Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way or form. This story however is my own, along with a few liberties I've taken in changing a few past events, and elaborating on a few which the canon does not touch on.

A/N: And now that is out of the way: I'm back! It's been a long few months since I wrote Dramione, and I missed it severely. I've spent the last little while planning out this story, and while there are still a few kinks that need to be sorted out, I can't wait for you guys to read this fic!

Chapter 1

She got the letter on a Wednesday.

It had been an ordinary day; like every other one for the past few months. She had woken up that morning, and gotten ready for work as she did every other morning.

Her routine had pretty much become set in stone after completing her seventh year at Hogwarts. After she graduated, she had found herself lacking in money, after spending so much trying to stay afloat during the war, and getting through her final year at school. She couldn't exactly rely on her parents after she oblivated them and sent them off to Australia; not when they didn't even remember she existed. She had known when she cast the spell that reversal would be tricky, especially when she all but created new identities for them.

Sirius and Harry had been there for her after it, insisting she move in with the pair of them. Sirius, despite being a free man, still lived at his family home. Harry had chosen to stay with his Godfather, and Hermione supposed it was because Sirius was the closest Harry had ever felt to having a father; or at least one who knew his parents and would often talk about their years growing up. And with Remus over half the time with Teddy, the house was always filled with energy.

She enjoyed staying with them both despite the childish antics of Harry and Sirius at times. While she loved the Burrow like it was her second home, she couldn't stay there full time. Not when Molly constantly asked her questions about her and Ron's relationship, or lack of.

She knew Molly loved her and Harry like they were her own, and pairing them up with her two youngest were one way to certainly integrate them into the family. But while Ginny and Harry clicked, Hermione and Ron just didn't. They didn't see eye to eye on the majority of things, and when they were together, they fought the entire time. And it had almost cost them their friendship. So they had sat down one day and decided that they weren't going to work out in the long run.

Unfortunately for her, while her friends and the others were supportive, Molly was less than pleased by the turn of events.

She loved her friends dearly, but it didn't change the fact that they weren't her parents. They weren't the ones who raised her, and loved her. They weren't the ones who were there for all her milestones and kissed every scrape, or read to her every night. They weren't the ones who converted their spare room into a library when her book collection grew too large. They weren't the ones who tried their hardest to understand her life as a witch, and who despite not always knowing what she may have been talking about, supported her choices and listened to her rambles about things that she enjoyed learning.

She loved them, but she missed her parents severely.

She hadn't even had contact with her parents for over three years when she got the letter.

Despite sometimes checking in with them by watching from afar, she hadn't talked to her parents in any of her visits.

From what she could tell, they were doing okay. Despite new identities, they still found themselves in the field of dentistry. They had opened their own practice in Sydney, and despite the initial struggle, they were slowly making their way to the top.

She supposed there were just some things that magic couldn't erase.

Even if part of her wished that she could have been one of the things they remembered.

She supposed it was the price she had to pay for all of it. Wars often took their toll on people. Harry lost both his parents, Ron lost his brother, and she her parents. No one made it out of it unscathed.

The world was still hurting, but every day she could see them putting the pieces back together, one by one, and recovering.

The first few months had been the worst; Death Eaters were still on the loose, and some still believed that Voldemort would once again be resurrected. He had come back once before, so why not again? And in truth, there were several wizards and witches who feared the same. Many had refused to step foot into public, and businesses remained close for months after.

But slowly they were healing.

Reopening Hogwarts had helped in that aspect. It had taken the entirety of the four months after the war to fix the school up to prepare for the September 1st opening, but many of the population had come together to help repair the school, and in doing so, repair the relationships between the members of society. Bonds of social class and blood status were slowly being wiped away, despite some still believing in the old ways of the world.

Not many from her year had chosen to return back to school. Harry and Ron had practically joined the Aurors right after the war, despite her attempts to convince them that their education was more important and the Auror Department could wait until after they completed their seventh year. Unfortunately for her, many had shared that sentiment. While certain jobs still required NEWT scores, due to the damage to the wizarding world, many jobs were desperate to fill positions, and had chosen to forgo their usual hiring procedure.

Kingsley had been sworn in as emergency Minister of Magic, but by the time for the vote for the new Minister by the Wizengamot, they had found that Kingsley, in his four months of Minister, had done a better job than the last three Ministers before him. He had already implemented regulations to catch several dark wizards, but ensure that none of them were persecuted without a fair trial, like Sirius had been. And in addition to this, he was repairing relationships with other countries that Voldemort had all but destroyed.

Harry had been there for her the most after the war had ended. The Weasleys had bonded together over the death of Fred, but she and Harry had grown closer as they each felt the loss of their friends.

It didn't stop her from wishing she could hold her parents one last time.

It was a Wednesday when she got the letter from the Australian Ministry of Magic. As a favour for her which Kinsley had arranged, her parents were minimally monitored and reports were sent to her every several months.

She had sent them away to ensure they lived through the war, and that her involvement didn't get them killed. She sent them away for their safety so a group of Death Eaters didn't target them and punish them just to get to her. She sent them away so they would be safe.

Yet they had died in a car accident. Her father had swerved on a wet road, and hit a tree, causing instant death to both her parents.

She sent her parents to Australia to ensure they lived, but they died anyway, despite her attempts to keep them safe.

It wasn't fair.

She knew she had lost them years ago when she oblivated them, but despite them not remembering her, at least they were alive. At least they had a life together, and were safe from the horrors of the war. At least they had been safe.

She tried to keep them safe, and she failed them both.

And so she found herself back in her childhood home, sitting on the floor of her parents' bedroom and going through a box full of things in their closet.

She hadn't been back home since that day when she erased their memories. Even though they did not live at home any more, she had placed the house under a Fidelius charm to ensure that Death Eaters.

She knew she probably looked like a mess, with the tears streaming down her face, as she currently was flipping through loose pictures she had found. She probably should have brought one of her friends with her, but it was something she had needed to do alone.

Her parents had looked so happy in each of the pictures. She could tell they were young in them, and it had probably been just before she had been born, judging by their age. She laughed through tears at some of the goofier pictures, cried as she got to those in which her parents were holding her or in those where she had fulfilled some sort of milestone, such as walking, riding a bike, or losing her first tooth.

She missed them so much.

As she finished looking through the pictures, she placed them on the floor beside her. She picked the shoebox back up as she saw an envelope in the box, addressed to her.

She frowned as she saw it; the writing was neat, however she couldn't recognize it as belonging to either of her parents. It looked old, and she wondered about what could be inside.

Hermione stood up, as she made her way to the window to see if the light would be enough to help her see through the envelope. As she held it up, she let out a displeased noise at her method failing. She cast a few spells on the envelope to see if it would reveal the contents.

Unfortunately for her, it seemed as if a blocking spell had been cast, making her unable to see what was inside. Meaning there was only one way left for her to find out.

Hermione hesitated. There was a chance it could be a trap; set waiting for her curiosity to get the best of her, and for her to open it despite the risks.

But at the same time, it was in her parents' house. It couldn't have gotten there if her parents didn't know about it.

However there was no denying the fact that magic was present in the envelope. How had her parents gotten a hold of it?

There was so much she wished she could have asked her parents. It was unfair for this to be happening to her.

Hermione sighed, knowing she only had one choice. There was no way for certain for to know what would happen when she opened the envelope, but she needed to know what was inside.

She turned it around as she gingerly opened the letter and emptied the contents into her palm.

A key fell into her hand, followed a scrap of paper with an address scribbled on it in a hurry.

1323 Bradewell Street

She stared at the paper in wonder. There was no 1323 Bradewell Street. She lived at 1321 and she knew her neighbour was 1325, but there was no house in between.

But the more she thought about it, the stranger it was. Why wasn't there a house in between? The rest of the street was numbered with alternating numbers, not every four. There even was a 1322, and a 1324 Bradewell. So why wasn't there a 1323?

And better yet, why did no one question it ever? Why didn't she question it ever?

The answer came clearly to her all at once. The Fidelius charm. Capable of making sure no one ever questioned missing properties, or thinking anything was out of the ordinary.

Placing the key in her pocket, she raced down the stairs, and out the door. Hermione turned in the direction of where the house should have been and felt her heart stop beating as she saw it, as clear as day.

1323 Bradewell Street.

She hesitated. A large part of her wanted to rush to the door and open it; revealing whatever secrets it may have hidden, but she was scared. What if she didn't like what she found? What if it revealed some secret, lost to time? What if she found out something which changed her life forever?

It would have been vain to say that it was all about her, but it wasn't. The envelope was left at her parents' house, and was addressed for her. Whomever owned the house wanted her to find it.

Why hadn't her parents told her about it? Had they known all this time that there was a house beside theirs? They must have, to have been keeping the envelope safe for her.

Or hiding it from her.

A sudden realization had hit Hermione at that.

Her parents must have known someone who was a witch or wizard, regardless of whether they knew the person had magical abilities.

There was so much her parents hadn't told her. So much she wished she asked them. There were so many questions racing through her head at the moment.

She took a deep breath as she made her way to the front door of the house. She paused for a moment, and knocked, before waiting a few moments.

Upon no response, she tried the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked. Even with a fidelius charm, most witches or wizards still used locking charms for security.

She stepped foot into the house, only to see it had looked as if a struggle had occurred. However by the dust laying on the furniture, she could tell that it must have occurred years, if not a few decades ago. Whomever had lived in the house was long gone, leaving nothing but mementos behind.

She wandered around, and saw a picture of a woman with blonde hair and a light skin tone. She looked familiar in some way, but Hermione couldn't place her.

There were a few other pictures on the mantle; one of the woman with two people who seemed to be her parents, a few with her and some other people her age, and one of her with a young baby girl.

Hermione studied the pictures carefully, and gasped slightly as she recognized four of the members in the picture. Hell, she recognized the picture just by looking at it. It was the original Order of the Phoenix.

Who was this lady? And what was she doing living so close to Hermione?

She moved from the mantle as she felt an urge to go up the stairs. She couldn't explain it, but she felt drawn to something, like there was some sort of bond between her and the memories of the house.

She let her fingers drift over the railing as she climbed up the stairs swiftly. She could see a room at the end of the hall, and she moved towards it. There was a feeling of déjà vu crash through her as she opened the door and was met with a brightly coloured nursery.

Her breath staggered as she felt an onslaught of emotion. The woman had a baby; a girl. What had happened to the child?

Hermione's curiosity got the better of her, and she moved through the room. Had her parents known this woman and their child?

She couldn't breathe for a second as she had a nagging thought in the back of her head, giving her a very good idea of just what had happened all those years ago, and who the baby had been. It was a conversation she had had with her parents long ago, but had only been in part. What if they didn't know the exact circumstances involved?

What if someone altered their memories, ever so slightly to make her parents not question what had happened?

She saw a box placed neatly on the dresser, and Hermione moved to open it. To her surprise it was locked, and not by magic. What had been the point of keeping the house unlocked if the lady locked up this box? What was so important about it?

Hermione fiddled around with the key in her hand, as she lifted it to the box. As she placed it in the lock and turned the key, she smiled ever so slightly when it turned.

She lifted the lid to reveal several vials of memories in the box, along with a few scattered images and some documents.

Hermione lifted up the photographs and went through them. She gasped slightly as she saw the first picture was of the woman with people she recognized, no matter how young they looked.

Not only was the blonde woman a witch, she was in the Order and she seemed to know Harry's parents, judging by another picture which had the woman, James and Lily, alongside Remus, Sirius, Wormtail, and another woman she didn't recognize.

She went through the rest of the pictures and saw some of the woman with her daughter, and some of her with Lily Potter, back in school as friends. There were a few pictures of the girl, who seemed to be almost one at the time, smiling back at her, and that was when she knew for sure. Because she had seen that same girl before in pictures that were still, in her own house.

She placed the pictures aside as she saw what the last document in the box was.

Hermione felt herself shake as she lifted up what appeared to be a birth certificate. But it wasn't that which caused her to feel unable to breathe. It was the first line, and who the birth certificate was for; confirming her earlier theory.

There was her name on the first line, but it wasn't the surname Granger which accompanied her given name.

No it was that of her father, who was listed just below the name Marlene McKinnon, the woman in all the pictures in the house.

There, listed as her father was Remus Lupin, and in that moment, Hermione felt herself fall to the ground and break down for the first time since she received the news of her parents' death. Somehow in an instant, it seemed like her entire world had shattered completely.

A/N: I want to make a quick disclaimer that this story will not in any way belittle the relationship between Remus and Tonks. That will still occur, however this story will just show that Remus had a former love in the past, and almost one and a half decades later, he moved on with Tonks. Also, that Sirius and Tonks are still alive.

I wish I could save more characters, like Fred, Dumbledore, and Hedwig, but it is not in the nature of this story, so those characters' deaths will remain. Later chapters may address their lack of deaths for the characters who survive.

As usual, I shall be updating this every Sunday unless something comes up, and I look forward to the journey I have planned for this story, which will feature a variety of plots intertwined in one.

See you next week!