Searching For Connection

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I don't profit.

An: Another update. As for the Kreacher/Hermione relationship I have a few things to say. First, it's always been understood that Kreacher held Regulus Black in the highest regard and that he despised Sirius and everyone Sirius brought into the house, especially Molly Weasley. Kreacher would have been the only one to know about Regulus marrying and having a child besides Lily Potter and Severus Snape. And so when Kreacher listens to the private conversations going on within the house, he learns of Hermione's true identity. Because she is the child of his previous Master, a man he loved to serve, Kreacher is delighted.

We need to remember that in the Magical World house elves are often forgotten, so why wouldn't anyone think to even ask Kreacher about any details regarding Regulus? Kreacher is very much protective of Hermione and who gets near her. He will play a part in this story, because he feels responsible for her life, much like how Dobby acted toward Harry. We know house elves are often responsible for childcare among Pureblood households. It's very easy to assume that Kreacher had taken care of Hermione while she was little, before her parents' death. And it's equally easy to assume that he grieved the loss of her as much as he grieved the loss of Regulus.

That is all. Read. Review. Enjoy.

Hermione woke up the next morning feeling drained and exhausted, and yet lighter somehow. She ran her fingers down the now clean crushed velvet cover of the family photo book. She could see that it was a deep purple color as the light reflected upon it, and for some reason unknown to her, it made her love it all the more. With a sigh she pulled herself from the bed, her back thanking her for not spending another restless night on the couch. After a shower and dressing she goes downstairs for breakfast, the photo book close at her side.

When she opens the door to the kitchen she's met with the sight of an exasperated Sirius trying to talk Kreacher into letting him and Harry make their breakfast while Kreacher serves Hermione. Hermione giggles, alerting the others to her presence. "Miss Hermione!" Kreacher greets happily making Sirius scowl at him.

"Good morning Kreacher." She giggles as the elf races over to grasp her hand. "I was thinking today, we can all have breakfast together. Would that be alright?" She smiles down at him.

Kreacher shakes his head and pulls Hermione to the spot at the head of the table. "No trouble, Miss Hermione, no trouble at alls." With a snap of his fingers the table fills with breakfast foods fitting of Hogwarts. Sirius and Harry sigh in relief and sit to start filling their plates, but before Hermione could fill her own, Kreacher does it for her. A cheesy Spanish omelet, garlic and rosemary home fries, bacon and sausage fill her plate. Next to it appears coffee, tea and a glass of orange juice; Harry and Sirius gape at the house elf, a little put off.

"Thank you Kreacher." She whispers through a blush, and then pats the seat to the right of her. "Won't you join us?" Kreacher's blue eyes widen to comical proportions as he blushes and tugs at his ear.

"N-no Miss Hermione, Kreacher shouldn't! House elves aren't allowed to sit at the table!" He hurries to explain, trying not to offend his Mistress.

Hermione leans forward and settles him with a firm look. "Am I your Mistress, Kreacher?" She prompts.

"Yes! Miss Hermione is Kreacher's Mistress! And such a lovely Mistress, Kreacher has!" He hops from foot to foot.

Hermione smiles, "Good. Then as your Mistress, I want you to eat at this table during meal times. Is that understood?" Kreacher squeaks and hurriedly rushes off, only to return moments later with a few pillows. He stacked them onto the chair and climbed into them to sit at the table and made himself a plate. Hermione looked to Sirius with a raised eyebrow, to which Sirius bowed his hair in recognition and agreement. Then she looked to Harry to find the boy smiling fondly at her. It was then she realized that she had yet another gift for him besides the ring that now rested upon his right middle finger.

As breakfast comes to an end they find themselves lingering at the table, it had been a good morning and almost normal, all three were reluctant to give that up. Finally Hermione stood and cleared her throat, "Harry…I have something that I think you should see." She looked to Sirius and then back to her friend. "The parlor perhaps?" She bit her lip in question, truthfully she wished to hide herself away in the library, but selfishly she wanted to keep the place to herself.

"Sure Mione." Harry grinned and stood, taking her hand and pulling her off toward the sitting room, leaving Sirius behind to chuckle at his antics. Harry went to pull her onto the couch, but Hermione pulled him to sit upon the floor between couch and coffee table as she placed the book onto her lap. Harry looked at it curiously. "What's that?" He whispered, watching as she stroked the cover softly.

Hermione smiled up at him, and then past him to Sirius as the man came into the room, taking a seat in the old winged back chair by the fireplace. "It's a photo book that Regulus…my dad gave to Kreacher to keep safe. Kreacher showed it to me last night." She explained, opening the cover and allowing the boy to pull the book so that it rested on both of their laps.

"He looks like you Sirius!" The boy grinned, looking up at his Godfather then hastily returning his eyes to the photo. He studied the picture carefully before looking at his friend, "You look like them." Hermione grinned despite herself.

"There's more." She whispered flipping through the pages until it landed on the first photo of both their mothers. Harry gasped much like Hermione did when she first saw them. "They called themselves sisters…they were best friends, Harry." She watched the emotions flicker across his face as she fought back her tears.

Finally he looked at her and gave a watery smile before taking her free hand in his. "Just like us…right Mione?" his green eyes looked so innocent as they searched hers. "You're my best friend, I mean Ron's my mate, but you've never turned your back on me. You're my best friend. You're my sister, right?"

Hermione buried her head into his shoulder as she nodded her head, "Yeah Harry, just like us. You're my best friend too." She chuckled tearfully, "You're my brother." She confirmed. Harry sighed happily and turned the next page. "See…this is our first picture together, you and me, Harry…with our moms." She whispered, pretending to ignore how he gripped her hand just a bit tighter. Harry rubbed his finger carefully over first his mom and her stomach and then Hermione's mother and her bulging belly.

"We look good." He joked, though his voice cracked. Both Hermione and Sirius chuckled anyways.

"Yeah, we do." Hermione chuckled, wiping her nose with her sleeve even though she found the act disgusting. She turned to the last page and watched as the sadness disappear somewhat from his face as looked upon the happy family, then he looked to her, his boyish face watching her. "I was thinking that we could make copies of the ones with your mom, you know, so that you could have them. And maybe…if you want, we can go through some of my parents' things in their room…maybe there are others?" She asked quietly.

Harry watched her for a few seconds more before he gave her a gentle smile. "Could we copy the whole album? And I have a few photos of Mum and Dad that Sirius sound over the summer, if we find more maybe we can make a new album with our whole family? One with everyone, Sirius, and the Weasleys and even the pictures we have from Hogwarts and from home too? It can be an album of our lives!" He went on excitedly.

Hermione sighed; Merlin was she grateful for having this boy in her life. "That sounds fantastic Harry." Then she turned to his, no their, Godfather. "Would you help us?" She asked hesitantly, ignoring the way Harry was grinning from her to Sirius.

Sirius chuckled, "Of course, I'd be honored." He bowed deeply, breaking the tension and making the two teens laugh. Things were looking up, but Hermione wasn't out of her misery just yet…but she knew this was a start.

Hermione stood outside the black door at the end of the hall, Sirius and harry stood behind her silently giving her any courage they could offer. No one else could open this room, not because it was spelled but because it was just something she felt she had to do. She strained her back, steadied a shaking hand over the brass knob and as she exhaled she pushed the door open. The state room had been boxed up long ago by Kreacher, all of his former Master and his wife's things packed neatly away for someone to come along a rediscover them.

Hermione smiled a little, she wouldn't of know just how she would have reacted if the room had been left in a lived in state, as if her parents had just stepped out…that would be a little too much for her to handle. There was a box labeled 'Furniture' in the corner and Hermione figured that Kreacher had shrunken and put the rooms furnishing into this box to make room for the others. "Clever elf." Hermione whispered under her breath.

As she moved further into the room she ghosted her fingertips across the tops of boxes as she passed them. She stopped in the middle of the room and inspected her fingertips, clean; it seems though Kreacher hadn't kept up with the rest of the house, he did make sure this room remained immaculate. She was grateful; it'd make this one hundred times easier. "What would you have us do, Hermione?" Sirius asked, watching the girl carefully.

"Yeah Mione, where should we start?" Harry added with a smile.

Hermione took in the room once more and then focused on Sirius, "If you could handle that side of the room?" She pointed to the corner just behind him. "I suspect that will have to go through each box, the only ones that seem to be labeled are the furniture." He nodded and set to work. She turned to Harry, "Could you handle this one here?" She gestured to her left. Harry nodded, but waited. "I'll handle this corner and we'll work our way to the middle? Maybe we should label as we go? And if we find anything…" She drifted off.

Harry nodded and gave her a goofy thumb up, "Righty-o Mione!" She grinned at his playfulness, thankful for the break in tension and turned around to her own corner to start the long process of going through her stranger parents' things.

She shook her head, 'Merlin that sounded morbid.' She thought to herself.

She didn't find anything in the first six boxes, which she had inspected every last inch of them, and had painstakingly instructed the other two, to do as well. She pulled open the top of the seventh box, already thinking about calling the search off till after lunch, and stopped all movement. There, right at the top of the box sat an envelope, her name was the only thing written in black swirly script. With a deep breath she picked it up, it was thick and heavy; obviously someone had a lot to tell her. She tucked it safely inside her jumper, careful not to wrinkle or bend it.

Beneath that was a series of objects wrapped in cloths. Hermione swallowed and set the box aside, she didn't know why, but she had a feeling she wanted to be alone when she opened it. She moved on, putting the box and its mysterious contents out of her mind as she continued her search. The next few boxes were filled with Slytherin memorabilia that must have belonged to her Father and surprisingly Ravenclaw items that she assumed belong to her mother. "She was in Ravenclaw." Hermione laughed.

Sirius and Harry came over to look at the things. Sirius grinned sadly, "Makes sense, you are the brightest witch of your age." He teased making her blush. "Should we break for lunch?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, I've had about enough today…besides Dumbledore said he'd be stopping by today to finish up all the legal aspects to that I can go to my parents' vaults…"

Sirius blinked, "That was today?"

Hermione sighed, ignoring the way Harry snickered at his Godfather. "Honestly."

After this weekend they had but one week before they left for Hogwarts, and Hermione still hadn't decided when she should confront her parents, the ones who raised her. After Dumbledore had left she had retreated to her room, having had enough of chasing the past. Though they did manage to find a handful of photographs and with Sirius' help both she and Harry now had copies of them all. Seeing Harry so happy to have tangible evidence of his parents made Hermione realize that she was lucky to have been placed with such a loving family as her Mom and Dad.

She knew she needed to speak with them, things had been tense enough lately and this, well she couldn't just sweep it under the rug. Tomorrow they were going to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys, perhaps when she finished there she should head home for the weekend. Yes, Hermione nodded, that was what she had to do.

If only this would be easier done than said.