The secret is out!

Scabior and Hermione have a moment. Harry and Hermione talk. Hermione finds a letter from her past. Secrets are revealed.

Hermione knelt beside Scabior as Professor Snape performed his counter curse. She let out a sigh of relief as his breathing seemed to even out. She still had him tugged against her. Scabior, having realized this, had an arm slung around her waist, in case she decided to try and shove him away. His eyes had begun to loser their amber color fading back to blue as the pain receded. All the death eaters were watching Hermione. They all knew how the boy felt about her but she kept sending him mixed signals. Half rye time she acted like she hated him, then it seemed like she was getting flirty with him. She had the boy wrapped around her finger but didn't know it.

Snape straightened up as he said, "I've done all I can do. He's breathing easily and alert. The wounds are stitched. Even with the werewolf venom, he still needs to rest and let it heal. More than likely, he'll be up and around again tomorrow."

Fenrir moved to pick Scabior up and carry him out to his bed but Hermione stopped him. "I'll watch over him tonight. Put him upstairs, in my room. Harry, you can stay there, too. We need to go over the draft together. I'd like your input on some of the issues."

Harry nodded and followed Fenrir out. Hermione went over, hugged Nagini again and told Tom, "Please don't be mad at him. He did protect us. He got us all out of there safely. He would have been alright, too, but he jumped in front of that curse. It was actually meant for me."

Tom hugged her. "I knew that as soon as you exited the Floo. I'm not mad at him. I'm quite proud of him, actually. From what Draco tells me, you and him together were quite the sight to see."

Hermione giggled." Well, I couldn't just let him have all the fun, could I?" Tom chuckled as he sent her on her way.

Tom looked at his followers as she left. "Well, I think young Scabior is finally getting through her defenses." He knelt and spoke to Nagini. "What do you think of young Scabior? Is he good for sister?" Nagini nodded her head. The young Snatcher would hunt field mice and rabbits for her. She liked him a lot. Tom smiled and hugged her.

Upstairs, Fenrir was about to lay Scabior on the couch in her room. Hermione ran in. "No, the bed, he'll be more comfortable. Don't worry. We'll have Harry here with us." Fen's brows shot up but he put the boy on the bed. Scabior grinned up at him. Fen shook his head and chortled as he left the room.

Hermione walked over and reached into her bag. She pulled out a vial and held it out to Scabior. He looked at her questioningly. "It's a Healing potion with a bit of Dreamless Sleep mixed into it. You'll heal even faster. I'll be right here beside you, I promise." He hesitated, then took the potion from her. Harry and Hermione watched as he swallowed it. He handed the empty vial back and held his arm out. She smiled at him, climbing onto the bed and settling down beside him. Harry clambered up beside him on the other side. She watched the young man settle himself and fall asleep.

Harry looked at her. "Ok. You looked serious about something this morning. Spill it."

"Harry, I was dreaming of my mother last night and thinking of her this morning. I remembered something from years ago, long before I started at Hogwarts. I had truly forgotten until I found this letter this morning, in my bag. My mother must have put it there a couple days before I put the Memory charm on her." She pulled a letter from under her pillow. It was sealed and dated two days before the Memory charm was applied. "I keep all of my letters from her and it was in the middle of them. I've been afraid to open it. But what I was going to tell you was I remembered another letter, from years ago. Harry, she wrote a letter to, to-" here she stopped. She was afraid of what kind of reaction she'd get when Harry found out WHO the letter had been addressed to!

"Hermione, who? Who was it addressed to?" Harry waited with bated breath. If it was this hard for her to tell him, she must truly think he wouldn't forgive her!

"The letter was addressed to Tom Marvolo Riddle, Harry. She wrote a letter to Tom Riddle!" Hermione whispered. She snuck a look at Harry. His face was blank.

"Voldemort? Your mother wrote a letter to Voldemort? Why?" he asked, bewildered.

"I don't know. I didn't read it and it was only ever that one letter." Hermione was just as bewildered as Harry.

"But it was addressed to Tom? Tom Riddle? Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle?" Harry questioned.

"I'm assuming it was Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle. He's the only Tom Riddle I've ever heard of." Hermione shrugged helplessly.

"Hermione, I think you need to open that letter. You need to read it. You said there IS something going on here. This could have something to do with it! Read the letter!"

Hermione carefully unsealed the letter. Then she stopped. "I can't do it, Harry! I'm scared!"

Harry held out his hand. "Give it. I'll read it. I'll let you know if it's anything worth being upset over."

Hermione handed him the letter and watched his face as he read it. Harry silently read the letter, then he closed it up and looked at her. "It's nothing bad. It can wait until tomorrow. But you have to promise me you'll read it tomorrow!"

Hermione breathed easier. It couldn't have been too bad then. She'd been worrying over nothing! She laid her head on Scabior's shoulder, snuggled up to him and reached for Harry's hand.

Harry laid the letter on Scabior's chest where she would see it and settled down, holding Hermione's hand across the boy's chest. He wondered how badly she'd want to kill him for not telling her the truth about the letter. She was going to go MENTAL when she read it. He was still shell shocked at it himself. He stared at his friend wondering how he was going to keep her from going off the deep end. Maybe he was worrying for nothing. Surely the man intended to tell her soon. Maybe he should tell her the letter was nothing, just an ordinary letter from her mother.

Downstairs, unaware of the drama that would erupt in the morning, Tom was talking to the other Death Eaters. Well, it was more like fretting. He was feeling guilty that he hadn't told Hermione the truth yet. "I can't keep this from her forever! Sooner or later, I have to tell her! Shouldn't I?"

"Tom, she's just beginning to trust Lord Voldemort, I'm not sure if she's ready for her father, Tom Riddle, yet." Lucius could see how much Tom yearned to tell Hermione the truth. "Besides, she's already starting to put things together on her own. It's not every day the girl gets an entire wardrobe bought for her by someone she barely knows, simply to reward her for helping with a project!"

"She's almost ready, Tom. Besides, if you push it too soon, she'll keep her mum under wraps and we know how much you're looking forward to seeing her again." Narcissa spoke up quietly as Bella nodded in agreement.

"Your right, your right. I'm just nervous about how she'll react to the news." Tom couldn't help but pace around his office. Nagini tried to follow him around but finally gave up trying to keep pace with him. She sought out her sunspot and curled up for a nap, dreaming of field mice and how nice sister's scratchies were. Eventually everyone settled in for the night.

The next morning, Hermione was the second one to open her eyes, awakened by a thump and mild cursing. She saw Scabior turned on his side away from her and peering over the edge of the bed. "Take that, Potter! This is MY spot!" she giggled as she saw his legs drawn up and realized he must have kicked Harry off the bed! Harry sat up, his messy hair even more unruly and flipped Scabior off.

He picked up the letter, a determined look on his face, and handed it to Hermione. He then sat down in a chair drawn up beside the bed. He had lain awake for a while the previous night, wrestling with thoughts about Hermione and that letter. He soon realized it didn't make a whit of difference, to him, WHO she was related to! She was still his little sister Hermione! He knew there would be loads of people, Ron and the Weasley family among others, who would reject her once the news came out and, as big as this news was, it WOULD come out sooner or later! He would stand by her through thick and thin and, as soon as she calmed down, he would let her know he wasn't going anywhere!

Watched curiously by Scabior, who pulled her against him, Hermione bit her lip and opened the letter. Sure enough, it was from her mother. Hermione knew, with that first line, it was going to be an emotional letter.

"My dear baby, Hermione. Let me start off by saying I'm sorry and I love you so very much! This is something I should have told you a long time ago and in person, not in a letter. As you know, your father and l tried for quite some time to have a child. We had already been trying for three years before I was able to conceive. I've told you of things he did beforehand but what I didn't tell you was something I did before also. You should have had siblings, my dear. If things had worked out as planned, you would have been our fourth child. Instead you were our first child. Yes, there were three miscarriages. I had just barely gotten past the third one when I went to surprise your father at work one day. I was ready to try again and I thought he was, too. I walked in on him,, with his secretary! Needless to say, I was devastated! I HATED him, I wanted him to suffer as I had. I left him there, yelling for forgiveness, Hermione! I drove all over town before I wound up at a bar. Yes, a bar! I had never been inside one before but that didn't stop me from walking in and taking a seat. All I could think of was drowning my sorrow. I just literally wanted to forget my whole married life. I didn't want to be Isabelle Granger, married to a serial cheater. I just wanted to be Isabelle, just Isabelle. Nothing more, nothing less. I was on, I believe, my third drink when HE walked in. Hermione, darling, trust me when I say the one feature you truly took from me is your riotously beautiful, curly hair. Everything else is him made over. By him, I don't mean Jack Granger. Your true father's name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. We struck up a conversation, Tom and I. He was very witty and very successful at taking my mind off my problems. I told him I just wanted to be free of my life, just for the night. I just wanted my youth back, no marriage, no lost children, nothing! He happily gave himself over to the task. We danced and drank and danced some more. He kept calling me his beautiful little Muggle. We spent the night together, Hermione. It was exactly how I wanted it to be, no strings attached. He was gone when I woke up but he had left me a paper, Hermione. It was his name and address. He had told me if I ever needed anything, anything at all, simply write to him and he would come back. It had been fun but now I needed to return to my real life. It was time to face up to my problems. When I went back home, fully determined to pack up and leave, Jack was waiting for me. He demanded to know where I'd been. I told him it was none of his damned business, considering what he had been doing! He had the grace to look ashamed then. I told him it was over and I was leaving! He begged me to reconsider. He told me that was the last time, that if I would just stay with him, it was the last time I'd ever have to worry about him cheating on me. For a while, he actually seemed serious about it. We found out about you and I was scared to death of losing another child. We didn't tell anyone about you until we had passed the first three critical months. Once I reached the fourth month, I became cautiously optimistic that maybe, just maybe, I'd finally have a child. The rest of the pregnancy seemed to fly by and before I knew it, we were at the hospital and you were on the way. I didn't realize, at that time, that I had a magical child but while I was delivering you, all the lights on the labor and delivery floor went out and stayed out for the last two hours before you came out. When you finally popped into the doctors hands, the lights came back on. You were screaming at the top of your lungs. The doctors told me I was lucky to have you. Years ago, I'd been in an accident that damaged my insides. It was thought, then, that I'd never have children. That's why I was so desperate to have a child. Jack called you his little princess. He really did love you, Hermione, if you doubt anything else, never doubt that! He and I had our problems with each other but he always loved you, from the moment we knew you were on the way. I never thought anything about having you right after that night. Simply because Jack had told me he was also ready and we started trying for a child at that time. It wasn't until later, much later, that I began questioning the fact of your paternity. Everything seemed back to normal for a while. We were happy, Jack was staying home with us and you were just adorable! Then shortly after you first displayed, what was it that woman called it? Accidental magic? Jack began picking fights over everything. Just little things at first, then he began demanding, every time I went out, to know where I'd been, who I'd seen, what I'd been doing and so on. I got tired of constantly being questioned and that's when he demanded to know, again, what I'd done that night after I left his office! I was angry and getting fed up with his jealous tirades, Hermione, so I told him. Everything. Tom, the bar, even having a way to get in touch with him. Jack immediately demanded that I get rid of the address and I refused. The he told me, if I ever did anything like that ever again, he'd take you and I'd never see you ever again! I had to swear to HIM that I'D never do anything like that ever again. Then I told him fair was only fair! If I had to swear, he did, too. Oh, he really didn't like THAT! I told him I didn't care what he thought anymore. If he was that sick of us, he needed to just leave and be done with it! He began backpedaling then. He probably knew he'd almost pushed me too far. It was an uneasy settlement after that. I was still raging mad and he was tiptoeing around me. By this time, you were almost six years old and he was starting to fall back into some of his bad habits. He began going to the bars again. Apparently he also felt the need to start drinking. But at least he wasn't coming in swimming in the perfume of other women. Yet. This was how his affairs had always started before. I knew there was a good chance that, sooner or later, he was going to end up cheating again. Right after your seventh birthday, the police came to our door one night. There had been an accident. He was dead. He'd left a bar, drunk off his ass, and run his car into a tree. After the funeral, it was revealed that he'd been heavily gambling, very heavily gambling. When it was all said and done, we barely had enough to live on. I'm so sorry, darling. I never wanted to leave you in that after school program but I had no choice. If we were going to keep the house, I had to get back into the workforce. It was hard and I cursed him every day for keeping me from working but he'd wanted a stay at home mom for his little princess. Of course, I was delighted to stay at home then. Going back to work after seven years was hard but it had to be done. I couldn't let anything happen to you. His parents had wanted me to let them have you, something about he was worried I would hurt you somehow. I told them no. If I had lost you, Hermione, I probably would have gone postal and gone on a killing rage to get my baby back! They kept on and I knew that I'd have to be very careful or they would take you at the first chance they got! My parents tried to help as much as they could but they were in much the same boat as we were, barely getting by. When we lost the house was the point when I really did think it might be better, for you, if I did let his parents take you. But still I couldn't bring myself to let you go. By your ninth birthday was when I thought about your paternity. You didn't look like Jack and his parents were making insinuations that HE'D been 'trying' to leave ME for years because of MY indiscretion, not his own! That's when I took you to be tested. As it turned out, you weren't Jack's child. As the only other man I'd been with was Tom, I knew he was your father. I hated to, I really did, but I knew if I was going to keep you, it was time to swallow my pride. I found his address and I wrote to him. I told him the whole story and enclosed a picture of you. But then I didn't have the nerve to send it yet. I almost cried when you told me you had sent it. But we never did hear from him. I'm sorry, darling, I tried. It was just too late. Too much time had passed. He'd either forgotten all about me or simply thrown the letter away after he learned of you. I'm not sure which and, at this point, I'm not sure you would even want to know him at all. I just thought I should tell you this, in the off chance that you might possibly be able to get in touch with him after you're older.

I love you so very much, my darling baby girl. Your mum, Isabelle.

Harry watched as her face grew paler and paler. Her eyes filled up and spilled over with tears. Suddenly, she screamed and jumped off the bed, running for the door. "Hermione!" he yelled.

He jumped up and looked at Scabior, who was sitting, staring open mouthed after Hermione. "Come on, we gotta catch her before she kills him or gets herself killed!"

Scabior snapped to attention. Jumping up, he started stomping his boots on. "Bloody hell, Potter, what was that all about? And where the devil are my clothes?!"

"Your clothes are still likely downstairs. Hurry!" he ran out, Scabior on his heels. They ran down the hall in time to see her wild hair start down the stairs. As they were almost to the bottom, they saw her throw the door open. They got to the door in time to see her jump, screaming and crying, at Lord Voldemort!

Tom was leaning against his desk, idly chatting with Lucius and Severus. Fenrir was outside with the rest of his boys. Dolohov, Yaxley and the Lestranges had yet to wake up. Narcissa, Bella and the girls were planning a dinner party to introduce Hermione into Wizarding society as Tom's daughter. Draco and the other boys were down at the Quidditch pitch. Suddenly, they heard a scream from upstairs. They looked at each other. 'Surely young Scabior wasn't already winding Hermione up again, so soon after being injured?' Then they heard running footsteps. Tom quickly disguised himself as the person ran down the steps. They could hear two more sets of running feet as well. Tom was totally caught off guard when Hermione burst in the door and ran at him, screaming and crying!

"Liar! Liar! You lied to her, you lied! You told her all she needed to do was write to you, you'd be there! You lied! Why? Why? I hate you! I hate you! You lied to her! She wrote you! She was desperate, she was almost about to lose me! You lied! Why?! Why?! Why couldn't you just ignore her?! Why!" Lucius had jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Hermione. "He lied, Lucius! He lied! He lied to my mother! Why?! Why?!" she hung from his arms crying with anger and pain. Lucius backed up until he felt an armchair behind him. He sat down, holding her tightly, crooning softly to her. It reminded him of when Draco was younger and pitching fits. Tom was standing there, looking shocked. Fen had come running. The older wizards rushed in, wands out, prepared for a fight. Narcissa and Bella ran in.

Harry came up to Tom and held out a letter. "Read this. It'll explain why that just happened." Tom took the letter. He fell back against his desk as he realized the letter was from Isabelle. Given the strong reaction from Hermione, he was almost afraid to see what she had written about him! He read the letter and was floored. Isabelle had actually tried to reach him! True, it was years after the fact but, still, she'd tried! He was stunned when he figured out it was only a handful of years before he'd started trying to come back.

Narcissa moved forward and laid her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Hermione? Come with us. You're upset. Come with us, dear." Hermione, still crying her eyes out, got up and followed her out of the room.

Tom had sat on the floor in front of his desk, hands covering his face. Nagini, sensing his distress, slithered over and coiled up beside him. "I'm ok, Nagini. Go. Check on sister, please. Let me know how she's doing." Nagini quickly slid out of the room, in search of sister.