Diagon Alley, May 1996
"Mum is going to murder us."
"Right you are there Gred"
"What are you thinking Forge?"
"When we got back from Christmas Break I was approached."
"Approached? Why would they approach us? Don't they know Mum has basically adopted the Boy-Who-Lived?"
They both chuckled at that. That their mother focused so much on Harry bloody Potter had always annoyed them; none of their friends had been given special attention from Molly Weasley, not even their best friend Lee.
"I think that was the point" George dryly remarked. "Anyway d'you remember Yaxley?"
"That seventh year that knocked Wood off his broom after we shot a bludger at him?"
George laughed. "I'd forgotten about that. What about the time we spiked his pumpkin juice with Firewhiskey and Veritaserum?"
"And he told Snape he was the one who flooded the Girls Dorm with Mice?"
"I have never seen Snape move so fast."
"Poor Yaxley, I heard he spent a month in detention with Filch"
Fred's mirth was visible on his face as he took a swig of Ogden's Finest. "So what did Yaxley have to say and why wasn't I approached with you?"
"Well my dear twin, you were with McGonagall serving detention for pranking the ickle firsties and I was in Hogsmeade replenishing our supplies. Anyway, Yaxley made us an offer."
Fred leaned closer to George and whispered darkly, "How'd he even know we would be receptive?"
"Apparently, our dislike was evident to those with eyes, serpent eyes that is."
"So what's the offer?" Fred asked intrigued as to what the Dark Lord would want with them.
"Per Yaxley, the Dark Lord wants something and is willing to let us prove our mettle. If we can bring him Hermione Granger willingly we will be rewarded and we get to keep her."
Fred grinned darkly, "Good Forge let's go seduce us a lion cub."
George chuckled and with a shared smile, Hermione Granger's fate was sealed
Unknown to the other Weasleys during their fourth year at Hogwarts the twins had a moment of clarity. Fred and George could always see just a bit more clearly than the rest of the family. After all, Bill and Charlie wanted to escape the nagging, overbearing presence of their Mother as soon as possible, Percy was too worried about striving to be a good Ministry Employee (even when he was small) and Ron, Ron was always trying to be as lazy as possible while still getting attention. And their lovely sister was starstruck, completely and utterly dazzled by the fame of Harry Potter.
Now Harry, Fred and George liked the little guy; so, when they nicked the keys to the car and pulled bars off the window to pick Harry up, they started asking questions. The bruises the boy-who-lived sported were obviously not quidditch related as they were the shape of a rather large hand. A discreet return to Surrey had them rethinking Arthur Weasleys stance on muggles. From the looks of the Dursley's, muggles were not the kind clever people, Dumbledore made them out to be; a few questions aimed at Harry not only had the boy brushing it off but claiming Dumbledore knew of his so-called treatment.
That was their first clue that everything was not as it seemed. When they finally arrived at Hogwarts, a few inquiries into the homes of other Muggle raised witches and wizards had them starting to agree with some of the blonde ferret's remarks, which grated on their nerves because well, Malfoy was always and still is a blonde ponce with daddy issues.
From then on Fred and George Weasley were determined to find out more about how the muggleborn and muggle raised were treated outside the Wizarding World and to that they need contacts and so they planned, plotted, and eventually they concluded they needed to owl the biggest bigot they knew of: Lucius Malfoy. After all, who better to get them information not colored by the so-called light, then a supporter of the Dark Lord.
And answers they did receive, from the mysterious deaths to the mental breaks, many muggleborns and muggle raised were treated icily by their non-magical relations; but, a fair few like Harry Potter, a bloke called Tom Riddle and even the resident bookworm of Gryffindor, should have been removed from these "homes" as soon as they made the list. Malfoy smuggled them a list of children who would normally be placed in a new loving home, a list that remained unchanged because the legislature remained stalled. Not that the twins understood or cared about the political process. What they cared about is this list that spanned to the beginning of the century had well over 200 names. The fact that there were people on the list Fred and George knew personally as well as having knowledge of some of the others enraged the normally easy going twins.
A few subtle inquiries about the little witch who became attached to Ron and Harry revealed nothing. And over the next few years they tried to uncover what happened to land Hermione Granger on a list of abused children. Though they were unaware of it at the time they would eventually get the chance to meet the bushy haired witch many more times. Growing ever closer to the answer to the persistent question in the back of their minds: Who was Hermione Granger?
The 19th of September, 1979 was a joyous occasion for Mr. & Mrs. Granger; finally, after so long they had the daughter they dreamed about. A perfect angel to carry on their noble bloodline. Their joy was short lived when merely two months after her birth the newly christened Hermione summoned a rattle to her bassinet. That is what was the beginning of the end.
Growing up Hermione learned to immerse herself in the endless wonder of books, fiction or nonfiction, at least when she was off to Neverland or marching in the frozen wastelands of Russia she couldn't be hurt. Not that she could accuse her parents of neglect or abuse, in fact in public they positively doted on her in public. No, the chilled home atmosphere could be ignored even the odd days where her parents vanished, she had long could put up with that. It was the remarks. The cutting, biting taunting remarks. And when she finally thought she could belong somewhere, she was quickly reeducated about that belief.
So, she burrowed. She fell into her studies, she watched and waited. One day she was going to get her revenge, one day all foul things said to her would be returned upon her tormentors tenfold. One day she would show the world who she was. Until then Hermione Granger would wait, she would be the brains behind the Golden Trio and she would plot. After all, who said she was supposed to be in Gryffindor?
A/N: This is the first writing I have done in a long while and I have an eight month old child, updates may happen slowly but review will always garner a response. Thank you and have a magical day