Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be SO rich I would not bother writing fanfiction

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, would I be procrastinating in doing my APUSH summer work? Yeah, thought not. No, I'm not JKR. 'Nuff said.

Rating: T

Summary: AU. We all know what Hermione saw when she faced the Boggart in the exam for third-year DADA. But…what if she lied? Dark, child abuse.

Episode 2 Summary: AU. Hermione is just now seventeen years old. She's spending what little remains of the summer at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, but she's sidetracked when she discovers a boggart in the upstairs closet.

Warnings: Abuse, language

Mya's Mistake: Episode Two

"Hey Mya," Ginny dropped over her shoulder, "there's something in the linen closet upstairs that you might be able to take care of for us—I know I'd really appreciate it, and so would Mum." Hermione shrugged, nodded, and walked up the stairs.

The dark-haired girl sighed, stretched her neck, and unlocked the linen closet. How bad could it be? Ginny was still sixteen, couldn't do magic outside school yet, and Mrs. Weasley, truth was, was best with her household spells and not anything of a potentially Dark nature lurking about in the cleansed Black Family Home. She was obviously the first person Ginny had seen with the capabilities of handling the challenge.

She watched the door swing open and bang into the wall. But she wasn't watching the door after that. She was watching her father, again picture-perfect down to every last detail, as he carried her sister out of the closet by a heavy hand around her neck. Flashes of silvery light flashed around the hand, as though the six-year-old girl was trying to sting him. Hermione rushed forward. "Alex—Aly…" She was afraid to reach out and touch the girl. Her eyes darted up to her father, fearful and uncertain. He smirked at her, an ugly leer.

"Bet you didn't know, did you? She's been doing this sort of thing for years! The boy too. I can't believe this. You corrupted them—corrupted my children! I should have guessed it would be you to do such a thing, too," he spat. He let Alex drop, unheeded, to the floor, her hands pressing gently against her bruised throat. Hermione recognized the black eye ringing the tearful brown and fought the tears back. She couldn't show weakness in front of him. That would only make things worse.

"Thought I couldn't find you here, eh? Thought you were safe?" He was drunk, very drunk; Hermione could smell it on his breath. She shivered. "Thought that little magic of yours would keep me out? Oh, yes, Thom told me it all. I asked, and he told." The unpleasant smile on his face left little doubt as to how Stephen had "asked".

"What did you do to him?" Hermione breathed.

"Oh, nothing much," he waved it off. "He was a good boy, took it all without crying, like a man." His eyes hardened and turned cold. "So you thought you were done, just 'cause you're seventeen? Well, guess what, sweetheart? You're my daughter, and in my world, you aren't an adult 'til you're eighteen. So you still belong to me. We'll get rid of this magic nonsense yet."

Hermione glanced back at her sister, still lying on the floor bruised and crying. He noticed her look and grinned mirthlessly. "See what happens when you go away, 'Mya'?" he taunted. "Your precious little ones get hurt." His sing-song voice was grating and harsh. "So why do you want to go away?"

Hermione clenched her fists. "I told you to leave them alone," she forced out, hating how her voice shook. "I told you that you could do whatever you wanted with me as long as you left them alone. They were too young—she's only six, you bastard!" She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. "And I was only four, I was only eight, I was only nine!" She refused to let the tears fall. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "I was too young to make the decision, but I gave it all—I gave you my life, I really did. I thought it might help them, but I was wrong. You're too selfish for that." She could hear the tears in her voice. "He's your son, dammit, and she's your daughter. They deserve better for a father."

He was tired of her yelling. He punched her in the stomach, his hand coming back to backhand her in the face. She heard Alex yelp behind him as the breath fled her lungs. She gasped and choked, trying to bring it back into her lungs, shooting a look over at her sister, who still lay crumpled on the ground.

"Now, now, Hermione Rose, you know what happens when you talk back." His baby voice was painful. "Things only get worse."

She clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for the blow she knew was coming. It still knocked her off her feet and onto the floor. He'd always been stronger than her.

He loosened his tie and took a gulp of his drink. She gasped for breath, winded by the impact with the floor. Nonetheless, she pushed herself up on her elbows. She wouldn't let him mock her for weakness, not again.

"'I gave you my life'," he mimicked her, dangerously quiet. "Did you ever think I wanted anything from you? You never should've been born!" He planted a foot on her chest and pushed her back to the ground. She coughed, her hands coming up to grip his ankle as she tried to wrench his foot off of her. Alex latched on to his other ankle, trying to draw his attention away from her sister.

"No, Aly, let go!" she practically screamed. "Don't do this to yourself, I can handle it!"

The man kicked the young girl away from him nonchalantly. "You ought to listen to your sister, Alexandra Louise. She knows how it works." He used his shod foot to press on her windpipe. She struggled to bring air into her starved lungs.

"Fuck you," she wheezed, eyes bright with anger.

"I believe that was you, daughter mine," he retorted, pressing harder. She struggled harder, hauling on his foot. He was too heavy. "You're going to die here," he told her. "You've outlived your usefulness. You're too old to be interesting anymore. So I'll just leave your body as a present for your friends." He smirked. "Fitting, seeing as it's only just been your birthday, isn't it love?"

"What the fuck?"

Hermione jumped at the voice behind her. Draco? she mouthed. She tried desperately to drag air into her lungs, but nothing worked. "Help," she rasped, trying to turn her head. Draco Malfoy, recent addition to the fighting force, jumped in, wand aimed at Stephen. "Let her—"

His shape began to change, becoming a whirling ball of gray mist before it was replaced by the figure of Severus Snape with a coldly furious look on his face. Draco flinched a little, but all he said was "Riddikulus," forcing the boggart back into the cupboard under the force of his spell. As soon as it was inside, he closed the door and barred it with a spell. Then he knelt in front of her, helping her sit up. She coughed and spluttered as she pulled as much air into her lungs as she could, feeling a bruise forming on her neck. The young man put a hand on her back, supporting her silently.

"Who was that?" he finally asked her, his voice forcibly calm. His eyes were focused directly on hers, the silver-gray almost sparking with intensity.

She turned her face away, a flush creeping up her face. "My father," she rasped, her voice hoarse. "And the little girl was my sister, Alex."

They sat in silence for another couple of minutes. "Ever told anyone?"

"No one."

"Are you afraid of him, or what he'll do to her?" He was amazingly perceptive—but then, if rumors were to be believed, his life was about the same.

"Them, actually—I've a younger brother as well. They're both Muggle, as far as I know, but…I can't shake the fear that I'm not the only one. As you can tell." She laughed, an odd, choking laugh. "I'm afraid to get an invitation to a funeral or a visit one day begging me to please come home because Thom or Alex won't wake up. He's only nine, and she's six." She took a deep, shuddering breath, pushing herself to her feet. She waited until he was standing next to her. "They've never said anything, though."

"I'm sure they'd trust you to keep them safe," Draco said, an odd look on his face as he tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. She smiled shakily at him.

"Umm, Draco? Please…please just don't tell anyone." It was still her secret, after all.

BREAK

A/N: Yeah, that's been in the works since I wrote Episode 1 of Mya's Mistake…now here it is, finally finished today. More to come, hopefully—will she check on Alex and Thom? Don't hold your breath, it'll probably be way longer, especially since I've got chapters for Veiled Identity and Parents from the Playground in the works (in the works). I've been getting incredibly distracted, but anyway, hope you enjoy! Maybe consider reviewing?

Thanks,

LysPotter