Hey there,

i had a random, spontaneous idea for a story and so i went for it. mind you, this is not as happy and joyful as my others. please take the time to read it and then perhaps review.


Soft firelight flickered in the darkness that shrouded the cold room. The flames that licked the roof of the hearth were her only source of warmth and light. The soft scratching of a quill against parchment was the only sound that accompanied her soft sniffles.

Her parents had gone. She wasn't quite sure where but they had left her one note that simply told her that they were never to return and she was never to contact them again. It had broken her heart. Her boyfriend, who was also her best friend, had become violent at the end of their last term. Her stomach still showed a few bruises from the punches he had thrown her. Her cheek was still slightly swollen from his forceful backhands. Their mutual best friend has sat and watched. He may have winced at every blow but hadn't done anything in his power to stop.

She had reported the boy to the Headmaster, not to mention the teachers who had been present at the time. They had all just listened to her sad story before claiming to punish him. She snorted in anger at the memory. His punishment had been mere points from their house. It never bothered him anyway. He was the boy-who-lived. Everyone loved him. Nothing and no one would stop him.

She only really had one person left. Her closest friend and confident, Ginevra Weasley; the youngest and brightest of the Weasley clan. The vivacious, strong now-blonde girl had always stayed by her side, never straying from their friendship.

The girl bent her head in self-pity, her black curls falling like a curtain to hide her face and bright sapphire hues from the world. Her skin was quite pale, contrasting to her locks. The bitter cold of the air that was blowing in from the open window had painted her cheeks a rosy pink tone giving her quite a pretty appearance.

It had been quite a shock for her when she had awoken with such a change in looks. The night before her sixteenth birthday she had gone to bed with brunette, frizzy hair and chocolate coloured eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned and she had never had any curves.

But the next morning she had awoken to quite a shock. Her hair was suddenly as dark as a raven and her eyes shone like two sapphires under the rays of the sun. Her skin had paled considerably and she was curved in just the right spots. She had gone for a walk to sort out her thoughts, seeing as she had no one to ask and had been approached by a middle-aged man from a modelling agency, who had offered her a job.

Nevertheless she had been shocked and had politely declined the offer before racing home. Her next reaction was to write to her closest friend, Ginny, making sure to prevent her from informing anyone.

Sighing softly, she put down her quill and parchment and made to prepare herself for a restless nights sleep. But before she could do anything, a soft call came from the window. There, perched on the sill, was the most beautiful owl she had seen. Its feathers were a mix of gold and white and its eyes were a piercing emerald colour. Even more green than Potters. She thought, spite running through her thoughts.

The owl fluttered to her shoulder, allowing her to remove the letter that was tied around its golden legs. After she had removed it, the bird flew to the railings of the girl's bed and perched itself regally. With a quivering hand, she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. There was no one who would possibly write to her apart from Ginny and there was no possibility of Ginny owning such a prestigious bird. Her eyes quickly read through the letter.

Dearest Hermione,

You may be wondering a lot of things in your life at the moment. Perhaps you were wanting to know the location of the Grangers and why they left. Or maybe you want to find out about your change in appearance.

Hermione paused. How did this anonymous person know so much about her? Were they the reason for all the changed in her life?

My dear girl, Darien and I have finally found the courage to confide to you one of our deepest secrets. The truth, my dear, is that we are your parents.

Hermione gasped with shock. What were they saying? Weren't the Grangers her parents?

I know that this has probably brought up many more problems in your mind so let me begin from the start. Not even seventeen years ago, your father and I were told that I was finally pregnant. But the greater news was that I was to bear twins; one a boy and the other a girl, you. This we kept a secret. We told no one about the wonder that we were to have two children.

But not too long afterwards, a Prophecy was made by a Sybil Trelawney. It was prophesised that my children would have great powers, the girl more than the boy. But my father was a cruel man and one thing he hated was the concept of a woman being stronger than a male.

He vowed to himself that if I bore a boy and girl, that the girl would not survive more than a fortnight. Of course, this was not told to us but a close friend, Lucius Malfoy, overheard this vow.

Hermione stared at the paper in horror. Her real parents were close friends with Malfoy Senior! Surely, this would mean that they…they followed Voldemort.

Lucius told us of this, as well as informing the Dark Lord.

Hermione snorted with disgust. Well there it was. They were in league with Voldemort.

Both Tom Riddle and us, your parents, decided that the safest option was to give you to a Muggle couple and wait until your sixteenth birthday until revealing. My father was lethally ill and it was medically told that he would not live more than fifteen years. And so we went along with our option.

But before giving you, we placed not only a glamour charm as to conceal your identity but also a protection charm, if my father did stumble upon you. But now, my love, my father has gratefully passed into the fiery pits of consequences for his horrendous life.

The Grangers, being afraid of revealing to you these secrets, fled but not before informing us. My love, we would most definitely have come for you earlier but the Grangers failed to provide us with information on your whereabouts.

So now, my dearest Hermione, I ask of you to join your father, brother and I so that we may be a family again. I can only tell you of how much I have yearned for you to be with us and I can only dream of the day that you arrive.

If you agree to come and be united with us, as we so hope, please reply on this same letter. The ink will sink into the parchment and onto one that we are keeping by our side until we have a reply.

If you do agree, we shall await your presence at the Three Broomsticks tomorrow for lunch. We shall meet you at twelve noon, my dear.

Forever awaiting your return,

Darien and Selene Zambini.

PS. Reine, the wondrous owl, is now yours.

The midnight-haired girl closed her eyes and sat down tentatively on her bed. It had been a dream of hers to find a family that wanted her and cared for her. But the Zambinis? They were strong followers of Voldemort, perhaps closely behind the Malfoys.

Opening her eyes gently, she let the stronger side of her mind have its way. Reaching for her quill and holding the parchment firmly in her hand she wrote a definite 'I'll be there.'

Pulling out her other parchment she continued her letter where she had left off from. But she made sure to exclude the information about her family. Ginny would find out with time. It was her secret for now and hers only.

"Selene! Come to bed, dear. You've been waiting beside that parchment for a long time now." The woman's head shot up, her violet eyes shining with hurt.

"How could you, Darien? Don't you care what our Hermione has to say?" She spat in an equally hurt tone, her jet-black hair draped over her shoulder.

Her sapphire-eyed husband sighed with regret. "No, no. That's not what I meant. She doesn't live all that close to us and with the shocking fog, it would take Reine a while to reach her. We don't know when she'll reply. Hermione may want some time to think about this. You mu-"

But his next sentence was abruptly cut off by an excited squeal emitted but the elegant woman. "She wrote back! Oh get Blaise!" She exclaimed again, her eyes now glistening with unshed tears, the last part of her sentence directed to the small house-elf that was waiting for that one instruction.

With two pops, the elf had gone and returned with a disgruntled boy in tow. "What could you want, mother? I had just fallen asleep!" He muttered irritated, rubbing at his eyes.

"Oh my apologise Blaise but she wrote back!"

His head shot up, eyes filled with shock. "G-granger...I mean…H-Her-Hermione wrote back! What did she say?" His voice filled with anticipation. The woman leapt to her feet, wrapping her arms around her son. "She'll be there!"

Blaise smiled gleefully. "I was so certain that including your closeness to the Dark Lord would push her away but this is wonderful!" The woman nodded softly, pulling away from her son.

"You wont be alone any longer. I know you've always had Draco with you but imagine, Blaise." She dropped her voice to a whisper, adding excitement to the boy. "You'll have a sister. Your own flesh and blood. A relative your age. Won't it be wonderful?"

Blaise could only smile as his father hugged his mother from behind. "Its wonderful, love." Darien whispered in her ear but loud enough for the both of them to hear.

"Alright. We'll be meeting her, and all her luggage, at around noon. We must look our best and hope she does too but that won't matter. Everyone to bed. We can't be falling asleep on her now, can we?"

Sunlight crept through a small tear in the tattered, old windows of the chilly room in the small Wizarding inn that Tom had been so kind as to let her reside in for the summer. Grumbling incoherently, she slipped out of the bed causing goose-bumps to spring up all over her skin due to the sudden loss of warmth.

She slowly shuffled to the old bathroom that she had been using for the past while. After scrubbing her body with a Berry shower gel and washing her hair, she changed into old track pants and a loose jumper. Gathering her few possessions, she packed them all into one relatively-small sized trunk, leaving on her bed the clothes she planned to wear.

Uttering a repelling charm, the water that had soaked her locks drained to the floor and down the drain leaving her hair dry and in soft waves. Applying a layer of foundation and then a small amount of blush, she sighed to her reflection anxiously anticipating the day ahead of her. A small line of eyeliner brought out her eyes more than they already were and a scarce amount of lip gloss made her lips seem more full than before.

It was only a quarter of an hour later she was ready. Standing in front of the large mirror, she smoothened down her clothes; a black salsa-skirt that fell to just above her knees and a royal blue midriff shirt with which she wore a simple pair of black flip-flops. She had added on a pair of medium sized silver hoop earrings in her first hole, silver studs in her second, a tiny diamond-embedded silver stud in her nose piercing and a sapphire-encrusted silver belly-button ring.

Grinning for the first time in a while at her reflection, she shrunk her trunk and put it securely in the pocket of her plain black robes before quickly leaving the room.

She had been patiently seated in the Three Broomsticks for quite a while before becoming slightly impatient. It was exactly noon and they were no where to be seen. She couldn't really expect them to be there on the dot, it was such a slim chance. But she was understandably anxious about the reunion that was to occur any moment now.

"Hermione?" A soft, hopeful voice came from behind her. She spun in her seat to see three aristocratic people staring at her in a mix of glee and shock.

The woman was breathtaking. Her hair was as dark as night and fell to her waist in very tender curls. Her violet eyes were glistening with the tears that were held in them. Her face was very delicate, just like Hermione's, her every feature fitting together perfectly.

The man was a tall, hard faced man. His features were very well defined, that to a man who was well-equipped knowledgably in all aspects. His dark auburn hair was almost brown and fell in soft yet messy waves. His eyes were definitely Hermione's, their unique sapphire quality radiating with happiness.

The boy that stood beside his mother was most certainly the offspring of the two. His jet-black hair, retained from his mother, fell messily to cover his cobalt eyes which glistened with a mixture of apprehension and exhilaration. His features were definitely from his father, his jaw firmly set. All three were smiling at her gleefully.

"Father, Mother." Hermione whispered softly before jumping from her seat and wrapping her arms around the woman that had been looking at her so lovingly. Tears fell from their eyes, dampening their shoulders but neither took notice.

Finally pulling away, she moved to embrace her father. Whispering softly in her ear, he said, "Welcome back, my Hermione. Welcome home." A small smile appeared on her face as she pulled away and faced the boy who she had grown to hate yet those feelings had disappeared.

"You don't know how pleased I am…Hermione." He said softly before embracing her. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she held the brother that she had always wanted. Pulling away, they seated themselves at the table which had been previously occupied by Hermione only.

Ordering a drink for each of themselves, they raised their mugs in a toast. "To years of happiness and togetherness. May we be forever." Darien toasted. Hermione smiled softly before repeating softly the words that she had wanted to hear for a while.

"May we be forever."