Upside Down Mirror: Granger Yet

Teeth

"Hermione, what have you done to your teeth?"

Regulus, at first, wasn 't sure how he noticed, given his eldest was correct in pointing out he was struggling to focus on anything because his head hurt. Yet, there was a part of him that wondered if he was so desperate for his girls to be alright despite everything that was going on that Regulus found himself latching onto the smile coming from his eldest.

And what he noticed took him back, given how he and Olivia told Hermione they didn 't want her fixing her teeth with magic, nor had he ever imagined his eldest doing anything rebellious. " Lizzy, maybe, but not Hermione. "

"Oh," Hermione responded, not blinking an eye. "That."

"What do you mean by that?" Regulus felt his body tense, and his head ached, not helping his ability to wrap his head around what she just said, although he might not have been able to do so had his head not hurt. "Why do I think this isn't going to go well, no matter what I do?"

As if on cue, Hermione 's tone changed, making him tense up as her voice rose slightly, not to mention he thought he could pick up on a bit of disgust in her voice, not that he blamed her given the fact she just learned that he was a Death Eater. "Well, you're one to talk."

He froze, his mind trying to work through the confusion as he sat only a few inches from her while another part of his mind was trying not to brush off what he saw as his imagination, particularly after hearing Hermione admit that he 'd not imagined what he saw. "I'm one to talk? Is this about me hiding the fact I was a Death Eater from you?" He looked down at his hand, now bandaged with one of his old handkerchiefs, thinking of how Walburga would throw a fit if she saw, deciding as he'd done many times that he didn't want to be that kind of parent. "I am sorry about that."

"Not that," Hermione said. She then sighed for some reason. "Although that is still something I'm trying to wrap my head around."

"Not that?" Regulus said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "What then is comparable to you not telling us that you got your teeth fixed with magic after your mother and I said we didn't want you to? And I'm also a bit confused, given I know Madam Pomfrey wouldn't have done something without parental permission, even if the student was Muggleborn—technically Muggleborn, of course. She is still the one who runs the infirmary?"

"Yes, but don't be mad at her," Hermione said. "But for your information, my teeth got cursed, so when they were being fixed, I decided not to waste the opportunity. I mean, it's not as if Madam Pomfrey paid attention to what my teeth looked like in the first place." Hermione lowered her voice. "Unlike my dad, who's a dentist."

"Wait? When?" He croaked out, his mind whirling, thinking he would have noticed, should have noticed. "Did I really not notice?

"I—no," Hermione sighed. "I mean, I was hoping you and mom wouldn't notice and think the braces finally worked, given that you've not seen me an entire year, but you noticed. How, when you're usually oblivious, I don't know."

"I noticed because I'm your dad," Regulus said.

"Then I would have explained the situation to mom, and she would have explained it to you," Hermione said. "And I would have insisted on talking to her, because," she sighed. "And that's what I don't get?"

"What you don't get?" Regulus said. "I don't get why you would have felt the need to explain things to her so she could explain things to me, either."

"Dad!" Hermione—for some reason, there was a laugh, which he didn't understand why she was amused at that moment. "No." And then she took on a more serious tone, the tone she took on when she was trying to act older than she really was. "I guess I'll get straight to the point again, although I've been trying to. I'd thought you were terrified of magic because you were a Muggle, but you're a Wizard."