Look Back In Anger

Chapter One: Troubled Waters

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The summer sky was a cheery light blue, dotted with wispy clouds. The soft morning sun was shining down warmly and produced a sense of serenity. There was little to no sound, except for the quiet stream running its course and the birds calling out every so often. And lying silently amidst all this was none other than Hermione herself.

The grass was warm from the sun and soft, making it a comfortable place for her to rest. Her golden brown locks played over her shoulders, a bit more tame than usual, due to some crafty spellwork Ginny had suggested to her at the beginning of the summer. A small paperback novel, entitled "Persuasion", was clutched in her hand, but she wasn't reading it. Actually, she was just staring at the clouds, watching them gently move across the sky.

Lately, she had been doing this a lot. Letting her mind wander aimlessly rather than focusing on the aspects of her life that were causing her so much grief.

Back in late June, Hermione and her family had been forced into hiding. Plans had been overheard about an attack on their home. For two agonizing weeks, she had lived in fear for her family's safety. Unsure of what to do, she sought help from her former professor, Remus Lupin. He made a suggestion that night that would cause a rift between her and her father, but by that point in time, nothing else mattered as long as her family was kept safely away from harm. If that meant leaving them behind all together, then that was a choice she was prepared to make.

So, she was moved into the Black house with Harry and a week later, Ron joined them. The Order continued to meet there for safety purposes and, quite obviously, to make sure that the trio was doing okay. The weeks that followed brought forth a few more flatmates for the three of them.

Neville Longbottom had sent a letter to her, seeking her counsel concerning his lack of a place to stay due to the death of his grandmother. He brought along with him a battered and bruised Susan Bones, who refused to speak of why she had no place to go. Then came Ginny, Luna Lovegood, and Colin Creevey. Mrs. Weasley has been looking after the three previously at the Burrow, but after numerous dark magic sightings occurred in Ottery St. Catchpole, she brought them to stay at Grimmauld Place.

Lucky for the eight of them, the Black house had been renovated and unplotted to house and conceal them all, courtesy of the Order, with the understanding that members would be able to Floo in and out to have their meetings. Living under the same roof was a bit trying at times, especially with the fights that seemed to break out whenever Hermione was more than five feet away, but she had come to view the house as her safe haven from the harsh world of war encompassing them. With the house being unplotted, she was relieved of her fears of another attack on them, provided that she stayed within the property lines of the house.

Thus, she found her solace in the backyard, where the madness of the house was left behind and she found herself more centered. The others were quite cautious about leaving the house, preferring to not be in the open in the slightest bit, but Hermione wasn't afraid. She knew where the property line ended, and she made sure she stayed within her boundaries. Leaving the house and wandering about the backyard had become her way of making clarity of this new life she was leading. It gave her a chance to reflect without distractions constantly flocking around her.

"Hermione?"

And it never lasted quite long enough.

Hermione sat up, looking over her shoulder to see Susan, hiding timidly behind the door.

"Could you come in?" the strawberry-blond girl asked quietly, "It's Ron and Neville. Something's happened..." She looked a bit worried as she said this.

Hermione sighed and stood up, brushing the loose grass off before she headed towards the house and slid in past Susan. Almost immediately, she heard angry words being exchanged down the hall.

"... You don't even know her! Why are you assuming-"

"She's bloody BONKERS, you wanker!"

"You're calling ME the wanker?! Takes one to know one!"

"Loony git!"

"Swarmy bastard!"

"HEY!" Hermione yelled at the two bickering boys in front of her. Their heads whipped around to look at her, and she was surprised to see that they weren't showing any signs of guilt on their faces. Not one bit. How predictable, she thought.

"Does anybody want to tell me what the DEVIL you two are shouting about?" she asked sternly.

"Well, maybe you should ask that bloody git what the commotion is about since he can't seem to leave well enough alone!" Neville said angrily, jabbing an accusatory finger in Ron's general direction. Ron flared up.

"Well, excuse ME for being the slightest bit concerned for someone's wellbeing -"

"Yeah, the wellbeing of someone who you constantly poke fun at!"

"Stop being a damn crusader for the poor and the pitiful, Longbottom!"

"Stuff it, you tosser!"

"SHUT! IT!" Hermione shouted again. This honestly wasn't getting them anywhere. "No more of this pointless mess of insulting each other for whatever reason. What is the root problem to all this fighting?"

Neville shoved the morning's paper at her and muttered, "This..." She picked it up and looked at the front page. Almost immediately, her eyes widened and a hand flew up to cover her mouth as it gaped at the story splashed before her eyes. This can't be true, she thought as she started reading the article:

Quibbler Headquarters Ransacked

The Ministry was informed this morning that the headquarters and home of the infamous Quibbler were destroyed late last night. Desks were overturned, papers scattered and crumpled, and its creator, publisher, and editor, Mr. Steven Lovegood, dead at the scene of destruction. The Ministry's elite team of Aurors is on the case, searching for the reasoning behind this attack.

"It's a given that this was an attack from the dark side; we won't lie to you about that. We're trying our best to clean up this mess and we are also now searching for Mr. Lovegood's missing daughter," said Minister of Magic, Scrimgeour. "Citizens located in the Ottery St. Catchpole area should be on their guard. There is no guarantee that it is completely safe out there yet."

Hermione grabbed a nearby chair to support herself, suddenly feeling lightheaded. Another attack on Ottery St. Catchpole? And Luna's father was dead...

"Does Luna know yet?" she asked in a soft voice.

Neville shook his head. "She's still asleep, and I know for a fact that she has stopped reading the Daily Prophet," he replied. His eyes flickered up towards the ceiling for a moment, as though her feared she would wake up and hear them discussing this. Hermione set the paper face down on the table, a hand running through her hair as she began thinking about what all they could possibly do.

"How in the world do you tell a friend that someone they loved has died?" she asked aloud to no one in particular. The others looked at her, but remained quiet. She sighed heavily. "What are we going to do?" she asked again.

Ginny quietly picked up the newspaper from the table and said, "I'll go talk to her..." A moment later, she trotted up the stairs and the distinctive sounds of a bedroom door clicking opening and shut were heard. Not even a couple seconds later, the fighting started up again.

"You're her friend, mate! Why didn't YOU go talk to her?!" Ron demanded.

Neville glared at him. "You don't know her like I do!" he bellowed, "You can't just barge in on her and say, 'Well, hello, Luna, nice day we're having. Oh, and guess what? Your father is dead!'"

"It's better than chickening out and having someone else do it, you heartless bastard!"

"I'M HEARTLESS?! Just look at YOU!"

"Why I oughta -"

That was when the first blow was made. Ron swung his fist and got Neville across the chin with a loud thwack. Susan gasped from behind Hermione and quickly scurried around to try and pull Neville back. As Neville lunged for Ron, Hermione followed suit and grabbed a hold of the red head's arm tightly.

"Stop it, both of you, please-" Susan managed to plead before Neville's hand flew back and accidentally hit her across the face. She let out a small cry and almost fell to the ground from the sheer force of the blow. The commotion stopped and everyone turned to look at Susan. Her eyes glistened with tears, her face considerably red and flushed, and with once last look of fear directed at Neville, she ran out of the room.

Hermione's brow furrowed and she glared daggers at the two. "Now you've gone and done it!" she scolded as she followed after Susan.