Unexpected Family
Chapter 1
Hermione was sitting in the corner of the common room and tried to indulge herself in anything. She curled herself in the couch and tried to read 'Mathilda' disguised as "Hogwarts, A History" , to keep well meaning purebloods away, however, her heart just wasn't in her childhood favourite, for she could not concentrate.
She huffed a little at the lack of peace in the common room, which was now bustling with activity. Students kept talking about the last task of the Triwizard tournament.
It was the last day of her fourth year and she was trying not to think about what happened a few nights ago.
The fourth task of the Triwizard tournament took place in the Quidditch pitch which looked like a maze. The task was simple enough, the first to reach the cup by overcoming all the obstacles was the winner. The four champions, Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour entered the maze within a span of five minutes and the audience waited for the champion to come out, Simple? She did not think so, Thanks to Harry's luck of getting hurt all the time.
Half an hour, after the beginning, red sparks were seen in the air, indicating the fall of a champion who turned out to be, the Beauxbatons girl, Fleur Delacour, Fire princess got burnt, ouch.
Next was her ex-crush, Viktor Krum, who was dragged out from the maze unconscious. The champion was going to be a student of Hogwarts then. "Not Harry" Hermione whispered, eerily reminding herself of Lily's last words, as Harry had told her. Others, however, were interested to find who it was, the loyal Puff or the brave Gryff. Almost an hour later, Harry Potter emerged out from the maze with Cedric. Cheers erupted and she had to shield herself, from the excessive noise. Amidst the celebrations, however, something wasn't right. She knew, Cedric did not make it. Her heart broke on seeing Harry's vulnerable green eyes showing fear. The only thing she was dreading the whole time has happened, Voldemort.
Not surprisingly, the minister was now denying it, and Dumbledore bossing over the situation and the minister, instead of comforting the 5 Diggorys present around Cedric's dead body.
She saw, a pink haired Auror, get Moody in Handcuffs and nod, to Susan's Aunt.
Barty Crouch Jr was found guilty, they immediately had him under Magic-supressing cuffs and the Bones woman, took him over portkey to a secure location. The Minister however was trying his best to push it all under the rug and began to spread rumours that Harry is a delusional boy and attention seeker, cementing Skeeter's old rumours, his Pink dressed companion, suggesting in an overly girly voice, that Harry was under Dumbledore's control and it was Dumbledore who had to be punished. Many started to blame Harry and Dumbledore for Cedric's death on her statement.
Rita came, jumping in with her green quill, near Harry.
"No" she remembered saying, She then went, grabbed Harry and pulled him, to the stands, "Under the cloak now!" and they both had dissapearded.
The minister indirectly backed up the point that Harry was under imperius and hence in a befuddled state of mind, that was exactly what the prophet needed and they began to slander him and started to ridicule him.
The minister has declared that the death of Cedric Diggory as an accident and blamed it on the whole Triwizard tournament. People started gossiping as no one knew what has happened inside the maze and many believed that Harry was doing it only to gain attention, to soothe his own ego. Anyone who knew him would know for a fact that he most hates the attention in the first place.
When he was only a year old, he lost his parents to He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named, and became the Boy-Who-Lived.
When has life been fair to Harry Potter? Hermione wondered. First year he had to face Quirrell who was host to the soul of Voldemort. In his second year he had to face the slander of being the heir of slytherin and was shunned by many. But even after all that, at the end of the year, he had to face a 60-foot basilisk so that he can save Ginny,his best friend's sister. Last year, he was torn between being safe and doing the right thing. He was hunted by an escaped prisoner, who turned out that the man was his godfather. He had to deal with the dementors and learned how to produce a patronus charm to save lives.Just when they wished she thought, he would have a normal life, Harry's name out came from the Triwizard cup. It was a stalemate for him, to compete or lose his magic. She was really doubting, if the magical world,was all that it promised to be.
Every year one of the four houses or all the houses had rounded up on Harry and accused him of things he didn't do, or even know about. This year he was accused by the whole school for entering the tournament. Even their so called Best friend Ron, suspected him, and was thought to be the source of many rumours on Harry in Skeeter's articles.
But she,Hermione Jean Granger, muggle born and best friend to Harry Potter always stood beside him. No one really cared about her, as she as a know-it-all as Ron liked to point it out every other time.
Mudblood, as Draco endearingly called her. Ron always suggested her to loosen up and enjoy life without worrying about education. But the girl knew better than that, as she can never be safe in the world where purebloods always try to demean her.
Being a muggle born she always aimed to be her best, in this new chance that life had offered her.
She wanted to learn everything beforehand, so that she never had to depend on others and never could be cheated.
Her muggle upbringing taught her to be independent, Thanks to her adoptive parents who pretended to care deeply for her and used to act proud when she did something herself. She knew, from when she was small, if she didn't she would never get anything done, They claimed to noy Know who her birth parents were. Just that, they found the baby, a year old girl, in their car,while house hunting on a black night. Taking pity, they had taken her in, but by the time she grew older, she had become a burden.
The Granger family pretended to be perfectionists, well organised and strict
They raised her discipline and rules rather than love and care, and revealed to her, their secret, They weren't dentists, they were an incestous pair of siblings involved in the flesh trade, a prostitute and a gigolo, pretending to be married to secure a house in a good locality. They never saw anything , usually too engrossed in themselves to see her. Her accidental magic was not believed and she remembered being terribly berated.
She avoided spending time with them by entering the world of books, rather than to argue with them. She made sure to look bad and unattractive, to prevent their attention on her.
She remembered getting her Hogwarts letter, and it had taken a great deal of convincing from Professor McGonagall to allow her to study magic. Even when they did allow her to go to Scotland, they never supported her idea of going to school to study and improve her magic. They always thought that it was a waste of time, and she should join the family trade.
Every year the same discussion took place and they tried, to get her to quit the school, But last year in a fit of anger the Man shouted that she was a freak and that they never should've adopted her in the first place and the Woman finally asked her to get away.
Hermione knew that she never belonged there, but after this, she decided to never ever see them again. She chose to stay in the magical world rather than stay in a place where she never felt complete. She knew that she did not belong with them and this year, she will not be going back to her parents' house if she could call them that. This decision of her was backed up with the fact that Voldemort has returned and as she was well noted as the muggle born friend of Harry Potter making her a prime target.
Hermione looked around and saw that Harry entered the common room. She watched as he sat beside her and spoke out "Mione, I have to go to Gringotts to withdraw money. So I was wondering if you want to come with me tomorrow after we drop at Kings Cross. I think it is best if we take the money now, rather than at the end and just before the school re-opening."
"Sure Harry, I will definitely come. Even I need to make a withdrawal," she said trying not to give out the obvious fact that she was not going back to her home and was in fact staying with his godfather, Sirius. Being a generous gentlewizard, Sirius agreed to take her in with him.
Harry nodded his head and looked at the cackling fire, lost in thoughts. He was beginning to look worse day after day, his dark circles increased indicating that he was not getting any sleep. Hermione saw that he looked even more tired than before and she cannot blame him for that. After sometime he said "it's going to be different right, after what happened that night?" referring to the last task.
Hermione nodded her head and said "yeah it is going to be. But we were always prepared to face the consequences." She took his hands and said "we will face them Harry, together. I promise you".
Unknown to them certain redheads were listening to every word spoken. Unable to control his temper, Ron began to shout "what did you do last night? Please don't tell me you both have slept together? Harry you do know that Mione is mine right? Why did you do it?" He said, his eyes glancing between them in jealousy.
After the initial shock of the words settled in, Hermione shrieked "Yours? What gave you the idea that I am yours? How could you possibly think so low of me? You are the most pathetic excuse for a human. I'm not like a certain shameless witch, to go on and sleep with everyone nor am I your slave, if that's what you're implying"
"C'mon Mione. No need to deny your feelings towards me. I know that you went with Krum just to make me jealous. You should have known by now that I'm not holding any hard feelings for that. I know that we are going to end up together. Just as Ginny and Harry are going to be a couple" he said shrugging his shoulders.
"How dare you,Ronald Weasley! for making an assumption that I would have feelings for you and want to be with you. Even if you had asked me out, I would have rejected you. Why would I want to be with you? You talk to me like I'm a bloody possession. After this fiasco, do not EVER expect me to talk to you much less look at you!" she said.
Beside her Harry as desperately trying to calm her down "Mione don't. Everyone is staring at us, you know riling up Ron is going to be bad for us. Please calm down not for him, but for me, He's not worth you getting angry over". She slowly tried to her temper down, when Ron once again started barking, sorry, speaking.
"Mione don't act like you have a choice. You are a mudblood, you need a pure blood like me to protect you from the death eaters" He said as if she was a 5 year old child. That was it, she couldn't stop the tears coming from her eyes. She never felt much humiliated than today.
Neville who had just come down from the dorms was looking at Ron in disbelief. He knew how she was feeling, it was one thing to hear it from your enemy, but it was a totally different thing coming from her friend. Neville went to her side and said "Shut up Ronald!"
Ron looked at the boy laughed, and said in a mock baby voice"look who came to defend you, a squib! I never knew that you would stoop down to this level, you are a shameless woman. You play with everyone's feelings. Neville here thinks you love him, poor boy."
By now, all of the Gryffindor students were staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths. Hermione was now sobbing in her friend's arms and fell to the ground. Neville consoled her and was looking at Harry sending him a silent signal to step in. Neville and Harry became quite good friends after the announcing of the champions. He was the one other Gryffindor other than Hermione who believed that Harry, did not enter. They had become quite good friends over time. Harry signalled Neville, requesting him to take her from there.
Harry looked at Ron in disgust and said "I don't understand how I became friends with you. You should know better than to judge anyone and much less Hermione. If it wasn't for her you and your sister would have been dead."
Hermione stood up as Neville helped her up. She gained her composure back and said "Neville is far better than you and do not call me a shameless woman. I have always known that something was wrong with you .
Listen clearly Ronald Weasley, I will never need your help and it will be the last day of Earth before I come to you for help. Seriously Ronald how could you not know by now that I manage everything on my own without anyone. Even death eaters, mind you. Yes, I can handle them, but not your atrocious behaviour! Even Malfoy is better than you. He is my enemy, whereas you are my friend. And you think of me as if I'm your personal slave or something. I never thought that you would think so low of me. Thank you so much for your concern!"
She turned towards Harry and said "If the offer still stands, I'll meet you after we get off the train" and turning to Neville she whispered "thanks for standing up for me" as she began to get away from that piece of scum she used to call a friend. She walked towards the portrait hole, before he provoked her by saying some shit which may lead her to hex him into oblivion.
Neville looked at the so called best friend and said "she will never be yours. Never in a million years" and walked after Hermione.
Harry could not control his anger and it was quite difficult for him to control himself and not Avada him on the spot. He began to walk towards the portrait hole and with a glare directed at Ron, he said "I don't want to talk to a pathetic excuse of a human being like you, who judges people without knowing them. I thought that you had at least some sense in that thick head of yours. You are waste of time and space, Ron" and walked out behind Neville and Hermione. However the three of them were oblivious of the glares sent by Ron and Ginny, who were seething with anger.
Harry saw that Hermione was headed to the empty classroom and headed towards that way, followed by Neville. As soon as she stepped inside of the room, she could not stop the tears and fell on her knees and cried. Neville and Harry settled beside her and soothed her. She could not believe that the person was the same Ron she knew for so long. She looked at the two boys and said "thank you For being there for me".
Neville just shrugged while Harry said "Mione we meant what we said and I guess we were too oblivious to his nonsense all this while ." She merely nodded her head and leaned on Neville while she recounted the whole conversation in her mind. Her shoulders were still shaking due to the crying and all of a sudden she stood up. She was pacing trying to think of what was odd in the conversation.
However, both the boys were looking at her with curiosity. From the looks of it, they knew that she was thinking something and decided to wait until she spoke.
Her face morphed to that of horror when she realised them. Two things stood out more prominently in the conversation - he seemed pretty confident that she would be going out with him and he also mentioned about Harry and Ginny, something was not quite adding up…. Suddenly she said "Harry?" her voice still a little hoarse from all the crying but it had a definite amount of fear.
He looked at her and said "yes Mione". He knew that whatever she was going to tell, it was not at all a good thing judging from her expression and voice.
"Don't you think that it is odd that Ronald has mentioned you and Ginny being together, when you don't even talk to each other?"