Hermione stared at the wall of her bedroom. She sighed and closed her eyes. What was she supposed to do all summer long? All her books were at Ron's. How could she have been so stupid as to leave them there? She couldn't do any magic yet, she was technically supposed to have one more year of Hogwarts before she could, but Harry had pulled a few strings at the Ministry. She still couldn't do any magic for another month, though. The owl she'd been using to owl Ron had gotten sick, it was at the vet as she sat there.
She literally had nothing to do. She had read all the books in the house already, even the boring ones about dentist stuff. She sighed as she looked at the wall. Normally she had the books for her next year of school, but now… Well they weren't going back next year. She wasn't used to sitting around and waiting, and now she understood why Harry hated it. Determined to keep herself busy she pulled out her crocheting.
She knew Harry and Ron had just been nice when they said her hats looked wonderful. She was getting better though, the last hat had actually resembled a hat and she could do socks almost perfectly. She wished she could be back at Hogwarts learning more magic, but with Dumbledore gone who knew how safe it was? She trusted McGonagall and her skill, but it couldn't really be compared with Dumbledore.
"Hermione!" Hermione gasped in shock. Her parents weren't supposed to be home for another hour. She quickly put down the yarn mess and walked to the stairway. She looked below to the next floor and saw her mother.
"Oh there you are dear, your father and I came home early. Why don't you come down? We want to talk to you," her mother called up smiling. Hermione sighed. Ever since three years ago, her and her mother had clashed horns, and therefore didn't talk much. Her and her father had always gotten along though. They spent hours just talking and messing around. There was something in her mother's voice that scared her, though, something that wasn't right, something that told her this talk was serious. She stepped down the stairs carefully trying to hide her worry. At a sudden thought she ran back upstairs and put her wand in her pocket. After all you never know when Voldemort might have taken over your parent's brains.
She joined her parents in the dining room where snacks had been prepared by their maid. Hermione refused to eat them, her parents knew how she felt about their servants, but according to her mother they worked far too late hours to have time to make food themselves, let alone clean house, and they paid the girl well. Hermione had become friends with the family maid, though she knew nothing of Hermione's magical side (it was something her parents had agreed should stay with only them).
She also hadn't told Harry or Ron about the wealth her family owned, but come on, her parents were dentists after all. She would never feel right admitting to Ron that she was 'rich' or even to Harry. She sat down and looked at her parents who sat silently watching her.
"Hermione, dearest, we have something very important to tell you," her father began hesitantly.
"Yes, we've agreed that now is the best time for you to know. We would have told you everything earlier, but we were asked not to," her mother continued. Hermione was only left in confusion.
"Hermione, dear, we are not your real parents." The words hit her hard and she closed her eyes, almost ready to cry. She took a deep breath then opened them again. 'That's impossible. Why would they lie to me all these years?' "Your real father left you with us when you were very young. He told us everything about being a witch and how you were what they called a Pureblood." Hermione looked up at her father from the table. Her eyes grew wide and she tried to blink away her surprise. Now that was impossible. She'd spent her whole life believing she was a Muggleborn, and now she was being told she was a Pureblood; it just made everything turn upside down.
"He also told us that your name was Virginia. He asked us to call you by a different name until you were through with school," her mother added.
"Since you won't be going back to Hogwarts, we decided it would be best if we told you now," her father said. Hermione nodded.
"May I go back to my room? This is a lot to take in and I need to think things over," Hermione asked carefully trying to get her head to stop spinning.
"In a minute, Hunny," her mother said, "there is still more." Hermione nodded and waited for them to go on.
"He told us that your mother had one wish before she died. She'd wanted you to marry another Pureblood," Her father slowly explained, "She had already made arrangements with his parents before she died."
"Who?" Hermione asked after swallowing. She watched her father carefully, waiting for her future to be decided for her. The slow realization that she that there was no way out and that she had been lied to all her life was beginning to dawn. Her heart wished that her father would say Ron, but her brain knew that even if her mother had been dieing, the Weasley's would not agree to sealing their child's future like that. She didn't have to wait long, though, for her father took a deep breath.
"Draco Malfoy." Hermione felt her heart sink and anger begin to build in her brain. Now that was not fair.
"Draco Malfoy!" Hermione shouted at her parents. "You have got to be kidding me! No, no, no! Never in a million years will I even agree to step foot in the same….building as him again!" Without another word Hermione ran up to her room and slammed her door.