You have no idea how SORRY I am! So much work at school, it's a drag!! Excuse me for any grammatical mistakes or any faults in my HP writing. If I mess up the facts, please tell me! Thank you so much for hanging in there and reviews on the chapter is always appreciated!!!

The next two or so chapters (still undecided) should wrap up this story and I'm so sorry to end it! I love writing it and don't throw rocks!!

I hope I'll get the ending down for all of you and for this story when I write it. Believe me, it'll be hard to put up my typing fingers on this one!

Chapter 24: Muggleborn

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The gray clouds from the summer flash thunderstorms passed by the windows of the Hogwarts Express. The windows were cold and blurred from the light rain and Hermione held on to her handbag full of wizarding books and such. She had the room empty to herself for the time being; Ginny was visiting all of her friends down the hall and Ron and Lavender occasionally came in after being with Harry.

Her sixth year was over and she felt pretty confident about her scores on the final. She bit her tongue hard as she thought about Hogwarts. After next year, there wouldn't be a Hogwarts to return to. She would be on her own, trying to make her way in the wizarding and muggle world.

This was on her thoughts for quite some time now and every time, she couldn't get herself to believe that she would be alone without her friends. She expected that she would visit Hagrid and Dumbledore, and of course Ron and his family, but she couldn't see how she would see Harry.

He was always on her mind. Anything from old memories or what he might have been doing at that exact moment gnawed at her and she hated it. For the longest time she kept to her own promise: to never give up on Harry. But now...it was different. They never spoke. They stole glances at each other everyday but that was it, nothing more than that.

She still loved him, but that was kept away and forgotten for so long that she wasn't even sure if it was still there. She was quieter now, maybe even more depressed than usual, and for the first year ever, she couldn't wait to get home to her parents. They were her only comfort for times she couldn't handle by herself.

She closed the curtain to the window when the blinding sun came out from being behind the storm clouds and the room was dim. She clutched her bag tighter as she grew sleepy and felt the soft, silky material inside.

She wasn't sure why she had got it, but she did. It was right here. It was Harry's invisibility cloak, right next to his snitch. Easily enough, Hermione went to Snape's office while he was out escorting students to the train and had sneaked out with Harry's items. It seemed like such a good idea at the time: steal Harry's items and use it to talk to Harry about something, anything.

Now she held them, not wanting to talk to Harry at all. Some conversation starter that would be: "Oh, hello, Harry. Here are your possessions from Snape's office. Oh, don't worry, I stole them out of there. Do you remember that night we sneaked out of Hogwarts under your cloak before I ruined our lives by looking into your memories?"

She gripped the cloak in her hands while she tried not to think about it on her shoulders that one night as she kissed Harry. But it was nearly impossible so she fell asleep with the sound of the train tracks rumbling under her feet.

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It had to be the worst summer Hermione could remember. There she was, flipping the channels on her parents TV to nothing but muggle news. Only the kitchen light was on and she sat there silently with a bag of chips. She had never been so isolated from the magic world, except for her magic books and wand. Her parents weren't home and it gave her an empty feeling in her stomach. They had gotten used to her being gone and they spent more time at the dentist office and meetings, and even out to dinner.

She didn't blame them; she had been gone for so long for nearly six years. It was just---lonely. Lonely without friends around, without Harry. She missed him so much and it hurt in the pit of her stomach.

She didn't have to be lonely though. She had a sudden urge to get out of the house to just anywhere. But deep in her mind she knew that she wanted to see Harry. How ridiculous would that be? Her being one of Harry's magic students just showing up at the Dursley house would be crazy. However, it was better than anything she was doing now. She couldn't keep his cloak and snitch forever and she ran upstairs for the bag she kept them in.

She felt like this was a daring move for her and she headed out the door. Before she left though, she saw both newspapers for muggles and non-muggles on her parents' coffee table. She saw the moving picture on the newspaper on a side article that read: ONE MUGGLE-ATTACKER CAUGHT FROM CULT. She clutched the bag and decided to grab her wand for safety.

In ten minutes, she had left a note on the table and walked out in the night on the sidewalk. She knew of the Knight Bus and wondered if she could get them to take her to the Dursley's house. But as much as she knew of things she read, she had never seen the Knight Bus and only knew how to signal it.

The street was well lit and she figured that a muggle might see her lift up her wand. She looked around for a darker street, in case a muggle also saw an abnormal bus, and jaywalked across the empty street.

Thoughts of Harry buzzed in her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she knew she was still in love with him. Slowly, though, she knew that being together like they were before seemed impossible, but she just wanted to be near him. Anything. She would do anything just to see his face in front of her instead of across the room or in her pictures.

She walked for a few minutes and looked down an alleyway to the street through it. The streetlights were low and she decided that this would be the best place to signal the bus.

Hesitantly, she walked fast through the alley. Little critters scurried past her into cracks of the wall and she thought she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to nothing at all.

She quickened her steps and thought she heard a small pop. She figured it was just her imagination getting the better of her, but she heard the footsteps again.

"Excuse me, you're not lost, are you?" Said a dark voice and Hermione turned around, gripping her wand in her pocket.

She turned around to four cloaked men with their wands above their heads and she shouted a spell with her own wand out.

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Harry drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his car and adjusted the air temperature. It hit the dashboard twice before it started to turn on but very faintly.

It wasn't much of a car, if that's what you'd call it. He never thought of having one while he was at Hogwarts, now that he had magic, but he hated being at the Dursleys. Over his fifth year summer, he tried to get out more (mostly to recover from Sirius's death) until Mr. Dursley had it with his constant pleadings to be dropped off down in Diagon Alley. One day he screamed, "Why don't you get a bloody job like all the normal boys your age and buy a car!!" And so that's what he did.

He got a job down at a muggle grocery store pushing carts, and occasionally wizards in disguise of poorly matched muggle clothes would stop him and whispered to ask him if he was Harry Potter (almost in disbelief that he was working for food mart). It got him little pay and he did a good job to earn the money and with the money he earned and saved over the years, he bought the cheapest car in the newspaper.

He drove on aimlessly, humming tunes to songs in his head and he caught himself humming a song they played at the Valentine's dance at Hogwarts. His face became sullen and his chest felt suffocated like he had just plunged into a pool of ice water. He missed Hermione so much and he knew it, even though his mind tried to deny it.

He tried the radio, but nothing but static came through. He hadn't been out in the normal muggle world for quite some time and he still had trouble getting around. He was just out for a drive; it was just the getting home that he had problems with.

He pulled over to the side of the road and took out an old map he kept under his seat. The area he was in was displayed and he tried to find the right street to get back on to the way home. He got the main drift of where to turn when he looked outside. There was a small coffee shop lying on the sidewalk and there was a man hunched over in his old overcoat with his coffee outside at the table. His graying hair hid the blonde it once had and Harry stuck his head out of the window and rode the car up to him with a jerking stop. The man didn't need Harry to talk to notice him and he turned around almost expecting him.

"Looks like you handle a broom better than your car, Harry," Remus Lupin smiled and he stood up with his coffee. "How have you been? Doing well?"

Harry nodded and titled his head to the passenger seat, "Would you like a ride?"

"I don't particularly need one, but it's nice to visit with you," He said and he climbed in.

They rode for a while silently and Harry tried once more to get some music on until he turned it back off completely. Lupin kept to his coffee and kept the conversation light, "Having a good summer so far, Harry?"

"Err, there has been better," Harry shrugged, "Everything all well with you?"

"Ehh, I've had better days," Lupin smirked and they laughed, "But really, it's been hard. With well...issues in the wizarding world with attacks and cults and speak of a large uprising of---the Dark Lord," Lupin said indecisively but with a slight abruptness to his tone. Harry nodded slightly and kept his eyes straight on the road.

Harry drove slowly down the neighborhood area and Lupin sipped his coffee while gazing out the window. The moon was in its first quarter and Lupin studies hard on his thoughts. It wasn't until Lupin threw his arm across Harry and reached for the door handle.

"Stop! Stop the car!!" Lupin hissed and Harry slammed the brakes out of surprise. "Stay here!" He commanded and Harry grabbed his wand in his coat pocket.

"Lupin, I can help with whatever---" Harry persisted but Lupin was already out the door. He ran down a dark alley where flashes and fires of light flickered and Harry couldn't stand it and jumped out of his car.

In the alleyway, three bodies lay frozen on the floor. Standing was Lupin and another body, which looked cold and still and its feet floated two inches off the air. Next to Lupin were Moody and Tonks, who had apparated, and a Ministry official.

They talked intensely and dark for a minute until Moody turned around and snapped, "Harry! What in blazes are you doing here?!"

Lupin talked with a stern face, "Don't worry about him, Moody, it's because of him I found the attackers. Harry, I told you to wait, now leave." Harry stood back but he didn't leave.

Lupin continued with Moody quietly out of Harry's reach, "We to get her to Mungo's immediately. There was another wizard on the scene but he disappeared before I could throw a spell on him."

Moody scratched his brow and leaned over the young witch's body, "We'll get on him right away. The Order will catch him. In the meantime, there's a Portkey we can use around here to get to Mungo's."

Tonks disapparated on the scene to gather the Order and more of the Ministry officials apparated all in the alleyway when they heard of the incident. The attackers were stunned and the Ministry examined and identified their bodies. One administrator held a bag an attacker held and opened it up. He carefully pulled out a silky, silver cloak and Harry ran over ignoring Lupin's orders. The official also handled a golden Snitch and Harry grabbed it abruptly.

"Where did you get this?" Harry gasped and Lupin came over. The official ranted about touching valuable evidence, but Harry took no notice to this.

"Lupin, what is going on? I know there's been an attack but these are MY things!" Harry yelped and Lupin nodded stiffly. Many more members of the Order appeared, as well as Dumbledore.

"Harry, the attack was on a muggleborn again...," Lupin explained but he needn't to continue. Harry looked over his shoulder and found members of the Order handling Hermione's limp body while Moody shuffled over with Portkeys he found.

"Hermione!" Harry cried, but the Order placed her hand and their fingers on the Portkey and they were gone.

"Lupin, I must go, please! Where am I else to go? There's no use of me staying here!" Harry commanded and Lupin shook his head.

"And you're of no use in Mungo's. And what will you do with your car?" Lupin asked and Harry walked over to the Portkey.

"It was a piece of trash anyway," He muttered and soon after touching the Portkey, the alleyway full of wizards and stunned bodies blurred and disappeared.

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