A/N: Thanks so much for all the positive feedback. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it, and for the record, I got the idea of Alice the fashion designer from Twilight's Alice the vampire. I thought that readers of both series would enjoy the addition.

On with the story:

Hermione Adopted?

Chapter 7: Eventful

I can't believe how easy this transition has been. It's been under a week since I learned my true parentage and I already feel comfortable living this life. It feels…natural. Like I've been with my parents for my entire life. As it should have been. I still love the Grangers, and I always will, but I'm almost innately drawn to Cora and Damien. It feels like I've been biologically programmed to love them. And it's not just them. This house (well, manor), feels like home. I feel… right… being here. Then again, maybe I'm just reeling from the day I had. So much happened in just a few hours.

Hermione mused on about her day while playing with her long dark brown hair, trying to decide how to style it for the dinner party that night. Damien and Cora had a few business meetings during the day and had left Hermione to her own devices following an… eventful breakfast.

During their morning tea and pancakes, a tawny owl came through the window carrying a rather large package. The owl landed directly in front of Hermione, who recognized the owl as being a Hogwarts one.

Attached to the lumpy package was a letter addressed to Hermione Lawrence.

"Who is that from sweetheart?" Damien asked

"I think it's from Professor Dumbledore... I don't know how he already knows about all of this yet, but I suppose he knows everything," Hermione smiled while opening the letter and reading it aloud.

Dear Miss Lawrence,

It has come to my attention that you have recently discovered your true heritage. I give you my sincerest best wishes in growing together as a family. As such, given your new lineage and identity, I think it best for you to be resorted. Enclosed is our school's trustworthy sorting hat. Try him on once again, and I'm confident you'll be placed in the house where you, Hermione Lawrence, belong. Hermione Granger was a time proven Gryffindor, I'm curious to see where Hermione Lawrence ends up.

Please tend to this matter as soon as possible, so that the proper Prefect selections can be made for each house. Send the sorting hat back with the school owl, and he will inform me of your placement.

Sincerely, and, again, best wishes,

Albus Dumbledore.

P.S: Don't worry, the sorting hat's long speeches are strictly reserved for the beginning of the year.

Hermione looked from her parents to the packaged sorting hat. She had never really thought about changing houses. It was assumed that once you were sorted, that's where you were meant to be.

Well, I've come this far with changes, I might as well go all the way.

"So… what are my options? What house were you in?" Hermione asked, silently hoping that it was Gryffindor.

"Actually, we were in separate houses. I was in Ravenclaw, and your father was in Slytherin." Cora smiled, eyeing her husband mischievously.

Oh. I guess could live with Ravenclaw. But the idea of me in Slytherin is just ridiculous!

"Well here it goes," Hermione sighed, unwrapping the sorting hat.

The lip of the hat twitched and then wheezed before speaking.

"A resortment in order and a new life begun, put me back on and in your proper house is where your placement shall be redone…"he trailed off, and wheezed again. (A/N: I fail at coming up with clever rhymes, please bear with me).

Hermione gently picked the hat up from the table, and gingerly placed it on her head. Immediately the hat began talking to her inside her head.

"I believe we've met before Miss Granger, or I suppose its Miss Lawrence now. Let me see here. You were last a Gryffindor, but that hardly seems fitting now. While brave you may be, you are also quite clever, cunning even. Slytherin would be the place for you, but you seem much too against it. If not Slytherin then, let's see about putting your wit to good use. Let's go with… RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted and then resumed its limp slumber. Without waiting for it to be re-wrapped, the Tawny owl swooped down and took the hat back, before soaring out the window again.

"Congratulations Hermione!" Cora cried and pulled Hermione into a tight hug. Over her daughter's shoulder, Cora smiled cheekily at her husband. "See! I told you she took more after me!"

Damien rolled his eyes playfully but smiled at his wife and daughter. His smile receded a bit when he saw the worried expression on Hermione's face.

"What's wrong Hermione? You look a little…put off." Damien noted.

"It's just strange to think about; being in another house. I've been in Gryffindor for so long, I'm worried that I won't get on as well as I did before. I'm also a little worried about what my friends will think. They're going to be confused enough as it is when I tell them about all of this..." Hermione trailed off gesturing around her.

Cora and Damien exchanged a worried look.

After a brief moment of silence and contemplation, Cora gave Hermione another small hug and a sympathetic smile.

"Darling, the way I see it, is if they're really your friends then they won't let something silly like what house you're in or what your last name is change anything. You are still you. You're still Hermione. Whether you're a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw, a Granger or a Lawrence, you're still the same person you've always been, sweetheart." Cora concluded, smiling warmly at her daughter.

"I suppose you're right. It's just a lot of changes to take in," Hermione sighed. "I know I said I wanted to go to the bookstore with you again today, but would you mind if I just stayed here today? Maybe I'll settle in a bit more on my own," Hermione said slowly, not wanting to offend them.

"Of course you can, darling. Your mother and I will mostly be doing boring business stuff today anyway." Damien said matter-of-factly.

"Speaking of which, we'd better head off soon dear, we have that appointment in a half hour or so," Cora reminded him, rising from her seat.

"Oh yes, of course, I almost forgot about that. We're having a meeting with our accountant. The goblins are making an exception for us and sending a representative to the bookstore instead of us having to go to Gringotts." Damien explained to Hermione.

"Oh. Well that sounds… fun… I think." Hermione commented, suddenly glad she wasn't going. The Gringotts goblins always sort of freaked her out for some reason.

Damien chuckled at his daughter's reaction, and then stood up to join his wife.

"Well, have fun today Hermione! Call for Tessa if you need anything. The other house elves should be busy getting things prepared for this evening. But she will be available for you for anything you might need. We'll be home around five o'clock to start getting ready ourselves. Feel free to floo over to the bookshop if you get bored or lonely, or both…" Cora babbled, while Damien wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her over to the fireplace.

"Why don't you go through first dear?" Damien interrupted, "I have a feeling that if I go first then you won't be coming along at all," he teased.

"Oh alright! Like I said, have fun today dear, and I'll see you at five." Cora smiled before stepping into the fireplace. "Lawrence's Rare Book Emporium" she said clearly, before disappearing into a flash of green flames.

Damien shook his head at where his wife was just standing, and smiled to himself. He often wondered where his wife got all her energy from. Chuckling to himself, he turned back to Hermione, who was also giggling a bit about her mother's farewell.

"Enjoy yourself today darling. We'll see you later." Damien grinned at Hermione before stepping into the fireplace after his wife.

"Bye. Have a good day!" Hermione said as he, too, disappeared into the Floo network.

Following breakfast, Hermione spent her morning and afternoon further exploring the manor.

Tessa proved to be a great help in suggesting things for her to do and explore. Hermione suspected that she was acting on her mother's orders, because almost as soon as Hermione had finished with something, Tessa appeared and recommend something else.

The little house elf encouraged her first to take a walk in the gardens outside, as she had yet to see them. Simply put: They were beautiful. Tessa gave her a little tour.

"Here, Miss, is Mistress Lawrence's favorite spot for afternoon tea, miss." Tessa explained, as she led Hermione to an elegant white wicker patio set surrounded by gardenias and pink and yellow roses. The aroma was fragrant, but not overbearing. The white linen canopy provided the perfect blend of shade and sunshine. Hermione understood why this was her mother's favorite place in the garden. It matched her personality: sophisticated but open and charming at the same time. Hermione could just imagine herself reading out here while on holiday from school, enjoying the quiet.

After the tour of the rest of the garden, including the small Quidditch pitch, Tessa insisted that Hermione spend time in the newest edition to the manor: the muggle entertainment room.

"Master Lawrence and Mistress adds this room especially for you Miss. They says it are for you to enjoy Miss."

The muggle entertainment center was any muggle teenager's dream room come true. There was a wall sized screen and projector hooked up to a VCR/DVD player (A/N: technically DVD players did not come out until around 1998 in Europe, but that's a small detail), Playstation, and Satellite TV. A bookshelf lined half of the right side wall, completely stocked with movies and games. There was a mini kitchen and pantry that housed a variety of sweets, snacks, and drinks. Behind the deep blue plush sofas, there was a pool table, and air hockey table.

Hermione knew she'd have fun playing against Harry , and that'd they'd both enjoy teaching Ron how to play muggle games as payback for losing to him so many times at Wizard Chess.

She was a little touched by her parent's respect for her muggle upbringing, and was also a bit surprised at how much they had put into this room, just for her. Not to mention how puzzled she was over how they knew what to get for a muggle teenager.

Not wanting to linger in the entertainment room without someone to enjoy it with, Hermione wandered out to the library on her floor and began to skim through books again. After perusing for about an hour, Hermione finally settled on three books and sat down on a white suede chaise to begin her reading.

Hermione was half way through her first book, when Tessa appeared with a tea tray and pastries, as well as a few letters.

"Tea for you Miss, and these just comes for you, Miss." Tessa said, setting everything down on the coffee table.

"Thank you, Tessa." Hermione said, sitting up. The little elf bowed and with a pop disappeared.

Pouring herself some tea, Hermione studied the four letters. Three were from Hogwarts. One she knew to be her usual letter, with her supplies list enclosed. The other two were thicker and one of them had an oddly shaped bulge to it. The fourth letter was simply addressed to "Hermione" and she instantly recognized Harry's untidy handwriting.

Putting the other letters aside, Hermione tore into Harry's response, eager to read his and Ron's reply.

Dear Hermione,

I won't say we're not a little worried, but we—well I anyway, trust you'll tell us what's going on in due time. We got our letters today, and you'll never guess what's happened. I'll tell you all about it when we see you. We're heading to Diagon Alley on Tuesday to get our supplies. Owl us if you can meet us at Flourish and Blotts around noon.

Can't wait to see you,

Harry

Hermione wrote a quick response, telling Harry that Tuesday should work for her, but if anything changes she'll let him know. She couldn't imagine her parent's having a problem with that date. Thinking about seeing her best friends and, of course, about the books she'd get to buy, Hermione was eager to open her other three letters.

Her booklist was what she was expecting, with the exception of her DADA class, which, as was tradition, was odd and different from her previous years' textbooks.

Hermione opened the next letter, and had to stifle a scream when she realized what it was. Her O.W.L. results were in. With everything that had happened over the past days, Hermione had all but forgotten she was expecting them.

Suddenly overwrought with anxiety, Hermione unfolded the letter with shaking hands, hoping for the best, but dreading the worst.

Hermione couldn't help, but let out a squeal of delight. She had earned 11 O.W.L.s.—Ten 'outstandings' and one 'exceeds expectations'.

Tessa appeared immediately after Hermione's cry of joy, with a worried expression.

"Is Miss alright, Miss?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh, Tessa! Everything is more than alright! Could you please bring me my owl? I have great news to send my parents!" She cried, overjoyed.

Tessa still looked a little wary, but nodded and dissapparated with a crack.

Hermione reached for her other letter, wondering what else Hogwarts could possibly have to tell her.

Sliding her hand into the envelope, she felt something prick her finger. Pulling out the offending object, Hermione let out another squeal of delight. It was a Ravenclaw Prefect's badge.

Tessa appeared again, this time with a bewildered owl resting on her arm.

"Is Miss sure Miss is alright?" Tessa asked worriedly.

Hermione laughed, "I'm sorry Tessa. Yes, everything's fine." She smiled, relieving the elf of the owl, who fluttered away from both of them and perched herself on the nearby book shelf.

Tessa gave her a weak grimace. "Is there anything else Miss is needing?"

Hermione shook her head and Tessa popped away again.

Returning her attention back to the envelope, Hermione pulled out the enclosed letter.

Dear Miss Lawrence,

As your new head of house, I would like to congratulate you on your outstanding academic performance this past school year. While you may have earned those grades under a different name, your achievements still rank you the top of your year for your house. Due to your excellent record, I would like to offer you a position as a sixth year prefect for Ravenclaw. Enclosed is your prefect's badge. Please meet your fellow prefects as well as this year's head boy and head girl in the second compartment on the Hogwarts express for a brief orientation.

My sincerest congratulations,

Professor Flitwick

Head of Ravenclaw.

Hermione was stunned. Today had been going so amazingly well. She was certain this morning that she'd get lonely and home-sick for her old life, but, as it turned out, today had become the best day of her summer.

Quickly writing a note to her parents, to tell them of her good news, Hermione then sent the letter off with her owl.

Within an hour she received a note back.

Congratulations Hermione! We are both so proud of you! I was prefect for Ravenclaw in my fifth and sixth years too! I guess it runs in the family! We promise to take out you out later this week to celebrate! We'd go tonight of course, but I'm sure you understand why we can't. On that note, our dinner guests will be arriving promptly at 6 tonight. I forgot to mention this earlier, as I wasn't sure if you knew or not, but please dress formally. Call it an odd wizarding custom, but these dinners are always formal for some odd reason. My recommendation would be the dark blue dress robes with the ¾ sleeves from Alice's with that adorable black cocktail dress I put on your rack this morning (ask Tessa if you can't find it). I'll be home at 4:45 to start getting ready myself. See you then darling!

Hermione went to her closet. Her bedroom sized walk-in went from being nearly empty, to being nearly overflowing. Every wall was covered. One side had a wall sized shoe rack. Another had all muggle casual clothes. The third was filled with robes. And the fourth was half covered with formal muggle attire and the other half had a rather large accessories display. In the middle of the room was clothing rack with two items hanging off it. One was the dark blue robe from Alice's that Alice had insisted she get because it made her eyes stand out. The other was in a dress bag that said Gucci Magic on the side. Unaware that there even was a Gucci in the magic world, Hermione proceeded carefully. Pinned to the bag was a note:

Just try it on and it will be fitted to your body perfectly ~CL

Curious, Hermione unzipped the bag. Inside was an adorable black satin dress. It had a babydoll cut and looked like it would end just above the knee. Accentuating the bust was delicate bronze embroidery. Hermione had never worn a dress like this before, and was nervous about how she would feel in it.

Throwing caution to the wind, Hermione quickly stripped down and pulled the dress over her head. It was loose at first, but within moments Hermione felt the dress shrinking in all the right places. It went in at the waist and clung to her figure. The dress flared out a bit at the hips, showing off her curvature perfectly. The bust adjusted itself so that the neckline was lower and her décolletage was showing just the right amount. Once she felt the dress finish its fitting, Hermione turned around to look in the mirror. Her jaw dropped. She looked… hot!

The note was right. It does fit me perfectly.

Hermione checked the clock on the wall: Cora was due home in about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

"Hermione! Where are you darling?" She heard her mother calling for her in the hallway.

"I'm in my closet!" Hermione called back.

Within seconds Cora was through the door, looking excited.

She stopped and stared at her daughter, who was now uncomfortably fidgeting at the look of awe she was receiving from her mother.

"Hermione!" Cora gasped. "You look… so… grown up!" She exclaimed with a bit of wistful sadness hidden in her smile.

"Thanks mum…" Hermione muttered shyly. Then, with a little more confidence "This dress is so beautiful. Thank you for picking it out for me!"

"Oh, it was nothing, darling!" Cora said listlessly, her attention suddenly turned toward Hermione's shoe collection. "Let's see here: I don't think we need to go too fancy on the shoes, so how about these." Cora held up a pair of black satin ballet flats that matched the dress perfectly.

Hermione nodded, and took the shoes from her mother.

"Now darling, of course I'd love to stay and chat about everything—I'm so proud of you Hermione; a Ravenclaw AND a prefect all in one day!—but I really need to make my rounds. I want everything to be just perfect tonight!" Cora exclaimed, and then practically skipped from the closet.

Hermione smiled at the spot where her mother was just standing. I wish I was more like her. She's so…bubbly! But in a fun way, not a Lavender and Pavarti annoying way.

Carefully, Hermione took off the dress and put it back on the hanger and collected the dress, robe and shoes to her room. She laid them over her duvet and made her way to the bathroom/spa for a quick shower.

Still unused to the texture and manageability of her long smooth, and bushy-free dark brown hair, Hermione overestimated how much time she'd need in the shower, so she found herself with 5 extra minutes to just let the powerful hot stream spray down her back, relaxing her muscles, but not her mind. Whilst musing on the evening ahead, Hermione came to the realization that neither of her parents had mention exactly WHO was coming tonight.

I wonder if it was deliberate. Maybe they didn't want me to know. But why? Why would they not want to tell me? They both seem pretty excited for this dinner, so I don't suppose they could be expecting anyone bad. After all, these are the people who helped clear my parents' names and find me. But I still don't understand why they don't want to tell me. Wait, no! It's not that they didn't want to tell me, they probably just never realized that they hadn't. It's ridiculous for me to think otherwise! Hermione scolded herself and shook the thoughts from her head. It's not like I won't find out eventually anyway.

Stepping out of the shower and wrapping herself in a robe and her hair in a towel, Hermione made her way over to the vanity in her closet.

No longer requiring the miracle that is Sleekeazy to make her hair look smooth and silky, Hermione was unsure how to proceed. She wanted her hair to match the elegance of her dress robes, but was unsure how to go about it. She dried it with her wand. Even though she knew she shouldn't use magic outside of school, she figured that just this once would be okay. (A/N: it is an important dinner after all….)

After playing with it for a very frustrating five minutes, she gave up and just glared at her reflection. Even now I can't make my hair behave! She thought huffily. Then an idea came to her.

"Tessa!" She called. Tessa popped into her room instantly.

"Yes, Miss? What can Tessa do for Miss?" The elf asked.

"Can you please find my mother and ask her to come up here if she's not too busy right now?" Hermione asked hurriedly, glancing at the clock. It was 20 minutes to six, and she still hadn't dressed.

"Of course, Miss! Miss' mother is never too busy for Miss!" The elf smiled and left with another pop.

Three minutes later an impeccably dressed Cora glided into the room. When she saw that Hermione was still in her robe, her smile faded, and her eyes widened.

"Hermione! Why on Earth aren't you dressed? They're going to be here in 15 minutes!" Cora panicked.

"I know! I'm sorry; it's just that I have no idea what to do with my hair! I've been messing with it but I can't get it to do what I want it to, and I really want to look perfect for tonight because I know how important this dinner is to you and I want to make a good impression…" Hermione rambled until her mother stopped her.

"You really are my daughter; you ramble just as much as I do." Cora laughed, and pulled out her wand. "How about this, I'll take care of your hair, and you apply your make-up. You won't need much, just a little to accent your features."

Cora used her wand to transform Hermione's dark tresses from straight and limp to wavy and volumized. She pulled back the top layer, leaving just a few strands to frame Hermione's face, and secured the rest of the layer at the back of her head with a few bobby pins. Then she moved the rest of her hair to cascade around her shoulders, and charmed it to stay in place but still move naturally.

Hermione applied a light amount of make up to her face. A touch of mascara just on the outside lashes (A/N: I find that it makes your eyes look bigger than if you do all of your lashes). She put a little bit of concealer under her eyes to hide her dark circles that she'd gained from reading late at night, and put on a clear gloss that was charmed to stay on all night.

The moment Hermione's hair and make-up were done, Cora practically threw the outfit at her daughter when she glanced at the clock again. "Quickly now, Darling, they'll be here any moment.

Hermione stepped into the dress and felt it zip itself and go through the same fitting routine as before. She slipped on the ballet flats and Cora slid the dress robes onto her arms and up to her shoulders. She then spun Hermione around so she could look herself in the mirror.

Hermione could hardly recognize herself. If it weren't for the image in the mirror reflecting back the awestruck smile Hermione knew she was doing she might not have believed it was really her at all.

"You look beautiful, darling!" Cora breathed, also taking in her daughter's reflection.

A small pop distracted them from their fawning.

"Mistress and Miss, the Malfoys have just arrived at the gate, they is almost at the door." Tessa said anxiously, knowing that her mistresses were required in the entrance hall almost immediately.

Cora gasped. Before Hermione could even register the fact that the MALFOYS of all people were the family they were expecting, Cora grabbed her wrist and Tessa's shoulder and the elf apparated them down stairs just as there was a knock at the door.

A/N: So what'd you think? Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? I do hope it was worth the time I've spent doing the re-write, and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say! From here on out, everything will be new and never-before seen. Enjoy, I have some writing to get to it seems. =)

Luv ya,

Dreamysilverdragon08