Changes of War

2.What Now

 Hermione burst through the front door, hot tears forming in her eyes. She ran to the kitchen, to find her parents dead on the ground. Hermione saw blood on the ground and all over her father. Her mother was lying as if she had been shot, but there was no blood on her. Hermione knew there was a chance, that Death Eaters would come and torture her family for whereabouts. She thought they were safe if she erased all memories of her.

Hermione crumpled to the ground, crying on her knees, leftover with her head to the ground. She didn't know how long she had been there, letting out the tears she didn't know she was holding in. A floorboard creaked from the entryway. After a moment, the two words Hermione never thought she would never hear come from this person said, "I'm sorry".

Hermione looked up slowly to the eyes of Pansy Parkinson. She didn't say anything for a while, just gazed back down at her parents' bodies. After a time, Hermione asked, "What are you doing here Parkinson?"

"It was getting dark, and Potter was getting worried. He sent out a bloody search party, looking for you. After this whole mess, I don't think any of us can handle losing anyone else." Pansy said this with a surprising show of compassion.

"I meant to be here, at my parents' house." she paused for a moment, her face void of feeling. "Why did you join the search," asked Hermione, her voice hollow with emotion.

"I don't want to be cold hearted and rude anymore. I watched my mother die out there, and the only thought that went through my head was 'finally my dad and I can be happy'. Then I realized, I'm just like her. An identical pug face in the mirror, and a downright bitch just the same." She looked down in shame, remembering how she behaved to the muggleborn in front of her.

"You're going to turn over a new leaf then? Trying to change?" Hermione tilted her head, attempting to decipher if she was being genuine.

"I'm here looking for you, aren't I? Why else would I be here, looking for someone who hates me," she said, raising her voice slightly. She froze, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I want to apologize for the way I acted towards you. I shouldn't have said and done all those rude and cruel things to you."

Hermione looked in Pansy's eyes, finding sincerity in what she said. "You know, I understand," she said, slowly uncurling herself on the floor. "Why you wanted to turn Harry in, why you and the Slytherins so easily went to the dungeons." Hermione's arms trembled as she scooted back, leaning against some cabinets. She then looked up at the ashamed girl, "you didn't want to disappoint your parents. You couldn't fight them either, they're your parents after all. No matter how estranged you are from them, you don't want them to be the person you have to fight to survive."