A poor creature
Hermione for once felt blessed in House Black. Ron was supposed to come a week after. A week later, on a Monday morning, she found Snape sitting in the kitchen. Sirius was there, too, and Hermione knew that was a dangerous combination.
"Severus, is here for Harry." Sirius answered her unasked question, "They're going to work on his potions skills."
"Good morning, professor." she said quietly.
"Miss Lestrange, you probably want to comb your hair a bit." offered her professor, "Unless you wish to be attacked by Alastor Moody."
Hermione took her hand mirror out of her pocket to take a look at herself. Her messy hair had made her strikingly similar to her mother to the point she was convinced that she was looking at her in the mirror. She attempted to fix her hair but it stubbornly refused to comply.
"Leave it be, Hermione. I'll ask Lucinda to fix it for you." said Sirius.
"I look like Bellatrix Lestrange!" Hermione complained.
"Like always, you have an uncanny talent for stating the obvious." said Snape contemptuously.
"Unfortunately, I'm not as talented as you at being contemptuous and sarcastic." She answered bitterly as she refused to look at him.
Both men looked at her cautiously.
"What?" she snapped.
Both men flinched.
"Are you sure you can't fix her hair yourself?" Snape asked Sirius.
"I don't think it has anything to do with her hair." he responded.
"Would you two care to explain?" she said and raised her left eyebrow as she had done a thousand times before.
They both cringed.
"Okay, please stop cringing and talk!"
She snapped her wand angrily to summon a cup.
They both were horrified by her facial expression. Sirius glanced to Snape hoping he would go first. He simply sat speechless.
"I don't know how to put it, Hermione, but you just pulled a Bellatrix. Actually you're still doing it." Sirius explained unwillingly.
"It's needless to say that we're greatly disturbed by that." Snape continued, "It seems that you and your mother have more things in common."
"I might share a lot of things with my mother." Hermione said, "But I don't share her ideas or beliefs."
"We know." they responded simultaneously. Hermione stood up and moved to the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Sirius.
"To the loo." she replied shortly. She hadn't walked ten feet before she saw a figure. In that dark hallway. Hermione could barely see who was standing there. The figure hesitated and Drew his wand, realised who she was and put it back in his pocket. The shadow walked forward and Hermione saw that it was Harry.
"Sorry 'Mione." He kissed her lips gently. "I didn't realise it was you."
"Don't worry, Harry." she smiled at her boyfriend. At least he was apologising.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I need to fix my hair. Otherwise I might get attacked for real." she smiled as she kissed him again.
Harry shivered a bit, "What's wrong Harry?" she asked softly.
"Nothing, I'm just a bit cold." he answered unconvincingly.
Hermione looked into Harry's eyes. She let their minds connect and there she could see the answer. She kissed him for the third time, "Go have breakfast Harry. I'll be back soon."
Harry had been afraid not revolted. She had initially thought that darkness had increased her resemblance with Bellatrix and made him feel like back then in the Department of Mysteries. That wasn't the case. Hermione had discovered another similarity between her mother and herself. They had the same voice.
She stood in front of the mirror for fifteen minutes until she was satisfied with her hair. It was an odd mixture of blonde and black. There was no color in between. With a swift movement of her wand she cut the blonde part away. Now it was all black. She looked into her eyes. They too were becoming darker. She tried to mimic Bellatrix. They weren't joking. She was indeed very similar to the infamous Death Eater. Hermione's shorter hair helped diminish their similarity, but it was still there .
She opened the door to leave but had to stop as she saw Alastor Moody fidget slightly.
"Relax, professor." she said.
"Oh it's you, Lestrange. I mean ..." he said distractedly.
"Yes. My mom couldn't make it, I'm afraid." she said jokingly.
"Not funny, Lestrange, not funny at all." he said, "May I?"
Hermione moved aside and passed by the disturbed ex-auror. She entered the kitchen with a smile. She saw Kreacher in front of her and her smile faltered.
"You're on my way." she said coldly to the house elf. She couldn't fathom why Sirius would still keep him around. The elf whimpered and moved away swiftly. He stood aside looking at her with respect.
"I'm not my mother, Kreacher." Hermione growled.
"Kreacher knows, Mistress. Kreacher serves the noble members of House Black." he said fearfully.
Her cold tone drew some people's attention. Harry was looking at her with concern and Sirius and Severus were gaping.
"Close your mouths, gentleman." said Hermione annoyedly.
"Hermione what happened to being kind toward the house-elves?" asked Sirius, "Didn't you have an organisation called SPEW?"
"He nearly got us killed! I don't think I'll be kind toward an elf who wanted my boyfriend killed!" Hermione retorted passionately.
Kreacher cowered behind her. He reached for something sharp and almost hit himself in the heart before Sirius stopped him.
He jumped toward Kreacher and snatched the knife. Kreacher tried to get it back.
"I order you to live," he said in desperation. Kreacher froze. A drop of tear fell on the ground.
"Kreacher, I'm sorry." said Hermione immediately, realising who terrible she had been. "I didn't mean for you to do that." Her eyes were terrified. She had not known how dangerous her words had been.
Kreacher didn't look at her. He was occupied by looking at Sirius.
"Master," he said hoarsely. "I need to show you something."
He walked to his den. He spent a few seconds out of sight and then came back with a locket.
"What's that Kreacher?" Sirius asked cautiously.
"Merlin!" Sweared Snape. "That's Salazar Slytherin's locket!"
"Didn't we throw that out last summer?" Harry asked innocently.
"You did what, Potter?" asked Snape incredulously.
"Harry is right. I remember putting it in the garbage bag. How is it here?" Sirius asked Kreacher.
"Master Regulus gave it to me." Kreacher moaned.
Kreacher told Sirius everything as they all listened in silence. Sirius gasped as he realised his brother had died a hero.
"My brother was an idiot." Said Sirius. "Why didn't he come to me?" He sobbed, "Poor Regulus."
"I think I know what that thing is." said Snape. "We must call Dumbledore. He will know how to destroy it. He destroyed the last one."
"Please!" Kreacher begged. "You must destroy it. Master Regulus asked Kreacher to do it, but Kreacher couldn't."
"Of course, you couldn't," said Snape, as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.
Snape informed Dumbledore through a piece of paper. Dumbledore arrived in less than five minutes.
"I had to halt my meeting with Rufus. What is it that's so important, Severus?"
Snape pointed to the locket that was innocently lying on the desk. Dumbledore looked at it suspiciously and cast a spell. The results didn't make him happy.
"Sirius, I want you to ask everyone to leave this place. Only people who are here now are allowed to stay." Dumbledore instructed Sirius. He was shaking with anger, "I didn't expect one of these today."
Sirius hurried out as Dumbledore and Snape began inspecting the locket.
"Let's take this to the tapestry room. It's the heart of Orion's protective spells." said Dumbledore as he put the locked in a pan. "Don't touch it."
Dumbledore moved slowly as everyone else followed. Sirius woke up other members and forced everyone to leave the house.
"Why did we force everyone leave?" asked Sirius when he joined them eventually.
"Because what we're about to do is beyond dangerous." Dumbledore explained.
"Where is Lucinda, Sirius?"
"Not here." Sirius reminded Dumbledore, "She is not coming back until tomorrow, remember?"
"I wish she was here." said Dumbledore, "I wish I'd come prepared. We need something strong. Something like Basilisk venom that is destructive enough to destroy it. It cannot be damaged by normal means."
"I could go to school." offered Snape.
"I'm afraid Rufus is still in my office, Severus. There is no way you could take the spare without having him noticed."
"Can't this wait?" asked Sirius.
"Absolutely not!" Dumbledore cried, "What lies inside this locked is so evil that it has to immediately destroyed before something happens."
"Professor, is this like Tom Riddle's diary?" Harry asked observing the locket carefully.
"Yes, Harry." said Dumbledore.
"So it's a horcrux then." said Hermione plainly.
Dumbledore and Snape froze, "Where did you learn that word, Hermione?" Asked Dumbledore calmly.
"Voldemort gave me some books." Hermione explained, "One of them contained detailed information about a foul form of magic called Horcrux. It's about binding a piece of your damaged soul to an object or animal in order to avoid passing to the other world. To make it you have to sacrifice your humanity, you need to-" Hermione said.
"I think that's enough explanation, dear. Hermione, did you read all of that book?" Dumbledore asked seriously.
"Yes sir." she said ashamed of herself, "It was interesting. Morbid but interesting."
"What do you think about this magic?" he asked slowly.
"It's stupid." Hermione responded, "There is no point to maim your immortal soul in order to escape death. I really don't see the point."
"Impressively answered my dear." said Dumbledore kindly, and smiled at her.
"Sir, I think I can destroy it." she said quietly, "However, I need you all to stay away."
Initiatially, Dumbledore hesitated to accept, but then he asked everyone to stand at least six metres away.
Hermione pointed her wand at the locked and a small flame jumped out. It playfully circled the Horcrux and then struck it. The flames burned into the locket. It started to scream and dissipated into dust. Hermione called the flame off, leaving the pan empty.
Dumbledore was looking at her in awe. Others were just confused.
"I thought that we had to damage it irreversibly." said Sirius, "I'd have done with it in the kitchen if I knew Bluebell could destroy it."
Kreacher seemed disappointed. He had tried much stronger things.
"Miss Lestrange, all you had to do was tell us that it's vulnerable to a certain kind of fire. What was the point of staying away?" said Snape.
"That wasn't Bluebell, Severus." said Dumbledore with a shaky voice. "That was Fiendfyre."
"No way!" Laughed Sirius, "The pan would have melted even if she could control it.
"I'm afraid you're too young to remember the wizard who could use Fiendfyre the same way." Dumbledore said, not moving his gaze from a very shy Hermione, "I think those who have fought Grindelwald would remember his blue Fiendfyre clearly. He was the only one who had such a strong fire affinity that he could make Fiendfyre harmless to his followers but deadly to the enemy. We never found the bodies of many who dared to challenge him."
He walked cautiously toward Hermione. "Hermione, is it safe to approach you?"
"Of course, the fire is gone. It was much easier than the first time." Hermione smiled.
Dumbledore relaxed. He walked over to her and hugged Hermione.
"You're truly good, my dear."
He let her go.
"Um… was that fire … when we were first years… Did you set Snape on fire like this?" asked Harry curiously. Snape became even paler than usual.
"No, Harry! Of course not!" said Hermione indignantly.
"Just asking."
He smirked at Snape's incredulous expression.
"Merlin! You do have Lily's morbid sense of humor." said Snape.
"Alright, let's get everyone back. I'll send Fowks to the crowd as soon as I return to school." he said, he faced Harry. "I think I'll need to do some explaining, Harry. Unfortunately, it will have to be done later on when you're back at Hogwarts."
He left the room. Nobody noticed Sirius Black's odd expression as he kept looking at the tapestry until Dumbledore had left.
"Sirius, are you okay?" asked Harry.
"I'm okay. The family tree is not." he tried to get as close as he could.
"That just makes no sense."
He looked at it in wonder.
Hermione and Harry looked at the tapestry and instantly understood what was wrong. Hermione's ties with Lucius Malfoy had almost faded and now a new name had appeared next to Bellatrix Lestrange and Rodolphus Lestrange.
"Tom Riddle? Who is that?" he asked. Snape looked sharply at him upon hearing that name.
"That's Dark Lord's real name." he said, "Where is it?"
"The tapestry says-" Sirius looked at Hermione who was looking at her toes. "-that he's your father."
Snape looked at Hermione incredulously.
"Bloody dragon dung!" He looked at her in fear, "I didn't see that coming."
It was funny to see them react to all this like idiots. Harry couldn't stop his laughter.
"Harry are you, okay?" Sirius asked, thinking his godson's mind might have finally snapped.
"Sorry, I knew about it beforehand and your expressions were so funny." Harry put his hand on his stomach.
"You knew your girlfriend was Dark Lord's only daughter?" Snape asked. He couldn't believe his ears as Sirius couldn't believe his eyes.
"I found out the night we were lured to the Department of Mysteries. He behaved oddly, so I started asking questions from professor Dumbledore. It became clear to me that Hermione was his daughter and Dumbledore confirmed my suspicions."
"I'm pretty sure there is more to your story." said Sirius.
"There is. However, this is as much as I can disclose. Feel free to ask Dumbledore though." Harry responded.
"Are you okay with this, Hermione?" Sirius asked sadly.
"I'm not happy about it. I've simply accepted the fact that my biological father happens to be a psychopath who enjoys murdering and torturing people." she answered.
"Hold on a minute." he looked at her. "Now I see why he wanted to teach you some things himself. He wants to make sure that you make it through."
"Yes, and he's a -pardon me for phrasing it that way- arsehole." Hermione said.
Sirius laughed madly as Severus looked at his feet.
"Miss Riddle, I think you're the only one here who could say that and not worry about any consequences." said Snape quietly.
"If I hear that last name used for me again, I might consider using you-know-what instead of Bluebell next time." she said dangerously. Snape couldn't determine whether she was joking or not.
"As you wish my lady." He bowed with a smirk.
Hermione burned down a few things before people came back. The tapestry was the first. Then, she got rid of Kreacher's antics. She spared her mother's photo as Kreacher begged her to let it be. The same happened to Walburga Black's portrait as Kreacher transferred both pictures to the attic where Sirius didn't even know existed.
In the attic they didn't find much. It was rather spacious and dark.
"Maybe I could store some other stuff here as well." said Sirius.
"I think your parents didn't know anything about the attic either." said Hermione.
"I doubt it. Look there."
Sirius pointed his wand at the wall. His wands soft light illuminated a portrait of a man on the wall. He was tall and very similar to Sirius. In Hermione's opinion he was slightly more handsome than Sirius. His eyes were green like Harry's.
"Who's he?" asked Hermione curiously.
"Good morning." said the portrait.
"Uh good morning." said Hermione.
"Hello, father." said Sirius cooly.
"My son has found my little secret at last." Orion Black smiled pleasantly.
"Mother had me removed from the family tree." said Sirius, refusing to show any emotion. His impassive face made Hermione disturbed.
"Your mother?" said the portrait, "No, Sirius. Your mother wouldn't ever do that despite her displeasure with you as a son. I removed your name."
Sirius seemed shocked by this revelation.
"You did?" asked Sirius
"Shortly before I passed away. You left our house. You didn't wish to be Black anymore, in order to respect your decision I personally removed you from our tapestry."
Hermione was shocked by how calm the portrait was. In a striking contrast with Walburga, Orion was a very calm and calculating man. His eyes radiated a certain mischief that Hermione had seen on Sirius's eyes as well, but his smile was undoubtedly more cunning and deceptive. Hermione always assumed that Lord Black had been a nasty piece of work, yet he was very charming and dangerously sensible.
"Carefull, Hermione. He's had led many in our family to Voldemort's path. Don't get cosy with him." said Sirius.
"Hermione? Surely your mother didn't pick that up for you, did she?" said Orion.
"She did! Professor Dumbledore told me himself." said Hermione pleased to prove the portrait wrong.
The man laughed softly.
"Pardon me. I did not intend to imply that your name was bad. In fact I like it very much. However, Bellatrix was not a fan of reading so I doubt she has ever touched a book about mythology or plays of Shakespeare."
While Hermione was surprised that the portrait had figured out who her mother was, Hermione could not contain her joy. She had yet to see one single wizard who had read or heard about Shakespeare.
"You've read Shakespeare?"
"I have."
"It's really odd that your favorite authors was a muggle, father," said Sirius, "Don't tell me you're a secret muggle lover like Arthur Weasley."
Orion smiled mysteriously.
"A muggle lover? Oh no, by all means. I happen to enjoy his works that's all. I've never condemned muggles' brain and power of analogy. I simply despise them for one thing only. They bring non-magical being into the world whose incapabilities generates hatred towards us who are obviously superior. Instead of seeking our guidance they have tried to get rid of us for centuries. Why should I like such a despicable species as a whole. I, of course, like more enlightened Muggles like Shakespeare, Voltaire and Newton.
"Who are they?" asked Sirius suspiciously.
"Of course you wouldn't know them my son. Despite your senseless love for muggles you're quite ignorant of them." said Orion contemptuously.
"Forgive me for saying this Lord Black," said Hermione, "I think you're even worse than Voldemort. He's at least ignorant of what muggles could achieve. I can understand his views, but I fail to understand you. You do know that muggles can be smarter than us, yet you see them as worthless. Again, forgive me, but I think you're a hypocrite."
Sirius smiled proudly.
"That's my girl!"
Hermione tried to keep her cool and didn't smile.
"Your premise, I'm afraid, is a false premise." said Orion softly, "You see, Lord Voldemort was not always Lord Voldemort. First time we met and he was merely 11, he introduced himself as Tom Riddle. I had my employee sell him a very nice, heavily underpriced cauldron. I took pity on this little muggle-born boy. Yes Mr. Riddle is a product of muggles and yet he detests muggles. Do you still think I am the worse muggle hater?"
"Why?" said Hermione.
"Why what, Hermione dear?" asked Orion patiently.
"Why would you join such a man? Why would you encourage your family to do so?" she asked shakily.
Orion stared at her for a whole minute and then he answered, "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. To gain those things one sometimes has to pay a heavy price."
With that the portrait fell asleep and left them to their thoughts.
Kreacher had been revolutionised by Padfoot's attempt to save his life and the fact that he had finally destroyed the locket once and for all.
The quality of food increased dramatically and the house itself seemed to be in a better condition.
Ron came the day after. He explained that he had been with his brother Charlie the whole time.
"They didn't tell me before we arrived home." he said. "Sorry for not sending letters. Pig got really sick. We were supposed to come back two days ago, but Charlie had an emergency dragon situation and my portkey left without me."
"We were getting worried, Ron," said Hermione, "Harry thought something terrible had happened and they weren't telling us."
"Something had happened." Ron whispered, "I actually wasn't supposed to go to Charlie. They probably didn't tell you, but Ginny was sent to Aunt Muriel, Fred and George spent the summer in their shop, mum and dad didn't stay too. They visited Bill."
"Why?" asked Harry.
"Well the thing is… The Burrow… It was no longer safe to stay there, because the wards just collapsed. A week before we left school they started to malfunction and then by the time I arrived they totally failed."
"But how?" said Hermione perplexedly, "I've read a bit about warding. Wards don't fail like that, they weaken over time but nothing like you describe unless... unless someone messed with them."
"That's why everyone freaked out. Bill is a ward master. Mom and dad brought him 10 days ago. He has been working on it and managed to restore most of them. He said that someone planted a hex into our farm. I mean a legit hex bag with runes. It apparently made the wards go crazy."
"Were they planning an attack?" Hermione wondered.
"I don't think so." he disagreed with the idea, "It wasn't subtle enough, and it attracted too much attention. I think whoever planted that blasted hex must've wanted us out."
"Did they take anything?" asked Harry.
"No," said Ron, "I don't think they wanted anything from our house. They just wanted us away. Possibly out of the country. Maybe they were planning to do something in the Ministry or…"
"They didn't want your family out." said Hermione. "They wanted to see if they would go out."
"What?" Asked Ron.
"They are planning an attack, but they must want it to be a real success so they wanted to see if you had anything else to protect yourselves or not. When you left they realised that you are solely relying on magical wards so next time they break in all they need to account for are wards." she explained.
"Hermione, why don't you like chess? You'd make a brilliant chess player." asked Ron, smiling to her brightly, "All we need to do then is to add a new protection measure."
"This is no joke, Ronald. They're probably planning to kill you all." Hermione warned him, "Don't try anything stupid."
She scratched with her hair a bit as she looked at her friend worriedly. Seeing that Ron asked a question he had wanted to ask the moment he had seen her.
"What happened to your hair? It's plain black and very short now." he asked.
"It was getting weird and I don't like having blonde hair." she explained. "It's much better this way. I might keep it short, since Harry likes it."
"It looks well on you." said Harry.
In that moment Sirius came into the room with some letters.
"You've got mail." he said cheerfully, "Usually, they don't arrive this early."
"You seem cheerful today." Ron commented.
"Ah yeah, well Lucinda made me very happy this morning." he smirked.
"Ew Sirius, we didn't need to know." Hermione complained.
"Know what?" asked Ron with a confused gaze.
"Oh nothing, Ron," said Harry anxiously, "Let's just open our letters."
Harry was happy that he had two 'Outstandings' in Defense and Potions. Charms had been better than he'd expected with an 'E'.
"It seems that I won't have to bother with History of Magic or Divination." he announced happily.
"How did you do, Hermione?" asked Sirius curiously.
"All Outstandings." she said proudly. "Sirius, what is BPP here?" She showed her results to Sirius.
"It stands for Best Practical Performance." He answered as he inspected her results, "You've got eleven OWL. How did you manage to get 'Outstanding' in all of them?"
"Percy had twelve, but he had E and A mostly. I think he had a couple of Os too. Although he studied madly during his OWL year, he wasn't very successful in the practical department. That's why they gave him a desk job." said Ron, "You're gonna have to choose between offers."
"Private sector is a much better choice for you, Hermione," said Sirius. "Especially now that you're coming from a rich family like Blacks. You should get your mastery and make your own business."
"Sirius, what is it that you do?" Harry asked curiously.
"I invest. People need money for their project so I buy a third of the rights and give them the money. It's the normal procedure for wealthy families. Of course we do have our own personal projects, too. I've not considered working on one as we're currently helping Dumbledore in war." He explained. "Harry's good at that sort of thing so you don't have to worry about money ever. He's already started with Weasley twins. I hear they transferred two thousand Galleons to his deposit last month."
"What? Hold on. They're paying me? I didn't lend it, I gifted it." protested Harry indignantly.
"Harry, I think you weren't clear enough. You told them that you're investing. That makes them your business partners. You didn't donate the money, therefore they had to pay you a third of the income plus the interest." Sirius explained.
"The interest?" Ron asked.
"Yes I think because it took them a year to make any profit so your payments were delayed. In such occasions Gringotts asks a fair percentage of interest to be paid." said Sirius.
"That's not fair." wailed Hermione.
"No, it's not. Harry can give them their interest back as a donation." said Sirius.
"Couldn't we just donate them a thousand Galleons." Harry asked innocently.
"I'm afraid not. You're not allowed to do that based on the banking regulations unless your asking for a favour."
"What favour." Harry asked suspiciously.
"To do something. Anything really. Goblins don't care how illegal it is as long as you get richer or get something you need. Banking thrives on corruption, Harry. That and the money of wealthy families." he said bitterly.
"You said I didn't need to worry about money. I didn't know wizarding world has something against women working." said Hermione.
"We don't hate anything more than a lazy witch or wizard. Being productive is different than being an employee. Narcissa for example doesn't work in any particular organisation, but her projects make more money than Lucius could ever dream of making."
Sirius left when he heard Lucinda call him.
"Hermione, have you had a look at this years book lists?" Ron asked. "This is weird, there is no book reference for Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Harry took a look at the list and realised he was right.
"You are right. Also there's a book required for Alchemy. I didn't know they covered alchemy in sixth year." he said as he read his list again, "This is odd. It says if we've got O for our Potions, participating in the course is mandatory."
"Who's going to teach it?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know, maybe Dumbledore." Ron responded with a smile, "I don't have potions next year so I don't really care."
A knock on the door frame got their attention.
"Harry, we have a guest who wants to see you." said Lucinda Malfoy.
Harry followed her to the kitchen to see an old man next to Albus Dumbledore who was smiling cheerfully.
"Be polite!" whispered Lucinda in his mind.
"Hello, Harry. Horace, this is young Harry. Our new potion prodigy." Dumbledore introduced Harry proudly, "Harry, this is professor Slughorn. He is going to teach you potions this year."
"Now, Dumbledore … I haven't accepted yet." he warned Dumbledore as he gave Harry a kind smile.
"Oh Horace, I wish you spoke with Harry just a bit before deciding. Lucinda, did you get what you know from Professor Slughorn?" He asked Lucinda cryptically.
"Of course. It's in the attic." she answered.
"Let's go see it then. Sorry for leaving you two alone. We'll be back soon." He and Lucinda left immediately.
Slughorn sighed as Dumbledore left
"Look, my boy, I know Dumbledore's tricks. He's brought me here so you could convince me to go back, I tell you." said Slughorn.
"I've no intention of doing that, sir." Harry said as he sat, "Not that I would mind having you as our Potions instructor."
"I know you wouldn't. You're Lily's son, after all. I knew your parents very well, I have to say." Slughorn couldn't stop himself as he continued, "James was never good at Potions, but Lily was brilliant, an absolute genius!"
"Professor Snape once told me that my mum was good at it." Harry confirmed.
"He did, didn't he?" Slughorn smiled as he was remembering past, "Lily and Severus were best friends until… Well that's a story for him to tell, I guess."
Harry knew exactly what he was talking about. Severus Snape had destroyed his future with Lily Evans by calling her a mudblood.
"I didn't know that they were so close." Harry lied quickly.
"She would've made Slytherin if our house was a bit more tolerant of muggle-borns." He sighed, "You remind me of her. She was calm and calculating, always a step ahead of others, reading between the lines. She was very clever and charming yet she wasn't well connected. She was often ignored, made me very sad back then."
"I have a friend who used to be known as the know-it-all muggle-born."
"She's not anymore?" The old man asked with concern, "What happened to her?"
"She went through physical change. Professor Snape suspected the nature of it so he assigned us with a potion called-"
"-the Heritage Tree Potion? I know that one very well. A tricky brewing, isn't it, Harry? A very interesting potion, it is." Slughorn interjected.
"Yes, we made it last year." Harry smiled.
"I'm sorry for cutting you off." Slughorn said apologetically, "But did yours actually work?"
"Don't worry about it, sir." Harry said kindly and sincerely. "Mine did. There wasn't much to discover on maternal side. I got a very asymmetrical tree and it barely last a week. Anyway, Hermione used it too and it turned out that she was in fact the daughter of Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange."
"Ah I'm so sorry. Difficult, it must have been." said Slughorn.
Harry wondered if he was talking about his heritage tree or Hermione's unfortunate parentage.
"Tell me, did you two break up?"
"Oh, no, that's not what happened. We are together now as boyfriend and girlfriend." Harry explained.
Slughorn seemed so surprised and joyful, "May I see her? Is she here?"
"Of course, sir. Please wait a minute."
Harry left the kitchen and a few minutes later he came back with Hermione.
"Harry, is he here?" Slughorn heard her before he could see her and her voice made his hair on his hands stand up. This was a voice he would never forget.
As she entered the room Slughorn jumped up a bit. Even though he had expected her to be similar to her mother he hadn't expected this. She was very much like her mother and nothing like her father. She was different in some ways but if you looked really closely. She had shortened her hair, perhaps to be distinguishable from her mother.
"It's an honor to see you, professor." she said politely with a warm smile.
"You must be, Miss Lestrange." he said as he smiled a bit agitatedly.
"This is Hermione, sir." Harry introduced her. "My girlfriend."
Slughorn spent some time to speak to Hermione. He was charmed by her charisma. He too was very good at grabbing people's attention. Hermione however had an amazing passion, this wonderful force behind her eyes that made everyone admire her.
He was in a deep conversation with her when Dumbledore and Lucinda came back.
"Horace, thank you for coming here and helping me to bring that thing here." Headmaster said without clarifying what that thing constituted.
"Handling it is not for amateurs, Dumbledore. Don't involve people who haven't got the faintest idea what it is." Slughorn warned him.
"Of course, old friend. Severus and Lucinda will be here for help." Dumbledore assured the retired professor.
Slughorn looked at Dumbledore thoughtfully. He finally stood up and cleared his throat.
"I want double of what I used to get," He said.
"Of course," Dumbledore agreed immediately.
"And a bigger office." Slughorn demanded.
"Yes I know." Headmaster agreed.
"It will be an interesting year." said the old man before saying goodbye to his new soon-to-be members of Slug club.
A/N: I know you have been waiting for quite some time. Here's the new chapter. Enjoy!
I would love to know what you think about Orion Black.
