Confrontation
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I make no profit.
An: Ok here we go; I put a lot into this chapter. We'll finally get to see how Ron reacts and then The Grangers. Dun Dun Duuuun….
Hermione sighed in irritation as Sirius insisted on arguing with Kreacher yet again. They were due to meet the Weasleys in five minutes and she had wanted to be early. But then she and Harry had come downstairs to find them at each other's throat once more and from the looks of it they had been going at it for quite a while now. "Hermione…do you think you can, do something?" Harry whispered, not wanting to draw attention to himself.
Releasing a breath, she stepped between the Wizard and the house elf. "What is this about?" When neither offered an answer she turned and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "Well?"
The wizard straightened his vest, "Kreacher insists that he come with us to Diagon Alley and I told him it was unnecessary." It was obvious he was holding back, though Hermione was both surprised and grateful that he restrained himself.
"Kreacher?" Hermione looked to the elf only to find him sneering and growling at Sirius. "That is enough Kreacher!" She called, not unkindly.
The elf bowed his head making his nose and ears scrape against the floor. "Kreacher is sorry Kreacher has displeased his Mistress!" the elf cried, and if Hermione looked she would have seen Sirius rolling his eyes, luckily for the older wizard she was too focused on the elf to see.
She crouched down so that she was more level with the elf and picked up his head with a gentle finger. "You're forgiven Kreacher, now why do you want to go to Diagon Alley? Is there something you need?" She questioned.
Kreacher shook his head, "No Miss Hermione, Kreacher only wishes to protect his Mistress! Others might wish harm on Kreacher's Mistress for Mistress is a great and powerful witch. Mistress is heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black! Mistress must understand that she needs protection!" He stressed, tugging harshly on his little ears.
Hermione gave the elf a bemused smile, "Thank you for wanting to protect me Kreacher, but it isn't needed. No one knows that I'm a Black besides Dumbledore, Snape and these two." She gestured behind her. "I'm telling the Weasleys today, but I don't have to fear them, they are my friends Kreacher."
The house elf shook his head, "Forgive Kreacher, Miss Hermione…but they were friends of Hermione Granger the Muggleborn not Hermione Black the Pureblood Heir of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black."
"Kreacher, I am both of those girls…nothing has changed with the exception of my last name." She tried to explain, but it was clear the elf wasn't buying it. "I will be fine Kreacher. And if for some reason there's trouble, Harry and Sirius will keep me safe. Okay?"
Hermione waited as Kreacher cast a suspicious eye on the two wizards standing behind her. Then the elf came close to her, enough to whisper. "If Miss Hermione needs Kreacher Miss only needs to call. Kreacher will come." He nodded stubbornly, before giving Sirius one final growl and disappearing.
"He really doesn't like you, Sirius!" Harry giggled, his face lighting up with so much childish glee that Sirius and Hermione both couldn't help but to join him.
"Hermione?" Sirius placed a hand upon her hand to again her attention once the giggling had stopped. "You must know that no harm will come to you in my presence." He looked from her to Harry. "No harm shall come to either of you, so long as I live." He vowed.
She smiled at the man, "Thank you, Sirius. I mean, I know Kreacher was just being overprotective, but he did kind of freak me out a bit, so thank you." Hermione's already small smile disappeared completely as Sirius looked at her with despair.
"As much as it pains me to admit…he wasn't completely wrong." Sirius sighed, dragging a hand through his unkempt hair. "Now that you are legally Hermione Black, you will be recognized as such. Eventually it will not be a secret anymore and as that happens, people may treat you differently. Your name and your title within our family comes with not only status but power, whether you wish it or not. Your father was a known Death Eater, even if he did switch to the light, he will always be viewed, at least partially, as one of them…just like Snape. Even your mother, though she was half-blood, came from a very prominent family in Ireland. People will see you differently…it cannot be helped."
Hermione swallowed thickly, "You mean to say is that some might want to take revenge upon the Black name, and others will either fear, respect or envy my…heritage?"
Sirius gave her a sad sort of smile, "Sometimes it's all of the above my dear." Hermione let it sink in; she knew it was true; after all she herself viewed things differently. She viewed herself differently.
"Don't worry Mione; I know you're the same Hermione. Ron will too, and so will everyone else who loves you." Harry grinned as he wrapped a supporting arm around his would be sister.
"Thanks Harry." She sighed.
Diagon Alley was crowed as it always is, but thankfully they were able to spot the Weasleys fairly easily. After all, it is kind of hard to miss a bunch of red in a sea of black, blond and brown. "Hello Arthur, Molly!" Sirius greeting with a grin.
"Harry! Hermione! So good to see you, now let me take a look at you!" Molly fussed over them, making the two teens blush.
"Aw come on Mum! Knock it off." Ron groaned, though he too grinned at his friends, socking Harry in the arm and nodding to Hermione. "Thanks for the Pocket Knife Mione, it's weird but cool, didn't know those Muggles had stuff like it."
Hermione sighed, but smiled. "You're quite welcome Ron. I'm glad you liked it. I'm sorry I wasn't able to give it to you in person…I had a lot of things to see to." Her grinned turned a bit awkward. Mrs. and Mr. Weasley saw and zoned it on Sirius, wondering what the girl was talking about.
Sirius shook his head solemnly. "Now isn't the time." He whispered discreetly to the adults. "Now! I'm afraid we have to make a pit stop at Gringotts and then off to gather Harry and Hermione's things. Ron, I don't suppose you'd like to tag along?" He winked at the red head.
"Bloody yeah I do!" Ron exclaimed, relieved he didn't have to go shopping with his parents.
"No worries Molly, I'll keep him in line." Sirius gave the woman a wolfish grin.
Molly opened her mouth to protest when a hand on her arm stopped her, "Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, I'll keep them in line." Hermione grinned, quelling the older witch's fears.
Mrs. Weasley laughed as the boys groaned, "Right you are dear, we'll all met up at The Leaky Cauldron for lunch then?" Hermione nodded and at once the two groups spilt up and went their separate ways.
"Right then, Hermione we'll be waiting right here for you." Sirius paused, "Are you sure you're alright to go it alone?" He grinned down at her.
"Of course, we've down this before, should be no problem now." Hermione said with as much false bravado as she could muster.
Ron looked at her, confused. "Blimey, I didn't know you had a vault here Mione. Thought only real wizards and witches did."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry yelled as he turned around on his friends, grabbing the red head by the collar of his shirt. "Hermione is a real witch and a lot better with magic than you'll ever be!" The boy roared, making Ron's face go pale.
"No, wait! I d-didn't mean it like that!" Ron stuttered as he grasped Harry's hand trying to free himself. Seeing the boy struggle, Hermione placed a hand on Harry's shoulder to calm hi, though she only did so for Harry's sake.
"Harry…it's okay, it's obvious that Ron doesn't think before he speaks. I'm okay." Hermione stated softly, and though her comment made Ron's face turn as red as his hair, the boy was smart enough not to say anything.
Harry let his friend go and turned to the girl he'd sworn to love and protect like a sister, "You sure?" Green eyes appraised her as Harry tried to discern whether or not she was lying.
"I promise, Harry. Now, I won't be long…try not to get into any trouble." Hermione warned, grinning when Harry and Sirius merely smirked at her warning. Ron was too busy staring holes into his shoes to bother any sort of reaction, good or bad.
The squeak of her shoes echoed through the marbled building as she approached the Goblin in front of her, and of course it had to be Griphook. She cleared her throat to gain his attention. "I'd like to make a withdrawal from my vault." She spoke like Sirius had trained her to do, confident and unyielding.
Without looking up from his scale of rubies the Goblin sneered. "Name?"
Hermione licked her lips, but didn't allow herself to hesitate. "Hermione Esme Black." Her voice rang loud and true through the marbled halls and much to her horrification any noise that sounded around her immediately ceased.
She stood proudly as the Goblin looked down at her with wide eyes, and an uneasy smile that she supposed was meant to be welcoming. "Ah yes! Lady Black, welcome, welcome! Wand please." Hermione handed him her wand and watched as he inspected it and then handed back to her. "From which vault would you like to withdrawal from? Woulfe or Black?"
"Black." She spoke as she stored her wand back into its holder on her forearm. She could feel eyes watching her, but she refused to look.
Griphook took a quill and held it steadily over a blank parchment. "The amount, Lady Black?" Again his smile was more sinister than charming as he looked onto her.
"5,000 Galleons." She gave the number she and Sirius had discussed. It'd be enough to pay for all her schooling needs, plus anything else she might want as well as extra Galleons to take to Hogwarts so that she didn't have to venture to the Gringotts in Hogsmead for a little while, if at all.
Griphook scratched the number onto the parchment and held the paper above his head as it disappeared in flames. A few seconds later a small black coin bad appeared in front of the Goblin. Griphook tied the golden string around the opening and dropped it into her awaiting hand. "Standard undetectable extension charm and anti-theft wards. Will there be anything else Lady Black?"
Hermione shook her head, depositing the bag into the inner pocket of her jacket. "That will be all Griphook. Good day." With a mutual nod, Hermione spun and began her march to the exit. As she neared the door a soft voice stopped her.
"Lady Black?" She turned, confusion turning into instant fear as she found that the source of the voice was none other than Narcissa Malfoy and next to her was her darling son, Draco. "I assure you, there's no need to fear us…we are, after all, family."
Hermione froze, subtly fingering her wand. "What might I do for you Madame Malfoy?" She tried her best to copy Narcissa's air of nobility and cool demeanor, from the look of amusement and surprise in the blonde woman's eyes, Hermione assumed she came pretty close.
"I didn't believe it once it appeared on the Tapestry…and yet here you are." Hermione wondered silently if she really heard a sense of pride in the woman's voice, or if perhaps, she had imagined it. "I am not so delusional to believe that your recent discovery of your true heritage negates any bad blood between my family and yourself…but make no mistake, you are family and that changes everything to us." Narcissa stressed. "Currently you are getting to know your…Uncle and so I ask if you might be open to getting to know your other family members, past all the pretense and history." She paused to look down at her son and Hermione watched as Draco struggled to make eye contact with her as she tried to avoid it. "You don't have to make a decision now, think about it and when you've made a decision, please do send word."
Narcissa made to walk away, Draco following close behind her. "How would I contact you?" Hermione called out, blushing at her rashness. "I mean, if I decided to…how would I contact you?"
Narcissa smiled a secret smile. "We're your family Hermione you will always be able to find us, and we'll always be able to find you." Then she looked down to Draco. "Just send word to your cousin, Draco."
"What happened in there! Are you hurt?"
"We saw the Malfoys come out! What did they do to you?"
Harry and Sirius said at once as she finally stepped from the bank. She held up her hands, stopping the onslaught of worry and panic. "I'm fine." She looked at them both. "Nothing happened...not really. She just said, that if I wanted to talk…to think about it."
"Why in the bloody hell would they want to talk to you? You're nothing but a Mudblood to them!" Ron screamed. The use of that vile words stopped Hermione's heart cold, and she had to grab both Harry's and Sirius' hands to stop them from rearing on the boy.
"Shall we head out then?" Hermione sighed.
"But-" "Drop it Ron." Harry cut the boy off as he locked arms with his sister and started off down the crowded alley. Sirius placed a hand on the red head's shoulder and ushered him forward, cutting off any further questions the boy might have.
He didn't know what was said between Narcissa and Hermione, but Narcissa was a Slytherin and worst, she was a Black…if she had reached out to Hermione like he feared she would, and then obviously Madame Malfoy thought she had something to gain.
The atmosphere around the table was tense and Hermione tried to hide herself from it by focusing on her Butterbeer. She glanced up at Ron, who had been glaring at her and Harry suspiciously since the bank and then she looked at the other Weasleys. It was obvious that Ron had said something to them, because even though they hid it far better than Ron, they too were giving her strange looks. "I have something that I want to tell you." She sat straighter in her chair, gaining courage from the two next to her.
"What is it dear?" Mrs. Weasley smiled.
Hermione sighed. "It'll be public knowledge by the time I get to Hogwarts, but I wanted to tell you all in person….I'm…I'm adopted." She paused, taking in their shocked and stunned reactions. Deciding to get it over with…she ripped the Band-Aid off. "It turns out that during the first Wizarding War against Voldemort my parents were killed and my Godmother hid me in the Muggle world. My father betrayed Voldemort because he fell in love with a Half-Blood who supported the Order. Her found out about Voldemort's Horecruxes and made a move to destroy one after my birth, but he was caught." She paused to take a quick breath. "My father is Regulus Black and my mother is Esmeralda Woulfe. My Godmother was Lily Potter and my Godfathers are Sirius and Severus Snape. I'm a Pureblood."
Her face was flaming red as she finished and she looked down at the table, refusing to see their reactions. For a few moments it was deathly silent…and then, mayhem.
"Oh you poor thing!" Molly reached for her cold hand.
"Bloody hell." Came from Arthur as he downed his tea.
Fred and George grinned and talked in tandem. "Rich and smart, aye Hermione?" they winked at her as she finally looked at them, she laughed. Ginny just shrugged and continued trying to sneak a drink from Fred's Butterbeer.
Hermione looked to Ron and found the boy fuming. "A bloody Death Eater! You're the daughter of a Death Eater! Related to Malfoy! Are you barking mad?" He shouted from across the table, sending Hermione into angry tears.
Hermione bolted up from her chair and slammed her hands onto the table. "How dare you Ronald Weasley!" She glared. "How dare you." She said once more in a whisper before pushing from the table.
Harry stood to follow her, but glanced back at his friend. "You really mucked this one up mate. She's still the same Hermione who saved our asses for the past three years!" He glared at the boy, angry and hurt for his sister. "Didn't you hear a word she said?" Harry shook his head angrily. "I want nothing to do with you until you get your head out from your ass." He spat, taking off to catch up with Hermione.
Sirius nodded to Arthur and Molly, "I think it's best we leave."