Chapter Five

Coming to Terms

Bill grasped Hermione's hand to help her sit up, her body still weak from the ritual. He walked her over to the side room to allow her to change back into her school robes before walking her over to her family. As they walked across the ritual room, Bill studied the girl he had thought he knew, trying to see any physical differences between his Hermione and this newly freed Adhara Malfoy. Her hair was a couple shades darker but no less wild, her skin a shade lighter, her facial features sharpened to be cutting like the rest of the Malfoys, and she'd grown a couple inches and gained more of a willowy figure that mimicked Narcissa's, but overall she still looked like the girl he'd seen at numerous family dinners over the past years.

Just as they reached the Malfoys, Hermione, or he guessed Adhara now, turned to face him, "Bill, would you be willing to run a Curse Diagnostic on Draco? I'm still unable to feel him through the sibling bond, and I don't think our Twin Speak is working. I want to make sure that any damage that is there from the Headmaster binding me isn't irreparable."

"As long as Lord Malfoy is okay with it, I would be happy to."

Hermione turned to her Papa with puppy eyes, idly wondering if they would still work on him after a decade of separation. Lucius took one look at his daughter's face, so like Narcissa's had been at that age, and acquiesced instantly. She grinned happily and winked at her mother who was doing her best not to laugh at how easily manipulated her husband was when it came to their daughter. Bill quickly waved his wand and a short piece of parchment came from its end.

Curse Diagnostic Readout

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Sibling Bond

Damaged at age five

Partially restored at age fifteen

Chance for full recovery, more than likely

Twin Speak

Cut-off at age five

Severely damaged due to a death like block

Chance of full recovery, in critical condition but recovery is possible

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She and Draco had a lot of work ahead of them if their bond was to be fully repaired, but they could get it done. She turned and gave Bill a tight hug in thanks. He gave her the same affectionate squeeze he had always used on her and Ginny in return before letting her go.

As she stepped back, she said, "Please know that I don't hold the actions of Ron or your mother against you in any way. Owl my father when you feel ready to talk. You were always one of my favourites Bill."

She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, leaving him stunned before walking over to her family who quickly surrounded her in a group hug, Lucius and Narcissa needing the time to have both their children close and physically in their arms again.

As the newly reestablished family of four released one another to take a breath, Narcissa reached over and cupped Adhara's face.

"Let's head back to the Manor for lunch. Does that sound alright sweetheart?"

She was grateful to her mother for asking her consent to the plan, knowing full well she could have tried to commandeer the situation. It was such a small thing but one she greatly appreciated.

"Yes Mama, that sounds wonderful." Looking up at Lucius, she said, "Papa, I'm going to warn you now, our conversation over lunch isn't going to make you happy. I want us to be close, but I'm not the same little girl who was taken from you. I promise to try and understand your point of view before raging like a brash Gryffindor but I'll need the same from you."

Narcissa and Draco glanced at one another and smirked at just how easily Adhara was able to put the powerful Lord Malfoy off balance.

Lucius stared at his daughter before sighing, "Yes, Addy, I will strive to do my best. I don't like that you were raised away from the values I would have instilled in you, but there's nothing we can do about that now."

Addy smiled brightly and leaned on her tiptoes to kiss her father on the cheek.

"Thank you Papa."

Lucius went from resigned to happy, putting his arm out for his little girl to take.

"Well then Princess, let's do as your Mother says and head home. We'll be stretching Severus's promise to the Deputy Headmistress but I doubt she'll begrudge us another hour or two."

Adhara groaned at the moniker, "Ugh not you too. They already call me the Gryffindor Princess."

Draco laughed at his sister's reaction, making her turn her head over her shoulder to sneer at him, "As if you have room to talk, Draco. Slytherin's Prince? Could you be more conceited?"

Narcissa watched her children bicker with quiet contentment as she walked with Draco, her heart feeling more whole than it had in a decade.

"Ragnok, would we be able to use your floo to reach the manor?" She asked.

"Of course Lady Malfoy. We look forward to hearing from your lawyers about how to proceed against Headmaster Dumbledore."

Ragnok turned on his heel and began walking out the door. The family followed him, Adhara turning to Bill one last time before going out the door.

"Can I still call you 'Mione?" He asked, cocking a brow at her with a wicked grin not unlike the Weasley Twins.

She laughed, "Don't be silly, of course you can. I plan on keeping Hermione as an added middle name. Less confusion that way and people can decide what they're comfortable calling me." She let go of her father to give Bill one more hug, whispering reassurance for his ears alone, "What they've done has no effect on us."

She stepped back and retook Lucius' arm with a soft smile.

"Ready to go home Papa?"

"I've been ready since the day I lost you sweetheart."

Stepping out of Gringotts and into Malfoy Manor felt like a trip into a memory. Hermione could suddenly remember every hallway and secret spot she had used as a child while Draco wandered aimlessly trying to find her. And then there was her favourite room in the manor. She took off running, the portraits lining the halls flying past her in a blur until she reached her destination. Throwing the doors to their private library open wide with a deep inhale, she knew she was finally home, the comforting smell of all those books easing her nerves.

The window seat she had always preferred was as she last remembered it and had dreamed of over the years, the house elves having kept it pristine as a subtle shrine to her lost self. A soft chuckle sounded from behind her and she turned to see her father leaning against one of the bookshelves.

This had always been their domain, Draco and Narcissa preferring the conservatory for their time together, and seeing her back in the library made Lucius happier than he had ever thought possible.

"Still my little bookworm then?" He cocked his eyebrow at his daughter, grinning at the sheer joy on her face. Addy ran to her father and hugged him tightly, smiling up at him.

"I never stopped Papa. I'm sure Draco wrote to you about Gryffindor's resident know it all, who was always hogging the books in the library and besting him in every class."

"Between Potter and yourself I learned more about my son's ability to complain than I did his actual time at school."

Lucius tucked Adhara's arm into his as they headed out of the library and across the Manor to the Conservatory. As they entered, Draco and Narcissa were fixing themselves a cup of tea and chatting about the latest robe styles from Paris. Ada and Lucius shared a commiserating look, smirking at how alike mother and son were. All Ada wanted was to enjoy a quality meal with her family before she and Draco had to return to Hogwarts in a few hours, but she knew that a serious conversation had to happen before she could return to school.

Draco couldn't wait to watch his newly returned sister stick it to their father about her betrothal contract. And the house elves! Oh he would need a trip to Honeydukes before that show. He might even share it with his mother if she chose to join him in watching the inevitable explosion. They all tucked into the divine Beef Wellington, baked asparagus and red skin garlic mashed potato that the kitchen elves had prepared, his sister barely containing a moan at her first taste.

"This has always been a favourite of mine and this may just be the best I've ever had."

"Mipsy." She called quietly. "Wait, is Mipsy still here?" She asked, the little elf popping in beside her in answer.

Hermione smiled at the little elf worrying the hem of her pillowcase. "Please let all the elves in the kitchen know that the meal is delicious. You all have done a wonderful job, thank you."

Mipsy just stared at her little Mistress in wonder. She bowed deeply to the kindhearted witch.

"Missy Addy honors us with her praise. We are happy to have her home where she belongs."

The elf lifted her head to flash a bright smile before disappearing to carry on her message.

Hermione looked up from her conversation with the elf to see her parents looking completely flabbergasted at the whole exchange they had just witnessed, Draco failing to contain his grin, at the palpable tension.

"Adhara… Did you just thank our entire kitchen staff?" Lucius asked, recovering first.

While blood supremacists he and his wife were not, they still believed themselves to be above the help.

Ada's spine was rigid as she made eye contact with Draco across the table, her silent warning to stay out of this conversation clear before she trained her gaze onto Narcissa and Lucius.

"Papa, there are many things you and I need to discuss, and near the top of the list is how you treat the elves in our home. Now I know that Dobby was a special case with him having been Grandfather's personal elf and the abuse he suffered at the hands of that man made him lose most of his sanity, but the way the rest are treated needs to change. They may serve us but that does not mean they should be respected any less than if we were to have a staff made up of witches and wizards."

"But sweetheart," Narcissa said, "It's in their nature to want to serve."

"Does their subservient nature make them any less a magical being?"

"Well no, technically they are classed as magical beings and not magical creatures," Lucius reluctantly conceded, frowning at the direction his agreement would now take her.

"Exactly! By law they are beings, not creatures, and even if they were they should still be treated with a kind hand. They communicate in the same manner as us, they are capable of apparating through even the toughest of wards when called, something no witch or wizard can do without first having to dismantle the enchantments.

"Now tell me, what knowledge do you have of the feudal system?"

Lucius's face showed how caught off guard he was by the seemingly sudden change in subject as he asked, "Adhara what does that have to do with house elves?"

"Humor me, it all ties together."

"I… well not much really other than there were Lords and those that served them."

Draco had reclined back in his chair, watching them with amusement, as he dutifully kept his mouth shut. Adhara was in full lecture mode and he planned to relish every second that he wasn't on the receiving end of her tongue lashing.

"During the period of time muggles refer to as the Middle Ages, lords ruled over land that had been granted to them by their kings. When was the Malfoy family given the land we're on now papa?"

"William the Conqueror, gifted this to us in January of 1067, shortly after he'd been crowned King of England. It was a show of good faith for our support during his conquest."

"So this is feudal land. Armand Malfoy was given the land to oversee by a monarch who believed he was given the right to rule from a divine power."

"Yes… but Adhara where is this going?" Lucius asked, now thoroughly confused by the impromptu history lesson.

"Patience Papa. Now, when Armand started using the muggles who lived here to work the land, some were granted a place in the house to care for him and his family, correct?"

Lucius nodded slowly, a glimmer of understanding beginning to form in his eye.

"Once the statute of secrecy went into effect in 1692, those muggles, and others like them, could no longer work in magical households. The elves that Armand had brought with him from France suddenly became the only source of a servant, since no witch or wizard worth their name would subjugate themselves in such a way.

"Unfortunately, Grandfather Abraxas missed that particular history lesson because he forced you to bend a knee to a power hungry, half blood, upstart who came to power because he was neglected and treated as less than human by the adults in the orphanage where he spent his youth. His childhood of neglect was then followed by being seen as less of a wizard by Albus bloody Dumbledore because he'd become an angry boy at the injustice of the treatment he was receiving by adults who should have given better care, choosing instead to use his magic to keep his bullies and abusers at bay."

Addy's eyes briefly flicked to her father's left arm, the disgust for her grandfather and Dumbledore viscerally clear on her face.

It took all of Lucius' upbringing not to flinch at the anger in his daughter's face, while Narcissa and Draco openly wore their heartbreak and shock.

Lucius swallowed and composed himself before asking, "Adhara, how do you know all that about the Dark Lord?"

Addy cocked an eyebrow reminiscent of her Godfather.

"You must be aware by now of who I spend a majority of my time with at school."

Draco's head banged on the table, mumbling, "Potter… Of course."

"Yes, Draco, Harry has been my best friend and I desperately hope he still will be after tomorrow. Telling him the wizard he looks to as a grandfather figure did this to me is not a conversation I am looking forward to, but that's not the point of this.

"Ultimately, the elves took over the care of our manor and many like it. With a lifespan of at least two hundred years, they have long memories and even deeper loyalties. Why then would we not treat them with respect and earn the loyalty they give us by being decent masters, instead of demanding it and demeaning them like Abraxas did. If we do that, they will all eventually suffer as Dobby did.

"His service to Harry is proof of that. He's much happier and has been healing to a stable mind."

Draco's head shot up from the table as he and her parents looked at her incredulously. "Wait, Potter is Dobby's master now?"

"In a sense, though they aren't bonded as they should be. But that's due to Harry's forced ignorance of his own background by Dumbledore, something I intend to rectify as soon as possible. He's Lord Potter for Godric's sake, he was emancipated when he was forced to participate in that ridiculous tournament last year! Dobby works in the Hogwarts kitchens and thoroughly enjoys the respect he gets. He's much more sane and healthy looking as well."

"Addy,' Narcissa interjected, "Is this really what you wanted to discuss with us?"

Adhara sighed, "No Mama, this was not the original conversation I'd had in mind. What I wanted to discuss was my betrothal contract to Theodore Nott that was drafted when I was four."

"You and Theodore got on so well as children though!" Her mother protested.

"Yes, Mother, as children. Then I was viciously ripped from everyone's life and grew up in an upper class household with this crazy modern take that marriage should be for love, not prestige or the upkeep of a bloodline's purity. I don't even know who Theo really is. We've not spoken to each other outside our weekly study group in the library for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."

"Where was I for those? I'm in those classes with you both!" Draco wondered.

"Yes but you're a prat. Sometimes Theo needed a break from you, and with my being a muggleborn you weren't exactly keen on being in my presence now were you?"

Ada arched her eyebrow at her brother, who had the decency to look ashamed.

"What do you propose then Addy?" Lucius asked.

"Let me get to know Theo on my own terms. Theo's father is going to have enough of a fit with me being raised by muggles for the last decade. I guess we keep the contract valid for now, but if I still feel nothing for him when I come of age in a year, then we can cancel it.

"Let me date the boy I like right now, if he'll even have me, and see where that goes. Don't push me into a marriage with someone I may not be able to love," she pleaded.

Narcissa was studying her daughter with some interest when she mentioned a boy she had a crush on, and as she caught her daughter's eye she knew just which boy it was. Her passionate defense of him earlier was a flashing signal as to her feelings. Cissa smiled at her little girl and put a hand on her husband's arm to cut off his line of questioning about this other boy before it even began.

"As long as you conduct yourself in the manner of a lady befitting your station, then I see no reason not to agree to your terms. Your father and I were lucky to be in the same house at school and I came to love him, even with the knowledge that he was one day to be my husband. It would be unfair to expect you to not have the same chance to get to know your intended."

Ada jumped out of her seat to hug her mother.

"Thank you mama, I promise you won't regret this."

"Wait a minute. We're supposed to turn sixteen next year, but you said seventeen!"

Lucius dropped his fork at Draco's statement. Adhara slowly sat back down, cursing herself for the verbal slip. She always knew that secret would one day come back to bite her.

"Technically I'm already sixteen," she mumbled, quickly putting food in her mouth as though it could keep her from answering anything else.

"And just how exactly are you a year older than your twin brother? Unless you've somehow gotten hold of a time turner, which is preposterous, then that's impossible," Lucius declared.

"I….. I did have one… A time turner, that is. In year three..."

Narcissa paled and Lucius once again looked murderous.

"Dumbledore allowed a minor, with a severe core block that he himself placed, to use a bloody Time Turner?" He yelled.

". . .Yes…."

"Adhara you do realise that could have killed you? How often were you using it?"

Narcissa looked almost grief stricken. The core block had been dangerous enough but to allow a thirteen year old the use of a time turner was easily tantamount to attempted murder.

"Once a day during the week, and I swear I tried not to use it on weekends but then there was the whole deal with Sirius and Buckbeak and. . ."

"Sirius? As in Black? My cousin?"

"Yes, he also happens to be Harry's godfather and an innocent man! He was never given a trial, just thrown in a cell and forgotten about till he escaped."

Lucius looked contemplative. "I'll check the court records when I go to the Ministry. Wait, if Black didn't betray the Potter's then who did?"

"Wormtail," Adhara growled, viciously cutting into what was left of her lunch.

Lucius blanched, knowing who she was talking about because of his summons at the end of last year. If his daughter was correct, then he had another few items to add to his list of grievances against the Headmaster.

"Alright you two, finish eating. We have to get you both back to Hogwarts before dinner."

Narcissa caught Lucius' eye, silently letting him know they would talk about it once the children had gone back to school.

"Yes mama!" The twins chorused, the sound music to her ears.

They all tucked into their lunch, but Adhara was picking at her plate, a nervous expression on her face.

"What is it sweetheart?" Lucius asked, not liking this look on his baby girl.

"I. . . Well, there is one more thing I would like to discuss with you. I want to change my name. Officially that is. Though I came to them through nefarious means, they've still been my parents for all that time. They gave me a good home, and I am their daughter according to muggle law... I want them to still have a place in my life, they deserve to still have a place in my life, if they want it that is. So I would like you all to meet them, I don't want to feel like I have to choose.

"Is there any way you'd be okay with my full name being Adhara Hermione Narcissa Granger-Malfoy?"

Narcissa knew then that her daughter was raised well by the muggles who had adopted her. She'd been raised to be a good woman, with a kind heart and a fierce loyalty to those she loved. She rose and moved to sit next to the brave young woman that was her daughter.

"I will gladly meet the Grangers darling. They raised you to be a daughter anyone would be proud to call their own, and I wish to thank them for that. It is a testament to them that you wish to honor them in such a way, and I fully support you."

Hermione let her tears fall as her mother wrapped her in a warm embrace, grateful beyond words for the patience and understanding both she and Papa had shown over lunch.

Lucius rose from his seat and quickly approached the two most important women in his life, wrapping his arms around both of them.

"Yes sweetheart, I think that is a wonderful idea. Shall we invite them for Yule? Spend the holidays as a proper family?"

"You would really do that for me?" She asked with shock.

"Yes, my darling, I would. You've made me think tonight, and if the Grangers have your glowing review then obviously not all muggles must be as horrible as the ones I have encountered or heard about over the years. I'm not promising to agree with everything they say or think, but I will do my best to be open to some of their ideas and be a gracious host."

Hermione leaned up and kissed her father on the cheek, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug, trying to convey through actions what she couldn't yet put into words. He hugged her back just as tightly, looking at Cissa over her shoulder and marveling at the gift they had been given back.

"I love you both so much. Thank you."

Draco watched the whole exchange with trepidation, and his father so easily agreeing to what Adhara had proposed was nothing short of miraculous. Even the knowledge that the Dark Lord had returned and that he would be breathing down their necks could not put a damper on the joy that the four Malfoys felt at being reunited.

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk in the Headmaster's office, his eyes staring at nothing in particular as he contemplated how the bonds he had placed on the Malfoy girl had been discovered and broken. She was supposed to be the mudblood poster child, the direct proof that Voldemort was wrong about blood supremacy. He hadn't realized it in time that Lily Potter was everything he attempted to make Hermione Granger into, having forced Voldemort's hand into killing her when she would have been far easier for him to manipulate and mold into what he needed for the cause.

'Damn it.' He thought, steepling his fingers together. 'I don't need the Dark to have a full set of bonded twins, this will ruin everything!'

He needed to reach Harry before the girl could tell him the truth. Losing Harry would mean the end of the war and all of Albus's efforts to shape the Wizarding world to his own grand designs. He doubted he could get away with a resorting of the Malfoy chit, so he would need to rely on the Weasley boy to ensure that Miss Malfoy was alienated. Ronald Weasley had proven these months that he was nothing if not a dependable soldier and it was time to move him into battle.