The Truth About Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger sat numbly staring out the window of what used to be her parents' house just outside of London. Since the moment she had gotten off the train in London after her fifth year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her life had changed dramatically. First, her grandparents had met her, teary-eyed and very subdued to tell her that her parents had been up to visit some cousins in Wales and on the way home, the train had derailed, killing everyone on board, including her parents. When their Will had been read, Hermione found that she had been left everything they owned, including the house. Her grandparents put the house up for sale for her and deposited the money into an account for her so she could use it while at University. Shortly after the house was sold, Hermione was sorting through her parents' things when she came across some very interesting documents.

"Grandmum," she'd said, taking the papers to the old woman who was making lunch in the kitchen. "What's all this?"

Her grandmother had taken the papers from her and turned ghostly white. "They never got around to telling you, did they?" she'd asked.

"Telling me what?" Hermione had asked, completely confused.

"Come, Hermione," said her grandmother, leading her to the table. "Sit down."

And that was how Hermione Granger had found out that she was adopted. Not that it mattered a whole lot to her! Because it didn't. She just would have liked to know. And, who were her real parents? Could she find them? Were they still alive? Had they also met some tragic end?

Finally, having moped enough, Hermione jumped off the sofa and went back to the box of her parents' papers. She shuffled through them until she came to her birth certificate. Under mother's name, it read, "Alyssa King," but under father's name, it read, "Unknown." Who was her father? And who was this Alyssa King? She would have to find out.

* * * * * * * *

"Dead?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, miss," said the young receptionist at the hospital. "Alyssa King died just after you were born."

Hermione's head hung. "And you've no information at all about my father?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," said the girl.

Hermione sighed and thanked the girl for her help. Luckily her adoption records had not been sealed, so anyone related to her could view them. They didn't help her much, though. All it told her was who her mother was and she already knew that! Suddenly, she turned back to the girl. "Can you tell me who Alyssa King's parents were?" she asked.

"I'll see," said the girl, heading back into the file room. She returned a moment later. "Here we are," she said, setting the file down on the counter. "These haven't been sealed, either. It looks as though your birth family wants you to find them! Her parents are Olivia and Roger King of South Hampton. Well, at least that's where they were from at the time of her death."

"Do you have any other information?" asked Hermione.

"I'm sorry, that's all I have," said the girl.

"Well, thank you," said Hermione. "You've been a big help!"

Hermione turned to leave and found her grandfather waiting for her. "Did you find anything?" he asked.

"My mother's parents are Olivia and Roger King of South Hampton, but they have no information on my father," answered Hermione, a bit sadly. "Well, perhaps I can ring the phone company and find out if they still live there."

"That's always a possibility," said her grandfather. "We'll try that, then."

Hermione nodded and smiled her first smile since before her parents' death.

* * * * * * * *

"No listing for them?" asked Hermione into the telephone, disappointed.

"I have no listing," said the voice on the other end.

"Thank you," sighed Hermione, hanging the phone back in its rest. "Dead end," she said, turning back to her grandparents. "They either don't live there any longer or else aren't listed."

"Or perhaps they don't have a phone," suggested her grandmother.

"Well, that's true," said Hermione. "But the only people who don't have a phone are-" She stopped suddenly, looking up at her grandparents. "What if they're... what if they're like me?"

"You mean wizards?" asked her grandfather.

Without another word, Hermione jumped up and ran to her room. She picked up a quill and a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled a note to Mr. or Mrs. Roger King, telling them that she simply must talk to them and that it concerned their granddaughter. Then, she quickly folded up the note and hurried out of the house and down the short path to a large tree in the wood behind her house. She whistled softly and down swooped a large brown owl. He hooted at her and she tied the little note to his foot, then told him to go find Roger or Olivia King in South Hampton. He hooted at her again and was off.

That owl had become a very valuable friend of hers.

Now, though, all she could do was wait.

* * * * * * * *

The next morning, promptly at nine, the owl was outside, clicking his beak on her window. Quickly, she let him in and he dropped a note on her bed. She opened it.

*Dear Miss Hermione Granger,* it said. *I was very pleased to hear from you. I did in fact have a granddaughter, but when my daughter, Alyssa, died giving birth, we were unable to care for her because of illness in my wife. You see, Olivia had cancer and I felt that I would not be able to care for a child and my wife at one time. Well, by the time Olivia died and I felt able to care for my granddaughter, she had already been adopted and they would not tell me who had adopted her. So, I opened our records in hopes that she would come looking for us! If you are the girl's mother, please, I would like to meet with you. I'm sure you can appreciate how I feel and I hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Mr. Roger King.*

Hermione re-read the letter several times before folding it back up and writing her reply. She didn't really know how to tell this man that she was his granddaughter, so she simply told him that she was not the girl's mother, but she would love to meet with him soon and could he please come the next day for tea at noon? She added her address and tied the note to the owl, who poked at her. Of course, he wanted payment! Quickly, Hermione grabbed a couple of biscuits from her top drawer and gave them to him. He gobbled them, then flew off threw the window again.

Hermione received a letter later that evening saying he would be there at noon the next day. Her stomach did flip flops for the rest of the day and when she finally turned in for the night, she wasn't sure she would ever get to sleep. Somewhere after two o'clock in the morning, she drifted off into sleep.

She awoke early the next morning, though, anxious for the day to begin. She had eaten breakfast, showered and dressed all by eight o'clock that morning. The day seemed to drag by and Hermione found herself growing more and more anxious as noon drew closer. Honestly, the search hadn't been hard, but even so, she felt as though she had waited her whole life for this moment, though really she had only been waiting for about three weeks.

Finally, it was five minutes to noon and Hermione heard a popping noise behind her. She turned to see an old man standing in her living room, looking around curiously. Slowly, he turned to see Hermione standing there nervously. He gasped. "You're her, aren't you?" he asked, crossing the room slowly to her. "You're my granddaughter."

"I think so," said Hermione. "My mother was Alyssa King."

"You have to be her!" he exclaimed, suddenly gathering her into his arms and holding her tight. "You look just like Olivia! Oh, you're so beautiful! My darling granddaughter!" He wept as he held her and Hermione returned his embrace. Finally, he pulled away and took a good, long look at her. "My, you're beautiful!" he said. "Olivia would be so proud! You are a... a witch, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," she answered. "I'll be in my sixth year at Hogwarts this fall."

"And I'll bet you're top of your class, too!" he said.

"Actually, I am," she said, grinning sheepishly.

"How many OWL's did you get?" he asked.

Hermione grinned again. "All of them," she answered.

"ALL of them!" he laughed. "Yes, you're just like Olivia!"

Hermione grinned as she led him into the kitchen for tea. "My grandparents are out in the garden," she said. "They're muggles, so they're uncomfortable around us."

"Ah!" he said. "No wonder I couldn't find you! You were adopted by muggles!"

"Yes," said Hermione, pouring the tea. "They were really great! They took care of me well, and when I started doing accidental magic, they always explained it away well enough. Of course, when I got the letter from Hogwarts, well, that was different. My mum didn't feel comfortable with me going so far away. They made me promise that I'd keep my grades up or else I would have to come home and go to the local high school. I promised I would, and oh! We had a time getting into Diagon Ally, but I figured it out all right. And it was so wonderful, once I finally figured it all out! We had fun changing the money over, and we weren't even sure where Gringotts was, but we got through it okay!"

Roger King laughed. "You are just like your mother!" he said. "Alyssa used to babble on just like you do!"

"Tell me about her," said Hermione, sitting down next to him at the table.

"Oh, Alyssa was boisterous," he sighed. "She was always so happy. Always so smart and so clever. She was a Ravenclaw. Which house are you in?"

"Gryffindor," answered Hermione.

"I was a Gryffindor!" he said, smiling broadly. "Olivia was a Hufflepuff. Anyway, Alyssa.... She was a wonderful woman! Always so caring and generous. She never asked for any trouble. She never got any, really. Until, of course, she became pregnant. The poor child was so ashamed of herself! You see, she wasn't married. Anyway, we consoled her and told her that she would make a good mother. She said she would try her best.

"And then, she gave birth to you. Olivia and I were already at the hospital; Even through all the magical medical advances, Muggle chemotherapy remains the best weapon against cancer. Anyway, we headed down to see you and that's when the doctors told us that the mother was in a horrible state. We went to Alyssa, but she told us that she was beyond even magical help. She died shortly after giving birth to you. We tried to contact who we thought was your father, but he was out of the country and we had no idea where he'd gone. I still haven't figured where he might be. Anyway, three months later, your grandmother died and after her burial, I asked about getting custody of you, but you'd already been adopted.

"And so, here we are," he said, sipping at his tea. "Meeting for the first time."

"What do you know about my father?" asked Hermione.

"Well," sighed Mr. King. "I'm not entirely sure of who your father is. He could be one of two people, though I'd much rather it's Andrew Alan than... well, that OTHER man. Never did trust him. I'll tell you what; I'll talk to Andrew and see if we can't get the two of you together. How's that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful!" said Hermione. "I would love to meet him! Who's the other man?"

"Well, we'll just see how the test goes with Andrew," said Roger. "If he's not your father, then we'll start to think about the other man."

"What test is that?" asked Hermione.

"A simple paternity test," he answered. "It's just a little spell that will tell us if he IS, in fact, your father."

Hermione smiled. "Well," she said. "I hope he IS! I would so LOVE to meet my real father. Well, my adoptive father was great, but I didn't mean he WASN'T! I only meant that I want to meet my birth father. Do you suppose he could get custody of me?"

Roger smiled. "I hope so, Hermione," he said. "I sincerely hope so."

Hermione smiled back at her grandfather. She just knew that everything was going to be fine.