Lauren: We landed in the massive foyer, the elves came scrambling from various places in the manor. "Quickly, put as many wards up as you can! I want the Malfoy's and Zabini's blocked, and whatever letters sent burned!" Rosalie ordered as the elves scrambled about, beginning to carry out her instructions. I raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing, I was not so sure if this was the right idea. To lock out them would certainly create tension between, but I had never seen Luna so sure of anything before, she appeared truly panic stricken. Her eyes were wide as if she had been threatened with death, I turned to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?!" I finally questioned her but she did not seem to hear me, her eyes dazed. Her physical form was right here, but she was far away. At that moment I realized I should not ask for her reasoning, she was doing this for herself, but I did not understand the reason just yet. She had been the one captured by the Malfoys, there could be countless horrific things running through her mind. I backed away letting my arms drop as everything came crashing down around me.

My parents had practically just abandoned me with a sister I had only thought of as a friend for years. Now, by ourselves, we had to figure out who we truly were. On top of that we had marriage contracts to the two Slytherins we absolutely hated, could anything get possibly worse? My heart was quite literally being torn apart just by the fact my parents had just dumped me in this position without any warning or advise. I doubted they did it for my own benefit either, it was hard to see that being alone was a benefit at all. I had just gotten to good terms with them after I had hunted them down and restored their memories of me. I was now left in a giant manor with my half destroyed sister who was trying to appear as if she wasn't broken. I had thought fighting a war had been stressful, but at least I knew what to do then and I always had my friends for support. I just had Rosalie now.

I ran my hands through my hair as elves bustled about. Never in my wildest of dreams had I thought this would happen, and I now wished it didn't. I was Hermione Jean Granger. A muggleborn, the smartest witch of our age, and proud of that fact. I was not Lauren Reynolds, some very wealthy pureblood from France. She was not supposed to exist, no one knew she existed until today. If only it had stayed that way.

A sense of abandonment was clearly apparent, how could it not be? My parents had just left me here! They were my parents! The ones who were supposed to care for us in our hardest times, yet we found ourselves alone. Did they not understand that we need them? How could they have just dropped this on us? It was harsh, it was cold, it was dissonant, anything but considering.

Glass shards spilled across the floor as the chandelier above us exploded and cracked. The clamor rang out as we reflexively covered our heads with our arms, a shield forming around us. I knew I was the cause of that, I needed to calm down. Everything would work out eventually, it was not as if I had a death threat over my head. Perhaps their was a loophole in the contracts, or what was the payment to break them? Surely the Malfoy's would agree to break them if they learned my real identity. It seemed Luna did not even wish to see them though, so if I was to go it would be on my own accords. I was not sure how apt I was to making a visit to their manor. I would much rather visit my parents, surely they would see me, I was their daughter after all.

I pulled out my wand as everything came to a stillness. "Reparo," I murmured and the shards laying on the floor zipped back upwards. They sealed back together with a little magic and hung in strings from the silver frames that held candles. It seemed to work to pull Luna from her daze as she rapidly blinked at me. An air of almost dangerous beauty clung to her, defying her gentle nature. She gave me a meek smile, but we both knew it was forced from her. I was not going to ask until she was ready to say anything. It was her executive decision to cut off from the Malfoy's and Zabini's, and I was more than perfectly content with that.

"I don't believe we actually got to sit down and eat, besides you still need to explain to me what that book is." Rosalie, I needed to remember to call her that especially in public, chirped. She did not wait for my answer as she skipped off down the hall and began opening the doors, peering inside. I just shook my head and a grin tugged at my lips as she continued on, well at least some things wouldn't change. She disappeared into the fourth door on the right, I assumed she found it.

By the time I got into the culinary kitchen she had already started to rummage through the pantry. A separate wooden door swung open to reveal lines of shelves full of various ingredients neatly organized. The kitchen itself was massive, the ceilings 20 meters high, giving a certain spaciousness to it. A large island was placed right in the center of the square room with the U shaped kitchen. On the one open wall was a small informal dining table and the door leading to the pantry. A light beige was splashed on the walls, the cabinets a dark mahogany.

Rosalie appeared with a large pot full of noodles and other vegetables, a pan in the other hand. I placed myself in a chair as I watched her, setting the book from our parents down in front of me. She flipped on two of the burners and filled the pot halfway with water from the sink tucked against the wall. She rummaged through the drawers, pulling out a cutting board and knife as the house elves began to appear. "Does master want help?" They asked as they flocked to her side, nervously clutching their hands.

"Of course! Thank you very much!" She exclaimed joyfully, causing the little elves to relax, their ears drooping slightly in relief. "Can you start cutting up the vegetables and sautéing them?" The elves eagerly went to work, taking the onions and tomatoes and some other herbs I did not recognize, dicing them expertly. A sizzling erupted as the vegetables hit the pan. Rosalie went to work boiling the noodles, stirring occasionally. She seemed at complete ease with this, as if she had done it several times before. Then again she had probably been cooking for awhile, not growing up with a mother. An adoptive mother that is.

She brought over the pan when she finished, I grabbed two plates and goblets from the cupboard. She grabbed the silverware and a tonged ladle to serve the skillet she had prepared. "Thanks Rose," she scowled at me, obviously not approving of the nick name. She nodded her head though as she scooped the meal on to her plate. The torches flickered on around the room as they deemed it was dark enough in the room now, the sun having recently set.

"What's the book?" She questioned as she eyed it, devouring the noodles with a frenzy so that I had to stifle a laugh. Never, ever would I have thought to see Rose ravish a meal the way she was, then again it had been an extremely long day.

"It's a photo album, in the back has all of our legal documents, and their is a letter from father." She flipped the cover open as she cleaned off her plate. She quickly glanced over the brief letter that was scribbled down in a hurry. The parchment crackled beneath her fingertips as she flipped the pages, staring intently at the moving pictures. Everyone was so happy, even us as babies as we played with each other. Mother and father appeared not to have a care in the world. As you progressed through it, you could see the haunted glances of worry start to appear. Things got bleaker, the smiles fading as if a dementor was slowly sucking the happiness from their life.

"So it's all correct, we really are sisters." She muttered as she closed the book, it seems she was coming to the realization I had earlier.

"Apparently so."

"I cannot believe it." She shook her head as she leaned back in her chair, clearly distressed as I was.

"Neither can I."