Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, or any of JK Rowling's other characters from her books. I don't own Stephenie Meyer's books either, or Carlisle Cullen. He is just making a guest star appearance. I think. Oh well, we'll see. On with the story!

Chapter Four

Once we got home, I was immediately sent to my room without dinner. Really not that bad a punishment, I've honestly had worse. Besides, I have stash underneath a floorboard that is underneath my bed full of food. As soon as I heard my parents bedroom door slam shut, I walked over to my bathroom and took an aspirin for my back. Rolling my eyes at the loud yelling downstairs, I went back to my room and dropped down to the floor. If my father was getting into trouble, that was his own business, I'm more worried about my empty stomach. Reaching underneath my bed, I felt around for a niche in the wood and pushed down on the end of the nature-marked floorboard. As soon as it sprang open, I pulled out a few bars of candy and placed them on my bed. As I placed the board back on its spot, I heard footsteps making its way toward my room. Jumping up, I quickly stashed the candy underneath my pillow and gave a slight wince from the effect of the jumping. Apparently the aspirin hadn't kicked in yet.

I turned around and sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the door, waiting for whatever punishment came my way. I didn't know what I did this time, but I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good. The door opened, only to show my father with a huge grin on his face and my mother with a scowl. OK, I don't know what going on, but OK. Gulping, I hesitantly asked, "Yes Father, Mother?" I honestly didn't have any idea what was going on. Normally they either both had scowls, or they both– OK, never mind that's it.

Mum pushed her way into the room, and sat down, right next to my pillow. Careful to make sure my eyes didn't stray to the pillow. Father, who had just now walked in said, "Hermione, while you were gone, some man, with tons of white hair, came to talk to us today. Apparently he is the head professor of that Pigworts School. Anyway, he came and told us what you are! At first we didn't believe him, but he showed us Hermione, he actually showed us magic. It wasn't that imitation of magic either. It was the real thing! He took out this long sticky thingy, waved it, and then next thing we know, your mother is floating three feet into the air!"

I was confused, what did that mean? Does that mean that the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was real? "I'm afraid I don't understand Father. Are you saying that, that place is real? That I'm a, I'm, I'm a witch?" Could it really be true? I had never done anything remotely close to magic. Had I? No, I haven't.

"What he means, you stupid girl, is that you're a freak. A freak of nature. I knew the moment I had you that you were no good. I should have just had an abortion like your real father wanted me too. Damn that Zabini! He had gotten with his Italian skin! Never trust an Italian, they will screw you over and give you a freak for child!" Grumbling, she stood up, knocking the pillow and the candy over onto the floor, luckily though, she hadn't noticed and neither had Father.

Speaking of father, he looked really pale and in shock. "What does she mean? Is your mother saying that I'm not your real father? Who is this Zabini? I swear, if I ever meet this Zabini. . ." Droning off, Father stood up and walked out of my room still muttering to himself. Father wasn't my father? I shook my head, this was just too much for one night. Leaning over, I picked up my pillow and my dinner, and nestled into bed.

Just as I was nibbling on the last bite of my Snickers, there was a tapping at my window. Glancing up, I saw the most beautiful, pure black owl standing on my window ledge. Gasping, I quickly jumped up and opened the window. As soon as I did however, the black owl flew in and so did a small tawny one. Each carried a letter which they promptly dropped on my bed and flew off. Well, the tawny one did at least, the large, black owl hooted softly and landed on my desk picking at his feathers.

Shocked, I stared at the bird and picked up the envelope the black one had dropped. Opening it, I quickly read it and gasped once more. It was from my supposed father. Closing my eyes, I shook my head, and began to read the letter once more.

Dear Hermione Granger,

I have spent the last eleven years trying to figure out how I was going to compose this letter. Now, since you are eleven, and have most likely received your letter from Hogwarts, I have decided that now was the time to finally tell you the truth and introduce myself. My name is Roman Zabini and I am your father. Your surrogate father at least. I am a wizard and you are a witch. Now that is what you call a blunt sentence. Anyway, you have a stepbrother who is eleven also and is named Blaise. I have decided that, with your permission of course, to take you and Blaise shopping tomorrow in Diagon Alley. After all, you will need all of your supplies and I doubt Jane and your 'father' will know where to look. I will provide the money for all of your supplies, so you will be able to have the best of the best.

I hope that you will be able to come, please send word with Gaius as soon as possible. Afterwards, you are allowed to keep him if you wish.

Best Wishes,

Roman Zabini.

I blinked in shock once more. Was this really my father? This Roman Zabini says he is, and the last is the same as the one Mother mentioned. Throwing a questioning gaze at the owl, I jumped back in fright as Gaius gave a loud screech and few in a circle around me. "OK, OK, I'm writing the reply right now. I wonder if Mother and Father will allow me to go though." I decided to shrug it off, if they weren't happy about it, then my actual father could deal with them. Grabbing a piece of notebook paper and a pen I quickly scribbled my acceptance, and folded the letter. No sooner than I had pressed the paper in its final fold, Gaius swept up his large wings and grabbed the letter with his sharp talons.

I, of course, was still in shock. As, I shook my head again, I quickly snatched up the letter the tawny owl had sent. Who knows, maybe it was from my real mother? Sniggering, I unfolded the parchment. I wonder why the use parchment, and why is th ink so, un pen like?Opening the parchment, I read the contents of this letter. It was a letter from Hogwarts, stating where I was supposed to go to get on the train, and the materials that were needed for first years. My eyes scanned over the contents, not really surprised by anything anymore, I already knew what most of this letter was going to say. However, when my eyes got to the part about the train, my eyes widened.

Platform 9 3/4? There wasn't a Platform 9 3/4, only Platforms with whole numbers. Not fractions! I shook my head, all of this was obviously a dream. Between my back, and the aspirin, I was probably having a very fitful sleep, with very peculiar dreams. Groaning, I walked over to my door and turned off the lights. Slipping back into the bed, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, not noticing the black owl that had swooped back into my room with another letter.

SBEFMSBEFMSBEFMSBEFM

The next morning I woke up to a loud scream. Jumping up, I winced at my aching back. It had obviously not healed yet. Moaning in pain, I slowly walked to the door, only to be frightened by an owl's hoot. Turning around, I saw that the black owl had returned and it was glaring at me and at the letter on my desk. I stared, I could have sworn that this was all a dream! Walking back over to he desk, I opened the letter that was from my father. Basically it stated that they would be here at my home today using floo, and to expect them at 8:00a.m. Looking at my watch, I blinked at the time. It was 8:04! Jumping up, I quickly rushed into the bathroom at took another aspirin, and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. Brushing my fingers through my hair, I slowly walked down the stairs, the aspirin hadn't kicked in yet.

As I got to the bottom step, my eyes widened to a most peculiar sight. In my living room was four people. Mother who was standing behind my father, staring in shock at the handsome man in front of them. Then in front of the fireplace stood the handsome man, and the younger boy, who I assumed to be Blaise. Walking in slowly, I softly cleared my throat. Nobody noticed me except for Blaise who, with an amused expression, skirted around his father and walked over to me.

Chuckling, he held out his hand and said, "Blaise Zabini. I take it you're Hermione Granger?" I stared at him for a few seconds before shaking his hand. "Er. . . What exactly going on down here?" Blaise chuckled again, and sat down on the bottom step, saying, "Watch and see." Still confused, I joined him on the step, and looked up just in time to hear Father shout, "Who do you think you are? How dare you come to my house unannounced! Get out right now! Go back through the fire, out the door, I don't care, just get out! Now, before I call the police!" I groaned and placed my head on top of my knees with my eyes shut. I forgot to tell Mother and Father, that I was leaving for the day.

Beside me, Blaise chuckled as he watched the scene. Is chuckling the only thing he ever does? Pulling my head up and looked at the scene in front of me. Roman Zabini looked as if he was about to burst out laughing, and Father looked as if he was going to blow a casket. Mother on the other hand, no longer had an expression on her face. I think she didn't know how she was supposed to look. Shocked? Happy? Angry? All of these expressions flitted across her face. Standing up, I was about to walk over to the scene and calm Father down, but my hand was taken up by a dark-skinned Italian with blue eyes that sparkled. "Don't. I want to see how this turns out. Father will sort all of this out. He suspected that you might have forgotten to tell them that you were coming." I stared at him. Was he serious? Father could, and probably would kill them. He wouldn't actually call the police, he would take out a gun! Shaking my head at him, I quickly ran up to Father, wincing as my cuts were stretched with my movement, and tapped on Mother's shoulder. Whispering, I quickly told her the situation. Her eyes flared in anger, but she did the right thing and grabbed Father by the arm and whispered in his ear. Father spun around and gave me a death glare. Quickly backing up a few steps as he stormed up to me, he jabbed a rough finger into my chest and said, "I'll deal with you later." Gulping, I looked up at him and said, "Yes sir."

As Mother and Father left the room, I looked up at Blaise and Roman, who were looking at me with shocked eyes. Looking at Roman Zabini, I said in a soft, almost meek voice, "Hello, I'm Hermione." Internally cringing at my pathetic sentence, I just stood there looking him over. He looked exactly like his son, except for the features that come with age at least. He had dark Italian skin, blue eyes that sparkled even when not in the light, short brown black hair, and he stood tall and statuesque. He was very handsome, and I could easily see why Mother would have fallen for him.

All of a sudden, Roman burst out laughing, and walked over to me to kiss my hand. He kissed my hand? "Well, it's nice to have finally met you. I'm Roman." I nodded my greeting. This was a really uncomfortable situation. Roman, sensing my discomfort said in a cheerful voice, "Shall we go?" Nodding my head again, I watched as he reached into his robes and . . . Wait! Robes? Why am I just now noticing this? Anyway, he reached into his robes and fulled out a small bag which he promptly opened. Inside was green powder, which he held out to Blaise who took a small pinch of it and threw it into the fire. Walking into the flames he shouted Diagon Alley before he disappeared. My eyes widened. How? That just isn't logical!

I looked back at my father who was holding the bag out to me with a patient look on his face. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you want me to do." I stared at the bag once more, before looking up at him again with hesitant eyes. What was he expecting me to do? Jump into the fire? I don't think so! As I looked up at him, he gave me a comforting smile. "Here, think since it's your first time using floo, I can do it with you at the same time." Grabbing my hand, he led me to the fireplace and threw a pinch of the green powder into the fire causing it to turn green also. "Now what you want to do is step into the fire, keep your eyes shut, your elbows in, and say clearly, Diagon Alley. All right? Since this is first time for you to do this, I will do the talking, all you have to is make sure your elbows are tucked in and your eyes are shut. OK?" Smiling at me once more, he led me into the flames, which surprisingly had a cool, tingly feeling, and said, loud and clearly, Diagon Alley. Clenching my eyes shut, I pressed my elbows into my side and waited. All of a sudden it felt like we were spinning and then we were lurching forward onto solid ground. My eyes flew open to see an annoyed Blaise Zabini, who quickly asked, "What took you two so long? I have been waiting here for ten minutes now. Every single time a floo came in, it was somebody else! I swear father, you're getting more and more slow every day." Laughing, Roman Zabini clapped my back, in which I promptly gasped in pain. He didn't do it hard, but he did it hard enough for some of the cuts to reopen. I quickly sent up a small prayer that they didn't hear me, and that I wasn't bleeding.

Unfortunately, both happened. They both looked at me in confusion, and when Roman lifted his hand, blood was noticeable on it. When they saw the blood, Roman quickly grabbed my hand once more and led me into an empty corner. Blaise quickly scurried after with a bewildered look on his face. Mentally cursing God, or whoever was in charge of fate, I allowed my self to be led. Not saying anything, I quickly looked at the ground. "Hermione? Why is your back bleeding? I didn't hit you that hard, did I?" I shrugged, I didn't want to answer any more questions. Carlisle got all of the answers out of me yesterday, and I really didn't want to start this questionnaire all over again. "It's fine, honestly I just fell down, I'm fine. Really." I kept my eyes averted, hoping that they weren't as perceptive as Dr. Cullen. Roman seemed to accept my answer, but Blaise narrowed his eyes and gave me a look that said, 'I'm onto you.' Not good. Not good at all.

Roman nodded and led us through the throng of people. Eventually we came to a stop in front of a store with a huge sign saying, Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. And inside the window lay a single wand on a purple cushion. My eyes widened, they actually have wands?! Walking in, I automatically stood back and allowed my eyes to wander as Roman was talking to man up front. I was so entranced by all of the wands that were everywhere that I didn't see Blaise come up next to me. "I don't believe you, you know. My friend Draco always says those same lies. Falling down stairs, falling off a broom. Always the same excuses, and I believed him for a while. Eventually though, I figured it out. He told me not to tell anyone though." Sighing, he looked up at his father and then at me again. "We may have just met, but you can trust me. I know how to keep things quiet, and–" Blaise broke off and looked at his father who was looking at us. Roman raised up his hand and beckoned us to come. Apparently he had been calling us. Oops.

Blaise started to walk forward first and I walked after him soon afterward. Blaise's words troubled me. Did he really have a friend named Draco that was in the same situation? Or was he just saying that so I would give in and tell him everything? Still slightly puzzled, I walked up to the man, although I made sure to stay behind Blaise and his father. Our father. This was still a lot to digest. "Blaise, Hermione. This is Ollivander, one of the best wand makers in the world. Although, personally I would say he is the best." As Roman was saying this Ollivander was shaking his head, mumbling the word, 'preposterous,' Roman was complimenting him.

Ollivander looked over Blaise and me, almost as if he was trying to decide who he as going to talk to first, and most unexpectedly, he turned his back on us and walked to the back of the shop. Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I looked at Roman and Blaise and saw the same puzzlement appear on their faces. "Um. . . Where did he go?" I asked this in a hesitant voice, not knowing if I was being tricked or if they were really just as confused as I was. Blaise shrugged, and Roman looked at me with worried eyes. Worried? Why was he worried.

"Ah, here it is. Well Miss. Zabini, here it is, I figure that this wand will be the best for you." At first I had no idea who he was talking to, and then it hit me. I was Miss Zabini. Misinterpreting my hesitation, he smiled and beckoned me to come closer. "Come along try it out, you act as if you have never seen a wand before!" I blushed as he said this and grabbed the wand. My blush faded away though when I grabbed the wand though and a small smile appeared on my face as I felt the power – or would it be magic? – surge through the wand, up my arm, and travel all over my body. Gasping, I looked at Ollivander who had a small, knowing twinkle in his eye. "Yes Miss Zabini, I do believe this is the wand for you." Turning away from me, he looked at Zabini and went to tend to Zabini, but not before he told me what the wand was made of. A hair from the mane of a unicorn filly, birchwood, and eleven and a half inches long.

Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to realize that I wanted to keep this story and also to continue it. Thank you so much keeping with me and trying to convinve me to continue working on Ch 4!!