The kitchen was rather normal. Other than the fact that the stove had been recently replaced, there was nothing visible that had not been in the room for years. The walls were a pristine white, and were matched by the appliances and the tile on the floor. The counter tops were a textured gray, with bits of black, white and different shades of blue. A microwave/vent combination sat quietly over the stove. The coffee maker made familiar gurgling sounds as it brewed while sitting on the island in the middle of the room. A bird flew past the window over the sink as one of the two doors leading into the kitchen from the rest of the house opened to admit a girl of 14. She had curly hair and was dressed in jeans and a dark red T-shirt.
Hermione Granger glanced at the coffee maker as she entered and smirked. "Technology of sufficient advancement," she paraphrased, "is indistinguishable from magic." She leaned against the counter of the kitchen, then stopped in surprise. Reaching into the pocket of her jeans, she removed a small glass vial which held a clear liquid. "Oh, dear," she muttered. "I forgot to give this to Professor McGonagall." Setting the vial down, the teenager went to the refrigerator. She had just pulled out a bottle of water when she heard someone call her name.
"Hermione," came a woman's voice from the other room, "did you see what happened to the remote?"
"I haven't seen it," Hermoine replied. "Of course," she muttered to herself as she put the water back, "I haven't had much time to watch the thing."
As she left the room, the other door opened to admit a taller woman. Her hair was more red than Hermione's, but a few gray roots betrayed her. She was in good shape, and had the look of someone who worked hard to take care of themselves. She glanced around the room as she said, "Hermione? Goodness, where did that girl go?" Spotting the vial on the counter, she picked it up and looked at it. "Hmm, this must be the new sweetener Douglas wanted me to see."
Opening the vial, she put a finger to the opening, then inverted it so that a few drops stuck to her finger. She had just placed the finger in her mouth when Hermione reentered the room.
"Mother!" Hermione grabbed the vial from her. "You have to be careful!"
"It's just a sweetener someone sent to Douglas," her mother told her. "Tastes a bit minty."
"It's not a sweetener," Hermione corrected. "It's veritasium."
"What?" the older woman asked.
"It's a truth potion." Hermione put the stopper back on the bottle. "I had just changed out of my robes before we got to the station when I heard one of the first years talking about how they had a this so they could use it on their brother. Well," she shrugged, "I had to take it away from him. After all, we aren't allowed to use magic outside of school. And I am a Prefect."
"Oh," came the reply, "yes. You told me about that."
Holding up the vial, Hermione said, "It only takes a few drops of this to make someone tell the truth. I was going to destroy it, but I haven't been able to find out how to destroy a potion without using magic." She glanced at her mother. "Did you drink any of this?"
"Just a little on my finger," her mother told her.
"Oh, dear." Hermione sighed, "Look, you should probably avoid people until the potion wears off."
"Why would I do that?" The woman looked confused.
"What is your middle name?" Hermione asked her.
"Camingtra," came the instant reply. "Oh, dear," Olivia Camingtra Granger quietly added a second later.
"You see," Hermione grinned. "You've never wanted to tell me what it was. Now, you'll tell the absolute truth to anyone who asks you a question. Like, oh," she thought for a moment, "what do you think of Aunt Rhonda's peach pie?"
"It tastes like left over spark plug wires bathed in motor oil." Her eyes widened. "I think I see your point. I should probably not see anyone. Uh," she looked at her daughter, "how long will this last?"
"Well, a few drops will only last a couple of hours." Hermione looked at the clock, "When was father going to be here?"
"Which one?" As soon as the words left her mouth, the woman put both hands over it as she saw the look of shock come over her daughter's face.
"W-w-which one?" Leaning heavily on the island's counter top, Hermione Granger tried to control herself as she felt her world suddenly shift. "Are you joking?"
Hermione could see her mother trying to stop herself, but unable to keep from saying, "Your biological or legal father? And no, I'm not joking."
"You mean my, uh," she fought for the word, "Douglas Granger isn't my real father?"
"Yes, that is what I'm telling you." The calmness of the words belied the panic in her face.
She held her tongue until she was sure she was in control. Then, Hermione asked, "You had an affair?"
"No."
"Then how did you," she struggled for a moment, then charged ahead, "get pregnant?"
"I met him at a bar after Douglas and I had a major blow up."
"You mean it was a one night stand?" Hermione dropped her head, allowing her hair to hide her eyes from her mother. "I'm the result of a cheap roll in the sack?"
She couldn't see her mother try to stop herself. All she knew was that her mother spoke the single word, "Yes."
"I see." There was silence until Hermione asked, "Does Daddy know?"
"Yes."
She refused to look up. "Hmm. And you weren't going to tell me?"
"No. We saw no reason to. But," her mother added, "look at the bright side. He was a lord."
"He's a royal?" Now she did look up. She was scowling. Partly because it had happened, and partly because she found herself curious.
"Well, he said he was a lord. He didn't need to tell me that to get me to . . ."
"Mother!" Hermione pushed her hair away from her face, then placed the potion back in her pocket. Finally, she looked at her mother and asked, "Do you remember his name?"
"Of course," came the reply. "Although, it was a rather strange one."
"Okay." Hermione placed her hands flat on the countertop. "What was his name?"
"Voldemort," her mother told her. "He called himself Lord Voldemort." At the sound of a thud, she leaned forward, "Hermione? Hmm, she's fainted."