A Rose By Any Other Name.

By Kes.

Disclaimer: The usual, 'I don't own them, but I want to!' disclaimers apply.

She re-read the parchment in her hand. Hermione's presence in Dumbledore's office had been requested. Must be serious to be so formal she mused to herself.It was now two weeks since her outburst at Fudge and very little had been said on that matter. There was a part of her thought that it was because the professors would be unable to resist the temptation to grin inanely if they ever discussed it with her. Now, however, there was just over a week left until she had to share the school with the rest of its pupils, an idea which had become very foreign to her, despite the fact that most of her time was still spent in the library or infirmary which had become her temporary accommodation.

Thanks to Severus' mostly-sarcastic words of caution, a makeshift 'suicide watch' had been enforced over Hermione by the staff. They thought she had not noticed, but she could see the concern hidden behind their eyes. At the moment though, she felt fine. Occasionally the reality of her situation would wash over her like a tidal wave and she would want to just sit and cry forever.

The trial she had been made to attend for her father had not been pleasant. She had had to divulge information that she had never wanted to think about ever again. Hermione had been incredibly down after that experience, more so than at her mother's funeral. As far as she understood from Professor McGonagall, Minister Fudge had pulled some strings in the muggle world for his trial to be rather speedy, as the Wizarding world had some questions of their own that needed to be answered. Luckily, she only needed to give evidence once.

She made her way to Dumbledore's office from the infirmary, thinking about how quiet the place was and how different it would be in over a week's time. She sighed. As she walked up to the door, Hermione struggled to remember the password. There were so many possibilities. Not only did Professor Dumbledore like wizard sweets, but he liked Muggle ones too.

After pondering open-mouthed for a while at the door waiting for inspiration to hit her, she noticed someone in black approaching in the corner of her eye. "Hello Professor."

"Miss Granger."

Briefly the thought of how she ever worked out that the black-clothed figure was in fact her potions professor flicked sarcastically through her mind.

"Do you know the password Professor?"

"Lemon drops. No, Cherry Drops." He furrowed his brow.

The door remained closed.

"Damn that man and his fickle taste in confectionary."

Hermione laughed lightly. "If you think he's bad, you should see Ron. Honestly, he's like a small child at times!"

Severus smirked to himself and thought I hardly think Mr Weasley can ever not be a small child...

Hermione bit her lip slightly as she contemplated...

"Chocolate frog? No, erm, Wine gums? Crunchie? Bertie botts every flavour beans? How about...mcflurry? No, that's just stupid..."

The door opened, and the staircase whirled around, they jumped on.

"'Mcflurry?' What would that be exactly? " He looked at her, and cocked an eyebrow.

She grinned. "That would be telling…"

"Ahh, Miss Granger, thank you for coming. Severus, there you are. Please, both of you; sit down."

As Hermione sat down, Dumbledore silently handed her a letter whilst Severus moaned.

"Albus, must you insist on changing your password every few minutes? I know that you have a lot of 'fads' regarding sweets, but for the sake of my ridiculously frail sanity, please, keep the password to wizard sweets! If Miss Granger hadn't been there, I'd have been there all day. By the way, what is a mcflurry..."

Dumbledore smiled, with a twinkle in his eye, "Never mind that Severus, we have more important matters to attend to." He looked over at Hermione.

She sat there, in her chair, re-reading the letter. She couldn't believe it!

Dear Miss Granger,

It has come to our attention, due to your evidence at the muggle hearing, and to what you told me during our meeting that your father is not necessarily who he says he is.

In your evidence during the muggle hearing, you said that your father was adopted. It is my understanding that this is knowledge you have only recently acquired. Although, as you yourself said, your father did not like to discuss it as he was a small child when the adoption occurred and apparently has no memory of his birth parents.

Furthermore, during your brief interview with us after the muggle hearing by Mrs Hithleswap earlier this week, during our own investigation at the Ministry due to your evidence, you claimed to have seen your father use a wand. As you know, wand-use is usually impossible for those of muggle-blood, with the occasional 'late bloomer', but not one of fifty years of age.

Through our thoroughinvestigation for the past week with our best people working non-stop on this most intriguing case, it has come to our attention that your father Peter Granger was actually born under the name of PeterKnightley; a Wizarding family. He was, during examinations at the age of 3 - as usual for Wizarding families - found to be a Squib, a person of Wizarding background, but with virtually no talent for magic. When continuing our investigation, we discovered that your father was left in a muggle adoption agency soon after the test, as Squibs often have difficult lives in the Wizarding world, and was quickly adopted by the Granger family, as they did not have the ability to have their own children.

Due to his young age, the Ministry did not have any records, as these are made at four years of age, when the child begins school. Also, when he was eleven, he had the chance to go to Hogwarts, like yourself, however he did not have sufficient magical ability to be permitted entry and was therefore classed as a muggle and therefore no record of him was required.

It is assumed - although he denies all knowledge - that your father learnt of his real parents shortly before his adoptive parents died, as they knew he was a wizard-born. It is not known how they knew. One can of course speculate that this is why he resented you and your abilities, especially considering that your powers are exceedingly advanced, even compared to a wizard-born child of the same age.

It is the decision of the muggle court that your father serves life in prison for the murder of your mother, and abuse of yourself, thanks to the evidence you so bravely gave.

However, considering the fact that your father is, in fact a wizard, however novice, and taking into account his potential and conscious decision to use a wand, however rudimentary the spell, I, Cornelius Fudge deem that he be sent to Azkaban for life imprisonment. Due to my contacts with the muggle Parliament, I am able to see this through and ensure that he is indeed sent to Azkaban.

If you wish to appeal against this decision, please contact the Law Courts Division on the Ministry of Magic.

Yours Sincerely,

Cornelius Fudge

Hermione sat in the chair, almost becoming a part of it, and re-read the letter again and again. As tears began to form, she looked up and noticed her two professors looking intently at her, with worried expressions on their faces. Severus, however subtle, was obviously most concerned, although he tried to ignore the reason why.

She had not noticed, but in the time it took her to read and re-read the letter, a few more people had come into the office for the meeting.

"I presume you all already know?" She said, shakily. She gripped the letter tightly, her knuckles whitening around it.

There were several nods of affirmation and Dumbledore finally piped up. "Yes dear, I'm sorry we didn't tell you as soon as we knew, but we thought it would be best for you to wait for the letter from Minister Fudge."

Right at this moment, however, Hermione had to admit to herself that she really did not care that they knew before her. All that mattered was that he was getting what he deserved, and right now with that thought in her mind, she was a little preoccupied.

She looked at the small crowd of people around her, amazed. "My dad's going to Azkaban? I thought he didn't know that he was a wizard, well, not for very long anyway, that's what it said on my letter..." She drifted off, re-reading parts of the letter absently.

"The fact remains" Said Severus "That he is 'one of us' as it were and acted as the worst of our kind has. Therefore, he should be punished accordingly."

Hermione smiled as tears of joy began to run down her cheeks, she did not know what to do, it was all so overwhelming.

She was aware that someone was talking to her, a woman. "Severus did it. It was his discussion with Fudge during his 'private meeting' with him yesterday that convinced him..." Poppy piped up.

Hermione looked up slowly at Severus slowly, her disbelief evident.

"Really...but why?" She asked him in a quiet voice, only to him.

Severus looked back at Hermione, having taken a moment to glance at Poppy in a not very subtle manner. "Because I knew that's what you would've wanted..." He replied in an equally quiet voice, becoming increasingly aware of the amount of people in the room, some of whom were smiling quietly to each other.

Hermione smiled slightly and then stared at him. "Really...well, thank you...he's going to Azkaban." She sighed with relief with a breath she had not realised she was holding. "That's more than mum and I could've ever hoped." She stood suddenly and practically ran to his side, suddenly forgetting that anyone else was there.

"Thank you." She smiled.

Attempting to keep a distance between them that was rapidly becoming smaller, Severus raised his stereotypical eyebrow and replied. "I believe that you already said that Miss Gra-" However, he was abruptly cut off, because Hermione kissed him.

Hermione stopped.

She moved backwards slightly…

…and sat back down.

She cleared her throat. "Like I said, thanks."

Severus coughed slightly. "Don't mention it."

Poppy and Minerva unsuccessfully attempted to hide their smirks.

It was going to be a long week.