CHAPTER FOUR
Summary: The summer after her fifth year, Hermione is attacked in Diagon Alley. As a result she learns more about herself than she ever thought possible. Like how her parents aren't really her parents and her biological father is actually the feared Dark Lord. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon characters or events, they belong to J.K Rowling. I am not making a profit from posting this fanfic.
Page count: 5
Hogwarts Express
The time had come for Hermione to return to Hogwarts, her remainder of her stay at 12 Grimmauld Place had been the same as it had since meeting her father. Mrs. Weasley treated her coldly, Ginny would often give her suspicious looks and follow her around, Harry and Ron had somewhat distanced themselves from her and Mr. Weasley wasn't around much due to work requirements. The only people that hadn't changed the way they treated Hermione was the twins and they weren't at Grimmauld all that much, since they had their shop to run and they lived in the flat above.
Hermione had spent most of her time in her room and with Kreacher making her meals for her since Mrs. Weasley had stopped inviting her to meals altogether, not that it bothered her. When Hermione wasn't in her room, she had been smuggled out to meet with her father three times a week.
During her visitations with her father they spent time talking about the coming war and much to her surprise, he seemed interested in getting to know her, so they usually talked about her childhood, her father wanting to know if she had been treated well by her adoptive parents, it was strange but she hadn't hesitated to tell him about her life.
She had run into Draco Malfoy a couple of times and she noticed immediately that he seemed to have warmed to her since discovering she wasn't a Muggleborn, she even discovered that he was quite intelligent, he was behind her in classes by only a couple of points and they had had some very entertaining conversations. She wouldn't say they were friends exactly, more like civil acquaintances. She hadn't yet met any other Death Eaters or their children, but she was perfectly happy with the company of her father and Malfoy.
She sighed and her attention went back to Harry and Ron, both of who were currently discussing what they had witnessed at Diagon Alley with Malfoy in Borgin and Burkes, they had been speaking of nothing but that for the last two hours and she was getting a headache.
With a frustrated noise Hermione shut her book with a loud snap and stood up, gaining the attention of Harry and Ron, they hadn't spoken to her since they stepped foot on the train and now she needed to get away from them.
"Where are you off to?" Ron asked gruffly.
"Away from you two idiots, I've had enough of your ridiculous accusations of Malfoy being a Death Eater," she said simply and they stared at her in surprise, before their expressions turned to disgust.
"Since when do you defend Malfoy, he's the first person to call you a Mudblood? He insults you and tries to hex you every time he sees you." Ron spat.
"Woopdido," she replied. "I broke his nose, I deflect his hexes and insult him in return. Not only is Malfoy underage, his father failed You-Know-Who, He would never bestow that honour on Malfoy. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to change into my robes." She left the compartment without a second glance, instead of doing what she said she was going to do, she walked down the aisles looking for another compartment to sit in.
She was searching for five minutes when she finally came to a compartment, though it wasn't empty, Draco Malfoy occupied it, wearing a black tailored suit and sat staring out of the window.
Hermione looked both ways before stepping into the compartment and closing the door behind her, shutting the blinds and muttering a Silencing Charm under her breath.
He looked up when she sat down opposite him.
"What's got your mane frazzled?" he smirked at her.
She scowled at him. "You need to be careful this year."
"And why is that?"
"Harry is adamant that you're a Death Eater, I'm doing my best to dissuade him but he's as stubborn as a bloody mule and he doesn't even appear to be listening to my logic. I know you've been given a task and..."
"How do you know that?" he asked her quickly, looking angry.
"He told me," she said softly. "I told you, I'm important to him, he trusts me more than he does even his most loyal followers, he knows that I would never betray him and he trusts my opinion."
"Why?"
"Nice try, I'm not going to reveal the nature of my relationship with Him until he wishes to, it's to keep me safe for as long as possible," she shrugged. "As I was saying, I know you have a task but I don't know what the task is, and honestly, I didn't ask because that's none of my business. If you wish to tell me then I will listen and help you in any way that I can, otherwise I will help you by keeping Harry and Ron off your trail as much as possible."
He looked away from her and out of the window.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"They were grating on my nerves, they haven't stopped talking about you for the last two hours, if I didn't know they hated you I would've thought they fancied you." He snorted at her. "I couldn't take it anymore and I had to get away from Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb. I was wandering the aisles when I stumbled upon you, thought I'd keep you company, or at the very least I knew you would let me read in peace and quiet," she gave him a small smile before opening up her book, settling back against the back rest and picking up from where she left off.
"What are you reading?" he asked her curiously, she didn't answer but showed him the cover, not taking her eyes off the book. He snorted when he saw the title. "Hogwarts, A History, seriously? Do you ever put that book down?"
"Yes."
"I don't see what's so great about it."
"I love it, it calms me because it's familiar, it's the first magical text book that I read, this helped me to transition from Muggle World to Wizarding World, without this book I would've been lost, I would've struggled and it would've taken me a while to find my feet in a world I didn't know existed until I received my Hogwarts' letter. You should've been there the day McGonagall showed up and turned into her Animagus form in front of my parents, they fainted," she laughed fondly.
A frown crossed his face.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did."
"Very clever," he snarked. "Fine, can I ask you about something that's been bothering me."
"You're going to anyway, no matter my answer."
"Damn it, Granger!" he glared.
She raised an eyebrow at his annoyed expression, doing her best to fight off the laugh as his pale skin began to lightly flush pink in his annoyance. She put her book down beside her and gave her his full attention.
"Out with it, before you explode, you're already turning red."
He scowled, before taking a breath. "Why were you adopted?"
"My biological father and mother weren't in love, they barely knew each other, they were just bed warmers for a short time. My father was visiting Albania when he met my mother, after he left and returned to Britain, my mother discovered that she was pregnant. She tried her best to contact my father but her owls always returned without being opened. At seven months pregnant she travelled to Britain and searched for my father for a month, a month later she went into labour and she died. I was born in the Wizarding World but put up for adoption in the Muggle World due to The Wizarding War. I was adopted by a muggle couple who couldn't have children. They never told me I was adopted."
"How did you find out that you were adopted?"
"It was strange; a woman who I later discovered was my mother visited my dreams, when I next visited my parents I confronted them and they told me the truth, they brought a box down from the attic and showed me its contents. Inside were the clothes I was adopted in, the adoption papers and a silk green blanket with my initials on, H.A.R."
"H.A.R? Is your father still alive, do you know his identity?"
"Yes, I contacted him and we've met, he has accepted me as his daughter and our relationship seems to be developing well so far. Just because I was adopted doesn't mean that I love my muggle parents any less, they raised me. There were there when I had nightmares, when I fell off my bike and scraped my knee, they read to me every night, my mother taught me how to bake a cake, my father taught me about the muggle sport, Football, and when he got time off from work, we would travel to away games together and sit in the stands cheering for our team and booing the other," she smiled fondly.
"They taught me how to read and write, they were there when I took my first steps or when my first tooth had fallen out, they have photo albums filled to the brim of me growing up. I love them because they protected me, I am the person I am today because of their influence, they may have worked far more than most parents in my neighbourhood, but when they did get time off from work they made it count. Picnics, trips to the beach, going to the fairground, travelling Europe to go to conventions and then spending their free time with me, simple things, but it was the simple things that I loved."
"How did you not know you were adopted?"
"I would have never suspected, my parents are both brunettes, with brown eyes and pale skin, I never noticed a difference in us, I may not have my mother's ears or my father's nose, but we were similar in hair and eye colour and complexion," she shrugged and then she picked up her book and went back to reading, Malfoy stared at her with a titled head and contemplative eyes.
"Is your biological father a Death Eater?" he asked her with a crease in his forehead.
"You could say that."
"He knows The Dark Lord? That's why you're being protected?" she didn't speak, but hummed in response, leaving him confused and trying to figure out who her biological father could be.
It was two hours later when Hermione looked at her watch, she sighed and then stood up. "I better go, Slughorn's asked me to attend some special dinner," she rolled her eyes.
"Zabini's going too," he informed her.
"And Harry," she sighed again, "I better go, I likely won't see you much around school, so remember to watch your back and to be careful. And for the love of magic, stay out of trouble."
Hogwarts
Hermione stepped through the entrance hall doors and looked around at the familiarity of the school that had been home to her for the last five years. Harry –and his recently healed broken nose, courtesy of her- and Ron were to her left, whispering to each other, she didn't take notice.
Instead she walked towards the great hall for the sorting feast, Harry and Ron following blindingly. She was dressed in her uniform, though it was a better quality than she was used to. Upon her last visit with her father he presented her with a new school trunk, filled to the brim with upgraded school supplies and clothing of the same quality in her closet at Malfoy Manor, the fabric was soft and light against her skin, but still offered her warmth in the cold temperature of the castle.
When she first dressed in the pricey black flats, knee high socks, grey pleated skirt, brilliant white shirt, cashmere grey v-neck and soft robes lined in Gryffindor colours and the Gryffindor crest, she noticed that the inside of her clothing had been monogrammed with H.A.R. Hermione had almost cried in the Hogwarts Express' bathroom.
If anyone noticed the finer quality clothing that even some of the wealthy Purebloods didn't sport, they didn't comment, though she had noticed that Ginny hadn't taken her eyes off her when they got onto the train since she had been wearing some of the designer muggle clothing that her father had purchased for her.
Hermione entered the great hall and looked up at the enchanted ceiling, a small smile lit her face when she saw the clear starry night sky.
"What the hell?" Ron and Harry exclaimed, bringing her out of her daze.
She turned to look at them and they were staring at her in horror. No, not her, but her robes. She frowned and looked down at herself. Her eyes widened and she gasped in shock.
Her maroon and gold tie was slowly changing to green and silver, the outline of her robes changed from red to green and the Gryffindor crest changed to the Slytherin crest.
She was dressed as a Slytherin.