Chapter 2
Hermione
Hermione couldn't stand to be in the compartment with Ginny for one second longer, she pulled the door open with the force of her anger, rattling the metal as it slammed. She turned back and glared at Ginny, ignoring Dean and Seamus.
"You know what, Ginny? Fuck Ronald and fuck you!" She slammed the door so hard that she almost fell but suddenly someone had her by the waist before she fully fell into him. The gasping breath on her neck set her blood to racing and goose pimpled her flesh.
"Granger, careful now. I've got you," Theodore Nott breathed onto her neck. She turned in his grip when she recognized the voice, shocked that he would put hands on a mudblood. She was surprised when his eyes were not level with her own, she looked up at him, more than a foot taller than her now, a beard dusted his cheeks and his shoulders were massive. And he smelled amazing like Egyptian musk and sweat. She felt breathless and watched his nostrils flare as he stared down at her too.
What the bloody hell was wrong with her?
"Nott," Hermione exhaled, "You can let go of me now." She just wanted to get away from the strange feelings inside her and go cry in private.
He did not release her, but turned and looked at Ginny and the others staring open mouthed at him from inside the compartment. He glared at them, his hands tightening almost protectively on her momentarily.
"Did the Weaselette upset you?" Nott murmured, turning back to her, his pupils swallowing up the deepest sapphire eyes that she had ever seen. His gaze flickered to her lips and she got the horrifying sense that he was considering kissing her, kissing her in front of Ginny Weasley.
What the bloody hell was wrong with him?
"Why do you care if someone makes a filthy little Mudblood like me upset?" She said, her words not sounding as angry as she wanted. Dammit, she was going to start crying, she needed to get away from Nott, immediately. He flinched at her use of the slur, so she doubled down. "Won't Malfoy hate that someone else is stealing his job?" She was fighting back tears and looked back at the compartment where her friends - former friends - had continued to stare at her.
"Granger," Nott growled warningly, "who hurt you?"
What did he care anyway?
"Fuck you, Nott," she snarled, "Who hasn't hurt me?" With that, she turned and stomped down the car, away from him. He just stood there frozen, staring at her. Their eyes met as she opened the door to the loo. "Silencio."
She slammed the door and dissolved into tears as all her dreams disintegrated.
...
Four Months Earlier
Hermione waited until after the funerals were over, but the moment she could she arranged for a port-key to Australia. Ron wasn't happy, but she tried to make allowances for the angry things that he had said to her, and their relationship was new. A kiss at the Battle of Hogwarts flowing into the dating that everyone had expected from them now that the war was finally done. And if the thought of leaving Ron behind to go to Australia and get her parents' memories back didn't bother her much, she convinced herself that he was her best friend and boyfriend, it would be fine to be apart for a little while. She could trust Ron.
After only a month, she'd both found her parents and restored their memories with help from a charm specialist from their magical hospital in Sydney. Her parents surprised her by not wanting to return to England. They loved their life and friends in Australia, but insisted that she stay with them for the rest of the summer when they learned she was planning to return to Hogwarts for an eighth year to finish her studies and exams. She'd been afraid they would be angry with her, but they hadn't been once the Healer gave them the casualty numbers from the war. They just wanted to get to know her again and understand everything that had happened to her during the war. It was such a reasonable request that she couldn't tell them no.
She wrote to Ron and Harry to let them know immediately, of course.
Ron's response had been a single word: Fine.
Harry had shocked her by writing that he was in France with Andromeda and Teddy. He'd broken it off with Ginny and was just trying to get better. He was seeing a Mind Healer and learning French. He missed her. He wasn't returning to Hogwarts. He was going to study with Andromeda and take his NEWTs via correspondence.
Please don't be angry with me, Hermione. I just can't be what the Ministry or the Order wants anymore. I need a break. I want to learn what it's like to just be Harry, not the Boy Who Lived or the Chosen One.
Hermione had written back four pages and forgotten to dignify Ron's single word with a response.
She fell into an easy routine with her parents. They took her to do touristy things and the three of them had every meal together. Hermione got a deep tan under the Australian sun even if it was supposedly the winter here. They would talk late into the night and cry about what Hermione had been through. When Hermione said that she would do anything to make up for using magic on them against their will, her mother wanted Hermione to choose a safe career after Hogwarts.
"No being a witch police officer or something like that, Hermione," Jean Granger said, braiding her daughter's hair like she had when she was small. "Something safe, that's all I'm asking, magical librarian maybe? Maybe a primary school teacher. Something where I don't have to worry? Please sweetheart?"
"Anything for you, mum." Hermione turned and threw her arms around her mother. Her dad peeked in and snapped a photo with his polaroid, before they realised he was there.
...
It was mid-August and a storm was raging outside. Her parents were getting ready to go to a retirement party for one of their local friends and Hermione was tucked up on the couch with one of her gran's old quilts, a purring Crookshanks and a book on advanced potion-making that she thought would be helpful for her NEWTs.
"Are you sure you don't want to come, princess," her father asked as he pulled on his coat. "You and your mum are close to the same size, although you could probably magic yourself a cocktail dress, couldn't you?"
"Transfigure, dad. And I could, but I think I'll just stay in and study if that's alright?" Hermione smiled.
"Of course," he kissed her on top of the head, "I'd tell you not to study too hard, but I know better. See you just after twelve, probably."
"Have fun daddy," Hermione turned back to her book, skimming the analysis of ethical methods of unicorn hair acquisition.
Her mother rushed down the stairs causing Hermione to look up, "Richard, we are going to be late and I'm supposed to do a toast." She blew Hermione a kiss from the door and Hermione pretended to catch it and put it in her pocket. "Love you sweetheart, don't wait up, alright?"
"No problem mum," Hermione smiled, "But I'll probably stay up late reading and maybe watch a film. Crooks will keep me company. You two have fun and don't worry about me."
"Easier said than done, bye!" Her mother called and then they were gone into the night.
Hermione returned to her book, intermittently rubbing Crookshanks' ears as she read.
...
Hermione woke up on the couch and the house was dark, the power must have gone out. The sun was just peeking through the window. Her parents had left her sleeping in the front room? That wasn't like them. Hermione stretched and Crookshanks jumped off her, affronted. His annoyed tail swishing made her laugh.
A pounding on the door made Hermione jump and her wand was in her hand before she could draw a breath. She walked over to the door and opened it. Two police officers stood there.
"Are you the daughter of Monica and Wendell Wilkins?" The female officer asked and at Hermione's nod, "We have some difficult news, can we come inside?"
No. No. No. No!
...
A drunk driver had been the end of her parents when all had been said and done. He'd run the light and hit them head on. The officer tried to comfort her by telling her they'd both died instantly. The drunk driver had died at the hospital. After all that had happened, everything that Hermione had done to protect them from Death Eaters, some drunk Muggle had killed them. And she hadn't even kissed them goodbye.
She tried to get approval to bring their bodies home via portkey, but it wasn't approved. Hermione did not even have the energy to make an appeal. They were buried near the new home they had made, the names on the stone "Monica and Wendell Wilkins" instead of "Jean and Richard Granger." The words below Beloved Parents. Gone Too Soon.
Hermione had packed up the house in a little under an hour once she had gotten the shrinking charms right. Everything that belonged to her parents was carefully packed into her trunk. Crookshanks was in his carrier and Hermione took one last look around and apparated to the Australian Ministry of Magic. She took a port-key back to England several hours later, arriving at the British Ministry and realising that there was no one there to meet her, because she hadn't written in the last few days of what she would call her personal hell. She'd probably have beat an owl post here anyway and she hadn't been able to cast a Patronus since the accident. All her happy memories were now too sad for the charm.
Luckily it was nearly 9pm in London so the Ministry was fairly empty. She floated her trunk behind her, Crookshanks' carrier under her arm. She stopped in the Atrium, horrified at the statue that had replaced the "Magic is Might" sculpture. It was Harry, Ron and her and was labelled "The Golden Trio - Saviors of the Wizarding World."
"Oh you've got to be bloody kidding me," Hermione sighed. She already wanted to turn around and go back to Australia. She suddenly understood what must have driven Harry to go to France with Andromeda and Teddy. Rubbing her face, she reached the apparition point and in a crack arrived at her parents' London home.
She didn't unpack other than to release Crookshanks, who was not happy with her.
Hermione Granger, Heroine of the Wizarding World, curled up in a ball in her parents' kitchen and wept.
...
Informing everyone of what had happened was easier than she had thought as soon as she had apparated to the Burrow, no one was home but Molly, but the Weasley matriarch had seen how distraught Hermione was and hugged her tightly.
"I'll handle letting people know, dear," Molly murmured, "Let's just get you a blanket and a spot of tea."
Before Hermione knew it the Burrow was swarming with Weasleys. Fred and George were trying to distract her with jokes and showing off their newest inventions. Percy and Arthur came just to give their condolences and then Floo back to the Ministry to meet with the Muggle Liaison Office to arrange for burial plots and a memorial stone near her parents house with Hermione's blessing. Hermione had been shocked at the kind way that Percy had held her hand, when he'd asked what she wanted on the stone. Hermione didn't remember him ever touching her before.
Later when she'd gone home to get her mother's address book, she realised that Ron had never appeared. She sat down at the phone and started making the calls to her parents' old friends and colleagues. By the time she was done she was shaking with sobs and it was nearly dark.
A knock at the door made her flinch, but it wasn't bad news this time, it was Fleur and Bill with dinner from Molly. Fleur held Hermione while she cried and Bill checked the wards on the property and fed a grateful Crookshanks.
A vial of Dreamless Sleep later, Hermione slept through the night. Ron still had not appeared.
...
Harry owled the next day. He'd be there Friday for the funeral, but wouldn't stay for the wake. He invited her to come to France if she needed to get away, but with only a week to have the memorial, the wake and then head to Hogwarts, Hermione had to decline. She wasn't sure how she could manage it with the time constraints. She promised to come over the Christmas holidays instead. Christmas in the French countryside sounded nice, although she couldn't conjure up any real joy about it.
Molly arrived later with a repentant Ron in tow and then went to town on cleaning spells, unpacking all of Hermione's parents' things and preparing the house for the wake. Ron sat next to Hermione on the couch, holding her hand awkwardly while she stared into space.
When the twins arrived to lend Molly a hand, Ron made some flimsy excuse and left. Hermione couldn't even find it in herself to care. Fred and George scowled at him as he left the house and came and sat with her snug between them and put on a film on the telly. Hermione fell asleep with her head on George's shoulder and Fred's arm around her.
...
The memorial service was a blur. Harry hugged her tightly and held her hand for the whole thing. Hermione couldn't focus on anything the Vicar was saying. After the service ended, Harry tried to convince her again to come to France even if only for a few days. He frowned when she declined again but nodded and headed to the apparition point that had been set up for the memorial after giving her one last bone crushing hug. The Weasleys and the Order stood about the Muggles awkwardly. Ginny and Charlie were the only Weasleys who hadn't come. Hermione suspected Ginny wasn't there because Harry was, but didn't have the energy to care.
Hermione felt numb as she sat in the black town car that had been arranged for her. Arthur and Molly were waiting for her there, both with handkerchiefs. Hermione did not cry.
Once she arrived at home, she stood woodenly near the door shaking the hands of Muggle friends of her parents and neighbours. Molly and Fleur were taking any food that had been brought and putting it on a buffet table that had been set up in the dining room. Hermione didn't even have the energy to thank them. Her whole being was put in trying not to cry. Ron appeared in the receiving line with the Patil twins and Hermione accepted his hug and thanked the girls for coming without even really registering them.
Later when guests were starting to leave and again giving Hermione their condolences, Hermione briefly registered Pavarti and Ron coming down the stairs followed by a scowling Percy.
That was odd.
After several elderly neighbours left after telling her long drawn out stories of her parents as young newlyweds when they had first moved into the house, Hermione had forgotten all about the strangeness with people coming from upstairs during the wake.
...
Hermione slept through the next two days. On the third day she woke up to Fleur shaking her awake with Bill nervously hovering outside her bedroom door. The Frenchwoman got Hermione to shower and then braided her hair. Hermione wept thinking of the last time that her mother had done that. When she and Fleur came downstairs, Bill was sitting with Crookshanks on his lap and a worried expression on his scarred face.
They tried to convince her to come to Shell Cottage for a few days. Hermione declined.
...
Ron turned up after Fleur and Bill had left and took her to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies. Hermione bought the bare minimum, only getting the required books from Flourish and Blotts and opting out of Ron's offer to take her to Fortescue's for ice cream or out to dinner. They stopped into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for a minute, but it was too crowded for Hermione and despite Fred trying to wave her over, she asked Ron to go home. When Ron kissed her on the cheek on her front porch, Hermione felt nothing.
She went inside and cried herself to sleep.
...
It seemed like a blink of an eye before Hermione was standing on Platform 9 ¾, hugging Molly and Arthur goodbye. Ron hugged her too before telling her he had to head to the Ministry for work. Ginny headed onto the train and Hermione was about to follow her when Fred grabbed her arm.
"Hermione, read this on the train," he said, scowling at Ron's back as he walked away. "I've been trying to get you alone to talk to you and it just hasn't happened." He hugged her tightly and then stepped back so George could do the same.
She took the letter and tucked it into her tote bag. Bill was giving her trunk to one of the porters. Fleur grabbed her in a tight embrace and kissed both of Hermione's cheeks.
"We are just a Floo call away, 'ermione," Fleur whispered and repeated her offer to come to Shell Cottage any time. Hermione nodded and took herself and Crookshanks onto the train. Bill watched her, looking concerned as George pulled him to the side to whisper something in his ear.
...
Hermione sat in the compartment with Ginny, Dean and Seamus and exchanged polite greetings with the other Gryffindors before remembering the letter in her bag. When she opened it, all the air left her body.
Hermione,
I'm so sorry. We wanted to tell you in person the other day when you came by the shop, but then you disappeared before we could. Please forgive us.
Ron's been cheating on you. Perce caught him at the wake and then we caught him the other night at the Leaky. He's been seeing Pavarti. We're so bloody sorry. You don't deserve this. You deserve a bloody sight more than our wanker of a brother. We're gonna hex the shite out of him, don't you worry. Keep your chin up.
All our love,
Forge
"What's that 'Mione?" Ginny asked, looking curiously at the letter over her shoulder, unaware of the building rage that was burning through the numbness that had been swallowing Hermione whole.
Hermione crushed the letter in her fist and shoved it back into her bag.
"Ron's been cheating on me." Hermione said, clenching her jaw. She looked at Ginny's face and saw the guilt there. "You knew!" Hermione accused.
Ginny shook off the look of guilt, and the redhead's temper flared, "You can't expect fidelity from a young Pureblood wizard before a marriage contract has been signed. And you left the country. What was he supposed to do?"
"He was supposed to wait! I went to get my parents' memories back. I trusted him!" Hermione yelled. Dean and Seamus looked like they wanted to disappear into the seat cushion.
"Purebloods sow their oats before marriage," Ginny sneered condescendingly, "You'd know that if you were raised in our culture."
That was more than enough for Hermione who jumped up. She couldn't stand to be in the compartment with Ginny for one second longer, she pulled the door open with the force of her anger, rattling the metal as it slammed. She turned back and glared at Ginny, ignoring Dean and Seamus.
"You know what, Ginny? Fuck Ronald and fuck you!"
...