Chapter 1
7th year
Hermione looks at the stack of invites that landed in from of her. Every 6th and 7th year recieved the stacks. It was only the beginning of October and the Yule Balls were not til Christmas Break but that gave plenty of people, Witches, time to find gowns for all 6 parties. It wouldn't due to wear the same dress to all of them.
"Alright there Granger?" She looks up in surprise to see Harry Potter taking to her. The fact that he was so close to her at the Breakfast table was a surprise alone. Not that he was mean or stayed away from her like the plague. He was nice to everyone. No it was the other girls in their house and sometimes other houses, that kept her from being near him.
They had been kinda close the 1st 3 years of school but over dating started, it was a battle to the top voluntary or not. She didn't care about that. Her goals were to graduate and find her birth parents before becoming a healer. She already apprenticed with Madam Pomfrey whenever she was free.
"Yes, thanks for asking," she smiles back. He had been the only one to know outside of her step sisters to know she was adopted. She missed her friend.
"Look... um... I'm always wanted to say how sorry I am that I let the house separate our friendship without fighting...I hadn't meant for that to happen. Life got busy and I let myself brush it off until one day I looked up and you were across the room..." he ducks his head awkwardly.
She gives him a reassuring look when he finally looks up.
"It's okay Harry. I don't hold it against you. Your parents must be proud of all your accomplishments and that's what's important," she says.
"You are right. It is important. But so is friendship. I would like to hang out more. Don't be a stranger," he gets up to head to class. She follows right behind him, not wanting to be late. It didn't take long for other classmates to surround him on the walk there, pushing her to the back of the crowd.
While she appreciated the hand out for friendship, which she wanted, she knew it would be nearly impossible to get time alone or even around others to hang together.
Later at Lunch she watches Ginny Weasley throw herself next to Harry, leaning into him, glaring at other girls looking his way as if to stake a claim. She knew Ginny was the highest bet to becoming the next Lady Potter. Their parents were close and her brother was his best friend. Plus she was a beauty, plays Quidditch and did well in school.
Her Step Sister Lavender had her eyes on Weasley himself. She didn't know what she saw in him as she watched him stuff his face like he'd starve if he left anything behind.
"Hey Hermione," Neville sits down across from her.
"What happened to your neck," she points at the red swollen skin. He awkwardly tries to cover it, not wanting people to get the wrong conclusion.
"I was in Greenhouse 4. You know how those plants can me," he half laughs when she giggles. It wasn't the first time hes picked battles with the dangerous plants. Like her he was also an apprentice but with Professor Sprout.
She looks at her friend not for the first time that year. He had hit his own growth spurt making him as tall as the other "Princes" of the school. He lost the baby fat and the hard work he did in the greenhouses showed. She was luckily she wasn't having to help him beat girls off with a stick. He already had his eyes on a girl and she was going to make sure no one interfered with that.
She other step sister Linnea was a 6th year hufflepuff who was sweet and loved plants just as much as Neville. The only problem was neither have had the courage to ask each other out. Maybe they will show some bravery at his own Ball.
Despite these balls being used to find brides for the now of age boys around her in all the houses, majority were already obvious on probability on who will marry who.
Theodore Nott was fascinated by her friend Luna Lovegood in Ravenclaw, Draco Malfoy waas rumored to be betrothed already to one of the Greengrass sisters but as he was also having a ball, she wasn't putting faith in that rumor. Harry was possibly for Ginny . He didn't seem to be pushing away her advances and Neville only had eyes for Linnea. Parkinson was also having a ball but it was both for her and her older brother who had graduated the year before. She didn't know much about him.
She scowls at herself for thinking so much about these balls. Only reason she knew so much was because Lavender never shut up about them. Most everyone was already dating someone whether it was serious or just casual dating. The most popular boys in her year were really the only ones not set in stone no matter their interest because they knew they would be pressured to marry after graduation. The balls were to help you find your soul bond/soul mate. the one who matched your magic.
She looks down at her waist length curly brown unruly mess of a hair. Shes only looked pretty once an that was 3 years ago. She hadn't dressed nice since. Majority made fun of her hair and she couldn't deny they were far off. It wasn't her real hair. Her core had been binded before she was adopted and this hair was part of the spell or whatever that was placed on her.
She had been working on the potion to unbind her core for the past month.
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The potion was now a pale pink. It was evolving perfectly. It should be done by winter break. Even though it was taking so long to make, she picked it becuas eit would be the most effective. The bind on her had even blocked her ability to trace her family through a Legacy Potion, one she made with the help of Professor Snape and the one at Gringotts.
She just wanted to know who she was. Why did they not want her? Was it by choice? Where they just young and not ready? or older and had not wanted children? Her adopted parents had...have loved her but could never connect. She was closer to her mother than her father but Helen Granger was dead and she now never felt good being at home.
"So this has been where you have hiding," a male sound startles her from the doorway to the potions room. She turns to see a grinning Harry, a glaring Ginny, and a bored Ron.
"Oh, hi...yes. personal project," she snaps her journal shut. He walks in intrigued while the Weasley siblings stayed at the door.
"Did you finally get Snape to agree to this thing?" he peaks in. She had forgotten he had been with her when she brought it up 2nd year.
"Professor Snape, Harry. But yes. It should be done by the time we leave for break," she corrects him.
"You will be there right?" he lowers his voice, peering down at her with his searing grren eyes.
"Be there?" she dumbly questions. Of course she knew...right?
"The Potter Yule Ball?" he smirks. "I expect you to outshine everyone there Hermione." he bops her on the nose before walking back out the room. She stood there a minute confused and flustered.
She chastised herself as she packed her bag and placed her potion in stasis and ward it from being tampered with.
Despite his flirty words...they were flirty right?...he was not interested in Hermione Granger, a nobody, as a bride. Preposterous.
---
It was ready and she was nervous. She bottles it in multiple vials as instructed. She was adjust packed and the train was leaving in 2 hours. She quickly places everything she needed to do the spell before drinking the potion into her bag and runs out.
The train ride was quiet. With testing over, all everyone was talking about was Yule. Even Neville as his parents expected him to follow some protocol responsibilities.
Home was quiet when the girls arrived. Her father must be working. He was a master in arithmancy at the Ministry.
Lavender and Linnea immediately ran off to their rooms.
She wanders around the house, noticing nothing was decorated as usual. She contemplates doing it herself but changes her mind. She'd take the decorations with her when she moves out. They were her mother's anyways.
"I'm going out to meet Pavarti. I want to get the prefect dress before they are all gone!" Lavender heads out the door.
"I have no clue how to dress myself for a ball Hermione," Linnea pouts her way down the stairs.
"I've only done it once but I think together we can look decent " Hermione reassures her. She's interrupted by an owl pecking at the window. She opens it and accepts a deep red envelope with her name on it.
"Oooo, who's it from?" Linnea grins. Hermione shrugs before opening it.
'Hermione,
They are expecting you at a boutique in Paris. The coin in here is a portkey. Buy all 6 dresses if you like. Take your little sister with you, get her something as well. Happy Christmas and Yule to you and your family. '
"Huh... there no name or crest on it," she shows Linnea
"Like a fairy godmother type of thing or a secret admirer wanting you to feel like a princess before you meet them, " Linna admires. "Let's go! We can pick out the dresses together, I only need 2 myself. You deserve this chance!! We both know my mother is not going to be thinking of you when she drags me shopping. Now I can avoid that! Win- win!!" The girls giggle together before grabbing some cloaks and taking the portkey.
---
A part of her felt wrong using someone else's money but she didn't know who gave it to pay them back. Hopefully she can pay them back later.
As they tried on dresses, she told Linnea about the potion she finally finished to find her parents. They had discussed it the summer before as she had only recently received the approval to make it.
"How many days do you have to take it for it to work?"
"2 weeks. I'm taking the first one tonight," she sighs. "I'm nervous... what if I don't like what I see? What I found out?" Her doubts came through.
"I know you well enough that despite your worries, you'd rather know than not know. You would regret not doing it when it was right in front of you to take."
"Your right. I really do need to know. I can't keep pondering. I think part of it too is the physical changes that will happen. I don't know what I really look at. I'll be treated differently and I might feel like a stranger in my own body. I know some of it is nonsense but it's still there. "
"You don't know what will happen until you do it. And you have a chance to bond with new family. I would do anything to have my father back. I'm not trying to bad mouth your father or anything but we could run away or be kidnapped or even killed... would he notice? Eventually...possibly. My mother would bring attention to my disappeared." Linnea points out.
"You're right. No matter what, we'll always have each other's back, right?"
"Of course! I'm not a bad tempered Weasley!" They giggle at that. Ron Weasley indeed got upset easily and got as red as his hair.
As they were the same size, they picked dresses that not only looked good on her but on both of them for the dresses to be passed on to Linnea the next year. They leave with 7 dresses with 4 pairs of shoes that could be rotated between the dresses and a couple hair accessories and costume jewelry.
They were laughing and joking together when they entered been into the house.
"Where have you been Linnea? I expected to home when I arrived for us to go dress shopping." They stop to see Linnea's mother standing next to the staircase hands on her hips, robes perfectly in place. She waves her hand at them to prevent answering. "Be ready in the morning. Between balls, teas, and appointments, we will be busy through the whole holiday you are home. You've already wasted my time today!" She stomps off. They slip upstairs to Hermione's room. It was the best place to hide the gowns as no one ever entered her suite, and she kept it warded as a precaution. They both knew if she knew Hermione was receiving special attention, she'd be the first to come in to snoop.
---
She expected to feel different after the first dose of the potion. There might be the tiniest of shades darker to her hair but that was it.
As the girls and their mother were already out the house that morning, with her father no where to be seen, she decides to get some gift shopping done.
Diagon Alley was busy but she loved the bustle of it. Snow, stands for hot cocoa, shop doors charms to dry the snow off you when you entered, the light music playing from who knows where. It never got old for her.
Weasley wizard Wheezes was packed as she slipped in. It took some wiggling but she made it to the side space of the register in one piece.
"Hey Verity, are the troublemakers in the back?" She grins at the older woman with the purple hair and neon green nails.
"You betcha! They expected you to come in any day, said to just send you on back!" She gets waved on.
She found the Weasley Twins on the workshop, making potions for some of their products. She drops off the box she pulled from her bag onto an empty table.
"Is complete and may I say, perfect, " she greets them.
"We wouldn't expect any less from the Great Hermione!" They take turns hugging her in greeting. They take the box to sort it out. The twins were the only Weasleys she acrostic got along with, having become business partners with them 2 years before. The money she earned was in a secret vault to help pay for her to live on her own and get everything she needed.
"Ready for the extravagant events of the year?" George ask. "We might go to one or 2 ourselves though more to just party."
"Yes, I'll be going to all of them. Just got my dresses yesterday so I'm good to go."
"Well outside of the marriage matching parties, our parents are holding a bonfire at new years for a Dumbledore memorial, we have to show our faces or we lose Sunday dinner privileges so if you want to come by, please do, " Fred offers. The tone of his voice was clear they didn't want to go. She scrunches her nose up in agreement.
The war when they were but babies had ended abrupt when the leader of the Light side died after attempting to trick the Dark in killing a Grey family that supported Dumbledore but didn't agree with all his decisions. It made such a change to the wizarding world that ironically put the balance needed into their people. Grey meant compromise of both dark and light while still protecting the secret of their world.
However some people of the Light side, no matter how Grey their own actions can be, didn't believe the reality of Dumbledore's view of 'the greater good' which was really what he says goes bc he deemed the decisions to be the correct way. The Heads of the Weasley family were some of those people. Out of their 7 children... actually no. None of their 7 children supported their blindness to the actions of their old leader. Ron and Ginny were the only ones still living at home but based off who they hanged with at home, it was obvious they didn't care about such things.
"Still clinging into that, I see, " she mutters. "I'm good. That's the day of the Dark Lord's ball anyways and I need to be home by midnight all of winter break. "
"Ooooo, dabbling in something you shouldn't? You don't usually care about getting home so earnestly," the twins wiggle their eyebrows at her making her laugh. She trust the twins so she tells them about her being adopted and the potion she was drinking.
"I hadn't meant to be taking it at that time, it was just the time of when I took the first one so I have to keep doing that now. It kinda works. Can run through my system while I sleep. I funny know what changes will happen so I can definitely worry less about any pain that occurs."
"Tsk tsk Hermione, you didn't have to wait to get approval to make it at school," George looks at her in a bit of disbelief.
"We could have made it for you here in the shop," Fred says like she should have known that. Which she did.
"I knew that, but I wanted to do it myself. I worked hard to gain the trust of Professor Snape to agree to me doing it on my own with his supervision every now and then. " she explains. "It came out perfect as expected. The only thing crazy is my nerves. I sit obvious what will change physically and the bind on my core will finally release me to find my parents which means I may be rejected by said parents." She felt a bit like a parrot, repeating these concerns, but it took pressure off her chest saying it outloud.
"Something will be wrong with them if they reject the Great Hermione," Fred scoffs.
"It would be their loss, not yours. You'll still have us, think of is like your big brothers! See? Now you have family!" George promises.
She appreciates their words and helps them for an hour before heading back out to finish shopping and getting out the cold.