Not Our World (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Lost

"I thought you were getting a cat?"

Hermione watched her mother feed Hedwig an owl treat. Professor McGonagall left only a few minutes before, safely bringing her home from the shopping trip for school supplies. She felt somewhat gloomy for the most part, yet she'd managed to make sure Hedwig came close to being where she belonged. "I was."

"And?" Her mother sat up, her arms folded in front of her, on top of the floral tablecloth. Hermione thought to ignore the question, but then her mother said, "When you make up your mind, my dear, you are the most stubborn person I know?"

"I thought the most stubborn person you knew was dad?" Hermione mentally cursed herself for using the usual quip. There was—

Her mother looked sad. "I guess that's where your stubbornness comes from."

"You guess?" Hermione didn't understand.

"So? The cat?"

"Some wizard got the cat I wanted," Hermione muttered. "Dad would have liked him."

"Hermione..."

"And you?" Hermione swallowed. "How can you forget today is dad's birthday?"

She should have been more careful regarding what she said because her mother's eyes narrowed, and then she said, "You shouldn't make things up, Hermione."

"I'm..." She stared at her mother, whispering, unsure of how her mother couldn't possibly know what her father's birthday was. "I'm not making it up. Honest."

"I know you're desperate to have a father, but..." Her mother took a deep breath, closing her eyes. One hand twisted her watch around her witch. "Please be careful. Even the magical world won't take kindly to anything that may be perceived as mental illness."

"But I'm not mentally ill." Hermione stared, but then something occurred to her. Something regarding what her mother said. "Wait? How did you know that?"

Her mom smiled. "A little rabbit told me."

"Don't you mean a little birdie?"

"No. I mean a little rabbit," her mother smiled. "So do be careful."

"Rabbit. Dad's nickname?" She opened her mouth, wanting to ask why her mother would say something confusing, and yet—in the back of her head, she knew. She knew that bringing up things regarding a father who never existed in this world would be seen as mental illness. She looked away.

"So, about this wizard who took the cat you wanted?"

"Oh? He was orange, fluffy, and had the most adorable flat face," Hermione said, smiling at her mother.

Her mother laughed. "Okay. I am quite sure you just described the cat, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah?"

"That wasn't what I asked, and you knew it."

"Oh. Fine. He's a professor at my school—no clue what class he teaches. I do know he's a former Death Eater. Professor McGonagall..."

"Death Eater?" her mother—

There was no getting around the way her mother stiffened. Hermione sighed, wondering how much blundering she would do. "Well..."

"They're a group that believes in blood purity, right?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

Her mother's brown eyes blinked. She then pointed towards the front room where the computer was.

Hermione turned her head. "Wait. You looked it up?"

"I should probably avoid using the World Wizard Net for searches, huh?" Her mother leaned into her arm.

"And you're still letting me go?" Hermione asked.

"And let you miss out on such a wonderful, magical experience? Of letting you be the special witch I know my little genius is?" Her mother smiled. "You go and make me proud, right?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"So, an owl, huh?" Her mother took another treat.

"Please don't overfeed her. She'll not be able to fly and deliver mail?"

"Owls are for delivering the post?" Her mother said. "So I could send someone a letter if need be?"

"Mother! The only person you need to send anything to via owl is me!" Hermione protested. "And Hedwig is going to be coming to school with me, not staying home with you!"

"Yes, yes. I'm a Muggle anyways, so what wizard would I know."

"I guess the professors at school?" Hermione asked.

"Ho-ho! But see..." Her mother laughed. "The professors at your school will be contacting me through video sessions if need be. I read it in the instructions McGonagall sent me. Still, in that way, it will be a very normal experience, and we Muggle parents can say we're having video conferences with our children's teachers just like parents of Muggle children. Amazing, isn't it?"

Hermione stared, watching her mother bubble over. Her mother was taking the whole thing way too quickly. Which, Hermione's eyes widened. "Hold it! You're taking this way too well! You've just been told I'm a witch, and..."

"Told you I've always known you were special. I've known from the day you were born. No, from the moment I knew I was going to have you, I knew that you were going to be a special girl."

"Don't you mean..." Hermione frowned.

Her mother's smile faltered, her fingers drumming against the table. "Don't you mean your father and me?"

"Yes."

"Hermione, your father..." Her mother let out a deep breath. There was the same sadness in her eyes that Hermione had seen before. "It's complicated."

"You're not going to tell me about him?"

"Maybe when you're older."

"Does..." Hermione looked at her hands. "Do you hate him?"

"Hate?" Her mother drew in her breath. "No. Absolutely not. He just—your dad just couldn't be a part of our lives."

"Does he even know I exist?" Hermione asked. Her hands formed fists. "Oh, for goodness sakes, mom!" She looked up at her mother. "Don't you think I'm smart enough to figure out that he doesn't know about me? Why? Why doesn't he know about me?"

"I'm..." Her mother sighed. "Because I don't know what happened to him. I can't tell you because I don't know." She smiled. Her mother smiled, yet there were tears in her eyes. "I'd give anything for him to be a part of our lives, but things just didn't work out that way. As I said..."

"It's complicated?" Hermione swallowed, feeling like crying herself. "I don't understand how she couldn't know what happened to him, but then..." She looked at her hands, watching them tremble. "Was he a victim of Death Eaters? They did, after all, go after..."

They went after Muggles, after all, yet it hurt. In this world, her Muggle father was dead, yet for some reason, a Death Eater who should be dead was alive instead. Tears started to fall, and—

"Hermione?"

"I'm sorry. I'm going to go and read up on the computer stuff," Hermione said. "It is, after all, one of the things I don't know about. And it should distract me from blaming Professor Black for dad's death because my dad wouldn't abandon mom and me. Not if he could help it."