A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! I am glad that you guys enjoyed Theo finally talking a bit of sense into Hermione. Now, I hope you enjoy a little mother/daughter time, too! You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions! Huge thank you to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter sixteen and be on the lookout for chapter seventeen in a few days!

Hermione's mum had decided to stay home with her all day on Thursday, leaving her father to go out and handle any business that they needed to accomplish that day. Hermione was surprised to hear that her parents had actually adjusted their plans so that one of them could be home with her, even though that meant telling Tom. On Friday, her mum stayed home with her again.

She couldn't believe that they were actually choosing her for once — and it was so they could punish her.

The majority of her morning was spent holed up in her room working on an essay for her Literature class while wondering why it seemed her teachers only ever assigned novels that she hated. She decided that she would need to ask Theo for book recommendations next time she saw him.

At lunch time, she crept down the stairs and found her mum watching daytime soaps — a hobby Hermione didn't know that she had. She joined her mum on the couch and before she realized it, she had watched the rest of the episode with her, her mum only too happy to give her breathless bits of backstory, whilst her grey eyes never left the screen.

Bellatrix joined her in the kitchen once the episode was over and helped Hermione make a couple of toasted cheese sandwiches to split while Hermione warmed up a bit of soup that she'd made earlier in the week. Despite herself, Hermione found herself enjoying her mum's presence and was secretly delighted when she joined Hermione at the table.

"You have to forgive your father," her mum said with a knowing look. "He is new to this whole discipline thing. He only remembers how his parents disciplined him and he would never do that to you."

"It's a bit hard to take him seriously," Hermione answered, sullen once more. "But I suppose it is an appropriate punishment for fighting and then running away for a day. It's better than what most people would get."

"He told me about Theo, too," Bellatrix added. "I don't think I've ever seen him so...so...perturbed before. He trusts that boy a lot, but I think that since he found the two of you kissing, the situation was just too much for him."

"Well, he can't forbid me from seeing him, even if he'd like to," Hermione said, crossing her arm over her chest. "Or that would be one step too far for me."

"I told him the same," she said with a smirk. "It's completely normal for you to want to date someone. But, he just wants you to be careful. I do too."

"Why do you just assume that I'm not going to be careful?" Hermione said, feeling exasperated. She thought that her parents understood that she was a very conscientious girl who was driven and focused. Not only that, she was smart. She weighed pros and cons. She thought about her future life, which had to be better than what she had now.

Bellatrix smirked once again, her mind wandering off to some memory. "I think that he just remembers what we got up to when we were teenagers," she explained, fondly. "How we snuck around behind my parents' backs. The trouble that we got in together. The fun we had together, stealing cars and stealing beers and getting drunk."

"I'm not going to get into trouble," Hermione said, so sure of herself. But, she also found herself wanting to hear more about her parents' lives together, before she came around. She had slowly realized just how little she knew about who they really were.

"You never think that you are," Bellatrix quipped. "My father was not very fond of Rodolphus. We got into so many screaming matches over him. But I think that Rodolphus knows that nothing my father did could have stopped me. And that had absolutely nothing to do with him. I've just always known what I wanted."

"And you've gotten everything that you wanted, too," Hermione said, slowly, realizing that she did admire that about her mum.

Her mum twisted at the ends of her long, dark hair. "In some cases, yes," she said, giving Hermione a significant look. "Sometimes it took a long time for me to get it."

Hermione knew that she meant her long battle with Sirius over her custody. The teenager wasn't sure if she was happy with how things had turned out anymore. In some ways, her life had undergone such a drastic upheaval and her parents were not great at taking care of her. In other ways, she'd realized that she'd gotten a freedom she hadn't known she'd wanted. She didn't realize just how oppressive she found Sirius until she was on the other side.

"Did Grandpa still hate Dad once you had me?" Hermione asked, vague memories of her grandparents coming to her mind. "I remember when he would take me with him to get his cigars and the newspaper."

"That's a good question," her mum mused. "I think that your Grandpa wanted all of his daughters to be happy. After all the unpleasantness with Andromeda, he was a little bit less strict with me and Cissa. Once he realized that I wasn't going to give up Dolph, he softened. And he could never be upset with a precious little baby like you."

Hermione tried to hide a smile at the thought. Her grandparents had not been in her life for very long, but it was nice to know that her memories of them were at the very least genuine.

"So, if Dad knows that he's not going to be able to keep me away from Theo — which, to be clear, it's not as if there is anything between Theo and I to begin with — why does he think bossing me around is going to do anything but make me dig my heels in?" Hermione asked, willing to admit that their stubbornness was something that she did share with her mum.

"He has to try at least. He's your father," her mum said with a laugh. "And he just wants what's best for you."

"Fine," Hermione grumbled, dragging her spoon through her soup and licking it off the back, thinking over her mother's words.

"And don't think that I will fall for your little lie that there is nothing between you and Theo," she said with a knowing look. "You've got a hickey the size of Wales on your neck!"

Hermione gasped, pressing her hand to the spot that Theo had paid so much attention to. "Mum!" she said, absolutely scandalized.

"What?" her mum responded, clearly amused with Hermione's discomfort. "Come on, we'll go up to the bathroom and I'll show you how to cover it up properly."

After they finished their lunch, her mum did just that, breaking out all manner of concealers and color correctors to hide the dark red love bite on her neck. Hermione spent that time promising her mum that it wasn't serious between her and Theo, but she'd promised to give him a chance. She tried to explain her hesitancy to jump right in, still too cautious about being hurt.

Her mum seemed to understand completely and supported Hermione, thinking that it would be nice to go out on a date. Bellatrix was piqued to learn that Sirius hadn't ever really let Hermione out on a date before, even though Hermione tried to explain she didn't have loads of suitors like her mum imagined.

Bellatrix offered to help Hermione cover up the bruise on her cheek as well, which was already starting to go yellow around the edges, but Hermione declined. "I sort of like the way that people are a bit wary of me now," she explained, gingerly touching the blue skin. "Like they won't try to mess with me."

It seemed that her mum thoroughly approved of that idea. "Anyone would be a fool to mess with you, darling," she said sweetly. "As I am sure the Parkinson girl figured out."

Once that was done, Hermione returned to her room to do a bit more school work before she got changed for her shift. She slipped into an off the shoulder grey shirt and jeans, popping on her pink lipstick to complete the look.

Although it took a bit of convincing — outfit notwithstanding — Bellatrix ultimately agreed to let Hermione go to work, even though she was grounded. An obligation like school or work should not be hindered by being grounded, she proclaimed, and her hardworking mother tended to agree with her. She was surprised to hear that Hermione had even started working for Scabior, but let her go nonetheless.

Hermione wasn't too surprised when her father swung by the shop on his way home, likely having gotten a call from her mother, telling him where she would be. He looked relieved to actually see her standing behind the counter, trying to complete her maths homework.

She couldn't help but snort in amusement. "Do you really think I was going to lie to Mum?" she asked him. "That I was going to run off again."

His shoulders sagged a bit. "I don't know what to think," he admitted. "I admit that I should have trusted you, though."

"Good," Hermione said, feeling like she and her father had come to some kind of understanding.

"I didn't know that you'd gotten a job," he said, casually. "What made you decide to?"

It was Hermione's turn to shrug her shoulders. "I wanted to save up for school. We haven't discussed the specifics of my future that much, but I plan to go to University. And I know that will mean money," she said. "This seemed like a good way to make some money. Scabior lets me do some homework between customers."

"We can pay for your University, Hermione," her father insisted, looking a bit ashamed that she hadn't come to him first. "You don't have to do this."

"I know I don't, but I want to," she said, willing him to understand. "If this year has taught me anything, it's how quickly things can change. It's never what you expect. So, I just want to be prepared, whatever happens. Hopefully, I will get a scholarship and this whole conversation will be for naught."

"They'd be crazy not to give you a scholarship," her dad said, fondly. "Every University should be fighting over you."

It was touching to know just how much he believed in her and her ability. "Thanks, Dad," she said, fighting to hide a smile.

Satisfied that Hermione was doing as she was told, Rodolphus wished her a good rest of her shift and let her know that both her parents might be out that night. Big things were coming, apparently, and it meant all hands on deck. Hermione understood and didn't argue.

When he left, Hermione stretched and walked around the store a bit, before buying herself another sucker, as she had come to do every day. Scabior had even made a comment about needing to restock since she loved them so much. She was sure there was an innuendo in there, but it didn't land. They didn't have many customers that evening, so she returned to her maths homework behind the counter.

A little while later, the bell rang again, announcing someone entering, and Hermione felt her heart begin to beat a little faster, hoping that it was Theo. But, to her disappointment, it was not.

"Oh, Harry! It's just you," she said, leaning back when she saw him.

"Just me?" he asked, holding his hand over his heart in mock hurt.

"Well, I have it on good authority that Sirius has forbidden me from seeing you," she said, pressing one hand to her hip, the other twirling her sucker around in her mouth. "Not to mention the way that you've been avoiding me at school. I can't even begin to imagine what you are doing over on this side of town."

Harry looked guilty. "I suppose that I deserve that, then," he admitted, looking sorry. "Actually, it was Sirius telling me not to see you that made me want to. I heard that you punched Parkinson."

Hermione personally thought that punch was a bit strong of a word for what she actually did, but she was willing to lean into it. "She fucking deserved it," she said, sharply, daring Harry to say something about it.

"I bet she did," he added, looking at her with new eyes. He wet his lips as he looked her over. "You look — you look great Hermione, even with the bruise. How come you don't dress like this at school?"

"I might start," she said, with a shrug of her shoulders. "I figured that Ron's brain might explode if I did, but since he's made it clear that anything I do is suspect, I might as well dress how I want to. I am kind of over caring what other people think, since they can't seem to figure out that nothing has really changed."

"It does feel like everything has changed sometimes," Harry said, his eyes dropping to the counter in front of him, trying to find the right words. "I had no idea that you were so unhappy with Sirius and Remus."

"It wasn't that I was unhappy," Hermione said. She still did miss her home a lot, even now that Sirius had begun burning the bridge between them. "But, I suppose there was always a part of me that felt like I didn't quite fit in there. Things were always a bit unfair."

"I feel like a plonker for never seeing it. I just assumed that you didn't want to be out late or sneak beers," he said, scratching at the back of his neck. "You've just always seemed so mature. So focused."

"So I wouldn't want to have any fun?" Hermione scoffed.

"When you say it like that, it makes it so much more obvious," he agreed, apologetically.

"This still doesn't explain what you are doing here, Harry," she said, with a frown. "I don't think that Sirius would be very happy to hear that you were in my neighborhood."

"I just...I wanted to see you," he said. "And, with you being out of school these last few days, I figured that you'd want my notes. I copied them for you and everything."

Hermione was pretty touched that he had been thoughtful enough to go through all that trouble for her. Even if he didn't take the best notes in the world (honestly, somehow, Daphne's were an improvement), it was nice to have a little bit of information on what they had done in class while she'd been suspended.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, grateful.

"Does this mean we are cool?" he asked, looking at her hopefully.

She bit her lip while thinking over her next words carefully. Did this mean that she was cool with Harry? Part of her felt like their relationship could never be salvaged, but another part of her hoped that he could look past her family. "That depends," she said, cautiously. "Are you going to stop acting like I'm a completely different person just because you've finally had to acknowledge that I am a Lestrange?"

He looked pained for a minute. "I think so — I, I mean, I'll try to, Hermione," he said. "It's not as if everything is the same. You have changed, but I know that you are still a good person deep down. But, I'm not going to be like Ron and act like you killed a puppy just because you live with your parents again."

Hermione supposed that was the best sort of answer that she was going to be able to get from Harry. Things weren't the same, he was right, but she was still one of his oldest friends and that wasn't going to change just because she lived with her parents. "Then, we're cool," she agreed, glad to have cleared the air with him. "Thanks for defying Sirius to come bring me these," she added, holding up her notes.

"Well, Sirius doesn't always know everything," Harry said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

She laughed, glad that she was able to see that now, too.

Before they could talk about more pleasant topics, the door opened again, revealing Theo. He looked between the two of them, before sidling over to the counter as well. "Hey, Hermione," he greeted her, his eyes dropping to her lips immediately. "I missed you."

Hermione bit her lower lip and gave him a secret smile. "I missed you, too," she answered, leaning forward on the counter.

Harry cleared his throat awkwardly, breaking the pair out of their little conversation.

"Oh, um, Harry, this is Theo. I've told you about him I think," she said, trying to introduce them to each other as elegantly as possible. "Theo, this is Harry. He still lives with Sirius."

The two boys seemed to size one another up. "Yeah, Hermione used to talk a lot about you," Harry said, referencing when they were little.

"I was so glad to get reacquainted with her," Theo answered, smugly, enjoying hinting at there being something more between them.

"What are you doing here, Theo? Dad made it sound like it was going to be a busy night," she said, warily looking at Harry, wondering if he was going to be able to connect the dots.

"Not for me," he answered smoothly, unwilling to give up even any hint of wrongdoing in front of Harry Potter. "I was actually hoping to take you out to dinner, if you hadn't been yet. Just to the Half Moon. And, if you're up to it, heading to Ade's after. Daphne has been trying her hand at playing bartender and is looking for new guinea pigs."

Hermione laughed at that. "I wish, but I'm grounded," she told him, regretfully.

"Your parents are going to be too busy to even know if you're gone," he said, confidently.

She thought about it for a minute, before deciding to agree. "Alright, I'd love to," she agreed, knowing that she wouldn't mind catching another kiss from Theo.

Theo looked to where Harry was awkwardly standing on the periphery, still listening in on their conversation. "Um, Potter, you're welcome to join us, I suppose?" Theo asked, though it was clear that Harry would be a third wheel on a date.

"Oh, no, I should really be going. That's a rebellion that Sirius really wouldn't be able to forgive," Harry said, before nodding in Hermione's direction. "See you on Monday, Hermione."

"I've got just twenty minutes left on my shift," Hermione told Theo, regretful that she couldn't just leave that very minute. "I'll join you at the Half Moon when I'm done?"

"I can't wait," Theo agreed, before taking his leave as well.