Hermione wasn’t pleased with Dumbledore as she was brought into the Headmaster’s office,

Professor McGonagall standing behind the Headmaster’s chair.

She seemed worried and pissed - an intimidating combination when face-to-face.

“Ms. Granger, where have you been?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and
glaring at the young witch.

Before she could say a word, Snape stepped in. “I’m sorry, Minerva, but she cannot answer that
unless you give an Unbreakable Vow.”

“For what?” she snapped, turning her gaze to the professor.

“That neither of you will disclose what we tell you,” he responded, “It’s of utmost importance.”

After making the Unbreakable Vow that promised they wouldn’t tell a soul of what they learned
from Hermione and Severus, Snape began speaking.

“Hermione was taken to meet her father,” Snape started, watching Dumbledore’s face intently,
“by Bellatrix.”

“Why would Bellatrix Lestrange take Ms. Granger to see muggles?” McGonagall asked,
confusion etched into her features. It made Hermione wonder if the older woman knew what
Dumbledore did. He may not have told to aurors to kill her mother, but he most definitely had a
hand in it.

Dumbledore exhaled heavily and relaxed in his chair, staring at the young witch who was doing
everything in her power to avoid his eyes. “Ms. Granger…”

“My parents aren’t muggles, Professor,” Hermione replied quietly, staring at her hands. It was
hard to process what had happened, but there was no going back. She knew the truth now.

McGonagall’s face was twisted with confusion and she stared at Dumbledore for answers.
“Albus?”

“Her father is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” he informed her gently, his eyes never leaving
Hermione.

McGonagall gasped. There’d always been rumors that he’d fathered a child, but no one had
ever seen it so the rumors remained just that. The rumors mentioned something of aurors
having swept the child away from its parents in the dead of night after his disappearance and
apparently they weren’t wrong.
“Aurors killed my mother and sent me to the Grangers after Harry sent the Dark Lord away,”
Hermione added, though she didn’t look up.

“The Dark Lord?” Dumbledore repeated, raising a brow.

Snape rolled his eyes. “She’s been with his followers all day, Headmaster. If she’d called him
anything else, there would have been an uproar.” Dumbledore was uncertain, but let it go for the
time being.

“Please, explain the whole story to us, Professor.”

Severus began recalling the details of the homecoming, leaving out information here and there.
He skipped over Bellatrix’s part in all of it entirely, except for her having delivered Hermione to
the Dark Lord. It was what was needed in that moment.

Dumbledore was troubled when Snape’s regaling of the day’s events came to a close. “So what
now, Severus?”

“I want to be allowed to go see him over breaks,” Hermione said. She didn’t appreciate
Dumbledore acting as though they were the only ones allowed to decide her life. They’d hid her
from her family without her permission and she was done with others choosing what to do with
her life.

“Absolutely not,” Dumbledore responded.

Hermione clenched her fists and looked up, glaring at the man. “You have no bloody right to tell
me I cannot go see my father. You knew the truth the whole time, yet you said nothing. You let
Harry and Ron and I go into terrible situations without any concern for our safety so how dare
you deny me the right to see my father, in an environment that is less dangerous than these
bloody situations you have us thrust us into?” She wasn’t too keen about seeing her father
regularly, but no one had any right to make any of these decisions for her. It was her bloody life!

Dumbledore was stunned. “Ms. Granger…”

“My last name is Riddle, not Granger,” she hissed.

“She has the right to choose, Albus,” McGonagall chimed in softly, her face soft. She felt a lot of
sympathy for her Gryffindor. She’d watched this young woman grow over the years and for her
to be caught in a hypothetical game of chess between light and dark was something she
wouldn’t wish on anyone, but especially on Hermione. She didn’t like Hermione’s choice, but
she’d been kept away from her family her entire life. She deserved to make her own decisions
on this.
Swallowing hard, Dumbledore weighed his options carefully. If Hermione was to return to the
Grangers, she’d grow agitated and unhelpful to his cause. She might even impede it! And, if
Hermione were to inquire to her parents about staying elsewhere and they let her, she could go
see him and he would be able to twist her mind. If her parents were amicable, he’d have no way
of stopping her.

“Fine, you can go see your father. I will make an arrangement with your parents about having
you as an “apprentice” of Professor Snape’s over the summer. You will be able to come and go
from the school as you please, but during the school year, you must stay on grounds,
understand?” With Hermione’s nod, he continued, “You could of great use to the Order this way,
Hermione. Would you be willing to be a double agent for us, just as Severus is?”

She and Severus had discussed the plan her father and he had set up while she was having her
moment with Bella. The Dark Lord wanted Dumbledore to think she was able to be used as a
double agent. Snape would be teaching Hermione to guard her mind with Occlumency and
Hermione would be able to lie about the things happening with Bellatrix. The Dark Lord was
very uncertain of which way the young girl would lean in this war, but he was going to do
whatever he could to convince the girl to join him and rule at his side.

“Take a vow, promising you’ll let me go see my father and that you will talk to my parents about
me apprenticing with Professor Snape.”

“Hermione…”

“Take a vow,” Hermione pushed. She wasn’t going to let the Headmaster have an out.

Albus peered at Severus and nodded with a resigned sigh. “You do it, Severus.” He stood and
walked around to Hermione, who stood as well. They took hold of each other’s arms and
Severus began to make the vow.

“Do you, Albus Dumbledore, vow to allow Hermione to go see her father, the Dark Lord
Voldemort, without stopping her at any point over the summer and holiday break?”

“I do.”

“And do you vow to talk to Hermione’s parents and do your hardest to get them to consent to
have Hermione be my apprentice?”

“I do.”

“And do you vow to never speak a word of this conversation to anyone outside of this room,
including the Order?”

Dumbledore hesitated for a moment before sighing, “I do.”

Severus completed the spell and lowered his wand, watching the last strands of magic
disappear around their hands. He was grateful that Albus didn’t attempt to make Hermione
promise to be a double agent. That would have caused everyone too many problems. And he
believed that even Dumbledore knew that.

“You may return your room, Ms… Hermione,” Dumbledore said, effectively dismissing her. She
was more than happy to follow his order and quickly disappeared from the room. He waited until
she was gone before narrowing his eyes at Snape. “What are you playing at, Severus?”

“He is very particular about Hermione. He wants to train her.” At Dumbledore’s alarm, he tried to
halt the elder’s panic. “It could be beneficial to the Order. If she learns how he thinks and grows
her magic through his trainings, she’ll be a great asset should a battle erupt from this. She’s his
daughter; he’ll have no reason not to trust her with his knowledge.”

“Do you think he’ll be able to sway her?”

Severus hesitated, “I…am not, Headmaster. I believe Hermione’s loyalty to Potter will prevail
over everything.” He wasn’t too sure anymore of that, especially with Bellatrix in the picture, but
he was on the fence about most things now-a-days.

“Let’s hope you’re right, Severus – for all our sakes,” Albus mumbled, sharing a worried glance
with McGonagall.

(Bellamione)

It was later than Hermione realized. It’d been after dinner when Severus and Hermione had
returned to Hogwarts, but their discussion with Dumbledore had lasted much longer than
anyone had realized.

Hermione made her way back to her House’s common room and slumped down onto the couch,
her head falling into her hands as she cried silently. She didn’t know how long she’d been there
before he heard footsteps on the stairs, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Her world was
caving in.

“Hermione?” Neville whispered, his voice scratchy with sleep but full of concern. He’d never
seen the girl so distraught. “Are you okay?”

Hermione just continued to cry, not even attempting to answer the kindhearted Gryffindor boy.
Out of anyone she could possibly talk to, he would definitely be the worst possible choice. For
Merlin’s sake, her soulmate was the woman who tortured his parents into insanity. He was
understanding, but not that much.
He slowly crept over to the girl and sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and
pulling her into him. He’d held plenty of crying girls – like Ginny when she saw Harry caught up
in Cho’s web or Katie Bell when she cried over falling in love with a Slytherin boy who called her
awful names. He wasn’t a guy that girls wanted to date, but he was a good friend.

“Let it out,” he mumbled, resting his head on top of hers. He felt a connection – a non-romantic
connection – but a connection none the less. She was always helping him with his homework
and was very kind to him, especially after the fake Moody tortured that poor creature in front of
him and she yelled at him to stop. It meant a lot to him.

Feeling the dam split open entirely, she sobbed into Neville’s chest. He held her close and just
closed his eyes, letting the brunette cry it out. There were days he felt like crying too and wished
he had someone’s shoulder to cry on. Eventually, her sobs died out and she passed out against
him. Knowing there was no way he’d be able to move, Neville settled into the couch and
attempted to get some rest. Oh, the rumors this would start.

(Bellamione)

Minerva strolled quietly into the common room, her worry for Hermione overriding her
professionalism. She was like a daughter to the older woman. She wasn’t going to disturb the
young girl if she was asleep, but she was going to check the common room to see if Hermione
had made it up to her room. She would offer a shoulder if the girl was still awake. Imagine her
surprise to see Hermione curled up with Neville Longbottom on the couch.

The professor in her was very uncomfortable seeing two of her students like that and quite
bemused at the sight. She sighed. She knew there was nothing going on between the pair
romantically and that Neville was quite popular among the females as the resident shoulder to
cry on. She conjured a blanket for the pair and draped it over the pair. Hopefully they’d awaken
before the rest of the House.

(Bellamione)

Bellatrix lounged in her bed, her mind racing with the day’s events. Hermione was obviously
upset and she couldn’t blame her, but she hadn’t backtracked in their blooming relationship
either. In fact, they’d progressed forward it seemed. Her hand traveled along the marks on her
neck and had to bite back a moan of excitement. Between the snogging and Rodolphus’ look of
disgust at his ex’s newly blossoming bites, her day had been very successful. Oh, how the
holiday break couldn’t come fast enough. She couldn’t wait to see her witch again.

With the memory of Hermione’s lips on hers and on her skin, her hands began to wander along
her body, a genuine smile on her face.