A/N: Hi all...wow, I got this chapter typed up really quickly! It's really long, and there may be some plot holes, but I really hope not. Anyway, fasten your seatbelts and read on!

Chapter 11: Not One, But Two

Ron didn't speak to Hermione until suppertime, when Harry reminded him to ask about her uncle's death.

"No, Harry, why don't you do it…I don't really want to," he said airily as he gazed at Hunter, who was surrounded by a flock of adoring fans. Ron cracked his knuckles.

"Well, you were the one making such a big deal about it earlier," Harry pointed out. "Don't you want to know?"

"Yeah…" Ron stared harder at the Slytherin table. "What's he got that I don't?"

"Hey, at least she's not the one hitting on him," Harry said, spooning sugar onto his bowl of strawberries. "I doubt she'll go for him; she's got all that schoolwork, and the elf thing, you know…"

"Oh, yeah, spew," Ron said, disgusted. "Will she ever give that up?"

Suddenly, Hermione appeared at the table, looking flushed and pleased with herself. "Hello!" she greeted the boys cheerfully, serving herself a pork chop.

"Why are you so happy?" Ron asked curiously.

"Oh, umm…it's nothing," said Hermione, glancing quickly at the Slytherin table. "Just…something about lessons, that's all."

Harry saw that Ron noticed Hermione's quick look at the Slytherin group surrounding Hunter. Ron's face turned an angry shade of red. Just as he opened his mouth to argue, Harry jumped in. "Hermione, tell us about what happened to your uncle. The one that was in the Daily Prophet."

"Later, okay?" Hermione dismissed him, practically inhaling her bite of pork chop. "I promise. In the common room, after everyone's left. I will tell you," seeing Ron's face, "now just isn't the time. It's a bit of a secret, and I don't want to stir up any trouble."

"Okay, we believe you," said Ron. "You're not going to forget. Hey, why were you so happy when you walked in just now? You never answered my question, you know."

"Oh, that, ummm…" Hermione looked embarrassed now. "Well, I had just run into Hunter, see, and…he asked if I might like to … well, go to Hogsmeade with him sometime."

"And you told him no, right? Of course, that slimy git's not good enough for you." Ron's ears reddened in anger.

"Well, actually," Hermione fidgeted, looking quite guilty, and turned an even deeper shade of red (if that was humanly possible). "I did say I would."

"WHAT?!" yelped Ron, looking shocked and a bit hurt. He stood up so quickly that he knocked over his glass of pumpkin juice. It spilled all over Harry's unfinished strawberries. Several people turned and stared at the three of them.

"What do you mean? Are you going on a date with-with him??!" Ron screamed, pointing a finger at Hunter, who was now eating a piece of apple pie.

"Yes, is that such a bad thing?" Hermione asked indignantly. "He's very nice."

"Ron, can I talk to you for a second?" Harry butted in. Not waiting for an answer, he dragged a furious Ron away from the dinner table and into the entrance hall.

"Relax, Ron, first of all, try and remember that she definitely won't like you if you're a control freak. Second, we do want to know what the hell happened with her uncle so we know why she was acting so weird. So, for your sake mostly, and also mine, keep your anger to yourself at least until tomorrow, please?"

Ron took some deep breaths, trying to get control of himself, and sighed, "Okay."

"Let's go then." Harry headed back into the Great Hall.

"I'm not going to be happy about it, though!" Ron shouted, trailing behind Harry.

After dinner, Ron, Hermione, and Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room, working on all the homework that the teachers had distributed on the first day back. At first, the room was packed with chattering students, but as the hours ticked by, they migrated up to their respective dormitories in groups of three or four.

When the common room was practically empty, Hermione sighed and closed her Arithmancy book.

"Okay, but listen-you are not to tell anyone about this. Understood?"

Ron and Harry nodded simultaneously.

"Alright." Hermione took a deep breath. She seemed to be bracing herself. "I've told you about my Uncle Ben working on the French Minister's case, right?"

"Yes, but what's that got to do with-"

"Let me finish. A couple days into the search, Ben owled the Ministry with some information."

"How'd he get an owl though?" inquired Harry.

"The Ministry gave him one to use if there was a breakthrough in the search so that they could help as soon as possible. He had to be really careful that none of the other officers would see him; it was really hard. Anyway, he owled the Ministry, telling them he had a piece of important evidence, and that he would hold on to it until the proper wizards could examine it. He threw it in the trunk of his car and thought nothing more of it.

"After work, he picked up my mom; she had just had a couple tests done at the hospital and was a little woozy from the anesthesia. Dad was at work still; he was working on some brat who wouldn't open his mouth." Hermione said the last of that bit in an annoyed voice.

"My uncle was driving to our house to drop of Mom. We live sort of out in the country, and there are some really deep, dangerous ditches along the road. By the time they got to that road, it was getting dark, especially with all the trees around.

"All of a sudden, a huge dog ran into the middle of the road. My uncle swerved so he wouldn't hit it, but the car ran right into the ditch and hit a huge tree, right on the driver's side." Hermione swallowed. Her eyes were pooling with tears. Ron crossed his arms tightly around his chest; it looked as if he was restraining himself from going to embrace her.

"Then what?" croaked Harry.

"My mom was okay, though still woozy from the medicine. She looked over at Uncle Ben and saw that he was unconscious. She called an ambulance on her cell phone, and they came and took both of them to the hospital.

"Mom was all right, except for a couple bumps and bruises, but Ben…" Hermione let out half of a sob. "My dad and I walked into the hospital room just as they were telling Mom that he would be no more than a vegetable for the rest of his life

"Immediately, Mom said, 'Take him off the life support.' The nurse looked surprised. She said, 'Are you sure? This is a huge decision; think about what you should do. Have you looked at his will?'

"'This is what he would have wanted,' Mom said. She stared at that nurse for about a minute until the nurse figured out that she wasn't going to change her mind.

"'What about the rest of the family?' she asked weakly.

""I'm the only sibling left," my mom answered.

"The nurse sighed. She called the doctor in." Hermione's voice began shaking even more. "Then…then he was gone." She began to sob even harder now.

"Blimey," Ron whispered. He moved forward toward Hermione as if he was going to hug her. Hermione leaned away from him sharply.

"That's not the end of it," she gasped, trying to control herself. "A couple of days later, on July third, Mom went to the funeral home to…arrange everything. Dad couldn't go with her; one of his patients had an emergency or something. I stayed home; I was trying to separate myself from the world, basically.

"I was just settling down to read when the phone rang. I got up to answer. It was the hospital…again. I was scared, and I was right to be: They told me my mother was dead!" She sobbed uncontrollably for a couple moments, and then continued, "She passed out while she was at the funeral home. They rushed her to the hospital, but by the time she got there, she was already gone."

Ron couldn't contain himself any longer. He threw his arms around Hermione and hugged her tightly. Harry, on the other hand, was quiet. Then he said, "Your mom was completely healthy, wasn't she? She wouldn't've just dropped dead."

Hermione wiped her eyes and croaked, "That's the last-and worst-bit of it all. My dad thought she might have had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia or something, so he ordered an autopsy." She gulped breaths of air, trying to calm herself.

"Was it?" asked Harry. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.

Hermione freed herself from Ron's grip and stood up. "No, but the doctors did find an interesting chemical in her system: arsenic."

Ron gasped.

"But then-that means-"

"That means," Hermione said, her voice now shaking with fury, "that my mother didn't just die for no reason. This was no ordinary death; this was murder."

A/N: OMG, I'm sad now...oh well, I'll start writing the next chapter in my other story to try and make up for it...PLEASE REVIEW! I was really happy about all the reviews I got for the last chapter, and hopefully I won't threaten you guys again! : ) But anyway...overall, I loved the movie, but I was mad that they left out important things. I especially didn't like that they made Harry get his Firebolt in the end! That was the worst....anyway, review, por favor, and I'll update soon!