AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone!! Hope you like this chapter! R&R

Ginny,

Hey. I am so sorry that I left the Burrow without saying good bye. Everything was just happening so quickly; I got caught up. Please tell Harry and Ron that I am sorry. I don't want them to be mad at me. Everything is changing and I feel like I will need ya'll more than ever right now.

Write back soon,

Hermione

P.S: Are you caring for Crookshanks right now? Mum and Dad aren't used to taking care of Crooks. If you aren't, can you find a way to get Crookshanks here, if possible? Thanks!!!!

Hermione looked over her letter one more time before tying it to Ares' leg. She didn't want to mention Draco in her letter. There was a chance that Harry and Ron would read the letter and if they knew that the ferret had been near her….it was just a disaster waiting to happen. Best to avoid conflict. Hermione opened the window and watched as Ares flew out of the window. The black owl soon became a pinpoint in the sky. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to fly, but her fear of heights made that impossible. Fear seemed to be a big issue for her nowadays. Hermione slowly walked over to a golden brown couch that she had been sitting in and curled up into a ball. The couch felt like silk against her skin. She sighed with relief. Everything was new terrain now and Hermione didn't know what to do.

"Maria," a feminine voice murmured making Hermione look up. Standing in the doorway was her mother. Claudia Zambini looked totally different than she did a few hours ago. Instead of a clean-cut outfit, her mother was dressed in a pair of black pajama pants and a green over-shirt. Her beautiful hair was down showing its length. A pair of half-moon spectacles adorned her face making her look older than she was. Yet she was beautiful; Hermione wondered if this was truly her mother. There was something about her that seemed celestial.

"Yes, Mother?" Hermione asked pulling her legs underneath her as she watched her mother walk in. In her hands was a small box. From where she was, Hermione could see a silver "Z" on the lid that was encrusted with emeralds and obsidian. Probably a family heirloom….yet something about it seemed familiar.

"I have something to show you, if I may?" Claudia stated keeping eye contact with her daughter. She desperately wanted to show Hermione that she belonged in the family. Hermione nodded and gestured for her to sit down beside her on the couch. Hermione watched as her mother glided over at her and sat. The way she walked was graceful and elegant; jealously sprung up. Hermione had never been graceful in her life. Just recently the boys, Harry and Ron, started noticing that she was a girl. Sometimes Hermione wondered how she put up with them. "This is something that your father gave me when we started our courtship. It's a one-of-a-kind music box. I suspect that your father made it himself. " Her mother opened it and looked up at Hermione. A soft melody began to play making Hermione cringe. She knew that song. It was so familiar to her. "Its beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione shook her head unable to speak. "I used to play it in your nursery when you were first born."

"I remember it." Hermione blurted out looking at her mother. She could see tears rimming her mother's eyes. "Its like a dream almost. Faded but still there." Hermione watched as Claudia pushed the music box into her hands. Her eyes grew big at the gesture.

"Take it, Maria. Its yours." she stated watching her daughter shake her head. "I was planning on giving it to you on your 16th birthday as a coming-of-age present."

"Why are you giving me this? You hardly know me." Hermione asked clutching the music box. Her mother smiled at her and gently took her hand into hers.

"I wanted to know you for so long. You can't imagine what it was like wondering whether or not your daughter was alive and well. There was always the possiblity that the Death Eaters had taken you and sold you into slavery. I couldn't bear the thought of you living the life of a slave; nightmares plagued me for many years. The point is that I am glad for the time I have with you now. I just hope that you will forgive me. I should have never condoned your father's wishes." Hermione shook her head at the thought.

"I have lived a joyful life. Better than any I could wish for." Hermione stated looking at her mother. "Yet I do want to spend time with you, Mum. More than anything, if that is all right?: Hermione was suddenly bombarded with a hug; tighter than usual. She could feel her mother crying, and she couldn't help but tear up. Hermione couldn't imagine what her mother had went through all these years. Nobody should ever lose their child.

"Its what I want the most." her mother murmured pushing Hermione way. She looked at her daughter and smiled. "You need to get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us. So much shopping to do. Its party season." Claudia rose from the couch smiling brightly. Party season...her head felt like tit was spinning. That ball at Malfoy Manor was going to be interesting. Maybe...

"Mum, can I invite a friend over?? I would like to take her to the ball at Malfoy Manor." she stated with a smile on her face. Hermione could see the merriment at having another female in the house etched into her mother's face.

"Of course, send for her tomorrow. Its too late now. " Claudia stated rubbing her eyes. Hermione smiled at the her actions. She looked like a sleepy five year old instead of a mother of two. "Good night, dear."

"Good night, Mum." Hermione murmured watching her mother walk out. A quiet click echoed through her room making her shudder.

"You handled that well." a too familiar voice muttered making Hermione shriek.

"Bloody hell!" she shrieked watching as Blaise walk out of the shadows. "How did you get in here, Blaise?" She watched as he pointed to a door that was in the corner of the room. How did she miss that?

"Its a entrance to my bedroom. Mother wanted you to feel safe so she connected our rooms." he answered rolling his eyes at the thought of Maria running into his room scared. "Why aren't you freaking out? You just figured out that you were adopted and a pureblood."

"Being friends with Harry and Ron has its advantages. My sense of calm has been perfected because of their actions. You try worrying about them when they are battling a basilisk or dementors. You would be pulling out your hairs from worry and anxiety." Hermione scowled thinking about all things they did at Hogwarts. "Why worry when you can think it through logically." Blaise shook his head and walked towards her. Hermione watched as he flung himself onto the couch and looked at her.

"Its not good to hold in your emotions, Maria." Blaise muttered watching Maria fidget. "It will just build up until you can't take it anymore." Hermione looked at Blaise and scowled.

"You should try being called a Mudblood for six years, Blaise. Feelings of hate become very common; yet why get upset over something so trival." Hermione hissed making Blaise fidget with guilt. He had called her that name since first year. Oh how he wished he could time-travel and change the future. Maybe then he would have grown up with his sister instead of having to make up seventeen years now.

"If I had known..." Blaise began to stated before being cut off with Hermione's hand over his mouth. Hermione looked at him and sighed.

"It shouldn't matter whether or not that I am your sister. That name is vile and shouldn't be spoken. People are just people; no matter what race or gender, we are all the same." Hermione stated watching the guilt build up in Blaise's eyes. "Now, please, go. I need to sleep." She uncovered his mouth and watched as he ran out of her room. Hermione could feel the tears build up and she didn't stop them. Blaise was right; she shouldn't hold everything in. Too much inner conflict for her to handle alone, but who can she talk to? She was alone now; isolated from everyone she cared for.