Mr. and Mrs. Granger always knew that their daughter was special. As a child as young as two, she would do the strangest things, like summoning her favorite plush toy to her from across the room or creating moving images of the stories they read her out of smoke. Of course, there were other things, too. Small things that, damn it all, only happened when she was really desperate for something in her life. Like the time that she cried for over an hour over a cookie her mother had refused her before Helen had walked out of the room to care for the cat only to return to find Hermione eating the same chocolate chip cookie she desired- perched atop the refrigerator. However, both of her parents agreed that the strangest thing happened on Hermione's fifth birthday, on a family trip to Stonehenge, which was Hermione's request, of course.

The Granger's were more than pleased with themselves during the trip. At first, they were skeptical that a child so young would really enjoy the tourist attraction, but they were quickly proven wrong. Their daughter was intuitive, much different than most children her age, and it took little more than the growing light in her eyes to prove to them that she was more than excited for the educational journey that she would be in for today. Once they arrived, she was so enthusiastic that neither parent could wrangle their child fast enough before she made a beeline for the enormous stone structure nestled on the grassy hill. Instantly, they chased after their Hermione only pausing when they noticed something strange come over their daughter only steps shy of her destination. They watched in horror as their daughtered lifted into the air for an endless moment, catching the attentions of several bystanders. Then, just as quickly as she'd been lifted from her feet, Hermione fell to the ground, bumping her head on the earth below her.

Shaking themselves out of their stupor, both parents finally bolted towards their unconscious daughter just as a bystander walked over to kneel at her side. Little did the Granger's know at the time, but he was subtly performing diagnostic spells, ensuring that the young witch was healthy. When the parents arrived at Hermione's side, the dark clothed wizard looked up, scaring the Granger's with his near permanent scowl. "It seems that some things will need to be explained to you folks sooner rather than later." He drawled in a low baritone that filled the parents with foreboding.

With the discovery of Hermione Granger's connection to the ley lines, her life was changed irrevocably in that moment. Of course, the Granger's had to be told six years earlier than anticipated that their child was a witch, and she would one day be brought into a secret society that lived among them every day. Furthermore, the authorities at the Ministry of Magic impressed upon them that they would have to keep a close eye on Hermione's proximity to ley lines until such a time as she could control her newfound gift. Mr. and Mrs. Granger, however, knew that this was something much bigger than their desire to keep their daughter close. They were just dentists, and didn't even know what a ley line was. How were they supposed to protect their daughter from something they couldn't even see or understand? With heavy hearts, they decided that the best decision for their special little girl was to allow her to be brought into the society that could see to her training and protection from this unforeseen danger, and, thus, one Severus Tobias Snape found himself the adoptive father of a uniquely gifted five year old witch.

One year later, Severus Snape's prayed for patience as his strong willed six year old daughter whined from beside his cauldron. "I don't understand, Father! I'm special. I have this gift that allows me to manipulate the ley lines, but you won't allow me to practice."

The dark robed wizard swung around, allowing his intimidating physique and steely demeanor to do the majority of the work for him. "My dear," He whispered, allowing his resolve to soften when he saw the fear sparkling in her expressive amber orbs. "You are still young, with so many years of learning and growth ahead of you in order to test your limits. But, there is danger in working with the ley lines, which I'm trying to protect you from. For one thing, your magical core is not yet stable. Every time you have used your abilities thus far, you have risked losing your magic entirely. You're so special, Hermione, I simply can't have you risk it for the time being. And don't forget that there is the fact that even the most experienced ley masters and mistresses in history have had a trusted partner to help ground their power." He paused for effect as his words sunk into his daughter's hard head. "Now, we're done talking about it. Get over here and peel this boomslang skin for me. You know that the familial bonding potion is most effective when we both brew it together."

"Five years." The ten year old Hermione whispered as she sat at the table in her father's private laboratory. "I can't believe it."

Her father turned around after having doled out two doses of the blood red, effervescent potion. "Are you ready to officially be my daughter, Hermione?"

Hermione chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. "Remind me again why this is so important?"

Severus placed both of the goblets onto the table and looked at his beloved daughter with utter devotion in his eyes. "This potion will permanently bind you to my bloodline. Legally, you will be considered a half-blood like me, and, if anybody should say otherwise, you will have the right to dispute such comments with a duel or in front of the Wizengamot. Additionally, it will bestow you with a particular… familial resemblance, so it will be impossible to mistake you for anything but my own biological offspring."

Hermione's features were serious now as she pondered the goblets sitting between them. "Well, no time like the present to drink a potion that took five years to brew."

She lifted her goblet and watched, mesmerized, as her father lifted his own and spoke the ritualistic words. "I, Severus Tobias Snape, take you, Hermione Jean Granger as my own blood daughter and heir in both right and magic."

"I, Hermione Jean Granger, bind my blood and magic to the line of my chosen father, Severus Tobias Snape." She responded, taking his hand as they both downed the pleasantly cherry flavored liquid. Hermione, upon finishing her goblet, promptly passed out as her body began to submit to the changes the bonding potion would force upon her. Before Severus succumbed to the effects of the potion, a golden hue began to settle over Hermione's body as she unconsciously tapped into the castle's ley lines. However, Severus was unable to act on his protective instincts as the potion thrust him into darkness.

Severus Snape was the first to awaken after the administration of the potion, and he was sorely disappointed to find himself outside of the confines of his private laboratory. Blinking the blurriness from his eyes, he found himself to be situated on a decidedly uncomfortable bed in the hospital wing. He rather blearily turned his head to either side, finding his daughter just an arm's reach to the right still dozing. More surprisingly, though, he found a score of Ministry officials milling about the hospital wing supposedly awaiting the awakening of the Snape's. Severus slowly pushed himself to sit up on the bed and drawled. "To what do I owe the pleasure of the Ministry's interference in my child's binding ceremony?"

Albus Dumbledore stood in the far corner with a look on his face that seemed to say that he desperately wanted to the answer to the same question, but he remained silent, watching with poorly concealed interest. After a moment, the auror who seemed to be in charge stepped forward and introduced himself. "Hello. My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt. Head Auror Moody apologizes for his absence today, but he has found himself tied up in other matters."

Severus moved himself weakly to the side of the bed in order to finally get a good look at his daughter. Her once bushy brown hair was now the darkest ebony color and shown with a health it never had before. Without the frizziness to contend with, her hair had easily gained several inches in length, falling to the small of her back elegantly. When his eyes moved to her sleeping face, he felt instantly that something was off. His cheekbones didn't have that angular, aristocratic softness to them, did they? And, surely, he was never that tall at the age of ten. "What in Merlin's name went wrong?" He found himself saying aloud, absolutely flabbergasted by what he was seeing.

Auror Shacklebolt stepped closer, holding out his hand in an effort to assist the magically drained potions master. "Well, we have a theory, but we were waiting for both of you to awaken to confirm it, Professor. Would you mind either rousing her or carrying her? We've already been at this vigil for several hours."

Severus looked to the windows and noticed that the light filtering through them was dim at best and glowing with a reddish tint. "I'll carry her. She's probably magically drained still; I think I saw her tap into Hogwart's ley line after falling under the effects of the potion."

"You would be correct, Professor. That's the reason for our theory. We think that your daughter may have managed an extraordinary feat of accidental magic today, and, even though we could have confirmed our suspicions without your presence, we felt it more appropriate that you be with us for this discovery since it will affect you as well." Kingsley Shacklebolt enthused as they made their way up the many flights of stairs that led them to the Headmaster's quarters.

When they finally made their way to the statue of the eagle, it sprung forth without so much as a password, as if the castle understood the importance of their timeliness. Severus, who'd woken up into this strange dream of a reality thought it strange, but was far too weary to question it at this point. He hefted his daughter more comfortably into his arms and made his way up the stone steps. The door swung open before he'd touched it and he silently thanked the castle for not forcing him to perform some sort of acrobatics while holding Hermione in his arm in order to use something as simple as a door knob. Severus stepped into the Headmaster's office and waited for the rest of the group to file in behind him. Suspiciously absent was one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, but, at this point, the dreary potions master was categorizing everything weird as decidedly normal.

"Ah! There it is." Kingsley exclaimed after having spun a complete circle, searching the room for some unknown magical artifact. Severus turned to find what Shacklebolt was looking at, and his eyes were drawn to a picture of his own face, and, below it, his daughter's image rested. Upon closer inspection, Severus noticed calligraphy underneath each image. His name read Severus Tobias Slytherin, and his daughter's was listed as Hermione Jean Slytherin. Severus felt his eyes grow wide and his breathing hitch at the revelation, and he silently thanked his lucky stars that the wary aurors were hovering so closely as, for the second time in several hours he found himself drawn into unconsciousness.

AN: Well, well, well... what do we have here? This is the first chapter of a story I've been mulling over for awhile. I'm not very far into it, so depending on your response, I will continue to post or not. As always, leave those favorites, alerts, and reviews because it gets the story noticed and makes me smile.

~MA