Chapter 1: Prologue
A/N: 10/24/16- I felt that the first chapter is too rushed, it has been revised, Let me know what you think!
A/N I'm so so sorry my faithful readers, I have had to take a sabbatical from writing, until things were more settled at home. I Fixed a bunch of misspellings and other grammatical errors. I know you all want a new chapter, but I am completely at a standstill in thoughts. I have read/reread the first 3 chapters and I'm still stuck on the same point. If anyone would like to voice their opinion on the matter, they can message me, and I can discuss what place I am stuck. *Also, I added Bold lettering into thought bubbles so you can tell the differences easier.
Chapter 1: Prologue
August 27th 1996
"Hermione, dear! Time for tea!" Her mother called up the stairs from the sitting room.
"Be right there mum!" Hermione called back from her room.
Hermione Granger sat on the floor beside her school trunk folding the last bit of clothing she had. Today she will be celebrating her birthday with her parents; she will be turning seventeen and starting her sixth year at Hogwarts. She had decided to spend her birthday with her parents for only the second time since she had become friends with Ron and Harry because her birthday comes after she has already started school.
School would begin soon and she knew the Order would be along in the morning to take her to the Burrow but for tonight all she wanted was to spend time with her parents. Sighing, she stood up and crossed her room to her door, opened it, and stepped out onto the landing "This is it" she muttered to herself as she followed the stairs down to the living room.
"So how has school been dear?" her father asked as soon as she had sat down on the couch and her mother had handed her, her tea. She knew this is what they had wanted to talk about, though, she was sure they could not handle the things she and her friends had been through for the last five years.
She had been avoiding the questions so well up until this point, where it had become too much. She knew her parents wouldn't understand most of the things she would discuss, but she and her friends had been through so much over the years, she needed her parents to understand.
She cleared her throat "Well where shall I begin? She told them about how she met Ron and Harry. "At first, I had trouble making friends.." she began. Her mother and father both nodded, knowing that she had always had issues during her muggle schooling.
"I met Harry and Ron briefly on the train on the way to Hogwarts, but we didn't actually become close until Halloween, until the trol-" She inwardly cringed she hadn't meant to let that slip. Her father's smile fell and he jumped off the couch in alarm.
"What do you mean troll How-What!?" her father began just as her mother shrieked "Richard!"
"No Jean! I wan-" he was shoved into the parlor by his wife and the door was shut with a loud slam. Hermione had never seen her father blow up like this, she wondered why in Merlin her father would freak out over a troll or how he even knew what a troll was.
The parlor door opened and her mother, followed closely by her father returned to their previous seats in the lounge and smiled.
"Please Hermione, tell us everything. Don't leave out a single detail." her father responded quietly.
After a few moments of silence, Hermione sat her tea cup down on the coffee table and began from year one, everything that had transpired at Hogwarts over the past five years.
Hermione finished off with her trip to the Ministry of Magic, and how they survived a direct attack on herself and her schoolmates by Death Eaters, explaining shortly what a Death Eater was when her mother gave her a questioning look.
"Blimey..." Her father whispered to himself after Hermione finished her story. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, deep in thought.
Hermione was a bit bristled about how her parents were taking this. Especially her father, she found it a bit unnerving for some odd reason.
Hermione ate lunch with her parents in silence, which that in itself was strange, she had always enjoyed meals with her parents, talking, laughing, discussing normal, non-magical issues of a wide variety but today, of all days, her parents remained silent.
After lunch, she tried to re-engage them in a conversation, but she was met with a closed, locked study and very faint, muffled sounds coming from inside. She decided to leave them alone for a while. She returned to her room upstairs to finish packing, even though she had removed everything out of her truck four or five time for the last six days and reorganizing everything again to make the small space of her trunk more sufficient. It wasn't until it was three hours past the time her mother would have called her down for supper that she started to worry.
She walked slowly down the staircase and looked into the lounge, her parents were not there and the door to the study lay ajar. She heard clinking in the kitchen, figuring her mother was working on supper, she decided to confront them about their strange behavior earlier, but upon entering the kitchen, she was unprepared for what she saw.
Hermione stopped dead. In the kitchen, her father was muttering as her mother stood by the stove with her back turned towards Hermione and above her father, pots and pans were hovering around above his head and the spoon in his tea was stirring by its self.
"WHAT?" She managed to blurt
Everything hovering crashed down to the ground with loud bangs and clatters as her father's head snapped up to meet his daughter's eyes. "W-Wha- I- explain this right now!" She spluttered pointing up above her father's head.
Her father and mother looked at each other and then shared a look with their daughter "Sit down darling..." her mother began, settling herself in the chair beside her husband. Hermione took the seat across from them, looking disgruntled.
"Well...There is no other way to explain except to be blunt, I am a witch Hermione... and your father is a wizard" Her mother stated
Hermione grunted and crossed her arms over her chest scowling.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry you had to find out like this. You were never supposed to know, no one besides Albus knows." her father tried.
Hermione looked into her father's eyes and burst into tears. "Wa- Wa- Why?" She managed to ask.
Her father pleaded silently with his wife through a look and she sighed and nodded. "My sweet Hermione, we are so sorry. Please forgive our secrecy, it was the only way to protect us. We promised Albus we would take this to our graves."
Hermione's mother sighed again."Back in the first Wizarding War, when Voldemort was at full power, The Order needed spies and we took the job easily! We joined the ranks of the Death Eaters and collected much information for the Order over many years. We were the ones who heard Severus tell Voldemort about the prophecy."
Her father picked up "Immediately we divulged this information to Albus, who in return told us that Frank and Alice Longbottom was found that very same day tortured to insanity by no other than..."
Both Jean and Richard wrinkled their noses in disgust at the name "Bellatrix Lestrange." They said together.
"He then told us we had to get out before we were discovered so we took you and ran into the muggle world while Albus obliviated us from the rest of the Order's minds so we would never be searched for. Here we have resided for sixteen years under the facade that we were simple muggles unintelligent to the world of magic and wizards…" Her mother trailed off and sighed, turning to stare out the window.
"So- so your wizards and purebloods I suppose as well?"
"Yes. We're related to the Prewetts on your mother's side," Her father explained
Hermione jumped out of her seat with a disgusted look "How dare you keep this from me! I should have- have… I do not know. I just don't know…" She plopped back into her seat deep in thought.
"Dear…" Her mother began
"I'm going to bed. Tonks and Lupin are coming to get me in the morning." Hermione jumped up and walked out of the kitchen.
"Richard, we have to tell Albus. Our hiding is useless now that Herms knows. However, Remus is about to come into this house, and since the phrase was spoken, the modified obliviate that Albus put on the Order will be starting to lift, I do not exactly know how this is going to go seeing as we haven't seen him in sixteen years…" Jean sighed "We didn't even get a chance to tell her our surname isn't even Granger… "
"I think it would have made her fly off the handle sort of speak. We should have known the day would come when the noble house of Black would haunt us once more…"
~~oo~~
"Wotcher Hermione!" Tonks greeted with a smile as soon as she was over the threshold.
"Tonks! Lupin!" Hermione cried running down the stairs and hugging her old professor. And her newest friend.
"It's so nice to see you two!"
"Hermione! Good to see you too my dear! How has everything been?" Remus asked cheerfully
"Er, not so good professor" She glared at her parents who she hadn't spoken to for the whole morning. They had tried to rekindle the subject during breakfast but Hermione just tuned them out and ate her waffles and eggs silently.
Remus' face fell, looking up at Hermione's parents "Strange... You look-"
"Well we must be going!" Hermione cut her old professor off and headed for the door.
"Hermione come back, we must tell you something important!" Her mother called just as Hermione had slammed the door.
"Er Hermione" Tonks started "You left your trunk and Crookshanks..."
Hermione slapped her forehead and groaned "I don't want to go back in there, please Tonks..." she pleaded
"Fine, but you will be telling us what in Merlin's left sock is going on with you and why you're acting strange today. Got it?" She replied sternly turning around and walking straight into the trash can, tripping and flying over it unto the ground.
"Nymphadora!" Lupin cried picking her up off the ground with a slight chuckle "You and those infernal feet!" He laughed
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" she muttered to Lupin, her hair turning the shade of a tomato. "Stay here, I'll be back in a second." she told Hermione as she opened the door and walked in. Minutes later she returned carrying Hermione's trunk in one arm and her cat/kneazle in the other.
"Thanks Tonks" Hermione muttered taking Crookshanks and her trunk from Tonks and followed behind her old professor to an out of sight abandoned railroad bridge and held out his arm "Take my arm Hermione, and don't let go" he whispered.
Seconds passed that felt like hours when they finally appeared on the front lawn of the Burrow. Hermione opened the door and walked in smiling. Molly Weasley was standing in the kitchen yelling up the stairs for everyone to come downstairs for lunch.
"Hermione! Welcome dearie!" Molly called rushing over to hug her "So good to see you! Remus Tonks, he's here, waiting in the drawing room."
"Thank you Molly. Have fun Hermione" Tonks grinned waving as she and Remus passed Hermione and went up the stairs.
Hermione smiled as she heard the first tall tell sign of the others running down the stairs. "Mione!" Ron cried rushing towards her hugging her tightly
"Ron, honestly it's only been three weeks!" Hermione mumbled in his ear
"I know, but I missed you! Harry is coming tomorrow" He smiled and hugged her again.
"Hermione, may I please speak with you in the drawing room?" Remus called from the top landing.
"Uhm I guess." She called back "Ron I'll be right back" She hugged him and walked up the stairs onto the third landing into the drawing room which curiously used to be Percy's room. As she saw the entire Order sitting along the table, last to sit down was Lupin. Albus Dumbledore sat at the head of a long black table. He wore periwinkle colored wizard robes and a starry blue pointy hat upon his head and was sitting in a red velvet plump chair looking over his half moon spectacles at her.
"Hermione, please have a seat." Dumbledore gestured to the chair. As she sat, every eye was on her.
"What's all this?" she asked in a rather small voice
"Hermione my dear, I have been told that you know about your parents." Dumbledore began
"With all due respect professor, I really don't-"
Dumbledore held up his hand to silence her "Ah Hermione, you must though I am afraid. I know you do not want to hear it but you must Hermione it is imperative that you get all the necessary information for this upcoming year. I have a job for you, it will be very dangerous indeed Miss Granger, or shall I say Miss Black."
Hermione stood up suddenly at looked at her old professor with shock and appall. "NO! This cannot be I will not be associated with that disgusting pureblood trash!" She shouted, unable to keep her emotions in check, she burst into tears.
"Hermione, I know this comes at a shock. I was absolutely in shock as well as everyone else when the obliviation subsided and we remembered Caelum and Lyra Black, erm Richard and Jean Granger I mean..." Lupin explained
"This cannot be happening..." Hermione whispered, feeling around behind her and slowly sitting back down into her seat"
"You and Mr. Malfoy are to be Prefects this year Miss Black, if you will, keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get in trouble would you? This came from the other side of the room and spoken sternly by her Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall.
"But-but-"
"I'm sorry Hermione; we must be getting Albus back to the school now. He had only limited time to be away from the school. I will see you when term resumes. Good night Miss Black"
With that, the Order members stood and fell behind one another heading out the door.
"Miss Black, a few things while I have you please" Dumbledore said softly
"Y-yes Professor?" Hermione asked wearily
"I must tell you, the Black tradition was always to name their children after stars. Your birth name is Maia" He suddenly stopped and took a slow breath "Maia Bellatrix Black. Now, for the two remaining years of school you will be called by that from this day forward understand?" Dumbledore said sternly
Hermione nodded with a gulp
The old wizard's face softened and he sighed greatly "Forgive an old man Miss Black, at the time I did not see the impact the change would do to you. I am very sorry. Alas, I must inform you that you and your parents are the last of the Black family therefore, you and your parents now own Grimmauld Place and everything in it."
"I don't want it. Give it to Harry."
"Only your parents have that power, I'm sorry." He took a small box out of his robes and handed it to Hermione "This ring, wear it always and no harm shall come to you. Now back to your parents, they already know about Grimmauld and have already decided upon living there. Just before term begins, they will be renewing the Fidelius Charm upon it and creating new secret keepers." Dumbledore stood and crossed the room to the door "I am sorry that you had to find out like this. You will be receiving instructions on your task shortly, Good night Miss Black." He descended the stairs and with a faint pop he was gone. She looked down at the box and opened it slightly. A silver ring sat up in its confines with the Black Family Coat of Arms shinning up at her.
~~oo~~
Harry paced the room he and Ron shared glancing several times at Hermione while she stared out the window. Ron sat beside her deep in thought.
"Explain to me again please" Harry pleaded
With a great sigh Hermione turned to her best friend of five years "Harry I've told you how times already. What is there not to get? I'm a pureblood, I'm a Black and my name is Maia."
"Maia" Ron snorted
"Yes Ronald, Maia, it's a star in the Taurus constellation, honestly Ron don't you read?" Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. "This is what I must go by now, and my parents are taking over Grimmauld..."
"But Sirius gave it to me." Harry whined
"I know Harry." Hermione glared
"So if you're a pureblood, and Black comes from your father's side, who is your mum?" Ron inquired
She sighed and turned to her friend "You're not going to be happy; my mother is Lyra, lost sister of your mum..." Hermione's eyes averted to her lap while she waited for Ron's gears to begin working.
Suddenly, after several minutes his face fell and he stared at his friend in horror "So-So you're my cousin" He cried with a shrill
"Shhh, be quiet Ronald! Yes I am your cousin." she whispered sharply, slightly annoyed now
"Bu-but that would mean..." several minutes passed in silence until Ron shot up from his chair and began screaming in frustration.
Harry and Hermione heard banging coming from the floor below and many feet bounding up the stairs and into their room "What is going on!" Mrs. Weasley called over Ron's screams
Harry leaned over towards Mrs. Weasley and said "He just realized Herm- I mean Maia is his cousin. See he's had this thing for her since Merlin knows when..."
Mrs. Weasley scoffed and waved her wand at her son and said "Silencio" Ron's screams silenced but his mouth was still ajar
"What is this then?" Mrs. Weasley asked
"Erm... Well I found out by Professor Dumbledore that my mum is Lyra Black nee Prewett, your sister..." Hermione shuffled her feet looking uncomfortable
"I don't have a sister." Mrs. Weasley laughed, waving her hand around nonchalantly
"Yes you do. I expect you don't talk to her because she used to have high regard for blood status and then obliviation took your memory of her" Hermione defended
"I-"
"Mum Errol is here with the post" Ginny called from below
"Looks like your school lists are here, let's go dearies." She smiled and smacked her son in the back of his head. He looked around and shut his mouth.
"Mum?" He blinked
"Your school list is downstairs dear, let's go." She grabbed her son around his shoulders and followed Harry down the stairs, glaring for a moment at Hermione before ushering her son out of the room.
September 1st 1996
"Don't call me that!" Hermione shrieked "My name will always be Hermione; to you two and our friends I am who I always have been. I don't know why I must go by this utterly ridiculous name!" She crossed her arms over her chest and turned to stare out the window of the train.
"Dumbledore's order's Maia" Harry said smugly
Throwing up her hands in defeat, she cried "fine" and stomped out of the compartment she, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Luna shared. Maia turned and began walking to the back of the train, 'Figure I can at least check on that stupid little git while I'm up.' she thought to herself as she was abruptly shoved to the side and then bumped into hard enough to fall backwards onto the ground.
"Wait up Draco, I can't catch up!" came the shrill voice of Pansy Parkinson
'Oh great'
"Stupid Mudblood get out of my way!" Pansy snapped
"You can't talk to me like that Pansy." Maia growled, standing up and turning her hand just enough for Pansy to get a good look at the ring she was wearing.
"You little thief! Where did you get that ring?" Pansy cried in her shrilly voice
"I'm not a thief!" Maia defended "I own this ring, along with the name Maia-" She gulped "-Bellatrix Black"
"You-You're lying! You little Mudblood! Wait til Draco hears this! Oh what a laugh!" Pansy busted out laughing just as Draco reappeared beside her, looking oddly at her.
"Go away Mudblood." Draco spat
"No"
"What did you just say to me?"
"I say I have just as much right as you Draco Malfoy." she replied indignantly, puffing out her chest
"And who in Merlin's old socks gives you that right Mudblood?"
"My parents, my birthright-" Draco snorted, cutting her off
"And who do you think you are? He spat, eyebrows reaching his hairline
"Maia Bellatrix Black. Yes after your aunt Bellatrix naturally." she said with an airy sort of tone when she saw Draco's face fall ashen
"Maybe Umbridge should come back and teach you that you must not tell lies." Draco muttered "Leave us Pansy. We must be getting to our Prefect duties." he smirked.
Hermione sighed as Pansy spat at Hermione's feet and took off in the other direction, no doubt about to tell all of Slytherin and anyone else she comes into contact with about this new gossip. As she turned to follow Draco, she realized her entire body had been trembling. She was surprised at the amount of courage she obtained in those seconds she was confronted by Pansy.
After walking the train up and down three times with Malfoy, she decided it was time to return to her own compartment. Just as she was getting ready to walk into the next train cart, Draco shoved her into a compartment "Get out" He growled at the three first years that resided in the compartment. When none of them moved, he balled his hands into fists and shouted "Get out or I'll hex the lot of you up and down this damned train. Understand?" The three first years jumped up and scrambled out of the compartment and closed the door with a bang.
Draco raised his wand and casted locks and silencing charms upon the door then turned towards the trembling girl. In two strides, he was in front of her. He raised his hand and smacked her across her face, leaving a growing red mark upon her cheek.
"How dare you lie you filthy little Mudblood. You are not, nor will you ever be a Black. Yes Dumbledore informed my mother, and indirectly me, I don't believe half the crap that old codger has to say anyways."
"You may not think it Malfoy, but I am just as pure as you. You and I both bleed crimson. Don't believe me?" She pulled her wand out, causing Draco to extend his out at the same time. Maia glared at him and placed her wand to her hand and whispered "Diffindo" effectively cutting a gash into the palm of her hand. As the red blood trickled out and dripping down her palm, she showed her hand to Draco.
"That means nothing to me. You will never be pure, nor a Black." with that, he dispelled the wards and walked out of the compartment.