Having a brief flashback to her short-lived relationship with Viktor, Hermione
slowly enunciated, "Her-my-oh-nee."
James blinked as he replied in a similar tone, "Her-my-uh-nee. My-uh. See?"
Hermione growled, pinning him with a glare she normally reserved just for Harry
and Ron—and sometimes Sirius. "I don't like nicknames."
"I don't like bossy sisters. Clearly, we've both been shorted by this family." James
shrugged, unaffected by her sour mood and her glaring. That would pose a problem down
the line, she supposed.
"My name is Hermione Granger," she said firmly, already forgetting how her
Hogwarts letter had been addressed.
"Potter," James corrected her.
She blinked. "What?"
"Your name is Hermione Potter. Mia Potter, actually."
"Potter? I'll... I'll have to get used to that."
"You're my sister," James said with a genuine smile, looking at her in a way that
reminded her so much of Harry that it hurt, but she still smiled back at him. "And that
makes you a Potter."
Hermione's nose stung as she felt tears well up. Wasn't it just last night that Harry
had told her the same thing?
"There you are, dear!" Dorea smiled up at Hermione from the large dining room
table as she entered the room behind James.
"Hello again, Mrs Potter, Mr Potter," Hermione blinked at James with wide eyes
when he pulled out her chair for her, surprised that the boy who had tugged her hair just
minutes ago upstairs was being a perfect gentleman. She eyed the Potter parents, who
smiled proudly at their son and acted as if his actions were not anything out of the ordinary.
"Well, we should probably skip right ahead and have you start calling us Mum and
Dad," Charlus suggested with a kind smile, and Hermione's chest tightened. "No sense in
living a double life now; it'll just get confusing. Besides, we've made it perfectly clear that
you are family now. It's okay if you don't want to talk about what happened before. Albus