Unburying family secrets
Cleaning out after dead parents takes time, Sorting through the minutiae of their life, like old receipts and family pictures to the parts of themselves that they never shared with everyone. It would be all too easy, Hermione mused to pack it up in boxes, stuff it in a storage locker, and pretend like it had been properly cared for. Unfortunately, having organized dentists for parents ensured that this niggling thought of foisting the responsibility on someone else was quashed. She had been raised right and that meant going through every single piece of paper, book, and object no matter how tedious and painful it would be.
Since the war had ended 5 years ago and her parents' unexpected death in a car accident last month, she had noticed it becoming increasingly difficult to retain the passion of her organized and precise self she had been in school. It became more obvious that this part of her life was over, and the brightest and most studious witch of her age had likely died along with so many others in the battle of Hogwarts.
Pushing these thoughts away she continued to sort through Emma and Daniel Granger's home office hoping that she would make enough headway to go eat dinner with the Weasleys. While her and Ron hadn’t worked out as a couple she still had an open invitation to join the family for nightly dinner. She desperately needed some form of chaos and noise to help distract her from how empty and cold her childhood house felt.
Her parent’s office was neat and organized, simple beige walls and two desks side by side, with one wall covered with floor-to-ceiling filing cabinets, holding their dental practice paperwork, tax information, and personal documents. Having discarded much of the patient files, Hermione turned to some of the more personal papers her parents kept. That’s when, wedged between her A-levels and some doctor's notes for her vaccinations she found a creased manila folder. Opening it she hoped to find a report from primary school or a paper on gifted children, instead, she found the file labeled “Hermione’s Adoption.”
Hermione’s insides felt like they had been turned to ice. With mounting dread she flipped through Hermione Winchester’s birth certificate to a John Winchester and Mother Unknown in Kansas, a foster care record when Hermione Winchester was placed in the system, Hermione’s visa to the UK, Daniel and Emma Granger’s petition to adopt Hermione Winchester and lastly Hermione Winchester’s name change to Hermione Granger.
Hermione stared at the papers in disbelief, she had never had any doubts that she was her parent’s daughter however, this completely flipped her entire origin story leaving her with more questions than answers. Hermione, tugging nervously at the end of her curls, knew instantly there was no way that she would be going to the Weasleys for dinner tonight.
A rushed search through her parents- no adoptive parents- paperwork proved to be fruitless. There was nothing more on Hermione’s biological family, where exactly she was from, or even what happened for her to end up in the system. This was going to require far more digging to uncover what was going on than she’d previously anticipated.
Glancing at her watch, Hermione did a quick calculation of what the time zone would be to make some calls in the US. It would be mid to late afternoon in Kansas so she would need to make a call quickly before the end of the American working day. Finding her birth parents would be no easy feat, while computers were becoming increasingly commonplace in the muggle world, she doubted that she’d find her birth records accessible online, which meant she’d need to place some very expensive calls to get access to any of her birth family's whereabouts.
Plugging in the desktop in the Grangers' home office, Hermione began searching for the birth and death records office in Kansas. Finding the phone number quickly she took a deep breath to prepare herself. Hermione felt unsure of the decision she was about to make, she thought hard for a second, Was this something she wanted? She might discover something that she didn’t want to know, and she wouldn’t be able to take that knowledge back. For one moment Hermione felt the spark of curiosity she missed from her schooling days. She wanted to know who she was and who her family were. Maybe she’d have a second chance with family.
Her mind made up, she quickly dialed the number and waited for a clerk to pick up the phone. There was a click and suddenly Hermione heard the bright bubbly voice of an American woman on the phone.
“Kansas birth and records office, how can I help you” the clerk chirped.
Hermione braced herself and found herself saying “ I’ve just found out I’m adopted, and I wanted to get some more information on my birth father”. Hermione could hear some rapid clicks over the phone, likely the clerk inputting some information into her computer. Hermione waited patiently while the clerk made some adoring comments about her accent.
“Can you tell me the registration number at the bottom of the paper?”
Hermione quickly grabbed the birth certificate on the corner of the desk and read out the number listed at the bottom. She could hear the clerk typing it in, Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she waited for the information to load.
In what felt like a century the clerk finally said “ Hermione Winchester born September 19th 1985?”
Hermione exhaled quickly “ Yes, that’s me”.
“Alright, Hermione, It looks like John Winchester is your father, he’s no longer living in the state but he’s still alive. You also have two older brothers registered on your file, they’re also alive, Samuel William and Dean Winchester”.
Hermione froze for a second, She had older brothers? Living with Daniel and Emma Granger had been a peaceful and loving home however she had missed having siblings that she could have played with. She wondered what Samuel and Dean’s childhood had been like, sharing secrets under the covers at night or playing games together in the back garden?”. It left a small pang in her heart wondering about the parts she missed out on being half a world away.
Hermione pushed these thoughts away, they wouldn’t help. “Do you have any other information listed on their whereabouts? A mailing address or any records?” She asked curiously
Hermione could hear some more clicks over the phone, “ Both John and Dean Winchester have no address listed, but Samuel has an address listed in Palo Alto, California , would you like it?” asked the clerk.
“Yes, yes please” Hermione hurriedly reached for a pen and some paper so that she could take it down. Hopefully, if she reached out to Samuel she’d be able to track down John Winchester and see why she had been put up for adoption. The clerk patiently listed down the address as Hermione jotted it down.
Once she had the address Hermione exchanged pleasantries and hung up the phone. It felt like she had just completed a herculean task, she noted with no small amount of displeasure that this was only the beginning of the work she’d need to do. She placed the address safely in a file and pushed the chair away from the desk. It was now time to go to bed, nothing else could possibly be achieved tonight.
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After a sleepless night of tossing and turning Hermione woke up to a gray foggy morning, raising her wand to silence her alarm she climbed out of bed and trod towards the bathroom to begin her well-accustomed routine. Wash her hair, brush teeth (not forgetting to floss), two slices of toast, and slipped into her bottle-green work robes.
Hermione worked as an accountant and coordinator in the Department of Magical Cooperation. When she had first taken the job after her graduation from Hogwarts she had been so excited to make real changes and be involved with the ministry. She had been anxious to set aside the discrimination she had experienced at school and as a result of the War. Now she felt unengaged and disinterested in what she was doing, the barriers felt even more impenetrable and the goals more far off.
Leaving her flat, Hermione settled into a brisk walk to the ministry. It was only a couple minutes so she often walked rather than using the floo or apparating. Her clothing had had a tricky notice-me-not charm attached to it so that she didn’t need to hide her wizarding clothes from muggle London. She drew her cloak closer together, it was a chilly morning but not anything different than any other October day.
Entering into the Ministry, she quickly made her way to the lift so that she wouldn’t need to talk to anyone. The lift was filled with the rest of the early morning office workers that looked the way she felt, exhausted. Stopping onto her floor she stepped out and nodded at Gertrude McLaggan, an aged witch who had been working there since the 50s.
Hermione made her way to her desk, it was relatively cluttered with various reports she had been working on but remained relatively impersonal. Pouring herself a cup of tea from the office pot she pulled her chair in and began her work for the day.
Concentrating proved to be far more difficult than she anticipated, staring at the clock on the wall opposite; she noted that it had only been an hour since she had gotten into the office. She wished she could have been anywhere else but here. Hermione wondered why she had decided to go to work at all, she hadn’t been passionate about her job at the Ministry in a long time and her brothers and father were somewhere unknown all the way across the world.
Her mind made up,Hermione pushed her work aside on the desk and began to draft a quick resignation notice. Pushing her chair away from her desk, resignation note in hand, she made her way to her head of department, Miranda Bullwinkle’s office. Miranda was a severe-looking witch in her 40s with graying black hair she kept in a neat bun. She was friendly enough but likely to be upset at Hermione’s abandonment of the department.
Knocking and passing the note to Miranda Bullwinkle, Hermione waited for her to say something. Miranda looked at her incredulously, “What do you mean you’re resigning? You have such potential and you’re throwing it away?”.
Hermione felt her head nod, “ I have some family matters to attend to that take priority” she stated confidently. “Thank you for the opportunity but I’m done, I’ll pack up my desk and pass my cases onto Gertrude”. And with that, Hermione Granger turned her back on the job she thought she would always have and headed out the door.
Packing up her desk proved to be easier than she thought, then came packing up her home, saying goodbye to Harry and Ron, and then applying for her visiting visa to go to America. Being a war hero had its perks, including less red tape around her movements. At last, 5 days after her resignation she was in the international portkey office ready to make her way to the British magical embassy in California. She picked up her small beaded bag, the one she carried every day since the war, and readjusted her jumper. Smiling faintly at the witch manning the portkey she grabbed at the old boot and felt the hook at her navel as she traveled half a world away from her old life, away from Hermione Granger and everything else she had ever been.
Landing in the British Embassy in Palo Alto, California, Hermione looked towards the clock, 3:00 pm October 30th, 2006. It was time for her to find her family.