I have always loved Pureblood Hermione and BAMF Hermione stories. I always have felt curious about her story and history.
This is my take on the popular trope.
The story is canon up until the night the Order moves Harry from Privet Drive. After that, it's a free-for-all and will be completely AU. Many of your favorite characters may be somewhat OOC. While it's my goal to keep the essence of a character, I also will be playing with their stories and personalities a bit.
This story will be dark. It will include AD/MW/RW/GW bashing. It will feature a strong but bitter Hermione, a confused Harry, and a sorta-good LV.
If that doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy then please just click that back button!
The beginning of this story will be similar to many other Pureblood!Hermione stories, (I mean, how many ways can a girl find out she's not who she thinks she is, right?) but will, I promise, be quite unique.
For the rest of you - please enjoy!
Absolution: a release from guilt, obligation, or punishment.
Hermione Granger stood nervously among the members of the Order of the Pheonix that were gathered at Number Four, Privet Drive. Tonight the Order was relocating Harry Potter, in a gutsy move with six of them taking Polyjuice Potion (brewed by Hermione, thank you very much) with seven escorts. The order hoped to create enough confusion and distraction with their being multiple Harry's to follow, that they'd all make it to safety.
Hermione had been paired with Kingsley Shaklebolt, a dark-skinned wizard with a voice that she was certain melted many women over the years. They would be journeying on a thestral back to the home of the Weasley family, The Burrow.
As Hermione and Kingsley mounted the thestral and prepared to leave the wards over the home at Privet Drive, Kingsley reminded her to be on her guard.
"Constant vigilance, Hermione," he said. "We'll probably see some dramatics tonight, and who knows what the Death Eaters will try in order to determine which one of you is the true Harry."
She nodded, and the two took to the skies.
Within moments, streaks of spellfire lit up the sky around her. Green, red, and yellow lines burned into the darkness of the night, and the shouting reverberated in her ears.
She couldn't tell who anyone in the dark black robes was, as they had covered their faces with intricate silver masks. She saw one of them toss a stunner at Moody, who tumbled backward off his broom towards the ground. Her heart was in her throat, and she gasped as Bill and Fleur, who was also disguised as Harry, swooped down to cast an arresto momentum before he struck the ground.
The group quickly split up, as they all couldn't follow the same path back to the Burrow, and Hermione lost sight of Hagrid, who was carrying the real Harry.
Beside her, a Death Eater chased upon their broom, shouting maniacally, but oddly not casting any spells.
A female voice shrieked and pointed a wand in her direction. She was quick to cast a shield, but the spell came right through and hit her in the shoulder. She expected pain, darkness, and fear, but the only thing she felt was the telltale bubbling off the polyjuice wearing off. A few seconds later her skin felt as though it was stretching beyond her body. She screamed, a mixture of terror, pain, and exhaustion.
"Hang on, Hermione," Kingsley shouted, steering the thestral in the direction of the ground. She felt wards snap around her as they landed, but she was still screaming and couldn't focus on where they were or why they had landed when they weren't even close to the Burrow.
Kingsley wrapped his arms around the screaming witch, pulled out his wand and cast an Expecto Patronum. His lynx appeared and he barked to it. "Go to Arthur. Something has changed Hermione. We're headed to Grimmauld. Bring Nymphadora."
He knew he couldn't take this little witch to the chaos of the Burrow while she was screaming bloody murder and looking the way she did.
He apparated them to the front step of 12 Grimmauld Place, and stepped through the door, quickly dismantling the traps set up after Dumbledore's death.
He carried Hermione gently into the sitting room. She was writhing in his arms, though her screaming had abated, leaving her whimpering meekly.
Seconds later he heard a crack outside. He pulled out his wand, pointing it at Arthur Weasley as he walked through the door.
"What did your wife tell me when we explained the plans for tonight?" he demanded of the red-haired man.
"She said we couldn't afford to sacrifice anyone before we'd even begun fighting again" Arthur responded. "She said we shouldn't take the younger ones, but George and Fred argued that they were all of age and could make their own choices."
He then turned and snapped at Nymphadora Tonks. "What was the last thing Moody said to the two of us?"
"Constant vigilance is not enough. You must look ahead to see where the enemy is planning to strike," she answered.
Kingsley sighed and looked pointedly at Hermione, who was still clearly in some sort of pain.
Tonks quickly began casting diagnostic spells over the young witch who was squirming on the sofa. Every single one came back clean. There was no spell damage, no lingering effects that should be causing her pain, and certainly nothing that would explain why she looked the way she did.
"Hermione," she whispered, reaching out to gently grasp the girl's hand. "Can you hear me?"
A low moan escaped the young woman and she responded. "Tonks. My skin feels like it's burning. It was like it stretched and every piece of my exploded and then reformed. It... it hurts less now but I have no idea what the spell was. How did it get through my shield?"
Kingsley stepped forward. "Did you hear the incantation, Hermione?"
Tonks helped the girl to a sitting position. A small gasp came from Arthur as he looked at her.
"Yes, I think. I think it was revelabo occulta. I can't be sure. It was so loud with the spells and screaming all around us. I think it's latin. It didn't hurt, at first. I just felt the polyjuice wearing off, which is odd because it should've lasted us an hour. After that is when the pain started." she answered, looking between the other three occupants of the room.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? The pain is almost gone. I'm fine. Everything is fine." she said quickly, nervous that she was in some sort of trouble for having been hit with the spell.
Tonks reached into her pocket and pulled out a pale yellow potion. "This is a modified pain potion. It will curb the majority of the pain while allowing you to stay awake and it does not affect your magic levels like other pain potions can. It's really only supposed to be used by the Aurors, but I think you're going to need it."
As Hermione drained the potion, a large tiger Patronus bounded into the room.
It spoke in a voice that Hermione did not recognize.
"Nymphadora, something has happened. The Black Grimoire screamed. I felt the family magic shift, I'm sure you noticed it as well." The voice was female, rich and elegant.
Tonks sighed. "Nymphadora" she mumbled under her breath.
Kingsley cleared his throat, hoping to encourage more information from the pink haired witch.
"I did feel it." she glanced at Hermione with a strange look in her eye. "Something changed in the Black family tonight. It was like a shudder in my bloodstream. If the grimoire screamed, it means... well it doesn't mean anything good, but I think we're looking at the change."
Hermione stared blankly at her, unsure of what she was missing.
"What is it? There's no one left in the Black family, right? Wasn't Sirius the last one?"
"That's what we all thought. Sirius was the last male in the family. Except..." Tonks hesitated. She conjured a small mirror and handed it, face down, to Hermione. "I think you might be the reason the grimoire screamed."
Hermione turned the mirror over and peered into the surface. A gasp flew from her lips as her hand reached for her face. Her eyes were molten silver and her hair jet black. Her features remained the same, her body had not changed.
"What is this?" she whispered.
Tonks stood. "I don't know. But, those are the Black traits. We need to see the tapestry."
Author's notes: I used a google translator for my made up spells, forgive me!
revelabo occulta roughly translates to "reveal the secrets" a spell that would remove any glamours or identity hiding potion effects.