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Chapter Text

Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were officially screwed. Ron had gotten mad and in a moment of sheer idiocy he'd shouted Voldemort's name, thereby breaking the carefully constructed wards around the tent, alerting nearby Snatchers of their presence and location, and leaving them just about no chance of escape. They had less than five minutes at worst, fifteen minutes best to get away, and with Harry's wand broken, and Ron's judgment clouded by his anger, it was up to Hermione to figure out what to do. 

She heard the cracks of apparation and shouted "RUN!", she, Harry and Ron took off, leaping over fallen trees, rock walls and logs as they raced through the Forest of Dean, every so often she glanced behind her, the Snatchers were definitely gaining on them now. She kept running, although she knew that now, it was a hopeless endeavor. It wasn't long until Fenrir Greyback had her hands tied behind her back and pinned to a tree. Greyback laughed, a haunting, nightmarish sound as he stroked Hermione's cheek with his fingertips, "Such a pretty little girl, maybe they'll let me keep you so I can have some fun with you, little Mudblood." the werewolf murmured in her ear.

Scabior, the leader of the group of Snatchers that had found them,  stopped Greyback reminding him that as per the Dark Lord's instructions, all captured witches and wizards were to be brought to the Death Eater headquarters at Malfoy Manor. The Snatchers grabbed them roughly and apparated to the Manor, they dragged the Trio into the drawing room. Their Slytherin classmate Draco Malfoy was brought in and identified the three of them as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Wormtail dragged Harry and Ron to the dungeons, leaving Hermione alone with Bellatrix Lestrange and Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, "Well, if it isn't Potter's little Mudblood pet!" Bellatrix cackled, "I want to have a little chat, woman to woman." Bellatrix told her as she pressed a knife to her throat, suddenly Bellatrix gasped and removed the blade, "Where did you learn to use a glamor charm Mudblood?" Bellatrix snapped. "What do you mean? A glamor charm isn't in the Hogwarts curriculum,  I don't know how to cast one!" Hermione cried, "LIAR!" Bellatrix shouted, placing the tip of the knife at Hermione's chin, "Draco?" Bellatrix called, "Tell me, has the Mudblood always looked like this? Is this the real one?" Draco moved closer and began to examine Hermione, "Yes, Aunt Bella, this is definitely the Mudblood Granger. What has made you ask?" Draco said, "The girl is glamored, now did she lie about it not being Hogwarts curriculum?" Bellatrix asked her nephew, "No, Aunt Bellatrix, glamor charms are taught in Auror training or in other ministry occupations that involve potential interaction with muggles. Although there are books in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library, although in the severely restricted section of the restricted section, the part the requires the headmaster's signature to access." Draco told his aunt, Hermione looked at him in surprise, she hadn't known that there was a severely restricted part of the restricted section, Draco noticed her look of shock and pointed it out to his aunt, "Draco, go and find me Nott Sr." Bellatrix instructed as she began asking Hermione questions about her past.

"What is your name?"

"I'm not sure what my birth name is, my adopted name is Hermione Jean Granger."

"Birthdate?"

"19, September, 1979, I think."

"Birthplace?"

"I don't know."

"Parents?"

"I don't know, I was adopted by Daniel Harrison Granger and Jean Alicia Granger nèe Dallas."

"Why don't you know your birthdate?"

"The orphanage assumed about when I was born, a man with a long beard and odd clothes dropped me off there when I was a newborn. He didn't have a birth certificate or anything, apparently he found me abandoned someplace."

"Were you aware of the glamor charm on you?"

"No, actually I don't really know much about glamor charms, the extent of my knowledge is that they create a false appearance and can disguise identifiable features which is why they're used by Aurors and the like."

"When were you adopted?" 

"I was five, it was right before my sixth birthday."

"Where was the orphanage?"

"Near London."

"Were you surprised to get your Hogwarts letter?"

"Sort of? It was a bit of a relief really, I was always bullied because I was adopted and strange stuff happened when I was around. But it was also sort of like I knew it would happen? I think I had dreams about it happening way before it did."

"Bellatrix? You sent Draco to fetch me?" Draco had returned with Theodore Nott Sr., "Yes, the Mudblood has a glamor on her but seems to know very little about the charm." Bellatrix informed him, "I presume that you would like me to trace the charm and perhaps check her for other spells?" Nott asked, Bellatrix nodded and he got to work, 

• Glamor charm- placed at 2 weeks old, APWBD
• Obedience compulsion: to APWBD- placed 2 weeks old, APWBD
• Loyalty compulsion: to Gryffindor house, APWBD, Molly, Arthur and Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter- placed at 2 weeks old, activated age 11, APWBD
• Hate compulsion: to Slytherin house, purebloods, Malfoy Family, Death Eaters, dark magic, dark sector- placed at 2 weeks old, activated age 11, APWBD
• Marriage contract to Ronald Bilius Weasley- created age 2, activates on 19th birthday, APWBD and Molly Weasley nèe Prewett
• Love potion, keyed to Ronald Bilius Weasley- administered 2 weeks old, activated age 16
• Change of magical guardian, Celeste Z. to APWBD- at 2 weeks old, APWBD 
• Magic dampener- placed age 5, APWBD 
• Forced sorting to Gryffindor over Ravenclaw, age 11, APWBD 

All of the charms, spells and potions that had been placed on her throughout her life were listed on that sheet of parchment, "Well, clearly you aren't a Mudblood. I apologize for calling you that while at Hogwarts." Malfoy said calmly,  Hermione nodded in acceptance, "I just want to know who this APWBD person is, and why they decided to fuck my life up so much. Clearly they work at Hogwarts though, given that they forced my sorting." Hermione said, a bit angrily. "Well I can think of only one person with those initials that works at Hogwarts, and fits your description of the person who left you at the muggle orphanage." Bellatrix told her, then it dawned on Hermione. "APWBD, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Leader of the Light Sector, former Gryffindor, leader of the Order of the Phoenix and Headmaster of Hogwarts." Bellatrix said. "URGH! I CAN'T  BELIEVE THIS! AND TO THINK I JUST FOLLOWED HIM BLINDLY! FOR YEARS!" Hermione was raging, and it was a terrifying sight. "Ehem, would you like me to remove the glamor and other charms? The only thing I cannot change is the contract and magical guardian, but I am sure wcan find a way to deal with them." Nott Sr. asked, "Sure." Hermione replied, "I warn you, it may be painful." Nott Sr. warned her as he raised his wand.

As Nott Sr. chanted the incantation that removed the glamor after removing first the compulsions and other things, Hermione felt her body changing, she screamed and cried out in pain. Then just as quickly as the pain had appeared it vanished, she opened her eyes and gasped. Gone was her variable bush of frizzy brown hair, replaced by smooth dark brown waves, her once pale skin looked like she'd spent the last three weeks tanning, her stomach was flatter than it had been moments before, she'd grown a few inches, she was curvier in all the right places, a glance at a nearby mirror told her that her chocolate eyes had become an enchanting deep blue and her lips were fuller than normal. She was drawn out of her trance by a shout, "Woah! You- you look like if Blaise was a girl!" Draco cried in shock. Bellatrix returned Hermione's bag and wand to her and told Draco to bring her to the Dark Lord. 

Seconds before they left the room, Harry, Ron and Dobby burst into the room, they tried to reach Hermione but Dobby was hit by one of Bellatrix's throwing knives and they were forced to leave without Hermione. Draco groaned, "Come on Granger, let's go." he said as he started off again. He led Hermione through the maze of halls until they reached the room that Tom Riddle had claimed for his study. Draco knocked on the door, and waited until he heard a rather board voice call for him to enter. "My Lord, there has been a rather interesting development, a group of Snatchers captured the so-called Golden Trio in the Forest of Dean, and brought them here, Potter and Weasley escaped but, we discovered that Hermione Granger is not a muggle-born and has been under a glamor charm and compulsions since she was two weeks old. Aunt Bellatrix told me to bring her to you." At this Hermione stepped through the open doorway, "You do not look anything like the Granger girl." Riddle commented, Hermione nodded, "Yes, the appearance of Hermione Granger is false, this is my true appearance, Lord Nott was kind enough to remove the glamor. I have information that I think you will find quite useful, Dumbledore, before his death ordered Harry to track down your Horcruxes and destroy them. The Diary, the gaunt ring and Slytherin's locket have already been destroyed. Ronald and Harry dragged me with them, mainly to force me to cook for them. I had no choice in the matter, I tried to refuse but was literally dragged along." She informed him, Riddle nodded and told Draco to bring her to his father.

Draco led Hermione to Lucius's office, he gave permission for her to be given a room and told the pair to go away. Draco found an unoccupied bedroom in the guest hall where a number of his friends were staying, as they made their way down the hall the names on a few of the doorplates were familiar to Hermione, she spotted Pansy Parkinson's name on one, Theo Nott's name on another, Blaise Zabini, the Greengrass sisters, Crabbe and Goyle all had rooms there. "I'll tell my mother which room I've  given you, stay here and she'll send a house elf with some more appropriate clothes to help you get fixed up. Send the elf to me and I'll bring you out to the garden where most of my friends are so you can meet them properly." Malfoy told her as he turned and left the room.

Chapter Text

Original outfit

Hermione was alone again, she had begun exploring her guest room when a house elf appeared. "Hello Missy Hermione, I's Tissy. Missus Narcissa sent me." Tissy handed Hermione heels and a dress with a backless halter top, "Uhh, Tissy? Does your Missus have any other dresses that might fit me?" Hermione asked, not wanting everyone to see her back, or rather what was on it. "No Missy Hermione. But I's thinks Missys Pansy and Daphne maybe haves things that mights fits yous." Tissy told her, "Could you get one of them please?" Hermione asked the elf who nodded and popped away. 

Outfit from Narcissa

Hermione sat there, holding the burgundy dress, it was nice and she liked the dress but she preferred to cover her back, even at the Yule Ball in fourth year she'd worn a gown that covered her entire back. She remembered it clearly, even now ten years later, she'd been eight at the time. She'd been bullied terribly at school and as a result her episodes of accidental magic were growing more frequent and more violent. Her parents had tried just about everything, exorcisms, beatings and everything else they could think of. Then, one evening a man with a long silver beard came up their front walk, Hermione watched from her bedroom window as her parents met the stranger at the door and invited him inside. She'd pressed her ear to the floor and listened, the man claimed he'd heard about their daughter's little issue as he'd called it and told them he had a solution, a special knife with runes carved into it, it would help her, rid her of whatever demon was possessing her he'd promised. He'd given them the blade and then he'd left, and she'd never seen him again, only she had because that man was Albus Dumbledore. She hadn't realized that until now because she hadn't gotten a close look at the stranger but it was clear now after what she'd learned earlier that it was Dumbledore who'd given them that knife. Minutes after he'd left her father came upstairs to her room and dragged her down to the basement, he'd tied her hands together and then tied the other end of the rope to the ceiling beams. Then he'd taken the cursed knife from his wife and carved words into Hermione's back, FREAK, BITCH, DEMON. In the ten years since the wounds had mostly healed, leaving behind large red scars in their stead, but it hadn't been until late in fifth year that they'd become scars and not cuts. She was pulled from the garish memory by a voice, "Whoa! Granger!? But you don't look like Granger?" Tissy had returned with Pansy Parkinson in tow. "Yup, it's me Parkinson. Apparently I'm not a muggle-born, given that Dumbledore had to place a variety of compulsion charms and such along with a glamour charm on me when I was two weeks old, you know he probably had to make sure I wouldn't turn out to be evil or something and that's also not the full extent of how our delightful ex-headmaster has fucked up my life." Hermione laughed, "Okay, whoa. I never thought I would see the day that the Gryffindor Princess bad-mouthed Dumbledore!" Pansy exclaimed, "Well, I suppose I should have really been the Ravenclaw Princess but Dumbles screwed me over again when he forced the hat to put me in Gryffindor." Hermione said, "Now, Tissy told me that you didn't want to wear the dress Narcissa sent for you, and that you needed something else to wear. Is that right?" Pansy asked, Hermione nodded. "I- I don't want anyone to see my back and the dress that Lady Malfoy sent is backless." Hermione explained, standing up and lifting the back of her t-shirt for Pansy to see. Pansy gasped in horror as Hermione dropped her shirt again, "Cursed knife, Dumbles gave it to my muggle family. When he did they were trying to get rid of my magic which they thought was the result of a demon possessing me. The cuts didn't scar over until a few weeks before we took our O.W.L.s, even then they're still sensitive." Hermione said tonelessly to Pansy. 

Pansy launched herself at Hermione, pulling her into a tight embrace before dragging her across the hall into her own room. Hermione was dragged down onto Pansy's bed as both girls burst into laughter, "Y'know Granger, I haven't actually apologized for the way I treated you before, I want you to know that I am truly sorry for how I acted." Pansy told her quietly, "It's fine, you weren't the worst. Really none of the Slytherins were as bad as some of the Gryffindors. Lavender, Parvati and Kellah were the worst, always making fun of my appearance and how much time I spent in the library, how I was always hanging out with boys but didn't have a boyfriend." Hermione admitted, Pansy looked aghast, "You are kidding, right? That would never have happened in Slytherin, or any other house for that matter." Pansy told her. Then Pansy hopped off the bed and grabbed Hermione's hands and yanked her to her feet, "Let's go, I'm sure Draco wants to introduce you to us sooner rather than later. Don't worry, I just know we can find something perfect for you!" Pansy exclaimed as she pulled Hermione into her walk-in closet. As the two girls rifled through Pansy's massive closet, Hermione found herself actually enjoying looking for clothes. Ginny had suggested she become a Fashion Designer after Hogwarts, she'd made the suggestion after finding a sketchbook of Hermione's during the summer after the Triwizard Tournament, in the book was a variety of sketches of cocktail dresses, formal dresses, ball gowns, women's dress robes, swimsuits, all manner of women's clothes. Every single sketch had been extremely detailed and exquisite, then Ginny had found something that had shocked her, a detailed sketch of Hermione's dress from the Yule Ball, she had designed it herself and had Madam Malkin make it for her. Hermione often sketched while she worked on homework and studied, she'd always done it even back in her muggle primary school, over time it had gone from scribbles to full on ball gown designs. "Hey Granger! I think I've found a perfect dress!" Pansy called, Hermione came running, Pansy was holding a royal blue cocktail dress, it had a v-neck, the back was completely covered, it had a high-low skirt and covered in blue lace. "It's perfect. And you can call me Hermione," she told Pansy, "Well Hermione, you can call me Pansy. Now we need to find you some heels to go with the dress." Pansy told her as they walked over to where she kept all of her shoes, eventually they found a pair of royal blue heels with white gold vines wrapping around the heel, "I think I might have some jewelry in my bag that would match the dress and heels." Hermione said as they walked back into Pansy's room, "Well, you run and grab your bag then and we'll take a look." Pansy ordered. Hermione ran back to her room and grabbed her bag. When she got back to Pansy's room the other girl looked at her in shock, "Wait, I thought you carried everything in your bag? It's so... small."  Hermione smiled, "I bought it in Carkitt Market at Stowe & Packers Magical Bags the summer before sixth year, it's got an undetectable extension charm and a feather-light charm on it. So it fits just about everything I need in it." she admitted as she opened the bag and began rummaging around inside it, a few things fell out of the bag when she finally pulled her jewelry box out of the bag, among the things that fell out was her sketchbook, it landed face up and open to the sketch of Hermione's dress from the Yule Ball. Hermione turned to place her jewelry box on Pansy's dressing table, meanwhile Pansy was gathering the things that had fallen from her bag, she spotted the sketchbook on the ground and knelt to pick it up, she gasped and dropped the other things she was holding when she saw what was on the page. "Whoa! Gran- I mean Hermione, did you design your Yule Ball dress in fourth year?" Pansy asked, Hermione turned and saw that her sketchbook was open on the ground, a blush spread across her cheeks as she nodded, "Yeah, I sketch a lot when I'm studying and doing homework. It started when I was little and it kinda just progressed from scribbles into well, fashion designs, back in fourth year, when I told Ginny that Viktor Krum had asked me to the ball she told me I needed a super unique dress so I sent the design to Madam Malkin and she made it for me." Hermione admitted. Pansy began flipping through Hermione's sketchbook, her eyes widening with each page, "Okay, girl you need to become a Fashion designer. The Wizarding World needs to see these designs, I'm not kidding. I think I'd kill to wear some of these designs." she told Hermione, "Okay, anyways, right now we need to focus on finding you some accessories to go with that dress." Pansy told her as she set down the sketchbook and walked over to the dressing table and started looking through Hermione's jewelry box. After about fifteen minutes Pansy came up with a necklace with a sapphire pendant, matching earrings, a sapphire and diamond bracelet and a sapphire comb. Pansy sent her to put on the outfit and jewelry, when she returned Pansy sat her down and started doing her hair and makeup. Her hair was pulled back into a half-up-half-down style and she had bronze eye-shadow and dark red lipstick.

Outfit from Pansy

"Alright, Hermione you look like a queen. My job here is done." Pansy told her, "Tissy!" Hermione called. The elf appeared, "Does Missy need Tissy?" the little creature asked, "Yes, let Draco know that I am ready." Hermione instructed, Tissy nodded and vanished to find Draco, Pansy hurried off and Hermione returned to her own room. A short time later Tissy returned with Draco, "Well Granger, you certainly clean up well." Malfoy remarked as they walked out to the garden where the others were waiting. "Everyone, this is Hermione Granger. My Aunt Bella and Theo's dad discovered that she isn't a muggle-born and that she had glamours and compulsions layered on her since she was an infant, they were placed by Dumbledore. The glamours and compulsions were removed, so she looks rather different than you're used to." Draco explained as Hermione walked out into the garden behind him, everyone but Pansy stared at her in shock, "You look like a girl version of me." Zabini remarked. They spent the two hours until dinner talking, all of the Slytherins apologized profusely for their treatment of her when they were younger and Hermione discovered that they actually had a lot in common, she, Draco and Theo were all extremely dedicated to their classwork and strongly disliked when someone interrupted their studying, she learned that Blaise enjoyed many of the same muggle novels as she did, Crabbe and Goyle she learned were actually much smarter than they seemed, they just had a hard time with class work, Daphne and Pansy shared a love of art, literature and fashion. Narcissa sent Tissy to fetch the group for dinner, and when they arrived in the dinning room Hermione was surprised by the size of it, it was easily half the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Once everyone was seated Lucius flicked his wand and a variety of foods appeared on the table, (A/N: I am not British, and have never been there. I googled common British foods) Roast Chicken, Shepherds Pie, Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Mince Pies, Steak and Kidney Pie, Toad in the hole, Lancashire Hotpot, Cullen Skink, Scouse, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes and a variety of other dishes. Everyone began to pile food onto their plates and eat. 

After dinner Blaise approached Hermione, "Hey, my mother wants to talk to you, and she asked me to ask you if you'd mind. I think it might be partly cause we look similar, but I honestly don't really know." Blaise told her, "Sure, it's not like I had anything planned for the rest of my evening. Do you mind bringing me there, I'm sure you know your way around this place far better than I do. After all I just got here this afternoon, as a captive mind you, so I haven't had much time to explore." Hermione replied as they started walking. A short time later they arrived at Mrs. Zabini's room, "Mamma, ho portato Granger a trovarti. Vuoi che io resti?" (Mother, I brought Granger to see you. Do you want me to stay?) Blaise called in Italian as we stepped into the sitting room, "Grazie, Blaise. Non c'è bisogno che tu resti qui." (Thank you, Blaise. You do not have to stay here.) his mother called back in her native tongue, Blaise left as Hermione sat down in one of the plush chairs and waited. Mrs. Zabini entered the room from a side door that led into her bedroom, "Buonasera Signorina..." (Good evening Miss) Mrs. Zabini said in greeting, "Granger, Hermione Granger, and I, uh, I don't speak Italian." Hermione introduced herself, "Ah, I apologize Miss Granger, I am from Italy so I speak the language with my son and have a tendency to forget that I am speaking my mother tongue after having a conversation with him." Mrs. Zabini admitted, "It's alright, Blaise told me you wanted to speak with me about something?" Hermione asked, "Yes, my reasons are purely a bit selfish, it's just that... I- I had a daughter, Blaise had a twin sister. She was taken from me when she was only two weeks old, we have never seen her since. I searched for her for years, I only stopped when Blaise started at Hogwarts and there was no child there who looked like him. But you- you look like what I imagine my baby girl would look like now. I know you probably think me a fool to even hope there might be a chance." Mrs. Zabini told her with tears in her eyes. Hermione sat unmoving for a moment, "There is a chance, when I arrived here today, I looked nothing like how I do now. It was only because Lady Lestrange knows how to identify a glamour charm that I am still here right now, she had Lord Nott perform a spell on me that would show any and all permanent spells and charms placed on me, most of the spells he found were placed when I was two weeks old. I know I was adopted into my muggle family, but I know nothing of my birth family. I would be willing to do a blood inheritance test to confirm whether there is any biological connection between us." Hermione spoke slowly, and a bit cautiously, "Also you may want to mention this to Blaise beforehand, especially if it turns out that I am who you think I may be." she continued, "Thank you for being willing to do this. You may go if you wish, and thank you again." Mrs. Zabini told her as Hermione rose from the chair and walked out of the room.

Once Hermione was back in her own room she began to continue exploring the space, then she found her bathroom, it was a large space and much of the walls and fixtures were made from marble, there was a large tub and an equally large shower. Thanks to Harry and Ron, she hadn't taken a proper shower or bath since August, oh no, she'd had to bathe in frigid lakes and rivers for months, that is when she'd actually been able to get to the water. She quickly gathered her nightgown and robe and drew a hot, steaming bath for herself. As she slipped her grimy, exhausted body into the hot water she sighed in contentment, this was the most relaxed she'd been since she got dragged off during Bill and Fleur's wedding. When she finally got out of the water nearly an hour later it was still warm, thank Merlin for the existence of warming charms, she felt about five pounds lighter and obviously, cleaner than she had been in months.

The bathroom

She pulled on her simple white nightgown and a light blue silk robe and tied her hair up in a messy bun, then she walked back into her bedroom and sat down on the bed. She picked up her beaded bag and started rummaging around for her sketchbook, but it wasn't there. It had to be in Pansy's room, so she grabbed a pair of flats and slipped them on before heading across the hall to Pansy's bedroom. She knocked on the door and Pansy opened it from the open doorway she could see Daphne lounging on Pansy's bed, "What's up, Hermione?" Pansy asked, "I think I left my sketchbook in here earlier when it fell out of my bag, have you seen it anywhere?" Hermione asked, "Yeah, it's on the dressing table. Y'know I bet Daph would love to see some of your designs, she really likes making clothes but she has a hard time making the designs." Pansy told her as she stepped out of the way to let Hermione into the room, "Sure, not like it would hurt anything." Hermione replied. She grabbed the sketchbook off of Pansy's dressing table and flopped down onto the bed beside Daphne and Pansy dropped down on her other side, "What's that?" Daphne asked, "It's my sketchbook, Pansy said you might like to see some of my designs, I sketch clothing designs when I'm studying or doing homework." Hermione told her as she flipped the book open to the first page, "It's really just absent minded doodling, nothing amazing." Hermione said, "Nuh-uh, these are amazing! You don't need to be so humble, can we collaborate? Please, I'd love to make some of these dresses." Daphne told her excitedly, "Daph, she designed her Yule Ball dress, in Fourth Year!" Pansy exclaimed, Daphne looked up from the page she was currently scrutinizing, "You're kidding!" Daphne said, "No, I did, Ginny told me that since I was going with Krum I needed to have a unique dress, so I picked a design I liked and sent it to Madam Malkin." Hermione admitted blushing, about an hour later Daphne flipped the book closed and said, "Hermione, we need to make some of these. Can we work on one tomorrow? Please?" Hermione thought for a moment before nodding, "I'm rather tired, it's been months since I've had a proper night of sleep or really a proper anything. Goodnight!" Hermione said as she picked up her sketchbook and pushed herself off the bed, "Goodnight Hermione!" the other girls called ask she left the room.

Hermione's PJ's

Back in her room she slipped into her massive bed and opened her sketchbook and picked up one of her pencils and started sketching a cocktail dress, she got about halfway through the dress, she'd finished the outline and the top, before her eyes started to close. She put her pencil and sketchbook on the bedside table and turned out the lights with a flick of her wand, then she burrowed under the covers and within minutes she was fast asleep.

Chapter Text

When Hermione woke the sun was streaming through the windows, for a moment she had no clue where she was, then she remembered everything that had happened the day before. She knew that nothing she had in her bag would be considered 'appropriate' given that she was currently living in a Pureblood Manor, she'd need Pansy and Daphne to help again. So she slipped her robe and flats back on and crossed the hall to Pansy's room, she knocked and Daphne answered, "Morning Hermione, what's up?" she asked, "Well, I don't have appropriate clothes, partly since most of what I have is muggle clothes and all my wizarding clothes are my school robes. Pansy lent me some things yesterday, I was hope one of you might be able to lend me something today." Hermione explained. "Of course we can help! Come on in!" Pansy shouted from where she was sprawled on her bed, Hermione and Daphne made their way over to join her as she hopped up and started heading for the closet. About fifteen minutes later Pansy reappeared from the back of a rack holding three skirts, three vests and three blouses, Pansy shoved her arm-full of clothes into Hermione's arms before vanishing back into the depths of the closet, 'probably looking for shoes,' Hermione thought, she was right. Ten minutes after Pansy had vanished back into the closet she returned holding three pairs of shoes, she dropped the shoes on her bed, took the clothes from Hermione and started laying them out on the bed, it was then that Hermione realized that the clothes were all identical aside from color, and that they looked rather... muggle? but that didn't make sense, "Pansy? Just curious, but are those muggle clothes?" she asked, "Oh yeah, Purebloods don't hate muggles, we truly respect them but we know that if they know about us, and magic in general it would have terrible consequences. Y'know it's a little known fact but the term Mudblood originated as a combination of two German words, back in the Founder's Era the term was MutBlut, which translates to Courage Blood. I've known that since I was little, and every time I called you a Mudblood in school I knew that even though it might seem like I was being a bully I was secretly complementing you. Riddle really wants to take muggle-born kids from the muggle world at an early age, he grew up in a muggle orphanage you know, so he knows what some of those kids have to go through, and he wants to place those kids with magical families who are having a hard time conceiving." Pansy told her, "And to answer your question, yes these are muggle clothes, from a design house called Belle Poque, they make vintage inspired clothes." Then Pansy handed a pile of clothes to Daphne, there was a light blue blouse, white lace bobby socks and an olive green vest-skirt set, and sent her to change, when Daphne returned from behind the changing screen, Pansy passed a grey blouse, white lace bobby socks and a navy blue vest-skirt set to Hermione. When Hermione emerged Pansy picked up the remaining clothes from the bed, which was an olive green blouse, white lace bobby socks and a grey vest-skirt set, and dashed behind the screen to change, when she stepped out she pulled the other girls over to her dressing table, then she dumped the contents of her jewelry box onto the counter, from the variety of scattered jewelry she selected three pairs of earrings and three brooches. Once the girls had put the jewelry on or in their pockets, Pansy placed the rest of her jewelry back into the box and set it aside, then she stood and pushed Hermione into the seat. Together she and Daphne did Hermione's hair and makeup, then they switched and Hermione and Pansy did Daphne's hair and makeup, Daphne and Hermione did Pansy's makeup and hair after that, once they were completely ready Pansy handed the other girls each a pair of shoes.

Daphne's Outfit, Hair and Makeup

Hermione's Outfit, Hair and Makeup

Pansy's Outfit, Hair and Makeup

Hermione checked her watch, "Shit! We need to hurry, we'll be late to breakfast if we don't!" she cried as Pansy opened the bedroom door, despite all three girls being in heels they made it to the dining room in under ten minutes. Somehow they had managed to beat Crabbe and Goyle, who were normally the first to just about every single meal. After breakfast she told Daphne and Pansy that there were a few things she needed to take care of, and the first thing she definitely needed to do alone. Hermione wracked her memory for the location of Riddle's study, she needed to talk to him. When Hermione walked into his study ten minutes later, Riddle looked surprised, "I need to speak with you." Hermione told him, "About what?" Riddle asked. "I know that my friend Luna is being held prisoner here. Ronald and Harrison hardly consider her a friend, of the three of us the only one you'd have succeeded in luring here by capturing her is me.  I request that you release her, she is neutral in this war and has done nothing to harm nor help either side." Hermione told Riddle, the Dark Lord looked at her in shock, after all it was rare for anyone to order him to do anything, and he could tell that despite her requesting it that in truth it was an order, "Very well. I will have someone bring you down to her." Riddle said before calling for Bellatrix. "You called for me, My Lord?" the woman asked, "Yes, Bellatrix I require that you bring Miss Granger to the dungeons so that she may retrieve Miss Lovegood, according to Miss Granger, Potter and Weasley do not care for the Lovegood girl, which I suppose is the reason she was left behind when they escaped from here yesterday." Riddle ordered, Bellatrix nodded and led Hermione out of the room, when they reached the Dungeons, Hermione spotted Luna's white-blonde hair across the room. Bellatrix remained at her post near the door as Hermione crossed the room, "Luna?" she called, Luna stood and walked over to Hermione. "You're free of the falsehoods and the un-chosen choices. Your true face has come to surface, and now you have come to rescue me. I know that it's you Hermione, the Nargles told me that the you I knew was not the you that was real." Luna told Hermione in her typical cryptic way. Bellatrix opened the door to let the pair out and once they entered the hall above she left them, Hermione called for Tissy to find Draco, Pansy and Daphne, when Tissy returned with the three Slytherins Hermione sent Luna with them so that Draco could find her a room and Pansy could find her some new, clean clothes. Once she and Daphne were alone she told Daphne that they were going to talk to Narcissa, "Daphne, if we're going to make dresses and such, we'll need a space to do that." Daphne agreed and after looking for ten minutes they found Narcissa working in the gardens, when they told her what they and Pansy wanted to do she got up and told the pair to follow her, she led them to a room on the third floor of the manor, "This used to be where the family tailor worked, it hasn't been used in at least a century but it should have everything you need. Although I must ask, what spurred this decision?" Narcissa said, Daphne smiled, "Last night Hermione left a sketchbook in Pansy's room, Pans suggested she show it to me since it was all designs for dresses and other clothes and we decided to make some of the stuff." Daphne told her as the girls looked around the room, "Well, we are holding a ball to celebrate Litha and I don't have a dress. Would you girls consider making one for me?" Narcissa asked. "Of course!" Daphne exclaimed, Hermione summoned her sketchbook and started flipping though it, she quickly settled on a design that she thought would suit Narcissa perfectly, "How about this one?" she asked, turning the sketchbook so Narcissa could see, the older woman looked over the design and the notes scratched on the page and nodded.

The Dress Design (NOT MY DESIGN!!!!)

"I'll have to tell Bella about this, I bet she might have you girls make her a dress." Narcissa told them as she headed downstairs. Hermione showed Daphne the design she'd chosen as they walked downstairs to find Pansy and Luna, they had just reached the second floor when Bellatrix came running up the stairs from the first floor, "Cissa told me you and your friends are making her a gown for the Litha Ball and that you might be able to make one for me?" Bellatrix gasped breathless from sprinting from wherever she'd been. Bellatrix looked over Hermione's shoulder as she flipped through the sketchbook, within five minutes they'd settled on a design that Bellatrix had said was perfect.

Bellatrix's Dress Design (NOT MY DESIGN!!! I FOUND THIS ON PINTEREST!!!)

Luna's Outfit

Bellatrix went back to whatever she'd been doing before and Hermione and Daphne continued walking towards Pansy's room. As they approached Pansy's door, she and Luna were exiting "Alright, we need to take a trip to Diagon Alley. Luna and I need new clothes, I need to get an inheritance test done by the goblins and we need fabric, thread, lace, ribbons, and gemstones for dresses." Hermione told the other girls, "Hey, 'Mione could we pick dresses?" Luna asked, Hermione thought it over for a moment before nodding. The foursome went out to the garden and found a quiet spot to sit and began looking over Hermione's dress designs, Luna was the first to select her dress, a pale blue mermaid inspired number, Pansy was the next to select a design, it was mostly black with pink floral designs and pink ruffles under the black skirt, Daphne selected a sunny yellow gown with silver designs spreading across the layers of fabric, Hermione was the last one to choose a dress,  the design  she chose was a strapless royal blue gown with silver and bronze detailing. Once they had chosen their dresses Hermione updated the list of things that they'd need to buy when they went to Diagon Alley. When they finished updating the list they headed back inside to get their things before going to Diagon Alley, as they walked into the foyer Daphne's younger sister Astoria Greengrass stepped through the Floo, "Hello Little Sister," Daphne called, Astoria turned, "Hello Daphne, why is Lovegood with you? And who is the new girl?" Astoria asked, Hermione smiled, "I'm Hermione Granger, I discovered yesterday that I'm not a Muggle-born and Riddle set Luna free after I explained to him that Ronald and Harrison hardly consider her to be a close friend as much as I do. Also I've got no place else to stay since the muggles who adopted me currently believe they don't have an adopted child as the result of me obliviating them, I honestly have no interest in undoing the charm and I'm perfectly happy to leave them in Australia, especially since they made my life hell for a few years. We think there is a chance that I am Blaise's long-lost twin sister." Hermione told Astoria, "Oh!" the younger girl gasped, "Right now we're getting ready to go to Diagon Alley, we have to get fabric to make dresses for ourselves and Narcissa and Bellatrix." Pansy said, "Can I come?" Astoria asked, "Sure why not," Hermione told her.

Luna's Dress Design (NOT MY DESIGN!!! I FOUND THIS ON PINTEREST!!!!)

Pansy's Dress Design (NOT MY IMAGE!!! I FOUND THIS ON PINTEREST!!!!)

Daphne's Dress Design (NOT MY IMAGE!!!! I FOUND THIS ON PINTEREST!!!!)

Hermione's Dress Design (NOT MY IMAGE!!! I FOUND THIS ON PINTEREST!!!)

Astoria's Dress Design (NOT MY IMAGE!!! I FOUND THIS ON PINTEREST!!!!)

When the five girls arrived at the Leaky Cauldron Hermione said that they should go to Gringotts first since she needed to get the inheritance test done and the rest of the girls would need to get money from their vaults. While the other girls went with the goblins in charge of their families vaults Hermione spoke with the head goblin and he agreed to do the test, although he warned her it would cost three galleons. She agreed and he led her into an office like room, "So Miss Granger, you desire to have an inheritance test done, but why? A muggle-born like yourself has no family here, it is useless to you, a pure waste of your gold." The goblin told her in a high nasal voice, "Well, Sharpclaw, I would have good reason to believe that I am not, nor have ever been a muggle-born. Indeed, there is a highly considerable possibility that I am an heiress to the Noble house of Zabini. So just do the test." Hermione told the goblin, her eyes blazing. Sharptooth gulped and agreed quickly, he got the necessary things to perform the test and instructed her to let seven drops of blood fall into a vial containing a potion. Once Hermione had let the necessary amount of blood fall into the potion Sharpclaw re-capped the vial and shook it, once he was satisfied he spread a piece of parchment out on the desk in front of him and poured the contents of the vial onto the parchment. For a moment nothing happened, then suddenly words began to form on the page,

Adopted Name- Hermione Jean Granger

Adopted Parents- Daniel Harrison Granger and Jean Alicia Granger nee Dallas

Adopted Siblings- None

Assumed Birth-date- 19, September, 1979

Birth Name- Asterella Hermione Zabini

Birth Parents- Perseus Callum Walveron and Celeste Juliet Zabini

Birth-Date- 12, September, 1979

Biological Siblings- Blaise Fitzroy Zabini (Twin Brother)

Ladyships (All Unclaimed)- Dagworth, Granger, Burke, Newval, Sencen (Through Adoptive Parents)

Heirships (All Unclaimed)- Zabini, Ruewen, Walveron, Ross, Selwyn, Ravenclaw

Other- Marriage contract to Ronald Bilius Weasley, signed by Albus Dumbledore and Molly Weasley

Sharpclaw looked at her in surprise while Asterella, smirked down at him, "Now, Sharpclaw, I would claim my Ladyships and Heirships, but I would not know how. Additionally I would ask if there is anything you can do about that marriage contract?" she asked, "Follow me Miss Zabini, we would get your Heirships and Ladyships all sorted out. As for the marriage contract you would have to work with your ministry to destroy it." Sharpclaw told her, within ten minutes Asterella had gained five Ladyships and had claimed her heirships to six additional families. She was given rings for each of the families that she was connected to, each of her Ladyship rings was a signet ring to symbolize her role as head of those families, and each of her Heirship rings was simply a decorative piece of jewelry that recognized her as an heir to the family.

Ladyship Rings

Heirship Rings

"Sharpclaw, I do not have time to visit any of my vaults at the present moment, however I will be needing access to my money, do you have any way that I may be able to acquire money from my vaults without visiting any of them at the moment?" Asterella asked the goblin, "I am afraid not, however the Dagworth vaults are located not far from the surface so it would be a quick trip to get there." Sharpclaw told her as he led her back into the foyer, "Very well, then would you be able to have someone accompany me there?" she asked the head goblin, " I would accompany you there, if you would let me." he replied, "Then I would let you." Asterella told him as he marched on. About twenty minutes later Sharpclaw and Hermione returned to the foyer where Pansy, Luna, Daphne and Astoria were waiting with their bags of money, "May your enemies fall at your feet." Sharpclaw said with a nod to Asterella, "And may your gold flow in abundance." she replied with a nod to the goblin as she rejoined her friends. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Pansy cried as she grabbed Asterella and Luna by the wrists and started rushing towards the doors. "Now that we've got our money, you and Luna need new clothes. First stop Twilfitt and Tattings!" Pansy shouted as the five girls hurried down the fairly deserted streets, "Pansy, Daphne, you know how I told you that there was a chance that I was Blaise's long-lost twin sister, well it turns out that I am, my real name is Asterella Hermione Zabini. I really am a Pureblood." Asterella told the other girls, as they walked Astoria shuddered, "I don't like this, it just feels wrong. It's too quiet and empty." she murmured. The owners of Twilfitt and Tattings were a pair of fairly old Pureblood ladies, Esmeralda 'Mera' Twilfitt and Maria 'Ria' Tatting, they'd been classmates of Riddle's and had been part of his Knights of Walpurgis while in school, so he'd left their shop untouched even when much of the rest of the Wizarding Marketplace had been reduced to a shell of its former glory. Even in such desolate times 'Mera and 'Ria had kept their store open, when the group of girls reached the door Pansy swung it open and called, "Hello! 'Ria, 'Mera!" the two women had come bustling over, "Miss Parkinson! It's been too long!" the first woman exclaimed, "I know 'Ria, I've missed you though." Pansy replied, as she was pulled into an embrace by the other woman who must have been 'Mera, "I've brought a few friends along, they need clothes that are befitting of a Pureblood girl of their status. "Mera, 'Ria, I want you to meet Heiress Luna Lovegood of the Noble House of Lovegood, and Heiress Asterella Zabini of the Noble House of Zabini." Pansy told the women as she pulled the other girls forward. Around an hour later the five girls walked out of the shop, extremely thankful for Asterella's magic bag, and ready for lunch. "I heard that a few restaurants in Carkitt Market are still operating, even with everything that is going on." Astoria told the group, "We need to go to Carkitt Market anyway, they've got the best fabric stores here, although... I suppose that the best fabric stores would be in Place Cachée, and they'd likely have better stock since they aren't involved in a war like we are." Daphne said, "Oh! I've been dying to go there, I've heard so much about the food there and the fashion there, oh how I would love to go there." Pansy sighed, "Well, what's stopping us? We can just pop by the Manor, let Narcissa or someone else know where we're going and then head to France. I'll be honest, I taught myself how to travel by Lay Lines with some help from Fleur and Viktor back in fourth year, so I could probably get us there easily, oh and Fleur taught me how to speak fluent French since I was already learning it on my own." Astrella told the other girls, they all agreed to her plan and pretty soon they were walking down the streets of Place Cachée, laughing and chatting without a care, as though they hadn't been in a country where the magical population was at war within itself.

Meanwhile back in Britain... Dobby had brought Ron and Harry to Shell Cottage the previous afternoon, but they'd been unable to get to Hermione. Ron wasn't worried about anything other than who was going to cook for him and Harry once they were back on the run, that had been Hermione's job. Training for when she became his good little housewife after this whole war was over, she had no clue about anything, not really anyway. 

The rest of the Weasley's were hiding at the home of Muriel Prewett, while they were there Muriel named Ginny as her Heir as she knew about Dumbledore's manipulations and even went so far as to take Ginny, Fred and George to her other home just to get them away from Molly. From the day they arrived Muriel began teaching the three siblings how to properly act in Pureblood society and everything she knew her Merlin-damned niece had never taught to her children.

Chapter Text

The day before Asterella had discovered her true heritage, her mother and brother had been overjoyed at the revelation and so had she but now she realized that things might be a bit harder than normal. How would her friends react, and not Ron and Harry, she was more concerned about Ginny, the twins and her other friends. After breakfast she went to the ministry, Sharpclaw had told her she'd need to work with the ministry to dissolve the marriage contract between herself and Weasley, Lucius had agreed to bring her, he had other business that he needed to attend to anyway. When she arrived she spotted her former DADA Professor Delores Umbridge, as much as she hated the woman she also knew she was probably her best bet if she wanted to get this situation dealt with as soon as possible. "Excuse me, Madam Umbridge?" Asterella asked as she approached the woman, "Yes, what do you need?" Umbridge asked in a tone that suggested she was speaking to someone less than her, "I need to find the Administrative Registration Department, specifically the Department of Marital Contracts and Certificates." Asterella told her and Umbridge sighed before telling her where it was. About ten minutes later Asterella walked through the doorway, a secretary sat behind a large desk "Good morning Miss, is there anything I can help you with?" she asked, "Actually yes there is, I would like to dissolve a marriage contract." Asterella informed the young woman, "Very well, this way please," the secretary told Asterella as she stood from her desk and led Asterella down a hallway, they entered an office, "Mr. Clearwater, I've brought someone to see you." the young woman told the man behind the desk, "Thank you Diane, assuming anyone else shows up here please refer them to Mr. Darling across the hall." the man, Mr. Clearwater instructed the secretary who nodded and retreated back to the office lobby. Asterella took a deep breath as she sat down in one of the chairs across the desk from Mr. Clearwater, she briefly wondered if he was a relative of Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw Prefect in Asterella's early years at Hogwarts, "Good morning Mr. Clearwater, my name is Asterella Zabini, although I am more commonly known by my adopted name Hermione Granger. Dumbledore kidnapped me as an infant and dumped me in a muggle orphanage for much of my early life, anyhow I am here because I am interested in finding out if there is any possibility of dissolving a marriage contract." Asterella told the man.

"But.. I thought you were traveling with Messers Potter and Weasley, working for Dumbledore and his side. Now, who is this marriage contract between?" Mr. Clearwater asked, "The contract is between myself and Ronald Weasley, I learned of its existence two days ago. Apparently when I was kidnapped at two weeks old Dumbledore illegally made himself my magical guardian over my mother, and when I was two years old he and Molly Weasley created a marriage contract between me and Ronald, not only that but they fed me Love potions and used compulsion charms to force me into a close friendship/relationship with him and Harrison. Ronald has treated me as lesser than him since we met on the Hogwarts Express in first year, he has bullied me, belittled me, told me that all my hard work in school was for nothing since I'd just get married and take care of the kids and house once I graduated, forced me to do his schoolwork for him and when I attended the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum in my Fourth Year he yelled at me for not waiting for him to ask me as he assumed that since I was 'Ugly, prudish, a dumb little bookworm and never bothered to dress up for a guy' no other guy would ask me." Asterella told him, "Molly has likewise treated me like dirt, she's told me that I need to listen to her or no boy will ever consider marrying me other than her 'saintly' Ronald, and how I'll fail at being a good wife without her teaching me and all sorts of junk." she continued, "Mr. Clearwater nodded, "I see, this marriage contract could easily be deemed illegal, you said that neither you nor any members of your adoptive or biological family were aware of this?" Clearwater asked, Asterella nodded. He hummed as he thought, "And the contract was formed when you were two years old?" he asked, again Asterella nodded, "And Albus Dumbledore became your magical guardian through illegal and possibly uncouth methods, along with drugging you with love potions which he later triggered and used compulsions to force you to do as he wished? Clearwater confirmed, again she nodded in response. "Now if I may ask, are those rings you have on Ladyship or Heirship rings?" he asked, "Both, five Ladyship, six Heirship." Asterella replied, "Well then, this may be much easier than I was thinking. As the head of a Noble Pureblood House you are within your rights to declare any magically binding contracts made by, or involving a member of your house to be invalid, you also have the power to break off a marriage contract so long as you have a viable reason for doing so." Clearwater explained, Asterella tapped her fingertips on her knee as she thought, "I am head of the Granger family as the muggles who adopted me were members of a squib branch of the house, I can use my power as head of that house to dissolve the contract since it would make sense that I would be connected to it." Asterella decided.  Mr. Clearwater rose from his desk and walked over to what looked like a filing cabinet he tapped it and muttered APWBD and MFPW for RBW and HJG, seconds later a thin file shot out of a slot in the cabinet and Clearwater caught it with practiced ease, he set the contract on the desk.

Asterella read over the contract, "May I have the documents necessary to make this contract invalid?" she asked when she was done, Clearwater nodded and summoned the documents before handing the pages and a quill to Asterella. She began to fill out the documents and when she had finished she handed them to Clearwater so that he could deal with them, "Now that you've finished the paperwork there is one final part of the process that must be completed. You'll need to memorize what is on this page and then address Lady Magic as she is the only one who can fully terminate a contract such as this." Clearwater informed her as he handed her another piece of parchment with what she'd need to say written on it.

Once Asterella was certain she had memorized what she was supposed to say she closed her eyes and began to chant,

"O’ Great Lady of Magic! I Call Out To You!

A Contract Was Forged To Bond Me To Another,

But Ne’er Did I Consent To Such An Agreement.

Free Me From The Strife It Would Bring Unto Me And Mine!

Grant Me What Power Will Bring Down The Lies And Deceit,

That Wish Me Hardship,

And Free Myself And My Magic From This Bond That I Wish No Part In.

I, Lady Asterella Hermione Zabini,

Head of House Granger,

In the Name Of Lady Magic Declare

This Contract of Betrothal To Marriage Between Ronald Weasley And Hermione Granger To Be Completely Invalid.

There Shall Ne’re Be A Bond Of Marriage Between Our Houses In This Current Age.

With The Power Gifted To Me As Head of My House I Now Break This Contract.

So Mote It Be."

When Asterella finished chanting the parchment glowed and the word broken appeared on the bottom of the contract. Asterella thanked Mr. Clearwater and left the office, from there she made her way to the floo and returned to Malfoy Manor. When she returned she quickly informed her Mum and Blaise of the success in breaking the contract, then she headed to her room. She needed to write to Ginny, she felt like Ginny deserved to know the messed up shit that her Mother and older brother were doing, especially since a lot of that stuff involved finding ways to fuck with Hermione's life. She also knew that Ginny would be more likely to understand what she was going through than anyone else, given that Ginny had very nearly avoided being forced into a contract with Harry a few years prior. So she told Daphne and Pansy to get started without her and went to her room to write a letter to her best friend.

Dear Ginny, 

I am sure you probably know by now, but two days ago myself, your brother and Harrison were captured by Snatchers in the Forest Of Dean. Ronald stupidly said You-Know-Who's name and alerted them of our presence. We were taken to Malfoy Manor, the boys were taken to the dungeons on arrival but Lady Lestrange desired a chat with me about a few of the things that were found in our, or rather the boy's possession, however when she got close enough to place her knife at my throat she realized that I had a glamour charm placed on me, one I had not been aware of until then, she questioned me and her nephew Malfoy about whether it was taught at Hogwarts, it isn't of course. Anyhow, she sent for Theodore Nott's father, he's a curse-breaker you know, and had him check for spells and such, and boy did they find things, it seems our 'esteemed' Headmaster was quite, ah, adept at compulsion charms given the number he placed on me when he seemingly kidnapped me from my family home as an infant. 

They removed the glamour and Malfoy's first comment was on how much I look like Blaise Zabini, which it turns out is because he is my twin brother! You heard (or read, rather) me right, I the Muggle-born, Know-it-all, Gryffindor Princess, am the Twin sister of Blaise Zabini. My real name is Asterella Hermione Zabini, anyway, I've become friends with Pansy Parkinson and the Greengrass sisters, they're quite nice actually. I think you'd be happy to hear that they've finally pushed me to actually make some of the dresses I've designed, and for an upcoming Malfoy Ball no less! Pansy told me that the term Mudblood evolved from a German term MutBult which means courage blood.

Now the real reason for this letter was to tell you that your mother along with Dumbledore made an attempt to force me into a marriage contract with Ronald, and drugged me with love potions! I've broken the contract of course, it helps that I claimed my five Ladyships and six heirships yesterday. I miss you, please pass this along to the Twins, Charlie, Bill and Fleur. I hope all is going well, and I think that if I speak with Riddle he may allow you lot to join his side, trust me he doesn't want to do any of the things Dumbledore claimed he did. Luna is well and helping us with the dresses, Lady Lestrange is actually quite nice, the whole madwoman thing is just an act, and Riddle doesn't really look like a freaky cross between a snake and a man, that's just a glamour he uses when he wants to strike fear in the hearts of Dumbledore's followers.

Pansy and my other new friends have expressed interest in meeting you and the rest of your siblings, aside from Ronald of course. Please send a reply quickly,

All my love,

Asterella Zabini

P.S.- This is Blaise's Owl Nightshade, he let me borrow him since I don't have an owl of my own.

Asterella finished writing the letter and rolled it up and sealed it with wax, pressing one of her signet rings into the drying wax. She gave the letter to Nightshade and told him to find Ginerva Weasley, not that I knew where she was. Then he flew off and I headed upstairs to the old tailor's room where some of her friends were already working on Narcissa's gown and the rest were finishing cleaning the room. Daphne told her what she needed and Asterella got to work, about three hours later they were interrupted when an owl flew through the open window and crash landed on the floor, "Errol!" Asterella cried, laughing as she scooped up the owl and pried the letter from his beak. Luna took the owl and brought him down to her bedroom to make sure he was okay while Asterella unfolded the letter and started reading,

Dear 'Mione, or should I call you Asterella, 

I did know about Ron and Harry, although they said you were tortured and probably raped after they couldn't find you in the drawing room. Although they said Malfoy was near the door with an unfamiliar girl, I assume that was probably you without the glamour. I'm ever so glad to know that you are alright, I suppose I ought to tell you this in person but I just need to tell someone now, Aunt Muriel has formally adopted me, the twins and Charlie, she's also made me heiress to the Prewett family and has been teaching me how to be a proper Pureblood lady. Bill and Fleur decide to change their last name to Delacour in light of what you've told us, as not to be associated with them, we're also planning on disowning Father, mother and Ronald from both the Weasley and Prewett families, and most of us have legally changed our last name to Prewett. Fred and George are struggling to figure out what to do about the shop though, given that it is named Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I have suggested perhaps they could change it to Prewett's Pranking Products, or something similar, but they've yet to make up their minds. Oh, how I wish I could see  their faces when they Prewett family home that my soon-to-be-former-parents are staying in rejects them and sends them out onto the street, not to mention when they lose access to the family vaults, you know father did actually make enough money to sustain our large family, even with the cost of school books and robes and other things we should have had money leftover, if it wasn't to my soon-to-be ex-mother's habit of trying to keep living the lifestyle she claimed we deserved, I now realize that  she wanted you to marry Ronald as a result of the amount of power and wealth you must have, and me to marry Harry for his fame and money.

I agree that I might like Pansy and the Greengrass sisters, and I am eternally grateful that they managed to convince you to actually make some of your amazing designs a reality. I can't wait to see those designs come to life and I wish I could be there helping you with them. Please let us know when we can visit you and your new friends and family. 

All my love, your friend,

Ginerva Prewett 

Asterella smiled as she went back to work, leaving the letter from Ginny on the floor. Asterella, Pansy and Daphne continued working on Narcissa's dress until someone sent Tissy to fetch them for lunch. After lunch Asterella accosted Riddle and requested that the Prewett siblings be allowed to visit, she explained that they had taken on the name Prewett to avoid being associated with their former mother and brother. Riddle agreed, he'd heard about the young woman's rampage in the drawing room when she had discovered the Truth About Albus Dumbledore, everyone who'd witnessed the outburst had been terrorized by it, Bellatrix had even told him that she'd been able to see the angry magic radiating off of her and had said that it was a miracle that she hadn't broken anything, and he had no interest in being the cause, or worse target of another rampage. Asterella smiled and hurried off to write to Ginny, once she did she went back to working upstairs in the Tailor's Room. When it was time for Afternoon Tea Hermione and her associates headed downstairs to change since they'd been wearing work clothes for the majority of the day. Asterella and the others also wanted to make a good impression on Muriel Prewett, the current head of House Prewett and since she was a fairly staunch Pureblood they thought it best that they arrive on time and in clothes befitting women of their station.

Asterella's Outfit

Luna's Outfit

Pansy's Outfit

Astoria's Outfit

Daphne's Outfit

Ginny's Outfit

Asterella and the others hurried outside once they were changed, but much to their dismay Muriel and Ginny were already there. Ginny got up to go over to Asterella and Luna, but Muriel held her back. "You are late. Give me one good reason." the elder woman said, Asterella took the lead of the group, "I offer my sincere apologies on behalf of myself and the others with me. I understand that I should not excuse the fact that we are indeed late, however I assure you that we had no ill intent, nor was it an intentional action. We all were working on constructing a gown for Lady Malfoy and beginning to construct another for Lady Lestrange, and simply put we lost track of what time it was and when we finally realized the time we all required it of ourselves that we change our clothing into something more suitable for a setting such as this." Asterella explained, hopeful she was making it clear that this had been unintentional, "Very well, but to ensure that you are not lying I wish to see these gowns you mentioned." Muriel informed them, "I do believe that can be arranged, in fact we wanted to get your input on something Lady Malfoy." Asterella replied evenly, both of the elder women nodded as the new arrivals sat down. "Lady Prewett, I could not help but notice that your nephews are absent, did they not wish to come?" Pansy asked, "No, they did come. However, Heirs Malfoy, Nott and Zabini offered to play them at Quidditch and they went off with them." Muriel replied, "As much as I would have liked to see them, I am glad for both their sake and ours that the boys were able to set aside their foolish schoolyard grudges. I know that for some, your disgraced nephew in particular, they remain stubbornly bullheaded about such things and base their assessment of all similar people by the actions of few." Asterella said lightly, "Yes, my disgraced nephew, whom you were Betrothed to." Muriel replied. Asterella sighed, "I broke the contract because it was an illegal contract in the first place. Albus Dumbledore became my magical guardian through means that were likely not legal and subsequently the contract created was illegal, and in a number of other ways as well." she explained.

By the end of the tea, Muriel had decided that she trusted Asterella and agreed to help should they find need of something from her. When they showed Muriel the dresses they'd already started and the designs they'd yet to start, she'd been astounded by the detail and complexity of the design work. When Asterella told her that most of the work had actually been random sketches she'd made while studying Muriel had blanched at her, when the Prewetts left shortly before dinner everyone was content with the agreements they'd made and the alliance that had been formed. Not only that, but Tom Riddle had gained a number of followers, all of whom would remain unmarked as all members of his innermost circle, the members of the outer circle were the only ones truly marked, all other Death Eaters simply glamoured the mark onto their skin when necessary.

Chapter Text

After the unexpected events of the Easter holidays Asterella, Draco, Luna, Daphne, Pansy, Astoria, Ginny, Blaise, Theo, Greg, and Vincent dreaded the return to Hogwarts. Asterella had spoken with Headmaster Snape about how his predecessor had forced the hat to place her in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw where she belonged and Snape had decided to allow her and all other students who wished to be resorted, although he suspected most would end up back in their original house. As far as Asterella knew, Ginny was going to do the resort and when she'd owled Neville about it, he said that he and a number of other former DA members were going to take part in the resort. Ginny had confided in her that the hat had considered placing her in Ravenclaw or Slytherin but Ginny had feared if she was sorted anywhere but Gryffindor, that her parents or rather her mother, would disown her and kick her out of the Burrow, so she'd begged the hat to out her in Gryffindor. When Asterella told Fred and George about Snape allowing students to be resorted they had been shocked, but once their shock wore off they had told her they were glad that there was a change that students could have a chance to find where they really belonged rather than the place they'd gone out of a sense of duty or because they'd been forced there by outside forces.

In the time since they'd started working on the dresses for Narcissa and Bellatrix to wear to the Malfoy's upcoming ball, and with Ginny coming around to help most days they had managed to finish both and had even gotten so far as to have both Daphne and Pansy's dresses half done and the fabric for everyone else's dresses cut out. Asterella was grateful that Snape was a friend of her friend's parents as they had managed to get the typically immensely strict man to allow the girls to spend a majority of their weekends at Malfoy Manor so that they could continue working on the dresses. Of course they had made other things too, one night when Ginny slept over the six girls had been lounging around in Pansy's bedroom, it was nearly 1:00 in the morning as they'd stayed upstairs in the Tailor Room until nearly midnight, Ginny was sprawled across Pansy's bed with Astoria beside her, "You know, I've always hated our uniforms." she'd commented, "I agree, when I was first introduced to the wizarding world and McGonagall said that there were uniforms at Hogwarts, I'd envisioned something far different than what our uniforms are. I mean, for Merlin's sake the uniforms we wear are basically the same thing that kids who attend muggle schools do, only instead of a blazer over our sweaters and sweater vests we wear robes." Asterella had cried, the other girls all voiced their complaints in regards to the Hogwarts Uniform, then a grin had broken out across Ginny's face, "Well, we just so happen to have one or two of our very own fashion designers. They could make us some new uniforms." she'd said with a smug look in Asterella and Pansy's direction, see after the girls had started working on the dresses Asterella had taught Pansy how to design dresses and other clothes and the Slytherin girl had taken to it quite well. Both girls had sketched out a variety of different designs, once they were finished they laid out their two favorite sketches each for the others to look over, "We'd keep the robes we have now of course, but they'd be optional and for our uniform under that we need a change." Asterella said.

Design #1 

Design #2

Design #3 (pretend that the blue dress is more blue and less teal)

Design #4

The other girls had loved the designs and the following morning they had showed them to Headmaster Snape, after a considerable amount of time thinking over the four designs Snape permitted the six girls to make some of the designs and wear them while at Hogwarts. After that the girls had hurried off and made enough of the designs for at least five people to have a set for every day of the week of each in every house. The girls were both slightly terrified and excited to unveil their designs to the entire school. Pansy had contacted her childhood friends Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones to ask if they'd mind modeling the Hufflepuff designs, when they agreed she had told them to meet the girls on the train.

Asterella and her new friends and family had arrived at Platform 9 3/4 with plenty of time to spare, the boys kept looking at the girls oddly, probably because they were jittery and couldn't stop chattering about something in low tones. Once they boarded the Hogwarts Express, the girls separated into their own cabin and the boys into another. The six girls spent the trip back to Hogwarts laughing and chatting about their classes and how they thought people would react to their new uniforms. 

About an hour or so before the train was set to arrive at Hogsmead Station, there was a knock at their compartment door, Asterella jumped up to open the door. Outside stood Hannah and Susan, "Han, Suz! Thank you both so much for being willing to do this, it means a lot." Pansy told the pair of Hufflepuffs, they smiled and entered the compartment. Their smiles morphed into looks of shock, "Ginny?! Luna?!" Susan asked, "Yeah, oh and by the way I'm no longer a Weasley, my Great Aunt Muriel adopted me and most of my brothers, not Ronald though, so I'm a Prewett now." Ginny informed them, "Yes, and Hermione is here too." Luna said. Susan and Hannah looked around in confusion, "Hey," Asterella said timidly from where she stood near the door, both puffs whirled around, "It's me, I'm still the same person even if I have a new face and new name. I haven't made any public statements or anything yet, mainly because I don't want Harrison and Ronald to blow things way out of proportion, Ronald especially, and because as far as most of Dumbledore's supporters are aware I'm dead, killed after the Golden Boys weren't able to 'rescue' me from Malfoy Manor. So for the time being it is in my best interest to keep things quiet, I'm Asterella Zabini now by the way. And please, please don't say anything to anyone about this." Asterella told them quickly, both girls nodded and Asterella pulled out her beaded bag, it wasn't the same one she'd had while she was on the run, Pansy had helped her pick out a new one that wasn't quite so beat up and looked better. From within the bag she produced eight large parcels, each one labeled with one of the girls names. She handed each girl a parcel and they all slipped off to change into their new uniforms. 

Asterella's Outfit

Ginny's Outfit

Luna's Outfit

Pansy's Outfit

Daphne's Outfit

Astoria's Outfit

Hannah's Outfit

Susan's Outfit

When the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmead Station the two Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw, three Slytherins and two Gryffindors waited until they were the last people on the train before slipping into their own carriage for the trip up to the school, Asterella was slightly nervous that the Prefects might take points for not wearing uniforms as she was unsure if they had been informed of the new situation. She was also nervous because the resorting was taking place during dinner and she wasn't sure how it would go. Eventually the carriages reached the front doors of the school, once everyone else was gone the girls made their way into the castle and began to wander about the corridors in the general direction of the library. Every student in the castle aside from them wore the normal Hogwarts uniform, some students ignored them, others stared and a few asked why they were dressed the way they were. As they neared the doors of the library one of the sixth year Gryffindor Prefects, one who had listened to Ronald a bit too much and hated Slytherins just as much, stormed over to them. "WEASLEY! WHAT ON EARTH?! IN CAHOOTS WITH THE DEATH EATERS AND SNAKES NOW, HUH? BET YOUR BROTHER WOULD BE MIGHTY PROUD TO SEE THIS!" the boy screamed, "Excuse me, but Ronald is not my brother, I only have five, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, and I don't know of any Weasleys in this school, a Prewett sure, but no Weasleys." Ginny retaliated, "And Forty points from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, Twenty Points from Ravenclaw and Sixty Points from Slytherin for lack of proper uniform." the Prefect leered at the girls, "You might want to go put on your uniforms, wouldn't want to have to take away more points." he snickered as he stalked away.

Later that evening at dinner the eight girls waited until they heard Snape clap his hands to settle the students so that he could give a short speech of sorts, when they did Asterella blasted the doors open with a gust of wind shot from the tip of her wand, together they marched into the hall. "Ah, Miss Zabini, Miss Parkinson your designs are superb, and Misses Greengrass, Miss Prewett and Miss Lovegood your execution of your friends designs is wonderful." Headmaster Snape remarked, then returning his focus to the rest of the students he spoke, "Students, these young women have designed and executed a number of new uniforms for the student here at Hogwarts, although they have yet to design anything for the male portion of the student body, with what they have managed to create for the female portion in such a short time I can only assume that it will be incredible. Now I should hope that I do not need to remind you of the normal rules, tonight and possibly tomorrow night as well we will be allowing students the opportunity to be resorted." Snape told the students before seating himself again as McGonagall brought forward the sorting hat. The girls had taken their seats while Snape was speaking but once he announced the resorting Asterella and Ginny had gotten back up. Asterella went to Ravenclaw as she should have sevenish years before, Ginny stayed in Gryffindor, Neville was resorted to Hufflepuff, and many other students were resorted.

Chapter Text

It had been nearly three weeks since they had been separated from Hermione, and two and a half weeks since Bill and Fleur had abruptly kicked Ron and Harry out of Shell Cottage without warning. A few days after he and Harry had been kicked out, he'd gotten a Howler from his Mum. He was already on edge, they'd lost Hermione, and really she was only good for making them food, and maybe helping them figure things out, but really he and Harry did most of that on their own and the Howler just made things worse. It had dropped into his plate of whatever disgusting muggle food Harry had gotten for them, Wally's? was that what he'd called it, or wait no, Windy's that had to be it.

Ron had gingerly (Pun intended) picked up the Howler, hoping perhaps to toss it into the woods or something, but before he had the chance it burst open and his mother's voice burst forth with a cry like a banshee. "RONALD WEASLEY! YOU LET THAT FOOLISH MUDBLOOD BITCH OUT OF YOUR SIGHT! I TOLD YOU! SHE'S GONE AND MESSED UP EVERYTHING THAT ME AND DUMBLEDORE PLANNED! SHE KNOWS!  SHE'S GONE AND DESTROYED THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT! WHEN I GET HOLD OF YOU! YOU'VE GONE AND LOST US THE WHOLE FORTUNE! YOU SHOULD BE GLAD I'VE NOT TRACKED YOU DOWN AND PUNISHED YOU!  SHE'S GOTTEN HERSELF FREE OF THE POTION AND COMPULSIONS TOO! I TOLD YOU NEVER TO LET HER OUT OF YOUR SIGHT! SHE WAS TO REMAIN WITH YOU OR HARRY! AT! ALL! TIMES! WORST OF ALL SHE'S GONE AND CORRUPTED YOUR SIBLINGS AND AUNT MURIEL TOO! THEY'VE DISOWNED US! HOW DARE THEY, WE HAD A PLAN TO BRING WEALTH TO THE FAMILY! AND THEY CAST US OUT! WE'LL SHOW THEM!" Molly's screams echoed across the forest, alerting anyone and anything nearby of their presence. Harry re-entered the tent, "Ron? What on earth was that?" he asked, a mix of confusion and maybe anger in his voice. Ron gulped, "Uh, my mum and Dumbledore made a marriage contract between me and Hermione. She, uh, didn't know about it. My mum told me to make sure she was always with one of us so she wouldn't be able to have a chance to find out about any of the stuff Dumbledore hid." He told his friend, Harry grabbed his things and left in anger.

Harry didn't want any part in the war, and he never had. This war, all of this mess, it wasn't his to begin with. It was Dumbledore's war, his mess and Harry, well Harry was stuck in the middle. After leaving Ron, he was alone and unsure of what to do. Since they’d lost Hermione, they had been completely stuck, no clue where to go next, or even what they were looking for in the first place. 

Asterella was felt lighter than she had in ages, she was in the house she actually belonged in, had friends who didn't think of her as just free homework answers or a servant, and for the first time in her life she felt truly like she fit into her own skin. Snape had organized a program that would get her up to speed on everything she had missed, which wasn't hard given that she had basically learnt most of the class material on her own.  When she wasn't in her remedial classes or her regular classes she spent time with her friends and family. It was a Hogsmead Weekend, so rather than go to the Manor to work on making their dresses, the girls had decided to spend the day strolling through Hogsmead Village, something that all of the girls, albeit not together, had enjoyed momentously prior to the war. In the time since Asterella had discovered her true heritage and she, Ginny and Luna had befriended the Slytherin girls, Pansy and Daphne had taken it into their own hands to change Asterella's style. If someone told her a year ago, or hell, even a couple months ago, that she'd be strolling through Hogsmead with Pansy Parkinson as one of her besties, not to mention wearing somewhat revealing clothes, she'd have probably thought them insane and hexed them so badly they'd have had to spend a month in St. Mungo's.

Asterella's Outfit ^

Ginny's Outfit ^

Luna's Outfit ^

Pansy's Outfit ^

Daphne's Outfit ^

Astoria's Outfit ^

Hannah's Outfit ^

Susan's Outfit ^

As the group strolled down the main street of Hogsmead, Asterella was deep in thought, since they had arrived at school the eight girls had been near inseparable, the only time they were apart was when they didn't have class with each other, and it had done a lot of good to the school. In that short amount of time she had noticed students branching out in their choice of friends, she was even pretty sure she had seen a Slytherin girl standing up in defense of a first-year Gryffindor when the younger student was being bullied by another Slytherin student, Pansy had told her that one of the fourth-year Slytherin boys had come running to her in a panic after he'd asked out his crush, a fourth-year Gryffindor girl, on a date and she had agreed. A smile spread across her face, "Screw you Albus Dumbledore!" she thought, "Hey, Aster?" Ginny asked, "Huh, what?" Hermione asked as she was yanked out of her thoughts, "What's got you smiling?" Ginny asked, "Oh, I was just thinking about how much good our group's friendship has done to the school as a whole, and particularly how it is ruining Dumbledore's plans." Asterella replied with an even wider smile. They continued walking for a bit until Ginny stopped abruptly, causing the other girls to crash into her, she promptly grabbed Asterella and Pansy's hands and pulled them inside a nearby shop, the other girls trailing behind, once Asterella got over the initial surprise of Ginny's odd actions she looked around at where they had been dragged, the place seemed familiar, but not someplace she'd been before, not quite. Then it hit her, the last time she'd seen them, at Bill and Fleur's wedding, they had told her that they wanted to buy a place in Hogsmead but weren't sure if they'd be able to find the funds until after the war, but apparently they had because there was no doubt in Asterella's mind that this was the Hogsmead Village branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the somewhat infamous joke shop owned by the equally as infamous Weasley- now Prewett- twins, Fred and George. "FRED! GEORGE! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE SOMEWHERE!" Ginny bellowed, seconds later the aforementioned brothers popped up from behind some shelves, "Well, if it-" "Isn't our own" "Darling little sister-" "Ginny!" the twins exclaimed "But, you-" "Really must-" "Know that-" "We are not-" "Open to-" "Customers quite yet." they continued, "Well we aren't here to shop. We just wanted to say hello." Ginny told them as she marched towards the door. "Oh, and meet us at Three Broomsticks for lunch." Ginny told the pair as she stepped out the door.

Once the group was back outside Asterella glanced at Pansy, who nodded at her and shouted "TO HONEYDUKES!" before charging down the street in the direction of the candy shop. Moments later the girls burst through the front door of the shop and grabbed baskets from the stack near the door as they began snatching things off of the shelves. Asterella filled her basket with Liquorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, Sugar Quills, a few boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Butterbeer Fudge, Caramel Cobwebs, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Wands, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Fruit Rocks, Hocus Pocus Pops, Honeydukes Best Chocolate, Peppermint, Raspberry and Spearmint Ice Mice, Salt Water Taffy, Sugar Straws, Sweet Crystals, Toffees, Treacle Fudge, Sour Apple Bites, Sour Strawberry Apple Strips and Sour Strawberry Strips, when the group gathered at the checkout she noticed that Pansy had most of the things she had with the addition of Charm Choc, Shock-o-Choc, and Pepper Imps, Ginny had the same sweets too with the addition of Acid Pops and Spindle's Lick'O'Rish Spiders, Luna had some Sugared Butterfly Wings in addition to the rest of her treats, when the group reached the checkout counter Mrs. Flume greeted them with a kind smile and began ringing up their purchases, once they had paid the thanked the shop owner's wife and hurried out the door. As they stepped onto the street Pansy noted that they still had plenty of time until they were supposed to meet the twins for lunch, "Well, we could go to Tomes and Scrolls, I'd suggest Gladrags but well, they're not exactly known for making the most, ah, elegant and refined clothes." Asterella suggested, the rest of the group agreed and they set off down the street, "Y'know Asterella, assuming we ever get our fashion design gig rolling we could get a shop up here, bet we'd get a good bit of business from the students, particularly the ones from Pureblood families and have actual standards when it comes to clothes." Pansy said, after thinking it over for a moment Asterella  agreed, "I know I would have thoroughly enjoyed having a place like that here in fourth-year, what with the Yule Ball and everything." she admitted.

The group spent the better part of an hour and a half in Tomes and Scrolls, Luna purchased a few books on magical and non-magical creatures, Ginny bought a few books written by Quidditch players or about the sport, Astoria purchased some books about jewelry and jewelry making, Hannah got a few books on healing spells and healing charms, Susan picked out a few books on herbology and defensive magic, Daphne chose a few books about sewing and fashion, Pansy opted for some books on wizarding fashion and a few related to school, Asterella selected books on magical fashion, and a number of books related to her classes. Once they checked out they made their way to the Three Broomsticks, it was just as busy as they had expected,  as it was a favorite spot for both students and teachers during Hogsmead trips it was almost always packed. The girls waved to Madam Rosmerta as they wove through the crowd of their fellow students towards the rather large table that Fred and George had claimed at the back of the pub. Once they had sat down and freed themselves of their bags they ordered their drinks, Asterella ordered Butterbeer with a swirl of nutmeg, Ginny, Luna and Astoria ordered the Otter's Fizzy Orange Juice, Daphne and Susan ordered Pumpkin Juice with ginger on top, Hannah ordered Pumpkin Fizz and Pansy ordered D'Ambroise, once they received their drinks they and the twins ordered their food, Asterella ordered a simple fish and chips, Pansy and Astoria ordered French onion soup, Daphne ordered Bouillabaisse, Ginny and Hannah both ordered Spaghetti Bolognese, Susan ordered Lasagne, Luna ordered a Shepherd's Pie, and the twins both ordered Chicken Pot Pie. The group enjoyed their lunch and nearly two hours later when they finally went their separate ways it was with promises that they'd let the twins know the next time they'd be in Hogsmead or Diagon Alley so they could meet up for lunch or some other meal again. By the time they had finished lunch it was mid-afternoon and the girls decided to return to the castle for the rest of the day, although for some odd reason, even despite the fact that all eight girls were wearing heels of varying heights they decided that rather than take the carriages back to the castle they would walk.

Well over an hour later the girls arrived at the castle, after returning their things to their dorm rooms they met up in one of the courtyards to discuss what to do for the remainder of the day, and since it was only Saturday Pansy suggested that they ask Professor Snape if they could spend the rest of the weekend at the Manor to work on the dresses. So off they went, once they managed to track down the Headmaster and ask him for permission, not that they really needed it in the first place since they technically were allowed to go to the manor whenever they wanted on weekends, they headed to Snape's office and used his Floo to get to the manor. They spent the rest of the afternoon working and just hanging out in the tailors' room at the manor, in the time that they were there they managed to finish the final details on Pansy's Dress as Daphne's was already finished and get almost halfway finished with Luna and Ginny's dresses.

Chapter Text

It was a bright, sunny Monday afternoon and Asterella Zabini was lounging on the grass near the Black Lake with her friends, Pansy and Ginny were arguing over Quidditch tactics, Luna was standing in the lake with her skirt pooling around her knees, Daphne and Hannah were debating over the best way to heal broken bones magically, Astoria and Susan were watching as Blaise, Theo, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle flew laps over the lake on their brooms. She was caught by surprise when her ex-enemy, and still current academic rival, Draco Malfoy swooped down and pulled her onto his broom before taking off again. It took Asterella a second to realize what was happening, "MALFOY! YOU ABSOLUTE ROTTEN FERRET!! TAKE ME BACK NOW!" Asterella's shrieked, "Oi! Malfoy! You better not have any ideas about dating my little sis!" Blaise Zabini, Hermione's twin brother called as he flew past, "Just relax, Zabini, it's not that bad." Draco muttered to Asterella, "I'll relax once I'm back on the nice firm solid ground. Malfoy." Asterella told him through gritted teeth. "Oi! Drake, might want to listen to Zabini, she looks about ready to hex your sorry arse into next Yule!" Theo called as he flew under them. Draco muttered something that Asterella couldn't quite make out before turning the broom and heading back for the shore.

As soon as the broom neared the ground Asterella hopped off, as Draco turned and flew off over the lake Asterella shot a silent stinging hex at him, which caused him to fall into the lake. When he hit the water the girls burst into laughter and Pansy and Ginny high-fived Asterella. Asterella joined Tori and Susan watching the boys fly and they began discussing fashion and books. A short time later, a fairly small barn owl swooped down and deposited a letter on Asterella's lap. She picked it up and immediately knew by the untidy scrawl and food stained parchment that the letter was from her ex-betrothed, Ronald Bilius No-Name. Great, what did he want from her now, she wondered as she tore open the letter and started to read.

Dear Hermione  'Mione,

Ron here, look I knew wasn't told. Mum sent a Howler cause I left you alone at the fucking Malfoy Manor. Just do the right thing and put the fucking contract back in place. Also since I will be your husband in a few months time I order you to come back. I'm bloody fucking tired of whatever fucking muggle shite Harry keeps getting. I am your master so you had best come  fucking crawling back like I know you will. You fucking Mudblood Death Eater slut!

Love Ron.

Asterella's eyes blazed, "How dare he!" she growled, "What happened 'Mione?" Ginny asked. Hermione handed the letter to Ginny, after reading it Ginny's face was murderous, "Gin, don't bother. It's not like he could actually force me to do anything, my Ladyship rings prevent compulsion charms from taking hold, although he is likely incapable of casting one." Asterella told her redheaded friend. Asterella sat down and summoned a quill and parchment and began to write.

Ronald,

I cannot say I was at all pleased to receive the letter you sent. You have no power over me, I am head of five noble houses of various ranks, heiress to six more, and as I recall you have been disinherited from all family lines to which you formerly belonged. Unlike what you may think I am no muggle-born, nor a Death Eater's plaything. The contract will remain voided as I have no interest in any sort of relationship with someone such as yourself. If you have any ideas about me returning, crawling or otherwise then you are delusional. Do not attempt to delude me into thinking you were unaware of the illegal marriage contract that your mother and Albus Dumbledore created, I know that you knew about it, and the compulsions and love potion as well. Do not reply to this letter for in have no interest in hearing from you again.

A. Zab

She sent the owl off with the letter and prayed to whichever gods might be listening that Ronald would comply with her demands. Then she rejoined the discussion with Suz and Tori, the group of friends hardly noticed the sun lowering in the sky until it was nearly sunset and Snape had sent some second-year kid to find them for dinner. As they walked up the grounds towards the castle Asterella felt Draco walking beside her, he leaned over and whispered something in her ear, "We'll make you love flying yet, you'll be even better than Potter." a shudder ran through her, "Unlikely, though I'm sure you'll try." She replied with a smirk.

Little did Asterella know that Blaise and Draco had a plan, now ever since the resorting the students that had been residing in the Room of Requirement had returned to the house dormitories, which meant that the RoR was free to use. So after dinner they would be dragging Asterella there and teaching her how to fly. Dinner felt as though it lasted forever, but when the meal finally ended Ginny and Daphne, who both loved flying and were in on the plan, dragged Asterella to the Room of Requirement. The rest of the group joined them there, it had been decided that they would also teach Luna, Astoria and Susan how to fly. The doors to the room formed and the group entered the space, Asterella's face filled with slight panic and terror when she realized that the room had morphed into something akin to a Quidditch Pitch. Draco, Blaise, Theo and Ginny all paired up with one of the four that they were teaching, Suz and Ginny, Theo and Luna, Blaise and Tori and Draco and Asterella. Draco began coaching Asterella through the basics of flying on a broom, and all the while Asterella glared at him, truth was it wasn't heights that scared her, but that she was scared to place her trust in a thin enchanted piece of wood. Draco explained that the particular space within the Room of Requirement was able to basically stop you from falling very far by creating large stacks of cushions and such. After that the lesson continued without a problem, by the time they were finished for the night they had agreed to meet there at the same time the following week. 

Chapter Text

April was coming to a close and Asterella, the other Seventh Years and Astoria, the group's resident fifth year were filled with a growing sense of anticipation and terror, the seventh years had their N.E.W.T.s and Astoria had her O.W.Ls at the end of May. One Thursday afternoon Draco and Blaise went to speak with Headmaster Snape, and managed to get permission for the whole group, sixth years included, to leave campus for the weekend, which happened to include Friday and Monday. The plan was for them to go to the Zabini's Italian Villa which was just outside of Verona. According to Blaise there was a special club in Wizarding Verona that was targeted to teens and people who didn't drink alcohol, which meant that the club didn't serve alcoholic beverages. To Asterella, Ginny and Luna, Blaise gave a general list if things they might want to bring with them. The boys had arranged for the group to use the Floo in the Headmaster's office at 18:00 (6pm), which meant that they only had about an hour and a half to pack for the trip. According to Pansy, who had apparently visited the villa at some point, there was an indoor pool, an outdoor pool and a couple of hot tubs. Asterella tossed the things she thought she'd need into a Louis Vuitton suitcase and changed out of her school clothes into a cropped black off-shoulder top, denim overall dress, and fishnet tights, then she slipped a pair of blue heart earrings and black heels, a Louis Vuitton purse hung from one shoulder. When Asterella had reached the Ravenclaw Common Room, about half an hour before they were due to leave, she found Luna waiting, her Gucci suitcase, which had been a belated birthday gift from Asterella. Luna had also changed out of her school robes and now wore a mint coloured sundress, white cowboy boots and silver star earrings with a mint coloured Gucci bag hanging from one shoulder. The plan was for the group to meet in the corridor outside the great Hall before heading to the Headmaster's office, so Asterella and Luna set off, in the direction of Gryffindor Tower to fetch Ginny before heading to the meeting spot. When Asterella and Luna arrived outside the Gryffindor common room, "Terpsichore" Asterella told the Fat Lady, hoping that the name of the Muse of dance and choral song was still the password to the Gryffindor tower, "Hmph. Correct, but you aren't one of my students." the portrait replied. Asterella smirked, "I am aware that I am a Ravenclaw, however, I did provide the correct password to grant entry into the common room, therefore as your job is to allow students who provide the proper password, and I have provided the proper phrase, you are to grant us entry into the common room." Asterella replied with a smile. The Fat Lady glared at Asterella, but nonetheless her portrait swung open to allow the two Ravens to enter the Lion's den. Luna walked over to one of the Gryffindor girls who was sitting by the fireplace playing Exploding Snap and asked where Ginny was, the other girl told Luna that Ginny had been up in their dorm and was probably still there. Being back in the Gryffindor Common Room aka the Lion's Den made Asterella realize just how glad she was that she now spent her time in the Raven's Nest aka the Ravenclaw Common Room, in the time that the girls were waiting for Ginny all of the Gryffindors in the tower left for dinner, eventually Ginny came rushing down the stairs from the girls dorms, with her Prada suitcase, a belated Yule gift from Asterella, clunking down the stairs behind her. Asterella now realized that part of the reason Ginny had taken so long was that she too had changed out of her school robes, and was now wearing a Gryffindor crop top, an athletic skirt paired with golden snitch earrings and Gryffindor sneakers, a red Prada bag hung from the crook of her elbow. Together the three girls left the Gryffindor tower, this time heading in the direction of the entrance hall, they dragged their designer suitcases behind them. When the trio reached the entry hall they could hear laughter and loud conversation echoing from within the Great Hall, Pansy, Daphne, Astoria, Hannah and Susan were already there, waiting for the rest of the group, Draco, Blaise, Theo, Vince and Greg on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen, and the group was leaving in ten minutes.

While they waited for the boys to arrive, Asterella took a closer look at the other girls, all of whom had changed out of their school robes. Pansy wore a lace-up green skirt, a black crop-top with gold chains decorating the front, sheer black floral tights, Victorian style black boots, a black emerald choker and emerald studs, a silver Chanel handbag hanging from her arm, as she leaned slightly against her black Chanel suitcase. Daphne was wearing a silver leather skirt and a dark green corset adjacent top paired with short black cowboy boots, diamond earrings and a diamond necklace with a letter D, a black leather Dior bag dangled from her shoulder, and she was sitting on the top of her Christian Dior suitcase. Astoria was wearing a dress with a black top and a skirt similar to Pansy's, and she had paired it with silver heeled combat boots, a golden necklace with an initial A and seashell earrings, a matte silver Dolce and Gabbana bag over one shoulder, her Delsey suitcase stood beside her. Hannah wore black denim shorts that were frayed around the edges, a grey Hufflepuff tank top and yellow converse, a heart shaped cream Lola Mae bag hung across her torso, she had a variety of yellow and black friendship bracelets encircling her wrists and her cream Globe Trotter suitcase stood beside her. Susan wore a black halter dress which was embellished with yellow roses, delicate black lace heels, a black leather Valentino Garavani bag hung off one shoulder, a pair of yellow rimmed sunglasses was perched on her head, delicate rose-gold hoops dangled from each ear, an intricate gold cuff rested on her upper arm and a rose-gold Calpak suitcase rested at her feet. It became obvious that Asterella hadn't been the only one staring at the other girls outfits when Ginny asked, "Hey, Pansy, I love that top you have on, where in Merlin's name did you get it?" and from that point on the conversation shifted over to fashion and clothes. 

Five minutes before they had to be in the Headmaster's office, Asterella and Pansy were pacing the entrance hall in a panic, Daphne and Ginny looked like they were ready to tear the boys a new one when they showed up, Luna was still somehow her usual whimsical self, Astoria had dug a small item, which looked suspiciously like a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product, from her purse, most likely to use on the boys when they eventually showed up, Hannah kept glancing down one of the corridors, the one Pansy had told Asterella led into the Slytherin dungeons, Susan kept twisting a lock of hair around one of her fingers, a nervous habit of hers that Asterella had noticed years ago. Suddenly all five boys burst out of the corridor, out of breath and slightly sweaty, "Need *pant* a *pant* moment *pant* to *pant* catch *pant* our *pant* breath." Draco panted, resting his hands on his knees, "Sorry you wankers, but we're due in Snape's office in like, five minutes. No rest for you." Asterella said, all of the girls hiked their purses onto their shoulders and grabbed their suitcases, and started off towards the nearest staircase. The boys were still out of breath and complaining as they ran though the corridors and up numerous flights of stairs, the girls on the other hand had barely even begun to break a sweat by the time they were half-way to the Headmaster's office, which just so happened to be at the very top of the second tallest tower in the entire school, "Bloody hell! How the fuck are you lot not dying!?" Blaise exclaimed between panted breaths as they continued to race up stairs and down corridors, Asterella turned her head to yell behind her, "Because, Dear Brother, unlike you lot, we do more than Quidditch to exercise, and Quidditch can't really even be considered exercise. We go for a run nearly every morning." then she turned back around and kept running. They reached Snape's office about five minutes later than they were supposed to have arrived, and when they entered the room, they found the Headmaster sitting behind his desk, "Ah, Messers Nott, Malfoy, Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle, Misses Greengrass, Bones, Abbott, Greengrass, Lovegood, Prewett, Parkinson and Zabini, I see you have finally decided to join me." Snape drawled, "Ah, Headmaster, I believe you will find that it was the boys who made us late, you must know that they did not arrive at our agreed upon location of gathering until five minutes prior to the agreed upon time of arrival at your office." Asterella informed the headmaster, who in turn gave a disapproving glance to the boys. "Well, now that you have arrived, I must remind you all of a few rules that have been set in place to allow for this outing. Firstly, you are required to return to Hogwarts before breakfast on Tuesday morning. Secondly, as you are going to be in a primarily muggle dwelling area, you are not to use magic unless in a location that is inherently magical, or the villa. Thirdly, you are not allowed to get drunk, by which I do mean that you are not allowed Firewhiskey, that means you Mr. Zabini, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Nott and Miss Parkinson. Fourthly, should anything go extremely wrong, you are to return to the villa promptly, and return to Hogwarts from there. Am I understood?" Snape asked, everyone nodded. "Very well, Mr. Zabini, I hope that you have shared the name of your destination with your friends." Snape told them with an uncharacteristically genuine smile. Blaise re-shouldered his Gucci duffle bag and scooped a small handful of Floo Powder out of a container near the fireplace, he stepped inside the large opening, threw the powder down and shouted, "Zabini Villa, Verona, Italy!" as he vanished in a flash of green flames. Vince picked up his Weekender duffle bag and repeated what Blaise had done, Greg did the same, Theo followed suit, hoisting his Prada duffle over his shoulder and flooing away, Asterella looked to Draco, expecting him to follow Theo, but he shook his head, so Pansy grabbed the handle of her suitcase and stepped into the fireplace instead. Ginny followed moments later, Luna vanished less than a minute after that, Daphne and Astoria followed seconds later, Hannah followed the Greengrass sisters, Susan followed within seconds of her fellow Hufflepuff. Somehow in the short time that they had been watching the others Floo away, Snape had left, likely returning to the feast, which meant that with the last of the other girls having stepped through the Floo, Asterella was alone, in the headmasters office, with her ex-enemy, Draco Malfoy. "Uh, Asterella, you going to go?" Draco asked, "Yeah, sorry, I'll go." she replied hurriedly, grabbing the handle of her suitcase and rolling it towards the empty fireplace, "I'll see you on the other side," she joked as she stepped inside the fireplace, "I'll see you on the other side," Draco echoed as she threw down the powder and vanished in a flash of green flames. (If you know you know) Asterella stepped out of the fireplace into a large and extravagant foyer, her friends were already standing in the middle of the room, their bags discarded on the floor beside them. A few seconds later Draco stepped through the fireplace that Asterella had just exited. "Good, now that we're all here, I'll show you to your rooms." Blaise informed the group, signaling them to gather their bags.

Asterella <

Luna <

Ginny < Pansy <

Daphne <

Astoria <

Hannah <

Susan < Blaise <          Vince & Greg < (Yeah, I know, not super creative.)

Theo <

Draco <

the entry hall (NOT MY IMAGE)

Blaise led the group up the stairs, pausing for a moment at the top and gesturing towards the East Wing of the villa, "Most of the recreational stuff is down in the East Wing, West is residential." he told the group, mainly for the benefit of those who had never been there. Then he set off down the West Wing, the rest of the group trailing behind, "Once we get to each room you can drop off your bags, but we'll continue the tour and you can come back to unpack later." Blaise told them as they reached the end of a long corridor, pausing long enough for the group to readjust their suitcases and duffle bags before starting off again. They made it to about the third door from the entrance of the corridor before Blaise stopped, he gestured to the first two rooms and explained that they belonged to his Mamma and Nonna, then he pulled open the third door, which must have been his bedroom, and dropped off his duffle bag before returning to the hallway. Asterella took the opportunity to glance inside of her twin's room and from a quick glance noted that the room wasn't too large, but not tiny either, heavy green velvet drapes hung at each window and over the headboard of the bed, there was another door within the room that led into what Asterella assumed to be either a bathroom or a closet, there was a large fireplace made from a type of green stone on the wall opposite the door. Her observation was quickly cut short by her brother closing the door and crossing the hall.

Blaise's Room ^

Blaise informed them that the first two rooms on the north side of the corridor were unused, according to his Mamma, some member of the Zabini clan had, a few decades ago at least, died or killed someone in these two rooms, which for the reason of some old family tradition, meant that until two centuries had past, neither bedroom was allowed to be used, or entered by anyone other than the House Elves. Then he gestured to the third door on the north side, the one directly across from his room, and informed her that it was her bedroom, she entered the room and set her suitcase on the bed. The room was around the same size as Blaise's, but instead of green, nearly everything was blue, the curtains were a rich royal blue, the bed spread was blue and bronze, the carpet was a royal blue Persian rug, the fireplace was made of some sort of dark wood with a dark blue stone underneath it. Not only that, but just as her twin's room had been, her's seemed to be in a style similar to that of the style of the Victorian era, a style and time period that she had always loved.

Asterella's Room ^

Seconds after Asterella exited her room, Blaise began leading the group down the hall again, pausing again at the next door, and informing Ginny that it was her room, then telling Draco that his was the room across the hall. Ginny opened the door, slightly cautious as she did so, Asterella glanced inside as Ginny entered, she could definitely see why her brother would give this room to Ginny, the walls had been painted a bold -almost Gryffindor- red, and much of the furniture and decorations in the room were gold, or a similar colour to it. Asterella then turned around, and glanced inside of Draco's room, it was instantly obvious that the room belonged to Draco, given the contrast between it and the other rooms she'd seen, the whole of the space that she could see just exuded a sort of elegance and sophistication as only something owned or used by Draco Malfoy could, much of the space was made up of shades of green and grey with some gold accents.

Ginny's Room ^

Draco's Room ^

Once Ginny and Draco had dropped their bags in their rooms the group moved on, Luna and Theo's rooms were next, Asterella looked into Theo's rooms when he opened the door, just as she'd expected, his room exuded his usual calm and collected personality, the room was fairly simple in design and equally so in decorations, much of the room was made from a dark wood or had been painted cream, there was a sharp contrast in the colouring of the rug, bedspread and a few pieces of furniture as they were a dark -Slytherin coloured- green. Luna's room, which was opposite Theo's was just that, the complete opposite of his room. Unlike Theo's bedroom which had for the most part been fairly monochrome, Luna's was a practical rainbow, the walls were a pale pink, one wall was covered mostly by an expensive looking Chinese painting which depicted some sort of magical peacock in the clouds, a painting of a Victorian Lady hung on another wall, large windows let in a significant amount of natural light, and a number of lamps and candelabras which were spread through the room made up of any light not provided by the windows, there were a few chairs and couches spread through the room as well providing places for Luna to sit and read or paint or something.

Chapter Text

It had been a week since Harry had taken his things and abandoned Ron, he had sneaked into Grimmauld Place, no one had been there since he, Hermione and Ron had left months earlier. He had finally made up his mind on what he was going to do. He recalled hearing something about how the Americans didn't care about his 'chosen one' thing, and frankly he didn't care about it either anymore. Harry sat down at the dining room table and began writing a letter to Hermione, 

Dear 'Mione,

I want you to know that I had no idea what Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley and Ronald had been doing, well until last week anyway. I'd stayed with Ron, when we left Malfoy Manor with Dobby, Bellatrix's knife killed him by the way, we stayed with Bill and Fleur for a week, then they kicked Ron out so I went with him. We were on our own for a while in the woods, we both tried to make food but we were miserable at it so I started getting takeaway from fast food places. Ron hated that. A week ago, I had gone out for a walk, left Ron behind for a bit, he was being a right arse about the food, I'd gotten Wendy's, it was the only thing nearby! When I got back to the tent, I heard the Howler his mum sent him. She called you a mudblood and a whole bunch of other slurs. Apparently they wanted you for your money, granted as far as I was aware you didn't have some hidden fortune in galleons buried deep in Gringotts and I know that your parents are well off by muggle standards, but that's not much by wizarding standards and I don't even know how they'd have found out that your family was well off in the first place. Anyway, all this to say, I left Ron behind in the middle of the woods, and once I've sent this letter to you, I'm leaving Britain, for good. I don't want any part in this conflict. If the order wins, they'll do it without my help. I hope that you're all right, wherever you are. After I send this letter I'm going to change my name, and appearance, after today Harrison James Potter will no longer exist. I'm not going to tell you what my new name is now,if your write back to me then I might, but not until then. Please tell Ginny and Luna that I'm leaving for me.

Love from your friend,

Harry J. Potter

After finishing his letter to Hermione, he decided that he should really tell Tom that he was leaving the war and Britain, so he did the strangest thing he'd ever done, he wrote a letter to his so-called mortal enemy.

Dear Lord Slytherin,

I suppose that you will be surprised to be receiving this letter from me. I have a simple reason for sending you this, I wish to inform you that I am pulling myself out of this war. It has brought harm to me and my friends, and it was never our war to fight in the beginning, it was always Dumbledore's war. If the 'light' wins then they will do it without me. I am leaving Britain, if I remained here then there would always be someone trying to force me to be someone that I am not. From now on there will be no one by the name of Harry Potter, not in Britain or anywhere else. I will not fight for you, nor will I continue to fight against you any longer.

Regards,

Harrison James Potter

Once Harry was satisfied with his letters, he called for Kreacher, "What does the filthy half-blood Master want from Kreacher?" the old house-elf growled, "Kreacher, I need you to bring this letter to someplace where you can rent an owl, send this letter to Hermione Granger, and this other letter, the one with the snake on it, is to be sent to Lord Tom Riddle." Harry ordered, muttering and grumbling Kreacher did as he was told. Once Kreacher was gone, taking the letters and a few coins with him, Harry rose from his seat, he shouldered his rucksack and walked over to the Floo. He stopped a few feet short of it, and stood there, was he really about to do this, he changed his mind, and when he stepped into the flames he reemerged in Gringotts. He worked with a goblin and legally and magically changed his name to Harry Porter, he thanked the goblin and returned to the drab building known as Grimmauld Place, he spent the night there. The following morning he used a spell that caused his lightning scar to permanently elongate to the point that it stretched from his hairline to his jaw, through one of his eyes, it was just enough to make him look not like Harry Potter, without the use of a glamour charm, which he didn't know how to cast in the first place. Once he'd eaten the breakfast Kreacher had made and forced on him, he picked up his rucksack again and stood in front of the Floo again. This time though, he stepped through and called out the name of the wizarding shopping area in America as he did so.

Ron was completely alone now, Harry had abandoned him, Hermione was a fucking Death Eater slut now, and he, Ron, was the only one of the trio who was still loyal to Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of all time. If Harry and Hermione weren't going to help kill Voldemort, then he'd do it on his own. He just needed to find food and the next Horcrux, food first though. How dare those two traitors leave him!  With the Mudblood bitch gone, there was no chance of him ever marrying her and thus gaining control of all of her vaults, after all, she had a number of vaults that she didn't need to know about, he knew about them of course, but then they were supposed to belong to him. Although now she probably knew about everything. He'd been disowned, his beloved Mum had been too, same for his dad, although he could really care less about his wimp of a father. 

They had arrived at the Zabini villa the previous evening, and after Blaise had finished giving them a tour of the entire villa, both the interior and the grounds, which were massive, all of them were exhausted and thus they had spent the remainder of the previous day lounging about in either the game room, arcade or the pool. The girls had gone to the pool of course and the boys had spent the evening playing games. Now, in the month or so since her arrival at Malfoy Manor as a prisoner, and the discovery of her true heritage, Pansy, who had been the first to find out about the abuse and mistreatment she'd received from her Adoptive muggle parents, had managed to convince her to tell her mum and her other friends, but... she hadn't mentioned it to Blaise or Draco, or Theo yet, and since she had returned to the Zabini family, Blaise had been rather overprotective of her, which did make sense as he was her brother and they had grown up with out the other so it made sense that he wouldn't want to lose her again, but Malfoy, she didn't quite understand his protectiveness over her, she supposed that perhaps it had something to do with her being the long-lost twin sister of one of his best mates, after all, he was protective of Daph, Tori and Pans, just not quite as extremely as with her.

On Friday morning Asterella woke with a groan, apparently she'd been so tired the night before that she had neglected to close the curtains around her bed, no wait, she wasn't in her dorm at Hogwarts, then she remembered that they were in Italy for the weekend. She blinked a few times as she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, well, she thought, since I'm awake, I might as well get up and get ready for the day, she flipped back the blankets and swung her feet over the side of the bed and slipped on her flats, as she stood up she straightened her navy blue nightgown. She crossed the room to where she'd left her suitcase the night before, as she rifled through her bag she realized that almost everything she'd pack would show her lower back, and she really didn't need to start her morning off with her brother and Draco finding out about that, so she went with what was pretty much her only option, a navy blue floral sundress. She'd been too tired the previous night to take a shower or bath, and now she felt disgusting because of it. She grabbed her dress, her lemon body wash and her rose scented shampoo and conditioner, then she headed into the adjoining bathroom. She closed the door behind her, even though she doubted anyone would just walk into her room randomly. She set her soaps on a ledge inside the shower and hung her dress on a hook on the back of the door, yesterday Blaise had told them that there should be towels somewhere in their bathrooms, she spent a good five minutes looking for the towels, eventually she found them in the cabinet under the sink, she grabbed one and hung it from a hook near the shower. She slipped off her flats and kicked them across the floor, she then pulled her nightgown over her head and hung it from the hook on the back of the door, she stepped under the streams of hot water. Asterella finished showering quickly and after casting a few quick charms to dry and style her hair, she dried off the rest of her body with the towel and slipped the sundress over her head. She padded back into her bedroom with bare feet, she folded her nightgown and left it under her pillow, her flats were left on the floor beside the bed. From the depths of her suitcase, she withdrew a pair of new black high top converse shoes, which she then slipped on. She clasped a sapphire and diamond necklace around her throat, which she had found in her purse grabbing her Ladyship and Heirship rings from the bedside table she slipped them onto her fingers. After glancing at herself in the mirror, she left her bedroom, closing the door softly as she went.

Asterella ^

When Asterella reached the kitchen for breakfast, they'd agreed that since they were on vacation and the whole point was to relax, they would eat at one of the large counter tops in the kitchen rather than the formal dining room for meals. Greg, Vince and Ginny were already there, chatting about Quidditch and what to have for breakfast. Ginny was wearing a burgundy lace crop-top, which she had paired with a denim skirt and red converse high-tops, she wore a ruby Heirship ring and a ruby necklace. A few minutes later Pansy and Daphne entered the room, Pansy wore a green velvet cropped tank top and a black leather skirt, she wore silver heeled sandals and had her Parkinson Heirship ring on one finger, Daph was wearing a mostly white but green trimmed off the shoulder romper, she'd paired it with black heeled boots, one her right hand rested her Greengrass Heirship ring. Asterella called out a greeting to them from where she stood at the counter, tying and apron around her waist, she grabbed two more aprons and passed them to Pansy and Daphne, both girls looked at her in confusion but put the aprons on anyway. Asterella summoned a cookbook and flipped through it for a few moments until she came to a recipe for Chocolate Chip muffins "gemino" she muttered, duplicating the page and setting it on the counter, she then continued to flip through the cookbook until she found a recipe for pancakes which she also duplicated, she also found and duplicated the recipes for a few types of pastries. Then she started pulling out ingredients and just as they were about to start making the first few things, Hannah, Susan and Luna entered the kitchen, "Morning everyone! Aster, need some help?" Hannah asked, Asterella nodded, "Sure as hell I do, Han, you girls can grab some aprons and then find a recipe to work on." Asterella told them. By the time that Astoria, Blaise, Draco and Theo finally came into the kitchen, the counter was covered in a wide range of foods, "Finally decided to join us? Huh boys?" Asterella joked, "Oh, and morning Tori, hope you got a good night's sleep." She added with a smile. Asterella, Pansy, Susan, Hannah and Daphne sat down at the counter and began to select their favored foods from the spread laid out across the room. In between bites of his pancakes, Blaise asked the group, "So, what are we doing today?", that drew Ginny, Greg and Vince out of their still ongoing conversation on quidditch. In the end the group decided to spend the morning in Verona, both the muggle and wizarding parts of the city, they'd stop someplace for lunch and then come back to the villa for the rest of the afternoon, in the evening they'd go back into Verona and spend the evening at the club Blaise had told them about.

Ginny ^

Pansy ^

Daphne ^

Hannah ^

Susan ^

Luna ^

Astoria ^

After they'd finished with breakfast the girls went upstairs and grabbed their bags. When they returned to the entry hall, the boys were waiting for them, they split into groups to apparate into Verona, Blaise, Ginny and Luna, Theo, Astoria and Daphne, Greg, Susan and Hannah, Vince and Pansy, Draco and Asterella, they reappeared in the middle of Il rifugio di Circe (Circe's Haven), "Alright, where to first?" Blaise asked the group, "Well, I presume you boys will want to find a quidditch store or something similar, and we girls were planning to find some clothing and fabric stores." Pansy said, "Yeah, but you need someone who speaks Italian, and I'm the only one who speaks it." Blaise shot back, "Actually, brother, I am learning Italian and Pans and Daph are both fluent, so I think we're fine." Asterella retorted, Blaise sighed and they agreed to meet back in a few hours for lunch. Then the two groups split up, it didn't take long for the girls to find a boutique, they entered the large store and stood for a moment, trying to decide where to go first. As they stood there, they were approached by a young woman, a clerk by the look of her outfit, and she looked fairly pissed, "È venerdì, dovresti essere all'Accademia di Arti Magiche di Magisfalis, non qui nel Rifugio di Circe! Ho quasi voglia di trascinarti di nuovo all'accademia." (It is a Friday, you should be at Magisfalis Academy of Magical Arts, not here in Circe's Haven! I've half a mind to drag you back to the academy myself.) she snapped at the girls, Pansy smiled and replied, "Signorina, le assicuro che non salteremo le lezioni, anche se non frequentiamo la Magisfalis Accademia, frequentiamo la scuola di Hogwarts in Scozia, abbiamo ricevuto il permesso dal nostro Preside di trascorrere il fine settimana in una villa fuori Verona, di proprietà della famiglia Zabini, alla quale siamo tutti molto legati." (Miss, I assure you that we are not skipping our classes, although we do not attend Magisfalis Academy, we attend Hogwarts School in Scotland, we were given permission by our Headmaster to spend the weekend in a villa outside of Verona, it is owned by the Zabini family, with whom we are all close with.), Asterella smirked internally as she spoke, "Ciò che ti ha detto la mia amica è vero, visto che sono Asterella Zabini, la sorella gemella di Blaise Zabini." (What my friend has told you is true, seeing as I am Asterella Zabini, the twin sister of Blaise Zabini.) the clerk glared at her and snapped angrily, "Non puoi essere un membro della famiglia Zabini, non hanno una figlia! Solo un figlio!" (You cannot be a member of the Zabini family, they do not have a daughter! Only a son!) Asterella rolled her eyes, "Oh, hanno una figlia, sono stata rapita quando avevo poche settimane, ma non hanno reso pubblica la mia nascita, né il mio rapimento. Credo che la mamma abbia detto che avremmo organizzato un ballo o una festa di gala dopo la fine dell'anno scolastico per annunciarmi ufficialmente come membro della famiglia." (Oh, they do have a daughter, I was kidnapped when I was a few weeks old, but they did not make my birth, or kidnapping, public knowledge. I believe that Mother said that we would be holding a ball or gala after the end of the school year to officially reveal me as a member of the family.) she informed the woman, Daphne looked at the worker sharply, "Ora, che ne dici di fare il tuo lavoro e di aiutarci con i nostri acquisti?" (Now, how about you do your job and assist us in our shopping?) she told the worker who glared but led them into the store.

The girls spent about an hour in the store, when they left the store Asterella begged the other girls to go into the muggle part of Verona. Even back when Asterella had been Hermione Granger, she had always wanted to visit Verona, particularly Juliet's House. The girls agreed to visit the muggle side of the city, as they left Il rifugio di Circe (Circe's Haven), they discussed where they wanted to go, Asterella wanted to visit Juliet's House, Daphne wanted to visit Arena di Verona, Astoria wanted to visit Castelvecchio, Hannah wanted to visit either Lamberti Tower or Castel San Pietro, Pansy wanted to visit the shops in Piazza delle Erbe, Ginny wanted to visit the shops in Via Mazzini, Luna wanted to see Giardino Giusti, Susan wanted to visit Porta Borsari which was another shopping area. They agreed to do all of the things they wanted so long as they had enough time. In the end they'd had to decide which of the three shopping areas to visit since they didn't have enough time to visit all of them and still make it back to Il rifugio di Circe in time to meet up with the boys when they were supposed to, but aside from that, they managed to visit all of the locations on their list. They had lunch at a quiet restaurant in Il rifugio di Circe, and once Blaise had paid for their meals, they split back into their pairs or trios from earlier and apparated back to the villa.

Once they were back in the villa, all of them hurried to their rooms to put on their bathing suits. Asterella was terrified, she had no idea how Blaise or any of the other boys were going to react to her scars, although it was probably for the best that they found out now, and not in a few months or years. With a sigh, she slipped off all of her rings, her shoes, necklace and dress, she pulled on the bikini that she'd left out on the bed, then tied a wrap-skirt and pulled on her sandals. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and left her bedroom. She made it to the pool in less than five minutes, Draco, Blaise and everyone else was already there, but it was obvious that they'd only just beat her there. Pansy and Ginny made eye-contact with her, both girls nodded subtly.

Asterella ^

Asterella removed the wrap-skirt, and turned to set it on a lounge chair. Blaise and Draco were out of the water in a flash. "Aster. What the hell is that on your back?" Blaise asked, sounding dangerously calm, Draco looked ready to kill someone, or rather whomever had caused the scars. "W-when I was eight, a-and s-some kids w-were bullying me, m-my magic got out of c-control, I kept d-doing accidental m-magic. T-the Grangers got mad, t-they tried to get rid of my magic, n-nothing worked, then D-Dumbledore showed up. H-he gave t-them a c-cursed knife, told them it would get rid of w-whatever demon was possessing me. Then they did this to me. It wasn't until the end of fifth year that they scarred over, until then if I did anything that stretched my skin a lot or made something rub against my back, it would start bleeding again. Most of the time I had bandages wrapped around my stomach, just in case." Asterella told them, "Did anyone know?" Blaise asked, she shook her head, "I never went to Madam Pomphrey, if I needed bandages then I would steal them. I never told Dumbledore, he was too focused on Harry and his plans. McGonagall never knew, I didn't think she'd have been able to do anything about it, I never told the other professors because I didn't know them well. The only one who might have known was Lupin, y'know since he's a werewolf, and they have an enhanced sense of smell. Harry and Weasley never knew, Harry would have cared, he was raised in an abusive home, but Weasley would have just made fun of me for it." she admitted. Blaise gave her a look, "Who did you tell, the girls weren't surprised, they obviously already knew." he asked, begging her in his eyes not to lie to him, "Pansy." she told him, "The first night that I was at Malfoy Manor. Narcissa had sent up some clothes for me to wear, a burgundy dress, it was nice, but it was backless. Tissy went and got Pansy, I asked her if I could borrow clothes, she asked why, and I showed her my back. She encouraged me to tell Luna and Ginny, then Daphne, then Tori, then Sue and Hannah." she explained. Blaise hugged her, "I'm not mad at you sorellina (Little sister). I'm mad at the monsters who thought that it was okay to do this to you when you were a child." he told her, "And Draco, I presume, feels pretty much the same way I do, although he may want to use the Avada, compared to the Cruciatus that I want to use." he added, with a glance at Draco. "I stopped letting those words bother me a long time ago, when I got my Hogwarts Letter. It was proof to me that I wasn't a freak, or a monster, or a demon or anything else that the muggles called me." Asterella told them, "but just because I stopped letting those things bother me, I still wasn't comfortable with other people knowing that they were there." she added, as she fought her way out of her brother's arms. 

Blaise let go of her, looked up and shouted, "GINERVA PREWETT! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!", Ginny, clad in a daring red bikini, was standing on the high dive, on the edge of the high dive. "NOPE!" she shouted back cheerfully, that was when Luna, in all her pastel, mermaid inspired glory, joined her on the edge of the high dive, "LUNA LOVEGOOD! GET DOWN FROM THERE!" Theo screamed, sounding rather like Mickey Mouse, Ginny looked at Luna and Luna nodded. Then they propelled themselves off of the platform in unison, as they plummeted towards the surface of the water, they performed a series of complicated flips and twists. Asterella, Pansy, Daphne, Sue, Hannah and Astoria cheered wildly when the others hit the water. Blaise dove into the pool and he and Theo began swimming towards Ginny and Luna like their lives depended on it, while they were distracted, Asterella, Daphne, Pansy, Astoria, Hannah and Susan raced off in the direction of the water park area.

Ginny ^

Luna ^

Pansy ^

Astoria ^

Daphne ^

Hannah ^

Susan ^

They made it to the farthest part of the water park before the boys realized they had vanished, "ASTERELLA ZABINI! WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GO!" Blaise screamed, Asterella climbed into a tube in one of the structures in the water park, "I'M STILL AROUND!" she called back, Blaise and Theo were distracted again, so Ginny and Luna made a run for it and hid in the water park. The girls were all huddled together at the top of the tallest slide tower, Astoria removed eight small cubes from a pocket in her swimsuit and handed them to Asterella. She silently and wandlessly transfigured the cubes into large, shrinkable, super powerful, water guns. She passed one to each girl, then she and Pansy worked together to disillusion each of the other girls, but they did so in a very specific way, a way that enabled the girls to be able to see one another, but would prevent the boys from having the ability to see them. They crept down the stairs, the boys had started to search the water park, the girls had hidden themselves in various locations that were extremely hard to access, at least would be hard for the boys to access. Ginny and Asterella were perched on top of two of the structures, Blaise walked towards them, past them and then they aimed their water guns and fired streams of water that hit Blaise square in the middle of his back. He spun around, "Who's there?" he asked suspiciously, they didn't answer, they had already moved to another location. Asterella and Pansy nailed Draco in the face with a couple streams of water, from at least twenty feet away at that. The boys spent a good hour and a half searching for the girls, the girls spent that time running through the park, climbing things that they probably should not have been climbing, and spraying the boys with water if they dared to get too close. After that hour and a half, all eight girls reappeared in the middle of the swimming pool. The boys looked at them in confusion, the girls had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, they raised the water guns from where they were holding them under the surface of the water and sprayed the boys. "What the fuck was that! And where the fuck have you been!?" Draco cried, sounding slightly angry.

"We were in the water park. Who else did you think was spraying you with water?" Asterella asked rhetorically, a smirk forming on her face. Draco glared at her as he and the other boys jumped back into the pool. Blaise reminded them that the club that they were going to that evening opened in a few hours, and that they should probably eat something beforehand. It was still at least another hour before they actually got out of the pool. They all charmed their clothes dry and headed to the kitchens where the house elves had already prepared a decently sized dinner for them all. After dinner they all headed to their bedrooms to change before they headed to the club. Asterella was dressed in a tight fitting navy blue dress, strappy silver heels, her Dagworth ring, and Zabini heirship ring, a sapphire necklace and earrings, her Louis Vuitton purse hung from one shoulder, Luna stunned in a pale blue dress, strappy bronze heels, her Lovegood heirship ring, a pair of mismatched earrings and a necklace with a moon, pentangle and gemstone, her mint Gucci purse hung across her torso. Ginny shone in a tight red dress, gold strappy heels, her Prewett heirship ring glinted on her hand, a set of garnet earrings and a ruby bracelet from the Prewett vaults glinted in the light, her red leather Prada bag hung from her shoulder, Pansy looked every bit the queen that she was in a green dress that was identical to the on Asterella wore, strappy heels, her heirship ring and heirloom jewelry, her silver Chanel purse completing the ensemble. Astoria wore a silver dress that matched Pansy and Asterella's dresses, a pair of strappy green heels, her heirship ring and an opal choker, her black Dior bag was hanging from her shoulder, Daphne wore a teal lace dress with a black lace overlay and a black ribbon belt, strappy black heels, her heirship ring and a purple and teal flower shaped choker, her silver Dolce & Gabbana bag finished off the look. Hannah wore a yellow dress, simpler to the one Daphne wore, only with a black lace bodice and no belt, she wore tall strappy black heels, her heirship ring and a gold compass necklace, her white Iola Mae purse hung from her arm, Susan wore a black dress with a diamond neckline, gold heels, her heirship ring and a gold locket, her black Valentino purse dangled from her shoulder. All of the boys wore black pants, black dress shoes and partially buttoned white shirts.

Asterella ^

Luna ^

Ginny ^

Pansy ^

Astoria ^

Daphne ^

Hannah ^

Susan ^

The group reconvened in the entry hall after getting changed, as they were about to leave, an owl flew into the room, it crash landed into the floor at Asterella's feet. It wasn't an owl that any of them recognized, Asterella picked up the letter that the owl had been carrying, before opening it she cast a few quick charms to make sure that it was safe to open, mainly checking for any compulsion charms that might have been placed on the letter, once she was sure that the letter was safe, she opened it. Blaise and the others watched her intently as her eyes scanned the parchment, she gave a sigh when she finished reading, "Harry wrote me, mostly to let me know that he was fine and to say that he hoped I was fine as well. He's left Ronald, and he's going to change his name and leave Britain, probably for good, and that he wants no more involvement in the war. Also that no-name and his mother only cared about me for my money, he said he didn't figure that I had some hidden fortune in Gringotts and that the no-names wouldn't want muggle money so he couldn't understand why they cared so much about me it terms of my money. He said to tell Ginny and Luna that he was leaving. That's all that's in the letter." Asterella told the group, she summoned parchment and transfigured a muggle coin into a self-inking quill, she figured she should tell Harry that she was alright and that she wished the best for him.

Dear Harry,

I'm alright, great in fact. I'm perfectly safe and happy, since we got captured and taken to the Manor I've learned a lot, particularly about Dumbledore and the No-names, the no-names are Ronald, Molly and Arthur by the way. First off, I'm not named Hermione, hell I'm not even a Granger. Second, I'm not a muggle-born. Third, Dumbledore kidnapped me from my real mum and dad when I was an infant. Fourth, the old coot placed a bunch of loyalty and compulsion charms on me, he even used one to force me to be loyal to you, which I guess makes sense as to why every time No-name abandoned you I didn't, I don't really care about the loyalty charm since it's been broken now, and I know that you've never had an easy life, especially since half the school turned on you every other year. Fifth, Dumbledore and Molly No-name created an illegal marriage contract between me and Ronald No-name, it would have given him full control of all of my money and everything else in my life. Sixth, Dumbledore forced my sorting into Gryffindor, I was meant to be a Ravenclaw from the start. Seventh, I was under a glamour charm the whole time you've known me, so you've never seen my real face, frankly I had a hard time recognizing myself for the first few weeks. Eighth, I've become friends with a lot of the Slytherins in our Hogwarts year, and underneath their cold demeanor they're actually super nice, they only act cruel and cold to everyone because if they don't then people with treat them even worse than they treat everyone. Pansy, and yes, I mean Pansy Parkinson, has managed to convince me to turn my drawings into actual dresses, I know you would be happy that I've finally started doing something with my art. Ninth, the reason Ronald got kicked out of Shell Cottage is because Muriel Prewett took over guardianship of Ginny, and adopted the rest of the Weasley siblings, Bill and Fleur changed their names to Delacour after I told Ginny and Muriel what Dumbledore and the others did to me, Ginny told Bill and as a result since Bill is the Weasley Heir well, now Weasley Lord, he kicked Ronald and his parents out of the family and Ronald out of his house. Tenth, I'm actually quite wealthy by wixen standards, I'm the Lady or head of five houses of various ranks and the Heiress of another six houses, though I only learned this quite recently. Lastly, I'm actually a Pureblood, and my real name is Asterella. Ginny and Luna say that you need to write them. I hope everything works out for you wherever you choose to restart your life. Good luck Harry, and please write back when you have a chance.

Yours respectfully, 

A. Zab

Asterella finished writing her response, deciding to send the letter off when they got back from the club, or at the latest the following morning. Asterella noticed a bulge in one of Blaise's pockets, she marched over to her twin, "Blaise, what have you got in your pocket?" she asked sternly, "What do you mean Aster? I have nothing in my pocket." her brother replied, "Blaise, I swear to Hades, if you've got a flask in your pocket!" she snapped, "Hand it over. Now." she added, Blaise groaned and removed a flask from his pocket. Asterella sighed and looked at her brother disapprovingly, "Really brother, we're going to a club that doesn't serve alcohol, and doesn't allow it on the premises, and yet you decide to bring your own?!" she snapped as she flicked Blaise on the forehead. They grouped up and apperated back into Verona, they landed in the middle of the plaza of Il rifugio di Circe (Circe's Haven), Blaise led them down a street, which dead-ended after a while, Blaise pulled out his wand and tapped out a quick pattern on the wall in front of them, the wall opened into a doorway and they entered the space beyond. A well lit plaza, much smaller than the one they'd originally been in welcomed them, Blaise led the group over to a door with a sign above it that read, 'La notte è giovane, quindi approfittane' (The night is young, so take it), outside the door stood a tall muscular wizard, "Non dovreste essere all'accademia, ragazzi?" (Shouldn't you kids be at the academy?) he growled, " Buonasera signore," (Good evening, Sir) Blaise said, "Non siamo studenti dell'accademia, frequentiamo Hogwarts in Scozia, abbiamo ricevuto il permesso dal preside di trascorrere il fine settimana nella villa della mia famiglia appena fuori città." (We are not students at the academy, we attend Hogwarts in Scotland, we have received permission from the headmaster to spend the weekend at my family's villa just outside the city.) he continued. The doorman seemed to think over what Blaise had said, he nodded and replied "Benissimo, potete entrare tutti." (Very well, you all may enter.) Blaise thanked him and led the group inside.

The club was fairly crowded, although Asterella figured that they were probably the youngest people there, since most of the people in the crowd looked at least a few years older than them. They found an empty table and sent Blaise and Theo off to get them Butterbeer. They were sitting and chatting when a young man walked over to their table, Asterella thought that he looked somewhat familiar, then Ginny jumped up from the table and hugged the young man, "Oliver! It's so good to see you! It's been years, Fred and George told me you'd joined Puddlemere United as the keeper after you graduated." her friend exclaimed, Asterella realized why she recognized the man, it was Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Keeper and Quidditch Captain from her first three years at Hogwarts. "Hello Ginerva, I wasn't expecting to run into you here, you're still in Hogwarts aren't you?" Oliver asked, looking confused, Ginny was about to reply when Blaise and Theo returned, "Excuse us, we've got the butterbeer!" Blaise called. "Thanks Blaise, Theo." Ginny said and turned back to Oliver, "Anyways, yes, I'm still in Hogwarts." she told him, "Wait a second, aren't these the Slytherins who used to bully your brother Ron and Harry and Hermione?" Oliver asked, "Yeah, just, well, Ronald isn't my brother anymore. Not after what he did to Hermione, erm, I mean Asterella." Ginny told him, "Who is Asterella?" Oliver asked, "And what does she have to do with Hermione Granger." Ginny glanced at Asterella as if asking for her to help, "Excuse me Pans, mind if I slip through?" Asterella asked as she stood, Pansy nodded and slipped out of the way. "Hello Wood, I'm Asterella Zabini, although you probably knew me better as Hermione Granger. Basically, long story short, Dumbledore kidnapped me as a baby, left me in a muggle orphanage, let me get adopted by abusive muggles, Dumbledore and Ronald's mother did a bunch of shitty things to fuck up my life, Ronald helped with most of it too. Me, Ronald and Harry got kidnapped by some of the Snatchers, it was Ronald's fault that it happened, but we were taken to Malfoy Manor, I found out everything that the Weasel and the others did, then a whole bunch of other things happened. Currently we're staying in a villa owned by the Zabini family, Snape gave us permission to leave the school for the weekend." Asterella explained. Oliver looked shocked, "Huh, I guess it did always seem odd just how obsessive Weasley-" Ginny cut in, "He's not a Weasley, he's a No-name." Wood nodded, "Well, it always seemed odd just how obsessive he was about literally everything that Granger- ah, sorry, Zabini did. I heard from some of my old Gryffindor teammates about what he did during the Yule Ball during the Tournament, and given the amount that he always teased and made fun of you, well it just seemed odd that he acted that way." Wood replied, "Yeah, once I found out about all of the things that he and the others did, well a lot of things started making sense to me." she replied with a sigh. Draco hopped up from the table, and stood behind the two girls, "Malfoy." Wood said coldly, "Wood- Oliver, don't bother with Draco. He, and the other Slytherins only acted cruelly towards other students as an act of protection, they knew that if they were seen as strong, cruel or bullies then the other students were less likely to bully them, and don't worry, if you're recalling the time back in my second year where he called me a Mudblood, well, Pansy explained to me that it stems from two German words Mut, which means Courage, and Blut, which means blood, so it actually means Courage Blood, also he's apologized for it, multiple times." Asterella cut in sharply, Wood looked shocked, during the time that they'd been at Hogwarts together, she or rather Hermione had been a fairly quiet and very non-confrontational girl. "Wood, if you wish to remain neutral in the rest of the war, I'd recommend reaching out to Lord Slytherin and asking him to provide you with protections, anyone who declares themselves or their house as neutral receives some protections from harm from either side of the war." Draco said, Wood looked shocked, clearly not expecting that to be the statement that had come from Draco's mouth. He nodded, "Good to know, I will certainly consider it. Thank you, I'll leave you to enjoy yourselves." Wood said as he turned, "Oh, and Ginerva, I've heard that if you keep up with your training, well, I've gotten to know Gwenog Jones fairly well, and I think she might be scouting for a new chaser in the next few years." he added as he vanished into the crowd. They spent the rest of the night laughing, dancing and drinking copious amounts of Butterbeer. It was far past midnight when they finally left the club, as they walked out the door around two in the morning, Asterella was teasing a red faced Ginny and Blaise about how close they'd been on the dance floor, Luna adding that she'd seen quite a few Nargles around the pair.