"Kidnapped?" Fudge snorted incredulously, giving Dumbledore a look that suggested that he thought the headmaster had lost his mind.
The pair were currently in Fudge's office, and Dumbledore had informed that Minister of Magic that he believed Hermione Granger had been kidnapped and that her life was in danger.
"Yes, kidnapped," Dumbledore repeated. "I know for a fact that Miss Granger would never go to the Malfoys willingly."
"Why not?" Fudge questioned with a shrug. "Their son must be around her age. Perhaps the two are friends."
"Hermione is a muggleborn," Dumbledore scoffed. "Believe what you want about the Malfoys, but even you can't pretend they would tolerate their son befriending a muggleborn. Certainly not to the extent that they would invite her to visit them at home."
"I admit the idea is a strange one, but not beyond the realms of possibility," Fudge argued. "And I certainly can't believe that Lucius would kidnap anyone. He's a well respected member of our community, and is someone I've worked with on numerous occasions and never had any problems with."
"We could argue all day about Lucius Malfoy, and debate our own personal opinions on the man," Dumbledore said. "But what is important now, is that a fifteen year old girl has vanished from the place she was staying with friends, and now she is seemingly at the Malfoys. Surely it warrants a visit to the manor to at least find out what's going on."
"I suppose you're right," Fudge admitted reluctantly. "But you will not be able to go to the manor yourself. Since I know Lucius, I will go personally. And just to satisfy you, I will take an Auror with me in case of any wrong doing. Does that meet your approval, Albus?" he asked sarcastically.
"It's not ideal, but I can accept that it's how things must be played," Dumbledore said with a sigh as he pulled out a chair and settled himself in front of the Minister's desk. "I'm assuming you don't mind if I wait her for your return."
"Of course not," Fudge replied with a fake smile as he called for his assistant and asked for an available Auror to be sent to his office.
By pure chance the Auror who arrived was Kingsley Shackelbolt. Kingsley was actually a part of the newly reformed Order of the Phoenix, but he took extreme care not to let his boss see that he already knew Dumbledore. The Ministry's official stance was that Lord Voldemort had not returned, so Kingsley and his colleague Tonks, were careful to keep their connection to Dumbledore and the Order private.
Once Fudge had quickly briefed Kingsley on the situation, unaware that the Auror already knew of Hermione's disappearance, though not her new-found whereabouts, the pair left for Malfoy Manor, leaving Dumbledore alone in the Minister's office to contemplate what was going on. Left alone with his thoughts, Dumbledore couldn't help but prepare himself for the worst and that somehow Hermione knew the truth about who she was. Although how that could have happened, he didn't know and try as he might, he couldn't work out where the truth could have come from.
Even now, faced with the possibility of the truth coming out, Dumbledore couldn't bring himself to regret his course of action fifteen years ago. He'd convinced the rest of the Order that it was too dangerous to allow Voldemort to raise a child, and he stood by that even now. He firmly believed that he was doing the right thing for Hermione, in giving her a chance to grow up away from the darkness, and even if she did somehow know who she was, he was determined to get her to listen to reason and make her see that everything he'd ever done had been in her best interests. He was the only person who'd ever cared what was best for her, and he wasn't going to rest until Hermione could see that too.
Although not wanting to get too bogged down with thoughts of things that might never happen, Dumbledore turned his mind away from the situation with Hermione. Instead he started to think about Harry, and what they would have to do in order to convince the Ministry that he hadn't broken any laws by using magic outside of school and in front of muggles, he was in fact just trying to save his cousin from a Dementor attack.
Running over the strategy for Harry's hearing in his head, Dumbledore lost track of time and was slightly startled when the door to Fudge's office opened and the Minister entered the room with Kingsley behind him. Dumbledore's eyes immediately searched for Hermione, but when there was no sign of the bushy haired witch, he turned his focus onto Fudge.
"Well? Where is she? Was she there?"
"Miss Granger was in fact at Malfoy Manor," Fudge said coldly, fixing his stare on Dumbledore as he settled himself at his desk.
"And?" Dumbledore pressed.
"And she is there of her own free will," Fudge replied.
"Nonsense," Dumbledore snorted. "You can't trust a word that comes out of Lucius Malfoy's mouth."
"It wasn't Lucius who said she was there willingly, it was Miss Granger herself," Fudge said.
"You spoke to her."
"I did," Fudge confirmed with a nod. "And she convinced me that she is exactly where she wants to be. The Malfoys are not holding her there against her will. She is free to leave whenever she wants."
"Then why didn't you make her leave with you?" Dumbledore demanded.
"Because she made it perfectly clear that she had no intention of leaving the manor," Fudge answered. "And she said that if I wanted to know why she'd left where she was staying to ask you."
"Me?" Dumbledore frowned. "I have no idea why she vanished."
"Perhaps Molly Weasley can help," Fudge suggested. "Miss Granger also suggested I talk to her. I got the distinct impression there was something she wasn't telling me, Albus, so this is the time to be honest with me. What is the real story with Miss Granger?"
"I honestly know no more than I've already told you," Dumbledore said quietly, his mind whirring as he tried to work out where Molly fit into the mix. He knew she wasn't happy about Hermione's return to their world, but he didn't think she would have spilled the beans to Hermione about her real family. "But I can promise you that this is not the end. The Malfoys have no right to keep Hermione at the manor. I will be back Cornelius, and I will have the Grangers with me. And there is no way you can deny them custody of their daughter."
"Come back by all means, and maybe then we can get some answers," Fudge said as Dumbledore rose to his feet. "There is something strange going on here, Albus, and I will not rest until I get to the bottom of it."
Ignoring the Minister's threat, Dumbledore swept from the office and through the outer offices of the Minister. However, instead of immediately leaving the floor, he waited until Kingsley emerged from the offices in order to get back to his own job.
"What happened Kingsley?" Dumbledore asked as the Auror pressed the button that would summon the lift. "Did Hermione really claim to be with the Malfoys of her own accord?"
"She did," Kingsley confirmed in his deep voice as the lift arrived and the two men stepped into the deserted gold box. "Everything the Minister told you was true. If she is being held against her will, they're doing a good job of controlling her. I caught her eye a couple of times, trying to silently let her know that I could help her, but she didn't react."
"The Imperius curse is impossible to detect," Dumbledore mused. "If Lucius has her under that curse, she could fool anyone into believing what she's saying."
"Maybe, but what about what she said about Molly?" Kingsley asked. "She was adamant that Molly knew more than she was letting on. And while the Minister was talking to Lucius at one point, she mouthed Sirius to me. Fudge is right, there is something more going on here, and I think you know what it is."
"What makes you think that?" Dumbledore asked as the doors opened on the floor where the Auror offices were located.
"I'm an Auror, I'm trained to know when people are hiding something, and you've been shifty all day Albus," Kingsley said, partially stepping out of the lift and holding it open so he could carry on talking. "If you want my advice, come clean about what you're hiding. Or at least confide in the Order. If we know the truth then we can help, but if you're going to keep us in the dark, then you'll end up all alone."
Stepping out of the lift, Kingsley let go of the doors and they slid shut, leaving Dumbledore to his thoughts as he travelled the rest of the way down to the atrium. He was still lost in his thoughts as he alighted the lift, crossed the atrium and flooed back home. He remained at home long enough to use the bathroom, then he headed to Grimmauld Place, still not at all sure what he was going to say to the rest of the Order. Did he follow Kingsley's advice and come clean about what he suspected was happening, or did he lie until he could find a way to get to Hermione and talk some sense into her?
"Where's Hermione?" Ron demanded the second he stepped foot into the kitchen.
"Did you find her?" Remus questioned.
"Is she hurt?" Ginny asked. "Is she dead?" she whispered, noticing the shell-shocked look on the headmaster's face.
"She's alive," Dumbledore muttered as he slumped down in one of the empty seats. In fact there wasn't a lot of people in the room, but he knew that a lot more of the Order would be arriving as the afternoon drew to a close as it was the night they were going to bring Harry from his relatives house.
"But in what state?" Fred asked warily.
"I haven't seen her, but the Minister talked to her and he said she seemed fine," Dumbledore admitted. "Kingsley was also with him, and he said the same thing," he added, noticing Ron had opened his mouth to argue.
"So where is she then?" Remus asked. "And what happened to her?"
"I'm still not sure what exactly happened," Dumbledore confessed. "But as for where she is, she's in Wiltshire. At Malfoy Manor to be precise."
"Malfoy Manor?" Ron exploded as everyone turned to face Severus, who was sitting calmly at the far end of the table.
"You," Sirius hissed at Severus, hatred burning in his eyes. "You were behind this."
"I helped," Severus admitted with a shrug.
"Severus?" Dumbledore gaped at his Potions Master, not wanting to believe that he'd been betrayed by someone he'd always trusted.
"I always told you the bastard was still a Death Eater," Sirius snarled.
"I knew we couldn't trust you," Ron yelled, jumping to his feet and pulling his wand out and pointing it at the head of Slytherin. "I'm going to kill you for taking Hermione."
"You try cursing me and I'll make you regret it," Severus warned in a low voice.
"Don't you dare threaten my son, you traitor," Molly screeched, although at the same time she plucked Ron's wand from his shaking hand.
"It's funny you should mention threats, Molly, because it was your threat that started this all," Severus chuckled, actually starting to enjoy himself as he prepared to shatter the Order and expose their secrets.
"My threat?" Molly frowned. "What threat? I don't know what you're talking about."
"To be fair, it wasn't just you," Severus said, his eye drifting down the table to where Sirius was sitting. "Black played his part."
"Don't you drag me into this, you spineless worm," Sirius snarled. "Dumbledore should have let you rot in Azkaban rather than save your worthless hide. You've never been loyal to us."
"Actually, I very likely would have remained loyal to you," Severus admitted. "Until I knew what you lot were really like."
"Stop speaking in riddles Severus and tell me the truth," Dumbledore demanded in a sharp shout. "I trusted you," he whispered, the pain clear for everyone to hear. "I vouched for you and saved your life, and this is how you repay me."
"I will forever be grateful that you saved my life," Severus replied quietly. "But you lost any loyalty I had for you, once I discovered the truth. I can't respect you now, not when I know what you did to Hope."
"Hope," Dumbledore gasped as Molly let out a distressed cry and Sirius and Remus went pale. "Where did you hear that name?"
"Lucius," Severus answered. "We spoke to him to get to the truth."
"We?" George questioned with a frown. "What are we missing?" he asked, aware that all the adults seemed to know something the youngsters didn't.
"Nothing, you four need to leave now," Molly ordered, regaining her senses and turning to her four youngest children. "This is Order business, and you're too young for it."
"No, this is about Hermione and I'm not going anywhere," Ron insisted.
"We're not kids, and we want the truth," Fred said. "Please Professor Snape, tell us the truth."
"After the meeting yesterday, Hermione caught me on the way out and begged to talk to me in private," Severus explained. "She convinced me it was urgent, so I took her back to my cottage. Once there she told me that she'd overheard a conversation between Molly and Sirius that revealed that she isn't who she thought she was."
"Isn't who she thought she was?" Ginny interrupted with a confused frown. "So who the hell is she?"
"Hope," Severus answered. "Daughter of Lord Voldemort."
"No way," Ron exploded, jumping to his feet and angrily shaking his fist at the Potions Professor. "You're a stinking liar. I don't believe you."
"Take a look around the room, Mr Weasley," Severus drawled, rolling his eyes at the young redheads dramatics. "Aside for you and your siblings, this news is taking no-one by surprise. They all knew who she was."
"I didn't," Remus whispered as Ron slowly looked around the room and found that there was no look of surprise on his mother's face, nor was there any surprise on the faces of Dumbledore and Sirius.
"No," Ron whimpered, collapsing back into his chair as the shock got the better of him.
"It's not possible," Remus muttered, shaking his head. "You said she would never return to our world," he spat accusingly to Dumbledore. "That was part of the deal, that she would be raised away from all magic."
"She was," Dumbledore replied in a soft voice. "But her accidental magic was strong, and it wasn't fading as she got older. I thought bringing her to Hogwarts and helping her channel her magic was the best solution. And it wasn't as if anyone was looking for her, after all, she was supposed to be dead. I thought it was safe."
"And it might have been had you not told Molly," Severus conceded. "You warned her and Arthur, didn't you? When Hermione first started Hogwarts, you told them and Molly didn't like it."
"Of course I didn't like it, she's You-Know-Who's daughter," Molly hissed. "She's a danger to my family."
"No Molly, she isn't," Dumbledore said with a long, drawn out sigh as he spotted his mistake. He wasn't quite sure what Molly had done yet, but it was already pretty clear that it was through her that Hermione had discovered the truth.
"Actually, she might very well be now," Severus said with a smirk. "After all, she did overheard Molly and Sirius plotting to kill her."
"What?" Dumbledore exploded, his eyes burning with anger as he confronted Molly and Sirius. "Why would you do such a thing?"
"How could you allow her back into our lives?" Sirius demanded angrily. "How could you allow her into Harry's life? Her father killed my best friends and left Harry an orphan, yet you thought it was alright to bring his daughter to Hogwarts and insert her in my godson's life. I was doing what you had failed to do, Albus. I was putting Harry first."
"And that is the sort of hatred Hermione overheard," Severus said calmly. "She was in fear of her life when she begged for my help. Of course, I'd never heard about Hope so I wasn't able to help her in that respect. But I knew someone who could help."
"Lucius bloody Malfoy," Dumbledore spat. "Did it have to be him you went to, Severus?"
"Lucius has always been a good friend to me, and I knew that he was once close with The Dark Lord," Severus replied with a shrug, brushing off the disappointment he heard in Dumbledore's voice. "It was easy enough for him to confirm her identity, and once we knew that Hermione was really Hope, she was more than happy to stay at the manor. And now she is safe from all of you."
"Do you really think this is the end, Severus?" Dumbledore asked wearily as the younger wizard rose to his feet. "That girl is innocent, and I don't intend on letting that monster of a father corrupt her."
"From where I'm standing there's only one monster in all of this and it isn't The Dark Lord," Severus shot back. "Who was it who kidnapped a baby? Who was it that faked her death and caused her mother so much pain and suffering that she killed herself? Who was it that kept Hermione from her true family, all because you're afraid of her father?"
"I am not afraid of Voldemort," Dumbledore spat. "I never have been."
"Maybe you should be," Severus said. "If you want my advice, leave Hermione alone. If you push this, The Dark Lord will push back and all your secrets will be exposed. Do you really want the whole world knowing what you're capable of, Albus?"
With his final threat ringing around the kitchen, and a stunned group sitting around the table, Severus stalked out of Grimmauld Place and without a second thought apparated away from the property to his new life totally and utterly on the side of The Dark Lord and his daughter.
