Hermione had never asked to be different. In a sense, she knew that she already WAS different due to the fact that she was, in fact, the muggle-born witch who was also a female genius of Hogwarts and best friend of the infamous Harry Potter and Ronald Weasely. But despite her intelligence and her choice of friends, Hermione Jane Granger was indeed a normal girl. Until last month.
Hermione had returned home from her fifth year in Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, ready to spend some quality time with her parents. She had walked into the living room, expecting to see her parents sitting on the couch, waiting for her. But the sight that befell her was far from that. It WAS her parents. But instead of sitting on the couch they both lay still on the floor. In pools of their own blood.
She would never forget the way her mother stared at her lifelessly, since they had died with their eyes open. That meant they were both forced to watch their attacker kill them. Her father's eyes were dripping blood and his mouth lay open in a silent scream of agony. Hermione didn't know how long she screamed before she blacked out and fell to the floor, unconscious.
The rest of the day was a blur. Hermione had stared at the bodies blankly for what seemed like hours after she woke up. She didn't even blink in surprise when Dumbledore, Remus Lupin and Professor McGonagall apparated to her house later, all gazing at her with deep sympathy. And when she learned from Dumbledore that Voldemort had killed her parents because she was not only a Muggleborn but a friend of Harry's, she didn't so much as flinch. She merely nodded slowly and returned her gaze to the lifeless bodies of her parents.
"Hermione, it may seem like much information to retain at such a critical time but I feel that I must tell you this now." Dumbledore had spoken with such seriousness that Hermione actually raised her head to look at him.
"Hermione, these aren't your parents."
Blink, blink.
"What?"
"You are adopted."
Swallow. Blink.
"Dumbledore, maybe we should wait a bit. She's gone through much and needs some res-"
"No." Professor McGonagall stopped talking to Dumbledore. All three adults stared at Hermione.
"No. I...WANT...TO...KNOW..." Hermione put much emphasis on each word she spoke. Dumbledore gazed at her sadly.
"Hermione, it seems that you were abandoned when you were merely a few months old by your mother. Your mother was a muggle and she fell in love with your father, a half blood. But complications arose and your father grew different, more dark. And your mother felt that you couldn't grow up living a horrible life with him. So she contacted me to help her and together, we secretly left you on the doorstep of the Grangers. It was several hours later that your father found out and murdered your dear mother."
Hermione couldn't stop blinking. She felt a slight clenching around her heart.
"I know this seems like much to handle. I understand that this is quite a lot to take for a girl so young. And for that Hermione, I am sorry."
A long pause, filled with tension, followed after Dumbledore's speech. Finally, Hermione spoke.
"How did my par-my adopted parents die?"
Dumbledore hung his head slightly.
"They were killed by the Cruciatus curse. It was used multiple times on them and the pain was too much to handle. In a way, it was better for them to die than to be driven to madness like Neville's parents."
Many thoughts spun through her head but only one stood out. She stood up so immediately, that she startled everyone.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU MEAN IT WAS BETTER FOR THEM TO DIE?"
No one dared speak. Rare was a time when Hermione Granger swore in front of an adult and for her to say that to the Headmaster himself, must have meant she was furious.
"AND WHAT IS ALL THIS GODDMAN NONSENSE ABOUT ME BEING ADOPTED???"
More silence.
"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!!!!!!! ALL THOSE YEARS! AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT IT WAS TO PROTECT ME OR ANY OF THAT CRAP!"
Hermione's voice grew shriller with every sentence she spoke.
"MY PARENTS ARE DEAD! AND I DON'T CARE IF THEY AREN'T MY REAL PARENTS! THEY'RE DEAD! AS IN NOT ALIVE! TAKEN A DIRT NAP! BOUGHT THE FARM! KICKED THE BUCKET! WENT TO MEET THEIR MAKER! AND ALL THE YEARS I WAS WITH MY "PARENTS" MY REAL MOTHER HAS BEEN DEAD THE WHOLE TIM-"
Hermione paused her emotional rampage for a second. She was breathing heavily. McGonagall had tears shining in her eyes and Remus was looking grim. Dumbledore, on the other hand, did not even look fazed. Hermione opened her mouth again.
"Is my father alive?"
"Yes." The answer came almost automatically. Hermione digested the information for a minute and then spoke again, her voice more tentative.
"Wh-Who is it?"
Dumbledore's eyes shone with what looked like gut-deep sympathy and great sadness.
"Your full name is Hermione Jane Riddle."
As McGonagall and Lupin gasped, Hermione looked confused.
'What? What do you mea-" As the full meaning of those words hit Hermione like a ton of bricks, the words "Oh. My. God." Left her lips before she once again fainted.