Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Harry Potter or any of these Characters, they are all property of JK. Rowling

A/N: Hello again. This is another new fic and for once, not a Dramione. This will be Thormione as I have found my people and they are all dark. A very special thank you to my beta, GidgetMalfoy, she has done an amazing job. Much love to all who were excited to start this journey with me. I hope everyone likes it.

Also any depiction of Thorfinn Rowle or Rodolphus LeStrange that is similiar to Canimal's will be done with her permission. I usually have my own style that shines through, but it will be because of her influence if there is similarities. If you haven't read her work, you should. It's all amazing. The age difference between Finn and Hermione will be because of her age gap she started in The Dark Mage Captive and The Parolee and His Princess. There were other's influenced by her works that influenced me (Freya Ishtar and Kittenshift17) but she is the mastermind, so gets top billing.

Peace, Love and Slyther,

Gimi aka Jess

Hermione looked around the kitchen, the room she had dubbed 'wedding central'. Her future mother in law was discussing the merits of having roses instead of lilies for bridesmaid bouquets with the wedding planner. Sneaking out the back door, she left the ladies to make the decision while she went to find her future husband.

Hermione Granger could honestly say she was truly excited for the next two weeks to fly by. In two weeks time, she would become Mrs. Ron Weasley; a title she had been waiting five years to have.

Ron had wanted to marry right after the war, but Hermione put her foot down. While they had been friends for seven years, they did not know how they would fare as a romantic couple. She had also wanted to officially finish her education; she had plans to go back to Hogwarts when it reopened. Getting married would deny her that chance.

Knowing how much she valued knowledge, Ron relented. Then, he wanted to marry after she left school and again Hermione said no. She had been at school for ten months, and they barely saw each other during that time. Harry and Ron had foregone their education and went straight into the auror office after the war. She wanted to start her career; she had gotten a position as a curse breaker with Gringotts due to her connection to Bill Weasley. She had thought they wouldn't hire her considering she and her friends had robbed a high security vault during the war, but the goblins had reluctantly agreed that she and her friends had no choice in that matter. They had lost many goblins during Voldemort's reign as well, but they would be keeping an eye on her.

Hermione and Ron kept dating. He proposed a year later and surprisingly she accepted, though their careers were not conducive to planning a wedding.

Hermione had rose quickly through Gringotts, becoming one of the top curse breakers of her generation. The goblins sent her all around the world chasing the galleons. Ron was just as successful in the auror office. He and Harry were sent all over the United Kingdom in search of dark wizards, sometimes for weeks at a time. Before they knew it, five years had passed since the war and Ron finally put his foot down. He wanted to marry his witch and this time, Hermione agreed.

They should have known it wouldn't be easy. Once Minister Shacklebolt found out they had finally set a date, he swooped in and offered the ministry's help to plan such a large event. Ron and Hermione started to protest, reminded of the circus that had been Harry's wedding to Daphne Greengrass the year before, but Kingsley hadn't been a Slytherin for nothing. He had told them, as war heroes, the wizarding world loved them and would be ecstatic to share in their happy day. With the promise of the Ministry fitting the bill for the event, they relented and began to plan a society wedding.

Walking outside the Burrow, she found her fiancé, Harry, Daphne, Pansy, Ginny and Blaise all standing around with brooms in their hands. Seeing that they were dressed in their quidditch gear, Hermione assumed they were getting a game together.

Daphne Potter had been sitting on the grass and Hermione went to sit next to her, giving the witch a brief side hug as she did. A lot had changed in the five years that passed. Their group of friends had grown to include the Slytherins of their year.

This had been Hermione's and Ginny's doing. They had returned to school and made friends with Daphne, Pansy, Blaise, Theo Nott and Draco Malfoy. After Harry and Ginny broke up for good and Ginny had begun to have feelings for Blaise, Hermione set Harry up with Daphne.

The Slytherins of their year were different than in years past. Most of their parents had been sent away, with the exception of Draco, Daphne and Blaise. Pansy's father was even worse than Bellatrix, using the cruciatus curse on his daughter when he was displeased or for failing to find a suitor to his liking. Pansy's mother had died in an accident when she was only seven. Pansy thought it was more likely her father had killed her mother, but there was no proof. He had been kissed six months after his capture, he was responsible for the murder of no less than seventeen different muggles and three aurors who had been there to apprehend him. The eye witness accounts of the remaining aurors and the state the bodies of the muggles were left in, the man was lucky he wasn't kissed right there.

After his death, this left Pansy as the last surviving Parkinson. She was still at school when her father had been kissed. When he was incarcerated and awaiting trial, she made friends with Hermione Granger. When he was to be kissed, Draco, Hermione, Daphne and Ginny were all there to bear witness with her. Standing behind the warmth of Hermione's otter, Pansy stood up straight as her father yelled at her across the room for bringing shame to the Parkinson name, befriending blood traitors and mudbloods. He had no daughter any longer.

With those words Pansy smiled brightly at her father, turned and kissed Hermione square on the mouth. Hermione's otter began to fade, so Ginny released her own horse as Draco stared at the two women beside him, gobsmacked. Releasing her friend, Pansy turned back to her father just as the dementor was wafting his way. His light skin reddened in fury at his daughter's insolence. She went on to tell him how the pure blood of the Parkinson ended with her. She would rather marry a muggle than to enter a pureblood marriage for the sake of her 'Ancient and Most Noble House of Parkinson'. She also told him, she was glad the last memory he would have of his daughter was that she was kissing, not only a muggleborn, but the brightest witch of a century and the reason his Lord was dead. Right as he was about to yell, the dementor swooped in and lowered it's hood. The group of teens all left the room, screams echoing off the walls, the last thing they heard as the doors shut behind them.

Hermione gulped, not knowing what to say. She was seeing Ron and now she would have to tell him that Pansy kissed her! Not that she hadn't liked the kiss, but it wasn't something that she had any desire to repeat. Eyes wide as saucers, she glanced over at Ginny, who looked like she was biting her cheek so hard, Hermione was surprised blood wasn't dripping down her chin. Hermione could see the mirth dancing in her eyes. Pansy turned towards Hermione with tears in her eyes, she could still hear her father moaning in the other room and Hermione just grabbed and hugged her as Pansy let go and began to cry. Daphne and Ginny surrounded the two girls and held on to Pansy as she cried. Draco, being a high brow pureblood, had no idea what to do. He was uncomfortable with women and tears, usually leaving his crying mother to his father; he just stood there while the three of them comforted his friend.

After a while, Pansy had slowed her tears to almost none and began to slow her breathing. Without saying another word, the five teens left Azkaban, never talked about that day again.

OoOoOoO

"How goes the planning, Mione?" Daphne grinned at her. Hermione pushed her away and Daphne began to laugh out loud. She remembered all too well how wedding planning with Mrs. Weasley was a trial unto itself.

Molly Weasley and her mother, Lila Greengrass, spent six months making sure that the wedding was perfect. So much so that Daphne was ready to hex her mother into oblivion. Harry did not have any family to speak of; his aunt and uncle were no longer speaking to him once they were returned to their home.

His cousin Dudley kept in touch via muggle mail, but was not ready to go into the magical world with Harry as he had not had good experiences with magic from the time he was young. He had grown out of his pratish behaviour, especially after his cousin saved him that fateful night from the dementoids, and wizards kept him safe during the war, but he wasn't ready for more magic in his life.

Daphne sat as Hermione rattled down the list of things the planner was going over with Molly. Her own parents were no longer with her, they had perished in a car crash during her last year at Hogwarts. She had found them the summer after the war; while they were upset over what she had done, they still loved her and came back to England to be close to her and to rebuild their family. They had died during the Easter holiday. Hermione had been at home while they were at work. The crash had killed them instantly. They were now buried in Godric's Hollow next to Harry's parents. They had no other family, so there was no point in burying them in the muggle world. Hermione was surrounded by everyone who loved her, including the girl sitting next to her laughing at list of things that had to be done still. Daphne, Pansy and Ginny had been her rocks during those last few months.

"Ron, we need to go to the ministry next week to pick up our license." Hermione reminded her fiancé before he took off on his broom; his brothers had just arrived to play quidditch. Bill and Charlie had been at the joke shop helping George with some inventory; the entire family helped George get back in order after the war. Fred's death had severed his soul in half and he didn't have it in him to continue. Molly and Arthur had moved him home and Charlie moved into the flat above the shop to take over while George grieved the loss of his twin.

The shop had thrived with people in need of some laughs after the war. Charlie and Bill took care of it until George was ready and then Charlie decided to stay on to be closer to his family. He hadn't been there for the final battle; being far from family when Fred died had really done a number on him, so he stayed close. These days he lived in Hogsmeade above the second shop and George had gone back to his flat in Diagon Alley.

OoOoOoO

Hermione and Ron arrived at the ministry the next week. As soon as they set foot into the atrium they were met with Kingsley and a small group of reporters. Hermione began to grind her teeth, a habit that she began because of this blasted wedding. Ron rubbed the small of her back and she began to settle down, but she sent Kingsley a look that clearly said, You maybe Minister, but if you don't stop this circus, I will hex you into oblivion. Kingsley smiled and dismissed everyone before going up to shake Ron's hand, clearly not ready to touch Hermione as a precaution.

Kingsley and his staff moved the couple to the lifts, Hermione plastered the smile she reserved for the press as they walked through the atrium, hiding her annoyance that she couldn't marry in private like every other witch in the world. Ron held onto her hand, rubbing circles on the flesh between her thumb and forefinger and for the millionth time since they got engaged, Hermione was truly grateful for how soothing Ron was when she was stressed.

"Kingsley, is this really necessary?" Hermione gestured to the one reporter and photographer that were trailing behind them. Kingsley had Witch Weekly doing an exclusive on inside of the Heroes wedding.

"Of course it is Hermione," Kingsley gave her a tight smile. "Your wedding is the highlight of the wizarding world. Our final two of the trio fall in love and live happily in a world free of prejudice against muggleborns. It's an important event."

Hermione rolled her eyes and Ron stifled a chuckle. Personally, neither of them cared about the wedding. Ron would have rather gotten married in the back garden like Bill, but his word was important to him. Ever since he had abandoned his friends in the woods, he spent every day making sure they would never feel let down like that again.

Ron was still ashamed that he had felt all those feelings while wearing the horcrux. He had left his friends when they really needed him there because of feelings of inadequacy and jealousy. The locket only enhanced those feelings, but the fact that he felt them at all and wasn't strong enough to overcome it, it was the lowest point of his life. He had vowed to himself that he would always stand by his friends, no matter what the situation.

The group went down the the third level, the Marriage, Betrothals and Bondings office and walked into a conference room where they waited for the wizard to bring in their license. Kingsley explained the procedure; Ron and Hermione had decided they wanted a traditional bonding as part of their ceremony. This required an ancient bit of blood magic to bind not only their souls, but their magic as well.

Ron didn't want it, not that he didn't believe that he and Hermione would have a problem staying together, they were soulmates; he could feel it in his bones. They wouldn't need a bonding, but Hermione was adamant about it. She wanted the bonding. She wanted a full traditional wizarding marriage like his parents had. He figured it was to show that she truly belonged, that the muggleborn had taken to the wizarding world and no one could tell her that she didn't belong.

The Weasleys didn't feel it was necessary to have a blood bonding. The only reason his parents had one was because of tradition. The Prewitts were not deep in the pureblood ideology, nor were the Weasleys, but they did believe in tradition. It was tradition to have a blood bonding in a pureblood marriage; it was said to make the familial magic stronger. Bill and Fleur had one as part of their ceremony. Percy and his wife Audrey did as well, as did Harry and Daphne.

While the bonding had nothing to do with being a pureblood, it was still heavy in tradition. Tradition says that a blood bond like this reached deep within the witch and wizards magical signature to track their family heritage. Because muggleborns were normally the first or only magical person in their families they didn't have much to draw upon, which is why purebloods tended to marry purebloods or halfbloods. Marrying a muggleborn with no previous magic in their background was said to weaken the familial magic. This was the true reason most purebloods didn't marry muggleborns, and this was why they felt superior to them, it had nothing to do with blood, but with magic.

The registrar wizard, Mister Stebbins came into the room holding the registry parchment. He nodded at each in turn, "Good morning Miss Granger, Mister Weasley." He smiled brightly at them both, "Minister," he referred to Kingsley. Kingsley nodded in greeting and Mister Stebbins went on.

"This morning we are starting the initiation of the marriage bond. It is a very simple procedure," he assured both parties, "It only requires a drop of blood on the Registry of Bondings to signify the intent of both parties and to be sure you are both legally free to marry."

Hermione scrunched her nose, "What do you mean 'legally free?' Why wouldn't we be free?"

"Meaning that you are not entered into an arrangement with another family," Mister Stebbins replied, looking over at Hermione, "For you Miss Granger, this will mean nothing as you are muggleborn and muggle families do not practice arranged marriages like some wizarding families. For you this is just a formality. For Mister Weasley, this is to be sure that his parents did not enter him into an arrangement with another family."

"My parents didn't believe in the practice," Ron answered the man, "They were a love match."

Mister Stebbins nodded, "I understand, it's simply a part of the ritual. Now, today is step one, the final step will happen at your ceremony where you will join in blood again and let the magic flow freely between your hands."

Hermione screwed up her face, "Sounds unsanitary."

Ron chuckled a bit, Kingsley and Mister Stebbins both smiled, "On the contrary, this is simply done to strengthen your core magic. The Weasley familial bond will be able to mark you as a Weasley and you will be able to tap into it."

Hermione nodded in agreement, understanding the point of it all. She welcomed the idea of belonging fully to the Weasley family. Since her parents died, they were her family, but to belong by magic, that was very appealing. That was what she wanted, to belong to a family. She knew how Harry felt before, and now he belonged to two families and Hermione was the odd one out. Soon she would belong again.

Ron caught Hermione's eye and gave her a warm smile; he could tell she was nervous. He chuckled because knowing her, she was wondering about all the ways she could fail at this. Even though it wasn't a test, he knew his fianceè well enough to know that she would be afraid of failure.

Mister Stebbins smiled reassuringly at the witch, "Everything will be fine, this is just the beginning." He looked over at Ron and held out his wand, "Mister Weasley, you are first." Ron held out his hand and the wizard waved his wand over top, opening a small incision on his palm. Ron hissed in surprise, but held his palm over the registry and waited.

Almost immediately the parchment began to glow a soft golden hue and words began to appear:

Name: Ronald Bilius Weasley

Parents and familial blood houses: Arthur Weasley of House Weasley and Molly Weasley of House Prewitt

Blood Status: Pureblood

Arrangement Status: None

Binding Status: Free

Marital Status: None

Ron brought out his own wand and healed his palm and the parchment faded back to it original state. Mister Stebbins looked at the parchment and nodded as he saw what was there, "Good, good Mister Weasley you were correct, your parents did not enter you into an arrangement. The golden color is what we are looking for." He looked up at Hermione, "Miss Granger, you next."

Hermione nodded and held out her hand. She also hissed out of surprise as the incision took to her palm and several drops of bright red blood pooled at the cut. "Now yours should be the same golden color." Mister Stebbins instructed. She tipped her hand over the parchment and the blood soaked into it.

A bright blue hue began to shine from the parchment and Mister Stebbins looked confused as the words began to form on it:

Name: Lyra Capri LeStrange

Parents and Familial Blood Houses: Rodolphus LeStrange of House LeStrange and Bellatrix LeStrange of House Black

Blood Status: Pureblood

Arrangement Status: Pre-arranged; September 19th, 1979

Binding Status: Pre-arranged; September 19th, 1979

Marital Status: Bonding in process. Must be completed by twenty fifth name day of youngest bonder.

House to be Bonded to: Thorfinn Rowle of House Rowle

Hermione paled immediately, looked over at Ron's shocked blue eyes and fainted straight away. Ron just stared at the parchment as the bright blue hue began to disappear and he continued to look at the bright red letters where Hermione Granger should be and instead saw the name of a stranger.

OoOoOoO

"'Mione, 'Mione, come on wake up," Hermione could hear Ron's voice far off.

Further in the distance, she heard a Pop! Hermione began to open her eyes, her vision blurred. Hermione followed Ron's voice and focused on him, he looked concerned. Hermione frowned, why was he upset?

"Missy Lyra, Missy Lyra! Oh I knew it just had to be you that called for Cheeks! Oh how I've missed my Missy Lyra!" A little elf with the biggest cheeks Hermione had ever seen was standing next to Hermione's head.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said confused, "What did you call me? My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger."

The little elf shook her head excited, "No Missy, you are Missy Lyra! I knowz it, I felt your magic call me. I haven't felt my Missy since I left you…" The little elf's big eyes began to tear and she wailed, grabbing hold of Hermione's jumper and shrilly talking into Hermione's chest. "I left you! I didn't want to, I tried to disobey, I loved you so much! But My Missy told me to keep you safe and I have to do it! I had to keep my Missy safe when Missy Bella and Master Roddy did not come home. Cheeks is so sorry, Missy Lyra, forgive me!"

Hermione awkwardly patted the little elf on the back, "Um… it's ok… Cheeks? Is that your name? It's okay, please stop crying. Who did you say you belong… YOU'RE THE LESTRANGE ELF?!"

Hermione began to pant, not getting enough air down into her lungs, she was on the verge of passing out again when Ron yelled at her to snap out of it. Focusing on Ron, she began to breathe in time with him, while Kingsley yelled at someone to get her a calming draught. Before the assistant moved, Cheeks had popped in and out returning with one. Hermione, refused to take it, Cheeks, narrowing her big elf eyes, "Missy Lyra, you drink this down now or I will bind you. You need this calming draught."

"Hermione take the draught." Ron agreed, Hermione stared at him like he grew a second head. "Elves cannot poison you. She says she is your elf, she seems to know you, take the draught so we can figure out what is going on."

Mumbling something about if she died, she was going to haunt him forever, she drank the blue potion, feeling immediate relief and the ability to breathe again. Cheeks smiled at her, happy that her Missy was okay.

"Ron," Hermione whispered, holding his hand. "Ron, what is going on? What does this mean? My parents never told me I was adopted." Tears formed in her eyes, "What are we going to do, I mean, this is crazy! Can it be some sort of mistake?"

Ron looked at the women he loved sadly, he wanted to tell her they would be okay, they would figure it out and get married anyway, but he knew they couldn't; at least not the next week. Kingsley had already sent orders to the wedding planner to hold all plans for now. He had also forbid the reporter and photographer from releasing anything they witnessed today, punishment resulting in a stay in Azkaban for as long as was in his power as Minister, to inflict.

"No, Hermione, there is no way this can be a mistake," Ron whispered, rubbing the back of her hand, trying to soothe her. "I don't know what we are going to do, but I do know we can't get married next week."

Hermione pulled her hand away, her breathing becoming erratic again, "You don't want to marry me because of who may or may not be my family?" This could not be happening to her.

Ron gave her a small smile, "No, that is not what I meant. I don't care who your family is, you could be the love child of Voldy himself and I still wouldn't care. We can't marry because you are betrothed." Hermione stared at him not understanding. "You are bonded to another wizard. Since your birth from what I can see. That can't be a bond easily broken."

"Ron, Thorfinn Rowle is in Azkaban!" Hermione argued, "I can't be expected to marry him, he's incarcerated. There has to be a loophole. I will find it. We will get married next week."

Looking over at Mister Stebbins and Kingsley, "What do I have to do to get this bond broken?"

Mister Stebbins mentioned something about talking to her parents and Hermione paled. She would have to go to Azkaban… to see her parents… The LeStranges… Bellatrix, who tortured her at Draco's home, was her mother. That would be a cozy reunion.