Something New - Rewritten

2 - Talking It Out

Once I had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, I booked a room and planned to stay there for the remainder of time until I go back to Hogwarts. 

I had unpacked everything I needed for this room to feel like my room.

I went to leave my room and wait for my best friend to come to the leaky cauldron so I could tell her what I had just found out and I hesitated. What if she looks at me differently? What if she thinks that I will be evil? There are so many what-ifs. Part of me is thinking of the biggest what-if.  

What if I just don't put the necklace on?

I open the door painstakingly slowly, every loud creak heard to the point where I feel deaf after it stops. I take a deep breath and go downstairs, ready to wait for my best friend to change her entire outlook on me. 

I go down to the bar and order myself a butterbeer. The temptation to order a firewhisky to just gain some nerve for this was high but I thought it would be better to have my wits about me. 

In what felt like no time, and all the time in the world, Ginny walked into the bar. 

She sits down opposite me with a big smile on her face. But once she saw the pessimistic look on my face, she could sense the seriousness of my situation. 

"Here I thought you may have wanted to celebrate going back to school. Guessing that isn't the case Mimi?" Ginny asked. 

"Gin, I need to tell you something. But I need you to promise that you won't freak out and hear me out. Because I'm freaking out as is." I prewarn Ginny, in hopes of calming my nerves. 

She just nods in response. 

"So I was cleaning out and packing up stuff from my parent's house when I found an old box. But Gin in this old box there were baby pictures of me." I start.

She furrows her eyebrows, "But I thought, didn't you - ?"

"Yeah, I did. That's where the freakout bit starts. I rummaged in this box a bit more and I found a letter. It was from my mother, my birth mother because it turns out that I am adopted." 

The shocked look on her face was probably similar to what mine was earlier. 

"In this letter, my mother had signed it. My mother is Ambrosia Zabini." I finished it off. 

"Zabini. As in followers of Voldemort Zabini? Ginny asked. 

"Well, not anymore Gin. No one is anymore. But I don't exactly know. There are probably quite a few Zabinis and that's why I needed to speak to someone about it. I need advice. In this letter, there was a necklace, and I was instructed to put it on and it will light up when I'm by my family."

Ginny looks sort of spaced out, before nodding along. "Right, well there's only one thing I know that we can do for you to know what's the right thing to do. We'll research it all." 

I smile at her, what feels like my first genuine smile in months. 

"Let's do it." I say. 

We finish our drinks, walk into Diagon Alley and go to Flourish and Blotts. We are looking for a book about Italian pureblood families, which we found under the title "Famiglie italiane pure" where they went into the etymology of the name. 

I found out that my father was dead and that Blaise was definitely the brother that was mentioned in the letter. My mother is no longer Ambrosia Zabini but she is now Ambrosia Travers as she has remarried several times since my father's passing in 1981, escaping captivity after Voldemort's first downfall. 

"So the question Ginny is do I put the necklace on? Do I want to know my family?" I asked

"Mimi, I understand your hesitance. But from the sounds of the letter, your mum did do this in order to keep you safe, and now it is safe for you. But it is up to you. I would love to be able to tell you what to do, to make this all easier for you. But you are the only one who knows what is right." 

"If I know them, I can always decide that I'd rather be Hermione. It's my choice, right?" I confirm with Ginny despite nodding, knowing the answer myself. 

I put on the necklace, the silver chain with the small emerald in the middle. Once the clasp had been shut around my neck, I felt a warmth come over me. 

I would really like to thank people for the show of support already. This is such a little thing but has given me so much motivation.

 Thank you so much! OuterBanks_Pogues