Chapter Twenty-One

As Siran grew up, she became even more amazing then I thought she would be. In slightly under eight months, she began talking. It was only one or two words then but by the time she was fourteen months old, she had said her first sentence. She began to walk at the age of ten months.

As she grew up she became more and more beautiful. Her hair was the color of dark chocolate and had slight curls, a mixture of my hair and Tom's. The face structure was almost identical to mine except with slightly higher cheek bones. My favorite feature of hers though, was her eyes. They were captivating. Somehow, her eyes were a combination of my hazel eyes and Tom's midnight blue eyes. There was a smaller circle of hazel that was surrounded by the color of Tom's amazing eyes.

I could tell it from the moment I first saw her and now my thought were confirmed. Siran would be the most stunning girl that this world had ever seen.

Other then the fact that she was gorgeous and brilliant, Siran was the average kid. Just like everyone else, both muggle and wizard, she went though her terrible twos, the "mine" stage, and every other faze that children go through. She was amazing though. She was always smiling and she never cried. She cried constantly through the two months after she had been born, but then she was silent.

She had an amazing personality as well. She was incredibly shy and incredibly sweet. On top of that, Siran could always tell when I was sad and she would always try to do little things to cheer me up.

One time when she was four, she caught me thinking about Harry and Ron. There were tears in my eyes, and though I did not let them fall, she knew they were there.

"Why are you sad, Mommy?" she asked me.

I smiled at her and said, "I'm just thinking about Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron." Siran was already familiar with these two names. When she could not sleep, I would tell her stories about the adventures that the three of us had. I could not bring myself to tell her that they were dead though, I just told her that they had t move far far away.

She kept smiling as she said, "Yesterday, when I fell and got this boo-boo," she held up her finger for me to see the band-aid that I had put on it. "I was sad 'cause it hurt. To make me feel better Mr. Flobbers and I had a tea party. Maybe a tea party will make you feel better too!" Mr. Flobbers was her stuffed animal that she slept with every night. It was a rabbit with over-sized ears that hung over his face.

The tears dried slightly as she said this and I remember thinking about how lucky I was to have her.

"I think that sounds great, Siri," I told her, using her nickname.

"Yay!" she shouted. "I'll go tell Mr. Flobbers that we're going to have 'nother party!" She started skipping out the room but stopped when she was in the door way. She scrunched up her face when she said, "Mommy, can we have real tea this time? The pretend-tea di'n't taste so good."

I laughed and assured her that we would have real tea today.

Siran was a gift from god. I did not even believe in good but I did not know how I had been blessed with Siran if it were not done by some greater power.

I watched as she got older and could not help but feel guilty. Siran never got to play with any other children and I was afraid that she would not be able to fit into society.

One day, after she had just turned five I decided that it was time for her to interact with other children. I set up a disguise for her, changing her eye color, hair color and making her seem heavier, and told her to use a fake name.

This made her confused.

"Mommy, why? I don't wanna say my name is Daphne!" she protested.

I tried to look reassuring as I replied, "Because we're playing a game. I'm going to say that my name is Helena and you are going to say that your name is Daphne. If you go the entire day without telling anyone your real name, then you win and I'll give you a prize."

This caused Siri to grin. "Alright, but it better be a good prize."

After I made sure that all spells that would change our identities were in place, I reminded Siran to be nice with the other kids and to be outgoing, telling her that it was another part of the game.

Earlier in the week I had enrolled Siran into a day care by owl. I had manage to access my Gringotts account with a different name and disguise, along with a large bribe for the goblin.

I arrived at Daisies Day Care and went up to the front desk, holding my daughter's hand.

Right before I reached the desk the strap of my purse broke and the contents spilled out onto the floor. I bent down and started gathering things. I felt Siran bend down to help me also and thought again about how sweet she was.

Much to my surprise, I realized that there was a third set of hands that was picking up my scattered belongings.

Not looking up I said, "Thank you. I really don't know how that happened, I'll have to remember not to buy anything from the same company again."

The hands froze and I heard someone stutter, "Hermione?"

I tried my best to act calmly and I continued to stuff things back into my purse. "I'm sorry but I don't know who you're talking about, my name is Helena."

I looked up and saw that I was looking straight into the face of Susan Bones. I felt the breath catch in my throat and I had to remember to keep breathing. I thought that no one survived.

When she saw my face she shook her head. The three seconds that went by seemed more like three hours, as I waited for her to speak. I preyed that she was fooled by my disguise. "I'm sorry, it's just that you sound exactly like the girl I went to school with." Of course, I thought, Why didn't I think to change my voice? Susan kept talking. "I just got confused for a moment. You do look very similar though."

I noticed that there was still a hint of disbelief in her eyes. She did not believe my disguise completely and I made a note to make it better.

"Don't worry about it," I told her.

"Mommy what are you talking about?" I heard a small voice come from my elbow.

Oh no, I thought, oh please, Siran, don't give my name away.

Susan looked down at her. "Is this your daughter Helena?"

I nodded and was about to speak when I heard Siran talk before I could. "You don't have to call her Helena anymore. Mommy lost when you said her real name." My eyes were shut tight as she said this. I could not stay mad at Siran though, there was no way that she would understand that telling my name could cost us both our lives.

Siran turned to look at me. "Isn't that right, Mommy? I win now."

Susan seemed to be completely frozen. She just stood there and I decided to talk to Siran before she started to ask questions.

I kneeled down so that I could be eye level with her. "Yes baby, you do win. But do me a favor, alright? Since I did so badly, why don't we keep pretending that my name is Helena. That way I can get some practice while you play with the other kids, okay?"

She nodded and said, "I think you need the practice, Mommy. You lost really quick."

I kissed her on the forehead and said, "Yes I did, and even though you did so well, we'll keep pretending that your name is Daphne. If you go the whole day without telling anyone I'll make the prize even better."

She smiled and agreed. I turned back to Susan and, with pleading eyes, I said, "Where can I drop Daphne," I turned and winked at Siran, earning a giggle from her. "Off?"

Knowing that Siran could not see my face, I mouthed 'later.'

Susan, catching on, indicated the door and led Siri over to it. I gave her a kiss and a hug good bye and although she was nervous, I could tell that she was anxious to play with some kids her age.

After she ran off to a pile of blocks, I watched her for a moment, hoping with everything I had that she would be okay.

"Your daughter is beautiful," I heard a voice from my left say.

I turned to look at Susan. Seeing that no one was around us either, I replied, "You should see her without the disguise."

I had a sad smile on my face and I could see that Susan understood.

"Can you get off work?" I asked.

Susan nodded and told me that she would be right back, before running off through a door that was marked, 'employees only.'

While she was gone I turned to see how Siran was doing.

She was sitting alone and playing with some dolls, too shy to go up to any of the other kids and introduce herself. I watched as the other kids pointed to her, no doubt they were asking each other who the new girl was.

Much to my delight, I saw one of the braver girls walk over to her and introduce herself. I watched as Siran told the girl her name, I saw that she almost slipped up but caught her mistake and introduced herself as 'Daphne.'

I heard a door close behind me and I turned to see that Susan was back.

"I told my boss that there was a family emergency, he is calling in a replacement now," she told me.

I thanked her and we set off for a walk in silence. I guided us to a park that was close by. I knew this area well, It was a few towns away from where I had grown up, a short apparition away from where my cottage was located.

I steered Susan and myself toward a bench and cast a silencing charm around us.

I turned back to Susan and the two of us sat in silence for a few moments.

I finally broke it, "I thought that no one survived."

Susan nodded. "There hasn't been a final count, but from what I know only seven or so students escaped, including us."

I could not even form a full sentence. "How?" I asked.

"The death eaters killed the majority of them while they slept. I was fighting with everyone else and someone hit me with a curse that made me seem as if I was dead. When the death eaters were checking the bodies around the grounds, they over looked me. The others that I know of, except one, managed to run away and hide. Terry and I are hiding in a nearby muggle village."

"Terry?" I asked. "Terry Boot?"

She nodded and held up her left hand. "That's wonderful!" I said whole heartedly, giving a half smile. "I'm so happy for you."

Susan smiled back at me for a moment and then her face turned serious again. "No ring I see. Can you tell me who Daphne's father is?" After a moment she added, "I understand if you don't want to."

I shook my head. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that if anyone found out, and I mean anyone, we would be in unimaginable danger."

However understanding she was, she was still disappointed.

I kept talking though. "Her real name is Siran Meara Granger. I call her Siri for short."

Susan nodded approvingly. "It's a pretty name," she said. "What happened to you after the final battle. Everyone wondered where you were, we knew that the death eaters did not have you and we knew that you were not dead. You became like a hero though, the one who always gets away."

I turned my attention to the ground. "Susan, I really wish that I could tell you, but I can't tell anyone. If you knew the full story you would understand why. I have to do what's best for Siran."

"I hope you know that you can trust me, Hermione," Susan said. "I fought beside you in the final battle and even before then. Remember Dumbledore's Army?"

I smiled and nodded. "How could I not?"

"Remember how you helped me so much when I didn't understand the spells?" I nodded. "Now You Know Who rules over our world and it's my turn to help you."

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, angling it toward the sun. "You really don't know how much I want to tell you everything, Susan. But if you were ever tortured and forced to say what you knew...I could never put my daughter in that kind of danger."

I could tell that Susan understood, however grudgingly.

"Siran's father, although once a good person, could send hoards of people after me," I told her. "I left him when I was pregnant because I knew what he would become. He is now incredibly powerful and is already trying to find us."

I saw the pity in my old classmate's eyes. She assumed that I was talking about some random death eater. If only she knew how wrong she was.

"I understand, Hermione," she told me. We sat in silence for a few moments and Susan looked at her watch. "It's almost time to pick Siran up. You should head back."

I nodded and started walking away. Before I reached the boundaries of my silencing spell, I turned back and said, "Thanks Susan. I needed this. Five years is a long time to go with only one person, no matter how much you love them. Siran isn't going to day care tomorrow, but will I see you on friday?"

Susan smiled and nodded. "I'll be there."

I said goodbye and left. Although I knew that it put me in terrible danger, knowing that someone had survived other than me gave me a small hope that maybe I would not always be as alone in this world as I felt. Maybe Siran would be able to have a normal life. Maybe we could be happy again.

A/N: That was a long chapter. Did you guys like it? don't worry, Voldemort will make another entrance soon. It's all leading up to it.

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