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Chapter Three – The Family

Hermione and Ginny stared wide eyed at the three people that stood in front of them. The woman was an average height and rather slender in Hermione's opinion. Her hair was shoulder length and a similar chestnut brown to Hermione's that framed her heart shaped face, but her eyes were a deep blue-y green.

The man, however, was tall, a lot taller than the woman and incredibly muscular, a Quidditch player's body. His hair was cut short and a deep black, similar to Harry's. His eyes were grey with specks of blue around the rim.

The boy looked more like his father than his mother. He was taller than the mother and his eyes were a similar almond shape to his father's, but more of a dark grey colour. His hair was long for a boy and black with red highlights. He was slender, like the mother, but also seemed to have a subtle build up of muscle.

Hermione was the first out of her and Ginny to step forward. "Mrs. Livenstein?" She asked, looking at the woman.

She nodded and smiled, "Please, call me Lisa," she replied, stepping forwards to embrace Hermione, "Or Mum if you wish, but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

Hermione embraced her back slowly, carefully folding her arms around her mother's waist and laying her head on the other woman's neck.

They untangled from each other a moment later and Hermione waved Ginny forwards.

"Ginny?" Lisa said, pulling her into a hug, "My, you really do look like a Weasley."
Ginny was silent, just nodding as they embraced one another.

Hermione turned towards the two men and smiled, holding a hand out, "Hello," she said, "My name's Hermione."

The taller man just watched her for a moment before he pulled her hand towards him and embraced her.

She laughed slightly and hugged him back, "Hey... Dad." She smiled.

She felt wetness in her hair and pulled away, looking up into her father's eyes. They were glassy, brimming with tears and there was a slight tell tale trail on his cheek from the tear that had rolled onto her hair.

Ginny was embracing the shorter boy. He was whispering in her ear and she was giggling.

The two girls swapped, Ginny hugging their father and Hermione standing in front of the other boy.

"Hermione," she said, "Although I'm sure you've heard."

He smiled down at her, "Mark," he pulled her into a hug, as had her mother and father, "You can call me 'brother's though." He grinned at her happily, "You are not with that Weasley boy anymore are you?"

"You..." She bit her lip, "He's just a friend... How did you know about him anyway?"
"Everyone knows about your friendship with Potter and Weasley, even if they weren't at your school." His smirk looked like it could rival with a Malfoy's, "And everyone's been expecting the Gryffindor Princess to get with the Weasley King."
"Wait," Hermione started, "You go to Hogwarts too? How have I not seen you around?"

He laughed, "I'll be in my fourth year when we go back." He paused, "You are going back too, right?"

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Are you kidding me?" She scoffed, "Insufferable Know-It-All right here!" She pointed at her chest.

He nodded, "Snape reference?"

She bit her lip, nodding, "I was never one of his favourites, but he was a great man."
Harry had told her what had been in the memories, mostly, and from those, she knew Snape was one of those 'suffer in silence' hero types that were never appreciated for who they were.

But she knew he'd have hated the glory he was receiving after everyone had jumped to the conclusion of where his loyalties lied, but she had to respect him. So many things pointed to his loyalty for Dumbledore after the evidence had been given, him saving the three of them from Lupin in Third Year, the doe Patronus that had helped them many times in the war.

But she couldn't dwell on it anymore; he was dead, killed by Nagini in the war.
Mark nodded and signalled a hand towards the doorway. Hermione smiled and walked through into a large dining room.

The tables were a beautiful, polished mahogany, laid with a delicate, pure white table cloth. There were eight chairs, but only five places lay out, all close together.
The same elf that had picked her up this morning was standing beside the table, staring up at her with wide eyes.

"Please take a seat here, Miss," she stuttered, pulling out the second chair on the left side. Hermione thanked the elf, who gasped and stood with her mouth open, before taking a seat carefully in the chair. Ginny followed the elf's next instructions to sit opposite Hermione and smiled at her across the table. Their father sat at the head of the table, her mother sat beside Ginny and Mark on Hermione's left.

A flurry of house elves appeared, bringing giant plates of food.

Hermione bit her lip and tucked her head down at the pillow cases they wore. Ginny kicked her under the table and shook her head slightly, eyes wide.

Hermione understood and ducked back down, nibbling on her bottom lip as everyone served themselves dinner.

"So," Ginny said, "Is there anything we should know about... Well... The Livenstein family? I mean, I have no doubt Hermione has done thorough research," Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled slightly to herself, "But I didn't have much time and... Well... I'm more of a Get-Down-And-Dirty on the Quidditch pitch kind of girl compared to Hermione's Need-To-Know-Everything perspective, no offence," Hermione shrugged. She agreed.

"Well, there's not much about the Livenstein's that you need to know. However," their mother paused and looked over at their father, "Your real names are... Slightly different than what you know. Hermione, your birth name for us is Anastasia Hermione and Ginny, yours is Apollonia Ginny. But you don't need to go by those names if you don't want to." She quickly amended.

Hermione nodded; she liked her name and everyone else knew her by it. Personally, she didn't think of herself as an Anastasia, nor Ginny as an Apollonia.

To be honest, she didn't see herself as a Pureblood either. Ginny, she could understand; she'd been raised as a Pureblood her whole life, never had to deal with the 'Muggleborn' issues. She fit in with those of 'higher' ranks of Witches and Wizards in the Ministry and the Pureblood Associations. The fact that she had been a Weasley, now Livenstein, didn't make as much of a difference for her as it did for Hermione, who had been so badly picked on for her Muggle family that she'd been a prime target in the war, more than Ron but less than Harry had been.

Her eyes widened a fraction as she looked up at Ginny. Harry! They had been together last she knew, but things change rather quickly nowadays, with all the rebuilding from the destruction of the war.

She opened her mouth to speak, but froze. What if something had happened? Last she knew Harry was staying in the Burrow over the summer, so he'd have been present when Ginny left. How did he take it?

She didn't think it was the right time to ask, so she pushed it to the back of her mind to discuss later.

Hermione stayed silent through the rest of dinner, only speaking when spoken to. She focused her mind on what would lie ahead for her. She was the oldest of the three children and so she would be the one to gain the inheritance.

In most of the Pureblood families she had read about, or met – for instance, the Malfoy's and the Parkinson's – the oldest child was expected to marry as early as possible to secure their place and their right to the inheritance. Some wizarding families even set up arranged marriages for their children. Hermione just hoped that wouldn't be the case for her; she wanted to marry whom she wanted, when she wanted.

Hopefully her parents would accept that.

Aaand there you go :) Let us know what you think ;D

Auralee and Brittany xx