Best and Worst of Times

Driving in her father's car, Hermione looked over at her three-year-old sister who was playing with the toys she had bought for her at Diagon Alley. It had been a long summer, especially since she was not talking to Ron and sometimes not even to Harry. Hermione smiled softly at her sister as she looked over at her.

Pulling the car into the driveway, she glanced around to see if any Death Eaters or suspicious people were hiding anywhere nearby. ‘God if only it was third year again... Before Voldemort came back... I wouldn't have to worry about my family's well being,’ thought Hermione to herself.

Sirius's last comment before the group had parted at the end of term sprung to mind, “You never know, they might get some backbone and show up in daylight. So keep a constant look out.” Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Hermione felt the tension drain out of her. Helping her sister un-buckle her seat belt, Hermione heard her wonderful laughter. Watching her bound into the house, Hermione shook her head

Hermione followed her sister into the house and started to put the groceries away in the kitchen. As she was making space on the shelf for the last box of cookies, her mother strolled in.

“Hermione,” chuckled her mother, “I can tell Selena really did enjoy Diagon Alley didn't she?”

“Yeah, Silly was ecstatic,” laughed Hermione. “It was quite a day.”

“I'm glad,” said her mother as Hermione folded the last grocery bag and dropped it into the bin. “Were you able to get your school supplies?”

“Yeah plus a few extra things,” Hermione replied. “I've already put them in my school bag.”

“I don't understand how that bag of yours holds so many things,” exclaimed her mother, “and still only weighs five pounds.”

Hermione answered, smirking, “That's because it's magic.”

“I know.” She looked around the kitchen. Spotting what she was looking for, she held up a letter. “This came for you by owl post while you were out with Silly.”

Flipping it over, Hermione looked at the unknown seal, and she instantly looked around. “Has it been quiet?” she asked anxiously. Hermione turned the envelope over again and vaguely made out Ron's handwriting.

“Yes every thing here has been nice and quiet since you took your sister out.” The door to the living room opened as Silly bounded into the kitchen, quickly running up to her mother and latching onto her arm.

“See toys!” Silly demanded as she yanked her mother back into the other room, intent on showing off her new toys that instant.

Hermione took the stairs two at a time, clutching the letter. Reaching her room, she closed the door softly, not wanting to upset her mother. She flopped down on the bed and broke the seal *that held the folded parchment shut.

“Dear Hermione,
“How are you doing? It's been so long since we've talked, I miss you. I know that it was mostly my fault, but you were partly to blame.”

“As if...” muttered Hermione. She willed herself to calm down a little bit, then continued to read.

“I'm inviting you to come and spend the rest of the summer at my house. Ginny misses you as does everyone.
PS: Harry sends his love.
Your friend
Ron”

Hermione jumped up off her bed and Paced about the room fuming. She glared at nothing. “Your friend Ron! Ha! That's a joke; no friend would ever do that to another friend.” She Took several deep breaths to calm her racing thoughts and deliberately slowed her frantic pacing. ‘Who the hell did he think he was kidding?’ Hermione thought.

Pausing in mid-stride, Hermione contemplated the end of her sixth year. ‘I can't believe that I'm still here! Better yet, I can't believe that Harry and Ron are still here!’ exclaimed Hermione silently. The images of that fateful day flashed in her mind.

Wormtail levitating both Harry and Ron toward a leering Voldemort...

Sirius jumping two flights of stone steps into Voldemort's face to block his eye contact so that Hermione could flick her wand and draw the levitating forms of Harry and Ron away from danger while Remus pinned a shocked Wormtail to the ground in one lupine motion.

Capturing Peter in his rat form in an unbreakable jar had been just a stroke of good luck. Hermione had spent the entire summer waiting to hear word that Sirius Black's name was cleared of all charges, but so far no luck. The only good thing to come out of all this had been Professor Snape being forced to admit that there might be some credibility to Sirius's claim of innocence.

Looking down at the letter on her bed, Hermione could feel her anger rising to the surface again. The image of Ron and Lavender snogging in the Gryffindor common room flashed into her mind. ‘That stupid wanker! I could just hit him,’ thought Hermione. It made her want to throw up. ‘How could he do that to me?’ Hermione asked herself.

Looking around her room, Hermione softly smiled at all of the muggle and wizarding books she had collected over the summer. She heard her sister's infectious laughter and felt her anger fading. ‘Silly can always pull me out of a bad mood. Besides the summer isn't over with yet. Plus no one in the wizard community knows about you, Selena. Not even Harry. That's how I'm keeping you safe,’ thought Hermione.

Hermione opened her door quickly and went back downstairs, entering the living room to see her sister proudly holding up the new funny parchment for her mother to inspect.

As soon as Silly noticed Hermione enter the room, she ran up to her and flung his little arms around her sister's waist. “Play hide and seek,” Selena demanded, dropping the funny parchment onto the sofa.

“Later,” laughed Hermione as she pointed to their parents. “After dinner. OK?” ‘Merlin, you wouldn't think a simple game of hide and seek would be so complicated. Somehow I don't think Harry intended his invisibility cloak to be used in this way,’ Hermione thought, Smiling at Silly's agreement to wait.

Hermione sat down next to her mother. “Do you want to go to Ron's for the rest of the summer?” questioned her mother. “I mean it has been nice to have you for this long, but there are only a few weeks left before school starts.”

“Yes,” said Hermione. “I think its time anyway. Can't hide forever, now can I.”

“No,” agreed her father, coming into the room. “But you're allowed to be hurt, and lick your wounds in private.”

The rest of the afternoon passed by without incident. Hermione packed up her school supplies, books and all her Hogwarts robes.

She folded Harry's cloak and dropped it into her trunk. Then she remembered her promise to play hide and seek. Laughing, Hermione knew her sister was already hiding somewhere in the house.

“Be like God,” shouted Hermione, which was the Marauder's code for “Be as silent and still as death.” Hermione had spent the entire summer teaching her little sister the Marauders' secret code. She put on her time turner so she wouldn't forget to put it on later. She started to look for Selena.

“Ready or not, here I come,” laughed Hermione as she walked slowly through the house. ‘Damn, she has gotten good, half the time I can't find her,’ thought Hermione. Making whispering sounds, Hermione let Crookshanks help her look for her sister. She went slowly, going through Silly's room without finding her. Hermione gently closed the door behind her. Heading downstairs, she kept her eyes peeled for her sister.

She checked the kitchen and the living room and had just turned into the family room when a loud popping sound was heard outside the kitchen door.

Hermione glanced at her watch and screwed up her face into a frown. ‘Mrs. Weasley is early,’ she thought. ‘But Mrs. Weasley is never early.’ Turning and heading toward the kitchen she reached it just as her mother's screams reach her ears from upstairs.

“God, no!” Hermione screamed.

She stood unmoving in the hall with her hand on the door to the kitchen, invisible but paralyzed by fear. Then the line from Sirius popped into her head. “... show some backbone...” ‘That's it,’ she told herself, ‘I have to show some backbone and save my family.’ She straightened up and shouted. “Be like God!” hoping Silly and her parents would remember the code. Her father's pleas became deathly silent. She found her wand in her jeans pocket just as a hooded figure, clad in black, appeared from nowhere and pressed itself upon her.

“DIE MUDBLOOD!” a disembodied voice shouted from the living room.

Hermione swung her wand toward the sound and muttered off one spell before a great green light exploded around her.

“Pain, so much pain!” the girl moaned.

“Here! There's one here,” shouted a man in the far distance as slow awareness of someone's hands lifted her up. “Don't worry. I got you,” whispered a male voice.

“Make it stop. Please make it stop,” cried the young woman in his arms. Rocky pulled out his wand and muttered a single spell, causing the pain to fade away. A soft, heavy sigh escaped from the young woman. ‘Merlin, she's lucky to be alive!’ thought Rocky. Looking around the newly labeled damage grounds, Rocky swore lightly under his breath. Then he called to a third man. “Jonas, you find anything out there?”

“Rocky, look at this,” bellowed another man as he lifts up a bag full of books. He reached into the bag and pulled out a single book, Hogwarts a History. Both men looked at each other, an instant smile spreads across their faces. “She's a witch,” they said in unison.

Jonas had been searching for more survivors, but now he approached his two companions and the girl. “Robin, this must have dropped out of her bag,” stated Jonas as he reached down into the pile of rubble and lifted out another book. He handed the book to Robin who dropped it into the book bag he was holding. “Dumbledore,” announced Jonas, “he'll know what to do.”

The three men decided that Rocky would take the girl, Robin would take her belongings and Jonas would report in to the Ministry of Magic.

“I'll see you there, Rocky,” said Robin as he tucked the girl's things around him and disapparated.

Rocky cradled the young woman and whispered, “We're going to see a great man. If anyone can help you, it's him.” Rocky held the girl tightly to him as he disapparated.

In the shadows a young woman watched in sheer delight as the three men apparated away. ‘Stupid fools! How easy it is to manipulate some people into doing one's bidding without their even knowing about it,’ she thought.

With a smirk on her face, she glided out of the shadows. Her onyx eyes raked in the sight before her, not missing a single detail. Striding over to the wreckage, she pulled out her wand.

“Accio book bag!” snapped the woman. Seconds ticked by without the book bag showing up. “Accio wand!” she said, pointing her wand. No wand appeared. ‘They took the book bag and her wand. Was there anything else we needed her to have?’ the woman asked herself.

“Serenity!” barked a voice.

“Bloody hell,” hissed the woman reaching into her robes. She pulled out a mirror. Serenity snapped, “Howler! You'd better have a good reason for this.”

“Did they take the girl?” asked the voice identified as Howler.

“Yes,” whispered Serenity as she swiftly looked about her.

“Then come home. It's too dangerous for you to be there at that time,” said Howler. “If you are caught, there will be hell to pay from the Ministry.”

“Fine,” grumbled Serenity. “Tell Mad-dog, that the first phase of the mission is complete. I'll be there in short order.”

Tapping the mirror with her wand, she cut off all communication. “Besides, it's not the Ministry I'll need to worry about if I'm caught,” she muttered, smirking. She placed the mirror back inside her robes, before reaching under her shirt for a tiny, shiny, golden locket. Seconds later, she vanished into the blackness of the night.

Rocky and Robin met at the edge of the Forbidden Forest outside the entrance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They walked side by side across the lawn toward the castle, then down the corridor toward the Headmaster's office, Rocky still carrying the girl and Robin the bag of books. The stone gargoyle was standing to the side, so no password was needed for the two men to enter the outer office. At the top of the moving staircase they also found the inner door open.

“Mister Dumbledore, sir,” mumbled Rocky, looking as respectful as he could. “She was the only one who survived. Everyone, everything was blown to bits -- there was nothing left. The place looks like a muggle war zone. Everything in ashes.” Rocky laid the girl gently on the office couch.

“Hmm,” mumbled Dumbledore as he stroked his long white beard.

Dumbledore bent over the girl who was prone on his couch. He noticed some strange black ink around her bellybutton. ‘What in Merlin's name? They are now taking to marking their latest victims!’ thought Dumbledore as outrage flooded through him. He pulled out his wand and tapped the tip against the black ink. Dumbledore whispered an enchantment, removing the markings. “There, that's much better,” he said to himself.

The Headmaster turned toward the two men and asked, “Did you happen to get her name or the name of her parents?”

Professor McGonagall had come over to the couch to inspect the girl. “Look at her clothes and her hair,” she whispered in a horrified voice, speaking more to herself then to anyone else in the room. She pointed at the torn, blue-jean shorts and the off-the-shoulder, white top that didn't come down to the girl's shorts, leaving her midriff exposed. “By Merlin's name, what did they do to this poor girl before leaving her for dead?” she asked in the same shocked tone.

Minerva pulled out her own wand and swiftly performed several transfiguration spells, and the scanty, muggle clothes changed into a white, Hogwarts hospital gown. “There, now she at least looks respectable. I'm going to have to have Poppy perform a thorough exam on her. Just to be on the safe side,” she said to Dumbledore.

Minerva raked her eyes over the girl's appearance, spotting what looked like different colors showing up in the poor girl's hair. She noticed green, red and blue highlights in the long honey brown hair. “What in Circe's name! Those … those … persons are insane!” she said to the unconscious form on the couch. Minerva took her wand and pointed it towards the girl's hair; within seconds the hair became a golden, honey brown. “Why she has beautiful hair!” Minerva breathed in awe.

Robin handed the girl's book bags to Dumbledore. Dumbledore reached into the bag, pulled out a picture book and flipped through it. He noticed the girl's parents waving at him, along with a little girl. “At least we know that her parent's were of the magical community. This little girl must have been her sister. Maybe I can find some relatives to take her in,” he said to Rocky and Robin. He found the girl's name neatly written on the front page of the picture album. “Melody St. James,” he read aloud. “She is our new exchange student, but she wasn't due in for another week or so.” He sighed deeply.

“Well in that case, we'll just be leaving her here with you,” Rocky said.

Dumbledore turned once again to look over the young girl lying on his couch. “If she is up to it, she will be sorted tomorrow at dinner,” said Dumbledore to Minerva. “Hopefully she will be able to…”

“Do you really think that's wise,” interrupted Minerva. “After all the poor girl has been through tonight?”

“It is our best option at this time,” replied Dumbledore, “giving her a more secure place in the school.”

At that moment Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, rushed in to remove the girl to the hospital wing. The two men from the accident site followed her out of the office, none of them noticing the two figures that had been hiding behind the stone gargoyle all the while.

When the office door had closed behind them, both men let out their breath. “Rocky, I don't envy Dumbledore with this one,” said Robin as they walked briskly toward the front entrance. “I don't know how he's going to break the news to her.”

“I agree, I would hate to be him right now,” replied Rocky. “Imagine having to tell that girl her whole family is dead, and she is the only one left.” The two men continued to walk away from the Headmaster's office, unaware that they had listeners.

When the two figures under the invisibility cloak behind the stone gargoyle could no longer follow the conversation between the two men, they traveled swiftly up the moving staircase, not stopping until they were in their common room.

“I wouldn't want to be Dumbledore tonight,” said both boys together.