Author's Note: Welcome to Maelstrom- my rewritten, revamped, and renewed vision of The End of Summer. Some of you, if you are coming from TEoS, have seen this chapter before, but here it is again to finally introduce the published version of this story. It's the same basis as TEoS, but darker, more fleshed out, and takes a much wider perspective of events.

I'm starting out the story with a T rating, however I may change it to M later on.

I'm publishing this without a beta, so if anyone is interested, PM me or drop it in a review. Any editing help would be much appreciated!

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Chapter 1

Hermione looked down at the cooing baby, her eyes wide. She stood there, but could say nothing as realization dawned on her. She had seen this child in old photographs, in well kept books. But it couldn't be...

'Marius!' A beautiful, high pitched voice rang through the room, making the baby smile broadly and coo even more. 'Marius, be a dear and get Pansy, I don't have very long before my Lord will summon me. I would call Bitty down, but she's caught something and I don't want her near my babies."

The woman that entered the room was just as beautiful as the voice. But Hermione barely noticed her or the words that continued to spill from the perfectly colored lips. Her vision was still locked on the child. The baby couldn't have been more than a year old as she unsteadily held herself up on the edge of the crib.

"They needs to be fed in a few hours and I don't know how soon I will be back. And I know it can be hard to remember sometimes, but if you won't be in the room, do not leave them in the same cot. They argue over absolutely everything."

Hermione jumped out of the way as the beautiful woman came to the crib and picked the baby up. "You'll be a sweetheart for mother, will you?" The baby laughed in response, trying to grab at one of the woman's pearl drop earrings.

The woman laughed in response and pulled the toddler's hand away. "Mia, no. Mother needs to go out. Be good to your sister. I know you usually don't start things, but you reciprocate far louder." The baby stopped reaching and gurgled happily. "It'll be just my luck if you're sorted into Gryffindor, you bold brat." For a moment the child stopped everything, seeming to understand the insult, but the illusion was broken quickly as the girl cooed even louder and reached for the pearl again.

The mother glared at the child, kissed her forehead and set her down calling out for her husband once again.

Hermione took a few steps toward the baby, needing a closer look, to be absolutely sure, when the area around her melted away and was replaced by a larger parlor.

"Oh Cissa, I just don't know. It's not like our Lord to just leave us here." The beautiful woman was there again, this time cradling tea in the lap, her hand shaking slightly.

"If Jacoba had been here with us, I would have questioned it, but you know how He has been treating both you and I since Audrey's death," This woman could be mistaken for no other . Even though Hermione had never met her, Narcissa Malfoy was one of a kind. "You know we stay with our children, Delilah."

The woman, Delilah, sighed and took a sip of the tea. "I know. But you do not bear the mark. I can feel them. It was always minor on other raids, but on the culmination of our Lord's plans? It burns."

A chorus of excited "Mother!"s echoed though the room as a gaggle of toddlers rushed in.

"Pansy Parkinson, where are your manners!" Delilah cried out. The dark skinned girl that was leading the pack stopped, suddenly ashamed. "And you, Mia, what did you do to get your sister so excited?"

A lighter skinned girl pouted. "I was just telling a story I heard. 'Bout what muggles do on 'loween."

Delilah put her delicate hand to the bridge of her nose. "If our Lord could hear you. What have I told you about reading about muggles, Mia? Especially on such an important date." She turned to Narcissa. "I am truly sorry, dear, that Draco had to hear that."

The blonde woman took a sip of her tea and smiled softly. "Toddlers do what they will, Lilah. Although some have better taste."

The brown haired girl pouted darker, glaring at the blonde. A laugh came from the blond boy behind her. "Stop it Draco. That wasn't vew-vew-very nice, Lady Malfoy."

One pale eyebrow rose dramatically. "I suppose it wasn't, Mia."

It was obvious that Malfoy was going to say more, but she was cut off by a banshee scream from the woman next to her. Even Hermione in her specter form, jumped. All of the toddlers began to cry in fear and shock, running to Narcissa who had fallen to her knees. She wrapped her arms around them. The girls stared at their mother in fear.

The normally immaculate Delilah Parkinson had tears streaming down her face as she clutched her left arm. The mark had faded, but was puffy and red. It looked like nothing more than a new tattoo. "He's gone."

"What on earth do you mean?" Narcissa cried out, still trying to calm the startled children.

" The mission failed. Something happened, I don't know," Delilah's eyes were wide and she slumped to the floor. "Oh Cissa, He's dead." The two girls broke out of Lady Malfoy's arms and ran to their mother. "We're all dead."

Hermione stood in shock as the scene around her faded into shadows again.

"Miss Granger, you may exit the pensieve."

An order. Not, a request.

As she pulled away from the smooth waters, the Gryffindor stumbled backwards slightly. What had just happened?

What in the name of Merlin had she just seen?.

There was no way, no way that what she had seen could have been true. She would have remembered. There would have been pictures, clothes, something, anything! No, no, no...

"Miss Granger, please sit down and let us continue where we left our discussion prior to viewing."

Hermione nodded and sat down. Her brain was already working at a hundred miles an hour to try and think of all the charms and spells she knew that could have made the suppression of those memories so complete. She could only think of a few and they had their flaws. But she realized with an internal groan that whoever had magicked her must have done so with Dumbledore or perhaps even Dumbledore himself and there were probably hundreds of thousands of spells that that man knew that the average wizard could only...

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione jumped, "Headmaster." She said flatly.

For the first time since exiting the pensieve, she actually looked at Albus Dumbledore. She could no longer see him as benevolent. He had done something, something huge, and she couldn't even grasp what he had done, no less the true magnitude. All she knew is that the balance of many lives were going to be thrown off if what she had seen was true.

The old man leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I know you must be confused by what you saw, and rightfully so. I didn't show you nearly enough, but if I had compiled all the necessary memories, we would have been here for hours. So it's clear to you that you were adopted."

Hermione's hands tightened on the arms of the seat. Now that her shock was wearing off, it was being replaced by anger. "Yes, Headmaster. I've known since I was a child." Her expression was clearly not amused.

Dumbledore nodded. "The memories you have just seen were compiled from Delilah Parkinson, her personal Elf, Minnie, and myself." He paused slightly, steepling his fingers in the air. "You were born on September 19th of 1979 as Hermione Peony Parkinson, the younger twin of Pansy Ophelia Parkinson."

Hermione's jaw clenched. "Pansy Parkinson is my twin."

The Headmaster nodded once again even though it hadn't been a question. "I know this must be a bit of a shock..."

Try as she may, Hermione could not have suppressed the snort that escaped her.

"But please continue to listen to my narrative. Those, were trying times for many, Miss Granger, but you and your sister were well cared for and well loved. The Parkinsons were an influential family who had made their name with the merchant trade a few hundred years ago and Mrs. Parkinson is both a Yaxley and Prince. They did not lack for anything. The true trial for them came when Voldemort fell."

Hermione scowled. That had been the last memory that Dumbledore had shown her, but she could easily deduce that that was not even close to the end of the matter. It was probably the beginning.

He continued languidly. "That night, the marks had been deactivated by the corporeal death of the master. However, they did not disappear. When it came time to round all known Death Eaters up, there was a certain numbers disparity. There were many known conspirators but hardly any bore the dark mark. Those that did were affluent members of society and quite a few went free. It caused quite the stir."

Hermione was listening intently, not having heard this part of recent history. Sending unmarked criminals to jail while Inner Circle members got off scot free? Society must have been in an uproar.

"Your mother was among those that got off with a probationary period. Six months of no magical use. Three more years of close surveillance." He looked down at the 6th year Gryffindor and met her eyes. "You and Pansy saved your mother, Miss Granger. Soon after you were born, Theodore Nott's mother was killed in a raid, so Tom Riddle forbade the young mothers from participating in most of his... ah... activities. These mothers included Aurora Greengrass, and Narcissa Malfoy. Both of them were also protected when the trials came."

Hermione's lips pursed. "Excuse me Headmaster, as interesting as I find this information, how on earth do I fit in to all of this. How do I get from being a Parkinson to a Granger?" She asked.

Dumbledore's blue eyes flashed. "Patience, child."

The Gryffindor bristled. Benevolent indeed.

" The trouble came the year after. I was discussing the removal of the dark mark with various Masters when they said that if the mark were truly dead, it would have disappeared. Such is the nature of Slave marks. It was disturbing news. I soon discovered that the soul of Tom Riddle remained. The war had not been ended, but rather, postponed. This, Miss Granger, is where you become valuable."

Hermione looked at her Headmaster squarely, her brain working. Valuable? What could one gain from taking a child away from a loving mother?

"Since the battle was postponed for an indeterminable amount of years, I had to plan for the future. So I chose you, from among your peers, to be my soldier. If the success of Riddle's dogma in the first war was any indication, the success of it a second time could strip the Light from any way to infiltrate the old names. So, on Christmas morning of '83-"

Fawkes suddenly flew from his perch and trilled a warning.

Dumbledore sighed deeply and sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but I must cut our meeting short." A flick of his wand and room shone slightly before the extra light disappeared. "We will continue our discussion at a later date, but I must tell you the most important part now. I mustn't waste any more time." He stood and selected a vial from his cabinet of memories. "I need you, Miss Granger, to return to your birth family. Once there, you must report the going-ons of the wealthy families directly to me."

Hermione's hands had gone white. "Sir, you mean for me to-"

"Spy. Yes, Miss Granger. You must do your duty for the sake of us all." With that, he handed her the vial of memories and opened the door.

Later that night, if anyone had been near the 6th years girls dorm, they would have heard the crash of glass and water as a pensieve hit the ground.

Ending Note: Just an introduction, so pretty short. Look forward to more soon! I'd love to hear what y'all think in the time being :)