AN: So this chapter starts with the flashback that began in the prologue. I wanted to finish it in the prologue, but ending the chapter with the results of the potion was too good to pass up. So 'FLASHBACK' will be the start of this chapter...leaving it to be titled Prologue pt. 2...
I also ask that you bear with me. The following chapter contains a rape scene and while I will try to not make it as graphic as possible, some details are needed for later in the story. Also, the confrontation between Hermione and Sirius won't happen for a couple of more chapters. Yes, Sirius is alive because I say so.
On with the story...
Ch. 1: Prologue pt. 2
"FLASHBACK'
Hermione looked in shock at the results on the parchment. Sirius Black was her father? And who was Emilia Malfoy? As she thought about it, her heritage began to make sense. The last year at school, something had changed in Draco Malfoy. He hadn't insulted her once in the past year and for some reason he had protected her and Harry from the other Slytherins. Ron was never spared and frankly she no longer cared.
She placed the parchment in one of her textbooks and laid down. She needed to confront her parents about what she had discovered and tomorrow was the best day. Well, not the best because it was her birthday, but she knew it was her only option. They usually left after dinner for some trip. Hermione prepared her mind for the next day and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would change her life forever.
Her alarm went off at 9 that morning and Hermione took a few minutes to herself. She knew that she needed to get to the truth, but the fact that her discovery would hurt the people that had raised her as their very own pressed upon her kind soul. She didn't want to hurt them, but she deserved to know the truth.
She got out of bed and took a quick shower to clear the cobwebs away. Returning to her room she dressed in black skinny jeans, a red off the shoulder top and her black knee high boots. Putting on some light makeup and putting her hair in a bun, Hermione slipped her wand into her boot and went downstairs for breakfast. Before she left, she also grabbed the paper with the potion results on it and finally closed her bedroom door.
Upon reaching the kitchen, she found her 'parents' sitting as they usually did in the morning. An envelope was waiting on her breakfast plate, eager to be opened. Hermione sat down and stared at the card, unsure of how to begin. Her 'father' noticed that she didn't touch the card and asked, "Hermione, are you alright dear?" Hermione took a deep breath and asked, "Notice anything different about me?" They looked up finally and saw the differences in her hair, body and eyes.
Mrs. Granger was the first to comment saying, 'What in the blazes did you do to yourself Hermione Granger?" Hermione's temper flared a bit as she said, "I didn't do this to myself. This is what I really look like apparently. So who are you and why did I have a long term Glamour Charm placed upon me?" Both of the Grangers paled at her question and Mrs. Granger sat down. Mr. Granger asked, 'How did you figure it out?"
Rolling her eyes, Hermione said, 'Oh I don't know, sir. Perhaps the fact that my hair went from brown to black or my eyes going from amber to ice blue gave me a hint. Or maybe it was this." She threw the parchment with the results of the potion at them. Mr. Granger picked it up and read it. His eyes went wide and his skin paled even further. He asked, " Will you let us explain?' Hermione didn't want to, but since she was looking for answers she said, "Go ahead."
Mr. Granger said, ' Almost 18 years ago, my wife and I left the Wizarding world. Yes, we are magical, but we couldn't stand the prejudice there. So we left. A few months later, Albus Dumbledore showed up on our doorstep with you in his arms. He told us that you had been abandoned at the school and for some reason that he never would say, he wanted you raised in the Muggle world. I questioned it, believe me, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving you in the hands of that man?"
"Then why allow me to go to Hogwarts if you don't trust him?" "I wanted to. We even thought about sending you to another wizarding school to keep you from him until we could find your birth parents. But Hogwarts is the best in it field and we wanted you to have the best. Hermione, we were going to tell you this summer, I swear. I had hoped that you would figure it out and we could fill in the details, but not like this."
Hermione's anger cooled a bit before she asked, "So do you have any idea who my mother is? Because I already know who my father is." "Your mother is the sister of Lucius Malfoy, therefore making Draco your cousin. Apparently she and your father married in secret to keep her from marrying someone considerably older than her and high in the Dark Lord's favor. According to the documents we found, she died giving birth to you." What about Sirius, couldn't he have taken me?" Mr. Granger kneeled down in front of her and said, "I believe that Dumbledore stole you from your mother and father for some reason. Don't trust him and keep those you do trust close. Remember that Hermione." She nodded and finally they went about their day. The Grangers weren't forgiven and they knew that, but at least they knew Hermione didn't hate them.
A knock on the front door interrupted their breakfast and after rising, Mr. Granger went to open it. Hermione felt that something was wrong and she would be proven right. As her father opened the door, a group of wizards in dark robes and masks pushed their way through and locked the door with magic. Mr. Granger went down with a well placed cutting spell to his arm and upon entering the kitchen, Mrs. Granger was dealt the same spell. Hermione, her wand in hand, immediately went on the defense and started firing off spells that she had studied for years and some of her own creation.
Unfortunately, it was not enough. A few well aimed stunners from the attackers and she too fell to the ground. As her vision began to fade, she saw a familiar face in the coming darkness. Lucius Malfoy was looking at her and not with hate, but with concern. Hope filled her as her mind finally went completely dark.
It seemed to only be minutes later as Hermione woke. But she knew as soon as she glanced at her parent's battered and nearly broken bodies to know that it had been longer than that. She herself was strapped to a chair and her body ached all over. Lucius Malfoy was still without his mask and the others were removing theirs. She recognized all of them from the posters the Ministry had sent as well as from her memories of the battle in her fifth year. Soon she was surrounded by Malfoy Sr., Bellatrix Lestrange, Dolohov, and Peter Pettigrew. The last would not look at her, and for good reason. Hermione and Harry had been the reason behind his continued existence.
Bellatrix stepped forward and slapped Hermione hard, thinking that she was still out of it. She asked, or rather yelled, "Where is it you little Mudblood bitch? Where is the Order of the Phoenix?" Hermione turned her head slowly, and licked her now bleeding lip. She said, "How the fuck should I know you psycho twit? I'm not a member of member of Dumbledore's secret chicken coop!" It was true. She, Harry and Ron had been offered a place in the order and while Ron had immediately joined, she and Harry had not. Harry had not trusted the Order since fifth year and since then his trust in DUmbledore had been slowly declining. She believed it was because Dumbledore had kept Sirius a prisoner in his own house and nearly caused his death that made Harry feel distrustful. So she had followed his lead.
"CRUCIO!" Hot branding iron soon scorched Hermione's body as the Cruciatus Curse was placed upon her. She fought it and soon was able to ignore the pain. She and Harry both had had the Cruciatus Curse placed upon them several times by Death Eaters the past few years and they had quickly learned to fight and harness the pain. She screamed for effect, to confuse the Death Eaters into thinking that they were getting to her. A few minutes later, Bellatrix ended the curse and slumped in her seat. She noticed her wand beneath her chair, snapped in half.
"Get her up. Don't let her fall unconscious!" Bellatrix was in a mood, and Hermione knew why. The war was going south for the Dark Side and the Order was the key to their victory. They believed that Harry was a part of the Order and if they could bring that down, they could destroy him. Hermione's head was yanked back by her hair and a wand put at her throat. Again Bellatrix asked, "Where is the Order Mudblood? Tell me and maybe I'll make sure your filthy parents die quickly and painlessly."
Hermione spat the blood in her mouth out and said, "I don't fucking know you psychotic squirrel. None of us do." Bellatrix screeched and then said, "Bring me the bitch." Pettigrew walked over to the side and a few seconds later, her mother was lying before her, a look of fear in her eyes. She looked and saw Malfoy standing by her father. So Dolohov was holding her hair and pointing a wand at her throat.
Bellatrix yanked Mrs. Granger's head back and said, "If you don't tell me where the Order is, Mommy Dearest here will be screaming until her lungs bleed in agony." Hermione looked at Mrs. Granger and saw the fear in her eyes. Mrs. Granger must have seen something because she said, "Don't tell them Hermione! They can do what they want, don't tell them!" She began screaming as Bellatrix turned her wand and shot the Cruciatus Curse at her. Bellatrix kept her mother under it longer than she had Hermione. Mrs. Granger's veins began to grow dark as her skin began to strain against the pain flowing through her body.
At Hermione's continued silence, Bellatrix asked, "Where is it you little Mudblood bitch?! Tell me and I'll end her suffering." Hermione knew that Bellatrix was lying, but decided to call her bluff. She said, "The Order is in Diagon Alley, right behind The Leaky Cauldron." Dolohov dug his wand into her throat and said, "Don't lie to her you stupid girl, she'll kill you." "Fuck you all." Bellatrix's smile seemed to grow wider and crueler. She aimed her wand at Mrs. Granger and said, "Avada Kedavra!"
Mrs. Granger slumped to the ground, her eyes cloudy and unfocused. Hermione shouted, "You fucking bitch! If you want information, hurt me, not them. They don't know shit about the world we live in." Bellatrix wasn't listening. She had gone over to Mr. Granger and was now dragging him forward and put him in front of Hermione. She said, "Last chance Mudblood. Where is the Order headquarters?" Now as much as she hated the Grangers for lying to her, Hermione couldn't let another of the people she cared about die. She thought about and decided that maybe a little more hate towards Dumbledore was in order.
Taking a deep breath and hoping they took the bait, Hermione said, "It's in London, that's all I know. Dumbledore never let us see when we were taken there. Something about protecting us or some bullshit. We were always blindfolded." Looking Bellatrix straight in the eyes, she hoped and prayed that she was believed.
Bellatrix smirked and said, "I knew you'd break you pathetic the Mudblood. But I still think Daddy deserves to be punished for your stalling." She aimed her wand and began to utter the Cruciatus Curse when Hermione said, "No! Please don't hurt him. Punish me for not telling you sooner, not him. Please don't hurt my father." Bellatrix smirked again and said, "I was hoping you'd say that. Dolohov, your turn."
The ropes holding Hermione to the chair were loosened and she was dumped to the floor. Before she could make a move, Hermione's hands were bound by magic above her and her jeans were ripped from her body using yet another spell. She realized then that this was Bellatrix's idea of punishing her. She started to fight and kick at Dolohov, but it was no use. Using the same spell that kept her hands above her head, he spread her legs and kept them that way. Bellatrix leaned over her and said, "You see Mudblood, this is punishment. For both you and Daddy. You get what's coming to you and he gets to watch and not be able to do anything about it. Dolohov, hurry up, I feel dirty just being here."
He nodded and unzipped his trousers. Hermione closed her eyes and tried to escape from the moment in her mind. She couldn't. The pain of her virginity being stolen was too much to ignore. She began to scream as Dolohov began thrusting into her body brutally. He was muttering something she couldn't understand and really didn't want to. She looked over and saw that Bellatrix was not only making her father watch, but was also torturing him with the Cruciatus Curse anyway. Pettigrew was watching Dolohov rape her and Malfoy was standing as far away as possible from all of it. He was standing by the kitchen table and to Hermione's horror, he was reading the parchment that told of her true parentage.
His head whipped around to look into her pleading eyes. He tucked the parchment away and said, "Enough Dolohov. Finish the girl and let's go. I'm weary of being in Mudblood homes too long. I might get some kind of disease." Dolohov seemed to take his words to heart, but not in the way that Hermione had hoped. He began to thrust harder and faster into her bleeding and battered body. A few moments later, he grunted and released inside of her. Climbing off, he released the spells and she curled up in a ball, barely able to move. Malfoy was closer to her now and she kept her eyes on him as he said, "Go, I will clean this up to make it look like a Muggle attack. Since this was not on Our Lord's orders Bellatrix, you should have thought of that. Now go." The other three left, leaving Hermione alone with her uncle.
He knelt beside her and said, "Forgive me my dear. I had no idea this was going to happen." She looked into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. She said, "My dad...I need to go to him." Lucius gently picked her up and set her by her father. He was dying, there was no way to change that. Hermione lifted his head into her lap and said, "I'm so sorry Daddy. Please forgive me." Mr. Granger, the only father she had ever known, smiled and said, "There is nothing to forgive. Remember what I told you. Don't trust Dumbledore and keep those you trust close to you. Be brave, my little lioness." With that, Mr. Granger took his final breath and joined his wife on their final journey together.
Hermione sat there, frozen. Lucius took that time to make the scene look like a burglary gone wrong. He knew that Dumbledore and others would be summoned after he left, but he didn't want Hermione to have to go through having Muggles doubting her and possibly making it impossible for him and Draco to look out for her in the coming year.
He knelt next to her again and said, "Miss Granger, look at me." "It's Black Mr. Malfoy, not Granger. As much as I loved them, I will be known by my real name, starting now." He smiled and said, "My apologies Miss Black, but I need you to listen. Hide the truth until you return to school. After that, get Severus on your side. He and I know the truth about everything and he will help you. Also, make sure Potter is nowhere near the Weasleys before school or even there. They are a threat to him. Can you do that?" Hermione nodded and asked, "Why are you helping me?" "The only reason I joined is because of what Dumbledore did to my family. I play a follower quite well Miss Black, but you are my family and family comes first. Now, is there anything you need before Dumbledore arrives?" She shook her head and said, "No, I'll handle things from here. If he finds you here, things could go south before they are supposed to. Is there someway I can contact you later?" "Severus knows how to reach me, so wait until you get to school."
She nodded and he left her there, surround by the blood and death of her family. Dumbledore was going to pay big time for what he allowed to happen to her. Lucius Malfoy would make sure of that.
*FLASHBACK END*
Hermione shivered at the memories as she made her way to the compartment where she knew Harry was waiting for her. Thank God for small favors this year, as she and Harry had been made Head Boy and Girl this year and were allowed their own compartment, carriage and dormitory this year. It would help keep them safe from Dumbledore, the Weasleys and anyone else they didn't like.
It hadn't been hard convincing Harry that the Weasleys weren't the good guys, especially after a small portion of Love Potion had been discovered in his system. She and Harry had secretly left the Muggle world and holed up in the Leaky Cauldron. Tom made sure that no one knew they were there and was also able to coordinate a meeting with the goblins at Gringotts so that they could access their vaults without being seen.
Hermione had become a little richer after her parents death and made sure to invest the money wisely. Most of it went into her vault, the rest went into a secret Muggle bank account that would be her escape money should she need to escape the Wizarding world for a long time. She and Harry had separated shortly before the first day of school, needing to keep up appearances. She was still pissed off at Dumbledore for his lack of help after her parents attack. He had pitied her, but no more than that.
Her biggest hope was Snape and not just because of what Malfoy had suggested. Hermione needed his assistance elsewhere. She found the compartment where she and Harry were meant to be and climbed in, followed by her trunk. Harry knew that she had been attacked, but nothing more than that, which really pissed her off. She had a feeling that Dumbledore had kept her attack a secret from a lot of people. Why he had done it, she had no idea.
She also had to confront Sirius with the truth that she was his daughter. She had to figure out why she had been taken from him and her mother and what it had to do with Dumbledore.
Harry soon joined her and Hermione prepared to tell him the truth behind her attack and the fact that his godfather was her real father...
