Chapter 14

December 1977

She could sense there shift in the Wizarding world was happening quickly. What once used to be offhanded remarks in the Daily Prophet was turning into full blown articles on the hassles of Muggleborns and their purpose in their world. It was turning into students openly demeaning others based on their blood status. It was turning into the calm before the storm.

She knew that a war was coming; they all did. But they held their breath, as they prayed it would not come to that. They held their breath and hoped for the best.

But it wasn't a surprise that precautions were being taken, and that the world was in a pre-war state. It wasn't a surprise that she never went anywhere without holding her wand tightly in her hand, looking over her shoulder at every turn. It wasn't a surprise that Remus, despite knowing how capable she was, stayed with her so that the two of them could take on any offender together.

It wasn't a surprise that Lily and James had to double patrols because students were being attacked after hours. It wasn't a surprise that Dumbledore and the staff tended to be more present among the student body than they had before.

Times were changing, and it terrified her more than anything.

So when Frank and Alice approached her, she wasn't really surprised. She knew they loved each other more than anything; they had been together since second year after all. They had said that they didn't want to wait any longer, and they just wanted to be married.

Neither did the fact that they were all but planning on eloping over the holidays. It wasn't really eloping, as more than half the wizarding world was invited to the ceremony, what with a Prewett marrying a Longbottom. It didn't help that Frank's terrifying mother was in charge of planning the ceremony.

Part of her felt sorry for her friend, but Alice had assured her that none of it mattered to her, as long as she was married to Frank. And Alice Prewett was a fierce little thing. If anyone was capable of taking on Augusta as a mother-in-law, it would have been her.

Remus had hesitated before asking her to the wedding, and she understood. It was the first event that they would be attending as a couple, and despite his blood-status and her lack of interest in societal norms, it was basically claiming that that Remus was courting her, or some garbage like that, which entailed the notion that the two of them were well on their way to their own engagement.

Not that she didn't care for Remus deeply, because she did. She had no regrets about the last few months, and honestly, she could see herself marrying him one day. And let the old witches gossip their sad tales. It wasn't as if they had anything better to do.

But he asked her anyways, despite being worried about what it would mean for her, and she snogged him thoroughly at that, as her arms circled his waist and drew his body close to hers. He had simply grinned after that, and made a joke about needing to invite her to weddings more, and before she could protest, he kissed her again.

And so they attended Frank and Alice's wedding, hand in hand.

When the two of them walked into the gardens, she remembered thinking it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The Longbottom estate had always been gorgeous, but with white rose petals everywhere, and candles floating in the sky as sections of the garden were draped in white shear fabric, she claimed she had never seen a more beautiful sight.

As bridesmaids, Lily and Marlene wouldn't be spending the ceremony with the boys, but with Frank having asked them to be his groomsmen, with James as his best man, and Emmaline Vance as Alice's maid of honour.

It didn't help that throughout the entire ceremony James couldn't take his eyes off of Lily, and she seemed to be returning his smile brightly, that one would have thought it was the two of them getting married that day. She wondered if something had changed before the break, but before she could ponder upon it further, Alice appeared at the beginning of the garden. As she walked down the aisle, Marlene could sense old magic flowing through the garden, filling every bone in her body. She wondered if it was like this for the others. Lily seemed enchanted with all of this, and as Alice approached, in her white flowing robes, she felt her heart swell with happiness for her friends. Even stern Augusta seemed to be smiling slightly at her son and almost daughter-in-law standing hand in hand as they recited their vows to each other. She could see magic flowing through their veins in response, and as the wizard who was preceding over the ceremony stated the charm to bind them, a shower of stars fell over their heads.

Marlene glanced over at Remus, who seemed to be watching the ceremony intently, and when he caught her staring, he grinned at her. As the couple walked down the aisle together, and the reception began to pick up after a few dances, Remus took her hand in his, as he guided her to the dance floor. She placed her hand on his shoulder as the other was intertwined in his hand, and he placed his own on her waist, holding her close.

"You look beautiful, Marlene," Remus said softly to her, as they glided over the dance floor.

"You don't look half bad yourself," she teased, as she smiled. He laughed at that as they continued to move together. She felt so at peace like that, as if the two of them had found their place, side by side, and in that moment Marlene thought that if she ever got to her friend's stage where she was ready for marriage, then the man beside her would definitely be who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. And as he gazed at her adoringly, she wondered if he felt the same.

As his mouth descended on hers, she let the thought slip out of her mind, as she stopped thinking about the future, and focused on the present and on Remus.

One thing was certain; Marlene McKinnon had never been happier.

Draco didn't know what to think when he saw the second article in front of him. The first he could have dismissed as mindless gossip that was entirely unsupported, yet now everything felt different, what with Hermione having chosen to give an interview of her own.

War Heroine Speaks Out: The Truth About Her Birth

By Parvati Patil

In a strange turn of events, a recent article has come out claiming that none other than War Heroine Extraordinaire Hermione Granger is not a muggleborn as previously thought, but the daughter of Remus Lupin and the late Marlene McKinnon. As this prior article did not paint Ms Granger in a pleasant light, she has chosen to give me an interview to release her side of the story.

Can you tell me how accurate the story mentioned was?

Partially. The truth about my blood status is correct.

Would you be able to elaborate on what you claim to be true?

I only found out recently. I lost my parents recently, my adoptive ones, and I went to their old home here, so I could feel close to them. Marlene McKinnon was my parent's neighbour, and there was proof that she left me with my parents just before she, uh, was murdered.

You mentioned that you have proof about your birth parents – can you show me something which proves the validity of your story?

I have a copy of my birth certificate, and I've witnessed my mother's memories first hand, up until the moments before her death. I can show you the birth certificate if you wish, along with the documents Remus filed to have me legally established as his daughter. In that, the validity of the birth certificate is proved as true.

Why now? You're a grown woman with a well established career. If not to boost your standing in society as previously claimed, then why come out with it at all?

As I said, I only just found out a few weeks ago, so it's not like I could have done this years ago. I mean, I knew I was adopted, just not who my parents were. And honestly, I could care less about what it meant in terms of my marriage. That's not something I'm even thinking of at the moment. I did it because Remus is family. Call it selfish of me to wish I still had a family, legally, after all of this if you will, but it's the truth. I don't care about the money or whatever other lies were spun to try and establish why I did this.

The memories you saw; can you mention what the contents were?

Mainly my mother's school days. How she fell in love with my father, and life with her friends back in the late seventies. It's nice, because I feel like I've gotten to know her in a way, even though she isn't here with me today.

As a throughout researcher, I have viewed the documents mentioned in this article, and personally talked to the wizard who drew them up and validated her birth certificate. In any case, this interview provided some much needed insight to the changes in our beloved war heroine's complicated life. And after a war filled with losses, Ms Granger's intentions seem innocent, despite earlier claims. To me, it seems like the witch just wished to be reunited with family, which after the war, can you really blame her?

"Stop huffing about, Draco," he heard Theo say as he handed him a drink of firewhisky, "Quite frankly, it's ill-mannered."

Draco glared at his friend, "Did you see this?" as he threw the newspaper at the two of them. They were over at his home, as he summoned them due to the crisis he seemed to be facing. Unfortunately for him, both of them were far too amused with the entire situation to be any help.

Blaise snorted, "Of course we have. All of England probably has by now. Is this what has you all worked up? Perfect muggleborn Granger isn't so muggleborn anymore?"

"I have a date with her," he confessed, "Or at least I did before all of this happened."

"Why would you assume it's off?" Theo asked, confused, "It says she's known for a few weeks about her parents. Meaning when the two of you decided to go on a date, she had already known that she wished to go on that date. How does one article change any of that?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. I just feel so uncertain about all of this. I just – hell if I know."

Blaise snorted, "Go talk to her, you dumbass. It's almost time for your date anyways. What are you doing, sitting around sulking with us? Go get ready and pick up the girl you've been pinning over for far too long. And better yet, talk to her about all of this, and find out if it changes anything, because I can't think of a reason it would."

Draco glared at his friends, as he took their advice and headed up the stairs to change. He still did have a date to get ready for, after all. And he would be damned if he allowed this to ruin his chances with the woman he had wanted to date for so long.

Hermione had spotted Draco standing at the table the moment she had walked into the restaurant. She smiled softly, as he pulled out her chair for her and then sat down after.

"You look lovely tonight," he told her honestly, without any hint of the banter they had going on between them.

She felt her cheeks colour slightly said in response, "You look pretty good yourself, Malfoy."

He raise a brow at that, as the waiter came over and poured two glasses of wine. Hermione looked at him in surprise as she recognized the bottle as one of her favourites.

"I do my research," he said simply, as he raised his glass to her.

She lifted her own in response and took a sip.

"I feel like I need to address the article," she said softly, "I should have told you about it sooner, Draco."

"It's none of my business," he said, a little too quickly.

"It is. We're on a date, and you should have found out through me, and not the little cockroach," she said, anger flitting over her face.

"So it's true?" he asked, sounding curious.

"Does it change anything?" she said, analyzing his face.

"No," he said firmly, "It doesn't change the fact that I've been attracted to you for a long time, the least of which has been our time at work. It doesn't change the fact that I enjoy working with you, and how I feel when you're at ease, lost in one of those books. It doesn't change the fact that I like bantering with you and watching you get riled up. It doesn't change anything of how I feel about you, not if it doesn't change anything for you."

"It doesn't," she said softly. "Not a thing. I'm still a muggleborn in all but a legal sense. I was still raised by muggles and my predisposition will probably always involve thinking of things from their perspective as well."

"It's still a part of you," he said softly, "And that's okay, Hermione. You don't need to give up your heritage just because you know the truth now. I don't think anyone would want that for you."

She felt her heart beat faster as he said that. His words always did have a way of affecting her. The conversation shifted towards them both talking about what they had been up to since they had attended school. He told her how Bill agreed to take her on to train him and how he used the opportunity to travel to foreign countries.

She had sighed wistfully at that, and he had promised her that in the future, should she want to, he would take to wherever she wished to go when he went on work trips, and she smiled. He had quickly thrown in that she could always go without him if that was what she wanted, as if he were afraid of insulting her. She had placed a hand over his at that, to assure him that it was okay.

The conversation seemed to flow freely at that point, and Hermione found herself happier than she had been in long time. It felt so natural with him, and she was enjoying herself immensely.

After dinner, he had walked her back to the entrance of Grimmauld Place. She had offered to invite him in, but he shook his head, "I wouldn't want to intrude. I had a great time tonight, Hermione, and I would love to take you out again."

She smiled as she said, "I would like that," she said softly, as he moved closely toward her.

She felt her breathe catch in her throat as she angled her mouth upwards, and his met hers within seconds. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his gently on her waist.

They pulled away moments later and he smiled at her, "I'll let you go, so you can go inside before you get too cold. See you at work tomorrow?"

"See you at work tomorrow," she confirmed, biting her lips ever so slightly as she smiled. "Good night, Draco."

"Good night, Hermione," he said in a gentle voice.

As she walked inside Grimmauld Place, and took off her heels, she saw Remus waiting up for her on the couch.

"What are you still doing up?" she asked in surprise as she saw him.

"Just wanted to see how your date went," he said softly as she joined him on the couch.

She blushed slightly, as he asked her that, "Are you mad I didn't tell you I went out with him?"

He shook his head, "Of course not, Hermione. My intention is never to try and tell you how to live your life. From the smile on your face, you seem like you had a great time, and if it's Malfoy who makes you feel that way, then who am I to tell you who you can or cannot date? I know you wouldn't be with him if he wasn't a good guy, nor would you sit back and do nothing if he said something stupid. I know you don't need me to act as a father, but I just wanted to make sure you got home safely."

"I had a really good time," she admitted, "We talked all night about things from books, to history, to potions, and everything and anything. It was absolutely wonderful."

"I'm glad," Remus told her with a smile. "Are you going to tell your friends?"

She sighed, "I dunno. Harry would probably be far more amenable to it. And Ron has grown up quite a bit since school, but I don't know how he'll react to Draco. I don't think he would be too pleased though."

"He'll come around," Remus assured her.

"I hope so," she said softly, "I don't want to lose his friendship over this.

"You won't," he told her. "He cares about you far too much to let this come between the two of you. Now, it is getting late, so you probably should head up to bed."

She kissed his cheek softly, "Thank you for waiting up for me."

"Always," he told her, and Hermione made her way to bed.

A/N: I did a lot of research trying to find out Alice Longbottom's maiden name, but I don't think J.K. Rowling has confirmed it yet. A lot of sources on the internet were guessing Prewett, and I went along with that.