A/N:

Written as part of an assignment for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Task: Write about an enormous change to someone's life.

Pairing: Hermione/Mr Granger

1000 Word Challenge: Gate

Word Count: 1213

Changed Forever

"Daddy push me higher," laughed the little girl, swinging her legs back and forth as her curly brunette locks blew in the light breeze.

The middle aged man behind her chuckled heartily and naturally complied with her request. He could never refuse his little angel anything. He lived to make her laugh and smile.

The little girl ran towards the gate and smiled brightly at the sight of her waiting father. She remembered that he had promised her earlier that morning that he would take her swimming and then for a cheeky ice cream o long as she didn't tell her mum.

Even though both her mother and father were dentists, it was her mother who was the strictest in terms of what she could and could not eat.

She flung herself into his waiting arms and he picked her up spinning her around in his arms.

"Are you ready to go to the swimming baths kiddo?" he asked as he placed her back on to two feet and rubbed her on the top of her head.

"What do you think daddy?" she laughed as she handed her backpack to her dad, and waved goodbye to her best friend.

"Race you to the car," her dad suggested slapping her on the back. The smile on his daughters face was all the answer he needed. "Ready, steady, go."

Hermione dashed towards the car gleefully, looking over her shoulder to see her father pretending to be a slow runner. The time she spent with her father were some of the best time she ever had, and she frequently wished they didn't have to end.

Little did she know that less than one week later her entire world would be turned upside down leaving her confused and scared just as it would for any other seven year old child.

"Hermione could you come and help me with the washing up?" her mum called from the kitchen.

The young child jumped up from her seat and ran to join her mum, eager to help her in any way she could.

Just as she reached the doorway there was a loud bang from behind her and she turned around to find her father collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Daddy," she cried, racing over to his side. "Daddy what's wrong? Daddy get up."

She gave his side a little nudge in an effort to wake him up, and when that yielded nothing, she tenderly placed her tiny hand on the side of his head and felt something warm and sticky.

Hermione slowly removed her hand and stared at it. Her entire palm was covered in crimson red.

"Daddy you're bleeding," she sobbed, burying her face in his chest just as her mother reached her side.

The young girl felt her mother place a loving hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, sweetheart, go and wash your hands and get ready for bed," she instructed in a shaky voice.

"But what about daddy? Is he okay? Is he – dead?" Hermione asked, lifting her head from his chest and turning to look at her mother for the first time since she arrived.

She had a calm and composed look on her face that, despite her best efforts, didn't fool her daughter one bit. In her eyes, Hermione could see that she was just as terrified and unsure about the man they both loved.

"No my darling, but please do as I say," she requested, trying to keep her voice even.

Hermione's eyes flickered from her father's unconscious body, to her mother and back again. She didn't want to leave her dad's side. She wanted to stay with him and look after him as he had done for her so many times.

"Now Hermione," her mother told her in a no nonsense voice when she made no attempt to move.

The weeks after her father's collapse saw Hermione's world change entirely. Her parents may have thought that she was too young to notice that something was amiss, but the observant child noticed more than they realised.

She noticed how her father had stopped picking her up from school and doing fun activities with her. It didn't matter how many times she begged and pleaded with him to take her to the park, the answer was always the same – he was too busy with work. It was something that even as a little girl she knew was a lie, she just didn't understand why.

She noticed how he appeared too weak to even lift a fork some das, let alone her.

She noticed how he winced whenever she gave him a hug good night. He tried to mask with a chuckle and a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

She noticed that she was spending an ever increasing amount of time with her auntie, and that her parents would have frequent, hushed conversations with her when they thought she wasn't listening.

One such occasion was a little over three months after her father's collapse.

Hermione had been struggling to sleep an she had padded down the stairs and towards the sound of her mum and aunt's voices.

She stopped dead on the bottom steps as she noticed that they were making an extra effort to keep their voices down.

"...chemotherapy isn't working as well as they hoped," her mother was saying in a hushed voice to her aunt.

"So what did the doctor say exactly?" her aunt asked as she set two mugs onto the pine wood coffee table.

"That if he doesn't get a transplant then he has another year to live at the most," her mother sobbed, throwing herself into her sister's arms.

Hermione's bottom lip quivered as she closed her eyes and felt a few tears slip down her cheek. Her mother was hurting and in pain.

"Mum," she whispered in a shaky voice. "Is – is daddy going to d-d-die?"

Her mother jumped out of her sister's arms and quickly wiped her eyes.

"No love of course not," she whispered soothingly, scooping her young daughter up into her arms and hugging her tightly.

"Then what's wrong with daddy?" she asked prying herself from her mum's arms and looking her in the eye.

Hermione's mum sighed and glanced over at her sister who nodded encouragingly.

"Sweetie, come and sit next to me on the couch," her mum requested. "I have something I need to tell you."

In the conversation that followed Hermione's mum told her about her father had been diagnosed with an illness known as cancer, and that the doctors were doing everything in their power to make him better, and that he needed something called a transplant. To make it easier for Hermione to understand, she explained it was similar to how as dentists they sometimes give people new teeth, except her dad needed some new cells to help him heal better.

The young girl nodded her head consistently throughout what her mother told her, finally accepting that her life would be forever changed.

It was in that moment she decided that she needed to start taking on more responsibility and do more around the house to help her mum and dad. They had more than enough to worry about without having to worry about her as well.

A/N:

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