Chapter Text
The fate of all the muggleborns and blood traitors had been sealed on that dreadful night seventeen years ago when the most powerful dark wizard, Voldemort had killed the infant Harry Potter. Harry Potter, who according to the prophecy was destined to kill Voldemort and save the entire wizarding world. Him and his parents both had been mercilessly murdered by Voldemort that night and since then the plight of the wizarding world had been beyond miserable. But there was still hope and some fear amongst Voldemort and his followers due to the existence of a single person, namely Albus Dumbledore. He was the most powerfull wizard the world had ever seen. Dumbledore was the headmaster master of Hogwarts and it was because of him that muggleborns and half-bloods could live their lives with their heads held high and attend wizarding schools.
Hermione Granger was a witch. She had learned this when she had received her acceptance letter at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry at the age of eleven but her parents didn't seem to like it. When they found out their daughter was a witch they were shocked, disappointed and disgusted. They thought it was a curse and not knowing what else to do they did the worst possible thing that any parents could do to their child, they disowned her, told her on her face that she was a freak and nature's mistake. They told her that she was dead to them and that she should never try to contact them again.
Heartbroken, Hermione left muggle London and entered the wizarding world. Her only guardian and well wisher here was Professor McGonagall. She was the one who helped Hermione get her school supplies at the beginning of every year and taught her everything a parent was supposed to teach. But McGonagall was a teacher after all, how much time could she spend with Hermione? A few hours every week at the most.
Hermione did not have any friends either. Everybody in school ignored her because of her being a know-it-all bookworm. No one ever noticed her absence or presence, no one wanted to speak to her and she used to spend most of her time alone. The pureblood population of the school never even bothered to look at her or acknowledge her presence because she was a muggleborn. But there was another boy in school, a pureblood but he was different from the others. Hermione always thought that he was physically attractive, unlike the others he didn't ignore her, instead he made it a point to speak to her every single day but sadly enough the only things he said to her were demeaning and disgraceful things. He always told her how much he despised her and her kind, uttered foul curses at her and called her a mudblood. He was none other than Draco Malfoy.
Until her sixth year at Hogwarts everything was fine because Dumbledore was alive. The death eater attacks were increasing but were still under control. People said this was because Dumbledore was the only living wizard feared by Voldemort. But during her sixth year at Hogwarts Dumbledore was murdered too, killed by one of his most trusted men Severus Snape. On this day the entire wizarding population knew they were doomed, with no one to keep a check on the growing power of Voldemort he grew out of control and took over the whole of the wizarding Britain. Death eaters lurked in every street and every corner of Britain torturing the innocent without any reason. There were no rules or regulations anymore just a painful death for anyone who tried to challenge his rule.
The plight of the people who were not pureblood worsened especially the muggleborns and the blood traitors. After the death of Dumbledore, McGonagall was killed too and all the half-bloods and muggleborns were kicked out of Hogwarts. As a result Hermione had become homeless, with no friends or family she had nowhere to go. She used to wander the streets aimlessly trying to look for jobs but getting a job wasn't easy, especially for someone like her.
For weeks she tried to find a job and a shelter for herself but remained unsuccessful. Drowned in sorrow and frustration she had even tried to commit suicide, by jumping off a cliff. 'No one would care anyway if I live or die' she had thought. Just when all hope was lost and she had decided to give up, a man had approached her and offered her a place to stay. His name was Higgs. Higgs was a huge man, nearly in his early fifties with a bald head and crooked nose.
He lived alone in a small house at the end of the street. On seeing Hermione in a vulnerable position he immediately helped her and allowed her to live with him. Hermione was relived, in a cruel and selfish world that she lived in she dint think anyone would be so kind. She was delighted and gladly accepted. Hermione lived in a small attic in his house which was way better than sleeping on streets with the stray dogs. Higgs was a half-blood and worked in a nearby wine shop. He didn't earn much but it would be enough to get him one meal a day, which he now had to share with her. Hermione couldn't express how grateful she was for his help and since she couldn't repay the offer with money she used to help him in the kitchens and all the other household chores. She had learned he was a quiet man and didn't speak much so she used to be alone most of the time, again.
A week had passed and she had become accustomed to living with him and everything was good until one fine day. That day Higgs came back from work as usual but there was something off about him, she could feel it. Before she could ask what was wrong he walked in the kitchen where she was doing the dirty dishes and asked her to take her clothes off with a sweet smile on his face. Hermione had been gobsmacked, for a few seconds she had just stood there not knowing how to react. Soon she had realized what he wanted and tears started forming in her eyes. She begged and pleaded him to not do it but he refused and said that she had no other choice. If she wanted to stay she had to do it. Hermione had no idea what to do she just stood there, tears streaming down her face. She hadn't yet given any answer but Higgs was too impatient, he was already taking off his clothes and started to do the same with her. In no time she was on the floor with him on the top of her, pounding into her vigorously. When he learned that she was a virgin it drove him even more wild. The whole experience had been a blur for Hermione who just lay on the floor crying with a searing pain in between her legs.
The next day Higgs left for work as if nothing had happened whereas Hermione lay in a corner of the house wrapped in a torn blanket. Whatever hopes she had built of a life as close to normal as possible in the past week were crushed and she sat there defeated, not having the energy to do anything else. She didn't know where she would go but she knew she could not stay over here anymore. So she set off, to where she didn't know, just walking where her legs would take her, wandering about aimlessly.
And that's how she ended up in her current situation.
The sky was growing darker and it would be dark soon, she saw which shocked her because she didn't even realize she had been walking for that long. She was walking for almost an entire day, her legs were tired and shaking. She hadn't eaten anything since morning and she was having hunger pangs. She put a hand over her stomach as it growled loudly. She was walking through busy street with shops on both sides and her eyes caught a fruit vendor a few blocks away from her. He was selling apples and calling out to the people on the street to come to his shop. She looked at those apples. They looked so fresh, juicy and red and in that moment she wanted nothing else more than one bite of it but she obviously didn't have any money.
Suddenly an idea popped in her mind and she started walking towards the stall with a determined expression on her face. There were already a few people there and the man was too busy bargaining with them. She walked past the shop swiftly and as she did so she grabbed an apple from a basket and shoved in her jacket. Thinking no one had noticed she continued walking, feeling delighted but soon started hearing loud noises from the behind. Her heart started beating wildly. She paused to turn and see what was going on and was caught with the sight of the man running behind her shouting at the top of his voice. She panicked and started running but the men on the street rushed to her and caught her. In the middle of all this the apple fell from her jacket and she looked up at everyone fearfully. Soon the man came up behind her yelling, " Thief! Thief!" He started panting and explaining to everyone how she had grabbed the apple without paying for it, gesturing to the apple which lay on the ground covered in mud.
More people crowded about her and started discussing amongst themselves about how they should deal with her. She had no idea how to get herself out of this situation. She regretted grabbing that apple impulsively. The vendor of the shop was holding her elbow fiercely as if afraid that she would run away again.
"Hey, who do you think is going to pay for that fruit that who just picked?" he yelled at her.
Hermione just at him blankly for a few seconds and before she could say anything she saw someone making their way through the crowd or rather every single person in the crowd was making way for that person. As the person came closer she got a clearer view of him and her eyes widened even more when she saw familiar patch of blond hair, black robes and a sneer on the face and her mind screamed only one name over and over again. Draco Malfoy.