I am in the process of going over each of my stories to rewrite and edit them. I will repost them when I am done.

Thank you for reading. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

Past

Evelyn had fallen ill. It started with a fatigue to light headiness and then she became bedridden. She was barely conscious. Healers assured Calista and Abraxes that she was only suffering a fever that would pass soon. She would be back to her full health in no time. Calista and Abraxes were reluctant to leave her in this condition but they had to finish their last year in Hogwarts. They said their goodbyes to Evelyn and the rest of their family before departing.

In the night, Brutus entered Evelyn's bedroom in secret and quietly shut the door. He went to her and took out a vial with liquid in it. He removed the cork and poured the liquid into Evelyn's mouth.

"I'm sorry, Evelyn. I didn't mean to get you involved." Brutus whispered to her.

"Don't you think it's too late?"

Brutus's body went stiff at the sound of Septimus' voice. He hid the vial in his pocket and turned around to face his father. He pretended like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Father, come to visit Evelyn too?"

"Yes, I have come to look over the symptoms Evelyn is experiencing."

"It is a common cold. She will get better soon."

"I am certain she will when you finish giving her the antidote."

He played dumb. "What are you talking about, father?"

"She needs the antidote from your poison. I suspected something was odd when I started feeling unwell. I believed someone might be poisoning me. I tested this theory by giving the food prepared for me sent to Evelyn to eat. From the looks of her condition, I see now that I was correct. You are poisoning me."

Elizabeth, who was listening from the other side of the door, pushed it open and confessed, "It was me! Brutus has nothing to do with it!" She put herself between the two men. "It was me!"

"No, mother. Stay out of this. I did it." He pointed at this father. "This is your fault! You drove me to this! You never pay attention to me! You only love Abraxes! Why? I am your son too!"

Septimus showed no emotion to his accusations. His piercing gaze went over to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, care to explain to your son?"

Brutus turned to his mother.

Elizabeth pressed her lips tightly together and shook her head.

"Mother, what is he talking about?" When she refused to speak, he turned back to his father. "Tell me!"

Septimus answered for her. "You are not my son."

Brutus' world came crashing down on him. His entire life, he believed he was a Malfoy. He took pride in it, indulged in the wealth, power, and privilege that came with having that name. How could it be that the name did not belong to him?

"I and your mother were engaged to be married. Days before our wedding she disappeared. This act dissolved our engagement, the promise our fathers made. Her father refused to accept it. He managed to produce her and pushed for the wedding. But how could I agree? What man would want a woman who ran off with another? Especially, one who was already carrying?"

"Who is my father?"

Elizabeth kept silent. He turned back to man who he thought was his father.

"I have no knowledge." said Septimus, cold as ever. "You and your mother have many things to discuss. I suggest do it in another room. You have bothered Evelyn enough."

"I am not going anywhere until I know the truth."

Septimus' gaze went to Elizabeth and she knew he wanted her to take Brutus out of the room.

Elizabeth took her son's arm. "I will tell you everything but not here. Let's go to my room."

Brutus reluctantly followed her as she led him out, leaving Septimus alone with Evelyn. Lately, Septimus had been feeling unwell. He had always been in perfect health that was why for him to suddenly become ill made him suspicious. Evelyn's arrival was perfect timing. He had all of the food prepared for him sent to her. As days went by, he noted that he was feeling a lot better while she was falling ill. He ordered his two most trusted house elves to observe her every move and report her symptoms to him. By the looks of her condition, it was clear that someone was deliberately poisoning him. He had the remaining food tested and it confirmed what he already knew. It was only a matter of time before he also figured out who was poisoning him. Evelyn ate little food, which saved her, but she still needed the antidote to get rid of the rest of the poison inside of her body.

Present

The color white was the first thing Hermione saw when she woke up. Her head ached from blasts of memories. She remembered everything, from before the accident, what occurred in-between, and after. She clutched her head, curling into a ball. She shut her eyes and clenched her teeth to wait for her brain to finish processing the new information.

"Evelyn! Evelyn!" shouted a male voice.

Hermione threw her hands down and rolled to her side.

"My name's not Evelyn!" she shouted back and gasped when she saw who the owner was. "Brutus?"

The man inside the portrait smiled sadly. "Hello, Evelyn. Or would you prefer to be called Hermione?"

"H-hermione, call me Hermione." she said once she recovered. The pain was gone it was replaced by bewilderment. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in my bedroom."

Hermione glanced at her surrounding and took in the masculine color palette and antique furniture. She scanned through her memories, the old and new.

Hermione was passed formalities and wanted to get to the bottom of this. "Did you do all of this?" she thought things over again and realized that he couldn't have been the mastermind. It was too elaborate for someone like him. He was intelligent but not cunning and he lacked the resources.

"Not all," he said, confirming her suspicions. "The credit has to go to Septimus."

"Why would he help you? You're not his son." Hermione hit him where it hurt. She had no sympathy for him. He was the monster that ruined her life.

"You heard that?"

"I heard everything. I remember everything." Hermione pointed at him. "It was you! It's was your voice I heard it in my sleep. You were trying to brainwash me. You tried to slip me a love potion. You took away my memories. You destroyed my lab!" he did much more. She couldn't list them all without losing her temper.

"You have a right to be angry but please listen to me. I didn't mean for things to turn out like this. I just wanted to see you again."

Hermione frowned at this. "You wanted to do more than see me."

He shifted from one foot to the other.

"Why did you do it?"

He cringed as if what he was about to say was difficult. "I wanted to test my feelings for you."

"You wanted to test your feelings for me by making me fall in love with you?" she found his explanation ridiculous.

"The love potion was not my finest idea." He unleashed a growl of frustration and said, "I don't know what I feel for you. Since you came to Malfoy Manor I was. Should I say taken with you? I-I had bad experience with the opposite sex when I was in Hogwarts and it...I just wanted to see you again!"

Hermione recalled the rumor about him petrifying a schoolmate's Kneazle because she rejected him. Rumors have bits of truth in them. Maybe he did fancy a schoolmate and was terribly rejected. It caused him to act out and come up with stupid plans to gain her attention like he was doing now.

Hermione was angry but somehow she couldn't find it in her to truly hate him. He was a terrible person but could she blame him for being like this? How was life like for him growing up with parents like Septimus and Elizabeth? She experienced firsthand how ruthless Septimus was. The bastard was using her as a food tester. She was a stranger. Her life meant nothing to him just like Brutus. The only person he cared about was Abraxes, his real son. As for Elizabeth, she was timid around Septimus. He must have been torturing her for being unfaithful to him.

"You could have asked." Hermione said.

"I didn't know what you'd say or how you'd react."

"If you explained things to me I would have listened. Everything could have been avoided."

"If only Draco wasn't there." He said murmured.

"We are not talking about Draco. We are talking about you and me." Hermione said tightly. She was being cautious. His words made her see that he wanted to go through with his plans to brainwash her. This might not be a peaceful apology. He might try to trap her in this bedroom with him for the rest of her life.

"I don't know the full details of what happened between you two but I know it wasn't good." He disclosed. "But we have to talk about Draco. He's the reason Septimus got involved. I got a stern lecture from dear old Septimus about his precious Draco." He said bitterly. Jealousy was evident.

Hermione understood it now. Draco was Septimus' great-grandson. He couldn't let anything happen to him. She didn't want to talk about Draco but she had to know if he was safe. "Where is Draco? Is he with us?"

"He's resting in his bedroom. His mother is tending to him."

"Is the potion still in his body?"

"It should be gone by now."

This put Hermione's mind at ease.

"Was Septimus your step-father?" She was curious about Septimus and Elizabeth's marriage. Not once had they looked at the other with affection. They seem like complete strangers not husband and wife.

"No, they were never married. I and my mother were tenants in his house."

How were they tenants? "But you called him father."

"No one corrected me when I was younger. I assumed he was."

"That was wrong of them. They should have told you sooner." She found herself offended on his behalf. It was cruel of them to do that to a young boy. If Septimus wasn't his father then they should have told him from the beginning. How could they let him find out like this when he was much older?

"Who would want to talk about something so scandalous? Septimus and my mother were arranged to be married by their parents but both were in love with other people. My mother ran away with her boyfriend after they'd graduated Hogwarts. My grand-father found them and tortured my father until he admitted to never loving her and was after her fortune. My mother was dragged back home. Her family was disgraced by her actions. They were further embarrassed when the Malfoys canceled the marriage arrangement. To salvage our name my grand-father pursued Septimus to reconsider. He offered Septimus my cousin Mia, the woman he really loved. Septimus married Mia in a privet ceremony and staged a public wedding to my mother. Both women had to live under the same roof."

That sounded like an awkward situation for both women. "How could your mother agree to that? How could Mia? They were treating her like a bargaining tool." Hermione protested the ill treatment these women received. It was a different era but still unfair.

"My mother didn't have a choice, her family wasn't taking her back and my father abandoned her. She was forced to live with the Malfoys' because she had nowhere to go. Mia was willing to sacrifice herself. She married Septimus to ensure my mother and me a home."

"That was admirable of her." admitted Hermione. She felt compassion for the poor woman.

"Don't feel sorry for Mia. Septimus worshiped the ground she walked on. My mother told me that for a time he was a decent human being, until Mia died. He went back to being the cold hearted wizard we know. He was indifferent to us but not his real family."

Hermione concluded that Mia was Abraxes' biological mother. At times, Hermione would find Elizabeth staring at Abraxes when she thought no one was looking. Her eyes were glassy as if she was close to tears but none fell. Hermione realized that Elizabeth wasn't staring at Abraxes. She was staring through him and seeing Mia, who was dead.

"Septimus kept a close watch on all the Malfoys and me. You should've seen how angry he was when Lucius was sentenced to Azkaban." The half smirk on his lips told that it humorous.

"It's not nice to laugh at others misfortune." Even if that person was Lucius Malfoy.

"This is what I like about you, Hermione. You have room in your heart for forgiveness."

"I offer forgiveness to those who understand that what they did was wrong. Why don't you come out of your hiding place and talk to me in person." May be if she spoke to Brutus face-to-face she could reason with him properly?

"I am talking to you in person, Hermione." Brutus spread his arms as if to present himself, which confused Hermione.

Brutus broke out in laughter like a madman. "I'm dead. This is what's left of me."

"You're dead?" Hermione found it hard to believe.

"I died from a curse a week after you disappeared."

Hermione assumed the worse. Had Septimus done it?

"It wasn't Septimus." He read her mind. "I died from my own mother's curse. It took her life too."

"I'm sorry."

It's always tragic for anyone to die so young. He was in his mid-twenties, with the mindset of a rebellious teen. He had no wife – heck he probably never even had a girlfriend. He probably never got to experience anything outside of Hogwarts and Malfoy Manor. He had such a horribly short life.

"Don't look at me like that! I don't need your pity!" Brutus flew into a rage.

Hermione harden her features. He didn't want her pity. Therefore she will not give him any.

"What do you plan on doing with me now?"

"Nothing. I'm letting you go. I was obsessed with you because of the infatuated I had for you when I was alive. You left so soon that I never got to truly understand what I was feeling for you. I had a talk with Septimus and it helped me sort out my feelings….I'm sorry."

"So, you're saying that you destroyed my life for nothing." Tears fell from Hermione's eyes as she spoke, "You immature prat. I am not a toy for you to play with for your amusement. I am a human being. I possess feels and emotions. I had a life before you ripped it apart!"

"What I did was wrong. I know I can't ask for you to forgive me. I'll understand if you hate me forever."

"Get me out of here! I don't want to be in your bedroom! I can't even look at you right now!"

Hermione got up to leave but her weak knees would not carry her. She fell off the bed and bit back the pain. Her body ached from being bedridden.

"Hermione! Stop, you'll hurt yourself." said Brutus.

"Shut up!" she said back. She pushed herself up, holding on to anything stable nearby she made her way to the door.

Once Hermione reached the door, she pulled it opened. She wandered in the hall, searching for her freedom. She had to get out of Malfoy Manor. Anywhere was better than being in this horrid manor and the cruel people who inhabit it. She made it a few steps before fatigue overtook her body and she collapsed.

Hermione awaken in a bedroom with Draco at her side. He found her unconscious and brought her into a guest room.

"Do you know?" she asked him.

"Septimus' portrait just told me everything. I'm sorry, Hermione."

Hermione stared at the ceiling. She was exhausted emotionally and physically. She didn't want to talk about what happened, especially to Draco. She wanted her parents, Ginny, Harry, Ron…

She wanted anyone but Draco there.