Chapter 1

Summary: Picks up where Conqueror's Fact left off. Hermione finds herself in a different time, with whole new eyes. As she tries to get back, will she be able to stop herself from altering events? What will she learn now that she is there to witness the lines being drawn? Is the Light really all it's claimed to be? Is the Dark as pitch black as it has been said? OOC. AU. Bellamione! Andromeda/OC! Perjudiced!Light! Shadesofgrey!Dark!

A/N: Hello again readers, I'm back again writing furiously for the second story arc for Tale of the Conquered. I hope everyone is ready. This is the first of two updates I will be doing every weekend, if things go according to plan. Read, review, follow, fave, and of course enjoy!

Hermione sat shell shocked in Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall had brought her straight to the Headmaster's office after Hermione had nearly fainted upon receiving her answer. Forty years. She had been sent back four decades!

"Miss Granger, are you alright?" The old wizard asked.

"I'm not sure alright would be the word I would use, headmaster." the hazel eyed witch spoke frankly. Dumbledore nodded his head in sympathy.

"No, I suppose it's not. Unfortunately that's not our sole concern. Usually in circumstances such as these, the safest thing would be to lock you away until we were able to find a way of sending you back so the timeline would remain untainted." Noting the alarmed look on both witches faces he continued,

"However, that would be pointless, as your being here has probably unknowingly altered several events. Which leads us to our next issue, you know too much about the futures of current Gryffindor students. We'll need to place you in a house that ensures your interactions will be limited." Hermione's stomach dropped as she realized where the Headmaster's train of thought was headed.

"And that finally brings us to our last and trickiest problem, Granger is obviously not a pureblood name. We'd need one that isn't from a house with standing, preferably one that hasn't produced heirs in quite some time." Dumbledore sat back in his chair, stroking his beard.

Minerva spoke up, "You can't be serious Albus? You'd throw her into the snake pit? Why not Ravenclaw, or even Hufflepuff?" The Headmaster looked to the Head of Gryffindor house, but before he could answer Hermione interrupted.

"He's hoping that by throwing me in with the snakes, some may be tempted to follow me back out." The young witch was surprised at how well she had managed to hide the disgust she felt. It seemed that no matter the time or place Albus Dumbledore was a manipulative bastard. The Headmaster of course neither confirmed nor denied Hermione's statement, but his silence was more than enough.

"The Eckart's and the Kane's fit the bill almost perfectly. I think its best if you decide which family to take, it will make it easier to assimilate that way." Dumbledore spoke slowly, although Hermione caught the twinkle in his eye as he mentioned the Eckart family. She didn't know why he would rather she take on their name as part of her persona, but she didn't trust it. The man was clearly scheming and she had almost been a victim of it, if it hadn't been for Andromeda's ring. Hermione glanced to her hand where the ring still sat proudly on her finger when the true reality of her situation hit her. Not only was she several decades in the past, but she had no true allies here. She was truly alone. The ring sparkled and she felt a little better, she had managed to become friends with Andromeda when she was an adult, perhaps they would grow even closer now that the were around the same age. With that in mind she looked to the Headmaster and gave him her answer.

"Hermione Kane has a better ring to it." She said simply, not missing the darkening of Dumbledore's eyes as she announced her choice.

The Slytherin common room was still quite lively for the time of night, even most of the first through third years had made their way to bed. Bellatrix was trying her best not to grimace, but the smell was getting to her. She growled as Lilith sat across fro her, seemingly perfectly composed. Her outstretched arm was beginning to tire, but the flame of the candle beneath her hand kept it from wavering too much. The door to the common room swung open, drawing the attention of all the students. Professor Slughorn walked into the room, followed by a girl no one had ever seen before.

"This is Hermione Kane, she a fifth year who has been recently transferred to Hogwarts from her home schooling and has been sorted into Slytherin." The Head of Slytherin looked around the common room and grimaced as he saw two of his favorite students in another senseless competition.

"Please welcome her accordingly and I'll need someone to show her around tomorrow." He nodded to his students and wished Hermione luck before leaving. There were several moments of silence before Bellatrix shouted,

"Son of a bitch! That bloody hurt! I nearly burned a hole through my hand! What the hell is wrong with you?" And with that the rest of the common room went back to milling about, Hermione did receive some curious glances as she walked over to one of the plush green couches and took a seat.

"You don't have to be shy you know." Hermione looked over to see an extremely young Narcissa looking at her, blue eyes still bursting with innocence. Hermione smiled,

"What makes you think I'm shy?" Narcissa pointed to the bookworms hands, which had been unconsciously twisting the ring on her finger. Hermione was shocked at the young girl's perceptiveness and was going to ask her her name when she was interrupted.

"If I'm not mistaken little one, it's passed your bedtime. Say good night to your new friend." Narcissa looked sad and waved goodbye to Hermione, the hazel eyed witch waved back and looked to the witch that had spoken to Narcissa. It took several seconds for her to recognize who it was if she hadn't seen her before in a photograph, without the blue hair and dark look in her eyes Lilith seemed to be a completely different person. The future Death Eater scooped the young blonde girl up and carried her off to the girl's dormitories. Narcissa giggled the entire way.

"So, you're a Kane? They haven't produced any heirs of note in a while. You must be something if they let you out of their sight." Hermione tried not to react to the voice, but it seemed even at this age Bellatrix's voice had a sultriness to it that made her heart thud. She turned to the eldest Black, looking unimpressed.

"My talent exceeded that of those attempting to teach me, hopefully I will be adequately challenged here." She had been hoping to come off as unfriendly as possible, but judging by the look in Bellatrix's eyes she had only managed to seem more enticing. She fought down the shiver attempting to traverse her spine easily enough by reminding herself that her older counterpart had a hand in her parent's abduction. Without another word she stood and followed the path she had seen Lilith take to the dormitories. Halfway down the hall she bumped into the older witch who gave her a half smile.

"Sorry about that, my mind was somewhere else. Did you need someone to show you where the fifth years sleep?"

*In the present*

Lilith had regained consciousness and now all of the true Inner Circle, along with Andromeda and Nymphadora, were gathered in The Dark Lord's study.

"What happened?" The question was quick and simple, but Voldemort's anger could be heard clearly, everyone else in the room fought not to flinch at the sound of his voice.

"Everything went according to plan until the middle of the battle. Potter and his merry band of school children appeared out of nowhere. We suspect Hermione was able to create an unlicensed Port Key. Lilith and I were attacked by Nymphadora and Hermione, but they were knocked unconscious soon after each conflict began. We were able to enter the Halls of Time and exposed ourselves to the sands properly. It happened at the last second the spell was about to make contact and she just appeared at Lilith's side, I had no time to react." Voldemort looked to Lilith, who nodded, affirming his first lieutenant's story. He sat back in his chair, although he was still angry that they had failed their objective they were still at an advantage. No one was aware of the true objective of the raid, which meant if needed they could try again. He doubted that would be necessary though, Hermione would make ripples in the timeline regardless. The Order had no idea of the whereabouts of Hermione or Nymphadora, they would only assume the worst since neither of their bodies would be found at the ministry. Without the presence of the witches to offset any irrational fears and paranoia The Order would become more unstable than it had been before. He needed to find a way to capitalize on that.

"It is rather unfortunate that you two failed your objective, you both will be punished accordingly. However, they way I has been explained to me, it would seem that Hermione was also affected by the sands and managed to manipulate them in time to intervene in what may have looked to be Lilith's demise. That action alone is very telling. So, in light of this information I'll be quick about it. Crucio!"