Author's notes will be at the end of each chapter. Please read them, as they contain important information. If you fail to read them, you may miss something, and I might just get angry and yell at you.
PrologueTwo weeks ago if anyone had told her that she would be in this situation, she would either have laughed or punched the person in the face. Staying at the manor house was, barely, believable. The owner was at least on her side of the war, even if he was one of the meanest men she'd ever had the misfortune to converse with. The other occupant of the house, though, was completely unbelievable. He hated her for what she was and for who she associated with. That he would politely give her the time of day was a stretch, and yet, here they were.
Even now, she did not know the motives of either man. Severus Snape was probably under orders to keep her safe, and he was doing so. However, surely such orders had not included commands to be nice to her, which he was also doing. Well, nice wasn't really the right term, but he was most certainly not acting cruelly as he normally did. Most likely, he felt sorry for her, which did not comfort her. She did not want pity, especially from him. He would certainly not ever want pity from anyone, least of all from her.
Draco Malfoy was a much bigger surprise. While Snape merely scorned her bossy attitude and choice of friends, Malfoy flat out hated her, or so she had always assumed. That would generally be the assumption when a person taunts you and frequently tries to seriously injure or even kill you. He'd let the world know just how much he hated her on more than one occasion, labeling her a 'mudblood' and insulting her for every possible thing. That he had saved her life and now treated her decently was very much out of character, and she cowered around him, convinced that he would revert to his normal self at any second.
Instead, he either ignored her or engaged in polite, short sentenced-conversation with her about school or books. He was, despite his horrid attitude, very intelligent and even more well read. Had they not spent the last five years as mortal enemies, she would have gotten along with him probably better than with her actual friends. Harry and Ron were wonderful, and she loved them to death, but they really did not worry enough about school, and certainly did not read for the pleasure of it.
Currently, the strange trio sat around a coffee table in the library of the Snape family manor house. Severus Snape was the only one of his family left, so the entire house was almost completely deserted most of the time. During the school year, Snape stayed in his private quarters in the school, and during the summers, he did so much work with Dumbledore or Voldemort that he was rarely in the house. Three house elves who she had but caught glimpses of kept everything clean and in proper order, but the house remained rather dull and lifeless.
Snape had just returned from meeting with Dumbledore and had news. He'd spent the past week in a frantic dash, arranging things with Dumbledore on her behalf and trying to smooth over things with Lucius Malfoy on Draco's behalf. He'd also been summoned to Voldemort twice, his loyalties most likely in question. He was still alive, so she could only assume that he had somehow managed to convince the Dark Lord that what he did would serve a greater cause. Probably some nonsense about gaining Dumbledore's trust.
"Both adoptions have been successful," Snape said, his voice even, betraying nothing.
She'd known for a few days now that Dumbledore was arranging for her to be adopted, though she knew almost nothing about who was adopting her. All she knew was that the woman was a powerful witch and a member of the Order. The other adoption Snape spoke of was his own adoption of Draco Malfoy. That particular adoption was a bit more difficult because Draco's parents were still alive.
He'd been disowned for saving her and refusing to join the Dark Lord. Granted, that would not be the excuse his parents would give for obvious reasons, but nonetheless he was cut off from his Malfoy name and inheritance. Strangely, he did not seem to regret it. How amusing, that a boy so proud of his family gave it up freely all for a girl he claimed to hate. Still, as the adopted son of Severus Snape, he was heir to the Snape fortune, which was almost as large as the Malfoy fortune, and certainly much older. If Snape ever had children of his own, Draco would be out of luck, but with each passing year, the chance of Snape surviving, let alone fathering a child, grew smaller and smaller. Draco had little to worry about.
She, on the other hand, had nothing left. It had been just over a week ago that a small band of Death Eaters had attacked her house. She had been reading in her room, and her parents had just returned from a 'date' to the movies when the four hooded figures broke into their house. Naturally, her parents hadn't stood a chance against the four wizards, though she knew none of the details. She had heard their screams, though, and, grabbing her wand had gone down to investigate. She did not even make it to the bottom of the stairs, let alone to the kitchen where the violence was happening.
Two of the Death Eaters stood at the bottom of the stairs, eerie in their black robes and white masks. Before she even realized what was happening, one of them shouted "expelliarmus." Her wand flew from her hand and she fell back against the stairs, bumping her head. After that, everything was blurry, though she was unfortunate enough not to lose consciousness at any point. She vaguely remembered one of the Death Eaters sending the other away, and then climbing the steps. He grabbed her roughly by the hair and dragged her up the stairs and into her bedroom.
For a group so insistent about the supremacy of magic, they certainly did not use as many curses as she would have expected. She endured a round of crucio, and was bound magically to the bed, but the rest of what she endured could have been performed by muggle and wizard alike. While the beating went on, he told her what a dirty little mudblood she was, and how she would pay the price for it. He taunted her, asked where Harry 'The Boy Who Lived' Potter was when she needed him most.
He removed his mask before he raped her. In the end, she was not really surprised to see that it was Lucius Malfoy. He undoubtedly hated the fact that a 'mudblood' continuously showed up his dear son and her being friends with Harry Potter made her an obvious target for Death Eaters. Though it didn't surprise her, it still hurt far more than she would have ever imagined. It lasted for what seemed like hours, and he did everything in his power to make it as painful as possible, physically and emotionally.
Draco had come in shortly after his father had finished, though she hadn't known that it was him at the time. The two spoke to each other in short phrases, Lucius encouraging the other to join in. As the masked figure approached her, she prepared for the pain once again, but it never came. Before she or Lucius could comprehend what was happening, Draco had grabbed her around the waist and apparated away.
She spent the next two nights in the infirmary at Hogwarts, and was then shipped over to Snape manor along with Malfoy. She hadn't seen Harry or Ron the entire time, and would probably not see them again until the beginning of next term. To some degree, she missed them, but she also didn't want to see them feeling sorry for her. She especially didn't want them to treat her like glass, as they undoubtedly would.
"Professor Snape, who is this person who's adopting me?" she asked softly.
"Her name is Usagi Tsukino. She's a powerful witch, and she lives in Japan, so you should be safe. She heads the Asian branch of the Order, and she'll be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts next term."
"Is she nice?"
"She was in Gryffindor, so I'm sure you'll get along. She endured a...situation similar to yours in her sixth year." He seemed uncomfortable bringing the subject up, and she didn't blame him. She certainly didn't want to talk about it or be reminded of it. Still, knowing the woman who would be her new mother for the next couple of years understood what she was going through was a comforting thought.
"Does she have other children?"
"I don't know. I haven't spoken to her in over fifteen years," he snapped. She took this as a sign to shut up and stop asking so many questions. She got that tone from him a lot, so she wasn't particularly offended.
"Twin girls, about your age."
The slightly accented voice came from the door to the library and all three occupants of the room turned to face the woman who had just entered. She was short, but very beautiful with long blond hair and clear blue eyes. She wore a pink kimono with green floral pattern and a green obi, and she smiled softly at them.
"Don't look at me like that, Severus. I've explained it all in a letter for you. You have to promise to read it all the way through, even if you get mad."
She removed the letter from the sleeve of her kimono, offering it to him. He smirked and accepted it.
"I wasn't expecting you so early. The Usagi I remember would never have gotten up before noon on a Saturday."
"I get up and make sure the girls get off to school on time, and usually go back to sleep. But today I just came here instead. Hermione and I have a long day of shopping ahead of us, and Minako is coming along." She turned to Hermione. "Your mail is already being routed to my home in Japan. I brought your OWL scores. I thought you might like to tell Severus so that he could tell your other teachers. I don't trust owl post, so you'll be cut off from England for about two months, maybe a bit less."
Hermione nodded, shaking nervously in part due to the OWL scores and in part due to the prospect of living in a foreign country with no contact whatsoever to her friends for months. Still, she took the envelope and did not complain. She was, after all, a Gryffindor. She opened the letter and read its contents thoroughly. Nodding at the results, she handed the letter to her Professor, who glanced at it and scowled. Despite all that had happened in the past week, she couldn't help but smile a bit. Some things would never change.
"All right, we need to go. Minako is waiting. Have you traveled using a portkey before, Hermione?" Hermione nodded.
"Good luck Miss Granger. Shopping with Minako Aino will undoubtedly be the most terrifying experience of your life."
Hermione looked at him questioningly but Usagi grabbed her hand and placed it on the portkey before anything else could be said. She felt the familiar tug in her belly and before she realized it, she was standing in an unfamiliar kitchen, probably in Japan. The windows were open and birds were chirping outside. It appeared to be mid morning, the sun shining in a cloudless sky. A blond woman wearing an orange, muggle-style sundress sat at the table, and she appeared to be talking to two cats, which was odd. The cats appeared to be paying attention, which was even more odd.
"Oh, hi," the blond woman said when she noticed them, standing and grinning. "You're Hermione, then? I'm Minako Aino, a friend of Usagi's."
"Hey, Minako. Show her around while I go change into something a little more conducive to shopping."
Usagi winked and disappeared through the doorway, leaving Hermione alone with Minako and the cats. As Minako began talking, she started to fully understand Professor Snape's warning. Minako was...interesting.
Alright, I shouldn't have even started writing this, as I need to be working on my SM/DBZ fic, Vendetta, but I'm having a lot of problems writing it at the moment, and this idea wouldn't leave me alone.
I will tell you now that there is a fair chance I will write a few more paragraphs on this story and then never look at it again. If I get enough encouragement, I'll continue, but if people don't show interest, I'm not even going to bother. This is a side project, and is very much in the works. There are many small details I'm still trying to hammer out, and I'm not entirely satisfied with this prologue.
If you choose to leave a review, please make it worth my time. Do not leave a review containing netspeak, and please try to add commentary on things like plot, characterization and detail. As this is a prologue, it may be hard to say anything about plot, but any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Don't just tell me that it's great and that you want me to update more. I hate those reviews, and I will inform you of that fact personally should you choose to ignore this warning.
Now, I would like to point out that this story is very much AU as far as Sailor Moon goes. AU to the point that the "senshi" don't exist. I will explain everything further in later chapters, but just go with the flow for now. I know it's confusing, but you'll learn things as Hermione and Harry Potter learn things, and not before. (Except in a few instances).
Alright, that's all I've got for now. Thank you if you read these notes.