Hermione was sitting at her desk, days from her return to Hogwarts, when her father came in. He'd noticed she no longer spoke with Remus, and it was only noticeable because he was the only Marauder she spoke to before.

"Mia? Could you turn your attention from whatever you're writing and on to me, please?" he spoke harsher than he meant, but this was a topic his daughter would not take kindly to anyway so he thought it did not matter.

She placed down her quill and looked over at her father who was sitting on her bed, twiddling his thumbs. "I was just finishing. What is it you'd like to speak about?"

Fleamont sighed "I would like you to stop being friends with Regulus Black and that Avery boy. And I would like you to resit the Sorting"

Hermione blinked.

Taking advantage of the silence, Fleamont continued "Slytherin house holds people that are changing you. You are now rude to your house guests, you isolate yourself and your mother and I do not tolerate that behaviour. We would like you to cut off contact with those friends of yours"

The young Potter finally refound her voice and said a simple "No", which shocked Fleamont greatly. This was a skill Hermione had picked up from Narcissa. Instead of holding her emotions on her sleeve for all to see, Hermione concealed them and kept her face utterly blank.

"No?"

"No. Do you realise you are acting in the way Lady Black does, Father? You demand I drop my friends the way she demands Sirius does James. You demand I switch house to not purge the Potter record, while she demands the same of him. You commend him for disregarding such wishes, but I assume you won't commend me?" she said calmly, weighing out her argument.

Fleamont stood and stared down at Hermione imposingly "Of course I won't. I asked you nicely, Hermione, but if you insist on being difficult, I will have to change my approach. You are forbidden to write, floo, see these people and you are forbidden to remain in Slytherin house. I forbid it as your head of house and if-"

But he was cut off by Hermione's screams of "No, no, no, no!" It was odd to see such a quick change in emotion and approach. But then something oddly spectacular happened.

As Hermione screamed, the ends of her hair started to fly, and turn a lighter shade of auburn, compared to her warm brown. They whipped around her, her breathing increased into a pant and her whole body started to tremble. Hermione let out a final shriek of "no", and a blast of power burst from her body, the energy smashing the windows and knocking her father and her furniture down.

After the blast, her hair fell as limply as it normally would, and her trembling body fell to the floor. Fleamont stared at his daughter, who was lying on the floor, and couldn't move from the shock. He'd never seen such a burst of energy from a young child, let alone be able to identify the cause.

"Fleamont? Lunch!" his wife called, and it jogged his ability to move.

Mr Potter scrambled to his feet and swept Hermione up into his arms and wrapped her under the blankets on her bed. "Lollie!"

The little house elf appeared, and when Lord Potter frantically explained why he needed his wife, she apparated away quickly. Fleamont sat down next to Hermione on her bed and stroked her cheek softly, waiting for the crash at the door that would come in 50 seconds.

"Fleamont! What happened?" Euphemia gasped, rushing into the room, the four boys following at her heels.

She knelt down and started to run diagnostic spells as her husband explained "I said she couldn't stay in Slytherin house, and she needed to break off certain friendships. She was strangely calm, and compared me to Walburga Black, but then she started screaming and her hair started flying, and this weird sort of energy burst through her. That's why everything's ruined"

"She's completely unresponsive… but her body is functioning completely fine. Almost as if she's just sleeping. All I can do is patch up the cuts she has, and we all need to watch over her in case she wakes up" Euphemia stood, and brushed a strand of hair from Hermione's face.

The boys had been ordered to stay in silence while Euphemia worked, but now James squeaked "You're not taking her to St Mungos?"

His mother shook her head "We know she's in some sort of magic induced coma. Mungos can't do much more than that, darling. You can help, however, by doing a few jobs for me okay boys?"

They all nodded eagerly, alone with the devastated Lord Potter.

"James, take Peter with you to bring my potions bag up here as well as my cauldron and my equipment. Sirius, write a letter to you brother to let him know of the current situation and I'm trusting you to keep him updated. I know your family cares about our Mia very much. Remus, dear, could you go to the library to gather some books for Hermione? I fear she'll be bed bound when she wakes. And Fleamont, get some rest yourself, you took quite a hit yourself."

Mr Potter looked to object, but when he caught his wife's stern look, he just slumped off with the boys and left Euphemia to run more tests.

When the boys had done all they could for Mrs Potter, they congregated in James's room for a 'Marauder's Meeting'.

"Can you believe Hermione compared Monty to my mother? That's mad. They're nothing alike" Sirius started off, flopping onto his bed.

"I can see the resemblance in their actions" Remus muttered, but Peter heard.

"Meaning?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I assume Hermione's point " Remus spoke louder this time. "was that what Mr Potter was saying to her was essentially what Lady Black said to Sirius, though less aggressive of course."

"I guess, but Dad was right. Slytherin isn't good for Mione" James bit his lip worriedly. While he liked to pretend he despised his adopted sister nowadays, he was really nervous. He couldn't imagine what was wrong with her, but he knew he could blame Black and Avery.

The meeting carried on into the night, and the boys leapt from theory to insane theory.

Regulus and Avery shovelled eggs down their mouths, glad Mrs Black wasn't there, so they could eat how they pleased. They were talking about the latest Quidditch star Phoebus Harrow-Bletchley, when an unfamiliar owl swooped through the parlour room window. She dropped the note in Regulus's lap and let Avery feed her a rasher of thin bacon.

Regulus read aloud:

Reg,

Hermione is in some sort of coma. She was arguing with Mr Potter about you and Avery and staying in Slytherin when her hair started floating or something? And she was screaming and then a huge blast of energy knocked everything sideways. Mrs Potter said she's like she's asleep, so she's not in pain or anything. Have a look around the library will you? She might be cursed or something. And ask Bella too. She finds this stuff interesting doesn't she? Don't panic or anything.

Let me know if you find anything,

S.O.B

Regulus's face had gone pale as a ghost and he turned to Avery, who probably mirrored his expression but Regulus wouldn't know, as he wasn't paying attention.

"Kreacher!" he called and when the elf appeared, he demanded to be taken to his cousin's house, not caring if Avery tagged along, though he did.

Kreacher apparated the pair outside Bellatrix's bedroom door, and when they knocked, all three sisters answered.

Andromeda raised a brow, but let them in, and Regulus thrust the letter at her, running a hand through his hair. Avery explained the situation more, as Regulus couldn't really form coherent conversation.

Narcissa and Bellatrix exchanged looks when he was finished. They were always more interested in the Dark Arts, so Meda wouldn't have the extensive knowledge they had.

"We need to go to the library before we confirm our theories," Narcissa said, after having a conversation with Bellatrix using Legilimency.

The sisters led the way, and when they reached the library they were slightly underwhelmed.

Andromeda caught their looks and whispered to them as her sisters skimmed the bookshelves "Our library focuses on the Dark Arts. If Father cared for anything else, ours would be larger than yours"

Because they had no idea what Bellatrix and Narcissa were looking for, Avery and Andromeda sat on a plush ivory sofa while Regulus paced the room worrying.

He only sat down when Narcissa returned with a book, and they all sat down at a long desk to listen to what Bellatrix and Narcissa had theorised.

"Back in early Europe, where there were still magical tribes, there was a tribe called the Ueni. They were known for being able to bring pieces of their magical core to the surface, and use it to send blasts of magic at their enemies. Their magical core is also known for replenishing faster than the average wizard" Narcissa said, flipping through the pages to find the part she needed.

Bellatrix continued, "other tribes wanted such power, and so they kidnapped young ones from the Ueni tribe and experimented on them. Slowly, the race died out , with so few survivors that they ran to hide in the mountains, and they were slowly forgotten"

"Hermione is one of the few. She must've been taken into the Potter's care because of a life threatening situation. The Ueni aren't ones for splitting up. But what happened at Potter Manor must've been a bout of accidental magic. Lord Potter obviously upset her, and it's hard to control as a youth" Narcissa concluded.

"But she's been upset before, why has it only happened now?" Avery asked, scratching his head.

Bellatrix's eyes twinkled "she must care for us and Slytherin house more than we thought"

"Do we tell the Potter's of our discovery?" Andromeda asked.

"Regulus write a reply to Sirius. Let him know we've found something, don't specify, and tell him we wish to see Hermione" Narcissa said elegantly as a key turned in the door downstairs "I believe that's your cue to leave"

Regulus wouldn't talk to anyone after the letter was sent. He shut himself in his room, with Avery inside because even when distraught, he still distrusted his family. Walburga and Orion didn't mind their son's withdrawal, because they were also concerned for the girl even if all they knew was that she was comatose.

The next day, Sirius wrote back, saying:

Reg,

The Potters invite you, Avery, Cissa and Andy to the Manor tomorrow. Hermione's stable, but she hasn't woke yet. They also hope that in return for allowing you to visit her, you tell them everything you know. I heard them speaking last night, they said they are abandoning the idea to move her house, but are still unhappy with your friendship. So my advice to you is to prove them wrong. I know her and Avery are the only ones keeping you sane.

See you tomorrow,

S.O.B

Narcissa knocked on the door regally, and when Mrs Potter answered, she gave her her best smile.

"Lady Potter, how are you? So kind of you to open your home to us"

Euphemia surveyed the group skeptically. It really was taking all her strength to accept the help her cousins offered her, and not to slam the door in their faces.

"As well as one can be" she said instead, gritting her teeth "The library? Lollie will take your coats, and then she'll bring us tea"

So the Blacks and Avery followed, and when they arrived they found Fleamont already in the room, eyes bloodshot. Once everyone was seated, Narcissa pulled out the book and set it on the table, nodding to Andromeda to start while she found the page.

"What is your Dark Arts section here like, Lady Potter?" Andromeda asked pleasantly, looking around the large multi floored room.

Euphemia looked taken aback, but she answered "Extensive enough, though I highly doubt it's as extensive as yours"

"Would it be alright if Reg and Avery look for books on the topic while we talk about the basics of what we think is happening to Ni - Hermione? That way we can walk you through it and then help you research? We want to help in any way" Andromeda spoke sympathetically, and she was glad Bellatrix wasn't invited. She wasn't the best at being social with people she didn't like.

"I suppose so. Though this whole thing could have been avoided if -" Fleamont started, but he was interrupted by Euphemia. She overall wasn't too angry with the Blacks for befriending Hermione, nor her being in Slytherin. She thought her family may influence her daughter, but she saw how much they cared for her Mia, and knew that the Black family loyalty would come back to protect her in the future.

"No, go ahead, loves. It should be on the third floor, between the 1st and 7th bookshelves"

Fleamont resembled a grumpy cat, but he didn't oppose his wife. He'd learned not to, unless it was important.

So Andromeda and Narcissa laid out what Narcissa and Bellatrix had, to the Potters and they listened with rapt attention. When they were finished, naturally the Potter's had questions.

"And these… Ueni people you say? Did they have any other powers?" Fleamont asked, grudgingly accepting he would need their help to find out what was happening to his daughter.

"Well they're limitless. As I've said, it's a piece of your magical core and when she's old enough she can manipulate it into a spell. So for example she can use Impedimenta, and it would send a blast of the spell with the raw power from her core. The mile radius of it depends on the effort she puts into it too." Narcissa nodded along.

"And how can she learn to control this? Because you said there are hardly any left of the Ueni tribe left, and we couldn't possibly trace them" Euphemia sipped at her tea delicately.

Before the girls could reply, the boys returned with stacks of books and post notes.

"These books are diaries from the Ueni tribe. We can take them to school with us and help Nita when she's healthy enough to practice" Regulus said, setting the old books down carefully.

"And these are about the history of the people, and how the race sort of died out" Avery set them down without the gentleness of Regulus, but he wasn't truly bothered. Avery was beyond worried for Hermione, but he needed to support Regulus, who was really hurting, so he put up a front.

"Thank you, kids. We'll get them to her when she wakes up" Fleamont said stiffly.

Almost on cue, James burst into the library, saying "Hermione's awake!"

The parents looked at eachother, and Narcissa drily said "Meda you forgot to mention the fact that the magical core replenishes faster than any normal witch"