Hermione sat down with Carlise for dinner. She was on date night with him. They had originally gone to see a play. Hermione had felt like she was swept off her feet with his manners and elegance. But grounded to realize with all his beauty and intelligence was just a shimmer of what made him. They had spoken of his past and present over the course of the years.

But when she asked casually about her insecurity of having Esme in the house, as to express her concern, Carlisle stiffened. Hermione was surprised by the reaction as her probing was not in a way that was malice or jealous. She just was unsure about the silent tension every time she was in the room with Esme. Almost like a silent power struggle, but Hermione was done playing with power struggles. She had fought with the people trying to be controlling on both sides for too long. Being able to discuss what had happened openly and honestly was always her intention.

Carlisle sounded odd to her ears as he defended Esme's position. As he still blamed himself for making her be part of the coven in the first place. He said almost sharply "Esme is more than welcome in the house of Cullen until she wants to otherwise. It was unwise to try to shove her out on the streets. Especially when she is so new to the lifestyle that she did not consent to."

Hermione was passionate about everyone she knew and believed in humanity even when she had seen the worst of it. Her battle scars were glamoured over at all times, half due to the potion Severus Snap had concocted for the blast to the past, and a half from her own spellwork. While Carlisle didn't know what she had faced as she rarely opened up about herself as she was still trying to come to terms with it herself. While the Wizarding world was slowly healing, she knew the key players including herself were still reeling from the war.

With all of this previous knowledge and seeing the worst of bigotry and discrimination from any magical creature of being, to being in the muggle world where racism and other prejudice occurs. Hermione took a step back figuratively and took a deep breath. Counting down from ten all the way to one to get her internal rage down. While her rage subsided as she did not appreciate the sharp tone Carlisle chose to use, the passion in her voice was still very raw. "I will never turn down a person based on what they have been through or are going through. I will always be the first to advocate when I see discrimination and when I see wrong that should be righted. I have always followed those core values my entire life and will continue to do so till my last breath. I was merely pointing out that the tension in the house between Esme and I is uncomfortable. I know that she is in love with you and I know you would never act on it. But she is cold and calculating towards me when I have been nothing but kind and accepting towards her."

Carlisle was taken back, to say the least. Floundering he proclaimed "I'm sorry my dear, I just thought that both of you would work it out. I didn't mean to take my doubt out on you. I shouldn't have said that."

Hermione gratefully accepted his apology even with her cheeks flushed and eyes blazing. "I know I haven't been open about my past or what has happened beyond that I am a witch. It takes a lot of self-reflection to come close to being open with anyone that hasn't gone through hell and back I crawled through. I hope to open up to you soon, I just need to have my own healing before I unburden myself on to you. No matter how much I love you, I still have to come to terms...I promise that I will never be discriminatory towards anyone. I mean it. Esme can stay, I'm not asking for her to leave. I just hope that she can figure out the dynamic this family has even if it is a bit unorthodox."

Carlisle nodded, but his thoughts were all jumbled. What the hell did she go through? It seems like it sounded much more serious than any nerves that women nowadays claimed to have. He really didn't know what kind of situation she was coming from. He regretted his tone of voice, almost insinuating that the love of his life was cruel. He was concerned by the statements she made with the promises, as it meant she must have faced discrimination at some point. He guessed it was probably more than the right to vote. The dying death comment made him concerned too, he didn't know when she would demise. He hated thinking about those dark thoughts, it was too hard to stomach.

Instead, he nodded at her and asked if she would like to finish dinner with dessert or rather take a stroll out. Hermione knew that that would be one of their first arguments, so she conceded to stroll out in the night. They left the restaurant, arm in arm, just walking down the street in quiet silence. The tension between them dissipated each step they took together, almost as if it was back to harmony.

Back at the house, the Cullens had almost no clue that an argument had broken out between the two. Hermione bid the Cullens good night, even Esme with a slight nod as she headed upstairs to the bedroom. Carlisle didn't join her like he normally would, however, which struck the siblings odd and Esme almost joyful. She had secretly hoped that Carlisle would spend more time with the family than Hermione. It played with her delusion on what the family should have looked like, not with a human that was in the way of the love of her life.