Chapter four - A waking nightmare
Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say good-bye
Don't say I didn't try
These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies you told us
The hurt, the blame
And we will wait to be so alone
We are lost
We can never go home
So in the end I'll be what I will be
No loyal friend was ever there for me
Now we say good-bye
We say you didn't try
These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame
And you will wait
When you face the end alone
You are lost,
You can never go home
You are lost,
You can never go home
Hermione let a tear slip down her face as she read the poem. She had found it hidden away in the dark recesses of some obscure book and felt that it fit so well. The interview had gone well. Snape didn't even look at her. 'I'm sure Draco has already seen his mentor and let him know what happened. I'm sure he turned it all around so that it seemed like my fault. He's been planning this for sometime, I know. His mom stopped talking to me months ago and the last time we were together she was acting really weird. I bet he has been building up to this. If I didn't know better I would think he had been planning this the entire time, the entire ten years. The way he isolated me away from my friends the way he convinced me that no one cared for me but him. He kept me from ever making friends, kept me in the house, with the kids all the time. I wasn't really a prisoner, but at times it felt like that. Of course there was that one time, with Harry. Yes I made a mistake, I admit it. He had every right to be mad, but he should've left then. It would've only have hurt two people instead of four. I can't believe he did this to the kids. They never did anything wrong.' The fire popped. "It's about time we heard something from you! Oh! Narcissa, hi how are you doing?"
"I'm fine Hermione dear, I wanted to thank you for the parchment you sent. I knew you would never try to take the kids away from us dear. I was going to ask if you had heard from Draco but I gather by your opening that you haven't."
"No, it's been over a week. I haven't heard anything. The money he promised finally showed up, but it was quite a bit short. That was the last that we heard."
"Well I wanted to let you know that I am sending the children some stuff by owl post. It'll be awhile before it gets there but I wanted you to know."
"I'm sure the kids will love it thank you."
"Well I need to get going Hermione dear, you take care of yourself and those children now."
"Don't worry I will." She waved as Narcissa disappeared from the fire.
"Remember when you said you would hire a detective to find out what he's doing?"
"Yeah?" Hermione's mother looked at her out the corner of her eye.
"Can we use that money to hire a hitman?"
"Sure but you have to go halv-sies." Hermione's mom smirked in a way that reminder her of Snape, just then her dad walked into the kitchen.
"Halv-sies on what?"
"Hermione wants a hitman."
"You know I use to have those connections." Hermione's dad was Irish and had been somewhat ... involved with the IRA. Matter of fact he still did quite a bit of their dental work, but the real kind, not the painful kind.
Hermione laughed, "Yeah dad we all know about you unsavory connections. That's alright, I'll manage with him living. I just want something really painful to happen to him."
"I can arrange that too." Mr. Granger grinned evilly, Hermione waved him off and walked our of the room. 6:30 bath time.
"Hermione there's an owl here for you."
"Can you take care of it dad, I'm up to my elbows in bubbles and wet kid." A few minutes later her dad walked into the bathroom eating an apple holding a parchment. "Read it to me."
"Dear Ms Granger, Hey why didn't you ever take his name?"
"He didn't want any of us to have it, he said he was embarrassed by it, deatheater connections and all that." 'Just another notch in my been- planning-for-ten-years theory.'
"Hmm, He shook his head, "Dear Ms. Granger, we would be interested in meeting with you concerning your employment with Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We have set up your appointment for Tuesday at 2:30. If you have any problems please owl back. Thanks. Then there's a signature I can't read. Sounds pretty good. Well promising at least." Hermione pulled the screaming child out of the bathtub. Everything was on automatic. She didn't even think about what she was doing anymore. It had been a month since he left and two weeks since she had heard anything from him. She kept expecting him to show up and save her like he had done so much in the past. Always there when she needed him. She dries off the baby and put the next one in the bath, her mind slipped back to what had become the worst memory she had. She was laying in their bed half asleep aware of his presence in the next room. It was his last night in the house. He had told the children, Miki had cried, he was seven and didn't want to be without his dad. The girls didn't understand, they were too young. Willow would cry about it later and Kessy would call his name even months later, but she really didn't know who he was. Hermione laid in their bed knowing she would sleep alone and never have his strong arms around her again when he came to the bedroom door. For a split second she thought he had come to his senses before he simply whispered 'Bye'. Then he was gone, left in the middle of the night to some unknown destination with some unknown person. That was how ten years of what most people considered a fairytale ended. There is a reason why the greatest love stories always end in tragedy, if they were to live, they would become another statistic.
"You need to date someone about ten years older then yourself, then he would be mature enough to handle a family."
"Mom, I don't want to date anyone. It all seems so pointless."
"You won't feel that way for long, you'll meet someone and get married again." Hermione broke down.
"I'm not suppose to be married again" The tears were running down her face, "This was suppose to be forever, he promised! He said he would never leave me. I feel like I can't wake up from this horrible dream. Mine was special, everyone saw it, people wanted to be as happy as we were, people had us on a pedestal because our love was so strong, now here I am, by myself, this can't possibly be happening." Hermione never cried in front of anyone, not even her mom. Except of course Draco. He had seen every side of her. He had been there for all three births, he had cut the cord, held her hand, worried. Now he didn't even call.
