This is my newest fan fic. It's a bit different. But overdone as well. Well you'll see. So yeah, just please read. This is going to be a bit more depressing than Across Uncrossable Lines. But I like happy endings so this will have a happy ending. :Mutters about loving fluff:

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

---

Hermione Granger laughed at her muggle friend, Stephanie, as they rounded the corner. She froze as soon as she had. The Dark Mark was hovering above her house and she saw both muggle police and ministry members swarming around.

"Steph, my parents!" She managed and then took off running towards her house.

No one noticed her. The Ministry members were too busy obliviating people and the police and EMTs were walking around with dazed looks on their faces. When they brought two body bags out of the house she knew it was hopeless. She tried to focus. She could hear Stephanie calling from across the yard and then darkness came over her.

---

Severus Snape apparated to Albus Dumbledore's side. The house was in ruins and the all too familiar skull was floating above. Before he could say anything to Albus, he noticed a body that was outside. No one else seemed to have seen it and Severus rolled his eyes at the incapability of the Ministry. He walked over and bent down to check her pulse.

"Albus!" He called and the Headmaster turned his attention to the unconscious girl.

"Is she alive, Severus?" Albus Dumbledore found that he was called to more and more scenes such as these and did not enjoy it.

"Yes, she just fainted," Snape said. He looked around for any muggle who might be able to take care of her. Being around when she found out that her parents were dead was not on the top of his list of things to do.

"Hermione! Hermione!" Stephanie shouted as she came to kneel beside her friend. The two men that were next to her didn't look like EMTs and she gave them a suspicious look.

"Hermione?" Severus questioned. He had only ever met one person by that name and by looking at Albus, Severus knew that the Headmaster was thinking along the same lines as he was.

"She lives here. Hermione?"

She turned her friend over and Severus's thoughts were confirmed. He also realized that he would most likely be the one to confirm her parents as dead. "She saw what was going on and she was ahead of me and she saw something and then just fainted. I figured it had something to do with her being a wi-. Will she be alright?"

Albus pulled his wand out and pointed it at Hermione. Stephanie's eyes grew wide and she suddenly understood that these men must have known her friend.

"Enervate," Albus said and Hermione's eyes popped open.

Hermione looked wildly around her and she saw Stephanie then Dumbledore and...Snape? Surely she was hallucinating.

"Professor?" she questioned, a confused look adorning her face.

"Miss Granger, are you alright?" Snape asked. "Did they attack you, as well?"

Hermione shook her head and Stephanie helped her sit up.

"Bloody hell. Mione, what happened?" A deep voice came from behind them. Stephanie's brother, Mark, was there. "Mum, wanted me to tell you that we're leaving in a few minutes. Mione?" he said and kneeled next to his sister and friend. He didn't like the look that the man dressed in black was giving him.

"We have to take her back to the school," the man in black said to the old one.

"What exactly is going on here?" Mark demanded.

"Listen, boy, do not talk to me like that," the black one hissed with the coldest glare that Mark had ever seen.

"Professor, why?" Hermione asked.

"Why what, Miss Granger?" Severus asked.

"Why do I have to go to the school?"

"Because, it is possible that Voldemort wants you dead, as well," Dumbledore answered. "He most likely thought that you would be home with your parents."

It was her fault that they were dead. She was a witch and she hadn't been there to protect them. She couldn't say anything, but she faintly registered Mark fighting with Snape and then she felt herself being dragged away by a portkey.

A few hours later, Hermione found herself alone in a set of rooms that had been granted to her. After much discussion, her Professors and the Ministry had decided to appoint Professor McGonagall as her guardian. Through it all, Hermione did not pay much attention. Shock had her wandering around in a daze and as she glanced around her quarters, she began to felt claustrophobic. Her breath began to shorten and she dashed from the rooms. It was only after she exited that she realized she had no idea where she was or how to get back into her quarters.

Sighing, she made her way to the owlry, finding things to transfigure on her way up. When she stood in the drafty tower, she penned a note to Harry asking for the map. He would find out soon enough that her parents were dead, but she just wanted to be able to get around the castle. Within an hour he had sent it to her, but he also sent her a note with a million questions. Hermione decided that she would write him back later.

After opening the map, the first thing she did was find the teachers. Most of them were in the Teacher's Lounge, Snape was roaming around the dungeons, and Trelawney was fluttering around her tower. Careful to avoid those areas, she set out into the heart of the castle. After a few hours of pointless wandering, she stumbled upon a little library and decided to make herself comfortable. It only contained a small variety of books, most of which she was sure would not even be permitted in the restricted section of the normal library.

A few hours and several hundred pages into a book, she glanced back at the map and saw that the teachers were split around the castle. McGonagall was pacing outside Hermione's chambers. That probably meant that she was being searched for.

She wiped the map and cautiously made her way to the entrance door to head outside. There were no teachers in the entrance hall, so she slipped onto the grounds and plopped down on the edge of the lake. This way it would appear that she had just wanted fresh air and hopefully no one would be too upset with her. She looked out and saw the giant squid waving its tentacles above the surface. She was still wearing her muggle clothes and decided very quickly that she wanted to go into the water. She kicked of her sandals and waded in until the water reached the bottom of her shorts.

She felt something wrap around her ankle and shrieked, but the giant squid popped up and, if it could have, she was sure it would have been smirking at her.

The doors to the castle were suddenly flung open and Dumbledore and Snape came flying out. She figured that they had heard her shriek, but she pretended not to see them and tickled the squid so it would let her go.

"Miss Granger, where have you been?" Snape demanded as they got over to her. She slowly turned to look at them.

"Just walking," she said quietly. It wasn't a lie. She had been walking around the castle until she had found the little library.

"And you did not bother to tell us where you were going?" he asked.

"I needed to clear my head," Hermione said and looked over the lake.

"It is alright, my dear," Dumbledore said calmly. "Just make sure someone knows where you are next time. Leave a note. Anything to make sure that Minerva does not go crazy."

Hermione turned to him and nodded. Snape was scowling.

"We will leave you to your thoughts then, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said. He turned to leave and slowly walked back up to the castle. Hermione turned around and stared back at the lake. She did not even realize that Snape was still standing behind her.

Severus watched her for any sign that she might suddenly want to drown herself. Deciding after a moment that he was safe, he turned to walk away. He stopped when he heard her sniffle and he turned to look at her and saw her shoulders had started to shake. He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but stopped. He jerked his hand back and stormed, quietly, back up to the castle, leaving Hermione to cry to herself.