Chapter 2

Hermione arrived home to find the house empty and she sensed that something was wrong. Her parents had told her that they would be out of town the day that she was to arrive, but they had also told her that they would call at five o'clock. They were supposed to have called an hour ago; Hermione had spent an hour next to the phone waiting for the call that would calm her nerves.

It was now two hours later and Hermione still knew nothing about her parents. Then all of a sudden the phone sprang to life.

"Hello? Mom? Dad?" Hermione answered the phone with urgency praying that her parents were on the other side.

"Hello?" she repeated again.

"Good evening, may I please speak with Miss Hermione Granger?"

"This is she."

"This is Officer ­­Conner. I don't know how to tell you this but we really need for you to come to the station and help us with something."

There was a long pause and Hermione felt as if she couldn't breath, confusion and doubt began to fill her mind.

"Miss? Are you there? Hello?"

"Yes, I'm here sorry. What's going on?" Hermione's voice seemed to carry the panic that she felt.

"I don't really know how to explain this over the phone. Will you please come to the station?"

"I'll be right there." Hermione hung up the phone quickly and grabbed the keys to her car; she knew that she shouldn't be driving the way that she felt but she needed to get there fast.

The next thing she knew she was as the station with Officer ­Conner. Apparently her parents were in an accident while on their way back into the city. Hermione's world came tumbling down and she felt as if she couldn't breathe.

"Oh my god! Are they okay? Where are they!" Hermione was now past panic. "I want to know where they are!"

"Please calm down. This is very hard for me to tell you. Your parents are…..you're parents didn't make it. I'm so sorry. There will be someone getting in touch with you to discuss your arrangements with you. I am so sorry is there anything that I can do to help?"

"No they can't be dead. My parents can't be dead." The words made no sense to Hermione, there was no way that this was happening to her. What had she possibly done wrong to be punished like this? There had to be some way to make this all better. The officer hadn't let her drive home with the way that she felt.

A few days passed and Hermione still couldn't get out of bed, she hadn't even told Harry and Ron what happened. If Hermione told them what happened she would have to admit that her parents were gone. No matter what she told herself the fact that they were no longer going to come and hug her or be with her was in the back of her mind. There was nothing she could do.

The phone rang and she was debating whether answering it or not. After the last phone call that she got Hermione didn't really want to answer the phone anymore. Despite herself she answered the phone. Hermione was informed that her parents' attorney would be stopping by later that day to read her parents' will. Unfortunately Hermione didn't have a choice she had to look decent before the lawyer got there.

Hermione had known Mr. Sawyer since as long as she could remember. He was a small balding man that had worked for her parents for almost 20 years now. When Mr. Sawyer arrived Hermione was ready for him. She was polite and listened intently as he told her what Mr. and Mrs. Granger wanted now that they had passed.

The will was pretty self-explanatory. She was to go live with her Aunt in America and then attend her school during the school year. The name of the school was obviously omitted from the will. There was a savings account under her name that would be certain to maintain her lifestyle until well after she graduated from school. Hermione knew that things were about to change but not necessarily for the best. Hermione would also be the owner of the flat that they resided in, and all of the other property that her parents had owned. Everything from the cars that were there to the house in the country. Hearing all of her parents' belongings listed made Hermione stare in shock. When had her parents acquired so many things? They were nothing more than dentists, and Hermione was sure that they didn't make that much money.

"Wait a second Mr. Sawyer. Where did my parents get so much money?"

"Well Hermione, your parents have always been very wealthy, they simply didn't want you to get too accustomed to having all that money. They always thought that all of the money might spoil you. To answer your question, they were both only children and they inherited the money from your grandparents. They were both wealthy on their own but when they got married the pooled their money together and are surprisingly wealthy. You have enough money to be secured for a very very long time. You can study anywhere that you want and live anywhere. But leaving that aside I have a letter here for you….from your parents."