AN: This story is AU, in a world where pureblood families are superior, and generally have arranged marriages, sometimes marrying half-bloods if there are other children in the family. Muggle-borns are picked on a lot more and are often in danger, though the ministry tries to protect them. Voldemort is dead, he never came back, but there are still many Death Eaters who will prey upon muggle-borns and muggles. Ron is born on December 2nd, the year after this event.
Prologue: September 19th, 1979
Molly Weasley exited the shop in Diagon Alley with her purchases and was about to disapparate when she heard something crying. Following the sound, she walked into a dark alley, where a bundle laid on the side of the passage was shaking and wailing. She picked it up and drew away the cloth to see a beautiful baby girl, only about a week old, by the looks of it. She gasped. Who had left the poor child here on the streets? She gasped again as she saw that the girl had green ash on her, a sign of death eater fires.
"A muggle-born?" she asked aloud, before turning to make sure no one was watching her. She hurriedly wrapped up the girl and disapparated to reappear outside of a small house with a sign reading "The Burrow".
"Arthur, Arthur!" she whispered furiously as she ran into the room they shared. "Arthur, wake up NOW."
"Wha-," he mumbled, sitting up abruptly when he saw what his wife was holding. "What happened Molly?"
"I found her near Diagon Alley, Arthur," she told him. "She was all alone, crying. And look." She showed him the ash. "DeathEaters. She must be muggle-born."
Her husband sighed. "What can we do?"
"We have to take care of her. As a pureblood family, even as a slightly disgraced one, we can give her a boost into the wizarding world."
"So what?" her husband retorted. "We pretend we had another child? And how will we do that?"
"We just moved here from America a couple weeks ago," she said desperately. "No one knows us yet. We can give her red hair, to make her fit in. Plenty of children don't look like their parents. This will work!" She paused. "It has to."
Arthur sighed. He knew she was right, this girlwould most likely die on her own. "What about the children? What will we tell them?"
"We could modify their memories," Molly suggested.
"Our own children?"
"We can tell them when they get old enough, but we have to be careful, for her sake. A muggle-born without any parents? She would constantly be in danger."
Her husband sighed. "You do it then, I don't think I can."
The three just sat there for a few minutes, Arthur worried about the future, Molly wondering about the past, and the child asleep. Finally Arthur shifted. "What will we name her?"
Molly bit her lip, looking at the baby girl. "Wait," she said. "What's that?"
A small piece of paper was poking out of the blanket. Arthur picked it up and read, "Hermione Granger."
I hoped you liked it. More to come, this is only the not-so-great prologue. Please review and tell me what you think of the idea.
-Allison