Alarmed, Hermione ran upstairs to catch up to Agnese. While she was trying to catch up, her surroundings had drastically changed. There was a severe transition from the main office to the upper floors. Unlike the main floor filled with grandeur, the floors above it screamed poverty with its rickety wooden floors, cracks and wallpaper peeling. Each step the woman took there was a creaking sound. Finally, Hermione had caught up to the girl in her room, which was located at the farthest end of the hallway.

She tried to open it, but no luck. So, she pulled out her wand and pointed it to the door.

"Aloha-"

"Don't you dare use that spell!" yelled the child. "Just don't come back!"

Hermione understood the frustration the child felt based on the tone of her voice; however, she can also figure out a subtle layer of sadness in the child's voice too. As an assassin, Hermione had experience reading people and being a "people-person" to blend in, so she clearly saw that Agnese was rather troubled and heartbroken with this whole ordeal.

"Please… let me exp-"

"You think you're suddenly a part of my life because you signed those papers! I heard you the entire time!" she yelled.

Hermione was stunned. How could she have not noticed the child's presence so closely to the door? Hermione had to refine her sensory skills as a requirement for her job, so she wouldn't get killed. This 5 year-old had managed to hear the conversation whilst not being noticed. Was Hermione's skills dumbing because of a mere child?

BANG

Agnese threw something at her door to scare Hermione off. Hermione didn't let it scare her though. She heard more noises of banging coming inside the room. Concerned, Hermione did the unlocking charm.

The room was a mess, both with design, and with the stuff that Agnese threw around. The room was dying. So many of the wallpaper was pealing off the walls. Her floors were even more rickety than the hallway, with some of the floorboard missing. Her thin metal bed frame was rusting. Her daughter had been living in her own hell these past years.

Agnese's forehead was bleeding because of banging her head against the wall. There was a big crack left as indent.

Within an instant, Hermione healed Agnese's head and cleaned up the room with a simple spell. Agnese looked at the woman with a dead look in her now dull brown eyes.

"I was better off dead," she mumbled. "After all, I wasn't good enough for you."

Hermione bent down to Agnese's level. "My darling… I wasn't in any condition to take care of you. After the Wizard War, I was in trouble myself. I honestly thought that the orphanage was a good place for you, but I was wrong."

Hermione paused.

"I am Hermione Jean Granger, the war heroine of the Golden Trio and I am your mother," she revealed, feeling a little tense saying the word mother for the first time.

"Everybody was right. I wasn't worth living because I must be a monster."

Hermione shushed the child with her finger. "Don't you ever say that about yourself. You're a good person who just had horrible things happen towards to you. I promise I'll make every day up to you. I'm so sorry."

Hermione then hugged the child, and she cried in her mother's shoulders.

Footsteps were hastily approaching to where they were. Hermione took no time in holding her wand from her pocket. It was most likely the matron. One hand held her wand, the other held Agnese around her waist. When the footsteps stopped, Hermione turned around and stood up.

"Don't move," Hermione threatened with her wand. Agnese clung to Hermione's waist like a koala to a tree. She was clinging onto her, afraid of a potential duel between the two witches.

The matron, still with the wand in hand, glared at Hermione. "No one is allowed to come here, you filthy Mud-"

"Petrificus totalus" she immediately casted. "Don't you dare finish that phrase, you dreaded grim!"

Hermione let go of Agnese, letting her get back onto the ground. "I need you to pack your things," she said.

Confused, Agnese did it accordingly. She picked up her copy of Tales of Beedle and the Bard, and opened her drawer, which revealed her clothes. Her raggedy clothes that is.

Hermione shook her head, "No, you aren't going to wear those anymore. You deserve better than that," she said, which made Agnese smile. Agnese held onto Hermione's free hand, clutching onto her book.

"This is all I have then."

Hermione nodded her head and the two left the room. Not before leaving the door, Hermione obliviated the woman and depetrified her. She had erased the woman's all of her memories of Agnese and the events of today. Satisfied, the two left the orphanage, and Agnese was happy beyond belief because she'd never step foot of that wretched place again.

The two went inside a muggle mall, where Hermione bought tons of clothes for the youngster. She had also bought the girl a teddy bear, and a lot of muggle books, fiction and nonfiction. Agnese was really ecstatic, because she had never received so much kindness until she met her mother.

After a long day of shopping, the two headed home. Hermione technically would've come back to work, but she decided that her daughter was a priority. She guess she was going to message Kingsley to let her have the whole month off. It shouldn't be a problem since she saved up the days she could have gone to work. She also guess she had to explain the whole thing to Harry and Ron. Maybe not now or for a while though. It was unusual and unpunctual of Hermione, but this new change of event was worth skipping a routine. Frankly, she felt that she deserved to punish herself for punishing her poor daughter.

Hermione lead the young child into the home, and she was in awe. Hermione lived in a lavish modern flat. Agnese had never stepped into an area of such expenses, and the half-assed orphanage shouldn't count. Being so amazed at the surroundings, she stopped herself in her tracks. Agnese felt that she shouldn't ruin Hermione's home with her unworthy existence.

Hermione frowned, confused at the sudden abrupt movements of the child. She had not anticipated the child's awkward nature into account. She had actually hoped that after she adopted the child and spoiled her, the problems the child had would be solved.

'Idiot. Of course not! You think a day would reverse the trauma endured for more than a day?' she bitterly thought. Hermione should have really taken it into mind, since she still had scars that refused to heal.

"Dear, why don't you sit down on that couch," she said, pointing ahead at the couch. Agnese hesitantly nodded and proceeded to sit. Hermione then walked towards where she was, grabbing an item from a high shelf from the side. It was a remote. She then turned on the muggle telly and handed the remote to Agnese.

"This is a television, a muggle device that is used for entertainment. It shows moving pictures with audio, similar to a penseive except some of the scenes are fictional. Now, I'll be making dinner."

With that, she left. Hermione would have taken the time to explain what channels there were, but she didn't know herself. In fact, she barely used the television at all. Her job required her to frequently travel, so she didn't really watch at all. She only really kept her television to cling onto her muggle side, or at least what was left of it.

Agnese was so amazed. She had never experienced any muggle devices considering how prejudiced her matron was. The matron would brag about her blood-status, which now Agnese thought, would explain why she was cruel to her. Hermione Granger was her mother, making Agnese a half-blood. Still, she didn't understand the whole muggle issue. Despite only being introduced to her muggle heritage, Agnese was already fond of it, thinking muggles can help the wizard world.

Flipping through channels, Agnese stopped at the Discovery channel. It was currently showing underwater documentaries. Agnese had never known about this part of the world because of her isolation. Seeing the many forms of aquatic life and scenery inspired her to want to travel around the world and discover more. She had never dreamed of holding such ambition up until today.

"Dinner is ready," Hermione said. Agnese got up, turning the telly off, and walked over. She was so astonished when she looked at the plates. Hermione had set dinner plates on the table, each filled with peas, mashed potatoes, and salisbury steak. Agnese had never been entitled to such a dish, or any decent meal, being forced to eat the scraps the matron gave. If she was lucky… her portions were significantly smaller than that of the other students.

Agnese had hesitantly nibbled on a piece, and her eyes widened. She immediately chomped on a couple of more pieces, then realized her awful table manners. She stopped mid-way to look at Hermione.

If pre-War Hermione was here, she would have scolded the young lad; however, that Hermione is in the past. The current Hermione just watched the child with amusement. She had tried her best to cook a great meal pushing herself in doing so. Hermione, herself, never really cooked. She'd usually buy her food, but she felt that Agnese deserved to taste what home food tasted like. As much as she hated it, she used her mother's cookbook as a reference.

"Mother," said Agnese. Hermione blinked. Was the child able to read her mind?

"I was wondering how weird it would taste if I said that. It's not bad."

Hermione was relieved, because of possibly being accepted as a mother figure and that the child really wasn't able to read her mind.

After their dinner was over, Hermione had ordered Agnese to take a shower. Hermione was going to leave Agnese alone to shower, but she insisted they'd shower together. She still had fears about the other kids playing dirty tricks on her while she bathed, which broke Hermione's poor heart hearing it.

Hermione stripped her clothes bare and hoped into the tub with Agnese. She washed the child's straight platinum blonde hair for her. While doing so, she bitterly thought of the one who gave the child her hair colour.

Once she was done, she washed Agnese's hair. She was going to proceed on washing her own hair when the child asked to touch her hair. Agnese said that Hermione had nice brown hair that naturally curled into loose waves, opposed to her ugly hair. Hermione snorted mentally when she heard this.

'If only she knew of my frizzy hair in the past,' she thought. It was true. After years, Hermione's hair had slowly transitioned into beautiful curls. Along with those curls, her body had naturally grown into a very goddess-like figure. No longer was she an unnoticeable bookworm, but a beautiful woman who had a lot of people staring when she entered the room. It was this beauty that helped her job run smoothly.

Once they were done, Hermione decided to go to bed. It was getting late after all, and she needed the rest after today. Agnese was thought she was going to sleep on the couch, but Hermione insisted she sleep with her. There was enough space in the grand queen size bed.

Hermione lied down, with Agnese lying right beside her. She was going to close her eyes, when Agnese cried into her shirt. Surprised, she asked what the matter was.

"I'm just happy is all. I finally escaped that horrible place, with my actual mother to rescue me," she said. After a while, she calmed down. Before she completely knocked out, she said a couple of last words.

"Thank you, mama."

Well, the two are finally reunited. What do we have in store for the two in the next chapter? Hermione had to suddenly adjust to motherhood, whilst Agnese had to acknowledge her mother is taking care of her now.