12 Grimmauld Place

Quirrell was seated in her lounge. His eyes were sunken and his skin was pale from the energy their Lord was taking from his body. The protrusion, their Lord, was still using his body as a vessel and planned to until the body was no longer of use. "I have something very important for you to do, my dear." Quirrell pulled a journal from his robes. It was a dark leather bound journal with the initials T.R. on the cover. "I need a new vessel until a new plan can be made for my resurrection. This diary contains a portion of my soul. Once given to the right person, it will provide me with a new energy source and lead you to the Chamber of Secrets." Quirrell caressed the spine of the diary as their Lord spoke. "It needs to be given to someone that is easily manipulated. Perhaps a young, insecure girl." She nodded as she took the diary from Quirrell and slipped it into her own robes.

"I am honoured to receive this opportunity, my Lord." Hermione smiled and bowed.

"I have faith in you, child. You remind me of Bellatrix when she was your age, she was so very eager to please me." Her Lord praised her and Hermione soaked it up like a sponge. "Come Quirrell, we have business to attend. Don't disappoint me, my dear."

Azkaban

"Happy Birthday, dove." Bellatrix looked through the tiny crack in her cell; her only source of light for the last decade. Hermione was growing so quickly and she was missing every precious moment. Her nails dug into the palm of her hands, the weeping of her skin was the only crying she would allow herself.

The girl, no, young woman, was 14 today. She couldn't owl her, she couldn't see her, but she could imagine her. She could imagine the smile on the girl's face when she placed a gift in front of her.

"What do you think, dove?" Hermione hugged the raven haired woman tightly, a bright smile on her face. She was more interested in Bella's presence than any gift that anyone could buy.

"I love it, Bella!" Bellatrix rolled her eyes playfully.

"You haven't opened it, darling." The box remained neatly wrapped in dark red paper with a black bow.

"You gave it to me, it could be a quill without ink and I would still love it."

"Meal time, 93!" She glared at the guard as he slipped the bowl in and left. She was going to get out of here soon and everyone that contributed to taking her from her little dove would suffer. The torture of the Longbottoms will seem like child's play compared to what she was going to do to them.

Malfoy Manor

"Draco is my son, Narcissa." Lucius spoke calmly. He sat across from his wife in his study. This argument was dragging into its second hour.

"I know, Lucius." She was trying to keep her tone gentle, but he was being persistent with this topic.

"Then why is it that you won't allow him to spend a single moment alone with me?" She sighed, after the incident with the stone, Lucius' number of episodes tripled. He didn't go a single day without at least two, and that was only on good days. They were at dinner when the first one hit, Draco spent the entire night trembling under the dining table as his mother was dragged about the manor. Nothing in this world could traumatise him the way that did.

Narcissa wasn't trying to keep Draco from his father, but if he slipped with their son she could never forgive herself. Draco had never witnessed his mother's abuse before that day and afterward he begged his mother to keep him from being alone with his father for too long. When it was time to board the Hogwarts Express, Draco didn't look back when climbing on. He moved quickly to find his cousin and a compartment, anything to keep his mind off his mother and father.

"The both of us are allotted the same amount of time with our son every holiday. I just wish to make the most of our time." She answered simply. His eyes narrowed at her.

"You don't trust me!" His tone was accusatory, but she couldn't deny it. That was the exact reason she was hovering over their son every second of the day. "I'm fine." He spat through his teeth. "I won't make the same mistake twice."

"I never said you would, Lucius." She trusted him to an extent, but she didn't trust his mental state anymore and she wouldn't take the same chance again. She couldn't bury two children in her lifetime. "I just don't think it's a good idea to take the chance." She whispered.

Hogwarts

Daphne's eyes were dull, her hair was limp and greasy, and her skin was nearing on grey. She spent her time either staring blankly into space or crying until her eyes were bloodshot. Hermione tried to stick around for the first few days, but the depression was quickly becoming contagious.

A bit of random wandering brought her to the black lake. She just needed a quiet place to breathe some fresh air and enjoy a more relaxed environment. She caught sight of a mop of dark hair and glasses. Deja vu, she hummed softly before sitting next to the boy who lived.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced." She raised her hand for him to shake. "Hermione Black." She offered a small smile. Emerald eyes watched her suspiciously, but a few moments passed and his hand found hers. His body relaxed and he smiled politely.

"Harry Potter." He pushed his broken glasses up his nose. The cracked left lens and the tape in the middle of the bridge was comical, but she didn't laugh. She waved her wand quickly and the glasses were as good as new. "Thank you." He whispered. "Why are you being nice to me?" She rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about your scar." He scoffed at her command.

"Voldemort gave it to me when he tried to kill me. He killed my parents and died trying to kill me." She laughed. The insignificant muggle evil that lived in his home was nothing compared to the evil he was so easily dismissing. The Dark Lord didn't just simply die while trying to kill an infant. The magical workings of it all were far more complex.

"Not that, Potter, tell me about the scar. Does it give you any special abilities? You know, like speaking languages you never learned or seeing places you've never been?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why do you want to know?" Her patience was wearing thin, but patience was a necessity for a delicate task such as this.

"We want the same thing, Potter. If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." He scoffed again. They were complete opposites, how could they possibly want the same thing? She found the game of manipulation exhilarating in every way. The way Potter tried to see through her façade made it all the more better. He wouldn't learn of his own foolishness until it was far too late and when he did she would trick him again and again. He desired friendship, and even a Weasley could tell the boy didn't know his wand from his willy, so he would never suspect Hermione's ill intentions.

"We don't want the same thing. I want Voldemort and all the dark wizards gone, you want Dumbledore and all the muggleborns gone." It seemed muggles had similar political systems if the boy was already so knowledgeable about the black and white dynamic of the magical world. She laughed at his naïveté. Things were never black in white, it was the light that brainwashed their youth with such notions. If you weren't 100% good then you were bad, there was no 70/30 or 50/50.

"The world we live in has many colours, Potter. Every decision we make is for one reason or another, but it's never just this way or that." He raised an eyebrow. "What I mean is that the lines between the light and dark aren't as defined as you like to believe." She pushed his hair from his forehead and stared at his scar. "You and I want the same thing right now, but that doesn't mean we always will, nor does it mean we never will again."

"What do we want?" He whispered, mesmerised by the piercing grey eyes that tracked his every move.

"Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." His eyes narrowed as she spoke. Thanks to Daphne, who even in her depression was able to find out how to open the chamber, Hermione's plans were finally in motion. Since her uncle failed their Lord, she would do everything in her power to succeed where he could not.

l..l

The youngest Weasley wandered the castle's corridors aimlessly. Her eyes filling with wonder at each of the new things she saw. She missed the Burrow, but Hogwarts was an amazing new adventure.

"Aren't you a pretty one." A blonde girl appeared before her. Her eyes were a piercing grey and they seemed to be looking through her. A blush spread over the red head's face. "Hermione Black." The girl stretched her hand out and easily captured the youngest Weasley's. Hermione pressed a soft kiss to the back of the younger girl's hand and smirked as her reddened cheeks began to match her vibrant hair.

"Ginny Weasley." She smiled shyly. Hermione loved how easy this was going. The girl acted as if she never received a compliment in her life.

"It's a shame you were sorted into Gryffindor, Ginny." She pushed a few strands of the younger girl's hair behind her ear.

"W-why?" Hermione leaned closer.

"I really hoped to speak with you again." The younger girl was star struck. Not only was an older student holding her hand, but that student just so happened to be the Queen of Slytherin, Hermione Black.

"I would like that, a lot. I mean only if you do too." She added quickly. Ginny picked at the hem of her skirt and blushed even darker. Her skirt was new, as the only female in the Weasley brood, all of her robes seemed new. Low quality, but new. Hermione could tell how eager to please she was, the way she covered the brand logo on her shirt by adding a scarf to her outfit. She was poor and was raised to be a housewife just like her mother, but she wanted to seem more than that at Hogwarts, especially in front of Hermione.

"Take this." Hermione passed the journal to the younger girl. "It's enchanted. I will see everything you write in it from the journal I have in my dorm. This way we can speak to each other whenever you like." Ginny clutched onto it eagerly.

"T. R.?" The girl wondered aloud.

"Thaddeus Rosier. A distance older cousin, it was a birthday gift." The girl didn't question it. The Weasley's didn't chronicle like the other purebloods. Besides their prior knowledge of the families, they had no records of any new unions or births amongst pureblood society unless someone told them or they read it in the Prophet.

"Thank you, Hermione." Ginny's hand was still being tenderly cradled in Hermione's. The blonde whispered a short goodbye before finally relinquishing her hold on the girl and returning to the dungeons.

Her mission was complete. She wrote to the Tom Riddle within the diary and convinced him to pretend to be her. Ginny's infatuation would grow and eventually she would be willing to do anything the Dark Lord asked. All that was left to do was wait.

l..l

Hermione sighed as Draco fell into step beside her. She didn't have a particular destination, she was just enjoying the Scottish countryside.

"Did you know about my parents?" His eyes were dark and shined with unshed tears.

"Know that they're married? Yes, that's common knowledge." She dodged his question smoothly. Hermione knew that her aunt was being abused. She spent more time with her aunt than anyone else, it was impossible not to notice. Draco had to be blind to live in that manor with that man for all these years and not notice.

"You know that's not what I mean." His eyes were serious and she knew there was no more avoidance. She glanced around them as they walked, eavesdroppers could cause a circulation of a few nasty rumours. Then she would have to track them down and threaten to remove their tongues.

"Yes, Draco. Malfoy men are notorious for beating their wives." He scoffed and she rolled her eyes. He was a soft boy, kind hearted on the inside though he wore a steel façade. Without the influence of his father, he could very likely be a good husband and father one day.

"Why would he do that? As much as my mother does for him, he should be better to her." Hermione shrugged. Draco only saw the world in black and white, just like Potter. His father was an unstable man, but Draco only saw his father from afar, his mother always blocked his view.

"It isn't a matter of what they should and shouldn't do, it's a matter of what they do and don't do." Hermione was apparently confusing a lot of people today. Draco gave her a look nearly identical to Potter's. "Look, your father isn't quite right in the head. He's just a few sticks short of mad and your mother has been dealing with that since long before you were born." She shrugged. "You're luckier than your sister ever was." Pale blue eyes widened with shock. Hermione wanted to hex herself, she wasn't suppose to tell him that.

"My sister?" She answered him with another shrug. "No! Tell me, you can't just do that!" Her eyes hardened as his voice rose. He froze, remembering who he was addressing. "I'm sorry, I just really want to know."

"Your parents first born child was a girl, Ursa. Two years ago, I walked into the empty room in the north wing and found your mother. She was clutching a necklace to her chest and sobbing." She stopped mid-step and her eyes glazed as the day appeared before her again.

She was at Malfoy Manor for winter holiday. For some reason the manor was empty today, the elves were absent, Draco was at the Zabini Manor, and Lucius was nowhere to be found. Hermione wandered the corridors, looking for her aunt, but as she passed the "forbidden" room in the north wing, she stopped.

"I'm so sorry, darling." Her aunt's voice was strained, almost as if she were choking. "I'm so sorry." She peeked in to the room and nearly lost her composure. Her aunt was sitting in the middle of the room, her hair a wild mess, her clothes torn and dirty. Her skin was bruised and cut in some areas.

Hermione didn't say a word as she sat beside her aunt. She wrapped her arms around the woman and let her cry. Narcissa quickly pulled Hermione closer to her and sobbed even harder. Narcissa blamed herself for her daughter's death. If she had been there with her when Lucius came to see her, if she had been there to protect her...

She failed as a mother and every year she was reminded of that. Her daughter's house elf, Saffy, made a cake every year on Ursa's birthday. The elf was heart broken over the death of her first master and she grieved this way. Lucius tried to kill the elf, but Narcissa set her free and now every year on December 16th a cake appeared on the dining table. Narcissa was forced to throw it out before Draco saw it, she couldn't bring herself to tell him.

"I'm so sorry, Ursa."

"She would be a year older than me." Hermione watched the tears well in Draco's eyes. "Don't cry out here, you'll disgrace your family name." She remained stone faced, but the sadness welled below the mask.

"I don't know if I care for my family name anymore." Hermione was taken aback. In the next moment, Draco found himself on the ground. His face throbbed and a bright red hand print was forming on his cheek. She had never been so appalled. Family was everything, they protect their family, they honour and support them. The blood of their ancestors was what blew life into still lungs and bore breath from each and everyone of them.

"Never say that to me. If you don't like Malfoy tradition then you have to ability to change it." She kneeled in front of him and leaned as close as possible. "The Malfoy name is despicable, but it is yours and you will not disrespect it. Your ancestors' blood flows through your veins and you don't get to change that." Her eyes burned with a fury and passion he had never seen before. He nodded slowly and allowed Hermione to help him back up.

"Please tell me the rest of the story."

l..l

Hermione,

I have exhausted all of my resources and there is one family in existence that still practises ancient magic, the Zabinis.

Aunt Cissy

It seemed fate had it out for her. For some reason the Zabinis were continuously popping up in her life. If her desire for knowledge wasn't so strong she would have told Brys to shove his time somewhere dark, but she didn't possess that sort of control. Now she would have to convince him or his brother to help her and the debt she already owned would without a doubt increase. To learn or not to learn is the question, and she lacked the ability to pass up a chance for new knowledge.

l..l

All the original chapters have been reposted with better explanations for certain events. Hopefully it's better, I didn't change much so whether you reread it or not, you should be fine. Leave a review, tell me what you think. I'll be gone for the holidays so expect the next update after the New Year.