A/N: yay for all your reviews and for all of you who caught the mean girls reference at the end of the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one.

She sat quietly at her desk and let her eyes venture over the papers in front of her for a last time. She would visit Spinner's End tomorrow with Draco. He'd sent an owl earlier asking if she'd accompany him, as the property was now her's but still housed a few of his books and certainly the patents for a few of the potions he had worked on with Severus.

She held a small comb she had found in her mother's will. It would bring her to there any time she want all she had to do was say allowed the words, "take me home." aloud. She had picked up and put down the comb over twenty times that morning alone. In a minute of brash Gryffindor courage she held it and spoke the words so fast and clear she wasn't sure she had said them aloud at all until it pulled her through and she heard the squeak of a female house elf followed by the words.

"Mistress Hermione is home, pulls your magic." The house elf aided Hermione to her feet. " Welcome home Mistress Hermione, I is- am I am Topi head elf of McKinnon Manor."

"Hello Topi, this haircomb brought me, were your my mother's elf?"

"You's grandfather was my master." Topi began to wring her hands. "Your, your, your, Topi is a bad elf. Topi used bad grammar. Winky, hogwarts elf said Mistress wants elves to speak with proper English. We have practiced."

"It's fine Topi, everyone makes mistakes." Hermione chuckled at the worry of the elf.

"You won't give me socks, will you?" Topi looked more worried. Hermione sighed and just as she opened her mouth to explain that she now understood that house elves needed a witch or wizard to live or they lost their magic a messanger memo from St Mungo's arrived. She unclasped the seal and envelope came alive similar to a howler.

Dear Miss Prince,

After two years in the Janice Thickey Ward we have finally made head way with the case of Mr and Mrs Granger. It would seem the reason we could not remove your oblivate was because the muggles were in fact gollums and not human. We regret to inform you that the magic that had been keeping the gollums alive has been terminated by its source. Our deepest condolences,

Constance Moonshine

Head Healer for the mind maladies floor

St Mungo's

"Topi, were you and the elves keeping my mother's gollums alive?" She had a moment of clarity the elf had instructed the others to stop their magic when she arrived.

"Yes, Missy Marlene instructed us to care for little mistress through the gollums till she returned home. When yous obliviated them we couldn't repair Missy's magic. The healer witch couldn't either. Missy Marlene so powerful, just like Mistress Hermione." As the elf spoke three other elves appeared. "This is River, Grumble, and Whimsy. They be your other elves."

"Hello." They chorused.

"Hello there, have you been well without me ?" She asked.

"You without us, but we are never without you, our magic was bonded through gollums. We cared for you through them." Whimsy answered.

"We can show you around now Mistress?" River asked walking up and taking her hand. " We have cleaned all week in hopes that you would visit soon."

Hermione let the elf lead her from the entrance hall and towards a large stair case. The male house elf pointed out the drawing room and ballroom on either side of the hall before they ascended the stairs and into another hall way. The portraits then started to whisper it was always the same line. "She's home, tell her mother." River kept chattering about the function of each room not giving Hermione a chance to get a word in edgewise.

"This is the last room, this your mother's favourite room, she made Whimsy promise to put her portrait here if the bad wizards came for her. She knew Mistress would love this room too. She wanted to be close you when you here." River pushed the door open to reveal a library that while at first appeared moderately sized she soon realized expanded past what seemed to be a back wall using an undectable extension charm.

"My Hermione," the soft melodious voice from a dream hit her ears the moment she passed through the doors. She turned to her right and over the mantle above the fire was a magical portrait of a beautiful young woman no older than Harry's parents appeared in any photos he had of them.

"Mum," she whispered softly walking over to the photo. She held her hand to the canvas as if she could feel the woman through it.

"You've finally come home, has it really taken so long to vanquish that horrible man and his followers?" She asked pressing her painted hand against the canvas.

"He went away for 10 years in 1981, then came back in 1991. We ended him in 1998. It took them two years to find your will." Hermione answered matter of fact-ly she had so many things she wanted to ask but she didn't know where to start.

"You're beautiful my lovely girl, the elves say you are the brightest witch of your age. I wish I could have taken some credit for that but it is all you. There was so much I wished to have taught you myself. I'm sorry I failed you darling girl."

" You did teach me," Hermione said softly, finally realizing she hadn't lost her mother completely. She sat in an easy chair across from the fire place that River had started while she had examined her mother's portrait. "Those gollums, my parents, while not physically you were the closest thing you could give me to you. You gave them their values, intelligence, integrity, it was based on your own and how you would have raised me and loved me. You taught me all I know. But I know nothing of you. Please mother, tell me who you were."

And so the portrait of Marlene McKinnon recounted her early years as a pureblood child, from balls to play dates with Sirius Black, James Potter and Narcissa Malfoy. hrr Hogwarts years and how she and Lily had been friends with Neville's mother Alice and how Sirius was almost her father. She recounted the tales of her study to become the next arithmancy master at Hogwarts and how it had led her to discover her own fate and how she had accomplished the plans to hide Hermione in the muggle world. She had chosen dentists for Hermione's gollums as she knew they would bring in enough money from Lily's comment about how lucrative the teeth healer job was in the muggle world.

"What about my father, why didn't you tell him. Send me to him?" Hermione asked. The Snape she knew wasn't a kind man and not one she could have seen with children but clearly her mother had seen something in him to become intimately involved even if it had been solely to console a broken heart.

"I ran the numbers and there was just no way you would have both survived if I had." She said.

"Tell me about the Severus Snape you knew." Hermione asked pulling her knees to her chest. "He wasn't very kind to anyone when I knew him."

"Your father was not a kind man. He was intelligent, cunning, ambitious and loyal to those he thought as friends. But he was lonely dear, neither I nor he ever made our relationship more than it was, we weren't in love darling, we respected each other and needed companionship, Sirius left me without reason and Lily married James and still hadn't forgiven him. Neither of us wanted to feel alone, we enjoyed the same intelligent conversation and debated new spells and well Hermione we shagged, it carried on for a few weeks but he was getting more involved in the dark lords organization. That's all there was to your father and I. He was on search of love and I believe he settled for acceptance. Something they gave him, until they took the first thing he loved."

"Did you meant what you said. That you think I would have been that love for him." she asked.

"Yes, it didn't have to be romantic love. I don't think he romantically loved Lily anymore but she was his first friend and there is a special love between those kinds of people." Hermione nodded as her mother spoke the bond she shared with Harry and Ron was like that.

"You haven't been to see him yet have you daughter."

"No, I am going tomorrow with a friend. His godson. We have to clean out his home, he died in the final battle." Hermione said and her mother's face fell.

"I'm so sorry my Hermione, I had wished one of us would be there to see you into adulthood. Promise you will forgive his misgivings."

"What choice do I have? He is the only father I have, and he did many things to save me through the years. Not knowing I was his child." Hermione looked around the sun was setting through the window. " I should go mother, thank you."

"You'll come again?" The portrait asked, the same desire that any mother would.

"As often as I can. Look at all the books there are to read." She smiled to her mother.

"You truly are our child." Marlene smiled. Whimsy popped in as if on cue.

"May I take mistress to the floo room?" She asked.

Hermione nodded and the little elf popped them down.

"If you need anything you will call for me yes?" Whimsy said slowly as if she had practiced for many days.

"Yes of course." Hermione nodded noting the worry in the large eyes of her elf.

"We keyed your homes into all floo systems, you can come and go as you please no more need for a port key. I will leave you now. I must check on your mother's portrait." With a pop she was gone. Hermione grabbed some floo powder but instead of flooing home she put her head into the green flames and called a different address.

"Can I come through?" She asked cautiously, peering through to the sitting room.

"Of course," came a voice from the washroom. She took another handful and through it in and stepped through. She dusted off and ran right into the hard body of the flats owner.

"I thought we were going tomorrow." He said softly holding her up from crumbling on impact.

"I just needed to see you." She took in his body he was dressed only in a pair of muggle jogging pants fresh from a shower. She instinctively put her arms around him when she went to fall but had yet to pull away. "I went to my mother's home today and spent the afternoon with her portrait. I guess I felt lonely."

"So you came here? Not that I mind I just figured you go to Potter's or his sidekick." He pulled his head back and looked down at her as she shook her head.

"Here felt right, I need a distraction, you always provide a good one." He turned her around and lead her to the couch where they assumed the same easy position of cuddling and talking that had ended their evening before. The conversation about both of their days died down and he stroked her arm again as they watched the street lamps light.

"I enjoy our easy silence as much as our conversation ." He said into her hair.

"I always feel like I have to speak with everyone else. While conversation come easy with you, a lot more so than I ever expected, I don't feel like I have to fill the silence. It's welcoming." She let her head find the spot on his shoulder it had the day before.

"Everything is going to be alright." He said softly and kissed the top of her head as they enjoyed their quiet.