AN
I actually struggled with the last bit of this chapter. I wont lie. Oh well. I hope you like it!
I have published a three part one shot series between the last chapter and this one. It has no name per say, however there are three new one shots on my profile called "She", "He", and "They". I encourage you to read them. It is quite dark, and although "She" is rated K+ I would recommend mature readers only read the trilogy.
Also, if you have facebook please head over to my page and give me a like! I publish story updates,fic relatedpictures and the occasional meme! Just search NoctisHorrorem and you will find me easily :D


Hermione felt floaty. Nothing mattered in the world. Had the headmaster just used an Unforgivable on her? He had! Oh well, it didn't really matter did it? But why would he do that? He was supposed to be of the Light! Yet she felt so relaxed. More relaxed than she had felt in months. Yet still Albus Dumbledore, the man who supposedly abhorred the use of such spells had used one on her. How dare he? No! This was totally unacceptable! No matter how good it felt to be so relaxed.

With a shake, she fought off the Headmaster's curse. "NO!" She screamed as she stood up.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, cold determination written on his face. Hermione drew her wand.

"No! I won't let you control me! Not like that! Not in any way!" Hermione screamed, training her wand at the aged Headmaster. "You have no control over me!"

"Do you really think you could duel me and come out on top? You are nothing more than a child!" Dumbledore spat, standing also. "You are nothing more than a pawn in this War, like the others. Do you not see that? Do you really think it was any other way? You are all expendable. More children can be born!" Dumbledore's fury was clearly loosening his tongue. "Is this what you wanted to know? Is this what you wanted to understand?"

Tears were streaming down Hermione's face. This couldn't be. No. There must be some other reason. Albus Dumbledore was supposed to be a beacon of hope for the Light. Yet here he was, spouting such evil, horrific things!

"Impendimenta." Dumbledore muttered. Hermione had just enough time to throw up a shield charm to stop the jinx from hitting her.

"I won't be your tool. Never. How could you do this to any of us?" Hermione asked through her tears.

"Why does it matter? Voldemort does the same! And who are you to question me, little girl?" Dumbledore shook with fury.

She was shocked to feel herself calm down. The tears stopped, and her body stopped shaking. Squaring her shoulders she said, her voice loud and clear. "I am Hermione Gaunt, descendant of one of the four founders of this school you are ruining. I am Hermione Gaunt, a daughter of the Most Ancient House of Black. You cannot control me any longer." She turned on her heel and walked calmly out of the office, leaving Albus Dumbledore with his mouth agape.

She had no idea where the sudden confidence came from, but come it had. Once she had stepped out the door, she fled down the stairs and out into the hall. She had no idea what her next move was. She couldn't stay here any longer. It was clear as day she was not safe. She turned quickly on her heel and fled towards the nearest exit. She had to get away and fast.

Hermione left the castle and sprinted through the grounds, finding herself just outside the gates of Hogwarts several minutes later.

Her wand was still gripped tightly in her hand. She needed somewhere to go. Urgently.

A sudden thought popped into her head. She would try to apparate. She had as of yet done the test, but she knew the theory. Destination, Determination and Deliberation. Focusing on the gates of Malfoy Manor, she visualized herself standing there, reaching to open the gate. At first it felt like nothing had happened. She opened her eyes, ready to try again when she saw the gates, tall and solid in front of her. She jumped up and down, proud of herself for a moment, before the gravity of what had happened sunk in. Dumbledore was just as bad as Voldemort, if not worse! She had fled Hogwarts after the Headmaster had used an Unforgivable curse on her!

Quickly she checked herself over. Nothing seemed wrong. She hadn't splinched. Yet her nails did look shorter. But that was all. She was whole, and she was now safe.

The gates opened to her and she ran up the gravel drive, rapping on the door as loud as she could.

A house elf in a neat and clean pillowcase opened the door. "Miss Hermione! Why is you not in school? What has happened? Let me go get the Mistress. Come in, come in!"

The elf lead Hermione through the large house and into the Ladies Room. "I's be going to get the Mistress now. You just wait."

Hermione sat on one of the elegant sofas and sighed. She was safe now. She knew the Manor had wards to prevent apparition to any who were not permitted, and she highly doubted Albus Dumbledore would be on the list of invited guests.

Minutes later, Narcissa rushed in. "Hermione! What on earth is the matter? Why aren't you in school? What has happened?" In her frantic state, Narcissa's usual impeccable hair was a tangled mess down her back, pins falling to the ground where she stood. Her robes only now stilling from the speed she had rushed into the room with.

With a sigh, Hermione told her everything that had happened, not leaving a detail out. Hermione surprised herself, by the time she was done telling her story her eyes were still dry. "What do I do now, Narcissa? I think I just dropped out of Hogwarts, and if not, I have surely been expelled. Either way, I know I am no longer safe there."

Narcissa was clearly furious. "You stay here of course. I will speak to Lucius in the meantime and try and have that old bat withdrawn from him position. We may need to use your memories as evidence."

"No!" Shame flooded Hermione. She was the brightest witch of her age! How could she have let the Headmaster cast the Imperious curse on her?

"It is up to you dear. But if we are to be rid of him, we will need proof of what he has done." Narcissa said in a soothing voice.

"I know," Hermione replied. "I will take Veritaserum."

Narcissa nodded. "That should be sufficient. But that will mean you will need to be taken before the Wizengamot."

"I know." Hermione sighed. "I just can't bare the idea of anyone actually seeing me in that position!"

Narcissa wrapped Hermione in her arms. "You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. I will have the room you stayed in cleaned and set up for you, okay?"

Hermione nodded. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"It is nothing, dear. Though there is a lot more you will need to think about than you can possibly realize. For now though, just relax." Narcissa patted her shoulder. "Do you have your trunk?"

Hermione started to shake her head, then realized that it was still in her pocket. "Yes, I have it here." She pulled out the shrunken trunk.

"Good I shall have it sent up to your room. Also, I shall be having Draco brought back. It is clearly no longer safe in that school." Narcissa tutted. "I never thought things would get this bad. I am sorry you are caught in the middle of all this Hermione."

The elegant woman rose, tossing her loosened hair over her shoulders and glided out of the room.

Hermione slumped into the back of the chair, feeling her muscles relax. She hadn't realized how much the idea of returning to Hogwarts had bothered her. Everything had changed now though.

It was clear that there would be no one on the Light side who would accept her for who she truly was. And the Dark was more than willing to take her in. Yet she couldn't side with the Dark. She knew that, didn't she?

She remembered the experiment that Voldemort had shown her again. How strange the reaction had been. It reminded Hermione a lot of a weird bomb.

She knew she could never fully support him that was out of the question. Yet would he really be that bad? Dumbledore had the Minister in his pocket. With the things he had said to her earlier in the day, would Voldemort be any worse if he was in power? Perhaps Hermione might even be able to sway his beliefs somewhat. Make it not about control, but education of the masses.

Could she do it? She could try. Already he was a different person to who she had been lead to believe he was. He was evil, it was true. Yet he had been willing to accept her as family. Her friends, the people who she thought would actually understand, had thrown her away like trash.

Hermione had a sudden thought. If Voldemort's theory was correct, how was it that Harry was as accomplished as he was? Although not as smart as her, he was near the top of their year, especially in Defense of the Dark Arts. It was something she would need to bring up with Voldemort she supposed.

Hermione wandered up to her room. The house elves had already put her things away. The meager amount of casual clothing she owned was hung in the walk in robe. Her toiletries had been laid out on the vanity in the bathroom, and her photos had been placed on the surfaces of the main room. It almost looked homily.

There was a soft knock on her bedroom door. As Hermione turned around, Narcissa walked in. Her hair was back up in its elegant chignon, and the regal woman looked much more composed.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything dear. I just thought I would let you know that you are more than welcome to change the color scheme in this room to anything you desire. I wish you to feel as at home as possible. I also wanted to let you know that this morning after taking you and Draco to school I went to Gringotts to have your share of the Black Inheritance transferred to your account. I thought you might like to do some shopping." Narcissa took a brief look in the wardrobe. "Let me rephrase that. We will be going shopping as soon as possible."

Hermione couldn't help the smile that lit her face. It felt surprisingly nice to be having such a conversation with Narcissa Malfoy. Her own mother had never been much for shopping, especially for the sake of it, and Hermione had been much the same. But the commanding presence of the Malfoy Matriarch and her clear excitement over going shopping with another girl was contagious.

"Well, my day seems to have cleared up quite considerably. Would you like to go now?" Hermione asked, trying to not sound as eager as she found herself.

A beautiful smile lit Narcissa's face. "Of course! Let me look through what you have here, I am sure we can piece together something suitable for an afternoon shopping trip!"

Narcissa almost dove into Hermione's closet. Fifteen minutes later, Hermione was changed into some flax colored slacks, a white flannel blouse and a white pair of ballet flats. She was surprised Narcissa had any idea on muggle fashion to coordinate such an outfit. So much so she made a mention of it.

"Don't tell Lucius dear, but I have a collection of Muggle fashion magazines hidden in my vanity draw. I like to be the one to start the trends in our world, and we are so far behind on current fashion ideals that if I borrow from the muggles, I am made to look innovative and others try to emulate me. Selfish perhaps, but it is who I am." Narcissa gave a small shrug and blushed prettily. "Besides, the gossip contained in the celebrity pages is fascinating!"

It was all Hermione could do to not laugh.

Narcissa took Hermione's hand and led her from the room and down into the Entrance Hall. "I shall let you know now, I have had the contents of your previous vault transferred to a new vault under Hermione Gaunt. It won't be long until the whole wizarding world knows who you are. You need to be prepared to face it."

Hermione was unsure how she felt about that. It was a little unsettling that the whole world would know who her family actually was. Not that she was ashamed. Not of the Black side anyway. She took a steadying breath.

You are Hermione Gaunt. You are a powerful witch in your own right, regardless of who you are related to. Do not let the world drag you down.

With that thought Hermione took a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the flames. Standing in the spacious fireplace she said as clear as she could; "Gringotts Wizarding Bank!"

She stepped out of the fireplace into a small but elegantly furnished sitting room. For a moment she had thought she had gotten out of the wrong floo, until she spied a goblin sitting at an incredibly high desk in the furthest corner.

Narcissa stepped out of the fire behind her and brushed off her robes of any stray ash.

"Ah yes, Madame Malfoy, Madame Gaunt. It is a pleasure to see you both." The goblin finally spoke.

Hermione jumped at hearing herself addressed as such, but realized it the goblin was more than likely being polite.

"Yes thank you, Brogpick. We wish to be shown to Madame Gaunt's vault if you would be so kind." Narcissa's voice had turned to an icy command, much like Hermione remembered at the Quidditch World Cup. A shiver went down her spine.

The goblin jumped down from his high stool and waddled over to a door. "Yes Madame. If you would both follow me, I am sure I can be showing you to the vault." Brogpick flicked his hand at the door, being too short to reach the handle, and the door swung open. As opposed to the normal mine cart that Hermione was accustomed to, there was a small but elegant open tram carriage. It was furnished with soft cushions in a variety of colors.

Narcissa climbed with ease onto the carriage and sat down. "Come now, Hermione. We shouldn't waste time. We have a lot to do this afternoon."

Gingerly Hermione climbed into the carriage. With a click from the fingers of the goblin, they were off.

It too them almost fifteen minutes to reach the location of Hermione's new vault. They seemed to be going steadily down wood until they came to a complete stop.

"Here we are Madame's." The goblin jumped out of the carriage and helped both Hermione and Narcissa down.

They walked down a small corridor until they had come to the end. The goblin ran a grubby nail down the middle of the door. A moment later, Hermione's eyes fell on the contents of her much larger vault.

All around her were stacks of coins, the gold, silver and bronze of wizarding currency. A floor to ceiling cabinet hosted many small draws. As Hermione approached, Narcissa explained. "Therein are contained yours and your mothers portion of the Black family inheritance. Until we can return your mother's memories, then they are yours for safe keeping. Mostly family jewels and artifacts."

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she pulled open one of the draws. A beautiful gold and ruby jewelry set was sat on black velvet.

She opened another draw to reveal a jeweled goblet, the metal unknown for how many precious gems were embedded into it.

"Come now, Hermione. We really must be off. We can inspect it another day." Narcissa handed Hermione an elegant coin pouch. "Fill it with a handful of galleons and we shall be on our way."

Hermione quickly scooped up some coins and poured the contents of her hand into the pouch.

Narcissa chatted away aimlessly on their ride back up to the surface. Once outside, it took Hermione a few moments for her eyes to adjust.

"I will take you to my designer. She will know exactly what it is you will need." Narcissa said as she walked brusquely through the crowd of people, Hermione barely managing to keep up.

People stopped and stared at them. It was no secret that Hermione was Harry Potter's best friend, and here she was, traipsing through Diagon Alley with none other than Narcissa Malfoy when she was supposed to still be on the Hogwarts Express on her way to school. She wondered how much longer it would take for Dumbledore to blacklist Hermione's name.

Narcissa led her into a small shop not far from Flourish and Blotts. Hermione had not ever paid attention to it before, as from the outside it looked entirely deserted. Narcissa led Hermione down a dark corridor before stopping before an elegant, but outlandish door. "I should tell you now Hermione, Mistress Ruletov is a seer. She won't ask questions. She will know what it is you like. She will take your measurements and we will be on our way.

Narcissa knock seemed almost like a waltz. One, two, three. Pause. One, two three.

The door opened of its own accord and Hermione had a sudden flashback to third year.

The room was filled with the strong smoke of incense, silk scarves were hung from all the lights and lanterns, and the room was stiflingly hot. Immediately Hermione pushed up the sleeves of her blouse.

"Ah, Narcissa dear. It is so good to be in the presence of your aura again. And you have a young witch with you as well! She is in your care no?" A woman came into view. She was tall and waifish, with the longest red hair Hermione had ever seen. Her robes seemed to be made of nothing more than random scraps of fabric sown together and she was walking around barefooted. How she was a fashion designer Hermione had no clue.

Her eyes snapped onto Hermione. "Do not judge on looks alone." Her Russian accent was thick. "I design what you are. Not necessarily what is fashionable."

Hermione heard Narcissa snigger in a less than ladylike manner. "I hate to say it dear, but in our short acquaintance I have found you can be quite judgmental."

Hermione bit her lip. She hadn't even realized.

"It is no matter." Mistress Ruletov said dreamily. "Come now. I will measure you up."

The experience Hermione found was very much like when she got her first wand.

The tape measure zapped around her, measuring the gap between her eyebrows, the length of her toes.
The distance between her bottom rib and her navel.

An hour later, it seemed all the measurements were done. "Let me take a good look at you dear." Hermione turned to the woman. "Yes I see it. Remember, to be fashionable one needs to be comfortable, and not everyone is comfortable in the latest trends. I shall have a new wardrobe available for you by tomorrow. That will be one thousand six hundred and sixty – four galleons, four sickles, and twenty – five knuts."

Hermione balked. "Sorry? How much?"

Narcissa's crystalline laugh filled the room. 'Worry not dear. I realized after we left it might be more than you could carry. Have it charged to Hermione Gaunt's Gringotts account."

Hermione turned to Narcissa cautiously. "Do I even have enough in there? I mean, that is an awful lot of money!"

Narcissa smiled indulgently. "Yes. I am certain. Now let us go. I am sure Lucius will be home with Draco."