Chapter 15

"Why the hell did you call her, Evans?" Harry asked his Potter temper starting to rise.

"Did you hear all of that?" Arabella asked grabbing his hand and leading in into the living room.

Harry looked down at Sirius and Arabella's hands and Harry nodded.

Arabella, Sirius, and Harry made it to the living room and sat on the couch, "First, off why did he call you 'Evans'?"

Arabella smiled softly, before she said anything but Harry already knew. " I'm your mother's sister. I'm your mother…"

Harry cut her off, "No your not! Petunia is my only aunt! Petunia never mentioned you! Aunt Petunia only mentioned my mother a few times."

"Only, because you'd asked about her, Harry. I am your aunt."

"You, can't be, because you told me that you and my mum met on the Hogwarts Express. That you were in the same house, same year, and best friends."

"Okay, so we didn't actually meet on the Hogwarts Express but we were in the same house, Gryffindor and the Evans Mansion, we were the same year, we started at the same time, we were best friends, and we were…twins."

"No…no you're not. Mum had red hair, you have blond."

Sirius broke in, "Harry, yes they have different hair colors, but so do you and Adora. Look at Bella, she's got the Evans eyes. Lily and she had identical laughs." Harry looked at Arabella again, and so Sirius was right.

"So, is your real name…Arabella?" Arabella made a disgusted face.

"With my luck, yes, Mum always liked it. At school everyone called me Aimee, except your mum, and this git." Arabella pocked Sirius, "Since Adora's mother loved me so much she named her after me. Larissa gave my middle name to Adora. Adora's adopted parent's still have Aimee as her middle name. Larissa told them they had to do that. After Larissa and Anthony gave her up, Anthony died."

"Wait a minute! Anthony? That's my Grandfather's name. Then Adora isn't my cousin, she's my…aunt?"

Arabella and Sirius nodded their head. Harry began to yell, "Then why did you call her my cousin!"

"Harry, everyone has always called her that. If you look in the book that Hermione gave you, they put 'Baby Girl Potter' on the wrong branch." Harry picked the book up and Arabella showed Harry in which she was right. "Why did they do that?" James accidentally called you her cousin, instead of her nephew. You were born months after her."

"Do you know who she is?" Arabella and Sirius nodded their heads.

"Arabella is also her secret keeper."

"Can you tell me who she is?"

"Not today, Harry. I'm afraid." Harry looked sad at Arabella's response, "But you'll know soon. I want you to learn this one on your own." Harry then knew that part of the conversation was over.

"I have a question. Why didn't Aunt Petunia catch on to you name when you introduced your self to them?"

"Arabella is an old Irish name, my mum…your grandmother, had a friend who died from Cancer, by the name of Arabella, so she named me after her."

"How do you and Sirius know about the twins?" Arabella fell out of her chair by this question.

"How do you know?" Arabella asked praying that Ginny wasn't pregnant.

"Ginny and I both had a dream about them and then we were looking through my photo book and we noticed how much we looked like my mum and dad."

"Again, Harry you'll have to figure that one out but this time not on your own. Try and figure this one out with Ginny," Sirius suggested.

Meanwhile…

Hermione was excited about seeing her parents, expectably her mother. She had to tell her mum that Ron had finally asked her out! Remus was kind of afraid to meet her parents, he was kind of afraid that they'd freak out when he just apparated.

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione questioned turning to her old Professor.

Remus chuckled at Hermione, "Hermione, I'm not your Professor anymore. Please call me Remus."

"Okay Remus, I can see your worried. Could you please tell me what's wrong?"

"Your parents are afraid of Witches and Wizards, aren't they?"

Hermione giggled, "No. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley come and see them all the time and they just apparate at the house. They've gotten use to it and they like the fact that I'm a witch. So it'll be fine, don't worry. They are not going to go into the village and yell 'Witch!'" The cab driver looked a little worried.

"Oh!" Hermione noticed the look on the driver's face. "We're just rehearsing a play, called The Salem Witches. My name is…Aimee and his is Harry." Hermione smiled and was relived that the cab driver believed her.

When they finally approached her house she broke down as the Dark Mark was over her house. Remus lost all color that had been in his face and the taxi driver believing that they were witches again drove off. Knowing what they would find inside they went in any way. Hermione went upstairs first, up into her parents, room…nothing. Into, their bathroom….nothing. Back into the hallway and into her bathroom….nothing. Into her bedroom, there was her father on the floor. Hermione started sobbing, then she totally broke down when she saw what her father had been doing in her room. There was a banner above her bed, "To Our Little Darling! We Love You! Mum and Daddy!" Remus and Hermione went down stairs into the living room, there was her mother, wrapping presents it looked like.

Hermione turned to Remus, "I'm an orphan, now!" Hermione fell on to the ground into a hysterical fit.

Remus saw a note on the coffee table, "Hermione, this packet has your name on it."

She took it, and opened it. Saying:

Miss Granger,

I've been trying for months now, to be a secret spy for me to help take down Harry Potter, and yet with your dumb Mudblood little brain, you keep saying no. I have come to tell you that I have found some else to be a spy. Since you rebelled against me your parents paid the price. If only you knew, they weren't your biological parents. Yes, Miss Granger, NOT YOUR PARENTS. I have already killed your real father, and your real mother isn't that good off. You should of listened to me and the only way I found out about your real mother and father was from your adopted parents. It really surprised me to find out that your real parents were full-bloods. So they must have really showed stupidity to send you to a muggle home, don't you agree? As their dying wish, I am to deliver this message to you. They were going to tell you on Christmas.

Have a Happy Holidays,

Voldemort.

It looked as if it had been written in blood and Remus looked surprised.

"He's been writing you?" Hermione nodded.

"Someone told him how intelligent I am and I've been getting these horrible letters since the beginning of last year."

Remus contacted the Ministry at once and they helped the Granger's out of their home. While Remus talked to Mr. Olivander and asked him to make the funeral arrangements for Hermione's sake in which he nodded. Some one from the ministry gave Hermione and Remus a portkey that all they had to say and they'd be there immediately.

"Hermione?" She looked up at her old Professor, "don't you think you should get the presents your parents, left for you."

"No, I don't think I could bare it."

"But, if You-Know-Who said in the letter your parents were going to tell you about your biological parents for Christmas, don't you think that the adoption forms are somewhere?" Hermione nodded and Remus conjured up a bag to collect all of the presents for Hermione and they left for Arabella's home.

Harry, Sirius, and Arabella had just finished talking when a very tired Remus and very upset Hermione showed up out of nowhere in the middle of Arabella's living room.

"Remus! What has happened? Hermione what's wrong?" Arabella walked over to Hermione and hugged her as Remus told them all of the events that had happened that day. Hermione was now on the couch head on Harry's shoulder crying her eyes out.

After what seemed hours, and probably was Hermione finally spoke, "Where am I going to stay until the holidays are over?"

"You are going to stay with Harry and me," Arabella spoke up. "Harry," he looked up at his aunt. "Go and show Hermione where the other guest room is," Harry nodded and got Hermione to follow him upstairs.

"Harry?" It was the second thing Hermione had said since she'd showed up a couple hours ago. "Do you think I could use Hedwig to send a letter to Ron?"

"Of course, Hermione." Harry left and returned with Hedwig, and soon he descended downstairs. Returning again with Hermione's presents that her parents had for her at their home.

"Um, Harry? Would you mind if I asked you if could be by myself tonight?"

"Of, course not but if you need me you know where my room is." Hermione nodded and Harry left the room.

Hermione sat down on the bed and opened the bag in which all of her presents were. Hermione had received mostly books, from Flourish and Blotts, obviously her parents had gone to Diagon Alley. Also, there was a bag of muggle makeup from her mother, and a mirror. On the back of it, it had an incantation on it. There was a note.

My Dearest Hermione,

If your reading this, then that bad wizard you told your father and I about did attack us and we are no longer here.

A single tear went down her face.

Please be strong my lovely baby doll. We know how much your fighting, and I'm hoping to hear that Ron and you are finally together. This Christmas, as it was your 16th, well we'd always said that on your 16th birthday we'd tell you the truth. So here it is, we adopted you a couple of weeks after you were born from a very nice man and woman. The sweet couple said that they were afraid that they couldn't take care of you and that you would be in mortal danger if they kept you. But that they did love you deeply. Shortly, afterwards your father died, and your mother sent us another letter, telling us about it. We promised her on your 16th Christmas that we would tell you. I'm not really sure if she's still alive or not because for some odd reason, after you turned one years old she stopped sending us mail. The last letter she wrote us was on your first birthday, telling us that, on your 11th birthday that you'd most likely get a letter of acceptance to a school that we'd never heard of and to let you go. So we of course accepted her wish, and when you got your acceptance letter to Hogwarts, we let you go. Hopefully, Ron, Ginny, and Harry will help you with your mystery of your other life.

We'll love you always,

Mum and Daddy


Hermione put the letter down and picked up the small mirror turning it around. Saying the incantation on the back it instantly showed her boyfriend Ron sleeping, she began to sob and Ron sat up instantly.

"'Mione?"

Hermione didn't believe it! "Ron, can you hear me?" Ron went up to the mirror on the other side of his room, and he saw her, his Hermione!

"Baby, what's wrong? Have you been crying?" Hermione nodded and Ron looked like his heart had been broken. "What happened?"

Hermione began to tell Ron about everything that had happened, about her being excited about telling her mum and dad about them dating, finally. Of course Ron blushed at this. But that when Remus and herself had arrived at her parents home the Dark Mark was over the house. Ron started to feel her pain, and he'd known how much Hermione had loved her mum and dad. Hermione hardly ever quit talking about them, and Hermione then told him that she'd found her dad in her room hanging up a Welcome Back poster. That she found her mum by the Christmas tree around the presents. Then Hermione told Ron about the letter from You-Know-Who, and how the Granger's had adopted her when she was a baby. How You-Know-Who had killed her father and then when she got to Arabella's house Hermione was looking through all of her presents and found this mirror and read the note about it from her adopted mum.

"So your father was killed a short time after you were adopted?" Hermione nodded. "And your mum doesn't know if your real mum is alive or not?" Hermione nodded again, "I'm so sorry, baby and of course I wish I could be with you right now. But as soon as I wake up I'll see if mum will let me come over, Okay?"

"Alright, Ron."

"So you try and get some sleep and try not to think about all this. Okay?" Hermione nodded.

"Night, baby."

"Night, Ron."

Hermione put the mirror down, and changed into her pajamas then followed by crawling into bed.