Storm Grey

5

A/N: Song- press song! If you want. Song!; Can you read about a thousand words per minute?.. No? Okay, just continue and read.
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*Warning*
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There is insulting remarks in flashbacks and such, and mention of suicide, and shock of a noseless man being a father

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Outside, the clouds were covering most of the sky. Rain would pour soon. No moon nor sun were visible. Then, as quick as a pin drop, a tear of light ripped across the sky, illuminating the morning sky. A few mere seconds later, a large, dangerous growl sounded.
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There lied what seemed like a sweet and smart innocent young girl on a comfortable twin bed, was really horribly abused and depressed girl who was falling apart. She was tossing and turning in her sleep, but no one in the room was awake to notice. She jolted up in her bed, now awaken with fear.
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She took a few breaths of air, trying to recover from a nightmare that had been real and actually happened to her before. She carefully and quietly got out of bed and went to shower. She hoped it would wash away her memories but like always, it didn't work.
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After a non-relieving shower, she put on a black long-sleeve muggle shirt. She had gotten it as the one gift for her father from the previous year on Christmas.
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It was, as he put it, "to cover up those ugly scars, almost as hideous as you." She completed the outfit with blue jeans and black flats.
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Feeling the need to read, she went downstairs into the Gryffindor common room. There, she picked up her favorite book, 'Hogwarts, A History' , and begin to read from the very beginning.
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She had always left it in the common room. That way she could always read when she couldn't sleep.
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It wasn't till an hour later, when her housemates were getting up, that she heard the portrait that acted as an entrance to the common room open.
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She looked up from her book, and saw it was her head-of-house, Professor McGonagall. She seemed a bit shaken by something, completely opposite of tired.
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The professor walked in the common room only a few feet before looking from her feet and at her favorite student.
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"Professor, are you alright?" The lady noticed the concern in her voice. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking. You're so sweet. Never change, okay?"
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Something was definitely wrong, the girl could tell. "Of course, professor. Are you sure something's not wrong? You look a bit worried"
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The professor looked at the girl she favored above all her other students she ever came to know and sighed.
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"Alright. There is something a bit, how do you say? New, I suppose, and it kind of frightens me," she didn't move from the entrance.
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"What is it, may I ask?"
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She was thought of to the professor, and others of course, as innocent. Oh, how wrong they were. The poor lady had no clue just what the girl has come across and dealt with.
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The nearly seventy-year-old looked carefully at the girl who knew nearly everything the seventh-years did, and knew she had to tell her. For the problem, as she just found out, was very much to do with the young, fifth year student and was very serious.
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"I-" the professor stated, "I would wish to speak with you somewhere more private. Preferably, my office. I've something very important that you have a right to know. I only wish I knew sooner so I could have been more careful of you and Mister Potter"
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The girl was in confusion (A/N: "I am confusion... Kansas.. Arkansas.. America Explain!" I had to, sorry). She had never heard her favorite professor so worried or even the slightest bit out of character.
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She was always so orderly kept and demanded for people to do the right thing as she says. She always held power and control, but now she was worried.
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The girl looked at her hands, feeling it was not just important, but big and Sirius. She looked back up at her head-of-house and replied: "Okay, would you like to leave now?"
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The light from the window reflected on them and the surrounding floor. "Yes please" McGonagall said as light disappeared and a roar sounded in the sky outside.
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The older witch, Professor McGonagall, stood up tall, and walked out of the room's entrance. The young fifth-year followed closed behind.
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They walked in silence to her office not far down the empty hall. The door magically opened on its own to let them in, where they both took a seat.
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Sighing, the professor bent closer to the girl sitting across her desk. "My dear, before I say anything, I want you to know that I barely discovered of this a moment ago and I'll always be available to talk to you about anything you need, whenever you may need it"
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Hermione looked quizzically at the old witch but responded without question. "Of course, professor," she agreed, not sure what she was worrying about.
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Was it to do with father? Did she somehow find out? What if father did something? What if he hurt someone else? What if he decided to take me out of Hogwarts?
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Hearing the witch sigh once again, she snapped out of her thoughts and returned her attention to her favorite professor and head-of-house. "I want you to understand that I know it will be hard on you when I say this. I would understand if you need time from your studies to recover from the news."
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Hermione didn't know what to expect was the matter. "Professor, what is it?"
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"It's your father," said the witch carefully.
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Hermione gulped as she prepared for the news. "What is it? Does he want me out of Hogwarts?"
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"That would have been much easier"
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Her heart was pounding as she readied her mind for what it could be. She couldn't cry in front of the professor. No way would she allow herself to break down.
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She might let something slip and get the worst punishment by far from her father. Not even a tear did she want to get passed her.
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"I'm afraid he's... he's dead"
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Suddenly, Hermione's mind was blank. Her face, as well. Everything turned into grey. She couldn't think. She couldn't speak. She couldn't blink. She couldn't breathe! She would have fainted right there if it wasn't for the door opening.
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"Have you told her?" She recognized that old male voice.
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"Only what happened, but not how" said the witch younger than he.
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Hermione didn't need to ask, though she couldn't, before Dumbledore answered the unasked question.
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"I'm afraid he's taken his life, committing suicide."
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Hermione couldn't believe it. Her father was dead by his own will! Unbelievable. After years of torture, she was to be alone and parent-less.
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"I'm- I'm an orphan?" Her voice was so quiet, it scared the transfiguration instructor.
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"No, not officially by law. You still have a father who's alive" said Dumbledore.
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Raising her head to face him, Hermione questioned him. "But you just said he killed himself," a single tear formed in both her eyes.
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"Yes, Mister Granger has passed away, yes. But you've actually been taken away from your real parents, or father"
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Blank. That's what everything was from then on.
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"Wait, you mean to say I'm adopted?"
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She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. Not unless he said it clearly enough that Ron could understand.
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"Yes, you have been" said Dumbledore.
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Nothing came to her mind as fast as the most important question. "Why?"
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Dumbledore felt himself being stared at and turned his eyes to share a glance with Minerva.
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"You were taken by a powerful wizard from a dark, nearly as powerful wizard"
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"What? Wait, my real parents are wizards?"
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She was still processing the fact her father who always used to beat her for no reason had killed himself.
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"Yes, a pureblood and sadly, a deceased pureblood mother," he felt sorry for the girl.
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Hermione only painful rolled her glimmering, teary eyes at the old headmaster's words.
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"Nothing new. Still have a dead mother" she said almost emotionless.
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"Yes, we heard about that too. Just now, actually. Why didn't you say anything?"
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He was hoping to get an answer. He was selfish like that.
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Holding in a breath and shutting her eyes, she replied in a small voice: "I don't want to be judged"
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"No one would have judged you for your mother's passing" Dumbledore tried to comfort, but it did not work. Instead, it brought paining anger to form.
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Opening her eyes, Hermione turned to Dumbledore. Her eyes were flaming with anger, but somewhere in the ashes of the fire in her eyes was the pain that had caused it. The pain that she had hid far too long. The pain she's been feeling since she was just a small child.
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She stood up from her seat and took a step forward. "Yes, everyone would! No one ever cares about me and no one ever will! I know it's a fact! Don't try to say no one would make fun of me because I know everyone would laugh if they had a chance," she shouted.
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Both of the adults looked at her, shocked, and felt dread. They realized this was how she felt most of the time that they were oblivious to knowing.
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"I'm sure no one'd laughed about such a thing" said Dumbledore, but she was still upset.
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"They would still laugh very much because they'd know about my mother dying when I won't know what to feel afterwards because I never saw her. She never cared for me and left me miserable with my father. Nothing I ever do is enough to just live normally" she raged on.
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The Headmaster was confused, as was the deputy head.
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"What is this you're going on about? Your mother never took time to be around you? That's very selfish. I thought better of her when I left you with her as a one-year-old"
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Hermione stopped every race going on in her head. "What?" She was shocked.
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Dumbledore realized his slip-up and sighed (A/N: I know, so much sighing. Eh, deal with it *glasses appear on face, possibly poking my eye*). "Well I guess I have to tell you the whole story now. Especially about your father" said Dumbledore earning a look from a pale professor.
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"Would you want me to explain, or do you want to see through the pensieve for yourself?"
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For the first time in Hogwarts history, Dumbledore was worried.
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"If it's not much trouble, I'd like an explanation" said Hermione back in a small voice. She started to become scared for the truth.
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Dumbledore took a deep breath before starting his story. "Well, fourteen years ago, after a greatly feared man had decided to murder a family he thought of as a threat, he had failed to kill a small innocent baby, and left the home he invaded immediately after leaving a crying baby an orphan."
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Hermione felt a thousand bricks hitting her as he explained a recognizable story. Voldemort's attack on Harry's parents. She listened fearfully yet intently.
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"He had apparated a way to his Manor. To his home with his last family. His own child." By now, Hermione felt smaller as she could have sworn she knew what happened.
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"He was very weak and lived alone but had his own people to serve him as he wished. He only ever cared for his little girl, but he knew he had to do something to save her from growing up with an injured father that was nearly dead. So I had to barge in a near few minutes later, when I had gotten word of the recent events.
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"I went directly towards him in a room I had found rather small for an adult. Then I came to realize it was a toddler's room. His daughter's own nursery. For an evil wizard, I must say he's got excellent taste for decoration and design," Dumbledore got offtrack.
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"Albus!" said the stern deputy-head, knocking him out of his thoughts.
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"Hmm? Oh, yes, anyways. Let's see... He had been pulling his head away from the top of his baby's when I got in. He immediately reached to get his wand before realizing it was slightly broken from his recent spell and he had threw it aside before he seemed to brace himself with whatever would happen to save his daughter from harm.
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"However, after I used a simple spell, I had gotten him on his knees but he had been holding himself up against the toddler's bed. I was watching him as he struggled to protect the child that he knew was no good in his care. So he didn't and couldn't do anything as I walked to the other side of him and took her away.
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"I watched him for a moment before I apparated with the baby to a dark alleyway. It was already kind of dark but I kept in the shadows as best I could and carefully brought her to a house I knew had belonged to a muggleborn's house. The muggleborn, however, didn't make it more than a month before dying.
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"The reason was unknown to me, and so I decided to help make the family feel better when I placed the baby on the doorstep of the house. The owners of the home were watched carefully by myself and a very well hidden cat, or your professor you know as Professor McGonagall. The baby was taken into the home of the Granger's."
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Hermione couldn't do anything but try to process everything. Her father had died. Her father wasn't her father. Her father was the infamous murderer, Voldemort. Out of everything, she realized something of a minor detail.
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"Wait, you said he was a pureblood, but everyone knows him as a half-blood" she pointed out.
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"Yes, he believed he was but I had been one of the only ones to know.
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"His father, as it turned out, was not the one who left his mother, but his biological father was actually a pureblood marked to others as a 'blood traitor' who had no idea he had a son. His mother knew and decided to quickly use a love potion and marry a muggle thinking it would be better to live with. So he is technically a pureblood."
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Hermione was stunned and just realized everything she came to know was a lie. Her father who had hurt her was that it wasn't even her real father. She had a father who seemed to care for her. Even though it sounded crazy, she believed he would've been a great father compared to her muggle one.
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"How, exactly, did my mother die?"
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She wanted to know everything as she was already finding out this other stuff.
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"I think I'll save that for another time. You've already discovered so much," he tried to give her some time to recover from everything she's been told. He knew that how the death of her real mother happened would only crush what was left of her.
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Slowly, Hermione nodded as if to agree.
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"Well, you may go to the Great Hall breakfast. You must be hungry" said Dumbledore. She wasn't.
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"Okay," was all she said in her quiet voice. She walked to the door, starting to visibly shake with fear. The Headmaster and professor saw her do so and worried for her.
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She absentmindedly walked back to Gryffindor Tower. She wasn't going to breakfast and she wasn't sure she'd go to eat at all that day. She wasn't sure she would go and eat for a while. She wasn't even sure if she could get out of bed at all after the news of what happened and her real father.
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Approaching the Fat Lady's portrait, she merely even breathed until she said the password.
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"What happened to you? You look like someone died" said the portrait not opening up yet.
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A sudden voice appeared behind the girl that sort of made her feel better.
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"Someone did. Miss- er, Hermione, would you like me to take you to the hospital wing? It might be better than being around the Gryffindor Common Room. I've been there myself a while back, and I know those kids can get rowdy and loud" she suggested. The girl only nodded in response.
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Her cold sweaty hands were shaking a little, and the warm hand of McGonagall held onto her arm as support. She stumbled a bit, Hermione, but never fell except on a bed in the hospital wing.
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She really didn't want to face anyone. Maybe the head-of-house, and the matron, but no one else.
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She didn't notice a minute later when a house-elf, Winky, arrived with food. The poor girl didn't see anything but a blurry ceiling as she had tears trying to escape her eyelids.
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She felt... empty,... numb... she felt like she wouldn't ever be happy. Not unless... no, she couldn't think like that.
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"Hermione, dear, aren't you going to eat?"
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She looked back down to McGonagall and finally noticed the food that was in front of her. Winky the house-elf was still there, holding it.
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The house-elf still held a grudge against her, as she wanted no clothes or money, but to serve a master and punish herself if she fails as she pleased.
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Hermione could barely function at all, currently. The sight of food sickened her. She wanted none of it, not even to smell the fresh meal.
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Suddenly her eyes closed, and sleep overtook her. Her head-of-house realized she should let her rest, and sent the house-elf back to the kitchens, leaving the food beside Hermione for when she wakes up.
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"Pomfrey, can you watch her until I get back? She's not feeling well" asked the professor to the matron. She got a smile and nod as a response before she left and headed to the Great Hall and had breakfast.
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She didn't eat too much, as the girl was on her mind, struggling with all this sudden information. What she didn't know is that something would happen later that day.
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Y'all are the best, don't ever change. Until next time potter-folks. (Next time with a bit Dramione and possible father-daughter moment! Idk, we'll see...)