DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THIS STORY-ONLY THE PLOT!
Previously:
There was a long silence until Hermione spoke up, "Could you please tell me my real name?"
Voldermort looked at her for a long second before he answered, "Your real name is Dakota Riddle, my beloved niece."
Everybody in the room gasped, even Lucius. Hermione fainted; she completely gave away and fell onto the cold hard floor.
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Hermione had another dream this time when she fainted-except it was not authored by Voldermort. Hermione didn't play a character in this dream however; she just observed.
The room was consisted of three people; one she knew was Voldermort and the other two she had a feeling were her parents.
She saw her mother and father snuggling close to each other on a couch and Voldermort, or Tom in this dream, sitting across from them. All of the sudden a door burst open and Mad-Eye Moody burst in with two other aurors she didn't recognize. They grabbed Hermione's parents and put a restraining spell on Tom. "Avada Kedavra" Moody shouted and pointed his wand at her mum and dad. The bodies fell slack and Hermione saw Tom shake with rage. The aurors grabbed the bodies and ran out of the room, taking the restraining spell off of Tom once they were a good distance away. Everything made sense to Hermione now. She now knew why Voldermort turned against the good. The good had killed her parents, his brother.
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Hermione's eyes fluttered open and Draco sighed with relief. Nobody had known what Hermione had dreamt about- not even Voldermort.
Hermione looked into Voldermort's eyes, "I understand now. I understand completely why you are against the good side and Dumbledore."
Voldermort looked taken back, "What did you dream?"
"I was back in time. I'm not sure if it was before or after my birth. I just observed in my dream. You were there, with my parents. Mad-Eye Moody came and killed them," Hermione whispered the last sentence, "You loved my parents."
Voldermort was speechless, "You are a VERY clever witch, Hermione."
"Call me," she paused, "Call me Dakota. It reminds me of my parents."
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Chapter 14: Decode a Riddle
Draco looked at Hermione, then back at Voldermort. He must have been thinking the same as his father because Lucius looked very surprised. Hermione, my Hermione is related to Voldermort?!?
"You two must be exhausted. Draco, help Hermione to your room. I have a feeling that you would rather stay in the same room then be separated, am I correct?" Lucius said.
"Yes, father, we will share a room," Draco said as he looked into Hermione's eyes.
"Then you two are dismissed. Good night," Voldermort said.
"Good night, Uncle," Hermione noticed the weird look that came upon Voldermort's face, "Good night Mr. Malfoy."
"Good night, Dakota," Voldermort said.
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When Draco and Hermione got back to Draco's room, Hermione spread out onto Draco's bed.
"Hey, I need to sleep there too, you know," Draco said.
"I know," Hermione mumbled into the silk sheets. Her brain was working overtime. She still couldn't believe that Voldermort was her UNCLE for crying out loud! She felt Draco squeeze her leg, and rolled over.
"What should I call you now? Dakota?" Draco asked.
"Call me whatever your heart desires," Hermione answered.
"Mia. How does that sound?"
"Perfect," Hermione said and pulled Draco down onto the sheets with her.
(A/N: I'll leave your imaginations to what they do next. :-D )
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Hermione awoke the next morning plastered to Draco. She peeled the sheets off of herself and tried to call herself Dakota. It didn't seem right. She thought about the image of her parents. She remembered her mother's hair; so that's where I get my hair. She must have stirred because Draco's arms curled themselves around her waist.
"Morning, Love," Draco said.
"G'morning. Sleep well?"
"The best I have had in a long time," Draco said as he kissed her back.
"Me too," Hermione turned over and faced Draco. "I can't believe what happened last night. It just seems, unreal. First Voldermort tells me I'm not a Mudblood. Then I learn you and I are to become the heirs of his throne. And then I learn Voldermort is my Uncle and my real name is Dakota Riddle and not Hermione Granger. My brain needs a day of tranquility," Hermione leaned against Draco and rested her head against his chest.
A knock came from the door, "Excuse me?" they heard Micha say from the other end.
"Yes?" Draco said.
"Master Malfoy and the Dark Lord request your presence for breakfast in one hours time," Micha said.
"Thank you Micha. You may pass the message along that we will be there," Hermione said and yawned.
They waited for Micha to leave before they said anything, "I'm going to take a bath. Do you care to join me?" Hermione said as she sat up on the side of the bed.
"With you? Count me in," Draco said and got up as well.
They walked into the bathroom and got in the gigantic bathtub. Hermione floated on the surface while Draco swam up next to her.
"How are we going to survive like this?" Hermione asked.
"Like what?" Draco asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I sure am going to miss Hogwarts. And the Granger's- they have always been so parental to me, I can't just leave them. I don't know how I will be able to stay here."
Draco sighed. Of course Hermione would always think everything through. "Your right Hermione, but for right now, we just have to do what Voldermort has in store for us."
"I suppose you're right," Hermione swam up to Draco who was sitting on one of the steps in the pool. She straddled him and began to kiss him rather passionately. "I'm so glad you are here."
"Me too Mia," Draco said.
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After they were dressed, Hermione is a red silk dress and Draco in a green tailored suit; they headed down for breakfast. Voldermort sat at the head of the table, Draco to his left, Hermione to his right, and Lucius sat next to Hermione as Narcissa sat next to Draco. Four elves rolled a big cart into the dining hall and served everybody.
"Well, I trust everybody slept well," Narcissa said.
Hermione smiled at Draco, "Very well."
"What is on everybody's agenda for today?" Lucius asked. Draco was surprised. Normally his father could care less about what everybody else did.
"I was going to Dakota Riddle," Hermione said, hoping somebody would catch the joke.
Nobody did, so she said it slower, "I am going to decode-a-riddle. Do you get it? Dakota sounds like decode-a," Hermione got a bunch of blank stares in reply.
"Oh nevermind. I am going to go find out a little about my parents. You got me wondering about my past last night, my Lord," Hermione said.
"Right," Lucius was the only one who replied.
"Dakota, I am not sure if you should dig up your past so quickly. It might bring painful memories back," Voldermort said.
"You could very well be right," Hermione began, "but I'm afraid if I wait any longer to research them I think I might die."
Draco smirked and Hermione kicked him from underneath the table. She gave him a smile, "If you don't mind, I was wondering if I could use your library now?" Hermione asked Lucius.
"Go a head. I have a feeling you know where the library is, right?" Lucius said.
"Her-Dakota Riddle, not know where a library is? Ha! Of course I know where it is," Hermione backed her chair out and walked down the hall to the library.
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"Narcissa, if you wouldn't mind leaving us, we have some important issues we need to discus with Draco," Lucius said as soon as Hermione left the table.
"Of course dear," Narcissa said and left the room.
"Draco," Lucius began, "ever since Hermione's real identification as a Pureblood as been discovered, we have decided that is would be best for you and her to be married."
Draco's jaw dropped. He loved Hermione, no doubt about that, but he was still very young to consider marriage.
Voldermort continued, "You and Hermione will be the Heirs to my throne if anything ever happened to me. You and Hermione will be engaged by the end of this week."
Voldermort waved his wand and a black velvet box appeared next to Draco's plate.
Draco opened it up. It was an engagement ring. A gigantic diamond was encrusted in the middle with two rubies on either side. Draco looked on the inside of the ring and saw an engraving, To my darling Dakota forever. Love, Draco. Draco set the ring back inside of its case. "It is beautiful," Draco said.
"Yes, it is," Voldermort said, "Now why don't you go find Hermione in the library. Remember, by the end of this week."
Draco's mind was already spinning on how he would ask her to marry him.
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In the library, Hermione sat on a large loveseat couch with her legs curled underneath her. Propped up in her lap was a picture album of the Riddle's. Hermione saw a picture with Tom and her father. They were smiling and waving at her. She flipped through the pages and found another picture of her mum and dad on their wedding day. She closed the album and went to look for another book. She found a big green leather bound book. It seemed to be a record book of all that happened.
She read over it and found the page about her birth. It talked about how her parents were overjoyed and spent hours playing with Dakota. On that page was her birth certificate. Her full name was Dakota Blair Riddle. Her parents were Helen Ann and Matthew Joshua Riddle.
Hermione flipped the page. The she read how her parents were part of an affiliation against the Ministry of Magic. That is why probably why Mad-Eye Moody came after them. But why didn't the kill Tom as well? She read on. Tom had just joined so he wasn't on the Ministry's list of people in it.
Hermione skimmed over a couple more pages that talked about the affiliation her parents were in, then came to the page she was dreading- the page that talked about her parents' death. She couldn't bring herself to read it. It was too painful even though she didn't remember them.
She heard a creek in the floor and turned her head. Draco was leaning against the doorway.
"How long have you been watching me?" Hermione asked.
"Long enough to know you found some information that is upsetting you. Come on, why don't we go do something today. Bringing back memories of the past isn't going to do anything," Draco said as he took her hand.
"Do you want to go down to the lake?" Hermione asked.
"It's a bit of a hike, but if your up to it," Draco said.
"I am. Let's go," Hermione got off the couch and pulled Draco out the door.
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Hermione and Draco ran past a smiling Narcissa as they ran out the door.
"Be back by 7 for dinner!" Narcissa yelled after them.
Hand in hand, Hermione and Draco walked down the 3mile road to the lake. When they got there, they were glad to find no one else there. It was a sunny day and the sand was hot against their feet, so they ran down to the lake to cool them off.
"Oh no! I forgot my swim suit!" Hermione said.
"Hahaha. Me too. Are you not adventurous enough for skinny-dipping?" Draco laughed
"Draco!" Hermione said. She spread her towel down on the sand and lay down. She remembered she had brought her wand, so she said, "Accio bikini!" and she saw her swimsuit floating though the air. "Now I need to change," Hermione said as she treaded her way through the thick dune-grass.
"Fine, your no fun," Draco put on a pout, but she continued to keep changing. He grabbed his wand, "Accio swim suit!" he yelled and his green swim trunks came floating down to him. He went into the dune-grass and changed.
Hermione was already done changing, so she lay back down on to her towel, motioning for Draco to come over.
"Can you put some sunscreen on my back?" Hermione asked.
"Sure," Draco squirted some of the lotion in his hand, then massaged it into her back.
"Mmmm… that feels good," Hermione moaned.
"Can you do my back?" Draco asked when he was finished.
"Uh-huh," Hermione squirted 'xoxo' on his back with sunscreen and then began to gently rub in the letters. "You're really tight, have you been stretching? You have like 5 knots in your shoulders," Hermione said as she began to give Draco a massage. "Feel good?"
"Like heaven," Draco replied.
They lay on the beach for a bit before Draco decided he wanted to go in the water.
"Do you want to come with?" he asked Hermione.
"No, I need to warm up a bit still," Hermione said.
"Okay," Draco ran into the water, getting him self as wet as possible. He ran back to Hermione and shook his hair, getting her all wet.
"Argh!" Hermione said as she got up and chased him back into the water. "It's freezing!" she shouted.
Draco went under the water, and Hermione got worried when she didn't see him.
"Ahhh!" something grabbed her feet and lifted her into the air. When she saw that it was Draco, she turned around in his arms and tried to dunk him underwater, to no avail.
Draco laughed and kissed Hermione.
"You're bad," she said as Draco picked her up again. "Oh-no, what are you going to do now?"
"Teaching you how to body surf," Draco said as he looked back, waiting for a wave. "Okay, when you see a wave coming at you, you begin to swim as hard as you can, and when you feel the wave pick you up, you move your arms into a streamline position. Do you understand?"
"I think so," Hermione said as she looked over her shoulder.
"Here one comes," Draco said, "Okay, one, two, three! SWIM!"
Hermione pulled until she felt the wave carry her. She ended up only a few feet from shore. She got up and pushed the hair back that was in her face. "That was so incredible!" Hermione said as she swam back to Draco.
"So you like it?" Draco asked.
"Heck yeah! That was the best thing I have ever done!" Hermione said, and swam after another wave.
Draco watched in amusement as his girlfriend rode wave after wave. Draco occasionally joined her. He was tired quicker, and decided to go sit out and watch her.
"You're missing out on the fun!" she yelled after each wave she rode.
Hermione swam back out and looked for another wave. She saw a really big one coming, bigger than anyone she had ridden before. She knew the current would be strong, but she decided to take the chance with it anyway. It just about reached her and she began to swim harder than she ever had before. The wave hit her, and she took one last breath before she was pulled by it. She was deeper under the water than she had been before. Normally the wave would have let her off by now, but this one didn't. She seemed to be caught in an undertow. She was running out of air and tried swimming to the surface, but she couldn't. She remembered what Draco had said: If you get stuck in a current, don't move. Wait for it to let you up.
Draco watched from shore and noticed Hermione was under longer than usual. He squinted and noticed she was trying to get up. He cursed when he realized she was stuck in an under tow. He ran out to where the wave was taking her. When she brushed by him, he grabbed her and pulled her to the surface.
"Are you okay," Draco asked as Hermione coughed up water.
"Mmmm hmmm," Hermione said as she sat down on her towel, with Draco's arm around her.
"You had quite a ride," Draco said.
"Yeah, it was amazing until I got caught in that current," Hermione said, "Thanks for saving me; I was running out of air."
"No problem," Draco said and kissed her forehead.
"Wow, it's getting dark already. We should probably start walking home now," Hermione said, putting her clothes on over her bathing suit.
"Walking home? What if we use my Firebolt instead?" Draco asked.
"You know that I am afraid of flying," Hermione said.
"You trust me, right?" Draco asked.
"Of course," Hermione answered.
"Then come on; I won't let you fall," Draco grabbed his wand, "Accio Firebolt!"
Draco's broom floated towards them, and he caught it in his hand.
Hermione muttered a levitating and following spell on their belongings so they would follow them home.
Draco helped Hermione up onto the broomstick and got on behind her.
"I cannot believe I am doing this," Hermione said as Draco pushed off the ground.
"Don't worry, I'm here," Draco said and steered the broomstick.
Hermione looked down and saw the sunset on the lake. "It's so beautiful up here."
"I know, but not as beautiful as you," Draco said and kissed Hermione's neck.
"Okay, we have to land now. Hold on tight," Draco said as the broom lowered itself to the ground.
Hermione stepped off and wobbled a bit, "Having something under my feet is kind of a weird feeling now," she said as she placed her hand on Draco's shoulder to steady herself.
"Come on, we have to get ready for dinner," Draco said as they walked up the stairs to the Malfoy Mansion.
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After they had changed into dinner attire, they headed down the spiraling staircase for dinner.
"You look exhausted," Lucius said as they sat themselves done at the dinner table.
"Very much. We spent all day at the lake swimming," Hermione said.
"Yeah, and Hermione almost drowned," Draco said.
Everyone at the table gasped and demanded to know what happened.
"To put it in a nut shell," Hermione began, "Draco taught me how to body surf, and I decided to be a little bold and go for a really big wave. I ended up getting caught in the under tow until Draco rescued me. No harm done, really."
"Well, be more careful next time," Lucius said.
Dinner was served, and the conversation consisted of Death Eater matters which only Voldermort and Lucius talked about; everyone else just listened.
After they had finished Hermione spoke up; "I am really tired from all that has happened today. Would you mind terribly if I may be excused?"
"No go ahead," Voldermort said.
"I'll be up in a bit," Draco said.
"Okay," Hermione smiled and then left the room.
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"Have you decided when you will ask her to marry you?" Lucius asked Draco once Narcissa had left.
"I was thinking tomorrow," Draco said.
"How do you plan on doing it?" Voldermort asked.
"That'll be my surprise," Draco said, and left the table to go find Hermione already asleep in bed.
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A/N: Hey everyone! Nothing really happened in this chapter except she found some stuff out about her parents. Did you get my "Decode-a riddle" joke? I thought of that after I found the name Dakota. Okay, well, I don't know if I will have the next chapter up by tomorrow, because I have to write another chapter for my other story, but I promise I will have one up soon, so don't fret! Thanks to everybody for reviewing chapter 13: I-LOVE-SPENCER, SwimGoddess, Lady Malfoy, Dragonfly, Body Chocolate, Kathryn and Diana. You guys rock!
Jenn
