Thank you for all of your reviews, you make my life as a struggling and hard-working Uni student a little more bearable. But a special thank you to Bamby20011. Your kind words literally made my day, I am glad that you like my work so much!

Merry Christmas everyone! x

The second the fire roared to life and the sound of feet hitting the stone floor rang through the room, Hermione could feel how all eyes present turned to her. She on the other hand, had only eyes for the man and woman who had just come through the fireplace. The man that was slightly hovering above her was tall, dark and had broad shoulders. He radiated a sense of power and calm. But he wasn't the reason Hermione caught her breath, it was the petite woman next to him that stunned her. The glimpse that Hermione caught of herself earlier was the spitting image of the woman now standing in front her of her, the only real difference was the eyes. The woman's eyes were a dark chocolate brown while hers had been crystal blue, like the Mediterranean Sea.

And the more she tried to comprehend it, the more she struggled to get air into her lungs. It felt like the walls were closing in on her and her vision was starting to get blurry. The temperature in the room had also risen several degrees. She couldn't for the life of her understand why all of this was happening to her.

This is what she has wanted all along, to find her birthparents and have something to connect to. But this was not what she had in mind when she started her search. To find out that her parents were people in her close surroundings and that her family was actually people she has known all her life. This changed everything she had ever known. Her only safe haven had just been turned upside down and it no longer felt safe.

Before anyone had a chance to stop her, she rose from her chair and fled out of the room with lightning speed.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this."

Her footfalls echoed against the stonewalls of the castle as she ran down the practically empty hallways. Everyone else was safely hidden away in different corners of the castle as they enjoyed their weekend, their drama free weekend. She ran down the stairs to the Entrance Hall with such speed that she was surprised that she didn't trip and fall down. But she didn't stop once she reached the big double doors that led outside, she kept running across the grounds until she reached the Black Lake and the big Oaktree she always used to sit under and do her homework. The tree was still standing tall and the rock that she used as a table for her books, still lay down by its roots.

In an attempt to catch her breath, Hermione slumped back against the trunk and slid down to the ground. The fresh air helped to open up her lungs and she could slowly feel how all of her senses slowly came back to her.

She now knew. The family she had spent the last couple of months searching for had found her and now she knew. What now? Did she get to know them? Did they become a family or did they leave things be? Hermione didn't even know if she wanted to get to know them or for them to be a family. Was she a hypocrite? The reason she wanted to find them was to have a family that she felt was her own and someone who she belonged to. But now that she knew them, she didn't. Or maybe she did. In any case she let their past cloud her longing and the one thing she had wanted more than anything.

For almost ten minutes she sat like that, with her head between her knees and dwelled over her predicament, before her spider senses started to tingle and alerted her that someone was nearby.

"Do you mind if I join you?" a familiar deep, smooth voice asked. When she looked up she found Headmaster Snape, or Severus, looking down at her.

Not knowing what to say, she only nodded and watched as he gracefully took a seat on the ground next to her. It was quite a sight to see the normally so poised Professor deem himself to sit on the ground. But so many strange things had happened the last month that she was no longer surprised by anything.

The two of them had never really spoken before today since she had helped to save his life that horrible day at the Battle of Hogwarts. She had not expected them to either, they had never had a very good relationship, if you could even call it that. There had been subtle insults and nicknames, and she could only remember a handful of times when they had been civil to one another and that was only when it had been just the two of them around. But now that very same man turned out to be her godfather, a part of her family, and he was sitting next to her on the ground and she had no idea what to expect.

"Where they upset?" she asked as she decided to break the silence between them.

"I believe they had envisioned a different outcome, but they understood."

"Ever since I came back from Australia in May, all I wanted was to find my birthparents. But it wasn't supposed to be like this, it was supposed to be simple! The people who watched me get torture by a crazy woman are a part of my family and that said family now wants me to become a part of their life and calls me by a name that I have no relation to. I don't even know what to call myself, Hermione or Aria?! I did not ask for this!" by the end of her rant she was out of breath once more and she was mortified that she had just spilled her gut to the Professor.

"Perhaps not, but it is not going to go away just because you want to act like a little school girl and not deal with it instead of being the war hero that you are. And as for your name, it has always been Aria Zabini whether you knew it or not." Severus drawled and he sounded just like the snarky Potions Professor she knew. And he was right, she was behaving like a little girl who was having a tantrum. This situation couldn't be easy for anyone, including her biological family, but she had so many questions and they had had nineteen years to prepare.

"Are they still here?"

"No, they took Blaise back home for the day. I believe Mr. Malfoy went with them as well to keep him company. It has not been an easy day for Blaise either, he has been looking forward to this since the day we told him who you were."

"How long has he known?" she asked, feeling a little ashamed that she had not thought of Blaise.

"Since his first year at Hogwarts. He and Draco have always known who you were, but they had to keep up appearances to protect you."

"What should I do?" she looked at the dark-haired man for some wise words.

"How about you and I go over there, they can talk and you can listen and ask any question you might have. Then you can decide what you want to do."

After having had a moment to herself to breath and some wise words from the man beside her, it was easier to shift through all of the new information in her head. This is what she had wished for. It might not have gone down the way she had imagined or wanted it to and it most certainly changed a lot for her. But now she had a family who wanted to get to know her, to have her be a part of their lives. The situation could have been completely different with them not wanting anything to do with her at all, that could be the reason why they gave her up. However, that was not the case and that is something she should be grateful for.

If they for some reason would not have wanted anything to do with her, whoever they were, she would have been devastated. So really, what reason did she have to be upset? To have had Blaise around her the last couple of weeks has been really nice. With Harry spending a lot of time with Ginny and Ron dedicating himself to Quidditch completely and acting like a douche, it was no secret that she had been feeling a little left out and alone.

Blaise and Draco had made the time without her best friends so much more bearable and it amazed her every time how close they had become. She did not open up to people easily after her not so easy childhood in a world where people looked down at her heritage and she liked to play tough and independent, especially after the war. But with Blaise she has not had that problem. She felt at ease with him and in all honesty, she could do a lot worse than to have him for a brother.