Fan Fiction / Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows at Daybreak ❯ Confusion Is the Game ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: Sorry that I forgot it on the last chapter. Anyways, I don't own Beyblade, and I certainly don't own Harry Potter. Though Gryfnix is mine.

I know that I said that I would have a new story posted instead of an update, but it's best if I get this chapter out while it's still fresh in my head. I'll post the other story later. Anyways, this entire chapter is about 'Mione, and the six months before she joins the BladeBreakers.

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Hermione groaned, and sat up in the bed. She felt like she had been hit with a garbage truck. She put her fingertips to her temples hoping that she could rub the sting away. She scanned the room, finally realizing that she wasn't in her usual cell.

She looked at the broad, four-poster bed with its silver sheets, plush pillows with black, satin pillowcases. The bed was expensive, she could tell. The stand and headboard were made of mahogany, and engraved with some sort of Celtic pattern of twining knots. She saw that the dresser, and chest-of-drawers had the same design, as well as the nightstand to her right. All in all, she knew she wasn't in Azkaban any longer. She looked to her left, and came face-to-face with the huge, blue eyes of Dobby the house elf.

"Bloody Merlin, Dobby!" Hermione raised a hand to her chest in a useless effort to calm her racing heart, and used to other to push the exuberant elf away. "What are you doing here? What am I doing here? Where is here?"

"Dobby is so glad to see Miss 'Mione!" he squeaked. "He was not there when they took her from the prison."

Hermione, finally calm, just stared at him. "They," she asked him. "Who are "they"?"

She watched as the small elf's eyes widened farther than she had ever thought possible. "They is Master Merrik, and Dumbly-door! They took you away and brought you to Master Merrik's manor."

Hermione just stared at him, hoping that he would tell her more. And, of course he did.

"Dobby hears Dumbly-door say he came back when he heard about Miss 'Mione in the prison. Dobby hears him tell Master Merrik that he would not have left if he knew Miss 'Mione would be sent away. Master Merrik, took Dobby to the prison to see Miss 'Mione, but they would not even let Master Merrik inside."

Hermione longed to put one of the soft pillows over her head. The elf's high-pitched voice was grating on her nerves, and making her mind more muddled than before. She only just managed to understand what he was saying.

"Professor Dumbledore is here? Alive?" she asked, incredulously. Half fearing the answer.

"Dobby knows it is hard to believe, Miss 'Mione. Dobby didn't believe until Dobby saw him. Dobby knows that Miss 'Mione saw him too when Dumbly-door, went to the prison."

Indeed, Hermione's memories of what she thought were of the previous day came rushing back to her. The man with the twinkling blue eyes. Dumbledore. She shook her head at the wonder of it all, but then frowned when she remembered something else.

"Who was the other man, Dobby? The one with the violet eyes."

"I believe, Miss Granger, that you are speaking of me," drawled a highly amused voice from a door that she hadn't noticed before.

She turned sharply, and stared at the man in the doorway. He was young, somewhat. She knew he couldn't be older than thirty. His brown hair was slightly mused, one lock curling almost daringly on his brow. His violet eyes held that same suspicious twinkle that Dumbledore always seemed to have, but his lips were smirking. And in that instant she just knew.

"A Dumbledore," she demanded. "In Slytherin?"

The man lost his smirk, and stared at her. He honestly seemed to be more surprised than she was.

"What makes you say that, Miss Granger?" he inquired. "That I'm a Dumbledore."

Hermione just looked into his eyes again. "That twinkle in your eyes," she explained to him. "It's just like his."

The both of them just stared at each other, both of them unsure of what to say to the other. Hermione had just about gotten fed up with the silence when she heard someone else at the door. She broke away from the man's intense gaze, and turned her head slightly. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

Dumbledore.

Hermione couldn't stop the tears from gathering in her eyes at the sight of him. She had thought that he was dead. That she had aided Harry some way in killing the only person that had truly cared. (Remember that her parents are the ones who gave her to Fudge.) She tried to rise from the bed, but her legs wouldn't co-operate. So she stayed where she was in hopes that he would come to her. And she wasn't disappointed.

Without a word, he came to her, and enveloped her in a warm hug and she let her tears fall. She sobbed against him for a little while, until the man in the doorway cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," he apologized to them. " But we have some serious...things...to discuss." He ran his fingers through his unruly hair, and sighed. "We have a lot of things to explain to you, Miss Granger. I imagine that you want to, ah, freshen up." He smirked again when she blushed. " Your clothes, and things are in the drawers, and there's a bathroom through the door to your left. When you are ready for breakfast, just ring bell, and Dobby will bring you some. After you eat, he will bring you to us."

Hermione looked at him, and nodded. "Thanks," she told him. "I don't know what-" she was cut off.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Granger," the man said. "It's the very least we can do for you." He walked out door without another word.

Hermione looked back at Dumbledore. "Why am I here, Professor?" she inquired. "What's going on?" To say she was confused would be an understatement. Dumbledore's eyes had lost their customary glow, and he seemed to age before her eyes.

"It would be best to tell you everything at once, Miss Granger. So that you will understand." He took two small vials from one of the many pockets on his blue robes, and pressed them into her hands. "This," he explained motioning to one of the vials. "It's a restorative potion. It will give you back the twenty years you lost while with the Gytrashes. The other is almost the same. Another restorative, but it will give you back your health. No," he said when she opened her mouth to speak. " Don't thank me. I have done nothing to earn your thanks, Miss Granger." His tone bore no argument. He stepped away from her, and walked to the door. Like the man, he left without speaking again.

Hermione stared after him, clutching the vials in her hands. She looked to the left, and saw the doorway to the bathroom. With great difficulty, she rose from the bed, and stumbled into the adjoining room. If she hadn't been leaning on the doorframe, she would have fallen when she managed to raise her head long enough to get a proper look.

The entire room was something out of her very own private fantasies. The top of the double sink on her right was made of black marble, and the taps were pure silver. The huge tub on her was made of the same, and spanned the entire side left side of the room. From her position, she could see several hundred small holes all around in groups of ten separated by one larger tap. Almost like the tub in the prefects' bathroom at Hogwarts. There was a black carped covering the floor, and silver rugs scattered around. There was a large picture window that took up the northern part of the room. Long, silver curtains kept out the blinding light of the sun. There was a wall dividing the bathroom with her room, but no door. There were no mirrors at all. She sighed, and opened one of the vials that Dumbledore had given to her. She drank it down, and grimaced at its taste.

"Bloody, Merlin!" she managed to get out as all of the blood rushed to her head, and she fell to the floor. It was like being two places at once. She could see one sallow, sickly woman close on her left side. She had a few strands of gray hair on her mostly brown head. Her face was gaunt, with hollow cheeks, and dark shadows under her eyes. On her right, she could see one of the most beautiful women she's ever seem before. Light, softly curling, brown hair. Eyes the color of cinnamon, which even when emotionless, was lovely.

But neither of them is me! She thought to herself, almost desperately. Just as suddenly as it began, it ended, and all that was left of either of them was a young woman. She was still ghostly pale, but young nonetheless. She felt refreshed, but weak. She took the cork out of the other vial, and sniffed at it. It was more sugary than anything, and when she drank it, she decided that it wasn't that bad after all. There was nothing but an intense feeling of relief this time, though. She felt like she had just before she had found out about Harry, and made a mental note to find out just what potion that was.

Hermione pushed herself up onto all fours, and slowly crawled towards the tub. "God's, I wish I hade some of that Warm Vanilla Sugar body wash right about now." Just as soon as she said it, all of the taps in the tub started to pour out sweet-smelling, warm water. Well, that's convenient isn't it? She thought to herself. She somehow managed to get herself out of her dirty, and torn clothes, and into the tub of steaming water. She let out a sigh as her body relaxed, and sunk deeply into the water.

Around an hour later, after she had washed every part of her body at least three times, she stepped out of the tub, and wrapped her self in one of the fluffy black towels that were a basket near the sink. A sink with a large full-body length mirror next to it. Basically she looked just like she had two years ago, except her hear was lighter, and curled halfway down her back. Her skin was still pale, but with an almost ethereal glow. Her features were just the same as the last time she saw them, except for the thin scar that ran from corner of her left eye to her ear.

Finishing up in the bathroom, she walked back into the bedroom and opened top drawer of the chest-of-drawers. She located her own underwear, and her favorite outfit, and put them on. She was surprised to find that they still fit.

"Must be magic," she muttered to herself.

Magic. Wand.

"Oh, gods!" Hermione's wand had been snapped in half. What was she going to do without one? She pushed that thought aside, and turned to look into the mirror that had suddenly appeared in front of her.

She was wearing a tight-fitting black shirt with a red lion that seemed to be ready for battle emblazoned on the front. Her blue jeans were fitted, and had one red stripe down the side of each leg. She wasn't going to bother with her hair, so it would just have to frizz up again.

Hermione looked down at her stomach when it started to grumble, and blushed even though there was no one else in the room. She looked around for the bell, but she found Dobby, and a team of three house elves, each heavily weighed down with food at her side. This time though, she wasn't startled.

"Dobby brings this for you, Miss 'Mione," the elf happily explained. "Dobby brings you food when he hears your stomach!"

Instead of being embarrassed, she was grateful. She thanked each of the elves in turn, and sat down on the bed to eat. There were biscuits, steak, and kidney pie, and mashed potatoes. After that there were pieces of fried chicken, thick slices of ham, and turkey, and cheese. She ate everything eagerly, and drank the pumpkin juice, and butterbeer that came with it. Merlin, I'm worse than Tyson." From time to time, she would always think of her cousin, whom she hadn't seen since she was thirteen. He would always be her favorite.

After consuming what she thought would feed an entire village for life, she called for Dobby again. He led her out of the room while the other elves cleaned up after her. She kept her eyes on him the entire time they walked, and was determined to nip her nervousness in the bud. He stopped suddenly, and she almost crashed into him. He pushed open a wide door, and motioned for her to go inside.

The room wasn't very large. It had a homey feel to it, and Hermione longed to sit in front of the fire, and relax.

"Miss Granger." She turned, and faced the man from earlier.

"Yes, sir?"

"My name is Merrik Dumbledore, and I'm the new Minister of magic." He went on ignoring the shocked look on her face, and motioned for her to sit down. He continued when she complied. "It has come to my attention that we, the ministry owe you an apology. The only thing I can say is that I'm sorry for what you went through even though I know that no apology will make up for your mistreatment. We know everything that's happened now, but it's time for me to fill you in."

Hermione braced herself for what she knew was going to be a long talk.

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