Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JK Rowling.

I'd always known I was adopted. My parents had told me when I was little, just after I first started showing signs of magic. Everything made sense when I received my letter from Hogwarts. It explained why I was different and not like my parents. Somehow though, in between fighting trolls, Dementors, Death Eaters and Voldemort, I had forgotten to tell Harry and Ron. It had honestly never crossed my mind, which may be why the truth was so shocking to them when I received an owl 6 months after the Final Battle.

"Hermione, there's an owl for you." Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen window.

I looked up from where I was seated on the ground watching the boys and Ginny play Quidditch. It was odd for me to get a letter. My parents were still living in Australia and we talked by phone and everyone important to me in the Wizarding world lived at the Burrow. The Weasley kids and Harry must have found this letter strange as well because they paused their game and landed near me.

"Who'd send you a letter?" Ron asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't really get owls from anyone besides you guys."

"Maybe it's from Victor." Ginny said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"You know I haven't talked to Victor in years." I reminded her as we all trooped to the house.

On the kitchen table was an impressive looking owl. It was large and dark and seemed to scowl at everyone but me. It flew over to perch on my shoulder and held out its leg. I untied the parchment and waited for the owl to leave but he seemed content to nibble on my hair.

"Whose owl is that?" Harry asked curiously.

"I have no idea. I've never seen him before." I answered as I unrolled the parchment.

The room was silent as I read the letter out loud.

"Dear Hermione, I'm sure by now you are quite confused. You will have never seen Orestes before and are therefore probably wondering who he belongs to. Well, the truth is he belongs to you, if you accept him that is."

"Someone sent you an owl?" Ron asked. "Why?"

"I have no idea." I was shocked by the gift myself. I turned back to the letter, hoping it held some answers.

"I suppose the real question is who I am and why I am writing to you and giving you an owl. There is no way break this to you gently so I'm just going to say it. I'm your brother."

The room burst into noise, startling Orestes.

"Brother? You're an only child!" Ron exclaimed.

"Maybe it's a trick." Ginny tried to reason.

"But who would play a trick like this? What's the point?" Harry asked.

Everyone around me was talking but I ignored them, focusing on the rest of the letter.

Yes, your brother. I hope you already knew you were adopted or this whole mess is even more awkward. Let me explain. We were born during Voldemort's first rise to power. Our father was caught up in everything but unfortunately he was on the wrong side. Yes, our father was a Death Eater. Like so many others at the time he believed in Voldemort. But it cost him his life. Voldemort killed our father after learning about our mother's pregnancy and our birth. Voldemort saw women as weak (excluding Bellatrix who was beyond crazy, even at that time). He ordered our father to kill you, claiming that only male heirs were worthwhile. Father refused, and so Voldemort killed him.

This is part of the reason that Mother has remarried so many times. She truly loved our father and for many years feared that any other man would come to the same fate he did. She didn't want to go through that pain again so when she remarried she made sure that her husband was always older. He would die of natural causes and she would inherit his money. It's earned her a sinister reputation but I can assure you that she has never killed any of her husbands.

Now, I know you are brilliant so I expect that you are beginning to figure out who I am. In case you haven't yet, my name is Blaise Zabini. And you, darling Hermione, are my twin sister. Mother placed you in a Muggle orphanage, betting on the fact that Voldemort would never think to look there. She named you Hermione and hoped that you would be placed with a good family. For years after Voldemort's first downfall she looked for you but you were so young that it was difficult. It wasn't until she saw you at the Final Battle that she knew. You may be wondering how we know. I may take after Mother in looks but you apparently take after Father. I'm sure you know that with mixed couples there is a small percentage that one child will be dark and one light. It would seem that we are that small percentage.

And now we come to the point of this letter. Mother would like to meet you. She would have written to you herself but she is out of her mind with nerves. She's afraid that you'll tear up this letter or refuse to believe us. Please, sister, she's had so much heartbreak in her life. Please meet with her. If you agree, send Orestes back with a time and place. If not, then I wish you well with your life and hope that we when we inevitably meet again it will be under pleasant circumstances.

Your big brother,

Blaise Zabini

I held the letter in my hands, staring down at it. After all this time, my birth family had contacted me. I had assumed they were wizards but the Zabinis? They were a powerful and frequently dark family. My father had been a Death Eater! And my mother, Blaise said she saw me at the Final Battle. Which side was she on? Everything Blaise had said would point towards her being on our side. I couldn't see her fighting for the monster who had killed the man she loved.

"Mione? Hermione!" a voice yelled, bringing me back to the kitchen at the Burrow.

I looked up and saw everyone staring at me. I reached for a chair, feeling faint all of a sudden.

"Are you alright, dear? You look like you've had a fright." Mrs. Weasley asked.

I smiled weakly at her. "I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley."

"Who is the letter from?" Harry asked. I could see that he was concerned, along with everyone else. They must have stopped arguing while I was finishing the letter.

I took a deep breath and answered. "It's from my brother." I held a hand up to stop them from interrupting. "Just…just let me get this out. I'm adopted and I've know it for years, since long before I met any of you. I always meant to tell you but everything just took off and it seemed like every time we turned a corner we were fighting for our lives. It's part of the reason my parents, the Grangers, stayed in Australia after I restored their memories."

"So you really do have a brother then?" Ginny asked.

I nodded. "It would seem so. He said our mother only realized who I was during the battle. She's been wanting to contact me but has been afraid of what my reaction will be."

Ron snorted. "Can you blame her? This is a little life-changing."

"You don't know the half of it." I muttered.

Harry's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, Hermione?"

I glanced around the table. The Weasleys were like a second family to me. I could trust them with this. "I need you all to promise that you will let me explain everything and not jump to conclusions."

I could tell this didn't entirely reassure them but they all nodded anyway. I explained to them about my father and his death, how he died trying to protect me. I told them the sacrifice my mother had made by giving me up and that she had tried to search for me afterwards. I described her own struggles and multiple marriages, and I noticed how Harry at least started to suspect who I was talking about. It wasn't until I mentioned that my brother and I looked nothing alike despite being twins that I knew Harry understood.

"Now she wants to meet me." I finished.

"But who is she?" Ron asked.

"Arabella Zabini." Harry answered. "That's who she is, right? Your brother is Blaise Zabini."

"Yes, he is." I practically whispered.

The room was silent again as everyone digested the news I had just shared. I was afraid of their reaction. I didn't know if I could take it if the Weasley family turned their back on me. Regardless of my last name I was still Hermione, the buck-toothed girl with bushy hair and a propensity to be a know-it-all. As the silence continued I could feel my eyes filling up with tears. I was afraid their silence meant they were angry.

"Oh dear." I heard Mrs. Weasley say before she came around the table to hold me. "Don't cry, Hermione. No one blames you for any of this. It's not your fault. Besides, you're still Hermione. Who you really are hasn't changed."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." I said, sniffling a bit.

She pulled back to look at me. "How many times must I tell you to call me 'Molly'?" she replied with a smile.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked.

I glanced around the table. Molly had gone to stand by Arthur again, who smiled at me. Bill and Fleur, who were visiting, both nodded at me. George managed a sliver of a smile and I knew he was thinking of Fred after learning I was a twin. Ginny grabbed my hand in support and I looked to Ron, trying to gauge his reaction.

We had kissed in the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't until much later that we had talked though. By that time we had won the battle and buried the dead, including Tonks, Lupin and Fred. We decided to try a relationship but quickly realized it wouldn't work. Ron and I are simply too different. Our friendship has been a little rocky the past 4 months but Ron will always be one of my best friends.

"I think you should meet her." Ron said. "And Zabini, I mean Blaise, too."

"Do you think he wants to meet me? He only mentioned our mother in the letter."

"He's probably nervous." Harry said. "We were all at Hogwarts together and he was a Slytherin. He hung out with Malfoy and none of us got along with him. Blaise is probably worried that you'll hold Hogwarts against him."

"He never really said anything to me. It was usually Malfoy. Besides, I don't think Blaise was a Death Eater, or our mother. Not after what Voldemort did to our father. I have no reason not to meet them. I never expected to find out who my birth family was and I certainly didn't expect them to be pure-bloods but that doesn't mean I shouldn't give them a chance." I decided.

That's how I found myself in the Three Broomsticks one week later. Harry and Ron had tried to come but I assured them I was more than capable of taking care of myself. Plus, I didn't want Blaise or our mother to think I was afraid.

I was so busy thinking about what was going to happen that I didn't hear anyone approach me.

"Granger? What are you doing here?" a voice asked from behind me.

I jumped and whirled around with my wand in my hand. When I saw who had addressed me I relaxed slightly. "Malfoy. You can't sneak up on people, especially people who just fought in a war."

He held up his hands. "Sorry, you seemed lost in thought."

"I was." I muttered. "Did you need something?" I asked him, wondering why he had spoken to me so politely.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, I wanted to apologize."

My eyes widened. "Apologize?" I repeated.

"Yeah, for everything. The way I treated you, calling you…you know, cursing you, doing nothing while my aunt tortured you." His eyes traveled to my arm, where Bellatrix had left a lovely reminder of what I was, or what she thought I was.

"Malfoy, I'm not sure what to say." I replied honestly.

He shrugged. "I don't really expect you to forgive me. I just wanted you to know." He looked away, embarrassed at everything he had said.

I titled my head to the right. "Did you talk to Harry and Ron?"

"Um, no, not yet. I was kind of hoping if it went well with you then you could help me." He said sheepishly.

I sighed. "And what if I had cursed you?"

"Then I would have figured something out."

"Look, I can't promise that they'll listen. Especially Ron. But I can try to talk to them." I neglected to tell him that he would probably be successful after how they had handled the news about Blaise. The last thing I wanted to tell Malfoy was that one of his best friends was my brother. If would seem Fate was against me though.

"Draco? Hermione?" someone asked from behind me.

I closed my eyes. Of course he would show up now, while Malfoy was still here. Opening my eyes, I turned around to see Blaise looking from Malfoy to me. Next to Blaise was a beautiful woman, with dark skin and hair and bright blue eyes that were slowly filling with tears. My mother, the woman who gave birth to me.

"Cara mia." She whispered. For several seconds we stared at one another and then we were hugging. "My darling Hermione."

"Hello, Mum." I breathed between laughing and crying. I pulled back and looked at Blaise. He was struggling not to cry and looked so happy to see me. I smiled and grabbed him for a hug. "Hello, big brother."

"Sorella, it's good to see you."

In the excitement I had forgotten about Malfoy but he didn't stay quiet for long. "Blaise, what the bloody hell is going on?"

And that is how I meet my family, my true family. To this day I have 3 families: I have the Grangers, who I visit in Australia when I can; then I have the Weasleys, who never abandoned me and actually get along quite well with Blaise and my mother; and I have the Zabinis, my blood relatives who have come to mean so much to me.

Today though, I start one more family. Over the past 3 1/2 years I have watched Harry and Ginny, Ron and Pansy, and Blaise and Luna get married. It took a while but we all get along now. Pansy apologized and one day Luna just appeared with Blaise. After attending all my friend's weddings it is finally time for my own.

Today, I get to put on a beautiful white dress. My father, Mr. Granger, will walk me down the aisle (my mother and Mrs. Granger insisted). There will be 3 Mothers-of-the-bride and 2 Fathers-of-the-bride along with a multitude of siblings and their spouses. There will be surrogate nieces and nephews everywhere. Teddy Lupin will be the ring bearer and little Victoire Weasley will be the flower girl. Pansy and Luna will be my bridesmaids and Ginny my Maid of Honor. Harry and Ron will be groomsmen and Blaise the Best Man. My in-laws, who after much discussion and many apologies I now get along with, will be polite to the Grangers and the Weasleys, who they are still trying to accept. And with 4 Mothers and 3 Fathers involved the wedding will be extravagant. But it will be perfect because I will be marrying to man I love.

"You know, you never really accepted my apology." Draco remarked one evening.

I looked up from my book. "Really? I was kind of busy meeting my real Mother and Blaise. Besides, if you haven't figured it out by now you are a lot more stupid then I thought you were."

"Hey!"

I snorted. "Really, Draco. Not only are we on a first name basis but you are at our house all the time and I know it's not to see Blaise as he's almost never here when you are. So unless you are secretly in love with Mum then you come to see me."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, you have discovered my true purpose. I am just here in an attempt to woo your Mother."

"It'll never work." I said, turning back to my book.

He was silent for several minutes. "Do you know why I spend so much time here?" he asked quietly.

I could sense he needed to talk so I put my book down and moved to sit next to him. "Because your parents are insufferable and the Manor is depressing?" I asked innocently.

He glared at me. "I'll agree about the Manor but you know my parents aren't that bad."

I smiled. "They really aren't." I got comfortable and continued. "It was surprising. I thought your father would be against me no matter what. I mean, your mom lied to Voldemort about Harry so I figured she couldn't be so bad. But your dad is really trying to get along with me. It's almost frightening."

"House arrest has changed him. Azkaban did enough damage and then Voldemort only added to it by how out of control he was. Father has had a lot of time to think since he's been under house arrest. He owes his freedom to you and Harry, which is difficult for him. Not to mention that Mum and Aunt Andy have reconciled so he has seen her and Teddy quite a bit." Draco explained.

I was surprised. "And he's alright with that?"

Draco shrugged. "It was hard at first but they make Mum so happy. Father's had years of ideology ripped away from him and it's taking him some time to adjust."

I thought about everything Draco had said before realizing we had strayed from his original question. "So why do you spend so much time here?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, right." He muttered, blushing.

"Draco, are you blushing?" I teased.

He narrowed his eyes. "Do you want to know or not?" he growled.

I beamed. "Definitely, especially if it's making you blush like this."

He looked down at his hands. Whatever the reason he was really nervous about it. I reached for his hands and titled my head, trying to catch his eye. "Draco?" I softly asked.

He looked up at me and before I could speak he was kissing me. It was completely unexpected but also wholly welcomed. Since we had become reacquainted a few months prior I had found myself often wondering what it would be like to kiss him. I was harboring a major crush and was afraid to say anything, afraid that he still saw me as a Mudblood. By the way he was kissing me, though, I would say he returned my affection.

Eventually we stopped kissing and I settled against him, his arm around me and my head on his shoulder.

"Was that a good enough answer?" he asked teasingly.

I pretended to think. "I'm not sure. I might need to hear it."

He growled. "Hermione." I just smiled at him. "Fine. I like you. For some odd reason I fancy you, which is why I'm here so much. I like spending time with you."

I leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "I like you, too."

I never expected to fall in love with Draco Malfoy. I always thought I would marry Ron and be a Weasley. But I could never regret loving Draco. He was my other half, my soul mate. It wasn't easy at first. The Weasleys were unsure, as were the Malfoys. And while Cissa and Lucius still have trouble being around the Grangers for too long things are getting better. Not to mention that they apologized for everything that happened at the Manor with Bellatrix. Honestly, I think it helps Lucius that I'm really a pureblood but I can't hold that against him. I can settle for at least introducing Draco to the Muggle world, which he rather enjoys.

I asked Draco once if he would still love me if I was Hermione Granger instead of Hermione Zabini and he said "I would love you no matter who you are. Your name doesn't define you; it doesn't make you who you are. I love you for you, not for your name."