A/N-So, I've cut back on time that it took to post this chapter (less that two weeks, yay!). Let's see what Mrs. Granger has to say...

Niether Hermione nor Ginny noticed the note from Hermione's mother at any point for the rest of the day. They weren't accustomed to receiving mail the muggle way, since the only muggles that either of them knew were Hermione's parents, and they rarely wrote. So the letter sat in the doorway for the rest of the night until the next morning when, as Hermione shuffled sleepily past the door to eat breakfast, the envelope caught her eye. Recognizing the handwriting immediately, she picked it up quickly and read it. It consisted of only a few words:

Hermione,

Come see me immediately.

Love,

Your Mother

At seeing the very brief note, Hermione's mind began to fill with all sorts of worst case scenarios. Her mother did not like writing; she found visiting a much more efficient means of communicating information. Only on a few occasions had she written Hermione at Hogwarts, and those times had been to inform Hermione of very important information. The last time she receive such a short, urgent note from Mrs. Granger, it had been years ago and she later found out that it was because her grandfather, her last living grandparent, had passed away.

What if something had happened to her father? Hermione didn't think she could stand it if that was true. She had always felt much closer to her father than her mother; he had been great to comfort to her in the brief time she returned home after the war. Even though he didn't know the extent of Hermione's trials, he just held her and let her cry when she needed it. Mrs. Granger didn't have the capacity to do that. She was just too put together to understand any kind of vulnerability.

When that thought crossed her mind, Hermione immediately returned to her room and began getting dressed as quickly as possible. As she pulled on the nearest pair of jeans she could find, Ginny woke up and squinted sleepily at Hermione.

"What's the rush?" Ginny said as she pulled the sheets more tightly around her shoulders, "it's way to early for you to be moving that much. Come back to bed."

"I can't," Hermione said without stopping to look at Ginny, "my mother just wrote, and I think it might be bad news."

"Did she say what was wrong?" Ginny asked, more alert than before.

"No, she didn't. That's what worries me," Hermione said, doing her best to remain composed, even as she became increasingly panicky.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Ginny asked as she sat up on the edge of the bed. Though Hermione had a habit of being something of a worrier, she held it together remarkably well, and Ginny rarely saw her so anxious.

"No," Hermione said then added as an afterthought as she kissed Ginny hastily, "thank you though. Love you. Hopefully I'll be back soon."

Hermione normally dissapperated to a small abandoned field near her family home when she went to visit her parents, primarily to avoid being seen apperating into what was not just a completely muggle neighborhood. She, however, was too worried about the possible bad news to care all that much about being seen on an early weekend morning. So she decided to just apparate right into her parents' backyard. It was private enough that the risk was fairly low, and she saved the ten precious minutes that she would have spent walking from the field.

Without much more thought, Hermione dissapperated from her living room after grabbing her purse, more out of habit than any real need for it. As soon as she appeared on the back patio of her childhood home, Hermione realized she had made a mistake. Her mother was sitting no more than a few feet away sipping tea and wearing a plush white robe over her pajamas. When she heard the faint pop and saw her daughter appear out of thin air, Mrs. Granger screamed out loud and jumped up, nearly spilling her cup of tea.

"Hermione, what the," Mrs. Granger said, pausing to catch her breath, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Well, you wanted me to come see you immediately," Hermione said. Though she understood her mother's surprise, she had been hoping for a warmer reception.

"I'm well aware of that," she said. Mrs. Granger hated surprises, especially when they pertained to her daughter's use of magic. That being the case, she was not in the slightest amused by Hermione literally popping in, especially so early in the morning when she had hoped to have a little bit of quiet time. "I would just like to know what the fuck you were thinking apparitioning, or whatever the hell it is you do right into my lap because you decided to respond to a note that I wrote two days ago."

"I just, I thought it was an emergency," Hermione said, faltering almost imperceptibly. Jean Granger swore very rarely, and when she did, it was advisable to duck and cover because things generally got pretty nasty once she got to that point. "Where's dad? He's not sick is he?"

"God, no," Mrs. Granger said as if she was mildly amused by the suggestion, "unless you count snoring a disease. He's upstairs sleeping."

Hermione sighed in relief at news that all was well on that front. Her father was alright, and her mother seemed to be in good health too. She still didn't understand the urgent note though. As though reading her daughter's mind, Mrs. Granger spoke again.

"Come inside," she said briskly, as she turned to go in the house and gestured for Hermione to follow suit.

When she got inside the house, Hermione sat down at the kitchen table, fully expecting her mother to do the same, but she was again mistaken. The elder Granger walked past the table and over to the kitchen counter by the sink where some seemingly meaningless papers sat scattered about. Mrs. Granger picked up a thin magazine, walked back over to the table and placed the paper in front of Hermione as though leveling some damning accusation.

Hermione was thoroughly confused by her mother's behavior until she looked down at the front page staring up at her. Her stomach dropped; Hermione was looking down at the cover of a little known conservative Wizarding magazine from shortly after news of the engagement entered the public domain.

The cover was not a flattering one. Both she and Ginny were rushing past the camera and appeared to be scowling while both rings were clearly visible, and the headline said something about the marriage being a publicity stunt. Hermione swallowed hard, and could not seem to find the courage to look up at her mother, let alone defend herself.

"Were you ever planning on telling me about this?" Mrs. Granger demanded, her arms crossed over her chest as if she were a teacher reprimanding a mischevious student.

Hermione pushed back a sudden desire to cry tears of pure frustration. Mrs. Granger was uneasy about her daughter being a lesbian as it was, and having her find out about the engagement in such away was the last thing that Hermione had been hoping for.

"Of course I was going to tell you," Hermione said, forcing herself to look up at her mother, whose posture had not softened in the least. It felt ridiculous, being well into her twenties and sitting at the kitchen table being berated. "The next time Ginny and I visited together, I was going to tell you and dad."

"You don't think that maybe this type of thing might call for a special visit. Your entire world knew about this before your own family," Mrs. Granger retorted.

Hermione was now starting to work up a little courage, enough to stand up and look her mother in the eye before responding a bit flippantly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't consider the possibility that you might come by the news in a non-muggle magazine with miniscule circulation numbers," Hermione shot back, then something dawned on her and she added, "Wait, how did you get this piece of garbage anyway?"

The question should have come to her immediately upon seeing the article, but seeing it in her mother's muggle kitchen came as something of a shock to the system. That being the case, she had not had all of her wits about her, though she was quickly recovering.

"How I came across the information is not even the point of this conversation, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said, thrown off by the sudden shift in power that Hermione had created. When Hermione said nothing and just stared stonily at her mother, Mrs. Granger relented, "If you must know I received it from one of your friends by owl, no more than a few days ago. She thought I ought to know what my daughter was up to."

"A friend?" Hermione said incredulously, "no, mum, no friend of mine would send this piece of shit to you. What was this person's name, this person who was so eager to inform you?"

Mrs. Granger sighed an exasperated sigh and turned to walk to the kitchen sink where she put her cup down with more than the necessary amount of force before responding to her daughter. She loved her daughter, but she could be infuriatingly stubborn and insistent.

"I'm not suppose to tell you what her name is. She said that she doesn't want you to be upset with her, but she wanted to do the right thing by telling me," Mrs. Granger finally admitted.

Hermione gaped at her mother for a moment, trying to figure out if the elder Granger recognized the flawed logic in what she had just said. Clearly perturbed by her daughter's general attitude, Mrs. Granger sighed again before speaking.

"What the hell, you're clearly already upset with me, I can't imagine telling you will make a difference," Mrs. Granger said. She took a slightly wrinkled note off the counter and gave it to Hermione to read.

The writing looked familiar, as if Hermione had seen it years ago, but couldn't place it. When she reached the end of the letter, Hermione's eyes locked on a very familiar signature, and she knew exactly who her good "friend" was.

Lavender Brown.

A/N-Well, there it is. I'm a little bit unsure about the whole chapter, I'm just not sure why. Any thoughts?

Was this what you thought might happen after last chapter?