Chapter 7:
Hermione was blindsided! This isn't what she had been expecting at all when Alastor invited her to his son's family pre-wedding engagement dinner, he had said the wedding would be in another two weeks. Of course, Hermione had tried to argue that it would seem odd that she was being invited to the family affair when she wasn't family or knew the couple, that his son would get the completely wrong idea, but Alastor had waved her off saying his son would know there was nothing improper going on between them.
Alastor had seemed so certain that she had decided to tag along for a night off, she'd been so busy at St. Mungo's that she'd barely had time for anything other then Teddy lately. Now however seeing who Alastor's son was, Hermione just wanted to bolt.
"Hi I'm David Granger, this is my fiancée Helena, it's nice to meet you Ms. Evans," the much younger version of her father was looking at her a bit confused, looking between her and Alastor. Not once in all the time she had known Mad-Eye in the future had he mentioned she was his granddaughter and considering the knowing look Alastor was giving her and her father she knew he was aware. Other then her eyes and curly hair, which matched her mother, Hermione was very much a miniature of her father.
"It's Hermione please, sorry for just tagging along, but Alastor said he needed a buffer. Merl… Jesus I shouldn't have said that sorry. I've just gotten off a double shift at the hospital I work at, so my filter's a bit non-existent at the moment."
By the way Alastor stiffened beside her, clearly holding in laughter, he knew even working all week with barely any sleep would make her ramble this much. No Alastor knew she only rambled when she was nervous. Which her being nervous was understandable considering that she was being ambushed with her father! She wondered if Alastor had any clue where she was from, or just thought his son had an illegitimate daughter who was born when he was a teenager.
"It's fine. Dad's never been the greatest with tact, so I've gotten used to it."
"That is an understatement. He's constantly fighting with my brother. We lost everything in a fire only a couple months ago, and Alastor was kind enough to help us get back on our feet. I think he likes having my nephew Teddy to spoil."
"Dad always has been great with kids, not that many people would expect that from him. He's a paranoid git the rest of the time."
"Enough ganging up on poor Alastor, David. Come let's introduce Hermione to my family."
It didn't escape Hermione's notice as she was introduced to the Alain side of her family that Alastor was the only member of David's family here. She was going to try her hardest to think of her parents as David and Helena, she didn't need to slip and call them mom and dad. That would at minimum be embarrassing. Not that it surprised her, about Alastor being the only one from his family. Hermione had always known that her father didn't have a relationship with the rest of his family. Said he was disowned for something out of his control, but never explained. It was clear now that it was because her father was most likely a squid, that or he had a muggle mother who hadn't wanted to risk having a wizard for a son.
It now made so much more sense on how accepting her father had been of her being a witch. At first when she had been told, Hermione had thought her father was going overboard with trying to show her that he was fine with her being a witch. Honestly, she had been afraid that her father was acting that way because he was afraid that she had magic, now she had a much clearer perspective. He hadn't wanted to risk a rift between them. A rift that happened anyway when she decided to take her parents memories away and sent them to Australia to hide them from the Death Eaters.
Knowing now that David had been born to a wizard father, at the least, made her wonder if maybe she could have reasoned with them. Then again one of the reasons that she hadn't told them the extent of the war was because she knew her parents would want her to leave with them, which was something she couldn't do. Harry had needed her, he needed someone in his life who wouldn't abandon him, no matter what. Not to mention she had wanted to fight for her own rights as a witch. It was her fight, even if her parents could never understand that. Not on the magical level anyway.
Hermione wanted to scream and rage at Alastor, to know what he was playing at bringing her here, springing her parents on her without a warning. Did he think her father (no David she needs to think of him as David) knew she existed? That he had given up a child when he had barely been more then one himself? As long as Alastor didn't expect the truth, she could convince him he was wrong, or at the very least try to salvage the situation. Although with how she had reacted to seeing David Granger she knew Alastor wouldn't believe that she didn't know who her biological father was. Merlin this was a mess!
"So, you said you work at a hospital Hermione?"
"Um I'm just still finishing up my intern year. I'm planning to become specialized once I finish my training." Training that was a lot quicker in the magical world then the muggle world.
"You're quite young to have finished your schooling," Eliza Alain, Hermione's aunt said a brow raised like she thought Hermione was making it up. As if she was just trying to impress the people around her, it made Hermione roll her eyes. Eliza always had been judgemental.
"I got my GCSE when I was ten. After that I did a bit of specialized schooling before I decided on the medical tract." All true, but as Hermione Granger in 1990. If she hadn't found out she was a witch Hermione would have had to decide what to do to continue with her schooling, at that time she had so many different interests that she had been having a bit of a hard time deciding what she wanted to do. Her parents had worried that letting her education go at such a fast pace might have harmed her more then helped her, until Professor McGonagall had come to their house offering her a place at Hogwarts. Then Hermione had purpose again.
Eliza looked a little shocked at that, "your parents must be proud."
"I could have only become a bookshop employee and they'd have been proud of me. They were great people."
Now Eliza and everyone else looked stricken, her word choice meaning they were no longer around, but no one dared asked how long ago she had lost them, not after a stern look from Alastor. It was kind of ridiculous to think she was talking about how her parents were great people when she was in front of their younger selves, but even if they were a version of who her parents were, they would never be her parents. They didn't have the experiences that Hermione shared with her parents. Yet it was still nice being able to see them so happy, so close to their wedding day.
"David, Helena, how did you two meet?" Hermione had never actually gotten the story from her parents, they both just said they met in grammar school, but they didn't get together until they both enrolled in Dental School.
"Our meeting wasn't really my proudest moment. We were quite young at the time, about seven I believe, and I was convinced that Helena was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I ended up telling the entire class she was my betrothed. Of course Helena didn't even know my name at that point, so she was looking at me like I was off my rocker.
"I completely blame dad; you see his family was very old fashioned and he and my mother were an arranged marriage. Their families arranged it when they were still both infants. My mother disowned me because I wasn't what she was expecting," the pointed looked David gave her made it clear it was because he didn't have magic. "Dad had never really wanted to be married, he's basically married to his work, so he used that as a reason to divorce her. Shocked everyone in their families and dad was cut off, not quite disowned, but his family stopped speaking to him. It just wasn't the done thing in their eyes.
"However because I knew my parents were betrothed and was still too young to not realize it wasn't normal, I decided that I could just betroth myself to Helena. After that I did a lot of stupid things, well she spent most of her time ignoring me. Got to the point where the school called dad and her parents, wanting to stop the disruption in classes. That was quite the conversation when dad explained that betrothals didn't work that way, and that most people didn't get betrothed anymore. That most people didn't even decide who they wanted to marry until they were adults.
"He then had to explain to Richard and Ellis that his family had been part of high society and still followed those older ideals. Made me apologize in front of the whole school for upsetting Helena. After she found out just how old-fashioned dad's family was, Helena decided she would become my new best friend and teach me what modern day kids thought like.
"By the time she realized she had feelings for me and started flirting with me our first year in dental school, I had been so blinded I didn't realize it. We'd actually been on three dates, that I just took as us hanging out, until Helena kissed me. Calling me an idiot when I spluttered about it coming out of nowhere. We've been together ever since."
It was such a sweet if odd story, that Hermione hated that her parents had never sat down and told her about it. She wished she knew just why her parents had thought raising her without knowing her wizard grandfather was the best thing to do. Why were they so convinced that it was more dangerous with Alastor in their lives then it had been without him? Hermione hatred that she'd never know the truth. She'd only be able to speculate.
Hermione wondered at this point if Helena knew that Alastor was a wizard and that David was a Squib. Would she only be told the truth if they had another magical child? Hermione had a feeling that they wouldn't have her younger self. It just was something her magic told her.
"Do you have a boyfriend Hermione?"
"No I'm too busy with my education, I barely have time to spend with my brother and nephew."
"Well don't end up like my old man here, he's married to his job, and I think everyone deserves love in their life."
It was something her father had always said that everyone deserved love in their life. He seemed to believe that for someone to be happy they needed to have a significant other. Hermione didn't have the same belief. She wasn't against the thought of having a husband sometime in the future, and she did want kids. It's just that she didn't believe that having a spouse was the ultimate happiness. If someone wasn't happy on their own, she very much doubted they'd be happy with a spouse. Depression wasn't something that could be cured just by falling in love. If you weren't happy with your own self, with who you were as a person, nothing can truly make you happy.
"I'm not against finding someone when I have more time, but I do have love in my life. My brother and Teddy, I have even been making a few friends at the hospital. Love comes in many forms, not just romantic love."
"She's got you there David," Helena said leaning against her husband with a grin. "He's always arguing with my brother Alexander who doesn't even plan to ever find a partner, he said he's happy enough with his research. Some people just want others to feel the happiness they feel, without realizing that happiness comes in many different forms."
"Well said."
"Supper's ready." Erica Alain, Helena's mother called out. Granny Ica, as Hermione had called her as a child, had died when Hermione was six. She had cancer, all Hermione knew was that it was too advanced for doctors to do anything for her. Hermione didn't even know what type of cancer Granny Ica had, her parents hadn't wanted to burden her with it. She was old enough and smart enough to realize what cancer was, what death was, but her parents hadn't wanted Hermione to go into a spiral. They'd been afraid for a while that Hermione would bury herself in medical school and become a medical researcher trying to find a cure. All they had wanted was for Hermione to decide what her own life path would be like without any influence from anyone else.
Being in the past was better at times and worst at others, there was so much Hermione wished she could change, but there were some things even out of her hands. Unfortunately Granny Ica was one of those things. Her cancer most likely hadn't even manifested yet, from what Hermione remembered it was fairly fast acting after the diagnoses, and without knowing when Granny Ica's cancer appeared there was nothing she could do. Even if there was something she could do, how could she explain it? How could she make them listen? If they did listen it's not like Hermione could explain how she knew, not without sounding crazy, and if she didn't sound crazy then she was telling them a secret that could risk all of their lives.
Listening to her unknowing family chatter around her made Hermione wish she could leave. It was too hard being around them without them knowing who she was, too hard knowing that they would never have the same experiences in their memories that she did. No one noticed that she went quiet. It wasn't like she really mattered to anyone here other then Alastor, she was an interloper in a family event.
Alastor Moody
"Bringing someone I've never met before to my engagement dinner is weird, even for you dad," David said, having dragged Alastor outside after supper commenced. He felt a little bad leaving Hermione on her own in there, but this was something he had to do.
From the moment he had met the young woman he had known she was his granddaughter, after all due to a curse shortly after David's birth Alastor himself couldn't have more children. David was the only option as the last members of Alastor's mother's family, she was a miniature of Alastor's own mother, besides the curls and eyes, taking after her father clearly. Alastor himself had taken after his own father's side of the family tree. He had thought that she had no idea who her biological father had to be, but it was clear from the look on her face tonight she knew. The panic was clear, but so was the confusion. She had known David was her father, but she hadn't known that Alastor was her grandfather. He didn't know how she knew, although something had been on the tip of his tongue all night, a revelation that he was sure would fit all the pieces together.
It was odd. His son more then anything knew the pain of being left by those he loved; he'd never willingly let his child grow up not knowing who he was. His entire purpose tonight was introducing David to his daughter, maybe not the best idea since tonight was supposed to be about David and his fiancée. It's just Alastor had no other idea how he would be able to convince Hermione to meet his son, without it seeming to Helena's family that he didn't agree with their relationship, and that he was trying to introduce David to a new much younger woman.
"I wanted to blindside you, see if you knew," the truth was something Alastor never shirked. Hermione might be upset with him for this, but David deserved to know he had a daughter.
"Knew what? You aren't making sense dad!"
"Are you really that blind David. She's a miniature of you, I tested it, she's yours! Your daughter if I still wasn't making sense." He had to be careful not to mention magic. David would be able to tell his fiancée after the wedding, but the rest of her family wouldn't be allowed to know about magic.
Feelings really weren't Alastor's forte. He was a rough take no nonsense man. It had caused a lot of arguments between him and David when David was growing up. His son just couldn't understand why Alastor couldn't open up about his feelings. Around his son he was softer more relaxed, but he was still Alastor Moody. The sadistic, paranoid, bastard who hunted Dark Wizards.
David stumbled back his face going chalk white, "that's not possible. I'd know if I had a daughter her age out there!"
"Clearly not. Whoever you stuck your dick in and impregnated as a teenager probably hadn't even planned to keep the child. Look I don't know anything about her younger years, all I know is she and her kind of adopted brother lost her brother's godfather in a fire not long ago. They lost everything and by a twist of fate Dumbledore asked me to house them. They've been living with me for four months now. I'm not going to allow her to disappear. She's a member of this family and she deserves to know it!"
He'd always hated getting mad at his son, but after seeing the mark carved into Hermione's arm, Alastor felt the need to protect her. She was an accomplished duelist for her age, but clearly she wasn't good enough to keep from getting caught. Hermione had stayed alive, that was the main thing, but he never wanted her to go through that kind of agony again. Some nights he'd find her just sitting staring out the window rubbing her arm until it went raw a haunted look on her face, but as soon as she noticed he was there she'd put that mask of a smile back on. Alastor hated that smile. Hated that she felt like she had to act strong around him.
She was understandably weary of him. Of everyone really other then her brother. They may not share blood, but the bond between her and Harry was strong. They had gone through hell and back together. It wouldn't surprise Alastor to learn that Harry had been there the day she got that scar marked in her arm.
Despite the conviction on their faces when they spoke of it, he knew that there had never been a fire. If Harry's godfather really had just died, they'd be a lot more upset then they were, Harry spoke like the man hung the moon. He'd usually call the man Snuffles when talking to Hermione, so Sean was most likely a name they made up, but there wasn't that overwhelming grief when he spoke, the kind of grief that was there when you lost a loved one suddenly. The fondness and sad look confirmed the man was dead, but he'd eat his glass eye if it had happened in the last year.
The only part of their story he knew was real was their first names, Evans was familiar to them, but not the name they automatically responded to. It most likely belonged to a relative or a close friend.
"Look you saw how uncomfortable she was Dad, if we force her into the family, it could ruin whatever bond you have already built with her. I think it's best that we let her decide what she wants to do. At least with the way things are she's in your life. If she lets me in great, but I'd rather not have her just disappear because we pushed for more then she was ready for."
Knowing how much his son had wanted a child Alastor knew David wasn't just trying to dodge responsibility. The look of longing on his face showed he wanted to know his daughter. Now it was up to Alastor to try and maneuver Hermione into accepting that she was a member of their family.
"Look think about it, we don't have to force anything today David. Go back inside, enjoy your time with your fiancée before the wedding. Just make sure she knows that Hermione's yours. I don't want to risk your happiness."
"If I didn't tell Helena and she found out later she'd skin me alive anyway. It's going to be hard to keep her from trying to force Hermione to bond. Good luck when you two leave tonight."
Following his son back into the house, Alastor watched when David went up swinging his arm up around Helena's shoulder, his fiancée had been standing talking to Hermione. Looking at the three of them Alastor jolted because it was impossible, but at the same time looking at the way the light was shining in their matching firewhiskey eyes, he couldn't help but think the three of them were family. He'd have to look into it more, but it was clear Helena Alain was Hermione's mother!