New Beginnings

DISCLAIMER::: Everything you recognize belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I just love them so much I wanted to play with them a little.

Summary::: Hermione wakes up and has an encounter with a Weasley.

New Beginnings

Chapter Six

Slowly, Hermione came around. Her eyes fluttered as she opened them. She could make out blurry faces surrounding her, and then suddenly she remembered that she had fainted. Shooting upright, she felt a firm arm push her back down. Looking to her right, she saw Severus Snape kneeling beside her and gently holding her still.

"Calm down, Professor Granger. You are all right. Everything is fine," Snape said reassuringly.

"What happened?" she asked, knowing the answer but hoping she had not just seen a Weasley.

Glancing behind him, Professor Snape said, "It appears that you fainted after seeing Mr. Weasley back there."

"W... Weasley?" Shrinking back as if she was trying to push herself into the ground by her will alone, she asked, "Which one?"

"Bill, but that doesn't matter because he isn't supposed to be here. He isn't supposed to be anywhere around you. None of them are, correct?" Severus asked.

"That is correct, but what is he doing here? Why did he sneak up on me? What does he want?" Hermione asked, becoming frantic. She was breathing so fast, Severus feared she would hyperventilate.

"Calm down. You are just stressing yourself out. Come now, let's get you up." He placed an arm gently around her shoulders and lifted her to her feet.

Hermione looked over to where Bill Weasley was standing, surrounded by three Aurors. They had their wands pulled and aimed at the frustrated looking Weasley.

Meeting the Potions professor's eyes, Hermione asked again, "What is he doing here?"

"Mr. Weasley says that he came to Hogsmeade to finish clearing out the last of his brother's things from the house you two shared. He said that when he approached the house, he saw a figure standing outside the front gate. When he got close enough and saw that it was you, he said your name. When you didn't respond, he said your name again and you turned around. Then you fainted."

"Why would he want to talk to me? The whole family knows they aren't supposed to be around me." Hermione said, getting annoyed by the look Bill was giving her.

As Professor Snape led Hermione past the Aurors and Bill Weasley, Hermione looked up to him one more time.

'What does he want from me? He doesn't look like he wants to hurt me,' she thought.

Just as they were passing him, she heard Bill say, "I just want to talk to her. I promise I won't do anything stupid. Please!"

Hermione stopped and turned slowly to look at him. Professor Snape put a protective arm out to her, and she looked up at him.

"It's all right, Professor, I just want to know what he has to say," she said, trying to calm him. Stepping up to the Aurors, she looked Bill in the eyes and asked, "What do you want to say to me?"

"I... I just wanted to make sure that you are all right." Bill said, becoming nervous. "Harry wouldn't tell me where you went when you got out of the hospital. Hell, Harry and Draco wouldn't even let me see you while you were still there. After you were released, the Ministry sealed your whereabouts. Since I wasn't allowed to see you after the trial, I just wanted to know that you were all right."

"As you can see, Mr. Weasley, I am just fine. No thanks to you or your family." At that, she spun around and started to walk away.

"I saved you, damn it! I saved you that night and helped the Aurors hunt down my own brother. I did all of that and you still think I am just like the rest of my family?" Bill was all but screaming at her.

Hermione had stopped dead in her tracks. Tears were forming in her eyes, as she slowly turned around and looked up at him again. "You saved me? You dare to say you saved me? When you and the rest of your DAMN family saw the way he was? You all saw what he was doing to himself. After Harry and he had their falling out, because he just couldn't get over the fact that Harry is in love with Draco. You all saw it and you did nothing. He was drinking like a fish, and you just ignored it. You all just said it was the war. It wasn't the damn war, it was HIM."

Hermione was frantic. She was waving her arms around as she screamed at her ex-husband's eldest brother.

Snape had been standing by, saying nothing. Now, he reached out his arm and touched her shoulder. Hermione spun around, once again, and glared at him. He knew she wasn't mad at him, but the hatred and hurt he saw in her eyes stung just the same.

"Hermione, I... I'm sorry!" was all Bill said to her back.

Lifting her head up as high as she could, Hermione stalked off, back toward the castle.

'Let the other teachers deal with the students,' she thought as she started to pick up speed, all but running back to the safety of her quarters.

TBC

AN::: Sorry it's so short. I just thought this was as good a place to stop as any. Once again I would like to thank my wonderful betas Pixie and Allison. In the next chapter Hermione has a visitor.