"Ms. Granger, can you tell me how you were captured?" The twinkling blue eyes above her swam with a darkness that Hermione had never seen before. She grit her teeth tightly, fighting past the pain shooting through her body.

"What do you mean how was I captured?! I risked my ass for Harry and Ron to make sure they could get through, and what happens? I got fucking captured and had to wait a week before I could try and escape. Why didn't anyone come looking for me, huh? I'm sure you all knew where I was, why-" She was cut off by the Headmaster, whose voice cut through her body like a knife, "Ms. Granger, surely you know that our main priority is Harry? We simply could not waste the resources to try and rescue you, when you shouldn't have been captured in the first place." Hermione was flabbergasted. How in the world could he just say that to her? After the torture, she had endured in place of her friends, after risking her life every fucking year for the "greater good," almost getting killed every year? With her anger rushing through her, Hermione kept her face blank but slowly entered Dumbledore's mind. They always underestimated her, never giving her enough credit for her intelligence. Why wouldn't she be able to sneak her way into his mind without him knowing? He would never expect her to even try, which was why it wasn't shocking to see that he had been keeping secrets from her. But the secrets themselves? They were unbelievable. She saw what he truly thought about her, that she was just a tool to be used until she was no longer useful. She delved a bit deeper without him noticing and saw him giving her parents a bundle containing her, and to her surprise, he drew his wand on them, and then used extremely strong compulsion and imperious spells on them, "This child is yours, you birthed her and will provide for her and treat her well." After seeing that, she dug a bit more and found him casting compulsion spells on her and slipping small doses of love potions into her meals to forge a connection with Ron and Harry, making her realize that everything she knew was a complete and utter lie. With her fury contained for the moment she murmured to him that she understood and was sorry for asking such a silly question, sarcasm lacing her words. Dumbledore didn't take any notice and grinned at her, "I'm glad you understand Ms. Granger. Now if you will excuse me, I have some important business to take care of."

After he left, Hermione sat there and allowed the anger to roll through her, clenching her jaw and fists tightly, her nails cutting into her hand. After a while, Professor McGonagall strode in, her forehead crinkled with distress and her stride more of her feline counterpart than she normally allowed. Before she could open her mouth, Hermione had to know if her mentor knew about this, "Professor McGonagall…do you know who I actually am? Did you know about what Dumbledore has kept from me?" McGonagall's face said it all. She did know, she kept this from Hermione, but her face was covered in shame.

"Ms. Granger, yes I did know. However, Dumbledore said it would be safer for you to not know who you came from. I am sorry that I did not tell you about your adoption. Would you like to know who-" Hermione's face was one of confusion, "Did you also know that he has kept me under compulsion spells since I came to Hogwarts? Did you know that he has laced my drinks and food with small doses of love potions to keep me tied to the boys? Did you know these things as well?!" The professor's face was slack with surprise before she clenched her jaw and hissed through her teeth, "That slimy git! I knew there was something off about your friendship with those dunderheads! You're far too intelligent to want to surround yourself with those two lackwits. Hermione, I am so sorry. I wish I could have saved you from this, but alas, I wasn't able to. If I had known, I would have done something, this I promise you. Once you are better, we can try and get you someplace safe, okay? But for now, just stay low and don't anger Albus, alright?" With that being said, the two witches sat and discussed more mundane things, both planning for the future of Hermione. After a while McGonagall left, promising to come by again soon and telling her to get some rest.

Hermione waited for an hour before silently getting out of bed and grabbing her wand, ignoring the pain radiating through her body. She respected McGonagall quite a bit, but she knew she couldn't stay here any longer. If she slipped up and Dumbledore found out she knew, it would either be death or more spells and potions forced into her system, causing her to lose herself once again. She refused to allow someone to take control of her life any longer. Her fate would be up to her, no one else, after all, she was the brightest witch of her age. With her wand in her hand, she accio'd her beaded purse, grinning as it zoomed into her hands. The purse had all her belongings, what with her always having to leave and do something at the drop of a hat. Besides, no one could get her items this way. With one final look around the room, Hermione cast a notice-me-not spell and quietly walked out towards the entrance of Hogwarts. As she walked, she made sure to keep her ears and eyes trained on any sudden movement and sound, hoping that she would be able to get out of the building without alerting anyone to her disappearance. Once she made it safely out of the building, she walked out towards the front gate, remembering that one could not apparate on Hogwarts grounds. After making it out of the school, she took one last glance at the castle, her home away from home, and disappeared with a twist and pop.

She landed gracefully, her hair falling gently around her face while she tried to ignore the pain radiating through her body. She took a deep breath and started walking, having no certain place in mind, just letting her feet guide her. Her thoughts raced, she couldn't believe that her entire life had been a lie and just a piece of manipulation for the Headmaster. The Headmaster who was supposed to have their best interests in mind, not toying with their lives and molding them into his own little pawn. At least she was 17 due to her time turner use. Hermione didn't think that she would ever be more thankful than she was at this moment. No longer was she under someone's thumb, she could find out who she truly was and not have her every move be manipulated into some grand scheme. Inhaling deeply, she twisted and apparated into one of the wizarding villages she knew about, one that she hopefully wouldn't be recognized in. Her landing was less graceful this time, the impact causing her to grunt and hold her ribs tightly, feeling the agonizing pressure from the apparition squeeze her broken ribs. Gritting her teeth, Hermione started walking, not paying much attention to the few witches and wizards that were around until she felt a hand land on her shoulder, causing her to cry out and whip around, obscenities ready to fly out. Before she could say a word, she was pulled into side-along apparition with a familiar blond.

Hermione yanked away once they landed, grabbing her wand and raising it towards the woman who she had only seen once or twice before, Mrs. Malfoy. Before she was able to cast a spell, her ribs gave a painful throb, causing her to drop her wand before she started expelling the bile from her stomach. The young witch fell to her knees as she sobbed out in pain, trying to throw up more but having nothing else to expel. She turned her face up towards the Malfoy matriarch, "So am I going to be tortured or killed? Or am I going to end up being some plaything for one of your bloody Death Eaters? Either way, either speed it up or just go ahead and throw me in a cell. I would like to at least try and rest some before this all goes to hell." Narcissa shook her head, murmuring that there would be no torture of her in her home before she waved her wand towards Hermione, reassuring her when she flinched at the wand pointing at her before cleaning her up. After she cleaned her up she reached down and helped her up, easing her pain as best as she could, before telling her, "The Dark Lord would like to speak with you. I know you have no reason to trust us, but please know that we aren't going to hurt you. You are our guest Ms. Granger." Hermione kept her scrutiny to herself but nodded hesitantly towards her.

After being lead through the manor, Hermione and Narcissa stop in front of a large set of beautiful, wooden doors. Narcissa knocked, a silky voice responding to let them know to come in. Voldemort looked taken aback when his eyes landed on Hermione, and to her surprise he seemed (as much as one can tell) overjoyed at her being within the manor.

"Ms. Granger, what a surprise…I am glad you are here. Surprised no doubt? Well you see, I have been wanting to meet with you for a while now. But before getting into that, why are you no afraid of me? Even some of my followers fear my appearance, yet you just stand there looking me dead on. Why is that?" Hermione tilted her head to the side with a slight smirk on her face before uttering, "Well hello there, cousin. You see, I found out some things before I was brought here. You and I are related, distantly, but we are related. Besides, I have been facing you for years now, why would I be afraid? Your appearance is almost normal to me now." Voldemort was completely taken aback before he tried to delve into Hermione's mind, to his surprise he was able to view her memory of the talk with Dumbledore and McGonagall, but when he started venturing off towards other memories, he found his way blocked before he was pushed out of her mind.

"Well, well. You are an accomplished Occulumens and Legilimens. That isn't all that surprising now that I think of it. Of course, Dumbledore would underestimate your mind, how could anyone be as accomplished as him? I can see that you are extremely upset with your headmaster, are upset that they have taken away from you, lied to you, manipulated you. I am very sorry that this has happened to you. Now, I am sure you're wondering why you aren't being tortured or questioned. Well, to be frank, I have wanted to bring you into our fold since you first thwarted me in your first year. You see, I know that you are the reason for Potter's survival. You are the one who plans everything, makes sure no one gets too badly hurt, you make sure that you are prepared for anything that could happen. You, not Potter, not the Weasel. I know that you have heard we hate "mudbloods" and that I am a cruel man. That isn't true. I don't care about blood status. Some of my followers do, but they will be taken care of here soon. I do dish out punishments when someone does something wrong, however I am not merciless and I don't torture everyone in my ranks. After all, how could I have as many followers if I was out torturing everyone?" Hermione stood there in shock, her mind racing through what Voldemort had said, trying to process it all. How could everything she has known, even about the biggest evil in the world be wrong? How could she believe him and what he said? Movement in the corner of her eye made her thoughts come to a screeching halt. There stood, who she thought was, Bellatrix Lestrange. But she didn't look like she did at the ministry. No, she looked to be in her twenties, her face no longer sunken in, no more cruel insanity playing on her face, instead, she looked like a fallen angel. That thought caused Hermione to blush slightly before she shook her head, groaning as it caused her to become dizzy. She took deep breathes before being able to shake the fuzzy feeling in her head.

"I am rather shocked that you have wanted to speak to me for so long, but then again, I have noticed that you do value intelligence more than the Order does. If you aren't against muggleborns, then what are your plans if you do win?" To her shock, Voldemort waved his wand over his face, causing it to transform into what she assumed was what Harry had described after second year. There stood a handsome Tom Riddle, no longer reptilian looking, but a head covered in silky looking hair, deep brown eyes, and a slight smirk on his face.

"Well Ms. Granger, muggleborns would be taken from their homes and placed into a magical home. Oh, don't look so appalled. Muggles are a danger to our world, especially ones who become fearful once they find out that their children are magical. Tell me, after your acceptance letter, how was your relationship with your parents? Did they flinch if you had your wand out, were you able to talk about anything magical to them? Or did your relationship deteriorate into nothingness? That's how it is for most people. Some it is even worse. This way, muggles won't know about our world and the children will be able to learn more about magic so they won't be as far behind. I also plan on giving more rights to creatures, seeing as most are highly intelligent. I'm sure that this wasn't told in your Order meetings, though was it? After all, the Order has never once put muggleborn children on their priority list, hell they haven't even put creatures up high on their list, even though they have a werewolf in their midst. They are just as bad as some of the pureblood families when it comes to preserving what they think is right. You are the only muggleborn that has ever been in their ranks Ms. Granger. So, think about that for a few moments."

Bellatrix was still there in the shadows, but Hermione couldn't spare a glance her way, not when there was so much that she was just told. Had Dumbledore even lied about what Voldemort was all about? Behind her she heard Narcissa, "Sorry if you feel eyes on you Hermione. My sister is a bit of a voyeur." There was a lightness to her voice that Hermione wouldn't think of ever being present in her voice, which caused her to laugh at what she said and her entire situation. The laughing caused bright spots to form in her vision, her ribs jostling enough to cause her to start coughing, red liquid spraying out of her mouth. Being the polite woman that she was, she had used her hand to cover her mouth. When she pulled her hand away, she started to sway lightly before falling over. Narcissa reached for her but Bellatrix leaped from her hiding spot to catch the young witch who had peaked her interest at the battle of the ministry. Bellatrix gently lowered the girl to the ground, eyes roving over her face with a softness that no one had seen on her face since before her Azkaban sentence.