Disclaimer: We all know that none of this is mine.

A/N: I am currently working on the next chapter of In the Rain and the fourth chapter (yes the fourth) of this one….hehehe…I know what is going to happen…lol. Anyway…please review! Please?

Chapter 2

Lucius

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone

--Green Day

Her dreams were the same terrible memory every night. Every night she was in her family home and her father was yelling for her to run so she did. She ran out her door and into the wooded area across the street. She could hear her parents screaming and she could see the Dark Mark floating above her house. The brush beat upon her face as she ran, tears streaking her face, heart beating at an abnormally fast rate. She heard the cackling laughter and the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange travel through the trees.

"Where is the wittle girl wunning to?"

Hermione tried to will her legs to go faster, but they would not. Her mind and body were not working together it seemed and she tripped over a tree root. The last thing she remembered was a tall dark Death Eater picking her up off the ground.

Hermione sat up in bed panting slightly to catch her breath. That dream tormented her nightly ever since she woke up after the events in Grimmauld Place. She had no recollection as to how she got there. Every morning she pondered who this Death Eater was that obviously caused her no harm, but took her to safety. There seemed to be no possibilities.

It was the first day of classes and she was anxious to begin. Hopping out of bed, she had no doubt that Harry and Ron were waiting for her in the common room. She was not disappointed. When she walked down the stairs Harry and Ron both stood up looking eager, but not for classes—for food.

As the trio walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Hermione noticed Harry's hand in his pocket. She could see movement, as if he were fiddling with something. She knew what it was. The look of betrayal and grief said it all. Inside his pocket, he kept the locket him and Dumbledore found—the wrong locket. Hermione felt the melancholy washing over her again making her want to run to her room and hide under the covers. There had been so much loss in so few months.

When they reached the Great Hall they were greeted by McGonagall. She stopped all three of them and looked at Hermione. McGonagall maintained her stern demeanor. Hermione looked up into her Headmistress' face. McGonagall could see the lost haunted look beginning to cast shadows upon her face.

"Miss Granger, a word."

McGonagall walked passed them expecting Hermione to follow. Waving Harry and Ron on, she followed the Headmistress to an empty classroom.

"Your time turner," McGonagall said once they were inside the classroom. Hermione reached out and took the time turner from McGonagall's hand and placed it around her neck.

"Please do not be foolish with this. If this privilege is abused I will force you to drop a class."

Hermione nodded her head and said, "Yes ma'am."

When McGonagall dismissed her, Hermione ran back to the Great Hall and joined Ron and Harry.

"What did McGonagall want," Harry asked.

She held up the time turner to show him.

"You're not taking all the classes again are you," Ron asked with large round eyes.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the red head. She was growing more and more irritated with his lack of common sense sometimes.

"No, Ron. I already told you two of my classes are at the same time and I will be using it only for that one class."

Ron still could not comprehend not dropping one of the classes. This was Hermione though, and he seemed rarely to understand her. Shaking his head, Ron continued stuffing his mouth. Hermione propped a book up and began reading while she attempted to eat. She read more than she ate, however. Food held no real enjoyment anymore.

The day was long for Hermione and the pitying looks from her classmates did not help her any. By the end of the week, she was snapping heads off. Ron and Harry both were steering clear of her by Friday.

Ron sat in the common room scowling at his paper.

"What is it," Harry asked, noticing his friend's face.

"What is with Hermione? She has been worse than usual lately."

Harry had a feeling he knew why, but was it really his place to tell Ron? Shouldn't Ron be able to figure out his own girlfriend? Harry understood because he noticed the looks she received—they were the same looks he often received. Pity. He hated it and knew Hermione could not like it either.

Another week passed by.

Hermione was skipping several meals a week and was found in the library more often than usual. It was on Saturday that Hermione remembered. She sat in the back corner of the library studying. She wanted to escape all the people who seemed to just watch her and Ron's obtuse attitude toward her behavior. She reached for a book on her table and it fell just out of reach. She leaned down to pick it up and saw it. Her time turner fell out from under her shirt along with the pendent Dumbledore left her.

The cabin.

With a new burst of energy, she quickly packed her books, rushed out the library door, and headed out to the grounds. Not many people appeared to be outside. It was cloudy and everyone could see that it was going to rain; it was only a matter of time. The skies darkened slightly as she ran up under a tree near the lake, hoping it would conceal whatever happened when she followed the instructions on the parchment.

Turn the serpent three times.

With a shaky hand, she held the pendent in her hand and slowly turned the serpent around the phoenix. On the third turn she felt something very much like a portkey—a strange pulling at her bellybutton. She closed her eyes as she yelped out in surprise. Not exactly what she was expecting. She felt the air around her change slightly. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings. She stood on a curving path in the forbidden forest. Looking straight ahead, she saw the path lead to a charming little cabin hidden by trees.

That must be it.

She began her small walk toward the cabin when she came across it. She didn't notice it upon her initial arrival. Only a few feet from where she landed on the path, an arm stuck out onto the path. She froze upon seeing the pale bloodied hand and the nightmare reality of the night her parents were murdered flashed through her head. For a moment she was running through the woods again it seemed.

Shaking herself from her train of thought, she knelt down to see who it was and if they were okay.

"Are you okay?"

She tugged slightly at his arm, but only a painful moan came from this…man. Leaning over him, she grew concerned. She could not see his face because his hair draped over it, hiding who he was. She could tell he was very weak, possibly on the brink of death. Hermione looked around, paranoid that what or whoever did this to him was still around. Gently she moved the hair from his face and found herself staring into the face of the last person she expected.

He heard her footsteps when they approached and heard the concern in her voice when she asked if he was okay. For a moment, this overwhelming warmth came over him giving him the sense of being home. It was her voice…then she touched him. He felt her fingers slightly caress his face as she moved the hair from it and he saw her face…the face from his memories. It was as if she had not aged a day. She was his angel, looking down on him with concern and then…shock?

Hermione was unsure what to think. Lucius Malfoy was obviously seriously injured. She contemplated leaving him there to die, but thought better of it. That would not make her any better than him. She stood up and looked down at him. Hermione wondered if he was one of the Death Eaters that attacked her home…that killed her parents. But he could not be; he was still in Azkaban then. And how did he get out of Azkaban and why? He moaned and appeared to be reaching for her, but not in such a threatening way.

Cursing her own compassion, Hermione knelt back down and pulled out her wand.

"I am going to levitate you to the cabin. I don't know why I am doing this, but I am."

Before she could stand to cast the spell, Lucius reached out and grabbed her wrist, albeit weakly, but he grabbed it nonetheless. His eyes slowly searched her eyes causing her to squirm uncomfortably. His voice was a horse whisper when he spoke.

"You came back."