Granger Yet
For the Birds

"How can someone who's a former Death Eater be in love with my mom, who's a Muggle?" Hermione thought while watching her father get into it with Sirius. "How can the warm and kind person I know my father to behave once enjoyed torturing and killing Muggles and Muggleborn?" And yet there she was, drawn into a heated argument that apparently involved the discussion of condoms before she'd gotten there. "And what is wrong with Sirius? He's supposed to be one of the good guys?"

"And I'm not going to apologize for marrying Olivia. Not ever!" her father snapped at Sirius, which brought some level of relief, although Hermione found herself perplexed by the back and forth between the two. However, she'd distinctly remember Sirius calling her father, Regulus Arcturus Black.

"What?" The tone of voice Sirius used changed, but the look on his face—Sirius seemed as confused as she felt.

"Don't pretend you didn't hear what I said, Sirius!"

"You can't possibly be married!" Sirius snapped back.

Hermione bit down slightly on her lip, unsure of what to do in that particular situation. " Yup. Condoms. Putting that together, " she shook her head in disbelief. " And how exactly did this conversation start in the first place? "

"It's on the bloody tapestry, Sirius!"

"Tapestry?" Hermione asked.

"Tapestry," her father absentmindedly said, motioning towards the wall covered with a tapestry, which she now realized that she wasn't focused on changing her cat into the room. She stepped over, recognizing the tapestry was covered by what she guessed was a family tree.

Sirius laughed, which unfortunately reminded Hermione of the time Sirius wanted to kill Pettigrew as her eyes scanned the tapestry to see what her father was talking about. "You're bloody telling me the bloody tapestry says you're married?"

Her eyes caught on to the scorch marks where certain members were blasted off, but her eyes quickly found where Sirius had been blasted off. Her father snapped, "Bloody hilarious, Sirius. It's why I've been blasted off the tapestry as well."

"That would have been Regulus, right?" Hermione thought to herself, quickly finding the name near Sirius, now realizing her father's connection with Harry's godfather.

"You actually bloody thought she blasted you off the family tree?"

"Aren't I?"

"You aren't," Hermione said, being truthful with her father while finding herself unsure if saying anything about the tapestry was actually a good idea. And the "I told you so" look on Sirius' face when she turned to look at her father made her feel maybe, just maybe, saying something wasn't the best course of action.

She watched her father, with his right hand, gently nudge Crookshanks from his lap and stand up. The way he teetered back and forth made Hermione concerned for his well-being, as did having a somewhat temperamental Sirius in the room. Nor did Sirius appear to care that her father was staggering slightly as he walked, ready to lose his balance at a moment's notice—which made her turn her head to look at the tapestry. " Sirius is supposed to be one of the good guys, but this is how he treats his own brother? But then, dad 's a Death Eater, so maybe? "

She heard her father speak from close by, his voice straining as it always did when something stressed him. "I killed him. I bloody killed him."

Hermione turned her head in time to see her father sway, losing his balance and definitely looking a bit dizzy. Sirius, at that moment, stepped forward to catch her father, and then they were gone, the snap from Apparating lingering in her ears. Hermione let out a sigh. " Great. And, " she thought to herself, turning her head to look at the tapestry. " What did he mean about killing someone? "

And then she saw it—

—a year of death that matched her father's supposed death—of someone who would be her paternal grandfather. She swallowed. "Oh. That's—sad."

Hermione pushed her lips together, feeling guilty, not for pointing out the tapestry said something different from what her father expected, but for struggling the way she was at not seeing her father as the enemy, despite having learned her father was a Death Eater. She took a deep breath, wondering what she should do next when Sirius popped back into the room.

She turned and said, "Where's my dad?"

Sirius looked somewhat frazzled, but it looked like someone had given him a bloody nose, yet she found herself guessing who that someone might be. The man looked at her, horrified. "He is not your father."

"He most certainly is," Hermione said, folding her arms across her chest and lifting her chin in the air in defiance.

"He's fooling you and your mother, Hermione!"

"He is not. The fact you think he's capable of that," Hermione started saying.

"Oh, that brat is capable of many things," Sirius said. "Such as making Amortentia."

"Did you just accuse my father of putting my mother under a love spell?" Hermione let out a sharp laugh.

"I'm not accusing! He admitted it! Sirius said. "Plus, everyone at school knew Regulus was gay! And that's definitely not Regulus and not your father!"

Which Sirius said after saying her father was Regulus. "You're exasperating," Hermione said, watching Sirius' silver eyes go wide, but the dark hair and silver eyes—her father and he were definitely related. "Let's start with why you think he's not Regulus."

"Because Regulus is left-handed!" Sirius said.

"My father is left-handed," Hermione said, letting out a deep breath of frustration at how things had gone.

"Yet he wasn't using his left hand!" Sirius said.

"Wise of you to notice," Hermione said. "Not so wise, not realizing that on top of being ambidextrous, which means being capable of using both hands. He also favors the right when he's unable to use the left, which you overlooked."

Sirius stared, then slowly muttered. "He admitted to killing Regulus."

"My dad's an idiot," Hermione said.

"You're not going to try and think of a logical explanation for that?"

"Shouldn't be obvious? Beyond the fact he's an idiot, I mean?"

"Obviously not, but you're honestly being as annoying as he is."

"And you say he's not my father," Hermione quipped.

"Stop being snarky and answer and answer the question," Sirius snapped.

She swallowed, looking at the ground, thinking it better not to aggravate Sirius knowing his temper. "I don't know the exact conversation you had with him, but my understanding is he's put that life behind him."

"Bull," Sirius said. "The reason he Apparated here to Grimmauld place is because he's going back to him."

"You don't know that," Hermione said, swallowing, her throat tightening.

"I do."

Which made her feel as if she was getting nowhere. She glanced around, then thought of something. Her head jerked up. "Wait. You know that he Apparated into Grimmauld place?"

"I know that he did."

"And you're still denying it's him?"

"Excuse me?" Sirius said. "Of course, it's not him!"

"So this place isn't warded against anybody but family Apparating in here?" Hermione said, which made Sirius swallow. "And what's this nonsense about him not being my father?"

"I told you." Sirius let out a laugh. "Regulus never noticed the opposite sex. And there was that Ravenclaw he always hung out with."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, her frustration with the man in front of her growing. "This is my father we're talking about."

"For crying out loud!" Sirius snapped as his voice stained, his eyes flickering slightly as he looked at her, yet she was sure he found the conversation between the two of them equally frustrating. "Please listen to me when I say…"

"That he's pulling the wool over mine and my mother's eyes?" She let out a deep breath.

"I know my brother, Hermione," Sirius said. "And you're just going to get hurt with the lies he's told you!"

"Lies he's told me," Hermione muttered. "You really don't know him, do you."

"I know him better than you think."

"No. No, you don't," she said, shaking her head as she did so.

"Yes, I do."

"Because if you actually knew my father," Hermione said, pausing to let her mind jumble through all of the contradictions she'd so far heard, let alone the topic she'd walked in on her father and Sirius talking about.

"What?" Sirus said, folding his arms. "What is it that I've gotten wrong?"

"Loads," Hermione muttered, her eyes narrowing. "For starters, if you actually knew my father, you'd know he's oblivious to both sexes." She flinched, realizing she'd also slipped into the direction of talking about her father's sex life. "Don't forget that you were oblivious to the fact he was ambidextrous. And…" She turned her head, not liking the sudden realization that popped into her head. "Isn't any wonder he didn't turn to you help when he needed it?"

"What?" His tone of voice shifted again, indicating she'd hit some kind of nerve. "What did you say?"

She looked up at him, remembering her uncle telling her why he hated Wizards. "You heard me quite well, but to repeat what I said, my dad didn't come to you for help because, despite being brothers, the two of you are actually complete strangers to each other."

And the look on Sirius face—

She'd definitely hit a nerve there, and yet he still after a pause managed to mutter, "He's can 't be your father. He bloody can't." And then Sirius said, "He's a bloody virgin."

Hermione stared, her mouth opening, only to snap it shut. "Let me get this straight. You go from insisting he's gay, to now insisting that he's a virgin?" She shook her head. "You know what. I've had enough. This is going nowhere."

She turned, planning on leaving to find where Sirius took her father without his help, when the person in question asked. "Don't you want to know about the Ravenclaw?" Her entire body tensed. "You didn't ask about him."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder, frowning at Sirius. "You know, I think I'll ask my father about that when I get the chance. Don 't follow me, Sirius."

She left the drawing room, hoping Sirius wouldn't follow after her and try to continue the conversation just in time to hear the front door open and the portrait go off. Out of curiosity she glanced over the banister to see Remus, there with the Weasley family, minus one Arthur Weasley and one Percy Weasley. She swallowed, pulling away from the railing, hoping to avoid any form of conversation before she had a chance to talk with her dad.

"Hermione! Wait!"

Hermione froze on the forth step, hearing in creak under her. She frowned, not turning to look at the person as they hurried up the stairs to catch up with her. "Not now, Ron."

"Hold on. Let me go with you."

Hermione turned, glaring at him. "I said, not right now!"

He stared at her, his jaw dropping. She glanced away, knowing she'd crossed the line by snapping at Ron, which in turn left her frozen on the stair step. Another person came up the stairs from the ground floor. "Are you alright Hermione?"

She turned her head, startling. "Oh. Professor Lupin."

"Just Remus or Lupin now. I'm not a professor anymore," the man said. She looked at him, then at the room where Sirius was, feeling awkward given—that. She swallowed as Crookshanks left the drawing room. "Wait. Did you have an interaction with them? With Sirius and…"

Remus didn't finish the sentence and Hermione turned to look at him, her mouth pushed together unsure of why he'd decided to stop let alone what side he'd be on.

"Did Sirius do something? Or…"

Hermione interrupted him, pushing her lips together. "Tell Sirius to stick it where the sun don't shine."

"Wait?" Ron asked. "What did Harry's godfather do?"

She swallowed. "Ron. Please. I'd like to be left alone."

He opened his mouth to protest only for Remus to hold up a hand, shaking his head while looking over at the drawing room. She turned and headed up the stairs, unsure as she headed up where to start looking as she stopped in front of numerous different doors, muttering out loud at one point. "Where could he be?"

And then she saw it—the door over which hung a sign that read, " Do not enter without the express permission of Regulus Arcturus Black " and she swallowed, pondering at first whether she should knock and gain permission to enter, only for her worry to win out, all the while dreading what she might find inside, let alone the direction a more private conversation with her father would lead her.