Harry Potter Fanfiction
Title: Everything Starts Now
A/N: This is an one-shot! :) Also, in this story, Tom Riddle is a pureblood and Blaise Zabini (male) is not neutral in the war.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!
Hermione's POV:
It was over.
The Dark Lord had won and she could see Harry Potter's body lying motionless in the middle of the Great Hall. She couldn't say that she was surprised. Despite all the stories of good prevailing over evil it's hard for the "light" side to win when fighting against a side who has no reserves about what they do. The "light" side could fight all they want, hope all they want, believe all they want, but casting a Stupefy against an Avada Kedavra will produce fruitless results.
She curled up against a wall in the courtyard with her knees hugged against her chest. Around her was the debris from the battle that ended less than an hour ago. It was quiet as the sun began to rise; the only sound that she heard was the happy chirping of the unaffected birds.
A man clad in completely black robes and a dark mark adorning his left forearm approached her, but she wasn't scared. She didn't even blink an eye as he raised his arm, wand in hand, and leveled it at her. The spell left a shimmering cloud-a name- hovering above her head. Pleased with the name that was quickly disappearing, the Death Eater - maybe Flint was his name- let the two corners of his lips quirk up slightly. He helped her up and began to lead her to the main entrance of Hogwarts without releasing his tight (but unharmful) grasp of her wrist. She allowed him to lead her to the entrance gates where she was met with the sight of Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Draco Malfoy. They were standing, facing her in a triangle formation with Draco Malfoy behind Zabini and Nott.
Once Flint and Hermione reached the three Slytherin boys, Malfoy quickly replaced Flint's grasp of her wrist and they disapparated. Hermione found herself in Malfoy Manor and barely registered Theodore quickly walking away before she was pushed and pinned against the wall with Draco Malfoy's lips to hers. She was kissing him back, but he pulled away so he could say, "Thank Merlin you're safe." He then resumed kissing her while pouring into the kiss all the relief that they both survived the war.
They were interrupted by Zabini, "Oi! Break it up! Don't suppose you want to notice me too? I survived as well, not that anybody actually cares." He smiled cheekily.
"Of course Blaise," she smiled warmly at him before engulfing him in a hug. "I don't understand why you're so shocked that he's kissing me though; he is my boyfriend."
Blaise placed a hand over his heart before dramatically proclaiming, "And here I was thinking that I was important to you. I am your best friend after all."
"Oh don't be such a Drama Queen Blaise. You know you're important to me."
These events may be unthinkable in the life of Hermione Granger, but not in this case, for the name that hovered above this girl's head after the spell was cast was "Hermione Riddle."
(Past)
I found out during the summer after my fourth year, after the Dark Lord was resurrected. I was more than shocked.
I walked down the stairs and found my (adoptive) mum and dad standing in the living room with a sad smile on their face. With them was a six foot tall young man with dark brown hair and brownish-red eyes. He introduced himself to me as Tom Riddle. I took a step back away from him and quickly pulled out my wand and aimed it at him with a Stupefy on my lips. Before I could cast the spell, he held up his hands in the universal sign of surrender and smiled at me, "Your mother was feisty too." I felt like I was going to collapse when I connected all the dots.
"You're my father." I always knew that the Grangers weren't my birth parents, it wasn't something that they kept from me. I had always respected their decision to omit the information of who my birth parents were; I accepted that I was their daughter in their eyes and I had no urge to pry about my real parents. Now? I wish I pried a little harder. I ran up the stairs and back into the safety of my room.
The Grangers entered my room right after me. Together, they explained to me that they were actually squibs and that I was given to them when I was a baby. Immediately after baby Harry defeated Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy brought me to them in the hopes that I would be safe until Voldemort was resurrected. That's why there was a "Tom Riddle" in the living room. He wasn't anything that I expected him to be; he wasn't only young, but he didn't look like the psychopath everyone described him as.
That's when Voldemort opened the door to my room and sat down next to me on my bed. I was still too surprised by the unexpected uncovering to scoot away. He talked to me about my mother, a Gryffindor pureblood named Clarissa. He explained to me that he really loved her and in turn really loved me, but she died from a mysterious disease. Apparently, I looked exactly like her. He also told me that he was a pureblood-his father was not actually a muggle. That meant that I was a pureblood too. When he asked me to come and live with him, he promised he meant no harm, but only was looking for his family. I said yes, and I honestly don't know what was going through my head. I knew he was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the most evil wizard of all time, and was trying to kill my best friend, but I must have just felt that I needed to give my birth father a chance. I've never regretted saying yes.
Once we flooed to Riddle Manor, I must have been coming back to my senses, even if only slightly. I walked right up to him and told him with an unwavering voice that I would not help him kill Harry Potter. He just smiled fondly at me and told me he expected nothing of the sort. He only wanted to be the father that he didn't have the chance to be for the past fourteen years.
(Present Time)
Theo came back from informing a house elf that I was safe, but Father was right behind him. Once Father saw me you could see him visibly relax and he quickly engulfed me in a hug.
"Everything starts now, Hermione."
"I know."
(Past)
Father told me that I must be trained in the Dark Arts. I was the daughter of the Dark Lord he explained; many people will try to kill me just because of my lineage. I was hesitant at first, but finally acquiesced agreeing that there was no harm in learning it. After all, it isn't the spell, curse, or hex that makes it evil, it is the usage. As long as I didn't use the dark arts as as a means to an end, I could harbor the knowledge with a clear conscious.
Well, let's just say I agreed to learning the Dark Arts. I did not, however, agree to being taught by Draco Malfoy. I tried to reason with Father, "He hates me!" Maybe my argument wasn't too persuasive.
"He hated what he thought your lineage was. You're a pureblood and my heir." Well fine then. I begrudgingly attended my first lesson.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have! Granger, learning the Dark Arts."
"Maybe you haven't been informed; I'm a Riddle." I knew perfectly well that he knew and that he was just finding this wholly amusing
"Oh I know." He gave me that infuriating smirk. "I just find this situation very ironic. That Granger, who is a part of the Golden Trio, is actually the Dark Lord's daughter. What will Potty and Weaselbee think?" Oh Bloody Hell. I hadn't thought of that yet.
During my lesson, I realized that I had to tell Harry and Ron eventually, so once I finished casting my last spell, I ran into the fireplace and flooed to the Burrow. I found Harry and Round outside in the garden playing Wizards Chess. They looked up upon hearing my footsteps, "Hermione!" I smiled wanly at them and they immediately noticed that something was wrong. I quickly explained to them what The Grangers and Father had told me. For a few minutes after I was done talking we sat in silence. Harry was the first to talk
"I'm not mad at you Hermione. You can't control who your parents are." Ron nodded vigorously in agreement.
"So we're still friends?" I asked. They both looked at me like I should be ashamed of even having to ask.
"Of course!" I engulfed them both in a hug. Then Ron spoke up.
"Besides, you're going to help us fight him anyway right?" I was silent. I had come to my own conclusion recently and I sadly shook my head no. The look of fear that flitted across their face made me explain my answer.
"I can't fight against you two for sure. You're my best friends, and knowledge of who my father is, isn't going to change that. However, I can't fight against my father either. I'm going to stay neutral during this war. I hope you understand; my father does." They just nodded and I hugged them before saying goodbye and returning to the Manor. To my understanding, they explained it to the rest of the Weasley family that night and they all understood my viewpoint as well.
I continued to take lessons from Draco the rest of the summer, and I continued to hate him. When I returned to school I still hung out with Harry and Ron, but I didn't participate in any of their anti-Voldemort actions. I studied in the library while they held DA meetings and I was sleeping when they bombarded the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius. I truly took my promised neutral stance in the war.
My Dark Arts lessons continued the summer after fifth year as well. Throughout the summer, Draco was gradually becoming less annoying and insufferable. In mid-July he was teaching me the Unforgivables and he was being particularly relentless while teaching.
"Hermione! You aren't trying hard enough. You have to really mean it if you want to actually cause pain upon something or someone."
"I don't think you're getting it Malfoy," by this point we only reverted back to calling each other by their last names when we were truly annoyed with each other. "I don't want to hurt anyone!"
"Well they're going to have no problem hurting you!" His voice became softer. "You need to be able to protect yourself." I only had a split second to register how close his face was to mine before he closed the space between us and kissed me. It may sound cliche, but the kiss felt like fireworks were going off. The kiss felt perfect. After that we started dating.
I was sitting with Draco in his room one day reading a book when Blaise came in, "Granger? What are you doing here?" He had his wand pointed at me. I was surprised nobody had told him yet, so I told him. After that, the three of us starting hanging out together and Blaise and I got really close. Dare I say it, but I think Draco was a little jealous. He didn't have to be though; Blaise and I were just friends.
During one of the afternoons we (Blaise, Draco, and I) were spending together, I uncovered the reason behind their blood supremacy belief. They explained that Muggleborns and Half-Bloods had a deep root in muggle society. Their existence in the Muggle World threatened to expose wizards and witches. Who could stop proud young Muggleborns from showing their friends how they could levitate a feather or how they could turn a matchstick into a needle. Draco and Blaise and the rest of pureblood society didn't want something like the Salem Witch Trials that had occurred in America to happen again. The scary thing was that I actually agreed with them.
While Harry and Ron were hunting horcruxes, I stayed at Hogwarts for my seventh year. Then came the final battle. I had stayed neutral the past years and I intended to keep it that way for the battle. The "Dark" Side knew to steer clear of me or face the wrath of their Dark Lord. The supposed "Light" side had some other ideas. Though Harry and the Weasleys were totally understanding of my predicament, some of the other Order Members were furious with what they liked to call my "betrayal." They hurled some pretty nasty curses at me and let's just say I was glad I had the Dark Arts training.
And that's how I ended up in the ruins of Hogwarts only to be taken to Malfoy Manor.
Now there was one thing I've forgot to mention in this story of my life. I made a deal with my father. If he won the war, I would support him fully; I'd join his ranks and everything. I hadn't really thought about the deal all that much. The end of the war was something too far off to ever imagine.
Everything starts now.
A/N: I hoped you liked it! If you did, maybe you could review? I used the word "engulfed" way to many times by the way...Whoops.