* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART THREE
The Eighth Year
Chapter 45: Family Ties
Another night was spent searching through books in Potter Manor. Some of the group were excited about this, but Harry was not among them. Now that March was here, the weather was much better for Quidditch practice, and he was already missing one practice a week as it was because of his heavy workload. At this rate, Gryffindor was going to get thrashed in their next match.
That night started slowly, and nobody spoke to each other for the first little while. It seemed that everyone was scribbling away apart from Harry, who was trying not to fall asleep and was daydreaming about being on a broom with the wind flowing through his hair.
"Guys..."
Everyone turned to Neville, who was staring at a page in the book with his quill hovering over his parchment; it was dripping ink all over his work.
Hermione made a face and cleared the splodges of ink away, "Yeah?" she said.
"Little exercise for you all here...just trust me and play along," Neville said as he put his quill back in the inkpot.
"Okay..." Harry said slowly.
Neville looked up for the first time, "Everyone, put your hand up."
He looked at Neville like he was insane, but all the same, Harry raised his right hand, and everybody else did the same (apart from Sadie, who was left-handed). Theo chuckled at his girlfriend and affectionately said, "Freak."
Sadie rolled her eyes, and Neville began with his experiment, "Okay, now if you grew up in an ordinary muggle house with no magical history or concealment charms, put your hand down."
Hermione and Lilly put their hands down instantly, and Harry frowned, "Well, that depends. I lived in a muggle house surrounding by blood wards. Do they count as concealment charms?"
"Put your hand down," Neville said with a chuckle, "Blood wards are such a subtle form of magic that they wouldn't have affected anything."
Harry put his hand down as Neville had advised, but everybody else still had their hands in the air.
Neville then asked his second question, "Put your hand down if your house is muggle-built."
No hands dropped at this, and Neville then glanced around at the people whose hands were still left up, "Put your hand down if your family has occupied that house for less than 50 years," Neville said. This time Sadie dropped her hand.
"Perfect," Neville said when he noticed that the four people left with their hands in the air were Draco, Daphne, Theo and Susan, three perfect pureblood subjects and a half-blood.
"Okay, you guys, come over here, please," Neville said, and his four confused friends did so.
"I hate to ask, but how many of you have suffered premature death of children, squib births or even premature adult death in your families?" Neville asked, and he was surprised at the cooperation he got from them.
"Well, my family has a history of miscarriages and stillbirths," Draco said, "The Black women, that is, all because of deformities caused by inbreeding."
Daphne nodded, "Mine too. My mother had several miscarriages and a stillbirth. She also had two sisters who didn't live past five years old."
Susan nodded, "According to my family tree, I had two brothers who didn't live past two years of age, and I know there is a history of infant mortality in my family."
Theo shrugged, "I had an older brother who died when he was six and I had a couple of cousins who died as babies. It's pretty common in wizarding families."
"Yes, I know, but I think I just figured out the cause," Neville said, he was pretty excited, and he now had everyone crowded around the desk he was working at.
"How many of you use paint charms to redecorate your houses?" Neville asked. The question seemed random, but it served a purpose.
"Uh, well, my Mother used paint charms to redecorate the house not long after I was born. Why?" Daphne said. She was confused by the odd question.
Neville shook his head, "I'll explain in a minute. What about the rest of you?"
"Malfoy Manor has been unchanged since it was repainted in the 19th century," Draco said.
Theo nodded in agreement, "Nott Manor is the same; it's never been repainted."
"Bones Manor is much the same," Susan said with a shrug, "But I haven't lived there since I was a baby. I grew up in my Aunt Amelia's house."
"The siblings you lost, were they older than you then?" Neville asked.
Susan nodded, "They died before I was even born. My parents were quite old when they had me."
"What about Grimmauld Place, Harry?" Neville asked as he turned to the boy next to him.
"It got repainted when the Order of the Phoenix decided to use it as its base," Harry said without the faintest idea where Neville was going with this.
"Sadie?"
"Well, my family built our house when they moved to England in the 60s," Sadie said with a frown, "And it has been redecorated a few times since then."
"My house is a muggle house with muggle paint," Lilly piped up.
Hermione laughed, "Yep, mine too!"
"I know what it is!" Neville said, "Wizards are behind the times with everything else, right you guys?" he aimed this question at Lilly, Hermione and Harry.
Hermione nodded and took control of answering this question, "Massively, I mean scientifically, they aren't as advanced, or in technology for that matter. We use a steam engine to get pupils to Hogwarts; muggles use much faster trains. The wizarding dress sense is very old fashioned, as is the fact we have high-status families that dominate the political world. It's all very-"
"Victorian," Neville cut Hermione off, "Exactly Hermione, it's Victorian! The old manors and houses don't even have electricity; they are still lit by gas lamps. Lilly made a joke once about not being able to charge her phone here, but it's not funny. Think about the last time these houses were rewired or repainted."
"What are you getting at here, Neville?" Draco asked impatiently.
"Wizards are behind the times in everything else," Neville said, "So it would make sense that they were behind in decorating their houses too."
"Neville," Lilly said with wide eyes as realisation dawned on her, "You don't think..."
"I do," Neville said, "I mean, think about it. It makes sense."
"What makes sense?" Harry and Draco asked at the same time, both in a slightly impatient tone of voice.
"How do paint charms work? They can't just conjure paint out of thin air, can they?" Neville asked slowly.
Lilly shook her head, "Like Gamps law, the paint has to exist somewhere before a charm can be used to paint it onto the walls."
"And where does this paint come from?" Neville asked his wizarding friends.
"Stores sometimes," Daphne replied with a frown, "Mostly from the basement or the attic. It keeps for years."
"So you have no idea how long the paint you use has been hanging about for," Neville said with a shake of his head, "I think the paint is the problem…I think it contains lead."
"Yeah, it does. So?" Draco said. He didn't understand what the problem with this was.
"WHAT?" Hermione and Lilly cried in surprise.
Even Harry knew the significance of that; he had paid attention in muggle Primary school, "Seriously?!"
"So what?" Daphne asked.
"Lead is highly poisonous!" Hermione and Neville said. Harry nodded fervently to back them up.
"It was used in the paint during the Victorian era in the muggle world, and the infant mortality rate was significantly higher. The spores of the paint caused deformations during pregnancy, miscarriages, children born deformed…everything you have experienced. The moment the muggles realised how poisonous it was, they got rid of it, and it hasn't been used since," Hermione explained.
"It would make sense," Neville said, "I mean, look at my family. The Longbottoms haven't had infertility problems for decades, and we've lived in houses in Godric's Hollow in that time. Those houses are constantly being repainted and decorated. They aren't anywhere near as old as the pureblood mansions most Slytherins live in, and when my family did have fertility problems, it was when we lived in Longbottom House, which is Victorian. Then there's Daphne, her house was redecorated when her Mother moved in, and she's not an only child like the others."
"It does make sense," Draco said slowly, "I mean, my family only started to have fertility problems from the early 19th century onwards, which was when the house was painted with lead for the first time. I looked at everything else to find out what it could have been, but the paint never crossed my mind."
"If it is the paint, what are you going to do?" Sadie asked.
Neville didn't seem to know how to answer that question yet, but after a pause, he said, "Well, I'd have to test it first, but I'm 99% sure it is the paint. I suppose I'd take it to the Prophet and then the Ministry."
"The Muggle Government banned the sale of lead paint in the UK in 1992," Hermione piped up, "But it was still in older properties. These days' renovators have to get rid of it if they come across it in an old house."
"Lead paint is hazardous to children under the age of six," Harry added. He didn't know how he remembered the strange things he did from his miserable days at Muggle school; "It can stunt their development and cause health problems that can cause death."
"And it would make sense that if it stunts development, it would also stunt magical development," Neville added.
Lilly's eyes widened, "So it could also be the reason why there are more squibs in those families."
"It also damages fertility in both women and men," Hermione said. Everyone was intrigued and excited by this revelation because it could change so many lives.
Susan nodded eagerly, "I mean, it makes sense. It would cause infertility in women, thus affecting the womb and increasing the amount of miscarriages-"
"But if it also affects men, then it would make it hard for the woman to get pregnant too," Sadie added, "It makes so much sense. Why has no one thought of it before?"
"Because people are so out of touch with the muggle world that it would never have occurred to them that they shared a problem like this," Neville said simply.
Harry added, "And everybody is so busy looking for a huge problem that they don't think of little things like how a house is decorated. But I have to raise one worrying point; Andromeda had all of these problems in a fairly new house. If the paint is the cause, then that means the damage is already done for the likes of Draco."
"No, it doesn't," Draco said, "Because the wizarding world is advanced when it comes to healing and medical magic. Once we know the cause, we can find a cure. That's the way it works here. The question is, what do we do now? This is huge. But it fits in with my potions project immensely."
"And mine about squibs in prominent pureblood families," Harry piped up.
"Mine too," Sadie said with a sheepish smile, "About the use of fertility potions in pureblood women."
"It kind of fits in with mine too, about the lifespan of pureblood witches and wizards," Theo added.
Neville laughed, "Does anyone else want in on my ground-breaking theory for a good grade in their potions project?"
The others all laughed too. This was huge, and it got everybody so excited that they knew there was no way they could get back to work, so Neville decided to take it back to Hogwarts and try to figure out what to do next, with a stop at the Hogs Head for a celebratory drink first of course.
"I'm going to stay," Hermione said, "I need more information."
Draco smiled at her, "I'll stay too. I want to look into Nev's theory a bit more. I'm going to have a wander around the older parts of this manor, examine the walls and do some tests."
"Make sure you record them properly so I can use them in my project," Neville said.
Draco rolled his eyes, "Of course I will, Longbottom. I'm an expert in Potions. I know how to conduct an experiment."
"Just checking," Neville said cheekily as he made for the door. Lilly, Daphne and Harry headed off too with a plan to stop off for a drink to celebrate. Sadie kissed Theo goodbye and said she'd head off too.
When they were gone, only Hermione, Draco, Theo and Susan were left. Theo hated working, but he groaned and slammed his fifth book shut, "Nev just shot my theory to pieces. I think I'm going to have to change my whole project."
Under most circumstances, Hermione would have helped, but she was too busy trying to find some useful information as it was.
"I doubt you'll have to change the whole project," Susan said as she glanced at Theo's draft paper, "I mean you probably can't argue that house-elves were part of the reason for premature death, but you can change it to a study of the lifespan of wizards and witches. Talk about the different things that affect it, like lead paint and dark magic."
"Susan, you're a lifesaver," Theo said as he kissed her on both cheeks and hurried to a different section of the library, he had been looking in all of the wrong books.
Another hour passed quietly. Draco left to do some tests and had been gone for about half an hour when he came back with both good and bad news, "Well, all of the older parts of the house have lead paint, which is going to have to be fixed. But I got to thinking, my bedroom in Malfoy Manor was painted before I was born. Maybe that explains why I'm alive, and it probably means the paint hasn't had too much of an effect on my lifespan."
"That makes sense," Theo said, "It's probably the case in all of our houses. Who doesn't redecorate a kid's room at some point when they are young after all?"
"I'll relay the findings to Nev; he can try and figure out the hard part."
"What's the hard part?" Susan asked.
Draco replied, "Figuring out why some children from the same family and generation lived, and others died."
"Hmm, that does sound difficult," Susan mused.
Theo said, "Well, it's his theory; it's only fair that he has to do the hard part," he flicked through a few pages and then snorted.
"What?" Draco asked nosily as he sunk into a seat next to his best friend.
"Just reading about my family, we were a bunch of charlatans and cons," Theo said with an amused chuckle. He unstuck a photograph from the book and showed it to Draco, "Look at us."
Draco laughed as he looked at the picture; he recognised only one person in it, Theo's Father, who definitely looked the part of a con artist.
"Hey, look at her. She looks like Hermione," Draco realised.
Theo looked over, "Oh yeah, so she does. Oi Hermione, come here and look at this."
Hermione and Susan both walked over, and the four of them squinted at the photo. Draco and Theo were right because a young girl stood beside Theo's Father with long hair that looked unruly like Hermione's. The picture was black and white, so Hermione couldn't tell what colour the girl's hair was.
"I don't know who she is," Theo admitted, "That's my grandfather and grandmother," he pointed to two middle-aged people standing at the back of the photograph; a grand manor was visible faintly as the backdrop. He then pointed out his father in the middle and his twin aunts Eugenie and Beatrice to the left of him, "But I don't know the girl on the right. She's not in any other photographs."
"Says here in the caption, "The Nott family, from left to right: Eugenie Nott (14), Beatrice Nott (14), Thaddeus Nott (42), Alfred Nott (16), Gertrude Nott (40), Elizabeth Nott (10). Photographed in the year 1971."
Hermione frowned, "Wait a minute...if that girl was 10 in 1971, she had to have been born in 1961."
"Yeah, so?" Theo didn't get the point; neither did Draco or Susan, for that matter.
"My mother was born in 1961, and she's called Elizabeth, and that girl...she looks exactly like I did at 10," Hermione said with wide eyes.
"Hermione..." Susan said as she cottoned on to her friend's line of thought, "You don't think that your Mums a witch, do you?"
"I don't know," Hermione admitted with a frown, "I mean, she accepted the fact that I was a witch very easily. She was the one who talked my dad around and let me go to Hogwarts, but I wiped her memory after the war and sent her to Australia for her own protection. If she were a witch, she wouldn't have let me do that."
"Did she know you were doing it?" Susan asked, and Hermione shook her head.
"Witch or not, if she didn't know, she couldn't have done anything about it. We can't undo memory charms; look at Lockhart," Susan said. She bit her lip as she did when concentrating.
"But if she was a witch, why would she not tell me? Or let on anything about the Wizarding World? And we live in an entirely muggle way. I mean, my mother is a dentist; it doesn't make any sense!" Hermione was freaking out a little now.
Draco put his arm around her, "You're right, Hermione, it doesn't make any sense, and it's probably a coincidence, but if it puts your mind at ease, we'll have a look in the tapestry room at Nott Manor."
Hermione nodded, and Theo said, "I'll take you there, Hermione."
"Can I come too?" Susan piped up.
Theo glanced at her, "I suppose so," he said. They all left the Manor and were given the coordinates to Nott Manor. They apparated there and slipped into a tall, foreboding Manor that had an abandoned feel to it. The tapestry room was on the first floor, and it was the most impressive room that Hermione had seen in a wizarding house.
This tapestry seemed to be alive. It was spread across three walls in a small square room, and the walls were black with the lines from the tapestry in silver.
"Wow," Hermione said as she stared around the room.
Theo smirked. He was proud of this one room in his familial home, "Oh, and this is magical paint, by the way, no lead," he informed them as Susan looked at the walls suspiciously.
At that point, a little girl ran into the room and yelled, "Theo!"
Theo grinned and picked her up, "Hey, Lace!"
"What you doing here?"
"Oh, you know, busy working," Theo said, he ruffled her hair, "What you doing out of bed, you menace?"
"I heard the door," Lacey said, "Mum said it was either you or a murderer."
Draco snorted in amusement, "Little tip for you, Lace, don't run towards murderers."
Lacey grinned, "Hey, Draco!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Theo, "Introductions?"
"Oh, this is my sister, Lacey," Theo said offhandedly.
"You have a sister?" Susan asked in surprise.
"Half-sister, but yeah," Theo shrugged.
"You never mention her," Hermione pointed out.
"I don't talk about my personal stuff, do I?" Theo said with another shrug, "Hey Lace, where's the devil herself?"
"I would appreciate it if you did not refer to me as such in front of my daughter, Theodore," Salvadora Nott said as she swept into the room in a nightdress, "Go back to bed, Lacey."
"Kay Mum," Lacey beamed at Theo, "Bye, Theo!"
"Bye, baby," Theo said, he kissed her on the head, and she dashed out of the room.
Susan raised an eyebrow at Theo and whispered, "Holy shit, your stepmum is hot."
"Shut up, Susan," Theo said with a roll of his eyes.
Salvadora smirked, "What are you doing here?"
"I live here. I'm the heir to everything, remember?" Theo retorted.
"Yes, but you are meant to be in school," Salvadora said pointedly.
"True, but I'm trying to work out if my best mates girlfriend is actually my cousin," Theo said with a roll of his eyes, "Which is very likely because Father was an idiot."
"Yes, he was," Salvadora agreed as her eyes fell on Hermione.
Theo snorted, "I'm allowed to call him an idiot. I didn't ask to get born. You, however, married him for his money, might I add?"
"I did no such-"
"You were the age I am now when you married him," Theo scoffed, "You married him for his money."
"Think what you will," Salvadora said with a sigh, "Just remember that I could have asked him to write you out of his will, but I did not. You still inherit everything."
"And I still let you live here, so although I'm an asshole, I'm not a complete dick," Theo said matter of factly.
"You only let me live here for Lacey's sake," Salvadora pointed out.
"What can I say? I have a soft spot for the kid," Theo said honestly.
"Once you two are quite finished bickering, we are here for a reason, Theo," Draco pointed out.
"Yes, we are," Theo said, giving Salvadora a pointed look.
She scoffed and left the room. Theo shook his head in disbelief.
"I could never work out if you two genuinely hated each other or if you secretly wanted to fuck her," Draco muttered irritably.
"What so you haven't shagged her?" Susan cut in.
"No, I haven't shagged her; she's my stepmother!" Theo exclaimed, "Do you think I'm a walking cliché or something?"
"Well…" Susan said with a shrug.
"She is hot," Hermione admitted.
"Yes, she – Hermione!" Draco exclaimed when he realised who had said that.
"And young," Susan added.
"And the woman who married my father for his money even though she knew exactly what kind of predatory monster he was," Theo muttered, "Anyone who wants money enough to walk into that kind of relationship has fucking problems."
"Fair point," Draco agreed as Theo lifted his wand and tapped it on a crest at the top of the middle wall.
There were several lined up around the top of each wall. The crest featured a snake, a wand and the name "NOTT" was written underneath it. Hermione watched in amazement, the wall began to change, and it took Hermione a moment to realise that it was zooming in one part of the large family tree.
The room seemed to read Theo's mind as it zoomed in on one part, particularly the part that concerned Elizabeth Nott. There was an oil pastel painting of her face, like on the Black family tapestry. The portrait portrayed the girl at the same age she was in the picture they had seen in the book.
"Elizabeth Nott. 1961-1971."
"She died the same year that photo was taken," Draco said as Hermione frowned at the image.
"So she can't be your mother," Theo said.
Susan saw the look on Hermione's face and said, "You think something's up, Hermione, don't you?"
Hermione nodded, "It was something Daphne said yesterday…about accidental squib deaths that weren't so accidental."
"Well, let's look at birth and death records from that time then," Susan said as they all left and apparated back to Potter Manor.
Hermione was the first into the library, and Draco and Theo hung back to chastise Susan.
"Susan," Draco hissed, "Why are you doing this? It's not her mother!"
"She's acting mental, Susan, don't encourage it," Theo said. He rolled his eyes at Susan like she was stupid.
Susan got fired up quickly, "She needs to look into this, or she'll wonder about it for the rest of her life. She's not insane! There's a perfectly good chance her mother was a squib who escaped a gruesome fate from people like your father!" she hissed. She was angry, but she was also careful not to raise her voice in case Hermione heard her. With that, she spun on her heel and made her way back into the library.
Draco and Theo were still sceptical as Susan and Hermione realised that there wasn't a death record anywhere for Elizabeth Nott.
"Ugh," Hermione groaned, "Why didn't evil purebloods keep a diary of squibs in families that were killed off or escaped?!"
Theo and Draco shared a sheepish look that made Susan and Hermione gape.
"Seriously?" Susan asked in exasperation.
Draco managed to crack a small smile at that, "Well," he said as he walked over to one of the bookcases, "In Malfoy Manor, if you pull out a copy of the original "Hogwarts: A History" and push in a copy of "The Pureblood Directory" at the same time..." he trailed off as the bookcase silently slid back to reveal a secret study, "...that happens," he finished.
"That has to be the worst kept secret ever," Theo said in disbelief, "It's literally the same two books in every bloody pureblood Manor house."
"It works, don't knock it," Draco said as he walked into the dusty old room.
"Where is it then, Indiana Jones?" Hermione asked as she followed Draco inside.
"Here," Draco said as he flung an old book into Hermione's hands. She gaped as she opened it. Exactly as Draco had said, it was a diary of all known squibs. Each entry consisted of the surname, forename, date of birth, date of death, and any further information added beneath.
Hermione flipped through it, reading the names. They were names she recognised, names like Malfoy, Nott, Cauldwell, Greengrass, Longbottom, Davis, Macmillan, etc. Eventually, she struck gold and found the entry on the mysterious young girl.
It read;
"NOTT, Elizabeth. Born: April 6th, 1961. Death: N/A. Father Thaddeus Nott attempted to murder at the age of 10. Escaped and was found by Elladora Malfoy, who performed a memory charm on the girl and sent her to live in the muggle world. Henceforth has no recollection of the wizarding world."
"Oh my god," Hermione whispered as she read the entry aloud to the others. Susan glared at Draco and Theo for their lack of belief in the idea.
"So my mum is a squib," Hermione realised. She sat down as the shock of this hit her.
"Which makes me your cousin," Theo said thoughtfully.
"And my grandmother, Elladora, saved your mother's life," Draco said quietly, "What are you going to do, Hermione?" he asked as he sat down next to Hermione on a comfortable sofa in front of the library's roaring fireplace.
"I don't know," Hermione said honestly, she was still stunned, "I mean, if her memory about it was wiped, then that's all there is to it. Your grandmother is dead, so it's not like it can be undone, and I don't think I'd want it to be anyway. I mean, she's happy as she is, she loves being a dentist, and she loves my Dad."
"Memory charms never do the job 100% right, you know," Draco said calmly, "That's why Aurors and anyone in the business of cleaning up after Wizards, like Arthur Weasley, hate them. Little things like the fact she talked your dad around are remnants of the childhood she doesn't remember."
"At the end of the day, it's for the best," Hermione said reasonably, "If it hadn't happened, she wouldn't be here and then neither would I. I'm happy for her to remain oblivious."
"What about you? Doesn't this change anything for you?" Draco asked. He was genuinely curious, and he supposed a little bit concerned that she might break down.
Hermione considered this for a moment and eventually shook her head, "No, I'm still a muggle-born at the end of the day, aren't I? Neither of my parents possessed any magical ability."
"True," Draco agreed, "But it does make sense of the fact that your magical ability is so strong. Are you sure you're okay? This isn't negatively affecting you in any way?"
Hermione shook her head, "No, I can't see how it changes anything, to be honest."
"What I meant when I asked how it was affecting you is how are you coping with the fact you're descended from the Nott's and that the tosser over there is your cousin?" Draco joked as he jerked his head in Theo's direction.
Hermione laughed, and Draco smiled, but there was a more serious under-note to the topic of conversation, and they both knew it. Hermione then said, "It's different, but at the end of the day, it doesn't change anything. My parents are still my parents. All this means is that I had a set of grandparents and a couple of aunts I didn't know about. I'm not going to start calling myself a pureblood just because I'm descended from one on my mother's side. I'm a muggle-born, and I'm proud of it."
Draco grinned proudly at his girlfriend and grabbed her hand, "Well said. I'm glad you took it so well. When you started to think along those lines, I got worried."
Hermione shook her head and stood up, "No, it's not going to change me or the way I think, don't worry," she said as she leant in and kissed her boyfriend.
They chuckled as they heard Theo and Susan making puking noises in the background. Hermione pulled away from the kiss and said, "Shut up, you two," in a playful tone of voice.
Theo did a mock salute, and Susan laughed. Hermione did love how crazy her friends (and family, now she thought about it) were.
"So who wants to go to the pub?" Hermione asked as they left the library, it was a ridiculously late hour, but they knew the Hogs Head would be open regardless.
"Ah, what a fantastic idea," Draco said with a sigh. He could really do with a stiff drink after the last few days.
"Are you paying? Cause I don't have any money," Susan pointed out.
Draco and Hermione rolled their eyes and walked slightly ahead of Susan and Theo. As they left Potter Manor, Hermione realised that what she had found out today had the potential to be life-changing. But she didn't want it to be, so it wouldn't be, and it was that simple. She knew who she was, and the fact her mother was a squib didn't change that. As she glanced behind her at Theo, who was bickering with Susan about his new idea for his slightly edited project, Hermione found herself smiling because her family had just gotten a little bit bigger.
"You're cousins?"
"Yep," Theo said in amusement, "The princess herself is my cousin. Right Hermy?"
Hermione shot Theo a death glare, "Call me that again, and you'll regret it."
"Sorry," Theo muttered sheepishly.
"How?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"My mother was a squib," Hermione explained simply.
"And she was the sister of my father, hence cousins," Theo said slowly, "That's how cousins work, Harry."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Theo. I'm just trying to get my head around this."
"Tell me about it," Hermione said as she chuckled, "Look, Harry. My mother was a squib, and her father tried to kill her when she was ten years old. He couldn't do it, so he let her go. Elladora Malfoy found her wandering around, so she erased her memory and put her in the muggle world."
"Elladora Malfoy?" Daphne asked in surprise, "As in-"
"- my grandmother, yeah," Draco said with a nod.
"Wow, who knew there were squib supporters in the Malfoy family?" Sadie asked in surprise.
"Who knew Lucius Malfoy's Mother was one, more to the point," Theo snorted.
"Yes, well, Elladora Malfoy was Elladora Potter before she married," Harry said, "I've been researching family history lately, ever since I found out that Draco and Daphne were my second cousins."
Daphne chuckled, "Good call."
Harry laughed, "Elladora was my great aunt, and she was a muggle sympathiser. I can imagine that made for one hell of a marriage."
"You bet," Draco said with a smile, "My grandparents were always arguing, and my grandfather rarely won."
"How did your father turn out to be such a bellend then?" Lilly asked bluntly.
"I have no idea," Draco admitted with a shrug.
"Either way," Harry said with a smirk, "Elladora was a Potter. It's no wonder she was noble."
"Oh shut up," Draco snorted, "Malfoys can be noble too."
"Name one."
"Me!"
"You're a Black!"
"Yeah, but I used to be a Malfoy."
"You were a dick when you were a Malfoy!"
"He makes a fair point," Hermione said, biting her lip in amusement.
Draco rolled his eyes and muttered that it wasn't fair because they were all ganging up on him.
"As fun as it is to slag Draco off, it takes away from Hermione's incredible story," Lilly said with a slight smile, "How do you feel about all of this, Hermione?"
"As I said to Draco earlier, I feel fine," Hermione said honestly, "My parents are still my parents; this doesn't change anything."
"But you're not really a muggle-born like you always thought you were," Lilly pointed out.
"Yes, I am," Hermione said simply, "My parents didn't have magical abilities. I'm still a muggle-born, and I'm still the same person. I just have a far more interesting family history than I originally thought."
The others laughed at her comment, but they were all amazed by how well she had taken the bombshell.
Then again, she was Hermione Granger; she always amazed them.
* ~ TBC ~ *