Chapter I- Rockabye:

My second Dramione AU! This one is over the course of one year as opposed to their whole time at Hogwarts. Most of this story is set in sixth year but the first chapter gives some background. Hope you enjoy :)

"Shush, shush..." eyes full of unshed tears, the doe eyed brunette rocked the screeching baby swathed in blankets. Her attempts were futile, the cries only got louder and louder, the desperation mirroring her own as she peered out of the window, watching dark figures massing on her home. Her husband touched her arm in a gesture of comfort but before she could say anything in response he was out of the door, his wand quickly moving with his lips, a spell she didn't know flowing out of them. She raced towards him but found herself stuck on the threshold. Lines of hurt creased her face as she realised what he'd done, but staring at the face that had changed so much since his eyes had first met hers from across the Great Hall all those years ago, and yet remained the one she adored, she knew his reasons were only that same love of her. And indeed, he mouthed 'you'll be safe', his eyes focussing first on her and then the nine month old in her arms before he reluctantly disappeared from her line of sight. Her heart racing a hundred miles a minute, she sank onto the bed, her gaze focussed numbly on a single spot on the wall as the drone of her daughter faded into nothingness. When she came back to reality the crying was still incessant, though it had quietened. This time though, she could hear other voices too and she shrunk against the wall.

"...most had 'im." A man growled. The relief that her husband was still alive was secondary to the realisation that the voices were approaching.

"There'll be other chances James," this one sounded older. "You just have to be patient and have faith. The Light will prevail-"

"Will that be before or after the Dark kills all our children?" A third voice questioned. The older man began to speak again, but then he paused. "Did you hear that?" She covered her mouth with her free hand as though holding her breath would stop them. It shouldn't matter anyway. Tom had silenced the room. But if something had happened to him... they'd said he'd escaped but she didn't know the ins and outs of this particular spell. Panic overwhelmed her and she gently placed the baby into her crib, terrified she would drop her, her hands were shaking so much. Turned away from the doorway, she didn't see the men appear there, wands outstretched. As she heard the killing curse she started to turn but it was too late. The green light struck her and she crashed to the wooden ground immediately with a loud bang, oblivious to the terrified wails that soared as her child watched their mother disappear from sight. The gentle feminine face was replaced with several confused male ones. One of them still held his wand, but another slapped it out of his hand. "Are you crazy? That's a baby!"

"You-Know-Who's baby!"

Taking her in his arms, the white haired grand-fatherly one said, "There's no need for them to ever know that."

"What are you saying?" The first one asked. "We take her in and raise her as one of us?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he agreed. "I've always believed nurture is far more pivotal than nature." He turned to one of the men behind him. "Arthur?"

The redhead shook his head sombrely. "I'm sorry Albus. Molly and I are already struggling to make ends meet as it is. We just had Ron, and we're not ready for another one so soon."

"Sirius?" The second man to be asked shook his head too. He wasn't ready for a child, he said.

"We'll do it."" Everyone turned disbelievingly to the scruffy looking man staring at the baby.

"Are you sure James?" His best friend asked. "You and Lily are gonna have your own bundle of joy soon too."

James reached over to the bawling child and picked her up from his former headmaster's arms, eyes on hers. "Lily always wanted twins. We can raise them as such."


Exactly a year and three months later the door was blown down at the Potter home in Godric's Hollow, a disturbing shadow of the Order's attack on Voldemort's home. "He's here." James launched himself off of the sofa, his eyes stormy as he shoved his wife behind him. "GO!" He cried and Lily obeyed, running upstairs to the two children, even as she heard the terrifying words bellowed and the room behind her flashed green, the colour reverberating in the corner of her eyesight.

Her natural instincts had her racing towards Harry and once she knew he was fine she looked to Hermione. They were both unbruised and she thanked God for it, but that was all she had time to do as Voldemort thundered through the door. "Step aside!" He roared. "Give me my daughter!"

"She's not yours." Lily stuck her chin up in defiance. "She's mine!" His eyes flashed red and she clenched hers briefly as she prepared for the endless oblivion that would follow his bloodthirsty scream- but the end didn't come. Not for her. Peeling her eyes open, she looked down to see the man who'd loved her endlessly slumped on the floor. "Severus? Severus!" Lily collapsed to her knees and took him into her arms, not even noticing the masked figure that appeared and whisked the halfway dead corpse of her nemesis away.


Shrivelled and broken, the darkest wizard the world had ever known lay hunched over on the floor. "My lord?" He brushed away his closest friend's nervous voice, though he couldn't find the words to accompany the action. His throat felt like someone was squeezing it until he choked, his eyes burnt like a red hot poker was being held to them, his skin fizzled, falling away. Faintly, he could hear the coos of the child who'd been betrothed to his own, and that pain hurt more than all the physical.


Dumbledore looked sadly at the heartbroken woman before him. Her voice cracked as she explained the horrific events of the night and how she'd come straight here for help. He'd been shocked to learn Sirius would betray his closest friends but it all made more sense when he learnt they had switched their Secret-Keeper to be the weak-willed Peter Pettigrew at the last minute. They were at Sirius's family home now, since he had volunteered it as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, and he was playing with his unaware godchildren, who had calmed down now that the threat was in the past. The organisation would be disbanded now, Dumbledore supposed, since everything pointed to Voldemort being dead. Lily herself seemed disbelieving, and even if he was dead if his followers knew his heir was alive and ready to take his throne they would surely come for her. Dumbledore suggested they remain living in secrecy, but in a different location, and as well that a Transfiguration charm. He simply softened her features a little, making them more like her adoptive parents', and changed the eye colour- the blue reminded him eerily of the Tom he used to know. Hopefully those changes would be enough, he was sure they would. After all, Severus had told him the Death Eaters had known neither about a child nor the loss of one since it seemed Voldemort had never shared the news with his friends. Oh Severus... he'd never been sure of the Slytherin's loyalty and it was a pity that the masses would never know of his heroism, but a necessary sacrifice. For everything to work out the Order, and the Potters especially, had to be seen as the saviours of the Wizarding World. It was just unfortunate Severus had become collateral damage.


As their mother held tightly onto Harry and kissed his forehead Hermione chatted to an envious Ginny. The redhead was outraged that they would now all be at Hogwarts without her, though Hermione had reminded her that it was only a year a good five times just since they'd all met up at King's Cross. She liked Ginny, she had to, they lived in such seclusion she was the only girl her own age she knew, but the other girl could be terribly whiney, and she saw the way Ginny pined after her twin, even if her brother was too oblivious to notice it himself. "Good luck!" Her thought process was interrupted as she was suddenly enveloped in a tight hug. It was telling that the Weasley matriarch had finished saying goodbye to her whole brood whilst Hermione's own mother was still clutching onto Harry. At last she let him go, scrubbing at the lipstick stains on his face.

"Bye Mum, bye Uncle Sirius," Hermione smiled at the man standing beside her mother. She got a demure peck on the cheek, and a hug, but it didn't fool her. She could fool others, sometimes even herself, but Hermione had always been a perceptive child. A cool, thin layer of ice had covered her mother's eyes when she had approached, as it always did. The question was why. She'd never known what she'd done to make her mother feel so coldly towards her and she feared she never would. Lily didn't treat her badly, perhaps she never would have noticed had it not been for the difference in the way she looked at Harry. She took Hermione's face in her hands now, though she looked at her with a strange perplexment rather than adoration, her long dark red hair falling effortlessly around her face. Hermione had always envied that hair, wished she could have inherited it instead of the tangled bush that was hers. Harry's was messy too, but hers was something else entirely. In fact she wished she'd inherited anything at all of her mother's. Whilst people always said Harry looked like a carbon copy of their father, save Lily's piercing green eyes, she sometimes sat in front of the mirror struggling to find anything to link her to the woman before, her own dark eyes looked like her father's, though perhaps her mother saw that as a curse, perhaps it was why she looked so uncomfortable right now. She'd come to the conclusion that her chin was her mother's, though she didn't know if that was just from searching so hard that she'd reshaped herself in the process. At least she knew from the praise of others that while Harry may have their mother's eyes, she'd gotten her brains. And wasn't that better than silky, lustrous hair anyway? "Have a good time sweetheart," Lily sighed, smiling softly at her. Sirius pulled her into his side for a quick hug and then he was pushing her over towards the train, having to race behind the Weasley boys and her brother who were already piling on.

This part of the Hogwarts Express was overflowing with excited First Years and Hermione was so distracted by the contagious enthusiasm that she wasn't paying attention when she crashed into a bony blond body. She quickly apologised, but that didn't stop him from hissing "watch it!" When she looked up she knew why. Standing in front of her was a Malfoy, a family as infamous as hers was beloved. They had been known to be some of You-Know-Who's strongest supporters, but their patriarch had claimed he'd been acting under the effects of Imperius curse and had gotten away with little more than a tap on the wrist. Now he flaunted his freedom in his top Ministry job and his wealth at fabulous parties his socialite wife threw. Disgusting, honestly, all of them. Admittedly, Hermione had never actually met one, just seen his pompous face all over the Daily Prophet in family portraits and once glimpsed him from across Diagon Alley, but she'd been prepped for this her whole life. Honestly, she was a little disappointed. He didn't look like a benevolent dictator, or even a benevolent dictator's sidekick, just another schoolboy who'd been pandered to his whole life. That changed though when he sneered down at her; their family might not seek out the cameras like his did but the Wizarding World newspapers and their readers were still obsessed with the tragic tale of the Potters, so Hermione had had her share of space on the pages as well. "Well, well," Malfoy chuckled. "Two Potheads and a Weasel." A hand tightened around her arm and Hermione turned to see Harry yanking her up, whispering that they should just go. Seriously? They couldn't just let themselves be walked all over. The Malfoys were bullies but she wasn't going to let any of them get away with this any longer. It had already gone on long enough.

"Is that the best you can do Ferret?" She scoffed. "I suppose it's only to be expected that those with low IQ's must stoop to name calling. And not even creative name calling at that." And with that she glided away, or at least that was how she imagined it in her head, really it was a bit more of a stumble as the train lurched forwards and she nearly fell on the floor for the second time in two minutes.

"The Lioness has teeth!" Malfoy called after her, "though sadly not the ability to land on her feet." She ignored the cackles of him and his two cronies, instead pulling open the door to the first open compartment she found, shoving her stuff under the seat and sliding down onto it, managing to get in a quick wave to her family, who looked ecstatic to see that the three of them had in fact made it to their space alive. As the familiar faces faded into the distance Hermione stretched out along the seat and pulled out her book. Ron, however, knocked her legs down, causing her to send a glare his way.

"Oh shove off!" He said. "You're just gonna be reading the whole time anyway, but I need to sit opposite Harry to play exploding snap!" A most productive use of time. She huffed and threw her book down on the table, grabbing her uniform from her bag.

"I'm going to get changed," she declared.

"Fine with me," Ron quickly scrambled into the window seat she'd vacated as Harry laughed, sliding over too as he shuffled the cards. Hermione rolled her eyes and, clothes under her arm, headed out of the door. Everyone had told her to stick with Harry and Ron, that they would protect each other, but she didn't know if that was really for the best. She wanted the opportunity to finally make friends of her own choosing rather than those that had been forced upon her. Glancing in each window she passed she saw groups of friends and realised that while the boys mirrored them, she would have looked like an outsider if she'd walked past her own compartment, sitting there alone. She did a double take when she looked into one of the compartments and saw Malfoy, who wasn't sitting with just his cronies as she'd have thought, but rather a large group of friends. A blonde girl was speaking animatedly and then they all burst out laughing, even Malfoy himself. And not cruel cackles, but genuine, happy laughter. His gaze momentarily fell on her, hardening, and she realised she'd come to a halt. Automatically she sped off, unaware of the curious look trailing her.


Heaving her trunk along behind her, Hermione followed the boys off of the train a tedious amount of hours later, rushing them along as they were pretty much the last ones off of the train. The two of them had a bad case of sweet tooth, and Ron had only been too happy to encourage his best friend to spend a good chunk of his vast inheritance on at least one of everything from the snack trolley. Of course they hadn't considered where they were going to put all these sweets, and ended up stuffing them into their bags and pockets like hoarders, oh, and their mouths of course. Ron was currently trying to get through a whole pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and unfortunately in that moment he sampled an earwax one- and promptly spat it out. "RONALD!" Hermione shrieked, dropping her trunk in an attempt to avoid the mush on the floor at the still quite busy platform. It sprung open and she let out an angry shriek, dropping to the floor to sort it out, but someone else beat her too it.

"I'm going to have to start calling you Penguin instead of Lioness," Malfoy sneered as he threw the clothes back into her trunk, which she snatched away from him and quickly snapped shut.

"Leave her alone, snake" Harry stared the blond down.

He just chuckled. "You may think I'm slimy but I'm more of a gentleman than you'll ever be." The two boys looked blankly at him. "I didn't see either of you rushing to help her out. I thought you're supposed to be pack animals."

Before either boy could respond an inhumanly tall man approached their small group. "C'mon you lot! You're 'oldin' everyone up." Hermione glanced behind him to see the platform had indeed cleared. The older students had disappeared while the other First Years were boarding small rowboats. Malfoy moved to join his friends but the man pulled him back.

"Get off me you oaf!" Somehow he managed to look down on this man even while so evidently looking up. That was a skill, albeit not a particularly admirable one.

"You four are gonna have to come wit' me." And so, reluctantly, they got onto the last remaining boat together. The boys made sure to avoid eye contact entirely, but Hermione couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of Malfoy. He intrigued her- that was for sure. She'd never met anyone like him before, and yet she somehow felt like she had.


As they entered the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, Malfoy was still just behind them. "...I was this close to going to Durmstrung. Much better really," he was explaining to whoever would listen. "But Mother decided it was too far a journey."

"Awww!" Ron cooed. "Does Drakie miss his Mummy anyw-" The doors in front of them opened and the sight of tables of food caused him to lose his train of thought. "Woah..."

Malfoy chuckled. "Is Ronnie seeing more food than his peasant parents have provided him with in a lifetime?" He had a sharp wit, she was loath to admit, even if he was determined to use it for the forces of evil.

"Come on," she urged the ginger forwards before he could retaliate and lose points before they'd even been sorted. Sorting... she'd spent countless hours this summer pondering where she'd end up. It was universally expected that the Potter kids would be in Gryffindor of course; Molly had already knitted them scarlet and gold jumpers to keep them warm when the castle got draughty, but she couldn't help but think that she fit into Ravenclaw better. Her mother had been terrified for their lives even though You-Know-Who was dead, so they'd been home schooled. Harry had never really taken it seriously so he was woefully behind but she'd gone the other way. Her education had been mostly muggle-based, but in the last few years a little basic magic had been incorporated and she couldn't wait to show off what she knew here. That was, if she survived the sorting. She was, she'd admitted, somewhat fearful that she'd be shunned if she ended up in Ravenclaw or, God forbid, Slytherin.

Harry was before her alphabetically and his face lit up when he was sent to Gryffindor, although the hat seemed to deliberate on it for longer than she'd expected. She would have assumed it was obvious her brother belonged there... she wondered where else the hat had considered putting him.

When the time finally came for her to sit on the stool herself she sat there with bated breath as the hat was placed on her head. "Intelligent and witty. Tick, tick! You love a riddle don't you!" The hat let out a tinkling chuckle at some joke of its own it wasn't letting her in on. "Yes, you'd do fine as an eagle, but it's undeniable that your natural home is-" the hat broke off and her face trembled as she waited tentatively for a good fifteen seconds, worried something had gone wrong. Behind her, the headmaster leant forward, just as nervous, praying his plan would work. "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted at last, and if it was with a little less conviction than usual she didn't notice.

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