The story of the Dark Lord's daughter.
Hello everyone, this is the reworked/ edited version of the story that was called: 'Hermione, the dark lords daughter.'
As stated in the last chapter posted of that story, this will become the new version and only version of the story to be updated.
With help from my amazing new beta: Ydanae, this story has now been completely edited and is being rewritten chapter by chapter,
to hopefully make it the best it can be.
I own nothing, maybe a few plot points. Everything recognized belongs to J. K. Rowling and her universe.
Chapter two: New beginnings.
Standing in front of the gates of Malfoy Manor I pondered what Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were going to say. Even more so, what was Draco going to say? We weren't exactly on best terms with me being Muggle-born and all. Except, well, it appears I'm not. Even more mind boggling is that apparently they are my family.
As we walked up to the front door, the door opened and out ran Mrs. Malfoy, tears in her eyes. "Caitlyn! Caitlyn, is that you?"
"Apparently so." I replied, feeling nervous standing in front of this beautiful manor with my aunt looking like she belonged on the cover of a magazine.
As we entered Malfoy Manor Mr. Malfoy came into view looking completely enraged. "Severus! What is that mudblood doing in my home?" He yelled the disgust evident within his voice. Snape looked at Narcissa.
"Lucius, please calm down. I would like to introduce you to Caitlyn." Narcissa replied trying to soothe her enraged husband.
"Caitlyn? As in our long lost, never to be seen again, niece Caitlyn?" Both Mrs. Malfoy and Professor Snape nodded.
"Rodolphus put a mind block and glamour on her when she disappeared." Professor Snap explained. "Cissa, as her blood relative, would you please remove the glamour and mind block?"
Mrs. Malfoy nodded and pulled her wand from her pocket and pointed it at me while muttering a spell. When I felt a slight tingle I turned away from them towards a mirror I noticed when walking in. I couldn't help but be slightly nervous to see how I was going to look. My appearance was a common reason for the bullying I had received in the beginning years of my life.
Staring at the mirror I found a younger looking version of Bellatrix staring back at me. The woman might be slightly unhinged from what I have heard, but she is just as beautiful as her sister. Feeling like a ugly duckling all my life, with bushy hair and buck teeth, I couldn't fathom this was the real me. I mean, I was gorgeous. Beautiful smooth black ringlets hung down my back, the most bright brown eyes I'd ever seen and straight white teeth.
"Oh my God! I look just like Bellatrix!" I exclaimed.
"Well she is your mother dear" Mrs. Malfoy said.
"I really think I believe you now." I say, running a hand down my very soft and smooth hair. "Mrs. Malfoy, do you have a picture of Bellatrix, I mean my mother, when she was my age?"
"Call me Aunt Cissa dear and your uncle Uncle Lucius. And yes I do. Laney!" she replied.
Laney popped into the room wearing a neatly pressed tea cosy. "Mistress, how may I be of service?"
"Fetch me Bella's picture from my dressing table" Mrs. Mal… Aunt Cissa instructed.
"Do you like the way you look?" Uncle Lucius asked.
"I think I do. It's different, but it oddly suits me" I mumbled. "I really think I do like it." I repeated. "It will be nice not having to battle with my old bushy curls every morning." I was amazed at the smoothness of my new hair.
"Would you like to reveal your true identity at school or do you prefer looking like you did?" Uncle Lucius asked me.
I thought about it. Hermione Granger would be as good as gone, but I am still me aren't I? And the amount of people who hated me because I was a 'Mudblood' or according to them an 'Insufferable-know-it-all' were numerous. I'm not anymore I suppose. I'm someone new…
"I think I would like to attend the Welcoming feast as Caitlyn." I replied, finally feeling like I belonged. "I don't think I'm ready for everyone to know I'm Hermione yet. Although I will have to tell my friends."
Uncle Lucius smiled while Aunt Narcissa gave me a hug. I was already starting to feel more at home.
The summer months passed and, without a care in the world, I spent it all at my new home. I can't believe how easily I've taken to calling the Malfoy Manor, home. It's been an interesting couple of months but I can truly say that I've never been happier or more at peace with myself than I have been during this summer. My aunt and uncle were doting on me and I even found an unlikely ally in my cousin Draco.
Eventually the peace was interrupted and it became time to head back to Hogwarts. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I didn't know how my friends were going to take this news. I had decided against revealing this news to them through letters, it's the kind of thing that is better done face to face.
The train ride to Hogwarts was uneventful for me. Draco introduced me to a couple of his friends and finding the peace very soothing I continued my extra curricular summer reading. Whilst I was slightly surprised that there wasn't an encounter with my friends, I was also grateful for it. I wasn't ready yet.
When it was time for the Welcoming feast to start I was led into the Great Hall along with all the new first years. Since Caitlyn Lestrange wasn't known at Hogwarts I had decided to follow the normal procedure for new students and that meant having to be sorted. It didn't matter, once a Gryffindor always a Gryffindor right? So there I stood, almost a full head taller than the other new students. When I was called forward a light buzz sounded through the Great Hall. The name Lestrange was an infamous one after all. I walked up to where the Sorting Hat was located and McGonagall reached out to place it on my head. Emotions were swirling inside of me. I tried not to look out into the crowd of people. I didn't know if I could take all of the stares. As I took my place on the stool and the Sorting Hat was placed on my head, the entire Great Hall was in silence as every person inside was waiting to hear where I would be sorted. Almost immediately the hat could be heard calling "SLYTHERIN!" The entirety of the Slytherin table was cheering and clapping for me, whilst simultaneously I heard the hat talking to me inside my head, "Miss Lestrange, it feels good to be able to sort you properly."
As I walked over to the Slytherin table I looked up at Severus. Over the summer we had come to a truce, friendship even maybe. I enjoyed his company and we bonded over potions, charms and many other subjects.
"Hey Cuz. I bet you feel better now." Draco says to me as I try and control my breathing.
I found myself in between Draco and Pansy with Blaise and Millicent seated opposite us. I truly had not expected to be placed in Slytherin and while the reaction from the students in said house was reassuring and actually made me feel good about myself, I could not help but wonder what was going on in my friend's minds right now. As far as they were aware I had not returned to school. I know I needed to find them and talk to them but I was nervous.
I nodded in response to Draco's question, not trusting my words enough to not betray my level of nerves.
Pansy turned to me. Although Draco had introduced us on the train, I had tried to keep the topic of conversation off of me for the ride here, by focusing on my book.
"So you're Bellatrix' daughter" She asked, almost sceptically. Me and Pansy had never gotten on well.
I internally sighed. I had a feeling that I was going to be hearing this question a lot. And whilst I didn't mind because I had come round to accepting my new heritage rather quickly, I have a feeling it's going to become a bore.
"That's right." I replied.
"And your name is Caitlyn?" Millicent asks while looking over at me thoughtfully. Millie, who introduced herself to me on the train by that shortening of her name, had never been outrightly mean to me before. Not like some of the others had. Her voice was soft and kind as she spoke to me.
"Call me Cali" I smiled at the girls close to me, hoping to make a good first impression. I wanted to make proper friends with these girls because I'm going to be spending the next five years sharing rooms and classes with them and we are going to be in the same social circles now. Who would have thought I'd ever find social circles rather important. It would be nice to have some actual friends in them.
I looked up at Severus, because for once I felt like I fitted in. As dinner dragged on, being the center of everyone's attention was tiring. Severus and I had a conversation through Legilimency, one of the mental powers that apparently I'm now natural at, thanks to the mental blocks being removed.
"How do you feel now Cali?" Severus asked. We had spoken at length over the summer break about my emotions surrounding this discovery and he had been really rather helpful at making sense of it all.
"Much better. Everyone has been so welcoming so far. I feel like I might actually fit in fine here." I replied.
"Think about the excitement you are going to cause when they find out who you truly are. The house cup will be ours this year, I just know it. Think of all the extra points that Slytherin will gain. And now I can finally give you the proper praise for your potions work."
Severus laughs.
"You didn't before because...?"
I questioned him.
"You were a Gryffindor. It wouldn't have been right"
He winks at me.
"Severus!"
I admonished while noticing some movement from the other house table.
"You'd better be going now! Feel free to contact me anytime like this, it's rather nice having another master at legitimacy to talk to." He replied.
"That it is." I replied and broke the connection. Still chuckling at our internal mental conversation I thought about how much at ease I felt talking to Severus after spending parts of the summer in his company.
Draco looked at me as he rose from his seat at the table. "Allow me to escort you to the common room?" He asked.
I took a look around the great hall and noticed both my new and old friends were all leaving. I smiled at Draco. "I would love that, but I really need to go and have that conversation with my friends first." I whispered to him. I didn't need any Slytherins wondering why I was chasing after Gryffindors.
"I promised myself that I would get this conversation done as soon as I could." I told my cousin.
"That's understandable. Would you like me to wait here until you are done to show you the way after?" He asked me.
I could see in his eyes that he really just wanted to make sure I would be OK after this. I took a look around and saw that most of the Slytherins had left already.
"It's up to you, however I have no idea how long I will be. I could always call on Dobby when I'm done. He will show me the way. Would you mind waiting in the common room for me instead?" I suggested.
Draco thought about my suggestion for a minute before calling for Dobby, who appeared seconds later.
"Mister Draco, what can Dobby do to help?" Dobby asked, looking rather pleased to see Draco.
"Caitlyn will be requiring your services when she is done meeting with her friends. Please take her to the Slytherin common room when she's done." Draco told Dobby.
"Of course Mister Draco. It would be Dobby's pleasure to help Miss Caitlyn once she's done." Dobby replied.
"Thank you." I said to both Drake and Dobby and left the hall quickly hoping to talk to boys.
I managed to catch up to Harry and Ron near a classroom close to the Gryffindor common room. "Excuse me boys, may I have a quick chat with you before we all depart for bed?" I asked trying to put on my best 'Hermione Granger' voice. I had noticed quite a few changes in the way I spoke and the sound of my voice over the summer. The pair stopped. Ron turned around first.
"We don't speak to Death Eater scum like you." He snapped, looking at me with a level of hatred I didn't think I had ever seen before.
I looked at Harry who only then turned around. He looked stressed. He shook his head at Ron. "Excuse him, he is just worried because our friend hasn't turned up for school and we haven't heard from her all over the summer. You're going in the wrong direction for the Slytherin common rooms though." He said politely.
"I really need to talk to the pair of you first. I can answer all of your worries about your friend." I told them, wondering what the best way was to tell them that it was actually me they were talking to.
"What have you and your kind done with her Lestrange?! We all know what your parents do to people they don't like. Or didn't they tell you about what they've done to our friend Neville's parents?" Ron said still obviously angry.
Harry gave Ron a look that I imagined was meant to tell him to calm down while still looking like an united front in front of me.
"Guys. It's me. This is what I need to talk to you about. I'm Hermione." I finally blurted out. I turned and walked into the classroom we were standing in front of. If we were going to argue, I wanted to try and keep it kind of private. The boys followed me in. Harry obviously confused, Ron angry.
"What are you talking about?" Ron spat out the words, voice still laced with venom. "You must be delusional!"
"It's a long story, but if you give me a minute, I will explain everything. Professor Snape came to visit me and told me that Headmaster Dumbledore had found some information that actually showed that I was Miss Lestrange. You know I was adopted, so please hear me out." I told them softly.
"I'm not saying that I don't believe you." Harry began. "But can you tell us something that only our Hermione would know?" He asked gently. Almost like he couldn't make up his mind whether I was speaking the truth or not. I nodded, slightly disheartened that he didn't believe me, but also proud of him for finally using some common sense.
"First year, I once told the pair of you that getting expelled was worse than being killed. The pair of you also saved me from a troll that year, and then I lied to Professor McGonagall about why I was in the girl's bathroom. In Second year, I got petrified from a basilisk and we made Polyjuice potion in moaning Myrtle's bathroom with ingredients stolen from Professor Snape's store room. I accidently put in a cat's hair and you know the rest." I told them recalling some of the memories I had of the three of us.
Harry smiled. He must have believed me, but then all of a sudden Ron burst out in anger.
"So you let us go all summer with no contact! We thought you were dead Hermione. DEAD! You promised you were going to write to us all of the time, until we were sick of you, I think you even said. But no, you just turned out to be a bloody traitor! None of them bloody Slytherins ever liked you because you were a muggleborn and a powerful one at that. But OH, just like that you're now a bloody pureblood and a dark one at that and they don't care anymore! Looks like you've got yourself settled well in there Traitor! I thought you had standards but apparently you're just like the rest. Can't stand to see a muggleborn do well, so have to go be a bloody pureblood. I thought you were Nevile's friend Hermione. Or are you proud of what your scum parents did to him?!" Ron said eyes laced with hate, voice raising with the anger consuming him.
I wanted to stay strong in front of my friends, but I could feel tears prickling the sides of my eyes. "Really Ronald! I'm a traitor because I found out who my biological parents are? Something I can't change as it is in my DNA! Yes that makes perfect sense!" I snapped back, losing my temper slightly, feeling like I had to defend myself for something I absolutely have no control over. I felt my temper rising and decided that I really need to calm down, I wasn't going to achieve anything in this state.
"I don't understand." Harry said his voice softer than Ron's.
"Professor Dumbledore found some information, I'm not sure what exactly, but it showed my heritage. I spent the summer with the Malfoys. My parents decided it would be good for me to spend time with my next of kin. I had no say in it." I tried to explain. "They took me in and they were actually really nice to me. I'm sorry I didn't write to you but I thought that this kind of information needed to be told face to face" I added feeling angered that my friend was not listening to me.
"I am exactly the same person I was when you last saw me, I may look different and I actually know who my biological family are now but I am still me." I told them. I noticed my voice slip back into the bossy tones I used to use.
Ron stood up straighter and looked me right in the eye. "Well I don't care what you say. You are a traitor to me and no friend of mine!" He said as he walked towards the door. "Come on Harry! We're leaving this Death Eater spawn to her Slytherin mates. Merlin knows she looks chummy enough with them already." He grabbed hold of Harry's shoulder and pulled him out of the room.
I felt the tears run down my cheeks this time and I gave myself a minute to compose myself before I left the room and called for Dobby. He appeared almost instantly and asked me to follow him as he led me deep into the dungeon, stopping near a portrait.
"Dobby will go get Mister Draco. Please wait here" Dobby said. I nodded and Dobby Disapparated.
I looked up at the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, studying it.
"You're my heir aren't you? You are Tom's daughter?" He questioned me, his tone neutral but he was obviously observant to the fact that no one else was around.
"Yes sir I am." I replied politely.
"The password is Semper Fidelis but my darling you won't ever need one." He told me with a surprising amount of affection in his voice.
"Thank you Salazar." I say at the exact time the door to the Slytherin dungeons opens.
"How did it go?" Draco asked me before we entered the common room. I sighed feeling frustrated. "Not great Drake. I don't really want to talk about it." I told him.
Nodding his acceptance, he held the door open for me to go inside.
"What does Semper Fidelis mean Draco?" I asked my cousin. I thought really hard about it, but I couldn't place it. My Latin was really rusty.
"Always faithful." He stated smiling at me as Pansy took my wrist and tugged on it.
"Cali, we need to get some beauty sleep. We have classes with the Gryffindors tomorrow." She said, disgust at having to share the same air space as the red and gold house was beyond evident in her voice. "Guys!" She called out quickly addressing the rest of the common room. "Did you guys notice, the mudblood wasn't with Potter and Weasley? Do you reckon she's finally learned her place and not come back? Wouldn't that be a dream come true." She said, cackling with laughter. Other members of the common room also laughed.
I tried not to laugh at the irony of it all. There she was talking about me learning my place, but here I am. I locked eyes with Drake, he's laughing under his breath to keep up pretences, but I could see he was concerned for me.
Pansy pulled me up the staircase and into our dorm room. There were six beds within the room and no windows; however the room still seemed very light and open. The green tones were subtle all through the room but obvious enough. I noticed the similarities between the Slytherin and Gryffindor dorms. Both sets had wooden boards on either side of the beds that were able to be decorated by the students. I sighed as I thought of all the stuff I had previously put up, but wouldn't be able to anymore. Things such as pictures of my adopted parents. I also had the same type of wooden chair, dresser and nightstand as was in the Gryffindor rooms, at least it felt kind of normal to me.
"So" Pansy's shrill voice filled the room. "Even though there are six beds, there are only four, well five now, of us in the room." she said moving towards one of the beds. "This is mine, that's Daphne's, then Millie's and finally that one is Tracy's." Pansy pointed to each bed as she spoke of the girl who occupied it. "You can have either of the others that are free. Personally, I'd suggest you take the one next to Millie. Tracy snores really loudly." Pansy offered her opinion laughing.
I chose the bed next to Millie, at least I already kind of knew her kind. Pansy was in between Millie and Daphne. My trunk and belongings appeared as I sat on the bed.
The rest of the girls filed in shortly after and they all began to chat among themselves. They kept trying to pull me into their conversations. Feeling a little overwhelmed I feigned tiredness and pulled the curtains around my bed. Sleep came over me quickly, but my night was filled with thoughts of both of my families and how my friends had turned their backs on me.