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Lost Daughter

Chapter 4: New Student

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[AN] To those of you who are consistently reviewing every chapter, a huge thank you. I have no problem updating for you guys. However, to the rest of you who review once every ten chapters, it takes a lot of time for me to do this. If you like the story- even if you're just starting to read- make sure you review. It takes fifteen seconds. Again, a big thank you to the ones who've been with me from the start. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's been a long time coming.

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Hermione let out a slow breath, staring out over the twenty-three students sitting before her, reading through their new texts. The start of class had gone by rather easily. She was a bit anxious to start with sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins, figuring that they would be the most rambunctious since they were coming back from their O.W.L. year. They had been somewhat noisy coming in, but had settled once the bell rang and she called for their attention. Thankfully, they had mostly kept their questions about her relationship with Rose and the rest of the Weasley's to a minimum.

She was quite excited to progress through her lesson plans for all the students. She'd spent a great deal of time trying to come up with new and interesting ways to learn the topics within Transfiguration, and was keen to see if the students would react well to her different method. Right now, they were reading through chapter one of the text (since of course, reading was still an integral part of the course). Afterwards, Hermione had planned for them to take their wands out and start reviewing some of their favourite charms from last year. Her first order of business was to make sure all of the students were on the same level as everyone else.

She was just about to reprimand two Slytherins near the back for whispering, before the doors to the classroom opened. Professor Denham unceremoniously strode through, a file clutched tightly in his hands. Hermione's eyebrows knitted together as he approached her desk.

"Morning Granger," he said once he arrived in front of her desk.

Hermione nodded in response, "Canteford. Is something wrong?"

The greying older man waved his hand airily before tossing the file down in front of her, "Our transfer student just arrived this morning."

"Oh?" Hermione asked, straightening a little in her seat. She had wondered what had happened to the poor kid. Got lost, she had assumed.

"She was taken to the Headmistress's office to be sorted. Another Gryffindor…"

Hermione grinned, "You say that like it's a bad thing. So where is she?"

"She showed up in street clothes so I showed her to the girls loo so she could get changed into he robes. Americans…" he trailed off once more, his tone dripping with irritation. There really was no pleasing the once-Ravenclaw.

Hermione bit back her remark and nodded curtly, "Right. And this is her file?" She glanced down with renewed interest as she moved to open the manila folder.

"Yes. There's a slip in here that she'll need to have signed by all of her professors to ensure that she was attending her classes. Also, I wanted to let you know that she didn't purchase any of her course books for the year. She's missing a lot of her materials, so until she can order all of her things, Minerva has agreed to just let her borrow her books temporarily."

Hermione nodded enthusiastically, "That shouldn't be a problem for me- I have plenty of extra books."

"You do, don't you?" he asked dryly, his lip curling a bit- maybe in a jealous annoyance- as he took in the surfeit of books rowed neatly behind her desk.

The sound of the door opening interrupted the man's study of her collection, and stopped Hermione from opening the new student's file. As she looked up, Professor Denham turned around in front of her, blocking her view of the doorway.

"Ah, you made it," he greeted, the hint of exasperation still present in his tone. Hermione noticed the other students turn in their seats, all with apparent looks of interest planted on their faces.

As she recognized the students footfalls approaching the desk, she returned to the folder and opened it quickly, hoping to see her name written somewhere.

However, before she could read anything, a flash of robes out of the top corner of her vision made her aware that the student was already standing before her. Preparing to ask sheepishly what her name was, she looked up to face the girl.

All at once, Hermione's heart stopped, her stomach dropped, her eyes bulged, and her breath caught in her throat. It was as if a truck- a big truck- had waylaid her as her eyes looked into the face of the transfer.

Hermione's mind immediately jumped to a conclusion, although the odds ruled against her a million to one. But the evidence to her hopes and dreams were standing right in front of her! How else could it be? And if so, was life really that cruel to invent an almost exact replica? Those high cheekbones, the lips, the nose, the eyebrows, the hair… it was like looking at a picture of herself twenty years ago. Or, looking at the object of her cherished three by four, 16 and a half years later…

No, life wasn't cruel. Life was a beautiful, angel-giving patron. Hermione barely noticed when her angel spoke.

"Uh, yeah," she answered Denham awkwardly, her voice somewhat raspy to start, but undoubtedly American.

Professor Denham nodded, sparing her a polite smile. He turned back to Hermione, "Amia, this is your Transfiguration teacher, Professor Granger."

Amia gave her a short nod, but didn't meet Hermione's still staring eyes, "Hi."

A strangled sound emitted from the back of Hermione's throat, but after that she went back to gazing wholeheartedly at the slightly taller and tanner version of her youth self. Okay, so maybe it wasn't her Lillian Jane, but a name was only a name. They could've winded up calling her Destiny, for all she knew.

Professor Denham nodded curtly, not caring to worry over Hermione's baffled look, "Well, I'll leave you to it. Amia, I can take your bag and have it sent up to your dormitory-"

"I'd actually rather hold onto it," she cut him off, clutching the faded navy backpack she was holding closer to her chest.

"Alright…" he replied sceptically, this time shooting a look back to Hermione. She, however, remained frozen, her eyes still glued to Amia's face. Denham cleared his throat before turning back to the girl, "If you have any questions, I'm sure Professor Granger will be able to help you."

Amia nodded and didn't say anything else as the older man turned to leave. Hermione didn't digest that she looked somewhat hesitant as she turned to look back at her.

"So…" she muttered, glancing to the right where a couple Slytherin boys were blatantly ogling her. One of her eyebrows raised as she turned back to Hermione, "Should I sit down, or something?"

Hermione jolted at her words, immediately wanting to deny the opportunity for Amia to move away from her. For the first time, her eyes looked away from Amia and back down to her desk, "Uh, no... I-I need to get you a book and s-sign your file…" Her mind was completely scattered as she started fiddling with the papers in her file, all the while fighting off the urge to turn and stare at her some more. What if she suddenly disappeared? Did she really want to take that risk?

"Oh."

She faltered for a brief moment at the sound of her voice. Though, upon Amia's bewildered look, Hermione stood suddenly from her desk.

"Book…" she mumbled to herself, hastily turning around and heading back for a bookshelf to the left of her desk. It took her a couple seconds to find her the best sixth year text available. Her robes whirled around her in a tailspin as she turned back just as quickly, the book clutched protectively to her chest.

"Here you…" she stopped short as she saw Amia looking of towards her right, back to the boys who were trying to grab her attention earlier. She had the corner of her lip caught delicately between her teeth. A gasp escaped Hermione as she wondered to herself how many times she had bit her lip just like that.

Upon her involuntary sound, Amia turned back to her. Hermione noted that, as opposed to the shy look she adorned from glancing at the boys last time, she looked more consenting this time as she turned from them. That alone sent of a cannon blast of questions in Hermione's head. Did she like the boys' attention? She was beautiful, even with shaded circles under her eyes, so she probably got plenty of acknowledgement from other blokes. Would it be hard for her to make friends in Gryffindor if she started to like a Slytherin boy? Would she-

Before Hermione could allow herself to complete her thought, she abruptly jabbed the book out in Amia's direction.

"Thanks," she said as she took the book.

Hermione sucked in a ragged breath. She had manners. But she still wasn't making eye contact. What did that mean? Was she nervous around adults? Unsure of herself? Did it give way to a lifetime of insecurities? But what did she have to be insecure about?

"So…" Amia spoke, instantly breaking Hermione from her thoughts. She sounded just as hesitant as before, "Are you going to sign my file now?"

Hermione blinked, once more feeling jolted, "Right! Right…" She sat- more like plopped- back into her chair and started sorting through the papers in her file. After a second, Hermione noticed that the first page was her educational history, and the second was her personal information.

Nervously, her eyes shot down to the bold letters that read 'Name'. The truck slammed back into her as she read the last of the three words.

"C-Cooper? Your last name is Cooper?"

"Yep," she responded absently, now staring over her, probably at the library of books.

Hermione stiffly looked back down to the paper, that was now shaking in her trembling hands. Her eyes pricked with tears, but she blinked them away, and eagerly started reading over her information again.

She wanted to let out a sob as she read her date of birth. January 21^st, 1993. All of this couldn't be just a coincidence. Her wildest dreams had to be coming true.

Still shaking slightly, she looked up to Amia, "Where are you from?"

"Southern California," she answered, turning at the sound of a whistle from somewhere in the class.

Hermione ignored the pestering boys. She could kill them in detention some other time. Right now, there was one burning question in the forefront of her mind. It was like she had no choice. She had to ask.

"Were… Were you adopted?"

Finally, Amia's eyes cut to hers. Instantly, they narrowed.

For the first time, Hermione observed what a vivid green her eyes were. Fighting to contain her whimper and the urge to cry, Hermione realized that she'd only ever seen that eye colour on one other person before. It seemed like hours had passed, but when Amia responded, her answer was like a blunt knife to the heart.

"No."

"Oh…" Hermione breathed, obviously disappointed by her answer. The cynical side of her, the side of her she'd only come to known since the middle of her pregnancy with Lilly, wanted to say 'Well, surprise.' But then suddenly, her professional side caused her to quickly shake her head. Lost daughter who unbeknownst to her was really talking to her biological mother or not- she was still her student.

"I-I'm so sorry- this is incredibly inappropriate of me. Here…" Frantically, she shuffled the third sheet of parchment before her and signed off on the slot that read 'N.E.W.T. Transfiguration'. Hastily, she ripped the parchment out and handed it to her, while closing the file and pulling it towards herself, "Um, you- you can sit wherever you want. They're just reading chapter one right now."

"Okay," Amia responded, still looking confused.

Shifting the weight of her backpack and book in her arms to accommodate the slip of parchment, she started heading down the aisle, probably towards the desk farthest back.

Hermione couldn't help but watch her go with dreaded trepidation. She didn't miss the bewildered look Amia shot her over her shoulder as she went.

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Rose jumped out of the portrait hole to the Prefect's bathroom, with an excited glow about her. She hadn't had a chance to check out her new bathroom last night, but she had made a point to go straight after classes today. And she sure was glad she did. The place was humongous! Obviously, she knew it was a bathroom, but it was so spacious and empty, that she'd figured it might be a nice place for quiet time if she ever needed to get away.

The now bustling redhead was just starting to wonder which was now her favourite spot in Hogwarts- the library, or the Prefect's bath- when she turned the corner and slammed into someone. The books she had to hold as a result of her overflowing book bag tumbled to the ground.

"Sorry," Rose automatically apologized. She could feel her cheeks starting to flame as she bent down to pick up her strewn books.

She noticed the other person bend down too, and was surprised when she saw hands helping her collect her books. Rose looked up to see who was helping her, and was even more surprised to see the gorgeous face of a complete stranger.

Amia finished handing her the books before she stood up and readjusted her backpack. Rose stood too, "Thanks."

Amia nodded politely, but then suddenly seemed to brighten up, "Wait, you're wearing the same colours as me! Are you in Gryffindor too?"

"Yeah. Are- are you the transfer student?" Rose asked. After living in the castle for four years, she thought she'd had a grip on who the older students were, especially if they were residents of her same house. However, this girl was someone she had never seen before.

"Yeah…" Amia nodded, starting to frown, "How'd you know?"

"Um, well my mum is a professor here, so she knew."

Amia nodded, and then sighed, "Everyone seems to know. They're all staring at me like I'm a freak-show," she muttered seeming like she was talking more to herself than actually complaining to Rose.

"Oh," Rose voiced, feeling like she should explain, "It's not you. It's just that Hogwarts hasn't had a exchange student in like, a really long time. You're the shiny new toy, unfortunately."

"Great…" she muttered unenthused. She seemed to clear her head of pessimism before turning back to Rose, "Anyway, do you know how to get to the Gryffindor common room?"

"Yes. Um, it's on the 7th floor corridor. You'll walk down the entire hall and make a right at the end. From there it's a straight shot to the Fat Lady. Do you know the password?"

"Gilly Hicks, right?"

"Yeah."

Amia glanced back in the direction that she had come from, still looking slightly confused, before spinning back around to Rose, "Am I the only one who thinks that this place is uncommonly huge?"

Rose laughed, "No, it is a pretty big castle. I'm actually heading up to the common room now if you want to walk together."

"Only if you lead the way," Amia answered, standing back so that Rose could step around her.

Rose grinned again before starting down the hall, heading for the staircase. She glanced back to Amia to make sure she was keeping up before asking, "So where did you go to school before?"

"Avalon Academy," Amia said, a flicker of something- maybe homesickness, Rose thought- crossing her features, "It's in California- where I'm from."

"That's cool. What year are you in?"

"Sixth. You?"

"Fifth. You weren't at the sorting last night were you?" Rose asked, deciding that no harm would be caused if she broached the topic. Her curiosity always seemed to get the better of her.

"Uh, no. I-I got here late…" Amia admitted, turning to look away from her.

"Oh."

Next, Amia cleared her throat in an obvious attempt to change the subject, "So you said your mom was a teacher here?"

"Yeah, Professor Granger. She's the-"

"Transfiguration teacher?" Amia asked suddenly.

Rose nodded and gave her a enquiring look, "Yeah. You've met her?"

"I had her first period today," Amia said, looking away distractedly.

"It's her first year teaching," Rose revealed with a fond smile as they made their way out onto the staircase, "I think she was pretty nervous today, but she's really smart. I know she'll do great."

Amia's eyes again went a little wide as she took in the vastness of the moving staircase, but after a moment she nodded in agreement, "She seemed like she was a little nervous in class. No offence or anything," she quickly added.

Rose shook her head, "It's okay. To be honest, she's been acting kind of strange lately…" Suddenly, Rose's thoughts took her back to last night and the awkward conversation she'd had with her mum. She'd thought about it after she went to bed, and it still didn't really make sense to her. Her mum seemed so… unwilling, whenever they started to talk about her dad. Her mum had always been honest with her, whatever the situation was. But Rose couldn't help the looming feeling that Hermione's charade of 'everything's okay' really was a lie.

Amia glanced at Rose, clearly wanting to put the topic back on an easy and unproblematic path, "So uh, what's there to do for fun around here after classes and stuff?"

Rose looked at her, breaking from her reverie, "Um, well people hang out at the lake sometimes… or go to the pitch to fly. But other than that everyone just goes back to their common rooms after classes. Or the library," she couldn't help but add.

Amia appeared to be shocked, "Are you serious?"

With a frown, Rose nodded, "Yeah. Why, what'd you do at your old school?"

"Go out and stuff," Amia shrugged like that would've been the commonest answer, "We weren't restricted to our campus."

"Well we have Hogsmeade weekends," Rose responded, forcing herself to sound optimistic for the new girl's sake, "There's a lot of stuff to do there, but we're only allowed to go on specific weekends."

"What a bummer," Amia said, all potential she had for Hogwarts seemingly lost.

Rose shrugged, "It's better than I make it sound. So why'd you transfer here anyway?"

Going unnoticed by Rose, Amia stiffened, "Um… My dean thought it'd be a good… experience…"

"Did you choose to come here?" she asked again, heading off into the seventh floor landing. Amia shot her a look as she followed.

"Uh, no. But it doesn't matter. I'll be gone by Christmas break."

Rose frowned, intrigued, "What do you mean?"

"My dean's going to check up on me before Christmas, and if I'm doing good then I can go home."

Rose's eyebrows knitted together. Amia made it sound like she was on probation or something…

"Were… were you in trouble or something? Is that why he made you come
here?"

Amia gave her a sharp look, upon which Rose immediately fumbled, "Sorry. Sometimes I ask too many questions."

She continued to stare unabashedly at her for a moment or two, before shrugging, "It's just complicated."

Rose nodded immediately, "Did your parents have a problem with you coming here? I mean, it's half way across the globe…"

Again, Amia merely shrugged, "My mom's a muggle. She doesn't really get involve in my academics."

"What about your dad? Is he a muggle too?"

"Yeah. I haven't talked to him in a while though."

"So- So you're the only magical person in your family?"

"Yeah. My sister isn't magical either."

"Wow…" Rose mumbled. There was only a slight hint of envy in her voice.

Amia noticed, but didn't question her on it. "And you?"

Rose scoffed candidly, "I'm like, related to half our house."

Amia couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Are you serious?"

Rose sighed, "Well not half, but I do have a lot of cousins in Gryffindor. My brother just got sorted in too. It's like a right of passage in my family, to be a Gryffindor."

"Damn. I guess that's cool."

"Sort of," Rose muttered.

Amia raised an eyebrow, "You're not too stoked about it?"

The redhead shook her head, and then shrugged, "I'm kind of the black sheep in my family."

"Nothing wrong with individualism."

"I wish they could remember that." Rose loved her family, she really did. But most of the time, if you dared dip your toe outside the famous pool of everything 'Weasley', then you were judged for it. Sometimes, she felt like her extended family- and even her dad and brother- didn't understand her. That was part of the reason why she was so close with her mum. At least, she thought she was close with her.

"So how are the guys here? You into anyone?"

Rose's eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at the older girl, "Um, I-I'm more focused on my studies…"

Amia nodded kindly, "I respect that."

"Most of the girls here are boy obsessed though."

An eyebrow raised on Amia's face, "Uh oh… I bet there's a lot of gossip floating around here."

"You have no idea…" Rose answered, suppressing her scoff and sighing instead. She was kind of disappointed when she saw that they had already reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Talking to this new American girl was cool.

"Well, we're here. Gilly Hicks."

The painted women, still as fat and as pink as ever nodded, "Of course m'dears…"

The portrait swung open gracefully, and Rose was the first to step in. She took a few steps, but then realized that Amia was not following her. She turned back and found Amia staring in what must have been awe at the back of the open portrait.

Rose gave her a questioning look, to which Amia explained, "The portraits don't talk at my school."

"Really? Some of the portraits here can be quite snarky. You'll have to come up with a few good premeditated comebacks to have, just in case."

To Rose's surprised, Amia laughed and stepped up into the narrow passage, "I'll keep that in mind. What's your name anyway?"

"Rose Weasley. Yours?"

"Mia."

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