The Good Life

Chapter 3

For the meeting that night, Hermione decided to wear some casual clothes rather than her work robes and clothes. She decided on a long, flowing, white skirt with a sky-blue, fitted tee under open cerulean blue robes with matching shoes. She put on light makeup and pulled her hair into a French Braid. Since becoming Mrs. Malfoy, even her casual clothing was semi-formal.

She arrived at the Mack's doorstep at six-thirty, assuming that she may have some problems extricating Bryan from his wife. Just her luck, Elizabeth opened the door, took one look at her, and tried to slam it in her face. Instead, Hermione used her magic to keep the door open so she could enter the house.

She strode in with confidence before turning around to the sputtering woman. "You little whore, get out of my house right now and leave my family in peace. And don't you know that it's rude to interrupt people's dinner?" Elizabeth railed.

"So Bryan's in the dining room? Lovely," Hermione said, not rising to the bait as she left the foyer in favor of the dining room. She walked into the room, the muggle woman following behind her, steam practically coming from her ears. "Bryan," she said to the man eating at the table. "You must put on something nicer than that. We have an appointment at seven, and it is not worth the penalties to be late."

"It pertains to what we spoke of earlier," she told him at his questioning look. He stood up and nodded, glancing wearily to his wife before leaving the room.

Hermione leaned against the wall, studying her French Manicure as the other woman gaped at her. "What right do you have, coming into my home and taking my husband away from me, you little whore," she demanded.

Hermione glanced up. "You know, you really must stop calling me that. I haven't slept with anyone other than my husband in nearly a decade, unless he asked me to. And even then, he was in the room. I was told by the Minister to come and collect Bryan for a meeting that is to start at precisely seven. You weren't invited, and therefore, I am not taking you." Not even halfway through her little speech, Hermione had gone back to her nails, signifying that she considered it a conversation not worth having.

The other woman seemed as though she were having to stop herself from hurting Hermione, which brought a small smile to her lips. Annoying people she didn't like had become a favorite pastime of hers. It wasn't long before Bryan returned, reading the body language between the two. He hadn't had a fun day after Hermione had left earlier, and it looked as though it would be even worse when he returned from wherever it was they were going.

Hermione looked up at him, scrutinizing his appearance. "Better," she concluded. "Now, hold on to my arm tightly, I'm going to side-apparate you to the meeting." Figuring that he was already in for a knut, he might as well be in for a galleon; he walked over to the younger woman and pulled her flush against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "You're an idiot," she told him, just before the two disappeared.

The second they reappeared in front of the gates outside Hogwarts, she pulled away from him, giving him a look that clearly said 'what was that about,' but said nothing on the subject. She strode across the grounds, leaving him to follow in her wake. When he caught up, they were already three-quarters the way to the castle.

They went in the direction of the headmaster's office, the only conversation being Hermione telling him exactly what the meeting was about, with him one step behind her the whole way. At the gargoyle, she gave the password (dunderheads) and soon enough they were in the office, accompanied by Headmaster Snape, Deputy Headmaster Davis, and Professor Orla Heron, the Ravenclaw Head of House.

Shortly after everyone had sat down in surprisingly cushy black chairs, leaving one open, there was a hesitant knock on the door. "It's open!" Snape called out.

Never having been called to the headmaster's office before, Alex opened the door timidly, having only been told that her presence was necessary. "You wanted to see me, Profess ..." The question died off of her lips as she entered into the room fully, taking in all of its inhabitants. "Hermione? Daddy? Why are you here ... How are you here?" she asked the last question directly to her father.

"We'll tell you all about in just a minute, honey," Bryan told his daughter. "If you want to sit down first ..."

Looking around, the sixteen year old decided to take a seat on Hermione's lap, surprising only Professor Heron. It was something Hermione had allowed her to do practically since the first summer they had met and she took great comfort in it. It was one of the many caring gestures that her mother had never put forth to her, or at least that she could remember.

Once she was seated comfortably, Hermione having silently placed a reduced weight charm on her, Hermione pulled her blonde hair back behind her shoulders and smiled to her. Over that past years, Alex had indeed grown into a fine young lady. She was conscientious, well-spoken and well-mannered, extremely likeable, and was utterly gorgeous with a nice, little body. She was popular among the boys, but she had yet to submit to anyone.

"Honey, you know how your mother and I have been having problems for a while, right?" he asked, only to receive a nod in response. "Well, I'm in the process of having divorce papers drawn up."

"It's about time," Alex responded, causing those in the room who had ever met Elizabeth Mack to smile. "So you all came here just to tell me that?" she asked unbelievingly.

"Well, no. You asked how it is that I'm here. You see, honey, I'm a pureblood wizard. I was disinherited when I left to be with your mother."

"Does Mum know?" Alex asked in shock.

"She wouldn't take it all too well; so, no, she doesn't know. Tomorrow, Hermione and I are going to go to visit my parents to see if they will take me back. If they do, my name will revert back to my birth name, as will yours."

"So, they might not take you back?"

"They will," Hermione told her softly, braiding the long blonde hair. Alex turned slightly to look her mentor in the eyes. While it was never spoken of directly, she knew that the woman was far form the sweet, caring person that she had always displayed towards herself. She gave a nod before settling back down to look back to her father.

"Okay, then. What will my name be?"

"Alexandria Eridanus McCarthy."

"What will your name be?"

"Brian Auriga McCarthy."

"I like it," she told him. "And so that means that I'm a half-blood?"

"Yes, it does."

A grin spread throughout her features, and she barely held back a squeal of delight. "How soon can I tell people?" she asked.

For the first time in the conversation, one of the school officials entered into the conversation. "Once your grandparents had signed the proper paperwork and gone through the ritual to reinstate your father as their heir, we were hoping to make an announcement at breakfast the next morning."

She nodded her head, understanding the tactics behind such a maneuver. There were always fewer students at breakfast, so it would not be made a big deal of, but the news would spread quickly throughout the school. Also since it would have been made public by the Headmaster, rather than the girl they had known as a mudblood for six years, it would be credible. She just hoped that it wouldn't take too long for Simon Nott to ask her out once the information was out in the open.

"So, what's going to happen to Mum?"

"Honey, I haven't even told her yet, so we don't know."

"I get to live with you, though, right?"

"Yes, you do. Hermione is going to find us a house in Hogsmeade that will be ready for when school is over." At this, Alex climbed out of Hermione's lap and made her way over to her father, who she gave a big hug.

"I think this is the happiest day, ever," she told him. It was on their way out that Hermione had to explain that Alex had had a crush on a pureblood boy for almost two years, but had never acted upon it because she knew that it couldn't go anywhere.


*** thanks to buffyxo for betaing for me as always (i love you) and to silverserpent for reviewing the last chapter.... this one almost wasn't put up today because my computer has been all spywared up and has been rendered useless but i went to work and remembered that i save emails from like everyone who writes to me, so i just had to find it and download the betad version to my dads computer and voila, update for you.