Secrets

Chapter 22

I own nothing! J.K.Rowling owns everything!

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"Shouldn't we ask her a question that really only she would know?" Harry asked. Kingsley nodded. Harry thought for a moment, before his head snapped up with a question. "What was Ron doing when you first met him?"

"He was trying to turn Scabbers Yellow."

Kinglsey looked at Harry for confirmation, which Harry gave. "Let's just ensure that the Veritaserum is working. Auror Potter, please ask a question that Hermione would most likely lie about."

"What did you do during the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts in sixth year?"

"I confunded Cormac McLaggen so that Ronald would get the position of Goalkeeper." Hermione sighed. "Surely you could have thought of a better question than that?"

Harry shrugged. "I asked you not to tell anyone, so I assumed normally you would lie about it. I'll let you start, Minister."

Kingsley looked at Hermione. "I'll start with some standard questions, I'm sorry if they're a little tedious and boring."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Hermione muttered.

"What is your name?"

A playful smile flitted across Hermione's face. "Hermione."

"Come now, Miss Granger. You know that you have to say your full name." Kingsley scolded.

"Well which one do you want? The one my parents gave me or the one Albus Dumbledore did?" Hermione smirked at their confused faces.

"Both." Kinglsey raised a concerned eyebrow at her. "Start with the one Dumbledore gave you."

"Hermione Jean Granger." Harry frowned, was that not her actual name?

"And the one your parents gave you?"

Hermione pinched her lips together ever so slightly. This is when everyone would find out. She looked Kingsley directly in the the eyes and when she spoke she did so slowly. "Hermione Diana Riddle." Everyone's eyes - apart from Hermione's - were wide open in shock and their jaws practically touching the basement of the ministry.

"An-And your parents' names?" Kingsley stuttered as he tried to recover.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle and Emilia Minerva Riddle." Harry looked like he'd just received the Dementor's Kiss.

Kinglsey narrowed his eyes at her, growing convinced that Hermione was behind the attacks and the possibility of Voldemort being resurrected again. "Are either of your parents alive?"

"No." Hermione's eyes hardened.

Kingsley gulped audibly, but he knew that the next question had to be asked. "Are you aware of how your mother died?"

"Yes." She turned her face to look Harry in the eyes. "She was murdered on the 31st of October 1981, by one James Fleamont Potter." Harry inhaled a very sharp breath as he felt like his life had just come crumbling down on top of him.

Kingsley's entire demeanor towards Hermione changed that instant. She was the enemy. "Are you the one behind the attacks?"

"Yes." Hermione smiled mockingly at him. "And if you really want to know, I'm the one behind the rumors about the Order as well." She paused, looking thoughtful. "Although you and I both know that those rumors hold nothing but the truth."

Kingsley couldn't even begin to deny these claims as Hermione was under Veritaserum, the most potent truth potion the Wizarding World could have come up with. "Miss Riddle, you leave me no choice but to send you to Azkaban immediately. You will remain there until a trial occurs, where it will be decided whether you receive the Dementor's Kiss or not."

Hermione nodded. That simple movement caused Harry to break from his trance. "How can you be so calm!?" He shouted. "You just sat there and answered those questions as if there was nothing life changing about them!" A realization suddenly dawned on him and his eyes became cold. "How long have you known?" He asked in a calmer voice. "Has our entire friendship been a lie?"

"I knew the second my father died." Hermione answered. "You saw it too, didn't you? That millisecond where he looked like Tom Riddle instead of Voldemort." Harry nodded. "That was enough to break through the wall that Dumbledore put in my mind, preventing me from remembering anything about my life before I turned 3."

"Two years." Harry whispered. "You've known for two years. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Was it really any of your business?" Hermione asked. "And besides, if you had known I wouldn't have been able to get back at the Order for killing my mother and marching us to war with my father."

"Oh and that plan went brilliantly." Harry said sarcastically. "You've landed yourself in Azkaban, Hermione! It doesn't get much worse than that. How could you do that to yourself?"

"I never cared what happened to me, Potter. There's nothing keeping me here. The rumors about the Order will spread and never fade, so long as that happens, I don't care what happens to me. I just want the Order tarnished."

Harry stood up straight, and looked Hermione in the eye. "I guess this is goodbye then, Riddle. I hope you don't suffer too much in prison."

"I won't." Hermione said before she was handcuffed and yanked out of the room.

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Well I hope that makes up for the late updates... you got another chapter within 24 hours... that just doesn't really happen, does it?

I hope you enjoyed it!

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