A/N: I'm not making any money from this. This is J.K's world, I'm just playing in it.
The next morning, Narcissa and Draco went to look at Grimmauld Place while Alexandra got ready to meet the Grangers. They had replied the night before with a confirmation of the meeting and their address, so she was dressed in a white t-shirt, a skirt with pink roses on it and a baby pink blazer. She put her wand in a small grey purse and slipped on a pair of white wedge heels.
It was 10:50, so she hurried across to the library and selected a book on Occlumency for Hermione and then walked quickly down to her study to apparate out of the Manor. The street she landed on was in a nice neighbourhood, and she quickly located the Granger home as she strolled down the road- the tenth house she passed. It was detached with a white front door with steps leading up to it, and as she glanced up to the window, she caught sight of a mop of bushy hair. She smiled, recognising the hair as the mane belonging to Hermione.
Harry had told her all about his friend and truth be told she was quite excited to meet the girl who had been labelled after only two years at Hogwarts as 'the brightest witch of her age'. She must have made quite the impression on Harry seeing as he could practically wax lyrical about her, so Alexandra was eager to begin tutoring her. She had a line of fields which she felt the younger girl would be interested in, so the sooner that they began work, the better really.
Clutching the book, she made her way to the front door and knocked sharply on the front door, shifting her weight from side to side as she waited for someone to open the door. Only a minute or so after she had knocked, a small girl with warm chocolate eyes and curly brown hair threw open the door, grinning widely.
"Hermione, is it? Wonderful to meet you, Harry's told me lots about you." Said Alexandra, offering her hand to the girl who shook it eagerly with a firm grip.
"I'm very excited to meet you too, my Lady, I really enjoyed the book you sent me, it was very kind of you." replied Hermione and she opened the door wider so that Alexandra could enter. "Please come in, my parents are in the sitting room."
Alexandra grinned- she was impressed that Hermione had made her way through the book she had sent her the previous day, she could tell just from the way that Hermione shook her hand, spoke to her and looked at her, so she was very pleased with the etiquette she followed. Alexandra followed the girl through the open hallway and into a spacious sitting room with a modern feel, decorated with baby blues, creams and whites. Mr and Mrs Granger sat on a sofa talking quietly but both stood when she came in with their daughter.
Hermione had clearly taken after her mother in appearance- they both had the same, bushy hair although Mrs Granger's was more manageable and Emma was of a similar height to Alexandra where she could tell her daughter wouldn't be as tall. Hermione had inherited her eyes and smile from her father, who had blond hair and an athletic build and the hand shake he gave her was firm and confident. The vibe she was getting from them was promising and so she smiled warmly at them and greeted the two Muggles.
"Lady Potter-Black, it is an honour to meet you." said Dan, stepping back so that his wife could shake her hand and placing a hand on her shoulder protectively. Alexandra could tell that he didn't completely trust her- after all, they had never met her and she was a fully trained witch in a situation where they were defenceless.
"Please, call me Alexandra. There's no need for those formalities, Mr Granger." she replied, meeting his eyes and taking a seat on a blue armchair after being greeted by Hermione's mother.
"Then you must call us Dan and Emma," insisted the Muggle woman and Alexandra nodded quickly, before clearing her throat and glancing at Hermione, who was hanging onto her every word, having sat down on a grey ottoman on the opposite side of the room. Absently she noticed the amount of framed pictures of Hermione at various ages around the room and smiled inwardly.
"I'd like to clear a couple of things up quickly, if you don't mind. I have taken up the mantle of the Head of my family, the Potters, and a second family, the Blacks as I was the heir to both. These two Houses hold a great of power, wealth and influence, and as Harry is my Heir, I have claimed guardianship and he is now living with me. I'm not sure how much Hermione has told you about the First War…?" she trailed off, looking between the young girl and her parents, who were frowning.
"Not much, I'm afraid. We know that there was a racist man who was killing lots of people, until he tried to kill Harry but the curse rebounded and killed him instead. That's about it, actually." said Dan, sending his daughter an accusatory glare which faded quickly and he turned back to the witch, waiting for her to elaborate.
"That's right. Voldemort gathered followers and terrorised Britain, killing Muggles, Muggleborn and magical creatures such as centaurs or house-elves. Once he began searching for the Potters - Harry's parents and my cousins - I went into hiding in France. He murdered James and Lily, and would have succeeded in killing Harry if not for Lily's sacrifice. I think that she invoked ancient, illegal magic to protect her son, but either way, the killing curse rebounded and Voldemort's body was destroyed. Harry was hailed as the Saviour of the Wizarding World and became famous literally overnight. In their first year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore hid the Philosopher's Stone at the school- something that could bring Voldemort back to life- and Hermione, Ron and Harry were able to get through the traps set to keep out the Dark Lord. Voldemort was in fact possessing their Defence teacher.
"In their second year, Voldemort possessed a young girl through a diary and through her he reopened the Chamber of Secrets and released the Basilisk- a giant snake that can kill you if you look at it. Five students and a ghost were petrified, including your daughter but when Voldemort released it during his schooldays, a girl was killed. Harry killed the Basilisk a few weeks ago and destroyed the diary- saving the girl."
At the mention of their daughter being turned to stone, the Granger's expressions turned terrified and furious and Hermione shrank back in her seat as her parent's gaze fixed on her but Alexandra quickly jumped to her rescue.
"Please, you can reprimand Hermione later, I'd like to continue explaining things to you."
Dan and Emma nodded slowly and Hermione beamed at her, but the older witch just winked subtly at her and turned back to the Muggles.
"Dumbledore has committed many crimes against Harry and our family, not to mention ignoring the safety of the students for the past two years at least. I want to open up a third side to the war- one to oppose both Dumbledore and Voldemort. I want to remove Dumbledore from power, reform the Hogwarts curriculum and the Ministry and I want to get Harry ready to defeat Voldemort. I'm here to offer Hermione a chance to join that side, if you would like to." she finished, looking at the younger girl, who beamed.
"I want to join you! Mum, Dad, can I?" Hermione accepted eagerly, leaping off the armchair and standing next to her mother, who exchanged a glance with Dan and nodded.
"Draco Malfoy? Isn't he that awful boy who's been bullying you?" asked Dan, frowning.
"One of the conditions of Draco joining the training is that he stops all of that blood purist nonsense- he's already apologised to Harry and Neville and he's keen to turn over a new leaf. If he does insult Hermione at any point he will be severely reprimanded and punished. I will not stand for that sort of behaviour from anyone, let alone my Heir." Alexandra was quick to reassure the Grangers who looked less concerned but she could see a light frown on his forehead.
"As long as you swear that our little girl will be safe, we will give our permission." said Dan, reaching out and taking Hermione's hand and Alexandra smiled hesitantly.
"I cannot promise you that she will never be in danger, but I can swear that I will do my very best to protect her and keep her safe. I've been thinking about creating emergency Portkeys that we can wear- as soon as Harry and his friends have them I'll make some for the two of you. The safety of Harry and his friends is my first priority." she promised, and the Grangers nodded.
"Now, I'm training Harry, Neville and Draco at the Manor from 9 every morning until 3 in the afternoon, and Hermione's welcome to Floo over if she'd like to join us?" Alexandra asked, glancing over to Hermione, who nodded eagerly.
"That would be great, Alexandra, thank you." said Emma, smiling warmly at the witch who grinned back. "Hermione's been itching to use magic for the past week- it's a shame she can't practice at home, but there's not a lot we can do."
"At the Manor she can use magic all she wants without being reported- the Ministry will just assume that it's me, so no repercussions. Harry's actually being treated at St. Mungo's for a couple of small things, so lessons will restart in three days- on July 2. In the meantime, I'll send over a couple of books I think you might like, then I'll come and get you. If you'd like to, you could come with us and join us all for lunch? Harry would be happy to meet you, I'm sure. We'll have to Apparate, but I'll see if I can get the house open to the Floo Network if you'd like?"
Dan nodded and stood, the others following suit. "That'd be great, Alexandra. Thanks for the offer- now we don't have to worry about her being in the house by herself when we're out at work."
Alexandra grinned and shook hands with Dan and Emma again as they made their way to the front door. "That's no problem, Dan, Hermione's welcome to the Manor whenever she'd like."
"It was great to meet you, Alexandra. Thank you for everything!" said Emma and Dan nodded in agreement.
"It's no problem. See you in a couple of days!" replied Alexandra, heading down the steps and into the empty street, where she quickly found a sheltered spot in which to Disapparate.