By Reason Of Birth

Author's Chapter Notes:
link to the picture the outside of the cottage is based on: http://www.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/b/barbermel/66.jpg

thanks go to MM for finding the photo for me... i had passed it, thinking it wouldnt be so great, but it's the best, lol. This chapter is kind of longer than the others due to the descriptions of the house and grounds as Hermione receives her tour.

The Homecoming

Hermione and Theo arrived back to Nott Cottage around nine-thirty that night, Apparating directly into the house, the wards having been set to only allow direct access to close blood relatives. The room they appeared in seemed to be a library, with their parents sitting in a comfortable chair, each reading a book.

At the sound of Apparation, they looked up and smiled to see both of their children in their home for the first time. Brisco motioned for them to be seated and they each settled down in their own comfortable chair.

Brisco stood up, pacing the floor between the chairs. "Hermione, I know that it's probably a lot for you right now to have to get used to, changing houses and now having to get to know us, and us getting to know you, but living in this house comes with certain rules of behaviour.

"Your mother thinks that we should give you some time, and be lenient on you. I disagree. If we want you to settle in as completely and quickly as possible, you must learn the rules right away.

"First, dinner is in the dining room, formal dress, every night at six-thirty unless you have previously approved plans or are too sick.

"Second, if you want to invite friends over, you must first have permission. If they are here over dinner, they will be joining us and will not be exempt from the formal dress rule. Neither of you are allowed to close the door to your bedroom if you are there with a member of the opposite sex.

"You are now of age and we will not stop your comings and goings, but you must let us know when and where you are going and when you expect to return. You and Theo each have a curfew of one in the morning. This isn't because we don't trust either of you, but because we don't want you to be coming in at all hours of the night and disrupting other people's sleep. If your plans change, you are to write these changes on this card, which you are to have on you at all times," he said, handing her a small silver card identical to Theo's.

"You will sleep here, at home, every night. If you stay anywhere else, it will be with permission after your mother or I have spoken to the parents of whomever you intend on staying with. Neither of you will ever be allowed to stay over the home of a member of the opposite sex unless their parents assure us that you will be in separate bedrooms. Do you have any questions?"

"No, sir, not at the moment," she replied. Brisco seemed like a strict man who liked to be in control, but even if some of the rules were annoying, like dressing for dinner, she could see why most of them existed, even if they were tighter rules than what she was used to. She had a feeling that her extended stays at Grimmauld Place and the Burrow were a thing of the past.

Brisco nodded his head and gave her a smile that she had seen many times on her own face. "Good. If you think of anything, we will always be available to answer your questions. I'll assume that after the day you've had, you must be rather tired. Your mother will show you to your rooms and tomorrow you will have the full tour of the cottage."

It wasn't until he said this that Hermione realised just how tired she really was. It had been a trying, emotional day and she couldn't wait to go to sleep. She stood up from her chair, facing her father. "Thank you, Brisco; good night. Good night, Theo. I'll see you both in the morning. Do I have to be up by any particular time?"

"Not tomorrow, no," Caoilinn responded, standing up from her own chair.

"Good," Hermione sighed, relieved, following Caoilinn from the library. They walked down a short hallway to a set of staircases, one going up and one going down. She was led down the stairs to another level of the house.

There was a hallway that bisected the floor, a window on either side, but no doors leading to the outside. In fact, there were only two doors, one on either side of the hall directly across from each other. Caoilinn opened the door on the right side of the hall and entered the room, Hermione following her in.

"This is your room. Well, rooms. This is obviously your bedroom, if you don't like the decor we can always change it. The door to the right leads to your dressing room and the door to the left leads to your bathroom. All of your things have been moved in but are still waiting in your luggage for you to decide where you want them. If you need anything, you can call Lammy, she's your house elf. We really are happy to have you back, Hermione."

After that, Caoilinn pulled Hermione into another hug, this one slightly less awkward than their first, before smoothing back Hermione's hair and kissing her temple lightly and leaving the room.

Hermione looked around. The room was large, at least two of her old bedrooms would easily fit in it. It was sparse, with only a queen-sized sleigh bed, a trunk at the end of the bed, and a large white vanity that matched the bed. There were three large windows along the far wall, each looking out into the night sky.

Opening up the door to the dressing room, she expected to find a cupboard. Instead, she found a full-sized room, shelves lining one wall and bars to hang clothes lining the other. The wall with the door had cubicles to hold shoes and handbags, the fourth wall consisting of a bay window, the wall space one big mirror, as well as a three way mirror in the corner. She didn't even have enough clothes to fill an eighth of the room.

The bathroom was also large, with plenty of floorspace and a deep claw-foot tub, as well as the toilet and a pedestal sink. Her personal rooms were as large as the entire first story of her old house.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face she dazedly left the bathroom and went back to the bedroom, where she took out a nightgown from her luggage, Unshrunk it, and changed into it, dropping her dirty clothes into the laundry basket in the dressing room. She tucked herself into bed, the sheets cool and crisp around her, and fell asleep right away, too tired to stay awake and contemplate the day.

The next morning, Hermione woke up at a little after eight, having slept for almost nine hours in a deep sleep. Once she was showered, dressed, and ready for the day, she realised that she had no idea where the kitchen was.

"Lammy?" she called out tentatively. Lammy appeared about a meter in front of her, overjoyed that her mistress had called her.

"Miss Hermione called for Lammy?" the elf asked giddily.

"Yes, Lammy. I don't know where anything in this house is yet. Can you take me to wherever it is that everyone eats breakfast?"

"Yes, Miss Hermione," Lammy responded, taking Hermione's hand and winking them into the dining room. Hermione had been thinking more along the lines of the elf leading her so she learned her way, but this worked as well.

"Thank you, Lammy," she told the elf.

"Is there anything else Miss likes?"

"No thank you, Lammy," Hermione responded before the elf 'popped' away with a curtsy. Turning into the room, she saw that there was a plethora of breakfast foods on the sideboard kept warm with a charm.

After filling her plate, she sat down to eat, contemplating her new situation. Just as she was finishing off her food, Caoilinn came into the room wearing flowy white summer robes. "You're up early," she commented with a smile as she watched her daughter take her last bite.

"Actually, I'm up late, I was so tired," Hermione replied, returning the smile. "Where do I put my plate?"

Caoilinn's eyebrow had quirked that it was late for Hermione, being used to her son, who would sleep until three in the afternoon if he could. "Back on the sideboard there's a place for the used dishes. An elf will take it away in a few minutes."

"How many elves are there here?" Hermione asked as she put her plate where her mother had said.

"Four. One that is a personal elf to each of us, should we need assistance, but they work together most of the time to ensure the upkeep of the house and the grounds, though I take care of the front garden myself. We live in the country on a large piece of land, but I'd rather be safe in case of passing Muggles. Plus, I rather enjoy it," she added with a grin.

Hermione was beginning to warm to the woman. At least she didn't make the elves do everything, though she had a feeling that the elves would be very happy to do it, given the response Lammy had when Hermione had said she could bring her own bags over.

"Now that you've eaten, how would you like a tour of the grounds and the cottage?" Caoilinn asked.

"I would love that," Hermione breathed, anxious to see everything about her new home.

"I think we'll start from the very edge of the property, so you can have a proper view of the cottage first," Caoilinn pondered, tapping her finger against her lips. "Yes, that's what we'll do," she decided, her voice stronger.

She came over to Hermione and took her hand, Apparating the two of them just outside the wards of the property, into a small clearing of trees. This was the designated Apparating spot for the home and had wards around it to keep Muggles away.

As they cleared the trees they came to the beginning of a long walkway. Strolling down the walkway, she could see that the grounds were rather large, though there was a tall stone fence flanking one side of the walkway, the other open to a large grassy field. There were sporadically placed trees in the field, a couple with white wrought iron benches underneath, and small, contained gardens of wildflowers.

They turned a corner, and the cottage came into view. The side of the walkway without a fence turned into a stream that crossed under the walkway after passing by the front of the cottage. The fence stopped to let the stream pass before starting back up, giving Hermione a glimpse into the back gardens, which seemed to be much more formal than the front.

She stopped in her tracks, staring at the small cottage. It was the most beautiful house she had ever seen. The stone fence went right to the front left corner of the house, where it was covered in ivy and other greenery. The stone cottage looked to be two levels with multi-paned windows and a steep thatch roof that was scalloped so the roof went even lower than the tops of the first-story windows. There was also a thatch roof over the front door.

The front of the cottage, to the left of the door, was a very small garden that looked to be in a state of organized chaos, the beautiful plants covering the front of the entire ground story, windoboxes under the windows of the first story.

Caoilinn smiled at her daughter and the enraptured look on her face. Yes, this had been the right way to start the tour, with the sky blue and the sun shining. "What do you think?" she asked softly.

"What do I think? It's absolutely stunning. It looks much smaller than it feels on the inside, though." Caoilinn gave her an enigmatic smile and started walking toward the front door.

They walked into the front and found themselves in a closed foyer with a door on each wall. The door to the left opened to a large cloak room, the one on the right led to a set of staircases, one leading up and the other leading down. The door on the opposite wall, though, led to a large ballroom- the likes of which Hermione had never seen. It seemed she was to be stunned into silence at every stop of the tour before regaining her voice and asking questions about each room.

After leaving the ballroom, they went up the stairs and came to a hallway that once again bisected the floor, a window at either end. This hallway, though, contained eight doors, four on either side. Each side of the floor contained one bathroom and three guest rooms of varying opulence.

Down two flights of stairs they came to the first subterranean level, the windows charmed to be streaming out light as they showed the exact view the windows would have held were they on the top floor. This level held the kitchen, the lounge, the dining room, and the elves' quarters.

The second underground level held the library Theo had brought her into the night before, as well as Brisco's study and the master suite.

The third underground level was the floor that contained Hermione and Theo's rooms. The fourth and last underground level was the same as the third, the Nott family only having had up to four children at one time and never needing more rooms in the family levels.

By the end of the tour, Hermione had become thoroughly enraptured by her new home. She loved that from the outside, though the grounds were large, it looked like a quaint but quiet and unassuming cottage, only to be as grand, or even more so, than the homes of many of their pureblood counterparts.

Chapter End Notes:
Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing and to sugarquill39 for betaing.