A/N: Hey everyone! Here's a new chapter to celebrate the fact that I survived my first year in university without any failing marks! I did drop Statistics but meh, that's understandable! Anyway, you might think Hermione's a bit OOC here but I kinda want to give her and her parents' relationship an edge (and a little Hermione and Ron action). Like do you believe they just let her leave their house every goddamn summer to go to the Weasleys!? Didn't think so… lol! Okay so here it goes! Enjoy! :)

Chapter 5

Hermione fidgeted under her parents' stares. She knew they could see the thick red scar on her skin poking from her shirt. She knew her parents would see it sooner or later, though, so she decided not to hide it from them.

Her fifth year at Hogwarts was far more stressful than all the past years combined. She never anticipated experiencing a real battle anytime soon. When Dumbledore's Army was made, she thought it would be helpful in, like, three to four years in the future, not three to four weeks. But still, she couldn't be any more proud of what they did. Every single person in their group was amazing. She smiled slightly, forgetting that she's being scrutinized by her parents at the moment.

Dan cleared his throat loudly, which made Hermione jump a little. She looked a little sheepish and wiggled a little on her seat. He raised an eyebrow and tried not to look amuse, which was easy because he was absolutely upset with his daughter.

"Do you know what we have decided when you left us last summer?" Dan asked suddenly. Hermione shook her head while Jean remained silent. "We've decided to subscribe to your newspaper with Arthur's help," Dan continued.

Hermione's eyes went big. Even though it wasn't the right time to start on something bad, she muttered 'shit' under her breath. "Shit, indeed," Dan replied with his eyes narrowed. Hermione bowed her head and started to chew on her bottom lip.

"Interesting how your best friend is always in that paper," Dan continued. Hermione finally realized where their conversation was going.

"Dad—," Hermione started but was interrupted with Dan's steely stare at her.

"Don't! Just… don't, please?" Dan pleaded, and sighed deeply. They were quiet for a couple of minutes when Dan spoke again. "I don't get it, darling. Why would you keep something that big from us?"

Hermione gulped. "You didn't have to be strung along with it. You had nothing to do with it."

Jean and Dan looked at their daughter. "You're sixteen years old! You are our daughter! You're our responsibility! We made a conscious decision when we let you go to attend that school!" Jean exclaimed. She felt like a complete failure for not pulling her daughter out of the school sooner.

Dan placed his hand on his wife's shoulder and squeezed it gently. He knew what his wife was feeling, but he also knew that they have to tread lightly if they want their daughter to listen to them.

"Don't get us wrong, Hermione. We know you have special capabilities. We're also aware of your school being able to feed you knowledge that no one in our world can give you," Dan said stiffly. He exhales loudly through his nose to keep himself calm and continues, "But we also know that these events that happened the last few months weren't normal. Your best friend was accused of being a liar by the Minister of Magic! Dumbledore got kicked out of position! And you and your friends were mentioned a couple of times too! You were in the Ministry for breaking and entering!" Dan finished.

Hermione shifted in her seat. She didn't think her parents would actually find out about her "extracurricular activities". For a smart girl I can be really thick, she thought. She really wanted to explain everything to them, but she also knew that knowing too much will put them in danger. Being related to her was bad enough; she really didn't want to worry them even more.

"Your mother and I have been thinking," Dan started. Hermione's chest began pounding. "We think you should leave Hogwarts."

Hermione stood up and sputtered for a few seconds. "Leave?!"

Jean narrowed her eyes. "Yes," she replied.

"Then what? Just forget the last five years of my life and go to a regular muggle school and live like a regular muggle?!" Hermione was starting to lose her composure, and was starting to panic. She knew being rude to her parents at that moment would make things worse, but she couldn't help but feel like she's being pulled away violently from a place where she undoubtedly belong.

On the other hand, that wasn't what her parents were trying to tell her.

"That's not what I meant, sweetheart," Jean started. "There are other magic schools other than Hogwarts, right? We don't think Hogwarts is right for you, Hermione. Maybe you can excel more if you're not constantly in danger, which we guessed that you are."

"It's not that easy," Hermione replied heatedly.

"How can we help you if you won't tell us what's wrong?" Dan asked, visibly frustrated at the situation.

"I don't want to deal with this right now," Hermione muttered. She took a step to the door, looked at her parents and sighed. "I'm going out for a walk."

Dan looked like he was about to say something but was stopped by Jean. She pulled his arm gently and let their daughter leave. Hermione excused herself and left her worried parents.

"We handled that well," Dan said sarcastically. Jean rolled her eyes. They were not sure how they could convince their daughter or if they can actually convince her, but they knew they have to make a move to protect their daughter, even if it costs them their lives.

Two weeks after their heated argument, Hermione received a letter from Ron. Hermione have been avoiding them so they only found out about the letter because they saw the boy's owl fly by their kitchen window. Jean and Dan knew that their daughter was planning to leave them and stay at the Weasley's instead. They never got to repeat their suggestion to their daughter, and they never really tried to because they knew it'll make their daughter edge farther away from them; if they wanted to keep their daughter in their lives—and alive—they have to move slowly. But they were also aware that their time with their daughter was running out. She was planning to leave, and they were not even sure if she was planning to tell them or not.

Jean knocked on their daughter's room and opened the door to see Hermione filling her trunk with clothes, and different school materials. Her heart started pounding on her chest and gripped the doorknob tightly, making her fingers turn white and numb.

"What are you doing?" Jean asked in a low voice.

Hermione turned her head from the closet to her mother. "I need to go to the Weasley's."

"Need?"

"Yes, Mum, need."

"Neither Arthur nor Molly informed us," Jean argued.

Hermione crossed the space between her and Jean and hugged her mother, "I just need to, Mum," she said quietly. "It was Ron's and Ginny's idea. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley already know I'm coming."

"Are they also aware of the fact that we're not informed of this… arrangement," Dan asked from the door. "You can't keep doing this, Hermione. You can't keep coming here, like you're staying in a hotel for a couple days. We don't know you anymore."

Hermione started crying because of guilt and frustration. She knew she has been treating her parents awfully for years and that she has been acting more suspicious by not telling them what's been really happening in her world. But she knew that staying away from her parents would be the best action. She knew she's in the Death Eaters' top five to-kill list. She might also be the first, because of her being a muggleborn and Harry Potter's best friend.

When she was little, she wished for excitement and adventure on her 7th birthday cake candles, but the adventures being thrown at her at the moment were something she did not expect. She didn't really ask for her life to be threatened every single year. She also didn't want her best friends to die, so she knew she has to suck it up.

"I promise I'll write you every month to keep you informed just like I did last year! Just, please, let me go!" Hermione begged.

"Your letters were rubbish, Hermione! You wrote us about what you ate, what time you slept, and everything about your classes, but you never once told us anything about what happened in between! What you did for your spare time, what you and your friends did! You never mentioned Ron or Harry or Ginny! Not once! What are you keeping from us?" Dan bellowed.

Hermione flinched from her father's every word, and held her mother's arm tighter. She really didn't think they would notice what's wrong with the letters she sent them every month.

"I'm really sorry if you think my letters were rubbish, Dad, but I promise it won't be like that this year! I'll try my best! I promise."

Dan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "You're not going to The Weasley's, and that's final!"

Hermione stomped her foot, and let go of Jean. "You can't do that!"

"I absolutely can! You can't do anything about it now, Hermione. You're not allowed to do magic while you're on vacation, so you can't just magic your way to The Burrow!"

Tears started pouring on Hermione's face. She couldn't control her emotions anymore, and knew that she wouldn't be able to convince her parents to let her leave.

"We're not the villains here, darling. We know what's best for you," Dan said softly as he pulled his daughter for a hug.

Hermione hugged her father tightly, and looked up to face her parents. "I know," she replied.

That night, Dan and Jean woke up to a loud banging noise. Dan immediately got up from their bed and ran straight down to the living room. Jean on the other hand went straight to Hermione's room. She didn't bother to knock and just opened the door forcefully.

"Jean, you better come down here!" Dan's voice boomed from the living room.

Jean ran downstairs to her husband. "She's not in her room," she exclaimed, the panic visible on her voice.

"I know," Dan muttered sadly and handed Jean a parchment.

Jean took the parchment with her shaking hand and started to read it.

I'm really sorry, Mum and Dad. I promise I'll write to you every month. Don't worry, I'll be safe. Ron picked me up. I love you, and please don't be mad at me.

Hermione

All they could do was stare from the parchment to the ashes on the floor near the fireplace.