Dramione: Skills for life

19. Bye Olivia....

Hermione's mouth hung open. The tension in the room was at least a few inches thick. The Regis' turned to Hermione, still smiling. Hermione's mouth turned into a frown. She hesitantly sat down across from Draco. Their eyes connected and they made a connection.

"Where is Olivia?" Hermione asked right away.

"Liv is with the Potters." Draco replied quickly. Hermione nodded and turned to the couple.

"You want to adopt Olivia?" It was a question, but it sounded like a statement.

"Yes ma'am. We miss our little Olivia." Mrs. Regis simpered. Hermione's eyes narrowed as she caught on to the slip up.

"Your little Olivia? Have you met the child before?" Hermione asked coldly.

Mrs. Regis had a silly noise, a noise that rang distant bells in Hermione's head. "Mrs. Klein didn't tell you? Olivia is our daughter."

Silence ensued. It was Mrs. Klein who cleared her throat. "Mr. and Mrs. Regis were..uh, under watch of the Death Eaters. Y-You-Know-Who was anxious to get them. They faked their deaths..apparently."

"No, I saw the death certificate! Donovan and Katherine Carson died in a fire." Hermione was adamant. She whacked her palm onto the table in anger.

"Miss, we faked our deaths for a good reason." Mr. Regis said shakily. Hermione sneered.

"Oh yeah? Then why didn't you claim Olivia after the war ended? Why didn't you come out of hiding?" Her voice was sharp like the crack of a whip.

The couple glanced at each other. "I'm sorry miss, we was in Rome for a while. News didn't spread to us."

This time, it was Draco who piped up. "Actually, I was in Rome over the summer. News of Voldemort's demise was everywhere."

Mr. Regis' stared at him icily. "I believe we said news didn't spread to us. The whole of Rome's population is of no worry to us."

Draco clenched his jaw in irritation. His eyes flashed in annoyance. Hermione stepped in quickly. "How can we prove that you're Olivia's biological parents?"

They glanced at each other. "When our little Olivia was born we gave her a locket."

Mrs. Regis tunneled on. "Olivia went into the orphanage with the locket, and we kept its sister."

She reached into her cleavage, resulting in a look of disgust from Hermione. The Mrs. pulled out a heavy locket. "We realize it's a bit too big for our baby girl to wear."

Hermione wordlessly stood up and moved to her bedroom. Inside her trunk was a box with all of Olivia's important things and information. Sure enough, there was a locket inside. It was ornate gold, decorated with a blue gem S. She clutched it in her fist, trying not to cry. Hermione walked back into the kitchen and dropped the locket on the table with a thunk.

"It was in her things." Hermione said hoarsely. At the moment, she felt completely at a loss. Hermione had always been the girl with an answer, a plan. Now she was the mother who was about to lose her child, and was powerless to stop it. Draco stared at her, his face panicked.

"B-But, we have to finish our project. We have three more weeks left." Draco said fiercely.

Tori shook her head sadly. "I'll just have to grade you on these past few weeks alone. You can continue living here if you wish..."

Hermione cast her eyes downward. She didn't want to continue living there, in fact she couldn't even bear the thought of living anywhere without Olivia. She had become a permanent fixture in their lives. She couldn't let her mind stray to the thoughts of those.