So now she knows
Hermione has finally figured out the secret surrounding her and Voldemort. She has mixed feelings about this. Two parents help her see it from Tom's point of view.
As Narcissa and Bella led Hermione into the sitting room, they both kept an arm around her. They didn't know what had brought that outburst on but suspected she had finally figured out the reason she was here. They sat down on the couch with her and just let the young woman cry herself out. There would be plenty of time for questions after she was calm.
Back in the drawing room, Tom was still on the floor. "Merlin! I should have told her last night, I knew I should have! She hates me now!" he still clutched Isabelle's letter in his hands. 'Gods, if only he'd just listened to his own instincts! He'd seriously thought about just hauling Isabelle back to the Wizarding world with him! They could have been happy, Hermione would have grown up knowing he was her dad!' He hoped and prayed that she'd please give him to chance to explain what happened.
Scabior, sitting beside Harry, poked Harry. "What the bloody hell was that little fit about? Why was she mad at him? Who is her mum and why'd the Dark Lord lie to her?" Scabior was confused. He knew the girl had read a letter but he didn't know what it said.
"The Dark Lord is Hermione's dad. She thinks that he ignored her mum's call for help, years ago. He didn't but she hasn't thought it through enough to realize that yet." Harry whispered.
"Merlin, he's her dad! And you lot have been letting me flirt with her, right in front of him?! Damn, I'm lucky I still got bollocks!" Scabior yelled. His outburst was enough to break the tension in the room. Lucius laughed, he had to give it to Fenrir. His pup definitely kept things lively!
He motioned to Fenrir. "C'mon. We're the only two experienced dads in the room. Let's go see if we can talk to her. Help her understand why Tom was afraid to tell her yet." They left the room, in search of Hermione.
They located the sitting room and entered. Narcissa and Bella moved back, assuming that Tom had sent them. Nagini had got there just ahead of them and was coiled around Hermione's feet and legs, her head in Hermione's lap. They sat down on either side of her and each took a hand. Hermione had her head laid back against the sofa and tears were still streaming down her face.
"Hermione, sweetheart, what did you mean when you said your mother almost lost you?" Lucius asked calmly.
"When I was younger. My dad, Jack Granger, he wasn't very nice to my mum. They had bad fights because he would go out and drink. Then he would jump on her every time she went for groceries or anything like that. He was going to take me and go back to his mum and dads house. He wasn't going to let mum see me anymore. He acted like she was going to hurt me!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyway, he died, right after I turned seven, in a car crash. The cops lied to my mum. They didn't do it to hurt her, I suppose they thought they were protecting us. They came to the door and told her he was drunk, too drunk to drive and he had wrecked. I read the younger man's thoughts, though." At this point, Lucius and Fenrir exchanged a quick wide eyed look. "He wasn't drunk. He'd left the bar with a woman. They were fooling around, he got distracted and wrecked, killing them both. His folks came and took over arrangements for the funeral. They did their level best to get mum to give me up to them. She refused. He had hidden a fairly bad gambling habit and after the funeral, living expenses and debts were paid off, there was just enough to pay rent, that and buy groceries."
"Mum had to put me into an after school program while she went back to work. She did her best, her parents tried to help out as much as they could. They'd keep me anytime they could to help save expenses but they weren't much better off than we were. She managed to hang onto the house until I was eight, then we lost it and had to move. His parents tried, again, to get her to let them have me but I begged her to let me stay with her. They were trying to tell her that HE had been trying to get out because SHE was the one fooling around!"
"After my ninth birthday, she took me to have some tests done. She called it allergy tests but I'm not allergic to anything. Soon after that, she wrote a letter. I asked her who Tom Marvolo Riddle was and she said he was just a friend she hadn't seen in a while. I went to mail the letter for her but I couldn't reach the box. The strangest thing happened then. An owl flew into our building. He landed on my shoulder and wouldn't leave until I gave him the letter." Fen and Lucius exchanged another look. "I told mum and she thanked me. I think she was waiting for a letter back but it never came. So we kept muddling along until my Hogwarts letter was brought by Professor McGonagall. Mum told her she wouldn't be able to send me. She could barely afford my current schooling. The professor told her there was a special fund set up for students who needed it. After that, I went to Hogwarts. I forgot the name Tom Riddle or that my mum had ever written him a letter."
"So, your mum wrote him between your ninth and tenth birthday? But he never answered?" Lucius asked, just to clarify the situation. Hermione nodded. Having told him the story, she was already starting to calm down.
"My dear, think about it. Why wouldn't he answer the letter of a woman he had actively given his name and address to?" Lucius looked at her. She was a bright girl. Surely she'd figure it out.
"My mum thought he'd either forgotten about her or just didn't want to get back in touch because of me. I was so hoping he'd have answered, though." She thought back to that time, how hopeful she'd been. She'd sat by her window every night for a month, waiting, watching the parking lot for a strange car to pull in.
"Let's not forget, Hermione, this is Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord, we're talking about." Fenrir said, from her other side, seeing what Lucius was trying to do. Hermione reached down, absently giving Nagini scratchies as she thought. Suddenly she gasped and sat up. "Oh, Merlin! Lucius! Fen!" she looked at one, then the other. "When, how soon after my mum, he-?" she couldn't seem to find the right words for what she wanted to say. Lucius and Fenrir exchanged triumphant looks. She'd realized it!
She dug into the beaded bag that she constantly kept on her belt. "I have a book in here. It talks about important Wizarding events!" she pulled out the book and flopped through it. When she found what she was looking for, she frowned. "Lucius? I was born September nineteenth, nineteen seventy nine. That means he and mum would have been together in late December, early January of that year. Had he already heard the prophecy about Harry when he met my mum? Or was he even hunting them yet? But he couldn't have been. Wait, Harry was born July the next year! He could have already heard it! That might have been why he was in the Muggle world to start with!"
"Hermione dear, I was there the night Tom received your mother's letter. The next day, when he was telling us the contents, he mentioned he was only in the planning stages of our political revolution. He hadn't heard the prophecy. If I'm remembering correctly, he didn't hear about it until a few months into nineteen eighty. That would have been well after your birth. None of us knew about your mum, Hermione. We knew he seemed preoccupied all of seventy nine but we just assumed it was because he was trying to get his political reforms written and pushed through. He admitted last night he'd seriously thought of just hauling your mum back with him, disregarding her marriage." Lucius rested a hand on her back.
Hermione sniggered at that thought. "He, uh, might have had a, uh, bit of a problem there. My mum is pretty stubborn! Grand mum always said that's where I got my stubborn streak. Mum had her mind set on being a good wife and mother. Not even Tom could have persuaded her otherwise. She didn't give up on Jack until that last big fight they had. Even then, she wouldn't have left him, only because of me. She would have stayed right there, in a loveless marriage, just to make sure I was able to grow up with both parents."
"Merlin, what he must think of me now! I screamed at him like a fishwife! I told him I hated him! Called him a liar! Gods!" she moaned, hiding her face in her hands.
"He wasn't mad at you, Hermione. He was mad at himself for waiting so long to tell you who he was!" Fen told her after Lucius nodded as if to say 'your turn.'
"Why did he wait so long? He's been back since our fourth year. Why hasn't he contacted me before now? Or mum?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"He didn't want to scare you away. Think of how he looks. Can you honestly say you wouldn't have been terrified of that man, turning up at Hogwarts, demanding to see his daughter, only to realize he's talking about you?" Fen asked gently.
"You're right. I would have been terrified. Somehow he doesn't seem too bad anymore. Maybe that's because he's not trying to kill Harry anymore." Hermione smiled and narrowed her eyes. "Of course, that doesn't mean Harry is safe because he read that letter last night and DIDN'T tell me what it said! Harry Potter, you're dead meat when I get my hands on you!" she jumped up and screamed as she ran for the door. Fenrir and Lucius raced after her, laughing as they heard Potter scream his apology while running away from her. "Hermione!"
She stopped and looked back. "When you think you're ready to meet your father, come back and knock on the door, all right?" Lucius asked. She nodded and resumed chasing Harry down the hall, Scabior right on her heels. Fenrir and Lucius went back into Tom's office. Tom looked up hopefully. Lucius smiled. "Give her about an hour or two of trying to kill Potter. I think we'll be introducing her to you soon."
Tom let out a sigh of relief. It would be so refreshing to not have to put on his Dark Lord persona each time, having to hide his true self from his daughter! For now, he just had to be patient, just a little bit longer.
Harry ran out to the same large yard where she chased Scabior just a day or two earlier. He was laughing and telling her he was sorry. "I didn't think you'd be too upset. You already get along with him, Hermione."
"But Harry," she paused, trying to find the right words. "He's still the Dark Lord. He still killed your parents. How can you want me to forget that? Aren't you mad at me because of him?"
"First of all, you are you, Hermione. I'd be stupid to be mad at you because of him. Second, yes, he killed my parents and has tried several times to get me killed but he's still your father. I know how much you love your mother but I also know how you miss having a dad and, admit it, Hermione, you're a daddy's girl." Harry laughed at the look on her face.
"I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a daddy's girl to the Dark Lord, Harry! This is the wizard who wants to take over the world." She sat down on a bench, Harry and Scabior on each side of her.
"I'm not so sure he wants to rule the world, Hermione. I think he just wants to make Wizarding Britain more secure. I was reading the draft last night after you fell asleep. I was actually trying to see how I felt about my adopted sister's real dad being the Dark Lord and I concluded that I really don't care. He is who he is, but you are Hermione, my sister! You've always been there for me and I KNOW there are times I should have been there for you and I wasn't! Don't say no, Hermione! You and both know a few times I wasn't there to support you or I went against you in favor of Ron. We both know that! But this, this is important and, Hermione, I know how much it would mean to you, having a father again, I know! I just want you to know, it doesn't matter what you do or don't decide to do with this, I'm here for you." Harry threw his arms around her and held her as she cried.
Now that she knew Harry was behind her, it was up to Hermione to decide whether or not she was ready to accept the Dark Lord as her dad. She knew this was going to be the most important decision she ever made. It had to be the right decision because it also involved her mother. She just knew, if she accepted that Tom Riddle was her dad, the next thing he would ask was for her to bring her mother back. She knew her mother, from 'Monica Wilkins' letters, wasn't seeing anyone in Australia. As far as she knew, her mum hadn't been dating anyone in Britain. But she wasn't sure that mum was ready to be brought into the Wizarding world either and that's where Tom would want to be, especially with the new treaty being offered.
"Well, well, look what we have here, the Chosen one, a Snatcher and a Mudblood. Wonder if that's why the great freckled ginger left? Because the Snatcher stole his girl?" Hermione popped up off the bench, glaring angrily at Malfoy.
"Shut it, Malfoy, before she breaks your nose again!" Harry growled.
Malfoy frowned at Granger. It looked as though she'd been crying. "What's the matter, Mudblood? Missing mummy?"
Harry knew he wouldn't be able to grab her in time. He and the other Slytherins face palmed as Scabior watched in confusion. Hermione balled her fist and punched Draco in the nose. "Mudblood that, you filthy little cockroach!"
She turned around and stormed off, Harry and Scabior once more following behind her. From behind she could her Draco sputtering angrily. "My father will hear about this!"
"Good, you tell your father! My father will hear about this, too!" she yelled over her shoulder.
She led the boys up the stairs to her room. Once there she crawled onto her bed and laid her head down on the fluffy pillows. Harry motioned Scabior over to her. He took the armchair himself. The Snatcher had a pretty good chance of calming her down. He hadn't known, until Harry told him, who Hermione's dad was or why she didn't seem to know either. The young wolf stretched out beside her and laid an arm over her. He'd buttoned his vest only half way. She curled into his side as she traced the scars left from Sectumsepra. He hoped this meant she was finally starting to like him.
Harry smiled at the hopeful look in the wolf's eyes. He could have told him that Hermione had been falling, slowly but surely, for him ever since they captured them. But why let that particular cat out of the bag when he could sit back and watch the two of them duke it out between them? 'Hey, a boy had to find his entertainment somewhere!' Watching these two fight was the most fun he'd had in a while. He wondered how soon the wolf would dare bring up the 'flaming chicken' again. That seemed to have set Hermione off quite nicely the last time. He'd never seen her attempt to brain someone with a huge branch before!
Downstairs, Draco had made his way into the house and sought out his father. "What did you do, Draco, to make Miss Granger WANT to punch you in the nose?"
"I, uh, I called her a, uh, mudblood?" Draco stared at his feet.
"Well, now is as good a time to tell him, right Tom?" Lucius said, confusing Draco. 'Who was Tom, why was father looking at Lord Voldemort like that?' he looked between the two men.
"Miss Granger isn't actually a Muggleborn, Draco, but she's not a half-blood, either. Her mother is indeed a Muggle but her father is, in fact, a half-blood wizard. More to the point, he's in this very room. Draco, meet Hermione's father, Tom Marvolo Riddle." They all watched in amusement as Draco went deathly pale at the realization of her parentage.
"I, I'm so sorry, sir! I, I didn't realize! It, it won't happen again!" Draco stuttered with fear.
"See that it doesn't, young Draco. I'm not sure how much more damage your poor nose can endure. I'm told my daughter has quite an impressive right hook!" Tom chuckled.
Upstairs, Hermione sat up. "I need to do this, I need to get to know him, the longer I put it off, the harder it'll be to get to know him. If I put it off too long, he'll take it as a rejection, won't he, Harry?" Harry nodded silently. "Damnit, I can do this! I'm not a coward! I'm a Gryffindor!" with that she stood up, offered her hands to both boys and started downstairs.
Once outside his office, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened them and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Lucius who raised an eyebrow at her. She lifted her chin and nodded. He pulled the door wide open. She stepped inside to see Lord Voldemort standing straight and tall in front of his desk. Lucius offered his arm and led her over. "Miss Hermione, I would like to introduce you to Lord Voldemort, otherwise known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. Tom, this is your daughter, Hermione Granger." Tom waved his wand over himself and the Lord Voldemort persona wavered and disappeared. Hermione gasped as she finally saw what her mother had meant. 'You got your beautiful riotous curls from me but everything else is all him.' They stared at each other in silence for a full five minutes, then with a muffled sob, she threw herself into his arms.
