Pen Name

Chapter 1

It was many years after the war had passed and Hermione was living - but struggling - as a single mother in the muggle world. Living in the muggle world was a difficult decision for Hermione, but it was thought to be the best for her and her daughter, Jessica. Magic was still a regular part of their lives but there was still a lot of reminders of the destruction and loss in the wizarding world. Jessica was 7 years old and fully aware of the magic world, being that both of her parents were magic. She was already showing promising signs of magic herself. Jessica, being so young, doesn't know much about the war except that it happened and that her mother, father, and uncle played very important parts in it. Hermione intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. Hermione would rarely ever admit that she still had flashbacks and nightmares. She didn't want Jessica thinking anything was wrong. When she did have a nightmare or flashback, she would go hug and kiss Jessica as a reminder that the war was over and everything was alright. Hermione also kept a journal of all of her thoughts and memories when it was too much to keep in. Jessica would ask questions when she saw her mother crying and writing in this book that she saw every so often. The questions would swept off and ignored and Hermione would quickly change the subject. Jessica, being inquisitive like her mother, hated not knowing something. Whether it be unfortunate or not, Jessica was also sneaky and fairly blunt like her father.

"Mum, was is a horcrux?" Jessica asked spooning in a mouthful of her morning Cheerios. Hermione froze

"Where did you hear that word?"

"I read it in your journal." Jessica took in another mouthful.

"JESSICA ISABEL GRANGER-WEASLEY! YOU WHAT?!" Hermione was furious

"I read it in your journal. You never tell me why you are upset or anything! You promised me when dad left there would be no secrets. EVER!" Jessica's voice quivered. She wasn't supposed to mention her father, and she definitely wasn't supposed to talk back to her mother.

Hermione took a deep breath. Hearing about her ex did upset her, but her daughter was right. They did promise never to lie to each other. "I told you I will tell you everything when the time is right. You know I still have trouble handling all of it and I'm a grown up. I'm not doing it to lie to you honey." Hermione knelled down next to Jessica to look at her at eye level. "I'm doing it to protect you. It is very dark, evil stuff with a lot of evil people."

"When will the time be right?"

"Jessica Isabel! You aren't listening to what I'm saying."

"What?! I am listening mum, I just want to know so I can help you"

Hermione knew that look in her daughter's eyes. If she didn't tell her now, she would figure it out one way or another. "A horcrux is one of the most evil things in the wizarding world. You have to do something completely unthinkable.." Hermione was having trouble getting out the words quick enough for her anxious little one. She didn't want to lie to her daughter anymore but is was still rather difficult to tell her daughter something so evil.

"Like what??"

"Like murder someone Jessica." Jessica's eyes widened. "When you kill someone, it splits your soul in half. Part of your soul goes into an object of your choice, and that object with part of a person's soul is called a horcrux.. It helps someone become immortal. You can still die in a sense but you can come back because part of your soul still exists. That's what Voldemort did. I know you read about him if you were reading my journal." Hermione gave Jessica a stern look and she just smiled. "Voldemort split his soul 7 times. Doing it just once is a dark, foul thing let alone doing it 7 times.. Just being around a horcrux, is extremely dangerous and can severely affect a person. Your father, uncle and I spent a long time searching for Voldemort's horcruxes to destroy them so your uncle could end the war. And that's all I'm going to tell you right now"

"Okay. I'm sorry mum. Promise you'll tell me the rest when the time is right? Whenever that may be."

Hermione smiled and kissed her daughter on her forehead. "Pinky promise." It was quiet for a small time after that. Jessica broke the silence.

"Hey mum?"

"Hmm"

"You should write a book."

"And you should finish your cereal."

"I mean it mum. You should write a book about it all. Writing in your journal seems to help you so why not write all of it out? And there is probably a lot of other people that were in the war that would like to hear the full story. I mean you and dad and Uncle Harry are the key down fall in the war and people that weren't so close to you guys should know about what happened too. And besides you can get all rich and famous and we can wear awesome clothes and eat more than just Cheerios for breakfast."

"I thought Cheerios were your favorite? That's why I always buy them!"

"Eh." Hermione let out a laugh. Jessica finished up and then went into the living room of their small apartment. Hermione cleaned up the kitchen and just thought to herself. 'Maybe I should write a book?.. Obviously everyone knew about the war.. But what about Voldemort living off of Quirrell's head and he was drinking unicorn blood to survive? Hmm I wonder if that that would start rubbish with the centaurs? What about Peeves and Winky and Dobby? What about Lockhart.. The chamber.. Sirius.. Peter.. Mad Eye, the real and fake one.. The graveyard.. Even Snape.. Wow..' Hermione shocked herself with how much she allowed herself to forget. 'It sounds like a lot of work, and I'd have to contact a lot of people.. Even if one person said no, I wouldn't be able to do it.. I mean.. I would have to ask friends and not friends.. Oh dear.." Hermione found that she finished cleaning while in deep thought. She was just standing in the kitchen staring out the window. She went into the living room to find Jessica watching an American program called 'Out Of The Box'. Hermione didn't quite understand why her daughter liked the show so much but it had a catchy theme song.

"Come on go get dressed. Were gonna go see your aunt and uncle."

"Are they going to help you with the book?" Jessica seemed to be very excited and stuck on the book idea.

"I never said I was going to even write a book. Besides I would have to get in contact with a lot of people before I even started writing. Thats a lot of work right there and that would take a while so even if I said I would, I wouldn't be able to write for a while. But since it all started with your Uncle Harry, it can be based off of his life story. Like a biography. People would like that right? The Boy Who Lived.." Hermione was once again lost in thought. She was more talking to herself rather than her daughter.. And she seemed to be talking herself into the idea.

"What about the muggles mum? Are you going to sell to them too?" Jessica's voice brought Hermione out of her racing thoughts.

"Oh, I can't expose magic dear. I just have to say it's fiction. The muggles love to think magic is real."