Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated names, things, spells, places
etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, Raincoast Books, Bloomsbury, Scholastics Inc.
Warner Bros., and her publishers, I guess. The name O'Keefe and the name
Calvin were borrowed from The A Wrinkle in Time books, by Madeleine
L'Engle, which are awesome books. The name Carlton was borrowed from
Vanessa Carlton. And, the name Ella is borrowed from a book I adore, Ella
Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. They're making a movie out of the book,
with Mia from Princess Diaries (Anne Hathaway). I own Amethyst Carlton,
Emmie/Emerald Carlton O'Keefe, Victoria Carlton O'Keefe, Jonathan Carlton
O'Keefe Calvin O'Keefe and Lila Malfoy (but not the name O'Keefe, Calvin or
Malfoy!). I own some of the plot, me thinks. "Seven Years" belongs to
Norah Jones.
The Real Me
Last time..
She nodded and asked, "Umm, where is everyone, and what happened?"
He again smiled and answered, "Well the everyone who your asking about is in my office, waiting for the answer to your second question. If you'll come with me, we can have it answered." He got up and left the Hospital Wing, with Hermione right behind him. She followed him through the halls, and soon they reached the statue that guarded his office. "Smarties", he told the statue and the staircase appeared that led up to the door. Hermione followed him silently and watched as he opened the door, and then she followed him in.
Chapter 18
Hermione stepped in the room after him and looked around. There were a lot of people gathered in the office, sitting on chairs and couches. She was relieved to see that Vickie, Emmie and Lila were there, seated on the couch by the door. Beside them were her parents and Jonathan and Calvin. She was very relieved to see that they were all there, unharmed. Her eyes traveled to the rest of the people in the room. There were several people she didn't recognize. And there were others that were familiar. Sitting beside Jonathan was Sirius and Remus Lupin, their old Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.
Hermione's eyes traveled to the people next to them. The perfect amethyst colour that they always were suddenly turned black. Sitting next to them was Harry and Ron. "Oh no!" Hermione's mind screamed, "This is going to lead to them finding out who I am, I just know it!" Hermione shut her eyes tight, and was about to wish for a hole to crawl into when she remembered what had happened the last time she did that. She sunk into the couch beside Lila.
Then Dumbledore spoke, "Ah, now that we are all here, I shall answer a lot of your questions. I will ask that no one says anything until I'm finished, please."
"All of you already know that Voldemort and his Death Eaters entered Hogwarts and attacked the castle. We do not yet know how they were able to get in. There are many spells placed on Hogwarts and the grounds to insure safety. We are still investigating how they got past them. We do know that right now Hogwarts is in great danger. And why he attacked the castle. He has found out some very secret information that he was never meant to know. Some of you don't know what this information is, and I must tell you now. It is not to leave this room."
He paused, and Hermione shut her eyes tight. "He's going to tell them who I am! He can not do that!" Her eyes remained shut, but her ears open. She waited for him to continue.
"The first piece of information he has known for over 15 years. I must tell you this one, as only a few of you already know about it. It has to do with you, Mr. Potter", Dumbledore said, turning to Harry, who looked slightly startled, "Most of the world has always believed that Lily Potter, or Evans, was muggle-born. It is true that she was raised by Muggles, but these Muggles had adopted her. Her father was none other than Lord Voldemort himself." "What?!?!" Shouted more than half the room. Hermione opened her eyes to see tons of shocked faces. Professor Lupin, Ron, Harry, her Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hagrid, Madame Maxime, and others she didn't know.
Hermione shut her eyes tight again and tried to block out all the yelling at all the questions. Then a thought came to her head. Today was Saturday. It was 5:30A.M. She had an interview with those recording people at 10. "Oh great. How in the world am I supposed to do this?" she asked herself silently in desperation. She slowly opened her eyes, to see an interesting site. Everyone else in the room was standing up, most of the people who hadn't already known about Lily, gathered around Dumbledore bombarding angry questions at him, and the one who had known were trying to calm them down. The others who hadn't known but were taking it better seemed in a state of complete, utter shock. Hermione remembered she had fainted. She had down that a lot, it seemed.
Hermione let out a giggle. Apparently a very loud giggle, because the whole room stopped talking and looked at her. Dumbledore smiled gratefully at her and said, "If I may tell you the other thing I need you to know, and then I will answer your questions. No interruptions this time, please." He smiled and then continued.
"Lily is indeed the daughter of Lord Voldemort. Her mother is still unknown, though we do have some ideas on who it is. The next thing I am going to tell you is known to some of you already. Again, please leave your comments to the end. Lily's husband, James Potter was the heir of Godric Gryffindor, and my grand son. When Voldemort's heir, and the heir of Slytherin married an Auror and the heir of Gryffindor, Voldemort was not at all happy. Lily began to get death threats sealed with the Dark Mark. It was then that the Potters told me, and we arranged for a Secret Keeper, and then, well you know the rest. So, Harry is the heir of both Gryffindor and Slytherin." Dumbledore said slowly and clearly, not wanting to repeat himself.
Hermione watched Harry's face as Dumbledore spoke. She could tell that it was all beginning to make sense to him. The Sorting Hat wanting to put him in Slytherin. Being a Parsletongue. Pulling Godric's sword from the hat. Finding the Chamber of Secrets. Harry was a pureblood too, not a half blood. He was descended from 2 Founders of Hogwarts, and Albus Dumbledore too!
"Is Professor Dumbledore descended from Godric too?" she asked herself, but out loud without realizing it. Everyone turned to look at her. Dumbledore smiled and answered, "Yes, I am Miss- Miss" Dumbledore stopped himself. Everyone looked at him, expecting him to continue. Hermione closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths. She knew what this was going to lead to.
Dumbledore noticed her reaction, and as if taking it as an okay, he finished his sentence, "Miss Carlton-Snape." Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she heard gasps and whispering. She shut her eyes tighter. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. She knew she couldn't, she knew she had to face this. She had to. She didn't want to. She began to fight an inner battle inside herself. She was quite oblivious to what was going on outside the world.
Meanwhile.
"WHAT?" The majority of the room screamed. "First Amethyst and Emerald show up out of nowhere, and now we find out that Am and Severus had a child? Wow, this is going to be a long day." Remus Lupin muttered to himself and beside him Sirius Black chuckled when he heard his long-time friend's words. Hearing Sirius laugh Remus turned to him and asked, "You knew didn't you?" Sirius nodded and said, "I've only known for three days." The two then turned their attention the rest of the room.
They looked around at everyone else. No one had jumped up this time. Everyone remained seated with looks of uttermost surprise or confusion. Harry, Sirius's godson, slowly said, "She is Professor Snape's daughter?" He half-asked, half-said. Professor Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes, she is Severus and Amethyst Carlton's daughter. Now the reason this is so vital is because Voldemort wants her on his side or dead. She has powers that could bring his downfall, or help him take over the world. She has powers most could not even imagine. Voldemort was never meant to know that there was a child from the Carlton and Snape line. Both are extremely powerful families. And too make matters worse, Severus is a spy acting as a Death Eater. He will probably try and get him to convince his daughter to join the Dark Side. This can not happen. It will be the doom of us all." He paused letting it sink in. Everyone turned to look at the girl they were talking about. She seemed as if she was in her own world. Dumbledore motioned for Lila, who was sitting beside her, to get her attention.
"E?" Lila asked gently, tapping her on her shoulder. No answer. "Earth to Ella." She said, louder this time, and tapped her harder. No answer was given again. "Hello! Ella!" Lila practically screamed and started to shake her. She didn't move an inch. Everyone watched Lila try to get her attention. No one made any attempt to help, they were all to stunned. Lila screamed her name in Hermione's ear. But Hermione was to busy to pay attention what was happening outside. And she still was getting used to her new name. She was screaming at herself inside.
Finally Sirius got up and walked over to Hermione. He went over and whispered in her ear, so quietly that not another soul accept himself and Hermione could hear, "Hermione, you failed the test."
Hermione sat up straight and blinked a couple of times. As soon as she heard "you failed the test" she came out of her trance like state. Sirius smiled at everyone's shocked faces and sat down again. Hermione slowly looked around and then asked, "What happened?" Dumbledore smiled and explained, "I was telling everyone who you are and that Voldemort would like you to join the Dark Side or, have you dead." Hermione felt like saying huh? But, she decided against it and just nodded. So, Voldemort wanted her dead. Just like he killed her foster parents. Or, he wanted her on his side. She would rather die then betray Harry, and everyone else she cared about. She would not do that. She was certain of it.
Hermione turned to Lila and asked in the quietest whisper, "Did he say anything about my name? You know, the one I had before?" Lila shook her head and Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Dumbledore began to speak again.
"We can not let him get near Mr. Potter or Miss Ella. We are setting up more safety measures. The fate of the world depends on this." He paused dramatically and then gave a slight smile. The room was absolute silent. You couldn't even hear anyone breathe. Then the elderly headmaster said, "Now Miss Ella, I believe you have a meeting to attend, and I'm sure the rest of you would like to get some sleep. I'll keep you updated if anything else happens." Everyone got up silently and descended the staircase and went their separate ways. Hermione glanced at her watch. It was 6:00. She decided to get changed and get ready. She realized she had no idea where they were meeting. She went back up the staircase to see if Dumbledore knew. The door to his office was closed, and she heard raised voices. She pressed her ear against the door and listened.
"She is not safe her! What if she gets captured?" A male voice asked loudly. "We will make sure she is safe. Calm down Severus." The elderly voice of her headmaster said. The strict voice of who she thought to be Professor McGonagall spoke next, "I agree with Severus. What happens if he gets in Hogwarts? Oh Albus, what happens if she is captured?" She asked worriedly. "Do I not get a say in this?!?" The angry voice of Amethyst asked, "She is MY daughter." Shouting erupted and Hermione could not make out any more words. So she knocked twice loudly. The voices abruptly stopped and the door opened and she was greeted with the smiling head of her headmaster.
"Umm, Professor, I was wondering if you knew where I was supposed to meet those talent agents." Hermione asked quickly. Dumbledore nodded and told her she was to meet them in his office at 10 o'clock sharp. Hermione smiled nervously, thanked him and backed away and ran to the guest room at full speed. But because of her horrible luck -SMASH! Hermione fell backwards when she collided with a figure. The person caught her just before she hit the ground. She looked up at those familiar green eyes she had come to love. It was Harry, and with him was Ron.
She regained her balance and he let her go, blushing furiously. Ron didn't bother to hide his amusement and started laughing. Harry elbowed him in the side and spoke to Hermione. "I don't think we got off on the right foot. I'm Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasley." Ron stopped laughing after another nudged from Harry. "Yah, umm, Hi." He said about lamely. They were both clearly awed at her beauty. Hermione of course didn't think of that reason, and she ignored the way they were gaping slightly at her. "Hi, I'm Ella Carlton-Snape. Nice to meet you." She told them, remembering to act. Hermione used to take acting classes, and she was almost as good at drama as she was at singing, so she pulled it off without a hitch.
The trio stood in silence for a rare moment. They were usually not silent around each other, but they of course did not know it was Hermione. "Well, I have to get going. Nice meeting you, and thanks for catching me." She told them with a small grin and walked past them after they mumbled replies.
Hermione walked quickly to the portrait of Gryffindor' s daughter, Ella. Harry was related to her. Hermione stared at her for a bit, but then snapped out of it and said her name, Ella. She briefly wondered if Amethyst and named her after her, but shook the thought off. She made her way to her room right into her gigantic bathroom. She needed a good bubble bath. She took of her sweaty clothes and grabbed a towel and robe and let the bath fill up with assorted bubbles and coloured water. The she slipped in the bath, taking a long deserved break. She sang softly to herself with her eyes closed, feeling very content. She blocked out all thoughts accept the lyrics of the song,
"Spinning, laughing, dancing to
her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
Is all alone
Eyes wide open
Always hoping for the sun
And she'll sing her song to anyone
that comes along
Fragile as a leaf in autumn
Just fallin' to the ground
Without a sound
Crooked little smile on her face
Tells a tale of grace
That's all her own
Spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
And she's all alone
Fragile as a leaf in autumn
Just fallin' to the ground
Without a sound
Spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
And she's all alone
A little girl with nothing wrong
And she's all alone"
Hermione smiled at her own memories. She would dance around her room before she had learnt she was a witch, singing, with not a care in the world. She had a lot of cares now. She relaxed for awhile and then got out of the bath and got dressed. She decided to wear a short black leather skirt and black leather boots that reached her knees and a sparkly amethyst tank top that brought out her eyes. She grabbed the leather jacked that matched too. Hermione figured someone had bought the outfit before, because she knew it wasn't hers.
She had wasted a lot of time. It was now 8:30. She decided to get some breakfast. She looked around there little guest place and found no food or people, so she figured it'd be okay to go to the Great Hall. Hermione hummed softly as she made her way through the deserted hallways. She reached the Entrance Hall and quietly opened the doors and slipped in unnoticed. Accept, Lila, who was sitting at the Slytherin table again, saw her and yelled, "Hey E! Come here I saved you a seat!" The whole hall turned to look at Hermione and she silently cursed Lila but made her way over to the Slytherin Table and sat down beside Lila. Lila began to talk at once.
"What was that thing Dumbledore was talking about? Where do you have to go?" She asked Hermione loudly. She had the majority of the table's attention, as well as some people from other houses who had heard. Hermione hissed at Lila, "I'll tell you later." "Oooh, is it something to do with a guy?" She asked even louder this time. She sounded really excited. "Nooooo." Hermione answered and ignored everyone for the rest of breakfast until post came. Hermione loved watching the owls fly in. Soon all of them had come and gone. As the other owls were leaving, one came in. It was pure black. It started to fly towards the Slytherin Table. Hermione looked at some people's reactions and knew that this was not a god sign. The next thing she knew, the owl had landed in front of her and dropped off a letter. It flew away the second she grabbed it.
Hermione looked at the letter. It was in a black envelope, and- sealed with the Dark Mark. Without a word, and all eyes on her, she walked to the Teacher's Table and showed the letter to the Headmaster. When he saw it, he began to really look his age. There were gasps as others recognized it. She had received mail from Voldemort, the Dark Lord himself.
End of Chapter 18
A/N: I am so so so so so so so so so so so sorry!! I said I'd have this chapter out more than a week ago. I am so sorry! I have just been swamped with work. So, anyway, the next chapter will be out faster this time, don't worry, I promise. Umm, so what did you think? I am estimating another 10 or so chapters are left. Probably less, I'm not sure yet. Well, please review, you have all ready read it, so you might as well review. Even one word is okay, your reviewers are the only things that keeps me writing! So, here are my replies to all the wonderful people who reviewed the last chapter:
Faerie Lover: Thanks for the review. Like the new name. Very Cool. Thanks, I'm glad I'll have at least one reader. I'm planning the story in my head right now, since I am not going to start it till I'm done this one. Thanks for beta-ing this chapter, much appreciated!
Dreaming One: Wow, thank you so much! You are too kind! Wow, love all the compliments. Yes, I know, Draco is acting really weird but he has to for the sake of the story. He'll be in the story more, don't worry. Thanks so much for the review!
Hermione-Fanz-United: My story rocks? Why thank you! Well, my update probably wasn't as fast as you hoped it would be, but at least it got up in the end, right? I am sorry! I feel really guilty. Please forgive me! Thanks for the review!
KawaiinessPnay: Lolz. I'm sure it looked great. I'm still wondering where to fit Cherry Lips in, but don't worry, it'll get in there. Oh thank you for your praise. I feel very special. Funny names. Kakkoi. I used it again, yay! Anyhoo, thank yah for the lovely review.
Silveretta: You probably won't read this till you get back, so did you have fun? Sounds really cool. Anyhoo, Thanks for the review, and I don't mind it being a tincy bit late. I'm the one who is really late. Thanks again, talk to you soon.
TiGgEr: Well, my update wasn't as soon as I expected, so I am very sorry. Thanks for your patience and the review, of course! Are you going for a Harry/Herm pairing or a Draco/Herm pairing? And remember, just because they were partners, doesn't mean they'll get together. Thanks again!
Arime Setta: Your kidding!?!? What are you confused about? Tell me, because I hate to confuse people. I'll clear up whatever if you tell me, could just be me and my stupid plot holes. I have lots of those. Lolz, Thanks very much for the review.
Thank you to all the lovely people who took the time to review. I am forever in your debt. Once again, very sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Next chapter should be very interesting. Oh yes, sorry about the cliffhanger. I just have a habit of doing them, I can't help it. What did you think of the song? It took me forever to choose one. Please review, you have already taken the time to read, so you might as well take 5 seconds to review. Please and thank you so so much! Anyways, I should shut up now. Thank you for reading, and please please review. I am hoping for 150 before I put the next chapter up. That would be so awesome!
Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed, I'll talk to you soon.
Please review!
Thanks so much again,
-Eliza
The Real Me
Last time..
She nodded and asked, "Umm, where is everyone, and what happened?"
He again smiled and answered, "Well the everyone who your asking about is in my office, waiting for the answer to your second question. If you'll come with me, we can have it answered." He got up and left the Hospital Wing, with Hermione right behind him. She followed him through the halls, and soon they reached the statue that guarded his office. "Smarties", he told the statue and the staircase appeared that led up to the door. Hermione followed him silently and watched as he opened the door, and then she followed him in.
Chapter 18
Hermione stepped in the room after him and looked around. There were a lot of people gathered in the office, sitting on chairs and couches. She was relieved to see that Vickie, Emmie and Lila were there, seated on the couch by the door. Beside them were her parents and Jonathan and Calvin. She was very relieved to see that they were all there, unharmed. Her eyes traveled to the rest of the people in the room. There were several people she didn't recognize. And there were others that were familiar. Sitting beside Jonathan was Sirius and Remus Lupin, their old Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.
Hermione's eyes traveled to the people next to them. The perfect amethyst colour that they always were suddenly turned black. Sitting next to them was Harry and Ron. "Oh no!" Hermione's mind screamed, "This is going to lead to them finding out who I am, I just know it!" Hermione shut her eyes tight, and was about to wish for a hole to crawl into when she remembered what had happened the last time she did that. She sunk into the couch beside Lila.
Then Dumbledore spoke, "Ah, now that we are all here, I shall answer a lot of your questions. I will ask that no one says anything until I'm finished, please."
"All of you already know that Voldemort and his Death Eaters entered Hogwarts and attacked the castle. We do not yet know how they were able to get in. There are many spells placed on Hogwarts and the grounds to insure safety. We are still investigating how they got past them. We do know that right now Hogwarts is in great danger. And why he attacked the castle. He has found out some very secret information that he was never meant to know. Some of you don't know what this information is, and I must tell you now. It is not to leave this room."
He paused, and Hermione shut her eyes tight. "He's going to tell them who I am! He can not do that!" Her eyes remained shut, but her ears open. She waited for him to continue.
"The first piece of information he has known for over 15 years. I must tell you this one, as only a few of you already know about it. It has to do with you, Mr. Potter", Dumbledore said, turning to Harry, who looked slightly startled, "Most of the world has always believed that Lily Potter, or Evans, was muggle-born. It is true that she was raised by Muggles, but these Muggles had adopted her. Her father was none other than Lord Voldemort himself." "What?!?!" Shouted more than half the room. Hermione opened her eyes to see tons of shocked faces. Professor Lupin, Ron, Harry, her Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hagrid, Madame Maxime, and others she didn't know.
Hermione shut her eyes tight again and tried to block out all the yelling at all the questions. Then a thought came to her head. Today was Saturday. It was 5:30A.M. She had an interview with those recording people at 10. "Oh great. How in the world am I supposed to do this?" she asked herself silently in desperation. She slowly opened her eyes, to see an interesting site. Everyone else in the room was standing up, most of the people who hadn't already known about Lily, gathered around Dumbledore bombarding angry questions at him, and the one who had known were trying to calm them down. The others who hadn't known but were taking it better seemed in a state of complete, utter shock. Hermione remembered she had fainted. She had down that a lot, it seemed.
Hermione let out a giggle. Apparently a very loud giggle, because the whole room stopped talking and looked at her. Dumbledore smiled gratefully at her and said, "If I may tell you the other thing I need you to know, and then I will answer your questions. No interruptions this time, please." He smiled and then continued.
"Lily is indeed the daughter of Lord Voldemort. Her mother is still unknown, though we do have some ideas on who it is. The next thing I am going to tell you is known to some of you already. Again, please leave your comments to the end. Lily's husband, James Potter was the heir of Godric Gryffindor, and my grand son. When Voldemort's heir, and the heir of Slytherin married an Auror and the heir of Gryffindor, Voldemort was not at all happy. Lily began to get death threats sealed with the Dark Mark. It was then that the Potters told me, and we arranged for a Secret Keeper, and then, well you know the rest. So, Harry is the heir of both Gryffindor and Slytherin." Dumbledore said slowly and clearly, not wanting to repeat himself.
Hermione watched Harry's face as Dumbledore spoke. She could tell that it was all beginning to make sense to him. The Sorting Hat wanting to put him in Slytherin. Being a Parsletongue. Pulling Godric's sword from the hat. Finding the Chamber of Secrets. Harry was a pureblood too, not a half blood. He was descended from 2 Founders of Hogwarts, and Albus Dumbledore too!
"Is Professor Dumbledore descended from Godric too?" she asked herself, but out loud without realizing it. Everyone turned to look at her. Dumbledore smiled and answered, "Yes, I am Miss- Miss" Dumbledore stopped himself. Everyone looked at him, expecting him to continue. Hermione closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths. She knew what this was going to lead to.
Dumbledore noticed her reaction, and as if taking it as an okay, he finished his sentence, "Miss Carlton-Snape." Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she heard gasps and whispering. She shut her eyes tighter. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. She knew she couldn't, she knew she had to face this. She had to. She didn't want to. She began to fight an inner battle inside herself. She was quite oblivious to what was going on outside the world.
Meanwhile.
"WHAT?" The majority of the room screamed. "First Amethyst and Emerald show up out of nowhere, and now we find out that Am and Severus had a child? Wow, this is going to be a long day." Remus Lupin muttered to himself and beside him Sirius Black chuckled when he heard his long-time friend's words. Hearing Sirius laugh Remus turned to him and asked, "You knew didn't you?" Sirius nodded and said, "I've only known for three days." The two then turned their attention the rest of the room.
They looked around at everyone else. No one had jumped up this time. Everyone remained seated with looks of uttermost surprise or confusion. Harry, Sirius's godson, slowly said, "She is Professor Snape's daughter?" He half-asked, half-said. Professor Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes, she is Severus and Amethyst Carlton's daughter. Now the reason this is so vital is because Voldemort wants her on his side or dead. She has powers that could bring his downfall, or help him take over the world. She has powers most could not even imagine. Voldemort was never meant to know that there was a child from the Carlton and Snape line. Both are extremely powerful families. And too make matters worse, Severus is a spy acting as a Death Eater. He will probably try and get him to convince his daughter to join the Dark Side. This can not happen. It will be the doom of us all." He paused letting it sink in. Everyone turned to look at the girl they were talking about. She seemed as if she was in her own world. Dumbledore motioned for Lila, who was sitting beside her, to get her attention.
"E?" Lila asked gently, tapping her on her shoulder. No answer. "Earth to Ella." She said, louder this time, and tapped her harder. No answer was given again. "Hello! Ella!" Lila practically screamed and started to shake her. She didn't move an inch. Everyone watched Lila try to get her attention. No one made any attempt to help, they were all to stunned. Lila screamed her name in Hermione's ear. But Hermione was to busy to pay attention what was happening outside. And she still was getting used to her new name. She was screaming at herself inside.
Finally Sirius got up and walked over to Hermione. He went over and whispered in her ear, so quietly that not another soul accept himself and Hermione could hear, "Hermione, you failed the test."
Hermione sat up straight and blinked a couple of times. As soon as she heard "you failed the test" she came out of her trance like state. Sirius smiled at everyone's shocked faces and sat down again. Hermione slowly looked around and then asked, "What happened?" Dumbledore smiled and explained, "I was telling everyone who you are and that Voldemort would like you to join the Dark Side or, have you dead." Hermione felt like saying huh? But, she decided against it and just nodded. So, Voldemort wanted her dead. Just like he killed her foster parents. Or, he wanted her on his side. She would rather die then betray Harry, and everyone else she cared about. She would not do that. She was certain of it.
Hermione turned to Lila and asked in the quietest whisper, "Did he say anything about my name? You know, the one I had before?" Lila shook her head and Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Dumbledore began to speak again.
"We can not let him get near Mr. Potter or Miss Ella. We are setting up more safety measures. The fate of the world depends on this." He paused dramatically and then gave a slight smile. The room was absolute silent. You couldn't even hear anyone breathe. Then the elderly headmaster said, "Now Miss Ella, I believe you have a meeting to attend, and I'm sure the rest of you would like to get some sleep. I'll keep you updated if anything else happens." Everyone got up silently and descended the staircase and went their separate ways. Hermione glanced at her watch. It was 6:00. She decided to get changed and get ready. She realized she had no idea where they were meeting. She went back up the staircase to see if Dumbledore knew. The door to his office was closed, and she heard raised voices. She pressed her ear against the door and listened.
"She is not safe her! What if she gets captured?" A male voice asked loudly. "We will make sure she is safe. Calm down Severus." The elderly voice of her headmaster said. The strict voice of who she thought to be Professor McGonagall spoke next, "I agree with Severus. What happens if he gets in Hogwarts? Oh Albus, what happens if she is captured?" She asked worriedly. "Do I not get a say in this?!?" The angry voice of Amethyst asked, "She is MY daughter." Shouting erupted and Hermione could not make out any more words. So she knocked twice loudly. The voices abruptly stopped and the door opened and she was greeted with the smiling head of her headmaster.
"Umm, Professor, I was wondering if you knew where I was supposed to meet those talent agents." Hermione asked quickly. Dumbledore nodded and told her she was to meet them in his office at 10 o'clock sharp. Hermione smiled nervously, thanked him and backed away and ran to the guest room at full speed. But because of her horrible luck -SMASH! Hermione fell backwards when she collided with a figure. The person caught her just before she hit the ground. She looked up at those familiar green eyes she had come to love. It was Harry, and with him was Ron.
She regained her balance and he let her go, blushing furiously. Ron didn't bother to hide his amusement and started laughing. Harry elbowed him in the side and spoke to Hermione. "I don't think we got off on the right foot. I'm Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasley." Ron stopped laughing after another nudged from Harry. "Yah, umm, Hi." He said about lamely. They were both clearly awed at her beauty. Hermione of course didn't think of that reason, and she ignored the way they were gaping slightly at her. "Hi, I'm Ella Carlton-Snape. Nice to meet you." She told them, remembering to act. Hermione used to take acting classes, and she was almost as good at drama as she was at singing, so she pulled it off without a hitch.
The trio stood in silence for a rare moment. They were usually not silent around each other, but they of course did not know it was Hermione. "Well, I have to get going. Nice meeting you, and thanks for catching me." She told them with a small grin and walked past them after they mumbled replies.
Hermione walked quickly to the portrait of Gryffindor' s daughter, Ella. Harry was related to her. Hermione stared at her for a bit, but then snapped out of it and said her name, Ella. She briefly wondered if Amethyst and named her after her, but shook the thought off. She made her way to her room right into her gigantic bathroom. She needed a good bubble bath. She took of her sweaty clothes and grabbed a towel and robe and let the bath fill up with assorted bubbles and coloured water. The she slipped in the bath, taking a long deserved break. She sang softly to herself with her eyes closed, feeling very content. She blocked out all thoughts accept the lyrics of the song,
"Spinning, laughing, dancing to
her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
Is all alone
Eyes wide open
Always hoping for the sun
And she'll sing her song to anyone
that comes along
Fragile as a leaf in autumn
Just fallin' to the ground
Without a sound
Crooked little smile on her face
Tells a tale of grace
That's all her own
Spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
And she's all alone
Fragile as a leaf in autumn
Just fallin' to the ground
Without a sound
Spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
And she's all alone
A little girl with nothing wrong
And she's all alone"
Hermione smiled at her own memories. She would dance around her room before she had learnt she was a witch, singing, with not a care in the world. She had a lot of cares now. She relaxed for awhile and then got out of the bath and got dressed. She decided to wear a short black leather skirt and black leather boots that reached her knees and a sparkly amethyst tank top that brought out her eyes. She grabbed the leather jacked that matched too. Hermione figured someone had bought the outfit before, because she knew it wasn't hers.
She had wasted a lot of time. It was now 8:30. She decided to get some breakfast. She looked around there little guest place and found no food or people, so she figured it'd be okay to go to the Great Hall. Hermione hummed softly as she made her way through the deserted hallways. She reached the Entrance Hall and quietly opened the doors and slipped in unnoticed. Accept, Lila, who was sitting at the Slytherin table again, saw her and yelled, "Hey E! Come here I saved you a seat!" The whole hall turned to look at Hermione and she silently cursed Lila but made her way over to the Slytherin Table and sat down beside Lila. Lila began to talk at once.
"What was that thing Dumbledore was talking about? Where do you have to go?" She asked Hermione loudly. She had the majority of the table's attention, as well as some people from other houses who had heard. Hermione hissed at Lila, "I'll tell you later." "Oooh, is it something to do with a guy?" She asked even louder this time. She sounded really excited. "Nooooo." Hermione answered and ignored everyone for the rest of breakfast until post came. Hermione loved watching the owls fly in. Soon all of them had come and gone. As the other owls were leaving, one came in. It was pure black. It started to fly towards the Slytherin Table. Hermione looked at some people's reactions and knew that this was not a god sign. The next thing she knew, the owl had landed in front of her and dropped off a letter. It flew away the second she grabbed it.
Hermione looked at the letter. It was in a black envelope, and- sealed with the Dark Mark. Without a word, and all eyes on her, she walked to the Teacher's Table and showed the letter to the Headmaster. When he saw it, he began to really look his age. There were gasps as others recognized it. She had received mail from Voldemort, the Dark Lord himself.
End of Chapter 18
A/N: I am so so so so so so so so so so so sorry!! I said I'd have this chapter out more than a week ago. I am so sorry! I have just been swamped with work. So, anyway, the next chapter will be out faster this time, don't worry, I promise. Umm, so what did you think? I am estimating another 10 or so chapters are left. Probably less, I'm not sure yet. Well, please review, you have all ready read it, so you might as well review. Even one word is okay, your reviewers are the only things that keeps me writing! So, here are my replies to all the wonderful people who reviewed the last chapter:
Faerie Lover: Thanks for the review. Like the new name. Very Cool. Thanks, I'm glad I'll have at least one reader. I'm planning the story in my head right now, since I am not going to start it till I'm done this one. Thanks for beta-ing this chapter, much appreciated!
Dreaming One: Wow, thank you so much! You are too kind! Wow, love all the compliments. Yes, I know, Draco is acting really weird but he has to for the sake of the story. He'll be in the story more, don't worry. Thanks so much for the review!
Hermione-Fanz-United: My story rocks? Why thank you! Well, my update probably wasn't as fast as you hoped it would be, but at least it got up in the end, right? I am sorry! I feel really guilty. Please forgive me! Thanks for the review!
KawaiinessPnay: Lolz. I'm sure it looked great. I'm still wondering where to fit Cherry Lips in, but don't worry, it'll get in there. Oh thank you for your praise. I feel very special. Funny names. Kakkoi. I used it again, yay! Anyhoo, thank yah for the lovely review.
Silveretta: You probably won't read this till you get back, so did you have fun? Sounds really cool. Anyhoo, Thanks for the review, and I don't mind it being a tincy bit late. I'm the one who is really late. Thanks again, talk to you soon.
TiGgEr: Well, my update wasn't as soon as I expected, so I am very sorry. Thanks for your patience and the review, of course! Are you going for a Harry/Herm pairing or a Draco/Herm pairing? And remember, just because they were partners, doesn't mean they'll get together. Thanks again!
Arime Setta: Your kidding!?!? What are you confused about? Tell me, because I hate to confuse people. I'll clear up whatever if you tell me, could just be me and my stupid plot holes. I have lots of those. Lolz, Thanks very much for the review.
Thank you to all the lovely people who took the time to review. I am forever in your debt. Once again, very sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Next chapter should be very interesting. Oh yes, sorry about the cliffhanger. I just have a habit of doing them, I can't help it. What did you think of the song? It took me forever to choose one. Please review, you have already taken the time to read, so you might as well take 5 seconds to review. Please and thank you so so much! Anyways, I should shut up now. Thank you for reading, and please please review. I am hoping for 150 before I put the next chapter up. That would be so awesome!
Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed, I'll talk to you soon.
Please review!
Thanks so much again,
-Eliza
