Author's note: I wanted to put this note at the front of the chapter because, well, there may be some of you that don't care for how I'm depicting Hermione's background story. I think that in stories we always want to see individuals who look like ourselves. Since first reading this story I've felt close to this character, and so, in one respect I wanted to make her a little like me, that is to say, of Romani descent. Tomorrow, August 2nd, is international Romani Holocaust Remembrance Day, and in my own way, I wanted to highlight how the Romani community in Europe is still treated to this day. I feel so very lucky that I live in a country where it is illegal to refuse a person work based on their ethnicity, or to refuse a person service, that because I was born in this country I automatically have citizenship. For many Romani in Europe, the harsh reality is the exact opposite, they are refused jobs, forced into ghettos and slums, put into schools for "special needs" even though what they really need is language education and support, and get this: refused citizenship even though their ancestors have lived in the same country for generations. Some countries even coerce families into putting their children up for adoption. These are not just instances from developing nations, this is the UK, this is Italy, Portugal, Germany, Spain, and Russia. This is my way of putting a small piece of myself into my story, and hopefully bringing about a little awareness. So to my "cousins" in Europe, we see you. We see your suffering and disparagement. Opre!
There are going to be some terms in Romany included in this chapter, so I'll be providing explanations for those as well at the end of the chapter.
Minerva McGonagall was in shock, she had always maintained that Hermione Granger had reminded her of a young Lily. Now she wasn't sure how she had missed the resemblance, or for that matter, why the records hadn't reflected the truth. Lavinia Bailey had been a promising student in her time. A muggle born student, from a Scottish Romani family. Her mother had been reluctant and skeptical the day Minerva showed up to explain Hogwarts to them. Her father though knew the power of the Chovexani healers of their own community, and surprisingly wanted his daughter to study and learn to use her gifts. She had been sorted into Gryffindor, and made fast friends with none other than Lily and Alice. She was quiet but tenacious. Lavinia Bailey had disappeared the a little over a year before James and Lily went into hiding. Her body had been recovered shortly after Voldemort fell. From what could be discerned she had been held captive for quite some time.
When Minerva had shown up at the Granger household to accomplish the same task, only Mr. Granger had been at home. Mrs. Granger had been called away for an emergency dental appointment. Today, when Dan Granger and his wife stepped out of the carriage in front of the castle, Minerva recognized Naomie immediately, she was the opposite of her sister, more fair, and with dark brown curly hair, like the locks that stuck out beneath their mother's dikhlo, bound in ribbon-tied braids. There was no dikhlo on her head, braids, no flowing skirt. Dr. Naomie Granger wore fitted straight legged slacks, and a flowing open neck button up, and there hanging at her neck, was the beautiful, but simple blue and white evil eye that her mother wore on the day they first met. Hermione obviously took after her aunt and her grandmother. Both of their faces were lined with worry, but Naomie held her head high, and before she was half way up the front steps, before Minerva could gather her thoughts in order to great them, she looked the older woman in the eye and spoke "Take me to my daughter, now". Today was not going to be an easy day for anyone.
When the three adults reached the hospital wing, Naomie bolted straight for Hermione's bed, and Dan stopped in his tracks, the color drained out of his face for a moment before he finally made his way over to the bed to comfort his wife and check on their daughter. Neither of them looked at Minerva as Dan spoke "What's being done for her?"
"Every thing possible, we were even able to produce a donor in order to rebuild the depleted magic stores in her body to help her heal faster, which was essential to her short, and long-term recovery, Potions are also being administered regularly"
"How?" was the only question Naomie needed to ask.
"The donation? Well… much like muggle blood donations I have been told… and I am sure that as you understand the function of bone marrow in producing blood cells, it also produces cells that function similarly in magical individuals, that work as a conduit for magical energy rather than oxygen, because these cells are just as vital to our existence as blood is, it was important to have a close match, one that would boost these cells in her body and help the healing process be as speedy as possible… Naomie…. Are you aware of who may be a possible match for her?"
At the sound of her name flowing from the older woman's mouth, her hand stopped stroking her daughter's forehead briefly "Yes" she whispered. The volume of her voice lifted slightly as she continued "You know I wondered whether or not you would remember me, or maybe worried that you would, my sister left her with us because of the danger, we adopted her after we stopped hearing from Lavinia. We thought that all of this had passed or we may have made a different decision regarding her education Minerva."
"I unfortunately and naïvely thought that it had passed as well, and for that I apologize….. I think that you should know that he's here."
This statement made the Granger's finally turn to Minerva with looks of shock. "Here? How?! Isn't he supposed to be locked away?!" Dan asked startled by the revelation. "Does he know?" Naomie asked.
"No, he is not currently aware… and as to your question Mr. Granger, that is a very long story… and I think that it will require some tea."
The couch and coffee table Remus had conjured the day before still occupied the space next to the bed, Minerva produced a chair with her wand, and called Winky for a tea service. They fixed their cups in silence, and Minerva finally broke it after her first sip.
"The crimes Mr. Black was accused of, were false accusations. They were actually committed by someone none of us expected, a man named Peter Pettigrew. We are currently working on an appeal for him, based on new information. Madame Bones, the head of Magical Law Enforcement is scheduled to arrive later in the day to receive our evidence, he is innocent… well, innocent of violent crimes I assure you. He is still just as….. mischievous as he was as a student here. He is also the one the children were attempting to rescue. Hermione's friend, Mr. Potter, is his godson, he had been led to believe that Sirius was being held captive… and went to save him, Hermione and others, in a very admirable show of loyalty were forced to help them, as two adults here in the castle prevented them for seeking the appropriate help. I would like to ask you to consider informing him of this news or at least allowing me to do so. He was devastated when your sister left him and the magical world behind Naomie. To my knowledge, she never even told him why, just a letter saying she was done with this world and its dangers."
The Granger's looked thoughtful as they sat in silence drinking the remains of their tea. Footsteps could be heard in the corridor outside the hospital wing after a time, and in walked Ron Weasley followed by a still sickly-looking Harry Potter. Harry was staring at his feet, and Ron, who looked to be comforting Harry had not noticed the presence of the adults in the room yet. Ron was holding the door open, and Harry was rooted to the spot, looking like he was taking the things the red head was saying into consideration. His voice finally got louder "You have to stop this now Harry! If you wallow any longer in this misconception of guilt and responsibility, when she wakes up, I WILL tell her, and she WILL hex you! And I will sit back and laugh because its you for once instead of me!"
Harry Potter's head shot up, surprise written all over his face and finally caught sight of the adults in the room next to Hermione's bed. Minerva wouldn't have thought that it was possible for the boy to lose any more color from his complexion, but he did. He recognized them from Diagon alley before second year. Her parents. The adults looked at one another, and Mr. Granger acted to put both young men at ease "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, its very nice to meet you again despite the current circumstances. Would you like to sit and have some tea with us?"
Both boys were battered, and bruised from their encounters in the department of Mysteries, but both felt guilty standing there while Hermione was still unconscious in her bed. They looked to one another and then moved towards the group of adults. Harry took up his former spot in the chair next to Hermione's bed while Ron retrieved his chair from the other side, moving it around to sit next to their head of house. Harry took a moment to gather himself and started to apologize for not protecting Hermione when he should have, but Dan shot him a confused look "Harry… while we appreciate the gesture, we know our daughter very well. When she puts her mind to something... well, I'm sure you know it is very hard to dissuade her from her course of action." Ron snorted into the tea cup he'd just brought to his mouth, Harry's mouth turned up slightly at one side before he answered "Well, I can't exactly say you're wrong in that regard sir, but… I still feel like I failed her". Hermione's mother looked at him strangely for a moment, before shooting her husband a look, and turning back to address the young man by their daughter's bedside "Harry… I know that we have met very infrequently but, our daughter writes to us often, and we speak freely about… well, everything. We are well aware of the dangers of this world… You are not responsible for this. I'm not saying that better decisions could not have been made, from many people, but this… this isn't your fault. She's still with us. She just needs to heal."
Harry had reached over to take hold of Hermione's hand as her mother spoke, turning his gaze from mother to daughter, and nodding silently as she finished.
The door to Madame Pomfrey's office opened at the end of the ward, and she bustled out, introductions were made, and she proceeded to cast her diagnostic spells, to give every one an update on Hermione's condition. Things had improved slightly in the diagnostic readings, to the point where Hermione could really wake at any moment, but the healer stressed that the healing process was far from over. Even after the transfusions did their work, it would be almost like she was healing from Muggle cancer, she would be weak, tired, and more susceptible to illnesses like colds and flues for a while.
The Grangers asked for more detailed explanations which were being provided as the door to the ward opened once more, allowing Remus to enter followed by Tonks and a very large black dog that seemed to be nipping at her heels. Tonks, being the accident-prone witch that she is tripped over her own two feet in an attempt to get away from her mischievous, and currently very hairy cousin. Remus reached out quickly to catch her, preventing her from hitting the flood, bringing a very pretty blush to the young auror's cheeks. Padfoot found this incredibly amusing, and started prancing around the two barking. Tonks righted herself quickly, and Remus turned to the dog, "Remind me to gift you a bloody muzzle for Christmas". The excited dog barked more and turned, bounding towards his godson with more energy and excitement than he felt he should have, and suddenly he stopped, frozen in his tracks, looking from the adults gathered to the bed currently occupied by the curly haired witch he had come to accept as part of his family. With out thinking, he shifted. Remus promptly shut the ward door and locked it while Tonks threw up privacy wards.
The man before her looked like a shadow of his former self, but she still recognized him "I never thought to see you again" he said. Harry looked on with interest and confusion, how would Sirius know Hermione's mother "Yes… well, I don't think I ever expected to see you again either, but I suppose I should offer you my gratitude… From my understanding, she wouldn't be healing as quickly with out your donation." He cleared his throat "She's important to Harry… That makes her family… I didn't know she was your daughter though. I suppose I should have recognized the resemblance… but its been so long." Naomie looked to her husband, a conversation passing between them in a heartbeat through a simple look. Dan nodded, and Naomie looked back to Sirius Black and took a deep breath "She's not... biologically our daughter…. Sirius.. she's my niece." Sirius looked devastated, his hand came up to his heart, rubbing the spot like it was in pain. "She… She had a child?" Naomie looked increasingly uncomfortable "She did" "Was it…. Was it arranged?" "Sirius…" He cut her off "I just need to know… did she love him, or was the marriage arranged Naomie?" "There was no marriage, she would not have given consent even if our parents had tried Sirius, she's yours."
The room was silent. Harry Potter thought he must be dreaming. He started laughing hysterically.
"God, I can't wait to write this dream down when I wake up in the morning" he said when he finally regained his breath. He rubbed the tears from his eyes from the laughter and looked around the room, to find no one else laughing. Sirius Black was on his knees breathing hard and looking from face to face for an explanation. It hit Harry like a troll club, "Oh god, this is real isn't it?" "That's why it matched" Sirius croaked, he looked at the mediwitch "why it was an almost perfect match?" "Yes" she responded simply. He looked back to the Grangers "She knew?" "Of course she knew Sirius. You were away often, the conception happened right before you left on a long mission, she wouldn't say much other than you were accomplishing important tasks, so she moved in with us shortly after you left…. She had the baby… and she left her with us. She asked us to take her, at least until it was safe, by the time you returned we'd been told that she had been taken, and you were no where to be found, so we adopted her formally and we did what I promised my sister I would." "Two children… I have failed two." Harry jumped out of his chair and met his godfather on the floor. "You didn't." "I did!" he shouted. "both of you. "my godson…. My…. My daughter…. And I wasn't…"
"You didn't know" Her voice was cracked and dry, her eyes were barely opened, and every one still in silence from shock looked at the girl in the bed with even wider eyes if possible. She coughed several times, and tried asking for water, which was the trigger for Harry Potter to leap off of the floor and almost slam his face into the tile floor, the corner of her bed, and the bedside table attempting to get to her as quickly as possible. Sirius too was standing staring at Hermione, examining her, as Naomie moved to the other side to help Harry and Madame Pomfrey prop Hermione up on some pillows. "Small sips now my dear" She went to reach for the glass, and it almost dropped as Harry tried to let go. He took back control of it, lifting it to her mouth, as her mother brushed her hair out of her face on the other side. "Oh my love, we are so happy to have you back" she said through a smile and tears "you gave us quite the scare"
*Dikhlo – a traditional Romani headscarf
Chovexani- in some dialects of Romani this word is used for a Witch.