~*Thanks to Spaz141 for all of her help and suggestions!!!*~
I looked over at my Dad as he drove down the street to our house. The entire car ride had been quiet; from the back
seat, my Mum looked too scared to say a word and my Dad was humming to himself as he drove. I had no idea what I should
be feeling right now; my family was back together, but my Dad had been in jail and I know he would blame me for it. If
I had never told Harry...
He pulled the car into the driveway and turned off the engine; he turned toward us and said "well...aren't you happy to be home?"
"Sure Dad" I said, trying to muster a smile, but I'm quite sure it came across as a grimace.
"Let's get inside" he ordered, "We have some catching up to do."
The three of us got out of the car and I grabbed my trunk out of the back. Mum hung back with me, watching me with a strange expression on her face. "Where have you been Mum?" I asked. She opened her mouth to answer, but Dad called for us to come inside. The minute she heard his voice, she jumped and I noticed her whole body tense more than it was previously.
"We'd better get inside" she said, and then turned abruptly. I watched as she almost ran inside and wondered where she had been all this time.
I walked inside with my things and saw Mum sitting on the sofa, her back ramrod straight, staring at Dad. "I'm going to go put my things upstairs" I explained, and then turned toward the staircase.
"NO!" my Dad yelled, making me jump. "No, come here and sit down next to your Mother. Now."
I left my trunk by the door and slowly walked over to the sofa, sitting next to Mum and keeping an eye on my Dad. "There are some things we need to discuss" he announced, pacing in front of us. I watched as he wrung his hands together while he spoke "I was finally released from that...that place two days ago. I was a little angry at first that neither of you wrote nor came to see me. The only person I saw was that Dumbledore fellow from your school; bugger hit me up for money so that you could go to school." He stopped pacing and stared at me, making me uncomfortable with his unwavering glare. Then he looked over at Mum, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. "I wasn't able to get a hold of your Mum; I had to go looking for her. Lucky for me, she had mentioned to one of the neighbours where she was going. If you didn't want me to find you Jane, you shouldn't have been so stupid."
"Robert, I..."
"SHUT UP!!" my Dad shouted, causing my Mum and I to both press our backs into the sofa. He looked at me and asked, "Did you know where your Mum was?" When I shook my head no, he laughed and spouted "what a considerate woman; you leave your husband and daughter ... you don't contact either one of us? Would you like to know where she was Hermione? Hmm? She was hiding at a women's shelter; she actually told them I beat her and that she was scared of me. Some fucking wife you are."
I sat there, mulling over what he had just said. My Mum had escaped and had been safe. I had gotten to stay at the Burrow with Mrs. Weasley, who I thought of as a Mum and the minute my Dad comes back, he ruins it all in a second. I could feel the anger start to build in my chest; replacing some of the fear I had felt since the first moment I saw him.
"How could you two do this to me?" he yelled, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, wondering what he meant. My Mum was just sitting there, staring at him with a hollow look in her eyes. When neither of us said anything, he seemed to snap. He walked up to my Mum and picked her up off of the couch by her shirt. I watched in horror as he turned and threw her up against one of the walls.
"Are you too good to answer me now? I bet you want to get back to your boyfriend now, right? I get left to rot in jail and you two just go on with your lives?" I watched in horror as my Mum just stood there looking at him; I knew it would make him even angrier and I was terrified for her. "WELL?" he yelled, almost nose to nose with her.
"No, Dad, we didn't forget about you" I offered, "What did you want me to do? I would have written to you, b-but I didn't know where to send the letters."
I watched as the anger slid from his face, and knew that I had said the wrong thing. He let my Mum go and she slid down the wall in a heap. He turned towards me and then started to walk over to where I was. "You didn't forget about me?" he asked quietly. I could feel myself start to shake, and I tried to stop the tremors, but the fear was overwhelming. He circled me like a predator stalking its prey. "You're the reason I was sent to that hell hole in the first place."
"D-Daddy, I'm sorry," I stuttered, backing up, as he got closer, only to have my back hit a wall.
"Robert, it's not her fault," said my Mum, standing behind him. I watched my Dad's face contort with rage as he turned quickly and backhanded my Mum across the face. She fell to the floor, trying not to make any noise while the tears ran down her face.
"Did I ask you, whore?" he sneered, sounding a lot like Malfoy. He turned to me again and asked, "What did you say?"
"W-What?" I asked, not understanding his question. He glared at me as the predator in him reared back as if to strike.
"I said, What-did-you-say? Do you think I'm stupid? Do you expect me to believe that it was a coincidence that the Headmaster of your freak school shows up at our home?" He reached up and wrapped his hands around my neck, making it very hard for me to breath. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time, what-did-you-say?"
~*~
As soon as Uncle Vernon pulled into the driveway, I grabbed my trunk out of the car and ran with it up to my room. I couldn't believe that Hermione's Dad was out of jail already; I also couldn't believe that her Mum was back with him. I changed my clothes, grabbed my wand and grabbed some parchment out of my trunk. I sat at my desk and wrote a quick note to Dumbledore; he helped her before, I was sure he would help her again. After quickly signing my name, I rolled the note and attached it to Hedwig's leg. After Hedwig flew off I grabbed my money sack that held my galleons, made sure I had my wand and ran down the stairs.
I heard Uncle Vernon yell, "where do you think you're going boy?" as I quickly threw the door open and ran outside. Standing on the curb, I grabbed my wand and held it up in the air. Not two seconds later, the Knight Bus appeared at the end of the street. Finally coming to a screeching halt in front of me, I quickly walked up the stairs and told Stan Shunpike where I wanted to go. I handed him two galleons and told him that I needed to get there as quickly as possible. I thanked Merlin that I remembered Hermione's address; she had mentioned where she lived in one of our talks.
It took us about twenty minutes to get there; I thanked Stan for the help and got off the bus. I watched the bus disappear as I turned to make my way up to Hermione's front door. Just as I raised my hand to knock, I heard Hermione's Dad yelling and then I heard Hermione scream.
'Underage magic be damned' I thought as I grabbed my wand out of my back pocket. I pointed it at the doorknob and said "alohomora!" I heard the click as the lock disengaged and I opened the door.
The sight before me almost made my heart stop. The sitting room was destroyed; the coffee table was flipped over, the pictures on the wall were askew and a recliner was flipped over. Mrs. Granger lay unconscious (I hoped) on the floor by the door and then I saw them; Hermione on the floor with Mr. Granger practically sitting on her. He had his hands wrapped around her neck and her face was turning a strange reddish-purple colour. I saw her eyes start to roll back into her head and I snapped. Forgetting about my wand, I ran full out at her Dad and tackled him, knocking him off of her. We rolled around the floor trying to pin the other down. He got one good punch in that made me see stars. I shook it off and roared with rage; I felt the adrenaline surge through me and I rolled over on top of him. I punched him twice and then grabbed my wand; I pointed it at his face and said, "Please give me a reason..."
Mr. Granger bucked and caught me off guard. I flew off of him as he rolled over and stood up. I quickly righted myself, wand still drawn. He looked at it, laughing and then knocked it out of my hands. I saw the swing coming and luckily threw my arm out to block the punch. Unfortunately, I didn't see his other fist coming and he connected painfully with my right cheek. He then charged at me and slammed me into a wall; my vision blurred for a moment and then I finally focused in on his face. His lip was bleeding where I had gotten one of my punches in, and his cheek was cut where the other one landed.
"Nosy fucking kid" he snarled, drawing his fist back to punch me again. I readied myself, hoping to dodge his fist, when suddenly a shot rang out and he froze. His eyes grew wide as he stared at me and then crumbled to the floor. I looked up to see Hermione's Mum holding some kind of hunting rifle. Her eyes widened and she dropped the gun haphazardly onto the floor. I slowly bent down and placed my fingers where I knew his pulse would be; there wasn't one.
I noticed Hermione still lying on the floor and rushed over to her. She looked worse than she did after her encounter with Malfoy. I looked down and noticed that her shirt had been ripped open. 'Oh God' I thought, thinking of what might have happened had I not shown up. Closing her shirt up as best as I could, I called out her name, but she didn't respond. I checked her pulse to find that it wasn't as strong as I thought it should be.
"Hermione" her Mum said, crouching down on the other side of me. She smoothed the hair back off of her daughters face, and I watched as tears streamed down her swollen, bruised face. "We need to get her to Casualty," she said, looking at me.
"I send word to our Headmaster just before I came here; he's the one who helped get your husband arrested two summers ago" I explained "I think we should wait for him."
She stared at me for a moment, as if trying to decide if she should trust me or not. "Harry?" I heard Dumbledore call from the front door.
"In here Professor" I called, glad he had come so quickly. I heard him gasp as he walked into the sitting room.
"What happened?" he asked, striding quickly over to where Mr. Granger lay.
"Don't bother, he's dead," I said casually. I couldn't help feeling a little relieved at the fact. He looked at me questioningly as if asking if it was by my hand. "Mrs. Granger shot him with that rifle" I answered, pointing to where the rifle lay on the floor. Dumbledore just shook his head and walked over to where we were.
"How is she," he asked as his eyes scanned over Hermione's beaten face.
"Her pulse feels kind of weak to me," I offered "but I'm no expert." I looked at him for a moment and then said, "Her shirt has been ripped open Sir."
Dumbledore's eyes grew wide for a moment as he thought about the implications of what I had just said, and then I noticed as anger flared in them. "Even though I don't agree with your decision to leave the Dursley's, where you are protected, it seems that by following your heart, you saved two lives today."
"But I didn't get here soon enough to stop them from getting hurt" I replied, looking sadly at Hermione. "What should we do?" I asked.
"We should take her to St. Mungo's" Dumbledore replied. "As for Mr. Granger, I shall see to him." He looked at Mrs. Granger with a kind expression on his face and asked "why don't you come and get checked out also Mrs. Granger?"
She nodded slowly and stood up. "How will we get there?" I asked.
"By floo" he replied "I had this house temporarily connected to the network before I left Hogwarts."
I walked over, gently picked Hermione up and walked over to the fireplace. I watched as Dumbledore threw the floo powder in and the flames flared to life. He explained to Mrs. Granger what to do and helped her in. Once she had disappeared, he turned to me with a very serious look on his face. "Will you be okay Harry?" he asked.
"As long as Hermione is okay," I stated.
He nodded his head and said, "look after them the best you can and I will be there shortly."
"Alright" I said and walked into the flames. "St. Mungo's" I stated and then spun off towards the hospital. I held onto her and thought about everything that had just happened at her house. I swore to myself that I would never let anyone else hurt Hermione ever again.
~*~
I woke up and pried my eyes open; they felt so heavy for some reason. I suddenly remembered my Dad and how he was out of jail; I felt like I couldn't breathe. I could feel the hot tears falling down my face and I jumped as I felt someone wipe them away.
"It's ok 'Mione, you're safe now." I knew that voice, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him; I couldn't believe he was really here with me.
"Harry?" I asked, my voice sounding very raspy.
"Yeah, it's me luv. The doctor said to tell you not to talk unless you absolutely had to; there's been some damage to your vocal chords." I looked at him and then suddenly, I remembered.
"No" I whispered as I started to shake from the memories. My Dad had tried to..."No!" I sobbed, tears streaming from my eyes.
"Shh, Hermione, you're safe now, I promise." He stood up and wrapped his arms around me and I clung to him as if I were drowning. That's how I felt; suddenly all of these painful memories flooded my mind and Ifelt like I couldn't draw a breath.
I continued to hold on to him for dear life as I cried and then I remembered my Mum. "Mum?" I asked, barely getting the word out.
"Um, she's in the bed next to you" he said quietly.
"Is she ok?" I whispered, scared to hear the answer.
"She's going to be fine. She has two broken ribs and lots of bruises, but she will be ok soon." I could tell by his voice that he wasn't telling me something. I looked at him and saw it in his face too.
"What...aren't you...telling...me?" I asked, realizing how hard it was to talk. He turned away from me then; that was something he had never done before, and I really started to worry. "Harry?"
"It's your Dad Ms. Granger" said Dumbledore, coming from the other side of the curtain where Harry said my Mum was, making me jump. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you."
I looked back to Harry and noticed that he still hadn't turned back to face me. "Please...tell me" I asked.
"Harry went to your house because he saw you in a car with your Mum and Dad; he was afraid something bad might happen. When he walked into your house, your Mother was unconscious and your Dad was strangling you as he had you pinned to the floor. Harry knocked him off of you and they got into a scuffle. Your Dad had Harry pinned to the wall and was about to punch him when your Mum shot him." I looked at Dumbledore after he finished speaking, my mind unable to process what he was saying.
"So is my Dad in surgery?" I asked, and when I saw the look on his face I knew. "He's...dead isn't he?" I asked as fresh tears poured down my face. I didn't know if I was crying because I was relieved or because he was dead.
"I'm afraid so" he answered "but if it wasn't for Harry showing up when he did, I fear you and your Mother would be dead right now."
"Fat lotta good I did; they were still hurt, weren't they?" Harry asked, angrily swiping at his face. He was crying because he didn't stop my Mum and I from getting hurt, and he didn't want us to see his tears.
I looked at Dumbledore, using my eyes to convey to him that I wished to talk to Harry alone, and he excused himself. "Harry, please come here" I asked, flinching as my throat burned when I talked. He wiped at his face once more and then turned towards me. I patted the bed next to me, silently asking him to sit down, which he did. When he refused to look at me, I gently placed my hand on his face and turned it until he was facing me. The sadness and guilt I saw in his eyes broke my heart; he was blaming himself for our injuries. "Harry..." I started to say, but when I couldn't think of what to say, I leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. When I pulled away from him, I was amazed at the dark green color of his eyes.
"Please don't blame yourself, you're my hero" I said, and then added "that sounded cheesy."
"Not to me it didn't" he said. I smiled at him and he smiled back. "Hermione, I'm sorry..."
"Harry, don't" I said, stopping him. "You're not the one who should be apologising; it should be my Dad, and we both know that's not possible now."
I started to feel really sleepy, so I lay back down as my eyes started to droop. "Please don't leave me" I asked him, as I began to drift off; knowing he would be there made me feel safe.
"Never" I heard him whisper, just before I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
~*~
Hermione had ended up staying at St. Mungo's for a week. She had asked me to stay with her, and when I spoke to Dumbledore about it, he had agreed. One of the nurses had brought a cot in for me to sleep on, it wasn't really comfortable, but it was better than being back at the Dursley's.
Mrs. Weasley came to visit almost every day. She swore to Hermione that she had told no one in the family about what happened; Hermione was very adamant about that. Dumbledore had arranged for us to go to the Burrow after she was released. He had taken me aside and explained that for that summer only, he would transfer the protections to the Burrow; he said the blood protection from my Mum no longer mattered thanks to Voldemort's wonderful potion. I would worry about the other summers later.
Besides Hermione's throat, she had a bruised rib and fractured wrist, which they had healed already. They were worried about her vocal cords the most; they didn't seem to be healing they way they should have. Her Mum had gotten better, and on the advice of the Doctors, had checked into a special muggle hospital. The hospital specialized in Psychiatry and from what I overheard, Mrs. Granger was having a lot of problems. She still felt it was her fault Mr. Granger had kidnapped her; she said she had made it too easy for him to find her. Supposedly she had talked about dying and had even attempted suicide; the guilt from knowing what her daughter had gone through for all those years and the fact that she had shot her own husband was too much for her. I made sure Hermione didn't find out about that because it would have upset her too much; she had been through enough already.
The day Hermione's Mum left was one of the worst; she lost it when she was talking to Hermione and became hysterical. She said that everything had been her fault and she should have protected her little girl. She told Hermione that as soon as she was better she would come pick her up and take her home. They had to pry Hermione off of her; she had clung to her Mum like a lost little girl.
Her Mum left and we were alone. She lay on her bed curled up in a ball; she was crying so hard that she was hiccupping. I walked over to her and tried to get her to talk, but she just stayed curled up in a fetal position. Finally, I lay down behind her and wrapped my arm around her waist. It was a little awkward, but I knew how she felt. I never had anyone there to help me or comfort me, and that is what I had wanted the most; just to have someone, hell anyone, show they cared about me. Finally, her sobbing and hiccupping stopped and I heard her soft, rhythmic breathing that told me she was asleep. Unfortunately, I became too comfortable lying next to her and ended up falling asleep with my arm still wrapped around her.
~*~
When I woke up, I had a splitting headache. I remembered my Mum saying goodbye and then I had cried myself to sleep. When I tried to move, I realized that there was an arm wrapped around my stomach and someone was pressed against my back. I turned my head just enough to see behind me, and I saw Harry lying there, fast asleep. He looked so peaceful; usually he was jumpy and uptight. Having a Dark Lord chasing after you will do that to a person, I suppose. I couldn't believe he had lain next to me like that and held me while I slept.
"How are you feeling Ms. Granger?" asked Dumbledore quietly. I hadn't noticed him sitting in the chair next to my bed. I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks; I wondered if Harry would get in trouble. "Don't worry, I understand that Harry was only trying to help you calm down." He got a thoughtful look on his face as he said "he is full of surprises sometimes."
I smiled at the Professor as he said "the Doctor was in here shortly before you awoke; he says you should be able to go to the Burrow tomorrow."
"Oh, that's good" I said unenthusiastically, wishing that I could just go home and be with my Mum.
"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have been to your house and have picked up your things from your room. They plan to give you a room of your own; one just like the one you grew up in. Maybe that way you'll feel more at home there." I felt a little better after hearing that; at least I would be surrounded with my things from home and I wouldn't be sharing a room with Ginny.
"Thank you for your help Sir and for letting Harry stay at the Burrow also" I said, grateful for all of his help.
"After seeing what you have been going through and what happened to you, I decided that I may not have been able to help you in time, but there's still hope for Harry." I felt the tears in my eyes and tried to blink rapidly so they wouldn't fall again. "Besides" said Dumbledore "you two need each other more than either of you know."
Confused, I asked "What do you mean?"
"You'll find out in time Ms. Granger" he said, smiling with the familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Do you mind if Mrs. Weasley comes in?"
I looked back at Harry, who was still sleeping and asked "will she be upset by this?"
"She's already seen you two; I had a little talk with her about it and made her realize that it's an innocent gesture of comfort and friendship."
Thank you Sir" I said, relieved. "Please, send her in."
~*Ok, there's the first part of the summer, the next chapter will be the second part and their trip back to school.
I made sure I didn't leave it with a cliffhanger this time; I know I seem to do that quite a bit, but I swear
it's not on purpose. I stop the chapter where I think it will be the easiest place to start the next one. Thanks
for reading, and please review!! :)