Chapter X- You'll Never Know What Hit You:
Hermione stretched with a yawn as she rolled out of bed, smiled sleepily at the sight of the gown Narcissa had gotten her for Christmas abandoned on a chair after the party last night and trudged downstairs. The alluring aroma filling the air hit her as soon as she walked into the kitchen, enveloping her in a warm embrace. Smiling, she poured herself a glass of orange juice from its decanter and leaned up onto her tiptoes to kiss the man in charge of the sizzling bacon on the cheek, hugging the woman with her same bushy hair.
"Good morning sweetheart, sleep well?" Sophia's voice was serene as she flipped the pancakes. Nodding absent-mindedly, Hermione moved into the adjacent room and opened the fridge door to search for the blueberries. Their house elf Mindy had been re-arranging it, again, and it was like a labyrinth.
"Hey, Mum, could you come with me later to check out this flat that Draco and I are interested in?" Finally she gave up her crusade and, settling for raspberries, turned to head back into the kitchen.
"Hermione don't!"
She rolled her eyes. "Dad! I know you don't want me to move out but I think-" The open packet of fruit dropped to the floor and spilled, a blanket of red covering the tiles. Her father was gone, familiar men, people she trusted, surrounded her mother in a cult like circle, each with a wand pointed at her head. In synch, their faces snapped to her, faces that felt like jabs to the stomach. Through the gap, bright eyes wide with innocent shock stared at her, silently pleading for help. She struggled to take a step forwards but she was glued to the floor. Albus Dumbledore. James Potter. Sirius Black. Arthur Weasley. Ron Weasley. Harry Potter. Her hands wouldn't move from their sides. "Avada kedavra!" Bellowed the voices that had sung her lullabies, played with her, mingling with the shrieks of the victim and her daughter to create a cacophony of sound.
"Mum!" Hermione sat up in her bed sweating to the giggles of her roommates. They were gathered in a chillingly resonant circle on the floor just beyond her bed, whispering and painting each others' nails. They were all the same. Every last one of them. She yanked the curtains around her bed shut and blocked them out.
After tomorrow they'd either be dead or bowing at her feet.
"Good morning Drakie," Pansy Parkinson simpered as she threw herself into Draco's path, grabbing his arm.
For once, he didn't throw her across the room. Instead he gave a winning smile, "sure is", sending a wink to Theodore Nott. His father was a high ranking Death Eater, though not as high as his own, and Theo was one of the only other people who knew about the attack tonight. He didn't know about Hermione of course, no-one did except the other residents of Malfoy Manor. Theo probably thought he was enjoying the attention he received from every girl in their house.
From the couch, his mischievous friend leered back, taking his girlfriend Daphne's arm in an uncharacteristicly gentleman-like fashion before suggesting to the other two with the casualness of any starving schoolboy being held up by his friends on any normal day, "breakfast?"
Drumming her pencil on the desk, Hermione's eyes were fixated on the clock. She'd never been this unfocused in a class before, but today was dragging on.
Her dorm-mates continued to snicker at her and mockingly call out for their own "mummies" in high pitched despairing tones whenever they saw her.
At breakfast Ron had tried to kiss her in front of the whole school and she'd had to awkwardly manoeuvre away and whisper lustily "later", a time which would thankfully never come. That had satisfied him and his cheeks had gone beetroot with the anticipation as he kept his arm tight around her the whole time she was struggling to eat. Harry kept casting his best friend not so discrete winks and lewd grins, and when she finally managed to make her escape she heard them high five behind her.
Outside Arithmancy a bunch of fourth year Slytherins jogged up to her and started purring, calling her an "easy lioness" and asking if they could have a turn with her in the "den". Deep breaths. Only a few more hours to keep up this false malleable identity.
Dumbledore smiled genially at the unexpected visitor to his office. Pius Thicknesse had been a rather unremarkable man ever since the Hogwarts Headmaster has known him, and his obscure appointment to the highest position in the country had come out of nowhere, as had his antecedent's demise. Dumbledore had never particularly liked Fudge, who refused to entertain his ideas that Voldemort could still be out there somewhere, but his time in office had been peaceful enough. It had been cut short with an unexpected resignation and his consequent absolute disappearance from society. So yes, Dumbledore was suspicious of his successor.
"I have received," Thicknesse drawled, turning a snow globe from the desk over in his hands. "As I'm sure have you, many letters from concerned parents." Dumbledore nodded. The death of Ginny Weasley had been a huge news story; a chance for his enemies to try to sink their teeth into him. He'd tried to cover up the later incident with Mr Zabini for as long as possible to shield his reputation but news had eventually gotten out. Media outlets, angry Pure-blooded parent, competitive Ministry officials, they'd all been calling for his head. "This has happened under your governance," the man spoke with an increasing amount of vehemence. "You have put children at risk and continue to do so. And you shall be held responsible. I want you out."
Nodding again, Dumbledore got to his feet, walking over to his pet Phoenix Fawkes. "I'm sure you do Pius," the other man was watching him with burning eyes. "But I don't want to leave." He turned back to the minister with a defiant smile on his face. "I will remain at Hogwarts until such a time as I am dragged out on my hands and knees."
"That can be arranged," Thicknesse spat out automatically as he slammed the snow globe back down on the desk and stood up, a long bony finger of justice pointed at the Headmaster. "The reckoning will come, Dumbledore, sooner than you could imagine."
He stormed out of the office and the showy smile fell from Dumbledore's lips, a wary expression replacing it instead.
With a disappointed sigh, Voldemort dismissed his puppet minister over the fireplace, telling him to go detain the Headmaster anyway. The task he'd given Thicknesse was a simple one; remove Dumbledore. No matter, his plans were still shaping up, it just would have been so much easier with the loony old bat out of the way and isolated. Deciding to proceed, Voldemort called for Lucius. His closest friend had also been his confidant and closest conspirator. The Malfoy patriarch could actually get things done. "Call my followers," he told him. "It's time to prepare them." Lucius nodded and rolling up his sleeve, pressed his Dark Mark.
Voldemort watched from a dark corner of the room as his servants materialised with a disappointingly slow reaction time. Only the ever-loyal inner circle had known of his arrival. This was going to be painful for the rest of them.
"What are we doing here Lucius?" Asked Karakoff dismissively.
With a relaxed stride, Voldemort showed himself, to a stunned silence. The Death Eaters fell to their knees with their faces hidden in shame and he scoffed. "My 'friends'," he greeted, genially enough. "As you can see, I have returned in the flesh. And you!" He raised his voice, gesturing to them as he threw out an all-encompassing arm. "I hear you have not been loyal." They shrunk further down to the ground. His voice lower now, dangerously quiet, he read out their crimes. "You witnessed my power first hand, yet once you heard of my downfall you immediately flung yourselves at the Order's feet." With slow steps, he walked around the circle, surveying them. "You claimed to have been Imperiused to scramble like fleas out of your chains. You abandoned our mission to hide in plain sight." He tutted and in the silence it sounded like the ringing of judgement day bells. "Crucio."
Screams pierced the air. He watched emotionlessly until he'd decided that would suffice for now. Things to do...
"Thankfully for you all," he smiled, a benevolent dictator. "I have a way for you to make it up to me."
After the longest day of her life, Hermione finally found herself back in the Great Hall for dinner. Dumbledore was noticeably absent. Digging into her steak pie with vigour, she smiled.
They made it from the Manor to Borgin and Burke's to the Hogwarts Room Of Requirement without a hitch. "Seal the Great Hall," he ordered to a couple of Death Eaters, gesturing several others to follow him and telling Lucius to wait for the remaining ones to come through the cabinet so he could instruct them. With purposeful movements, he made his way to Dumbledore's office, seeing Thicknesse appearing out of it. The Minister nodded and disappeared around the corner, Voldemort slipping through the door he'd left open and instructing his friends to wait. "Expelliarmus," he called as he entered the room, Dumbledore's wand flew across the room.
The old man turned towards him, unsuccessfully trying to school his shocked expression into one of resignation. "Tom," he greeted as though they were familiars. Voldemort narrowed his beady red eyes, his wand pointed and ready. He licked his lips. He was going to savour this moment. "Tom," Dumbledore seemed more worried now, as he should be. He had nowhere to go.
"I debated torturing you in the dungeons for a while," he said with a sigh. "It seemed more fitting than a quick death. But sometimes practicality must come before revenge." He seemed to have surprised the Headmaster. He wouldn't have expected him to put anything before revenge. "You are too much of a risk alive... AVADA KEDAVRA!" Unadulterated joy coated his features as he watched his nemesis slip to the floor not as a powerful, fighting wizard but as a frail, defenceless old man. After checking the pulse to be sure, he kicked the body to the side and picked up the most powerful wand in the world, turning it over in his hands with a triumphant leer as he fingered the carvings.
The teachers were visibly beginning to worry about Dumbledore's absence when the doors to the Great Hall flew open and Hermione had to school her features into shock, yanking down the edges of an almost uncontrollable grin. "Good evening Hogwarts staff and students!" Her father called out, his Death Eaters fanned out behind him covering the room as he stopped by the door, turning to face them all. Dumbledore's secrecy had been his downfall; it was clear from the terror-struck, haunted expressions on their faces that none of the teachers had been privy to his suspicion's of the Dark Lord's return. "I bring excellent news! Your lord and saviour Albus Dumbledore," with a grin of horrifying delight he cried out "is DEAD!" Gasps and outraged shouts of dissent filled the air, but her father just made a hand gesture, and two Death Eaters who looked a lot like Crabbe and Goyle carried in the limp body, chucking it to the ground with deatched abandonment. Opposite her, she saw Harry's eyes light up with fury and felt Ron reach for her hand under the table but she shifted away, making sure to make it seem as though she were just petrified and not disgusted. "So now I ask, who will join me and enjoy my protection?" he surveyed the room, holding out a welcoming arm that extended the elder wand of Dumbledore's that she had read about, the mightiest wand in the world. "And who will die?"
The offer hung in the air for barely a moment before Harry got to his feet and shouted at Voldemort "we remain united in his memory!" To the cheers of his housemates, although the rest of the hall remained silent.
Voldemort smirked knowingly, which seemed to stagger Harry a little, but that was nothing compared to his abject horror as she stood and slowly walked over to join the Death Eaters, ignoring Ron's shocked hand that reached out to half-heartedly stop her. "You would all be wise to take my father's offer," she called, revelling in the chaos as eyes widened and her stunned audience took in the revelation.
"But- but-" Ron stuttered.
"Silencio!" She pointed her wand at him, sighing with relief as he finally fell silent. "Much better..." Harry fixed her with a glare, which was a change from the gobsmacked expression he'd been employing beforehand.
"What are you talking about?" Her faux twin begged, a final attempt. "We're your family Hermione! I'm your brother!"
She chuckled, pushing back his hair in the way you might pet a puppy. "You're my family in no sense of the word; biological, or otherwise." She had the full attention of everyone in the room, and she planned to monopolise on it. "Remember when you tried to take away my free will by giving your best friend, who'd already kissed me against my will, a love potion to make me fall in love with him?" Everyone was shocked by the accusation, which was only proven by the ashamed looks on Harry and Ron's faces. She heard her father and Draco both simultaneously begin to cast the cruciatus curse and stopped them with a hand gesture. "There'll be time for that later." It was a promise to them, to the offenders, and to herself. Now though, she had a speech to make. Returning to her father's side, she looked out at all of the tables. "This past year has flipped everything I thought I knew on its head. I've learned that those who you'd never have suspected have the darkest secrets of all; that those who seem evil and villainous can sometimes be... right." She squeezed her father's hand. "Albus Dumbledore and the other members of the Order killed my mother in cold blood and then kidnapped me from my crib and kept me from my family." Even Dumbledore's staunchest supporters up at the teachers' table were watching her intently. "Everyone has darkness in them, but some people are deceptive about it, they make themselves out to be heroes when they're truly thieves. It's because of this that I ask you to consider joining not the Dark side, but the winning one."
Draco led the way, his friends with him. Seething and growling, the Gryffindors watched as a majority of the table at the far end of the hall cleared, but it wasn't just them. Jarred by her story, a large amount of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs joined as well. The teachers watched in helpless silence as the Gryffindors remained the only steadfast supporters of the Light- and then their rank broke. A young girl edged forwards to stand with Hermione, whispering how sorry she was for what had happened to her, clasping her hand. Hermione smiled down at her. Another hand grasped her other one, but it wasn't Draco. Turning her head, she saw Pansy Parkinson. The other girl sort of shrugged at the question in Hermione's eyes. "Nice speech Po-Riddle?"
With a wink to her father, Hermione confirmed it. "Hermione Adele Riddle."
Happy new year!
