Chapter 1
Hermione knew this day was coming when she sent herself back in time. She had been reborn a Black ironically, daughter of Regulus Black, though she didn't know him as a daughter as he was assumed dead. She had sat alone on the first train ride until Neville again needed help finding his toad. As she wasn't supposed to know spells yet, being a 1st year, she politely asked the first older student she saw to accio Travor. Everyone was still in their regular clothes so she didn't know what house they were in though they looked impressed and approving towards her actions which made it at least obvious they were possibly a Pureblood. Not that that made a difference in the whole of things as she learned in her first life.
What changed this time was Harry and Ron stood nose to nose with Draco and his little followers. The fork in the road for her. He didn't know it but Draco in her past life had saved her. Had become a friend, especially after the actions of Harry and Ron towards her when she ended up dating Theo Notte a year after her breakup with Ron.
Did she stop Harry and Ron or Draco? Did she split them evenly? To her luck, she didn't have to choose quite yet as Daphne Greengrass came up behind her to lecture them on their behavior. As everyone split up, it was then that she was noticed and curious glances started appearing her way.
She had been reborn a baby and in the arms of her mother, had left the country after the disappearance of her father and went to France. They had returned in time for her to go to hogwarts like her father had. She had at the time wanted to go to Beauxbaton but the Headmistress of the school did not get along with her mother, making it clear Hermione would not have been treated fairly. So Hogwarts it was. Her black curly hair and silver eyes currently marked her as a black. Silver eyes looked at silver eyes as Draco looked at her with more curiosity than any others.
"Hello. Draco Malfoy, how do you do?," he hold out his hand to her.
"Hermione. Hermione Black," she smiles at him with an expression that hopefully said she didn't know him.
"Black? I didn't know there were any Black's left, at least in our age. I guess this makes us cousin," he looks at her perplexed but then grins anyways. "My mother was a black before she married. Who is your father?"
" His name was Regulus Black, he died right before I was born..." She gives a sad shrug. It wasn't fake. She wished she had met him in both lifetimes. Though for different reasons of course.
He looks at her in surprise. He works to control his expression before offering her a seat with him and his friends.
To her inner joy, Theo was sitting across from him. He looked intrigued at her before being pulled into a discussion by another boy.
She chatted with everyone the rest of the train ride except for once to get up to go change into her uniform.
She passed the area with Ron and Harry. She does her best to ignore it.
---
When it came to picking a house, she deemed she needed the house where she could get around unnoticed as much as possible. That meant Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.
The boat ride and the wait on the stairs before entering the great hall, was spent debating the sorting. Most of the group was all about Slytherin of course but she made a few valid points that made them pause. Innerly, her goal was to get everyone more split up. She had been sure later in life before that Dumbledore had interfered with the sorting and she was about to fuck that up. He may be on the Light side but that didn't necessarily mean he was a good man. He didn't listen well to anything outside of what he wanted. She was not going to be a pawn again.
So she started with making sure the debate was heard by all the new 1st years, including Harry and Ron. Harry was very guided in his decisions by Mrs Weasley and Dumbledore through Ron. He specifically told the hat before not to put him in Slytherin because Ron told him they were evil. That mindset was based out of Lord Malfoy and Mr Weasley not getting along.
Also it shouldn't have been possible all the Weasleys to end up in Gryffendor. Percy could have easily been a Slytherin, the twins Ravenclaw as much as Gryffendors. Ginny could also have been a Slytherin as much as a Gryffendor. Truthfully...lets be real. 11 is too soon to be sorted into a house. She couldn't change the system...yet. But she could at least get them to think for themselves a little.
When Professor McGonnagall came for them to be sorted, she asked for everyone to be called in reverse albabetical order. The professor at first looked annoyed but after some thought agreed.
Blaise Zabini was first. Dumbledore looked at McGonnagall curiously but didn't inturrept.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Ron Weasley...
"HUFFLEPUFF!" Interesting...
and on it went. Harry indeed got into Slytherin. She figured seeing Ron going to a different house than he expected would throw the young boy off.
Draco Malfoy made it into Ravenclaw. She almost laughed aloud at his stunned experession. Theo Nott also was a Ravenclaw. She was glad to see Neville become the Hufflepuff he had originally wanted. Being under the yellow house made him no less brave when he gets older. Just look at Tonks and Cedric. Definietly brave.
When it was finally her turn, there was just as much whispering as Harry's. Being a Black was to be in the spotlight apparently. The last Black was in prison so speculation was on the rise.
'Well well, what an interesting mind you have. An old Gryffendor back for more adventure. Be warned some will attempt to stop you dear. Already you have made change. Let's do another, how about..."RAVENCLAW!"
She puts the hat back on the stool and goes to her new house.
---
The tower was magnificent in its dark shades of blue. They even had their own library where it was tradition for graduates to leave a book for future students on their last day of school.
She was already itching to go through it.
Her dormmates were nice, she was sure to get along with them better than Lavender or Parvati. Her twin Padma had became a friend later in life before so she hoped that happened again.
It took 2 days before a letter arrived from Draco's mother. She figured it would happen soon enough. Draco would have had to ask about her mother's cousin having a child.
*Dear Miss Black,
I know you do not know me but if you are indeed the daughter of my dear cousin Regulus, I would like to get aquinted with you and your mother. You are family and it feels me with joy to know his legacy has been continued.
I congratulate both you and Draco on becoming Ravenclaws and I hope you two will be able to become fast friends! You are cousins!
If you have any questions, please do not fear writing me at any time,
Love,
Narcissa Malfoy, nee' Black. *
The letter came with a small box of cookies that matched Draco's farther down the table.
She pulled parchment form her bag and wrote to her mother that Narcissa Malfoy had written her. She had promised her mother to write often and keep her up to date and she planned to keep that promise. She loved her muggle parents from before but that didn't stop her joy at not worrying about what to say to a parent who didn't understand her world.
Hopefully the letter found her mother soon. No one knew but they had moved into 12 Grimmauld Place. Kreacher was happy to see a child of his master and had went to work (along with the 2 elves they brought with them from France) to repair the house to its former glory. It was as they were looking around that they found the family tree wall. They noticed at the same time. Regulus was not dead.
Her mother was looking for Regulus Black. Hermione's goal was to get Sirius released from Azkaban. It was far past time to reunite the brothers. Bring the Black Family back together.
Which meant she needed to catch a rat. As soon as possible.