The Truth About Hermione Granger

"Hermione! Hermione, let me in!"

Hermione was awaken the next morning by her father pounding on her door and calling for her to let him in. She sat up in bed, disoriented, and looked over at Amelia, who roughly pulled a pillow over her head. Finally, Hermione pulled herself out of bed and opened the door for her father.

"Oh, good, Poppet," he said, glancing out the windows quickly. "You haven't gotten an owl yet this morning?"

"I've only just woken up," she replied sleepily.

"Good," he said, setting her down on the bed and turning to Amelia's bed. "Amelia, out!" he snapped.

Amelia, who knew better than to argue with her uncle, pulled herself out of bed, threw her robe about her shoulders and left the room, closing the door with a soft click.

Snape sighed and turned back to his daughter. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Poppet," he said. "But.... There was an attack last night, Hermione. Death Eaters." He paused, looking at the ceiling as if it would give him all the answers he needed. "It's your Grandparents, Hermione," he sighed finally. "The Grangers. They've been killed. Last night."

Hermione only sat there, staring at her father's face. She hadn't seen her grandparents since the day Snape had gotten custody of her, though she had written to them a few times. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure whether she should cry or smile or laugh or scream or...

So, she just sat there, staring.

"Oh, Poppet," said her father, gathering her into his arms. "I'm so sorry! I led the Dark Lord to believe that they were cruel to you once they found out you were a witch! I was trying to prove to him that you are on OUR side and it appears he went after them for vengeance!"

"It's not your fault," she whispered, allowing a few tears to fall from her eyes.

"It's best you let it all out now, Hermione," he said to her, rocking her in his arms. "You'll have to appear at least complacent when the Dark Lord announces their deaths to the rest of the Death Eaters."

She nodded, trying to pull away from him. "I can do it," she said. "I didn't shed many tears for my parents and I don't think I shall shed many for my grandparents."

"You didn't?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "Why is that?"

She shrugged. "It's just my way, I suppose," she said. "I prefer to mourn alone, in silence, contemplating what they could be doing in the after-life."

Snape only stared at her piteously. "Are you sure you'll be all right?" he asked.

She wiped another tear from her cheek. "I think so," she said. "Just give me a few minutes, all right? I'll be down for breakfast at eight o'clock, like yesterday."

He nodded and stood. Then, planting a kiss on top of her head, he left the room without another word.

Hermione immediately flopped back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. A few tears escaped her eyes as she remembered her grandparents and silently asked them to watch over her parents while they were waiting for her to join them.

* * * * * * * *

The bad news put a sort of a damper on the entire Christmas holidays. Draco and Amelia helped, though, listening when she needed to talk and just sitting there when she needed to stare off into space. Draco was the best, making her lie down with her head in his lap while he stroked her hair and both stared into the fire. Her father walked in on that scene and refused to leave until Hermione went to bed.

Christmas morning brought some happiness to her, however. Most of her gifts came from Draco and her father, though there were a few from her aunt and uncle and a couple from Amelia. Draco had bought her many beautiful and expensive looking things, including a lot of jewelry: necklaces, bracelets, a couple of watches and a pair of earrings. Her father had gotten her a lot of clothes- all of which had been charmed so they were sure to be the right size- a silver locket on a chain- into which she planned to put a picture of him and one of Draco- and a rhinestone-studded collar for Crookshanks. Amelia had gotten her a whole load of American wizard candies- which included things Hermione had never seen before- and a wizard recording of Violin concertos, played and written by wizards. Her Aunt and Uncle had gotten her mostly things she could use at school, but they'd also gotten her some violin music, none of which she had, a new set of violin strings and some polish so she could keep the instrument shining and looking like new. She'd also received gifts from Harry and Ron.

Nothing compared, though, to the moment an owl swooped in carrying a parcel from her grandparents. They'd sent it to her mother's father by muggle mail and he'd sent it on to her by owl. (Her grandparents were no longer allowed to know that she was a witch, so they sent their correspondence through Mr. King.) She opened the package to find a brand new pink sweater with darker pink snowflakes on the sleeves and an exquisite Violin necklace. There was a note on top of the package, which she read with tears in her eyes.

*Dearest Hermione,* it said. *We just wanted you to know how special you are and how much you mean to us! We are so proud of you for getting into that prestigious boarding school!* (This was their story to the Grangers.) *We miss you and hope you will be able to come and visit us this coming summer. We love you and think about you daily. Behave yourself, Hermione, and tell your father that we said hello. Love, Grandmama and Grandpa.*

With that, tears streamed down her cheeks. She would never throw away this letter. She would treasure it forever! Suddenly, she sat there with the tears falling rapidly, she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her and looked up to see Draco looking down at her sadly. She just leaned against him and let him hold her until her father sat next to them and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his stern, yet caring face and collapsed into his arms and cried some more.

Now, she wasn't so sure she would be fine. She missed her grandparents and would miss them forever. It had been different with her parents. She knew that now. They hadn't been expecting to die any more than her grandparents had, that wasn't it. But, they had died in an accident, which had nothing to do with Dark Wizards and Witches, whereas her grandparents had been murdered.

No, she would be bitter about her grandparents' death far longer than she had her parents' death.

* * * * * * * *

"Mione?"

Hermione looked up from her spot curled up on the window seat to see Draco standing in the doorway of the parlor, looking at her sympathetically. "Hello, Draco," she said, trying to smile. "Come in."

He came in and sat next to her. "How are you doing?" he asked carefully.

"I've been better," she answered, trying to put on a brave face all the same.

"Oh, Mione," he sighed, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Draco," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and allowing him to hold her. "There's really nothing you could have done."

"Perhaps not," he said. "But, I can still be sorry for you, can't I?"

She grinned. "I suppose so," she said. "If you want to."

They just sat like that for a moment, reveling in the nearness of the other and content to simply hold one another. Hermione liked being close to Draco. She liked having his strong, yet slim arms wrapped around her. She liked laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat. She liked taking deep breaths through her nose so she could smell his scent- which was something like smoke and Old Spice Aftershave. Draco liked having Hermione in his arms. He liked having her arms around him, too. He liked leaning his cheek on the top of her head and taking long, deep breaths through his nose, breathing in her scent- which was quite similar to lilac, jasmine and passion fruit.

Finally, though, Draco let her go and looked at her carefully. "Do you need to talk or anything?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "Thank you though. You can sit here with me if you like," she added, seeing his face fall slightly.

"All right," he said, pulling her back into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. She tipped her head up and kissed his chin. He smiled down at her, thinking how beautiful she was. She smiled back up at him, thinking how cute he was.

"And just what are you two doing?"

Hermione pulled away from Draco and both saw her father standing in the doorway. "We were just sitting here," she answered as he strolled over to them.

"You two have broken your promise to me," he said, towering over them.

"We weren't doing anything!" defended Draco, jumping up from his place next to Hermione.

Snape pushed him back down. "You promised that you would never be alone together," he said. "But, you've broken that promise. How do I know I can trust you if you can't even keep that simple promise?"

"Oh, Daddy, don't be angry," said Hermione, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes. "The door WAS open and Amelia and her mother are just in the next room."

"Be that as it may, poppet," he said. "You STILL promised."

"I know, Daddy," she said, looking down at her hands. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to hurt you. Draco was just worried about me. You know, because I haven't been spending much time with the family. He wanted to make sure I was all right."

Snape studied them for a moment. "All right, then," he said. "But, since your aunt and cousin are in the next room and since you have been so good about it for the rest of your stay, I won't tell your father about this, Mr. Malfoy."

"Oh, THANK you, Professor!" breathed Draco. "I promise to be more careful from now on! And I'll never hurt her, I SWEAR!"

"You say that constantly, Mr. Malfoy," said Snape. "Just see that you stick to it!" With that, he left the room to visit with Amelia and Sylvia.

"Come on, Mione," said Draco. "Let's go talk to your aunt and Amelia."

So, the two followed Snape into the next room where Hermione attempted to forget her troubles.