A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I know so many of you were heartbroken for poor Draco after last chapter, but I think this chapter will shed some light on things! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter twenty-six and be on the lookout for chapter twenty-seven soon!

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When Draco kissed her, Hermione's immediate emotional reaction had been pure joy. His declaration that he loved her, and that he'd loved her for a long time. To know that he actually returned the feelings that she had been harboring for her best friend for so long made her heart soar in her chest. Further, that he was jealous of the idea of her dating Theo, that he felt so strongly about her...

But then it was not much longer after that that her concerns about the connection between her and Draco's Aunt Hermione came rushing back. What if she was Hermione Black's illegitimate child? That would make her Draco's cousin in a way. If she had some connection to the woman, would that change the way Draco felt about her? She wasn't sure she could handle that kind of heartbreak.

She needed answers, and there was only one place that she could find them.

It would have been hard to find out where Hermione and Regulus Black lived if it hadn't been for all the research that Hermione had done in her spare time. Reading through the social announcements had given her the address of Cassiopeia Black. The old witch's will had gone through probate, and Hermione had learned that the other Hermione had been the sole heir of her estate.

After leaving Draco, Hermione popped over to the nearest apparition point before making the short walk to the Black residence. It wasn't hard to find it's entrance from the muggle street and Hermione wondered why someone who worked with Gringotts wouldn't have tried to get a fidelius charm on their house. When she got to the doorstep, she knocked and held her breath, nerves making her belly twist.

The door was opened by none other than Hermione Black herself. Her mouth was pinched, but she didn't seem all the surprised by her visitor. "Hermione," she said simply, mouth opening and closing several times while she tried to decide what to say. "Would you like to come in for some tea?"

Accepting seemed like the most obvious choice and before she knew it, she was sitting in a lavish parlor on a blue velvet settee, with a fine china teacup in her hand. She stared around the room at the moving photographs of the Black family, growing even more unsettled by all the similarities that she saw. "You aren't surprised to see me," she said to the other woman, gripping her teacup tightly.

Hermione Black shook her head. "No, I've known this day was coming for a long time."

"So, it's true then..." the younger witch asked, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Am I...am I your daughter?" she asked, her voice cracking with emotion.

"What?" The incredulous response came suddenly.

"Please don't lie to me. I just want answers," Hermione nearly begged. "I'm not stupid...Draco might not see it, but I can tell that we look very similar...other people notice it too. And, the timing would fit, not to mention that we share a name. So...did you give me up for adoption, because...Draco kissed me and I really do love him, but I can't be with him if..."

The older woman started laughing pressing a hand to her chest tightly. "Merlin, no," she said finally, only she'd caught her breath. Her visage sobered quickly. "I don't really know the best way to tell you this, but...I am a time traveler."

Of all the possibilities Hermione had considered, this certainly wasn't it. A time traveler would mean... "So, you...are me? I am you?" she asked, her voice full of wonder.

"Yes," the other woman confirmed it. "In my time, Voldemort had survived the war and he went on to kill Lily and James Potter, leaving Harry an orphan, but he was gravely injured at the time. He came back when I was at Hogwarts and well...I had a little mishap with a house elf and got sent back to 1978. I decided to...make a better outcome for the world."

"But shouldn't I...what will happen if I don't go back? Won't you disappear? Everything that you've already done?" she asked, feeling her brain itch with all of the possibilities.

"The day I was sent back has already passed, and nothing happened," she said smoothly. "I am sure that it is something that you can study now that you'll become an Unspeakable."

Hermione gasped. "How did you know about that?" she questioned, knowing that it was meant to be highly secretive.

"It's what I've been working on for the past five years, while my children were at school," she answered smoothly. "But now that you are starting there, I will be retiring for good."

Pressing her hands to her face, the younger witch had so many questions running through her head she didn't even know where to start. "This is so confusing. Who all knows about it?"

"Regulus, of course, and Sirius puzzled it out not to long ago. Narcissa has known since you first showed up in her school," Hermione explained. "I've been trying to keep our two selves separated so as not to make anyone else aware of it. It's not exactly legal," she said with a sly little smirk. "I am sure that you will have many more questions, and you are always welcome to ask me. But for now you can go about on your romance with Draco without worry about being his cousin."

"Why is that so funny?" she asked, thinking that the other woman was really enjoying this too much.

"Oh, it's just...my first time around, I was fairly positive I was going to end up with Ronald Weasley," she said with a grin, enjoying how the younger woman recoiled in horror at the idea. "He and Harry and I were inseparable in Gryffindor house. And Draco...well you know how Slytherins and Gryffindors are," she explained with a wry smile. "This time around, Draco is much sweeter."

Finally, Hermione was reminded of the declaration her friend had made, and the terribly rude way she'd ran out on him. "Oh Merlin!" she said suddenly. "Draco told me he loved me and then I just...ran away," she said, mortified by her behavior. "I need to tell him I love him." Standing up suddenly, she realized how rude she was being to Hermione Black.

"I completely understand," the Gryffindor said with a grin. "Go and tell him how you feel, before he wallows too much in self pity! I will never hear the end of it from Narcissa if you don't."

Hermione Granger didn't need to be told twice.