Ater Sanguis

Warnings: Rated M for language, potential violence, and occasional sex scene; adult themes.

Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter. If I did, I could actually afford to attend uni. All characters are property of JK Rowling.

A/N: I apologize for the late update. I still haven't set a schedule, and I haven't really written much, so after this I need to get going. I've been in a bit of a dark spot lately; my boyfriend's father had a heart attack last week (9/22) and has been comatose since then, and they might need to take him off life support soon, so we're all a bit of a wreck, but especially my boyfriend. We're thinking positive thoughts though.

An Argument with Ronald


17 July, 1996
12 Grimmauld Place

Hermione ended up staying the night at Grimmauld Place per Remus and Sirius' request; she had told her mother she would be back the next day anyways, so she saw no reason as to why she shouldn't spend the night. She spent some time in the sitting room, taking in the gaudy decorations. She'd have to tell Sirius about her plans to redecorate, especially if she chose to spend more time here with her biological father.

It was odd for the pair to come to realize that they were in fact related. Hermione asked Remus to do a parental test spell, but he told her that he did not currently know of any spells of that sort. Hermione resigned to the fact that she'd have to go to St. Mungo's or a muggle hospital to get a blood test done. She mentioned this to Sirius, who proclaimed that no needles will be stuck into his veins on a normal basis, but as his daughter requested this, he would do it. Hermione was surprised that he was acting so fatherly already, but he was probably being over dramatic and using the daughter card to milk that. She would have to talk with her mother when she returned.

They were sitting at the table with Remus eating breakfast when someone came through the floo. Multiple people, it seemed. Sirius got up and went into the room and exclaimed when he saw the Weasley clan in his sitting room. Hermione grinned and ran into the room, only to be greeted with puzzled looks.

"Why are you here, 'Mione?" Ron had asked her. He didn't even know why he was at the house, if he was honest with himself; he just heard his mum mention going to Sirius' place and that Harry would be showing up that day, so he went.

Hermione looked at Sirius, hoping that he could give a reason. When he didn't answer, Hermione sighed. "Well, I have to do some work for the Order. I'm going back to my house tonight, but I needed to come by." Her answer was cryptic, but she knew that her friend wouldn't question it.

Remus came in the room and announced that he was going to get Harry to brief them on the news. There was an Order meeting in a few weeks and Remus wanted to let everyone know about Narcissa before the meeting so that no one would freak out. He was gone for only 10 minutes before he returned, Harry on his arm. "Now, let's all take a seat," he suggested, "We have quite a bit to talk about."

xxx

They began by talking about Narcissa's defection to the Order. Most of the Weasley family were shocked, as well as Harry, but Molly understood. She didn't need to hear the true reasoning, that Narcissa was hoping to protect her son, but she knew; mothers always know.

Then came the announcement of Sirius and Hermione's relationship. Reactions varied from person to person, and Hermione watched as each member slowly realized what this meant. Fred and George laughed, claiming that there was no way a witch so smart could come from a prankster like Sirius; Molly and Arthur congratulated Sirius, telling him that parenthood was a blessing, even if he didn't think so; Ron sat in silence, a look of confusion on his face; but Harry's reaction was the best of all.

Harry stood up and hugged Hermione as hard as he could without hurting the witch. "Hermione, that means we're family!" He grinned, clearly happy to know that his best friend was now a member of his family.

"Yes, I suppose I hadn't thought about that," Hermione mused, "I believe that'd make us 3rd or 4th cousins. It is rather exciting, isn't it? I told Sirius that we would have to take a blood test to ensure that we are in fact related, because Narci—someone said it would be a good idea to release to the public that we are father and daughter."

Behind Hermione, Remus motioned for everyone to exit except the trio, giving them some time to talk. The group left the sitting room, leaving Harry, Hermione, and Ron alone. Harry had caught her blunder and knew she was about to say Narcissa.

"Why would Narcissa Malfoy want you to release to the press that you are Sirius' daughter?" Harry questioned. "I mean, I get that she's part of the Order now, but why would she have you do that?"

"Well, being a half-blood would certainly be better than being muggle-born to some people; even being the daughter to a squib is okay, considering who my grandfather is," Hermione explained. When her friends gave her curious looks, she continued. "Eobard Jones; he was the Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes from 1949-1967; his brother is the grandfather to Gwenog Jones…"

Ron's jaw dropped. "You're related to the Gwenog Jones?! Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?"

"Apparently. After mum told me about her father – honestly, I'm still miffed that she kept that from me for so long – I did some research last night on the Jones family. It was difficult, as Jones is such a common name. Eobard and Barrius took their mother's last name, as she was a half-blood mistress to a member of the Greengrass family who didn't want them as part of his life, despite impregnating Esther Jones twice in a 4 year span. Eobard was a Ravenclaw and graduated top of his class in 1939, while Barrius was a Hufflepuff who cared more for quidditch than his grades, graduating in the middle of the class in 1942. Clearly I took after my grandfather, while Gwenog took after hers." Hermione was glad to finally share her family background with someone; her grandfather had always been so sweet to her, even in his dying days, and to truly know what he was doing with his time before her was amazing. "My grampa Eobard married a muggle that he met in London while taking care of a case, and the rest, as they say, is history."

Ron was surprised that Hermione had learned this much in such a short amount of time – he had known his grandparents his whole life and didn't know as much about them. Then again, he didn't ask for information on them. He was still oogling over the fact that his best friend was related to Gwenog Jones, but Harry raised a brow at the witch.

"Now, that's great and all, Hermione. I'm really happy that you know more about your family, and maybe we could find out more about mine sometime soon, but you haven't mentioned why Narcissa Malfoy wants you to tell the press that you're Sirius' daughter."

Hermione gave a sheepish smile to her black haired friend; as oblivious as he could be, Harry Potter knew when Hermione was avoiding a subject. She sighed and ran a hand through her dark brown locks. "As I mentioned, I've been asked to undertake a very important mission for the Order. Narcissa is worried that Draco will take the Dark Mark and become a Death Eater."

"No need to worry about that," Ron scoffed, "That ferret would probably jump at the chance to work for that madman."

"Actually," Hermione glared, "he isn't quite fond of the idea. Narcissa has managed to put off Draco receiving his Dark Mark for the rest of the summer and hopefully the bulk of the school year, but she knows that Draco will be undertaking tasks for Voldemort. She has asked that I keep an eye on him during the school year, and reach out to him if he needs anything."

"So what, you're his babysitter?" Ron questioned, a red brow raised.

"I'm his liaison to the Order, not a babysitter. I just need to make sure he's okay."

"I don't like how this is going, Hermione; first you find out that you're not a muggle-born, and now you have to take care of Draco Malfoy?"

"I'm not crazy about it either, Ronald, but that is life. I would rather like to just focus on my schooling this year, but if I must help Draco Malfoy from becoming a Death Eater, I will." Hermione was rather defensive all of a sudden; it wasn't like she was defending Malfoy, but she was defending her new mission that just happened to be about Malfoy. "And what does me not being a muggle-born have to do with this?"

"Well, you've always been the muggle-born, which made you this anomaly or something, because you're so smart, but now you're just like the rest of us, which means you're just trying too hard."

"I literally just learned of my heritage last night, Ronald. I am the same person as I have always been; I grew up as a muggle, and I was under the impression that I was a muggle-born for so long. Just because I'm now a half-blood doesn't mean that my past is negated. Honestly, Ron, I am surprised that you're reacting like this. You'd think that you're a supremacist with the way you're talking." Hermione was angry now; how could he talk to her like this? He had no right to accuse her of anything, and just a few minutes ago he was excited to know someone related to that captain of that quidditch team. Once she mentioned Malfoy, he turned into a completely different person. Of course, Hermione knew why: Malfoy was horrible to them, so she wasn't surprised that Ron was angry, but honestly, he didn't need to be rude to her. (Then again, he always was.)

Harry decided to intervene before anything else happened. "Well, Hermione, I think that it's a very important mission and they chose a good person for it. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Harry. At least someone's a bit more compassionate."

Just then they were called into the kitchen for lunch. The two boys ran ahead, as if they hadn't eaten in days, while Hermione lingered in the sitting room.

"I hope that everything will go okay," she whispered to herself. But she should know better; she was friends with Harry Potter, and nothing was ever easy.


A/N: reviews make my world go round, mates.