CHAPTER TWO IS UP!

woot.

Anyways, a big thank you to my two loverly reviewers:

FairyDust4Ever: Thanks Ash, I'm glad you liked it, hopefully you'll like the longer chappie better...lol

redlightspin: the constructive criticism was appreciated, and now all I can say is--1,031 words!

Enjoy!

Chapter Two: An Explanation

"What!" yelled Hermione, snapping out of her state of shock. "This isn't funny! Where the hell are my parents?"

"We're right here, and I hope you don't yell this much in public. It's not fitting for a pureblood of your stature." Charlene coolly remarked.

"I'm a WHAT!" Hermione screamed.

"See? It's quite a disturbing habit, constant hollering." Charlene stated.

Bryson stood up and walked over to Hermione. He certainly looked like he was her father, what with his neatly cut soft brown hair, angled face, and chocolate eyes. Now it was his turn to place his hands on her shoulders and stare her down.

What is this? Grab Hermione day? She squirmed uncomfortably under Bryson's gaze. Wrong. Hermione's BIRTHDAY. Does no one get this?

"Hermione," he spoke softly, "some things are better explained elsewhere. The Grangers are not here, and you need to come home with us. You are an Emsley, and I know this must be confusing, but we expect and need you to be an Emsley. We'll explain at home."

Hermione nodded dumbly, and remembered the bundle. "What's that?" She asked, looking pointedly at the thing.

"That is your little sister, Annie. Don't wake her."

More than anything, that brought everything home, if you will. I have a little sister, and pureblood parents. PUREBLOOD parents. Omg. I'm a pureblood. I have a little sister, new life, PUREBLOOD. I'm a p----

Hermione's somewhat repetitive thoughts were cut off by both her Parents placing their arms around her and the sound one of them saying, "Happy Birthday Sweetheart."

Then with a pop, the strange group disappeared.

Hermione opened her eyes to see that she had fallen on a plush couch in the middle of a vast room. She gaped at the grandeur of it all, two-story-high ceilings, massive fireplaces, thick oriental rugs, and other obviously expensive furnishings. Typical pureblood, she thought, but still, you had to admit it was impressive.

"Do you like it?"

Hermione started, looking up to see Charlene seated on the couch across from her, glancing around the room critically.

"I mean after all," Charlene continued, "It's not as if we can be expected to have things up to standard so soon, seeing as we've just moved back in. It's still a bit shabby, but…it's getting there."

Hermione scoffed in disbelief. Charlene gazed at her intently for a moment; again making her feel uncomfortable, and then said suddenly, "Right, we owe you some explanations, don't we?"

"We certainly do, my dear,"

Hermione turned to see Bryson coming into the drawing room by way of two huge mahogany doors. He walked over and sat next to Charlene, settling back into the cushions. A house elf came up and silently served them refreshments.

"Now," he began, "this whole messy affair began around seventeen years ago, when you were new-born. You see, we feared for your life. Voldemort had pressed the idea of it being unacceptable for the first-born of a pureblood family to be anything other than a boy. Of course, this resulted in many hidden daughters. Unfortunately, many were found and slain. Your mother and I could not imagine having that happen to our perfect new baby, so we went to extremes. Putting you with a-er- muggle family was the last thing Voldemort would expect."

"So we entrusted you to the Grangers," Charlene continued, "with the understanding that we were to pick you up when all was safe. So time went on, and as your first birthday neared, Voldemort went after the Potter boy. We were overjoyed, thinking we could get our baby girl back so soon. We arranged with the Grangers and had brought you home when we heard news that was traveling through the pureblood families that Voldemort was merely weakened by the incident and was getting stronger everyday. So we had to – to—"

"We took you back to the Grangers," finished Bryson, when it was clear that Charlene couldn't go on. "And we decided to close up our mansion and move elsewhere, as those who had seen you could have told Voldemort and we'd be killed. But that little time we had with you was enough: we couldn't completely shut ourselves off. So we found time to be with you; we would watch you sleep, observe you from afar as you played in the park, those kinds of things. And so we watched as you grew up, went to Hogwarts, befriend Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, rise to the top of the class, do unbelievably courageous things--we were so proud of you. More than anything did we want to be there, in your life." He stopped to wipe a tear racing down his cheek. "A few years ago we had to stop seeing you, now a beautiful young woman--Voldemort was more powerful than ever before. We forced ourselves to stay away. Your sister was born, the only comfort that still existed in our world.

"And as suddenly as things had reached a climax, they stopped. Voldemort was dead for good, and we could have our little girl back. Welcome back Alyanna Hermione Emsley, we couldn't be happier to have you."

The tears flowed freely after that. Charlene rushed over to grasp her daughter, sobbing into her shoulder, only letting go to let Bryson get his hug. Hermione was overwhelmed: never had she felt such emotion in one day. She hugged her parents back, crying almost as much as they did. She was trembling uncontrollably, but it went unnoticed until Charlene exclaimed,

"Oh my dear," laughing a bit raspy due to the tear-fest. "you must be exhausted. We've talked the day away. You should rest." Hermione agreed, hugged her parents and said "Night Mum, Dad," and followed the summoned house elf wearily back into the entrance hall, up a majestic grand stairway, and to a room at the end of an expansive hallway. Stumbling into her room, she collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep, restoring sleep

Across the house, Bryson and Charlene sat contentedly, the light from the flames in a nearby fireplace flickering on their face. For the first time in oh-so-many years, their eldest was right down the hall.
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CS