Author's Notes:

Finally, a new chapter is here. Sorry about the delay, I was working on my other stories. I'll try to update this more regularly. I want to thank all of you that read it so far and the ones who reviewed.

Nakhash Makashefah, the beta extraordinaire, took time out of her busy day to do this chapter for me. Hopefully it didn't take too much time away from her more evil pursuits.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Co. I own nothing.

Lost Blood.

Chapter 03. The truth sucks.

"It's nearly nine o'clock. Where's Hermione?" Liz asked her husband as she made breakfast.

"Still in her room," Jonathan answered.

"I really didn't think she'd take it this hard. Do you think I did the right thing by telling her?"

"Of course, we knew this had to be done. I only wish we would have done it sooner," he answered. "I can guarantee in time she will thank you for telling her."

"I don't know if I'm going to live that long," Liz said with a false smile on her face.

"I go see what's keeping her," Jonathan said as he got up from the table. Jonathan felt a little nervous as he approached his daughter's room on the second story of their flat. He hadn't talked to her since Liz had told her about Snape. He feared that she would no longer see him as her father. He knocked three times on her door and asked, "Hermione, are you almost packed?" There was no answer. Jonathan opened the door to his daughter's room and stepped inside. He saw a big lump under the covers on the bed. Two small pink feet were sticking out at the end. "Hermione, breakfast is almost ready, you need to start getting ready to go back to school," he said to the lump on the bed.

"I'm not going. I'm never going back there again," a muffled voice said from under the blanket.

Jonathan reached down and took hold of the edge of her bedspread. With a mighty pull, he removed it from her bed. Hermione was still in her pajamas. She squinted her eyes and curled up into a ball as the sunlight from her bedroom window washed over her. Jonathan sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her back. It was something he had done to make Hermione feel better since she had gotten her own room at the age of three.

"I know this is hard, Pumpkin. The truth usually is. But it's something you'll learn to live with in time," he told her.

Hermione rolled over and looked up at him with tear-stained eyes. "How can I learn to live with this?" she asked. "That greasy arrogant bastard is my father, or was my father."

"He's not that bad, Hermione," he told her. "He has always been concerned about you, ever since he found out he had a daughter. I know he wishes that he could have been a bigger part of your life."

"He hates me," Hermione sincerely told him.

"He doesn't hate you, Hermione," he assured her.

"Yes he does, and I can prove it," she angrily told him. "Remember when I told you about a boy hexing me a couple of years ago, making my front teeth grow?"

"Yes, you had your school matron fix your teeth. It was a bit of a blow to my professional pride," he said with a smile.

"Well, Snape was there when it happened. Both of my teeth were over half a foot long, and do you what he said? 'I don't see any difference'," Hermione said, trying to mimic Snape's voice.

"Ouch," Jonathan said, giving his daughter a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he didn't actually mean it. He has always been concerned about your welfare, even if he can't directly show it."

"He has always been mean to me. Now I know why. He's ashamed of having a filthy half-blooded brat," Hermione heatedly said.

"He is not ashamed of you, Hermione. I think he's very proud of the young woman you've become. I know I am," he told her with a smile.

"How can you defend such a horrible person?" Hermione asked with an annoyed look on her face.

"It's easy," Jonathan told his daughter. "The man gave me the one thing in the world I thought I'd never have, a family. Hermione, did you ever wonder why we never gave you a brother or sister?"

"Sometimes; I always thought you might once you got your practice going," she said.

"That's not the reason. I can't get your mother pregnant. I can't get anyone pregnant. I had a bad case of the Mumps when I was seventeen. I've been sterile ever since," he said with a sad look on his face. "At seventeen it didn't bother me much. But when I was in my early twenties, I realized that most women wouldn't want a husband that couldn't give them a child. Then I met your mother, and that all changed."

"Did you know she was pregnant when you met her?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, she was about five months along when I met her. She was in her first year of dental school and I was in my last. She had it pretty hard by herself. A single pregnant woman working and going to school was very rare back then. Most people looked down on her because of it. Some even spread rumors that one of her professors was the father. She never let any of it slow her down. I fell in love with your mother ten seconds after meeting her. I fell in love with you the first time I felt you kick in your mother's tummy," he warmly told her.

"You know I love you, Dad. You're the only father I want," Hermione said as she sat up and put her arms around him.

"I know you do, Pumpkin," he said as he stroked his hand through her hair. He wondered if she knew how much he needed to hear that. "Hermione, I want to show you something," Jonathan said as he got up and walked over to her bookcase. He pulled out a small leather black book and asked, "Do you remember this?"

"Of course. It's the first magic textbook you and Mum ever gave me. It was a Christmas present when I was eight. I didn't have a wand yet, but it showed me all the basic movements and beginning spells. It really gave me a leg up my first year," she answered.

"Did you ever read the inscription on the back?" he asked.

"Yes, it says "To my beloved son," signed D.S.," she told him. "I figured it was used. I know that book hasn't been printed in over two hundred years."

"Yes, it's very valuable, but we didn't give it to you. Do you know who D.S is?" he asked.

"No, I guess it's the mother of one of the former owners," Hermione said.

"It is. It once belonged to Dominique Snape. It was your grandmother's. She gave it to her son when he was eight years old, and he gave it to you when you were eight," Jonathan informed her. "This is the last thing his mother gave him before she died. I don't think he would give it to someone he didn't care about."

Hermione took the book from him. She studied it as if she had never seen it before in her life. "This doesn't make any sense," Hermione said with a puzzled look on her face. "Why would he give me this, then treat me like something he scraped off the bottom of his shoe."

"I really can't answer that, Hermione. Only he can," he told her.

"How can I face him now? What will I say?" Hermione asked him with a desperate look on her face.

"You'll think of something when the time comes," Jonathan told her as he embraced her in a hug. As much as he wanted her to know Snape, he feared it even more.

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An hour later, Hermione and her parents put her trunk in a taxi's boot and left for King's Cross station. Across the street, two figures in dark robes watched from the shadows.

"Is that her?" the larger of the two asked.

"Yes, that's Potter's Mudblood friend," the other answered.

"When will we take them?" the big man asked.

"Patience, Luther," the thin man said. "We will wait a week from now to strike. The husband is of no use to us. We will kill him and take the Muggle woman. If the Mudblood wants her mother back, she'll have to give us Potter, first."

The big man licked his lips and said, "Just as long as we get to play with her a little, first."

"Don't worry, Luther, if everything goes as planned, you'll have both mother and daughter to play with as you see fit," the thin man said.

"I will enjoy them both for weeks," Luther said with a greedy glint in his eyes.

The thin man chuckle and asked, "Luther, when has any Muggle or Mudblood slut ever lived more than a day after you started on them?"

"I'll take my time with these two. They'll watch each other suffer until they beg for death. I think I'll kill the girl first and let her mother watch," he said with a depraved look on his face.

"I bet you'll tear them both to pieces the first night. There won't be enough left to feed to the dogs," the thin man said with a smile.

"You're probably right," Luther agreed. Both men laughed and, with a loud "CRACK," disappeared into thin air.

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At one minute to eleven, Hermione rushed through the barrier at platform nine and three-quarters. Harry and Ron were standing in a coach doorway waiting for her. "Hurry, Hermione," Ron shouted as the train whistle blew. They grabbed her trunk as Hermione picked up Crookshanks and hopped on the train.

"That was close," Harry said as they moved down the passageway. Hermione noticed that all of the compartments were filled. She saw a lot of strange faces on the train.

"Who are all these new people?" Hermione asked as they passed a group of teenage girls she had never seen before.

"Students from Durmstrang," Ron told her.

"What are they doing here?" she asked as they entered a compartment at the back of the train. Ginny, Neville, Luna, Lavender, and Parvati were already inside.

"Didn't you hear, Hermione? Durmstrang was attacked. Half the castle was destroyed, and fifty people were killed," Ron told her.

"When did this happen?" Hermione asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Two days ago. It's been all over the front page of the Daily Prophet," Harry said.

"I only get the Prophet twice week. I didn't read it last night when it came," she explained. "Do they know who was behind the attack?" she asked as she sat down between Luna and Ginny. Ron and Harry sat just across from her in the crowded compartment.

"The Prophet didn't say. There was no Dark Mark over the castle, but I think we all know who it was," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"I bet You-Know-Who was looking for something there," Ron told them.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Maybe a weapon or a Dark magic book of some kind. Who knows what kind of weird stuff they had at that place," Ron said.

"So all of the students are coming to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"No," Ginny answered. "Only the ones that can read and write English. The rest are going to different schools all over Europe. We are getting about fifty of them."

"How long will they be staying?" she asked.

"They said Durmstrang will take years to rebuild, so they're probably here for good," Harry told her.

"They all have to be Sorted with the first years. Knowing this lot, Slytherin will end up being twice as big as any other house," Ron said seriously. "That greasy git, Snape, will probably treat them all like they're his very own children, too."

Hermione just narrowed her eyes at Ron after hearing what he said.

"Stop sneering at me, Hermione. You remind me of Snape when you do that," he told her.

Hermione quickly buried her face in her hands and let out a low moan.

"What did I say?" Ron asked with a baffled look on his face.

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Hours later, they all sat at the Gryffindor table waiting for the Sorting to begin. Hermione looked at Snape sitting at the High Table. He still looked as ill-tempered and hostile as ever. He didn't look at her once. They didn't Sort the Durmstrang students right away; they sorted the first years first. When they did start Sorting Durmstrang, to Hermione's surprise they didn't all go to Slytherin like Ron had said they would. Most, in fact, were going to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Halfway through, Hermione heard a name she recognized. "Krum, Hugo, sixth year," Professor McGonagall called out. She instantly looked to the front of the Great Hall. Hugo took a seat on the three-legged stool. He was a carbon copy of his older brother, maybe a touch taller, but just as lanky.

"Is that Viktor's brother?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Hermione answered.

She waited impatiently as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. After a minute, the Hat shouted out: "GRYFFINDOR." Hermione and the rest of her housemates rose to their feet and began to applaud loudly. All the Slytherins looked like they had just lost the house cup. Hugo took a seat next to Seamus and Dean at the end of the table. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, seeing the wheels in their heads turning. There were four spots to fill on the Quidditch team this year, and they had just gotten the break of the century.

One by one, all of the Durmstrang students were Sorted until there were only three left. Only five of them had become Gryffindors. Slytherin had only received two, so far. All the rest went to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The next name McGonagall called out silenced the entire hall. "Snape, Serena, fifth year." A girl with long raven-black hair, looking too small to be a fifth year student, approached the stool.

"Is that Snape's daughter?" Ginny asked in a whisper.

"Yeah," Parvati answered. "I heard a couple of the Durmstrang students talking about her on the Express. They said she's really weird."

"She has to be if she is related to Snape," Ron joked. Hermione ignored him. Her attention was fully concentrated on the small girl on the stool. The girl had the largest eyes she had ever seen. Crystal blue, like spring water. Hermione thought she looked like she was half house-elf.

McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head. Everyone in the hall waited with bated breath for what the Hat would choose. After what seemed like an incredibly long time, it shouted out: "SLYTHERIN." Hermione's heart sank in her chest. She had a sister and she was a pureblood Slytherin.

"That figure's," Ron said as he watched the girl get off of the stool. Hermione noticed that none of the Slytherins applauded as she took a seat at the end of their table. The girl didn't look at anyone else; she just stared at her feet. While the rest of the hall seemed to purposely ignore her, Hermione continued to stare at the dark haired girl with fascination for the rest of the start-of-term banquet.

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Next chapter coming soon.

The plot thickens. Hermione will have her first father-daughter chat with Snape, in the next chapter.