"Where did you get that?" shrieked Pansy when she saw the citrine pendant hanging around Hermione's neck.
Hermione took a deep breath. Pansy's shrieking had attracted the attention of everyone in the "Eighth Year" tutoring class in the Ministry. She was surprised. Daphne Greengrass and Susan Bones walked over to see, what Pansy was screeching about.
"She got that in the dining room at the Manor," Draco said, assuming they were talking about the word Mudblood carved into her arm, which was clearly visible since the temperature charm in the old Auror training room they were using was malfunctioning, so Hermione was currently wearing a sleeveless shirt and denim shorts.
"Not the scar, Draco," Millicent said. "The necklace."
"What about it," Ron demanded. "She got that from her great-grandmother or something."
"That is the Black Citrine!" declared Pansy.
"What? No! It belonged to my great-great-grandmother, she had inherited it from her mother, and it has been passed down to the eldest female in the family ever since," Hermione declared.
"What was your great-great-grandmother's name?" Daphne asked.
"Chartreuse Dolan of all things," Hermione replied.
"Chartreuse Black was the twin sister of Magenta Black," said Neville, "but she was cast out because she was a Squib."
Hermione nodded. "And Dolan means black-haired, so that makes sense. But how would she get the Black Citrine?"
"Same way you did, Granger. Eldest daughter. Some magical family heirlooms go where they are supposed to, no matter what. And a Squib has some magic, or someone like Filch couldn't see the castle," said Millicent.
"So, if I'm from a Squib branch of Blacks, then how could Bellatrix get away with carving this into my arm?" said Hermione. "Nothing anyone has tried has gotten rid of it. I hate it."
"Not only that, Granger, but it isn't true now, is it?" Draco said. "Let me ask my mother. She may know."
"You do that. I'll ask Andy," said Harry, looking up from scribbling a note. "It's about time I do a babysitting day so she can have some time to herself, anyway." He walked off in search of an owl.
"My Aunt Andromeda? Who is she caring for?" demanded Draco.
"Teddy Lupin, her grandson. Your cousin. Child of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin." Harry replied dryly.
"Is he showing signs of lycanthropy?" Draco asked wide-eyed.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake. That is not true. Remus would have had to be in werewolf form, while mating to have a lycanthropic child, and regardless of how amazingly perverse the Black family can be, I doubt Tonks ever had sex with him in that form," replied Hermione.
The look of utter disgust on almost everyone's face in the room was worth the comment, in Hermione's opinion. "Close-minded morons."
"You call us close-minded morons but then you didn't even know what you were wearing!" exclaimed Pansy.
"It is a family heirloom, Parkinson. That is all that ever mattered. Citrines aren't even that amazingly valuable, but it is important to me because ever since Chartreuse, the eldest daughter in the family has worn it, and it was down the maternal line. Why should I care about its provenance?" Hermione asked.
"The Black Citrine provides protection and healing for the wearer. It was given to the Chartreuse and Magenta's great-great grandmother by her mother who supposedly came from a line of stone witches, during a difficult pregnancy. The spells imbued in it are lost to time, but it has the reputation of healing even the hardest things to heal," said Andromeda as she walked in the room, holding Teddy in her arms. "If I had it, I could have passed it on to Nymphadora, and she wouldn't have died."
"I don't think I can pass it to you, or Teddy, for that matter," said Hermione. "But I would have in an instant."
"I know, darling. But family legend says if you hold it in your hand and ask your magic to heal your wounds, it will," Andromeda replied. "Before you all ask, I had gone to the Hogwarts for tea with Minerva when Harry's owl found me, so I used her Floo to come directly here."
"Well, let's see," demanded Pansy.
"I'm not a circus act, Parkinson. I don't do tricks on command," replied Hermione, going for her wand.
Millicent stepped in front of her. "Look, Granger, take that for a compliment. She is treating you just like any other Pureblood, who just got a family heirloom with any sort of story attached to it."
Hermione made a face, squinting her eyes at the other young women. "Oh, so I'm a Mudblood until you see this, then coming from a long line of Squibs makes me matter? You realize this makes me want to show you even less."
Pansy burst into tears.
"You know, 'Mione, she probably just thought she found something in common with you. It can't be easy on the snakes, being here," Ron said.
Hermione rounded on Ron. "You hate all Slytherins and you are saying something like that? Is this stupid necklace something that moved me to an alternate reality? And don't call me 'Mione, you know I hate it. "
"Yeah, I know. But it gets you to listen to me. So, why did I say that? You know those 'what do you want to do for a career' questions all those Ministry people have been asking us? I want to be an Auror, so I've been paying attention. Millie bakes, she's been bringing all the nice puddings we've had on the tables. Greengrass brings the drinks. Parkinson has her elves cleaning this place up. Goyle is trying to get the temperature charm working properly. I've been trying to help a bit. So, we talked, and everyone is just as lost as we are, you know? We should have been working on apprenticeships or traveling or finding ourselves, instead we ALL jump at shadows and overpower our spells. That's why we are here, you know. The DTSP or whatever the Muggles call it. They are trying to get us ready for our NEWTs, but they don't want us killing the people in charge because something startles us," Ron replied.
Hermione sat down hard. "I'm doing the same thing they did to us during school, and I didn't even realize it. How did you, Ron?"
"There are different study groups, Hermione. Most of them are from the same house, and are way less volatile than ours. As I said, I still want to do the Auror thing with Harry, so I asked how to fast-track that, since they have us in this class. They told me to write up a report on why we were in this group," Ron replied.
"You've been studying us, Weasel?" Draco asked.
"Yep."
"Don't you think we might have something to say about it?" asked Blaise Zabini.
"Why? I didn't cast any spells. Most of us here played prominent parts in the war. We all jump at shadows. Bloody hell, Malfoy jumps if someone hugs him," Ron said. "So, it made sense that they wanted us to learn to live together in some way. I think someone told them it might be healing. They have mind-healers here, too, you know."
Hermione slowly raised her hand to the beautiful teardrop shaped citrine pendant hanging around her neck. "Fine, Parkinson, I'm going to close my eyes and ask it to heal my scars, OK?" she said, closing her hand around the stone.
"All right, Granger. Just get on with it!" Pansy sniffed, trying to regain her composure.
Hermione closed her eyes, and thought about her scars disappearing. After a few seconds, a glow emanated from her hands and surrounded her body. When it dissipated, the 'MUDBLOOD' was gone from her arm. She looked at it, flabbergasted, and then pulled up her shirt, only to see the scars that Dolohov had created in the Department of Mysteries were gone as well.
"Oh!"
"Well, dear, welcome to the family. You know, I'm current head of the Black family. I am planning to refurbish the family tapestry. You'll have to provide the names of the people you know down from Chartreuse," Andromeda said.
"I'd love to," said Hermione.
"Hey, Granger, where did you get those sandals?" asked Daphne.
"Harrods, in London. If you want, on our next outing, I can take you shopping," she replied.
"Shopping?" Pansy looked up. "Is there good shopping in Muggle London?"
"Yes, Parkinson. The only place better is Paris," Hermione answered.
"Ooh, I want to go too," she replied.
Andromeda smiled. The stone had a reputation for healing all sorts of things. But she figured she could tell Hermione that later.