February 24, 2017 (Word Count: 7,286)

Disclaimer: I practically own none of these. My name is not J.K. Rowling hence I do not own the wonderful Harry Potter and his universe. I have sourced numerous names and details (characters, books, shop names, etc.) from the books, movies, Pottermore and even the Harry Potter Wikia. There are certain excerpts that I have lifted directly from the books (marked with an asterisk*). Numerous terms from other magical worlds have been borrowed and redefined to fit what I want.

Onwards.


CHAPTER TWO: HOGWARTS, A TRIGGER

September 1984, France (Three Years Later)

The past couple of years has been kind to the now 30 year-old woman. Despite the stress brought about by the circumstances back in her home land, she was as happy as she could be with her sweet daughter who is about to have her 5th birthday in two weeks. She and her daughter has spent a lot of time with the Delacours, who has graciously taken them in four years ago. It has been a long four years as she has only been able to communicate with her lover through a few owl posts. Communication needed to be limited as the gangs have been relentless in trying to find those involved in the prophecy. She curses the day that Sybill had to prove that she wasn't an quack and that Albus and Tom had to witness the double-edged damnable prophecy. If they were to make the connection between the prophecy and her daughter, then that would place both of them in even more danger. Especially herself, as she travels back and forth between France and England in order to help with the efforts of the Order of the Phoenix by playing the part of a high-ranking member of the Morsemordre.

"Fleur!"

The woman looks up, startled to hear her best friend shouting for her daughter. She takes the time to observe her goddaughter who was actually playing with her own daughter.

"Oui, maman?" little 6-year old Fleur replies to Apolline, "iz it time to 'ead back yet? Can we pleaze stay a lizzle bit longer?"

"Yes Aunty, pwease? It's my birthday soon, I'm a big girl! I don't need a nap!" a 4-year old Hermione pouts at Apolline.

Apolline chuckles lightly upon hearing the pleas of her daughter and her goddaughter. Years ago when she herself was just a child, she remembered playing with her own best friend. Now, here they were with their own daughters who they promised to both protect in case something happens to them and their spouses. Hence they were the godmothers of their respective daughters. And just like how they were before, their daughters were thick as thieves. But unlike the two of them who were more sisters than anything else, she cannot help but wonder if there may come a time that her little Fleur and their little Hermione might mean more to each other than friends. Given her ancestry, she knew at once that she and her best friend were set to be just that - best of friends. All throughout the time that she has known her best friend, her inner Veela did not call out to her as one should expect upon meeting a possible mate. For now Fleur is far from reaching the age of Veela maturity, which is set at 17, but she cannot help but observe the way her daughter lights up whenever she is around her goddaughter. 'Time will tell,' she muses to herself.

"Maman? Can we pleaze? My birthday iz near too. I'm going to be 7 and don't need lotz of zleep" little Fleur repeats her request, joining little Hermione in displaying a pout to her mother.

"We pwomises that we'll be good and stay just here if you let us play pwease?" little Hermione continues to make their case.

"Oh come now you two. Little 4 and 6-year olds, even those turning into 5 and 7-year olds in the next few weeks still need their nap time! Now, please pack up your toys and head back to the house," Apolline replies to the children. Having had her best friend with her for the past four years has greatly improved her English. Not to say that her companion isn't fluent in French as well but they prefer to speak in English so that most locals cannot easily eavesdrop on their conversations. She's hoping that in a few years, her little Fleur will also get to be fluent in the language, especially if they would ever need to go to England (be that for business or pleasure they are yet to see). However, while the two Delacours have taken to speaking in English around their house guests, their accents were still quite notable as outside the house both blondes still need to speak in their native tongue.

"Okay, Maman. But on my birthzay we get to play longer, won't we 'Ermione?" little Fleur replies with a cute smile, "Cmon 'Ermione, lez clean up and we'll nap before milk and cookiez!"

"Yaaay! Wait for me Fleur!" little Hermione excitedly follows little Fleur back to their spot.

"And you, my dear, are of no help. Must you just watch me as I round up our daughters for their afternoon nap? What if I gave in to those adorable pouts they seem to have picked up? And I know you taught them that you evil woman," Apolline turns to her best friend as the children went about packing their toys.

"Now, now, Apolline, you know as much as I do that children their age, especially children with our amazing genes cannot help but be adorable. It's just natural!" the other woman laughs in glee.

"Sure," Apolline rolls her eyes in response, "anyway, here, this was dropped off for you by your sister. You were out at the market when she arrived and she could only stay long enough to deliver this. She did seem a little worse for wear, now that I think about it." Apolline hands of a letter to the other woman who quickly rises from her seat to retrieve the letter.

"Well what does it say?" asks Apolline as she starts to get worried due to the increasingly paling face of the other woman. The other woman remains silent as she rereads the short missive sent to her.

"Darling,

It's time. We need you to focus on your role now. It is as you last reported. Tom seems to have become obsessed with the prophecy and I fear for both you and our daughter; I fear more for you should he ever find out that you are the mother of the child he deems the bane of his existence. My heart breaks that we need to leave Hermione but for now we have to keep her safe. As we planned it, please bring her to your cousin and come back to me. She will be safe and I will take care of you.

Until then."

As usual, the letter remains unsigned. Nonetheless, she would always recognize the handwriting, and if that wasn't a dead give away, the two of them only refers to each other as My Love or Darling and ends their letter with their usual goodbye of "Until then."

"I can't tell if it says the absolute worst or the absolute best, Apolline. Let's go head back inside for the children's nap. I need to start packing and it's time to go find my cousin," the woman replies.


September 1990, England (Another Six Years Later)

For about eight years now Derek Granger has been married to Helen Granger, his loving wife, who he met while out in the market ten years ago. Clichéd as it may be, Derek felt like the world stood still as he bumped into Helen and she flashed him a sweet smile. Of course he didn't immediately assume that he would marry her. But the fluttering feeling from that smile helped him make the decision to promptly apologize for bumping into her and offer to take her out for coffee. In all honesty, they were worlds apart - perhaps almost literally. She was light skinned, he was dark skinned. She was a blonde, he was raven-haired. She was the eldest child, he was the youngest. She loved to spend time indoors and read a book, he loved to go out and enjoy the wilderness. And perhaps the most crucial of all, she was a muggle, and he was magical.

So now Derek sat silently by the window, deep in thought. People passing by who might chance a look through the window would have thought him asleep given his current position - leaning back against the armchair with his eyes slightly closed. He was so deep in his thoughts; he basically tuned out the world around him. Looking closely at him, one would see that he was clutching a letter quite tightly. What would cause a handsome man such as Derek to become buried in his thoughts, one might ask? Well you see, this particular letter, besides being written in what appears to be parchment (imagine parchment being used this day and age), was sealed using the wax seal of a particular school not many are privy to. This was the seal only magical people were able to discern.

As such, Derek was among those privy to the wax seal pressed in to the letter he was currently holding. After all, one is not ranked a warlock without at least having graduated from a magical school that would hone one's skill and magical talent. Being a warlock meant that Derek was magically more powerful than the average witch or wizard. Were he to go through further training or perhaps innate power as some lucky few had, he could rise above being a level 3 warlock and maybe eventually become at least a level 1 sorcerer. He wouldn't actually dream to become a druid, and much less a mage. But going back to the letter at hand, Derek couldn't help but frown slightly as he stared at the letter in his hand.

A letter that was, in fact, not addressed to him but rather to his niece. Of course, he has always known that his niece was special. After all, it isn't exactly an everyday occurrence that a 11 year-old child could be found studying subjects such as Chemistry, Geometry, and Philosophical Anthropology, isn't it? A child who has officially been recognized as a genius in the muggle academe world was certainly special. What bothered him about receiving the letter for his niece was from what he could tell, his niece was a muggle, or at best a squib. For the past five or six years that his niece has been in his care, she has never displayed accidental magic. And since he was never informed otherwise, he was never bothered by the lack of magical accidents that most magical households with children were exposed to, as was the norm when he grew up in his childhood home with his brother and other cousins. Thinking back, he also cannot clearly recall who the biological parents of his niece are. He knows he should know. He's claimed plenty of times that Hermione is his cousin's daughter but as he struggle to remember the name of his cousin, he finds his mind going blank. Upon further contemplation, he realizes that something is wrong. And he has a feeling what it is. He just wasn't quite sure yet.

He hesitates briefly. It has been quite some time since he has received any correspondence from the school. In fact, he wasn't expecting any letter from them until about 3 years from now. Shouldering on, he breaks the seal and opens the letter.

-OoOoO-

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Acceptance Letter

Headmaster: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class; Druid, Level 3; Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear ,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in light of your magical heritage. Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 01 September 1991. We await your owl no later than 31 July 1991.

Yours sincerely,

Filius Flitwick

Deputy Headmaster

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - List of Books and Equipment

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Books of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Draughts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self- Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set of glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl or a cat or a toad, or their Ministry-registered familiars.

Parents are reminded that First Years are not allowed their own broomstick.

-OoOoO-

Upon reading the letter in its entirety, Derek suddenly felt nauseous. Like a switch has been flipped, memories he seems to have forgotten floods his mind.


Flashback to six years ago (September 1984, England)

A relatively short woman with a dominating presence could be seen rushing through the crowd. Having just celebrated the 5th birthday of her daughter with her best friend's family, she ponders again if she truly has the strength to let her baby go for the next 6 years. She knows she must do it, of course. She needed her baby safe and she had a part to play in the growing gang wars. What's more, she understood that her baby will eventually have a crucial role to play as well. 'Damn that stupid prophecy,' she inwardly curses as she hugs her 5-year old daughter tighter to her chest as she pauses to check the street signs. She would've apparated to her destination had it not been the middle of the day on weekend. She knew that the house she was going to was straddling the border between two villages - one magical and one muggle. Personally, she would have preferred to say in a magical neighborhood, if only so she can play Quidditch during the weekends without double checking their wards and repelling charms. But of course, she understood the reason why her dearest cousin chose this particular house. Who would have thought that out of them, he was the one who goes and falls in love with a muggle. But not to say that she had anything against muggles. She had dozens of muggle friends!

*Diiing!* She waits patiently by the door, albeit slightly wary of the looks that was being thrown her way. She cannot exactly blame the passersby, she knew she was going to the muggle neighborhood yet she was not able to find the time to transfigure her robe into something more appropriate. Thank goodness her robes these days were the modern kind that somehow looked more like a trench coat if one was not use to a magical wardrobe. *diiiiiinnnnggg!* *knock knock*

"Open up!" she hisses through the door as she starts to get impatient. The stares are starting to get to her and slowly breaking her resolve. The door was then wrenched open and a young man with dark hair faces her with a startled look.

"Finally, I thought you were never going to open the door!" she says as she hurriedly rushes past him and enters the house without an invitation.

The young man takes time to shake himself out of his stupor and slowly closes the door. He takes a deep breath and turns to follow the older woman to the kitchen. Or at least that's where he thought she was headed.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, a little unsurely.

"I sent you a letter, didn't I? I told you I would drop by," she replies in amusement.

"Well yes, but I had thought that might have been a prank. I thought you all hated me, especially you," he replies with a frown while shaking his head in disbelief that his cousin actually stepped foot in his house, in his decidedly muggle-friendly house.

"I told you I needed your help and so I came. I never joke about such matters and you should have recognized my seal. For Merlin's sake you used to be so jealous of my seal! You'd think you'd have memorized it to the littlest details," she says, "now lower your voice you silly boy. Unless you want to wake up this little bundle of joy here."

Startled, the young man takes a step back and only then notices that his cousin was in fact carrying a toddler in her arms. His first reaction would have been to accuse the woman of stealing a child but then upon close inspection he noticed that the child was quite comfortably sleeping in her arms. In fact, the child was cuddling quite closely and appeared very contented snuggled up to the older woman.

"Who is that, cousin?" he decides to ask carefully. The child might seem comfortable and unharmed but he wasn't about to take any changes, the situation was surreal even without the toddler in the picture.

"She, baby cousin, is the reason I wrote you that damned letter to begin with," she huffs out, " I need you to take care of her for the foreseeable future."

"Foreseeable future? How long is that exactly? We both know how vague one can be when it comes to time, especially given our longer lifespans. And whose child is she anyway? Please do not tell me you killed her parents," he rapidly fires off the top questions that popped into his mind upon hearing the somewhat preposterous request from his cousin. Upon seeing her grim face and her continued silence, he exclaims in horror, "Oh Merlin you did! You killed her parents! I thought you were just going through a phase cousin. Have you actually joined the Morsmordre as Auntie and Uncle were boasting to Mother and Father? Are you Tom's most loyal follower now? One of those Death Eaters?!" He takes a step back and continues to stare at his cousin in horror.

She chuckles darkly upon hearing his words. Knowing that he had reason to believe the words he so callously throws at her face, it was after the image she was tasked to build for herself. She sighs, as much as she was happy to be helping with the gang wars and that she was becoming successful, she never anticipated how much of an elaborate mask she had to create, even in front of most of her family.

"Before anything else, I will need a magical oath from you. I would have preferred an unbreakable vow but seeing as no one is here to act as a witness, a magical oath will do just as fine. I will not have you spreading anything of what I am about to discuss with you," she informs him.

"Now see here cousin, you cannot come barging into my home uninvited, demanding for help and asking for a magical oath to boot without giving me a reason! How am I even supposed to know that whatever you will tell me is the truth and not some messed up story to try to bring me to your side!" he protests vehemently. Any magical person knew that a magical oath was sworn to either one's life or his magic and breaking the oath would result to the person losing his life or magic.

The older woman smiles slightly, "At least you are not as stupid as one would believe cousin." In a quick motion that the young man almost misses, the older woman suddenly has her wand in her hand.

"Look, I don't want any trouble here but…." he trails off as the woman seemingly ignores him and brings up her wand.

"I swear on my life and my magic that for the next hour I will say nothing but the truth and I will bring no harm to anyone in this house, so mote it be," she says softly but firmly and she glows briefly in white, signifying that magic has recognized her magical oath.

Fascinated, the young man felt like he was a loss. Not only did his cousin swear a magical oath, she swore by both her life and magic. He can only take this to mean that whatever his cousin was involved him was very important, and most likely very dangerous.

"I hope that satisfies you. Now then," she raises an eyebrow at him expectantly.

"Bollocks! Warn a man, will you?" he exclaims.

"Shhh! Must you use such language? I have a child here!" she huffs out in irritation.

The younger man stops himself from rolling his eyes, as if his cousin was a model of what prim and proper was. He knew for a fact that the woman could curse up a storm in a fit of anger. But of course he wasn't about to bring that up given that he wanted to know whatever brought her to his home, alone and with a child who seem to have popped out of nowhere. Seeing his cousin grow increasingly impatient and remembering the timeline given in her magical oath, he clears his throat and gives his own oath, "I swear on my magic that I will not divulge anything to be discussed in the next hour within this house without the express permission of both parties, so mote it be." He glowed briefly in white, signifying that his oath was also recognized by magic.

Besides a brief raise of her eyebrow, the woman did not comment on the magical oath given by her cousin. She had business to discuss and his oath would suffice for now.

"Alright, there's your oath cousin, what's all this about?" he decides to get the conversation moving. He has a date to go in about 2 hours and if this conversation is to last for an hour, he needed that other hour to get ready.

"This child here is my daughter, Hermione," she says softly while gazing down at the child in her arms. She was gazing down at the girl with so much love that even without the magical oath, he would have been hard pressed not to believe her words.

"Yours? How old is she? Who is the father? Why has no one ever seen her before? Merlin, how can no one notice that you were pregnant?!" he fires off question after question. He felt that his head was swimming with this revelation. Of all the things his cousin could have said, this was not what he was expecting at all.

"She just turned five years old last week. Her father is none of your business. I had her somewhere safe. And seriously, what you think magic can't hide a pregnancy?" she answers just as fast. "Now if you're done with your nonsense babbling, do you mind?"

"How can her father not be my business? You aren't married!" he replies.

"Says who?" she asks with her eyebrow raised as she stared at him.

The young man opens his mouth and shuts it abruptly. Truth be told, he has not been updated much about the wizarding world for the past year and even before that, he has tried to steer clear of his cousin. Not that it took much to steer clear of her. He thought that all of his family already cut him off and shunned him since he started seeing Helen.

"Clearly, you have been misinformed. As is the rest of the world. No matter, going back to why I am here in the first place. My daughter is in danger in the wizarding world. When she was born I wanted to stop connections with the Morsemordre as I no longer only had to think about myself but a baby as well. I initially thought bringing her outside the country would be enough. Given her parentage, I knew that a lot of people would think to use her for their own motives, especially upon learning my real intentions. Besides Tom and Horace, Quirinus and Dolores are both definitely up to nothing good. And recent news has led to the need that Hermione be hidden from the wizarding world as much as possible. I have to help and go back the life everyone was so sure I was living," she says. The "including you" did not need to be spoken out loud.

"What exactly is this recent news?" he asks.

"More than five years ago, when I was pregnant with Hermione, Albus approached us and informed us of a prophecy that, in short, basically says my daughter is destined to bring unity to the magical world but before that happens she needs to have her destined match and Second by her side since Tom is likely going to go off his bonkers and want to destroy everything with his crazy ideals. In order for my daughter to fulfill this so-called destiny, she actually needs to be safe and get a chance to grow up. I hate prophecies but there is no denying the validity of this one. It was a given by Sybill but we both know she's at least an Oracle if not a Seer like her grandmother. So we spent almost a year preparing everything so that it would be me who will stay with Hermione outside of England. For the past four years we have stayed with one of our most trusted friends. No one would have noticed me going in and out of England as I am not known to have any particular job. Everyone assumes that I am fully committed to the Morsemordre and that I spend most days carrying out whatever mission Tom can think off," at this the woman cannot help but scoff. As if the idea of Tom being able to force her to do anything was utterly preposterous, "now I know you have been cut-off by the family since you started pursuing this…" she trails off a little unsurely.

"Helen. My fiancée's name is Helen," he supplies the name of his fiancée

"Right, since your relationship to Helen has come to light you have been cut-off and have been living generally in the muggle world, although if my sources are correct, and they always are, you are currently working in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes at the Ministry," she stops briefly looking to him for confirmation.

"I don't want to know how you got that information since my contract was supposed to be strictly confidential so that no one knows I am working there. But yes, I got offered a position there upon my graduation so I am currently a level 1 Distorter there," he informs her.

"Interesting, never thought you were one to manipulate reality. Anyway, given your current connection to the muggle world, and more importantly the perceived relationship between us, I highly doubt that even if someone should discover that I had a daughter who is key to this prophecy, that they will even consider searching for her here," she finishes.

"So let me get this straight, you are part of the Morsemordre and working for Tom and you hightailed out of the country when you had your daughter two years ago since you believed she will be used against you and whoever the father might be. But since Professor Dumbledore has informed you of a prophecy involving your daughter, whose father name you continue to refuse to tell me, you have decided that moving out of the country is not enough, rather you would prefer to return here to England and leave your daughter in my care, in the muggle world while you go back to work with the Morsemordre. Oh plus to put the cherry on top, this is all apparently a front for you. So what exactly do you believe in?" he summarizes and upon saying that out loud, he cannot believe all of it to be true. But then his cousin swore an oath and he knew it was binding.

Just then a rattling of a doorknob could be heard and the door slowly opened. "Derek! Are you home sweetie? I got us some groceries. The Mills will be coming over later for dinner so I thought I'd prepare a lovely pot roast. I told Regina there's no need to bring anything though knowing her I'm sure she'll bring along a tray of her wonderful lasagna." The young man's obviously pregnant fiancée suddenly appeared by the doorway of the kitchen. "Oh. Hello there, I'm Helen, Derek's fiancée." she greets the older woman without hesitation.

"Helen," the older woman greets her with a nod, "I'm the cousin of that thing over there, Derek, was it?" the woman replies as she jerks her thumb towards the direction of the young man in question.

"Yes cousin, she knows me as Derek here. She knows my real name but for safety she has taken to calling me Derek Granger here in the muggle world. She understands." Derek replies.

"Derek Granger. Couldn't have picked a more muggle name even if you wanted. Helen, feel free to take a seat, I shouldn't take too long. Now going back, yes you are correct in your understanding. But what you don't know is that I am working under Albus for the Order of the Phoenix and it was because of his instructions that I joined the Morsemordre three years ago. He let me stop for a while when I had Hermione but given the prophecy and the birth of the Potter boy, it seems he wants me back to work." the older woman continues.

"Can't you leave her with the child's father? You implied that you are married," Derek questions her.

"I am married. But I cannot leave Hermione with her other parent. It's not safe either. As I said, Hermione's parentage would likely cause others with ill intentions towards either of us to want to use Hermione for leverage. I cannot have that. We cannot have that." she replies curtly and in a way that says the topic was not up for discussion.

"So what would you have me do? Pretend that she is my child so that I can care for her? I know I am already 21, but I hardly think they will believe that I got Helen pregnant when I was 15 or 16! Nobody has a child at that age anymore! Only careless teenagers who can't do protection spells or are too drunk to care. And everyone knows I've only ever been with Helen," Derek states with a frown marring his features. Helen, who has taken a seat next to her fiancé, grabs his hand and slowly strokes it, "It would not be a problem. I love children and she is your niece Derek. Family is family."

The older woman smiles briefly upon hearing Helen's words, "care for her? Yes. Pretend to be her father? Definitely not. I need you to act as her legal guardians. The both of you. But you understand what else I would have to do to ensure this works don't you?"

Derek nods but stays quiet for a while. Helen, not quite up to speed with the magical duo, speaks up, "Derek? What else needs to be done?"

Derek looks up with his jaw set firmly, "She needs to alter our memories and likely even Hermione's so that we do not recall most if not all of this conversation. Especially since you are non-magical, your mind is practically an open book to anyone with mild Legilimens training and such knowledge must not fall in the wrong hands. What's the back story going to be cousin?"

"I understand that Helen is an only child and that since her parents are very old she does not have a lot of close relatives left? Then they will not be a problem. And since you have been cut-off from the family, cousin, you can make it out to be that Hermione was the daughter of cousin who died a few years ago. Nobody the wiser that said cousin, me, is actually still alive. You are new to the neighborhood; setting up a new story shouldn't be too hard. What's more is that I actually will have to alter your memories. This meeting never happened, Derek. You won't remember that Hermione is mine and nobody will be able to tell you otherwise." the older woman quickly states her plan.

"And what of the others who know of Hermione?" Derek wonders.

"There are very few in England who knows of Hermione. Just a handful really and most of them have had their memories altered - with their express permission of course. We would need to do the same for the both of you as well," the woman explains calmly. She then turns to Helen, "You have to understand that we won't be erasing your memories per se. More like it will lie dormant until the time comes. We've determined that the day she turns 11, we will have the spell lifted from the both of you, as well as Hermione, so that you will remember who she really is and that I am her mother. This will also help you when she needs to start her magical education," she says as she looks at them directly in their eyes, "so will you help me?"

End of flashback.


"Oh Merlin," he whispers to himself in dismay, "She must have found a way to make the Hogwarts letter the trigger so I can remember. I can't believe she stayed away for 10 years. Merlin. What do I do now?"

"Derek, honey, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Helen asks him as she enters the living room. She pauses briefly and takes in the appearance of her husband, from the pale face to the slightly twitching fingers. Then she takes note of the letter in his hand. Having been married to Derek for eight years now and with Derek wanting to be completely honest with her ever since she agreed to marry him, she was well aware of the broken seal in the letter clutched tightly by her husband. "Why do you have a letter from Hogwarts, honey? Surely they cannot have any concerns about Marcus yet. He's only about to turn six years old after all."

"Helen, you know how we're always claiming that Hermione is the daughter of my cousin who passed away?" he replies after a short pause.

"Yes, of course, what else could we have told them," she laughs in reply.

"Well, do you remember which cousin of mine is her parent? Do you remember her name?" he continues in a serious tone.

"Hmmm," this has Helen thinking for a while before eventually realizing she could not answer in the affirmative. "You know what Derek, for the life of me, I can't seem to recall. But that really shouldn't matter. We love Hermione as if she was our own and we both know that Marcus loves her very much and she loves all of us as well."

"Yes, yes, she is family regardless. But what I'm trying to tell you Helen is that it does matter. Because this letter is a Hogwarts acceptance letter for Hermione," he finally says.

Helen stares at her husband for a moment and then snatches the letter from his hand. As she reads the letter, Derek takes the time to observe her reaction. Just as how he assumes he looked like moments ago when he was the one reading the letter, Helen initially looked shocked. Then, upon flipping to the next sheet of parchment, the look of shocks transforms to slight confusion. And finally, upon nearing the end of the letter, Derek noted that Helen had a dazed look. As quickly as he shook it off earlier, Helen seemed to recover from her daze and she sought out the eyes of her husband.

"Derek…" she whispers.

"You remember now as well, don't you?" he asks solemnly.

"Derek.. Hermione? Your cousin? Jesus! How must she have felt leaving her child to us for almost a decade! Will she come back and get Hermione now? Does Hermione remember as well? Oh my goodness.." Helen says as she sinks down next to her husband to take a seat by the window. Derek remains quiet for a while. Thinking over his wife's questions along with his own. He has come a long way from being the 18 year old boy who started out as a trainee in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes at the Ministry. Besides being a level 3 Warlock, he has worked hard in the past years for his specialty in magic and is now officially recognized as a level 2 Distorter in said department.

"Come on," says Derek to his wife as he finally stands up from his seat.

"Where are you going, Derek?" his wife asks in bewilderment.

"We need to give the letter to Hermione, she's in her room," Derek replies.

Opening the door to his niece's room, he notes that she was currently poring over one of her thick text books. He knocks gently on the door to get the attention of the young 10 year-old.

"Hermione, dear?" Derek approaches his niece slowly.

"Yes, Uncle? Is something the matter?" Hermione looks up from her textbook to see her Aunt and Uncle standing by her bedroom door.

"This letter arrived for you today," Derek responds and delicately hands off the letter to Hermione.

"Oh, good. Is it the letter of acceptance to another university, Uncle? I've been waiting to make my decision after I've received all my options," Hermione cheerfully responds as she stands to get the letter being offered by her uncle.

"Yes, it's an acceptance letter to a school dear but it's not exactly a university," her uncle replies.

"Not a university, Uncle? Is this one of those independent programs again? You know I'm still considering those as well," Hermione shrugs in reply and starts to read the letter.

"Not exactly that either, Hermione…" Derek replies. Once again he observes his niece as she takes the time to read through the first page. And once again, as his niece reaches the end of the second page, she looks dazed for a moment.


Flashback to six years ago (September 1984, France)

"Fleurrrr! I don't wanna nap! I turned 5 last week, this can be your second present to me pwease?" little Hermione says while stomping her feet.

"Je suis desole, Mia. 'Ou heard maman. We need to take our nap today but tomorrow we won't need to becauze 'ou are going on a trip. So c'mon. I promised maman we would behave," little Fleur replies as she tugs on the little Hermione's hand.

"Little Star, listen to Fleur, please? You'll have lots of time to play tomorrow, I promise." little Hermione is suddenly swept into the arms of her mother who peppers her face with little kisses as she promises more play time the next day. "Now come, the both of you, I'll tuck you in."

As the woman tucks in her daughter, she sighs sadly. After all, she knows that tomorrow would likely break her little Hermione's heart.

(Next morning...)

"Momma! It's morning momma! Let's go plaaaay!" little Hermione says as she jumps on her mother's back.

"Sush, Little Star. You can play later. We need to get going," her mother replies as she flicks her wand to shrink their bags.

"Where we going momma?" little Hermione asks innocently, "Can Fleur come pwease?"

"I'm sorry Little Star but she can't. I'm taking you to your uncle. You need to stay with him for a while, okay Little Star? Momma needs to do something really important and I need you to be safe," the woman replies as she tries not to break down.

"But mommaaa! I want to stay here with Fleur! Or momma can't I pwease stay with you or…." little Hermione starts crying softly.

"Hush, Little Star. You're a bright one, remember last week I told you why you can't stay with either of us and how I can't leave you here with Fleur? I'm sorry, Little Star," the woman hugs and softly soothes her distraught daughter as her heart breaks as she explains to her daughter once again why she can't stay with either of her parents.

"You will be alright, Little Star. You won't remember me for a little while but I promise we'll be together again real quick. Me, you and…"she trails off.

"Us three momma! Right, momma?" little Hermione says as she finally looks up from being cuddled up to her mother's chest.

"Yes, Little Star. Soon it will be us three," the woman replies to her daughter with a sad smile knowing that having the three of them together will take some time.

End of flashback.


"Honey, are you alright?" Helen asks in worry.

"Hm?" Hermione hums in reply as she snaps out of the daze.

"You're crying, Hermione," Derek replies softly in sympathy.

"Oh," says Hermione softly as she takes note of the tears she didn't notice was slowly trailing down her cheeks, "I suddenly remembered my momma."

"I'm sorry you had to miss out on the past six years with her, Hermione," says Helen.

"Yes, my cousin, despite her eccentricity, I'm sure was a good mother," says Derek.

"They both were," Hermione replies with a sad sigh, "No matter. My momma explained this to me. She placed a spell on me to forget her. I'm assuming she did the same with you?"

Her uncle and aunt nods their head in confirmation. As much as their own hearts were clenching in sadness upon having realised that a mother not only had to let her child go to protect but to actually erase herself from the memory of her child to protect her, they knew that their niece was likely suffering more than they do. Even being the intellectual genius that Hermione is, she is still a little girl. And all little girls love their parents dearly.

"I think I should send that reply now, don't you?" Hermione turns to Derek. So Derek once again nods his head in agreement.