A/N: Hi everyone. I know this took forever, but March was a busy month for me. It usually is, my birthday month and I am always running around getting things ready for spring and summer for my family. I also could not shake the writer's block that was plaguing me. I write as I go so I was really not sure how this would go. I finally have it down and I hope it makes sense. The beginning of this chapter has been written since I uploaded the last time as it was suppose to be part of chapter 8. Needless to say, I am clueless if makes sense. My beta is slowly making her way through these chapters. GidgetMalfoy has been down with back to back sickness as well as being pregnant so she is doing what she can to catch up. I love her and once this is beta'd I will be switch it for the prettier version. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Peace, Love and Slyther,

Gimi aka Jess

Harry waited in the parlor of the LeStrange home waiting for Hermione and Rodolphus. He was escorting them back to his home. Really, he didn't want Hermione to be alone with her new father just yet. Now that all the excitement had died down, he realised that his best friend; the one person who was always there for him, was going to be living with a Death Eater, one she had never really known except as a Death Eater. Lucius Malfoy was one thing, LeStrange was completely different.

Rodolphus walked into the room wearing a white button down shirt and, surprisingly, a grey muggle suit. Harry raised an eyebrow at the strange sight. He had not thought that a pureblood death eater could dress so... muggle.

"Uh, where did you get the suit?" Harry asked wondering if Cheeks had gone out and found something for her master to wear.

Rodolphus looked down as he fixed his cuffs, he grinned up at the young man, "It's mine from about thirty years ago. Cheeks had to take it in slightly. Bella was a wiz with preserving charms. Her wedding dress still looks as beautiful under the charm as it did the day we got married."

"You- muggle? Huh?" Harry stammered even more confused.

Rodolphus laughed, the sound echoed around the big room. "Yes, muggle. You might not know this Mister Potter, but in my youth, before I was expected to tow the family line, I was just as infatuated with muggle life as was Arthur Weasley. After school ended, I went on a wizard's tour. Instead of just visiting wizarding communities, I would go out and experience muggle nightlife." Rodolphus chuckled again, he could see the image in Harry's head was not making sense. "I know it must shock you to know that I would openly chose to fraternize with muggles, but they did have the best music."

"What changed?" Harry asked, knowing exactly what could be found in the former Death Eater's file back in his office at the ministry.

Rodolphus let out a sigh and Harry could see the look of regret in his bright blue eyes, the shape; Harry realised was the exact same as Hermione's. "The war did." He said almost simply. "It must surprise you to think about, but my father was not a bigoted muggle hater that most think. He never cared for muggles, but he did not mind muggleborns. But we are sacred 28, it is our duty to uphold the pureblood traditions. My mother was one of the last remaining Travers, Alister Travers, he was my cousin."

Harry remembered the man, he had been killed at the final battle. "Well, the Travers family was a major contributor to the first war, as was my father's family. At first, my father supported the Dark Lord's blight. Back then it was a matter of keeping the bloodlines pure for the sake of protecting the strength of the oldest families." Rodolphus continued to explain, "From what I remember, it was not about murder, my father was one of his first followers. The older generation; my father, Abraxas, Cygnus, and a few others; they were old money men. They did not go out and do anything but supply the galleons."

Harry nodded in understanding and Rodolphus took that to mean continue, "The next generation, my generation were the first real soldiers of the war. I was not pleased to become a soldier, but my brother Rabastan and his friend Barty were eager to serve. Bella had been offered up by her father, Cygnus, as penance for Andy's defiance. See, Andy was in the process of breaking her original betrothal to myself and to be the Dark Lord's bride in a sense."

Harry blanched when he thought of Andromeda to be Mrs. No-Nose and Rodolphus grinned, "I know what you are thinking, he was already creating chaos in the wizarding world, why bother with a marriage, but you forget that he was not outed as a halfblood until he came back in the second war. All purebloods are to marry to continue their line, he was no different." Rodolphus sighed, "My father had seen just how committed my brother was to the cause and required that I join as well, to keep Rabastan in line." Rodolphus ran a hand through his brown hair, "Like there was a way to keep Rab in line. Well Bella was sentenced to become a Death Eater and since we were to be married, I became one too."

Hermione walked in at that moment and stared at the back of the man who was her father. He certainly cleaned up nicely from prison. It was nice to see, while he was thinner than what she assumed would be his normal frame; from pictures around the manor, he was not rail thin. Kingsley had made sure that the prisoners did have food at least.

Hermione walked in wearing a pair of faded jeans, trainers and a teal blue blouse. She bit back a smile at how overdressed her father was, but she had to admit that he must have been handsome in his day. She noticed that his hair was nicely trimmed and for the first time she realised the man had a beard. That shook her a bit, she had been in the same room with him a few times, the last time for a while, but as both times were stressful situations, she had never paid attention to the man. Hermione realised that while she had been trying to accept her family, she was still in denial as she could not see past how they were during the war. She had never really looked at her father, didn't even notice how tall he was. Standing next to her best friend, she realised he must have been around six or seven inches taller than Harry. Hermione thought back to the war and the department of mysteries; that was the only time she remembered engaging with her father. She had seen his face when his mask slipped during the battle. She remembered, he had not thrown any harmful spells at herself and her friends, merely stunning or tripping jinxes. Child's play really considering he was a wizard doing the bidding of a mad man.

Hermione coughed to let her presence known, "Um, you look uh… dashing, but you might be a tad overdressed." Rodolphus looked up at his daughter with a look of suppressed happiness. Hermione did notice the look of surprised delight whenever he looked at her. She realised that he was just as in shocked at their connection as she was. He had obviously mourned his Lyra for many years and then to be told that she wasn't dead and standing right in front of him. She couldn't help but feel hopeful that maybe one day she would be okay with being his daughter; Bellatrix though, she was not sure she would ever be okay with her. There was a lot of bad history between herself and Bellatrix, but Hermione made vow that she would try to see past the hatred she felt for Bellatrix LeStrange and find it in her heart to see the woman she might have been if their situation wasn't chaotic.

Hermione wasn't completely immune to the affect she was having on her new family. Narcissa had looked at her like she was a ghost, Andromeda had looked at her with new eyes. Draco was behaving more playful than she had ever seen him, even Lucius, pureblood Death Eater, he had looked at her with memories of the past playing before him of his god daughter. He had almost looked happy at their last meeting, well… happy for Lucius Malfoy that is.

Hermione would never admit it, but she had really missed having a family unit. She had been extremely put out that she would not become a Weasley, part of the appeal of marrying Ron was the Weasley family. Hermione missed her parents more than she cared to think about. She had been an only child, her parents had never told her that she was adopted, but she knew that her parents had always had difficulties carrying a pregnancy to term. She had assumed that it had something to do with having magical blood in the family line, but now she will never know. Her parents were only children and her grandparents were all dead as well. Hermione was alone in the world, now she was anything but. That was something to be grateful for, maybe.

Hermione waved her wand and transfigured Rodolphus' clothing into a pair of dark wash fitted jeans and a navy blue sweater, under the sweater there was a white collared buttoned down that was left untucked. She had decided to leave the dragonhide shoes, but opted for a suede finish in a deep brown instead of black.

Rodolphus looked at her handy work with awe. He had never been able to perform clothing transfiguration charms; he was always good at school, receiving eight NEWTS, but his transfiguration spells always left an inkling of the true identity behind. He smiled to himself knowing full well where his daughter got her abilities because he knew she would not be receptive to know just how much like his wife she truly was.

Satisfied with her changes, Hermione smiled at Harry and he threw some powder into the grate of the fireplace and called out for home, stepped in and was swept away in the flames. Hermione moved forward and held out her hand for Rodolphus. The man looked down at her slender fingers and noticed the slight tremor on her part. He gave her a tight smile; a small part of him sad that his daughter was afraid of him, but knowing that her fear had been justified in her eyes. He vowed again to make things work, to have her understand that things were not black and white as good and evil. While he had been a bad man, he was not inherently evil. The circumstances of his time as a death eater was not as simple as some other pureblood zealots.

He reached out for her hand slowly, knowing if he moved too quickly she may mistake it as hostile. Enclosing his fingers around her own, he brought her hand lightly to the crook of his arm and walked them towards the door. He felt her fingers relax as they walked out the door to the apparition point and he decided he would score that as one for dad.

OoOoOoO

Landing in a nearby alley, Hermione walked over to the front of where she knew number 12 Grimmauld Place to be. Rodolphus looked up and down the seemingly quiet street, a bit apprehensive now that he was truly out in the world, not only the wizarding world, but the muggle one as well. Last time he was out around muggles… well… let's just say it wasn't to have dinner. Rodolphus swallowed hard, he had not been in the muggle world in over twenty years. In both wizarding wars, Rodolphus had avoided going into the muggle world while his brethren had relished in defiling muggles, he much preferred to stay away.

He hadn't been lying to Harry when he said he enjoyed being around muggles in his day. He had always been a creature of learning and there was always something new to learn about muggles. From how they communicated without owls or floos, to how they made music with instruments he had never seen before, to those automobiles he had always wanted to learn to drive. While he would never condone marrying or even much association with them, he couldn't condemn them to death like some of his old associates.

As he watched Number 12 come into existence, he was reminded of the countless parties he had been forced to come to under family obligations, Rodolphus almost laughed out loud as he realised that once again, he would cross the threshold under a similar obligation. He gave Hermione a nervous smile and ushered her before him, placing his hand lightly on the small of her back. They walked up the stairs, into a literal den of lions. Rodolphus held his head up, if he was going to get ripped apart; he would do so with his head held high.

Hermione took one last calming breath before letting herself in. The buzz of many people speaking at once hushed at once and the voice of Daphne came calling through the parlor.

"Hermione, is that you?"

Hermione glanced over at Rodolphus and rolled her eyes with an amused smile, "Of course Daph, who else would be at the door?" Rodolphus grinned back, realising that using the front door must be unusual for the wizarding residence.

Draco walked out of the parlor, he gave his uncle a nod and Hermione a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Granger, Bill and Charlie have both promised not to hex your father. Well, after Molly had practically threaten them both within an inch of their lives to behave. So dramatic, this Weasley Clan."

"Don't think you are immune to my threats Draco Malfoy!" Molly's voice rang from the kitchen; the door of which was opened down the hall. Draco visibly paled as Hermione smirked at the blond. No matter his family, Molly had began viewing the Slytherins as part of the family. This meant she mothered them all. Hermione knew that despite their lack of wealth, over the years Draco had enjoyed becoming an honorary member of the clan. Being an only child growing up, he did enjoy family gatherings that were less than dignified; so long as Narcissa knew nothing of them.

Rodolphus raised an eyebrow at his nephew as he watched the color drain from his face and grinned. He didn't know the boy well anymore; having gone to prison the first time when Draco was still a boy and the less than pleasant circumstances of their reunion the last. He had no real feel for the young man in front of him. From the limited contact he had with Draco so far, he seemed to be good friends with his daughter.

This was slightly surprising to Rodolphus as, up until a few weeks ago, Hermione was thought to be muggleborn and he knew what kind of man Lucius was. A lot had changed in the years since the war, gone were the perceived notions of blood superiority and here was a young man who had been brought up as a blood purist, now being welcomed into a tight knit family of blood "traitors" and not being ashamed or scared of being disowned because of it. Yes, life had changed while he was incarcerated, there would be a lot to get used to.

Hermione, Draco, and Rodolphus made their way into the parlor where the Weasley family, sans Ron, were all waiting. Rodolphus found Harry's raven hair amongst the sea of red. Arthur, who he remembered from school, came up and gave Hermione an embrace. A ball of fire engulfed his stomach as he watched his daughter give the man a gentle smile and a warm hug. He hoped to be on the receiving end of one of those smiles some day.

Arthur Weasley looked up at Rodolphus and gave him a tight smile, Rodolphus knew he was only being polite and the normally passive man would like nothing more than to curse him to death or at least back to Azkaban. Rodolphus vaguely remembered Arthur Weasley from Hogwarts, while they were not friends, he knew of his family as well as the Prewitt family. His father had nothing good to say about either, but from what Rodolphus remembered, he hadn't had much of an opinion of them in school. Molly's brothers, Fabian and Gideon were both in Rabastan's year in Hogwarts; he did remember the twins, they were always up to no good according to his brother.

Rodolphus gave Arthur a nod of the head and stuck out his hand, being on the wrong side of a war did not dull his etiquette, he knew that this was the father of the man his daughter was to wed, which meant he was family to his daughter. Rodolphus didn't have a choice any longer, he would have to be friendly with his one time adversaries if he wanted to be in his daughter's life.

Arthur hesitated for a moment, staring at the outstretched hand of the former Death Eater. Frowning slightly he stretched out his own hand and gave Rodolphus a tightly squeezed shake.

In the handshake, Rodolphus tried to convey all the thanks he would never voice to the man who was like a father to his daughter; thanks for taking her into his family, for loving her when he was not able to, for keeping her safe through the years, for loving her now despite her family connection.

As the men shook hands, Hermione released the breath she hadn't known she was holding. She realised that she was more nervous about her father meeting the rest of her adopted family. She hadn't been sure how the Weasleys would react to her, let alone her newly found father.

Footsteps were heard at the door of the parlor, looking up from the handshake, Rodolphus could see the Weasley matriarch standing there, with a tea towel in hand.

Molly narrowed her eyes, "Dinner is ready, everyone go in and have a seat. Arthur and I want a word with Hermione. You lot go in and start without us."

Hermione waited for everyone to leave the room, the Weasley men all grumbling and muffled noises came from the kitchen with at least one screeching giggle from a small child. Once the room was empty, she walked over to her adopted mother and Molly pulled her into a crushing hug, sobbing into her shoulder, mourning the loss of her soon to be daughter in law.

"Oh Hermione," Molly said, tears falling from her kind blue eyes, the exact shade as Ron's, "Hermione, I'm so sorry I haven't owled you before this. I knew you were with Ginny last week and it's no excuse. You must think something awful of me. Dear, you have to know, I am upset you will not be the next Weasley wife, but I am not upset with you."

Hermione's heart jumped, she had been afraid that Molly would be mad at her. Molly Weasley's temper was one that rivaled, well… Ron's actually. It was fair to say that Ron could be unreasonable, he had shown that over the years. Hermione smiled knowing that she could handle anything if she had Molly on her side.

Molly narrowed her eyes and looked over at Rodolphus, "You," Molly said and Rodolphus could hear the fierceness only a mother lion could have defending her cubs. "You hear me Rodolphus LeStrange, I don't like you, I never have. Your brother tried to kill my daughter during the last battle and your wife has tortured my Hermione. She may have your blood running through her veins, but if she so much comes to me with a hang nail. I will hang you from the top of the Burrow and use your body as a bloody wind vane."

Rodolphus lifted his hands in surrender, knowing that this witch was formidable. He had watched her defend her daughter against his deranged brother. Rodolphus had long ago given up hope that his brother was still the same man as the boy he grew up with. Rabastan had gotten a taste for muggle torture during the first war, he and Barty were Voldemort's best men on that front. Nothing improved during the second war, except Rabastan was even more unhinged without his faithful partner. Rodolphus had always wondered just how close his brother and his friend were. Now he would never know, Rabastan had fallen at the wand of the witch standing in front of him.

Rodolphus thought it was funny he did not hold any ill feelings towards the Weasley woman, he had watched her blow up his only brother and did not feel the need to exact revenge in the name of the LeStrange family. Rodolphus thought it was probably more along the lines of he had watched Rabastan die long ago. No, his brother had died years before at Longbottom Keep. If Bella hadn't have been there, he would have killed his brother himself and that shite head Crouch.

Save him, please! Please spare him, I beg you!

A far away look overtook Rodolphus' features, Hermione looked at the man confused. He had seem to crawl into his head as Molly expressed her displeasure over Hermione's family line.

"Rodolphus?" Hermione called out, she watched as his mind returned and his eyes focused once again on her. As if he suddenly realised who he was looking at, his face went from hard to soft, she could see the recognition in his eye as he was becoming more use to looking at her. Hermione always felt like he was drinking her in, trying to remember every detail as if she would fade away into nothingness. "Where did you go?"

Rodolphus shook his head, clearing his mind of voices of his past, he would not go down that path again, not now. "No where, my apologies Madam Weasley. I understand, my daughter is a part of your family, I know that her parentage is not as stellar as you would prefer. I would like to thank you and your husband for looking out for my Lyra. My house is indebted to you and we will not forget our debts."

Molly looked taken back for a moment, she had been expecting a sneer. The Weasley/Prewitt families had never been good enough for the LeStranges or the Malfoys because they were not as wealthy, not as prestigious as the latter. To hear the head of the LeStrange line not only thank her and her husband, but also admit to the debt of familial bond was a shock to say the least.

Arthur walked up behind his wife and put his hands on her shoulders, "Just take care of our Hermione and we will call it even. This girl is special, she is one of a kind. If you ever thought about hurting her, there are countless numbers of people who wouldn't hesitate to kill you, from the Minister for Magic to the headmistress of Hogwarts and everyone in between. She is beloved in our world, and that is just the people who would defend her. Merlin help you if she exacts revenge on her own merit."

Rodolphus nodded with a small grin. His daughter was beloved, he already knew that. He had loved her since she was born, but the entire wizarding world owed their freedom because of her bravery. He would never hurt her though, he had done enough damage before they were reacquainted. "I will never hurt my daughter, I have much to make up for."

"You see that you don't," Molly said waving her finger at the taller man, "Now, let's go get some dinner before the children eat it all."

Rodolphus nodded again and walked in front of the Weasleys and to his daughter. She gave him a small smile in appreciation for getting along with her chosen family. She reached in front of her and squeezed his arm and let him pass her so she could give Molly one final hug.

Hermione hugged the motherly witch and for the first time in weeks, she felt like her world wasn't necessarily caving in around her. For the first time in weeks, she could breathe deeply without fear. Though tomorrow was another day and tomorrow was brunch with her new family, not to mention her fiance. But, she would think about that later, tonight she wanted to savor the ease of having her Weasley family back. She would think about her big blond problem tomorrow.