Disclaimer: All hail Jo Rowling for giving us Harry and his world.

Come What May

Chapter Two

Hermione was in a total state of shock as she sat at the long wooden table of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Someone pressed a mug of hot tea into her hands. She looked up and found herself staring at Nymphadora Tonks. She gave the distraught girl a pat on the back before sitting down next to her.

Shortly after arriving at Grimmauld Place, Hermione had been taken down to the kitchen, where a couple of Aurors were waiting to question her about what had happened. It had been horrible talking about what she had seen, and she found that when she got to the part about seeing her parents, she couldn't go on. She just hung her head and stared at the table while the Aurors stared at her silently. At that point, Tonks told them to leave her be.

Remus Lupin sat across the table from Hermione and Tonks. Lupin looked at Hermione, trying to imagine what she was going through. It was impossible, he decided. She was pale as death and her hands shook every time she brought the mug of tea to her mouth to drink. She looked like a lost child. She didn't know what to do with herself.

Hermione wouldn't look at either of her companions. She knew if she did, everything would hit her at once and she would lose the fragile stability that she had managed to build within the past few hours. She just wanted to be alone, but she was afraid of being alone for too long, afraid that if she was, someone would get her like they had her parents.

The three of them sat there silently for what seemed like hours. Tonks tried to persuade Hermione to eat something, but Hermione just shook her head and continued to stare miserably at the table. Lupin refilled her mug several times, but didn't get a response from her. He and Tonks exchanged looks on more than one occasion. More than anything, they wished that they could do something for Hermione. But they both knew that postponing the moment when Hermione would remember everything could destroy her.

They both started when Hermione suddenly pushed herself up away from the table and began walking towards the door.

"Hermione?" Tonks said questioningly.

"I'm tired," she said automatically, without any trace of emotion.

Tonks got up and led Hermione up the stairs and into the entrance hall. She watched Hermione as she moved and it struck her how very much like a zombie she was behaving. She stared straight ahead and walked without a trace of life, as though a part of her had died with her parents.

Hermione walked into the room she had shared with Ginny two years ago and sat down on the bed. She stared at the floor to avoid looking at Tonks.

"Hermione, if there's anything-" Tonks started, but got cut off.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Tonks hesitated, but decided it was best to just leave her alone for awhile. She closed the door after her and retreated back downstairs to the kitchen to talk with Lupin.

Hermione yanked her shoes off and curled into a ball on the bed, facing away from the door.

'Just let it all end. God, I would give anything to let it all end and let me out of this hell.' She thought.

She stared at the wall as the room grew steadily darker. She had spent most of the day in the kitchen, being interrogated by those Aurors. She had arrived at Grimmauld Place last night, after discovering her parents' bodies. She hadn't slept at all last night, but had sat in the kitchen with Tonks and Lupin.

For the first time in her life, Hermione felt like she was a hundred, a thousand years old. The sudden loss of her parents sat like a sack of bricks on her chest, and try as she might to shove the bricks off, she couldn't get them to budge. She felt as though she was drowning in a pool of misery. As Tonks had observed as she was walking up the stairs, she looked like she had lost a part of herself with her parents. That's what it felt like. It felt like she had lost half her heart when she saw her parent's bodies lying there in their office.

All her pain and her anguish felt like too much to handle. It hurt her so much to even think of her parents and how only yesterday morning, the biggest thing in the world was celebrating Hermione's Head Girl status. All at once, Hermione couldn't stand it anymore. She sat up, looking wildly around the room for something, anything to smash or something that would end it all and take away her pain.

But there was nothing. Something awoke in Hermione's brain, something that said Tonks and Lupin thought she would resort to physical pain to ease some of the mental pain she was feeling. They had taken away everything they thought she could use to hurt herself.

"Damn you both!" she screamed before falling back onto the bed, sobbing.

She had cried herself to sleep before night had really fallen.

Down in the kitchen, Tonks and Lupin sat discussing the past days' events.

"Why did we not suspect something like this would happen, Remus? How could we not see it coming? Now Hermione's got to face life without her parents, and to be quite honest, I don't think she can handle it."

"Of course she can handle it. She has to deal with it. This is a war, Tonks, we've all suffered. Look how Harry handled Sirius and everything."

"But Harry only knew Sirius for two years, Remus. How do we know she won't do something rash?"

"We made sure she wouldn't, remember? We took everything she could have possibly used to harm herself out of her room. She's strong, she will move on. It will take a long time, but she will move on."

Tonks made a disbelieving noise. "Do you honestly think she will ever be able to get the sight of her parents lying there out of her head. And those secretaries, my God, Remus, when the Aurors showed me pictures, I almost threw up. And I wasn't even there in person. Can you imagine what she's going through?"

Lupin thought for a moment. Tonks had a fair point. If he had seen Hermione's parents, it would have been different. Hell, it would have been a whole lot different if he was Hermione. Now that he thought about it, would he be able to handle his own parents being murdered like Hermione's were?

Tonks cleared her throat. "I thought Harry and the Weasleys should know about this, so I've written to them to tell them what happened. I'm sure they'll want to come and see her. Maybe if she sees Harry and the rest, she'll be okay."

Lupin nodded. "Good idea, but did you tell Harry to let us know if he was coming? Now that the protection his mother left him has ceased to operate now that he's of age, anything could happen."

"I wrote it in there."

"Good."

A few hundred miles away, Harry Potter paced his bedroom, his thoughts going every which way as he thought furiously. The letter from Tonks was clutched in his left hand as he walked around and around the room.

Hermione's parents had been murdered yesterday. Hermione was not doing good, she wasn't talking, she wasn't eating, and Tonks and Lupin thought she might do something to hurt herself. Tonks wrote that she thought it would be a good idea if she had some familiar faces around to help her get through it.

The Daily Prophet sat on his desk and he stopped to snatch it up and look at it. Now that he thought about it, he thought he saw something in there about two murders in London by the Death Eaters. He flipped through the pages furiously, looking for the article. He stopped when he saw the tiny snippet at the bottom of the last page.

Two Murdered in London

The Ministry of Magic confirmed the murders of two Muggles last evening as a new wave of attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns continues from the beginning of the week. The Ministry refused to comment on anything other than the Muggles were dentists (Muggle teeth cleaners) and that they had been killed in their London office, as well as the two secretaries that worked there.

"Of course, why didn't I see it before?" Harry muttered to himself as he threw the paper back on his desk.

He knew why he never saw it before. Who expected their best friend's parents to be murdered out of nowhere?

He knew he had to go to Hermione to be there for her. He dug through the mess on his desk to find two decently clean pieces of parchment. On the first, he scribbled a note to Ron, telling him he was going to Grimmauld Place and asking him to come as well. On the second, he replied to Tonks, who had asked him to write back immediately if he was coming.

He woke Hedwig, his snowy owl, and tied the note for Tonks to her leg. Hedwig took the other in her mouth.

"Now, go to Ron first, then go to Tonks, okay? Stay at the headquarters, I'll be there in a bit." Harry told her as he carried her over to the window.

He watched until she flew out of sight and then turned to the disaster that was his bedroom. Stuck at the Dursley's all summer wasn't what he had in mind. But he knew he had to stay until he turned seventeen, when the magical protection his mother had left on him ceased to work. He was only safe here until the magic ran out. It had been a month since his seventeenth birthday, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. He did notice, however, on his birthday, that Aunt Petunia looked rather worried, and instead of ignoring him as she normally did, she did give him a strangely significant look that told him that she understood what day it was and what could happen after the day had passed.

He had never before appreciated his mother's sister really before that. She understood what could happen now that he was seventeen, but she didn't kick him out. And she never breathed a word of it to Uncle Vernon. That was her sacrifice to Harry, as he looked at it. She could have kicked him out that day if she wanted to. He figured it was her way of repaying the debt she had to her sister. Keeping her only son safe at the cost of her family's safety.

Anyway, Harry roused himself from his thoughts and turned his attention to cleaning his room up and getting ready to leave for Grimmauld Place. He tracked down all his books and things and threw them in the trunk, which stood open at the end of his bed. He cleaned off his desk and threw the rubbish away. He cleaned out Hedwig's cage and shut the door on it. He wrapped his Firebolt up and placed it inside his trunk and looked around to see what else he had missed. With everything packed, he shut the lid on the trunk and locked it. Taking out his wand, he shrunk both the trunk and Hedwig's cage and put them in his pocket.

He looked around the room one last time before walking out and going downstairs. His aunt, uncle, and cousin were in the living room, watching television. Dudley and Uncle Vernon didn't look up when he entered, but Aunt Petunia did.

Harry cleared his throat to announce his presence to his uncle.

"What?" Uncle Vernon snapped, the vein in his temple already pulsing horribly.

"I've got to tell you all something," Harry snapped back.

"Well? Get on with it, you're interrupting our show," Uncle Vernon snarled.

"I'm leaving tonight to go to London."

"Why?" Uncle Vernon asked suspiciously, eyeing his nephew closely.

"My friend Hermione's parents were murdered yesterday, and I'm going to London to be there for her. I'll leave for school from there."

Aunt Petunia looked horrified at the mention of Hermione's parents' deaths, but didn't say anything.

"Good. Best be going then," his uncle said, already half absorbed with the television again.

"There's something else," Harry said hurriedly, before his uncle was lost again.

"What?"

"After tonight, I won't be coming back. Ever."

The Dursleys all looked up at him, as though they had never seen him before. Aunt Petunia's expression was hard to determine. Was she happy? Sad? Was she going to tell him to come back after his last year of school was up?

Uncle Vernon looked like Christmas had come four months early. "You won't be coming back?"

"No, after school's done, I'm going out there to fight."

"Fight, fight what?" Uncle Vernon muttered distractedly.

"Fight the git that murdered my mum and dad," Harry snapped.

Uncle Vernon looked up at him. "Once you're gone, you won't be endangering our family any longer. I knew I should have thrown you out when I had the chance. You've put us in danger for too long."

Harry temper rose. "You've been in more danger than you knew for the past month. Remember what Dumbledore said? He said once I turned seventeen, the magic my mum left on me would quit working. Voldemort could have come here any time since than and killed us all. But he hasn't. So once I'm gone, you can quit worrying. I won't bother to keep in touch."

With that, he stomped from the room and into the front hall. He had his hand on the door when someone laid a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see his aunt standing there, looking, for the first time that Harry could remember, like a loving aunt.

"Before you go, I must tell you this. If you ever need a place to stay after this, any time at all, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to write or call. Vernon wouldn't be pleased, but after all, you're my sister's son, and I've kept you for this long. Just remember, Harry, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call or write. You'll always be welcome."

She hugged him briefly before turning to go back into the living room. Harry stood there, as though frozen, his brain working furiously to comprehend what just happened. Aunt Petunia told him to come back if he ever needed anything? She hugged him?

"The world has gone bloody mad," he muttered, shaking his head and pulling the door open.

He walked out onto the front lawn, scanning the sky closely. Tonks had told him once she had received his reply that she would send up green sparks into the sky to let him know that all was safe and he could Disapparate without incident.

He waited only five minutes before he saw green sparks flare on the far horizon. He checked to see that Hedwig's cage and his trunk were still safely in his pocket before he Disapparated. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and thought of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. He turned on the spot and felt that horrible compressed feeling. It lasted only seconds before he was heaving great gulps of air and opening his eyes to find himself in front of number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

He didn't ever think he'd be back here again. He even swore he wouldn't come back here again. But here he was, and he would put aside his hatred of the place for two weeks while he was here for Hermione.

The door opened and Lupin stepped out on the dark porch, smiling at him.

"Hello, Harry."

"Professor. It's good to see you again," Harry said, walking up the steps and taking Lupin's hand, which he shook.

"Well, come on, inside, it's not safe to linger."

They walked into the darkened hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. Harry ignored the sinking in his stomach at being in the place that his godfather so hated and ignored all the memories the place was conjuring up again.

Tonks sat at the table, but stood when she saw Harry.

"Wotcher, Harry!"

"Hey Tonks. How've you been?"

"Pretty good. Always looking for something good to keep me busy, I suppose."

They all sat down.

"Ron's not here yet, I take it?" Harry asked, looking around and not seeing his redheaded friend.

"No, I sent him a note, but we haven't heard from him yet."

"I sent him a note too. I told him to come as soon as he could. He'll show up."

There was a few moments of silence.

"How's Hermione?" Harry asked seriously.

Tonks shook her head sadly. "Not so good. She won't talk, she won't eat, and, no joke intended, she looks dead herself."

Harry sat back in his chair and sighed. "Why did I not see this coming? Why did I not think that something like this could happen to my friends?"

"None of us saw it coming, Harry. Don't beat yourself up over it. No one could have known. But there is something we do know," Lupin said.

There was something in Lupin's voice that made Harry look up. "What?"

"Lucius Malfoy and Fenrir Greyback had something to do with it. Lucius left a note for Hermione near her parents' bodies. Fenrir killed Mr. Granger. He was slashed. We don't know who killed Mrs. Granger. But Malfoy and Greyback were involved."

Harry felt a sick jolt of fury surge through his body. "Greyback? That bastard who bit you?"

Lupin nodded sadly. "It's a good thing Hermione wasn't anywhere near the office yesterday. Fenrir has a sick pleasure in infecting young people. Hermione would have been bitten."

At that precise moment, the kitchen door opened and the Weasleys all walked in, minus Charlie, Bill, and the twins.

The next few minutes were chaos, but once everyone sat down at the table, things settled.

Harry sat back and let the adults talk and turned instead to his best friend, Ron, and his sister, Ginny. Harry felt a surge of sadness quite unattached to what he felt for Hermione. It was for Ginny. He loved her so much, but they couldn't be together, because Voldemort would go for her too and try to kill her. Ginny didn't think much of this, she was rather irritated when Harry told her they couldn't be together at the end of last term, but at the moment, it was the furthest thing from either of their minds.

"Have you seen her yet?" Ginny asked.

Harry shook his head. "I was just about to go up and see her."

Ron looked quite unlike himself. There was no usual wisecracks, no grinning, nothing. Harry suspected it was because Hermione had grown on him and Ron now felt the same way about Hermione as Harry did about Ginny.

"Let's go," Ron said, standing up.

The three of them trekked up the stairs quietly to the room where Ginny and Hermione stayed two years ago. Walking through the house brought back memories of Sirius, but Harry brushed them aside to deal with later. Right now, Hermione was the one to help.

Without knocking, Ginny softly opened the door and crept inside. The boys followed.

Hermione was curled into a ball facing away from the door. She made no movement or turned over to acknowledge that they were there. Harry could feel her pain and misery as they walked over to the bed.

Hermione felt the bed sink a few inches as someone sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Herms," a familiar voice said sadly.

Hermione opened her eyes and moved her head a fraction of an inch towards the owner of the voice. It was Ron. Harry and Ginny stood on either side of him.

"Ron," she quivered out.

She sat up and looked at him. His arms wrapped around her and that was all she needed. She buried herself into his embrace and wept. She wept for her parents, she wept for herself and her loss, she wept for all those who had been hurt by Voldemort. But she also wept because her friends were here with her and that made her feel a prickle of happiness in her lost heart.

Harry and Ginny sat down next to Ron and reached out to comfort Hermione. Nobody said anything, they were focused on getting Hermione through it all. After awhile, Hermione stopped crying and instead sat there miserably, not knowing what to do with herself.

"Did Lupin and Tonks tell you what happened?" Hermione said softly.

They all nodded.

"Did they tell you who did it?"

Harry nodded, but the others looked puzzled.

"What do you mean, who did it?" Ron asked.

Hermione looked up at him with watery eyes. "It was Lucius Malfoy and Fenrir Greyback. They killed my parents. Lucius left a note in my parents' blood. He told me to watch my back, because Harry couldn't save me this time, and I was next in line to get the axe. I'm the next murder victim."

Ginny clapped a hand to her mouth while Hermione continued to sit there miserably. The pain was still too much for her, and she couldn't find a way to deal with it. Even the faces of her best friends couldn't wake her up from her nightmare.

Harry suddenly took charge. "Come on, Hermione, we're going downstairs to eat something. Tonks and Lupin say you haven't eaten anything in ages, and if you don't eat, you'll only feel more miserable. And I don't want to hear excuses," he added sternly as Hermione opened her mouth.

"Fine," she said, resigned to being thrust out there in the cruel and painful world again.

She knew if she went into the kitchen, she would be watched, but maybe, just maybe, she could sneak something back up to her room to help her later on. She could ease her pain without being watched. But what to do with Ginny?