The Auror's Daughter

Chapter 1:

1995, London, St. Mungo´s Hospital David Pye had been a healer for almost fifteen years, and in that time, he had seen a lot. He had seen so much that he was almost certain that there was nothing out there that could surprise him. That was until today or better the very early hours of today. He had been called in for a particular case, and after seeing the admission slip, the registration letters caught his eye MoM DoM. He knew the moment he read the letters that they were the reason for his short night since only senior healers were allowed to handle Unspeakables, however minor the injuries turned out to be.

The first thing about this case that had him lightly confused was the fact that the place of accident, namely the before mentioned MoM DoM was different than the employer being HSWW, which was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry if he recalled all the abbreviations correctly.

He pondered it for a short moment before dismissing the thought, perhaps there was some weird unit with almost identical abbreviations. It had continued with a 16year old female, which must be transposed digits since no 16year old could have been wounded in the Department of Mysteries, …especially not in the middle of the night. He had tried to decipher the rest of the information, but given the scrawl of whoever had filled out the form, he decided to best visit the 61year old Unspeakable, that had happened to get herself injured. Perhaps she could shed some light on the abbreviation thing, and they could have a good laugh about the age thing. He couldn´t have been more wrong.

He entered the examination room, to the familiar sight of a mediwitch taking down vitals. The rest of the picture made him pretty much speechless, as he stared at an approximately sixteen-year-old, brunette girl, wearing a Hogwarts Uniform, Gryffindor going by the colour. She seemed unconscious, and as he stepped closer, he noted that under the blazer the blouse had been cut open, revealing a curse wound like he had never seen before. It was like blue flames embedded in her skin, all moving while changing colour creating a spider web, stretching from her right collar bone between her breasts down her belly to her left hip. Had it been a tattoo some people might have considered it art, his first thought was painful. It looked excruciatingly painful and was obviously the reason for the unconsciousness.

For a moment he only stared at her, then he turned to the Mediwitch. "How long had she been here?" She shook her head, hmm he didn't know her name. He thought he knew all Mediwitches in his unit. "About 45 Minutes, the junior healer sent for you immediately." He nodded. "I suggest we get the specialist curse people down here and fast." She only nodded before disappearing, following his instruction of waking another poor soul, namely the person who had the luck to be on duty for the curse ward tonight. He glanced back on the admission file, trying to decipher the lines. There was nothing regarding the question of how she had received that wound.

oOo

"Pye" someone called behind him, and for a moment he deliberated whether he should pretend he hadn´t heard, yet somehow he knew it wouldn´t work. Healer Blishwick caught up to him and handed him some lab parameters. "They woke you too?" he stated ironically, receiving a mirthless laugh. "Yes, well junior on duty called me about two hours ago telling me he was unable to cope and that I needed to come in." They both shared a glance silently agreeing on the incompetence of junior healers. He was about to ask what this was about when his comrade continued "However I completely understand in this case, it´s your DoM girl." He glanced at the parameters, and he was almost certain that he was finally going insane. He closed his eyes. Usually, he loved gathering information, clear indicators, but everything related to that girl confused him. "I don´t think that I am in any position to understand that right now … I´ve had a long night" He admitted looking at his colleague. "Well, to make it short. I haven´t seen anything like this before either. I tried everything I know to figure out what exactly hit her, but I can´t wake her for even five seconds. The only thing that I can say for sure is that the thing is fresh, less than a day old. Did you talk to her?" Pye indicated the negative by shaking the head.

Blishwick continued. "The usual procedure would be to inform family and check family magic, but you did an incredible job at deciphering this attempt of writing, and I agree that she is Muggle-born-" He slowly waved with the folder. "- that was until I ordered this from the lab." He pulled out the second page of parchment and after Pye adjusted his glasses to study the letters and numbers, his brows knitted together. "You think reception got it wrong?" Blishwick shook his head "I took the liberty to cross-reference her." Pye cocked his head "And?" A slow exhale. "Well, she matched someone, perfectly." He couldn´t help himself, but he started laughing. "Great, that is perfectly helpful, what a bloody, bloody mess." Blishwick shrugged. "We could inform her next of kin." But they both knew that that wasn´t really an option or at least something they wouldn't do before they had no other choice.

"Is there any other way to break through the curse?" another shrug. "We can try, but it is going to be difficult since there is no medical record of her, we have no clue what we might uncover." He stared into the air for a long time. "Well, I say we do that, we do that before we contact-" he stared once again at the firm letters "-before telling him that he has a daughter." He was met with a confirmative nod. "I agree, I prefer that to that conversation."

oOo

"How is this going to work?" Pye asked while he looked down at the still unconscious girl. Blishwick raised an eyebrow. "Well since this is most likely some layered curse, I will start breaking through it, channelling Higgs and Green and in case we trigger something unexpected you and Fawcett are on standby intervening when necessary to stabilise her." He gave a sharp nod, and with that, it started.

He observed carefully as Blishwick touched the sleeping figure with his wand before pulling back. Her body seemed to be surrounded by multiple shining layers, he mused about a sarcophagus for a moment. The outer layer coloured in a beautiful blue, beneath that something that appeared to be grey, then a golden shine and something made of a magenta beneath that one. He noted Bushwick's brows knitting together as he showed slight signs of surprise. Before starting to weave runic motions, after what felt like hours of smokey runes the bluish disappeared.

He saw how Blishwick lowered his wand, before flicking it up again sharply. He almost screamed in shock as the girl turned to stone right in front of their eyes. Blishwick let out a curse flicking and swishing his wand in rapid motions before the process stopped and the grey layer almost exploded. He saw that the healer had no intention of repeating his mistake, keeping the spheres up. Blishwick motioned him to examine the body. "Vitals are stable, no signs of petrification and the scars have faded to simple blue lines." Blishwick nodded, focusing on the golden shimmer.

He slowly started casting again, and after a while, they began to notice small changes on their patient, to put it more accurately their patient's appearance. Her hair seemed to smoothen into beautiful corkscrew looks of a sandy blond colour, her skin smoothed and her bone structure changed slightly. "A glamour." Higgs asked in confusion, but only received a shake of a head, clearly indicating, an 'I do not know.' The weird magenta rising to the top. Blishwick stared at it in concentration, slowly murmuring before stopping as the magenta turned into the colours of the rainbow, he motioned his fellow curse-breakers forward. They started pulling at the strands slowly moving it apart. As they slowly extracted them from each other a sharp light appeared to radiate they stopped for a moment, before continuing and then it happened an intense light flicked upwards. Pye felt himself crashing into something solid which he much later identified as a wall, that was after he regained consciousness.

"Where is she?" Fawcett asked carefully as they slowly returned to their feet, staring at the empty bed.

oOo

1070, London, 's Hospital "Who is she?" was the question Healer Irene Hallewell was asking herself. She had walked down the hallway in search of an unoccupied Mediwitch when she had noticed the sound of shallow yet rapid breathing that sounded reasonably unhealthy from a room that to her knowledge was currently vacant. She had stepped inside to find the figure of a girl that appeared to be in her mid-teens, wearing a hospital gown. She had instinctively reached for the patient file that was always supposed to be at the bed, to find that there was none. She felt her forehead crinkling and anger rising regarding whatever Mediwitch had been that careless.

She quickly made her way to the Mediwitches' desk and started tabbing her fingers rapidly against the wooden surface, if only to annoy whoever she would have to deal with. "How can I help you?" one of her favourite Mediwitches Adelaide asked and she decided to ease the venom in her voice "I need the case and patient file of room E408." She stated. She noted from the corner of her eye as Adelaide´s expression turned confused. "There is no patient in room E408." For a moment Irene stared at her with a blank expression. "Then who or what is the girl in room E408? Listen, it is bad enough if you fail to inform the healer on duty about an admission, it is a completely new low if you don´t know what you are doing!" Adelaide shot her an icy glare before joining her on the other side of the desk moving down the hall "There is no one in room E408." She almost yelled, opening the door demonstratively only to freeze in her actions. "You were saying."

She could see how she bit the inside of her cheek in surprise her eyes widening. "I released the previous patient not two hours ago, and we had no admissions …" Irene let out a huff. "You tell me she materialised out of thin air?" Adelaide seemed taken aback. "Well, I intended to say that ER screwed up and failed to mention they would bring someone up, but yours is an option as well." Irene ran a hand through her hair. "Fine, you check with ER, and I try and figure out why she´s here." The Mediwitch excused herself with a nod, without doubt, to find a victim of her displeasure.

She observed the girl and deciding that the breathing and the dilated pupils and incapability to speak were clear indicators for a panic attack, she summoned a calming draught, while forcing it down the girl's throat musing that Adelaide could probably use one right now.

oOo

She saw the purple light coming toward her. It had been a horribly crazy idea. She closed her eyes, riding Thestrals, entering the ministry, advancing into the mystery department. She awaited the impact wishing herself away. Pain enveloped her like a massive cloud, inescapable. She felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness. She heard Harry speaking from far away. Madam Pomfrey talking to her, suddenly there was no pain. She was sure she was dreaming:

She was walking down a very familiar lane, lined with the same old Victorian buildings. She felt somehow amazing and young, she started taking up the pace as her home came into view and only a small part of herself was surprised as she noticed the violin case on her back. Was this really a dream it almost felt like a memory, yet she was the girl and not an observer, how stupid of her. She entered her home, leaving her shoes in the hall before moving towards the parlour. "Mum" her voice sounded so young. She felt herself running off into the kitchen. Helen Granger laughed at her daughter's antics. She wanted to cry as her mother offered her the cookie plate. It felt so familiar. She stared at the cookies, and as she looked up, she instinctively moved backwards. Her mother changed, where a moment before the somewhat tall and skinny woman with brown locks had been standing, was now a much smaller, curvy woman, with much lighter curls a heart-shaped face, yet somehow awfully familiar. She intuitively held her breath as the interior started to change, fading into an entirely different picture. She wasn´t standing in a modern townhouse kitchen. No, it replaced itself with something that reminded her a lot of the burrow, but not. The woman smiled. Hermione glanced around. She wasn´t wearing her perfectly pressed school uniform anymore. Instead, she wore red wellies and a yellow rain jacket. She noticed the raindrops on her clothing and the mud she must have dragged in. She raised her eyes back to the woman, who appeared to be speaking to her …

"Mina." She was shocked at the sharp voice of her mother, yes the woman was her mother, she felt like her mum, what about Helen Granger, she looked up from her book. "You remember us playing hide and seek?" She nodded slowly. Her mom seemed tense. "I need you to go to that favourite hiding spot of yours and not come out until I get you." She heard a loud cracking sound from the back door. "Mina, now." She felt herself running for the stairs. She pulled the cupboard door close, as a screeching sound echoed through the house. She crouched down hugging her legs, everything was quiet too quiet. Then it started loud crashes echoing through the house as if giants tore apart the house, at least that was how she would describe it. Tears started running down her cheeks. She could make out some sounds. Thump, Thump, Thump someone was coming up the stairs, she pressed further into the corner. "Where are you, little one, where are you, come out, come out." She stopped breathing as the voice moved farther away before suddenly coming very close. She started screaming the moment the door opened. Kicking and screaming. The man threw her easily over his shoulder, carrying her towards the stairs. They stopped, and she felt lights flashing around her, it only boosted her need to fight. Fear struck her, her dad was bleeding from his nose, she wanted to run to him, she screamed for him, as suddenly everything was sparkling. She hated glitter. She would never stop hating glitter, not ever.

She breathed heavily, slowly looking down at herself. Hospital her mind echoed, she remembered this place. hospital. She looked down at herself, the idea of a smile spreading on her face, even in the wizarding world they had these amazingly ridiculous hospital gowns. She reclined slowly, moving a hand through her hair. She had ended up in , she hoped that Harry was alright. The whole department of mysteries incident was one colourful mess in her head. She hadn't had that nightmare in a long time, back as a child she had often dreamed from the blond woman, but she had never spoken to her, very much in contrast to the 'mean-man' as she had christened him long ago. She could still hear his sing-song 'Come out, come out'. A million things started crashing through her mind. She slowly exhaled, staring at her hand which still had strands of her hair wrapped around. Her breathing started to accelerate immediately.

She watched a woman in healer garb entering, she had an American accent. She heard the words "panic attack" and was certain that right at that moment she certainly would sign that diagnosis.

oOo

Irene started running diagnostics, trying to understand the results as Adelaide returned "That was fast." She commented dryly, she received a shrug "Mallory is on duty, and she says they haven´t had anything fitting her description all day." She gazed at the lines, she had projected into the air, showing the heartbeat and breathing pattern, with narrow lines. "Diagnostics assume that she was recently treated for curse wounds." She watched as Adelaide stepped closer carefully pulling down the gown at the cleavage. "That seems about right." She affirmed, and both women stared with pity at the intricate blue pattern. "Well." Irene continued after a while "I suggest we run some blood test, trying to figure out who she is. She seems to be a minor, so we are on the safe side with that." Adelaide nodded starting the blood extraction.

oOo

It was right after the lunch break, Irene was going over some paperwork as Adelaide threw some parchments on her desk. "The blood work came back flagged. She is an abduction victim from ten years ago." Irene stared at the Mediwitch in shock, before picking up the papers. "Are you sure?" She saw the suppressed anger in the woman´s eyes and knew that it wasn´t meant for her. It stated in bold letters that the blood matched those of Mina Madeleine Moody, abducted by an attack on her family´s home on July 27th1959 at age five. She buried her face in her hands. "How is she?" The Mediwitch asked worry on her features. "Well, she had apparently been treated possibly before she even arrived here, this makes sixteen now, sweet Merlin, we need to contact the Aurors." She raised her head. "Give her some dreamless sleep, make sure she wakes on her own afterwards." A look of understanding passed between the women, the next few days would be hard for the girl.

She watched Adelaide leave, leaning back in her chair, there would be no gain in procrastinating. She picked up her quill thinking about a way to phrase the issue at hand.

oOo

1970, London, Ministry of Magic, Auror Department Charlus Potter stared at the clock, neatly ticking away over the door of his office. There was no way he would be back before supper tonight. So many things needed to be handled. He looked over a stack of files, new assignments that needed to be dealt with. He hated prioritising, everything that landed on his desk was important, yet he had not enough people to handle all of it with the diligence it deserved. He moved on to going through reports, hoping that with the closing of the case of the contaminated ingredients regarding flobberworms, he would have two teams to start working on this new stuff.

He was in the middle of going through some interview protocols as Claire stepped through the door. He liked the secretary, basically ruling the ground floor and was rather sad that he had yet to convince her to come and work for him. He greeted the brunette with a smile. "Mr Potter, there has come a missive from St. Mungo´s marked as urgent."

He felt his blood freezing in his veins that couldn´t be good. He dismissed her with a nod, staring at the sealed parchment in his hands. Bollocks, he truly hoped that it wasn´t some of the newly trained ones, they tended to quit after their first injury. At the same time he hoped it wasn´t one of the senior officers, then he prayed to Merlin that it wasn´t something serious or worse, death. He quickly glanced outside, at the Aurors currently working in their cubicles. He forced himself to break the seal.

He reclined in his chair reading the missive. He slowly allowed his body to take in a breath, no one of his people was injured, he pinched his nose, he was confident that this must be some horrible joke. He remembered the day it happened as clearly as if it was yesterday. He had received his promotion to the position of Head Auror and by that the Executive branch of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement only a month before the incident.

Flashback; Autumn 1959

They were standing behind the window that allowed them to watch the insides of the interrogation room. He watched Barty Crouch out of the corner of his eye, he had little respect for the lawyer and his superior. He didn´t know why since the man was not precisely unfriendly or impolite, but somehow Charlus always thought of him as weak. They silently observed the ongoings on the other side of the glass, where a recently graduated Auror named Rufus Scrimgeour sat in front of Bartholomew Burke, discussing the origin of illegal artefacts, recovered by a raid the day before.

"Well, he isn´t a complete lost cause." Moody stated from his right, Chalus grinned at the comment from his friend and former partner. He enjoyed the bluntness of his fellow Auror, never having the patience for pleasantries, formalities or stupidity. It was probably the reason Alastor hadn´t received the promotion even though he was far more suited, it was a trait he admired in him. The ability to make a call and stick to it, typical Hufflepuff his mind told him in a teasing yet not mean way, hard-working, dedicated. Alastor Moody was someone you wanted with you, not against you. The truth was if you had Alastor Moody´s respect and earned his loyalty, you had it for life, which was probably the reason he allowed so few people close to him, his work and his family being all he truly cared for.

"… this is going nowhere." The words of the grumpy Auror pulling Charlus from his musing, returning his attention to Scrimgeour struggling to rattle Burke. The comment causing him to let out a sigh, perhaps the young one had not been ready for this, but he had to practise. He was about to give his opinion as the door was opened, crashing into the wall.

"Mr. Head Auror Potter, Sir, there has been an emergency notification, a four-head team of Auror is already on the way, to assess the situation." He was handed an address, one he recognised immediately, he felt the eyes of everyone burning holes into him awaiting further instructions. This was the first emergency call he had to navigate, he reminded himself to remain calm. "Instruct the Aurors to make an assessment and call in, if they need support." He tried to radiate confidence, only to meet the utter disbelief in his friend´s eyes. When had he become the bureaucrat, manpower was what saved situation like this, he knew this. He shook his head, grounding himself. "We join them now." Moody nodded, holding out his hand to receive the address. Charlus saw him paling instantly.

They arrived at an utter mess, the moment they set foot on the property, they found one Auror unconsciously lying on the ground. He saw that Moody had already headed for the back, leaving him with the front. He felt the energy from spells being cast inside the house. Moving inside, he was met with a picture of utter brutality he found Anne in an inhuman position blood literally covering everything, her head smashed in, her eyes staring at him clouded by death. He heard that the fight in the back had graduated to a shouting match of spells. He stepped over another Auror´s body in the hallway, every fibre of his body on alert, expecting an ambush any second. He found Alastor duelling two cloaked figures. That moment he heard a scream, the high-pitched scream only children were capable of, he heard boots hollering down the stairs and managed to attack the man immediately, shocked how easily his opponent threw the spells while handling the struggling girl. The moment he finally hit the men with a stunner, he rushed forward to help her. A curse flashed up a weird colourful thing, he noticed her eyes widen as it came toward her, for a moment everything appeared in slow motion, and then it hit, dead centre and whatever he had expected, it wasn´t that, she dissipated right in front of their eyes. He heard a yell he saw Alastor overpowering one of his assailants, the other fleeing, but she was gone there was nothing but a little dust at the place where Mina Moody had stood only moments ago.

He had been almost certain that she had died that night and he wasn´t sure whether he felt relief over her reappearance or fear. Where had she been, what had she endured, and the question he didn´t want to ask ... wouldn´t it be better if she had stayed dead? His relationship to Alastor had never been the same, the man never voiced it, but Charlus knew that to a certain degree it was his fault. His wife had told him that it didn´t help to deliberate what-if´s and she was probably right at least to a certain degree. But he had blamed himself, and as the next year Dorea had become pregnant, it had been the end of the friendship. He hadn´t been able to look in his friend´s eyes, it hurt Alastor too much to see their happiness.

He continued to stare at the notification, the healer had not disclosed the current condition. A mirthless laugh escaped his throat. Here he was as confused as one decade ago, what was the right call, his gut told him just like those many years ago to grab Alastor and check it out. His brain told him that if it were any other child, he would send Aurors first, assessing the situation, before informing the parents. Last time his choice regarding this case, oh Godric how much he despised that term, had most likely killed two civilians and four officers. What should he do, was there even a right way?

oOo

Hermione's dream-flashback

"Daddy" she squealed, her hands clutching the broom as tightly as she could, she felt the strong wood under her fingertips, uneasiness radiating through her. "It´s fine, love. I got you." He stated, chuckling lightly. He had already one hand wrapped strongly around the wood, she knew that. Still fear radiated through her. "Open your eyes, Mi, you need to see." She slowly tried to relax her tightly squeezed eyes, blinking lightly. "The broom feels your emotions, Mi." He continued, she finally opened her eyes. "Alright, now try to relax." She immediately tensed even further. "Hm, let´s try something else, what do you feel." She stared at him with fearful eyes. He only raised one challenging eyebrow in response. She knew that it was how he tricked her into relaxing and she focused on his question, unconsciously doing that. She closed her eyes, trying to forget that she was hovering a good meter over the ground. "The wind, I feel the wind on my skin, it blows around me, and the sun is warm." She paused, it truly felt amazing. "The air is salty…" He smiled urging her on "the wind comes from the see today." They both smiled, she loved the feeling, yet she feared it. "Daddy, can we please stop now." He nodded. Relief washed over her as she finally had solid ground under her feet. "Thanks, mum is waiting…" she started. She watched him tilting his head. "Oh … so you don´t want to join me." She jumped a little, that was a lot better, she knew nothing bad would happen if he held her. "Oh yes, please." He chuckled, picking up his own, much larger adult broom. She sat before him, his arms surrounding her, as they started rising…

"And you are certain this will be safe?" she questioned seriously, eyeing the monstrosity of white painted steel, she couldn´t understand how that thing was supposed to fly and not kill them all. She looked upwards as the tall figure of her Dad, placed his hand on her shoulder. "I promise you, love, everything will be fine. She doubted that severely, watching the hordes of people heading for the gate, they must all have lost their mind. She turned to the window, her dad had called it an iron bird, she shuddered internally. "It will be fine." Her mother crunched down in front of her straight brown hair in a beautiful, sophisticated knot on the back of her head. Hermione let out a long sigh, before slowly following her parents…

She jumped up on a small stool, allowing herself to look over the counter. "Mommy, I want to help." A woman with beautiful green eyes turned to her laughing. Mina´s eyes sparkled as she watched the knives peeling potatoes as if lead by invisible hands. Her mother´s petite hands twirling her wand in a large pot. "I´m almost done, sweets, just the potatoes left." She felt her shoulders slump, disappointment visible on her features. "Why don´t you choose a nice tea for us." She nodded, as she was shooed to the cupboard. She couldn´t decide, no earl grey, it was too late, she loved peppermint, but it wouldn´t fit with the food. She preferred herbal, but then. She pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking hard. "It´s definitely an impossible choice." A deep voice stated, seriously. She nodded turning her head, not really realising. She picked the lavender pot before turning and falling right into her father. "Daddy." She laughed, throwing her hands around his neck. "We´ll have to work on your perception." She couldn´t stop but feeling guilty, as her mother made 'tststs' noises, trying to suppress laughter…

She sat up bold right in her bed. She slowly turned her head, before allowing herself to sink back against the pillows. She took a moment to watch the plain white walls, her eyes shifting to the white glass on which coloured lines documented her vitals, all without cables she mused quietly, magical indeed, she had a weird feeling that those screens had been invented by a Muggle-born.

She didn´t know what to make of these memories, had someone seriously messed with her mind, had it been a curse, had it been the purple curse. Perhaps she was in a magical coma, it was weird how easily the memories of her lives combined, fitted together like an enormous jig-saw. She had never genuinely fitted into her world. She loved the Grangers´, hell she was a Granger … yet she wasn´t… perhaps this was some kind of sick joke. She should probably talk to someone, maybe it was better not to think at all. She carefully moved to sit on the edge of the bed watching the green line speeding up from the exhaustion. She needed to pee.

She watched the water streaming from the tap, the cold clearing her mind she took herself in. She looked different yet the same. Her teeth seemed to fit her jaw better, her hair curled softer, more … natural. She sighted what was she to do, her whole life up until now had been a fight. A fight for Acceptance, for Knowledge, against evil, prejudice, herself … what new conspiracy was this? She stared into her mirrored eyes, they were the same as of the man she had called dad in that ever-present dream, was it possible that this was not only happening in her head, was it possible that someone had hidden the truth … would she ever know. Explaining and accepting one dream was one thing, where did all those memories come from. Why did they blend so perfectly with her life?

Her sight blurred from the tears, she felt arms supporting her waist as a calm, professional voice pulled her back. "Do you feel safe enough to walk back to bed or shall I levitate you." She turned her head to face a very professional looking woman. She shook her head allowing the nurse, no Mediwitch, she corrected herself, to guide her back to bed. She slowly laid down, staring at the ceiling. "What am I going to do now?" The woman smiled "How about introductions, my name is Adelaide, I am a Mediwitch here at ´s. Can you tell me your name?" She stared at the woman for a while before slowly shaking her head. "I am not sure anymore."

Adelaide took in the pure emptiness in the girl's eyes, as they slowly started filling with unshed tears. She squatted down, slowly getting them to one eye-level. "What is the last thing you remember?" The girl slowly turned her head, closing her eyes. "I remember a curse, and now everything is wrong." Adelaide nodded slowly. "Well, do you remember anything from before the curse …" it was on the tip of her tongue to ask the girl more details, a stern voice in her head reminding her that it was a healers task to ask the girl. "Perhaps a name?" The girl stared at her. "Hermione." Small victories, she thought "Can I get you anything else?" She watched the unease on the girl's face and tried to look reassuring. "Can I have a tea?" She nodded. "Anything specific." the girl paused "Lavender." "How about something to read?" the girl nodded slowly.

oOo

Ten minutes later Charlus Potter found himself at ´s, asking for Healer . He received instructions toward the respective ward and slowly set one foot in front of the other, dreading every step. He found the Mediwitches' desk without any problems, unfortunately. "Auror Potter for Healer Hallewell." He introduced himself. The witch smiled sadly before nodding and telling him to wait while she fetched the healer.

"Auror Potter?" The voice sounded tired, he thought, turning to the woman. She extended her hand, a soft smile gracing her lips. "Irene Hallewell, I am one of the ward´s healers. You are here about Mina Moody?" He nodded in quiet confirmation, before clearing his throat. "You truly think it is her?" She gestured him to follow her, before starting "The blood tests are conclusive. The weird thing is that we have no idea how she came to be here. One moment to the next she was just there. She was in the middle of a panic attack, so we haven´t had a chance to talk to her yet, …" She stopped in front of an open door when they looked inside his heart constricted.

There she was an unmistakably older version of the five-year-old he remembered. She still had her father´s hair colour and her mother´s corkscrew locks. She looked a little pale, but fine or at least how he expected a sixteen-year-old to look. She appeared to be in a conversation with a woman wearing Mediwitch garb. "Adelaide." Healer Hallewell exclaimed surprised, and he noted the women turning their attention to them.

Adelaide smiled reassuringly, at the girl before stepping outside. "She was awake when I finished my last round. We got talking, she´s quite bright." She turned to look at the exhausted child.

"Does she know, how she got here?" Irene inquired. Adelaide shrugged. "She remembers being cursed. She says she was in and out, but she says that she is certain that a healer was trying to help her. She is rather vague about it, but she says that her mind is I quote 'one gigantic mess of glitter and lies'." Irene´s eyebrows knitted together.

Adelaide started biting her lower lip. "She knows that something happened to her and I believe that she knows actually quite a lot, but the only personal thing that she shared is that her name is Hermione."

Charlus closed his eyes, recalling the moment the girl had turned into nothing in front of his eyes, he remembered being haunted by nightmares of glitter. "Can I talk to her?" He watched Adelaide tensing, she likes the girl he thought before discarding the thought and entering the room.

"Hermione." He asked, and as the girl met his eyes, he smiled taking a seat. "My name is Charlus Potter, I am with the Auror Department." She flinched at his name, catching him by surprise and suddenly she closed her eyes, a tear trailing down her cheek. She choked back a sob, he tilted his head curiously. She hastily wiped her eyes with her sleeve "I am sorry, how can I help you?"

He nodded, he hated these moments, speaking to victims or their kin about horrors beyond imagination.

She twirled a lock of her sandy hair between her fingers. "My name is not Hermione is it?" He shook his head. "No, Miss." He paused for a moment. "How do you know?"

He watched her lips twitching. "I have these pictures in my head pictures I don't remember, yet they are there … and they … fit, but don't."

oOo

London, Ministry of Magic, Auror Department Charlus stared at the clock still ticking in the same neverending rhythm as it had hours ago. In moments like this, he felt old and uncertain why he ever wanted this job. He slowly stepped onto the balcony like structure that allowed access to the offices and at the same time granted full view over all cubicles. At this time of day, only a few were here, the night shift had arrived a while ago, and only a few Aurors were left finishing reports. He allowed his eyes to wander, he knew who he was looking for, yet somehow he couldn´t spot him. He slowly descended the stairs, his coat and top head suddenly growing heavier. His eyes skimmed the glass fronts of the caserooms, only a few had lights on. He slowly walked further till he noticed a group of five Aurors gathered around a map, discussing something. He listened for a while to their idea-tossing, remaining silent.

He felt like an unwanted observer, the superior. Suddenly one of the juniors caught his eyes immediately falling silent mid-speech. The other´s stared at him before following the youngster's line of sight. He corrected his posture quickly, keeping his eyes locked to the young one. "Alstor, I´d like to have a word please."

He locked eyes with his old friend, he knew the old Auror wouldn´t question him. One of the junior´s Tripe if he remembered correctly, cleared his throat. "Sir, we have found some important evidence, if we could show you." He wasn´t sure whether he should scold the boy's behaviour or cheer his enthusiasm. He inhaled slowly, noticing Scrimgeour reclining in his chair, eyeing him curiously. How do you tell your friend, not your subordinate, your friend that his daughter was lying in at this very moment? A daughter for which fate you have made yourself responsible. "

The case is going to trial tomorrow, a neatly dressed male he remembered from the law department informed him. For a moment he thought they were all bloody kidding him, last time he checked he was the Auror in chief if he wished to talk to an Auror he bloody well would do it. "Alastor, a word." The Auror nodded, getting up, their gazes locked. "We need Moody, in the stance tomorrow." The lawyer cut in. Charlus chose to follow Alastor's example of not commenting.

"What do you think this was about" Tripe carefully voiced. "No idea." Lawyer-man answered slowly, he didn´t look happy at all. They all turned to Scrimgeour, who kept silent for a while, he had seen this expression on the chief before. He would never forget, it had been an important day in his career. "I don't think that Moody will be available tomorrow." he stated calmly.

oOo

"You look like you've seen death." Alastor stated. Charlus merely shaking his head, lighting a cigar and offering one to Moody, who only raised an eyebrow, before declining.

"I received a missive today, about a cold case." He drew another long drag, slowly exhaling, watching the grey tendrils clouding the sky. "One of ours?" Moody questioned, curiosity in his eye as he looked at his old partner. Charlus closed his eyes, ignoring the comment.

"I went to make sure that there wasn´t a mistake and as it turns out there wasn´t." How long could he drag out the inevitable? "Alastor, they found Mina, she´s at ."

ooOoo

IMPORTANT STORY FACTS: Hermione is born in 1954 to Alastor and Anne Moody. She is kidnapped in 1959 at age 5., then during the glittering Eldorado she enters 1984, and until now I won't tell how she ended up with the Grangers.

Hermione went to Hogwarts with Harry and Ron. And after the 5th year debacle, she returns to 1970.

That makes her the age of Lucius Malfoy, the Prewett twins and Andromeda to name a few.

She is six years older than the Marauders.

AN: Hello everyone,

This is the first chapter of my new story. Therefore I'd like to mention that I do not own Harry Potter.

Another disclaimer, I am not a native speaker and originally started writing fanfiction to improve my language skills, in the meantime, it has become a hobby.

I Love reviews and messages, and I would love to get some idea of your thoughts, so feel free to leave me a message.

Love

- Amiliana