Chapter Thirty One

On the day they evacuated Andromeda's house, Hermione heard from Draco for the first time in over a week. Two days later, she was still feeling the effects of talking to her boyfriend again. She smiled more and was generally more cheerful in her interactions with the rest of the house. Ron had asked her a couple of times what had gotten into her.

Mrs. Weasley was in full wedding preparation mode, flitting between the Burrow and Grimmauld Place. When she wasn't planning the wedding, she was fretting over the rescue of Harry from Privet Drive. He had gone back the day after Dumbledore's funeral, but a rescue was being planned in just two short weeks and much had to be done to prepare.

They were suddenly one person short, since apparently Mundungus had gotten himself captured and consequently he ratted out a portion of the Order. Originally, the Order were worried that Mundungus would give the location of Grimmauld Place, the Order's headquarters. Everyone walked on eggshells for a few days, anticipating the invasion of Death Eaters at any moment, but it appeared that Mundungus either couldn't or wouldn't give up their location. Thank Merlin for small mercies.

Hermione was in the makeshift Potions lab on the third level of Grimmauld, measuring Polyjuice into a few flasks, when Lupin cornered her.

"Hermione," he said gently, closing the door with a quiet snap. "When are you going to see your parents?"

Hermione put down her ladle and took a deep breath. "I was going to…go tonight. I'd be back tomorrow." She told her former professor, her eyes cast toward the ground.

"And you are certain this is what you want to do?"

Hermione sighed, scrubbing her hands across her face. "Of course it isn't what I want to do! But I have to. They won't be safe otherwise."

She felt Lupin wrap his arms around her and she allowed herself to break down. She hadn't told anyone of her plan to Oblivate her parents, not even Draco. She had told Lupin only the day before. She had felt it necessary to tell someone what she was doing and where she was going, in case she didn't make it back.

They stood in silence for several minutes, until Hermione cried herself dry. Even then, they remained locked in an embrace, both contemplating the war they were caught in.

Hermione took a deep breath before Apparating into her childhood bedroom. Silently, she took in the room; the pale purple walls, the plush white carpet, the matching furniture with everything neatly organized. On the desk was a photo of her with her parents standing near the Eiffel Tower, taken the summer before on a trip to Paris.

She scooped up the photo in its delicate frame and tucked it away into her beaded bag, hoping the enchantments around the bag would protect the picture from the charm she was about to perform. Steeling herself, she exited her bedroom and descended the stairs into the sitting room where her parents sat watching a film together.

"Hi, mum, dad," she said brightly, trying desperately to hide her nerves.

Helen Granger turned toward her daughter and smiled. "Hermione! We weren't expecting you tonight! What a lovely surprise."

Her father, Richard, rose from the sofa and crossed the room to embrace her. "We haven't prepared anything for dinner, but how would you like to order some takeaway? Chinese?"

Hermione only nodded and followed her father to the kitchen to peruse the Chinese menu.

They ate quietly, around the island in the kitchen. Hermione could hardly stomach her lo mein, but her parents didn't seem to notice. They questioned her a couple of times on her studies, and gave their condolences for the passing of Dumbledore. Hermione had kept them in the dark about the happenings in the wizarding world, but she did have to tell them that Dumbledore had died, as she had stayed away from home longer than normal to attend the funeral and proceedings afterward.

Time passed too quickly. Hermione tried to savor her last meal with her family, but each time she glanced at her watch, it was closer and closer to nine. She had told Lupin she would be back by nine-thirty. Suddenly, she wasn't sure she could do this.

"I think I will head to bed," she gasped, jumping up from the armchair she had settled into. She had been staring surreptitiously at her parents as they debated over what to watch on the television. They both looked at her concernedly.

"It's not even nine, Hermione. Going to bed already?" her mother queried.

"I… I'm just a little tired. It's been a long couple of weeks." Her parents both stood, and she hugged them in turn. She held on to them each a little longer than usual. Her father squeezed her and dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

"We love you Hermy," he whispered into her hair. Tears sprung to her eyes and she kept her head down as she fled the room. She stopped to lean on the wall just outside the sitting room, and listened as her parents settled back down onto the sofa, turning back to their discussion of television programs.

Glancing at her watch one last time, she noted it was now just two minutes to nine. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She glanced around the corner to make sure her parents were watching the television before she pulled her wand out of her inner jacket pocket.

Taking just five steps into the room, she pointed her wand at her loving parents. Counting down from three, she whispered, "Obliviate," as she twisted her wrist slowly.

She could tell the moment her spell hit. She watched as her parents stiffened momentarily and then slumped backward on the sofa. Hermione backed out of the room silently. Turning, she sprinted up the stairs before her parents, now strangers, awoke to an unrecognized teenage girl in their house.

She made it back to her childhood room. She glanced around once more, catching a glimpse of herself in the picture on her nightstand. It was a picture of her with her father when she was six. As she stood looking, her six-year-old self slowly disappeared from the picture.

Hermione choked back a sob as she Apparated back to Grimmauld Place. She collapsed into the entry way when she landed, waking the screaming portrait as Hermione herself wailed in sorrow.

Mrs. Weasley hurried up from the kitchen and quickly wrapped Hermione in a warm hug. Hermione could only assume Lupin had informed the others of Hermione's plan after she had departed, for Mrs. Weasley was whispering words of reassurance into Hermione's curls.

"We will get them back, sweetheart, I promise." Hermione let Mrs. Weasley continue to murmur into her hair, even as the portrait was silenced and Hermione herself ran out of sobs.