A/N: Wow, it's really been a long time, huh? I guess all I can say is I'm sorry. I've been really busy with school and I ought to be writing my 8 page term paper that's do in a week right now, but I don't really feel like it, I'm a bit of a procrastinator! Also I've been reading A Series of Unfortunate Events, it's very good! No where near as good as Harry Potter of course, but it's still entertaining if not a little repetitive and frustrating, I'm on book six right now.
LONG AWAITED ANSWERS TO LONG AGO QUESTIONS: Skyphoenix, I guess there's nothing wrong with calling it soccer, I know I do, I was just poking fun at my Americanness. Original Mercedes Benz- OO wow... you totally cussed me out... I'm sorry, I guess I deserve it... I'll try really hard to not wait so long next time... OO... I'm gonna feel really bad if you don't like what I'm doing with the story... Dark Ice Dragon, Thanks for pointing out my faults, if it wasn't for you, I might get a big head and none of us want that!
Mrs. Granger pulled roughly on the bathroom door handle, only to find that it was locked.
"Hermione?" Mrs. Granger called out as she knocked on the door. "Are you okay sweetie? I didn't mean what I said before; I've never meant anything less in my whole life!" Mrs. Granger hammered hard on the door. "Please open the door."
Samantha grinned as she heard the muffled voice of Tabitha Granger through the thick bathroom door. She had quickly followed Hermione in and locked the door behind them both.
"Quite a show Hermione, quite a show!" Samantha said softly, so that Mrs. Granger would not overhear. Hermione was sitting next to the toilet, having just rid her stomach of that night's dinner. "I think you could make a fine living being an exotic dancer."
Hermione slowly got to her feet and ignoring Samantha, went to the sink to rinse her mouth out and splash her face with some cold water.
"Ron really seemed to enjoy it." Samantha said with a sly smile as Hermione briefly paused at the mention of Ron. "I don't know what you see in him really... Yes, he is sort of cute, but did you see what he was hearing yesterday? His pants barely reached his shins! It looked ridic-"
Samantha was no longer able to finish what she was saying as a fist, Hermione's fist to be exact, connected with Sam's jaw and sent her reeling to the floor.
Hermione was fuming, as her hands were clenched at her side, "Never, and I mean, never, speak about Ron again. I don't want to hear his name come out of that vile mouth of yours ever again." With a loud 'CRACK' Hermione was gone and Samantha lay speechless on the floor, staring at where Hermione had just been.
Mrs. Granger was thrown unceremoniously to the floor as Samantha flung the bathroom door open. Samantha's eyes were wide, and a bruise was already forming on her jaw when she spotted Mrs. Granger on the ground.
"...Hermione... vanished..." Samantha managed to say in a very unnatural and somewhat squeaky voice. By this point, the entire Granger family, plus Harry and Ron had rushed over to Tabitha Granger, who was now standing thanks to her husband, and Sam.
"She wouldn't have...?" Ron asked in disbelief.
"Apparated." Harry answered so that only Ron could hear him, nodding his head in agreement.
"Would she have?" Ron asked, looking at Harry for some reason to doubt.
"I'm afraid so Ron, she was in a right state, I wouldn't put it past her."
"She's not of age, she doesn't even know how to apparate!" Ron exclaimed, waiting for Harry to confirm his assumption.
"Since when has Hermione not known how to do something Ron, even if she's not allowed to do it?"
Ron threw his hands up in frustration. "I know Harry, I know! Of course Hermione can apparate, but how well can she really do it in her condition? What if she's out there splinched some where? What if she doesn't know where she's apparated to and she's lost?!"
"Calm down mate, freaking out isn't going to help anything..." Harry started to say, but he just noticed that Samantha's face was losing some of its shock and she was once again speaking in clear sentences.
"I knew there was something weird about that girl." She was saying. "She's never fit in with this family, she's not normal! She's got some sort of evil powers or something, she has to, she just disappeared right in front of me! I saw it!"
A few of the women, including Tabitha Granger, left to search the bathroom. After a thorough search however, they found it empty and returned to where the rest of the family was gathered.
"We have something... that we've neglected to tell you all... but we can't avoid speaking on it any longer." Hermione's father, William Granger began to say.
"What are you talking about William?" Bernard, William's brother, questioned.
"It's best if we don't speak of it here though, let's all go back to my house and I'll explain things there. Perhaps Hermione will be waiting for us there." William said, placing a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder.
"I knew there was something wrong with that girl." Samantha said triumphantly.
"I don't understand!" Bernard burst out. "What do you mean Hermione could be at your house, why isn't she here, she was here a moment a go!"
"That's what I'll have to explain." Mr. Granger said and without another word, he paid the food bill and headed towards the parking lot.
"So, she did that disappearing thing that witches and wizards can do, right boys?" Mr. Granger asked as soon as he was alone with Ron and Harry in Hermione's car and driving towards the house.
"We believe so, it's called apparation." Ron answered. "Oh, I hope she really is at your house."
"If not, you boys and Tabitha can go search for her while I explain things to the family..." William Granger ran a hand through his neatly combed hair, mussing it slightly. "They aren't going to take the news that she's a witch too easily... they're hard enough on her as it is..."
Ron and Harry stared at Mr. Granger as he seemed to be reaching some sort of conclusion in his head, but they didn't dare speak another word as the car filled up with silence.
It seemed like an eternity before Roarry pulled into the Granger's drive way. Mrs. Granger had reached the house before them and she came running out to meet them as they got out of the car.
"She's not here!" Tabitha said in an exasperated voice and Ron and Harry could see that her eyes were beginning to mist over.
"Here," William said, handing the keys to his wife, "take Hermione's car and the boys and see if you can find her while I explain things to the family."
"How do you think they'll take the news?" Tabitha asked worriedly.
"I truthfully don't care. If they can't accept the fact that my daughter is a witch, they can leave tonight." Mr. Granger said with finality. Mrs. Granger smiled at her husband before giving him a quick kiss and jumping into the fiery red car. Ron and Harry quickly jumped in after her and with a roar of the engine, they were gone.
MEANWHILE...
Hermione staggered slightly as she reappeared with a crack. She had never actually apparated before, but she had studied her apparation manual thoroughly and felt extremely confident in her abilities.
How ever well she did manage to apparate, her head was still foggy from her alcohol in take and she still wasn't thinking of the many consequences that could derive from illegally apparating across town. The one consequence that did actually occur, however, would most likely not have crossed her mind even if she were not intoxicated.
Hermione had apparated to a small park located just down her street. It was never a crowded place, even when she was younger, only a couple of other children ever managed to show up during the peak playground hours.
Frustrated, Hermione sat down on one of the two swings. Oh how she hated Samantha. As Hermione sat there fuming, the sound of breaking twigs drew her thoughts away from her cousin and towards her situation at hand.
Standing from her swing slowly and what she hoped was casually, she turned around. Her eyes did not however land on a bunny rabbit or perhaps a stray dog as she had hoped, but instead they met with two dark figures as they emerged from the night and into the light of a nearby street lamp.
"No..." Hermione muttered under her breath as she took a step backwards.
"You don't seem happy to see us." One of the figures, a very large and intimidating man, said. "It must have been what, 12 or 13 years since we've seen you in person last."
"I don't suppose we would have recognized you if we hadn't of had this photograph to go by, though you do look an awful like me when I was your age." The other figure, a woman said.
Hermione froze in fear as the two figures came to stand right in front of her. "What... what do you want?" she managed to choke out.
"What kind of greeting is that? I'd of thought that you'd have missed us after all of these years." The woman said with a sneer. "After all, we were such kind parents to you for the first four years of your life."
"You're not my parents." Hermione said with such conviction that she almost believed it herself. "What do you want?" she repeated.
"Yes, yes, I suppose we ought to get down to business, after all, that is what this is about." the man, Hermione's birth father stated matter-of-factly. "You see, you actually have a very high price on your head, and you being our daughter, we simply couldn't allow anyone else to claim the bounty."
"We usually don't go in for kidnapping," her birth mother explained, "but the price and the circumstances were just too good for us to pass up."
"Why... why would someone offer a bounty for... for me?" Hermione stuttered out, she was genuinely becoming frightened now. Who could possibly want her?
"Don't try and make yourself seem special," the woman spat, "because you're not, several people have bounties on their heads these days."
"They want you alive," The man said gruffly as he grabbed Hermione roughly by her upper arm, "but they didn't say what kind of condition they wanted you in." And before Hermione could make a sound the man brought a heavy object down on the back of her head, knocking her out cold.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Original Mercedes Benz for forcing me to post and for reminding to never post out my home address so crazy people can't beat me up... OO
I apologize again for waiting so long, but I will NOT abandon this story, especially not as long as people are interested in it. PLEASE tell me what you think! I need your advice a great deal and it will help me review faster!
I APOLOGIZE to Dark Ice Dragon who I'm sure will find many mistakes in this chapter as I wrote the entire thing in one day and didn't read through it when I finished so I made absolutely no corrections!
PyroAndrea
P.S. I've also been writing a couple other stories on the side, one of which I'm very fond of, but I won't post until it's completely finished to save myself the torment of being hunted down and killed...