When i started writing this i forgot how boring i think the first book/movie is, so i just didn't write it. Mostly everything is the same, just that she is also good friends with Dean, too. So this chapter picks up after they've defeated Quirrell and leads into summer holiday.
o-o-o-o-o
"What were you thinking, Hermione?" She is accosted by Dean as soon as she steps foot into the common room. "We heard Ron and Harry were in the infirmary, and something happened with Quirrell. But I didn't hear anything about you, and I knew you had to have been with them." He's talking fast and looking her over from head to toe. She doesn't have a chance to respond before he pulls her to him. He holds her tight, and she stands there shocked. She's never had someone be so worried about her before.
"I'm alright." She mummers as she hugs him back. He pulls back and holds her by her shoulders. She gives him a small smile. He sighs.
"Alright, just don't do anything like that again." He lets her go and takes a step back. He looks embarrassed all of a sudden.
"Would you like to hear what really happened?" He still looks upset, but he gives in.
"Don't leave anything out." He says as he pulls her to the sofa.
"I'm just getting worried, is all." She says as she finishes the last equation on the page. When Dean had told her that his parents still wanted him to continue his muggle education, she had decided she would do the same. Since leaving Hogwarts, they've met up once or twice a week to work together. Her parents had been more than happy to drive her across town. They haven't said anything, but she knows they are excited she has a friend…finally. "I've written him all summer and haven't heard a thing back."
"This is Harry were talking about, right? He's not the most…" He trails off, but Hermione knows exactly what he means.
"Yes, I know. But he said he would write back." She pouts. She had thought she and Harry were starting to get on well together.
"He lives with his muggle aunt and uncle, right?" She nods. "Why don't you just ring him?" He smiles at the dumbfounded look on her face.
"Why didn't I think of that?" She grumbles.
"Because I'm the smart one in this friendship obviously?" In a move so un-Hermione like, it has Dean bursting out in laughter, she sticks her tongue out at him. "Come on, I'm sure my mum has a phone book sitting around somewhere."
After some rummaging, they finally find it. It is surprisingly easy finding the number. Not many Dursleys in Surrey. He writes the number down in his notebook. Before he can pick up the phone, they hear the slamming of car doors.
"Oh gods." He groans as he pulls the notebook over his face. A second later she hears the front door open, and it is accompanied by high pitched giggling. The eldest of his little sisters stops when she catches sight of them and hollers out behind her.
"Dean's girlfriend is here." It is followed by another round of giggles before Dean's mum tells them all to hush up. She wonders if he's blushing as badly as her.
"She's just my friend. You know, something you'll never have." She just laughs before flicking his forehead. He tries to swat her away, but she runs away before he can retaliate.
"Sorry about them, dear. Are you staying for dinner, Hermione?" She didn't realise it was so late. She checks her watch then grimaces.
"Oh, I didn't realise the time. No, thank you. My dad will be here soon."
"Another time then dear." When the coast is clear, Dean dials the number. It rings twice before someone picks up. Dean asks for Harry, and a gruff voice replies. She doesn't know what they are saying, but from the look on Dean's face it can't be anything good. The line clicks before he can say anything back.
"He said Harry isn't allowed to use the phone. He must be in trouble or something." But he doesn't look too convinced. Hermione isn't either. They sit in silence as she packs away her things.
"I'll try next week. It is his birthday after all. Surely, he won't still be in trouble."
o-o-o-o-o
And she does just that, but the nasally voice who answers tells her no one named Harry Potter lives there and to never call back. She is hung up on before she has even fully comprehended what has happened. She thinks about calling Dean, wondering if she has the wrong number, but an incessant tapping at her kitchen window stops her. The weathered looking owl she has come to recognise as Ron's sits there like he's on his last leg.
Apparently, Ron was getting worried, too. He and his brothers are staging a 'rescue mission'. She hopes Harry isn't in need of actual rescuing. She writes back telling him not to do anything illegal and to owl her as soon as he has news on Harry.
A week later she gets a reply. By the end of it she is seething. Not only was a house elf stealing Harry's letters, but it also did magic in his muggle house which Harry got blamed for. While the use of a flying car is certainly not how she would have done, she is glad the Weasleys showed up when they did. The Dursley's is in no way the right place for Harry.
She would have to do some research.
o-o-o-o-o
"Ready to go?" Her dad asks as she once again looks over her school supply list. Dean snatches it from her hand and puts it in his pocket. She glares at him. He pushes her toward the door and gives her dad a grin.
"All ready, Mr Granger." He just chuckles as he pushes both of them out the door. Her mum and Dean's parents had gotten a little overwhelmed the year before, so her dad had volunteered to take the both of them. They will be meeting Harry and the Weasley's there. Dean had written Seamus as well, but his family wouldn't be coming to London until just before school starts.
The whole ride to The Leaky Cauldron is spent talking about football. Which is almost as bad as listening to the boys talk about Quidditch. Almost. At least with football she knows all the teams.
They find the Weasleys easily after they've been to Gringotts. But they seem frantic. She spots Ron and pulls Dean with her towards him.
"What's going on?"
"Well, Harry used the floo for the first time and now we can't seem to find him." Ron starts to mumble towards the end.
"What do you mean you can't find him?" Hermione asks as she glares at Ron. He goes from sheepish to angry in an instant. They look ready to argue before Dean interrupts them.
"Oi, he's fine. He's right there with Hagrid." Hermione and Ron both dart their heads to the direction Dean is pointing.
"Blimey Harry, we thought we lost you there." Ron says as he runs up to the pair. All of his anger gone as he thoroughly ignores Hermione.
"Ended up in Knockturn Alley, he did." Hagrid grumbles as he pats at the soot covering Harry. Mr and Mrs Weasley soon join them, thanking Hagrid for finding Harry. Seeing the red blossoming on his cheeks, Hermione pulls him away from the adults.
"You'll need to stop at Gringotts, yes? We've already been. We'll wait for you here." She says as she pushes him towards the white steps of the wizarding bank.
"Mr Weasley's taken your dad hostage." Dean tells her when she walks back to the two boys. She looks over to see Mr Weasley almost violently shaking her dad's hand while talking very animatedly. Even her very open-minded dad looks a little out of his depth.
"It's probably a good thing our mums stayed home, huh?" She whispers back. He chuckles and then settles into a grin. Ron's eyeing them up, but Mrs Weasley waves them all over before he can say anything.
o-o-o-o-o
"Remind me, why were you so excited to see Gilderoy Lockhart, Hermione?" Dean snickers. He's been teasing her since they left Flourish and Blotts. They bicker back and forth, Dean laughing the whole time. Her dad is unusually quiet. Until he isn't.
"Why was Arthur fighting with that man?" Both children go still. "It wasn't because of me, was it?" Hermione catches a glimpse of his face in the rear-view. He looks frustrated and a little upset. She looks to Dean. He subtly shakes his head. It seems neither of them had told their parents just how prejudiced some wizards could be.
"No, dad, I don't think so. They just don't get along. Even their kids don't." He thinks on it for a moment then nods his head. She can tell he doesn't fully believe her, but he's willing to let it go…for now.
The last few weeks of summer holiday are blissfully uneventful. She sees Dean a few more times, and Harry owls her once or twice. Her parents take her camping, and she's grateful for the time she has gotten to spend with them. But as September 1st gets closer, she grows more and more eager to return to Hogwarts. The night before, she triple-checks her trunk and only goes to bed after her parents take it to the car. When she finally falls asleep, she wishes she hadn't.
The slamming of the door didn't wake her. Neither did the cracking of thunder or the blistering rain pounding against the roof.
"Up, now." Consciousness pulls at her as the heavy footsteps close in on her. "Get out of bed!" She blearily looks up at him. As he charges closer, she's finally able to make out his features.
She scrambles across the bed, but he is faster. His hand grips her upper arm so tightly she winces in pain. He sneers down at her as she tries to pull away. She can hardly keep up as he drags her out of the house. The rain and thunder drown out all the other sounds around them.
He keeps pulling her along, and she can feel the cuts already forming on her feet. As soon as her home is no longer in sight, he pulls her tightly against him. She struggles. She tries to push him away, but it gets her nowhere.
"Keep still!" He hisses, but she doesn't. When he has finally had enough, the back of his hand meets her face with such force she falls limp against him. He pulls her to him again. The world moves too fast around her. She feels as if she's been pulled inside out and then back again.
Her feet touch the ground again. She hadn't realised they had left it. Her stomach turns as soon as everything stops moving. She looks around. They are in a large empty cavern with several tunnels leading out. There's a boy here, but he's not looking at her or the man holding her. He doesn't even seem to know they are there. Not until the man comments on her, that is.
"See how pathetic they are, son." The boy finally turns to them. She recognises him just as she recognised the man who pulled her out of bed. He doesn't say anything back to his father. He just looks at her with horror in his eyes.
"Father…" He mummers, but his eyes never leave hers.
"You thought I wouldn't find out, that you could keep her a secret." His voice continues to rise. She should be scared. After everything he's told her about his father, she should be scared. "She's a muggle. What were you thinking?" His every word is filled with venom. His grip on her arm has only gotten tighter. "She can't live. Gods know what you've told her." He throws her down on the stone floor. "No, she needs to disappear, and you need to learn a lesson." He then starts to hiss. She would think the sound pretty if he didn't spit it with such violence.
"No, father, please!" He tries to grab for her, but he stops in place as if he's hit a wall. His father stops his hissing, and when she looks back at him, he has a stick pointed at him.
"I said you need to learn a lesson. You will stay right there, and you will watch." He yells with such force his whole face turns red. The hissing starts again.
She looks back to the boy. She thinks he might be crying, but she can't hear him. His eyes go wide as he looks behind her, and then he starts to scream. She looks and then wishes she hadn't. Everything goes silent then. The only sound is that of her own heartbeat.
In front of her sits the biggest snake she has ever seen. The beast is taller than both of the men put together, and it is so long she cannot see the end of it. It slithers its way toward her, stopping once to listen to the man hissing.
She casts one more look behind her. The boy is no longer looking at her. His eyes are hard, and his jaw is clenched as he glares at his father. She has never seen such hate in him before. She can see the fire in him.
All of a sudden, she can feel it too. The beast sinks its teeth into her, and nothing has ever felt as painful. She screams and screams. And then she feels nothing at all.
She barely remembers the dream as she wakes up. But she's panting, and tears are running down her cheeks. It's been months since she's had one, and never once has she had such a strong emotional reaction to one. She's anxious for the rest of the day. The mood is sombre like last year, but her mum doesn't cry this time for which she is thankful. She knows she could hardly handle it after last night.
She makes her way onto the platform after saying goodbye to her parents. She spots Dean and Seamus right away. They seem to be waiting for something. As soon as Dean spots her, he smiles and waves her over. She is hit with a realisation. They were waiting for her. The smile on her face isn't forced like the rest she's had today.
Dean gives her a strange look, but Seamus pulls them along before either of them can say anything. She hopes Harry and Ron have already saved them a compartment.