Harry Potter sat in a stern, straight-backed chair in the den at Twelve Grimmauld Place, a scowl worthy of Professor Snape on his face. Remus Lupin sat on the couch opposite him, trying his hardest to ignore the glowering young man. He honestly did not know all of the details, and anything he could have told Harry would have been insufficient to quell his rage. They would simply have to await Dumbledore for an explanation, and Harry was having a hard time remaining patient.
He'd dreamt over a week ago about Voldemort, his scar burning again fiercely. He knew that there had been a raid, and he suspected that Hermione had been involved, though no one would tell him. Those around him had assured him that "things were being taken care of." He had no faith in them, though. He sat back as they bustled about, speaking in hushed tones and behind closed doors, and he grew more and more angry. Dumbledore was supposed to explain things now, though, so he continued to wait. When the door to the den opened, his head snapped so fast that Lupin was afraid the boy had given himself whiplash. It was Ron, though.
"Harry, what's going on?" the redhead asked, obviously nervous. He knew about as much as his friend, and had seen Harry tense all week. The Boy Who Lived did not reply, and went back to glaring in Lupin's general direction. Ron sighed at the lack of response and sat down on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. His mother was busy cooking in the kitchen and would not be able to yell at him.
They waited in tense silence for some minutes and Ron and Lupin had to do their best not to go crazy. Harry had such a single-minded focus on his anger that it was all he could do not to get up and storm out of the room in search of answers. Finally the door opened again, and Dumbledore and Snape entered the room, both wearing solemn expressions. Harry shot to his feet, fists clenched and green eyes blazing in rage.
"Where is she?" he demanded, his voice cold as ice.
"Japan. Sit down, Harry. There is much to explain," Dumbledore said, his voice sounding tired. Still, he smiled, twinkled, and sat in a vacant chair. Snape opted to remain standing, scowling at the scene in front of him.
"What happened?" Harry sat and unclenched his fists, but his eyes still flashed in anger and he was still quite tense. He glanced momentarily at Snape, but then focused on Dumbledore.
"I believe Severus can explain this the best. He is more directly involved," Dumbledore said. Harry looked back at his potions professor and attempted to keep his face blank. He was not willing to risk the man getting annoyed at him for breathing wrong or some such offense.
"Nine days ago, three Death Eaters including Lucius Malfoy, and Draco who was to be initiated, attacked Miss Granger's home. Her parents were killed..." Snape trailed off, trying to find a delicate way to tell the boys that their friend had been raped.
"Hermione...she's okay, right? You said she's in Japan, so she's okay..." It was Ron who spoke up, sounding terribly distraught. He looked as though he was about to cry, though he held it in.
"She was raped, wasn't she? I could hear her crying..." Harry spoke softly, without emotion. "Who was it? Draco?" His voice promised death, and Ron and Lupin were terrified. Snape and Dumbledore, who both felt that their death would come in the near future anyway, were not so affected. Snape shook his head.
"Lucius. Draco saved her life." Ron and Harry stared at Snape, shock written all over their faces. "After...after Lucius was done, he told Draco to have his turn. Draco took hold of Miss Granger and Apparated to my estate. He's been disowned."
Harry sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes, digesting all that he'd just heard. Hermione, one of his dearest friends and the closest thing he had to a sister had lost her parents and had been raped, and was now in Japan. Draco was not a Death Eater, and had saved her life. It was, on the whole, very much wrong. There were pieces that just didn't fit.
"Why Japan?" he asked, finally. He knew that Hermione spoke French, Italian and a bit of Spanish and Portuguese, and he was fairly certain that she did not speak any Japanese. It was, admittedly, much farther from England, though he could not pinpoint the exact reason for such a random location.
"The Order has a branch in Asia, headed by a woman named Usagi Tsukino. She has adopted Miss Granger, and has the power to keep her safe. The Dark Lord will be unwilling to leave Europe to look for one girl who has suffered enough already. However, Miss Granger will be a great threat when she returns to England. Lucius Malfoy unmasked himself when he attacked her, so she will be able to bring charges against him. In Japan, she will learn magic strong enough to keep her safe during the trial. Even incarcerated, Malfoy would pose too great a threat. The Asian branch of the Order has been working for many years to combat the Dark Arts, and while they have not had sufficient time to completely nullify the effects of such curses as the Cruciatus, I have been assured they have made sufficient progress to be of use. Usagi will return with Miss Granger late in the summer, and will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts next term. She has also endured things similar to Miss Granger, and should be able to offer advice."
Dumbledore's words seemed to calm Harry a bit on the outside, though deep down he was still seething. Knowing that Hermione was safe with someone Dumbledore trusted eased his mind somewhat, but he would never be able to get over what she had suffered. He could only imagine the torture she must have gone through, and must still be living through. The knowledge that he had to kill Voldemort became easier to bear with each atrocity he and his Death Eaters committed.
Hermione quickly got used to Minako's chattering, and while the woman was not the typical person she would choose to hang out with, she was kind and very helpful when it came to shopping. Usagi was less talkative, but equally helpful and together the two of them managed to distract her for most of the day. They chatted absently about their friends, and the times when they had attended Hogwarts. This bit of information surprised Hermione, but it made their only mildly accented English make more sense. They had obviously spent a good deal of time speaking it in their lives, if they had gone to Hogwarts.
The first stop on the shopping trip was a little clothing boutique a couple of blocks from Usagi's apartment. At first glance, it seemed entirely Muggle, completely lacking in anything resembling robes. Mini skirts and jeans were displayed in the window, and aside from a small corner dedicated to traditional Japanese clothing, everything seemed...European. However, the owner of the boutique, a friend of Usagi's named Setsuna Meioh, was definitely a witch.
After being introduced to the pretty, older woman, Hermione was ushered into a back room where her measurements were taken magically. While Setsuna paced about draping fabrics and muttering to herself, Minako and Usagi went in search of kimonos. Once measured, Setsuna sat her down at a table and started making sketches. Hermione did not know a lot about what was "fashionable" in the wizarding world, but she made a few quiet comments on things she liked and didn't like, and Setsuna made the adjustments without any negative comment. By the time Minako and Usagi returned with kimonos for Hermione to try on, Setsuna had finished with the sketches and was using her wand to cut fabrics.
It took about an hour for Setsuna to construct two sets of beautiful, European-style robes, and in the mean time, Hermione chose three kimonos of varying colors and patterns, and a number of articles of muggle clothing. Usagi insisted that they would go shopping again next weekend, but Hermione had enough clothing to tide her over until then. Usagi paid for the clothing, and then they headed for their next stop—the bookstore.
It did not look like a bookstore in the front. A short man sat at a desk, shuffling papers and appearing as though he were pretending to work. To one side of him was an elevator and the other side had a door. Usagi spoke briefly to the man in Japanese, and then the three women got into the elevator. When they got off, Hermione's eyes brightened. They were in a branch of Flourish and Blotts.
"I've got your Hogwarts letter in here somewhere..." Usagi fished around in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled envelope. "And, since you're to start training with us at Dumbledore's request, there are a couple of other books for you to read in the next few days." She gave Hermione the envelope and another scrap of paper with three titles. "Feel free to pick out some things for yourself as well. The girls will be at school most of the time, so you'll either be with me or alone. Well, probably not ever alone, but you don't want to spend all your time listening to me gossip."
Usagi made a "shooing" motion at her, and she gladly slipped into the stacks. She found the books on the lists and spent nearly two hours browsing. Aside from all the required work, she picked up four books for herself—three non-fiction books and one fluffy bit of fiction from a favorite childhood author. When she finally met up with Usagi and Minako near the checkout counter, the blondes rolled their eyes at her large pile of books but made no verbal complaint.
"All right, lunch time," Usagi declared with a grin, glancing at her watch.
They ate out at a small, muggle café, seated outdoors and watching the busy world that was Tokyo rush by. Hermione poked at her food, ate enough not to be yelled at, and listened as Usagi and Minako chatted away about a friend of theirs whose husband was apparently an idiot. She couldn't help but smile at a few of the antics mentioned, but most of the time she sat with a blank expression on her face.
Usagi couldn't help but notice, and tried gently to include Hermione in the conversation. However, she whole-heartedly believed that the best thing for the girl at the moment was activity, and so ate quickly and tried not to distract Minako too much from the food. Once the meal was over, she ushered Hermione up from the table, and the group continued the shopping trip.
By mid-afternoon, they had replaced most of what Hermione would need for school—parchment and quills, a cauldron and various other knick-knacks. Everything was shrunk down to fit inside a couple of plastic shopping bags that Usagi carried. By the time they finished shopping and left Minako at the door to her ridiculously large mansion, Hermione felt ready to fall over and sleep right there on the sidewalk. By some miracle, they made it back to Usagi's apartment, but Hermione wanted nothing more than to curl up in a bed and sleep for days.
"I'm so tired..." she mumbled as they walked in the door. Usagi chuckled.
"Well, it is early morning in England. The easiest way to deal with the time change is to stay awake as long as you can. I'll go make you some coffee, and we'll see if we can keep you up until about seven. Then you can go to bed and sleep as late as you want tomorrow."
Usagi led her to the kitchen and sat her down in a chair. As she puttered around making coffee, Hermione fought the urge to pillow her head on her arms on the table and fall asleep. Somehow she managed to stay awake long enough for Usagi to make the coffee. She normally wasn't that fond of coffee, but it was warm and she felt mildly better. She knew she would crash in a couple of hours and there would be no helping her, but it would do for now. Her thoughts, jumbled though they were, were interrupted by the front door opening and an excited female voice shouting something in Japanese.
They did not look like twins in the way Fred and George looked like twins. They had a few similar characteristics, but being short and slender could just be a coincidence. However, something about the way they acted just screamed "sisters!" The pink-haired girl was talking excitedly in Japanese to her mother, completely oblivious to the world, while the dark-haired girl stood beside her and threw in the occasional comment, usually making Usagi laugh and the pink-haired girl blush.
"Oi girls, English from now on. You need to practice if you're going to understand lessons at Hogwarts," Usagi said, smiling brightly. The two girls stopped talking and turned to look at Hermione. The pink-haired one teetered for a moment, a look of indecision on her face before she threw her arms around Hermione.
"Imouto-chan!" she squealed. The dark-haired girl smiled prettily, putting a delicate hand up to her face.
"That's not English," she said, her voice soft. "My name is Hotaru, and she is Chibi-Usa."
Chibi-Usa finally let go of Hermione, and the brunette gave thanks for being able to breathe again. "I've always wanted a real younger sister. Hotaru hardly counts, after all."
"All right, girls. Now that you've all met, you'd best leave Hermione alone. She's had a long day, and doesn't need you pestering her. Why don't you go find Helios or something? Hermione and I have things we need to discuss," Usagi said, ushering the girls out of the kitchen. When they were gone, she turned and sat down at the table across from Hermione.
"She's very..." Hermione struggled for a proper descriptor.
"Affectionate and energetic. She's very much like I was at her age. Hotaru is much more a mixture of her father and me. Anyway, I've been trying to take your mind off things all day, but we can't run from it forever. For tonight, I'm just going to tell you about myself, but tomorrow I want to hear some of your feelings. Once you talk it through, it starts to work its way out of your system, and I'm sure you didn't talk it out with Severus. Really, I don't understand what Albus was thinking, leaving you in the dreary old house with Severus. Hardly the place for a girl in your situation."
"Professor Snape was...reasonable," Hermione mumbled. She sipped her coffee, and the two sat in silence for a moment.
"He's a good man, but he's very much socially inept. He should have let you stay with the Weasley family. Molly knows how to take care of people. Anyway, we were going to talk about what happened to me. I'm technically a Pureblood, but my parents died when I was a baby, and I was raised by Muggles. Needless to say, I very much supported Muggles, and the Dark Lord very much disliked me for it. My line is old and powerful, and it irked him to know that I would never support him or his ideals. I went to Hogwarts, and was in Gryffindor and I lived a relatively carefree life. That year, I had turned sixteen early in the summer, and I had my debut on Halloween..." She started to go on, but Hermione interrupted her.
"Sorry, I don't really know about this debut stuff...some of the girls in my year mentioned it a few times, but..."
"Of course, it's usually a Pureblood thing. I keep forgetting. A debut is a ball held for a girl sometime usually shortly after her sixteenth birthday, signifying a transition into womanhood. Traditionally, at her debut a girl would meet all the eligible men, and shortly after she would become engaged to whomever she or her parents deemed most worthy. It's changed over the past decade, and now girls generally use it to begin exploring their sexuality. I thank the gods I caved to that bit of peer pressure, because the next night the Death Eaters attacked my Muggle home. We had a bit of a break from school, and in those days, we could return home on some choice weekends. I suppose it happened in a way similar to what you experienced, though my Muggle parents had a son I considered a brother. I didn't see what happened to my parents, but he tried to protect me. He was fourteen..." Usagi stopped for a moment and wiped a tear from her eye. "Thankfully they didn't want to 'waste their energy' torturing him. Anyway, I could hear my parents screaming as two of the Death Eaters dragged me into my bedroom. One of them was a woman, and she kept urging the other to hurry up. He took his mask off..."
"Lucius Malfoy," Hermione hissed. Usagi nodded.
"He...he was furious that I wasn't a virgin, and called me horrible names. I think they would have killed me, but a friend of mine showed up at the house. She was also a pureblood, and they would not risk hurting her. Malfoy was trying to convince her to marry him at the time, and didn't want to risk the benefits he would reap by marrying her. Anyway, she found me in my room, and the next day we moved to Japan, along with a few other friends from Hogwarts. I enrolled in Ohtori Academy, where my girls go now, and about a month later, I learned that I was pregnant."
"That must have been terrible," Hermione said. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks, though she didn't want to admit it. Everything was so similar to her own experience, which she had pushed as far back in her mind as she could over the past week. She would have hated anyone else for bringing up the memories, but Usagi understood what she was going through. Usagi was crying as well, silently.
"Come here, child," she said, wiping at her eyes. Hermione got up obediently and let herself be curled up on Usagi's lap, comforting arms wrapped tightly around her. It was a little awkward, as she was a good four inches taller than Usagi, but it felt good to be held. "It's alright to cry," Usagi whispered as Hermione sobbed into her shoulder.
They stayed that way for almost an hour. Hermione's sobbing would ebb for a while, but some random thought would bring on a fresh bout of tears. Usagi held her and petted her hair, whispering comforting words and occasionally weeping herself. Eventually, Hermione ran out of tears to cry and fell asleep in Usagi's arms.
I felt compelled to finish this chapter before I left for vacation. Therefor, if there are any spelling/grammar errors, I'm sorry. I always run spell check, but it doesn't catch everything, and I haven't gone over this as thoroughly as I normally do.
I was pleasantly surprised by the response to this story. While many of you fail at constructive criticism, it is still always nice to know a story is appreciated. For examples of good reviews, please read what samisweet and TheMello said in their reviews. TheMello didn't really criticize anything, but went in depth and showed that she actually read the story. I'm going to reply to most reviews, assuming enough was left for me to reply to.
Chibi Pyro Duo-I'm glad you find the plot unique. There are a lot of little clichés, but overall I try to keep it original. Hermione was attacked about ten days prior to the start of the story. She's just trying to be brave like a good Gryffindor, and if I were her and stuck at Snape's house, I wouldn't cry. I'd be too scared. Anyway, she's going to work through everything, and everyone reacts differently, so hopefully it won't be too OOC.
TheMello-Fantastic review. Cookie for you. Anyway, most of your questions will be answered in the next few chapters. Most of the story will be learned through either Hermione or Harry (mostly Hermione, but you just can't get away from that damned Boy-Who-Lived), but other characters including Draco will get some spotlight.
samisweet-Conducive is a word. I promise. As for other spelling and grammar, I'll go back and check again. I always use spell check, so any problems are just typos that I missed. I'm sorry you didn't find it more interesting.
Mayla-Hermione wasn't raped by Draco...and anyway, she isn't getting pregnant. She made it to the infirmary almost immediately. As for Ocs, I'll keep you in mind, though I don't have anything planned yet.
angelwings6117-Your questions will be answered in the next few chapters. I'm glad you think I'm keeping people in character—it's always something I strive to do correctly.
Everyone else, thank you for your reviews. I would prefer more depth, but I'm not going to complain.
I'm going on vacation, so don't expect anything before the 4th of July. I won't have access to a computer during that time.