After the events of the war Hermione went back to her parents house, angry. Ron had been too awkward to tell her whether their kiss meant anything or not. She was distraught and lonely. When she reached the house she'd provided for her parents however, something wasn't right. Everything smelled horrific, and most of her parents' possessions were shattered or destroyed. Hermione found her father, bent over the form of her mother. Her mother was long dead, and her father was gaunt and trembling. She'd been killed by a wand, for there were no marks to indicate a deathly wound. Her father screamed at her, attacking her and trying to defend himself against a second wizard intruder. In their struggle she was able to lift the curse she'd placed on him. Her father then collapsed in her arms sobbing. He told her dark wizards had found them. They tortured the couple for information on Hermione's whereabouts. Soon the Death Eaters had realized her parents were cursed, and only the wizard who cast the spell, could break it. They then disposed of Hermione's mother for the fun of it. They'd left Hermione's father, telling him they'd be back, however they must've forgotten because he'd been there weeks. They'd placed a spell on the house so he couldn't leave, and soon he'd run out of food.

Hermione was bereaved, hardly able to handle the consequences of what had happened. So, she'd sent her father to St. Mungos, hoping they could aid with some of the magic side-effects he'd experienced. She didn't know what to do with herself. She didn't want to be in her old home, it reminded her too much of her mother. She'd never even gotten to say goodbye.

She blamed herself for what had happened, and, in very un-Hermione like fashion, she ran away from her problems. Ron was the first to notice she was missing. He looked for her everywhere she would normally be, but unfortunately, he couldn't locate her. Harry told him to leave it, that she'd be back when she felt better, but Ron wasn't so sure.

After several weeks of no Hermione, others began to worry as well. There was no sign of her, and all her things had been left at her house. It didn't look like she'd actually meant to run away, but more like she'd just wanted a day off.

Ron was convinced something dreadful had happened to her. He scrounged together some galleons, and hired a tracker wizard. These wizards were Aurors, trained in the art of magical tracking. He led Ron to a dark forested area, saying Hermione's magic scent left off there, and he couldn't find it anymore.

Ron did not take the Tracker's advice to not go into the dark, unknown woods alone, and marched straight into it. He called Hermione's name over and over. Little did he know she was in deeper magical bind that even he could imagine.