Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to George R.R. Martin and J.K. Rowling.

A.N: I've got a bit of free time and wrote this, but this week and the next would be hell for me, so I can't guarantee that I will have time to write the next chapter, let alone published it, soon. As usual, don't like, don't read. I didn't get paid anyway, so I don't have much time to deal with your bullshit. Cheers.

Chapter 4

273 AC

The family, except for Doran who was to be the castellan and not wanting to leave his bethroted, Mellario, left Sunspear in a quest to secured bethrothal to both Oberyn and Elia, and while her parents still stick to their rules on not discussing bethrothal before their children at least five and ten, it doesn't mean that they couldn't look for a potential groom for Princess Maya. Elia found it all exciting, as it was the first time she was allowed on a long journey because of her delicate health. But Oberyn were often bored, and preferred to amuse himself by mocking his older sister's potential suitor. So far, he came up with Little Lord Lazyeye, Squire Squishlips, one he named the Whale That Walks, that sort of thing. Hermione of course didn't entirely approved of it, but she admitted some really deserved the nickname. The only one who was even halfway presentable was Baelor Hightower.

"A pretty lad." Oberyn had said, and Elia was half in love with him already, but Hermione really couldn't stand how he was overdoing everything. The smarmy git reminded her a lot of Gilderoy Lockhart. So when he was in their presence, Hermione secretly sent him flatulence jinx, making sure he had the misfortune to fart in their presence. Oberyn had laughed out loud and promptly named him Baelor Breakwind, and after that Elia couldn't look at him without laughing.

"That was brilliant!" Oberyn exclaimed when there was just two of them.

"I don't know what you're talking about, brother." She said, face the image of an angel. "Maybe Lord Baelor just feel a little bit... gassy."

Oberyn rolled his eyes, then. "Yeah, and I'm the Crown Prince of the Seven Kingdoms." He said sarcastically, but smirked at his sister.

Then, their mother received a raven about the Lady Joanna Lannister's death. As they were in the Old Town, already, she decided that the family should pay their respect to her dearest friend.

Casterly Rock was still in mourning when they arrived. Such a queer time to come visiting, but she learns for a long time that if her mother had decided something, there's not much to do to deter her. She was stubborn and impulsive, something that Oberyn inherited.

The Lord of the castle ignored them the whole time after commanding his brother to see of their entertainment. To be honest, Hermione partially understood why the Lord is doing this. He's still grieving after his beloved wife just died giving birth to his son, as Hermione refused to call him a monster like some whispers around the place. It's just dwarfism, not a contagious deathly disease. Besides, it's not like he asked to be born that way, and Lady Joanna just unfortunate to succumb to the blood loss as she gave birth. She wonders if the Lord Lannister would react the same way to his children if the Lady died after giving birth to the twins, because as far as she know, birthing twins is far more risky than birthing a single child.

They were placed in the rooms that was dark and windowless that Oberyn half jokingly called their cell as it remind him of the dungeon, and Hermione agrees with him. Sure, it has featherbed and Myrish carpet, but still. And that's not even the last thing Oberyn complained about. The skies were too grey, the wines too sweet, the women too chaste, the food too bland... And Hermione would just roll her eyes at her brother's antics.

One day, their parents had asked for a meeting with Lord Tywin, obviously about the betrothal. Then Cersei, the oldest of the Lannisters siblings promised to show them her brother. She and her twin Jaime took them to her brother's nursery. The wet nurse tried to send them off, but Cersei was having none of that.

"He's mine," she said, "and you're just a milk cow, you can't tell me what to do. Be quiet or I'll have my father cut your tongue out. A cow doesn't need a tongue, only udders."

Hermione was incensed at her statement, but decided to bite her tongue. 'For now.' she thought.

Cersei undid the swaddling clothes to give them a better look of the baby. And despite the heterochromia and the slightly larger head, the baby was just that: a baby. Elia even made a cooing noise, as if he was just another baby. And he is, in Hermione's opinion. He's not a monster.

"He seems like a poor sort of monster." Oberyn commented, and Hermione really want to elbow his gut or stomp on his feet.

"He killed my mother." Cersei said before twisting her brother's manhood so hard Hermione thought she was like to pull it off, much to all the rooms occupants but Cersei's horror.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" Hermione shouted as the baby shrieked.

"Leave him be, you're hurting him." This time, it was Jaime Lannister who said it, and Cersei let go of the baby.

"It doesn't matter." she told them. "Everyone says he's like to die soon. He shouldn't even have lived this long."

"And his life would be shorter with a sadistic bitch as his sister! Now put him down on his crib, you nasty piece of shit!" This time, she couldn't hold her tongue any longer as she glared at the little girl. She glared back at her, but put the crying baby down.

"The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinions of the sheeps." She said, but Hermione couldn't help but think she just quoted the lines somewhere - probably her father - without the ability to back it up. She let out an almost hysterical laugh.

"Oh yeah? But you forget, little lion cub, that you're not facing the sheeps right now. You, are in the presence of the dragon hatchlings. And do you know what happen when a lion faced a dragon?" She put on an eery smirk on her lips, completed with maniacal gleam on her eyes. "They burned."

Cersei flinced. She tried to glare menacingly at her, but to Hermione, it was as effective as a kitten trying to scare a fully grown lioness. Useless.

She then huffed, before leaving the room.

As soon the little annoyance was gone, Hermione done the swaddling clothes back and took the little baby out of his crib, rocking him back and forth, trying to calm him down. "Hush, little baby. You're safe now."

From the corner of her eyes she can see Jaime looking at her with intrigued slash confused glance.

Oberyn let out a whistle. "Remind me to never, ever be on your bad side, sister. Dragon indeed. I thought you'll breath fire anytime soon." He said as he give her a wink.

Hermione's jaw clenched. "Well, she have no right to do that. He's just a little baby." She stated, which Elia agree with.

"Do you really think that? You don't think of him as monster?" Suddenly a little voice asked. She turned to look at Jaime who seems to judge her honesty.

"I mean what I said, Jaime. He might have dwarfism, but he's still a human. A little baby at that. It's not a curse as everyone believed it to be. It's just... genetic mutation."

He just looks at her confused.

"Have you ever heard about me getting honorary links given by the Maesters at the Citadel, Jaime?"

Jaime nodded. "I heard about it. They say you're smart, probably smarter than the Maesters."

She smiled. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment. But you see, Jaime, I really like to learn. And one of the things I learned included human genetic. In simple term, what makes you, you. Like how Lannisters have golden hair and green eyes, or Targaryens have silvery blond hair and purple eyes, or Baratheons have black hair and blue eyes."

"What's that to do with Tyrion?"

"Well, you see Jaime, when people marry with someone who are still closely related to them, sometimes there's some bad traits that show more prominently on their offspring, even causing genetic mutation. But it's not always happening, just increasing the chance of their children having some kind of deformity, whether it's physical or mental. If I'm not wrong, your late mother was your father's cousin, no?"

Jaime nodded.

"Well, there's a big chance that Tyrion's condition was caused by inbreeding. I'm not trying to dictated your life on who you choose to be with, of course. But it would be best for you to considered someone who are not too closely related to you to marry."

Hermione didn't know how this would affect the Lannister heir's life, she just thought it'd be best to warned him about it. She had accidentally read the surface thought of the Lannister girl as she stared her down, and her relationship with her twin is a bit unhealthy in Hermione's opinion.

"Of course there's another example of this. King Jaehaerys Targaryen said that madness and greatness are two side of the coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land. Unfortunately, it seems that it landed on the bad side when it comes to our King."

Jaime had paled, but nodded at her.

The babe had calmed down and look sleepy so Hermione put him down on the crib.

"I heard you want to be a Knight, Jaime."

The boy beamed and nodded excitedly.

"May I ask what the Knight's oath include?"

"To be brave, to be just, to defend the young and innocent-" Jaime would have continue if not for Hermione raising her hand.

"Then protect your brother, Jaime. Protect him from your sister, from your father, from the world who will not judge him kindly. I guarantee you, Jaime, that at least in my eyes, you'll be far nobler than those sword wielding Knight."

The boy blinked a few times, but then smiles and nodded.

"Good. Now, I think it's best if we left Tyrion to his nap. Come." She said, as she put her hand on the boy's shoulder, ushering him outside, followed by her two siblings.

They just arrived in the drawing room when they saw Cersei smiling smugly at them. Too smug for Hermione's liking. Before long her parents made their way to the same room. Her father's face was a cold mask of anger, while her mother's face still slightly flushed red. Her mother gave a tight lipped smile to her children.

"Ah, there you are Oberyn, Elia, Maya. Please, tell the servant to pack your bags as soon as possible. We'll leave in the morrow when the sun rise."

Hermione sighed. 'I take it the discussion didn't end well. Not that I'd like Oberyn to marry Cersei, anyway. But it seems the Lannister Lord had slighted both of my parents.'

"Yes, mother." She and her siblings answered dutifully.

Braavos, 277 AC

Hermione walked with Oberyn, Crooks and Edric in tow as her brother showed her around the city. They had met again after almost three years at the Tourney Lord Steffon Baratheon held in Storm End before they set to go to the Free Cities.

After that disastrous trip to Westerland, they had come back to Dorne where Oberyn was caught in bed with the paramour of Lord Edgar Yronwood. They had duelled to first blood, but Lord Edgar's wounds festered and killed him. Oberyn was accused to have fought with poisoned blade and has been known as the 'Red Viper' ever since by friends and foes alike. But Hermione know the truth. Oberyn didn't use any poison, it was just a bad case of infection, and Oberyn had been hurt with that accusation. But her brother, in his usual style, just shrugged and said "If they accused me of it, why don't I really use it from now on?"

Afterward, Oberyn was sent to Oldtown where he forged his links for a while, including a link in poisonous substances, before he went to Lys in temporary exile in order for House Martell to make peace with House Yronwood at Doran and her parents' insistence. Hermione didn't see her brother since, but regularly write to each other. She had expressed her interest to go to the Free Cities, but her parents had been adamant that she stay until she was of age.

It wasn't until Lord Steffon announced the Tourney at his land that she tried to persuade her parents again. Her parents had been in a better mood after the Tourney in honor of Prince Viserys' birth at Lannisport, where they heard rumors of the King's rejection to wed Cersei Lannister with the Crown Prince. So when she asked, they had been more agreeable.

She, Edric, and a small entourage of Dornish Guards had sailed from Sunspear to Storm End. She had been so excited to meet her brother again that she had hugged him at the first sight of him. Oberyn being Oberyn had hugged her back before spinning around with her still in his arms, laughing loudly. They made quite a spectacle with their un-noble like conduct that even the Crown Prince had looked at them briefly with amusement.

Ah, the Crown Prince, Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone. Hermione admitted that he's probably the most handsome man she's ever seen. If she didn't know Veela doesn't exist in this world, she would think he was one, or at least a descendant of one. She knew, of course, about the supposed Valyrian ethereal beauty, she saw a painting of her Targaryen ancestors, but seeing in painting and in real life is quite different. He had that typical silver blond hair, wearing no crown, but simple braids on the side of his head, and purple eyes, although it was more dark indigo that in low light looked dark blue. He was tall, probably 6'2 or more with muscular but lean body, wearing black and red doublet adorned with three headed dragon. But there's something in a way he carries himself, like some sense of melancholy that made him unapproachable.

She had sometimes caught glimpses of him other than when he unseated Oberyn in joust, and the only people close to him are Jon Connington and the Kingsguard, Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Barristan Selmy. He was quite good at joust, too, especially when he comes face to face with Ser Arthur where he broke twelve lances before finally unseating him on the thirteenth tilts. But even he has to admit defeat to Ser Barristan the Bold. When he removed his dragon helmet after he got up from the ground, it was the first time Hermione saw him smile. A genuine one, as if he really was having fun, and Hermione thought it was quite nice and he should have smiled more.

Another notable thing from the Tourney was that Edric had been finally knighted after he won the melee. He was knighted by Lord Steffon, before he fulfilled his promise to Hermione's father and sworn an oath to be her sworn shield. Not that he needs an oath to protect Hermione. He has always been her protector, whether it was her body or even her secrets, including her magic. She had confided in him just a year after he becomes her Father's squire, as he was her closest friend, best friend even, and she didn't think she could hide it from him. He took it quite well, and instead of fearing her power, he thought of it as a gift from God, and if anyone deserves it, it would be her. She had given him her infamous Hermy Hug, making him blush bright red, but got his promise to keep it secret. He even covered for some of her accidental magic over the years, something that earned him her gratitude.

They left just a day after the Tourney end, eager to explore the Free Cities. Oberyn told her about his life as a sellsword for the Second Sons after he left Lys and so far, he quite enjoyed it. He even told her that he had bedded a noblewoman of Volantis and a golden haired septa. Hermione could just shake her head at hearing about her brother's escapades.

Today, though, they explored the market in search for trinkets, anything with Valyrian steel in it. She wanted to make Katana, but since Valyrian steel in the form of weapons is so very rare and expensive, she resigned to have it made. So far, she got a wine jug, figurines, some brooches, and other little trinkets made of the said steel from antique stores. Not enough to make one, least of all two she intended to have.

Suddenly she feels her magic stirring. Something, or someone was close. The presence wasn't evil per se, but it feels... scary. And then she smells it, cloying the air around her. The smell of death.

TBC

A.N: so, is it quite a cliffhanger? A little glimpse of Rhaegar. Another thing, I was thinking William Levy as Ser Edric Blackmont, but you can always use your own imagination if you like. As usual, don't like, don't read. Bye.