Hey guys, new chapter of a new year.

WARNING: Long, heart-breaking chapter

As always, tell me what you guys think and as always don't forgot to leave a review.


Chapter 23: The Funeral

Try and be less of a great git...Well git.

Less angry.

Less demanding.

More...comforting.

His fingers shook nervously as he finished buttoning his shirt. He had been wanting to avoid this day for so long. It was possibly going to be a day of tears and misery for the girl. He had been informed that Minerva and Albus had spent last night preparing for the ceremony. Getting a Priest, arranging a casket and burial ground and ensuring that the girl at least had some pictures of her parents to keep.

"Sev-wus!"

He heard his name being called as he finished the last button in front of the bathroom mirror.

"Yes?" He glanced over his shoulder to see the small girl wearing a black short sleeved mourning dress with a white collar and bare feet. She struggled with the three front buttons as she balanced the brush in her right hand.

"Papa's not here to bwush my hair" She wasn't wrong, her hair was similar to a birds nest in the mornings. He wondered how Albus dealt with it or why she didn't ask Minerva too.

He removed his wand swishing it towards one of his shampoos to create a wooden small for her to sit on in front of the mirror, "come child"

The pulled her up onto the stool and removed her brush from her hand before slowly beginning to brush her hair from the button.

"Your parents will be here soon to pick you up. Did you eat all of your breakfast?"

She gulp feeling guilt, "I couldn't eat much. I-I'm n-ner-vous to see them again"

He nodded, understandingly so. After he had managed to finally wake the girl up and convince her transfigure into her human form, he had cooked her a slice of toast with one egg on top; hard boiled. He decided it would be best if he got ready first to save time. They were running behind schedule but he didn't worry. Her parents knew this was his first time having Hermione over the night and that he wasn't prepared to take care of a child for a full 24hrs. Nevertheless, he tried his best.

This was, of course, Hermione's day to mourn and she needed to do so.

He ran his hand through her hair feeling the softness of the finally smooth locks.

"Can you pweeze bwaid it like papa does?"

He frowned disappointed in his ability to help her, "my apologies dear but I do not know how to do that"

She looked up and into his eyes seeing his disappointment and guilt spilling in the dark pupils. She gently smiled before nodding, "That's okay god-daddy. Thank you for bwushing my hair" She hugged him before jumping off the stool and continuing to play with her buttons.

He smirked at her innocence and forgiving nature hoping that she would never lose it as she grew older and began to realise the true coldness of the world she lived in.

He shook his head, fixing his cuffs of his black suit.

Breathe! He told himself as he followed her into the lounge room only to come face to face with Minerva and Albus both dressed in black.

"Mommy" He heard the girl call out.

"Hermione!" Minerva chuckled happily as she knelt down and captured the running girl in her arms before picking her up and cuddling her.

"Ooch, I missed you so much, kitten" She spun her daughter around in her arms smiling happily. Over the last couple of weeks, she had made quite the bond with her daughter. So much in fact, that Minerva struggled to remain upstairs sorting out the final details of the funeral last night rather than take her daughter back and have another evening cuddle session.

Hermione giggled as her mother kissed her cheek several times in a row before brushing her loose locks of hair back and smiling fondly at her precious child.

"How are you, kitten?"

"Good, mommy. Sev-wus wead me a bedtime storwy and then he let me s-l-eep in his bed"

Severus grumbled and cross his arms at Hermione's statement.

"Not by choice" He grumbled earning a laugh from Albus and Minerva who knew of Hermione's inability to stay in her own bed. She really didn't like being alone and it was understandable. Over the weeks of therapy, Hermione began to open up about her experiences on the streets. Minerva was heartbroken about the fact that the young girl was living in a cardboard box, had eaten food out of the trash and drank from puddles and water fountains. She couldn't imagine any of her students being in that position, let alone a child. It must have been so isolating to be put in that position and wondered how the girl had managed to remain alive for so long, especially with the injuries she bared.

"And did you behave yourself for your godfather" Albus asked flicking a gentle smile towards Severus.

Hermione nodded her head, smiling before looking over to her papa whose eyes always seemed to sparkle at her. She opened her arms out to be taken in his. Hermione couldn't decide who gave the best hugs after today. Her father was so warm and soft and cuddly. He chuckled as she relaxed into him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I missed you" Hermione mumbled making Albus brush her cheek and kiss her forehead, "we'd never leave you dear. Your mother and I just had to ensure that everything was ready"

"Weady?" Hermione questioned looking curious at her father.

"For today, my dear sweet girl" He rustled her hair earning a growl from the dark haired man who had spent over 10minutes standing there and brushing the bird nest.

"And how are you, Severus?"

"Fine thank you, Tabby"

Ready to get this over with! He thought sourly. How could both parents be so chipper?

The older man removed his pocket watch from his overcoat and checked the time, "we really must be going, my dear" He smiled over to his wife who could only nod and take a stiff breathe.

"Right, are you ready Severus?"

He could only nod in agreement before they moved off towards the apparition spot.


The ceremony was small and quite just like they had wanted.

They had chosen on a small graveyard just South-East of Crawley where the family was originally from. Albus had to stop his daughter from trying to grab her birth mother whose dark brown hair lay splattered against the soft white pillow. She wore a purple dress and looked very peaceful. The white haired man sighed guiltily as the small, vulnerable wriggled in his arms trying to break free to see her mother one last time.

He finally allowed her to seeing the heartbreak written on the girls face. She was desperate as she whimpered and cried to get free.

"Mommy!" Hermione jumped up trying to climb the casket to see her mother. Minerva's heart broke in two as the small girl tried to coax her mother to wake up. The dark haired woman wiped her eyes before rubbing her girls back and picking her up.

"She's not waking up?" Hermione sobbed into Minerva's arms.

"Ooch I know dear, she's gone to a better place" She tried to convince the girl that everything was going to be fine but on the inside she was crumbling. Severus remained in the background standing idly by near the priest as he prepared for the sermon.

"Just a small ceremony today"

Severus nodded.

"Family only" He muttered under his breath as he watched Hermione tug her mother to the other casket.

"H-How come I c-can't see my daddy?" The small girl asked Albus as she cuddled more into Minerva's arms. Her fathers casket, on the other hand lay closed.

"My dear, your father arranged that you not see his...rema-...that you not see him in this state after his death"

That was a complete lie. In truth, it wasn't Mr Grangers' body that lied in the casket but anothers; a DeathEaters. Albus had been searching for any reports of the man that may identify what happened that night of the car crash. He knew Mr Granger was on the run or had been previously as their was barely any records within their house let alone of the family other than their certifications.

He had informed Minerva and Severus that Hermione's father could still possibly be alive a few days after learning about it. At the end of the day, they had decided to not tell the girl seeing as she would want to be with her father and by Minerva's exclamation; she didn't trust Hermione's birth father after he had abandoned her with her uncle.

Hermione rested sobbing against the woman's shoulder. No, there was no way Minerva could let the girl go after all they had been through. Hermione already had their family name and had only just started calling her mommy for the last few weeks.

Minerva rubbed her daughters arm, comforting her as much as possible as she guided her to the seats ready to begin the sermon and lay the coffins into the ground. She hoped that Hermione would be okay. She just wanted to see the small girl smile again.

Just once more.


The ceremony was kept short, with the pastor talking for about 20 minutes followed by Albus, Minerva and Severus saying a few words of what they had found about the family during their investigation. By the end of the hour, Minerva helped Hermione lay a reef on each of their grave stones. Throughout the speeches, Hermione had refused to say anything as every time she was choked up with tears. The pastor had comforted her and told her that they would always be allowed to come back and speak to them at a latter point.

After the pastor left Hermione and her adopted parents to sat there quietly for a time. Albus and Minerva both decided to allow Hermione some time privately to say goodbye to her birth mum and dad. Merlin, knew she needed it after having no time from her parents death to dealing with her uncle then onto being Bear and finally onto being adopted.

Hermione had sat cross-legged at both their headstones sniffling and plucking at the grass. She had been at this for over an hour, reflecting on her memories of her parents and how kind they were. Fat tears sprawled down her cheeks as she sniffed and tried to wipe her tears away. The pastor had asked whether or not Hermione wanted to say something to them but she quickly realised anything she said could not bring them back. Instead, the silence reflected the somberness of the situation.

"She's heartbroken, Albus" The green eyed woman placed her hand on her lap, whispering to her husband. "I know, dear" He placed his hand in his wifes' hand hoping to at least give her some comfort, "but I don't believe interrupting her grieving will change anything".

She glanced over to Severus noticing his was standing just over 50 metres away, leaning against a green leafed tree, smoking a cigarette with his back turned to them. Much like her daughter, even he wanted to be left alone for some time.

But Minerva felt otherwise in regards to her own daughter. She didn't know what to say to the small girl to bring her comfort. No words could express the girls grief and Minerva's guilt for knowing her daughter in pain and knowing she could not do anything.

The older witch thought isolation was only going to make things worse.

So instead she tried something new.


'I don't know why you left me...'

Hermione wiped her nose on the back of her hand as she stared at her parents graves.

They were gone!

They were really gone and they weren't coming back!

She stared down at the crease in her elbow that still held several bruises and brought her index and thumb towards the area pinching herself once more to make sure this was real. Tears fell from her cheeks, splashing against the green grass that lay beneath her and she whimpered for her parents to come back.

'I was a terrible daughter!' She closed her eyes in pain thinking that she had caused all this. If she hadn't, her uncle would have never of accused her.

Purr! purr!

Hermione opened her eyes to feel something furry rubbing against her arm. She turned to see a grey, short haired tabby cat rubbing its head against her side.

The brown haired girl was shocked by the situation of seeing the green eyed cat trying to comfort her. She sniffed, rubbing her eyes of her tears before hesitantly lifting her hand and running it through the cats hair.

The cat with imprinted glasses purred more deeper before moving in front of Hermione and jumping onto the girls lap. They grey haired cat purred more as she felt the tears pelt on her furred stomach and leaned forward to Hermione's face, headbutting the girls chin as if to give her some form of comfort and wipe away the tears.

The young girl sniffed, trying to force a smile as the soft fur tickled her just under her chin. She pulled the cat closer to her body and hugged it gently.

"I miss them so much" Hermione whispered into the cats fur. All the cat could do was purr louder and attempt to comfort the small child as much as possible.


They had stayed like this for over an hour. In that time, Severus had gone through four cigarettes and one long-black coffee brought over by a house elf. He had thought it be best that the girl get comfort from the two that could actually offer it to her and remained to stay out of the way. Albus had come over to him not so long ago to ensure that he was alright but the younger man just nodded as he read from his small potions journal and sucked on a cigarette waiting patiently to leave as he leaned against the tree.

On the other side, Albus remained watching his wife (in her cat form) comfort the girl still whimpering on the ground. He pulled his jacket further over himself as the afternoon chill began to set in. He should have really packed a jacket for the girl, he thought as he looked down at what she was wearing. Nothing but a child's dress that came up to her small knobbly knees and sandals. He sighed, wondering if he needed to have a chat to Severus about properly dressing a young child for an outing, considering that the man was as much a part of their family now as he was before.

He leaned back against the chair watching as a few storm clouds came into view. It would no doubt rain soon and by the feeling of the now coldness of the air, it would be in the next half an hour. He quietly checked his watched, seeing as it was almost 1pm, he decided in another 10-15 minutes to move his family back to the castle and spend the rest of the day attempting to distract the girl. He knew Fawkes would do a good job considering the girls love of animals.

Or he could ask her to try and transform again, although that did not go too well last time and he risked her passing out. Still, he could only wonder what she would be capable of. If she were able to turn into any magical creatures such as a dragon or a unicorn or if she were only able to turn into the muggle animals. He thought she'd probably like to see a unicorn. Maybe today would be a good day to let her see one, he knew Hagrid had been on the look out for some recently.

He turned back to his wife and sighed as he saw the time. It was definitely going to rain soon. He could already feel a few droplets hit his shoulder and hands.

"My dear" He called gently to his wife. The cat lifted her head above Hermione's left shoulder to look at her husband. He looked towards the sky noticing the ever darkening clouds beginning to roll in. The cat could only nod and remove itself from the girls arms before transfiguring back into her human self behind the girl.

"Hermione, dear. I believe it is time we made a move" She touched the girls shoulder only to feel her shudder.

Albus sighed, moving next to his wife soothing the young girls back as his wife but Hermione made no move to attempt to stand. Albus gave Minerva a concerned look wondering if the girl had fallen asleep. She usually didn't ignore them, she was usually the complete opposite and didn't like being alone, much less ignored.

"My dear it is time to leave" Hermione stubbornly refused, she didn't want to leave them here. She wanted to stay here at least a while longer. Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head at them. Despite the goose bumps forming on her skin, she refused to abandon her birth parents. She wasn't a traitor. She loved them too much to let go.

"Hermione, come dear" Minerva cooed into her ear one last time but she just continued to shake her head.

"Pweeze" She whimpered begging them, tears falling down her face but it was getting dark and cold. Albus shushed her before attempting to kneel down and wrap his arms around her waist.

Hermione's eyes instantly widened as he felt his hands touch her ribs.

"NO!" She screamed as she crawled over to her parents graves.

"Hermione, please dear" Minerva knelt down opening her arms begging her daughter to come to her but the girl refused.

"I-I'm not leaving them a-again"

"Please kitten. I promise, we will visit them again"

Hermione shook her head resting her forehead on the mothers grave as she sobbed.

"Albus I-" Minerva shook her head not knowing what to do. The poor girl was in absolute agony over her parents loss. She couldn't bring herself to drag the girl away but they couldn't stay any longer. It had been over six hours.

"Come dear," Hermione screamed in agony as Albus wrapped his arms her and tried to pick her up.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO" She squirmed before doing something she never thought she'd do to her family.

She hurt him.

She bit him!

Albus yelped not believing that his daughter had actually harmed him. She took full advantage of his distraction by forcing her eyes closed and concentrating on her next form.

She immediately transformed into her tiger, pounced to the ground and took off running down the green grassed hill towards the black iron gates of the cemetery.

"HERMIONE!" Minerva screamed in terror watching as her daughter raced away from them.

No, she couldn't lose her.

She couldn't lose another child.

Immediately, she transformed into her feline form and racing after her.


Hermione heart was pounding by the time she stopped at an isolated park. Sweat laced her tongue as she panted, walking over to the nearest park bench and sitting down. It was a cloudless day but warm for September.

She gasped, bending her elbows onto her thighs as she stared at her sweat drops of her forehead pound against the ground.

She was alone again...and it was her fault.

She sniffed.

No Teddy.

No Albus.

No Severus.

No...Momm-...No Min.

She clutched her fingers into her upper arms thinking that she didn't belong there anyway. The more she thought about her parents, the more she considered herself less of Minerva's and Albus' child. She thought back to her uncle who was her actual only living real family member and sighed.

There was no one left to care for her. Maybe this was always to be. Uncle had told her that she was; quote 'nothing but trouble'.

In fact, she had done nothing but cause this family pain since she came into their lives. She constantly screwed up in front of them and couldn't do anything right. She didn't deserve a family as terrific as them. They took care of her, loved her but she was an awful person. She had caused them endless nights of sleep deprivation by her screaming, she had kicked Severus out of his bed because she couldn't stand to be alone despite not wanting her there and now she had bitten her father. A man that had shown her nothing but affection.

Tears ran down her face as she scrunched her fingers into her hair.

'They would be better off without me' She sniffed.

She should have at least said thank you for caring for her. For fixing all her injuries, for cuddling her when she needed cuddling. She really loved being held. She closed her eyes wondering back on the elderly couple that had cared for her a few times. Wondering if they were still around to take her in.

She really didn't want to go back to sleeping in a cardboard box, especially without teddy to keep her company.

"MEOW!"

Hermione staggered, her spine twitching as she turning towards the left seeing the grey cat running over to her. She wondered why it had followed her. Why would it bother running so far as to catch up. It wasn't until it got closer that it began to morph shape and the young girl came face to face with her mother who immediately ran over to her and pulled her into her arms.

"Hermione! Oh my pĂ isde ('baby')" Minerva pulled the small child into her arms and rocked her back and forth.

"Oh, I was so worried" She held the girl so tightly in her arms, trying so hard to get her frantic heart beat under control. She had been absolutely terrified of losing her daughter and feared the worst as she continued to run after her. It was only luck that the brown eyed girl decided to stop and rest. If Hermione had been a healthy child then this may of been a different story.

Hermione felt the woman's arms tighten and her hands shake as she pulled her away to look into Minerva's glaring eyes, "never, ever do that again. You almost gave me a heart attack, you silly girl" She pulled the girl back into her arms.

Hermione relaxed as much as possible, not quite understanding how the woman could be so hung over about the fact that she had ran away. Although, now that she thought about it; she had never wondered away from her parents before. Sure, she had lost them once or twice at a grocery store but never truly lost them...until recently.

She was brought out of her musings by something wet dripping down her shirt and lap. Water droplets?

No!

She looked up to see the green eyed witch sobbing and crying into Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione placed a hand on her mothers heart feeling awful. She did it again; she caused her mother so much pain.

"I-I"

Minerva sniffed, cuddling the girl closer to her body wanting to try and get her daughter as warm as possible and show her how much she loved her.

"I'm Swowrry" Tears were threatening to spill back down Hermione's face as she stared at her mother heartbroken at her running away.

Minerva wiped her eyes before looking down at her young daughter in her arms, "I understand that this is a very upsetting time for you, dear but you cannot just up and run away. What if we lost you; I would never forgive myself if something happened to you".

"I-I didn't mean to...to upset you" Hermione wiped her own eyes making Minerva concerned. She removed a tissue from her pocket and wiped her daughters eyes.

"I know you, kitten" She shushed her trying to avoid upsetting the small witch, "it has been a long day and I'm sure you are exhausted"

Hermione nodded in agreement. There was no way she could fight her way out of a cuddle with Minerva even if she wanted to.

"We'll go home and have a nice cup of hot coco. How does that sound, hmm?"

The girl looked up into her mothers eyes and nodded. That sounded really nice. She really needed her teddy and her blankie.

Minerva smiled and pulled the girl into her arms, "good girl" she kissed her cheek as Hermione clutched her mothers dress, "am I in Twuble?"

Minerva sniffed as she shook her head, "no my dear but we will talk about what happened later?"

"But I bit, papa"

"And that was wrong to do so and you know better than to hurt people, especially the ones you love"

Hermione could only nod at her mothers statement as she rested her head against her mothers shoulder, "I'm sworry, mama"

"I know dear. You will need to apologies to daddy when he comes back" She told her.

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes feeling exhaustion take over her body. As Minerva rocked her back and forth in her arms trying to shush her and lull her to sleep, she could only focus on the girl's tired, puffy red eye lids struggle to remain open. She knew her daughter just needed to sleep off her emotions and everything would be okay. Another few rounds at the psychiatrists office. She wondered how long these sessions would for. Years maybe?

"Minerva?" Minerva looked over to see her husband and Severus standing there across the path.

"It's okay. She's okay" Minerva told them as they came over.

"Thank Merlin" Albus released his breath as he moved over to his family.

"Are you okay, my dear, sweet girl?" Albus moved over to his family and sat down on the bench with them.

She blinked her tears and nodded to, "I'm swrowwy".

"You are alright my dear. You are the most important thing in our lives. We won't know what we'd do if anything happened to you" He kissed her forehead.

She leaned over and engulfed him in a hug, "thank you. I pwomise; I won't do it again"

He smiled gently as he wrapped his arms around her, "I know you would never hurt me on purpose, my child. I think it's been a long day and I'm sure some rest and a nice cup of co-co and everything will feel better"

"I think it would be best if we head back home now. What do you say, my dear?"

She looked around to see her god-father who stayed a few metres back before looking over to her parents. They were here to support her, love her, care for her.

"Okay. I'm ready"


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