Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, this is written purely for my own amusement
"Hermione dear! Could you come down a minute please, we have a visitor!" Janine Granger called, fiddling with her hands nervously.
"Who is it Mum?" Hermione asked curiously as she reached the last step.
"Hermione, this is Mr. Charles Prescott"
"Pleasure to meet you sir" Hermione shook his hand dutifully.
"Mr. Prescott is…well he's your…the thing is-"
"I'm your Father, Hermione."
Hermione was quite shocked to say the least. She had always known the Granger's were not her real parents, and she had always expected that some day she would come face to face with her real Father. What she didn't expect was that he would show up in her living room clad in finely crafted wizard's robes.
"Let's all have a seat, shall we? I'll make some tea" Mrs. Granger said as she bustled into the kitchen. Hermione took the seat opposite her 'father' on the couch. She took a moment to study his appearance. He looked not a thing like her at all. His black hair was smoothed back, and his deep blue eyes were a sharp contrast to her muddy brown ones. It was hard to believe they were actually related.
"Milk or sugar anyone?" Mrs. Granger asked, setting the tray down between them.
"Thank you very much for your hospitality Mrs. Granger, If it's not too much, I'd like a moment with my daughter. I'm sure she has a few questions for me" He said, reaching for a cup of tea.
"Of course, I'll just be in the kitchen then"
"Why did you give me up?" Hermione asked as soon as her mother was out of sight. It was a question she had pondered the answer to for many years.
"You see Hermione" He began slowly, choosing his words carefully "At the time of your conception I was already wed, and your mother…Well, let's just say she knew better than to try raising you on her own. My reputation, and my marriage would have been destroyed." He paused a moment to study her expression. "She spent months trying to find a suitable couple to raise you up right. She had nearly given up hope when she met Janine and Mark Granger, newlyweds, just out of dentistry school, eager to start their own practice. In her eyes, they were perfect. So, in exchange for raising you, she offered them enough money to pay off all their debts and set up a small practice in a prime location. After she told them of the, er, situation they accepted. And thus, as soon as you were born you were handed over to them"
Hermione could not bring herself to speak. There were not words to describe all the emotions she was feeling at once. Simply put, she felt overwhelmed.
"Your Mother has always loved you Hermione…giving you up is the hardest thing she's ever had to do"
"Why now? Why has no one ever contacted me before?" She questioned.
"After my wife passed, I ran into your mother at the ministry, and I married her six months later…she's wanted so bad to meet you for so long, and I just couldn't deny her any longer. So, I've come to ask if you would like to come stay at the estate for a few weeks, get to know each other a little better. It would mean the world to her" He explained, taking a sip of his tea.
"I…I'd love to" Hermione said, hoping her excitement was not too obvious. As a child, she had often dreamt of meeting her birth parents, her mother in particular. The Grangers were wonderful, and they had raised her with love and compassion, but there was something missing. The bond between mother and child which Hermione had often read about was just not something that she shared with her adoptive mother.
"Excellent, I will return promptly tomorrow at noon. I trust you can have your things ready by then" With that said, he quickly disapparated not bothering to wait for her response.
Hermione was much too excited to care. She quickly made her way up the steps to her room to pack her trunk.
The closer the clock ticked to noon, the more nervous Hermione became. She had been so wrapped up in excitement the night before that she hadn't even bothered to ask about what kind of family she came from. Was she a pureblood like Ron and Ginny? Or perhaps a halfblood like Harry.
"It's getting close to noon Hermione, might as well start lugging that trunk of yours down the stairs" Mark Granger said from her doorway.
"Thanks Dad…I guess mum filled you in on everything." He nodded and grabbed her trunk. Hermione shoved her wand into her back pocket, and grabbed a sleeping Crookshanks off of her bed. Hermione took one last glance at her bedroom, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything.
"I'm going to miss you so much Hermione" Mrs. Granger cried, enveloping her in a tight hug.
"Don't worry Mum, it's not as if you'll never see me again, I'll be back in a few weeks" Hermione said reassuringly. Mrs. Granger forced a smile.
"Of course you will dear, now don't forget to write" She reminded her.
Hermione's father appeared in their living room promptly at noon just as he promised.
"I do hope you don't plan on bringing that creature with you" He said, crinkling his nose in disgust. Hermione clutched Crookshanks a little tighter.
"Crookshanks is a good cat, I assure you he won't cause any problems" Hermione said, feeling a bit insulted. "I won't go without him" she added after a brief pause.
"Very well, the creature may accompany you" He agreed, though it was obvious he was not pleased. "We shall be traveling by floo, you go on ahead first, I will follow you shortly after I have a word with Mr. and Mrs. Granger here, you shall be heading to Prescott estate." He passed her a handful of floo powder. Hermione nodded.
As the flames turned green, Hermione shouted "Prescott Estate" and stepped into the flames. She stepped out a moment later into a very elegant, very yellow sitting room. She was greeted by a woman whom she immediately recognized as her mother from sleek brown curls piled neatly atop her head and the two muddy brown eyes that inhabited her face.
"Hermione dearest! I've waited so long to finally meet you" The woman could barely contain her excitement as she wrapped her daughter in a very tight hug. Crookshanks meowed in protest as he was being crushed between the two women. The older woman pulled back a little. Crookshanks seized the opportunity and leapt out of Hermione's arms. "Oh! And you've brought your cat! I do so love cats, it's a shame Charles isn't very fond of the them otherwise I'd probably have two or three of them running round the estate by now."
"It's so wonderful to meet you at last" Hermione gushed, excited at the prospect of getting to know her birth parents.
A/N: Well, that's it for the first chapter. It's a bit short, but I didn't want to be overwhelming. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I am hoping to have the next chapter up within the next week, but we'll see how things go. Toodles J