"Hermione, are you nearly ready? It's almost noon." Mrs Granger shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
"I'll be down in a moment." Hermione shouted, giving herself one last look in the mirror. She wore a two toned dress, white on the top and light blue on the bottom with a neat bow on the left side. It was conservatively knee length and had rounded cap sleeves. It was definitely one of her favourite dresses. She didn't know why, but she wanted to look nice for this meeting, after all she was meeting a Lady. She walked slowly downstairs and into the kitchen to find her mum, who was straightening a tea pot on the kitchen table.
"Do you think she likes cucumber?" Her mother asked, not looking up from the lunch that she was setting up. There was a tea set complete with crème and sugar, a small tray of triangular cut sandwiches and a little tower of cakes.
"I don't know. She didn't say." Hermione responded, eyeing up her mum. She knew that she was just as nervous as Hermione herself was. Her mum only fussed like this when she was nervous. "I'm sure she'll be happy with anything, she didn't actually say in her letter that she was expecting lunch."
"No, but I'd hate to think of someone sitting there at lunchtime hungry. And this might just be the done thing when magical people meet at noon." Her mum responded nervously, smoothing down her apron. "You look lovely by the way." Her mum said with a smile.
Only a moment later there was a gentle rapping at the door. The two gave each other one last nervous look before Hermione hurried to answer the door. When she opened it all she could think was how beautiful and regal the woman before her looked. She wore a long satin A-line dress with a beautiful black velvet robe over the top. This was a much more subtle robe than the one that Professor McGonagall had worn. This was long sleeved and tailored, and could easily pass for a high fashion evening coat. She had a gentle, aristocratic face surrounded by pure white blond hair, swept back at the sides but cascading in waves onto her shoulders.
"Hermione, I would presume?" She asked with a welcoming smile.
"Yes, that's me." Hermione replied, nerves making her voice sound higher than usual. "Mum has put a lunch together for us." She said, stepping back and allowing Lady Malfoy into the house.
"Oh that sounds wonderful, but she needn't have gone to any trouble." Lady Malfoy said kindly as they walked down the corridor and into the kitchen.
"It's no trouble, nothing special really." Mrs Granger said as they entered the kitchen. She quickly extended her hand to shake Lady Malfoy's as she said: "Jean Granger, it's nice to meet you."
"Lovely to meet you too." Lady Malfoy replied, shaking Mrs Granger's hand firmly. "I am Lady Narcissa Malfoy, but do just call me Narcissa."
The three women settled themselves around the kitchen table and Hermione pored tea for each of them from the pot.
"Is your husband not joining us today Mrs Granger?" Narcissa asked after taking a dainty sip of her tea.
"He had to work today unfortunately. It's only the two of us running the dental surgery, so one of us had to be there." Mrs Granger explained, putting two sandwiches onto her plate. "And please call me Jean. Also, help yourself to sandwiches and cake."
"Thank-you very much." She said, taking a sandwich. "I hope that the meeting with Professor McGonagall went well. That it wasn't too much of a shock I mean."
"Well I can't say that we weren't surprised." Jean said, smiling at her daughter. "But we always knew that Hermione was special, and it did explain a few things."
"I'm glad that you feel that way. There is always the worry that a family will not accept that their child is magical. I'm very glad that that isn't the case here." Narcissa placed her cup on her saucer and folded her hands on top of the table. "If I may ask, how much was explained to you about how magical children occur in non-magical families?"
"She didn't go into great detail. Just that sometimes magical children happen." Mrs Granger replied with a slight shrug.
"Ah. That is not quite the case." Narcissa shook her head lightly.
Mrs Granger and her daughter shared a confused look before redirecting their attention to Lady Malfoy.
"Very occasionally, two magical parents can produce a child that cannot access their magic. We call these children Squibs." She paused, looking from Hermione to her mother to make sure they were following her. "At first Squibs would continue to live with Witches and Wizards in the magical community, but it became clear very quickly that these Squibs were not happy. So, instead of keeping them within the magical community, many magical families decided that it would be kinder to have them live in the Muggle world. I'm sure that you could see why."
"So they don't know what they're missing." Hermione mused out loud.
"Precisely." Narcissa said with a smile. "This way they could live full and happy lives without any feelings of inferiority. However, within a few generations these Squibs often produce a child that can access their magic. Does this make sense?" She asked, looking from mother to daughter.
"So the magic is skipping a generation?" Mrs Granger asked.
"Essentially, but Squibs do still have magic, they just cannot access it. You could liken it to a child being born blind. They still have eyes, but the connections just don't work."
There was a few moments of silence while all three women nibbled on their lunches before Lady Malfoy continued.
"Was blood status explained to you at all?" Both Grangers shook their heads and Lady Malfoy let out a barely noticeable sigh. "For a Witch or Wizard to be described as pure-blooded, their ancestry must contain only Witches and Wizards, with no Muggles whatsoever. Twenty eight truly pure-blooded British families were confirmed in the 1930s. These were called 'The Sacred 28' and included families such as Prewett, Flint and Malfoy. There are other families that are described as pure-blooded, but it is not necessarily confirmed." She paused to take another sip of tea, and to allow this information to sink in.
"A Witch or Wizard with one magical and one Muggle parent is considered half-blooded. This is frowned upon in the magical community. It didn't used to be, at one point in our history the magical and muggle community was comfortably interlinked, but gradually muggles became fearful of us. They persecuted us." Lady Malfoy took a deep breath, as though to calm herself. It worried the Grangers, but Narcissa smiled at them reassuringly. "I believe that dark time in our shared history is still taught in Muggle schools, so I won't go into detail. Suffice to say that after that period, the magical community went into hiding. It is difficult to not hold a grudge after a time such as that."
Silence fell around the table, slightly less comfortable than before.
"Does that make me half-blooded?" Hermione asked, worried about what this might mean. Would people treat her differently because of it?
"No dear, you're not. That's why I'm here." Narcissa smiled, lightly laying her hand over Hermione's in comfort.
Both Hermione and her mum looked at each other, both extremely confused now.
"You must understand that when a Squib is born into one of the sacred pure-blood families, although they may be sent to live in the Muggle world, we do not abandon them. We still protect our bloodlines, we just don't make it obvious. We've developed communities within the Muggle world that are almost entirely made up of pure-blooded Squibs. Some will stray away from the communities and marry Muggles, but it's less common than you think. In your case, both your mother and father are of pure-blood decent."
"So you arrange for us who we're going to marry?" Mrs Granger asked, more than a little insulted.
"Oh no, of course not. We simply place pure-blooded Squibs within the same communities. We play no more of a role than that. If one was to choose to move away and fall in love with a Muggle, we would not intervene. In most cases though, lasting relationships are forged with those you grow up with, so we simply place our Squib children together and hope for the best."
At this Mrs Granger's shoulders visibly relaxed. The idea of her life being controlled was not one she was fond of, but Lady Malfoy seemed sincere.
"So what does that mean for me?" Hermione asked timidly.
"It only means that you are pure-blooded. In practicality it should make no real difference, magic is such regardless of its origins; but it does remove a stigma from you that the Magical community has yet to let go of."
Hermione let out a sigh of relief. She really did feel lucky, she didn't want the stigma of something that she had had no part in to follow her, but she could understand why opinions would be difficult to change given the history between Witches and Muggles.
"However, as a descendent of one of the Sacred 28, there is an expectation placed upon you. Entering the magical community as you are would be like a British Nobel not speaking English. It simply isn't done. So I am here to aid you in your transitioning into Magical Britain." Narcissa finished with a smile.
"Are there many differences between the two communities?" Mrs Granger asked.
"Not as many as it will seem at first, but likely more than you are aware of now. You must realise that other children attending Hogwarts will have been experiencing magic from a young age. Just as you are taught science and art, and it influences your culture, our children are taught potions and divination; which influences our culture differently."
"How long will it take for me to catch up?" Hermione asked, nervous about how well she will fit in when she gets to school.
"A half-blooded child is met with only a few times by a Hogwarts Professor to get them caught up; but honestly I do not feel that that is enough. It will especially not be enough for you. You are the only magically able descendent of The Nobel and Most Ancient House of Rosier. As such, when you come of age, you will become Lady Rosier, and will hold a seat in the Wizengamot."
"Wizengamot?" Hermione and her mother repeated, utterly confused.
"My apologies, it is similar to your House of Lords."
Both Grangers nodded at this, and Hermione became rather nervous again. Only two weeks ago she was a normal girl, then she finds out she's a Witch, and now she's being told that she is actually nobility.
"I understand that this is a lot to take in." Narcissa said reassuringly. "But I'll help you through it. What I propose is that I tutor you twice a week on Wizarding culture to get you caught up. I will also stay in contact with you during your time at school, so if you ever feel you need help, you can always contact me."
Narcissa's smile was warm and comforting, and Hermione felt herself calm down slightly.
"If it is acceptable with both of you, I will come back again tomorrow to take you shopping for your school supplies, and we can discuss your tutoring sessions then."
"Would I be able to join you?" Mrs Granger asked, sounding unsure. "I want to be as involved as I can be."
"Of course you can, you should. I highly encourage it. You are pure-blooded yourself remember, regardless of your abilities. I don't think it would be necessary for you to attend the tutoring sessions I have planned, but it would be best for you to come with us tomorrow. If only to be able to understand us and the world your daughter is entering."
Mrs Granger seemed very happy with this. It would be a lie to say that she didn't feel a little left out of this new stage in her daughter's life. She wanted to be involved, and she wanted to understand.
Lady Malfoy stood and dusted off her robe.
"I really should be going now, but I'll be back tomorrow at noon. In the meantime, I would like it if you could begin reading this." Narcissa reached into her robes and pulled out a small book, no bigger than the average diary, titled: 'Magical Etiquette'. "I don't expect you to finish it too quickly, but it is a good place to start." She explained as she handed the book to Hermione.
"Thank-you for the lovely lunch Mrs Granger, and I look forward to seeing you both again tomorrow. Lunch will be my treat." She said with a smile, before turning sharply on her heel and disappearing with a pop; leaving both Granger women wide eyed where they sat.