Safe and Sound

Chapter 1 - The Letter

It had only been a week since the start of summer break and Hermione was already desperately counting down the days until she could return to Hogwarts. The moment she, Harry and Ron had stepped through the barrier to Kings Cross, her parents had rushed over and greeted her with tight hugs and overly sweet smiles. To everyone else it looked as if they were loving parents, happy to be reunited with their daughter after almost a year of being apart, but the bruising weight of her fathers hand on her shoulder and the anger that she could see simmering in his eyes reminded her that it was all for show.

The moment they arrived at home, away from the Weasley's oblivious eyes, her father had backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the ground, before kicking her once in the ribs and sending her to her room, hurling a few insults after her.

The next day, she fell back into an awfully familiar routine; her mother would give her an obscenely long list of chores to complete that day, not allowing her to eat until she was finished, and, if they weren't completed to her standards (they hardly ever were) her father would give her a beating before sending her off to her room. If she was lucky-and if they remembered-she would get a stale piece of bread and a hunk of cheese for dinner.

A week went by in much the same fashion, the routine broken only by the more severe beatings that occurred when her father was in a bad mood and needed to take it out on someone, which happened quite often. In just a few days she had lost most of the weight that she had gained while at Hogwarts, and her dark skin was covered in a myriad of colourful bruises in various stages of healing, along with many cuts and lashes from her fathers belt. She was also fairly certain that she had a few cracked, if not broken, ribs.

Before she had even left Hogwarts, Hermione had resigned herself to a summer full of abuse and pain, and she was never more happy to be proven wrong.

***

The letter came in the morning, when Hermione was washing the dishes left from her parents breakfast. They had left for work shortly before, having been called in to the clinic for an emergency tooth removal and would be coming back late that night. They hadn't had time to write out a list of chores for her to complete, so she was looking forward to being able to get started on some of the homework that had been set for the holidays.

She was just adding the soap suds into the hot water when she heard a sharp tapping on the window above the sink. She looked up, pushing her curly, dark hair out of her face with a soapy hand. A large barn owl was sitting on the sill, staring at her with round amber eyes. She was so startled that it took her a moment to notice the envelope attached to the owl's leg.

She quickly wiped her hands dry on the front of her shirt, unlatched the window and pushed it open. The owl flew in, landing on the table and holding out its leg. Hermione untied the envelope, noticing the thick parchment with a red wax seal and loopy, green writing that spelled out her name.

She tempered her burning curiosity and picked up a plate that still had bacon scraps on it, setting it on the table in front of the owl, which gave her a grateful hoot before tucking in. With that taken care of, Hermione turned her attention back to the envelope, quickly prying open the wax seal and pulling out the folded piece of parchment inside.

She unfolded it with trembling hands, smoothing it out while tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear.

The letter read:

To Miss Granger,

Due to the happenings of the last year, the Headmaster has decided that the parents of all muggleborns attending Hogwarts should be better informed of the events that occurred and other important information concerning the Wizarding world and their children.
Muggleborn families should expect a visit from the Headmaster and their Head of House on the 3rd of July. We apologise for the late notice.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Hermione froze, her thoughts whirling around chaotically. What should she do? The 3rd was tomorrow. There wasn't enough time to send a reply telling them not to come, and doing so would raise a lot of awkward questions that she couldn't answer, so that idea was a no go.

She started pacing the length of the small kitchen, the letter still clutched tightly in her hand. As she paced, ideas flitted across her mind, each one more ridiculous and impossible than the last, until, finally, she slumped wearily against the counter, glancing at the owl, whose large amber eyes had followed her path back and forth across the small kitchen.

"I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it." She told it glumly.

It hooted dolefully, as if in agreement, before returning its attention to the bacon.