AN: I was on my treadmill last night, and this plot sort of exploded in my head. I don't know if the royal line trope has been overdone or not. Do you mind giving me some feedback? If you say, yuck, this type of story has been done too much, I'm sick of it, then this may end up being a 2 or 3 shot story. But if you say, hey, give it a go, I find it interesting, then that's what I'll do.

Inspirational themes for this story: Zadok the Priest (British Coronation Anthem) and Olympic Fanfare and Theme by John Williams. What can I say? I have eclectic tastes in music when exercising!

The Three Cs

The Ministry of Magic, London, England

"Sir? Are you sure?"

"Yes. We've checked and done multiple cross-references. There is no doubt of her existence. "

"Her existence, yes. But…..of the Lady…are you sure it's her?"

"Without a doubt." Sighing, the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, wearily rubbed his head. "Please call for Dumbledore. I need to speak to him immediately."

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Highlands Scotland

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, with the envelope bearing the ministry's seal still in his ruined hand. He had been surprised, and that didn't happen often. He had just come back from an emergency meeting called by the minister himself. What he had witnessed had shocked him. And….had validated his earlier questions. Oh, yes. He had wondered. At least, at first. At the beginning, he had watched her. She had been so…..different. Out of the ordinary. Remarkable. But as the years had gone by, he'd dismissed her brilliance as that of a genius-level individual and had left it at that. After all, geniuses were found all around the globe. It didn't necessarily predicate anything. At least, not that. But the proof was in his hand. He must evaluate, he must consider, he must rethink. For this would change everything.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England

"Dotty, what is it?" asked Narcissa Malfoy, stopping in the middle of spreading some jam on her toast to ask her timid house elf why she was staying in the breakfast room instead of going back to the kitchen as was her usual pattern.

"Missus, an owl just delivered these two letters."

"All right, Dotty. Just give them to me."

"Yes, Missus," and with that, Dotty scampered away.

Narcissa held the letters to the light. Upon seeing the seal on the first one, she gasped. Tearing open the letter, she read the contents quickly, then immediately started shouting, "Dotty! Dotty, come here!"

The elf instantly materialized in front of her mistress. "Yes, Missus? What does Dotty need to do for Missus?"

"Dotty, your Master is being set free today. You must tell the other elves. He will be here by nightfall. I want all his favorite foods served for dinner tonight, do you understand?"

"Oh, yes, Missus. Dotty knows what the Master likes. It shall be as you say, Missus."

After the elf had once again disappeared, Narcissa opened the second letter. As she read, she unconsciously cupped her hand over her mouth. Oh, my! Can it be true? She thought. If so, then it was no wonder Lucius was being set free at this time. As the oldest living male in the Malfoy line, he had a royal appointment to accept.

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Highlands Scotland

"Harry, do you know why Professor Dumbledore called this meeting after dinner?" fidgeted Hermione. "I really need to get to the library to research the effect dandelions have on the allergicitus curse."

"Oh, stuff it, 'Mione! Who cares about a bloomin' dandelion?" groused Ron, with his mouth still full of the roll he had stuffed in it just a minute ago. "I'll tell you who…..no one. No one, that is, except you…little miss know-it-all," he hissed at the end. He still had not forgiven Hermione for sending the flock of canaries to attack him after his kiss with Lavender.

"Did I ask you?" Hermione glowered. "And will you please quit talking with your mouth full, Ronald?" she spat at him. "So disgusting."

Harry could tell his friends were about to get into a pitched battle and was about to get between them to stop it, when he heard the Headmaster magnify his voice to the Great Hall.

"Students," he began. "I appreciate you staying after dinner and giving up some of your free time this evening for this special meeting I called." Clearing his throat, he continued, "It has recently come to light that the prophecies and predictions regarding the heir of Rayonnant have been found to be true. The successor to that line has been located. They do exist. "

Loud clamoring was heard in the hall after Dumbledore's astounding announcement. "Who do you think it is?" wondered Ron. "Blimey….I wonder if I've met them?"

"It's possible, I suppose," mused Hermione. "But why is the professor telling us this now? Unless…..,"

"Unless what, Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Unless the heir is here in the castle," she finished with a troubled look in her eye. She couldn't help but glance over to the Slytherin table. Many were smirking and predicting who it would be. Pansy was boasting she would probably be related to them, once it was all said and done. Draco Malfoy had raised his eyebrows at Pansy's bragging, but said nothing as he turned his head to get a sip of pumpkin juice from his glass. As he lifted the glass to his lips, his eyes came in contact with Hermione's. Smirking at her, he mouthed, "Mudblood" before he took a drink. Hermione huffed in irritation as she turned her head back around to see the Headmaster attempting to settle everyone back down.

"Quiet! Quiet, please!" Once he had everyone's attention back on him, he said, "You may have wondered why I found it necessary to give you this information tonight. He paused after that and gave the room his uniquely Dumbledore stare that had all of them feeling uncomfortable. "I felt you should know as soon as possible, because…the heir is one of Hogwarts' own."

A pin could have been heard after that pronouncement. In fact, it sounded like everyone had quit breathing. Taking advantage of the silence, Dumbledore said, "More concerning how this may affect our schedules, classes and the like will be addressed at a later date. For now, you may be dismissed."

Students began to rise to leave and go back to their dorms. Halting them, Dumbledore added, "Oh….and Mr. Zabini and Miss Granger…"

The two 6th year students looked up at the Headmaster.

"I will need to see you both in my office. Immediately."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Once Harry and Ron got back into the Gryffindor common room, they were inundated with observations and questions from their fellow lions.

"Why did Dumbledore ask to see Hermione in his office?"

"The question is, why did the professor want to see her and Zabini?"

"Do you think Hermione is in trouble?"

"I hope Zabini is. Tosser."

"He's not as bad as Malfoy. I swear, every time that snake smiles, he rattles."

"How would you know that?"

"Yeah," snarked another, "I didn't know he knew how to smile."

"Did anybody see Piglet Parkinson priss around like she was the lost heir?

"I wish she would get lost."

"Hey guys…hey…," Ginny shouted over the din, "Do you think? I mean...I wonder if…could it possibly be…..?"

"What, Gin?" could be heard from several sources around the room.

"Do you think it could be possible that Hermione is…you know…..the lost heir?"

"Gin...you're barking to even suggest it. Hermione is muggle born," scoffed Ron. "Everyone knows the line of Rayonnant is royal.

"So? Are you saying Hermione couldn't be royal?" asked Harry.

"No, mate, it's not that. Look, I know you weren't raised as a wizard, so you may not know, but the rest of us," Ron said as he pointed around the room, "know that royal equals pureblood in the wizarding world."

"Well….can someone tell me about this lost heir prophecy? I don't recall ever hearing anything about it until now."

"Harry, I can," said a soft voice.

"Luna? What are you doing here? Why aren't you with the Ravenclaws?" asked Harry before he realized that might have come off as sounding rude. "Um, not that you aren't welcome here, of course."

"Of course, Harry. I understand," she said in her sing-song way. "I had planned to visit Ginny after dinner, so I came up with her."

"Um, okay. Well, tell me what you know about this."

"Sure! My mum told me about it long ago. The Rayonnant family is of French ancestry and is considered to be the ruling royal house of all of wizarding Europe.

"Harry, I can't believe you don't know this story," teased Neville. "Don't you ever listen in our history of magic class?"

Laughter was heard in the room at that, for it was a well-known fact that Harry often caught up on his sleep during that period.

Smiling at Harry's blush, Luna continued. "Many ancient pureblood families have ties to the royal house. The Malfoys are one who do."

"Malfoy! You must be joking," barked Seamus. "That blighter?"

"Well, yes…er, no. That is, I'm not joking and yes, I meant that," responded Luna. "You do realize the Malfoys are of French descent themselves. I believe they used to serve as the Lords and Ladies-in-waiting to the royal line."

"Ha! Now that's a sight I'd paid to see," said Seamus.

"What's that, mate?" asked Ron.

"Malfoy having to serve and wait on someone," he chortled, to the merriment of those in the room. Inspired by that thought, Dean Thomas got up and did a silly pantomime of Malfoy having to bow and scrape to someone more stuck up than him.

"Go on, Luna," Harry encouraged after everyone had settled back down from that display of wit.

"Well, the story is, the King and Queen were so dismayed by the loss of life from World War II in the muggle realm and the first rise of Voldemort in the wizarding realm that they decided to do something about it. They decided to hide their seed."

"Whoa! Stop right there. Did you say, hide their seed?"

With no intent on being sarcastic, Luna asked, "You hear really well, Harry. Did you know that?"

"Um,.. yeah, well…..it's just you said their seed… and I don't know, but that sounded…"

"Strange?' she offered. "I suppose it's not normal, but then neither is that test tube thing muggles do. And what they did was the magical equivalent of that. They performed a spell that would preserve and hide their conceived union until it was time for it to appear in our world. That was the prophecy. Where it was hidden was the mystery.

"Why don't you tell him the prophecy, Luna?" suggested Ginny.

"Oh! Would you like to hear it, Harry?'

When she saw him nod his head, she began.

"When the great void has returned

The void that was made

From what it can never know

And fear has consumed

What once was theirs to rule

Then there will shine a hope

To lead who is to come

The Star of our people will show the way"

"You know, that doesn't rhyme at all," said Seamus. Ginny promptly hit him on the head with a pillow.

"You idiot! It's a prophecy…not poetry."

"Ow, woman! Quit beating me up!"

Harry was ignoring all that was going on around him. He locked eyes with Luna, who was watching him calmly. "I think I might know what it means."

She smiled and nodded. "I thought you might."

"The void is Voldemort, right?"

"Yes, that's what is generally believed."

"All right, then. And the void was made by what it can never know…um, I'm not sure about that one," Harry said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Where is Hermione when you need her, eh?" said Ron. "She's the one who's good with this kind of thing."

"You two depend on her too much," said Ginny. "It would serve you right if she ended up being the heir. Then you would have to learn to think for yourself."

"Not necessarily, smarty-pants," quipped Ron. "Part of the prophecy said the heir would lead the one who is to come. That might mean Harry, you know."

Harry's eyes widened as he heard that and immediately sought Luna's face for confirmation of it. She gave him a small nod. "I don't know for sure if it's true….but Harry, my mum told me one fact about prophecies, and that is they all come from the same thing.'

"So…that means?"

"It means they're all connected."

Harry considered that. He had accepted he was the chosen one of prophecy. Could Hermione have a similar destiny?

"Harry, let me just ask you this: what has Hermione been to you? Other than a friend, I mean. Has she ever been a source of hope to you? Have you ever felt led by her? Has she ever shown you the way to do, or be, or think, or act in a certain situation?"

Harry's mind felt clobbered by the revelations Luna's words were giving him. Hermione had been all that and more ever since he first met her. And not just to him. She had led by example with all of her classmates, even those who'd mocked and belittled her.

He looked back at Luna. "Do you really think she's …..…?" he was unable to finish before Luna answered him.

"I do."