When It All Changes

"Really Blaise, stop being a mute and tell me just what is so important. What did your father tell you?"

After Blaise had emerged from the green flames, the two boys had been sitting in silence. Draco was growing increasingly impatient every minute because of this unexpected behavior. Usually, when Blaise came back from a visit with his father, a stampede of wild hippogriffs could not stop him from recounting his story.

"I have a sister." Blaise muttered to the floor, not really paying any attention to the only other occupant of the room. Draco however was more focused on Blaise than before.

"A … a what?!" Blaise looked up with a scowl on his face.

"Surely you know what a sister is Draco. When Mummy and Daddy have another child of the female persuasion? Yes?" Draco waved away his sarcasm and gestured for Blaise to continue.

"Oh shut up and tell me about her." Blaise scoffed at this. Draco had talked to Hermione more than he had over the years. Granted, the two had been trading insults, but they were still words.

"How can I? I don't know her myself." And I don't particularly want to know her. He thought grimly of the forthcoming days of time together in his mind.

"Well what's her name? How old is she?" Draco asked. He seemed incredibly intrigued with this news. Naturally, his mother had raised him with gossip, but Blaise never knew he had such an interest in the drama that went along with being a pureblood.

"She is roughly our age, I haven't the slightest idea when she was born, and I do not believe you want to know her name." He listed off each of these things and watched Draco roll his eyes at the latter part of his statement.

"Well of course I want to know her name and our age you say? Does your mother know about this as well?"

"No, no she's my half sister." Blaise sighed and ran a hand through his hair "You cannot tell anyone who she is Draco, anyone at all. Father will make an official announcement within the coming months, but we would rather not have vultures like Skeeter descend upon us sooner than is necessary." Draco let out a small huff and narrowed his eyes at Blaise.

"Stop stalling and tell me who she is Blaise. My patience is waning." His tone was clipped and Blaise was sure that he was about to throw a tantrum if he did not find out the girl's name. Malfoy had a notoriously short temper. Blaise had witnessed it far too many times for his liking and did not feel like seeing it again today. He watched Draco carefully as he said,

"My si- sister is Hermione Granger." Draco sneered at the mere mention of one of his Gryffindor enemies.

"Funny, now tell me her real name." He said with a slight bit of venom lacing his voice.

"I'm not lying to you Draco. I didn't believe the news at first either." Blaise said with a slight shake of his head. Could he really expect Draco to welcome this news with open arms?

"How is that even possible? All these years and you are just now finding out?" The disbelief in his tone was obvious.

"Drop the skepticism," Blaise said sternly "it is most definitely true. The sooner you accept that the better."

"Accept it? Why should I so much as entertain the fact that you are related to her?" Draco sneered.

"My father has asked for Granger and I to get along somewhat. It will not help if you are right behind me cursing her under your breath or mocking her openly. You don't necessarily have to like this, but do try and get over your childish hatred of her."

Blaise knew that Draco's hate of Granger stemmed closer nowadays from her personality and constant one upping of him than what they thought her parentage was. He could only imagine what happened when Draco joined the Light and had to work in close proximity to the Golden Trio he so abhorred. Draco just grimaced whenever he was asked about the Order's treatment of him. Needless to say it wasn't a popular topic for conversation.

"And you? Do you like this?" Draco asked after a pause.

"Not particularly, but I am trying to get over my childish hatred as well. It may take awhile with her personality." He mumbled.

Draco sighed and collapsed into his chair.

How the hell were they going to deal with this?

x HNL x

Hermione stood at the path leading into the village. She was scanning the area for Ron and Harry. Even if she did give them the option to get out of their meeting, they would come. Sure enough, minutes after they would have received the letter, Ron and Harry came trudging up the path. They smiled when they saw her and sped up to close the distance between them.

"Hey Hermione! To what do we owe this pleasant surprise? Aren't you supposed to be vacationing with your parents?" Harry asked after Hermione had received a hug from both boys. She gave them both a somewhat strained smile and gestured for them to follow her. The two boys followed Hermione down a side path as she answered.

"Our plans changed somewhat. I don't think I'll be vacationing with them any time soon." Harry and Ron shared a confused look.

"Hermione… is something wrong?" Harry questioned. Ron's eyes widened and he looked at Hermione with confusion written all over his face. It seemed to be a common emotion for Ron.

"Did you charm your hair? And your eyes as well?" Harry's eyes flew to her hair after Ron's question. He too had a bewildered look on his face now. Hermione was nearly certain they were remembering all the times she had refused to even semi-permanently use magic to change her appearance since their fourth year. After using all that Sleekeazys potion, Lavender and Parvati had reinforced their efforts to make Hermione a regular user of beauty charms. She had never backed down though and had shoved away every copy of Witch Weekly (101 Charms for the Average Witch!...Make Him Notice You Without Love Potion!... Change Your Complexion from Ghostly to Glowing!) they had shown her.

How unobservant can they be? A monkey would notice the differences in your appearance faster than them.

They aren't stupid, they're my friends.

Yes, well we'll see how long that lasts…

"No I didn't, but that is part of what I want to tell you." Hermione said. Her voice was too calm and that alone made Harry and Ron wary. When she sensed an outburst coming from either of them Hermione would always attempt to cool them down beforehand by using calm measured tones.

However, Hermione was just trying to calm herself down while simultaneously trying to decide how best to break this news to them. No matter what, Harry and Ron would not actually like what she was about to share with them, but they might not react badly.

Or so she hoped.

"I am adopted and I just found out yesterday." She blurted out. Not exactly the smooth delivery she had planned, but at least a third of the band aid was peeled off. She intended to rip off the rest of it, but was interrupted by her friends before she had the chance.

"You're joking." Ron said. His mouth hung open slightly as he tried to figure out how that was remotely possible. Harry though, looked troubled. He looked at Hermione with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth in a thin line.

"You're sure about this…?" Harry asked. He certainly sounded unsure.

"What, you think I was lied to?" Hermione asked. Harry shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"It's just… don't you think someone could come up with this story, curse your parents, and then use it all to get you unprotected?" Hermione was shocked at his thinking. She of course had entertained the thought that some outside force was behind her parents' sudden confession in a way more sinister than it turned out to be. However, she had dismissed that idea when she thought of the many wards she had placed upon the Granger home that would alert her not only to the presence of a wizard, but also of any residual magic left upon the house or its occupants. Wait… that meant… that damn Zabini had taken down her wards! He said he had gone to visit her parents, but, even if his entry was a peaceful one through the front door she still would have known. Or rather, she still should have known.

All she could do was be annoyed and make sure the wards were intact the next time she was there. Whatever odd and awkward relationship she had entered into with the Grangers, the fact still remained that they were the only parents she had known for so long and she simply would not forget about them.

Hermione shook her head with a slight frown on her face.

"No Harry, I'm sure my parents were not cursed. You know I have wards up to prevent that." She would leave out the fact that her wards had been taken down, even if it was temporary. Harry seemed troubled by this.

"Well? Have you met your real parents or were you just told that you're adopted?" He inquired.

"I have met my father." She said slowly.

"And?" Harry prompted. Ron chose that moment to pipe in with his own question. "What about your mother?" Hermione seemed reluctant to tell them the very things that may turn the conversation into a screaming match.

"My mother is dead and my father is a wizard. Turns out I'm a pureblood so all those years of mockery from the Slytherins seem quite ironic now." She knew she was rambling, but somehow, the idea of telling her two best friends she was related to Draco Malfoy's best (and probably only) friend was not an attractive one.

So have you finally developed a sense of self preservation that you Gryffindors seem to lack?

"He's a wizard? What's his name? Anyone we would know?" And like she had just been force fed a vial of Veritaserum Hermione said,

"His name is Edmondo Zabini." Hermione strongly resisted the urge to cover her mouth after saying that. That was the third time she had said something she hadn't meant to say within the same conversation. She really needed to get this sudden bout of word vomit under control.

I think that's a no to the self preservation. The mutinous little Slytherin whispered.

"Zabini?! As in Blaise Zabini, the mute Slytherin?!" Harry choked out. Ron however, just appeared to be choking. Where he had gotten food from was a mystery to Hermione.

"Erm, yes... he's my half-brother." Hermione mumbled. At least neither of them had started to scream. Though, that was probably because they were currently in a state of shock.

Once she finished talking, silence fell upon the trio. Hermione was reluctant to break it and her friends seemed to have lost the ability to talk. After what felt like an eternity, Harry spoke up.

"What are you going to do?" He said.

"What do you mean?" She responded carefully. Hermione could almost see where his train of thought was going.

"You can't seriously be thinking of meeting with him? I mean think of who they are Hermione! Blaise is Malfoy's friend, if you can even call him that. They're probably more like allies than anything." He muttered the latter part to himself. "Hermione, Blaise is a Slytherin and I'm sure his father is the same. Do you really want to get mixed up with them?"

"Get mixed up with them?" She said with disbelief."Harry, you just fought a war against prejudice- how can you even say that?"

"They're Slytherins! Have you ever heard of a kind Slytherin with only good intentions? They'll probably try to drag you into the Dark arts."

"What has gotten into you? Have you forgotten that Draco fought with the Light not only through the war, but also alongside us during the final battle? Not to mention the fact that the Zabinis were neutral during the war and never gave so much as a knut to Voldemort's cause!" By this point Hermione was yelling. Somewhere deep inside she was beating herself up for defending people she hardly knew. The little that she did know about the three Slytherins in question was none too favorable, but she knew they weren't the evil with which Harry wanted to associate them.

"Hermione," Ron spoke softly. He sounded like he was trying to explain something simple to a two-year-old. "That ferret only fought on our side to save his own ass. He knew Voldemort wasn't going to win. As for the Zabinis, we can't really know if they gave any money to Voldemort, but it's likely they did the slimy gits."

Hermione's shoulders drooped.

So this is it, Hermione thought this is when it all falls apart.

"I can't agree with that you two. I- I should go now, I have a meeting with someone." She said with some unidentifiable emotion in her voice.

"Hermione don't go!" Ron pleaded. "We can think of something to do about this problem."

"It's not a problem Ron. Excuse me, I have to go see my father."

"You can't be-" Before Ron could finish, Hermione apparated away with the small blue room in Zabini Manor going through her head.

x HNL x

"Hello figlia, did your meeting with your friends go well?"

Edmond just happened to be waiting in the very room Hermione had in mind.

Lucky her.

She ignored his question with a roll of her eyes. As if it wasn't obvious from her demeanor that their meeting had ended less than cordially.

"Well enough." She said shortly. Edmond sighed at her statement and rubbed his temple.

"You did remember to place a spell upon them so the idiots can't blab to the entirety of the Weasleys, yes?" Edmond had not said that. Hermione turned around to face the fireplace and saw her lovely half-brother standing a few feet away from her. He looked like he wished to be anywhere but his current location. She would say the feeling was mutual, but Hermione was running out of places she could be without incessant questions or an awkward silence.

"Hello Blaise." She said with forced politeness.

"Granger." He replied as he stepped further into the room to stand next to his father.

"Ah, about that," Edmond interrupted. He pushed himself out of his chair and went to stand next Hermione. He appeared to be quite happy about whatever he was about to tell her. "Wizarding laws, as I'm sure you know, are not like those of the Muggle world. There are certain laws in place that make it necessary for the children of two married parents to have the father's surname. Although your mother is no longer with us, we were married before her death which means you figlia, now that I've finally found you, are Hermione Jean Zabini." His statement was met with silence, although, Blaise may have muttered a quiet "Great".

"Excellent, I lose more of who I really am at least once a day." Hermione said bitterly.

"Mia cara, this is who you really are. You truly are a Zabini. As for losing more of your old physical appearance, I do believe that change is finished. I doubt your mother would change your physical appearance completely. Besides making it easier for me to find you, I don't think she could stand the thought of changing her only child so much that it would be like you two had no connection at all. Since you look so like her even before the enchantments wore off, it seems as if she was successful."

You haven't changed. Stop trying to be like your idiotic friends who obviously have sticks up their asses. Just because you are around Slytherins doesn't mean they are going to poison your goody two shoe ways.

"I suppose I can deal with that." Hermione admitted reluctantly. She was not thrilled with the idea, but she also knew there was no way of changing a law like that. It wasn't hurting anyone or anything- well besides the independence of a few people. Wizarding laws were deep seated in tradition, and the purebloods of the Wizarding world were even more so. If that law did not exist, she expected the purebloods would have some variation of it for themselves. It could be worse.

"Marvelous!" He exclaimed with the biggest smile Hermione had ever seen on his face. Granted, it was only a smidge larger than a slight smile, but still, it was larger. "Now, why don't you and Blaise go talk and work past that hostility you both still possess."

Hermione looked around Edmond to see Blaise glaring at his father.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

x HNL x

TA DAH! I have fortunately already started the next chapter so I can only hope it comes out sooner than this one. To give you an idea, I'm about 1,200 words in and it all flowed out much easier than it usually does. Thank you all for your patience. I know I'm not one of those amazing authors who write around 25 pages per chapter and take a month to post; at least they have an excuse. Whether or not they have an excuse, I absolutely love those authors. I think practically my entire favorite list is comprised of them. Anyways, enough of my rambling, goodbye to all of you! I'm off to Pigfarts!