Harry Potter is not mine. I manipulate the world to my liking no matter the truth in it. If something doesn't match up with your version of it, then you can rewrite the story the way you like it. Everything in here is exactly as I will it. No mistakes.

In My Lifetime

Chapter One: Blood Flower and the Forltorn Root

I would call this ironic when I put it into terms for the ignorant. My name is Hermione J. Granger, and I am a Muggle-born witch attending my seventh year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. At this time sixteen hours ago, I was sent to retrieve Forltorn Roots from the Forbidden Forest by the replacement of my Potions Professor Severus Snape. In the last few months a Deatheater scare has taken the Wizarding Community, filling them with fear. As vigilance went up, several were captured. Of those who were incarcerated only the Goyles, the Crabbs, Severus, and the Head of the Lestrange Family remain in slight sanity. Though for how long, it is uncertain. They live in constant fear, and I worry for their safety.

Sixteen hours ago, I was safe. Sixteen hours ago, I couldn't be touched.

However, Sisters Fate and Destiny appear to have replaced Harry with myself in their games. Let me explain what I mean. It started when Neville blew up his Silentum Potion in tutoring on Saturday. I was forced to suffer my own silence for the remaining week. I found myself sad that Severus was not there to smile at my suffering gleefully.

I was walking down the corridor towards Transfiguration and accidently slammed into Draco Malfoy. I had been about to put away my Time Turner, but as per my usual luck, the little bastard saw it. I looked up into the blonds ice blue eyes and felt a shiver in apprehension. "Watch it! Oh Granger..." His eyes caught the golden chain. "What's this then?"

A pale hand reached for the delicate chain in a quick snapping motion and I stared as the chain broke with an audible 'chink'. Instead of the chaos that I believed would ensue on breaking such a priceless and powerful trinket, all that happened was a stunned silence as Draco looked at the hour glass chain that could have changed both of our lives. I waited for the explosion from the Slytherin, and was startled when he seemed to sigh instead and I looked at him in askance. Draco sneered at me and gestured to the chain. "I lost 60 pounds to my father with seeing this."

I mouthed in confusion, sixty pounds? Draco cocked his head. "What, can't you speak?" I stared at him in stony silence. "Ah, okay, well then. My father and I had a bet on how you were taking extra classes. It wasn't if you were or not, it was how. I bet that it was night tutoring; he bet that McGonagall gave you the Time Turner. He won."

I knew my lips were twitching with laughter and wasn't surprised when he glared at me. "Hey don't laugh, I thought you were too goody good for something so underhanded and dangerous. Do you know sign language?"

I cocked my hip and smirked, nodding. I shuffled as he looked at the chain again and I raised an eyebrow at the envious look it was receiving. Snapping my fingers, I signed. 'Actually, I'm doing both. You didn't lose.' the blond stared at me in a stunned silence. 'At least I was.' I looked down quickly then back up. 'Actually, if you want to get really technical, now I'm only taking night tutoring. So…'

"Your sign language is terrible." Draco stared at me with a smirk before looking behind me and widening his eyes. I could begin to hear the new Professors voice and knew what was coming.

"Give it back!" The Professor rounded the corner. "Give me my wand!"

I glared at him as the Professor grabbed me by the arm and he smiled at me from behind her back. 'Prick.'

For that offence I received one week of detention and a restraining spell from Malfoy.. It started off small until the Professor asked me for the Roots. They were deep in the forest and I knew it was a ridiculous request. The professor was considered a saint because she was the daughter of McGonagall, problem is; she knew about it. From the minute Severus was captured, Professor Yuillen had it out for me. Not in the bad way really, just the 'let's-see-how-far-I-can-push-the-bookworm' way. Also, Harry was acting strange, but then again, I am not one to judge on changed behavior. Harry had suddenly stopped talking to me... and well everyone really. I had been standing outside next to Neville just after the accident when we both heard a commotion coming down the corridor.

As the runner whipped outside, I saw Blaise Zabini, he looked horrible. There were cuts tearing his lips and cheek, tears threatening to fall as he skidded to a stop in front of us. A defeated look took over his face and he turned around as more quick footfalls exited the school doors. I didn't want to see what was in front of me, but knew nothing could take it away. Ron and Finnegan whipped away from the school and they too skidded to a stop as they saw us. Ron looked happy to see me, the foolish boy, and opened his mouth to speak. Neville didn't let him.

"Did you need something?" I walked up next to Zabini and smiled when Neville took his other side. We knew better than most that bullying was wrong, no matter the circumstances.

"Yeah, this little Deatheater-"

"And that gives you the right?" Nev's voice was cutting.

"Of course it does."

I shook my head to myself at his stupidity and Zabini just stood there looking lost and confused. I turned to the redhead as Neville seemed to turn into another person. Not many knew it, but when it came down to it, Neville had a zero tolerance for bullies. "So, in theory, because of his Deatheater father, you're allowed." Ron nodded. "And following that, because of his family, you have the right?"

Ron began to sense a trap but shook his head affirmative. I knew he didn't have the good sense to stop while he was ahead, but when the puppy uses the floor for a toilet, you rub his nose in it. "So, I think I got this right," Neville stepped up nose to nose with him, and looked him in the eye. "Blood-traitor."

He looked confused but Neville continued. "Soulless. Poor. Muggle-lover. Weasel." Ron started getting angry and his ears turned purple.

"I see what you're doing, but it doesn't work like that! I'm not a Deatheater!"

Neville turned to Finnegan. "Let-down. Mamma's boy." I raised an eyebrow as Finnegan stayed quiet. "I think you know what's next." He nodded and looked at Zabini as Neville spat the last one at him. "Mud-blood."

I turned away from the two boys and lead Zabini away. From then on, Ron hated me, even though Harry just ignored the world around him. Zabini seemed to be found in Neville's company when he wasn't following Malfoy. Word was, when Malfoy confronted Zabini about having a boyfriend, Blaise told him to bugger-off.

Since then, the new professor has added Zabini to her list of 'special' students, like me. Harry and Ron think she's amazing. The only one who seemed to hate her as much as Zabini and I do is Luna. For some reason, Luna is failing her class because she's too busy glaring at her to focus. No one knows why, but every time Yuillen mentions her husband, Luna flinches. Even after bringing her into the circle of friends that had formed with Neville, Blaise, and myself, she won't say anything.

In the forest, even at 1:30 in the morning, I was comforted by the knowledge I had of it. I knew the things that went bump in the night, and the things that were silent as they killed. I knew what would kill, and what would merely watch on in this forest. The Professor had given me a map to work off of so everything was fine as I found the roots and began to dig. The plant was a beautiful blue and red pedaled flower; however, it also had a pocket of liquid in the pouch of the pedals. If the flower felt too much jostling, it would spit the poison and protect the flower. The pouch refilled from the roots in a matter of seconds. The slightly purple blood that oozed from the plant was considered a poison, rightfully so. If it touched my skin, I could die of exposure as I experienced the immune-system crash within minutes.

A twig snapped, as cliché as that sounds. I had to turn, knowing that most would meet me head on in a fight. Unless there were more than one, or were humanoid. Whipping around, the unexpected nothingness was eerie. I pulled my wand and stepped away from the flower. A hand came down on my shoulder in a hard and painful movement, and the last thing I saw was my wand hitting the flower stem and the pouch splashing the black boots of my attacker.

My dreams clouded my head as the black surrounded me. Images of grand halls, and the faint voices of my friends.

I woke for the first time what had to have been several hours later. I know because the sun was coming up through the window, and I could see the light illuminating the corners of the room. I was strapped down painfully tight to a wooden table, various jars and ointments were lined up next to me on an old dusty shelf. Salt was the only one I could see clearly, as it was the only one labeled. Whoever had snatched me had stripped me and rubbed me down with something that smelled greatly of peppermint, my skin flushed an angry red and stinging. Conclusion: Peppermint extract, 97% pure. The second time I woke, my captor was present. Bellatrix Lestrange half lay on my table and was playing with my hair. The sun was high and I knew that I had been gone too long for Zabini, Luna, Neville, and maybe even Harry not to be worried.

Bella smiled as she saw my open eyes and I felt the tears begin to heave in my chest out of fear. "Oooh, the little mudblood just realized who was baby-sitting." She climbed to straddle my hips as she sang her words. "Why don't you try to scream little whore?" She grabbed my jaw in a tight grip. "Scream!"

I shook my head, knowing it was useless. My voice wouldn't be back for another three and a half days. A long time not to scream. Bella sighed heavily and reached for one of the bowls next to the table. By the smell, I knew it was the peppermint. She poured it onto my chest and I felt it begin its painful burn. She clicked her tongue and reached for the salt. I knew for several hours into the torture that she wasn't merely a baby-sitter as she had said, until she began talking as if I wasn't there. She started with humming, and then it turned to singing, until I could actually make out words. "This little brat isn't for you Bella, it's for The Boy, he caught it, he gets it. It's not worthy of you child. It's not yours."

"I wasn't sure what she was doing behind me until I heard the crash of glass. "It's not yours Bella! Stop it! Just stop! That's enough Bella!"

Her shrill voice rang in my ears after she left and the sun began to tilt. It was sixteen hours ago, that I knew comfort. The sun continued its path and I reawakened from unconsciousness. I was fully clothed and cleaned again, my wounds gone. A lone figure leered in the corner and I knew that was my true captor. How like a villain to sit in the shadows.

"I see you're awake Hermione. How is your throat, the potion going to wear off anytime soon?" I stared at him in shock the best I could around the pain. Red eyes shined from the dark corner in amusement. "Oh yes, I know who you are, what you do, how you do it, why you do it, how you feel, and what you know. I am in your head." He stepped out into the light and while I had the urge to roll my eyes at his little speech, when I saw him, I stopped breathing. Black hair was thrown back carelessly and green eyes sparked, making me realize who was speaking. Harry. My best friend. What had happened? How was this possible?

Harry chuckled and shook his head at me. "Did you notice anything weird about me lately? I know you have." I tried to think back, flashes of Harry looking too happy, too carefree, not the Harry I had known. I thought he changed, like Luna. Ron didn't seem different, but he never changed. Now I know why. His darkness seemed to cling to him, trying to pull him back into the shadows. There was something all together new about him. His skin too clear, his eyes too unburdened.

Harry looked at me with those new eyes as I began to laugh silently. Of fucking course, my luck. I laughed in his face hysterically and his expression just made me laugh harder. Why wouldn't this happen?

In this reality I knew that he was not the Harry I knew, and yet the spelled look-alike was more so unlike him than the creature before me.

That realization stopped my laughter and turned it to a mourning silence, my best friend was gone and there was nothing I could do to bring him back, and put things back to the way they were.

I looked to my friend with objective eyes. He filled out; the dark under eyes looked almost artificial in its darkness. The new clothes forcing me to see his build. Tailored and dark. What happened to him? Where is the boy I used to know, and who replaced him with the man before me?

"Don't worry, you'll know, I'll explain everything." He reached over and undid the restraints on my chest and hips, unstrapping me to the table. "There, now you can sit up." I gestured to my legs and hands and he smiled slyly and shook his head with a quirky smirk.

I sat up and swayed as the blood rushed to my head. I turned and couldn't stop my body from emptying my stomachs contents. Harry lifted me and laid me back down gently. "I had to be sure you hadn't already been replaced."

I watched his expression turn dark and his eyes turn a violent red as he really took in my condition. Pale, sweating, shivering, and immaculately clean. The peppermint suffused the air still, and judging by the searing pain in my arm, most of what I had hoped was a nightmare was very real. I knew of the anger reeking from him, and slowly shook my head at him. Harry looked at me and his eyes shifted. "Okay, we'll deal with Bella later. You wished to know my story, and that is fine. Let me bandage your arm, it looks like its bleeding." Slowly uncovering my arm, the blood stuck the fabric to my opened skin, Mudblood it says. For the rest of my life. Harry wrapped my arm with a stoic face, before standing to pace across the room as I sipped the water he brought me. A brief show of anger with the wall taking most of the damage he turned back to me with a sheepish grin. "I know, those who cannot control their anger, are at their weakest when upset."

I nodded before casting a glance down to my arm and shrugged. Harry chuckled as he took on a dramatic pose of looking up into the moonlit window before looking at me with an eyebrow raised ridiculously high. I smiled and let air move my chest and body in a silent chuckle.

"No, seriously though. It started off with the new professor and her treatment of you. I went to The Headmaster to inquire about her and he sent her and I into the forest."

I looked at him in question. He looked sad for a second. "Does Forltorn Root sound familiar?"

I felt a deep dread settle into my chest. Did he mean what I think he means? Was Dum-

"Yes. He is and so is the Weasely Clan, well," he stopped with a small smile, "some of them."

I shook my head and raised my hands motioning my eagerness for him to get on with his story. "Any-who, when we were out there, she slammed me into a tree from behind and when I woke up, I was here with Bella and two others. Two other Vampires that is. You see, Dumbledore has promised the Vampires The Champion in exchange for their allegiance to 'The Light' and turn their backs on The Dark Lord. They played him to turn me. However, he does get points for optimism."

I smiled slightly at his weak joke and then realized what this meant. "Oh, yes Hermione, you are given to them as well, though not intentionally. Rather, you were given to me."

I looked at him with understanding eyes. He had to turn me to save me. He could do no more than that at this time, lest he be exposed. I turned my head to the side invitingly and Harry smiled. "Almost tempting Hermione but," He laid me back and strapped me in. I was confused. All the text books say that the ritual was very specific. Harry took out his wand and looked me in the eye. "We can do it the clinical way, or we could do it the traditional way. Be warned, if I bite you, we share feelings, thoughts, and memories. When you are close to dying, I'll know. However, with the bonds strength, you may be inspired to feelings you'd never had for me," he leaned over me with a rakish grin that reminded me of his godfather. "at least, as far as I know."

I could feel my face flush. Would I feel him too? Know him from the inside out? Harry smiled with warmth and a heat entered his eyes. "Yes, for every feeling you experience, I will partake and vice versa. Is that what you want?"

I knew he now knew of my attraction to him, and to know he was willing to share that with me... its humbling. I nodded slowly and took a deep breath as he gently ran his nose against the nape of my neck, sending chills throughout my whole body. I knew then, that I would have the strength to get my father back.