By Reason Of Birth

The Argument

Barely four after Blaise's departure, Hermione was awoken by a loud 'pop,' which pulled her back from near sleep as she barely heard Lammy's timid voice squeaking in her ear. "Master wants Miss Hermione in Dining Room in twenty minutes."

"Can't I just sleep?" she moaned, opening her eyes and glancing at the clock. "It's only seven-thirty."

"No, Miss. Master very mad and demands you now."

Hermione cursed under her breath as she threw off her covers. If Brisco was mad she probably shouldn't show up to breakfast in her nightgown. She got up and took a quick shower, throwing on one of her casual robes before quickly making her way to her father.

When she entered the room, she immediately felt the urge to recoil at the anger Brisco was exuding. "Sit," he ordered, his voice hard, but calm. She immediately took her seat, staring up at him and wondering what this was all about.

"At approximately three this morning, you had a boy in your room with the door closed. Care to explain why?"

How the hell did he find that out? she wondered, glancing to Caoilinn, who was also sitting at the table, her face blank. "Blaise and I were talking and we didn't want to wake Theo," she told him, her voice showing that it should have been obvious despite her wariness towards her father.

"You can save your attitude, Hermione," he said. "The fact of the matter is that you broke the rules and you will be punished accordingly."

She stared at him in shock. "It's not exactly a big deal. I don't think you want to know the amount of times I've been in closed bedrooms with Harry and Ron. Hell, I've slept in the same bed as Harry! You made that rule so Theo and I wouldn't be having sex in our rooms, and since that thought hadn't even occurred to me, I don't think I should be punished," she responded, glaring up at him while Caoilinn gaped at her daughter's language.

"That is unacceptable behaviour from someone your age. Where were the adults in their homes? No matter, your punishment is to hand wash the dishes for the rest of the week; I'll notify the elves immediately," he told her, his voice tight, the only outward sign that she had angered him further with her retort.

It took everything Hermione had to not snort at the absurdity of the punishment. Unlike Theo, she had grown up doing such chores and wasn't the least bit fazed. "Fine, but I'll start tomorrow. I'm going over to Harry's today. I'll be there for dinner, and if I decide to stay over, I'll have Sirius Floo you."

"No one gave you permission to go to Potter's and just who, exactly, is Sirius?"

"I don't need permission. You yourself said you would not stop my comings and goings, and I'm telling you where I'll be. Sirius Black is Harry's godfather and guardian. Harry lives with him in London."

"Sirius Black? The Mass murder and Azkaban escapee? No! You will not be socializing with him! Why haven't you mentioned that Potter lives with him?"

"You never asked," Hermione said, standing up and placing her hands on the table. "Besides, Sirius was innocent. You should know that, Daddy Death Eater," she bit out. "After all, he was accused of killing Peter Pettigrew, who, I'm sure you well know, was alive until almost two months ago. In fact, I would have killed the traitor myself, but I let Harry have the honour, since it was his parents the bastard helped murder."

Brisco and Caoilinn were frozen in place, staring at their daughter as she ranted about things they had never known. They had given her away to stop her from growing up under the influence of the Dark Lord, and here she was, passionately informing them of her intent to commit murder. They had been able to protect their son from him, not having to give him over until his majority, but through their daughter's choice of friends, she had been in the thick of things probably longer than they would care to know.

She had been at the Department of Mysteries, but they had hoped it to be just a fluke. Dolohov had taken her down before she had the chance to show any true fighting skills, so they had been in a world of blissful ignorance. They would have never imagined their daughter would want, and be willing, to kill another person. They were both afraid to learn more about this side of Hermione, worried that their sacrifice had been in vain.

"The fact remains, Hermione, that you broke the rules and are being punished," Brisco said unwaveringly. He let the 'Death Eater' comment slide, not wanting to get into that argument at the moment. She had been trying to get him to talk about it-why he joined in the first place, why he stayed-but it was something he wasn't proud of, and he didn't like to talk about it. Obviously, though, her feelings on the subject ran deeper than he had thought, considering how she was currently speaking to him. It seemed they would have to talk, and soon.

"I'm not arguing that, I'm just merely informing you that I won't be here. If that is all, I'll be going back to bed now," she said dismissively.

"Hermione Jane Nott!" her mother exclaimed, entering the conversation. "Do not speak to your father like that. He only has your best interests in mind."

"Of course he does; all parents who give their children away like yesterday's rubbish have their best interests in mind. And my middle name is Jean!"

"I named you Hermione Jane, and that is what I shall call you," Caoilinn answered, upset over the name change. Hermione turned to leave, but Lammy chose that moment to 'pop' into the room.

The house-elf looked around the room nervously before scurrying over to Hermione. "Miss, this is just arriving," the elf said, handing over a piece of rolled parchment.

"Lammy, couldn't this wait?" Brisco asked sharply.

"Lammy doesn't think so, sir. Falcon tried to bite Lammy for waiting."

"A falcon?" Hermione asked, her eyes lit up.

"Yes, Miss." With that, Lammy disappeared, scared off by the dark look on Brisco's face. Not paying him any mind, Hermione slid the parchment in her pocket to read later.

"Are you going to open that?" Caoilinn asked, curious as to who would be sending Hermione letters, and who it would be to make her perk up so quickly.

"Later," Hermione responded.

"I take it that you know who sent it?"

"Of course, I've been writing to him for a couple of years now."

"Another boy?" Brisco asked with an exasperated sigh. He was still upset with his daughter but wasn't going to press the matter further at the moment, not wanting to continue fighting with her right before leaving for work. "Are you friends with any females?" he asked.

Hermione gave the question a moment of thought before answering. "No, not really. I was friends with Ginny Weasley for a while, but she's too self-centered, and my dorm mates are Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. They're not the type of people I care to associate with because they cared way too much about what everyone was wearing and not nearly enough about their studies. Now, are we through?"

"For now," Brisco nodded, watching Hermione leave the room in a fairly good mood considering she had just about bitten his head off. As soon as she was gone, both he and Caoilinn looked at each other, their faces somber as it sunk in just how many emotional issues giving Hermione away had caused her.

Hermione headed down to her room, failing to notice the shimmering of a Disillusionment Charm against the wall near the open door to the room she had just vacated.

She closed the door behind her and sat on the bed, quickly unrolling the parchment. A smaller piece fell into her lap and she put it to the side as she eagerly read the pinched, messy scrawl of her much awaited letter.

Hermione,

Sasha won't leave me alone about meeting you, so please come to the Cup. I've given you a voucher for four seats in the 'Family and Friends box.' Bring whoever you want, but I want to meet this new brother you told me about. With these seats, you do not need to be at the grounds until the morning of the match.

Viktor

Hermione reread the short note and gave a chuckle, her previous bad mood pushed to the back of her mind. Sasha was Viktor's girlfriend, and she had been hounding him for months to introduce her to 'the only other girl to keep her Viktor's affections.' She picked up the voucher and put both pieces of parchment off to the side as she realized how tired she still was. Within ten minutes she had fallen fast asleep, a smile still on her lips.
Chapter End Notes:
alrighty. i wonder if i should start copy/pasting this part, lol. thanks to the betas, sugarquill39 and the magnificent Lupie who makes everything better than it started out as, lol.