WARNING- This is the sequel to Hermione's Dark Secret. If you haven't read that story please read it first as this is an AU.
Disclaimer: JKR owns everything. I own nothing and I make no money from writing fan fiction.
Chapter One- Hermione
Dear Mother and Father,
I got your letter, the one you sent me at Christmas break. Professor Snape gave me the package you sent. He's the head of Slytherin now.
I'm in Slytherin, a second year! So are Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Daphene Greengrass. Last year was quite exciting. All of the first year Slytherins had an amazing adventure. Our Defence against the Dark Arts Professor wasn't very smart. But we're getting a new one next year.
I'm living with my godmother, Sara Cutter now. Her library is enormous and she seems nice enough. I spent Christmas with The Nott's and The Malfoy's. Theo has the best library! And Draco has a swimming pool in the lake. We went swimming during a snow storm!
I love reading and researching. My marks were in the top five percent. Only some of the Ravenclaws beat me. Same with Draco's and Theo's marks. Lord Malfoy told me both of you were intelligent.
I hope I get to meet you some day. We can have another Christmas together.
Your daughter, Hermione
Hermione flexed her stiff fingers and leaned away from the desk in her new bedroom. She'd finished up all the rough copies of her summer work and decided to write a letter to her parents. It was defiantly a summer of changes.
After arriving at King's Cross station Lord Malfoy and her godmother had taken her back to the Granger's house. Both seemed very cold. Lord Malfoy kept glaring at Sara Cutter and she made snide comments about him.
At the Granger's Hermione had gotten all of her stuff packed up, with Sara's help. Lord Malfoy explained the situation to the Granger's. Then they'd left for Diagon Alley.
Lady Malfoy replaced Lord Malfoy at this point. Relations between the Lady and her godmother were even more strained than with the lord. If that was possible. She guided Hermione to a fancy robe shop. Hermione spent the next bored almost to tears. Seemingly endless fittings, colours, and style choices paraded by.
But it was worth it. By the time they were done, Hermione swore she'd never go shopping with Lady Malfoy again. She now had sleeping robes, dress robes, everyday robes, capes and accessories for every occasion.
Just when Hermione was certain that she would die of exhaustion and hunger, Sara laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I think we're done now Narssica." She snapped at Lady Malfoy. "Thank you for your assistance. Next time I'll manage on my own." She glared at the other woman.
Lady Malfoy looked quite upset and offended. She pulled herself up to her full height. "Fine." She handed Sara the multiple bags of clothing. "Have a good summer Hermione." She smiled at her before leaving the shop and apparating away.
Sara made a face at Narssica's retreating figure. "Finally." She rolled her eyes and lead Hermione out of the shop. "Let's get going."
Hermione helped carry the bags into an open area of Diagon Alley. Sara grabbed onto her arm and apparated. It was much more uncomfortable than Lord Nott's had been. Rough and jerky.
They landed in a field. Hermione could see a tower steeple rising high into the sky in the distance. The plants around them were flowering and they smelled sweet. They reminded Hermione of someone the flowers from Professor Sprout's greenhouses.
"This is your room." Sara Cutter opened a rough wood door.
"That you Lady Cutter." Hermione said, stepping into the room with her clothing purchases dragging along the floor behind her.
"No need for that." Sara told her, waving her hand in the air. "Sara will be fine." She followed Hermione into her new bedroom. "What do you think of it? Is the colour all right?"
Hermione looked around the room and smiled. The walls were a deep green. Normally that would have made the room too dark, but an enormous bay window let in light from the slowly setting sun. A hardwood desk that looked recently polished fit neatly into a corner. A four poster bed, just like the one Hermione slept on at Hogwarts. The bed's curtains were a dark shade of silver.
"It's beautiful!" Hermione told her godmother. "I like the Slytherin style."
Sara smiled. "Oh, good." She walked to the door. "Get dressed and meet me downstairs. We'll have dinner."
Hermione turned the bags of clothing out on to her bed. "Something comfortable." She murmured to herself. A loose, purple velvet robe caught her eye. "Sweet." She pulled it on over her head. The material was soft and fit comfortably and looked good.
"Hello." Sara greeted her god-daughter as they took their places at an enormous table in the dining hall. Two places had been sent out at one end.
Hermione slipped into the offered chair. A steaming meal appeared on the table in front of her. Boiled potatoes, steamed broccoli, strips of roasted meat, fresh salad and a pitcher of sparkling liquid.
"Good." Sara filled her plate. "The house elves have out done themselves." She handed the platters of food to Hermione. "Take some of this lemon wine. It's Jamie's speciality."
Hermione took a glass of the wine. It swirled in yellow and pink spirals when she poured it into her glass. "Is Jamie your house elf?"
Sara nodded. "Jamie's the cook. Benny takes care of the grounds. Both of them help with house cleaning." She frowned at Hermione for a spilt second. "But I expect you to keep your room and bathroom tidy without much help. All the elves will do is dust, laundry and wash the floors."
"All right." Hermione pushed her empty plate away. "That was a fantastic meal."
"You can go to bed now." Sara told her, standing up from the table. "We've both had a long day."
Hermione smiled. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Good night Sara." She smiled at the woman before walking up the stairs to her bedroom.
The next week flew by. Hermione spent most of her time in the library. She was almost always late for meals and she read and worked late into the night. Sara got used to not seeing her god daughter before noon and infrequently for the rest of the day as the girl was always holed up in the library.
"Good Morning Hermione." Sara brightly greeted the girl who was slowly shuffling down the stairs. "Would you like some lunch?" Sara gestured to the spread of sandwiches on the table.
Hermione shook her head. "Not hungry." She yawned. "I'm going back to bed."
Sara looked rather put out. "Oh, well. If there's anything you need just let me know."
Hermione nodded. She downed a cup of the lemon wine before climbing the staircase back to her very comfortable bed. After falling asleep at six o'clock in the library, laying down on her bed sounded like an excellent idea. She was absolutely exhausted.
Sara Cutter cleaned the table off. "Benny!" She summoned the house elf to her.
"Mistress called?" Benny appeared before her in an instant, bowing low before her.
"Yes, I did." For once Sara was glad that her house elves had been purchased illegally by her mother. Both of them could speak proper English and read. It was nice to be able to hold a conversation with someone, even if they were only your house elf.
"I need some parenting advice." Sara told the older elf. He'd helped raise her and her brothers and sisters.
"What kind?" Benny asked her. "Raising like I raised you? Or like I raised Jamie?" Benny and his partner Sool had Jamie about six years after Sara was born.
"Parenting like with Jamie." Sara sighed and relaxed into the couch. "I need help with Hermione."
Benny nodded. "You should set the girl some limits."
Sara leaned forward. The elf may have been her slave but he still could teach her quite a bit.
But before she could ask her questions the floo roared to life. "Hello." Severus Snape's head appeared in the fire. His head looked around until he spotted her. "Is it all right if I come through Lady Cutter?" He asked her politely.
Sara sent Benny a glare. He disappeared with a loud pop. She made her way over to the fire. "Of course Professor."
The green, floo flames roared up to Snape's height. He stepped out, banishing the soot from his robes with a quick charm. "Lady Cutter." He said, shaking her hand.
"Professor." Sara inclined her head to the younger man. "How may I assist you?"
"Is Miss Morter available?" He asked. Snape glanced around the room quickly, as if she might have been hiding in the shadows.
Sara frowned, she was more guarded now. She body language conveyed that easily enough for Snape to read. "Has something happened? She's asleep."
"Now?" Snape asked incredulously. "It's mid-afternoon!" Morter had never struck him as the lazy type to lie around all summer. He glared coldly at Sara. "What have you been doing to her?"
"Nothing." Sara protested. "Come see if it's that important!" She turned sharply on her heel and headed up the staircase towards Hermione's room.
Snape followed behind the woman slowly. He'd always considered the Cutter's to be slightly unstable. And allowing a slightly unstable woman with no previous parenting experience to care for a teenage girl was a problem. 'Why didn't Dumbledore have her sent back to the muggles?' He thought. 'The last thing we need is a Morter running around with a Cutter. And no one to hold them back.'
Sara came to an abrupt stop. "Here." She threw the door open.
Snape stepped slowly into the room. It was a dirty mess. Books and clothing were strewn over the floor and heaped in piles in the corners. And some of the clothing was clean! The entire room stank of unwashed teenager and the girl lying on the bed looked as if she could use a good wash.
Hermione was sprawled over the bed. She hadn't even bothered to change her clothes or get under the covers. He head rested on a open book. She must have fallen asleep reading.
"Miss Morter." Snape snapped at his student. Happily she jumped up immediately.
"Yeah?" Then she turned to look at whoever had woken her up. "Professor?"
"Correct." Snape cleared some of the mess on the floor out of the way. "You signed the list. Therefore I am here."
Hermione yawned. "Thanks sir. I'll just get some more sleep."
But Snape grabbed her shoulder in an iron grip. "I think not." He roughly hauled her out of bed. "Sara!" He called for the woman in the hall.
Hermione watched through tired eyes as her godmother came in and listened to her Professor. She was too tired to care what was being discussed But she hoped that they would finish soon, she had been reading the most interesting book.
"Go with your godmother." Snape ordered her. "Wash and get dressed in something clean." He shoved her towards Sara. The second they left the room he turned back towards the bed, snapping his fingers. "Benny!"
Hermione yawned again. After she'd left the kitchen she'd gone back upstairs and down some more reading. She'd meant to go to bed, but the books were just too interesting to stop reading! And her godmother wouldn't mind.
At least she hoped no one would mind. Especially Professor Snape. The last thing she wanted was to be on his bad side. That was the last thing anyone wanted.
"Hermione." Her godmother gave her shoulders a light shake.
Hermione turned to her. "Yeah?" Her voice fell at the end as she had a coughing fit. The hacking type that left her throat sore and painful.
"Are you all right?" Sara turned away from the cupboard she'd been rooting it.
Hermione smiled. "Of course."
"Good." Sara handed her two large white towels. "Go take a shower in my bathroom." She pointed the door out to her.
"Uh uh." Hermione nodded and stumbled tiredly into her godmother's bathroom. It was at least three times the size of her own and had an enormous shower stall in the corner.
"Sweet." Hermione whispered as she shed her clothes and climbed in. the water temperature was perfect. Not too cold, not to hot. It soothed her and she felt much more awake by the time she was done washing.
A set of clean robes had been left out for her. An older, more comfortable looking set. The name tape across the top read Sara Cutter. 'Must have been her old ones.' Hermione thought as she pulled the slightly faded material on.
A loud knock came from the door. "Did you fall asleep? Hermione?"
Hermione opened the door. Sara had her hand raised to knock again. She smiled when she saw her very much awake god-daughter yank the door open. "Good, there you are." She looked closely at Hermione. "Those robes look good on you."
Hermione smiled. "Thanks. Can I go back to sleep now?"
Sara frowned. "No. You should eat something first and Professor Snape is here. He wants to talk to you."
"Fine." Hermione didn't mention that she wasn't hungry. She hadn't been hungry for awhile. Only remembering the state of Lord Nott had kept her on top of things, if only a little bit. She didn't want to end up dirty and anorexic looking like him.
Sara followed Hermione down the stairs to the dining room. Snape was sitting next to two set places. No food or drink had been delivered to the table yet and no house elves could be seen.
Professor Snape stood as they approached. He gazed sternly down on Hermione. "Miss Morter."
Hermione hung her head. She didn't want to know what her head of house thought of her behaviour. And she had a feeling it wasn't happiness and pride. "Sorry sir."
His face hardened into a glare. "May I ask just what you are apologizing for?"
Hermione let herself sink even deeper into the chair she had taken. "For not doing anything. For wasting your time and mine."
"Hmm." He took the seat in the middle and motion to the empty one on his other side. "Sit down Cutter."
Sara threw him a quick glare. 'What was he thinking! Calling her Cutter as if she were a student of his.' She was now slightly angry
"Benny's cooked a wonderful meal." She told them. With a snap of her fingers the table filled up with steaming platters and pitches of wine and whiskey.
Hermione's stomach almost rebelled at the smell of the food. After eating almost nothing but bread and small snacks for a week she wasn't able to stomach normal food. Not to mention that all she'd drank for entire time she'd been home was wine. Drinking alcohol without food is never a good idea.
"Eat, eat." Sara encouraged her. She piled rice and stir-fried vegetables and meat onto her plate.
Hermione starred at the food on her plate. It looked like the most unappetizing thing she'd ever been forced to eat. Worse than cold porridge or water thinned soup.
"Is something wrong?"
Hermione jumped at the quiet voice in her ear. She looked up to find the Professor starring intensely at her. She didn't like this new expression on his face.
"I don't think so sir." She admitted in a small voice. It was hard enough for her to keep her stomach from rebelling to worry about talking properly.
Snape snapped his fingers.
A house elf appeared. He bowed low. "What can Benny do for Professor Snape?"
Snape's looked startled for a moment, but his usual scowl appeared seconds later. "Food. Thin soup, plain bread and water."
Benny bowed. "A moment please Professor." He popped away, almost silently.
"Thank you sir." Hermione whispered. She didn't want her godmother to think she was weak.
Snape just regarded her with his almost unblinking gaze. When the food popped onto the table he served her a fresh portion.
Hermione sighed with relief at her new food. For once the soup looked good, the fresh bread delicious and she couldn't wait to drink water. It seemed like ages since she'd had a cup of the clear, cold liquid. In her haste to consume the first decent meal in almost a week she forgot that she hadn't eaten for at least a day, if not longer.
"Problem?" Snape asked when Hermione turned slightly green from all the food she was on struggling not to vomit. At her frantic nod he reached into his robes and pulled a vial out of the inside pocket. He handed it to her.
Hermione popped open the vial of thick, brown potion and gulped down the bitter, salty mixture. Relief came as soon as the potion hit her stomach. The nausea disappeared. She took another long drink of water to get rid of the taste of the potion.
"Thank you sir."
"Indeed. Thank you." Sara Cutter chimed in. She'd just watched the exchange between the two and had caught on to the problems rather quickly.
Snape didn't acknowledge their thanks. He dove straight into the next problem. "Miss Morter do you have a summer schedule?"
"Sir?" Hermione asked.
Sara Cutter looked embarrassed. "No." She pulled her wand from her arm holster. "Accio Parchment. Accio Ink. Accio Quill." The requested items zoomed quickly into her hands. She offered them to Professor Snape. "Here."
He excepted them with a nod. "Miss Morter you need to set meal times, bedtimes, and rising times." He handed her a piece of parchment. He turned to Sara. "She should also go outside at some point. These grounds are quite large, walking and exploring would be a good activity."
Sara nodded. "Of course."
Hermione filled out times on the paper. Ten o'clock for bed, eight o'clock for breakfast. "Is this reasonable for summer?" She asked. The Granger's had a very liberal view on raising children and never gave her many rules, other than ones that were simply for her safety.
"You should be able to work this out on your own." Snape stood up and pushed his chair in. "Have a good summer Miss Morter. September 1st." He stalked out of the room towards the floo.
"Thank you sir." Hermione called after his retreating figure. "See you in September."
There was the roar of the floo a few moments later and the atmosphere in the house relaxed. Hermione smiled and Sara smiled back at her.
Hermione yawned. "I'm still tired. What time is it?"
Sara smiled. "I expected as much. You really didn't do much other than read. Just like your mother." She glanced at her wrist watch. "It's eight thirty. But you should probably go to bed early tonight."
Hermione was about to protest. She wasn't ready to go to bed and by her schedule she still had time. Then she stretched out and realized just how tired she actually was. "I guess so."
"Go get ready." Sara told her. "I'll be up in a minute." She summoned Benny in and gave him breakfast instructions.
Hermione headed up the stairs. Professor Snape had summoned the elves to tidy her room. It would be refreshing to sleep in a room as tidy and clean as one she was used to. Maybe she'd even be able to find her sleeping robes!
She put on the light cotton robes, cleaned her teeth and climbed into bed. Tomorrow would be a better day. She could read and study and finish her homework. Maybe Sara would even tell her about her mother. She kept mentioning how much Hermione was like her.
"Hey." Sara opened the door and slipped into the room. "I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow." she smiled down at Hermione. "Sweet dreams."
"You too." Hermione told her. She gave her godmother a hug.
"Oh!" Sara had stuck her hand into her robe pocket. She pulled out a glass vial full of potion. "I almost forgot." She handed the potion to Hermione. "Professor Snape wanted you to take this. It's a sleeping potion. He said it will help you get deep sleep."
Hermione accepted the glass vial. "Thanks. Good night." She swallowed the thick potion and felt herself falling asleep before her head hit the pillow.
Sara watched as her god-daughter passed quickly into dreamland. She gave her a quick kiss, turned off the lights and slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Hermione yawned. Her clock read 7:30. She glanced gratefully at the potion on the table next to her bed. The sleep she'd gotten was wonderful. Hermione climbed out of bed and took a quick shower. She put on clean clothing. A long dark blue robe and a matching headband to pull her hair back. She hurried downstairs. She didn't want to mess up her schedule on the very first day!
The breakfast table was set with four places. Steaming dishes covered the table, they had lids over them to keep the heat in. A variety of jams, butters and drinks also clustered in the centre of the table.
"Yum." Hermione sat down next to the table edge. "Morning!" She called to Sara, who was walking down the stairs.
"Good Morning." Sara said with a big smile. It warmed her heart to see Hermione up and alert like a normal child at a normal hour.
"Who else is joining us this morning?" Hermione asked. She motioned to the two open seats.
Sara's smile grew smaller and her eyes hardened. "My house elves. They're part of the family."
A quiet crack sounded next to Hermione and two house elves appeared. Both had enormous smiles on their faces and both were wearing clothes!
"Clothes!" Hermione exclaimed. "Free house elves!"
The younger female one in a deep purple dress scowled at her. "Good morning might be more appropriate. I'm Jamie." She offered her tiny hand.
Benny stood the seat next to Sara. He was dressed neatly in slacks and a button down shirt. He and Jamie filled their plates quickly.
"Good cooking." Benny told his daughter. He was ignoring the looks Hermione was currently giving him.
"They're related to me." Sara told her.
"What!" Hermione almost jumped to her feet. "They're servants!"
"Sit down." Benny ordered her. "I raised Sara and I'll take care of you if you need it. Grow up."
Hermione was horrified. House elves did not talk to wizards this way and wizards did not let house elves wear clothes and stay in their service! She turned angrily to her godmother. "How are you related to this creatures? You're a pureblood!"
Sara's eyes hardened. "Just because you don't get along with my uncle and my cousin does not give you any right to do this. And why would you think I was a pureblood?"
Hermione was astonished. "Uh. Well...."
Sara scowled. "Come." She stood up from the table and walked quickly up the staircase. Hermione stomped along behind. They walked through the halls until they came upon the library. "In." Sara ordered, before summoning a giant book to a table in the centre of the room.
Hermione had tried to open the book before. But it refused to be read. The cover stuck down and she couldn't move it anywhere.
Sara flipped through the book quickly, using her wand to flip through the pages. She bent over close to the page. "Here it is." She moved over so that Hermione could see and pointed a a place on the page.
Hermione studied the section carefully. It showed a family tree. Cutter was written across the top. Her godmother was pointing to a name. Sara Cutter. And next to it, where the cousins were there was the name Jamie (house elf).
"It's true!" Hermione rounded on her. "But that's against the law!"
Sara smiled. "Yes. So don't tell anyone. I've got an aunt that was a house elf. Benny's my uncle by marriage, and Jamie's my cousin. They're family."
"Cool." Hermione said diplomatically.
"Sure." Sara led the lay back to the breakfast table and they filled up on fruit and bread.
"May I go outside now?" Hermione asked. "I realized I've seen almost nothing of this place."
"Okay." Sara finished helping to clear the table. "I'll go with you."
The two woman walked to the front of the house, pulled on light cotton cloaks, Sara grabbed a shoulder bag and they made their way into a large grassy field. The smell of wild flowers and herbs filled the air and Hermione relaxed into the sweet smelling breeze.
Sara pointed out a carved wood bench. "My father made that. He loved magical art. Always making wand carvings."
Hermione ran her hand over the wood that was cut with pictures of dragons and basilisks and thousands of other creatures. "It's beautiful."
Sara smiled. "He'd be pleased." She took a seat on the bench and pulled wool and needles out of her shoulder bag. "Do you know how to knit?"
Hermione shook her head. "I'm not really into crafty sorts of things like that."
"Humph." Sara pulled her down next to her. "I'll teach you."
For the rest of the pleasantly warm summer day the two talked and knit. They ate sandwiches and cookies on a blanket next to a steam a few fields away. Sara finished up a set of socks and she showed Hermione how to get everything started and how to do the basic stitch. By the time the sun was falling Hermione had a decent green scarf finished. It wasn't fancy, just a simple rectangle. But she'd done the entire thing her self.
"Time to come home." Benny told them after appearing with a crack.
Sara smiled again. "Thanks." She took hold of his arm and held on tight. "Come on Hermione."
The second Hermione grabbed onto Benny's other arm he popped away and brought them straight to the full dinner table.
That night they feasted on some kind of strange, delicious meat. It wasn't like anything Hermione had ever tasted before. And everyone refused to tell her what it was. They told her to eat up and be quiet. Something she was happy to do. There was baked potatoes, rice, salad and belladonna biscuits for dessert.
"Bed time." Sara ordered her as soon as she'd cleared her plate.
"It's not time yet!" Hermione looked at her watch. "I've still got three hours!"
Benny advanced on her. "Don't argue." He slipped his hand into the pocket of his pants and Hermione would have sworn she saw a knife blade. She swallowed nervously.
"Of course. Good night." She ran up the stairs, taking them two a time. Hermione pulled on pyjamas as quick as she could and climbed into bed. Something was starting to freak her out.
A knock sounded at her bedroom door.
"Come in." She called.
Sara slid the door open. She was dressed in a heavy, dark leather apron. The front bore strange stains and a weird smell hung around her. Hermione was certain she'd smelled it before, she just couldn't remember!
"Good night." Sara said, as she smoothed Hermione's hair. "Sweet dreams." She walked to the door and left the room. "Oh!" Her head appeared around the corner. "I've having some friends over, it might get a little loud."
Hermione nodded. The second the door was closed she thrust her head under her pillow and plugged her ears. She remembered another woman dressing the same way. From a dream, more of a nightmare actually. She'd didn't want to hear the screams she was certain would follow.
"Morning." Hermione was the last one to the table the next morning. Everyone else had already gathered and was dressed neatly in blood red robes. They looked tired, but very happy.
"Morning." Sara said with a yawn. "Any ideas on what you're going to do today?" She asked.
Hermione told her about the books she wanted to read. She'd discovered Wizarding teen and child fiction and she absolutely loved the stuff. The tales and adventures were thousands of times more interesting than the best muggle book she'd ever read.
"Write to your friends." Jamie suggested. "Draco Malfoy would probably like to hear from you. Or Theodore Nott."
Hermione shrugged. "That's not a bad idea."
After breakfast was finished she wrote out the good copies to her homework assignments, then she pulled over a fresh piece of parchment and got to work on her letter for Draco.
Next Chapter- Draco