AN: Hey guys… Sorry it took so long to update, business… You know… Well, here it is – so REVIEW. Oh, and people out there who just read this and don't review, PLEASE REVIEW, don't just read, I do sometimes myself, but I stopped. No matter what I felt about it, I REVIEWED. YOU DO THE SAME. JUST CLICK THE REVIEW BOTTOM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN AND WRITE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THIS. THANKS. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME – YET THOUGH I KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE JUST READ. I KNOW.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or the book I mentioned… Simple, but clears the point… Who says we can't have it all?

Chapter 2: Disturbing Problems, Irritating Men and Annoying Consciousnesses

Hermione woke up in her bed, her face wet with tears. As she got up, something fell from her hands to the floor. Next to a crumpled letter was a ripped envelope, URGENT written on it. All at once thousands of tears threatening to spill and stream down like a river. But Hermione had to fight it. Throwing the papers away, she walked to the bathroom. Not willing to do anything today, she decided to see Harry after getting ready.

Looking in the mirror, she sighed. Her eyes were red, puffy, and they looked like she had just cried out a million glass shards… for hours. Trying to heal them with a damp cloth, she started to shed tears. Without success in helping her eyes with water, she tried her wand. Suddenly her eyes looked normal, and healthy. But she couldn't put on a smile. Walking to Harry's bedroom, she knocked on it. With no answer, she tried the door. It wasn't locked so Hermione let herself in. Harry was still sleeping, in a deep slumber.

Not wanting to awaken him, she tip-toed out of his room and into her own. Finishing the last of her homework, she saw that Harry should be awake by the time, but instead she decided to go to class early.

When Harry heard the Head Boy and Girl Common Room door slam shut, he woke up. Glancing at the time, he got ready and dressed. Maybe he could talk to Hermione. She didn't tell him anything yesterday, and it must have been serious to cry so much. Knowing that Hermione was gone, he was firm on the idea of checking for the letter in Hermione's room. He walked over to hers, and creaked open the door. Spying no one, he immediately started the search.

After checking the bookshelf, under bed, in the trunk, in the cabinets, and in the desk and finding no clue, he looked in the last place it could be. Eying the letter in the trashcan, he snatched it up. It was severally crumpled up and the ink on the paper had been smothered. All together, it was very difficult to read.

Dear Hermione,

I am sorry to tell you that yesterday, your parents died. Due to this, I'd like you to come to the Emerald Inn during Winter Break. Write me back if you cannot.

Aunt Sadie

Harry stood, dumbstruck. Hermione must be through so much pain. Rushing to try to keep up with her, he dashed to the Transfiguration Classroom. He knew that she and him were both in that class for the morning.

Right when he reached the door, he stopped short. He couldn't tell Hermione he knew! She would know that he went through her things! Calmly, he opened the door and sat down next to Hermione.

"Hermione, are you okay? You cried a lot yesterday. Please tell me what happened, I'd understand." He said, sympathy in his voice.

"I couldn't in class, Harry, I'd cry again." She said, her eyes already becoming wet.

"Hermione, you're already crying. Can't you tell me?" Harry asked, once more. With one final sigh, she began whispering.

"Yesterday, my parents, - uh, died." She managed to continue choking out words between sobs to tell him that she's visiting her aunt at the Emerald Inn over winter break. Harry, still sympathetic, put an arm around her shoulder. Hermione sobbed out her last tears, also telling him that she'd much rather be in bed. Harry wanted to comfort her a bit more when Professor McGonnagal stormed in the door.

"As I trust you all to know, we will be having N.E.W.T.s coming up very soon. Please – ah – pay attention, Malfoy." McGonnagal said sternly. Malfoy blushed. "Well. I would like all of you to hand in an essay about basic transfiguration. By Friday, I want an 8 page essay." As transfiguration went on, Hermione became more restless. By the time lunch had arrived, Hermione had felt better. Ron had been poking around her, asking what had happened. Hermione in turn, didn't feel like arguing, or explaining. Each time, Harry would have to ask Ron to leave Hermione alone.

Hermione sighed, after the day had ended. Plopping herself on her bed, she just closed her eyes. With all the happenings lately, Hermione could have liked have a beautiful Christmas atmosphere like the one at Hogwarts to cheer her up. But Hermione knew she needed to see her Aunt. Hermione buried her face in her pillow. Weeping, Hermione looked at the calendar. She gasped. It was already the 14! On the 16, Hogwarts hosted Winter Break! Immediately Hermione shot up in bed. No, it couldn't be, no. She thought, hopelessly racking her brain.

Deciding to start packing, she dumped three large suitcases on her bed. Randomly filling them with items. When she had everything in her bag except her nightgown, toothpaste, toothbrush, and her hair comb, she was settled.

When Winter Break came, she packed the last of her things. Putting on a jacket, she rushed to the Gryffindor Common Room. Not knowing the password, she tried previous ones. The portrait didn't budge. Trying to talk to the Fat Lady about her dilemma, she waited. Still not being able to get in, she sighed, mumbling.

"Where are Harry and Ron?" She murmured.

"Right behind you." She whirled around, facing her two best friends.

"Hi guys. Listen, I told you I'm leaving, and Harry, you can tell Ron later. Listen, I just came here to say good-bye." She said.

"Alright then, Hermione, but we'll miss you. Can't you just stay here?" Hermione chuckled.

"Sadly, no. I think this might be important." Her friends hugged her as she left.

At the airport, she took the quickest flight to Germany, where her aunt lived. Ticket clutched in hand, she walked on the plane. Greeting people at the foot of the plane, a stewardess took Hermione's ticket. Taking a seat, she eyed her surroundings. Nobody appeared to be sitting next to her. Glancing out of the window, she fell asleep.

She was awoken by the sound of small wheels rolling. Opening her eyes, she saw a stewardess passing her seat. There was a man next to her, which was reasonable. She had been an early passenger, and fallen asleep quickly.

When the man noticed that she had awoken, he placed his book, The Count of Monte Cristo, back in his bag. He faced her, smiling. This gave her a chance to study his face.

His eyes were a light blue, and even with his smile, his eyes reflected coldness. He looked to be around his late fifties, while his hair had turned grayish-white. Looking at the front of his head, you could tell that his original hair color was black. His suit wasn't perfectly up to date, but you could tell that he was certainly trying. He settled himself in his seat facing Hermione, making her feel uneasy.

"Flying to Deutschland?" Hermione didn't much German, except the necessities. Like 'ja', meaning 'yes', and 'nein', meaning 'no'. Luckily though, Hermione had heard her aunt talking about 'Deutschland', which meant Germany.

"Ja, du?" She asked politely. ('du' means 'you') Hermione tried to fumble in her bag for a book. She didn't want company, at the moment. Maybe he would get the picture to leave her alone and stop talking. No such luck. He continued asking her questions until he knew almost everything. Hermione, not talented at German vocabulary, only answered questions, with very short answers.

"Where bleibst du?" He annoyingly asked. Hermione didn't know half of the sentence. She tried to think of their previous sentences and the meaning of the words. Confused, he repeated the question. Hermione suddenly became suspicious. The sentence meant where she was staying! He obviously desperately wanted to know where she was staying. Not wanting to do such a foolish thing, she thought more. No wonder he didn't want to tell her his name! Danger was ahead for her, so she fibbed saying that she did not know.

Unsatisfied, he sat back in his seat. Hermione now however, wanted to know more about him. She straightened a bit. She was in a plane with people everywhere. He wouldn't harm her, when so many witnesses were watching. She relaxed more.

"I'm Jenna Yield." She lied, starting conversation. She did not want to tell him her real name. He simply nodded, absorbed in something else. Hermione tried again.

"You are?" He didn't reply , making Hermione more curious than ever. But her parents had always told her to keep out of other peoples business, so she stayed calm. He seemed to gain more interest in her once more, and questioned her again.

Hermione was glad when he was done talking, and unbuckled her seatbelt at the command.

She exited the plane, though still at the airport. Glimpsing sight of her watch, realized that if she hurried, she could reach Emerald Inn before it was too late. She searched the airport for an information center or map, but didn't succeed.

After fifteen minutes had passed, Hermione had found no center to help her. She sat down on a bench nearby and sighed. She hadn't yet gotten accustomed to the way Germans do things around here. She decided to try to search for the exit instead.

When five minutes were over, Hermione heaved the double-doors of the airport open. She looked back at the building and gasped at it's enormity. It was much larger than it had seemed to be inside, or just to her!

She found lots of traffic around Germany, so she elected on walking. She entered a place called the Fußgängerzone. According to by passers, Hermione learned that a Fußgängerzone place where only shops are. All the libraries, stores, and restaurants were here, while no cars are allowed.

After a little look at the Fußgängerzone she realized that she was famished. Deciding to have some coffee, she entered a small café. There, she ordered her coffee, finishing swiftly. Before she left, she asked the bartender about Emerald Inn. When he said that he had never heard about it, she tried a different approach.

"Do you know where I could find a telephone book or a map?" Hermione asked, paying the fee.

"There's a phonebook neben dem Clo." Hermione puzzled together his sentence. Since the conversation on the plane with the man caused her to learn more words, she knew that 'Neben dem Clo' meant 'by the bathroom'.

Hermione thanked the man and walked to the bathrooms. There was an old telephone attached to the wall with a telephone book next to it. She flipped through the pages, finding her aunt. Looking at the street, she frowned. She had never heard of Hannah Arendt Strasse 13. She jotted down the address and once more wanted to ask the bartender something. Since it might take her long to find the street, she might want to rent a car.

Hermione was surprised to find the bartender not behind the bar-table, and tried to summon him.

"Excuse me!" She shouted through the empty café. There was no answer. After trying again, there still was no reply. Hermione instead, walked outside and stopped a by passer.

"Excuse me, do you know where I could rent a car?" She asked.

"There is a Hertz a mile out of the city." The man answered, then walking away. She reasoned that a Hertz must be a place to rent cars, and set off.

By the time she was out of the city, her legs were numb, and her arms were limp from holding her bags. By the time she got there, she was extremely exhausted. The Hertz sign beamed on the store, and was already lit.

When she entered the shop, a man was behind a small, dirty counter. On the wall behind him, were various types of tires, while car parts, and tools were on the others.

"Hello. May I help you?" Hermione sighed. He knew English.

"Yes, I think you can. I need a car I can rent." After she finished, he walked out from behind the counter and led her to a backroom. The floors were a filthy gray, along with the walls. There were two steel doors on each sidewall.

The cars in the room were all Mercedes. Hermione figured they would be, since Germans invented the Mercedes car. She inspected each car carefully, and thoroughly, until she was led to one of the other steel doors. There, were several Beetles, Convertibles, Volkswagens, and Hondas. Satisfied by the tour, she went with a Mercedes.

After paying, Hermione left hastily. It was already dark outside when she exited the shop. Like the man told her, her rented car was waiting for her outside. Slipping in the seat, she parked to a café outside of the Fußgängerzone. She browsed around the dimly lighted stores, nothing hurrying her, since it would be too late to see her aunt today anyway.

Almost everybody had left the zone, because it was dark and most stores were closed. Roughly about everyone was paying for their purchase, rather then looking through the shelves. Hermione window-shopped instead. She looked in the library, checking if anything about Emerald Inn was in it. Without success, she left the library. She walked up the strip of stores, and when finding the end, she had a list of closed shops that had interested her, which surely Hermione would check out tomorrow. .

Finding an appealing and attractive restaurant, she left shortly after she had gotten a list of hotels from the manager. Driving around the city, she found the Gasthaus Zur Krone, first, which also was the cheapest and simplest meant for a one-night stay.

She put her luggage on a trolley, and rolled it up to the front desk. Once she got a roll of plain double-bed rooms, she chose one and rolled her trolley up to the elevator. When she reached the room, she only unpacked her brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and light clothes for the next day.

Hermione flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. As drowsy and tired as she was feeling, she couldn't fall asleep. Turning on the TV in front of her, she watched the weather channel, which she programmed to be English. Seeing that it would be warm the next day, she packed away her set out clothes items and unloaded a flower printed dress.

Her eyelids got heavy really quick, and she barley even bothered to turn off the TV. She fell asleep almost the instant she closed her eyes, and her night, frustratingly was very longer than usual, though the next day she awoke just as early.

Stuffing her things in her suitcase, she changed and paid her fee down at the front desk. She drove around the city, then quickly snatched the scrap of paper reading Hannah Arendt Strasse 13, out of her purse.

Hermione found the street easily, and studied its paths. She drove around; looking for a big building, however only finding an Inn called Krone Inn. She tried a different method, turning into each corner. Turning the corner to the third path she saw, she only found the Inn, by her aunt gardening in the front yard.

Hermione gazed at the Inn. Indeed, it was large and beautiful. There were three stories, with a small window on the third. There was a variety of flowers, along with a pebble walkway turning to the Inn double doors, and the kitchen back door. In the backyard, there was a large pool, along with a small shelter where customers could get towels.

Her aunt rushed to her when she glimpsed sight of Hermione, and said greeted her. After multiple hello's, she toured a place of the Inn. When they finished, they decided to go shopping. She was surprised to see that her aunt drove a lime-green beetle.

When they had finished shopping, Hermione and her aunt had several bags in her hands. She had gotten clothes, and a few souvenirs for her, and Harry and Ron both postcards and robes. Hermione paraded down the hill with her aunt as Hermione had the urge to ask her aunt some questions about the Inn.

"Um, Aunt Sadie? I have some questions, - about the Inn -" Hermione started. She looked at her aunt; her face looked worried for a second, but then cleared up. Hermione sighed before talking again.

"Erm, who owns the Inn? You can't have, can you?" She stuttered. Her aunt' worried expression filled. Hermione decided not to ask the question she intended to have, but instead her aunt sighed with worry.

"Oh, that would be Mr. Dalier. He used to own the Inn, well, I got it, since he said he had no friends anymore, they had died, so he had no one to leave the Inn to. He wanted to sell it to a responsible owner before he died." She said. Hermione's curiosity rose.

"Oh, I see." Hermione said. "Um, than, why did you get it? And how, could you have enough money, Aunt Sadie?" Hermione asked. Her aunt looked at her grimly. Sighing, she led her to the car, still not saying a word.

When they were both buckled and seated, she spoke.

"Hermione, I hoped I never would have to say this to you. But, you are a smart girl, and want to know the facts. So, here I go. Your parents died when nobody else thought they would. The doctor diagnosed that this wasn't serious,

Hermione looked out of the window – sighing. She shivered in her bed – as the clock striked 11: 45. Hermione felt a tear drop onto the soft pillow. She closed her eyes wistfully but quickly to keep the rest of the tears from falling out. Her parents never told her. They never told her that they would die – or that they were sick. Hermione stifled a tear away as she wiped the wet pillow miserably.

A cold shiver ran through her entire body. She pulled the covers closer and closed her eyes. But then suddenly she felt a sting in her foot, making her wince. The pain moved through her – causing her to sit up. Breathing heavily, Hermione looked at the Muggle clock.

11: 50.

Hermione sniffed as a throb ran through her heart like a knife. She buried her face in her hands – lying down. A round, black circle began forming around her eyes, just as her eyelids became heavy. She closed them but was awakened by a thud a second later.

Pop… Pop… Pop…

A rain drop hit the window and dripped down, finally reaching the bottom as another one hit the window. The popping turned heavier and louder. Hermione looked out of the window as the clock clicked.

11:52.

Using her hands as a napkin – she dried her eyes, but continued sobbing.

Stop thinking about your parents. They're dead – so you're thinking about a non-existing person. But how did they die? You're not helping yourself – STOP THINKING. But not even the doctor thought they would die – why did they? Who cares, Hermione? They are DEAD, so stop weeping. I know what Harry feels like now… Why are you thinking about Harry? The scar-boy? Hey! Boy consciousnesses are rude! I would prefer you call him 'The Boy Who Lived' if you're doing pet names. Oh come on. You like him don't you? Your absurd. Oh, really? Well then stop thinking about Harry – this is YOUR life and NOT his. You told me to think about something else. Not about HARRY'S dead parents. Boy you're pathetic. And you're the consciousness of a pathetic girl then. I win! Do not! Do to – you're being immature – you backtalker! Go away! I never leave… Fine – I'll go to sleep then – you can't bother me now… Pff! This girl can't think of anything else to get rid of me than going to sleep… You're not as smart as your idiot friends talk about you. Wait – you know my friends' consciousnesses? We've met. Hmm… You're still stupid. Hey! Hehehe…