A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I KNOW I PROMISED I'LL PUT UP CHAPTERS TWO MONTHS AGO BUT I UNDERESTIMATED THE TIME I HAD. I'M REALLY, REALLY SORRY! I'M NOT A GOOD PROMISE KEEPER AND I'M ALSO A BIT OF A LIAR. =( ANYWAY, IF YOU'RE STILL INTERESTED HERE'S A CHAPTER FOR YOU AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS ONE.

Chapter 4

"YOU JUST GOT HERE!"

"DAD, I DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW!"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING!"

"PLEASE, UNDERSTAND ME!"

"HOW CAN WE, WHEN WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS HAPPENING!"

Hermione suddenly came into a halt, dropping the pile of clothes she was trying to fit on her trunk. Dan and Jean were sleeping when they heard the ruckus their daughter was making in her room. When they opened their door, they found her running around and throwing her school things, clothes, and other necessities inside her trunk. Crookshanks was already in his cage.

When Hermione came home that summer, the couple realized that something grim must have happened in school because she wasn't herself at all. It was different from all the other summers she came back to their world. This time, they couldn't even make her laugh. All they could get from her are one-worded answers and weak smiles.

They knew about the fight her two friends were in, and how she had to be in the middle of it. They knew about the tournament, and how she went to the Yule Ball as one of the champion's date. They also knew about her being in some of the articles a gossip columnist wrote, because Molly Weasley informed them. They didn't know what happened after the tournament. They asked their daughter about the columnist but all they had was their daughter telling them "I've taken care of it."

Dan took a deep breath and covered his face with his hands and then ran them through his hair, while Jean sat on the edge of their daughter's bed. Hermione, meanwhile, is softly crying and staring at her feet.

"I need to stay with the Weasleys for the rest of the summer," Hermione whispered.

Jean and Dan looked at each. "Arthur should have written us about that," Dan replied sternly.

Hermione lifted her head to look at her parents, and sat beside her mom. Jean wrapped her arms around her daughter tightly, obviously trying to beg her daughter to stay through her action. Hermione turned her head to look at her mom. "It's complicated," she said.

"Why is it always so complicated?" Jean asked.

Hermione's tears re-emerged. Dan was concerned. He doesn't understand anything that was happening to their daughter anymore, and no one was trying to make them understand, not even their own daughter. He knew something was up, and he needs to find out.

"You came home to us this summer looking even sadder than before. Before, you could still smile, even though we knew you had a tough year. You never heard anything from us when we saw you lose all that weight last year, or when your face was marred by an ugly scar. We didn't went through a fit when you were attacked in your second year, and you never heard anything from us when you insist to change topic every single time we ask you about what you do with your two best friends," Dan was standing right in front of his daughter and wife by now. Hermione was staring at his feet and Jean was crying silently while still holding her.

"We obviously don't know half the… the… the shit that goes on at your school, or your world, but we are still your parents and we demand to know what is happening. Hermione, we are worried about you. If you were in a regular school like most normal kids your age, I don't think you'd be this miserable."

Hermione looked at his father sharply when she heard the word "regular". She shrugged Jean's arms around her shoulders and stood up right in front of her father. "Regular? Normal? Is that what you think, Dad? Mum? That I'm not normal just because I didn't go to your choice of school? If you think I won't be miserable then think again! I was bullied for a long time, and if I stayed in your world, I would still be in school with my bullies and I'd be so miserable. You know what? I don't think I'd still be alive anymore if I go to regular school!"

Dan and Jean looked at their daughter in shock. They didn't know she was bullied in grammar school; they never heard anything from her or saw anything unusual. When they pick her up after class, she was always cheerful, or had her face under a book.

And that's when it hit them. They don't know their daughter at all. They were strangers, and they only saw the things they chose to look at. Hermione saw the emotions play on her parents' faces, and looked at them sadly.

"I'm not saying you're bad parents. You were, and still are, amazing. I just learned how to fake my emotions because I knew you wouldn't be able to handle them. This thing that I'm going through in my world, it's not a big deal. They just need me there for something. Ron and I have to meet Professor Dumbledore for important matters. It's school related.

"And I know it's summer, and it's really unbelievable that the school need us that fast but trust me. Trust me, okay? I'll have time to explain when all these are over and I promise I will not hold anything back. Just trust me for now, and let me go. Please?"

Hermione took a shaky and deep breath. She had her fingers crossed while waiting for her parents' reply.

"Do you promise you'll tell us everything?" Jean finally spoke.

Hermione's face slightly lit up, "Yes, Mum."

"Who's picking you up?" Dan asked.

"Ron, and he told me some other person will be with him," Hermione replied.

No one got the chance to speak again because they suddenly heard a loud knock on their front door. Dan immediately got out of Hermione's room, went downstairs and opened the door. He found Ron Weasley, taller than ever—if that's even possible—and a woman with pink hair. He smiled at them, and asked them to come in to his home.

"It—it's nice to see you, Mr. Granger," Ron greeted, his face getting red. "Oh, and this is Nymphadora Tonks, a, er, family friend."

"Tonks. You can call me Tonks," the woman said cheerfully at Dan as she shook his hand. He just nodded, and asked them to sit down and wait while he get Hermione.

When he got to her room, he heard his wife talking in a low voice. He didn't understand a single word but with the way she was talking, he knew Jean was trying to convince Hermione not to leave. He sighed heavily and opened the door. The women in the room looked at him sadly.

"Your friends are here," he informed Hermione. She smiled faintly, and jumped out of her bed. She closed her trunk, looked over her parents, and started carrying it out of her room and down the stairs. Dan and Jean were quiet the whole time, and watched their daughter make her decision. They followed her down the stairs.

Ron and Tonks stood up when they saw the Granger family huddled on the last step, and without notice, Hermione dropped her bag and ran towards Ron to give him a huge hug. Ron, like the other people in the room, was shocked with Hermione's sudden action. His face lit up but when he realized the Grangers and Tonks were staring at him, he turned red and softly pushed Hermione off of him. Hermione, too, suddenly realized what she has done and untangled her arms around Ron.

"Er, uhm, hi," Ron greeted first. Hermione smiled and looked at Tonks.

"Hi, I'm Tonks! I'm glad to finally meet you," Tonks offered her hand to Hermione with a wide grin.

Hermione grinned back and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you too," she replied.

"So, are you ready?" Tonks asked.

Hermione's face dropped, and turned to look at her parents. They looked defeated and just smiled at her sadly. She walked towards them and hugged Jean first, then Dan.

She took their hands and looked them straight in their eyes. "I promise I'll write back," she said in a low voice.

Couldn't contain his feelings, Dan pulled his daughter in a tight hug. "We love you so much, darling. Promise me you'll come home to us after the school year."

Hermione nodded.

They knew she will but they were also aware that she won't stay long. They just wanted to make sure she's alive after the school year.

Because even if they weren't aware of what was going on, they knew it was dangerous and is threatening their daughter's life. They just wish there's a way for them to save her.