I stepped out of the cab as it came to a stop in front of my parent's home, digging in my pocket for the driver's fare.

"That will be £32, please, miss," the driver said. I counted out the appropriate fare and pulled my trunk out of the boot. I thanked the driver and walked up the path toward the door. All was quiet on the street that I'd grown up on, and the house looked just the way I'd remembered. Not much changed in this quiet suburb, and it was so different from the bustling wizarding train station I'd left behind only a half hour ago. My fourth year at Hogwarts had been…interesting, to say the least. It had begun with the Quidditch World Cup, then the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament and Harry being named champion, all of Rita Skeeter's nasty gossip, and everything that had happened at the end of the year. I was hoping now for a quiet, relaxing summer. And hopefully a quiet three more years at Hogwarts. When one was in the same year as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley and a resurrected Dark Lord, however, the chances of that happening were quite slim. Practically nonexistent, really.

I opened the door of my childhood home. My parents usually came to pick me up at Platform 9 ¾ but had sent me an owl yesterday that they would be unable to come. I had assumed that they were working, but I heard the murmur of voices from the living room. The house smelled the way it always did: Mum's cleaning products, Dad's cologne. But there was another scent now too, a delicate floral one. Perhaps Dad's bought Mum some new perfume. I set down my trunk by the stairs and walked into the living room. My parents sat together on the loveseat, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Across from them on the larger couch were three people: a man and a woman, looking nervous yet hopeful, and a boy about my age with an indecipherable expression. The boy looked familiar, and I thought for a moment before I was able to place him - Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin in my year. He tended to hang around Malfoy's elite crowd, but he had never been cruel to me and we'd even shared a table once or twice studying in the library late at night, sometimes joined by Theodore Nott, another Slytherin in our year who was quiet and studious, but seemed sweet.

I was quite confused. Why was a pureblooded, historically Slytherin wizarding family sitting in the living room of my Muggle parents' home? Mum tried for a smile upon noticing me.

"Hermione, my girl. Come sit and meet the Zabinis." I sat as I was told to do. I frowned at my parents.

"Mum? Dad? What's going on?" My father sighed.

"We're only just finding this out ourselves, Hermione, but do you remember the story of how we found you?" I did. When I was no more than a year old, my parents had found me on their doorstep one winter night, wrapped in a thin blanket and crying. They had immediately taken me in and searched for my parents, to no avail. When no family came to claim me, the Grangers did. They adopted me and kept the name that had been written on a card in slanting handwriting: Hermione Jean. My parents liked to say that it felt like magic, finding me. They were unable to have children of their own, so I was according to my mum, nothing short of a blessing. Blaise chose that moment to speak.

"Erm, Hermione, these are my parents." I gave Mr. and Mrs. Zabini a tentative smile before I asked them, "Excuse me if this is blunt, Mr. and Mrs. Zabini, but…why are you here in my home?"
Mrs. Zabini took a deep breath. "Ar…Hermione…we have reason to believe that we are your birth parents."
I was in shock. Me? A pureblood? How incredibly ironic, considering I spent the past four years being called a 'filthy mudblood'. I frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
Mrs Zabini spoke to me again. "You see, fifteen years ago we were blessed with our first children. A beautiful pair of twins. Obviously, one was Blaise. The other we named Ariana Calypso Zabini, and she and Blaise were the light of our lives. But just before the twins turned one, our little Ariana was taken from us. The abductors we cannot divulge here, but let us just say that we have substantial proof as to your lineage. We can even perform a lineage test for you, if you'd like."

I nodded. "Yes, please. If this is real, I need to see for myself."
Mr. Zabini pointed his wand at me. "Familia revelare," he cast. Glowing vines of golden magic began to form a family tree for me.

Name: Ariana Calypso Zabini (adopted name: Hermione Jean Granger)

Mother: Emilie Zabini née Shafiq (adopted mother: Rose Granger)
Father: Lorenzo Zabini (adopted father: Micheal Granger)

Siblings: Blaise Odysseus Zabini, Emeric Apollo Zabini, Charlotte (Lottie) Selene Zabini (adopted siblings: none)

Blood Status: Pureblood (adopted blood status: Muggleborn)

I gasped out loud. The Zabinis were telling the truth. Mrs. Zabini - Mum? - spoke to me. "If you'd like to, dear, we would love to host you for the summer at our home. The Grangers have already agreed to it, if you would like to come spend some time with us and meet your younger siblings."
All I could do was mutely nod. They informed me that they would wait for me to pack anything I wanted from my room and then we would leave. The Zabinis stepped out of the room to give the Grangers and me some privacy. I wasn't sure of who to call Mum and Dad. The Zabinis - my birth family - or the Grangers - the family who raised me -? I turned to them. "Thank you for caring for me all these years. I will always consider you a part of my family." They embraced me in one last hug, and I squeezed back, enjoying the familiarity of it before being plunged into a strange new world. Blaise met me at the base of the stairs and told me that he would help me pack up my room. I thanked him, and we ascended the stairs together.

In my room, he turned in a slow circle as he looked around, taking in the bedroom I hadn't really changed since I was eleven and left for Hogwarts. I packed up the few things I needed, already having most of it in my trunk downstairs, then sat on the bed and motioned for him to join me.

"So…" I said nervously, not sure of how to start. It turned out I didn't have to. Blaise launched himself at me and brought me into an embrace. He sobbed quietly as we held each other for the first time in fourteen years. I was surprised to find tears trickling down my cheeks as well, that long-dormant twin bond flickering back to life inside me at last.

"Do you feel it too?" my brother asked, studying my expression. "What is it, exactly?" I asked. He grinned. "It's our twin bond. We've been apart so long that it fell dormant. I still don't feel it fully though, so it might be partially blocked. It's supposed to be illegal to block twin and soulmate bonds, but some people don't care about the rules."
We finished packing up my room and returned downstairs, where our parents were waiting for us. We were to Floo to Zabini Manor, so we headed to the fireplace. The Grangers gave me one last wave as I stepped into the fireplace. "Zabini Manor!" I shouted, throwing the green powder in. Blaise gave me a mischievous grin as I was swept away. "Hey, sis? Watch out for the beasts."