Authors Note.
I am honestly amazed at the response that this story has received, your reviews have honestly made my day. I hope you enjoy this update and I would love to hear what you think of this story so far. Love SinsofDragons.
I can't go on and let you lose it all
It's more than I can take.
Who'll ease your pain?
Who is gonna save you when I'm gone?
Who'll watch over you?
Who will give you strength when you're not strong.
Who'll watch over you when I've gone
Alter Bridge - Watch Over You.
The room was silent for only moments before a trio of wands had appeared in her face and Hermione had held her hands up shakily. She vaguely recognized the room as the one as she had been tortured in by Bellatrix. Except now it was a dining room, decorated with emerald and silver tapestries and she had clearly interrupted a meal. "Stop!" she held her hands up defensively, knowing full well there was nothing she could do to defend herself against them should they attack her. "My name is Hermione, and my father sent me back, he said to give this to you." She gestured the vial in her left hand and held it to the man she assumed was Lucius. He was young, her age or maybe a little older and he had his hair tied back but she recognized the eyes. These were weary even as he took the vial. He was with two others, they were clearly his parents, both golden haired but with aristocratic features.
"Who is your father?" the elder male asked and Hermione had simply looked at the younger version of Lucius and said, "He is." He had scoffed, taking a hair from her head and murmuring some spell. He had almost smiled when it had turned gold but it had taken hours to convince them that she meant them no harm, and Lucius had eventually taken the vial somewhere and viewed the memories himself as his father had interrogated Hermione.
She already knew his father's name was Abraxas but she did not know his mother's name was Selene. She was incredibly beautiful, with kind eyes and had been the only one to show her any kindness. Abraxas was tall, clearly older than his wife and she was amused to note that his son clearly favoured his wife, as the only similarities that Lucius shared with Abraxas were his build and those icy blue eyes. Selene had admonished her husband and son for raising their voices when couldn't they see that Hermione had been through an ordeal. She had then also admonished Hermione for having cursed when she landed and ruined their meal. Apparently, ladies of good breeding did not do such things.
Selene had taken her upstairs to an unused guest suit and had her bathed and clothed, washing soot and grime from her skin. She had insisted on helping Hermione, remarking that she didn't look strong enough to do so on her own. "Hush Hermione, you look like a strong breeze would send you flying. Honestly, you're as bad as Lucius, too proud to let anyone help you, even when it's in your best interests to do so."
And so Hermione had relented, letting the witch help her wash off weeks of dirt and grime, and heal the wounds that littered her skin. The wound on her stomach had disappeared and Hermione could not help but wonder if Lucius had hidden it himself to hide any trace of what he had done. Selene had talked as she healed Hermione, telling her tales about her and her husband, and Hermione got the distinct feeling she was doing so because she too felt uncomfortable with the situation. She did not speak of her son, and Hermione got the impression that that was because he was sacred to her, off-limits until she proved herself to them all. So she had remained quiet until she was dressed and accompanied to a different dining room to await Abraxas and Lucius.
It had felt like hours had passed when Lucius had finally emerged and confirmed that what she had been telling them was true. That his son had been killed and he had sent her back with his dying breath. He had looked at her with a mixture of fear and resignation and Abraxas had paled when he told his father how their line had come to an end. Lord Voldemort had destroyed their world and way of life. Hermione had been shocked when Abraxas had pulled her into his arms and swore to keep her was shocking to have human contact that didn't involve pain after so long in captivity. It was the first time since Ron and Harry had died that anyone had thought to hold her and Hermione had broken down in tears.
The sensation of being held of not being alone, of having someone, anyone caring about her broke something inside her. And so she had clung to the wizard, the patriarch of a family that had scorned her, and had trembled as she cried for everyone she had lost. He had simply held her in his arms, and she had not heard anything he said except that his rumbling voice had a melodic tone that calmed her frayed was a strange sensation to feel remotely safe after so long. She had cried until she had fallen asleep listening to a stranger's heart in a time that she did not know.
That had been three days ago and Abraxas and Selene had been true to their words, they had kept her safe. Her name had appeared on the family tree next to Lucius the next morning and she had been bathed and fed. Lucius had explained to them as she slept that she had been tortured by the dark lord and his followers before he could rescue her from their clutches. He had also asked to see some of her memories of what happened and she had been surprised when he apologised for what had happened to her. They had decided whilst she slept that she would officially be the daughter of Abraxas and Selene, and Lucius her elder brother. They had contacted a few of their closest friends, those not already aligned with Riddle and discussed how to explain her presence.
It was decided that she would have been raised protected and hidden to fight off the superstition that Malfoy's did not breed daughters. Hermione could admit that she was annoyed that they had made these decisions without her, but she found she didn't have the strength to fight them on anything just yet. She was still adjusting to feeling safe and so had agreed for now. Abraxas decided she would have had a private tutor to explain why she was on no school register. She was informed that she would be meeting Alecto Carrow who would swear the two had been friends since infancy. When Hermione had argued that they needed to be looking to bring Riddle down, Selene had taken her aside and explained that she couldn't just appear from nowhere, they had to announce her and have it seem like she had always been there. She had resisted stating that any kind of announcement would draw attention and had been shocked when Selene had laughed.
"Well, of course, it will darling, you're a Malfoy. Everyone who's everyone should have known about you because you are a way for them to make allegiances between our house and theirs. The fact that they didn't know will throw them off, they will feel like we did not trust them with something we consider precious, especially when the Carrows, the Goyles, the Crabbes and the Avery's will all swear to have known you since infancy. They do not know that you are from the future, and we do not intend to tell them so. Who you truly are will remain a family secret, darling." Selene had sat Hermione in front of a mirror then and began to brush the young witches hair as she spoke.
"If the other families were to learn what we can do, what we have done, they would kill us all. Meddling with time is illegal, everything you do now changes the path from the one that you came from." She had smiled then, her eyes a little sad as she spoke. "I presume my husband and I do not live long enough to make an impression on you, so I can't help but be a little glad that you have come back to us. Abraxas is a stern man, just like his father was, but he always wanted a daughter and that was the one thing I failed to give him." She paused then, giving Hermione a watery smile. "And look at you, you're beautiful."
So Hermione looked into the mirror as Selene had brushed her hair and looked for her own features. There was no mistaking that she looked like a Malfoy now, her hair hung in long silvery locks that reached her waist. She had blue eyes the colour sapphires in sunlight and she could admit to herself that they were pretty but she missed the chocolate brown. She eventually saw that her nose was the same and her lips still had cupid's bow that her mother told her meant she was destined for a great love. She was still short, her body still petite but she did wonder if that was because she was still very malnourished. She was pretty but Hermione couldn't get passed how haunted she looked, it was almost like everything she had suffered was there on her face for everyone to see.
"What I am is skinny. I look like a half-starved waif from some torrid romance novel. I am annoyed that you all seem so calm after everything I have told you. He ends the sacred twenty-eight, and what is left of it is a mockery of everything you believe in." The words were grumbled as she spoke, she was still annoyed that Lucius had used magic to not only adopt her but to make her look like this. She could see herself and yet someone she didn't know the girl that looked back at her in that mirror.
"Hermione we are doing something, we are solidifying who you are in the world so that he does not become suspicious of you. It takes time and you are in no condition to just rush off and fight the world." She paused then, the brush that had been working through Hermione's hair stopping for a moment. "Well I wasn't going to say anything, darling, but yes you are a little too slender for comfort. I'll have Dobby make sure you have food to snack on during the day, I don't think just meals and nourishment potions are going to be enough to get you back to health." She smiled at Hermione through the mirror and Hermione was pleased to see that she looked like Selene, she could have passed for her daughter, which Hermione guessed was the whole point of Lucius' spells.
"Dobby is here?" Hermione asked and the witch had grinned as she met Hermione's gaze. If he was it made Hermione wonder just how old the elf actually was. She knew they had long lifespans, sometimes living for nearly three centuries if they were well cared for, but Dobby had always seemed very young to her.
"Yes dear, he will be overjoyed to know that you remember him. He is rather exuberant for a house elf but it pleases me to know that he still served the family in the future, he always was a favourite of mine." She had straightened then and held her hand out for Hermione to take. Pulling Hermione to her feet she walked in a circle around the young witch, correcting her posture when Hermione did not stand straight. "I know you have been through a lot darling, but they will expect you to be perfect, so you must stand tall and aloof as though nothing they do could ever upset them nothing to harm you with, and let them be intimidated by the power that you have that they never will."
When Hermione had looked confused she had laughed. "You are from the richest family in the British Isles darling, and that money will open many doors for you. There will be people who wish to tear you down and take it all from you. Never let them. You are not only rich, you have power all of your own. Lucius told me some of what you showed him and how very talented you are. Don't let it be known, let them see the doll and dismiss you as weak, they will never see the power you wield until it is too late."
"Should I be expecting to be attacked sometime soon?" Hermione had asked, wondering exactly why the witch thought Hermione was going to be attacked considering she and her Husband had sworn to keep her safe.
Laughing Selene had kissed Hermione's cheek. "Yes darling, we women can be rather petty and vicious when riled, and there are some who are about to realise their theories of being the most beautiful witch in England are sorely mistaken. You have beauty, a good name with money and power, and they will hate you for it." She grinned at Hermione her hands coming to rest on her shoulders. "I wouldn't worry too much though, I had all the same things and married a wonderful man who worships the ground I deign to walk upon."
Hermione raised an eyebrow not sure what to think and smiled when she saw Lucius lingering in the doorway with his father. Selene had turned to see them and huffed before inviting them in. "Come in will you both and stop lingering in doorways, Lucius I know I raised you better than to just lurk." Lucius had murmured an apology to his mother squeezing her hand as he passed them heading for one of the arm chairs in the kissed Hermione's temple before she took the one opposite her son that overlooked the garden. Abraxas did not sit, he stood before Hermione and seemed to be weighing her worth before nodding to himself. "Selene we will need to get her properly attired, this will do for now, but she needs to meet Alecto soon and she must not be seen to be so thin, they'll think we starved the girl."
Hermione bit back a growl wanting to tell the man that actually yes one of them had helped in starving her, but knew nothing good would come from it. She too thought she was far too skinny and seventies wizarding fashion was not a good look in her opinion. She was saved from commenting when Selene spoke. "Of course, my love," Selene answered. "Callix will be able to make a few things for now until we can head to get her a new wardrobe."
"Very good. Now, my dear, we must work out what you will call us all. What did you call Lucius?" Abraxas guided her to the chair next to the fire and took the seat by his wife. He crossed his leg so that his ankle rested on the opposite knee and watched Hermione, clearly waiting for her to respond.
Hermione turned and looked at Lucius before sighing. She racked her brain trying to think of what would be appropriate considering the charade that she would be expected to keep. "I called him Father in public, but Dad when were at home. I don't feel comfortable calling you that though, so perhaps Papa? Our name sounds French so no one would really question a continental endearment, especially if I call Grandma Mama." She gave them a weak smile before looking at Lucius for help.
"Call me Luc, you will be the only one allowed to, but it makes sense that my little sister gets certain allowances that others do not. I'll call you Mia, after all, you are technically mine". Lucius looked stressed, he seemed to be struggling just as much as she did and he had been shocked to learn about everything he had done. It was a heavy thing to learn that his life had been a lie and that it had cost he and his family everything. Hermione did not know what to think of belonging to Lucius, she certainly didn't think of him as a father and knew that he more than likely felt just as confused as she did.
Hermione simply nodded in response, looking from each face and wondering what they were planning that they wanted to present a united front as they spoke to her. It was the same look she had seen the order share when they had tried to tell Harry what he could and could not do. "What is it?"
"Your scar child, the one on your neck, how did you get it?" Abraxas asked as he gestured to the healed wound.
"From a mad woman that tortured me to find out if I had been in her vaults at Gringotts. For the record, I had not, but she did not seem to care for any truth I could give her. So she used a cursed blade to give me a mark that I would not soon forget before torturing me with the cruciatus curse." Selene had gasped and raised her hand to her mouth, but Lucius and Abraxas had simply shared a look as though she had confirmed what they had thought.
"And what did this woman seem to think you had taken from her vaults that was so important?" Abraxas inquired.
Hermione hesitated for a moment, looking between them, but she knew she had already shown Lucius some of what she had been through in the war. "She thought I had taken a Horcrux, more importantly, one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. She must have been hiding one for him in her vaults and assumed because I had the sword that I had taken the Horcrux too. The sword was never in her vault, she had been housing a fake."
Abraxas held his hand up then, his blue eyes fixed on her as he spoke. "What do you mean Horcruxes and what sword?"
"The sword of Gryffindor, its goblin made so its imbued to take in that which makes it stronger. My friend Harry used it to kill a basilisk and imbued it with the venom, and basilisk venom is one of the few things that can be used to destroy a Horcrux." She said it all matter of factly and ignored Abraxas when he looked as though he would interrupt again. "And I mean Horcruxes because he had seven of them. If you don't know what they are, it's a piece of one's soul ripped from the whole by committing murder and housing it in a vessel away from their body in order to be able to survive death and be resurrected."
"Yes I know what they are dear, but thank you for clarifying. I am appalled that he would make one, yet alone seven! The amount of damage he would have had to do to his soul would leave him barely human and dangerous." He went quiet for a moment before he looked at her speculatively. "Hermione, what house were you sorted into at Hogwarts?"
"Gryffindor" she answered without any hesitation.
He responded by nodding and sharing a look with his wife. "It seems my dear I owe you some galleons." He laughed when simply smiled smugly at him in response. He turned to Hermione, his face sobering as he did so. "You're far too trusting child, but you seem to have nerves of steel and are not easily intimidated, I would have placed you as a Slytherin but it seems my wife sees you better than I do. You would be the first Malfoy to grace that house, I imagine it caused quite the stir." He paused then, looking at her and a small smile gracing his features as he pictured a Malfoy being sorted into Gryffindor and finding the image amusing. "No matter, we'll teach you to be a little warier but that can wait. For now, heal and let your Mama indulge you. She has a lot to teach you and a short time in which to do so, Alecto will be here in a few days."
Hermione nodded and said, "Yes, Papa". The words felt weird on her tongue but she was rewarded with a warm smile from Abraxas even as Lucius looked as uncomfortable as she felt. She watched them, and the way they shared a weighted look before she decided that she had had enough of letting them run the conversation. "I need to tell you a few things so that we are all on the same page."
Abraxas lifted one eyebrow seeming surprised but curious as to what she had to say. "Very well, speak and be heard, my dear."
Hermione took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second and began. "I don't know what those memories showed you, Luc but you need to know this. You married Narcissa Black and from what I saw had a happy marriage with her, at least that's what I thought. But then Voldemort came back from being a soul wraith and they went back to the affair that they had been having in secret. Narcissa would have already started that affair by now, she started it whilst she was still in Hogwarts. You cannot marry her, she is the reason that Draco dies, Voldemort never forgave her for giving you an heir. She was meant to be his.
"You also can't let on that you know who the affair is with, so you need to find a reason to break off the engagement." Hermione dropped her eyes then, it was hard to talk about this, to try and convey just how much the witch's' betrayal had broken the Lucius she had known.
"I will speak to Orion, tell him that word has reached my ears of her unsavory activities and how such conduct is unsuitable for the bride of a Malfoy. Any smear on her reputation is grounds for breaking the engagement, and the wording of the contract does not require proof. I take the wellbeing of my children and the future of this house seriously my dear." Abraxas inclined his head when Hermione met his eyes and she felt herself relax a little as she did do.
"The other thing you need to know, which I don't think you are taking seriously is that he ends the lines of nearly every pureblood family." Hermione didn't really care about purebloods but she knew that they did. Lineage meant everything to them, keeping the magic alive and well and flowing through their families veins was the legacy they passed from father to child and she knew that's what she needed to focus on to get them to see it as she did.
"Voldemort killed your grandson Draco, Sirius Black is disowned by his family and Regulus dies without a child. The Avery's lose every child in infancy, the MacNairs sons die before they marry. The Rowles addiction to fire is used against them until only a daughter remains able to continue the line and the Longbottoms are driven insane. Weasleys, Potters, Parkinsons, Shafiqs and so on have every male in their family killed. He effectively ends what it means to be pure blood. He makes it so that no one can have purer blood than he as he is a half-blood. And then he enslaves the muggleborns, deeming them to be little more use than a house elf and he does it with the support of those he bent to his will. The insane and the power-hungry follow him and his madness and anyone that could have stopped him was systematically taken down before they could be a threat."
Lucius interrupted then. "The Dark Lord is a pure blood."
"No, he is not" Hermione states. "He is a half-blood, son of Tom Riddle a muggle aristocrat and Merope Gaunt who died in childbirth. He was raised in a muggle orphanage and has a chip on his shoulder about anyone being better than him. He is the true heir to Slytherin and it was him that released the creature that killed Moaning Myrtle. As long as he has Horcruxes he can never be truly destroyed and unfortunately I don't know how many he has already made in his time.
"Personally I would rather not be around to watch as he does it all again so I need to know that you aren't already allied with him. I can't be in the same room as that thing again, I refuse to be." She was nervous now, Abraxas had been the first person to make her feel safe in a long time and the idea of leaving the safety he offered her was terrifying but Voldemort scared her more than being alone in a strange time and place did.
The silence that followed her words was deafening and Hermione struggled not to fidget as she waited for any of them to respond to her words. When she thought that they would not respond she moved to stand but Abraxas spoke.
"Stay where you are." He held out his hand and Hermione watched as Selene placed her hand in his, squeezing his fingers as though to led her support to his words. "You have given me a lot to think about, and somethings I had planned will have to be changed. I did not think him capable of destroying our way of life, of taking away everything we worked so hard to preserve. He has already started, the Black boy was disowned a few weeks ago by his mother whilst Orion was out of the country. As far as I know, nothing has been done to rectify the situation."
He paused then, meeting Hermione's eyes. "I am not in league with Tom Riddle, he has made overtures about a business arrangement but I will not be a sycophant for anyone, let alone a petulant boy I knew in school. My son has been approached but already have plans for his future that does not include the downfall of this family. I swore that you would be safe here Hermione and I meant it, and in order to do that, I need allies. In the morning the Carrows will bring their daughter to meet you. She is a lovely girl, a little shy and I am sure she will be happy to help you adjust. They all believe you have come back from France and will be joining Hogwarts for your final year of school."
Hermione balked. "Wait, I am going to Hogwarts, what part of.."
"Hermione, do not interrupt." Selene talked over Hermione's protests. "Yes, you will be going back to school. Lucius told us that he recruited some of his classmates during their school years. We need you there so that you can see who he is recruiting, who we need to watch out for and what families need to be warned of their impending downfall. We are taking this seriously, we promise you, but as you have made abundantly clear, he is very powerful and we do not know how many Horcruxes he has made or their location. Now go get ready, you and your Papa are heading to Diagon Alley, we need to get you a wand."