AN – I own nothing!
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Chapter 47
Hermione opened the front door and stepped into the house. The house in where she had spent most of her childhood. The house in which her parents were killed by the Death Eaters themselves. Before, it was an actual home. Now, when she stepped into the foyer, she noticed that the house was completely bare. There wasn't a single piece of furniture not trinket left. It was no surprise to her. Her grandfather had told her that he had the place emptied out, with almost everything going into Wellington Castle. The other things that were of no value were given to charity.
The place was still hers so to speak. Her grandfather asked her weeks ago if she wanted to sell the house. All she did was shake her head in reply at him. He understood that she couldn't part with it, neither could he. To Hermione, the house had a great sentimental value. As she walked through the place slowly, a flood of memories had invaded her senses.
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"I want to do it Daddy," Hermione said as she tugged on her father's pants. He had just put the cake of the kitchen counter, and was ready for being decorated with frosting. "I want to put the icing."
"Alright," Philip said as he bent down and picked up Hermione. He then set her on the counter right next to the cake and different colored frosting. "Now what color should mummy's cake be?"
Hermione looked at the different colors or frosting that lay in their bowls. "Yellow!" she squealed.
"Yellow it is," Philip said as he reached over and got the bowl of yellow frosting. He gave Hermione a spatula as well and helped her put it on and around the cake.
"Daddy…" Hermione called.
Philip looked up at Hermione. Before he knew it, her little hand had smeared pink frosting on his cheek. "Hermione!" he gasped.
"Funny, funny," she giggled as she clapped her hands. Obviously, she didn't care that her other hand got sticky and messy.
"We are supposed to be decorating mummy's birthday cake," he said in a serious tone. "We are not supposed to make a mess of it." He just sighed to himself and smiled and watched her laughed at him. First she had made a mess with the flour earlier. Now it was the frosting. He didn't have the heart to get mad at her. Instead, he dipped his finger in the white frosting and rubbed it on her little nose. Soon enough, the both of them had more frosting on themselves than the cake.
"What a mess!" Ellen said aloud as she stepped into the kitchen. She just arrived from her little shopping spree. There was frosting everywhere. Not just on the cake, but on the counter and the kitchen floor, and lastly her husband and daughter.
"She started it," Philip said defensively as he pointed at Hermione.
"Really now?" Ellen grinned at Hermione. She knew that she started it. Heading her direction, she had her fingers and was ready to tickle Hermione.
"No Mummy! No!" Hermione laughed as her mother tickled her endlessly.
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Hermione walked out through the back door and into the small garden. There, right at the center was a single swing. One that her father built for her, one in which she had spent lots of her play time in with her father pushing he from behind.
She slowly sat herself down on the swing and pushed herself slightly with her feet. As she turned her head to look over her shoulder, she could just picture her father standing there, pushing her, as if it was only yesterday.
"Higher Daddy! Higher!" she screamed happily.
How she wished it was truly just yesterday. Hermione didn't notice the stormy grey clouds that were above her. Even the thunder and lightning didn't seem to catch her attention as she was too deep in thought, about not just her parents, but also Severus as well.
She was selfish when she was with her parents and grandmother. She wanted to stay with them and not come back. Leaving all of her problems behind. Never did Severus cross her mind at that time. It was wrong—she was wrong. Where was the love in that? Severus was right, she didn't love him enough. All the while, she thought that it was him causing problems in their marriage. Him hiding emotions from her and not being completely truthful. No. It was her that was the problem.
Plain and simple. She was the problem of everything. The cause of everything. Not just everything but everyone. Severus deserved better than her, not the other way around. He already had problems in his life as it was, and she caused him to just have more. Would her love ever be enough? Maybe never.
The heavens then started to pour down on her, as tears from her face started to pour down as well. Eventually, she was getting soaked through, but she didn't care.
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Hermione's teeth chattered and body shivered as she walked down the hallway towards her old room. She was leaning against the wall, unable to walk on her own strength.
Finally, Hermione reached the room after what seemed like forever. Her body felt so cold and weak. She dragged herself forward and let herself fall to the floor. She curled up into a ball, and tried to keep herself warm. This was the exact same place in which her bed used to be. Her nice warm bed. Her eyes closed as she embraced the darkness that was in front of her.
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"Hermione!" Severus gasped in shock as he saw her curled up into a ball on the floor in one of the bedrooms. Instantly, he was by her side. He could see that she was soaked through and freezing. With his fingers, he touched the side of her neck and felt for a pulse. "Remus!" he shouted out. "She's in here!"
In seconds, Remus had entered the room and knelt across from Severus. "How is her pulse?"
"It's weak," Severus said as he placed a hand beneath Hermione's cheek. "Hermione? Hermione?" he coaxed trying to awaken her. "C'mon Love open your eyes." He was panicking to say the least. He had never seen Hermione in such a state. Merlin help him. She had to be alright.
"She's in shock Severus, and she might get into hypothermia," Remus told him as he took off his jacket. "We have to get her out of these wet clothes right away.
Severus rolled Hermione onto her back right after Remus lay his jacket on the floor behind her. "Hermione, please, open your eyes," Severus pleaded patting her cheek gently.
From a distance, Hermione heard a familiar voice call her name. When she opened her eyes, through her blurry vision, she could see Severus. "Sev…" she said weakly before blacking out completely.
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AN – Hate my cliffys, but love me… Review!