A WARNING! This chapter does have a slightly gory dream scene in! For those with a nervous disposition or those just wanting to avoid it, skip over the section after they fall asleep, until you get to the next 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'

Enjoy! :3

Keep It In The Family

Hermione and Ginny had decided that mentioning the incident at the club to anyone, wasn't a good idea. That would have meant admitting that they'd not only snuck out, but also spent the evening on the other side of the country! Fearing the wrath of the Weasley matriarch, they'd snuck in, dressed for bed and then scampered back downstairs. Nursing a strong cup of Earl Grey tea each, they both tried to recover from the terrifying events of the night. Neither one of them slept a wink, they simply sat staring into space until their tea was ice cold and untouched. As sparrow's song filled the crisp morning air, that was how Molly Weasley found the two girls. Her presence in the room went unnoticed for a good five minutes, until she started clattering pots and pans about, getting ready to start making breakfast. Both girls jumped so far off their chairs, that Mrs Weasley found it hard to contain her chuckles.

"And what, might I ask, are you two doing down here at the crack of dawn? Shouldn't you both be in bed sleeping?" She asked once the chuckles had subsided.

"Neither of us could sleep a wink! We kept hearing footsteps outside Ginny's door. It was really weird, each time we went to check there was no one there?!" Hermione stated, it was the best excuse she could come up with after having been awake for almost 24 hours.

"Well, you have another few weeks before the holidays end, it won't hurt for you both to go and sleep in this morning." She started to shoo the two girls towards the stairs with a tea towel. "I'll come wake you up for lunch, you'll only get about six hours! But any more than that and it will be a nightmare for you to get back into a routine!"

The two girls scurried up the stairs, how they were ever to get any sleep after last night, they had no idea. But no sooner than their heads hit the pillows they were both drifting off.

(GORE WARNING AHEAD)

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Hermione woke up dazed and confused. Her limbs felt heavy and she ached all over. The bed upon which she lay didn't feel quite right, it felt far too lumpy. She opened her eyes but could see absolutely nothing, she was surrounded by darkness. Carefully sitting up she started to feel the environment around. She had a sinking feeling she was no longer at The Burrow, when she couldn't seem to find the edge of the bed. As she started to wriggle around, the bed moved. Only the movements didn't feel right. It felt like loose objects moving around as she clambered about.

She suddenly felt a presence behind her, but she glanced over her shoulder to find nothing but darkness. Just as she was about to turn back, a slight movement caught her eye. Although there was no definitive shape, there was definitely something there.

"Who are you, what do you want, where am I!" She demanded to the shadow thing, but received no response other than a cruel and demonic sounding cackle. It sent shivers down her spine, made her stomach churn, and left her feeling faint all in one go. She shuffled on the bed-like surface, and heard another noise on the opposite side of her to the shadow thing. Upon spinning round, she could find nothing there, the only give away that there was something there, was the sound of rustling. There was a loud scratching noise, before a single flicker of flame illuminated the room. The lit match was used to ignite a torch, and then the room was bathed in light. Staring back at Hermione was a Death Eater, masked and cloaked. Their icy grey eyes stared back at her, making her squirm on the spot.

That was when she looked down to identify what precisely it was, she was sat upon. She couldn't help but let out a blood curdling scream, as she realised, she was sat upon a pyre of dismembered bodies. It took her only a second to recognise the head of the barman from Spiders Nightclub, and to realise that these were the other patrons. Those who'd been crucio'ed and Avada'd. She let out another mind-numbing scream, as the barman's eyelids started to flutter open and he tried to speak, but nothing came out. Blood started to trickle from his eyes like tears, before the whole pile of body parts started to shake violently. The barman's head started to rocky from side to side, as if something was trying to push its way out from underneath it.

And something did.

Hermione found herself face to face with none other than the Dark Lord's snake. Nagini started to wrap herself around Hermione's wrists, squeezing harder and tighter, until they started to turn purple and then blue. Starved of blood and oxygen, her fingers twitched. The agony was unbearable and her vision started to fail her, as black spots fizzled in front of her eyes. She hadn't even realised she was screaming or crying. Nor did she hear the cackling from behind her start to move until it was in front of her.

As Nagini squeezed even tighter, she felt her wrist bones fracture. It uncoiled itself and swayed in front of Hermione, before biting down hard on one of her hands. The poison in the snake's bite started to work its way into her blood stream. Her arms began to tingle and feel numb, as the world around her started to sway and blur. The cackling reached a new pitch and she realised who the shadow thing was. Bellatrix Lestrange was dancing around the masked death eater, dress splattered with the blood of the bodies that were piled up beneath Hermione.

Bellatrix stopped prancing about long enough to grab hold of the mask illusion on the Death Eater's face, causing it to shatter and reveal the sneering face of Draco Malfoy staring back at Hermione. With a vindictive smirk, he launched the lit torch at the pile of body parts, which immediately caught alight. Trapped on the pyre, Hermione shrieked in both terror and pain as the flames licked at her clothes, and singed her hair. As it consumed her the pain grew too much, and she passed out.

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"HERMIONE!" The yelling of her name, right beside her ear was enough to wake her. Although, the dregs of her nightmare still cast shadows over her mind. She sat bolt upright in surprise, and found the entire Weasley clan and Harry, who these days was practically an honorary Weasley, stood around her bed. Surprised to find so many men in Ginny's room, she grabbed the duvet - which was down by her ankles - and dragged it over herself to protect her modesty. Although it was hardly necessary, given she was wearing jogging bottoms and a baggy t-shirt.

"Hermione dear, are you okay?!" The concern etched onto Arthur Weasley's face was unusual. The patriarch of the family usually never let his concern show. "You were shrieking in your sleep, it was so loud I could hear it in the shed!"

"Nightmare..." The shock of her horrific dream, and the manner on which she had been abruptly woken, left her feeling dazed and disorientated. One-word answers were all she could manage.

"Okay! Boys, out! Give her some space, let her actually wake up before you all start interrogating her!" Mrs Weasley shooed her sons out of the room. "That means you too Arthur!" She demanded at her husband, who was staring at Hermione, smacking him on the back of his legs with a wooden spoon until he left the room. "Right Hermione, why don't you get dressed and come down stairs. I'll go and get the kettle on, then if you feel better you can explain what happened." She pulled Ginny with her and she left the room.

After a quick shower and fresh clothes, Hermione wandered down the stairs and found Ginny and Mrs Weasley sat at the kitchen table, waiting for her to join them. She eased into one of the seats, as a mug and the teapot floated towards her. She poured a mug of tea, Earl Grey of course, added 3 spoons of sugar and drank it almost down in one. The look of surprise on both Weasley's faces was enough to make her chuckle. Hermione never downed her first tea of the day, it was something to be savoured and enjoyed. That was when they realised that whatever she had dreamt about, was seriously bothering her. After another two cups of tea, she was finally able to speak. Ginny would later recount what she had said, to Harry and Ron, both of whom would look absolutely terrified, whereas Ginny would have a surprisingly knowing look on her face. Something neither boy would even notice.

A week later, niggling worries floated around Hermione's head, as she was repacking her school clothes into her trunk. Although there was still a week and a half before she would be on the train heading back to Hogwarts, it seemed the only thing that could keep her calm. Her Grandmother's condition still hadn't changed, something that was seriously affecting the mood in the Granger home. She had also fought with Ron about whether she should be going with Harry to assist him on the Horcrux hunt. That was until Harry got involved, and he'd sided with Hermione the minute she mentioned what Dumbledore had said about returning to Hogwarts, in his letter.

As she was gathering her parchment, quills and ink, she noticed the research she had done on her magical heritage. She had a flash of inspiration, and wrote down on a spare piece of parchment all the names and relevant information she had, before attaching a side note. Although she'd reached a dead end with her family tree, that might be just the muggle side of it. Maybe, given she was a witch, the ministry might have better records, and be able to fill in the gaps? Maybe she did have ancestors that had magic in their blood!

Harry had lent her Hedwig whilst she was back at home, as he could use the Weasley's owl; Pigwidgeon (Pig for short) should he need to send anything. She whistled the beautiful snow-white owl over from her perch, and she flew down to land softly on Hermione's arm. Being careful not to scratch her temporary Mistress, Hedwig headbutted Hermione affectionately.

"Hello beautiful, right I need you to do me a favour. Can you give this to Kingsley Shackelbolt? He'll know what to do with it from there." She told her as she tied the envelope to her leg. She wandered over to the window, opened it wide, and Hedwig flew off into the sky.

Two days later, whilst having breakfast with her parents, a large brown owl tapped on the dining room window. Given she'd never seen the owl in her life, she knew it was from the Ministry. Which meant it was a response to the letter she'd sent to Kingsley.

She got up from the table and gave the owl the crust off her toast, carefully untied the thick envelope, and let the bird back out again.

Sitting back down at the table, she carefully opened the letter, anxious to what she might find. As she read through the letter, her parent's noticed her face getting paler and paler, before she dropped the letter to the table and ran from the room.

Curious as to what had upset their daughter, they snatched up the letter and read it.

"Miranda dear, I believe it's time we told her the truth." He stated.

"I've been waiting for this day for years, but what if she chooses to stay here with us!?" The look of fear across her face matched the one that flickered across his own.

After several hours of coaxing, Hermione's parents were finally able to get her to sit in the living room with them, so that they could explain.

"Hermione, I know that letter must have come as quite a shock to you, but I si9mply have to say that it was technically incorrect. As it stated, we aren't your parents; however, we are still family members. I am your Uncle's Great Niece, so we are unfortunately still family, although not by blood, by marriage. The research you were able to find, was Andrew's side of the family, hence why you didn't get any magical results. But as the letter said, my side has a connection, my great Uncle was most definitely a muggle. So maybe he married a witch?" The repulsed look in Miranda's eyes went completely unnoticed by Hermione.

Hermione was silent for a few minutes, trying to take all the information in. 'If these aren't my real parents, then who are...?' She looked up at the people who she had once thought of as her cold a clinical parents. She felt like her world had fallen apart, there was a massive difference between being told it in a letter, and then being told it face to face by the people who you had always assumed created you. She couldn't take the disgusted look in both their eyes, and she fled the room, locking the door behind her.

Curled up on her bed, she thought about the situation she had found herself in. How could her 'parents' have kept this from her for all these years. It certainly made her think about her aesthetics. Although, this might not necessarily be what she truly looked like, a simple glamour charm, and she'd be completely changed. But a glamour couldn't change her personality, and truth be told, things started to make more sense.

The Granger's were early birds, practically rising at the crack of dawn, and always off to bed early. Whereas she was a night owl, off to bed at 'ridiculous-o'clock' in the morning, and then zombified when she woke up. She was quick to lose her temper if she was seriously pushed, whereas the Granger's had so much patience and were so laid back, you'd think they were on sedatives. Her taste in style and music had no apparent origin, no one she knew liked heavy metal and punk rock. Nor did anyone she know even know what the hell 'steampunk' was. Her 'parents' liked vibrant, bright colours that represented their happy moods. She liked the dark and moody colours that suited her style perfectly.

There were so many differences, she wondered how she'd never noticed it all before.

After about an hour of thinking, she realised she wanted the full truth. She needed to know as much as she could. A sudden realisation hit Hermione right in the stomach. 'I might not be muggleborn!' The excitement in her quickly squished the feelings of complete disorientation she had felt mere seconds prior, and she bounded down the stairs eager to learn more about who she was. There was a slight hesitation in her brain, but her thirst for knowledge overpowered it before it had a chance to make its presence known. She reached the front room and found her parents exactly where she'd left them.

"Is there anything you know about my birth parents? I'm assuming Granger can't be my last name? Do you know what my original last name was?" The excitement that was evident on her face, was like a snippet of relief for the Grangers, they really were going to finally get rid of their adopted daughter. Afterall why would she stay with them if she could find her birth parents? This thought egged them on to finally spit out the secrets they had kept, so they divulged the little information that they had.

"Well your last name isn't Granger, it's Dagworth. We don't know your first name, we were told to choose one ourselves, so that you felt more like our daughter, not that it helped. I'm unable to have children, hence why you've never had any brothers or sisters. So, you were the 'miracle baby' we never had. The woman who gave you to us, claimed to be your Aunt, we were told you were a distant family member, but she couldn't tell us anymore than that. All I know is she's called Lydia, and it was her who we told you had died. Only, she didn't die at all. We were told to inform you that she had, but we don't know why." Andrew stated calmly.

"Wow, this is a lot to take in. So, she really isn't dead? I wonder why she told you to lie. I wish I could ask her but I have no way of contacting her. This is infuriating!" Hermione crossed her arms and frowned, annoyed at how difficult this was.

"She gave us an address to send letters to, should you ever show signs of magic! How the hell did we forget to inform her! We could have been free from this ages ago!" Miranda quickly ran out of the room and up the stairs. She arrived back a few minutes later, with an address written on a monogrammed square of parchment. 'A.D.' was embellished in the corner in beautiful silver scroll. She handed the parchment to Hermione, who inquired who A.D. was.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it could be your mother's initials? Lydia is a Dagworth, but I'm not entirely sure which of your parents she is sister to. Maybe you should send her a letter? Or maybe you could use that floo network thing? Will it work from just our house? She lives in South Africa, so I don't know if you can travel to a different country. I don't really understand flooing?" Miranda rambled on, excited at the prospect of finally getting rid of the unwelcome intruder in their life.

"I'm going to nip to the Ministry and ask, Kingsley will know. I'll be back in a bit." Hermione said as she threw some floo powder into the fire, stepped in and was gone.

After a brief conversation with Kingsley to explain what she was trying to do, she was given the go ahead to use his office fire to floo to her aunt's house as it was connected to the international floo system. She first contacted her parents via the fireplace, sticking her head in the green flames to talk through the fireplace. It was only the third time she'd ever contacted her parents in this manner, and her mum still squealed at the sight of a head in the fireplace. After she explained what she was going to do, they agreed as long as she came back for dinner, she said her temporary farewell and pulled her head from the fire.

After throwing more powder into the grate, she stepped in and called out "International, Parkview Castle, Johannesburg". What felt like hours of spinning and twisting, but in reality, was only about ten minutes. Hermione found herself spat out into an absolutely enormous grand entrance. Upon getting to her feet, she found a house elf staring up at her with huge eyes and floppy ears.

"Welcome to the Dagworth Estate, I am Mog, might I ask your name so as to inform the Lady of the house whom has arrived?" It looked up at her hopefully. Given its little black skirt with a silver A.D. embroidered on the front, and the emerald green shirt it was wearing, Hermione assumed it was female.

"Thank you Mog, it's a bit odd really. I believe Lydia Dagworth to be my aunty. She gave me to muggles as a baby? My name is Hermione Granger. If you tell her all that, she should hopefully remember me." She smiled down at the little elf who beamed back.

"Please wait in here, and I shall inform Mrs Dagworth of all you've told me." Mog led Hermione off into a large parlour, and then popped away. She glanced around the room and noticed a large moving portrait of a beautiful young woman with ebony black hair, alabaster white skin, and vibrant red eyes. She was stunningly beautiful, and looked incredibly fae-like, beside her stood a tall blonde man with an angular jaw and vibrant green eyes. He too looked distinctly fae-like. In their arms were two small almost identical children, both girls, both with red eyes but one had blonde hair, whilst the other had Black hair. All four occupants, had small reserved smiles, the kind you would expect royalty to have.

Just as she turned to look at a large world map that was magically fastened to the wall, the double doors in which she had come through burst open dramatically. The woman from the painting practically sprinted into the room, and stopped several feet from Hermione. The look of shock on her face made Hermione gulp. But it was the tears that were streaming down the woman's face that terrified her more. They were silver, not like molten silver metal, but more shimmery and looked silver in colour.

"Pandora!"

A/N - QUITE A FEW EDITS TO THIS CHAPTER

Sorry, I had to leave it on a cliffy. There's been quite a bit of action in this chapter, and all the next bit would have been too long to stay in this chapter. I managed to write all this in a single evening, I'm slightly proud :3 So it's my longest chapter yet I believe, hopefully the rest will be more this length, however if you feel it's too long, drop me a review and I'll spread them out a bit more. :)

Parkview castle is a real castle in Johannesburg, its stunning, I don't own it, lol, just seemed like the kind of place Lydia would live! I also still don't own Spiders Nightclub in Hull. I know I mentioned that in the last chapters A/N, but thought I should reiterate it, given I mentioned it in this chapter too! Mog, the name of the house elf, was purely me playing around with the alphabet, if someone, or some character from something else is called Mog, it's purely coincidental. The same goes for Pandora.

Thanks you to Joey my Beta (not legal name) who continues to inspire me and push me to improve my plots :P

Reviews are my bread and butter. As proved with this chapter, they encourage and inspire, and given even if it's just a single sentence, are all encouraging!

Much love!

Az xXx