Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs solely to the rightful author. I'm only playing with the characters.
AN: So this chapter is a lot longer than my normal chapters.
Hope you guys like it!
Chapter two
Later that day, Hermione is busy making diner for the evening. Harry has called the Order members for an emergency meeting and it has been arranged to take place this evening. He really wants to know what was going on, so Hermione is already preparing the food for the group of Order members who will stay for dinner.
Ginny enters the kitchen with slow steps. It takes Hermione a while to notice her and when she does, she wishes she hadn't. She sees the look on Ginny's face and knows she has found something. And that something is bound to bad.
"What did you find?" she asks, turning back to her task of kneading the dough. Ginny is idly playing with a wooden spoon. "It is not something good," she admits after a long silence.
Hermione gives a good punch at the dough and then answers. "I already figured that out."
With a loud clank, Ginny throws the wooden spoon back in the sink. "Ron was right," she says quickly,
"Your family was evil. I'm sorry, Hermione."
"Who were they?" Hermione asks calmly, making little punches into the dough and not looking up.
"They were in the highest rank with Voldemort," Ginny admits quietly.
Hermione gave the dough an unnecessarily hard punch.
"They were the most wanted persons by the Ministry and Voldemort's two most loyal servants. The article, which was hidden in the book, also mentions that they were best friends with the Malfoy family." Ginny pauses and watches Hermione closely before she goes on. The dough gets another unnecessary punch.
"I found a book that only goes on about the Naberrie family, again hidden behind other books. I thought to give it a try, it was how we found the other book after all, and I got lucky. So I skipped the beginning, because that started in 1452, and got to the last chapter where I found a family tree, which mentioned a Sophia but not a Hermione. I'm not sure if that is you, but somehow I think so because the tree ends after that. It also stated that your family doesn't exist anymore, nor does your family name."
The dough gets another punch. "What happened?" Hermione sounds too calm and Ginny grows a bit worried.
"There was an attack late one night. No one knows who did it and nobody ever really looked into it. It was only after they were dead that it was found out about their loyalty to Voldemort. In the book they mention that the parents were found but the little girl was missing. It could be that her body disappeared in the flames so nobody ever thought about you, that is if you are the 'Sophia' the book mentioned, surviving it. It was said to be impossible."
Ginny is still watching Hermione very closely, who has become very still and wasn't punching the dough anymore.
"So the house was destroyed and I was gone. That is, if I am Sophia." The name sounds too familiar to her and she can't help but shake the creepy feeling that there's of off of her. Hermione is now staring at the cupboard straight ahead of her without really seeing it.
Ginny just nods. "The house was burned down."
Hermione turns to the right and faces Ginny. "If the house was burned down, how could they have found my parents bodies? I wasn't to be found so I must be dead also. But you said my parents bodies were found… That just doesn't make sense." She puts a hand covered in flour on her hip, making a white spot on her jeans.
They are now both presuming that she is the girl Sophia. However, that leaves the question as to why Dumbledore didn't tell Hermione in the letters that her real name is Sophia, when he revealed everything else.
"The article said your parents' bodies were lying outside, where the flames couldn't touch them."
A glint of shock fills Hermione's bright blue eyes. "Is there anything left of the house?"
Ginny shakes her head no and puts a consoling hand on her friend's shoulder.
For a moment there is only silence but then Hermione shakes Ginny's hand off and turns around.
Ginny keeps a close eye on Hermione when she is searching the cabinets for something. She doesn't look well, Ginny thinks. It has been going on since before the letter arrived and she'd meant to ask
Hermione something about it. But then the letter had arrived and it slipped from Ginny's mind.
She looks paler than ever and her eyes are a darker blue than normal. Or so she thinks, because her own eyes have been a darker brown than normal in the past. It is almost that same color like when she had once gotten the flu and developed that really high fever. Ginny also notices that Hermione doesn't eat a lot nor had she slept much lately – that much is obvious due to the huge dark circles under her eyes. She needs to tell Ron this as soon as she gets a chance.
Ginny is brought out of her thoughts by Hermione, who has finally found what she has been looking for and is talking again to Ginny.
"You said they were best friends with the Malfoys. Was there anything more about that subject?" she asks. Ginny is stunned by her calmness. She has known the girl for years and knows how she is, but she had thought that there would be more reaction from the girl than only this.
"Just that the parents where friends for life and they spent a lot of time together. Your family was also friends with the Zabinis and Parkinsons, so it is in fact one of the highest families, and not really anything I didn't expect," she answers, still watching Hermione closely.
"Hmm," is Hermione's only answer, distracted. She is busy pushing little forms out of the cookie dough.
"There was one passage about a speculation," Ginny adds.
Hermione picks up the oven tray and walks to the oven. "And that was?" she asks, again not sounding concerned at all. Not sounding like she cares.
"It said that your mother had not even wanted a child, but that you where just an accident. So, she put you under the care of the Malfoy family as many times as she could. You were almost never home and your parents didn't really care, but they didn't want to show that to the world, so you had a beautiful room in your house, which you also had in the Malfoy manor, where you ultimately spent the most time."
Hermione finishes washing her hands and is staring pensively at the towel in her hands.
"So you're saying that I spent most of my childhood playing with the ferret?" She turns to Ginny, wide-eyed, not really believing what she is hearing.
Ginny is relieved that Hermione finally gets upset. It isn't normal to accept all of this like it is nothing.
It had taken Ginny a long time to even come down here and dare to tell her what she had found.
"And also with his friends," adds Ginny, taking a few steps closers to Hermione and wiping the white stain from earlier off her jeans.
Hermione turns, shocked, to Ginny and wrings the towel in her hands in every possible angle. "Crabbe and Goyle?"
Ginny laughs at that. "Goodness, no! His other friends, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson."
That doesn't seem to get Hermione to calm down. She looks more ill than before.
"Can you take care of the rest of the food, Ginny?"
Ginny takes Hermione by her arms and helps to steady her. She really isn't well and the further in the month they progressed, the more ill she got.
"Of course! But you must go lie down, Hermione!"
At that moment Ron enters and he is immediately worried. "What's wrong?" he asks to nobody in particular.
"Nothing. I'm just not feeling well," Hermione quietly assures Ron and she pushes Ginny's hands off her. "I'm going to lie down," she says, passing Ron, who just nods and walks out of the kitchen as well, going in a different direction. Ginny watches them go with mixed feelings. She is concerned for
Hermione, who is her best friend, and she thinks that Ron should care a lot more for her. After all, wasn't he her boyfriend?
XXX
Hermione still feels a little dizzy when she walks through the dark halls of Grimmauld Place that evening. She stumbles down the dark hall and down the stairs. Downstairs, she takes ahold of the staircase with one hand and places the other on her head. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she waits until the room stops spinning. Things only get worse for her and she really has no idea what is going on. When she had gone upstairs to rest she had immediately fallen asleep on the bed and hadn't woken up until 8:00 pm. The meeting had already finished and nobody had come to wake her up. She cursed the people in the house. The meeting would have been about her so she had really needed to be there, but instead they'd let her sleep. She wonders if anyone had even checked on her.
Ron probably had not. Lately he doesn't seem to care anymore. Not while they find more and more about who she really is and her appearance had changed. It was like, to Ron, she has changed into a whole different person. She is still the same! Even if he didn't look at her the same way.
Finally the world is steady, so Hermione pushes off the stairs and goes to the kitchen.
The room is crowded and noisy. The sound isn't kind to her ears and her head immediately starts to pound. She is starting to withdraw – though she is very hungry - when Ginny notices her.
"Hermione! You're awake. Come, sit here, I saved you some dinner." She is already busy taking the food put aside for her and warming it again with her wand.
The kitchen has gone silent and every face is looking at her when she crosses the kitchen to the seat next to Ginny. Ron is sitting on the other end, holding a close eye on her. The Order has heard from Harry that her appearance has changed because of the letter and that this is her natural appearance but they still look in shocked silence at her, making Hermione feel even more uneasy about her new look. After she sits everybody starts talking again and Hermione's head starts pounding again.
"You still don't look good. Should we get you to a nurse?"Ginny says quietly to Hermione.
Hermione swallows her food and shakes her head. "I'm fine, just need some more rest. It will just be the flu or something," she tries to convince Ginny, who wasn't buying it.
"You look nothing like when you had the flu. I know you, 'Mione, and I have been keeping an eye on you. You haven't been well for a time now and it isn't getting any better, it's just getting worse. You and I both know that. I will take you to a nurse tomorrow whether you like it or not. And I will not listen to any discussion. Is that understood, young lady?"Ginny is still speaking quietly but her tone is very convincing and Hermione is wise enough to just nod and finish eating her food. There is just no arguing with Ginny once she has made up her mind. And she really is the only one in this house who doesn't look at her differently since they had found out she is a Naberrie.
After she finishes her dinner, most of the people have gone home, so the kitchen was less crowded, which was a lot better for Hermione's head.
Only Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, Tonks, Arthur, Molly and Moody are left at the table. Lavender is also still there, which is a surprise, because since Hermione started dating Ron, Lavender had gone really jealous and started to avoid them as much as possible. She has been looking angrily at
Hermione, thinking that she has deliberately become that beautiful, but at the moment she notices how far Ron and Hermione are sitting from each other. She starts making moony eyes at Ron, who acts like he doesn't see anything.
With only this many people left, Hermione takes this as her cue to ask her question.
"So…" She waits till all eyes are on her. "What happened in the meeting?"
Lupin looks first to Moody, then to Arthur, before he starts talking.
"We have no idea why Voldemort is after you, Hermione. Even our spies at the Ministry can't say a word and we couldn't reach Snape, he is still on a mission in Hungary. But, of course, the main question is why your real picture came in the paper, or if they are even aware that the girl in the picture is Hermione Granger. Or Hermione Naberrie, like your name is apparently," adds Arthur, politely not to saying anything about her beauty.
Hermione feels her headache flaring up again, this another cause other than her mysterious illness contributing to it. "So what has been decided?" She doesn't yet want to mention that her name may not Hermione after all. She is glad Ginny doesn't say anything as well.
"You can't leave Grimmauld Place until we know more about the situation," says Moody, his magical eye swirling in its case.
"So I am a prisoner?" Hermione asks, astonished, to no one in particular, letting her eyes rest on Harry's.
For a moment nobody says anything and then something flashes in Harry's green globes, before he speaks up. "You will never be a prisoner here, Hermione. We're just worried and we have no idea what is going on. It could be dangerous to let you leave this place right now, at least until we know more." In a way Hermione is glad to see and hear Harry talk to her again like he used to. It seems like Harry is finally growing up, or has grown up in the time he has been avoiding Hermione.
Though she is glad Harry is speaking to her, Hermione is not about to give up. "Dangerous?" she asks, as if he has been joking. "Are you serious? We are in the middle of a war, of course things are dangerous, and I doubt I will be in more trouble now than I was before. After all, I'm a pureblood now, not a Mudblood anymore." She turns her nose up while saying it.
"I know things are dangerous and I know you can defend yourself, Hermione, but things are very strange for the moment and as Arthur said, we have no idea what's going on. Then there is the big question as to why you are in the paper, searched for more than me. Not that I'm envious, 'Mione."
Hermione wants to open her mouth and defend herself again but Harry's green eyes shimmer hard and she realizes arguing will be useless. She settles for a short nod, which elicits a smile from Harry.
"Well, if all is settled I think we'll go home now," Arthur Weasley says, turning to Molly. Other Order members nod also and one by one they get up from their chairs. Some leave using the Floo Network and others leave by apparating just outside the front door.
Hermione is staring at her teacup –which Ginny had placed there before leaving the kitchen herself, following Harry - when she hears the chair next to her scrape the floor. Looking up, she looks straight into Ron's blue eyes.
"Hi," he says simply, a tentative smile on his lips.
"Hi," Hermione says back. Ron has been acting strange since they had found out she is actually a pureblood, so she doesn't know what to expect now.
"For what it's worth, I think you look very beautiful," Ron says, stunning Hermione into silence.
As the silence stretches, he suddenly seems to realize what he has just said and stammers, "N-Not that you didn't look beautiful before - you were very beautiful - but you are now, too. I just wanted to help you feel a little better because things can't be easy for you. I can't even begin to think about how
I would react if I had to go through everything you have gone through."
He would have kept on, saying Merlin knows what, but Hermione stops him. "That's very sweet of you, Ron."
Silence takes over the two of them again. Hermione is staring at the teacup, both of her hands holding it, when Ron speaks again, surprising Hermione for the second time that day.
"Look, Hermione, I know I have been awful to you for the past week but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." His blue eyes are staring, intently and sorrowful, into her bright blue ones. For a moment she stares back and then a smile appears on her face.
"How can I possibly not forgive you when you look at me like that?" She lets go of her teacup and hugs him.
"I missed you," she mumbles in his shoulder.
It doesn't take long before Ron put his arms around her and hugs her back.
"I'm sorry," he says again. "I've been such an idiot, to think that you would change because you found out who you are. I acted like myself and didn't think, when I should've talked to you instead, and in the meantime you have been sick and still you're not feeling well. Oh 'Mione, I have been the lousiest boyfriends you could have imagined but still you have been patient, like you have always been. How could I possibly make it up to you now?"
Hermione leans back. Tears roll down her cheeks. "A kiss would help." She smiles through her tears.
Ron wipes them away with his thumb and then leans in and kisses his girlfriend, for the first time in a week.
XXX
At that same moment, hundreds of miles away, a boy screams in agony and clutches his heart. A second later he falls to the ground, not able to get up anymore. Severus Snape looks up, surprised, at his godson before he makes his way over to him.
He lays there, screaming in agony. The pain hasn't been this bad for a few weeks. He had hoped the pain wouldn't come back again. Surely it will not now, when they are on a mission.
It feels like there are a thousand knives piercing his heart. He is vaguely aware of his godfather looking worried at him, shaking him.
But there isn't any logical thought at the moment. Just pain. Only pain. And he knows exactly the reason for the pain. His mate, who he can't live without, is kissing someone else.
The pain stops, suddenly. The only thing Draco Malfoy can do is lay there, breathing, enjoying the loss of pain and the ability to think again.
"I need to take you home," his godfather says strongly, with an worried undertone.
Draco nods his head.
AN 2: The chapter has again been corrected by my wonderful Beta the lovely Sarah Liz B.