story, if you'd like. It would take my mind off things and it might put you to sleep. It's about nap time, right Teddy?"
"No!" the young boy snapped. "No, I don't wanna nap, Ne!"
"But you want to be awake this afternoon when we go to London, don't you Teddy?" Andromeda asked.
"Yes," he said slowly, looking at Andromeda with confused eyes.
"You know if you don't take a nap, Teddy, you'll get very tired and you'll have to leave London early," Harry said, trying to reason with the small boy.
"But Harry," Teddy whined.
"Do you remember when I read you stories at Christmas, Teddy?" He nodded in response and Hermione smiled before continuing. "Would you like me to read you a story today?" He nodded again, excitedly this time, and gave Hermione a goofy grin. "Well, I can only read you one if you take a nap now,"
His eyes narrowed and he frowned at her, but Teddy slowly nodded his head. "Fine," he muttered eventually. "I take nap," Hermione smiled and kissed Teddy's cheek, which made him grin again. "But Harry come,"
"Of course I'll come," Harry said, standing up and leaving his mug at the table. "I'd love to hear a story too,"
The next half hour of her life was spent sitting in a chair in Teddy's room as she read from a small children's book that he seemed to adore. Harry was sitting beside her on the floor, surrounded by toys, and Teddy was laying on the floor with his favorite blanket. Harry had explained that he was currently protesting his bed, which had only made Hermione chuckle. Teddy was by far the best distraction from Draco's trial that she'd come across that day. Pacing had been stupid, this was what she needed. Until, of course, the story finished and Teddy fell asleep. Then Harry had dragged her out of the room and into the kitchen. He sat her down at the table and gave her a concerned look. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine," she lie easily, looking out the window at the garden. "I just-I-"
"Gets harder to lie, doesn't it," Harry stated, frowning at her. "Hermione, what's wrong? I know today's his trial but that's not until this afternoon and you'll be there. There's nothing to worry about. After everything you've done for research, I'd be surprised if they sentenced him at all,"
"But what if it's not enough, Harry?" she asked in a small voice that she hated using. But it described perfectly how she was feeling at the moment, so Hermione didn't fight the voice very hard.
"Hermione, is that what you're worried about?"
"Of course it is. What if I didn't do enough to help and he gets sent there anyway? I know he's done wrong, I get that, contrary, to popular belief, but they'd send him to Azkaban and I can't stand the thought of what would happen to him if he did go there,"
"Hermione he's got you, and McGonagall from what I've heard. Between the two of you, he can't end up there for too long. And you'll be there to help him when he's out, if he does go,"
"But Harry, I-"
"You need to stop worrying about this until it's his actual trial. Which isn't for another seven hours, so we're going to do something,"
"Harry can't we just sit here and talk about how much I'm freaking out?"
He rolled his eyes and shook his head, standing up and grabbing her hand to pull her with him. "How about lunch, at the Leaky Cauldron, and then we could go to Flourish and Blotts?"
"Harry it's barely even half past ten. We don't need lunch,"
"We'll go to Flourish and Blotts first then," he shrugged, waving at Andromeda as they passed her on their way out of the house. "Let me try and help you, Hermione. It'll be nice, just the two of us. What do you say?"
She rolled her eyes and was tempted to shake her head, but she ended up nodding. "Fine. But I get to talk about how nervous I am if I remember it,"
"I wouldn't have it any other way,"
His plan worked, for the most part. They spent an hour in Flourish and Blotts looking at books, which Hermione found very comforting and she bought three new ones. They did end up getting lunch, which helped her take her mind off Draco's trial for the duration of their meal. Afterwards they ended up going to the quidditch shop and Harry wanted to stop into Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, so they ended up spending much of their afternoon at Diagon Alley. Hermione found that she was beginning to enjoy herself and her mind kept drifting further and further from the trial.
They were walking down the main street when there was a sudden shout of her last name, which surprised her. Hermione squinted to see where it was coming from and saw a familiar, excited face hopping up and down. "Hermione who's-"
"Elizabeth!" Hermione called loudly, smiling widely at the sight of the younger girl and running over. She considered giving her a hug once she reached her but quickly decided against it. "How's your summer been so far? What are you-all of you," she said, noticing that Jacob and Ben were next to her, "doing here today?"
Elizabeth's eyes flickered to Jacob, who looked at the ground guiltily and shook his head slightly. "Jacob just needed a day with some friends. Ben and I were the only ones available. Not that we'd tell him no or anything, it's lovely to see him really,"
"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked quietly, before Harry came over to stand next to her.
"Hermione who are-"
Ben's face lit up at the sight of Hermione's best friend. "Hi!" he said excitedly, cutting Harry off and grabbing his hand to shake it. "My name's Ben. I-I didn't have the courage to talk to you early but I guess I never realized how close you were with Hermione and if you're close with her then you must be okay with people saying hi so-"
Harry looked a little confused for a moment, but he quickly recovered and smiled at the young Gryffindor. "It's nice to meet you," he said, shaking his hand before giving Hermione a confused look. "Um, all of you, it's nice to meet you,"
"These are some of the first years I was telling you about," Hermione said, giving Harry an apologetic smile. Ben was obsessed with anyone he thought of as a hero, and that included Harry.
"Well I'm her favorite, actually," Elizabeth said cockily. "I'm sure she's mentioned me; my name's Elizabeth,"
"Of course," Harry said, smiling slightly. "Hello, Elizabeth,"
"She likes Jacob and I just fine though," Ben protested, and Jacob rolled his eyes.
Hermione looked at Jacob closer than she had before and she realized that he looked really pale and upset. She was instantly worried about him, because the last time she'd seen him he'd looked really happy. "Jacob what's going on?" she asked quietly, letting Elizabeth and Ben argue with Harry about who her favorite was. "Are you okay?"
"No," he said miserably.
"Then what's wrong? You can tell me, Jacob, I promise. Is it about your parents?"
"How do you know about them?"
"Draco told me. We try not to keep things from each other. It doesn't always work, in fact it usually never does, but it worked for that. And I don't judge you for it, you know,"
"I've heard them talking the past few days, about people like you and how they don't, um, like them very much," he whispered, glancing nervously at Harry. "They kept saying how they had to do something about them and I... I couldn't handle listening anymore. I wrote to Elizabeth and asked if we could meet at Diagon Alley. She brought Ben because he and I get along pretty well. I'm just... I'm afraid they're going to do something bad, my parents. I'm afraid they're capable of it,"
"Jacob I'm sure everything will be okay. They couldn't risk doing something that could make them lose you. I don't think anyone could. You're a pretty great kid, you know,"
"You don't know them like I do," he said, the panic in his voice raising slightly. "I can't-I don't want to keep living with them," he admitted quietly. "I can't listen to them, I think I'm going crazy and I-"
"Jacob, Ben and I have both told you, we think our parents would be fine with you moving in. Just tell them you're visiting with friends for the rest of the summer and then just don't go back," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes. "Jacob we're worried about you. It's barely been a week since we got back from school and you already look awful,"
"What's this ab-" Harry began curiously, but a loud scream from down the street stopped him.
"What was that?" Ben asked, looking toward the source of the noise.
"Why did someone-" Elizabeth began, but she too was stopped as another scream sounded.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, panic beginning to seep into her voice.
"I'm sure everything's fine," Harry said, though Hermione could tell how unsure he sounded. "I'll go check it-"
More screams began popping up and Hermione was able to see bright flashes of light. In a matter of three seconds Diagon Alley fell to complete and utter chaos. People began screaming and running, shoving others out of the way in an attempt to leave the area. Harry ran against the crowd and tried to get to the original source of the screaming. "Where are your parents?" Hermione asked immediately, looking at the three younger students who looked terrified.
"T-They dropped us off, mine and Ben's parents, and Jacob had to sneak away,"
"Shit," Hermione swore loudly, looking over her shoulder and the area that was slowly clearing. She could see people dueling and by the shouts she caught of the curses, Hermione knew it was more serious than it should have been. She only began to notice the people laying injured or dying in the street when Elizabeth screamed loudly at one that stumbled close to them before falling. "Get to the joke store,"
"What?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes wide and scared.
"I know the people who own it and I trust them. Now please, all or you, run straight there and don't come out until I come to get you. Got it?"
"No-No you have to come with us!" Jacob shouted. "Please, you can't leave us alone!" He grabbed her wrist and clung to it, tears filling his eyes. "What if it's them? What if it's them and they find me and-"
"Jacob listen to me. You'll be okay, I promise. Please, I don't want any of you to get hurt but I need to go help-" Hermione cast a glance over her shoulder and saw that the fighting was getting closer. "Come on, guys, I need you to be safe. Please,"
"We have to-" Ben began. He seemed to be the most collected out of all of them, and Hermione could understand why. After all of the time he'd spent reading about superheroes he probably wanted to be like one and make sure others were safe.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
Hermione spun around almost immediately and threw her arms out in front of the younger students. "Who the hell are you?" she asked, glad that at least Elizabeth, Jacob, and Ben seemed to realize what she wanted and they got behind her.
There were a few tense seconds where the woman who was standing in front of her remained still, but the she smile. "I know a lot about you, Hermione Granger,"
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she looked at the woman, and her hand slipped into her pocket and gripped her wand tightly. The entire thing felt very familiar and as she glanced to the side, she saw Harry dueling furiously. "That's nice," she said, not paying as much attention as she knew she should. "I'd appreciate it if you'd move and let us through,"
"Unfortunately that's not in the cards, Miss Granger,"
"But what's-"
The witch in front of her cast a spell so quickly that Hermione barely had time to react. And her reaction was simply raising her wand so she could try and cast a shield charm. Hermione stumbled back, unsure of what the curse had done but her head did feel odd. A shout of her name from Elizabeth cleared her mind and Hermione immediately cast a shield charm to protect herself and the three students. "Oh, smart girl," the witch said, laughing gleefully. "Very smart, but do you know what cuts through shield charms?"
Hermione didn't even get the chance to answer, though she was sure she knew what was coming next. She was hit with the Cruciatus Curse and immediately began screaming and writhing around, leaving the younger students unprotected. But what was she to do? She couldn't try and fight it, the curse didn't allow for that. The only thing she could do was hope that they would take the chance to run.
She had absolutely no idea how long the curse was on her, but she did know that she struggled to retain her balance once she was released from it. She did manage to catch the other witch off guard as she sent a curse of her own at her, stalling the older woman for a moment. "Go!" she said loudly, realizing that the others were still behind her. "Go, please, I-" She stopped to shoot another jinx before turning around to face Elizabeth, Ben, and Jacob. "I'm serious, you need to leave. I don't know what's going on and I don't know if I can protect you so you need to-" She stopped talking as she was hit with another curse that made her scream in agony.
"H-Hermione we don't want to-" Elizabeth began, her voice at least an octave higher than it normally was.
"Just go!" The shout, Hermione realized as the curse was taken off her, came from Harry and he was running to her rescue. "Go and find someone to tell the ministry!"
"Oh look at this, here to save the stupid girl, Potter?" the woman laughed. Screams began to sound again as Hermione was sure someone had attacked the part of Diagon Alley most had run off too.
"Brightest witch of my damn age," Hermione said angrily, taking the chance to stun the witch when she wasn't looking at her. "Or at least that's what I've been told,"
Harry glanced at her, a slightly proud look in his eyes at what she'd done. "Nice one," he said, looking at the witch. "Now who the hell is she and why are they attacking-"
A spell hit him and Harry fell forward, frozen on the ground. For a moment Hermione felt the overwhelming fear that he'd died before she bent down and found that his heart was still beating. She hadn't seen what had happened but she knew that it furiated her. This had gone too far; the fact that someone would attack Diagon Alley and hurt people made her realize just how bad the world still was, even with Voldemort gone.
She managed to drag Harry into a concealed area and shouted that Elizabeth, Jacob, and Ben stay with him and stay unseen. They seemed to listen to her, finally, as they hovered over him and waited for him to wake up. Hermione ran back out then, trying to make sure everyone who'd been injured would be all right and try to avoid the spells being thrown at the same time.
It worked for a while and she was able to make sure that at least some people wouldn't die from what had happened to them. She was in the process of standing up after dragging one woman to the side when she saw a spell flying at her. She recognized it almost immediately as the one that had hit her in fifth year. But it was too close at that moment to dodge and the wave of purple fire flew over her. She let out a small noise as a large amount of pain overcame her every thought. She crumpled to the ground, only barely aware of someone screaming her name repeatedly before her conciousness slipped away and she was left with nothing but blackness and pain.