If I had any influence or money involved in Harry Potter don't you think this might have been in the actual book? JK is the rightful owner, I am merely taking them for a run. Making sure they don't get lazy… Please don't sue. =P
"Muffliato." Hermione muttered cautiously, to ensure the trio's privacy. Lavender sat down expectantly - followed quickly by Theo - before settling her eyes on her fellow Gryffindor.
"Do tell, Hermione." She grinned, raising a fine, blonde eyebrow.
Hermione sighed. "Alright, Lavender, but first: you must swear that you don't tell anybody about the conversation or details that you hear, unless we say otherwise. Clear?"
"Crystal." Came Lavender's affirmative reply.
"I suppose we'll start at the beginning then, Theo?" Apparently, her twin was still to regain his vocals, as he merely nodded in agreement, avoiding eye contact with the blonde witch beside him.
"Seventeen years ago, I was born into a pureblood family, by a mother who was of nymph heritage and pure-blooded Slytherin wizard. Not only am I not muggle-born, but I'm also a twin." Hermione gestured to Theo. "Due to the dangers from Voldemort-" Lavender flinched "-I was placed in the care of my adoptive parents. It's only now that everything has been explained to us, and our nymph heritage has been awakened."
It was a highly simplified version of events, but Hermione supposed that it was sufficient.
"So, you're not a muggleborn?"
"Apparently not."
"And you're twin is in Slytherin."
"Yes."
"Have you met the rest of your family?
"No."
"What kind of nymph are you?" This question surprised Hermione.
"Erm. Earth. We both are." She explained, then placed her hand against the dirt and called up a small sprout to prove it.
"Oh! Goodness, that's amazing." Lavender sounded wistful as she watched a small flower slowly pry itself open to seek the sunlight. "Wandless, too." A slender finger reached out to caress the petals, watching with curiosity as the shoot seemed to observe the digit warily before leaning into her caress.
"What does this mean, then? Are you still going to be with Ronald and Harry, or are you going to be strutted into Slytherin? Does everything stay the same, does it change, or what?"
Hermione could only shrug. She had no idea what would happen. That was a large part of the reason why she wasn't ready to tell the boys.
"So, Nott – can I call you Theodore? I mean you're Hermy's brother…" Lavender queried, turning to the Slytherin.
"Theo, please." He politely replied, a faint pink tinge apparent on his high cheekbones as Lavender grinned beautifically at him.
"Theo, then, what's it like for you? Did you know? Can you do all this fancy pants earth magic too?"
Chancing a look at the curvaceous blonde, Theo took a moment to formulate his answer.
"I'd seen pictures, but I just assumed they were of a distant relative, or something. The only time I had even an inkling was when Dumbledore-"
"Professor Dumbledore." Hermione interrupted.
"-told Hermione about her heritage. That was a painful introduction to the whole affair." He grinned at his sister's expense, laughing outright when she threw a large pile of dirt at him, his stomach flipping when Lavender's musical laugh joined his own as Hermione explained the story.
It was, unsurprisingly, Hermione who returned to the serious aspect of the conversation first when the laughter died down.
"Lavender, please keep this a secret. It's really important to us, and it could put a lot of people in danger right now if it gets out…"
"You have my word, Hermione. And you too, Theo." Lavender replied, sincerely. Then, as if to amplify her authenticity, she added: "You can bind me if you want, Theo." Theo gave a peculiar involuntary twitch, but, to his relief, neither of the witches noticed.
"I was going to do it anyway, Theo, so you might as well. It makes it her idea, not ours." Hermione's voice flitted into his mind, her face holding a small smile as she turned to look at her brother.
Nodding, Theo performed a complicated wand movement and a gold thread left his wand, wrapping around Lavender's wand arm, before glowing brightly and disappearing into her skin.
"Done."
Lavender smiled genuinely, and Theo tentatively returned the sentiment.
"You can trust me, Theo."
"I know."
It was said in the simplest of words, but it signified the beginning of a new friendship; one that would change inter-house relationships at Hogwarts for better or for worse.
**
With Lavender's gossiping tongue tied down, the twins decided that now would be as good a time as any to introduce Hermione to the Slytherin side of things; namely, Theo's friends, and the Slytherin Common Room.
Out of the corner of his eye, Theo noticed how Hermione's pace slowed considerably as they entered the dungeons, followed soon after by an anxious fiddling with the hem of her skirt. Impulsively, he grabbed her hand, raising his eyebrow as if to tell her that it was okay, that he was right there beside her.
When she sighed and raised her bushy head once more, her determination clearly expressed in her features, he released the offending hand.
"Icarus." The wall beside them opened up to reveal the entry to the Common Room, but Theo didn't enter straight away as Hermione let out a soft laugh.
"What?"
"Icarus: the fallen angel. It's an interesting password into the heart of Slytherin." She murmured in an amused voice, before trailing her brother as he moved into the darkness of the entrance.
Thankfully, the majority of students were enjoying the sunshine so when Hermione, resident Gryffindor Princess, entered the Common Room she was saved from the glares and general awfulness to which she would otherwise have been subjected. Unfortunately, the silence wasn't to last.
"THEO?"
Enter one Pansy Parkinson.
"Why in Merlin's balls is Granger in here? What the hell are you thinking?" Demanded the dark haired girl, her hands on her waist, and her eyes reflecting their anger at her friend's supposed indiscretion of bringing a Gryffindor – particularly this one - into Slytherin territory. Clearly, they thought he was mental.
"All will be explained, Pans. Until then, please shut up." Theo answered bluntly, leading his sister over to the small group seated in the black leather couches set before the fireplace. Watching them with curious eyes was Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy, and-
Hermione suddenly became painfully aware of an exotic spicy scent that fairly exuded masculinity. Looking at the last member of the group, she was presented with the full six foot four, Quidditch-toned, olive-skinned physique of Blaise Zabini as he stood to offer her his chair. Labelling the action as 'unexpected' was an understatement, though Hermione accepted the newly vacated seat, acutely aware of Malfoy's piercing, curious gaze from the opposite end of the lounge.
"Well I'm sufficiently curious." The blonde drawled, his attentive eyes flicking away from her to fix firmly onto Theo.
Hermione sat quietly, trying not be distracted by Zabini, whose thoroughly gorgeous-and-forbidden body was positioned far too close to her virginal Gryffindor figure for her to be coherently involved in the awaiting conversation. She wondered whether he was standing so close behind her because he knew the effect it was having on her brain's ability to function, or whether he actually liked her and was standing there for no other reason than he wanted to. Promptly, she steered away from that thought process and forced herself to join the fledgling discussion.
Awkwardly, she noticed that everybody had their attention on her.
"So, Granger - who is actually Nott - is in fact a pureblood, albeit raised by muggles, is your twin, is part nymph, and therefore can no longer be referred to with any crude, crass, derogatory, or cruel names, especially not Mudblood or filth." Malfoy ticked off the labels on his fingers. "Although, 'know-it-all' and 'Gryffindork' still apply." He added thoughtfully, only to receive a cuff on the head from Theo as Hermione restrained the familiar urge to connect her hand with Malfoy's face out of frustration more than feeling hurt from the insult.
"That's my sister, smart-ass."
Pansy, despite her upbringing, gawked at Hermione for a moment before she came to her senses.
"You, me and Daphne, girl's dorms, right now." Abruptly, she grabbed Hermione and her blonde friend dragging them into the more private setting. Hermione was barely able to glance Theo's laughing expression and Zabini's raised eyebrow as she was pulled away. Malfoy, on the other hand, just watched them, a bored look on his face as if he'd expected as much.
Hermione was herded towards one of the green silk-covered beds by Pansy as Daphne checked to see that they were alone. Feeling vaguely apprehensive, but comforted by the fact that she had her wand, she waited for the interrogation to start.
"You're Theo's sister." It was a statement, Hermione was pleased hear. "He's my best friend, Granger. He was a family I never really had. He cared about me, and we looked out for each other – we still do - just like you look out for Potter and Weasel. So firstly, if you ever hurt him, not even your nymph magic will protect you from me." Pansy looked away to compose herself as her emotions dangerously fought to overcome her glacial exterior.
"Secondly, there are some things you should probably know about where our alliances lie."
At this Hermione raised her head in interest, listening attentively as Pansy continued.
"Fact one: Draco and I are betrothed, therefore all our actions must be monitored to prevent certain things from reaching our parents ears. We're neutral, but for all outer purposes, we support our families. You understand the implication of that."
Having no idea as to why she was being granted this information so easily and without preamble, Hermione merely dipped her head in acknowledgement.
"Blaise is continuing with his family's neutrality. But he'd do that anyway; he wants to be a healer. Crabbe generally has no idea what's going on, and Goyle isn't as stupid as he seems, but he's Daphne's territory." The Slytherin witch smirked at her friend's glare.
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Hermione asked meekly, confused as to their implicit trust of her.
"Because we don't want the Dark Lord to win. Because now you're practically my sister. Because you need to know. Take your pick." Pansy shrugged.
Hermione fell back against the sheets, covering her face with her hands, muffling her words.
"This is too weird."
"Tell me about it." Pansy answered in a drawl that reminded Hermione of the blonde Slytherin Prince as Daphne laughed merrily at the Gryffindor.
Sitting up, Hermione looked sincerely at the two girls before her.
"I trust you." She told them simply. "Start over?"
Three faces lit up with hesitant, but true smiles.
"You know, you and Theo actually do resemble each other quite a lot, with those high cheekbones. And you're ranked first and second in the year academically. I can't believe nobody noticed anything before now." Daphne pondered from her spot on the bed, rolling on her stomach to face the Gryffindor in a more comfortable position.
"I suppose people only see what they want to believe."
The implied meaning hung heavily in the air.
**
The boys watched the slender brunette witch disappear into the dormitory with the two Slytherin girls.
"Good luck to her now. Pansy looked like she was about to spontaneously combust when you told her Granger was your twin." Blaise spoke up first.
Stretching his lithe body across the now vacant lounge, Malfoy laughed. "Pansy's just jealous she has to share Theo." He mimed fainting, putting the back of his hand against his forehead in a fluid, exaggerated movement. "No longer is she his main girl."
He smirked, twisting to look at Theo's reaction. Disappointingly, Theo merely snorted and dropped himself into the spare seat, getting comfortable while he awaited his sister's return.
The young wizard smiled internally, grateful that the re-introduction of Hermione Nott aka Granger had gone so smoothly.
Yays. Another one done! I hope you're all still enjoying it =] I totally didn't think about how hard writing a multichap is… but I shall ENDURE! For you, and for my own satisfaction. *hem* Also, I apologise if it feels like I'm skipping things…sometimes the writing can't keep up with my brain.
love always
PS: Happy Father's Day, fathers. ^__^
PPS: reviews are significantly awesome.. *hinthint*