Harry sighed softly after Hermione went to go shower. He knew his best friend was traumatized and he didn't know what to do about it. It hurt him on an intimate level to know she witnessed the deaths of her parents. No one should ever have to witness that. He and Ron went about contacting Dumbledore, knowing that if anyone could help, it was the aged wizard. After sending Hedwig off with a letter written to him, he contacted Kingsley and Tonks at the Ministry, remembering how Sirius told him he could get into contact with them before his death. The death of his godfather was still a very much real and painful facet to Harry's life and it hurt him in ways he didn't think he was capable of hurting anymore. It was as bad as losing his parents and he wanted to see Bellatrix Lestrange suffer for what she did to him. She took away the only parental figure he knew.
After reaching out to Kingsley and Tonks, who both promised to be there within the hour along with Remus Lupin, Harry pulled his head out of the fire where he had been speaking to Kingsley. He stood up off his knees and brushed his hands along his pants, going to take a seat back at the kitchen table. He heard the water turn off upstairs and knew Hermione would be back downstairs soon enough so turned to Ron. "We have to be there for her, no matter what."
"I know," Ron sighed, tone edging on heartbroken. "I'm desperate for her to be happy again."
Harry frowned. "That'll take some time. She won't know how to come back from this for a while. And, I don't blame her. My parents died when I was one. I can't imagine what it is like to see your parents dead at a later age. When you can actually remember."
"I know exactly what you mean," Ron said quietly, voice soft. "This will take a lot out of Hermione."
"No matter how hard it gets or how badly she might push us away, we can't leave her. We have to be there for her, no matter what," Harry replied firmly and Ron nodded his head. Just then he heard footsteps descending the staircase and looked up in time to spot Hermione walking down the stairs, in comfortable clothes and eyes red-rimmed. "Hey."
She offered him a tremulous smile and he would take it as she walked to the table and sat down, accepting the second cup of tea Mrs. Weasley slid in front of her. The back door opened just then and in Ginny walked. Harry could admit, that at one point, he found her pretty. That he thought about his friend's sister in a less than platonic way but those were days of the past. They were at war and it wouldn't do him any good to embark on a relationship with her. Besides, he thought to himself as his eyes fell back to Hermione, he wasn't sure he'd want to in the first place. "Hermione, I didn't know you and Harry would be here – what's wrong?"
Hermione sighed, wiping underneath her eyes. "My parents were murdered. Death Eaters."
"That's awful!" Ginny gasped, going to sit down next to the brunette and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. Have you reported it?"
Hermione looked towards Harry who cleared his throat and spoke up. "I just got done messaging Kingsley and Tonks. They'll be here soon."
There were two, quiet pops and Kingsley and Tonks appeared, shaking off the rain they had Apparated in, apparently. Tonks immediately went to Hermione and offered her a tight hug, one which Hermione returned. Then Kingsley spoke up as a third pop happened and Lupin appeared. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. We'll do everything in our power to make this right again."
Hermione smiled sadly. "I don't think it'll ever be 'right' but I appreciate that, Kingsley, thank you."
"It was Death Eaters?" Lupin asked as he took a seat at the table and Mrs. Weasley magicked coffee over to them.
Picking up his cup, Harry took a sip of his coffee as he looked at Hermione. It didn't seem like she was in any real hurry to tell the tale again so he took over. "Two Death Eaters, from what I gathered. We don't know who they were. Hermione was able to get into a hidden compartment in her house but – they got to her parents quickly."
"Cruciatus implemented?" Lupin asked quietly and Harry cut his eyes towards his best friend because he wasn't sure if they had used to the torture curse on her parents or not.
"No," she said softly. "They weren't tortured before they were…they were killed. They just had the killing curse used on them."
"When do you guys return to school?" Kingsley asked.
"September 1st," Ron replied.
"I want a guard on you Hermione," he said.
"No thank you, Kingsley," Hermione replied firmly, tone unwavering. "I won't let my parents' murderers ruin my second to last year at Hogwarts."
"If it means keeping your safety out of jeopardy, it might not be such a bad thing, Hermione," Lupin said quietly but she was adamant as she shook her head. Harry looked at Ron, who nodded, then turned and looked at Kingsley and Lupin respectively.
"We'll keep an eye on her," he said. "Make sure she's safe. Dumbledore will probably implement stricter security at the castle and we'll keep an eye on her when we go into Hogsmeade but Hermione is right. Their deaths shouldn't uproot her life more than necessary."
Kingsley looked at them, stroking his chin thoughtfully, before nodding his head in agreement. "Alright. We'll do this your way. But Harry, Ron, keep her with you when you can. We don't know if the Death Eaters were acting on explicit instructions from You-Know-Who."
Harry had wondered about that too; had wondered if the deaths of Hermione's parents were somehow tied to him. He wondered if Voldemort ordered the deaths of her parents just to show him what he would do to get to Harry. If he had, he didn't like that at all. And he'd make sure to end him. "We will."
Ron followed it up with his own sentiments and then the fire was roaring to life once more and Albus Dumbledore appeared in the crate, green flames licking his face. "Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Good to see you three altogether."
"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione replied, standing up and crouching down on her knees in front of the fire crate. "Thanks for stopping by."
"I'm so sorry about your parents, my dear girl," Dumbledore replied solemnly and she nodded, smiling somewhat tiredly and Harry made the mental note to suggest a nap. The day had to certainly wear her out and he didn't blame her.
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said quietly. "I appreciate that."
"Are you planning on returning to school in the Fall?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, absolutely," Hermione replied firmly. "I'm not letting this impact my studies. My parents wouldn't have wanted that."
"Then we'll see you on the first of September," Dumbledore smiled gently, turning his head to face Kingsley and Tonks. "You two have people you're going to question?"
"My first set of Death Eaters to question are the Malfoys," Tonks replied. "They're well-known to have supported You-Know-Who and his other followers. I don't believe they've turned good as far as I can throw Lucius and Narcissa. So I'll be questioning Lucius. We all know how he feels about muggle-borns after all."
Hermione whimpered as she closed her eyes in pain and Harry felt her pain radiating through him, cutting through him like a knife. She shouldn't have to be going through this.
"If it was the Malfoys," Harry began, rubbing a comforting hand to her shoulder. "We'll get them for murder and they'll be sentenced to Azkaban, won't they?"
"They will," Kingsley replied in a cautious voice. "But let's be wise about this. The Malfoys are respected members of the wizarding community – or they were until the break-in at the Ministry. Lucius already served time in Azkaban for one crime; let's watch how we accuse him for another one until we know all of our facts."
"Okay," Hermione murmured quietly, squaring her shoulders. "School starts in a month. I want to be able to have this put somewhat behind me."
"We'll get you there, Hermione," Tonks assured her while Lupin smiled at her gently. She nodded in turn and Harry knew they had a lot of work ahead of them.
Author's note: Next chapter is going to jump to Hogwarts.