Chapter One

Ron was standing angrily over the table, his face redder than it had ever been. His hands gripped the edge of the table, and his chair was three feet behind him. It had been pushed back in his getting up quickly from the table. Hermione had just put down Hugo, in his

play pen , after nearly dropping him in her surprise. Now, she stood beside Ron, a hand on his arm, trying to soothe him. "Honey, she doesn't know what it means. She doesn't know." She kept whispering, over and over. He didn't ease up, glaring at Rose with an intensity that Hermione hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Mummy? Why Daddy angry?" two year old Rose asked, still in her highchair. She had a spoon in her hand, waving it wildly around. Her eyes were wide, as she stared between her mummy and her daddy. Ron made no attempt to reply, so Hermione moved to pick her up. She undid the tie around the middle, and unhooked the tray top. Rose put her arms out to be picked up, but Hermione ignored them for a moment. She instead took off the bib off, then used it to clean off the mess on Rose's face. She then picked her up. Together, they faced Ron, who was still unmoving. "Mummy? Me did something bad?" Hermione looked at her daughter, unsure of what to say.

"No, you just didn't understand that it's bad." She said, sitting down in a chair in the living room, which was adjacent to the diningroom. There was a doorway, from which anyone in the dining room could see what was happening in the living room.

"What bad?" She asked, playing with a strand of Hermione's hair. Hermione thought about this for a while. It was hard to explain to a child this young. They have no sense of things like that. They were very pure souls, never wanting to harm. And they always saw others as good. In fact, it was hard to know where she had even learned the word from. It was never ever used in their house. In fact, it was never ever used in any of the houses that they hung out in, at least as far as they knew. She had never thought that she would have to explain something so vile to a child this young. Let alone her own child, when they were in a safe environment, away from the slang of the grown world around them. She felt a tug on her hair again, and looked down. "Mummy, what bad?"

"The word you said, the one that made everybody upset." Rose thought for a moment, her fingers in her mouth.

"Mudblood?" She asked. Hermione could see Ron's hands tighten on the table, his knuckles white. She nodded.

"Yes honey, that word. It's not a very nice word. It hurt my feelings." Rose's eyes started to glisten.

"But me no call you that. Me called someone else that." Again Hermione nodded.

"Yes, I know. And I know that you hurt her feelings too. She wasn't being mean to you. She's a good friend. And she and I are the same. If you called her that, then why wouldn't it be the same to call me that?" Rose stared at her, her eyes wide.

"Mummy's feeling hurt?" Hermione nodded. Rose's eyes started to glisten, and then, she began to sob. Her little cheeks got rosy, and her eyes turned red. Her legs started to shake uncontrollably, and her hands were rubbing her eyes. No matter how much her mother tried to calm her, she refused to. Only then did Ron move. He couldn't stand it when girls cried. Ever since he was little. Even when he made Hermione cry when they first years. He couldn't stand it when she cried. He couldn't stand it more when his little girl cried. So he swept her up in his arms the first moment he could. She resisted at first, but then relaxed into the contour of his shoulder. He bounced her up and down a little, before she calmed down. When she leaned out of his shoulder, her face was tear streaked, but she looked fairly calm. She placed a hand on his face. "Daddy mad?" He nuzzled her face.

"No. Daddy's not mad anymore. He's sorry that he overreacted. But you know now that it's a very bad thing to say, right?" She nodded. "And you're never ever to say it again, right?" She nodded again. "OK then." He said, and set her down. She ran off to play, her parents watching her at distance. Hermione sat on the couch with a sigh, and Ron joined her. He wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I never thought at this young…" She started. Ron tightened his grip on her.

"I know. I had hoped that we'd never have to hear those words come out her mouth. Let alone at her age. I'm going to have to have a talk with the teacher, and let her know what some of her students are saying."

"We don't know that it's not the teacher who's saying it." Ron shrugged as she said that. "It doesn't seem fair, that we have to talk about their "blood" with them. It shouldn't matter that you're a Pure Blood, and I'm a Muggle Born. And that their Half Bloods. We shouldn't have to explain that to them. It shouldn't matter what "blood they are. What should matter is how talented they are. But society will never let them forget who they are. Because society won't let it go."

"I know. I know. You can't change everything Hermione. We've got to take it one step at a time, and teach our children that "blood" doesn't matter. If only we could get people like the Malfoys to see that." Hermione laid a hand on him.

"Like you said, one step at time. I love you."

"I love you too." And they shared a kiss, before Rose suddenly burst back into the room.

A/N: Wanted the wizarding version of a little kid using a swear word. How'd you like this ?