A girl named Hermione Granger: Year Two
Chapter One: A park's night life
Dislcaimer: Yep.
Hermione Jean Kathrine Granger was not the most patient girl, though she had learned to keep her temper in check when she had been living in a house crowded with three brothers and at one point, two sisters. However, she was still only eleven, and perfectly allowed to be upset when things took too long, or so she felt. As it was currently one week into summer vacation, she found herself reasonably upset that her house mate, Harry James Potter, had yet to write back to her. She was giving up on hearing from him, after receiving an owl from Ronald Billius Weasley, another house mate from school, saying that even he had not heard a thing. And if Harry's best friend was being ignored, what chance did she stand.
She had, in turn, spent most of the last week sulking in her makeshift bedroom. When her father had told her she would be coming to stay with him, she had hoped he at least had a guest room to his house, which she could convert to her own. Instead, Severus Snape had merely transfigured an old chair into a small cot, and set her up in a room which was being used to store different potions he had brewed. She supposed it wasn't all bad, despite the dusty jars and cobwebs. Her father lived smack dab in the middle of Spinners End, a muggle neighborhood. As there was no serious threat of anyone from the wizarding world showing up here, without having first announced themselves, she was allowed outside to play with the muggle children.
She was currently hanging upside down off the side of her bed, staring at a spider as it slowly crawled up the shelves opposite of her. She had attempted to go outside two days prior, and make some friends, but none of the other children had been willing to play with her once they heard which house was hers. Mainly because not a single one of them knew that number 14, Spinner's End was being occupied. They had all told her not to lie, because that house had been abandoned years ago and was of terrible disrepair. She had stomped home after inadvertently blowing up the football the other children had been playing with, and told her father of the incident. He then chose to tell her that muggles didn't know of his house.
Ever since then, she had occupied herself inside of her own room, and had already finished all of her summer homework, and written up copies for both Harry and Ron as well. She had a sneaking suspicion that neither boy would have finished their homework by the start of term. Keeping her dark brown eyes locked firmly on the spider, she reached under her bed and retrieved her sketch pad and quill. She sketched out his shape and size, never removing her gaze, until she felt the drawing was probably finished. She allowed herself a quick glance at her drawing and fell off her bed with a shriek. It would have been good, had it not been for the dripping ink.
Within moments her 'bedroom' door opened with a bang, and her father was poised with his wand at the ready. As he noted her position, and her ruined drawing, he raised an eyebrow in question. Hermione sniffed and rolled herself until she was sitting upright, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "Don't look at me like that. I fell off the bed, it's not a crime." She mumbled, refusing to meet his eye.
Severus Snape sighed. He was painfully aware of his daughter's growing boredom and anxiety, but he was at a loss for any ideas to fix the situation. He couldn't very well let her floo over to her 'friends' homes for the day, as they all thought she had returned to the muggle's home, except for Draco. And he couldn't send her to the Malfoy's because Lucius had no idea she was his daughter, and he couldn't trust the vile blonde man with such delicate information. He'd sent off a request for Draco to come stay for the weekend, but was told that the boy was undergoing heavy training in Quidditch, and until he caught a snitch, he wasn't allowed to leave the manor.
"Why don't you go down town and see a film?" He was hesitant to suggest such a thing, but he had little else to choose from. Hermione stood up and dusted herself off, "I can't see any of the good movies on my own. Why can't I ring Julie and invite her?" She missed her older sister dearly, and hated that she couldn't go visit for tea like she'd used to. Severus refrained from releasing another sigh and shook his head, "It is not a good idea. She, and your whole family, need to remain in hiding. If Danny had just understood that, he would still be safe at-" He stopped speaking as he saw the tears brimming her eyes. He cursed his own tactlessness, and conjured a handkerchief, "I apologize, but it is true. If you were to be seen with them now, it would throw you all in harms way." He handed her the cloth, and ducked out of the room quickly.
Hermione watched her father slink away and twisted the handkerchief in her hands. She had desperately been waiting for news on her missing brother since he had vanished, one month prior. She had sent out Archie twice, with long letters to Jane and David, asking for news, but both times she had been scolded by her father, the letters resting in his hands. She scowled and threw the cloth on the ground, picking up a length of parchment and her quill and ink pot. She dipped her quill and began scratching out a request to meet up with Ron, and any of his siblings (she was desperate enough to welcome even the company of Percy) to go to Diagon Alley for ice cream the next day. She blew on the ink until it was dry and rolled up her parchment, tying it with a red bow. She got up and made her way to her owl's cage, "Hey Archie. Could you do me a favour and take this to Ron? Don't come back without the reply, ok?"
The tawny owl hooted softly and allowed her to tie the letter to his leg, "Try and hurry though, I want to try and get an invite to Harry too. I bet he'd like to escape his aunt and uncle's house for a day." She opened the latch on her window and stepped aside so that Archie had room to spread his wings. The owl took off, and she watched until he became a little dot on the horizon. Feeling rather better than she had been, she began composing her invite to Harry immediately.
When she was called down for dinner that evening, Hermione was slightly surprised to find her father conversing with Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts. She decided, upon seeing that they had not noticed her arrival, to hide behind the doorway and hear what they had to say.
"...Albus, I don't know what to do." Snape's voice was layered with annoyance, which she presumed was directed at her. "Patience Severus. Have you at least mentioned what was in my last letter to her?" The headmaster's voice was almost a little smug, she thought, like perhaps he knew she was eavesdropping, and was giving her a hint. "Of course not. Her belief that it's unresolved is all that keeps her from running out." She ground her teeth at her father's words. Apparently she was going to need to be sneaky and take advantage of her inherited Slytherin traits the next time her father was out of the house.
Deciding not to further push her luck, Hermione stepped out of her hiding place and plastered on a fake smile, "Professor Dumbledore!" The two grown men turned to face her, one set of eyes twinkling with mischief, and the other with pride. 'Well,' she thought smugly, 'apparently dad's still underestimating me. He obviously didn't know I was even there.' She bowed slightly towards the headmaster before making her way to the dinner table, which was laden with a roast chicken. She wrinkled her nose at this and sighed, her father wasn't taking well to her preference for vegetable based meals.
Dinner was fairly quiet, though she was forced to answer various questions about her days, she kept the bulk of her concerns over Harry to herself, although she did learn that his aunt and uncle lived in Little Whinging, Surrey. She tucked the information away, hoping to find a chance to escape for a day and find a bus to take her there. As soon as she'd been forced to finish enough of the chicken and potatoes for her father's taste, she was dismissed and told, for the second time that day, to go and see a film in town.
Hermione was tucking her wand into her purse with her bag of money (both magical and muggle) when she heard Archie rapping on her window. She bolted for the window and threw it open to allow her owl entrance, "Archie! This is great! You have his answer?" He hooted softly and offered her the parchment tried to his leg, which she accepted. Her eyes skimmed the page, and her smile fell from her face. Ron wouldn't have anything to do with her idea. He claimed to be "Far too busy playing Quidditch with Fred and George," but to write him again "if Harry would be going too." She ripped the letter to shreds and stuffed it into her purse before grabbing her lovely green diary as well.
She stormed down the stairs and retrieved a pair of sneakers from beside the door, throwing them on haphazardly. "I'm going to the theater!" She called out, knowing her father disliked when she raised her voice inside the house, and left before he could respond. Once she was outside, the sun still merrily glaring down at her, she felt a little more relaxed. So what if Ron didn't want to spend time with just her, she had more friends. Maybe she could even write Pansy and Millicent, and have tea with them. Who needed dumb boys anyways.
She made her way quickly down the street and ignored the many strained looks from the neighborhood children. She wished she'd been able to retrieve more of her belongings from her muggle home before her father had sent her family into hiding, it would have been nice to have the music player her parents had bought for her. In lieu of having any actual music, she found herself lightly singing the Hogwarts school song Dumbledore had made them sing at the opening feast of her first year. She finally reached the small theater and looked up at the list of films that were playing, but found that nothing really caught her eye. She knew that she ought to just turn around and go back to her father's house, but she couldn't bring herself to walk into boredom willingly, so she turned around and walked to the park instead.
Hermione was sitting on swing when it became dark. She'd been in the park for nearly three hours, and supposed that she should leave soon, but she just couldn't find the will to move. She felt safe here, with tree's looming around the edges of the park, and a few small stars lighting up the sky. She found herself missing the view from the top of the astronomy tower at Hogwarts though, with a sky so full of stars she felt like a little speck of sand.
Severus Snape was sitting in his study, eyes flicking non stop between the old grandfather clock in the corner, and the front door which had not opened since Hermione had left the house three and a half hours ago. It was nearing ten o'clock now and he wasn't quite sure what to do. Did he leave, go to the theater and see if she was there? Did he continue to wait here? If he left the house, he risked missing her on the street. If he stayed put, she could be snapped up by any number of deranged psycho's muggle or magical, and he'd be unable to protect her. He sat in debate for what he thought was several minutes. However, when the clock finally chimed ten-thirty, he jumped out of his chair and strode over to the door. He was done waiting.
Hermione could hear a church bell off in the distance, telling her it was far too late for little girls to be out alone, in scary parks, but she remained on her swing, thinking about the summer before, when things had been normal. She remembered a time when she and Julie had snuck out to see the circus, but had been caught by the police before they could even reach their destination. She had been grounded for a whole month, and Julie had moved out shortly after. If she hadn't known better, she might have sworn that Julie was her real sister, or mother, for they were far too similar sometimes. But, she guessed, that could be because Julie had helped to raise her too. Jane and David had been so busy when she was little, running their office, and Julie had been the one to care for her most days. So in some ways, she'd always felt Julie was more her mother than Jane. And certainly more so than Kathrine was.
A scowl tugged at her lips as she thought of the woman she had seen in the mirror of Erised. Kathrine had looked so angry and mean, and Hermione wished that Julie were her mother instead. Julie had pretty brown hair, that was straight and long, and pretty green eyes, and some wrinkles from always smiling. But Kathrine had had bushy brown hair, too curly for its own good, and icy blue eyes that looked cruel, and thin lips pressed into a frown. She briefly imagined that she had inherited Julie's looks in place of her mothers, smiling at the thought of straight hair, and a pretty smile. She even ventured to think her father might have liked her more, if she were pretty like Julie.
Severus stood in front of the theater, nearly in a panic. He'd asked the elderly man in the ticket booth if a young girl with bushy brown hair had come by, and the old man said he'd seen her, but she'd never come in. He tried not to swear as he bid the elderly man good evening, and strode off, back to his house. If she wasn't there, he was going to need to get help looking. He was quite unhappy when he realized that she had not yet returned, and immediately sent his owl off to Dumbledore, and apparated away to the house in which he had sent the Grangers to live. He knocked on their front door hurriedly, hoping that this was not an odd thing for Hermione to do.
Jane had been washing the dishes when she heard the knock on the door. She dried her hands and made her way out of the kitchen, "Who would be calling at this time of night?" She wondered aloud, pausing to look through the peep hole in the door. She gasped when she saw Snape, running his hands through his hair and frowning at his shoes. She unbolted the door and sighed, "She's gone and wandered off, hasn't she?" His head snapped up at the casual tone of her voice and he dropped his hands to his sides, "She's done this before?" He asked, feeling slightly hopeful that someone would at least be able to find her.
Jane nodded and stepped aside to allow him to enter, "She's done it before. Come inside and sit down, I'll have to call Julie for you. She's the only one who can ever seem to find Hermione." Snape, although unwilling to relax while still in the middle of his crisis, stepped into the warm home and slid off his shoes. "Thank you." He said sincerely, heading for the living room to sit on the couch. "If you come to the kitchen, I can make you some tea." He immediately redirected himself to the kitchen. Tea sounded like a good idea. Tea was calming, and he was ready to pull out his hair.
Hermione stood up from her swing and stretched, no longer wanting to swing back and forth. "I should go back. He'll be worried..." She said out loud to herself, but found her legs moving in the opposite direction of the park's exit. Soon she was laying on her back, spinning on a metal merry-go-round instead. She didn't want to be crammed back into that aweful room, bored out of her skull, watching spiders for fun. She wanted to sleep out under the stars, and spend her days shopping with Julie for art supplies and looking at pretty clothes for one of her older sisters many dates.
Julie was smirking merrily to herself when she reached her parent's house, wherein Severus Snape was apparently pacing around in a right state at not knowing where Hermione would disappear to. She couldn't help feeling even more smug when the door swung open before she could even knock, revealing a very distressed wizard in black robes. "Lost her, have you?" She snickered, earning a glare from her mother over his shoulder. "Julie dear, let's not be rude. Tell Severus where she's likely gone running off to." Julie shrugged and crossed her arms, "I have to see a map of the town before I can guess, I'm not psychic mother."
Snape felt his eye twitch, he pulled out his wand and conjured a map of Spinner's End, placing it in the hands of the smug young woman in front of him. Julie looked at the map and laughed suddenly. "I know exactly where she'll be. Take me there." She pointed to the closest intersection to the large park near the edge of the town. "You can't come to Spinner's End, do you realize how dangerous that could be?" He asked incredulously, wondering if she had even realized what she was asking. Julie rolled her eyes and rolled up the map, "No more dangerous than letting her continue to sit in a park all night, by herself, and trust me, even with your magic, if she doesn't want you to find her, you won't."
Severus bit his tongue and growled, "Fine. But just this once." He felt that he very well could find her on his own, whether she hid or not, but it would be breaching the laws a bit to use magic in a muggle park. He extended his hand towards her, and Julie stared at it in confusion. "No need to shake on it. I'll drive. You navigate." Jane chuckled softly as Julie turned from the door and walked back down the front steps, twirling her car keys on her finger. "But I-" Snape tried to protest, but went unheeded as Julie unlocked her car, "How did you get here, Severus?" Jane asked suddenly, as she realized that there was only one car on the street. "I apparated." His answer made both women cock their heads at him in confusion, "You what?"
He sighed and brought his hand up to rub at his temples, "I apparated. It's a magical form of transportation, it's instant." As he explained this, he vaguely recalled rule number five about apparition: you can't bring a muggle side-along. He was going to have to get in the car, or risk spending the night rummaging through a town park and possibly get arrested by the muggle police. A head ache would be the result of either situation. With a soft groan he made his way down to the car, "You'd better drive fast. I've just remembered you can't apparate with a muggle."
Hermione hadn't moved from her new resting place for well over two hours, unless you counted the fact that her resting place was spinning in steady circles. She wondered how late it was, and if she'd be grounded the moment she returned home or not. Home. She wrinkled her nose at having thought of her father's house as home. It wasn't very homey, and ninety-nine percent of the town thought it was an abandoned dump. Home was where ever Jane and David were, where ever Julie was. Just because her school things were tucked into her 'room' at her father's house, didn't mean it was her home. She was rather sad as she realized that this was exactly what she'd asked for at the end of last August, too. Living with her wizarding father, in his home.
Julie drove in silence for a while, the head lights of her car slicing through the dark highway, and her brooding passenger glaring out the window. "So, was she happy when you told her Danny came back home?" She asked, breaking the silence. Snape flinched slightly, "She doesn't know." He had never been one to second guess himself, but now, as he felt Julie's fist collide with his right arm, he felt a smidgen of doubt over his decision. "Why the bloody hell not!" Julie shouted angrily, replacing her left hand on the steering wheel, seething. "It was best to keep her on her toes. If she knew he'd simply run away on his own and returned, she would think there was no danger for your family and most likely sneak off on her own." The argument, he decided, had sounded much better in his head. Out loud, he thought he sounded rather like a prick.
Julie apparently felt the same, as she struck him on the arm once again. "I'd treat her like more of an adult if I were you. If she finds out you've been keeping things from her, she's never going to listen to you." Her words cut through him like a knife. "And how do you know that?" He sneered, rubbing his now sore arm. "I'm the one who raised her." She shot back, clutching the steering wheel tighter. "She's a hell of a lot smarter than most adults give her credit for, and the reason she listens to me is because I acknowledge that fact." They drove in silence from then on, and he mulled over her words. He supposed he had been denying his daughter's maturity level for a while.
Hermione heard a car rumble to a stop in the distance and felt a smirk tug at her lips. She could faintly hear the familiar voice of her sister, commanding her father to stay put by the car. While it had not, in any way, been her intention to worry her father, she felt happier knowing he had been worried enough to contact her mother, whom had undoubtedly been the one to call Julie. She looked up as she heard the crunch of approaching footsteps, and her happiness sank away. The figure approaching her, at least the closest one, was not Julie, nor was it Severus Snape. "HERMIONE!" She heard Julie's scream, but didn't dare remove her eyes from the approaching man. He wore long black robes, and she couldn't see his face. She felt the familiar fear, likening this man to the shadow man whom had lunged at her in the infirmary at Hogwarts. Suddenly there was a bright flash of red light, and she heard her sister crash to the ground behind her. She whimpered, scrambling to her feet and drawing her own wand. She desperately hoped her father had noticed what was happening, and Julie was okay.
Severus, whom had been glaring at the ground, sulking to himself, looked up as he caught the flash of red light out of the corner of his eye. He withdrew his wand and was running towards the park the moment he saw the cloaked figure approaching his frightened daughter. He ran past Julie's prone form, and shot a stunning spell at the man near his daughter, but it was reflected. "Hermione, RUN!" He shouted, before firing another spell at the other man.
Hermione wanted to obey her father, but she was to afraid to move now, her knees were shaking, and her knuckles were white from grasping her wand too tight. She watched the cloaked man block spell after spell, and she began to shake all over. He was too fast. If he tried to attack her father, he'd probably win. Then she'd be left to face him alone. Her eyes darted around on the ground in front of her until they fell on a rock the size of her fist. Gathering all her courage, she slowly crouched down, reaching for the rock, praying the man wouldn't realize what she was doing. When her fingers successfully closed around the stone, she felt another wave of Gryffindor courage sweep through her, and she stood up quickly. The man had now turned his attention entirely onto her father, and he was still blocking every spell. She swallowed hard, hoped god would forgive her, and lobbed the rock at the man's head, where it connected with a rather sick thud.
The man whirled around to face her, his wand raised, and curse words spilling forth "...You rotten fucking brat! I'll kill you for that!" His hissed words died as he was hit by a flash of blinding red light, and he crumpled into a heap on the ground. She was shaking like a leaf again when her father reached her, and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
Severus was so relieved to have her in his arms, safe and sound, that he was willing to forget how angry he'd been earlier. He let her go after a few minutes and quickly bound her attacker with another spell. "Now do you see?" He asked her gently, motioning to the man on the ground with his hand. Hermione nodded quickly and grabbed his other hand, "He hit Julie with a spell!" She shouted suddenly, recalling that her sister was in the park, laying on the ground as well. Snape nodded, lighting the tip of his wand, "Don't worry. He just stunned her. She'll be fine." He lead his daughter over to the prone form of her sister and said "Ennervate." Causing Julie to shoot up with a gasp.
Julie's eyes darted around until they fell on Hermione and she lunged at her, locking her into another tight embrace. "Ohthankgod!" She muttered quickly, over and over, brushing her fingers nervously through Hermione's hair. Her bright green eyes flickered up to Severus' and she felt her heart flutter as she saw the flicker of paternal love in his eyes. She felt that maybe, just maybe, she had misjudged him a little. Severus looked around the park, ensuring it was indeed empty now, and cleared his throat, "Stay right there. I need to go see who was under that cloak." Julie nodded slightly, not releasing her grip on Hermione. Snape strode over to the bound, stunned form several feet away.
Hermione, whom had been clinging to her sister tightly, turned her head just enough to watch. She felt shock course through her when her father tugged the cloak away from the mans face, and his long silvery blonde hair tumble around his face. She tightened her grip on Julie. She remembered his face from the day she boarded the Hogwarts express. It was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.
A half hour later, they were all seated in the living room of Snape's house, tea in front of Hermione, and a glass of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in front of both Severus and Julie; and the unconscious lump of Lucius Malfoy locked safely in Snape's study. They were awaiting the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, whom was at the Ministry of Magic, trying to sort out the incident with discretion. "Was that man a -" Julie was nervous and took a small sip of the steaming liquid in her glass, "A death eater?" She whispered the words, afraid that to say them too loud would draw more to them.
Severus pursed his lips, and swirled the contents of his own glass. He didn't want to get into this, in front of Hermione, when she was still so young, but his conversation in the car with Julie earlier was still bouncing around in his head. "He was." He answered finally, downing the entire contents of his glass, pouring himself some more. The room lapsed into silence again, and Hermione sipped at her tea, trying her hardest not to drop the cup from her shaking fingers. She knew that the evening's events were her own fault, for if she'd just returned home when there hadn't been a film she'd wished to see, then she would not have been out to be attacked, and would not have gotten Draco's father into trouble. And she was sure he must be. Why else would Dumbledore be taking so long to arrive, if not trying to protect the father of her friend?
Suddenly there was rapping at the door, and Severus quickly went to open it. Hermione watched as her father stepped aside, and Dumbledore entered, with two unfamiliar people following him. One was a portly little man, who looked exhausted and grey with pinstriped robes. The other was a tall man with shocking golden blonde hair and a debonair smirk. "So sorry Severus. Gildroy Lockhart insisted on tagging along once he heard what had happened, and the Minister here wished to have a word with you."
Hermione shifted her place on the couch until she was much closer to Julie, after Lockhart fixed his eyes upon them, "Brave one you are, rushing to the aid of these muggles, Severus!" She wanted to correct the horribly vibrant man, but wasn't sure how to do so. Dumbledore took pity on her and placed his hand on the blonde man's shoulder as Severus led the Minister out of the room to speak in private. "Actually Gildroy, the younger girl is Hermione Granger, she's a student of Hogwarts. Her elder sister, however, is indeed a muggle. Julie Granger." He gestured to each of the girls as he said their names, and the blonde man gave them a dazzling smile. Hermione squeaked and dropped her teacup, a blush spreading over her face. Gildroy whipped out his wand, "Not to worry m'dear, I'll fix it in no time!" He waved it around wildly and cried "Repairo," and the shards of glass on the floor, instead of fixing themselves, burst into flames.
Julie shouted in shock and pulled her feet up onto the couch, tugging Hermione further away from the flames as well. Severus rushed back into the room in time to see Dumbledore put out the flaming teacup shards, while Gildroy attempted to explain he didn't know why his wand had done such a thing. The Minister came up behind him when he did not return, and asked, "What's happened?" Dumbledore chuckled, easing the tension in the room slightly, "Miss Granger accidentally broke her teacup, and Gildroy was kind enough to try and repair it, however, it inexplicably burst into flames instead and startled the girls." He said this as though it were, in fact, a most common occurrence. The Minister nodded and cleared his throat awkwardly, "Yes, well, I think I'm quite done here. Brave thing you've done tonight Severus, shame you didn't catch the attacker." He bustled over to the front door and was gone quickly.
Hermione's eyebrows furrowed as she processed the minister's words, what did he mean, "too bad you didn't catch the attacker," the man was in the study! "Severus, I believe the usual course of action would be best." Dumbledore said, his tone momentarily serious, before turning to face Lockhart, "Come Gildroy, we should go and finish the paperwork. I believe they have had too much excitement and need their rest." He ushered the blonde man out of the house, ignoring his protests. As soon as the visitor's were gone, Julie slammed her glass on the table, "Didn't catch him?" She growled.
Severus sighed and leaned against the door frame to the hallway, "You don't understand. Lucius Malfoy, while a former death eater, is a very powerful man." He flicked his wand and summoned the glass he had abandoned in the kitchen, where he'd been speaking with Fudge. "Cornelius Fudge, the Minister, is a close personal friend of his cheque book, and then we would have to worry about the news getting out." He drained his glass and pushed himself off the wall. "It's late, you should both get some sleep. I'll get you a blanket for the couch." He turned to leave the room but was stopped by Hermione's voice, "Actually, can she stay with me?" Julie smiled at her younger sister, and ruffled her bushy hair, "If she wishes." He replied without turning around. "Sure kiddo. I know you won't sleep otherwise." Julie said mockingly, reminded once more why she had come to Spinner's End in the first place.
Severus made his way down the hall and into his study, leaving the two on the couch, deep in his own thoughts. He strode over to his desk, locking the door to his study behind himself and pulled out a small vial with a clear liquid inside. His eyes flickered over to the unconscious form of Lucius Malfoy, and he waved his wand at the man, rousing him from his stunned state. "What the - Severus!" Lucius snarled, trying to break free of his bindings unsuccessfully. Snape removed the stopper from the vial as he walked towards the bound man and forced three drops into his mouth. "Why were you in Spinner's End at such a late hour, in such a heavy cloak?"
As if in a trance, Lucius responded, "I came to see if the rumours were true. If you had your child living with you, in hiding." Snape cursed bitterly and slammed his fist on the table, "Where did you hear this rumour?" He demanded, to which the blonde man simply replied, "I have my sources." "Tell me who!" Snape shouted, losing what little patience he had left. "I do not know their name." Snape growled and pointed his wand at Lucius, "Stupefy. Obliviate." He ensured that he removed only enough memory for the man to forget everything from the moment he had stepped into the park, and replaced it with a new, fake, memory of a conversation between them, stating that his child had been dead for several years. And once he was done, he placed a hand on his shoulder and apparated them both to the front gates of Malfoy Manor. He unbound Lucius with a flick of his wand and ennervated him before apparating back home.
End chapter one of Year two!
Ok, a few minor points to make.
First, about Danny. In case you're still confused, the short version is that he ran away from home, on his own, and then returned about a week later because he's a teenager, and that's what they do. (no offense to the teenagers, i don't mean ALL teenagers, just Danny.) They do what they want, and make mistakes.
Second, Severus Snape does not tell Hermione this, because he thinks she'll run off and put her family in actual danger. Because, as this chapter points out blatantly, they are in actual danger.
Third, this chapter is ungodly long, and the next chapter is quite long as well, if memory serves.
Also, I'm starting on writing Year Three today. Because all I have left to write for Year Two is the end of the feast, the train ride, and where Hermione plans to spend her summer.
