A/N:

George: Uh, hullo there readers. My lovely girl is worried that you guys will hang her for being absent from Fanfiction so long, so she sent me.

Fred: And me. Now, in her defense, she's been crazy busy-

George: Not to mention she's working on a MASTERPIECE FANFICTION-

Fred: THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND-

GeorgeWeasleysgirl: YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM THAT! I WILL KILL YOU!

Fred and George: YIKES! *exits*

GeorgeWeasleysgirl: Heh heh…Hey…Here's my story please don't kill me for my absence!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

(Leilani's POV)

The day after my sixteenth birthday party found me in one of our four libraries, sitting next to my brother. "Did you figure out what was wrong with Mum?" I asked.

"I believe we can find out, but we're going to have to work together," Zosimos said. He raised his tall form from the seat and began pacing slowly in front of the table. As my brother continued to talk, I tried to get my thick hair to create a messy bun by means of a small little hair tie. "First, let's go over the facts. One: yesterday morning, Mum seemed fine. Two: By yesterday evening, something had changed. We have to find out what caused the change."

I rolled my eyes and let my hair down. "Zosi, you over-examine everything."

Zosimos didn't hear me; he continued on. "At the beginning of the party, she seemed fine to me. Did she seem alright to you?"

"Yes," I said, annoyance creeping into my voice. I grabbed at my hair again. "We know that the change happened right after…" I paused, thinking, then continued, "It was right after we tortured that boy with blue hair. Todd-whatever-his-name-is." I managed to pull my hair into a messy bun and was finally content to leave it alone.

"That's it, then," Zosimos said, a frown on his face. "Todd Loop had something to do with Mum's change."

"I suppose that could be possible," I said.

"Alright, here's what we can do. I'll go talk to this guy down in the dungeons." Zosimos nodded to himself, pleased with his plan. He ran a hand through his curly dark hair and then looked at me appraisingly.

"What?" I asked.

"Do you think you could get Father to talk about what happened to Mum?"

I shrugged. "I don't know; he won't tell me anything he doesn't want me to know."

Zosimos nodded. "Alright, but I think you might have a better chance than I would, being Daddy's princess." Zosimos smirked at me and I rolled my eyes with a smile.

"I'll give it a go," I said, standing from the table.

"And I'll go talk to Todd-Whoever."

My brother and I make a good team; when we set our minds to something, we get it done. I walked down the stairs in search of my father, and almost tripped over his gigantic snake. "Nagini!" I hissed. The snake hissed back at me haughtily. We did not get along well at all. "Take me to my father," I commanded. Even though I spoke in English, Nagini obeyed, for I employed my animal connection powers. It was a weird feeling to control an animal; it was a little different than the imperious curse on humans. It was lighter, and less stable. When I was controlling Nagini, I could hear her thoughts, her voice, and I could find myself subject to her will instead of mine if I wasn't careful. However, I had been at this for my whole life, and so only the most strongest and defiant of animals (which were hard to come by) would give me a problem.

Nagini slid up to my father's office, and I released her. She hissed arrogantly and slid away. As I stood before the door, I composed myself. If I wanted information from Father, I had to really get on his good side. Not that I wasn't usually, but I wasn't sure how keen he would be on sharing this information with me. I knocked lightly on the oak door.

"Come in," came my father's cold voice.

When I entered, he was putting away a torn book onto a shelf. I glanced at it curiously, but then regained my focus. "Lani, my dear, what is it?" Father smiled warmly at me. Well, then again, Father never smiled warmly. I suppose he just smiled a little less coldly than usual. I sat down in front of his desk.

"I wanted to thank you again for my Sparky," I said, smiling angelically.

Father smirked as he sat behind his desk. "Sparky? What a…creative name."

I laughed lightly. "Well, I thought it was better than 'Peggy' seeing as he's a boy." Father chuckled. "Was I interrupting you?" I asked, gesturing to the bookshelf.

"No, no," Father said, glancing over at the ripped book. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before looking back at me. "I've actually been meaning to talk with you."

"Oh?" I asked, crossing my legs.

Father nodded. "It's about that Zabini boy you were dancing with last night." I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to protest, but Father held his hand up. "Do you deny that you were dancing with him and that he held you rather close?"

"No," I said. "However, it was just innocent dancing. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Innocent? Maybe you were being innocent, but that boy was not." I knew better not to interrupt my father when he lectured me about boys, so I leaned my chin onto my hand and pretended to listen as he droned on. "His hands were much too low, and you were much too close to him. He obviously had ulterior motives. He will not be allowed over again to see you. If he touches you again- Well, I won't let him. And you're not to see him again, do you hear me, Leilani?"

"Yes, Father," I said. "I apologize."

"Good," he said, calming down a bit. After a few minutes, I spoke again.

"Mum doesn't…seem like herself lately…" I said quietly, looking up at my father through my lashes. He turned his gaze to me but stayed silent. "I don't understand what's going on with her…" There was still no answer, save for the unswerving stare of my father's blood red eyes. Compelled to speak again, I said, "Is she sick?"

"What do you mean?" Father asked.

I pushed a few strands of dark hair that had come out of my bun behind my ear. "Well, she seems awfully quiet, and sad. I was just worried about her. And it was so sudden, too. It happened last night, and she still doesn't seem herself this morning. I thought maybe something had happened-"

"Lani." I fell silent at his voice. His mouth was set in a tight line. "Your mother is fine. And what goes on between me and her is something you had best leave alone. You have an insatiable curiosity, and I both admire and dislike it."

I put my hands in my lap and stared at them. "I'm sorry Father," I said.

"Go on now, get Sparky some exercise." I looked up to see my father was wearing the smallest of smiles. I recognized the dismissal and stood from the chair. I kissed my father's cheek tenderly, and then left the room. As I closed the door, he was standing at his bookshelf again.

(Zosimos POV)

My footsteps echoed in the cold, dark hallway as I looked for the right cell. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of blue hair. I unlocked the cell door and entered. The teen looked up at me, with fear and defiance in his eyes. I slowly walked toward him. His fear won over and he backed against the wall, his chains still supporting most of his weight. I stared at him, pondering why this boy could be the answer to my mother's current attitude. The boy was ragged looking, with cuts on his face and dirt all over his body. He looked about my age, maybe even older. Why would this blue-haired boy have such an effect on my mother?

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Teddy Lupin," he said. His voice was weak, but it held a strange sort of tone that seemed to show he still had his inner strength.

"Do you have any connection to my mother?"

Lupin's face crinkled in confusion. "Hermione Granger?"

Now I was confused. "You knew my mother before she was Hermione Riddle? How old are you?"

"Seventeen," Lupin said. "I didn't know your mother, but I knew of her."

"How?" I asked.

Lupin shrugged and I narrowed my eyes. "Answer me, Lupin." He said nothing, staring me straight in the eyes. We had a stare off before I lost my patience and flicked my wand. Lupin screamed, writhing against his chains. I was slightly amused by the way his hair changed from blue to red to pink to brown and then back again. I kept the curse going for longer than was necessary so that when I finished, Lupin could barely support his own weight. "Answer me."

"I was told that my parents knew her," Lupin said, his voice hoarse and even weaker than before.

"And who are your parents?" Lupin hesitated a moment too long and then he was screaming again. My lips curled up in a small smile and then I released him. His hair was now purple.

"Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin," he breathed. I had to strain my ears to hear him.

"Well, it was quite nice chatting with you," I said, a smirk on my lips, "but I really must be going." With that, I ducked out of the cell and went to do some research on Lupin's family.

(Leilani's POV)

I did as I was told and went outside to see Sparky. Our half-blood stable boy was grooming him. "Farm boy," I called out. The blonde boy ducked his head and feebly asked what I wanted. "I want to take my Pegasus out for a ride."

The boy nodded and immediately reached for a saddle, but I shook my head. He nodded and whispered, "As you wish."

"Come on, Sparky," I cooed, leading him out of the cell. When we were at last out of the stable, Sparky stretched his wings. I hate those stalls. Can't you get me a larger one? I can barely stretch my wings! I loved being able to talk to animals through their mind.

I laughed and spoke through my mind back to him. I'll see what I can do. Let's go for a flight, it'll make your wings feel better.

Sparky snorted and let me climb onto her back. Immediately, we took off and I closed my eyes and sighed. I loved the feeling of the wind in my face. Recklessly, I lifted my hands off of Sparky's back and embraced the sky with wide arms. I gave a scream of delight. After a while, though, it began to get cold so high up, and I motioned for Sparky to land. That was fun.

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Sparky spoke.

I patted him on the head. Now stay out here for a while- I saw a flash of light out of the corner of my eye, and then everything went black.

(Zosimos POV)

I sat down, groaning, a huge pile of books surrounding me. It was hopeless. I had searched all of the four libraries in the Mansion. Apparently Dad had ensured that all the history and lineage books from before his reign were destroyed. I didn't know where else to look. Then again…Dad had his own personal library in his office. Perhaps I could find what I needed there. I picked myself up off of the floor just in time to hear my mother scream, "ZOSIMOS! COME QUICK!" The desperate, scared tone caused me to bolt down the stairs. My sister was lying on the couch, unconscious. Her skin was freakishly pale, and I noticed blood trailing from her hands. My mother was trying to stem the blood flow, and I wondered what curse this had been. It was obvious it was dark magic though, looking at how Lani was reacting to it. She seemed still as stone.

"What happened?" I asked, kneeling beside my sister.

"I don't know," my mother looked close to hysterics. "Frank, the stable hand, said he found her out in the field when her Pegasus led him to her. Do you recognize the spell? I'm no good with Dark Magic curses."

I looked Leilani over, trying to see where she was bleeding. Under the fingernails. That was disgusting, but obviously a Marking Curse. The blood from her nails began to flow onto her fingers, twisting in a message that the caster of the spell would have wanted us to see. I knew the message would leave a scar if I didn't act quickly. "Stay back, Mother," I ordered, waving my wand over Lani's body. I murmured a soft incantation, almost like a song, and delicately waved it over the blood. The tendrils of deep red danced hypnotically to my tune and slowly left my sister's skin. I repeated the incantation until almost all the blood was gone. However, there was still a faded message on her palms, reading 'Give us back what was ours'. "It won't scar," I said softly to my mother. Now that I had taken care of Lani, anger began to overwhelm me. Who had dared to hurt her? I would kill him. Literally.

She was just staring at the message. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," I said, my fist clenching of its own accord.

Just then, my father entered the room. He took one look at us, and strode over to Leilani. Mum explained what happened to him, and he examined the message on Lani's palms. My father turned to me. "You did well in stopping that curse, son." I thanked him and then he turned to Mum. "Stay by Leilani; she might need comfort from the effects of the curse. I'm going to hunt down the person who shot that curse." In a flourish, my father stormed from the room. My mother and I glanced at each other, and then Lani stirred. Her skin was still pale, but she didn't look as bad as before.

Her eyelids fluttered and then she tensed. "Shh, Lani, it's alright," Mum said, stroking her arm.

"What h-happened?" Leilani asked, looking around. "I went for a ride, and then there was a light, and…"

"You got hit with a spell," Mum soothed. "But everything's alright now. Your brother reversed the curse and you're going to be alright."

My sister turned to me with questioning eyes. "It was a Marking Curse. We don't know who cast it or what him or her meant by it."

Lani instinctively looked at her palms and repeated the phrase to herself. "I don't understand," she muttered.

"Just rest," Mum said, stroking Lani's hair. She nodded and hesitantly leaned back on the couch. I stood, and walked toward the door. "Where are you going?"

I turned back, knowing full well my eyes were flashing red. "No one hurts my sister and gets away with it." Mum called after me, but I ignored her, storming out of the house.

(Hermione POV)

My husband and my son had not come back yet, even as I watched the afternoon turn to dusk and then into night. Leilani was asleep, but every now and then she would awaken, trembling. I put a calming spell on her, but was afraid to give her a sleepless dream potion in case the dark magic in her somehow got into it. Tenderly, I pushed her dark hair out of her eyes, and sat back in a large armchair. She seemed calm for now, and I was left to the thoughts in my mind.

This event had woken me from the emptiness I had felt. I was still Voldemort's, but once again I could feel. I cared for my children, and my neglected mind began whirring, looking for clues as to who could have cast the curse on my daughter. It was someone who knew Dark Magic, I knew that much. It definitely wasn't any of the muggles in the vicinity, but there were only a few people of magical ability around.

Leilani stirred, but when I looked, she had just moved to lie on her side. Her hands pillowed her cheek and I wondered about the message itself. 'Give us back what was ours.' What had me, Leilani, Zosimos, or my husband have taken? And from whom? The light? But that was impossible; I had been told that all people from the light side were dead. Maybe it was an enemy of my husband; a death eater turned against him. Maybe my husband had killed someone's relative. That was more than likely, but I had no evidence. I sighed, frustrated. This wasn't even something I could look up in the library and come back with an answer.

Slowly, with my gaze on my daughter, my eyelids began drooping. Before I knew it, sleep had embraced me and also given me a dream.

"Hermione."

There was white everywhere, in a consistency that looked like clouds. I didn't know how I was standing, but I was. As I looked around for the voice, I saw jet black hair and a pair of emerald eyes. "Oh, Harry," I breathed, moving closer to him.

"Why did you give up?" he asked, a sadness playing in his eyes. I noticed he wasn't wearing his glasses, and he wore white robes. "Why?" he asked again.

"He took everything from me, Harry. You, Ron, Ginny, Luna, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Viktor, Teddy, everyone! How could I not give up?" I lowered my gaze to his chest, but he tilted my chin up to look into my eyes. When he spoke, his voice was strong yet gentle.

"You've been strong. Stronger than me, or Ron, or anyone. I need you to continue to be strong, if not for me or Ron, for your children. I don't think they're completely lost yet."

I shook my head, tears in my eyes. "They're his, and so am I."

"Hermione," he said. His voice was filled with a broken tenderness that tore me apart.

"I can't, Harry. You're right, I've been strong. But I can't do it anymore. Everyone's strength runs out sometimes. I've held on for the past seventeen years, hoping something would change, and it hasn't. If fate waited until now to use me, it's too late. I can't do it. I can't." I felt Harry's arms around me and cried silently into him.

"I know, Hermione, I know. It's unfair. I wish it didn't have to be you."

Then, the arms were pulling back, wind was whooshing in my ear, and the clouds were pulling away as if sucked into a vacuum.

I sat up straight and blinked in the darkness. I took a moment to remember where I was, and then rushed forward to check on Leilani. She was tossing and turning uncomfortably. It looked like she was having nightmares so I placed another calming spell and watched as she slowly relaxed. I sat back and pondered my dream.

"I'm sorry, Harry," I whispered, "I can't do it anymore."