Disclaimer: HP Universe is not mine. I make no money from this. Etc Etc.

NB: This is un-beta'd and barely edited. However I decided to just go ahead and post it otherwise I likely never would. Uploading it all at once (in theory, once I work out how this system works) Enjoy.

NB2: I've been reading fan fiction for at least 10 years now so inevitably there may be parts of this story that are similar to others. Nothing is deliberate theft, however if you think something was taken from another story, let me know I'm sure I'd be interested to read it.

Almost an Echo.

While not discussed often, it is an unfortunate truth that not all families of mundane born witches and wizards happily accept the knowledge that their children are magical. Sometimes the families response to the discovery of the child's heritage is so extreme that the memories of all involved are altered. In the case of the parents a specialist from the ministry is dispatched to remove all knowledge and evidence of the child from them and their household. Rather than loose new magical blood, the child is usually placed as a ward of the ministry and their memories of their family replaced, told that they have amnesia and that their families were lost in an accident. This is the unfortunate story of one such family.

Sep 19, 1990 - Wednesday

As she did every Wednesday Professor McGonagall checked her automatically generated list of mundane-born children that would require an introduction visit over the next week. 'Miss H Granger, Pink bedroom, 10 Pullens Field, Headington. Miss H Granger, Pink bedroom, 10 Pullens Field, Headington'

"That's odd, the letter quill must be malfunctioning" She said, making a mental note to check the charms. Taking out her planner she added 'Visit Granger family' for the coming Friday evening, and returned to the rest of her morning routine.

Sep 21, 1990 – Friday

Inside the Granger Household, McGonagall was starting to fear that this meeting was not going to end well.

"I assure you Mr Granger, magic is perfectly natural and that there is nothing wrong with your daughter being a witch"

"It's unnatural and I won't stand for it. Either make her normal or take her with you." Demanded the irate father, "No daughter of mine would be an abnormal monster"

The daughter in question who had been quietly standing by the door up until now started openly sobbing.

"Magic isn't something that can be cured or removed. It's a wonderful gift and children born with it should be cherished"

"A gift? A gift?! A gift wouldn't have almost burned down our house. A gift wouldn't have resulted in my wife leaving us because of all the other freak occurrences in the house. I'm not going to stand for it, you either take her with you or I'm kicking her out on the street. As far as I'm concerned she's no daughter of mine."

Professor McGonagall stared at the man for a moment after his rant. She hated visits like this, and couldn't understand how some parents could treat their children this way. It was obvious that at the very least she was going to have to take the girl with her for now.

"Mr Granger, for Hypatia's sake I will take her with me tonight. I'm going to give you the weekend to think about what exactly you are asking. Come Monday if you still feel the need to continue this detestable action then someone from the ministry will be by to finalise her removal from your care. If you change your mind before then, write on this parchment and I'll return to discuss other options with you."

With that, she turned around and tried to get the attention of the now distraught girl. "Come on, you can come with me tonight," She said soothingly "I'm sure things will be better once your father has had some time to think about it"

Hypatia shook her head in disbelief and tried to pull away. Seeing that she wasn't likely to calm down anytime soon, McGonagall pulled out her wand and stunned the girl before picking her up and apperating to the gates of Hogwarts.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

Sadly, after two and a bit days of Hypatia crying and barely eating anything the deadline passed and a ministry stooge was dispatched to the Granger Residence to cast the spell that would remove all memory and evidence that Mr Granger ever had a daughter. To ease the burden on the girl, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey decided it would be best to alter Hypatia's memories and let her think she had amnesia and lost her family in an accident.

In an unfortunate twist for our story, the stooge in question was unobservant and incompetent. Instead of doing his job properly and researching the history of the family in question to tailor the spell to fit the Granger Household neatly, he simply used the core idea that "Mr Granger never had a daughter" and let the magic do its work removing all evidence of the truth.

A competent investigator would have noticed that while many of the pictures in the house featured a bushy brown haired girl in various situations, more than one of them did in fact feature two bushy brown haired girls. A competent investigator would have looked into the pink bedroom and seen that instead of a single bed, there was in a bunk-bed. A competent investigator would have noticed that perhaps McGonagall's dictation quill was in fact not malfunctioning and realised that Mr Granger actually had identical twin daughters.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

Hermione Granger was excited about finally heading home. "Brain Camp" as the kids called it, was fun but she didn't really get on well with the rest of the children there. Mainly she couldn't wait to talk to her sister about the strange letter she got the night of their birthday.

"Miss Hermione Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you are born to non-magical parents, a school representative will visit within the next week to explain everything, give you your required items list and answer any questions you may have.

Term begins for you next year on 1 September. In the event of you misplacing your ticket please trace the symbol on the back of this letter for a replacement."

Hermione just knew her sister must have gotten a letter too. It was unfortunate that they had to celebrate their birthday early since she had to leave for camp early Wednesday morning, otherwise they might have been able to open their letters together. As far as she knew, nobody had come to the camp to talk to her, so somebody must have visited their father and explained it all to him.

Hermione was almost bouncing in her seat in excitement. Magic actually gave explanation to some of the strange things that had happened over her life. Like her least favourite clothes changing colour, and books that were frustratingly out of her reach suddenly falling off the shelf.

She really hoped that Hypatia had gotten a letter. Maybe she had strange things happen as well that could be attributed to magic. When things had happened in the past she hadn't mentioned it because she was scared that it meant something bad, but as soon as they were alone she was going to talk about everything.

Looking out the window she started to recognise buildings that meant they were approaching the bus station. She closed the book she had barely looked at for the journey and slipped it into her carry bag, ready to bolt for the door as soon as it was safe to do so.

When the bus was stopped she was one of the first off, but then had to wait around for the luggage to be removed from the compartments. Oddly she couldn't see where Hypatia and their father were waiting for her. Maybe they were inside the main building or late or something.

Once she had her luggage, she headed towards the entrance but there was still no sign of them. Deciding that they just must be late, Hermione decided to take a seat in the waiting lounge with a clear view to the main doors so she could see the moment they showed up. Half an hour later she was starting to get worried, and so she decided to go to the assistance counter.

"Um, Excuse me. I came in on the last bus, but I can't find my father who is meant to be waiting for me. Can you please try to page him for me?" she asked the woman there politely.

"Sure honey, what's his name?"

"Robert, Robert Granger"

"If there is a Robert Granger in the terminal can you please come to assistance counter one. Robert Granger, can you please come to assistance counter one. Thank you" the attendant said into the PA system.

"Thank you"

"No problem honey" the woman said, before returning to what she was doing on the computer in front of her.

About five minutes later Hermione's nervous shifting reminded the attendant her presence and so she repeated the call again. After a few more minutes it was obvious that nobody was coming. Hermione's face fell, where was her father? He'd never forgotten to pick either of the girls up before.

Noticing that the girl was close to tears the attendant asked "Do you want use the phone to call somebody dear?"

"Um, yeah. I guess I'll ring home. I hope Dad has just gotten his days confused and hasn't broken down somewhere." Hermione replied as the attendant lifted the counter panel to let her into the assistance booth and passed her the phone.

After a while of ringing with no answer, she put the phone back onto the receiver. "No response, I guess he's on his way. Thanks for letting me use the phone" she said to the attendant. "I guess I'll go wait back over there again. Thanks."

Three hours and four unanswered phone calls later, the attendant walked up to where Hermione was sitting. "Aww honey, your dad still not here? I'm afraid we're just about to close for the tonight, where do you live?" She asks with obvious sympathy and concern.

"Headington, in Oxford"

Unfortunately for Hermione, that's completely in the other direction to where the attendant lives, and she has a couple of kids she needs to get home to before they destroy the place. "Is there nobody else you can call?"

"Well, yeah. I guess" Hermione lies. There isn't really anybody else nearby who she could ask to come get her, but she does have a bank card that dad says to only use in emergencies. She can get some money out from that and take a taxi home. 'I really hope dad's okay and doesn't turn up just as I leave' she thinks to herself.

"Okay good" the attendant said cheerfully and gestures to the phone while she heads off to do a few final things before she can go home. A few minutes later, she sees the girl waiting by the pick-up area out the front of the depot. "All set?"

"Yeah, they'll be here in about ten minutes" Hermione replies.

The attendant's mothering instincts rage against leaving a girl out here on her own, but she does have to get home to her own kids, and besides there is security here at the depot twenty four seven. "Okay, if you have any trouble or get scared, bash on this door and press this button to call for security alright?"

"Okay, thank-you for your help today" Hermione says respectfully before the attendant walks off to her car.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi finally shows up. Another thirty minutes after that Hermione is finally out the front of her house. Disturbingly even though it's only around nine pm, no lights are on inside the house. Pulling her key out of her carry bag, she lets herself in. Calling out that she's home gets no response so she checks the garage to find her dad's car isn't there. 'Drat, he must have broken down when he went to pick me up. I hope he's not too worried when he gets home.' She thinks to herself.

Deciding to get changed into her pyjamas and then wait for her dad and sister on the couch in the lounge, she drags her luggage up to their bedroom. When she opens the door, the handle of the luggage drops from her hand in shock. The whole room has changed. The walls a no longer painted pink, the bunk-bed is replaced with a single, all of her books posters and belongings are all gone. Worried that she somehow let herself into the wrong house, she rushes into her father's room to find that pretty much the same as she remembered. 'What does this mean? What's happening?' she asks herself, starting to become really scared.

Dragging her luggage into the lounge, she finally notices that all of the pictures of her and her sister are missing. Some of the photos around the room are similar but it's like someone has gone through and removed her and her sister from them.

Hearing the internal door to the garage open she turns to see her dad enter the room. Rushing towards him without seeing the confusion on his face she grabs him in a hug and buries her face in his chest. "Dad, what's going on? What's happened to all our photos?" she sobs before giving into her tears that had been threatening since she went upstairs.

Confused as to why this girl was in his house, Rob pries the girl's arms from around him before holding her at arm's length. "Who are you and how did you get in my house?" He asks firmly, but not harshly.

"Dad, that's not funny. Where's Hypatia?" She asks suddenly realising that her sister didn't follow her dad into the house.

"Who? I'm sorry I don't know who you are. I'm not your father, I'm not even married" Rob said becoming more confused.

"Dad, stop joking around, you're starting to scare me." Hermione said before once more attaching herself to her father's chest and starting to really cry.

Realising that the girl wasn't faking anything, and honestly believed he was her father, Rob let the girl hug him and cry. "Shhhh," he said gently rubbing her back "It'll be okay." Noticing that the girl was starting to shake he led her to the couch and sat down before she collapsed. After a few minutes of crying the girls sobbing eased as she fell asleep.

Being careful not to wake her, Rob went into the kitchen and used the phone to call the police to report the girl as a runaway.