Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot
A/N Well here is Chapter 2 Please please leave a review even if it's some constructive criticism! Whelp hope you all enjoy!
Deafening silence filled the ballroom; Hermione unable to process what was just said. Her mind had gone completely blank. All she could do was stare at the man before her. She jumped slightly as high pitched laughter filled the room, echoing off the walls. The Death Eaters in the room joined in rather nervously. Voldemort suddenly stopped and the room fell silent once more.
"Yes, Hermione. You are indeed my daughter. Did you really think that a mudblood could possess the raw power that you so obviously emanate?" He paused to see if she would reply but she was still in a state of shock.
"Leave us." His voice was quiet but firm. Bellatrix looked like she might protest but thought better of it and turned on her heel and followed the rest of the inner circle out of the room.
Hermione twitched when she heard the doors close behind them. She was now completely alone with Lord Voldemort.
"Stand."
Hermione obeyed instantly. She would not risk disobeying him while unarmed. She slowly and painfully got to her feet and attempted to stand tall. Her head was still pounding from her impact with the staircase and she felt very dizzy, causing her to sway slightly on her feet. Suddenly he was upon her; his eyes wild with fury.
"Who hurt you?!" He demanded.
Hermione was taken aback both by his proximity and the question. She stumbled back a few steps before slowly replying.
"Dolohov."
Voldemort looked thoughtful for a moment. "He shall be punished."
The tone of his voice was deadly and soft at the same time. In that moment Hermione was more afraid than she had been in her entire life. She could feel the rage flowing off him in waves. She was rooted to the spot as he began to pace.
She watched him for a moment before his previous words resurfaced in her mind. He had called her daughter but that simply could not be true. It had to have been some kind of mistake. They had her mixed up with someone else. She was Hermione Granger, daughter of Jean and William Granger, muggleborn and best friend of Harry Potter. There was no feasible way that she could be related to this monster. She had to find a way out of here.
As if he was reading her thoughts, Voldemort was suddenly facing her again.
"There is no way to escape daughter so you would do well to take that thought out of your mind." Hermione looked down to her feet when he spoke, she couldn't look at him anymore it was too terrifying.
"I am not your daughter. I am Hermione Granger." She grit her teeth as the words came out. Anger started bubbling up again and she was starting to gain her courage now that she wasn't caught in the blood-red gaze of the man before her.
"That is where you are wrong. You were taken from me when you were very young and I have taken you back. You are Hermione Riddle, you are my heir."
"NO!" Hermione, without thinking, attempted to run to the double door. In the back of her mind she knew it wouldn't work but all she wanted was to get away from him. When she reached them she pulled with all her might but the doors would not budge. She screamed in frustration and pounded her fists against the solid wood.
A hand grabbed her arm and spun her around so that she was once again face to face with her worst nightmare. His face was mere inches from her own.
"You are mine, and I will keep you."
Before she knew what she was doing she slapped him hard across the face. She the fury in his eyes as he brought up his hand struck her. She fell to the ground once again as he called for Bellatrix.
"Take her to her room." He ordered.
"Yes my lord." Bellatrix once again grabbed Hermione by the arm and hoisted her to her feet and led her out of the ballroom.
It had been three days since she had arrived and she hadn't left her room once since she had been in the ballroom. Her meals were brought in by house elves but she didn't eat. She simply had no appetite, today like every day since the ballroom day she was just staring out of her window lost in thought.
What had become of her parents? They were stunned the last she remembered but knowing the Death Eaters they were probably killed. She wept thinking of them, she wept for what she had had and what she had lost. Voldemort was not her father, of that she was sure. Her father was the man who softly kissed her scraped knees, who held her close when she would cry, the man who had always been there for her no matter what.
She knew her friends were not coming for her, they thought that she was on holiday that they would see her on the train. The Death Eaters had to have known this, their timing was too good for it to have been otherwise.
A knock came to her bedroom door but Hermione ignored it as she always did. Every now and again a knock would come to the door and either Lucius or Narcissa Malfoy would enter the room, most likely to make sure she was still alive.
She heard the door open but did not waver her gaze. She watched as a small bird flew around the garden. Oh how she wished to be that bird free to come and go as it pleased. She sighed inwardly she had cried all her tears and had no more to shed but her heart still ached with grief and loneliness.
She then realized that she had never heard the door close again, whoever it was, was still in the room with her. Slowly turning around she saw that Bellatrix was there leaning against the door frame arms crossed and a scowl on her face.
"You cannot just sit in here and let yourself waste away you know." She walked past Hermione shoving a plate into her hands and then sat on the window sill still facing the confused girl. "Eat."
Hermione looked down at the food on the plate and placed it on the small desk in the corner of the room. "I'm not hungry." She sat down on her bed looking pointedly away from Bellatrix.
"Well I am not leaving until I see you finish what is on that plate so I suggest you start."
Hermione remained unmoving. She just wanted to be left alone was that too much to ask? She heard Bellatrix sigh and stand crossing to the desk and picked up the plate of food. She then set the plate on the bed next to her along with a small leather bound book and left the room.
When she heard the door close Hermione's eyes wandered over to the small book. She ran her fingers across the smooth leather before lightly picking up the book and opening it to the first page. Her breath caught as looked upon an old photograph. A young woman with blonde curly hair and honey eyes held a small baby with matching eyes and curls only the baby's curls were a sandy brown. The woman was smiling and waving as the child pulled on her mother's curls to watch them bounce. Below the picture written in an elegant script were the words; Mira and Hermione Riddle– France - January 1980
Hermione stared in shock at the photograph. She knew this woman; this was the woman in her nightmares, the one who was killed trying to save a child, this child. Hermione wanted to snap the book shut but her fingers had a mind of their own. She turned the page and the next picture was almost as shocking. This one was slightly older and showed Bellatrix hugging the blonde woman, large grins spread across both of their faces. They were laughing and spinning around; they were wearing Hogwarts robes Bellatrix in Slytherin and Mira in Ravenclaw. Hermione recognized the lake they were standing by it was the lake at Hogwarts.
She turned the next page and there was a picture of a young man with light brown hair and crystal blue eyes, he was extremely handsome. Hermione knew instantly who this man was. This was Tom Riddle. He had his arm around the shoulders of Mira, she was smiling happily at the camera a small bundle in her arms and Tom was looking down at the babe with a look in his eyes that Hermione never would have thought possible from such a cruel man. He was looking at her with love; love and adoration as he smiled down at his child.
Hermione quickly closed the book and dropped it like it was burning her. So Voldemort had once known love. That much was evident but what had happened that had turned him so far from that young man in the photograph? Could that baby truly be herself?
No, they may share the same name but that child could not possibly be her. She was Hermione Granger, mudblood. Voldemort was mistaken, he just had to be.
Over the course of the next few days Bellatrix brought her meals and would stay until she was sure she had eaten and then leave again. No words were exchanged, they just sat there in silence until the plate had been cleared, and then Bellatrix would nod and leave the room, leaving Hermione to sit lost in her thoughts once again.
Hermione was certain now that she would never leave this place. But what she didn't understand was if Voldemort truly thought that she was his daughter why he would keep her locked away, why he had not bothered to even see her since their first encounter.
A knock came to her door, but knowing who it was Hermione stayed silent as she always did. Bellatrix entered the room with a plate of food, set it next to Hermione and sat at the desk just like always. Hermione gradually began to pick at her food but suddenly she felt the desire to ask a question.
"You knew her, this Mira right?" Hermione's voice was dry and soft from lack of use.
Bellatrix cocked her eyebrow at the question but eventually answered.
"Yes, we were very close." She paused for a moment and then added, "She loved you very much."
Hermione couldn't help herself as words began to flow from her mouth. "She was not my mother, I am not his daughter and I most definitely won't give him or anyone the satisfaction of giving to you murderers!"
"And this supposed light side is so much better is it? You want to know what happened to her, to your mother? She was killed by Sirius Black and you were snatched up by your best friend's father. Yes that's right. And I killed my beloved cousin to avenge her death. Think about that before you decide what side of this war you want to be on!" Bellatrix then stormed out of the room leaving Hermione seething and in tears once again.
Hermione flew into a fury and began destroying her room. She ripped down the curtains that hung around her bed and windows and threw the plate against the wall causing it to shatter. She was distraught that she didn't even notice someone slip into her room until a voice interrupted her.
"I think…daughter, it is time for us to have a talk."