Disclaimer- Standard procedure, its all JKR's characters you know the drill...
As Hermione bid farewell to her two closest friends, Harry and Ron, she had the strangest feeling of foreboding. She looked around to find her parents. “That’s odd,” she thought to herself. They’ve never been late before. In fact, they were usually an hour or so early. “Maybe they got stuck in traffic”
Platform 9 and ¾ was almost deserted as Hermione started to worry. She didn’t have any Muggle money on her to use for a taxi. She could try to borrow a phone to call, but who could she call? Ron didn’t have a phone, and even if he did, there wasn’t much he could do from the Burrow. She could try to phone Harry, but the chance of the Dursleys ever helping Harry was the same as her ever being a Quidditch captain. The sun had begun to set as she sat and wondered what to do, the sky turning a deep shade of purple.
“Purple!” she whispered to herself. She could take the Knight Bus home! She had a few Galleons left from their last Hogsmeade visit. Hermione shivered. The thought of going home by herself scared her for some reason. The feeling of foreboding intensified.
“I know,” she thought to herself, “I’ll go to the Burrow first! Maybe Mrs. Weasley will let Ron ride along with me. My parents keep saying how they want to meet my friends. Then, in case by some chance they just forgot, it won’t look to suspicious that Ron’s with me.”
Hermione gathered her trunk and her cat and went through the barrier to King’s Cross. When she reached the street, she threw out her wand arm and the huge, violently purple Knight Bus appeared in front of her. The conductor, Stan Shunpike, helped her get her things aboard, and then asked where she’d like to go.
“The Burrow,” she said confidently, “in Ottery St. Catchpole.”
“Right you are, miss,” said Stan, as he pocketed her money and gave her a ticket. It’s a good thing she had money left, she thought to herself, as the Knight Bus sped down a crowded motorway, swerving madly in and out of traffic. Otherwise, she would have had no way home.
As the bus finally came to a halt outside the Weasley home, Hermione couldn’t have been more grateful. She quickly gathered her things and left. As she stepped off, she told Stan not to get too far, as she may be needing another ride shortly.
“Why?” he asked, “it looks like they’re home.”
“I know,” she said, “they aren’t who I’m worried about.”
Hermione climbed the steps to the Weasleys’ front door and knocked. She heard footsteps inside, and the loud twittering of the owl called Pig.
“Hermione!” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. “We weren’t prepared to see you until later this summer! Is something wrong, dear?” she asked, seeing the look on Hermione’s face.
“Well, I’m not sure exactly,” she began, and then proceeded to explain her parents absence and the strange feelings she’d been having. By the time she finished, Ron and Ginny had both come in, and seeing the look on her face, chose not to interrupt.
“I’ll certainly let Ron go with you,” said Mrs. Weasley, “Although, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to wait for Arthur to get home. Something about this doesn’t seem right to me, either, dear, and I’d like for you to have an adult with you as well.”
Hermione didn’t object. Actually, she felt quite relieved knowing that Mr. Weasley would be there in case anything really was wrong. As they waited, she chatted to Ginny and Ron, and they all helped Mrs. Weasley prepare dinner. It was odd, but Hermione had the feeling that this was not going to be something unusual for very long.
“Oh look, dear, Arthur’s on his way now,” said Mrs. Weasley, looking at her clock as the hand bearing her husband’s name spun from “Work” to “Traveling.” It then spun again and rested on “Home” as Mr. Weasley popped through the front door.
“Something smells wonderful, Molly,” he said, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. It took him a moment to notice that there was one person in the room who did not have the trademark Weasley red hair.
“Why, Hermione!” he said, “We weren’t expecting you for a few weeks!”
“Yes, Arthur, we need to discuss that," Mrs. Weasley cut in before Hermione could explain. “You children finish setting the table while I explain things.” With that, she led her husband into another room.
“I hope everything’s alright,” Ginny said, in a rather small voice for her. “Mum and Dad usually talk about just about everything in front of us unless it's important.”
“I’m sure it's fine,” Ron reassured them. “Since they’ve started the Order up again, they never talk about anything in front of us.”
“I guess that’s true,” Ginny said, although she still sounded worried. Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came back into the kitchen.
“Well, I do think Molly was right to ask you to wait for me, and you did the right thing for coming here first instead of going straight home, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley, his voice sounding oddly tense. “As soon as we finish dinner, you and I and Ron will take the Knight Bus to you house and see what’s going on. More than likely, your parents missed the owl saying what day you were coming home. Surely they must not be overly used to owl post.”
“That’s fine,” said Hermione, more worried by the second. It seemed as if Mr. Weasley wasn’t telling them something. She could see it in Mrs. Weasley’s eyes. She was concerned for something, even if she wouldn’t say what.
After a wonderful, even if unusually quiet, dinner, Mr. Weasley and Ron helped Hermione carry her things out to the end of the drive. They left Crookshanks there. He was having far too much fun chasing gnomes to take him now, plus she’d be back in a few weeks. Ginny said that she would take care of him until Hermione returned. At the end of the drive, Mr. Weasley threw out his wand arm, and for the second time that night, the Knight Bus appeared in front of Hermione with a loud bang.
Once aboard, Hermione seemed to feel even more scared than she was before. The three of them spoke very little, but every once in a while, Ron would peek over at Hermione and give her a reassuring smile, as if to tell her not to worry, everything would be fine. Hermione did her best to return the smile, but she feared the worst.
As the Knight Bus turned onto her street, narrowly missing the street sign, she heard the driver, Ernie, gasp. She immediately looked up and knew why.
“Bloody hell!” she heard Ron gasp under his breath. Mr. Weasley had gone pale. He was the only one who truly knew the horror of what they were about to see.
As Hermione slowly stepped off the Knight Bus, she felt as if she were about to faint. There, in the sky, floating directly above her house was the sign that the wizarding world feared above all else…
The Dark Mark.
Before she knew it, Hermione was in tears. She knew now why her parents weren't there at the station, but she refused to accept it. Something about this just didn't seem real, like she'd wake up to find it all a dream. That must be it, she thought to herself. I'm still on the train and I've fallen asleep, and this is just a nightmare. She found her leg and pinched herself, and immediately burst into tears. She wasn't dreaming. She now noticed that Mr. Weasley had his wand out, walking slowly towards the front door. She made to follow him, but Ron held her back. She had forgotten he was even there. Mr. Weasley was inside the house now; she could see his wandlight through the windows. Neighbors that had been peeking out their own windows were now starting to emerge from their homes, wondering what this light was and what it meant, who were these two people they had never seen before, and why was the Granger girl crying. The answer was horribly simple.
The Grangers were dead.