The three siblings sat on Hermione's bed as she fingered the back of the envelope too nervous to open it. "You do it," she said as she passed the yellowing envelope to Theo.
"You sure?" He asked though he didn't give her much time before the seal was broken and a small stack of photographs, mostly muggle, fell into his open hands as he tipped the contents upside down.
Theo didn't look at any of the photographs before passing the pile to Hermione as she was sat in the middle of the boys. The pictures were technically addressed to her, so it only seemed right she be the initial one to flip through them.
Hermione's hands were shaking as she turned the photos over to see the first one. She had only seen one photograph of her mother before, and though she knew she was Willow's twin, she didn't know if they were identical or not. She had no idea what to expect. Hermione turned the first photograph in her hand to see a very pregnant young woman who, though she did resemble the woman she now knew as her aunt, was still quite different. She was smaller, a bit more petite; she had the same long blonde hair, but with a small patch of freckles spattered across her nose and the same deep green eyes as Theo. The photo was wizarding, and the smile on Robyn Greengrass's face was infectious as she rubbed her hand lovingly over her bump and waved at the camera. Hermione twirled the photograph over to see the inscription 'Robyn and AAG 1979.' "She was beautiful," Hermione whispered as she turned the moving memory back over to stroke her finger over her mother's head.
The next photograph had Hermione in tears. It was muggle, taken in a muggle hospital, and Robyn Greengrass was sitting up in a hospital bed with a newborn Hermione in her arms. The baby was barely visible under the blankets, but the look of adoration on her mother's face as Robyn looked into the eyes of her newborn told Hermione all she needed to know. She had been loved. She was loved.
The next phootograph was a closer snapshot of her. Her shocking raven curls now more prominent without a blanket and hat holding them down; the three siblings couldn't contain their giggles at how unruly her hair was even then. Hermione had seen baby pictures of herself of course, but they were pictures from when she was Helen and William Granger's daughter, not Robyn Greengrass and James Potter's daughter. She looked so different. So pale, her rosebud lips and rosy cheeks really set off the 'Snow White' look her mother mentioned in the letter. Her young eyes, wide open in this shot, were definitely not amber.
The next photograph was Hermione snuggled in Willow's arms while she had her own pregnant bump. "How far along?" Hermione asked Theo as she pointed to Willow's bump.
"Daphne's birthday is in October," Theo answered as he took the picture from her.
"She looks radiant," Hermione softly answered.
Theo nodded before they went on to look through the remainder of the photographs.
The next photo was of Hermione being breastfed while her mother looked at her with a somber smile, and the one after was a candid caught unaware as Robyn gave her baby daughter a quick, but loving kiss.
There were a few more with Hermione, her mother and her aunt, various poses and even a couple of wizarding pictures that made Hermione wonder how they had been developed without anyone knowing.
It was obvious which was the last photograph because both ladies were dressed and looked about to leave. Neither of them wore smiles nor had twinkling eyes, and neither wore muggle clothing. Robyn stole one last kiss to her baby's forehead as Willow snapped away right before the pair apparated home.
The next few photographs were of the two sisters as Robyn's stomach grew with each snap. They continued to move in the wizarding way, but Robyn's smile was no longer infectious. It seemed forced, pained, her eyes no longer twinkled, and she looked the part of a broken woman. The three shuffled through a few pictures of the two sisters, baby Daphne and came to baby Theo. This was where Robyn's eyes regained some sparkle as she held her newborn son for the first time. The other various shots were very similar to those of Hermione's baby pictures. Breastfeeding picture, first cuddles, kisses, mother and son - all in the most precious of moments.
As the photographs progressed one caught Harry's eye. "What's this?" he asked as he pulled the next one from the pile.
Hermione turned it over and read the inscription "Me, Theodore, Lily and Harry 1980" Hermione read aloud before turning the photo back over.
She looked as her mother waved at the camera, a soundly sleeping Theo on her chest and Harry in his mother's arms; both babies looked so peaceful, so surrounded by love as their mothers ate their meals and drank their butterbeer. Lily took Harry's hand and waved it at the camera as she smiled that big beautiful smile Harry only had seen in her wedding pictures. It was a picture perfect moment of two young mothers and their babies. "Wow," the boys said in unison.
"Shall we carry on?" Hermione asked after a while. Harry nodded but kept a tight hold on the picture of his mother, unable to return it to the stack.
Hermione flipped to the next photograph that was of Theo and her in the park. "She told me about this, in her letter," Theo said as he ran his fingers over the edges. These particular photos were muggle of course.
"Me too," Hermione whispered. "But, I think I remember it too. I remember a little boy, most likely you. We all called him Teddy. Mum used to talk fondly about him and his mum often."
"Mum always called me Teddy, or Teddy Bear," Theo admitted.
The next few in the stack were of Theo and Hermione in the park and a rare few of them with their mothers. There was even one of Helen and Robyn together. There were birthday picnics as each year passed, and the babies grew into children. Many of the memories encompassed cuddles, scraped knees, crying faces and lots of mud. Hermione and Theo's favourite was where they had been saying goodbye for the week and had been hugging and kissing goodbye; the love between the two was palpable even from the photograph. Another favourite was Hermione with her mother, her birth mother and one of all four of them together. If her mum was still alive she was sure Helen Granger would have been happy to know that this woman had been her birth mother all along and that Robyn had treasured her friendship with Helen as much as she had.
"Do I look like her?" Hermione asked Theo when they got to the last picture, one of a six year old Hermione and five year old Theo building sandcastles, as she tried to put them back in the correct order.
"Shit, haven't you even looked?"
"No, I mean...it wasn't...what if..."
"You're beautiful, 'Mione," Harry answered as he looked up from the picture he was still staring at.
"Yes, even with that Potter hair," Theo joked. "There's a mirror on your bedside table. Why don't you have a look? Besides, you can always glamour yourself back again if you want to," he answered nonchalantly.
"I am who I am. This is the real me."
"I know." Theo smiled.
Harry leaned over to the bedside table and picked up the old mirror. "Merlin, this thing looks ancient, and it's bloody heavy."
"It's pure silver and mother of pearl, Potter," Theo quipped.
Hermione raised her brow at her brother as if she was telling him off.
"Sorry, Harry," Theo corrected himself with a roll of his eyes.
"How do you know what this mirror is made of?" Hermione asked.
"It was mum's," was all Theo could answer before Harry pushed it into her hand.
Hermione didn't have a chance to hesitate, as the charmed mirror was enchanted to open in her presence. When it opened, after being practically shoved into her hands, she had no choice but to gaze at her reflection. Her new reflection.
"Wow," she breathed as her fingers touched every new part of her trying to mentally map these new features out while comparing them with her old ones. Her hair was much bouncier; the curls were far more defined, and the colour wasn't a dull brown like she thought her old colour was. Her eyes were the same shape but gone were the muddy brown irises. She now had the green and blue Greengrass eyes her mother spoke of. There was a thick green ring right around the pupil that faded into a vibrant array of blues. She still had some of her old freckles but only a small scattering over her nose, and she noticed her skin was much paler. All in all, she wasn't disappointed in how she looked, and she thought Snow White was actually rather an appropriate name choice.
oOoOoOo
The door flew open around lunchtime as Ginny stormed in followed quickly by Draco and Luna.
"I couldn't stop her, sorry", Draco said apologetically as their red-headed friend stormed over to the table and threw herself into a chair.
"What's up?" Harry asked as he looked at the three newcomers. "And how did you even get in here?"
"The wards were set to let me in, or back in, I guess. I don't actually know. All I do know is that Red here couldn't get in by herself, so she forced me to let her in.
"What's happened?" Harry asked again.
"What's happened?" Ginny demanded, looking between the three siblings who were still in their pyjamas. "Oh good Godric, you've not seen it have you?" She asked as her eyes fell on the unopened paper that sat in front of her.
"We've been a bit preoccupied," Theo answered defensively as he gravitated towards Luna and kissed her forehead. "Hey baby, you okay?" he asked quietly as Ginny carried on seething behind him.
"Is it that bad?" Hermione asked.
"You could say that," Draco answered grimly as he moved closer to Hermione.
Harry picked up the paper right then, there was no use putting it off any longer. "Might as well see what all the fuss is about then," he muttered as Theo and Hermione gathered around him to read it for themselves.
They weren't sure what to expect, but they definitely were not expecting to be met with front page news that screamed 'POTTER HEIR OR NOTT?". The three siblings groaned in unison at Rita Skeeter's audacity before Hermione carried on reading the article.
"It is with absolute displeasure that I have to relay to my loyal readers the unfortunate events that happened inside of Hogwarts walls just yesterday afternoon.
I am here to inform the delightful wizarding population of Great Britain that muggle-born Hermione Granger is no more. Sources confirm that a task set by beloved Potions Master, Horace Slughorn, went severely amiss, and Miss Granger, who was paired with none other than Draco Malfoy for the task, set her sights on a family tree potion that revealed more than our favourite muggle-born bargained for.
Let me be the first to tell you that Miss Granger, formerly known as none other than Adaline Alegra Greengrass, is the secret love child of one Robyn Nott and James Potter, may they both rest in peace. Now, readers may be confused due to dates, but let it be known that Mrs. Nott was in fact married to the esteemed Rowley Nott when Miss Granger was born making Nott Snr. her legitimate 'birth' father.
Being the well established reporter that I am, I searched the archives to the birth and marriage records, and it seems that Mrs. Nott was four months pregnant with the bastard Potter child when she wed Mr. Nott.
Why wasn't a contract drawn up with the young Potter heir? Why did James Potter go on to marry muggle-born Lily Evans? Why did they abandon their daughter in the muggle world? How does Mr. Nott feel about all of this? To find out the answers, and more on the dynamics of the relationship between the three siblings, turn to page two."
"Fuck!" Theo cursed loudly as Hermione finished the article.
"Should I read on?" Hermione asked as she looked Draco in the eye.
Draco shrugged "It's just more of the same, Love."
Hermione read on anyway. Apparently more of the same was for Rita bloody Skeeter to continue her previous week's work in trying to convince her readers that Hermione Granger was dating not one but two pureblood princes despite the fact one was her half brother. The article was probably the most unflattering light she had ever been painted in, which was saying something. Hermione thought back to the time she had been written in a supposed love triangle between Harry and Viktor Krum in fourth year. That all seemed like child's play now.
Theo was back to plotting ways to seriously harm the witch, and Hermione didn't have any more fire in her to stop him. She was fed up of being front page news, fed up of being the sole reason the gossip mill was still grinding, fed up of the pointing and stares. The whispers, all the lies. She was just fed up to the back teeth of Rita bloody Skeeter and was already planning on finding a tiny jar to trap the venomous witch in, again.
After the students managed to calm Theo down, which took a considerable amount of time, they dove into the meal the elves left for them, filling up on the delicious treats before Draco, Ginny, and Luna excused themselves away for classes with many promises to return for the evening meal.
Hermione took this quiet, and thankful, opportunity to soak in the large tub that the girls' bathroom offered while Theo and Harry played gobstones. She took the Malfoy family book of healing that Draco had given her for Christmas and lay in a bath full of bubbles. She quickly forgot about her worries, all the events of the past day, and finally relaxed.
oOoOoOo
Draco, Luna, and Ginny arrived after classes finished, just as promised, though they had Daphne in tow. The seven teenagers ate their evening meal in relative silence until Harry asked Ginny about Ron and how the rest of the school had taken the news.
Ron had apparently been indifferent to the startling news, but the rest of the school were acting as suspected, just as they did any time Rita Skeeter released an article about one of the famous golden trio.
With it decided, the three siblings would go back to classes the next morning. After a long, and emotionally draining day, Hermione excused herself for bed earlier than anyone expected. Daphne left to sleep in her own bed for the night, and Harry and Ginny decided to go back to Gryffindor tower leaving the Room of Requirement to become the Room of Sanctuary once more for the remaining two couples.
oOoOoOo
The students got themselves ready for breakfast, albeit slowly as Hermione and Theo tried to get out of going into the Great Hall where they knew they would be made a spectacle of, but with no food served by the elves in the room as had been done the day before, they were left with no choice but to show their faces to the rest of the school.
Things were fine for about the first ten minutes or so at breakfast. People did look and stare at the new brother and sister, and many pointed with hushed or outright questions about the validity of the article and the potion, which was fine by Hermione since it was the very least she had expected.
What wasn't fine though were the two howlers that were delivered that morning. One to herself and one to Theo.
Theo's was dropped first. The owl was his father's and knew him quite well, but when it dropped one red envelope in front of its familiar recipient and flew to the other side of the room to drop the other one off in front of Hermione, the occupants of the hall held their breaths.
Theo's was the first to open "WHAT ON EARTH HAS BEEN GOING ON IN THAT DUMP THEY CALL A SCHOOL? THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE TEACHING YOU, NOT PARADING YOU IN THE PROPHET EVERY OTHER BLOODY DAY. IF I'M NOT READING ABOUT YOU BEING IN LOVE WITH THE MUDBLOOD - AND REALLY THEODORE YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO BE NEAR FILTH LIKE HER KIND - THEN I'M READING UTTER HOGWASH ABOUT HER BEING SOME SECRET LOVE CHILD OF YOUR MOTHER'S. I'M WARNING YOU NOW THEO, IF YOU SO MUCH AS LOOK NEAR HER, AND I FIND OUT ABOUT IT...THINK ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES. THINK ABOUT THE FAMILY NAME. THINK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE WORKING FOR."
The moment the envelope tore itself up everyone in the castle moved to stare at Hermione as hers began to open, the same voice screamed once again. "WELL WELL WELL MISS GRANGER. I SEE YOU'RE STILL PERSISTING SINCE THE LAST TIME WE MET. YOU REMEMBER THAT DON'T YOU? DO KEEP IT IN MIND IF YOU THINK YOU WILL BE GETTING YOUR HANDS ON THE NOTT VAULTS, YOU MIGHT NOT BE SO LUCKY NEXT TIME - ILLEGITIMATE CHILD OF MY DECEASED WIFE OR NOT YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME BUT A STAIN ON MY NAME. DESPITE WHAT THE PROPHET SAYS. YOU ARE NOT, AND NEVER WILL BE, A NOTT HEIR. UNTIL NEXT TIME."
Hermione stared at the place where the envelope had been long after it had disintegrated into nothing. Most of the students and professors had quietly gone back to their own business.
The only silver lining she could find to this already horrific day was that she had Transfiguration next then Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professors McGonagall and Snape were not to be trifled with. Merlin, she would give anything to sit through three hours of Snape drawling on about werewolves again if it meant no more Howlers from Death Eaters that contained not so subtle death threats.