Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter. This is written for International Fanworks Day 2022 where the prompt is to do remixes of classic stories. (In the original post I thought it was to simply do remixes of a previous IFD work), and I got the idea to do a remix of Muggle(born) Moments series and this is the second story in my remix of said series which involves remixing said series into my own series utilizing my headcanon of Regulus being Hermione's biological father.
How did I remix?
The series Muggle(born) Moments consists of eight stories, the last seven each involving Hermione reflecting back on Muggle fandom for each year, but for this is the fist of the remixes where I ask the question of, "what fandom would I have picked for her to reflect back on" and for the first year I picked Worst Witch, a series I consider to be overlooked despite having been published before the Harry Potter series.
Of course, I oopsed a bit on this one as it was originally meant to just be Hermione's reflection back onto fandom (see second chapter) only for me to start writing how Regulus got her into said fandom. It's better for it, I think, as that part adds meaning to the second part, which might have been why I got on a bit of a tangent there.
Best Witch, I Promise
Magic didn't exist.
That was the expectation of living in a Muggled reality, of putting aside anything to do with the world of magic—one went about their day-to-day life as if magic didn't exist, attempting to fill the void. No longer playing, Quidditch was replaced with football in the yard with older brothers. Not being able to ever graduate from Hogwarts, let alone pass his N.E. , became replaced with acing his Level-As and preparing to attend university.
And yet there was—
He was pushing aside the ache of no longer being a part of the Black family with thoughts of how living under the Granger roof was better than living at Grimmauld Place. It was under the roof of Grimmauld where he learned there was no use crying over something, the family breaking him of that habit at a very young age, so there was no need to let anyone in his newly found Muggle family know about that empty void he was attempting to fill on his own.
Plus, they never came looking for him, so—
Regulus felt something pushed against his cheek, drawing his attention away from his thoughts as his infant daughter in her playpen as she looked right at him, gurgling in interest at what was going on. His eyes blinked, still leaning on his elbow into his fist as the book he'd been reading as he watched Hermione lay forgotten in his lap. He turned his head to respond to whoever was there, the worry he'd done something wrong lingering in the back of his head.
A—
"What?" Regulus reached out for the brightly wrapped package Olivia held out to him, confused regarding why she smiled at him as she did. Something had her excited, though he didn't quite place the reason. He set the book he'd been reading down and pulled the package towards him, noticing the bright paper and slightly imperfect wrapping job that his mother—his biological mother—would have thrown a fit over. "What is—why?"
"Oh, come on, Rabbit. Surely you remember it's your birthday, right? It's your second one as a member of the Granger family. The family wants to celebrate later on," Olivia said. He opened his mouth to protest. "Oh, don't try and tell me you're not worth it because you are most definitely worth it to us."
Regulus stared at her face, his face emotionless despite feeling grateful for her telling him such things even though he struggled in believing them. His gray eyes drifted back to the package, still feeling confused, unsure of how to react.
"Come on. You got me a gift on my birthday, or are you going to reject it?" Olivia's tone of voice was the one she used when her mouth twisted into that pout she used to guilt-trip him into something, mainly when she felt it was for his own good.
"I—" Regulus heard a gurgling sound, his head turning to look at Hermione, who decided suddenly she wanted to be a part of the conversation.
"Hermione's fine. That's a normal baby sound."
"Oh. Okay." Regulus felt his mouth break into a smile as Hermione smiled at him. "And sorry. Sorry about—" He turned to look at Olivia, attempting to put on his best smile. "I don't know how to react."
"You take the gift and open it," Olivia said. "And I know that it can't feel that void, but…"
"What void?" Regulus asked.
"That!" Olivia smiled at him, a smile he couldn't quite read. "Sweet Rabbit. I know you try hiding the fact you at times miss your old life, but—"
"It's behind me," Regulus let out a huff, not wanting to think about that, particularly, for some reason, the ones who didn't come and look for him if they had actually cared.
"Please don't pretend you're completely fine. It's okay not to be fine. But…" Olivia held out the package. Further, his eyes were drawn yet again to the package. "Here! I know it's not the same, but—when I saw it, I had to get it for you. Lettie helped me hunt down the first one. And, I know it's a female character, and—well, that's about all I know, but I know—please open it."
Regulus reached for the package, slipping it from Olivia's hands. He pulled the bright paper away and discovered two books, although he could feel the package contained a couple of books before opening. "Worst Witch?"
"Yes. As I said. I saw the second in the series, and Lettie helped me get the first."
"I like books," Regulus replied. "I like Muggle fiction."
Both were true. Olivia leaned over while Hermione gurgled in the crib, watching him. "But maybe not this one. It's…" Olivia lowered her voice. "The Muggle take on your world."
"Interesting."
"Regulus." Olivia touched his shoulder, massaging it differently. He'd become used to that particular action as it helped to draw him back to reality.
"I—yes. It may not be to my liking." Regulus looked over at his daughter, who was watching him, thinking about how he'd not met a book he didn't like, or that was how Lettie jokingly put his obsession with books. A thought crossed his mind, of how his daughter might end up being a witch—a squib if she wasn't. "Maybe—"
…
"I've got something special!"
A pair of silver eyes blinked. Regulus found himself stirred from his nap, his textbooks from university set on the table. Someone who wasn't supposed to be attempting to read one of the books when the loud, boisterous voice broke through the haze. Said someone stood up, the textbook falling from their lap and landing on the floor—on the top side while the pages fanned out while that person squealed in delight.
Regulus reached over and scooped the textbook up off the ground and set it on the table while another someone glared from the playpen, their lips popping, almost as if they had also been awakening from their sleep. Regulus rubbed his neck, taking in the blond bedhead of the one inside the playpen. "Sorry, princess." He then looked up at the intruder. "Not so loud, Lettie."
The other person, who attempted reading a textbook that Regulus had said, had a lot of big words he wasn't sure how to explain to her yet continued squealing in excitement, her feet stomping and her fists pumping up and down. Hamlet laughed, pointing at that someone. "Tell that to little Hermione here who is happy to see her Uncle Lettie."
"Uncle Lettie have book for me?"
"Uncle Lettie has a book for both you and your daddy," Hamlet said, holding out the book with both hands so Regulus could see the cover of a book with the title Worst Witch emblazoned on the front book. Still, unlike the first and second books where the silhouetted figures were on a purple and yellow background, respectively, the background for this one was red.
"Is that?" Regulus pointed at the cover, his eyes widening.
"The third in the Worst Witch series," Lettie replied.
"Read it to me! Read it to me, daddy!" Suddenly Hermione was attempting to crawl up onto the couch next to him while Lettie rocked the book back and forth as Regulus stared.
"But…"
"Don't give me you've got to study. You're a certified genius, Sebastian," Lettie said, using the name the Granger family gave him. "So, you need a break. Plus, you love reading to the girls."
And with that, Regulus found the book shoved into his hands, and Hermione nestled next to him, excited about there being a new book to the series Regulus read her rather than the picture books. He didn't think he was any good at reading books, yet Hermione loved it, and Elizabeth—she was too young actually to understand what was going on perhaps. She was now drooling on her fingers, pleased that the loud noises stopped, so maybe she at least liked the sound of his voice.
He kept reading, not thinking of anything until, "Oh! You got him to take a break."
Regulus looked up at Olivia, who'd been out with some of her female friends. "Hi. I'm reading to the girls."
"I see that," she smiled. "Is that a new Worst Witch book?"
"Lettie found it for us," Regulus said, looking down to see how far he'd gotten into the book. "I'd have thought you'd have left by now."
"Uncle Lettie likes being read to as well," Hamlet replied. Regulus narrowed his eyes, finding the comment nowhere near as hilarious as Hamlet thought it was.
"Yes, he does," Hermione replied. "Read more."
"See?" Hamlet chuckled. "Seriously though, it's nice seeing you relaxed like this rather than being all tense and all. And, before you say anything, it's what family does."
…
"I hated it."
"Why? I loved it."
Regulus found himself torn between his two girls regarding whether he liked the movie or not. There were definite additions—changes to the film, which was supposed to be his first time seeing a live adaption of something.
"Because I don't like Ethel," Elizabeth sniffled, her nose wrinkling up.
"Well, I like Mildred," Hermione replied to her younger sister, tugging at her father's sleeve. He looked down at her, wondering what had crossed her mind. "I want to be a witch when I grow up."
"If only you knew that could be true," Regulus thought to himself.
"Well, I don't," Elizabeth muttered. "I don't want to grow up to be an Ethel. Why did you ever read us those horrible books, daddy?"
Regulus opened his mouth, wondering how an outing with his two oldest to the movie theater. At the same time, Olivia spent the day with their youngest Juliet was turning out not to be what he'd expected, particularly with the—it was different, almost like—he didn't remember there being Metamophmagus in the books, which possibly best described Donna, the non-existent in the book character.
"Daddy!" Elizabeth tugged at his sleeve.
"Yes?" He looked down.
"But I liked the movie," Hermione muttered. "I want to see it again."
"No, no, and no!" Elizabeth stomped her feet.
Today just wasn't his day.
…
The day Hermione received her letter didn't feel like his day either, even though he'd been expecting it. He'd—well, he'd managed to avoid the actual arrival of the letter and the explanation by whoever came. There was this thing, this instinct, or perhaps he knew that maybe to hide himself up in his attic room that his older brothers spent so much time putting together for him, so he'd have a place just to be, if he needed it, even though he was married to their sister.
His stomach didn't feel well.
But then—
Then Hermione said, "I'm going to be the best witch possible."
Regulus couldn't help but look at his eldest in surprise. "You are?"
"I'm going to make you proud."
"You already do," Regulus replied.
"But I want to prove someone without magical parentage can be a good witch and isn't the worst witch," Hermione said.
"Ah, I see," Regulus saw all too well and smiled at her, definitely proud, though—
That night, he cried. He cried in his room with Olivia, and she let him call before he told her how he felt.
"I didn't want her to see that side of magic," he muttered. "That there are such prejudices. Prejudices I used to have."
"Come now. You didn't know. And," Olivia patted his shoulder. "I think she'll be more prepared than other children coming from Muggle families, as she's read those books and connected with the narrative in her way, which makes her prepared for whatever comes her way."
"Yes. Yes, I guess."
