September 5, 1997
A loud, persistent pecking sound woke Hermione from her deep sleep. Furrowing her brow, she opened her mocha-brown eyes and looked over at the window. Her parents' owl was out on the windowsill, looking at her with what appeared to be frustration in its beady black eyes.
The brunette waved her hand, opening the window which allowed the bird to enter the room and land on the bedside table.
As she sat up in bed, she took the letter from the owl and opened the envelope.
Minnie,
Please write us back. Your father and I are terribly concerned. Not only did you seem off at the train station, but now you're not even responding to our letters.
What problem occurred to make you act so strange?
We're not mad or upset with you whatsoever. We are just dreadfully worried about you.
As I said, please write back as soon as possible.
Love,
Mum and Dad
Hermione sighed and put the letter on the bedside table. She didn't know what to say to them but felt grateful that it was Wednesday, and she would have time that day to look through the red file and decide exactly what to say to her parents. What made her feel even better was the fact that she would have Draco's help with all of it.
As she got out of bed, she glanced over at the bird. Sighing, she gave it a couple owl treats before beginning to get dressed.
It was a short time later when the brunette stepped out of her bedroom. She found Draco sitting on the sofa in The Head Common Room. He looked over at her and smiled with a kind morning greeting.
She joined him on the sofa, saying, "Good morning to you too, Draco."
"I hope you slept well." He said.
"I slept decently." She replied, "Erm…do you mind if I ask about your class schedule for the day?"
"Not at all." He answered.
They each pulled out their schedule and compared them.
"So, after lunch, we both have Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then we also have a Study Hall together and then dinner." Hermione murmured.
He nodded, "How about we come in here after Defense Against the Dark Arts and work together to figure out how you ought to handle this situation?"
"That sounds perfect." She replied, "Thank you, Draco. It means so much to me that you care."
The wizard smiled at her and nodded, "You're welcome, but I must say, Hermione, it's quite impossible to not care about you."
A small, slightly bashful smile formed on her lips.
The two of them left The Head Common Room and made their way to The Great Hall for breakfast. When they arrived, they smiled at each other before going to their own tables.
"How's it going living in the same dormitory as Malfoy?" Ginny asked Hermione while they ate breakfast.
"It's really going quite well." The older witch answered.
The redhead nodded, "He seems like a nice bloke." She said, "We're partners in Transfiguration."
"He is a nice bloke." He replied, "Quite nice."
Ginny smirked. "Mione…what's going on?"
"Well…erm…I told him about what Professor McGonagall, and I talked about the other evening." Hermione explained.
Ginny's ice blue eyes widened in shock, "You did?! But he is best friends with…"
"What are you two talking about?" Ron asked with suspicion in his matching ice blue eyes.
"Nothing that is any of your bloody business." Ginny replied to her brother.
"But…" Ron began but stopped as most of the students in The Great Hall began getting up and leaving to go to their first class of the day.
Hermione sighed and looked at Ginny, "I'll see you later, Gin." She said before leaving to make her way to Greenhouse #7 with Neville.
Throughout Herbology, Hermione remained mostly silent, causing Neville to look over at her with concern etched on his face.
When class ended a bit early, she began walking up toward the castle. Neville quickly caught up to her, and touched her arm, startling her.
"Sorry!" he said, seeing her surprise. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I just wanted to speak with you for a moment."
She nodded, "It's okay. My mind was just wandering a bit and you caught me by surprise."
Neville nodded and bit his bottom lip before saying, "Yeah. Erm…listen, Hermione, you know that I try to give people the space they need. I mean, I completely understand the need for space and time, but Harry and Ron are both extremely concerned about you and…and I'm beginning to see why. Until today, I have never seen you of all people space out during lessons." He explained before he met her eyes and quietly asked, "Is everything all right?"
Quickly hiding the truth, the brunette nodded and replied, "Yes. Everything is fine. I've just got more responsibilities this year and am preparing for the N.E.W.T.s. and…" she sighed, "There's just a lot going on at the moment."
The tall wizard nodded and smiled, "Okay. Well, if there is ever anything that I can do to help you out, please let me know. You've always been like a sister to me, and I want to be there for you."
"Neville, that is really very sweet of you. You are like a brother to me. You always have been. Thank you." she replied.
The two of them made their way up to the castle before going their separate ways.
Hermione headed straight to the library and went to the upstairs Tutoring Section.
As more of the tutors and tutees arrived, Hermione read through the list to find which student was assigned to her. Before she could find it, she heard someone trying to get her attention.
"Miss Granger…" She heard but hid her cringe as she turned and saw Madam Pince looking at her. "The Deputy Headmistress as asked for you to come to her office. She wants me to reassign your tutee to another tutor for today."
Hermione nodded and grabbed her satchel before walking to the Transfiguration classroom. She knocked on the door before it opened, and she stepped inside.
"Professor…" She said, shutting the door behind her.
McGonagall nodded, "Hermione, I'm glad you came. I left out a few important pieces of information the other evening. I needed to speak with someone before I could give you the information." She said, surprising the younger witch. "I explained quite a bit to you but not the full reason why you were put up for adoption and why you were kept a secret. I know that you have or will go through that red file on your own time, but it will only give you so much of the truth." She pulled out a blue file and handed it over, "This contains the answers to those questions."
Hermione nodded, taking the file, and looking down at it with a quiet sigh.
"Hermione, just remember while looking through these files that keeping this a secret is keeping everyone safe. That includes you, the Grangers, the Notts, the Fallbrooks and several others." McGonagall said with a pointed look.
The brunette nodded silently.
"I erm…" Hermione said, "I was wondering if I could let my par…the Grangers know that I know that I was adopted."
McGonagall nodded thoughtfully, "You can, but they are unaware of most of the information you're going to discover in those two files. Specifically, the blue file. Just let them know that you found the file over the summer holiday and leave out the rest. As I said, it's for everyone's safety."
She nodded, "Will you ever explain why that is? Why everyone is in danger?"
"I will. At the proper time." The Deputy Headmistress replied.
With a quiet sigh, Hermione nodded, "Okay."
When she left, she didn't bother going to lunch. Instead, she went straight to The Head Common Room.
She was sitting on her bed with all of the information from both files spread out while she read the final piece.
When she finished reading, she exhaled and set it down. Running her fingers through her hair she shook her head, feeling both stunned and extremely hurt by the information she had just read.
There was a knock on her bedroom door, and she sighed, asking who it was.
"It's Draco." She heard before waving her wand and opening the door.
He remained in the doorway. "Are you okay? You weren't at lunch." He said.
She sighed, "Yeah…I just erm…" she shook her head, unsure of what to say.
"Hermione, may I come in?" He asked, concerned.
She nodded, "Of course."
Draco stepped into the room and walked over to her desk, pulling her desk chair over toward the bed. He sat down in the chair and looked at her, "What's going on?"
She exhaled, "Well, McGonagall gave me some another file today, saying that she needed to speak with someone before giving it to me. I looked through it and…" She swallowed.
He nodded, "Okay." he said, pulling off his satchel and coat.
"What are you doing? We need to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts." She said, confused.
"Hermione, this is far more important." he said, nodding to the parchments on her bed. "So, do you want to tell me?"
She swallowed, nodding before reaching out, grabbing a piece of parchment, and handing it to Draco.
Inhaling deeply, she said, "Let's start for the beginning…" she looked at him, "This is the Adoption Application Form that the Grangers filled out on the first of December the year before I was born."
Draco nodded as he read though the application until he came upon a section titled Reason for Adoption. Peter Granger's scrawl was easy to read.
We are Muggle-Magical Liaisons and want to continue to help in those regards. However, we already have a son and would love another child. We are good parents and kind, responsible people. While we may be Muggles, our knowledge of the Magical world will help us build the perfect home for a Magical child.
Draco's eyes widened in surprise, "They're Muggle-Magical Liaisons?"
Hermione nodded, "Apparently." She sighed. "Next in the timeline…a letter from McGonagall to the Fallbrooks." She said, handing over the letter while he passed the application back to her.
Mister and Missus Fallbrook,
It has come to our attention that your daughter, Cora, is nearly three months pregnant. The father of her baby is Thatcher Nott.
She felt too frightened to inform you of this. So, after performing some diagnostic spells on her to check on her health status, as well as the baby's, we decided to send you this letter, making it official.
We do not mind assisting in keeping this a secret for as long as possible, but you will want to decide how to handle this for your family as well as the Nott family, who will also be receiving a matching letter.
Please respond in a timely manner.
Regards,
Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress
Poppy Pomfrey, Matron
12 March 1979
He nodded, "Okay so…wait…they had you while they were students?" he asked, surprised.
She nodded, "Yeah. I was stunned. That was in the blue file that I received today." She said with a long, tired exhale, "And here is the letter to the Nott parents." She said trading parchments with him.
Mister and Missus Nott,
It has come to our attention that your son, Thatcher, is going to be a father in six months. He and Cora Fallbrook appear to have conceived a child together.
After performing some diagnostic spells on Cora to check on her health status, as well as the baby's, we decided to send you this letter, making it official.
We do not mind assisting in keeping this a secret for as long as possible, but you will want to decide how to handle this for your family, as well as the Fallbrook family, who will also be receiving a matching letter.
Please respond in a timely manner.
Regards,
Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress
Poppy Pomfrey, Matron
12 March 1979
Draco nodded, "Do we know how the Fallbrooks and Notts responded?"
She sighed and nodded, "Yeah. We have copies of their responses to McGonagall."
Furrowing his brow, the wizard tilted his head. "What's wrong, Hermione?" He asked. "Are the responses that brutal?"
"Let's just say…no one wanted me." She replied quietly, not meeting his eyes as she handed over two pieces of parchment.
Draco shook his head, "That's not true." He said.
She shook her head and quickly wiped an escaping tear from the corner of her eye, "Draco, trust me. No one wanted me."
He sighed and looked at the parchments in his hand before looking back at her, "The Grangers did." He said before reading the letters.
Professor McGonagall,
After receiving your letter, my wife and I spoke. We have decided that Cora is not welcome in our home until after the baby is born and out of our lives or taken care of. That baby is not part of our family.
Cora will need to stay at Hogwarts for the Summer holiday if she chooses to carry the baby to full-term and give birth to it. Afterwards, Cora may return home but not with that baby.
The Nott family is a family we want absolutely nothing to do with.
Regards,
Ambrose Fallbrook
14 March 1979
Draco swallowed and looked over at Hermione who was looking off into the distance with a blank expression. He sighed and shook his head, hating that she had seen that letter, but knowing that it was necessary.
The Head Boy looked at the other piece of parchment and saw that it was the responding letter from Thaddeus Nott to McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall,
I know that this response is a bit later than you requested, but I needed to speak with my son first. I wrote a letter to Thatcher and after making our decision clear to him, he decided to agree with us.
We want nothing to do with that girl or her baby.
Thatcher will not be speaking with her anymore.
Please see to it that they are not grouped together for assignments in any of their classes. As for the Fallbrook family, they may do whatever they wish with the child, except give it our name.
Regards,
Thaddeus Nott
20 March 1979
Draco sighed and shook his head before looking at Hermione, "Hermione, listen to me. You are a wonderful, important person who many people love and care about. Fuck these people who didn't want you. They clearly had no idea what they were losing."
She smiled, looking over at him, "Thank you, Draco. That's very sweet of you to say."
"Well, I mean it." He replied before asking, "Why are the families so against each other?"
"McGonagall said there has been a feud going on between those two families for years." Hermione answered. "I'm surprised you didn't know that, since your friends with Theo."
"He's never mentioned it." he said shaking his head.
She furrowed her before hearing Draco ask, "What's next in the timeline?"
She cleared her throat before saying, "Well, in these files, that would be my birth certificate which there are two copies of. One is the original and the other is with my name changed. On my original birth certificate, my name is Eleanor Jean Fallbrook. McGonagall told me that Cora thought about keeping me for about two hours which is why I was given her last name. The Healer that signed my birth certificate is named Dadaian Meridian. I considered going to speak to him, but then I figured that he wouldn't have any answers for me." Hermione explained.
Draco nodded as she handed over the birth certificates for him to look at.
"My name was changed on the first of October; just a few days after I was born. The Grangers officially adopted me on that day." She said as she handed over the final adoption form.
Draco looked over the form before looking back at the Head Girl, "Do you have the family trees?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Those are the final items that were in the files." She said, passing over the Family Trees. "I have a half-brother on the Nott side. His name is Tatum Nott, he's a third year, I believe. Julianna is my first cousin and Theo is my first cousin once removed." She explained before continuing, "As for the Fallbrook side, it's a bit more complex. I'm related to Chloe Willburn, she's my second cousin. I also have a half-sister. Her name is Vera Garland and I believe she's a second year."
Draco nodded, exhaling slowly, "You have a much larger family than you originally thought."
"They are not my family, Draco. They didn't even want me." She said.
Sighing, the wizard looked at Hermione and nodded, "Okay. So then…what do you want to do with all of this new information?"
"I wish I knew." She whispered, staring at the parchments with a frown.