Hey guys, this is the second story I've written, written at the same time as my other story "People Change" but the story itself is set during a different time in the Harry Potter story. This is set during the fifth book, before the war begins and before Dumbledore's demise. Please R + R! Let me know what you think - I appreciate any type of feedback, positive or negative.

1.

Juliette Granger stood in her small, bright living room in her house in Surrey, staring out the window at the small estate car that had just pulled up on the driveway, out of which came her daughter, Hermione, back for the Christmas holidays of her fifth year at Hogwarts, and her husband, who had just gone to fetch her from the station. The Grangers were very proud of her daughter, so different from them in many ways that sometimes they had trouble understanding her. They were only dentists, they owned their own surgery nonetheless, but they still had no idea how to relate to their daughter, the witch. They had to lie to everyone about Hermione, made up stories about how she was progressing in leaps and bounds at the Swiss boarding school they had sent her off to.

On Hermione's sixth birthday, Mr. and Mrs. Granger had hired a clown to come and entertain their child and some of her friends from primary school. They hadn't known what Hermione really was at this time, but they did have suspicions.

On this bright Saturday afternoon, in the Granger's back garden, the clown was busy making balloon animals and squirting water at the children. Hermione, however, was scared of the clown – his shoes were strangely large, his nose was bright red, and his hair was blue – she had cried throughout most of his performance. Just as the clown was about to finish his act, her parents had come out into the garden to see what was wrong with their daughter. The clown had tried, in one last desperate attempt, to cheer up the birthday girl; he needed the money for this job badly. Taking a cream pie from the table, the clown had stepped up to the six-year-old Hermione and thrown the pie into his own face, cream flying all around him. Immediately, the clown disappeared, and Hermione smiled.

In shock, the parents that were present at the party had all thanked the Grangers, and gone home with their children. Unable to find the clown in the house, Hermione's parents had been able to think of no explanation for what had happened to him – he seemed to have just disappeared into thin air. However, the event became clear to them on Hermione's eleventh birthday when a letter had come through the letterbox (on a Sunday, when there was no post, which had seemed strange) inviting her to the "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry".

And now, here she was, their daughter, back from the first term of her fifth year at the school that she loved. Juliette saw her husband, David, helping Hermione carrying her belongings into the house, and saw Hermione's usual sad face – she was being bullied again. David shot a quick glance at his wife, and shook his head solemnly – their sign to show that this term had not been a good one, again. Year after year, Juliette had consoled her daughter over the harsh words they called her at the school; "Mudblood" and "Filthy-blood" whatever they meant. Clearly they upset Hermione, and Juliette had sent her back the following terms with letters to the headmaster concerning the ill-treatment. Apparently the headmaster was trying, but not doing well enough on the bullying front.

This year, however, Hermione didn't come back with just her sadness over the bullying. Tucked into the pocket of her robes was a letter from Dumbledore, the headmaster himself, addressed to her mother.

"Good journey home, dear? How was your first term? Make any new friends? How are Ron and Harry doing?" Juliette said with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, thanks mum, it was fine. They're fine, everything's just..."

"Fine?" his dad chipped in, laughing. "Darling, you can talk to us about this bully you know, I know we don't know much about your world there, but we do know about bullying. Both of us were bullied at school, dare we say it, and we got through it. And you will as well."

"Thanks Dad. She's just a stupid Slytherin...Pansy Parkinson. She's only bullying me because she knows I'm cleverer than her, and because Draco Malfoy spends more time making snide comments at Ron and I than he does paying her any attention."

Her parents looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Anyway, Professor Dumbledore wrote you this letter, and asked me to give it to you, mum. I'm going up to unpack now, and to start some of my homework – I'll never get it all done unless I start now, and I have so much to do."

The Gryffindor climbed the stairs up to her room, carrying a huge bag full of books to read through, her parents proudly admiring their daughter's dedication to work.

Mrs Granger fumbled with the envelope Hermione had handed to her earlier.

"I'm scared to open it, David."

She was afraid of what the Headmaster had written – she knew she hadn't done anything wrong, but she was terrified. Taking the letter from her, David slid out the piece of paper inside. On it were five words, only.

"It's time to tell her." David choked. "What does he mean, surely he doesn't mean..."

Juliette's eyes teared up.

"Go and get the box from the attic, dear. I think Dumbledore is right. She's 16 now. Her birthday was in September, she's old enough to know. It's her right."

Hermione was spread out on her double bed, four textbooks open beside her, and her quill end poised above the parchment, ready to begin writing, when there was a knock on her door.

"Can we come in, Hermione?"

"Yeah, mum. But can you make it quick, I've got 4 essays to do this weekend and I have to send them back to Hogwarts by owl to have them marked so I can re-draft them for when I go back in January."

Juliette and David walked into their daughter's room, and sat down on the bed next to her. Hermione noticed that her father was carrying a small cardboard box that was very dusty, and that they both looked rather apprehensive.

'What's wrong mum? Dad?"

"Hermione, there's something we need to tell you. Now you know how neither of us have ever displayed any magical tendencies, and that you are such a talented witch."

"Yeah mum, of course, I'm not stupid. Of the 98 students in my year, 21 come from Muggle-only backgrounds like me. That's 21.4% of my year.."

David blushed at how intelligent her daughter was, constantly thinking in terms of science and logic.

"Well," David said. "There's something you don't know. Your mother and I went to a doctor for fertility testing, and it turns out we can't have children."

"Ew, gross Dad! I don't need to know that. Why do you want some more children or something?"

"We went to the doctor's before you were born Hermione." Juliette said, casting her eyes down and the shame of the next thing about to come out of her mouth. "You aren't our daughter Hermione, we adopted you."

"Then who are my real parents?" Hermione didn't know how to react, all she knew is that she wanted all the facts straight away.

"Darling, we don't know anything about your father, but we know your mother. Not her name, or who she is. But she left us this box, and its locked – we can't open it. We thought you'd be able to do it. We think you'll find out who your real parents are from this."

"Get out of my room. I can't believe you LIED TO ME. GET OUT NOW!" Hermione screamed at her not-quite-parents as they retreated out of the door, her mother crying and her father pulling her away.

After an hour or so, Hermione calmed down enough to survey the box. She noticed it had no visible lock, but the lid would not open, as if it was stuck down. Taking her wand from her pocket, Hermione tapped it on the lid.

"Alohomora"

The cardboard lid popped off of the box, and Hermione saw inside it for the first time. It was full, nearly to the top, with letters, handwritten, and a few photos. The figures in the photos, suprisingly, were moving around – these were wizarding photos. Hermione picked up the photo on top, and recognised the woman in it. On the back was written: I am your mother Hermione.

Gasping and dropping the photo to the floor, where it floated and landed face up, Hermione backed away to the wall.

The woman with the thick, red, shoulder-length hair and bright-green, almond-shaped eyes stared back up at her, and smiled the smile that Hermione had seen many times in photos before.

"Lily?"