Chapter Two – Livenstein

Hermione was slowly packing her things into the suitcases the Granger's had given her. There were seven in total and so far, all but one had been packed to the brim, and she hadn't even started on her bookshelf yet.

She cast an enlargement spell on the last one and sighed heavily to herself, dragging it over to the shelves that covered one of her bedroom walls.

Hermione was exhausted – she'd spent a long time crying after her parents had told her about her real heritage. She'd lived a lie her whole life.

She understood why they did it, really she did, but that didn't stop it from hurting.

Her eyes flickered back to the letter lying on her bed. She'd received it the day after she'd gotten the news from her parents – Janette and Neil– and had been owling the Livenstein's every week to learn more about her heritage. They'd even told her to read a section of the book she was already reading: The Purest of Pureblood.

The information she'd found had been rather interesting to her. Picking up the book, she opened it to the dog-eared page, marked: Livenstein.

She recited the words aloud, teaching herself, once again, of her heritage and the power behind the name.

~.~

"The Purest of Purebloods."

"Family Name – Livenstein."

"Origin – 1023."

"Known For – They are the strongest family in terms of Magic. All Livenstein children are powerful and are major assets for those in Wars. They are usually fast to pick up on spells, especially Defensive and Offensive spells. They harvest a lot of power and magic in their blood and are well known for being the main family to use wandless magic effortlessly."

"Pureblood Views - The Livenstein Family are often of close company with Muggles and Muggleborns, and are not known to be against them, unlike some of the most famous Pureblood families. However, the Livenstein family prefer to talk to those that hold some sort of power – those with great magic, or are strong in one subject at least [Powerful Magic / Strong Skills in Physical Power etc]. The Power of a name means nothing to them."

"Inheritance and Marriage - The Livenstein family prefers to marry within magic blood, but do not have an issue with impure relationships between family. The offspring always marries a powerful witch/wizard in order to keep their strength. There are a variety of tasks that must be completed before a witch or wizard is allowed to marry a member of their family, which makes it practically impossible for them to marry a Muggle. However, although incredibly rare, a few members have married non-magic folk. Inheritance will be down the line until as long as the witch/wizard in question has married someone of great power."

~.~

Sighing, Hermione placed the book in the bag and continued to pack, thinking through what had been happening over the past few weeks.

She'd memorized the first letter her parents had sent. It seemed unreal to her. It felt like she was going to wake up any moment, or someone was going to jump out from the corner and tell her it was all a joke, April Fools by Fred and George.

But it wasn't; she could see it in her parent's eyes every time they looked at her – they didn't want to let her go.

Hesitantly, she picked up the first letter and read through it again. The ink was smudged and words blended into one another from where her tears had fallen on the parchment, but she knew every word.

Dear Hermione,

My name is Lisa, and I am also writing on behalf of my husband, Eric, and we are your real parents.

I've been informed by Janette that she and Neil told you the truth?

As much as we hate to say it right now, after reading how you reacted to the news, it is the truth. You are our eldest daughter.

You have a younger sister and a younger brother, but your brother is the only one of the three of you who has stayed with us since birth; yours and your sister's roles in the war were too important for us to keep you near, and Voldemort wanted you; he wanted our first born daughter to marry one of his followers and produce an offspring to carry on his side and we could not allow that.

We wanted to keep you, Hermione, but it wasn't safe to do so. As we're sure you've heard, or read – the newspapers are constantly mentioning that you are the brightest witch of your age and that you helped bring down the Dark Lord. We are so proud of you, Hermione – the Livenstein name is an incredibly powerful one in our world, known for the strongest witches and wizards born, which is why Voldemort wanted you to marry his right hand follower.

We sent you to live with Janette and Neil Granger as we knew they'd be able to keep you safe and were not personally going to be involved in the war in any way.

We hope to hear back from you soon, and we're sorry that we couldn't have told you from the beginning, or that we couldn't have kept you with us.

We love you, and we're so, so proud of you.

Lisa & Eric Livenstein

[Mum & Dad]

She dropped the letter into the enlarged suitcase with the others and started to pack her books on top of them. She'd been doing so for at least half an hour before her mother—Janette appeared.

"Need any help?" she asked quietly from the doorway. Hermione froze and glanced up at her.

They hadn't really spoken much recently. Hermione had cooked her own meals and taken them to her room, rarely coming out of it for any other reason. Janette and Neil—Mum and Dad, she didn't know what to call them anymore—left her to think. They knew she needed the time to herself, so they gave her that.

It was heartbreaking, the motions they were going through, but they had to suffer in order for them to be happy again.

"Sure," Hermione smiled softly. Janette started to help her put the books into the suitcase, being careful to do it in the exact order Hermione directed.

They worked in silence for about an hour before Hermione admitted the one thing she'd been desperate to say for the last week.

"I'm glad you raised me."

Janette froze, bent over with three heavy books, ready to go in the bag. She slowly put them in their place before she stepped around the suitcase and pulled the young witch into her arms.

The two cried silently in each other's shoulders. They were parting ways tonight, and they were both unsure as to whether they would see each other again any time soon.

Hermione had made up her mind that she would come back to see them. She didn't care if her new parents didn't want her to, she would anyway.

They pulled away after a few minutes, dried their tears, and packed the rest of the books into the bag, idly chatting about anything and everything they could think of. Janette escorted Hermione and all her bags down the stairs and into the living room, in front of the fireplace where a small House Elf stood, nervously playing with the bottom of her dirty suitcase dress. Hermione winced at the sight and promised herself to make clothing for elves one of the first things apparent to her 'parents'.

"Miss!" the elf squeaked when she walked in, "Miss! Twinkle was sent by the Miss's Mother! Twinkle is to take your things!"

Hermione hesitantly nodded and smiled at the elf as she disapparated away with the bags she brought in. She kissed her parents one last time and promised them she'd return to see them soon, before she stepped into the fireplace, took the Floo Powder she'd been sent in the return Owl, and called out 'Livenstein Manor!'

~.~

Molly Weasley was in the kitchen cooking when all of a sudden, a sleek black owl tapped on the window.

Molly sighed as she called to her husband Arthur "Honey! It's time!" she sniffed quietly.

Arthur came into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her, "Everything would be ok, Molly. I just hope she won't be mad at us."

"We only did what was best for her… and them." She whispered, handing Arthur the unopened letter. They sat down at the kitchen table to read the letter.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,

I'm not sure if Dumbledore told you about us, but my name is Lisa Livenstein and I am writing this letter on behalf of my husband, Eric, and I.

17 years ago, my husband and I visited Hogwarts, begging the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, to take our precious, second daughter Ginerva and hide her in a loving family, away from the grasps of Voldemort and his followers.

He wanted her older sister so that could force her to marry his right hand man, and we couldn't allow that. We sent our eldest daughter away to live with a Muggle family, hoping to protect our children.

When we had Ginerva, we knew we had to do something similar to keep her safe to, and I'm pretty sure you can understand why, and I'm sure you could Imagine how hard it was to hand over Ginerva and her older sister.

Dumbledore agreed to help us and took her into hiding, owling us a few months later to tell me he had placed her with the Weasley family, and that you had agreed to raise her as your own.

Anyway, the purpose of this letter is to alert you that my husband and I are asking for Ginerva to return to her family and try to enjoy life as a family in a whole and so that she can meet her younger brother and older sister.

We're sorry if it seems like we are stealing her from you, and she will always be a part of your family as she has grown with you all, but we are desperate to meet our two daughters; we are sure they are beautiful, intelligent and exactly how we imagined them.

I know this may take a while for you to explain to her and make a decision as to whether you will agree to let us meet her, but please know that we never stop loving her or our other daughter and all we want is to finally have a family.

Please respond as soon as possible,
Mr. And Mrs. Livenstein

As they folded the letter back up, they wondered how to tell Ginny. Arthur looked at his wife and stroked his thumb across her cheek, "We'll talk to her after dinner, without the boys there."

"Okay." She whispered, leaning up to kiss him before calling the kids in for dinner.

~.~

All through dinner, Ginny noticed that her parents were looking at her funny. She narrowed her eyes at her mother as she caught her staring again.

"How's the shop going, Fred?" Ginny asked, trying to disperse the torturous silence that surrounded the table. It was unusual for dinner to be so quiet, but with her parents' silence, no one was speaking.

"Great !" he replied, smiling at the opportunity, "Thanks for asking!" He speared a sausage onto his fork and took a giant bite, "Are you going back to Hogwarts in September?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "I can't wait!" She grinned happily.

"Me neither," Harry smirked, placing a hand on her thigh under the table.

The mindless chatter continued for a while longer before Molly interrupted.

"Ginny, honey, your father and I need to talk to you after dinner." She said, quietly. The whole table froze. Molly's voice sounded distant.

"Okay Mum," Ginny replied, nervously. She ducked her head and stared down at her food, her stomach twisting as she wondered what was going on, and if it was bad news.

Silence fell over the table once more, everyone contemplating the same thing as Ginny aside from the two eldest, who were trying to plan how the conversation was going to carry out.

The boys were sent up to their room as soon as dinner was finished, leaving Molly, Arthur and Ginny to tidy away the table. They did so, silently, placing the dirty plates beside the sink for the enchanted cloths to clean.

Ginny leant against the counter and stared at the floor, waiting for her parents to speak.

"Ginbear…" her mother started, "What your father and I have to tell you is very important."

Ginny glanced up, wide-eyed, "Okay, Mum, Dad, what going on? You're starting to scare me now!"

Molly bit her lip and glanced at Arthur. Her eyes were wide and a little wet.

"What your mother trying to say," Arthur took over, "Is we love you, little Ginbear." He froze and looked at Molly. She nodded to him, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Seventeen years ago, you were brought to our home by your headmaster, Albus Dumbledore-"

"Brought to… What?" She shrieked, "What do you mean 'brought to'? You're not my real parents or something?"

"Oh, honey, of course we're your parents… just not…. Not by blood, per say." Arthur stuttered.

"Who are my real parents?" she screamed. Tears were filling her eyes, and she didn't care who heard; she could already hear the footsteps of some of the boys running down the stairs to try and listen in to what she was screaming about.

Arthur picked up his wand and cast a silencing charm over the room before pulling the scrap of paper from his back pocket, "Here. This is the letter we received today from your biological parents. Their names are Lisa and Eric Livenstein ."

Ginny stared, dumbfounded at the letter her 'father' was holding out to her. She took it from his hands gingerly and read through it, rechecking every single sentence to make sure it was embedded into her brain.

"We love you so much Ginbear, please, we only did what we thought was best for y—"

"By lying to me for my whole life?" She screamed, crumpling the letter and throwing it at Arthur. She couldn't believe it. Her whole life was a lie. Everything she believed in, a lie.

"I hate you." She spat, running from the room.

The two stood, unmoving, watching the door. Their hearts broke at those three words; they loved Ginny like their own, and to be told that with such anger and hatred tore them in two.

"I feel so horrible, Arthur!" Molly sobbed into Arthur's shoulder, clutching to him for dear life.

"I know, Mollywobbles," said Arthur, "I feel the same."

"How could they lie to me?" Ginny thought as she lay on her back on the small attic bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She stayed there for what seemed like hours, waiting for sleep, or for the bed to swallow her up whole, whichever came first.

Someone knocked on the door heavily, and she heard a whispered, "Ginny?"

"Go away." she answered, sniffing and pulling down the sleeve of her jumper, over her hand, wiping her eyes.

"Gin, it's me, Harry," the voice whispered, "Please, open the door – Mr. And Mrs. Weasley told me what happened." Ginny slowly stood up and pulled open the door, staring at the raven haired boy that stood before her.

"Oh, well why don't you just come on in anyway? Take the whole bloody room," she spat, angrily, "My real parents want me to live with them. I already owled them and told them I would. I can't stay here with a bunch of liars!"

"You're not going!" Harry stated, "The Burrow is your home, Gin, not the Livenstein's Manor." He reached out to take hold of her hand, but she flinched, stepping backwards.

"You, Potter, are an asshole! They are my parents!" She growled, pointed a painted red nail at the boy, "I want to meet my older sister and my younger brother as well, my blood family." She spat the words at him as if he were disgusting.

Harry flinched back from her glare and looked down at his feet, anger bubbling up in his chest.

"You need to see reason here, Love." He said, quietly, keeping his head down so she wouldn't see how infuriated he was, "How would the Weasley's feel if you just left them behind?"

"I will always be happy that I had them as my family whilst I grew, Harry, but I need to see my real parents."

"You are being a bitch, Ginny! They love you!"

"Get out now, Harry Potter." said a deadpan Ginny, "And don't you even dare." When Harry didn't move, she pulled out her wand and growled, "Leave. Now."

~.~

The next morning, Ginny stepped carefully down the spiral stairs towards the Floo. She was finally going to meet her parents and her real family.

"Are you sure Ginny?" Fred and Molly asked quietly, both pulling her in for a bear hug.

"Yes," she whispered when she pulled away, "I am. I just need to meet my family." She paused and looked up at them, smiling, "But you guys will always be my first family."

"So you're trading us in for a rich family, Ginny? Are you too good for us now?" growled Ron

Molly swiped him round the head with the latest copy of the Daily Prophet and Ginny sighed heavily, "It's not like that, Ron."

"Miss Mistress sent Periwinkle to take the new Miss's things to Miss's new home!" A cheery little elf in a pillowcase grinned. Ginny smiled to herself, imagining what Hermione would think. She'd probably be making plans to change the Livenstein's behaviour towards the creatures, "Periwinkle is happy for Miss. Periwinkle will take your things now!" the little elf took Ginny's bags from her and grinned up, "Mistress is waiting for Miss, now." With a loud pop, the house-elf was gone.

"I will always love you, Mum," Ginny whispered, pulling Molly and Fred into another hug, kissing their cheeks.
Grabbing a hand full of Floo powder, Ginny called out "Livenstein Manor!" grinning at her old family.

When she imagined walking into her new life, she had never thought she'd see her best friend standing in the doorway.

"You put your wand away, Hermione." Ginny smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, Gin." She said, sliding it into its casket, "What are you doing here?"

"Meeting my real parents, apparently," she drawled.

"Holy cricket!" Hermione squealed, "You're my younger sister!"

Before Ginny could answer, three people walk into the room, a man, a tween-ager and a woman.

"Hello, girls!" said the woman, "Welcome home!"

~.~

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