A/N:
Not my sandbox, just my sand castle. I don't own anything from Harry Potter. Additionally, no one has permission to bind and sell my works, fandom or otherwise. Shame on you for exploiting other people's works!
So the summary isn't what I want it to be, but my brain can't brain much anymore anyway, sooooooo
Here you go XD
Summary: In the Summer leading up to fifth year, Hermione finds out startling news about her adoption
Words: 2197
Prompts:
Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry-A4
Lineage Studies With Professor Angel
Task #4: Write about someone learning something shocking and/or unknown about their family history
[February Monthly] Single Bingo
FREE (character of your choice) (Harry Potter)
[February] Writing Club
Color Theory
(My Little Pony) Twilight Sparkle - (genre) friendship
Ongoing Challenge: Wicked Webs
Hermione/Harry -Web Patching Thread: (relationship type) Best Friends
Ongoing Challenge: Gather Your Party!
Warlock: Seeker: Character: Harry Potter
"Family Tree"
Ever since the first day Hermione stepped foot into magical society, she had a respectful relationship with the goblins that could almost be mistaken for as friendly. To be honest, it wasn't her fault she was raised with manners and to treat everyone as a person, no matter their race–which now that she was entering a whole new world, race now no longer meant skin color. Giving small bows, close lipped smiles, and using the proper greetings from a small booklet made by goblins for non-goblins that she had found tucked away in a dusty back corner of Flourish and Blotts, Hermione increased in esteem in goblin eyes with every interaction.
So in the Summer leading up to fifth year, when the teller goblin that she tended to frequent, Ragequest, suggested she take a lineage test to see if there were any unclaimed vaults she could inherit, Hermione had shrugged and agreed without a second thought. The goblins had never steered her wrong yet, and she was curious about the outcome. She knew she was adopted, there was no questioning that. And even if her biological parents weren't magical, she would then have names to look up, names she could hunt down. It was only the start of summer. She had time to follow up. This test would only take an hour at most of their time, before Hermione wanted to be in Surrey.
It was, after all, the second week of the Summer since school let out, and all of her letters to Harry had been returned, unopened. She had begged her adoptive parents to come to Diagon Alley, to stock up on items, before heading over to Privet Drive to jailbreak her best friend. He had to suffer watching not only Cedric's murder, but also the resurrection of the Dark Lord who killed his parents. There was absolutely no reason to have him stew alone, like Professor Dumbledore requested. So magical mail was out. She refused to leave him at the Dursleys, so that was why she had concocted this plan. Harry was one of her first friends. She wasn't going to let him languish alone.
But back to the matter at hand, Hermione now sat in front of a conference table, a small, partially filled cauldron in front of her. A thick piece of parchment laid on the table in front of Ragequest across from her, a smug look slowly growing on his face as the potion drew out her family tree. Her burning curiosity demanded to be satisfied, but Hermione knew she just needed to be patient and to wait. All answers would come with patience and time.
"Alright, Miss Granger. Time for you to see your heritage," he said with a closed-mouthed grin, and he pushed the parchment across the table to her. Pulling the parchment that revealed her past closer to her, Hermione's eyes swiftly started at the top of the family tree that had sprouted, written in the combined potion and her blood.
Just looking at the crisscrossing tree branches, Hermione saw how involved her ancestors were in the magical community. She saw a lot of the Black family, and more Black family, until she came to her parents, her blood turning to ice in her veins.
"If you want, I can contact your parents for you," Ragequest offered, as she sat dumbfounded in her chair. "It is not my place to tell you what had happened to you, however I know they have been searching for you nonstop." Hermione shook her head.
"No, I want to hold off on the meeting. I need to collect my friend from his relatives, and then I think I need a few days to wrap my mind around this," she said, running a hand down her face, needing the physical touch to ground herself. "I need to prepare. Can I count on you to be available for an appointment when I am ready?"
Ragequest nodded before pulling the parchment back towards him and rolling it up before offering it to her. Hermione took it without a word. "Just send me an owl, Miss Granger. Whenever you are ready to make an appointment. I can then contact the other interested parties, and gather them all in a safe, neutral environment. Believe me when I say you will be safe here, Friend," Ragequest stated, and Hermione let out a shuddering breath without realizing she was holding it.
"Thank you!" she breathed in relief. She stood, gave a bow, and recited an appropriate goblin parting.
"And may your enemies die en masse at your feet, Miss Granger," he replied before she saw herself out.
Hermione sat numbly in the back of her Muggle parents' car. She knew she had been adopted, she had known from a young age when a cruel classmate had pointed out that she looked nothing like her parents, so the revelation that Richard and Helen Granger were not her parents was not a new one. No, it was the fact that Hermione was 100% Pureblood, and her bullies now no longer had a leg to stand on with their usual taunts of Mudblood.
Feeling the car stop moving, Hermione zoned back into her surroundings, she saw they were parked in front of Number 10 Privet Drive, like she had requested of her father. Her mother handed her the car phone, and Hermione double checked the piece of paper in her hands for the correct phone number before dialing.
It took two rings before a woman answered the phone. "Hello. My name is Hermione Granger. I was calling to see if Harry could come to my house for the rest of the Summer until school started again?" There was silence on the other line, and for a moment Hermione worried that Mrs. Dursley had hung up on her. But another moment there were footsteps, and a harsh muffled voice that sounded like Mrs. Dursley had just stepped away.
"Ask her how soon she can pick you up!"
"Hello?" Harry said into the receiver, and Hermione visibly brightened from her spot in the car.
"Harry! It's Hermione! If it's alright with your Aunt, my parents and I would like to invite you to our home for the rest of the Summer," she said quickly.
"Hermione! I missed you!" Harry replied brightly. Harsh whispering came from his side of the phone again. "Oh, uh, I'm supposed to ask how soon will you be able to pick me up?"
"We're actually in the neighborhood, so we can be there within minutes if you need us too," Hermione replied. She saw movements in one of the windows of Number Four Privet Drive, and Harry stifled a laugh.
"Are you in the white Bentley my Aunt can see from the kitchen window?" he asked, clearly amused.
"We are," Hermione replied with her own laugh.
"I'll have everything ready to go in a few minutes. I actually sent Hedwig to your house this morning with a letter, so she should be waiting for us when we get there," Harry said.
"Wonderful! Call me back at this number once you're ready to go and we'll pull up. I don't want anyone from our side of the world to suspect what's going on until it's too late to stop," Hermione replied before reciting the phone number for their car phone.
"Hermione…I missed you," Harry said after a beat.
"I missed you too, Harry," she replied without hesitation. After a quick goodbye, they hung up and Hermione handed the phone back to her mother. The waiting game had begun.
It really did only take a few minutes before the phone in the car rang. Hermione's mother picked up, made a few affirmative noises, then said "We'll be right there," before hanging up the phone. At those words, her father started up the car and they began the slow rollup to Number Four Privet Drive. As soon as they cleared the yard line between Numbers 6 and 4, the front door opened up and Harry stood there, his trunk in hand. Hermione leapt out of the car to throw the boot open, and in that time, Harry reached her with several long strides, his trunk in hand. She leaned down to help him lift the trunk in the boot, reached up to close it, and ushered Harry into the back of the car. When Hermione looked at the front door, it was already closed, and she could feel triumph welling up inside of her.
"Alright dad, let's go home!" Hermione exclaimed, and her father eased the car onto the road.
Now with Harry properly safe, Hermione turned to her best friend and grinned widely, reaching across the seat to hug him in one of her patented Hermione hugs. He hugged her back just as tightly.
"I tried owling you several times these past two weeks, but all of the letters I sent returned unopened," Hermione said as soon as they parted. The drive back to Crawley was just under an hour in good traffic, so Hermione figured now was as good a time as any to catch up. "Professor Dumbledore owled me to not contact you or say anything. Said our mail was being monitored. So I figured this was the best way to get ahold of you," Hermione added smugly. This put a grin on Harry's face.
"If anyone were to break the rules, it'd be you, Hermione," he teased back.
"Only for you, Harry," she replied sincerely, and Harry averted his gaze bashfully. "So, tell me all about your last two weeks. How have you been? After everything that went on at the end of last year, did Professor Dumbledore get you a mind healer or anything?"
"Mind Healer?" Harry asked, confused, his concern growing at the look of horror on Hermione's face.
"You mean to tell me you witnessed the death of a classmate and Professor Dumbledore just gave you to your relatives without seeing if you needed anything? Oh, the nerve of that man!" Hermione fumed. Her mother turned around in the passenger seat to look at the two teens.
"If a Mind Healer is similar to a therapist in the mundane world, we can get you an appointment with a friend of ours. She's a grief counselor, so she'll know what resources to give you to help you work through it at home, too," she mentioned. "I'm Helen Granger, by the way," she then said, reaching into the backseat to shake Harry's hand. "This is my husband, Richard." She pointed to the blond man driving. He raised a hand over his shoulder, but didn't take his eyes off the road.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Thank you for letting me come stay with you for the Summer." Harry's tone was polite, causing a smile to appear on Hermione's mum's face.
"Well, it will be a pleasure to have you with us. Hermione had done nothing but talk positively about you since meeting you in first year. It's a joy to meet her first friend," Helen replied.
"Mum!" Hermione whined with pink-tinged cheeks. Her mother just laughed before turning back in her seat. Harry turned his attention to Hermione.
"I'm really one of your first friends?" he asked and she nodded shyly.
"I always had a hard time making friends before coming to Hogwarts. Besides Neville, you and Ron were the first people to keep hanging out with me without being forced by teachers or parents. It was…nice for a change, to be wanted," Hermione replied quietly. Harry nodded in understanding.
"I was the same way. You and Ron, you guys see me as Harry, not Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived. Just Harry," he replied.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Just Harry," Richard called out from the front seat. Hermione grinned widely as it was Harry's turn to flush. "So Harry, tell us more about yourself."
Forty minutes later saw them pulling into the drive, and Hermione almost burst out of the car before her father could put the car in park. Laughing, he popped open the boot before getting out of the car, Hermione's Mum and Harry following.
"Slow down, Princess. There's no fire. We'll get Harry settled and then sit down and plan where we want to go on vacation. Sound good?" he asked before one-arming Harry's trunk, to the astonishment of the teenager. Hermione didn't seem surprised however.
"Dad powerlifts as a hobby, like they do for the World's Strongest Competition. He has his own gym in the basement with the largest tv screen they could fit down there so he can watch his football," Hermione explained as she lifted Hedwig's empty cage out of the boot. Harry took it from her hands and she gave him a look that Harry merely returned with a grin.
"Can't miss my weekly footie!" her father exclaimed as his wife opened the door to their home. As Harry walked up the path, Hedwig swooped down to alight upon his shoulder, her leg outstretched to Hermione for her to take her letter. Hermione did so, amused, before ushering Harry and his familiar into her home.