The Sound Of Silence

Later at the Three Broomsticks, Hermione, Steph, and the twins were finishing up dinner. George watched as Steph asked for dessert. Hermione shook her head. \"Not tonight honey. Remember we\'re on a budget.\" Steph frowned and nodded.

Fred called Madam Rosmerta over. \"We\'ll each have one of your best desserts.\" She nodded and walked away.

Hermione frowned. \"Guys, don\'t do this.\"

George smiled. \"\'Mione, we\'ve finally got money. We\'re treating out favorite Prefect this evening. No worries mate.\"

Fred looked at Steph. \"Teach me something nasty in sign language.\"

Hermione playfully smacked his arm. \"She\'ll do no such thing and don\'t ask her again.\"

Over dessert, George finally asked the question. \"What made you leave for so long Hermione?\"

She finished her cake and looked at him. \"Well, it was a stupid fight with Harry and Ron. It shouldn\'t have made me leave but it did.\"

Fred frowned. \"What was the fight about? I mean, if I can ask.\"

Hermione sighed and rubbed her face. \"It\'s not personal. I guess I\'ll have to tell everyone eventually. We had a fight over Steph\'s father.\"

Fred frowned. \"Didn\'t they approve of him?\"

Hermione shook her head. \"Not even in the slightest.\" George started to speak, but Hermione held up her hand. \"Don\'t ask who it is. I\'m not ready to tell anyone just yet. I\'ve actually got to get around to telling him about Steph.\"

Steph\'s fork clattered to her plate. She looked up at Mommy. Her mouth was hanging open. She signed. Hermione nodded. \"No baby. I haven\'t told your Father about you.\" Steph frowned and bit her lip. Her eyes glittered with tears and she turned an ran upstairs. Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. \"Well, that didn\'t go exactly as planned.\"

George patter her hand. \"I\'m sure you\'ll explain everything to her later.\"

***

Steph sat in their room and stared out the window. Mommy hadn\'t told her Daddy she existed! No wonder he never wrote or came to visit. She wiped her tears away. She had always trusted her. How could Mommy keep this away from her? How could she not tell him? She hid her face in her hands and let the tears fall.

***

After she wished the Twins goodnight and promised to visit, Hermione went upstairs to face Stephanie. She stopped in front of the door and took a few deep breaths. She would jusplaiplain everything and hope she would understand. She walked into the room.

***

Steph looked up as tears ran down her face. Hermione walked over and pulled her into her lap. Steph started to sign. Hermione grabbed her hands and stopped her. \"Let me explain baby and then you can ask all the questions you want.\"

Hermione took a deep breath. \"Ok. I\'m going to start at the beginning. My seventh year, Voldemort decided to become more aggressive. The Aurors and Ministry of Magic were able to keep him at bay until Graduation. That\'s when he and his followers attacked Hogsmeade. The Professors and many of the students, myself included, came to aid in the battle. Harry went straight for Voldemort. Ron and I were busy keeping Death Eaters away from their duel. It was horrible. Harry was able to defeat him, but not without great injury to himself. We really thought we were going to lose him. When everything was over, there wasn\'t anyone that didn\'t have somet ift if injury. I spent most of the next few months in St. Mungo\'s. After I was released, I spent time at Hogwarts helping to rebuild. School had been canceled for the year. Many teachers were still at St. Mungo\'s themselves. Professor Snape was badly injured.\"

Hermione took a deep breath. \"Voldemort tortured him when he found out Professor Snape had been working against him. At first, no one thought he was going to make it. I used to go sit with him and read and talk. For several months, he didn\'t respond. Then, one morning he woke up. The first words out of his mouth were, \"Miss Granger. I thought I had rid myself of you at Graduation.\" She chuckled slightly. \"After that, I helped him to recover. That\'s when I met your father. When things got back to normal, I decided to tell Harry and Ron about your father and I. We hadn\'t been together that long, but I thought it was something special. They didn\'t think it was special so they went and threatened him. I know they only wanted to protect me, but I was old enough to make my decisions.\"

She wiped her eyes. \"Your father decided it would be best to listen to them. He told me it would be better if I left him to live my life. So, I left. I went to your Grandma and Grandpa\'s until I found out I was pregnant. I didn\'t tell your Father about you. If he had known, he would have wanted me to stay with him. I thought he would feel trapped. I loved him, but I couldn\'t dat. at. I couldn\'t stay in the Wizarding World with all the hurt feelings. You were born almost two years after the Final Battle. I thought I was over your father pushing me away, but when you were born, you looked so much like him, it brought back all my feelings. I\'m sorry. I should have told him about you. I should have told you that he didn\'t know. Forgive me?\"

Steph bit her lip and looked out the window. She turned and looked at Mommy. She signed. \"You didn\'t tell me who he was. Who is my Father?\" Hermione thought a minute and then shook her head. \"I\'ll do something to make up for everything. Tomorrow, I\'ll introduce you to him, ok?\" Steph\'s eyes got wide. She started signing furiously. Hermione stopped her hands. \"Yes honey. I promise. Tomorrow, we\'ll go visit Hogwarts and then I\'ll introduce you to your Father.\"

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A/N: Thanks again to Lily Malfoy for being a great beta!

Mod: Thank you so much for your review! I love writing this story because the characters take me where they want to go. I promise that I will finish this. I\'m writing on this everyday!

Shemhamforash: Of course. I\'m getting my revenge on every author who has left me hanging. Glad you\'re still hanging on with this story. I swear, it\'s going to get better. Severus and Hermione decided to change the course of the story halfway through. They can be so demanding sometimes!

Deb: I hope this answered some of your questions. The fight might not have been as bad as you would imagine, but there were other factors involved as well. Thanks for reading!

Nesscafe: I am sorry. I could update more, but then I would get ahead of my writing and you\'d have to wait longer. ;) Thanks for your review. It means a lot to me.

Katharine: Thank you for reading this. I promise, I\'ll see it through till the end!

PhoenixFeather7: Thanks for your review! Glad you\'re enjoying it.

Franflutewitch: Thank you! I worried about the way this story was being written. I\'m a journalist by trade and I tend to write with as few flowery words as possible. I guess it comes from having to shave out words to fit space. Thanks so much!Q

Red: Love you too hon, and thanks for reading this for me!