Hermione Granger felt her legs making contact with some type of hard surface, a floor perhaps, her feet providing a dull 'thud' upon what laid underneath her. She felt the rest of her body thrown onto the hard surface, leaving the poor woman with the wind knocked out of her. She lay there for a moment on her back, slightly struggling for breath, trying to comprehend the millions of thoughts running through her tired mind.
…And for the second time that evening, Hermione found herself lying on the floor with a splitting headache…and a bit, just the slightest bit disoriented…
…But this time, her surroundings were much, much more familiar to her…
The young woman sat up abruptly, gathering all her strength that she had possible at the time being. She propped herself up on both hands, and gradually made her way into a standing position. She was a bit wobbly for the first few seconds, but quickly regained her stance.
While standing, Hermione began to massage her head, specifically the same spot where the small goose-egg had developed when she hit her head at Miss Crawford's home. The room was dim, quite dim, but yet familiar. She could make out objects in the darkness: a white vase on a side table, a bookcase to the right of her stationed on the wall, and a small mirror on the wall, which Hermione could only make out the silver frame that stood around it.
Wincing a bit at the tenderness of the spot on her head, she spoke quietly to herself:
'How…how the hell did I get home?' she wondered out loud, a bit annoyed regarding her current state.
'You really are that daft, aren't you Miss Granger,' drawled a sneer voice from behind her.
Hermione gasped. She waved her hands frantically, struggling to see in the dark house. She took a few hurried steps in a forward direction, opposite the voice. Her hand found a wall, its fingers tracing the intricate wallpaper. She quickly found the light switch and flipped it on as fast as humanly possible. In an instant, Hermione whipped around, her back to the wall. A lump formed in her throat, and she stared at the site in front of her.
There, across from her coffee table, stood the same two men that found her by the river. The same men that tried to speak with her, to reason with her. And apparently the two men who, without Hermione's consent, whisked her way in an instant to her humble abode.
Hermione's eyes widened with fear, her breathing growing more rapid.
'How did you…how did you know to come…here?' she asked panic-stricken.
Harry shifted a little bit, but continued a firm stance. He placed his hands in his pockets, and spoke.
'We…we knew where you were, Mione. Where you were living. Please don't get upset. Not yet, at least. They've…we've been watching you…making sure…making sure that you were safe,' he said quietly, looking at his navy blue sneakers.
Hermione's eyes narrowed.
'But the voice…the voices by the river…they…they said that someone…someone knew I was there…that they were looking for me…' she stammered, obviously confused and a bit frustrated at the lack of information that they two men were providing.
Severus Snape took a moment to regard the fingernails on his left hand.
'Well, apparently you aren't as foolish as I had thought, Miss Granger. It appears you are quite capable to comprehend at least something this evening,' Severus sneered.
Hermione's cheeks flushed. Her lips formed a tight line, her brow forming an angry crease.
'Well, are you…is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?!...And you-' she said, looking at Harry's piercing green eyes, pointing at him with an angry finger'-why the fuck have you been following me?!' she demanded, becoming angrier and more frustrated by the minute, her index finger shaking slightly.
Severus Snape looked at her, his eyes narrowed at the site of the young woman, and spoke quietly.
'…Are you ready to listen?'
Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat. As if on cue, a shooting pain stabbed through the back of her skull and she winced, placing her outstretched hand on the back of her head.
'Bloody hell,' she murmured to herself, '-I…I need to get something for my head…just…stay there,' Hermione said dryly, as she walked quietly into her kitchen, giving both men a disproving look as she passed by them.
…As if they were going to leave, she thought to herself with a scowl.
The young woman strode into her tiny kitchen, flicking a light on with a soft 'click,' opening one of the brown cupboard doors, and taking out an impeccably clean glass. Walking over to her sink, she turned on the tap and immediately filled her glass half full. While standing at the sink, she reached on her toes to open the top cupboard on her left hand side, her fingers searching blindly for a bottle of aspirin. Hermione took hold of the bottle, brought it down to eye level, opened the container with a 'pop,' and retrieved the appropriate amount of contents that she believed would safely aid her current pain.
Taking the two pills in her hand, she placed them with force into her mouth, and gulped down the glass of tepid water.
The water was slightly cool, refreshing. Hermione smacked her lips, and decided upon another glass. She hadn't realized how dry her mouth had become that evening.
With a full glass of water in her hand, Hermione strode to a tiny window, and pulled back one of the curtains to take a curious glance at the outside world.
…Her breath caught in her chest.
She squinted, trying to determine what she saw outside. And as soon as she recognized the figures, determined what and who they were, the adrenaline quickly pumped through her veins, and she froze on the spot.
Hermione didn't notice the glass slipping out of her grasp as she stared frozen eyed at the hooded persons clad all in black who stood silently outside of her home.
The glass shattered on the floor below, slivers dancing upon the wooden floor.
Within an instant, the two men inside her home appeared in her kitchen.
Hermione felt a warm hand on her shoulder, but she dare not move.
Harry peeked around her shoulder to place his gaze on what Hermione was staring at. He frowned, and turned her away from the window, closing the curtains behind her, the pair crunching on shards of glass as they moved closer to the sink.
Hermione began to panic. And for good reason too. The last time she had seen a Death-Eater was close to eight years ago. And it apparently had done enough damage to turn the young woman away from the wizarding world altogether, placing her instead into a created world of misery and solitude.
'What…what are they doing here?!' she stammered, the fright unmistakable in her voice, her mouth growing dry once again.
Harry looked at Severus, and then focused on Hermione.
'They found you, Mione…somehow,' he said quietly. 'We…we had placed charms, spells on you to make you safe. All those years ago. And somehow…they wore off…or someone had leaked to them where you were…we're not entirely sure what happened, but they know, Mione…they know…'
Hermione's eyes darted between the two men. The fact, the mere fact that they had spied on her, watched her, even placed spells on her currently outweighed the fact that there were currently three death eaters standing in front of her home waiting for her to emerge.
Hermione gritted her teeth.
'Well, why now?! What does it matter?! What the hell do they want with me?! I am nothing to them! They got what they wanted, all those years ago! Isn't that enough for them?!' she cried, her voice echoing throughout the kitchen.
Severus scowled.
'But Miss Granger – I do believe that is exactly their point. Their plan was quite unsuccessful, and they had indeed failed to, as you put it, get what they wanted…' he said in a deadly tone, a disproving look upon his sallow face.
Hermione snorted.
'Well?! Why the hell now?! After all these years, what the hell could they possibly want with me?!' she demanded, her hands forming fists at her sides, shaking slightly.
Harry looked sadly at the young woman.
'Because…because he never finished what he started. So you-know-who claims. We have…information that you… you were supposed to die with…with your parents in the fire…that if…if you and…and Ron were both gone, that would leave me unprotected, so the new prophecy said…and…' Harry stammered, looking at his feet below.
Hermione's eyes welled with tears. She was silent for a few moments before speaking.
'You should have left me by the river. You should have never brought me here,' she boldly stated, shaking her head in disgust and closing her eyes.
Harry looked at her; saw the pain and anguish that flooded her face.
'No, we couldn't leave you there…I couldn't leave you there,' Harry said softly.
Hermione blinked and slowly backed up to the sink.
'Well, you should have,' she said, her voice soaked with defeat. '-I don't care about any fucking prophecies, I don't care about who wants what now…I just…just let me be, please…I'm begging you…' she said, the tears beginning to spill down her flushed cheeks.
…And for the first time that evening, Severus Snape looked at Hermione Granger, and felt a pang of sadness for the young woman. He saw the anguish in her eyes, although she avoided his eyes so far this evening at all costs. He could see it in her face, in her actions, and mostly and more completely, in her voice:
…She was giving up.
…She had lost hope.
Severus Snape sighed.
If the plan was going to work, if she decided upon sacrificing her own life for mere selfishness, if she was going to not cooperate, then all of their work will have been for naught. All that they have been working for. All that they themselves had sacrificed. For the boy. And now for her.
Hermione walked over to one of the chairs at her kitchen table, and dabbed her nose with her sleeve.
'Do you…do any of you know how hard this is…to think, just for a moment to be in my shoes,' Hermione whispered, her head in her hands, eyes shut, tears running down her face.
'I mean…I don't…I can't do magic. I can't fight. I can't…I don't even have a fucking wand anymore for Christ sake,' she said in an irritated tone, her head still in her hands, staring at the flowered tablecloth below.
'…And that is where you are wrong Miss Granger,' Severus simply stated, as he took one step forward.
He reached into his cloak, and retrieved two beautiful pieces of wood, two pieces that fit perfectly together, and placed them on the table right in front of the young woman.
Hermione blinked through the blinding tears. She couldn't believe her eyes.
She didn't want to believe what she saw, but seeing the object right in front of her – she knew what it was. Who it belonged to…
…It was her wand.
Hermione's eyes welled. Still staring at the object, she spoke softly:
'How…where did you find it…I threw it…I threw it into the fire,' she stared at the pieces in disbelief, shaking her head, hardly acknowledging that her wand had come back to its owner.
Severus smirked.
'And here I came to believe that my brightest student knew all there is to know about magic…' he drawled. 'Miss Granger, surely you would know that a wand such as yours could not be destroyed by fire….'
Hermione blinked.
'Oh…I guess…' she stammered. She took a second glance at the two pieces of wood, and for the first time that evening, looked straight into the eyes of Severus Snape.
'I don't want it. Take it back. Can't you see, I have no use for it,' she said, a hardened expression upon her face.
With her dark brown eyes staring into his, she allowed him silent permission to see exactly why she did not want her wand back.
Images flashed in his mind.
The day she married Ronald Weasley. The day she saw Ron die in front of her, holding his lifeless body in her arms. The night her parents died. The image of her throwing her wand in the fire. Her dismal look upon graduating Medical school, not a family member in sight in the crowd. Sitting by the fire in her living room after work, sobbing, holding a wedding photograph in her hands. Standing over the bridge years ago, willing herself to fall in.
Severus abruptly pulled himself away from her thoughts.
Seeing her images, seeing her actions, her behaviors. It surprised him. It bothered him. And for a moment, just the slightest moment, he felt pity for the poor woman sitting in front of him. Not a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Hermione swallowed, and while still continuing to stare at her old Potions Master, stated in a thick voice:
'…Now do you understand'?
Severus inhaled and exhaled deeply, offering her no reply in return.
Hermione got up from the kitchen table, and walked through the doorway towards the living room.
Harry followed close behind her.
'Mione, where are you going?' he said, walking swiftly behind her, his voice harboring a twinge of concern.
'Outside. I need air,' she said matter-of-factly without hesitation, pausing only to pick up a light jacket lying haphazardly on the sofa.
Hermione approached the door and grabbed the handle…
…It didn't budge.
'What the…' Hermione said to herself. Jiggling the handle in frustration, with her back to the two men, she yelled in disgust:
'Open the bloody door, you morons!'
…And it was Harry who spoke, quietly yet confidently, to the back of the young woman who was trying frantically to exit out of her house:
'You're not leaving Mione. You can't…. And you won't…'