Chapter Three

Hermione had nothing to say to such an announcement, but Harry had no such compunctions. "What!" He yelped, looking in horror at the Potions Master. "How?"

"Please, Potter, do not make me explain the birds and the bees to you." Snape said, rolling his eyes.

"Not that!" Harry exclaimed, looking repulsed. "But you- you're-" He trailed off, looking to Hermione for help.

She couldn't help but grin. "No thanks, Harry, you're doing more than enough to bury yourself. Don't take me down with you."

"Traitor." He teased, winking and poking her side.

"What Harry meant, Professor," Hermione said, grabbing Harry's hand so he couldn't poke her anymore. "Is that no one knew you were even married, let alone had children."

"Well, Ms. Granger, I am not married. Any longer." He added on. "Your mother and I came to a parting of the ways when she found a new beau and flittered off to Italy."

"So then you gave me up for adoption?" She asked, confused.

"Alas, I didn't that much time with my darling wife." Severus said, rolling his eyes. "She was gone before either of us knew she was pregnant. You were born in Italy. At which time, she was violently ill, as she hadn't been taking care of herself. Her husband took it upon himself to ship you off to an orphanage back in England, as you did have English citizenship and told your mother you had died."

Hermione gasped. "That's horrible!"

Severus scowled, seeing Harry pat Hermione's hand reassuringly, but nodded. "Yes, he was an idiot. Especially as he was not good at holding his liquor and he drank often. It wasn't three weeks later that Capricia found him in a drunken stupor, discussing the atrocity with his friends, laughing. It came as a surprise to no one when he disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Harry butted in, confused. "What do you mean, disappeared?"

"In a moment Potter," Severus said, holding up a finger. "From there, she contacted me and I the Headmaster, and the three of us began searching. Her beau was a Charms master, so we were not surprised when we couldn't find you, so we waited until you were eleven. We've suspected since your first week here that you were our child. But we could never prove anything until your second year, when you ended up in the hospital wing. As you were petrified for so long, we didn't think we needed to add to your trauma. I'm afraid we believed the same to be true during the next two years."

Hermione winced. "And now it's too late. Surprise."

"Quite." Severus said, watching the girl warily.

"Ms.- well, I'm sure you'll forgive me for calling you so informally, but Hermione, you must understand that both of your parents have been looking for you since your disappearance." Albus Dumbledore said, looking gravely at the frightened-looking young girl. "I know he doesn't look it, but I assure you Severus is happy with your appearance. Your mother will be as well, and I'm sure your brother would love to finally meet his sister."

That caused Hermione to look at Severus in surprise. "You have a son?"

"Well, actually, I'm not sure if he's mine or not." Severus readily admitted, rolling his eyes. "But he generally lives with your mother."

"Who is her mother?" Harry asked curiously. "Capricia, you said. I've heard that name before."

"Yes." Severus said, smirking. "Don't tell me the two of you haven't heard the rumours about the Black Widow of the Wizarding World.'

Harry's eyes grew wide. "That's what you meant with the man disappearing. That's Capricia Zabini!"

"Seven of her husbands have disappeared and she's suspected of murdering all of them." Hermione related blankly. Her mind was focusing on a much more pressing issue. "Zabini. Blaise. Blaise Zabini is my brother? Blaise, as in Draco Malfoy's best friend, Blaise?"

Severus grinned at the girl's babbling, but gravely nodded his head. "I'm afraid so. Though I would remind you of his situation and let you know that in just about everything Zabini's are neutral. If you search through your memories, Blaise may have been present at many of your fights with Draco, but I severely doubt he added to the fights."

"Wait, if he's your son, shouldn't he have your last name?" Hermione asked curiously.

"When he turns seventeen, he may take it if he wishes. For all intents, he is my son. At his birth, however, I was again out of favor with your mother. Capricia is every bit the correct name for the lovely Italian, for she is quite impulsive and ruled by her whims. She was the only heir to the Zabini fortune when she turned seventeen and has lived her life exactly as she wanted to since then. She is a cruelly brilliant woman, manipulating each man and each situation she comes in contact with. I was the only man who fell out of her favor not to disappear and for the life of me I still don't know why." He confessed.

"But he's in our year, meaning he's the same age as us." Harry said.

"Hermione was born in late September, Potter." Severus said. "Capricia was pregnant again in October. Not healthy, but she was always a woman to enjoy a man whilst she had him. Blaise was born in England on July 3. By that time, Capricia was back in England, we were both searching and I had angered her at least three times. He could be her beau's child, he could be mine. After she came back, I was once again in her favor for a few months. We do not know, as she never wished the boy tested and he has never really pushed for it. I have helped raise him over the years, he often spends time in my manor when she wishes to go off to Italy or wherever her travels take her. In fact, she was planning to bring him over next week. She planned a week for him at home and then she intends to go visit her home in Italy and he declined the invitation."

He cleared his throat and then leaned forward ever so slightly. "If you would like, Ms. Granger, I will take you into my home. If you are not ready for that, Potter will be heaeding to Black's safe house soon and I'm sure there would be no objection to you staying there. You are not alone, whatever your decision."

Hermione shook her head. "This is so much to take in. Zabini!" She muttered under her breath, shaking her head. "Zabini!"

Severus raised an eyebrow, surprised in spite of himself. "I hadn't realized he had managed to anger her."

Harry grinned. "He might not have said anything about her being a Muggle-born, I think she might have gotten into more fights with Zabini than with Malfoy. At least Malfoy was honest about his fights, finding us in the corridors or something."

"Too right." Hermione said, scowling. "Damn Zabini."

"And may we inquire as to what Mr. Zabini has done to anger you so?" Albus asked, chuckling at the girl's words. There could be no doubt to her heritage.

Hermione folded her arms, huffing. "I don't want to talk about it."

As one, both Severus and Albus turned towards Harry. He looked to Hermione for permission and when she nodded, however grudgingly, he explained. "Zabini made it personal. They've waged war since first year over a table in the library. Everyone else stopped using it when Hermione layed her claim, except for Zabini. Whenever he can, he steals the table and spreads out all his books. Or he leaves her notes, telling her he reserved the table. They get kicked out of the library all the time because they're fighting."

"Harry, that's not true!" Hermione exclaimed, looking horrified. "We do not. Not that often." She added reluctantly. "He's just a prat. I can't believe he's my brother!" She said. "Professor, I don't know if I can spend a whole summer with him without killing him." She said to her father. "How attached are you to having a son?"

Severus grinned slightly. "I suppose I have rather gotten used to having one." He admitted. "But the two of you will have to get along sometime. Perhaps now is the time to bury the hatchet."

"I- I dunno." She said, stealing a glance at Harry. "I would like to spend time with Harry and Sirius, but…"

"Hey, don't worry about it." Harry said, pulling his hand free of hers and throwing it across her shoulders. "Family's important, especially when you haven't had the chance to get to know them. Besides, think of the revenge you can get on Zabini if you're around him all summer."

At that, her cobalt eyes gleamed. "That's true." She mused. Suddenly she turned to Snape. "Do you have a library? I heard that most of the Old Families do."

"I do." He said. "And as Blaise is so often in it, I've warded all of the books. If they are too dangerous, they won't open, but other than that, yes. The Snape library is quite extensive, I assure you. If your Gryffindor bravery ever feels up to it, you may even wonder the Prince library, if you feel up to facing your grandparents. I would advise against it though, if you ever want your brain to function properly again." He added, rolling his eyes.

"Severus." The Headmaster scolded. "Don't say such things about your parents. They're fine people."

"Oh, yes, there's an endorsement." Severus scoffed. "The man in the bright purple and yellow robes thinks my parents are good people."

Dumbledore did have a glaring robe on today, much worse than usual. The old man took no offense, throwing his head back as he laughed merrily.

"I think I would like to go with you, for awhile." She said when the two men had calmed. "I'd love to see your library and maybe meet your parents. But will I get to see Harry at all over the summer? Or is he going to be in hiding with Sirius?"

She looked so discouraged, Harry hastened to cheer her up. "I promise, I'll send Hedwig to you all the time." He said. "We'll try and wear the old girl out, she has way more energy than she needs. Then she won't peck me all the time."

"Harry!" Hermione slapped her friend. "What a horrible thing to say."

"I assure you both, Mr. Potter's owl will not have many problems. Sirius is now in a house, no longer traveling about. We have secured it and there will be no problem with you visiting, my dear girl." The Headmaster said.

"That's great!" Harry said.

"I agree." The Headmaster said with a smile. "Speaking of which, you had better get going. I am sure Sirius is going crazy after the quick message we sent him warning to prepare for your early arrival. Say your good-byes and then the three of you can get some much needed sleep. Mr. Potter, you will Floo to 'Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place', while Hermione will be going to 'Snape Manor'."

Harry nodded, standing and hauling Hermione to her feet. "Well, 'Mione, this is it for awhile. I'll send you a letter soon and let you know how I'm doing. And Ron too. You'd better not get lost in that library and forget to send one back or we'll come over there and ground you!" He added, wagging his finger at her playfully.

"Oh, Harry." She said, rolling her eyes. "Of course I'll write back. If I don't, you'll never do your homework." She said, smiling smugly.

He gasped. "Mean!" He said, pouting. "You're so mean to me." He said, folding his arms and turning his back on her.

"Aw, poor Harry." She said, grinning at his antics. "Now he's mad at me. Guess I don't get a hug good-bye."

"No way, I love your hugs." He said, swiftly turning around. "I'm not mad!"

"Good." She said smugly, giving him a quick hug. "But now I'm mad at you so you don't get a hug anyways. You better write a long letter if you want forgiven." She said, kissing his cheek and stepping over to the fire quickly. She threw in powder and was gone before he could move.

Only when she disappeared did he snap out of his daze, raising his hand to his cheek. "What kind of good-bye was that?" He said, thinking back fondly on her monstrously strong hugs. "Do you think she's really mad?" He asked, turning anxiously to the older men.

Severus was still trying to get over his daughter kissing a Potter. Dear Merlin, she wasn't attracted to the boy was she? Oh the horror.

Albus gladly stepped in. "It's always hard to tell, young Harry." He said, winking. "The most dangerous creature on the planet is an angry woman, Harry, never forget that. I would definitely write her a long apology."

Harry sighed, shaking his head. "Girls." He said. "Well, I better get started on that letter tonight." He said, grabbing Floo powder. "See you, Professors. Number Twelve, Grimmauld-"

With another flare of the fire, the two men were alone. "Well Severus?" Albus said, turning to the young Slytherin.

"I do believe there is an empty tower of Snape Manor I can clear out reasonably quick." Severus answered, running a few scenarios absently through his mind. "And lock her in. She's smart enough to study for her OWLs and NEWTs by herself. I'll let her out in a few decades- she'll be all the better for it."

The Headmaster laughed at that. "Ah, the joys of a teenaged daughter. I would suggest you figure out, in a deviously Slytherin manner of course, a way to get Blaise to befriend her so that he can watch over her, as I don't believe you'll have any luck locking that girl up."

Severus grinned at that. "She definitely has my temper, according to what my godson has come to me about. She has attacked him physically more than once and if her rivalry is as bad as Potter claims with Zabini I wouldn't be surprised if he had also received a slap or two." He moaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can already see I'm not going to have a peaceful summer. Her and Blaise, and I've no doubt Draco will be over before the summer's over when Lucius gets tired of having a son around again. Then she will invite her friends…" He trailed off, moaning again. "All my plans…out the window for another year." He determined.

"And will you be contacting Capricia now or just wait for next week?" Albus asked.

The Slytherin rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know. Obviously the girl knows enough about manipulating the opposite sex already; she put Potter in his place quite nicely. I don't know if I can stand to be at the whim of another devious woman." He shook at the thought. "Well," he said, standing and stretching. "I had best be on my way. I shall speak with you soon, Headmaster."

"Please do." Albus said. "Good night."

As Severus Flooed away, Albus finally allowed himself a rueful grin. The war was heating up, everything was going to get a lot worse very quickly, but at least there would be some entertainment this summer.

Hey guys and gals, there you go: a nice long chapter for you. Sorry it's been awhile. I hope you enjoyed this, as you can now see exactly where my reading habits tend to go. I love fics where Hermione's adopted. I have no idea where the idea of Sev and Capricia (which I totally made up, as you may well guess) came from, but it amused me. There aren't nearly enough stories out there where Hermione is adopted into the Zabini family or the Snape family. And yes, in this story Severus is a pureblood and still has parents who did not abuse him. They just drove him crazy. Please, let me know what you thought and any ideas for the future. If I like your suggestion, I will (quite gleefully!) add it into the story!