Hey all, I'm sorry its taken so long to upload, I needed to write chapters and I didn't get to do much on this one, have only really been fixing up those chapters, one being this one that is about to be uploaded. That is why I decided to upload it - cos its pretty right I think.
Anyway, thanks to all reviews! I will try to answer qns now or respond to other comments...
Macey Muse: I like John too. He is one of those people who anyone would warm to. I hardly think it has anything to do with his profession, it's just who he is. Maybe he became a psychologist for that reason, cos he is such a cool person! I think that would be the reason. But yeah, Narcissa will meet Hermione in due course. I would also like to think that Robert will meet up with her as well, but I dunno. Will see how the story goes...
EosRaven: Hey thanks, it's always good to hear things like that. I like Robert's character. He is obviously much more in the storyline than my other story, and his character is different too. But I still like them both as much as the other. And you won't catch me making that decision, I mean, not that I have ever been in Hermione's position (or at least I don't think I will ever be! ;-) ) but it would suck.
Mistress-of-Mystery: Wow, I really liked this chapter but I didn't think it would affect anyone like that! I guess it was pretty powerful then. In a strange way, thats pretty good that I got that reaction, it shows I did my job correctly.
Alenor: Too right I am an Aussie:-) Proud of it as well. Tho I heard from a couple of people that 'pissed' is also an English term - I think Bridget Jones says it a couple of times!
Caitlin: Hey that's cool to hear! I hope this chappy is as good as previous ones then!
To everyone else who wrote, thank you and I hope that you enjoy the next installment (i've taken to not calling them chapters cos I don't think that they are really), adios my fellow forty short! (taken from George from Seinfeld... ;-) )
19th September 2001
12:05pm
"Ginny, I have a bit of news that I don't think Harry should find out about, not just yet."
Hermione was sitting with Ginny, drinking Butterbeers at their usual table in the Three Broomsticks. Ginny was looking at her; not sure of what to expect.
"Go on."
Hermione really didn't know where to begin. Should she start by saying her father had been on more than amicable terms with Narcissa Malfoy? That he knew Narcissa in the first place? Where and how did it happen?
Ginny was starting to grow impatient. "Yes?" she tried again, a bit more forcefully.
"It's a lot harder to get out than you think," Hermione said, clearly annoyed at the youngest Weasley's frustration.
"Well, why don't you say the first thing that comes to your mind? I find that helps." She took a mouthful of beer.
"Narcissa Malfoy is my mother."
Unfortunately, Ginny didn't have time to swallow said beer and she spat it out, spraying particles of the drink everywhere, including all over Hermione.
"Christ, Gin!" Hermione yelled, exasperated.
"God, sorry but that was obviously not what I was expecting."
Hermione stood up, took her wand from her pocket and muttered a quick drying spell. Her clothes were no longer wet but there were still small stains where the beer had got her.
"Ugh! Well, it's done now, and I guess you did tell me to say the first thing that came to mind."
"Yeah but I didn't think it would be that!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed and aghast. "How the hell did this come about?"
"Two nights ago. Dad handed me a letter that I neglected when I was opening presents."
"Gee, that's a pretty rough way to finish your birthday."
"It's not if you knew the whole story!" Hermione retorted.
"Hang on; you're sticking up for Malfoy's mother?"
"You're forgetting, she's my mother as well"
"Oh yeah." Ginny had the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry about that, it's just a strange concept, that's all. I mean, think of the way that we've thought of her during school. It wasn't very pleasant."
Hermione sighed. "I know, that was the way I thought of it when I read the letter. I've got it here if you want to have a read of it."
Ginny looked at her questioningly. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. You may as well, seeing as I'm telling you about this."
Hermione waited while Ginny silently read the letter, taking sips of her beer as she did so. Upon reading the part about Narcissa being Hermione's mother (or so Hermione guessed), Ginny nearly spat her beer out again. She managed to keep control of herself and resorted to not consuming any more of the beverage while she read the rest of the letter.
After a couple of minutes, she laid the letter back in front of Hermione.
"Wow," she said a bit shocked. "It certainly is a bit of a pickle you're in, although she did write a fairly convincing letter."
"That's what I thought at the start. I also remembered that she was still a Malfoy, masters of manipulation."
"But now she's your mother."
"Yeah, I know."
This last comment kind of startled Hermione, given that not five minutes beforehand, Ginny was convinced that Narcissa was still the pure-blood bitch that everyone believed her to be. She wondered whether the letter had convinced her and that it sounded fairly true enough. In any respect, she appeared very sympathetic to Hermione's situation.
"It's just that I had trouble believing that she would be so caring," Hermione said after a few minutes.
"I don't blame you at all. Until just now, she was still Malfoy's mum and someone who really didn't seem to care about anyone else but her family."
"Well, she probably still doesn't. Except that now, I'm her family and it appears that she does care about me. From the sounds of things, she cares for Dad as well, just like he hasn't stopped caring for her."
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah. When they first met, I think they both fell in love." She saw the look that Ginny gave her and continued. "I know, it sounds weird, but Dad isn't the sort to lie about it. And Uncle John keeps telling me that no-one has got the better of Dad yet. He would know, too."
Ginny looked at the table for a bit then looked Hermione in the eye.
"Can I ask how it started?"
Hermione took a deep breath then started from the start; the time when Robert first met Narcissa. The story she told was almost word for word the story that Robert had told her, only she filled in the gaps from when Narcissa left her with him as a baby to present time with the facts that Robert had told her later.
"She paid for you to go to a Muggle school? But she's a pureblood!" Ginny exclaimed.
"I know," Hermione responded, a small grin playing on her lips. "I guess that confirms that she really does love me, if she was willing to do that. It's just so weird; I always thought she was a snooty person. Remember her at the Quidditch World Cup?"
"Yeah, who could forget. She really didn't look that impressed sitting up in the VIP box with Malfoy and Lucius. It was as if she couldn't stand to even be associated with the Quidditch World Cup, let alone attend it!"
"Unless it was because she was sitting with Lucius. Dad did say that he was a real prick to her. He also said that he didn't know how she could tolerate him; she's a tough woman, apparently."
"You'd have to be; living with not one but two Malfoys!" Ginny giggled.
"Obviously. I think she's has done well for herself in that respect. It couldn't have been easy for anyone to be married to a Death Eater. Not to mention also having a son who almost went the same way, I think you'd need to be strong to be able to handle that sort of thing."
"So, there's obviously more to her than a pretty face. Wow," she said, shaking her head on wonder, "I still can't believe that Narcissa Malfoy's your mother."
"Yeah, it's certainly strange. I guess I'll get used to it later."
"Time cures everything. Hey," Ginny sat up straight, "do you think Malfoy knows?"
Hermione sat in thought for a moment, brow furrowed and chewing her bottom lip. "I highly doubt that he would, to be honest."
Ginny looked at her inquisitorially. "Why is that?"
"Because how do you think he would react to that? Narcissa knows that Malfoy and Harry were worst enemies. Why else do you think I haven't already been killed by him? I just don't think he would, that's all."
"Yeah, fair point. I would pay top Galleon to see the look on his face when he does find out. Then again, I don't think it would be a good idea to stick around when he discovers yours and his little blood-link."
"No, I don't either."
It was at this point that their lunches arrived. There was not much time to talk about anything whilst they ate but afterwards, Ginny asked the question that Hermione knew was coming.
"So, have you decided what you want to do?"
Hermione put down her knife and fork and took a great gulp of her beer. All the while, Ginny sat patiently waiting for her to finish.
"I still haven't decided that. I thought that perhaps I needed to talk to someone about it first."
"Well, I'm glad that you trust me enough to tell me about it but the decision is still yours to make."
"I know." Hermione sighed. "I just wanted to hear someone else's thoughts before I decided anything."
Ginny quirked an eyebrow. "By the sounds of things, it appears that you have already semi-consciously made a decision."
Hermione creased her brow in confusion. "Why is that?"
"Because why else would you seek another opinion if you didn't want to do anything about it? You would have just said 'no' and left it at that. Afterwards, if and only if you were asked, you would say why you didn't want to take further action. So, I can tell; you're thinking of meeting her, aren't you?"
It annoyed Hermione to know just how right Ginny was in the matter. Ginny had always been a lot smarter than Ron, despite being younger than him. Furthermore, she was a lot more perceptive than a lot of people gave her credit for. She had been very useful in the fight against Voldemort, where her acute talent for scrutiny prompted Dumbledore to persuade Snape into teaching her Legillimency and its brother skill, Occlumency. Neither teacher nor student were keen on the idea at first, but after it became apparent that she was a much more skilled pupil than Harry was in those arts, Snape had kept the lessons going until she was almost as proficient as he. Nowadays, she didn't get to use either discipline often but she hoped that this would change when she graduated to become a fully-qualified Auror. Until then, she would have to settle for analysing her friends, much to their great annoyance.
Hermione glared at her, knowing that this would not do anything to change Ginny's opinion, and took another swig of her drink.
"Do you ever get sick of being right?"
Ginny grinned. "Not really. It wasn't like it was hard to pick. Seriously though, would you meet her straight away or wait a while?"
"I'm still not sure of that. I mean, I have a lot of questions that I wouldn't mind answered but I'm not sure if I'm ready for answers. Not just yet, anyway."
"Just don't to put if off forever."
"I won't; don't worry. It's just that these last few days have been so full-on; I just think I need a bit of space before I make any kind of formal decision. Besides, I can't imagine what this must be like for Mum."
"Er, by 'Mum', you mean Jane, right?"
"Yeah. I think she'll always be Mum. Narcissa will be Narcissa, but she won't be the same Narcissa as what I've previously thought of her."
Ginny smiled. "Fair enough. Well, it's certainly a story to tell to your grandkids!"
Hermione laughed. "That's one way of thinking about it. Providing everything works out well, of course, but it certainly makes for a change over the usual 'I met your father in Flourish and Blotts when we both reached for the same book on a shelf'!"
"Or what about, 'your father thought he was too good for me all through high school until I grew tits. We've now been married for over twenty years'!"
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, laughing all the same.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Being around mostly men all day; it tends to rub off on me."
"I can only hope that you don't say that sort of thing in front of your mother."
"No, she wouldn't care, anyway. When Bill announced that Fleur was pregnant and that the wedding would have to be held sooner, Dad let off quite a few profanities. Mum just looked at him and told him that he should be glad that they were getting married before having kids as opposed to afterwards."
"Wow, she really didn't care about the language?"
"She didn't then but I wouldn't count on it all the time."
"I have not heard anything bad come out of Dad's mouth. It makes me feel bad when I swear."
"Wow. There wouldn't be a day that I don't. I probably should stop but working with some of those Aurors, Kingsley in particular, it's quite difficult not to."
It was at this point that Madam Rosmerta came over and picked up their plates.
"Gin," Hermione said. "It's nearly 1:30. Do you think we should go? Mr Ferguson over behind the bar is giving us funny looks."
"Ooh yeah, I have to go back home. I have to meet the twins to discuss what we're going to do for Bill and Fleur's engagement party. They want to come up with something really exciting, as opposed to the usual formalities. I think Bill would be fine with that; Fleur I'm not so sure of."
Hermione laughed. "Well I can certainly understand that! Say 'hi' to everyone for me, then."
"I will. Hey, I've heard George mentioning your name to Fred a couple of times in private. Do you know anything about that?"
"What? That's news to me."
"Oh. I thought that they may have visited you or something."
"No, I haven't spoken to them since Harry's birthday."
"Oh well. Perhaps they might mention it tonight. You're still coming out with us, aren't you?"
"Yeah. I wouldn't miss a chance to get pissed quick with friends now, would I?"
Ginny laughed. "No, we all need those nights sometimes. Anyway, I'll floo you later about tonight, hey?"
"Yeah, after 5. I have some work to catch up on."
"Okay, talk to you then."
"Bye."
Ginny walked out of the pub ahead of Hermione and disappeared up the street. Hermione found a park bench to sit on to mull over what her and Ginny had talked about. It was true; she really had wanted to meet Narcissa but the timing was something that seemed to be quite wrong. Then again, when was a good time to meet her birth mother and the mother of her arch-nemesis? Never, it seemed. Perhaps it could be put off a while longer although sooner or later, Narcissa would probably require a reply of Hermione's actions.
And what was this about Fred and George talking about her?
After sitting there for what seemed like a quarter of an hour, Hermione got up and went back home to do her work.
Comments:
None for this chappy but for any questions, fire away and I will endeavour to answer them (notice the lack of writing sentences properly, I really can't be arsed tonight but hey, who can really?).
See y'all...
