Disclaimer - Harry Potter does not belong to me. It belongs to JK Rowling. I am simply borrowing her characters for a plot of my own. However, Aradol Masai is mine, so keep your hands away!

Author's Note - This chapter centers around Hermione. The main ships in this story are DM/HP, HG/OC. They all have an equally important role, and will therefore sort of alternate chapters until they all meet up. I hope you don't become impatient with me, because the parts that have Hermione are very important to the story, and eventually everything connects.

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! I shall answer your reviews at the end of the chapter.

Chapter Two: Inheritance – Part Two

Hermione Granger leaned back on her pillows and sighed happily. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would turn sixteen. She was excited, nervous, anxious, and scared out of her mind all at once. Hermione had heard all the stories about what happens when a witch or wizard turn sixteen. They supposedly come into their 'inheritance.'

Hermione was reading a book on it right now. In most cases, the magical level of the person in question would increase, or they would develop an affinity for a certain subject. In some of the rarer, more extreme cases, a person's appearance would change, or the level of their inheritance might make them suddenly obtain an animagus form. That was the rarest case of all, and extremely dangerous. A person who was pushed into their animagus form by their inheritance couldn't control the transformation as well, and would often change when angered or sad, even if they didn't want to.

Hermione was hoping she would come into a more normal inheritance. She supposed her magic level would go up, and maybe she would become more talented at Charms, or Transfiguration. Her best friend Ron Weasley had recently had his sixteenth birthday. His magic had increased four times over what he already had, and, much to his disappointment, he had developed an affinity towards Divination. Hermione's other best friend, Harry Potter, had turned sixteen just days ago, but he hadn't contacted her about what he received for his inheritance.

Hermione flipped a page in her book and continued reading. She heard the doorbell ring downstairs but didn't bother getting up. Her parents were still down there, enjoying their after-dinner coffee, and Hermione knew they would get the door. She heard muffled speaking, and then her name being called. Hermione sighed and put down her book, gingerly hopping off her bed and walking downstairs.

"Ah, there you are, Hermione," said her mother, smiling happily. "A visitor is here to see you."

Hermione nodded as she observed her mother. Jody Granger was thirty-eight years old, but she didn't look a day over twenty-five. Her skin was creamy and smooth, and her eyes were a sparkling blue. Her dark brown hair, which was full of waves, was cut short, falling just above her shoulders. She was tall, with a slightly curvy form.

Hermione's father, Herman Granger, was also tall, and very muscular. His hair was light brown, and only slightly speckled with gray. His eyes were exactly like Hermione's, the color of honey. In short, Hermione looked barely anything like either of her parents. Her hair was a dark chocolate brown, the same as her mother's, but instead of being wavy, it was overly bushy. She wasn't very tall, only 5'4". She supposed there were some similarities, but not many.

Hermione snapped out of her silent observations and smiled at her parents. "Of course," she said. "Who is here?"

"That would be me, Miss Granger."

Hermione looked over her mother's shoulder and met the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

"Headmaster!" Hermione cried, surprised that the wizard had come to her house. "Please, do come in and sit down."

They made their way into the sitting room. Hermione's parents sat on the couch, Dumbledore took an armchair, and Hermione curled up in the other armchair.

"Has something happened, professor?" asked Hermione immediately. "Is Harry okay, and what about the Weasley's? Has there been an attack?"

Dumbledore chuckled slightly. "No, my dear, nothing like that." he said. "Although there is quite a bit going on with Harry at the moment. Though, that is another story. No, I have come to discuss with you a matter your parents told me about."

Hermione's eyes flickered towards her parents, and she was worried to see the looks of sorrow and pain on their faces. She raised one eyebrow in question as she turned back to Dumbledore.

"First I must ask you how you are feeling." said Dumbledore.

Hermione grimaced as she remembered the incident at the Ministry of Magic at the end of her fifth year. The Death Eater Dolohov had hit her with a curse that had almost killed her. Luckily, Madame Pomfrey was a very skilled medi-witch, and had healed her right and proper.

"I am fine, professor." replied Hermione, trying to put on a cheerful face. "The pain in my chest is completely gone now, and I stopped taking potions a week ago."

"That is excellent news, Miss Granger." said Dumbledore.

"But not what you wanted to talk to me about." Hermione stated. "Let's get right to the point, professor."

Dumbledore sighed. "Always the perceptive one, Miss Granger." he said. "Before anything is said, I must first apologize to you. I fear that I, along with your parents, have kept many secrets from you, secrets that should have been told. I learned my lesson with Harry. The secrets come out now."

Hermione let out a nervous laugh. "I'm not sure I understand you professor." she said, trying to make her voice sound calm. "How could my parents and you be keeping secrets from me? I mean, my parents are muggles, there is nothing to hide…"

Hermione's worried eyes traveled to her parents. She was dismayed to see how sad they were looking. A few tears even leaked out of her mother's eyes. "Mum, dad?" she asked.

Jody Granger hurriedly wiped her eyes and smiled weakly at her daughter. "First, Hermione, I should inform you that your father and I are not muggles, we are, in fact, squibs."

Hermione stared wide-eyed at her parents. Her breath started to come in short gasps and she felt like walls were closing in around her.

"Please, calm down, Mi," said Herman Granger.

Hermione's head snapped toward him, her eyes still as wide as saucers. "Calm down? You inform me just now that you are squibs and have therefore been lying to me for nearly sixteen years and you expect me to calm down!"

"Miss Granger," interrupted Professor Dumbledore. "Hermione, it would do well to listen to the rest of the story. Your parents had a reason for what they did."

Hermione snapped her mouth shut and turned back towards her parents, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"We were not always squibs, Mi," said Mr. Granger. "Your mother and I were once a witch and wizard, and we attended Hogwarts."

Hermione felt her anger fading away at that announcement. "You went to Hogwarts?"

"That's right," said Mrs. Granger smiling. "All seven years. I was a Gryffindor, proud and brave as they come." she added, winking at Dumbledore.

Hermione smiled. "And what House were you in dad? Gryffindor as well?"

Mr. Granger smiled but shook his head. "No, I myself was a Ravenclaw. Top of my year."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I still don't understand. If you were once magical, why aren't you now? And why couldn't you tell me sooner?"

"It would do well to know, Hermione," said Dumbledore. "That you're parents were active in the first war against Voldemort. The real story starts there."

"That's right," said Mrs. Granger. "It was a dark time, Mi. Even worse than now. Voldemort was at the height of his power, and your father and I were actively fighting against him. It was terrible watching our friends and family being destroyed by that wizard. The Longbottoms being tortured, the Potters going into hiding, and even poor Remus as he tried to gather the support of the werewolves."

"However," cut in Mr. Granger. "We persisted. There came a time, though, when we were cornered by Death Eaters. We couldn't get away and were preparing for the worst. That was when a miracle happened. A clan of vampires joined the Light Side, and saved us from certain death. We were forever grateful to them, and owed them a great debt."

"However, when it came time to pay that debt," said Mrs. Granger, and a tear leaked from her eye. "We couldn't do it. We didn't have what they wanted. So the prince of the vampires took our magic, and was about to take yours as well. You were so small, barely over a year old, and we couldn't let that happen."

"The vampire prince made a deal with us," said Mr. Granger. "He would let you keep your magic if…if we agreed to let you…you…"

Hermione turned questioning eyes towards Dumbledore.

"If they set up an arranged marriage between the two of you." supplied the Headmaster quietly. "You are betrothed, Miss Granger, to Prince Aradol of the Masai Vampire Clan."

Hermione just sat there, wide-eyed, staring at the professor. "I'm what?" she asked, but it came out as little more than a whisper.

Her mother burst into quiet sobs, covering her face with her hands. "I'm so – sorry, Mi," she gasped out between sobs. "My darling daughter – there was n-nothing – we could d-do."

Hermione felt her own eyes filling with tears. "You knew this whole time?" she asked, turning toward Dumbledore.

The twinkle so normally visible in his blue eyes was gone now, replaced with sadness, and guilt.

"Yes, Miss Granger," he said quietly. "I knew."

Hermione felt her face heat up in anger. "And you didn't try to stop it!" she half shouted. "You didn't try to do anything!"

"He did try, Mi," said Mr. Granger. "He held numerous councils with the vampires. He tried different forms of negotiations, nothing worked."

"Is that true?" asked Hermione desperately. "There is really nothing to be done?"

"I am sorry, Miss Granger." said Dumbledore. "I tried, just like your parents said. I held council with Prince Aradol, I even took the matter to the Ministry, but nothing could be done. Aradol is a magical creature, a vampire. Every male vampire needs a Bride, kind of like every veela needs a mate. Aradol chose you as his Bride, and there is nothing the Ministry can do to prevent that from happening."

Hermione closed her eyes and a few tears leaked out from under her lids, leaving small beads of water clinging to her lashes. "So all of my life has been a lie. I am not a mudblood, and I am betrothed to a complete stranger." she said, more to herself than anyone else.

She stood up abruptly and looked at her parents. "Mum, dad, I'm not angry with you, I just need to be alone for a while. I need to think." she headed towards the stairs and started walking up, though she looked over her shoulder. "Good evening, professor."

And then she was gone.

Hermione entered her room and threw herself down on the bed. She curled herself into a ball and let the silent streams of tears fall down her cheeks. She had just found out that her parents were squibs and had basically given her away as a baby. She was betrothed, to a complete stranger and a vampire no less.

Hermione closed her eyes and shivered helplessly. She emptied her mind of thought and tried to fall asleep, though her body did not obey her wishes for a long time. By the time she finally did fall asleep, it was late in the night, and the moon was shining in through the glass panes of her window.

Outside, on a branch of the big oak tree in the Granger yard, sat a large black raven. It stared in through the window with sharp obsidian eyes. It watched as the brown haired girl cried herself to sleep, with a strangely compassionate expression. When all was still inside the room, the raven took flight, and disappeared into the night.

hr>

That's all for now. So, on to the reviews.

HecateDeMorte - Thanks, I am glad you like it.

Yana5 - We'll just wait and see, shall we?

Elektra107 - Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

lazy person - Yeah, I wanted to do something really original and surprising for Harry's animagus form. I wanted him to have the transformation early in the story, without the whole long process.And I also think a basilisk fits. There will be more of Draco and Harry next chapter. I am hoping to create a very unique veela story. There are a lot of them out there, and I am hoping mine will be different. Of course, I think we all love a beautiful Draco.

Earthwytch - Yeah, I was trying to use the element of surprise with the basilisk form. I do love a powerful!Harry, and every once in a while an evil!Harry, but only if the story is right. Evil!Harry isn't right for this story.

Jolene Kaye - Thanks very much! It means a lot to me.

Angelic Sazuka - Thanks!

kavfh - Lol! Thanks! I will try and update regularly.

Brenna8 - Yes, the evil author would be my Slytherin side. I love to leave people hanging!

sincerity and faith - It was either going to be a basilisk or a panther for Harry's transformation. I decided on the basilisk because I wanted him to be something powerful and magical. I did think it would surprise everyone.

Thanks again for all your reviews! Next chapter soon.