Chapter 1: A Sign

Ten years later:

After the royals were all killed that night, Dolores, along with the men who had attacked the palace that night had taken on the name of 'Ministry' and have since then been in rule. It was a horrible way of life, as the people were only given jobs that the government told them they could have. Basically the government decided everything for you.

Hogsmeade had become dark and gloomy, ever since the palace had been set aflame. No one had seemed truly happy. They went through school and their daily lives, gossip had kept their lives busy. Rumors had started that while the royals were all supposed to have been killed the night of the revolt, there might still be one alive. Hermione…

The last Grand Duchess.

It was that rumor that had caught the attention of a petite red-headed girl. She had been roaming the street when she heard such things, she instantly ran to her older brother to go tell him the news. However, Ron already knew and was looking for her as well.

"Do you believe this Ginny? This is our chance; I hear Madam will pay a large sum to get her back," Ron said excitedly.

"Yes," she smiled. Her days as a con girl were over. The night of the revolt, she and Ron's father and older brothers had all been killed trying to protect the royals. Their mother, stricken with grief, died a few years ago, and since then, the two of them had been living in the remained ruins of the palace. But now this was their chance to leave and get their lives together. "This is our chance to get out of this life forever. This is the rumor of the century. Now all we need is the girl and we'll be on our way!"

Meanwhile outside of Hogsmeade in a small town on Diagon Alley, there was another story. The Shrieking Shack, the name of the run-down orphanage, two friends were finally leaving their home… or rather… being kicked out.

A boy, with black hair and green eyes, along with a girl with bushy, brown hair and brown eyes were being led to the rickety old gate that guarded the orphanage.

"I've found you a job at Grunnings," Marge grumbled as she leaned on the cane she used to wack the children. The orphanage had always been crowded, especially since so many children lost their families during the revolt. It was always a good day whenever Marge was able to get rid of one child. But two at the same time… it was a wonder why Marge didn't start singing. "You go straight down this road until you get to the fork in the road. Turn left—"

All the while this lady was calling out her orders, the two teens were shouting goodbye to the other children, who were too young to leave, and were now hanging out the windows.

"Bye bye Harry!" a boy and his little brother called.

"See ya, Colin! Dennis! Take care of each other!" Harry yelled, waving back.

"Hermy!" a girl with pigtails shouted at the girl.

"Goodbye Hannah!" the girl named Hermy shouted back. "I'll miss you!"

"Are you even listening?" Marge said in an annoyed voice.

They both looked at her and said at the same time, "Of course we're listening, Aunt Marge."

Even though this fat woman, with the mustache, wasn't their aunt of course, they had been forced to call her that their whole lives.

"You two brats should be grateful that you were brought here and out of the cruel world," Marge snapped as the bulldogs that she kept came barking up at them.

"Yes, Aunt Marge," they both said at the same time, looking down at the dogs with identical expressions of disgust on their faces.

"If it had been up to me, I would've thrown you out long ago," she snapped, her multiple chins wobbling as she spoke. "But I was forced to keep you and all the other filth that were brought to my door."

"Yes, Aunt Marge," they repeated. She glared at them both, as if trying to figure out if they were mocking her, which they were.

The older woman looked at them with almost disgust, "You two little demons have been pebbles in my shoe since you arrived here, acting like you owned the place instead of the worthless no accounts that you are. I fed you, I clothed you, I—"

"Kept a roof over our worthless head," the boy muttered loudly, having heard that speech before. "Tough love?" he added and his best friend smiled, holding her fingers to her mouth to keep herself from bursting out laughing. Marge stopped short as she glared at Harry. "I have taken care of you both for the past ten years, and yet you can mock me with everything I have." She pointed a fat finger at Harry's chest, "You aren't even from this country!"

Harry looked down and pretended to look ashamed.

"And you," she snarled at Hermy, "How is it that you don't have a clue of who you were when you came to us, but you can remember all that?"

"I do have a clue!" she said firmly, and pulled out a necklace with a little hourglass.

"Of course you do, that silly necklace saying 'together at Hogwarts,'" she chuckled harshly, "So you want to go to Hogwarts to find your family, right?"

Hermy nodded firmly, but as Marge lead them to the gate and unlocked it, she pushed them both through with such force that they went sprawling in the snow. They both lay in the snow pressing their eyes closed and as they heard the door shut tightly."Ha, don't get your hopes up you brats," she chuckled as the two of them turned to glare at her, blinking snow out of their eyes. "It is time you took your place in this world. In life and in line, and be grateful too."

She then pointed down the road.

"Go down the road until you reach the sign. Go left," she laughed at them, "Now get out."

"Together at Hogwarts!" she called laughing as Harry helped Hermy to her feet, and they trudged down the snow-covered path, mimicking Marge.

"it is time you took your place in this world," Harry said in a grumpy, deep voice that sounded uncannily like Marge as Hermy laughed.

"Be grateful," he muttered. "I think I speak for both of us when I saw we are grateful," he then turned and shouted at the dirty building in the distance, "Grateful to get out of that dump!"

Hermy put her hands up on his shoulders and turned him down the road. "Just forget her," she said firmly. "We're free from her now. We don't have to take orders from her anymore."

For the last ten years they had lived in an orphanage. Harry had been very young when he became separated from his parents during the night of the revolt. He and his family had been visiting from Godric's Hallow and now that he was free of this orphanage, he was determined to go back to his home and see if his parents, or any family for that matter, are still alive.

But for his friend Hermy…

He looked at her sadly, he had been at the orphanage for a couple days when they brought her in. She was given the bed right next to his and from what he heard, she had been found wandering the streets with no clue to who she was or where she was from.

Except for the necklace she always wore, she had nothing. Harry could understand why she was so protective of it. The only thing he had left was a silver cloak that belonged to his father. He wrapped said cloak around himself tighter for warmth as they continued walking along the road.

"So what do we do now?" he asked her. The two of them were of age, and were no longer considered children. Which means that they were no longer allowed back there.

"The way I see it," Hermy said, "We've got two choices."

"Which are?"

She pointed ahead, and he saw the place where the road split into two. He looked up at the signs. The left one pointed to a village called 'Grunnings' while the right one pointed to 'Hogsmeade'.

"That's the Grunnings village that Marge told us to go," she muttered.

"Turn left, she said," Harry muttered, wrapping his father's cloak tighter around him. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be an orphan forever," he told Hermy. "And if we go left, that's what will happen."

Hermy nodded.

"I don't either," she said sadly. "And if we go right and try and get to Hogwarts…" she smiled but it faded almost as quickly as it had come. She sat down in snow, in front of the post. "I don't know," she said. Her hand slid up and grasped at the necklace. "What if I did have a family and they didn't want me?" she asked him. "What if I did find them but didn't even recognize them? I don't know what to do Harry."

Harry looked down at her before sitting next to her. "Look," he said, taking her hand. "We're in this together right? I promised you that when we were little?"

She smiled. "I remember that. That kid who looked like a troll tried to take my necklace from me but you stood up for me."

"We orphans have to stick together," he answered with a smile. "I won't leave you behind."

He reached over and took her necklace for a second and looked at the words, 'Together at Hogwarts.' "Look," he said firmly, "Whoever gave you this must have loved you. And if they are still alive, then they will be waiting for you at Hogwarts."

They looked up at the signs again. If they took the left path, then they would have secure jobs. But at the same time they could give up ever finding their families. But if they took the right and headed to Hogsmeade, then they could try and get a train to somewhere… and then…?

He ran his hands through his hair before he got up and yelled out, "Can't we get a break for once?! Come on! We need a sign! Something! Anything?! We don't know what else to do!"

He then sat back down in the road grumpily, Hermy giggled a little as they waited. But as they waited, something ginger flashed by.

They jumped and got up at once to see that it was a large, ginger cat with a squashed face.

"Oh, it's just a cat," Harry said in relief. "For a second I thought it was something dangerous."

"Oh, hello there," Hermy cooed as she held out her hand to the feline. The cat blinked before it moved up to her and rubbed its head against her hand, purring loudly.

"Hi there," Harry said dully. "But we don't have time for this. We're waiting for a sign."

Suddenly the cat leapt up pushing Hermy into the snow. She yelped in fear but the cat just grabbed her tattered scarf and pulled. It pulled her hard and she was dragged slightly to the right.

"Hey, let go," Harry said, when it grabbed the end of his cloak and pulled him towards the right as well, but the cat was persistent.

"I don't believe this. A cat wants us to go to Hogsmeade," Harry grumbled, pulling his cloak free. Then realization struck them as they looked down at the cat and then up to each other.

"You don't think…?" he asked. She just shrugged as they glanced down the path, fearfully though. Could they do it?

"Alright, alright," Harry said as Hermy wrapped her scarf around her head again. "I guess I get the idea."

He looked to Hermy, who hesitated, and then nodded. "Ok," she said. "What else do we have to lose?"

She bent down and picked up the cat, "I think I'll name you Crookshanks."

And so they took the right path, only hoping that it was the right choice. They walked on for a short time, both of them talking about their plans.

"You think we can try and get some money when we get there?" Harry asked her.

"It shouldn't be too difficult," she told him as she petted the cat. "Even if we do, we can't get the best kind of tickets. Maybe baggage if we're lucky."

"I don't care," Harry said firmly, "Once we get the tickets though, what then?"

"Godric's Hallow," she told him and he looked at her in surprise. "Come on," she sighed. "You know where you're from. And you know your family's name. You can go there and see if you can find them."

"But I'm not leaving you," he said firmly.

"And if you do find them?" she asked.

"Then I'll leave for a little while so that we can find your family," he said resolutely and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"And if we can't find them, then we can go back to my family together, right?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "And if I don't have any other family, well it works out anyway."

At that moment, they came across the village of Hogsmeade in the distance. They ran the rest of the way, Crookshanks purring.

*Several hours later*

"Ron, are you sure about this?" Ginny asked worriedly, running a hand through her red hair.

"Of course. Everyone is talking about it. They're looking for the missing Princess and we are going to find her." Ron said his blue eyes flashing mischievously.

"But Ron, we how can we even be sure that she is the Princess even if we find her?" Ginny asked.

"That's the hard part," he muttered. "But dad was one of the Royal Guards remember. He and the others were killed that night… the royals owe us don't they?"

"I guess," she said slowly. They walked to where they lived in the old palace. No-one ever went there anymore. Many people believed it cursed with bad luck.

"We just have to hope that we get lucky," Ron said firmly as he began looking around the old palace, wondering if he could sell anything in here for money.

*Meanwhile*

Harry and Hermy had been standing in line for a train ticket at the Hogsmeade station, they had been standing in line for so long that the sun was beginning to set.

By the time that they finally made it up to the ticket manager, he asked, "Where do you want to go?"

"We want to know how expensive tickets are," Hermy said at once.

"That depends on where you want to go," he answered bitterly. "The farther away you go, the more money it will cost. Look up at the map."

They looked up at the map, it was marked with hundreds of villages, towns, and places. Each one had a price underneath it. They checked the prices and could see that they were expensive. Godric's Hallow was much cheaper than Hogwarts, but it was still far out of their ability to pay for… seeing how they didn't have any money at all.

"And for two?" Harry asked grimly.

"Twice as much," Hermy answered him miserably.

"Good, now that you wasted enough time," The ticket manager snapped, "Get lost."

"Now what?" Harry asked as they left, Hermy petting Crookshanks to prevent herself from crying.

"We can try and make some money in town," Hermy said softly. "And once we get enough…?" but before she could finish, they heard someone.

"Pst!" They looked up to see a grubby man that looked a bit like a bloodhound there, a body of whiskey was in his hands as he stumbled from an ally way. Hermy pointed a finger at them, making sure that he was talking to them. "Yeah you!"

"Who are you?" Harry asked suspiciously. "What do you want with us?"

"Mundungus," he croaked, the man was obviously drunk. "You both said that you need tickets? Go… and find some fello… named… named Ron. I hear he might—hic—be able to help."

They looked at each other before Harry asked, "Where do we find this guy?"

"You don't—hic—trust me?" the man asked, having noticed this.

"No," Hermy said. "You're drunk."

"At the old Palace," he said, grinning stupidly as he wandered back to his alley. "But you didn't hear it from me."

With that, he snuck back into the shadows, and when they left, they could hear him throwing up in the alley.

"What do you think?" Hermy asked him as they wandered through the crowded streets. "Do we go?"

"Dunno," Harry answered. "But still, I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out right? We might be able to sneak in and stay the night, it's getting darker every second. If we do find this Ron guy, either he can help us, or we can find another way to get those tickets. And Hermy…?"

Hermy stopped walking and Harry, who was already a few feet ahead of her, looked back at her. "Hermy?"

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"For what?" he asked coming back to her.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just felt the need to apologize. I feel like we're just running around in circles."

"Well we are," he said and her mouth twitched a little at that. "But let's make a promise," he said to her. "No matter what, we will stay together. Until we both found what we're looking for, right?"

She smiled and held her pinky up. It was the same thing they did the day that they became friends when that human troll picked on her. "Ok, it's a promise," she said. "And if you break it, then I will make you pay."

He laughed as he reached out and used his pinky to grab hers. "Promise."

*Later*

Peering into the boarded up windows of Hogsmeade castle, the two wondered who could possibly live there. The man they had asked directions for wondered if they had been joking when they told him that they was looking for someone who lived there.

Suddenly Crookshanks leapt down from Hermy's arms and escaped through a gap between two lose boards and inside the palace.

"No," Hermy groaned desperately. "Crookshanks, where are you going? Come back!"

"Damn cat," Harry growled, trying to see through the boards. They could hear the cat purring from inside.

"Crookshanks," he hissed. "Get back here!" But the cat didn't come back out.

Hermy tried to slip in after him, but it was too small so she tried pulling on the boards—which caused her to fall backwards with a loud crash to follow. They both stared at the board in her hands before Harry then gripped another one of the boards and pulled hard. The wood came away with a loud crack and left a big enough hole in the door. They hoped no-one heard and climbed through the hole, and walked inside.

The place was huge; with old relics left around gathering dust, though most of it was destroyed and scorched; most likely due to the fire years ago.

"Crookshanks?" Harry hissed, walking around. His cloak gave him some warmth in the non-heated castle. He picked up a plate and blowing off the dust as he examined it. "Looks like no one's been here since the rebellion," he said holding it up to look. "How could anyone live here? What do you think Hermy? Hermy?"

But his friend didn't answer.

He looked up to see that Hermy was staring around her at the paintings and portraits. As soon as she had entered this place, a strong sense of déjà vu came over her. She walked forward slowly as if in a trance. She looked at the portraits lining the walls of the palace with eyes so wide that she looked like an owl.

"Hermy?" Harry asked worriedly.

She looked at him and said, "I think I've been here before."

"Really?" Harry asked putting the plate down and walking over to her. It was the first time that Hermy had ever been able to say something about her past. "When?"

"I think I might've been here before I lost my memory," she said softly, looking up at the walls.

"Can you remember anything?" he asked excited.

She moved softly from the room to a large staircase and stood at the top of it. It was an enormous ballroom. As he looked at her, for a second, it was as though he was seeing someone else stand there.

As for Hermy, she was staring around her, "I know all this… this feels so familiar but I don't know why."

Suddenly she saw something moving on the dance floor.

"What?" she called staring ahead of her.

"What, what?" Harry called worriedly. Hermy didn't answer for a moment. For a second, she could've sworn that she saw the shadows of a little girl and an old woman hugging for a second.

"Hermy?" Harry called again.

"Huh?" she asked. "It's nothing! Must have been a trick of the light." She looked around as she walked down the stars for a few paces. Everywhere she turned, it was like memories of a dream. Running a hand over a mural of the royal crest, she began to explore even more of the place. She started to hum a tune she had known since before she could remember. She silently went through the halls as she hummed to herself she stepped down onto the dance floor and was singing a song softly to herself, not sure where the words were coming from.

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.

And for a second she felt as though she was in another life as she started to laugh. There were others with her and music was playing… for a second she could almost remember being here. And then…

As she ended the song, a voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Hey!"

Harry and Hermy's heads looked up and could see that someone was coming towards them.

They were startled and so they continued to run back up the stairs and through the halls. The guy yelled, but they knew that he was right on their heels, if the sounds of footsteps told them anything. They were nearing the hole in the wall they entered from, when all of a sudden, a girl with long red hair had come out of nowhere and she and Harry collided at a landing where a giant picture hung before they fell.

"Ginny!" the boy yelled furiously just as Hermy shouted, "Harry!"

Harry and Ginny had somehow collided with the other and were on the ground blushing furiously. What was worse, was that Ginny was on top of Harry's chest and Harry had his arms around her waist and neither one was attempting to move.

"Ah…" was all Harry was able to say as he looked into warm brown eyes.

"Hi?" Ginny said, clearly bewildered to what had just happened.

The red head boy, who had to be the girl's brother, came running up and pulled Ginny off him while Hermy helped Harry to stand up.

"How did you get in here?" the boy demanded the two of them, "Who are you?"

Harry and Hermy both looked at them. "Are you Ron?" he asked, and the red-heads looked at each other in surprise.

"How do you know my name?" he asked.

"Listen," Harry said, brushing the dust and ash off his clothes. "We're sorry for coming in here. But our cat…"

"Cat?" Ron repeated skeptically. But at that moment, they heard a loud meow and they turned to see the ginger feline walking towards them with his tail held high.

"Crookshanks," Hermy sighed as she bent down to pick him up.

"We're sorry," she said as Harry looked at Ginny. "He got away from us and we followed to get him."

"Oh, he's cute," Ginny said coming forward to pet his head.

"Shut up, Ginny," Ron said and she turned to face him, her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me what to do," she snapped.

She then turned to face them, "But what were you even doing around here?"

"Well, we need help to get tickets out of here," Harry said hurriedly. "We heard that you can help us out?"

"That depends," Ron said. "We're working to raise money to get tickets out of this dump ourselves. But I don't see why…?"

But he stopped dead as he stared ahead of him as if dumbstruck.

"What?" Hermy asked because Ron was now gapping at her, he then whispered to his sister, "Do you see that?"

"See what?" she asked and he pointed to Hermy.

She looked, and then blinked. "Wow…"

"What?" Hermy asked as Harry had a hand on her shoulder. Neither of them noticing what had caught their attention. Behind them was an enormous portrait of the royal family, and Hermy was standing right next to the painting of the youngest child, Princess Hermione.

As the two gazed at the picture behind her, they both noticed the uncanny resemblance to that of Hermione.

(How is this story shaping up so far? Like I said, this is a HP twist. And while it may seem like Harry and Ginny are the main focus, it's really going to be Ron and Hermione. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.)