Chapter Four

It had been two years since Sirius had taken Hermione away from her horrid parents, and she was now ten, much healthier and looking like a normal, happy ten year old, but her parents knew that she really was still very unhappy, constantly plagued by the ghosts of her past. So when Juliana walked by her adoptive daughter's bedroom that night, she wasn't entirely surprised to hear Hermione embarrassedly crying, and judging by the volume, trying to make it seem like she wasn't. Gently, Juliana opened the door and walked over to Hermione's bedside.

"Oh, hi, Mum," Hermione said, for that was what she called her now.

"What is it, Sunshine?" Juliana asked.

"N-nothing," Hermione said, "it's not important."

"It is to me," Juliana replied, gently pulling Hermione onto her lap and cuddling her. When she had been properly nourished by her new family, Hermione had grown quite a bit, but she was still quite small. Hermione's sobs became a little more pronounced in Juliana's arms.

"I can't explain it," Hermione said desperately.

"Try," Juliana encouraged

"I was dreaming about my other…mother and…and you…I know that she was my real mum, and that I was born out of her, but—" she sniffled and took a breath "—I never really, you know, loved her. Only you and Daddy ever treated me like…like I was…anything or anybody, but…I feel like I should love…them, but I can't, because I love you.…and Daddy," she said as an afterthought. Juliana stroked her hair, not knowing what to say.

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Two years earlier

From the moment Sirius had arrived on the doorstep bearing the unconscious Hermione in his arms, Juliana knew it was risky to take Hermione directly to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, so she opted to call on the services of a very experienced caregiver who everyone had slated to go work for St. Mungo's ever since her graduation from Hogwarts school, but had instead become a stay at home mother.

"Hello, Juliana, how are you?" Molly Weasley asked, looking down at Juliana's face in her fireplace.

"Not well," Juliana responded, "we have a very sick child at home who needs immediate attention, and she can't be taken to St. Mungo's."

"Your child? But I thought you said that you and Sirius were unable to—"

"Please, Molly, this is urgent. It's also complicated, so I would appreciate it if you don't ask too many questions. I can fill you in more when you get here."

"Arthur's working late, so I'll have to bring Ronnie and Ginevra with me."

"I think Lil and Harry will be able to entertain them."

"All right, I'll be there," Molly said.

But when she got there, the situation was not at all to her liking.

"I…I'm very troubled, Juliana, by what you've done. Kidnap is not tolerated any more in our world than it is in the Muggle world."

"I thought you of all people could appreciate what Hermione had been living with and understand why we had to do this," Sirius replied edgily, "honestly, Molly, have I misjudged you? I thought raising healthy, happy children was your specialty!" Molly Weasley glared daggers at Sirius, who glared right back. Molly looked away from him and down at Hermione, who she had cleaned up and administered a sort of magical IV filled with water so that, for starters, she could get hydrated. She sighed.

"It's not that I like this; I hate to see an innocent child in this state, but I honestly think we should nurse her, and send her home." Lily and Juliana joined Sirius in glaring daggers at Mrs. Weasley.

"I got bad news for you, Molly," Lily said, "my brother-in-law already spoke to Hermione's parents' lawyers, and they relinquished care of Hermione to Jules and Sirius fairly easily. They even approved Jules changing her middle name. And even if they hadn't, I would advocate Jules adopting her anyway."

"I don't understand," James added, "I thought you had devoted your life to kids, as Padfoot said, so why are you suddenly supporting the type of parent that, as I recall, you denounced as the worst type of person alive?"

"For goodness sake, what is wrong with you all?!" Mrs. Weasley snapped, "It's not the abuse I support, but I don't support my best friends becoming outlaws!"

"Outlaws?!" Juliana cried, "For rightfully taking Hermione away from those horrid people?"

"I hardly think what you did was rightful—"

"Stop, everybody just stop!" Sirius snarled, "Look, Molly, Hermione is now Juliana's and my child, and we will not take her back to her…relations. We brought you here because you are the absolute best we know of to help nurse her back to health aside from a professional healer, and to have taken her directly to St. Mungo's would have been a bad move until Chris gets everything finalized. Now, we are capable of nursing Hermione by ourselves, so either you are in or you're out. We'd love your help, but if you can't look beyond your bloody morals, or can't keep any sense of confidentiality, by which I mean you won't breathe a word of this to anyone until later when everything's settled, you know where the fireplace is."

"You are aware my husband works tirelessly to stop people doing what you are doing, don't you?" Sirius nodded.

"I've cherished your friendship, Molly," Juliana said quietly, "and I think you are a good person, but right now, my daughter's health is more important to me than our friendship." Unbeknownst to anyone present, young Ronald Weasley had entered the room.

"They're right, Mum," he said, sounding unsure if he was out of line or not, "we can't let her die."

"Hermione won't die, love," Mrs. Weasley said comfortingly to Ron.

"She might if we don't help her," Ron argued, "I think she's nice." Suddenly, Mrs. Weasley's eyes pooled with tears.

"All right," she said, "I'll help, and you have my utmost confidentiality, Sirius. I…I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me. If that had been Ginny in Hermione's place, I would have done what you did. Of course I'll help."

With Mrs. Weasley's assistance, Hermione was soon recovered enough – after three days – that her new parents felt they could take her to St. Mungo's to get the "final touches", and soon, after nearly three weeks of rest and loving care from Juliana and Sirius, Hermione was back on her feet.

The experience, for Hermione, made 'surreal' and 'confusing' understatements. It was too good to be true, and though everyone assured her that Juliana and Sirius had adopted her, and her new mother and father, aunt, uncles (Lupin was always as good as an uncle to Harry, and Hermione soon found that she felt that way too), cousin and even the Weasleys all gave her more love and attention in a few weeks then she had received in all her prior eight years of life, but even so, she found herself, at a quarter to three, the time her biological parents had said was her curfew to be in the house and no questions, she would start to wonder if her father would come in, grab her and leave, taking her back to her hellish life, but he never did. It also took her some time to feel comfortable to call Juliana and Sirius 'mum' and 'dad', James 'uncle', Lily 'aunt' and so fourth. She had been very embarrassed that Juliana and Sirius had taken her with them to a family counselor at St. Mungo's.

"Don't be ashamed," Juliana had said, "we're not doing this because we think you did something wrong or anything like that, and don't feel guilty or embarrassed; you are not at fault for anything. This is a new and strange experience for me and your father too. We just hope that Healer Goldman can help us sort everything out." Thus saying, she kissed Hermione softly on the head. Moreover, Juliana had been quite right, and after some gentle questions and suggestions from Dr. Goldman – her mother had called him 'Healer' for some reason – she had become comfortable to start seeing Juliana and Sirius as her new mother and father, and her love that she had secretly cherished ever since she first met them, grew and there was no looking back.

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As the child of Muggles, Lily liked to play around with Muggle devices that could be manipulated to work in the magical world. To avoid trouble with the Ministry, she had restricted her experiments to devices that the magical world did not have suitable alternatives. One such device had been a video camera Lily owned, which she had put to good use, like any sane aunt, to film her new niece. All of the family, but especially Juliana and Sirius loved to watch the films Lily had made over and over again.

Juliana's favorite was one that had been made soon after Hermione had become well and had accepted her new family. Remembering what he had heard Hermione confess as a dog, Sirius immediately decided to take her for a day on the town, inviting Harry, James and Lily to come along. Lily, of course, brought her camera. First they stopped at the park, and the camera followed Sirius chasing Hermione all around the playground, laughing and tossing his favorite little girl in the air, smiling at her delight. Afterward, Juliana pushed Hermione on the swings, and after a few minutes of enjoying and loving her daughter, the two hugged, both sobbing with delight, sadness, confusion, love…

The next stop was the one Hermione never forgot, for Sirius had treated her with her very first ice cream. By that time, Hermione had shed all her tears, and only a joyful eight year old remained. When she had realized Lily was filming her, she turned to the camera, all smiles, ice cream all over her mouth and nose, dripping down onto her shirt as she munched on the last bit of the cone. It had made Sirius, James and Lily laugh to see how eagerly Hermione shared her ice cream with Harry, but Juliana was deeply moved as she realized how deprived of friendship Hermione had been, and how she was so happy to finally have such basic interaction with another being as to share something, which her biological parents would have surely forbidden, all in the name of "normal". How was depriving such a selfless, loving being from one of a human's most basic needs any bit "normal"?

The final stop that day had not been filmed, but even so, Juliana at least, knew she would never forget that part of that very memorable day. She had taken Hermione to the department store, so that Hermione could get a whole new wardrobe. Not liking shopping the way Lily or Juliana did, Harry, James and Sirius asked Hermione if it would be all right if they went a couple doors down to a video game store. All three guys had fallen in love with the Muggle invention of video games, and Harry was particularly talented at them, but Sirius wasn't far off. Hermione said that was okay with her as long as they would leave some time for her to look at the games too. Hermione had been delighted when Juliana had let her loose to pick out her own clothing. Hermione had at least looked at everything, and tried on mounds of different stuff, but in the end, hadn't bought much. Though she had thought it was a bit too girly even for her, she had ended up buying various pink clothes, some that even had hearts on them, though it was, in part, on Juliana's urges that she did so. She also let Juliana and Lily pick out her underwear. Not being a video game person, once she had finished with her clothes, Hermione asked Harry to show her around, allowing him to explain how video games worked, and which ones he thought were good.

"I like having you as my cousin, Hermione," Harry said shyly as the group made their way home. He blushed and looked down, embarrassed as Hermione, Juliana and Lily all beamed at him. Both Juliana and Lily had lumps in their throats, and Juliana's eyes welled up.

"That's m'boy!" James said heartily.

"We all love you, Hermione," Sirius said seriously, looking at her, "and we always will. Don't ever forget that, and don't be shy if you ever need us. If you ever feel lonely, or just want to talk to someone, you are always welcome to find your mother or myself, not to mention Prongs, Harry, or Lils, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Hermione said, beaming. Sirius pulled her close and held her in a gentle father-cuddle, as he would call it later. Hermione's lip trembled and she sniffled, and Sirius doubled the force of his embrace, letting her bury her head in his chest, where, for the first time, Hermione actually felt safe.

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Present

"Don't forget, tomorrow's your birthday," Juliana said quietly while Hermione dozed. As she fell completely asleep, she grinned a bit.

Though it wasn't actually her birthday – and when Juliana and Sirius adopted her, they did not change the actual date – everyone agreed that they could celebrate early, and usually celebrated her birthday a week after Harry's, and this year, as she would be turning eleven, it was even more exciting and important as she would no doubt be getting her Hogwarts letter.

After Hermione's adoption, Juliana and Sirius had told her all about the magical world to which she now belonged, with the help of Johann Straub, Jr. the healer whose job it was to ease the doubts of a Muggleborn witch or wizard and their parents and help answer any questions either party had. Straub's father had been the one to counsel Lily and her family when she was accepted to Hogwarts, and now, Hermione was every bit as excited about going to Hogwarts as Harry was.

"Happy early birthday sweetheart!" Juliana said as Hermione came down into the living room of Potter Manor (Sirius and Juliana shared the place with James and Lily). Sirius hugged her in a special way that he said was for her birthdays alone.

Hermione's presents had been good. From Harry, she had gotten a video game he noticed her eyeing with – Harry assumed to be – particular fondness, from James and Lily, she got an old leather, hardbound copy of five of Shakespeare's greatest plays, to her surprise, the Weasleys sent her a book on the history of the development of magical talents in nonmagical people, and Lupin and Ms. Powell had gotten her a t-shirt that read The Weird Sisters on the front. No one had missed the fondness Hermione had displayed for their music when she had walked in on James playing one of their albums – the magical world was still a good ten years behind the Muggle world in latest developments in musical recording devices, and were still cranking out LPs and 78s, even though in the Muggle world, compact discs (CDs) were becoming all the rage.

Though she loved every gift she got for her birthdays and Christmas from her family and friends, Hermione always – and wouldn't tell anyone this, for fear of appearing ungrateful – cherished her parents' gifts, be it big and expensive, or just a card with a picture drawn by her father and loving words penned in her mother's neat hand, more than anything else, perhaps because even before she became Hermione Shea Black, she received presents in secret from her birth grandfathers, both of whom had been absolutely appalled by their children's childrearing practices, widowers and both were very fond of Hermione. Her paternal grandfather, Admiral Edward Granger, formerly of the British Navy, had been a natural born storyteller and had been the one to install Hermione's love of books in her, while his friend Owen Boulstridge, a shipbuilder out of Poole would take Hermione from her parents for half a month, on the (lie) promise that he would uphold their standards of strictness where Hermione was concerned, where he actually invited the Admiral over, and the three would go on all sorts of wild adventures – usually involving boats somehow – together. But did the son of Admiral Granger and the daughter of Sir Owen, one of the most respected and competent shipbuilders in all of the United Kingdom, ever get their daughter a single gift? No, which was why Hermione cherished the gifts from her adoptive parents so much, and this year's gift was one that Hermione knew she would cherish forever. It was a letter, but not from Sirius or Juliana, but rather, Owen Boulstridge, inviting her and her new parents to come out to Poole.

My favorite Granddaughter,

I was very, very shocked to hear from my daughter that she and her husband have let another couple adopt you, and ashamed to hear how gleefully she said that she had given you to another's care, and how she sneered at the fact that, as I understand it, the couple who adopted you, have been unsuccessful at any attempt thus far at conception. Your great-aunt, my sister, thinks that one or both of your parents should be checked for infertility – of course, if I were your new father and suspected something like that, I wouldn't want to know!

Anyway, the reason that I am writing is that I truly hope that your new family is treating you well, and extend an invitation to you and your mother and father to come out here so we can meet. I have invited Ed as well, and I have no doubt he will come too.

I hope this letter arrives in time for your birthday, for this is my birthday present to you, and I hope to see you in Poole.

Your grandfather,

Owen Boulstridge

"Can we go?" Hermione asked delightedly as soon as she had finished reading.

"Of course," Juliana replied, chuckling.

"I already arranged everything," Sirius added, putting a hand on his wife's shoulders. Leaning in to her ear he said in a whisper, "and I think Mr. Boulstridge's sister must be a nurse, I think they're called and you know, she's right. I suppose you and I had better make appointments with the family Healer."

The next day, the Blacks prepared to depart for three days in Poole.

"We're going to miss you, Hermione," James said smiling, "but you need to spend time with your family."

And after a drive that took almost the whole day, the three arrived at the fancy house belonging to Owen Boulstridge. With Hermione and Juliana following, Hermione holding Juliana's hand, Sirius approached the door and knocked. Owen Boulstridge answered. He was a man hitting the other side of his seventies and was a little stooped, and his hands reflected a lifetime of building boats, and despite his age, his muscles were still very strong and his energy was still very prominent, however, he was beginning to gain weight. He stood a good foot and a half shorter than Sirius, but as he beckoned them in, his renowned kindly, but forceful personality overshadowed his small stature, and he heartily slapped Sirius on the shoulder as he led them into the parlor.

"So good to finally meet you," he was saying to Sirius as they walked, side by side, Sirius marginally uncomfortable, "I am really, really honored. Ed and I were just saying…" Edward Granger may have been a storyteller, Juliana reflected, but Owen Boulstridge was the embodiment of a socialite, bourgeois man, determined to make the best possible impression on his friends. Once in the parlor, Owen introduced them to Edward Granger.

Edward Granger was what Owen was not. Where Owen was shorter than Sirius, Edward was taller, wry, but built on a sturdy frame, and seemed very steady and grounded, both in his stance and behavior, and as Owen had not lost his muscle from his working days, Edward had not lost his resourcefulness, and he remained a bit cooler then Owen as he shook Sirius' hand and politely embraced Juliana, but when he spoke, he very much echoed Owen's sentiments about finally meeting them.

"Of course I care very much for my son, but I have never approved of how he treated my granddaughter, and I am very happy she could be put in your care," he said.

The rest of the day was spent engaging in various activities. First, there was a light luncheon put on by Owen's household staff, and then Owen insisted he take them out in a new model launch his company's engineers just turned out.

"Just came out," he said proudly and pompously, "we call it the Stingray. Built for speed, it's got a 120-horsepower motor there and can go just about as fast as you like!" They ended up spending a few hours tooling around the bay with some juice that Owen had seen fit to bring along, while Edward displayed his abilities telling a story that was half-true, half-fiction about his experience with whalers while he was stationed in Greenland and Newfoundland while he served his time in the Navy. When they got back, they had some light pre-dinner refreshments in the parlor, while Juliana eyed the piano.

"May I?" she asked Owen. He indicated that she might try, and she treated them to a round of entertaining music.

"I had no idea you could play, my dear," Edward said, "that was very good playing."

"Thank you," Juliana said, "my sister-in-law's mother taught me. She was a concert pianist."

"Who was she?"

"Jeanine Evans."

"No! Not Jeanine Evans?!" Owen asked, shocked. Juliana nodded. Owen walked over to where he kept his records, and walked back with a whole stack of records of various piano works. "I have never heard anyone play Bach like Mrs. Evans," Owen said reverently.

"Or Beethoven," Edward added. Juliana and Sirius shared a grin. Just then, Perry Wilkinson, the butler, came in.

"Your dinner is ready, milord," he said formally.

"Thank you, Mr. Wilkinson," Owen replied. Dinner was a delicious, but gut busting affair. The meal was roast lamb with all sorts of side dishes, more than Juliana or Sirius had seen before, even when they were visiting the Weasleys, accompanied by some delicious Port wine, while Hermione had cranberry juice. Juliana, however asked if her drink might be changed to be the same as her daughter's. Owen looked shocked at first, then nodded approvingly, yet Juliana could tell by his eyes that he would have given anything to have his own daughter be in Juliana's spot, and she could also tell that, regardless of how he and Edward treated her and Sirius, they were also very saddened by the fact that their own children had turned out to be such lousy parents, and were probably much more disappointed then they were letting on.

After dinner, Owen told them that he had only three guest rooms, and that Edward already had one of them, and he showed them the vacant ones. They were adjoining, but there was only one bed in each, though both were queen sized.

"I'm terribly sorry that we could not put you all in one room," Owen said.

"It's okay," Juliana replied calmly, "I wanted to sleep with Hermione anyway," she said, putting her hand on Hermione's soft, bushy hair. "I hope that's okay, love," she added, turning to Sirius. Judging by his face, he would have preferred to sleep with Juliana, but nevertheless he said,

"Sure. That'll be no problem."

"Then, in that case, I want to go to bed. Are you ready, Hermione?" she nodded. "Good night, Owen, Edward. It was a real pleasure to meet you."

"If it's all right, I'd like to stay up a bit longer," Sirius said. Juliana shrugged.

"Okay, love. Good night then."

"Good night, sweetheart, 'Night, Furball," he said to Hermione.

"Meow!" Hermione responded, jumping into Sirius' arms.

"Woof!" Sirius responded, hugging her. Owen and Edward laughed. They were, as Juliana had thought, very disappointed, and though the visit had been painful for them, they could not deny that they had enjoyed the changes that had come over their beloved granddaughter.

Back in the bedroom, Hermione and Juliana were getting ready for bed. Both of them had changed into their pajamas and brushed their teeth. Hermione was sitting in front of a makeup desk with a gorgeous Victorian mirror atop it, while Juliana gently and lovingly brushed her hair.

"Mum," Hermione said, observing herself in the mirror, "why did you decide to love me?" Juliana ran the hairbrush through Hermione's hair slowly a couple more times, then put the brush down, tucking strands behind Hermione's ears.

"I don't think it was a choice," Juliana said thoughtfully, "I just saw you that night James and Lily invited your other parents over to dinner, and…I don't know…you were so shy, and you were trying so hard not to be noticed…I don't know how to describe why, or how, I started to feel the way I did about you, but…I can't really explain it, but I guess somehow I knew you didn't get much affection at all, and I never did, nor will I ever understand why, because I just…just saw something in you…"

"My magic?"

"No. Good heavens, no. It was your heart, I think. Somehow, through thick and thin, you had a good, loving and unselfish heart, and I wanted so much to be the one who gave you the affection you weren't getting from anyone else and nurture you because you deserve nothing less."

"Do you still love me?"

"Hermione," Juliana said, stepping in front of Hermione's chair, and cradling Hermione's cheeks in her palms, "I will always love you. Now come on, let's get in bed. I'm tired." She extended her hand to Hermione and walked side by side with her to the bed and got in.

"Snuggle up to me, Hermione," Juliana said softly. Hermione did so, cherishing every minute of the embrace. Yes, it felt childish, but Hermione didn't really care. Her mother's love meant the world to her, and she could never say it enough. Never. Harry would later tease her that she was making up for lost time right up until she went to Hogwarts, but in that moment, Hermione didn't see it as anything except that she finally had someone to share her secrets to, someone to make her feel like someone, care for her, cherish her company with, guide her as she grew older…but how did she put that into words?

"Good night, mum. I love you so much."

"Good night, Sunshine, I love you so much, too." Hermione wondered if her mother's soft, warm kisses would always leave that lump in her throat, making her want to cry with joy as she eagerly returned the gesture as she fell asleep.

Sirius had ended up spending another hour awake, chatting amicably with Owen and Edward, and had finally gone to bed, stopping first at his wife and daughter's room. Gently, like any father checking in on his child, he opened the door. His two favorite women cuddled up like that, innocently asleep and in such obvious love brought a wide smile to his face. But, he thought as he pulled his own covers over himself, how in the world were he and Juliana to survive sending Hermione off to Hogwarts?