When Your Parents Tell You Bedtime Stories

5

"Be careful what you wish for...."

~Everyone

"That shade of anger does nothing for you," Aludra said seeing her friend walk in the portrait hole.

"What happened, what did he say?" Rigel asked as Persephone plopped down beside him on the couch. Alphard was sitting near Aludra pretending not to be interested, but Persephone noticed him.

"You can listen, Alphard," she said. "You were there anyway."

"So, did you find out why Harry Potter was here?" Aludra asked.

"Not really. Alphard," she said looking at her Quidditch captain. "Do you know any past Slytherin Quidditch players by the name of Blaise Zabini?"

"Doesn't ring a bell, and I know quite a bit about the past Slytherin teams," Alphard said.

"What about a Hermione Granger?" Persephone asked.

"Are you serious?" Aludra asked. "Come on, Persephone. Hermione Granger?"

"What?" Persephone asked.

"She wasn't in Slytherin," Rigel said.

"She wasn't?" Persephone asked. She had always just assumed her mom had been in Slytherin. After all, her dad was a Slytherin and he said he had loved her.

"Why do you want to know about Hermione Granger?" Aludra asked.

"That's my mother's name," Persephone said.

"Persephone, I knew your last name was Granger...but to make a connection like that! And your father being Draco Malfoy and all...are you sure you're not mistaken?" Aludra asked.

"I'm not, why?"

"Hermione Granger was Harry Potter and Ron Weasley's best friend, the third of the famous trio. Not to mention she was the smartest witch to graduate from Hogwarts ever," Rigel said.

"Haven't you read anything about them?" Aludra asked.

"No," Persephone said honestly. "You're saying that my mother was...a Gryffindor?"

"Not only that," Alphard spoke up in a harsh tone. "She was a Mudblood."

"My mother?" Persephone asked furious now.

"Well, it is true," Rigel said. "If you would've told us your mother's name before now we could have told you this. How could you honestly not know anything about the people who helped bring down Voldemort?"

"Dad said there were more important things than reading about something that was already over and done with..." Persephone trailed off thinking of what her dad had just told her.

"I still find it hard to believe, Persephone. I mean, your dad was like...the Slytherin king, and falling for a Mudblood Gryffindor? Well, I thought I'd seen it all," Aludra said.

"Perhaps you shouldn't refer to Persephone's mother as a Mudblood?" Rigel put in shooting daggers at Aludra. She shrugged a sorry to him and they all turned to Persephone.

"Why did you want to know about Blaise Zabini?" Alphard asked snapping her back to reality. "He was a first year when my dad graduated from Hogwarts. Best friends with your dad, I believe."

"What else do you know about him?" she asked curiously furious.

"What's with the sudden interest in past Slytherins?" Aludra asked.

"You know what my dad said out on the field, about my dad not being able to play Quidditch?" she asked looking at them.

"Yea," Rigel said. "But I know for a fact that Draco Malfoy played Quidditch...."

"Draco Malfoy did," Persephone said cutting him off. "But my real dad didn't."

********

"I should have just told her the whole truth," Draco said angrily as they made their way back to the office.

"What she has right now is enough for her to deal with," Harry said.

"She's going to hate me," he said turning to his partner.

"I don't think she will. When she's old enough to find out the truth about her real dad...."

"What, she'll hate him? That may be true, Potter. But that doesn't hide the fact that I haven't been honest with her for twelve years!"

"You were doing it to protect her. I mean, if she wouldn't have known you weren't her real dad..."

"What? Zabini would have her?"

"Possibly," Harry said shrugging. "You know how hard it was to keep him from custody of her for all these years. It's simply because we insisted she wanted to be with you. But, if she would've known...and would've gone looking for him...."

"Shit, he'd have her."

"Exactly. As long as she doesn't go looking for her real father, sharing the truth with her should be okay. I mean, after all, perhaps she's old enough to know better now."

*********

"Persephone," Rigel said from the doorway as him, Aludra, and Alphard watched her hastily throw stuff in her trunk. "What are you doing?"

"What does is it look like Rigel?" she asked not even turning to him.

"Like your going mad," Aludra answered.

"I'm sick and tired of finding out the truth when Draco Malfoy thinks its time for me to. I'm going to look for my real dad. Perhaps he can give me some straight answers."

"You can't just leave Hogwarts," Alphard said, smirking slightly at this new insane side of her.

"Watch me," she said heaving her trunk up off the bed.