Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter.
Warning- Strong descriptions of torture. Not fluffy.
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Hermione crouched behind a car parked across the street from her home, hair, forehead, and brown eyes visible through the car windows as they spied on the two figures standing on her front porch. They were facing the doorknob, a fact that Hermione was very thankful for, and she saw a wand being produced and heard a spell being murmured. It was no difficult question as to the two people were, their distinctive hair giving that away easily (one was a startling blonde and the other greasy and dark), but it was a difficult question as to what Hermione was going to do about it.
She pulled out her own wand and considered her options quickly. The spells and wards she had placed over the home were considerable and extensive which would bide her some time to contact someone, anyone, to come to her rescue. Although, she knew Severus Snape was quite accomplished in his magical abilities, she hade no real idea as to how well his ability in bringing down wards was honed. As for Draco Malfoy, she had no idea.
Said duo was now through the first ward, Hermione noticed, as a blue sheen of light glazed over the door. There were several more wards, each a tad more extensive than the last, but Hermione would have thought that they would have taken a lot more time for the two to get through than it had. She hoped and prayed her parents weren't home and frightened upstairs. Hermione had warned them that people with malicious intent might attempt to enter the house at any given time even in disguise as Hermione herself.
"Merlin help me." Hermione murmured and stood on the spot. Instantly she Apparated to just outside the Weasley's grounds, knowing that the place was crawling with wards and would prevent her from going any closer without walking. She saw the distinctive shimmer of the wards as she passed through them and almost immediately a redheaded woman was peeking through the kitchen windows in Hermione's direction. Hermione gave a wave hurried to the door, preparing to answer the question Molly was sure to ask.
"Hermione, dear." Mrs. Weasley said with a gentle smile through the screen on her door, "What did I give you for Christmas last year?" She had an apron on and was positively covered in flour, but her smile was completely genuine.
"You knitted me a lovely light blue chenille sweater with lilac stripes around the collar and cuffs." Hermione replied without missing a beat. "Quite lovely and warm, I must say." She grinned as Mrs. Weasley allowed her entrance and made her way into the tiny kitchen with the ever-scrubbed wooden table. "I've got a problem, Mrs. Weasley, and I ask for some discretion in you reaction."
"What is it, Hermione?" Molly asked with a creased brow. She was wiping her floured hands off of her apron and in an instant was all business.
"Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape are outside my house trying to gain entrance as we speak. I was on a walk and came back to see them decimating through my wards. They've a substantial amount to go through yet, seeing as they aren't me and don't know the words to bring them down, but I need some immediate action." Hermione looked around the kitchen and then back into Mrs. Weasley's eyes. "I don't know if my parents are home or not or anything."
"Hermione, there could have been Death Eaters watching you." Mrs. Weasley immediately admonished, "I hope you came here immediately. Did you?" When Hermione nodded, Mrs. Weasley sighed in relief. "They might have managed to place a tracker on you. They're relatively a new danger, but they're still a real one all the same. Hold still a moment." She pulled her wand from her apron pocket and ran it over Hermione whispering "Finite Seguire."
"I've never heard of that spell." Hermione said in wonder at Mrs. Weasley, who looked up to Hermione and smiled a little painfully.
"Dumbledore managed to develop the counter for it before the end of last year." Mrs. Weasley said and tutted. "You're clean dear, from the looks of it. I'll talk to Arthur. You are not to go back to your house under any circumstances, am I clear? You would be in horrible danger."
Hermione looked horrified, "I have to go back!" she practically screamed at Mrs. Weasley, "My parents are there and there is no way I would ever leave them to defend themselves against the man who murdered Albus Dumbledore and the boy that's hated me since I stepped foot into Hogwarts." She pulled out her wand.
"Hermione, no! That's not what I meant." Mrs. Weasley said hurriedly and placed a hand in the air in defeat. "I'm just going to talk to Arthur. I don't want you there without people to back you up is all I meant." She looked at Hermione as though expecting her to try to Apparate away before she could get a word in. "I'll be right back."
Hermione nodded and sat at the table as a sign of acquiescence. She twiddled her wand in her fingers absentmindedly and wondered where everybody was. Normally there was quite a crowd in the kitchen whenever Mrs. Weasley was cooking. She could see into the living room and couldn't spot anybody there either. She felt a little helpless and quite alone for a couple of moments.
Said moments ticked by quickly and Hermione kept looking at her watch anxiously. Five minutes had passed since Hermione had shown up. What could possibly be taking them this long to come to an agreement? She looked at the tortellini lying all over the counter that Mrs. Weasley had been preparing and then back at her watch. Snape would almost be through the wards easy. She twiddled her wand for a moment and then stood up. She practically ran out of the house and away from the grounds, knocking chickens out of the way, and Apparated before she could convince herself that she might be Apparating into danger.
She was standing in her neighbor's back yard- and she was grateful that she hadn't been that accurate in where she wanted to land. She slipped through the wooden gate and around the side of the house to get a good vantage of her front porch. They weren't there anymore. Hermione took a deep breath and cast the Disillusionment charm over herself, shuddering as the cold-water feeling covered her entire body and seemed to settle into her skin. She was camouflaged and could move around a little easier at least.
She stayed close to her neighbor's house and scaled the side and then moved to her front porch. "Revelio Cherming," Hermione placed her wand on the front door and waited. The spell was to tell her if there were wards over the door or not. Nothing happened. The wards were down. "Lovely." Hermione whispered to herself and pushed the front door open.
Needless to say, Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape were not simply standing in the doorway waiting for her. Hermione gathered her nerve a little more and crossed the threshold with a brazen step. Her wand was held out in front of her like a sword as she began the search of the rather cavernous Granger home. It was not a small home in the least, with two stories and many rooms on each floor, but Hermione had never disliked her home until then. There were so many hallways and rooms they could be lurking in.
Hermione immediately searched the living room for signs of her parents being home. She hadn't been gone too long on her walk, but her parents were due home from work almost immediately if they weren't already returned. She walked through the kitchen to check for their car. The garage door seemed to creak abnormally loudly, and Hermione could feel her heart leaping in her throat so loudly she was surprised the whole world didn't know. The car was in the garage.
Oh Gods. Hermione shut the door with a click and turned around and faced the open, silent house with frightened eyes. Her parents were in there somewhere as were two Death Eaters who would sooner kill them than look at them. She walked through the kitchen back into the living room and up the stairs, which she suddenly remembered with delight were carpeted. And her Mum said that carpet was tacky. She felt a slight smile tug at the corner of her lips at the thought. Well, it would at least cushion her movements.
She stepped over the stair that she knew was notorious for creaking and took a deep breath as she reached the top of the landing. All of the doors leading to other rooms were closed, and all of the lights were off. Nice. Hermione, her wand still raised in front of her without fail, cast an opening charm over her door from a couple of feet away. It looked completely the same as it had before she had left. She sighed and then her eyes widened with a potentially horrible thought.
What if they have invisibility cloaks?
Hermione whirled on the spot taking in the whole house with wide eyes. They could be three inches away from her and she wouldn't know it. She honed her train of thought back to her parents and getting both herself and them to safety. Invisibility cloaks were very rare at any rate and it was highly unlikely. Hermione cast an opening charm on the master bedroom door and it swung open.
Draco Malfoy, the picture of calm and serious, stood just in the doorway, his hands clasped behind his back, a thin smile on his face. Hermione looked at him as though he were the pure devil and pointed her wand at his forehead in an instant. He then moved slowly and put his hands up in surrender.
"Oh don't stun me." He mocked, "Please, Granger, let's spare each other the theatrics for a moment, shall we?" He leaned against the doorway comfortably and crossed his arms across his chest. "Now lower your wand like a good girl. You can see my hands and you can see I'm not armed."
"And why should I trust you for one millisecond?" seethed Hermione through her tightly drawn mouth. "Where are my parents, Malfoy? I swear I'll kill you if you've done something to them."
Draco looked almost amused, "Kill me? Please, Mudblood, you probably couldn't even give me a nosebleed if you tried to kill me. Isn't the Killing Curse a tad bit too dark for you?"
"Stop avoiding the subject, Malfoy. I saw you and Snape on my porch and I know my parents are home. Now tell me what the hell you've done with them or we'll have to find out how easily killing would come to me." Hermione responded tartly, preparing to curse him into oblivion. She had never felt so angered in her entire life, and she hardly even felt as if she were bluffing. She met Draco's eyes squarely.
"What if I said Severus was casting an Entrail-Expelling curse over them as we speak and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it, hmm?" Draco asked as if he were asking a child if they wanted candy, "I'm sure you know all of the gory details about this curse. Tell me why it's so lethal, Granger."
Hermione, who had practically screamed in rage when she heard the curse pass Draco's lips, strode forward, "Only the caster can recall the spell!" She screamed and tried to force her way through the doorway past Draco, who shoved her back and watched her stumble. "Get out of the way you stupid-"
"What the hell have you done to my wife? Oh my god, Alice!"
Draco laughed in Hermione's face and snapped his fingers, causing ropes to form in midair and wrap themselves around Hermione before she had time to cast the counter curse. She wobbled precariously on her spot and then fell over and hit her shoulder on the wall, managing to keep straight. "Mum! Dad!" she screamed over Draco's shoulder, and screamed in absolute rage as Draco slammed the door in her face, disappearing behind it. "Come back here you pathetic excuse for a human! Coward! Come face me!"
I can still use my wand. It's still in my hand. Hermione realized. He hadn't thought to take it from her, and it was still in her hand. "Finite Incantatum." She felt the ropes loosen and dissipate all in the same instance. Her father's screams carried into the hallway with ease and Hermione could hear her mother's whimpers as well. She tried the door and wasn't surprised to find it locked.
"Alohomora!" Nothing. "Finite!" Nothing. Finally, fed up, she screamed, "Bombarda!" The door exploded in an instant, all of the wood flying everywhere, and Hermione had to shield her eyes to not get flying splinters in them. She felt a couple of pieces cut her skin, but she hardly registered the pain that came along with it. She stepped over the wreckage and blasted open the bathroom door with the same spell.
Snape and Malfoy weren't there, but her parents were. Her father was lying on his stomach, crawling over to his wife, who was clutching her chest and panting wildly, eyes closed. Hermione saw that her skin was turning a sallow yellow color quickly and that all of the skin around her partially exposed navel was beginning to blacken in rapid succession.
"-ermione!" Her mother gasped out, unable to pronounce the "h", "Get out of 'ere now." She stifled her scream as the skin on her stomach began to dissolve slightly, the center sinking down. Black blood seemed to be diffusing from her skin all over the place. Her inside was slowly being exposed to the cruel air.
Her father looked up at her, and Hermione saw that half of his face seemed to be- could it be melting? She sank to her knees beside the two of them and tried not to cry although her eyes were smarting like they'd been exposed to onions. The smell was nearly unbearable. "What can I do, Mum?" she whispered, her wand in her hand and passing over the rapidly decaying stomach. Her mother seemed to be on the verge of passing out, each ranting sentence becoming more and more incoherent.
"I loff- love- you both- need- kill me." Her mother's back arched, making several organs protrude. "KILL ME, HERMIONE." Her shout was unearthly, her eyes opening and revealing yellowed whites and dilated pupils. Her hands scrabbled at the floor and across the tile to grasp Hermione's wrist with an inhuman amount of strength. "Do it."
"Hermione." Her father said from her side looking at her in wonder, "You couldn't kill your own mother." He looked back at his wife. "Heal her! You can do it, Hermione, you can fix her, can't you?"
"Do it." The demand was still strong, and Hermione couldn't even imagine the amount of pain her mother must be experiencing. The last of the process took about ten minutes, meaning the victim would have to endure it as long as possible. Part of the incantation was to give them extra adrenaline so they wouldn't faint. "Do it, Hermione."
"Hermione, no!" Her father shouted, "You can't kill your own mother, forget what she's saying. You can save her. I love her too much to let her go, Hermione! It would kill me." His own face was a grotesque twist of horror. Half of it was normal, but the other half was drooping, the skin being pulled away from the bone. His eye was covered by skin now, and he could only see through one. But he didn't even seem to feel it.
"I have to. She's in pain." Hermione said. "I have to do something." She closed her eyes as her mother's insides were nearly completely exposed. The organs were beginning to dissolve. It wouldn't be too long before her mother would die of the pain and lack of functioning organs in her body. "Dad. I can't just let her go through this."
"Hermione." Her mother gurgled through the blood in her mouth, "Ted. Leave it." Her whole body was emaciating itself visibly. Her whole body was decaying.
Hermione looked at her dad and then to her mother and then realized she was kneeling in broken glass from the mirror. And the window was wide open, letting in the outside heat. Her hand tightened on her wand and she pointed it at her mother and muttered the strongest pain-relieving spell she could muster. It didn't seem to be doing any good. She considered her options and wondered how on earth things could be any worse.
"I've got to do it." Hermione said to her dad. "I've got to."
"No!"
"Avada Kedavra." Hermione whispered, hoping with every fiber of her being that the spell wouldn't be painful and only alleviate her mother from the pain she was experiencing. Instead of the tell-tale green light exploding from the tip, a silvery white see-through Phoenix slipped out and to the ground. It straightened and shook out its luminous feathers and then moved so that it was inside Hermione's mother's body. It lay down, and Alice Granger gasped a last breath and then her entire body relaxed. Her skin repaired itself, the patina becoming a normal tint, and faded with the absence of blood running through the veins.
"What-?" Her father stammered from her side, and Hermione, for once, had no explanation.
"I don't know." Hermione said and released her wrist where her mother's hand still clung to it, "It wasn't supposed to be so- so-" She looked up and met the eyes of her former professor she didn't realize was standing in the doorway.
"And that, Draco, is why we were sent on this mission." Severus Snape whispered. His dark eyes were unreadable, but Hermione thought she detected a hint of excitement behind them for a millisecond. "Stupefy."
And Hermione Granger, who had managed something she had no clue she could do, passed out without any fight. Her head hit the ground with a loud crack as she landed.
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Review it? Not? I know where this is going. This will be a cannon story. It's a storyline I've had in my head since before HBP was even put out. It should be a wild ride.