Disclaimer: I look to my computer and think, 'God wouldn't it be good to own Harry Potter?' Then I think, well I live in Australia, I'm 14 and in year 10, I have no children and I get B's in English. Just to let you know, I don't own Harry Potter, but a girl can dream. Also, this plot is kind of based on Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. I also own nothing of that.

Setup: 5th book didn't happen; I refuse to accept that Sirius is dead. So yes, Sirius is not dead. Set the summer after Dumbledore's death, they would be entering their 7th year, they are all of age.

Summary: After a swing of unfortunate events, Hermione is sent a mysterious letter. In order to follow the path, she is paired up with her best friends stubborn, middle aged godfather who as stubborn as she is. What lies ahead of them?

A/N: This is something that has been in my mind for a while now. I have most of the idea either in my head or in paper lying around my room.

Dedicated to my mum (even though she doesn't read my fantastic stories) because she prompted me to read The Da Vinci Code…which is where I got this fabulous idea.

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'We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give…' – Winston Churchill

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Summer had not been kind on Hermione Granger. The life she once knew, the life that was all she knew, had completely changed in just a few short months. Life had turned around and Hermione felt as if she was going backwards, traveling into a life she refused to live.

She had seen many people turn into this, and as she looked into her full length mirror, Hermione felt an urge to burst into tears. The baggy clothes that hung limply off her pale frame felt as though they weighed twenty pounds and her pale skin contrasted badly with the dark colours that filled her wardrobe.

The once brilliant chocolate eyes had dimmed to a dull brown, emitting neither sparkle nor warmth. They showed pain, sorrow and guilt, often shining with unshed tears that would never fall.

Hermione was a broken person. Broken exactly down the middle, splitting her into two. Harry and Ron were the same. Voldermort would laugh; cold and harsh. He had achieved more than he could ever have imagined.

He had broken the trio; each one, slowly and painfully, letting them live to make them suffer with the pain of their heart.

Ron and Harry had suffered first. They left Hermione sitting to wait for her parents and apparated quickly to the burrow. When Hermione had opened her front door the next day, Ron and Harry were standing there; blood splattered across the faces and clothing, both of their eyes dull from sadness.

Hermione had gasped. Their stories had been told and the three of them had sat around her parents table, silently crying in grief, waiting for this particular nightmare to cease.

It did not stop. Hermione experienced the pain Harry and Ron had only a week later, in her very house. It had left her cold and empty inside, feeling as though it would all make sense if the world ceased to spin, if God had turned good luck upon them, not pain.

But Hermione stood in her bedroom under her parents' room, feeling empty, cold and completely drained. Since Dumbledore's death, the summer had not been kind. Hermione now knew horrors that could be thrown upon her during the night, horrors that she had never wished to see.

Tears sprung into the young witches eyes as everything around her collapsed into herself. The world was dying, evil was winning the war. How much longer would she be able to hang on by a thread?

That was a question Hermione wished she could answer, but regretfully, she couldn't, and that question continued to hang above her head, plaguing her. Sighing heavily, Hermione moved away from the fogged mirror and towards the stairs; her feet padding lightly against the wood as she made her way down the steps and towards the kitchen.

Hermione picked up the mug she had given to her mother on mother's day a year before and clutched into closely to her chest before sighing once more.

"I can't live like this," Hermione muttered to herself as she placed the mug back on the counter, bitterness lacing her voice. She looked to the kitchen table and moved towards it, eyeing the three envelopes warily.

The top one she knew instantly. It was thick and heavy in her hands as her fingers slid under it to bring it closer to her eyes. Hermione flipped the envelope over and sighed, the Hogwarts crest staring back at her.

Hermione dropped it back on the table, shaking her head softly. Though she was of age, Hermione had the temptation to return to Hogwarts, to return to the one place she felt safe.

But there was no point. This thought popped into her head every time her brain stuck up the argument; tempting her to return back to Hogwarts. But, without Dumbledore, there was simply no point.

She narrowed her eyes at the two remaining letters. One was skinny and emblazed with red letters. The other was thicker and yellow, with only two words, 'Hermione Granger', written across it.

Hermione picked up the yellow one and ripped it open, unfolding the letter carefully.

Dear Hermione,

I've heard about your loss and I'm eternally sorry. I do hope you will not hide away forever.

Oh Hermione, it has been a horrible holiday without you. Mama insists you stay with us and somehow, she is taking your rejection out on us. I cannot tolerate her incoherent shouts and tantrums anymore. If she wasn't my mother I would shout back.

I have the most pleasant news, Sean finally asked Emily to marry her. John and I are over the moon. Our only daughter, going to be married and to a doctor…Aren't you excited?

You won't miss it will you, your cousin will be very angry. You know how much Emily loves you. Oh, I cannot wait to see John escorting her down the isle…

Anger flashed across Hermione's face as she ripped the letter to shreds, throwing it away. "Hateful…stupid…spiteful…little…bloody…bitch!" She growled loudly as she savagely tore the letter. "Flaunting it in front of my face, what a stupid bi-"

"Hermione Granger, were you about to swear?"

Hermione turned around as she continued to shred the letter. Sirius was leaning against the kitchen archway, grinning down at her. "Hi Sirius," Hermione murmured and threw what was left of the letter in the bin as she crossed to the kitchen counter. "What are you doing here?"

Sirius pushed himself off the doorway and sat down at the table. "Everyone is worried."

"I would have thought they had their own problems…"

Sirius' grin faded. "I guess they do, though, I've only heard part of the story," he replied grimly as he flicked his wand. He picked up one of the mugs of coffee that appeared and after his first sip he said, "What happened?"

Hermione's sigh echoed though the kitchen. She threw herself into an empty chair next to Sirius and snatched up the other steaming mug. "Which story?"

"Well I heard that Ginny -"

"Then you've probably been told the right story," Hermione told him dryly. "To cut a horrible story short, Ginny was murdered."

Sirius's eyes moved from his mug to connect with Hermione's. "What happened?"

Pain crossed Hermione face as she lowered her mug to the table. "I didn't see it," Hermione started, "Harry and Ron arrived at my front step a day after arriving home. They were covered from head to toe with blood, mud and sweat." Hermione sighed and added, "Their eyes were dull and almost looked lifeless. The minute I saw them my heart broke." Her fingers tapped softly on the rim of her mug. "Harry and Ron were kidnapped and quickly apparated to another place. Ginny was tied up in front of them. Of course, Harry and Ron were pissed, and tried to fight their way out," she told him sadly. "They told me everything went cold when Voldermort walked into the room. He had laughed cruelly and sent a muggle blade across the room, hitting Ginny in the stomach. Harry told me his heart broke that exact second." Hermione paused to heave in a breath. "He tortured her until an inch of death then wiped the blood over Harry and aimed one quick, swift spell at Ginny."

"He murdered her in front of them?"

Hermione's eyes shined with fresh tears. "If he couldn't kill Harry, what was the next best thing?"

Sirius shook his head sorrowfully. "The girl he loved but distanced himself from because he wanted to protect her."

"Exactly. And, being Ron's sister, Voldermort hit two birds with one stone."

"Why didn't he just kill Harry and Ron?" Sirius asked her.

Hermione shifted her gaze to look out the window. "I don't think he wants to kill them. He wants to torture them, break them, and destroy them in anyway possible. By killing Ginny, it was a way to torture Harry without actually killing him," she told him sadly, her gaze meeting with his. "I don't think he actually wants Harry dead."

Sirius sighed. "And what about you?" He asked her gently. "I've heard-"

Tears threatened to fall and she quickly turned away. Breathing in deeply, Hermione said, "Though he may have hit a tender spot in my heart and succeeded in breaking it in two, I know that I will heal – one day."

"It would be completely pointless in asking you if you were alright, wouldn't it?"

Hermione smiled weekly, grateful at his light humor. "Yes, completely pointless."

Sirius grinned before it faded, his lips twitching as her stared at the remains of her letter. He inclined his head slightly, raising an eyebrow and said, "Waging war against letters?"

Hermione murmured something inaudible as she rose to her feet and cross to the kitchen sink, placing her mug against the metal. She winced from the clang and gripped the edge tightly, her knuckles turning white. "They pick the best time to flaunt their shit in front of me," she told him sarcastically, her back still turned and her knuckles gripping the sink.

"What shit is that?"

She heard his chair scrape back as he said this and his presence was soon behind her behind her but she ignored it. "Everything," Hermione whispered softly. Tears welled in her eyes just as she felt solid, strong arms wrap around her.

Hermione turned in his arms and rested her head against his chest, the tears running freely down her cheeks. "They aren't coming back, any of them," she whispered.

"Hermione…"

"They took them Sirius. They came into this house and murdered them, making me sit there and watch," Hermione sobbed, clutching his shirt. "I watched them torture my parents and yet, I could do nothing to help them. I heard my mum scream in pain. I watched my dad fall onto the ground, and I knew as I sat watching that I would never see them again."

Sirius stroked her hair and felt his own heart with pain. "I'm sorry."

Hermione's sobs grew louder. "Just before the killed mum, they looked at me and smirked," she said between sobs.

He felt her stiffen under his hands and her entire body went rigid as she said this. She lifted her nose away from his chest but tightened her hold on his shirt. "I'm going to go after them one day Sirius and when I find them…"

"I know," Sirius whispered, "and they deserve what coming."

Hermione sighed and pulled away from him to move to the kitchen table. "I'm going to kill each and everyone I saw in this house," she told him as she picked up the other letter. "I'm not going to sit in this house anymore because all I'm doing is making them think they won." Hermione tapped the letter to distract herself from the anger bubbling inside her. "The only thing they've accomplished is that they have made me angry."

Sirius could see the pain in her eyes as she said this and he winced. "What's that?" He asked her and jerked his head to the letter in her hands, hoping to distract her from the memory of her parents' death.

Hermione looked down to the heavy letter and saw the words 'Hermione Anne Granger' emblazed in red across the middle. She shrugged and looked back to Sirius. "Well I know it's not from my relatives considering they would never use my middle name. Plus, they usually use the phone." Hermione noticed the shreds of the early letter on the table and grimaced. "Well most of them use the phone. My Aunt Janice thinks that even though I'm a witch, she's better than me and can use our methods of communication better than I can."

Sirius quirked an eyebrow and said, "She sounds nothing like you."

A frown tugged at Hermione's lips as she looked down to the letter in her hands. "That's because she isn't. She is over 40 but continues to live with her mother with her husband and children. They also have a habit of being exceptionally nice to my face whilst telling the rest of my relatives that I would turn them all into toads."

"Just turn her into a toad then. I'm sure her personality would match nicely with the change of appearance," Sirius chuckled, a grin forming across his face.

The edges of her lips twitched but Hermione kept her face blank. "But I know this isn't from her because the one I was ripping before was from her-"

"Completely understandable," Sirius told her.

"-and I know that none of my other relatives would write to me," she continued as she played with the letter in her hand. Hermione shrugged at Sirius before ripping the envelope open, extracting a thick piece of paper.

Sirius watched Hermione read the letter before her eyes returned to the top, slowly making their way down again. Confusion spread across her features and her hands twitched slightly.

"This can't be," Hermione finally said after several minutes. "It doesn't make sense."

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Very first chapter of the story is done. I have the plot figured out, some chapter written, most is in my head. Please be nice as I have other stories but I couldn't resist doing this one.

Hope you enjoyed it and don't hesitate in telling me what you thought.

NOT A TIME TURNER STORY…HERMIONE DOES NOT GO BACK IN TIME.