617Summary: After a dark curse, the wizarding world is left barren. Facing extinction, the Purebloods subjugate the muggles, searching for the rare muggleborns—the only witches able to reproduce. From the moment Draco saw Hermione, he knew two things: she belonged to him, and he'd destroy anyone who tried to take her.
Inspired by the Prince of Egypt, with themes from the Handmaid's Tale
Update Schedule: I'll post on Sundays. Occasionally, I might surprise you with a Wednesday post. If there's ever a reason I need to skip a week (vacations, family events), I'll try to inform you ahead of time. Readers of Brand New World know I'm pretty consistent.
EDITED by the lovely MyPrivateInsanity
Song Suggestion: The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack- "Deliver Us"
If you want to have a feel for the last half of the story, listen to "The Plagues" on the same soundtrack.
Important information before we begin
-Dumbledore killed Voldemort during first war, but the Death Eaters won anyway.
-Injured from his duel with Voldemort, Dumbledore gave his life to curse the wizarding population with infertility, intending to wipe them out.
-The unintended magical loophole—Purebloods and halfbloods can only reproduce with muggleborns.
-To avoid extinction, the purebloods kidnap the muggleborns at first sign of accidental magic. They are then raised in pureblood households until they are adults and forced to participate in the Trials—a competition where wizards vie for the right to continue their lineage with the muggleborn.
-The entire muggle populations of Europe and Asia are subjugated, and they are punished if they try to conceal muggleborns.
-I created a new character named Titus Nott (Theo's older brother). He's sixteen in the first chapter.
Trigger Warning: Multiple dark themes, including death, war, rape, and dubious consent. Besides the first chapter, the beginning is tame with dark undercurrents, but it gets progressively darker as she ages.
House Pet
A Powerful Muggleborn
The screams woke Hermione.
She slipped out of her bed, holding her stuffed bunny, Hopper, and watched from the window as the monsters walked down the street in billowing capes and skull masks. Light spewed from sticks dangling from their fingers, so bright it ignited the night sky. The dark figures walked in and out of the houses, fading into the twilight. Soon after, the world outside erupted into colors: green and red, like Christmas lights. One neighbor walked outside with an old hunting rifle and aimed, but a neon green light hit him in the chest, and he crumpled over.
"Oh God, they're here," her father said outside her door. "We need to leave. The Order assured us they concealed her accidental magic."
"I don't think they're here to take Hermione. They must know of our involvement in the last attack. They're going to kill this entire street for harboring us. She's still in danger. They won't spare her because she's a child."
"I'm not leaving without you!" Her father roared just above a whisper.
"My bad leg would never make it. Please go before it's too late. I'm begging you… for Hermione. Travel on foot. All the roads and trains are monitored, especially now. There's no time."
They both made gasping cries before her father came into Hermione's room and grabbed her. Noise filtered through from the outside: screams, explosions. Hermione shivered in terror, not understanding what was happening.
"Be brave, my sweet." Her mother kissed her forehead and choked back a cry. "Be kind. Be wise. And be strong. Now go!" Her parents gave each other one hard kiss before her father began to run, exiting the front door, evading notice.
Hermione held on to her father's neck as he sprinted. He clutched her tight, ducking and twisting. Hermione buried her face into the side of his jumper, not wanting to know where they were going or who they ran from. The air outside smelled of something burning, sharp and foul.
They kept going at a grueling pace until the moon hung high in the sky. Her father was shaking and panting, stumbling around houses and buildings, but did not stop until they reached the countryside. From there, his steps slowed, feet tripping on branches, breathing labored.
"I can smell you," a voice carried over the shrubbery. "Pathetic muggle. I can't believe you thought you could get away."
In response, her father reached down, dug into the wet earth, and covered her in mud, a little at a time, until it dripped from her as they wove through the trees. After a minute, he stopped and placed her behind some bushes that prickled against her skin. His lips brushed her forehead. "Stay here, Hermione, and don't come out." He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "No matter what you see or what you hear, do not come out. Remember that I always love you."
Hermione nodded in fear, her little curls bouncing, and clutched Hopper close to her chest. She'd never heard her father sound so serious or so scared. Just yesterday, she had blown out the candles on her seventh birthday cake, her father and mother clapping alongside her. She'd promised him before bed she would be big and brave– but she didn't feel very big and brave.
He shoved her further behind the bushes, hair tangling in the brush. She whimpered but didn't have time to protest before her father leapt away from her.
He didn't get far. As soon as he had taken a few steps, a beast entered the little clearing. At least she thought he was a beast. His face was furrier than normal, and his teeth looked sharp. She could smell his musky, rotten scent from where she sat.
"Fenrir," her father said.
The beast grinned.
"Granger." He gave a little nod. "It's a shame I can't eat you, but Malfoy wants you all to himself. You were foolish enough to kill his wife in the last attack."
Her father lunged away, but Fenrir was faster and stronger, subduing him quickly and forcing him to his knees.
It didn't take long for the other monsters to arrive, all dressed in black cloaks with frightening skull masks. Hermione almost gave herself away with a whimper of terror. Five of them melded into the darkness, all adults except one. The littlest monster took off his miniature mask, and she realized he wasn't a monster at all, but a boy who looked her age. He had bright blond hair with pale skin, and eyes red from crying, though he tried to hide it, swiping at his face to get rid of a tear.
The boy looked normal enough, though she understood instinctively he wasn't a boy like her friends from school.
"Is this the insect, Father?" The boy snarled. "The one that killed Mother?"
"Yes, Draco." Long blond wisps of hair hung down from behind the mask, and Hermione understood he was the boy's father. "Robert Granger. The infamous rebel genius."
"Draco shouldn't be here," another monster said. He had a dark black mask, smooth as glass. "He's too young. I doubt you're going to make his death pleasant."
"The boy has a right to see his mother's killer executed. A right to justice. Theo should be here too. After all, the blast killed both your parents as well, Nott."
"I didn't mean to kill the women," her father yelled. "I meant to kill you!"
The beast that held her father yanked his head back. The blond monster walked forward, placing a stick under his chin.
"Unfortunately for you, you didn't. Before I end your pointless existence, I want you to know everyone is dead. The muggles are at our mercy, the Order is fractured, and the rebellion is over. They're all lying in their own blood now, including your precious wife."
Her father gave a guttural noise and tried to surge forward, but the beast gripped his hair more firmly.
"She fought hard. I'll grant her that. I wished to bring her here and slice her throat in front of you… or maybe I'd have kept her. That might have hurt you worse, I imagine, and there'd be a certain level of symmetry to the idea. She was beautiful for a muggle, I admit. I think I would have enjoyed her. Alas, she managed to kill herself before I could decide. So noble… so wasteful."
Her father choked on a sob, and Hermione bit her hand to keep from crying out, shaking behind the bushes. Her mother couldn't be dead, could she?
"Kill me," her father said. "I don't care."
The monster pressed the stick hard into her father's skin.
"I don't suppose you would." The blond monster glanced around. "Though you would care if I killed your daughter. I saw the pictures. A cute little bug, so easily squashed."
Her father tensed.
"She's not here."
"That's exactly what a father would say if she was close. You hid her well. Fenrir can't scent her, but there are other ways to flush out animals."
Her father spit on the ground near the monster's feet, and the little boy grimaced in disgust. In a fury, the man placed the stick next to her father's temple. "Crucio!"
A light erupted from the stick, and her father began screaming. The noise scraped down Hermione's skin. The beast let him go, and her father writhed on the ground, twisting into various grotesqueries of pain. It went on and on, until Hermione couldn't stand it. She had promised to stay hidden, but she needed to help her daddy.
"Stop, stop… don't hurt him any more!"
Hermione burst from behind the bushes and flung herself on top of her unconscious father. He twitched under her, and she placed her head against his jumper to muffle her sobs.
"The little rat has come out of hiding," the blond monster said. He pointed the stick in her direction, and Hermione flinched, digging her fingers into her father's soft jumper. Hopper slipped from her hands. "He even coated you with mud to hide your scent. So clever, and so fitting."
"Lucius," young Nott warned. "She's Draco's age. I refuse to participate in killing children, no matter how much you hate the father."
"Baby muggles grow up to be big muggles. This one has already shown bad breeding. I would be doing the muggles a favor to weed out the rotten ones, but you're right..." He dropped his stick to his side. "Killing the young is below a wizard. Fenrir, take the child and do with her as you please. Just don't make too much of a mess."
The beast gave a thrilled snarl and stepped toward Hermione. Something familiar and warm simmered inside her chest. It shot down her limbs and into her belly. It sparked, filling her whole body. She'd felt it in the past, but now it was intensified by her fear. When the beast reached down to pluck her off her unconscious father, Hermione let it loose.
"Don't touch me!" A wave of bright energy burst from her, flinging the beast backward and into a tree, making a sickening snap.
The clearing went silent.
"A mudblood!" Lucius tugged off his mask, revealing sharp handsome features that resembled his son. He looked like the beautiful angels in her grandmother's church, face in an expression of delighted surprise. "Granger was hiding her from us. The order too. It all makes sense now."
"A powerful mudblood," another monster said—this one much larger than the others—and they glanced back to Fenrir, still crumpled under the tree. None of them seemed concerned for the beast.
"The most powerful I've seen from someone her age." Lucius agreed. "She'd produce impressive offspring. Rabastan, go check Greyback."
One of the wizards in a skull mask walked over, bent down next to the beast, and then stood back up.
"I can't fucking believe it," he said. "The girl killed him."
Lucius gave a deep laugh, uncaring that the beast had died. He leaned down and grabbed her father by his hair, jolting him awake. Hermione tried to make the energy spark again, but couldn't– it didn't always obey her. She slid off as Lucius tugged her father to his knees. Instead, she clutched his side. Her father's strong arm wrapped around her, pulling her close, while his eyes fluttered open.
"Hear that, muggle?" Lucius grinned. "You failed. Your wife failed. The whole order failed in hiding her from us. Just like all the mudbloods, she'll be raised in a household of our choosing, and when she's old enough, she'll go to the Trials and do her duty in a pureblood bed, producing the next generation of wizards. And the best part… by that point, she'll hardly even remember you."
Her father lunged, but he was too weak and only folded forward, giving a shuddering cry.
"Can I have her, father?" Draco asked. Hermione glanced up to see the little blond boy looking at her in fascination. Hermione snarled, but it only made him smile.
"She seems a little feral," another monster said. "She'd require a lot of training."
"They all do." Lucius stared at the girl in contemplation. "It takes a few years to house train them. It's better to take them young like this, separate them from their muggle families. There will be less fight in them later."
"I'll take her, Lucius," Nott said, with his mask still in place. "Theo is… well, he's struggling. I believe a companion will help him."
"If you raise her with Theo, they are less likely to want to breed when it comes time," Lucius warned.
"Theo's the second son, so he won't need a breeder, but he's… he's not wanting to eat or go outside. A pet might give him responsibility, something to take care of."
"You'll still need to enter her in the Trials when she comes of age. If Theo bonds with the girl, it might upset him to give her up to another wizard."
"Of course. I'll deal with Theo when the time comes."
"But I want her, father," the blond boy said, pouting. "You promised me a pet, and we haven't found very many mudbloods. It's not fair for Theo to get one before me."
"No," Lucius said, looking her over with a critical eye. "Goyle is right. She's a powerful little thing, and there's not very many your age. I won't risk you bonding to her in a platonic way. You may just get her one day, Draco, but it will not be today. Now, take her, Nott, while I dispose of her worthless sire."
Hermione struggled as the man in the black mask came forward, yanking her off her father. She threw little sparks of energy, but they missed their mark each time.
"Stop it. I'm not going to hurt you," Nott said, but Hermione howled in terror and thrashed, hitting him a few times. He cursed under his breath, but managed to pull her tight to his chest, whispering soothing words as he began to walk out of the clearing.
"Daddy!" she screamed. Lucius placed his stick under her father's chin again. Nott tried to press her face to his chest, but she kept popping up to look over his shoulder.
"Resist them, Hermione! Always remember who you are. Don't give—"
A red light hit her father's neck, and blood splattered everywhere. Draco made a disgusted noise.
An inhuman cry was wrenched from Hermione - and then she went limp. Everything fractured inside her soul at once.
"Bloody hell," Nott said. "Did you have to use such a primitive spell? At least, you could have waited until we left. Now my pet will be traumatized."
"He should have stopped talking." Lucius wiped a splash of blood on his hand against his robes. She was unable to take her eyes off her father's body. "And it was what he deserved, taking my wife from me. He's lucky I didn't draw it out longer. Your pet is young. She'll probably forget all about this. Or you could just obliviate her."
"No, it's too risky when they're young. It might scramble her brain." Nott brushed a hand along her hair, smoothing it down.
"What do we need her brain for?"
Nott's eyes crinkled into fury.
"I hate muggleborns as much as you do, Malfoy, but right now they are the only thing keeping us from dying out, whether we like it or not. What's the point of cruelty?"
Lucius considered what he said, looking at Hermione, who was shivering in shock. Her father's blood still stained his hands.
"As much as it still disgusts me, you're right." He looked as if the admission pained him. "The girl you're holding might one day carry the Malfoy heir, especially if she's as powerful as I suspect. My son deserves a future breeder in good condition, mentally and physically. I want her pampered and treated as such."
"What you want doesn't matter." There was a hard note to Nott's voice. "She's my ward now. Your concern is misplaced. I plan for her to be Theo's companion, not to abuse her and lock her in a broom closet. She'll be given everything she wants or needs and will be taught her value in our society."
Lucius examined Hermione, as if to judge her worth and searching for flaws.
"Very well."
Nott's hand once again brushed down her hair.
"Come on, kid. Let's get you home."
Hermione clutched the monster, whimpering into his dark robes as they walked out of the clearing.
Right before they disappeared, Hermione gave one last look at her father, lying in a pool of blood. She tore her eyes away, and accidently met the gaze of the little boy standing next to his angel-monster father. He held her stuffed bunny, Hopper, and returned her stare as they walked away, grey eyes piercing through the darkness.