Unwanted

The surroundings were different from where she'd just come from. Instead of dirty snow flying, the sun shone, and grass grew. It was warm and welcoming. Sighing, Hermione dropped to her knees and lifted her face to the warm sun. She was away, far far away from everything.

Hermione laughed triumphantly and couldn't stop. Laughing so hard she began crying. Crying and laughing is how the uniformed man found her, leaning against a brick alley wall.

"Ma'am. Ma'am, are you alright?" He advanced on her, his hand resting on his nightstick. In this city, who knew what type of people one would see roaming around. He reached forward and touched her shoulder tentatively. She snarled through her laughter and tears and rounded on him, her hands up to attack him.

"No! No, I hate you! You can't hurt me, leave me alone! You killed my mum! Go away, don't touch, don't touch, don't touch." She repeated the last words over and over, her eyes closed, blindly attacking the officer.

"Oh, shit! I have a nutjob here. I need an ambulance at the corner of fifth and border street." The officer pressed the button on his shoulder, yelling his situation into it. 'Fucking A! Why do they have to let the wackjobs out just so we gotta put em back in! Should lock the nutsos up on some frigging deserted island.' He thought to himself, moving away from the woman, keeping her in his line of sight and holding one hand not on his nightstick now, but his piece. Can't be too certain with the crazy people throughout the city.

Seemed like the citizens were all nuts nowadays and he wished he still lived on his little upstate farm with his mom and dad. 'Gotta go to the city, make it big and be an actor. Bullshit! Shoulda stayed.' He shook his head as the woman started swinging wildly again when he moved closer to you.

"Don't touch me! I trusted you, bastard." She whispered harshly, wild tangled curly hair flying everywhere, covering her face. "We all trusted you." Her head jerked up as she heard the ambulance siren scream in the background. "No no no no no no no no. I won't go back to him, I won't you can't make me." She backed up against the wall, crouching a bit in defense.

"Lady, it's okay. You're gonna be fine. I called an ambulance, they're gonna take ya to the hospital and find out what meds you need to be on." 'Or which drugs they gotta pump outta ya.' He thought with a sneer. After eight years on the force, he'd seen so many drug addicts, junkies, pushers. "You're gonna get the help you need."
"Mum. They hurt her and Daddy. They killed them." She was shaking now, sweat popping out on her forehead, soaking into her unruly hair.

"Listen, calm down a bit. Someone's coming to help you." He didn't advance but raised one hand toward her. She backed away even more, virtually hugging the wall now. The screaming siren was getting closer, he noticed and thanked the heavens. This woman was really out of it. "What's your name?"

"M--Miney." She whispered back hoarsely.

"Minnie?" She closed her eyes a bit, then nodded hesitantly. "Minnie, you're gonna be alright. They're not gonna hurt you, they're gonna help you. Please, calm down. My name's Dave."

"Dave. I'm hot a-a-a-and jelly-leg jinxed." She giggled a little hysterically. "Don't make me go back." She wiped her face and gazed into Dave's kind eyes, her light brown ones holding more pain than he'd ever seen one woman contain.

"I won't." He promised automatically, then winced. He didn't have that kind of authority, and he'd lied to druggies and whackjobs before to get them to do what was needed, but this time he felt so bad, so horrible.

"I don't feel so good." She said in what he thought was a British accent, quite lucidly, then she collapsed to the ground. Dave jerked forward and kept her head from hitting the tarmac as the ambulance squealed to a halt. God, she was burning up, even through her clothes he could feel it! The EMT's jumped out of the cab, their bags clutched in their hands as they advanced upon him and the woman in his arms.

"She just passed out. She's feverish...I thought she might be on drugs...but I think the psyche unit is the way."

"We got her, Officer." The taller medic helped Dave lay her on the ground, less gently than he'd have liked and shooed him away. "We'll take over from here. Don't you have to head in and file your report?"

"Yeah, I'm going. Just take care of her. There's something about her."

The medics nodded their heads absently, without looking at him as they worked over Minnie. Dave sighed and headed down his route. It wasn't the best neighborhood in Durham, but it was home, and he was there to serve and protect.


A/N~~OMG, Thank you, thank you, thank you for the great encouraging reviews!!!! I'm deeply touched that so many people think well of this story. This is chapter 14, and I'm currently working on chapter 18 and 19. This is pretty much the most you're going to see of Hermione for a bit....Like I said at the beginning, we're going to skip ahead a few years soon....just hold on, There's a reconciliation coming up soon. Thanks again and keep the reviews coming!

Marti!!