A/N: Who ever thought up the concept of summer vacation, I love you. You're most likely dead, but I love you.
Summary: What's up with Harry? Why are Hermione and Ginny disappearing all the time? Who is this enticing new Gryffindor? And just where in all hells is Ron? Reincarnation is a strange and dangerous thing that toys with the present in hopes that the present will somehow turn out like the past, but will the past repeat itself in this occurrence, or will the reincarnation of the great King Arthur fail to save the world as we know it from a foe greater than any seen in this word yet?
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
And We Thought it Was the End
Chapter 2
Helen's Secret
June 1, 1997
Hermione held onto Haven's hand tightly and Haven kept a tight hand on Gwydion's leash as they stood in a corner of their lawyer's office as the will was being read.
Hermione wasn't really listening. She stared out the large picture window down at the bustling streets of London in a detached sort of way. Haven, who was usually loud and happy was curiously quiet and leaned on Gwydion for strength. After what Hermione liked to call "It", he had lost more and more of his strength and had been bedridden, but Hermione's aunt Alyse- her father's sister, who had been taking care of them for the past week, said that he had to be at the reading of the wills. He had refused to let Hermione carry him saying he could stand by himself, but less than ten minutes into the meeting, he was fairly laying across Gwydion's back. The dog for his part looked slightly worried at his master's condition.
"To my sister, I leave… To my friend Tessa… To my brother…" The lawyer's voice faded in and out of Hermione's consciousness, but she didn't really care, she was watching a mother across the street fussing over her two children. One was a girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen and an infant in a pram that lay tossing a toy into the air. I wonder if mum used to look like that… Hermione wondered.
"In regards to the safety of my children..." Hermione tuned in here, it would be important to her future, "until Hermione becomes of age in her own right, eighteen, I would wish my children to be taken in by the one woman I trusted with my life and the life of my beloved. At the time of my death, the children should be sent to one Narcissa Black…"
The room went silent. Hermione's aunts and uncles looked at each other bewildered. Hermione, for her part had frozen…Narcissa Black…where did she know that name from…
Alyse Coleman shot up with a surprised expression, "But-"
The lawyer, a Mr. Briton, lifted his hand to silence her. "I am sorry Mrs. Coleman, that is what the will says, no arguments please." Then he cast a glance about the room. "Is Miss Narcissa Black here?"
A two figures moved in the shadows of the room. One stepped forward. She was a strikingly beautiful woman with long white blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. Her face looked like a fairy's, but she had an elf's grace and beauty. She smiled softly at the lawyer. "It's Narcissa Malfoy now." She turned her smile to Hermione who was staring at her with eyes as wide as saucers. That's where she knew that name from…Sirius Black's cousin… Narcissa Black married Lucius Malfoy who became a death eater…death eaters killed her parents…she was going to live with a death eater…her life was over…
Haven raised his face to Hermione. "Mia, do you know her?"
Hermione's gaze snapped to her brother and for a moment she just looked at him, still trying to sort out her thoughts. Her oldest cousin, her mother's only sibling's son, Edward Richter stood and shook her gently. "Mia?" His parents had died to and Hermione's mother had practically raised him by herself.
She blinked rapidly. "I-I'm fine…" She looked down at Haven who was still looking up at her expectantly. "Not very well brother."
He nodded and looked at Narcissa. "I think I shall like living with you, you're pretty, like Mia's dolls."
Narcissa smiled softly at him. "Thank you, what's your name?"
"Haven."
"That's a very nice name."
"Thank you. Mia says it fits me, but I don't know what that means because I don't think you can wear a name like you can wear clothes…" He hoisted himself up higher on the dog and smiled wearily.
Narcissa smiled again and the lawyer cleared his throat. "Mrs. Malfoy, you said?"
Narcissa turned to the lawyer. "Yes, my maiden name is Black."
The lawyer nodded and began to shift papers around on the large table. "I presume your husband knows of this?"
A harsh frown passed across Narcissa's face, but it was gone in an instant. "My husband is dead… he died last week." She said softly.
"Oh, I am sorry."
"Oh, it's alright." She said.
"Well, if the rest of the family has no objections…" Alyse looked ready t pull Narcissa's hair out, but Eddy shut her up with a stern glance, "Alright then, if you'll just sign these papers…here…here…here…and here…"
Hermione watched helplessly as her parents' lawyer signed her life away to a woman she barely knew accept that she was the widow of a death eater and the mother of a git. Well, if worst come to worst, I'll be eighteen in one year… She thought.
Narcissa straightened from the table. "Is that all then?"
The lawyer looked down at the papers in front of him and nodded. "Yes, yes I believe that is all…wait…there is a letter here from Helen to Hermione… here you go child." He handed her the thick envelope and Hermione held it delicately in her hands. "Thank you." She whispered. Then she looked around at her family congregated there. "Good bye all. I'll write you." Eddy surprised her by clasping her into a tight hug.
They had spent their lives as older brother to younger sister and he was reluctant to let her go. He was also the only other wizard in the family. "If anything happens, I'm just an owl away." He whispered fiercely in her ear. Then he let her go and wrapped Haven's small body in another tight hug.
"Bye Eddie." Whispered the little boy.
Narcissa dabbed at the corner of her eye, she had known Edward Granger well, had helped Helen change his nappies as a matter of fact. "Edward, you're welcome to come to the manor at anytime." She said softly.
He stood and regarded her. Since Lucius was dead...everything was okay..."Alright then." He gave her a fleeting smile, then walked from the room.
Narcissa watched him walk from the door, then turned to Hermione and her brother. "Children?"
Hermione nodded and clasped Haven's hand tightly in her own. Then they walked from the room.
In the foyer of the building near the glass door, Narcissa stopped and turned to them. "How do you feel about something to eat?"
"I'm starving!" Haven said. "But I'm tired too."
Hermione, still holding his hand, spoke up, "He didn't get much sleep. He's been having nightmares." She tried to pick him up again, but he swatted at her hand.
"I can stand by myself Mia!"
She shrugged and left him alone.
Narcissa clucked her toung against the roof of her mouth. She suddenly looked over Hermione's head and began speaking to someone behind her. "Draco, love, be a dear and have Weston bring a wheelchair into the building for Haven would you?"
Hermione whipped around. She hadn't even noticed him walking silently behind them, nor had she seen him in the room... She watched him nod at his mother, then she stiffened as his gazed focused on her.
He gave her a slight nod in recognition. "Hermione."
She only stared at him. He had never called her by her first name. She came back when Haven nudged her whispering loudly. "Mummy always says it's rude to stare at people."
His use of the present tense shocked her out of her stupor and she nodded quickly at Draco. "Mal-Draco."
He gave her another nod, then walked outside the building only to return a minute later with a brand spanking new wheelchair. He rolled it up behind Haven, then bent over the chair and hoisted the little boy into it.
Hermione smiled as she heard her brother's contended sigh. "Much better."
Narcissa cleared her throat and smiled. "So, anyone hungry?"
It wasn't until later that day as they were leaving the swanky restaurant In Diagon Alley, that Hermione spoke the question that had been on her mind since they'd left the lawyer's office.
As they settled back into the sleek limo (she still couldn't believe she was riding in one) she looked to Narcissa and said," Why... this is going to sound terribly forward of me, but, why you?"
Narcissa smiled softly, everything about the woman was soft! "No, it is not forward at all, it is completely justified considering the situation." She fiddled with the ring on her right index finger and sighed. "Hermione, do you know much about your mother's family?"
Hermione shook her head. "Well, there was Grace and Jordan, but they died before I was born and my mother took care of Eddie, and I never met my grand parents, so...no...I don't know very much."
"Well, do you know where you got your magic from?"
"That I do know. Once every year a certain number of muggle children are born with magic that came to them randomly, but it has no definite origins-"
"My mother asked if you knew where your magic was from, not a history lesson." Draco snapped from the other end of the car.
Narcissa turned to him. "Draconis, that was uncalled for. Apologize immediately."
Draco glared at her for a moment, then Narcissa raised one eyebrow and Draco quickly apologized.
Narcissa smiled content and went back to the subject. "Though that was a perfect answer, it is not the correct one."
Hermione stared at her. "It's not?"
"No." Narcissa shook her head. "Your mother was the daughter of a prominent wizarding family, the Richters. Her father was a candidate for the Minister of Magic after Thorne. His name was Decius Richter. He married the only child of another prominent wizarding family, Morgan Bankfort, her father was a president of Gringotts at one point, that was before the goblins took over." She looked over at Hermione.
The young girl was staring in shock at Narcissa, completely silent. So she continued.
"Your father, or rather the father you knew, Richard Granger, had not a drop of wizarding blood in him. It was your real father that gave you your intelligence and your cunning."
Now Hermione spoke, "My real father?" This somehow didn't seem as strange as her mother being a witch. Hermione and Richard had never really gotten along, they only tolerated each other.
Narcissa nodded and continued. "You shall have to find out his name on your own. I swore to Helen that I would never tell you."
"Why?"
"Because My family put them through so much, there was only so much I could do." She shrugged.
"How did you know my mother?"
"We were in th same year at Hogwarts, we were both Gryffindors."
Now that shocked Hermione. Narcissa Malfoy..a Gryffindor???
My day just keeps getting stranger... Hermione shook her head and rested it back on the head rest of the soft leather seat.
"Well, I'd assume you've heard enough for now?" Narcissa said.
"Hole in one."
There was silence.
"It's a muggle term."
More silence.
"Never mind."
Narcissa nodded and spoke again. "I expect that you have possessions that you'd like t get?"
Hermione nodded.
Narcissa leaned forward and rapped on the portion of tinted window that led to the driver's seat. "Weston, please go to..." She turned back to Hermione. "Where is it that you live?"
"Albright Hills." She said softly. "It's near Crowborough in East Sussex, just east and south of Ashdown forest."
Narcissa turned back to the driver and Draco spoke up. "That's like the richest neighborhood in Sussex."
"I know." She sighed not really wanting to explain this to him, but he looked like he really wanted to know. "My mum and dad were both dentists with large salaries and apparently my mum's family had some amount of money and my dad's father was like a millionaire or something." Her head dropped back on the seat and she prepared for the long ride back home.
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"Mia wake up." A small hand shook her shoulder gently. "Mia, we're here."
Her eyes peered open and she stared up into Haven's wide frosty blue eyes. "Alright, I'm up."
He scrambled out the door and ran to Narcissa who was standing on the lawn of the large white house.
Hermione sighed and made to get out of the car. What surprised her was that the hand that reached down to help her up did not belong to Weston, the butler, but to Draco Malfoy himself. "Thank you." She whispered.
He nodded and walked to his mother.
They all looked at Hermione expectantly and she walked up to the house and opened the door.
It really was a nice house. Large, like all the others on the street, it was whitewashed with dark blue shutters and a red front door.
The front door led to a warm and comfortable foyer that held a small table with a vase of fresh roses in it.
Beyond the table was the double staircase that led to the second floor. Beneath the stairs was a door that led to the dinning room and the kitchen. T the left of the foyer was the archway that led to the parlor. On the other side of the foyer was the archway that led to the den and the family room. "Have a look around." She said to Narcissa and Draco. "We'll be back in a minute." She turned to her brother. "To the hursery with you, I daresay nana is up there waiting for you."
Haven nodded and went up the stairs. She followed him at a much slower pace Gwydion by her side.
She entered her room and softly closed the door to a crack. There was just too much to think about.
She walked to her cd player and put on some soothing classical music. Then she started magicing things into a large box in the corner. She'd been given special permission to use her wand by Albus.
She let the soft sounds of violins and cellos wash over her as she continued to pack. She emptied the many book shelves of books and trinkets, folded all of her clothes and stuffed them into suit cases. She went to her bed and had started to pull the sheets and things off, but them decided to leave them there. She knew that the house would stay with her and her brother and didn't really want to bare her room. But she did pull the three stuffed animals off the bed and put them in the box along with everything else. When she turned to the shelf that ran along the top of the room she stopped.
There were approximately one hundred and seventy-two porcelain dolls that sat there, all different, all from her mother. She pulled down two that had been her mother's and one very special one that was her favorite.
Clara had a blue silk brocade dress that was embroidered with gold flowers designed like the dresses of the eighteenth century. She had little black leather shoes and her glossy black curls were pilled on top of her little head. She stared out of a lifeless face with a blank blue gaze and her cherry red lips were frozen in a happy smile. A little tag hung from her small wrist and Hermione read the little note fo what might have been the thousandth time.
"To my darling baby girl, on her first birthday. May you forever be happy and content." She whispered the words and a tear slid down her cheek.
A knock on the door startled her and she hastily wiped the tear away. She turned quickly to th door and stared at Draco.
"Hermione? Where's the- Hey, are you alright?" He came farther into the room and Hermione clutched the doll to her chest looking around the room in desperation.
It had all hit her at that moment. Her parents were dead, they were never coming back. Her mother was a witch and had lied to her since she was born. Her father wasn't really her father, but just some man her mother had had to marry. She was going to live with the Malfoys, and no matter that Lucius was dead, it still only added more to her plate and she couldn't take it anymore.
She sat on the be heavily and began to cry.
She felt the bed slope as Draco sat next to her and slid an arm around her shoulder. He didn't say anything, he just sat there comforting her, and she was grateful for that.
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A/N: There's chapter two. Please review.
Also if anyone can tell me exactly what day Hermione's birthday is I would be vey thankful. I know that it's in the beginning of POA somewhere, but I just don't feel like looking right now...
I'd ask Ara, but she has left the building and I have no idea where she is as she never tell me anything...
Next Chapter: Ginny wakes up to hear some startling news and will Hermione ever open that leter from her mother?
A/N2: It has come to my attention that some of us reading this story cough Ara! cough are confused, so let me straighten it out.
Last Chapter: Harry brings Ginny back to Hogwarts from Voldemort's lair whereever that was beaten and bloody. clarification coming SHE WAS RAPED BY VOLDEMORT. she did not go willingly. and yes, Hermione's rents are gone, dead, on another plane, and yes there a lot of fainting episodes in this story.