Hermione sat in an armchair and watched as the clock hands ticked. She could hear the rain shower down heavily outside as she lost track of time as she was swallowed up by her never-ending thoughts.

"What's that in the sky?" Mr. Granger asked his daughter, looking up at the strange occurrence, as they drove towards their home after leaving the train station.

"Oh my God, Dad, it's the dark mark, I read about it once. Oh my God, this... this... can't be tr... true," Hermione said, choking the last words out as tears overcame the second year Hogwarts student.

"The what? This has something to do with your stupid new school, doesn't it?" Mr. Granger angrily asked, glaring at Hermione as he sped up and around the corner.

Pulling up outside of the house, they both got out and ran to the front door. Hermione breathed in sharply, feeling a stabbing pain tear right through her as she saw four Aurors standing in her living room.

"What... what happened?" she asked, her voice unsteady as she tried to fight back the tears.

"Mr. Granger, Miss. Granger," a man in a dark cloak said, looking at the two apologetically. "I'm from the Ministry of Magic and I'm so sorry to have to be the one to tell you this," he said, leading them into the kitchen of their own home.

Sitting around the table, the man spoke once more in a grim tone, "The Ministry was alerted to a death eater attack shortly before the Hogwarts Express pulled in, I'm sorry, but they killed her and..."

"... No," Hermione shrieked, feeling the sobs wrack through her small body. She could feel the pain physically as it left her aching all over while trying to gasp for air as her head pounded, almost as though she was going to pass out.

"I see you did absolutely nothing today," her father sneered at her as he got home from work, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I cleaned the kitchen as you asked," Hermione replied, facing the man. Ever since her mother was taken from her, her father had turned into a whole different person and it scared her.

The small brunette watched as her father entered the kitchen and held her breath.

"This is not clean!" Her father bellowed as she winced.

She watched as he stormed into the lounge room, grabbed her by her upper arm and dragged her into the kitchen. She felt the pain from his grip but remained silent. She didn't want to anger him anymore.

"There are two cups in the sink not cleaned and the bench is not wiped down. If your mother was here she would have this place spotless," Mr. Granger angrily said, glaring at the child.

"Mum's not here anymore though," she softly said, feeling a wave of sadness wash over her. It had been two weeks since her mother was killed and to her it felt as though it was like yesterday.

"And whose fault is that, Hermione?"

"It's the death eater's fault," she replied, feeling the tears burn behind her eyes as she knew what was coming.

"No, it's yours! You stupid little witch, if it weren't because of you, she would still be here today," he yelled once more, storming off.

The tears spilt down the young girl's face as she ran to her bedroom. Throwing herself down onto her bed she let the sobs take over. Her heart ached and every time she thought of her mother, the pain was almost unbearable. She wanted to be able to see her once more, to hold her, give her a kiss on the cheek, tell her she loved her and now she couldn't.

Her father's actions also hurt her, blaming her for her mother's death, being cold, constantly yelling at her and grabbing her. He was always at arms distance with her and she couldn't figure out why, he was her father, he was meant to love and protect her.

Hermione woke to her alarm clock telling her it was 7:00 a.m. She groggily pulled herself up off the bed and looked out the window, the rain was still pouring down. 'I can't believe I slept for that long,' she thought to herself, wiping her eyes and nose with her sleeve.

Grabbing a towel, she entered the bathroom and showered. She tried to wash the memories from yesterday away but no matter how hard she tried they wouldn't leave her. 'Maybe if I immerse myself in a good book or study I'll forget about it, I do need to brush up on my potions and charms.'

Getting out of the shower and dressed, Hermione listened carefully for her father. She could tell he was in the kitchen by the sound of the refrigerator door opening and closing. The brunette quietly made her way back to her bedroom, not wanting to disturb him or get yelled at and waited until he left for work. She could feel and hear her stomach grumbling as she ate nothing for dinner the night before.

When she was sure she was home alone she went downstairs, had some breakfast and curled up on the lounge with her potions text book. Revising the material, she jumped slightly when the phone rang. She walked over to it and answered it.

"Hello, Granger residence," she spoke clearly into the receiver.

"Hermione, I need you to go to the attic and find the box of your grandmother's things. She wants me to drop them off after work tonight," her father said to her.

"Okay Dad," she responded, hearing the beeping sound of her father hanging up.

Sighing, Hermione bookmarked the page she was up to and just as she was about to make her way upstairs and to the attic, a soft knocking came from the kitchen window. Going to see what was making the noise, she saw Hedwig there with a letter tied to her leg. Hermione let the owl in and took the letter. The owl hooted at her and she quickly remembered to give it a treat.

Opening the parchment, she realised it was two separate notes on the one page, one from Harry and one from Ron.

Hermione,

I arrived at Ron's this morning, I'm staying at the burrow for the next two weeks and everyone is really nice. I've been practicing quidditch with the boys and will write to you when I can. Enjoy the rest of your holidays. I'll see you at platform 9 ¾ on our first day back at school.

Harry.

"At least he's having a good time," Hermione said under her breath before continuing on to read Ron's note.

Hermione,

Hope your holidays are fun. Mum said you can come over for a few days if you would like, Ginny needs company apparently. See you at school.

Ron

"Sometimes I don't know why I bother with that boy," Hermione said, knowing that he only wanted her over to keep Ginny away from them and help with their homework.

Making her way into the living room, she picked up a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down a quick reply for them, leaving out the part about her family problems. She was surprised that it hadn't been front page news on the Daily Prophet.

Harry and Ron,

Thank you for your letters but I unfortunately won't be able to come over these holidays. I'm spending some time with my father. I hope to see you both on the Hogwarts Express and possibly beforehand at Diagon Alley.

Regards,

Hermione Granger.

Rolling up the note, she attached it to the owl's leg and sent Hedwig on her way.

Going back to what she was doing before Hedwig arrived, Hermione made her way up to the attic to find her grandmother's box. Entering the attic, she fumbled with the light switch before turning it on. The room was full of boxes of various sizes, dust covering them all. The dark-eyed girl rubbed her nose before sneezing twice. She looked around the room seeing the beams of the house, shelves lined up against the far wall, boxes stacked on top of one another, old toys from when she was a child and many other things which she didn't know about.

"Where to start?" she whispered to herself, sneezing again. "If only I could use magic to clear away the dust," she added, rubbing her nose.

Hermione started by looking at the bigger boxes for one with her grandmother's name on it, she searched for a good twenty minutes and came up empty. Moving onto the smaller boxes, she found it instantly sitting on top of the pile. 'How did I miss this at the beginning?' she thought to herself, placing the small box near the entry.

Out of the corner of her eye, something over near her old toys glimmered in the light which filtered through from the small window. Hermione made her way over to it and moved aside a doll pram, her teacher play set and a few large teddy bears before she could see the white and gold box.

'Mum used to put all of my old school awards, tests, achievement certificates and important documents in here when I was younger. I haven't seen it in almost four years; I never imagined it to be up here. I miss Mum so much,' Hermione thought as she sat down and pulled the box to herself.

Rifling through the papers, Hermione remembered all the fond moments in which she got her awards and if she concentrated hard enough, it seemed as though she had only gotten them yesterday. She basked in the smell of the pages of an old, small diary she found. Opening the first page, she saw her mother's name printed neatly on it. She opened it to the first entry and began to read.

Diary,

I really don't know what to do anymore. I just found out that I'm pregnant and I'm scared to tell anyone. I'm not married, I don't have a partner and I barely remember what the man, who I slept with, looked like. All I remember is a dark snake like tattoo on his left forearm and if I think back, I'm sure he had dark hair as well and said he was a teacher. I could be imagining that though, we were both very drunk and in some old pub.

I have to tell my parents, they are going to be disappointed when they find out, how could I have been so foolish?

Hermione stared at the entry, her mouth agape and her eyes wide open. She looked at the date on it and realised it was written nine months before she was born. She flicked through the rest of the papers before pulling out her birth certificate which she had never seen before.

"Father's name; unknown," she read, realising that this is probably why her 'father' always was never too fond of her.

She took the small box and hid it inside of her Hogwarts trunk, feeling the shock starting to wear off, she started to feel sad that her mother never told her the truth and that the man she was living with never told her either. She had always considered him her father and never doubted it until she found the diary.


Hermione waited in the lounge room, the box of her grandmother's belongings next to her as she waited for her father to come home. It didn't take long before she heard the sound of the car pulling into the driveway and him exiting it.

"Hermione, did you get the box I asked you to?" Mr. Granger yelled as he entered the house.

"Yes Dad, it's here in the living room," she replied, hearing the agitation in his voice.

"Good, I'm going to drop this off at your grandmother's house and then I'm going to the pub and my mate's for the weekend," he said, picking up the box.

"What about me?" the girl asked, not used to being home without someone else present.

"What about you, you dumb child? Just don't get into any trouble and don't use any of that pathetic crap you call magic. If you do, there will be hell to pay," he replied, his voice rising with each word.

"I'm not dumb!" Hermione yelled at him, "And magic isn't stupid, you are."

"What did you just say?" he asked her, putting the box down and stalking over to her.

"N... n... nothing," she stuttered, walking backwards.

"You're twelve, you do not backchat to me, someone needs to teach you a lesson or two," he angrily yelled, bringing his hand up.

"You're not my father, you can't hit me!" she yelled back, shocked at what came out of her mouth.

Lowering his hand, Mr. Granger grabbed the box, threatened her and stormed out of the house, slamming the door after himself.

Hermione fell to the floor and cried herself to sleep where she was, wishing that her mum was there with her.


Making her way to the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione tried not to be seen by the adults around her. 'If I can make it there, Tom might be able to called Professor Dumbledore for me and maybe he'll let me go back to Hogwarts for the remainder of the holidays. I can't stay at home with Dad anymore, I'm scared that he's going to hurt me more than he already has,' the witch thought as the place came into view.

Entering the building, Hermione made her way over to the bar and it didn't take the barkeep long to notice her.

"What brings you here tonight, Little Miss?" he asked her, noting the worried expression on the girl's face along with her reddened eyes.

"I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore but I don't know how to contact him," she stated, getting directly to the point.

"Come up to my rooms and I'll get him for you," Tom said, trying to make her feel better.

"Thank you, Tom."

Entering his rooms, Hermione was directed to sit at the kitchen table while Tom made his way over to the fireplace and Flooed Dumbledore.

'I really hope he comes, I don't want to be to be left with Dad anymore. I wonder if he has any idea who my real father is. I really want to meet him but what if I never find him? I just...'

"Miss. Granger, how can I be of help to you, my dear?" Professor Dumbledore asked, making her lose her train of thought.

"Professor, I was just wondering if I could please stay at Hogwarts for the remainder of the holidays."

"Why would you want to stay there, Miss. Granger?" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I haven't had the best holidays and I just need somewhere else to go so my mind doesn't keep going back to a certain event. I also found something in one of my mum's diaries and I need help with it," Hermione said, reaching into her coat's inner pocket and pulling out the small diary. She opened it to the first entry and handed it to the elderly wizard.

Watching her professor read the entry, she studied his face for any hints that he might know who her father is.

"Interesting, truly interesting Miss. Granger," Dumbledore said, looking towards the child.

"Do you have any idea who he might be, Sir?" Hermione asked, hoping that he knew. She couldn't tell anything from his facial expressions as he had a wonderful poker face.

"I might have an inkling of his identity but I would like to confirm it first. Come, we'll go to Hogwarts and I'll send you back home with one of the professors who remained behind to collect your belongings," Dumbledore replied, showing Hermione over to the fireplace.


Arriving at Hogwarts, Dumbledore led Hermione through the empty corridors of the school.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking: why are we going to the hospital wing?"

"I would just like Madam Pomfrey to have a look at you dear," Dumbledore replied, opening the door up for her. "Poppy, can you please take a look at Hermione and make sure she's alright while I go talk to one of our professors?"

"Of course, sit on the bed please Miss. Granger," Poppy Pomfrey directed, before being led into her office by Dumbledore.

Once inside of the office, Poppy turned to face Dumbledore.

"Is there anything I should know, Albus?" Poppy inquired, wondering what the wizard wasn't telling her.

"Miss. Granger showed me a diary entry of her mothers. Her father who she lives with isn't biologically related to her. The entry said her real father had the dark mark on his left forearm and was said to be a teacher with dark hair. I can only think of one person who fits that description in Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, looking amused as he watched the display of emotions cross the woman's face.

"Severus," she mumbled, looking at Hermione through the glass window. "She looks nothing like him."

"I know, that's why I'm about to go visit Severus and see if he will come up here and do the test. It's best knowing the truth, for everyone," Dumbledore said. He opened the door and exited the office, smiling at Hermione before he left the hospital wing and headed down to the dungeons.

Knocking on Severus' door, he was greeted by the thirty-two year old professor.

"Severus my boy, mind if we have a little chat?" Dumbledore happily asked, smiling at the other wizard.

"Of course, come in," Snape said, standing aside to let the man in.

Taking a seat on the couch, Dumbledore turned to Snape and got down to business.

"Not long ago I was flooed by Tom at the Leaky Cauldron; Miss. Granger was with him and she is now here at Hogwarts. She had her mother's diary with her and showed me a particular entry in it. It seems as though Mr. Granger isn't her biological father. The entry said that her father had the dark mark and was a teacher," Dumbledore explained, letting his words sink in.

"I think we need to do a test," Severus replied after a few minutes. "I remember meeting a muggle born one night long ago but I can't remember what happened, I didn't think it went that far," Snape said getting up from the lounge.

"We will never know until we get that test done," Dumbledore said, getting up and leaving the room with the potions master following him.


"You seem perfectly healthy to me, Hermione but you could do with eating a little more," Poppy said as she checked over her.

"I'll try to," she responded, knowing she had lost a little bit of weight since her mother was killed.

Sitting down next to the young witch, Poppy placed her arm around Hermione's shoulders before asking her next question. "I heard about your mother, dear. How are you coping with that?" she softly asked, knowing it was a hard topic for some to talk about.

"I'm doing okay, I just want my mum back," she quietly said before the tears started once more.

"I'm sure you'll be okay one day, dear," Poppy replied, letting the child cry.

The door to the hospital wing opened and Dumbledore and Snape entered the room and went over to the child.

Severus looked at the crying Gryffindor and softened his facial expression. He didn't want anyone to know but he really did have a heart and a crying child was something he hated to see, no matter what house they were in or what their blood status was.

"Professors," Hermione said, looking up and noticing the two wizards in the room.

"Miss. Granger, in regards to your mother's diary entry would you mind if we check if Professor Snape is a possible candidate? He is the only one I can think of who matches the description given," Dumbledore asked, looking between the teacher and student.

Hermione was shocked at the possibility of Professor Snape being her father; she didn't think that he would be the man who fathered her; it was not possible in her eyes. "How do we find out?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

"It's rather simple actually," Madam Pomfrey explained, "You both hold hands and I will cast a spell. A silver chain from both of you will appear and meet up in the middle, if it's negative it will turn red but if it's positive, it will be pink and blue revealing the father-daughter relationship."

Hermione wiped the stray tears from her eyes with her sleeve before joining hands with Professor Snape. She was surprised at how soft and warm they were. The brunette was not expecting that from the bat of the dungeons.

Hermione and Severus watched as Poppy cast the spell. The silver chains from both of them slowly circled around both of their hands and met up in the middle. They watched, wide eyed, as the chain from Hermione started to turn pink and the one from Severus went blue.

The chain vanished and both were stunned.

"Severus, congratulations, it's a girl," Dumbledore smiled patting the man on the back as Hermione broke out in a small giggle at his words.

To be continued... if you would like.


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