Hermione shared a glance with Luna, then she spoke. "Which Houses are still in control of their family vaults?"

Sharpstone squinted at his records and smirked, his expression positively diabolical. "Hector Dagworth-Granger is still Head of his House, and as far as we goblins are aware, Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel are still among the living. We don't have much information on the Delphi line, however, you'll have to visit the Greek branch of Gringotts if you want to know more."

Luna hummed. "Considering the stature of the House of Delphi, would you suggest we make an appointment before we take a Portkey to Greece?"

"That would certainly be advisable, Miss Lovegood," the goblin agreed. "Our branch in Greece can be quite busy, no matter the season. Shall I notify the appropriate bodies of your pending arrival?"

The blonde sneaked a peek at her lover and smiled. "Please do, we'll make time for a quick visit sometime next week."

Sharpstone nodded and grabbed a piece of parchment, penning a quick note, and sending it straight off to Greece. "Would you like me to also contact the other families?"

"Yes, please. I would like to get in touch with the family I never knew I had," Hermione softly said. "I can't believe the Flames are still alive," she breathed. "Figures that at some point everything Dumbledore told us would fall apart and prove to be just another one of his fabricated lies," she muttered to herself, but Luna and the goblin had both heard her.

"Very well, Miss Granger," said Sharpstone, and promptly sent off notifications to Lord Dagworth-Granger, and Lady Flamel that an Heiress had been found. "It's done," he murmured, and looked at the witches. "Now then, before we go any further, there's the matter of claiming your magical inheritance. Since you are the last of the Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Emrys, and Le Fay lines, the Family Magic needs to be apprised," he explained.

Hermione and Luna shared another glance and a nod. They were expecting something like that.

"Is there anything specific we need to say to incite our claim?" inquired Luna.

"You simply have to express your intent in a formal fashion," Sharpstone explained. "As the Heiress to House Lovegood, I presume that you were properly educated on how to express magical intent, Miss Lovegood," he continued, to which Luna merely nodded. "I must warn you, there's a chance, no matter how small it might be, that the Family Magic won't accept you. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think this will be the case with either of you, but there had been cases where the Covenant rejected its Heir, or Heiress."

"We understand," Hermione solemnly said, and squeezed Luna's hand tenderly. "I think it would be prudent if you claimed the Ravenclaw inheritance first. You're more knowledgeable on this subject, my love, and I would like to see how this rite is done properly before I attempt it," she smiled.

Luna snickered and gazed at Hermione with a fond light in her moonlight coloured eyes. "You wouldn't be yourself if you weren't so sensible, sweetheart."

"Well, one of us has to be sensible, and we both know you're too much of a free spirit to be practical," teased Hermione. "But that's one thing I love about you the most."

Luna's heart swelled with love, and she beamed at her girlfriend. She was about to completely forget herself and kiss her senseless right in front of the goblin accountant when the doors to the cavern they were situated in flew open, revealing a silver-haired wizard, wand sparkling, with a fierce expression.

Sharpstone's head snapped up, and he narrowed his eyes at the new arrival. He was well aware who the wizard was, but that didn't mean he was going to let him get away with this surly interruption. "This is a private meeting, wizard," he started, but his words were cut short.

"How dare you send me this piece of garbage," the wizard waved the note in his hand savagely, "and insinuate that I have an Heir, and a female one at that?" he raged.

Hermione froze, and her eyes traveled to the intruder. She narrowed her eyes and took her time considering the wizard in front of her. He was tall and lean, his hair cascading down on his back in smooth silver waves, apart from two side braids that were tied with a black silk ribbon on the back of his head. He was wearing thick olive green robes, that were visibly high quality, and his black dragonhide boots were shining without even a single particle of dust or dirt on the surface. She was certain they were charmed to be spotless. Hermione resisted the urge to snort at that as she looked at his face. The lines of the man's face were hardened, he was very angular with cold blue eyes that could have frozen over a lake, she was sure. She had an inkling that she knew who this man was, and she frowned to herself, unable to hide her displeasure at his attitude.

"Kindly lower your wand, sir. Waving your wand in a goblin's face is a punishable offence by their laws, which an educated Pureblood wizard, such as yourself, knows well, I'm sure," Hermione coldly, but politely, said.

Luna's lips twitched at the tone of her witch's voice. She recognized the danger it held, so she placed a calming touch on Hermione's arm. Sharpstone's eyes gleamed with respect for Hermione for standing up for his kind.

The wizard spun around his heel glaring at the little chit who dared speak to him like that. "Who gave you the leave to speak to me, you insolent little girl?" he sneered. "Do you know who I am? Let me educate you. I'm Lord Hector Dagworth-Granger," he thundered, narrowing his eyes into slits. "Only those who deserve it have the right to address me. Who do you think you are to speak to me?"

Hermione's expression hardened into ice, and her eyes darkened as she occluded her mind to keep her temper in check. This man's holier-than-thou attitude infuriated her. "I'm the witch whose private appointment you've interrupted, Lord Dagworth-Granger. I find it ironic that you're questioning my right to address you, demanding respect, when you've done nothing but act crude and insulting ever since you've barged in here," she scoffed.

Hector was fuming with anger, yet he took his time to study the young woman in front of him. She was a petite little thing, with long wildly curly hair, and intelligent eyes that shown the signs of some knowledge in the Mind Arts, he could ascertain as much from the lack of any emotion reflecting in her irises. The girl had an ivory complexion, high cheekbones, and a rather stubborn jawline. He noticed this witch didn't care about painting her face or dressing like proper witches her age were supposed to, she looked to be wearing muggle clothes under her robes. He snorted in contempt. A Mudblood. Great. He didn't need to scrutinize the witch any further to know that she was beneath him...

"I see no point for a little Mudblood to even have a private appointment with the goblins," he said haughtily.

Luna kept quiet until this point, carefully watching the scene unfold, but she drew her wand and pointed it at the wizard. "You're out of line, Lord Dagworth-Granger," she chimed, and shared a glance with Hermione, whose lips twitched with amusement, knowing how wrongly labeled she was, so the blonde lowered her wand and chuckled. "No matter how wrong you may be… You might consider treating your own flesh and blood kinder…" she teased in a sing-a-song voice.

That gave the wizard some pause, and then he looked at Hermione and grimaced. "What's your name, girl?" he asked in quiet contemplation.

Hermione raised an eyebrow in a silent challenge. "My name is Hermione Granger," she answered, knowing that he wouldn't like that one bit.

Hector's left eye twitched. He had read about what a useless weakling Hermione Granger was in the Daily Prophet. His bloodline was better than producing good for nothing cowards. "Now, see here, you bothersome little chit, I understand that you want to better your social standing, especially considering the bad reputation you have, but the members of my House are ambitious, strong, and proud, and not…," he drawled, but he was cut off by an incensed witch.

"Not what?" asked Luna, her aura crackling with wild magic. If there was one thing she would never stand for, that was stupid sheeple calling her powerhouse of a lover weak.

"The members of my House are not useless weaklings," Hector taunted. "Neither are they undependable, or an utter waste of space," he chuckled darkly. "Even if you are related to me, which I highly doubt to be honest, I have no use for a feeble little girl to darken my family name," he said.

Hermione just stared at the surly wizard and listened to his vitriol without a single word. It wasn't really a shock, or a surprise what he thought of her. It reflected what most of the Purebloods, and thanks to Harry sodding Potter and Rita Skeeter, most of the British Magical Community had thought of her. They thought her an attention-seeking coward aching to ride on the coattails of other better wizards' and witches' successes and achievements.

She was numbly used to how she was treated by the public, it saddened her, however, that the wizard who was supposed to be family would not even entertain the idea of her, or even the goblins, telling him the truth. What was the point in pursuing a connection with an unwilling party? She'd rather leave him to stew in his prejudice and ignorance. After all, at some point in the near future, he will be eating his words when it becomes known just who she really is and what kind of power she wields.

Hermione bit back a smirk as she considered her sweet revenge plans, and glanced at Luna, noticing how close her witch was to doing something reckless, thus she placed a calming touch on the small of the blonde's back, and leaned in to whisper into her ear. "Leave it, love, he's not worth it," she softly said, then raised her voice, her magic calling to her to draw upon. "I, Hermione Granger, have absolutely nothing to gain from you or your House, Lord Dagworth-Granger," she calmly declared as the instinct overtook her. "I denounce any claim I have on being a member of House Dagworth-Granger, so mote it be."

There was a flash of light, and a sharp jolt burned Hector as he felt the Family Magic respond to the girl's words. He couldn't believe that the little chit was an actual blood relation to his House. "Impossible!" he furiously exclaimed, refusing to believe what his own House Magic was telling him. "I have no idea what spell you just cast, or how you were even able to cast any proper magic, but it did nothing to endear you to me," he sneered.

Hermione chortled. "What gave you the idea that I want to endear myself to you? How arrogant and conceited do you have to be to presume that I care even a smidgen about what you say or do? Because I really don't," she quietly said. "It would have been nice to get to know the Patriarchal side of my family, but I can deal with not doing that," she shrugged.

Lord Hector Dagworth-Granger's ears reddened in his fury. "We're not family, nor will we ever be," he curled his lips in disgust. "Your very existence nauseates me. Looking at you, standing scandalously close to another woman, like you are bloody lovers…," he looked a little green as he said that.

Hermione's eyes gleamed and sparkled with pleasure and mischief as she pulled Luna even closer to her. "Oh, we definitely are," she mockingly said, and captured her witch's lips with her own in a searing kiss to further aggravate the wizard. She shivered at the feel of Luna's soft lips caressing her own and she moaned wantonly, forgetting herself completely, as she usually does in the arms of her beloved.

Luna was a very willing accomplice in this particular endeavor. She loved the effect she had on Hermione, she enjoyed being the person who could make the otherwise completely controlled witch fall apart with a kiss.

Sharpstone wasn't used to such open affection between humans, nor was he particularly fond of them, but the sight of the two witches and their own kind of magic that they ignited together mesmerized him. He blinked to clear his head, then audibly cleared his throat to get their attention. As much as he approved of toying with the wizard, Miss Granger had already made her point.

"We still have business to discuss, Miss Granger," he politely said and turned toward Hector. "I believe it's time for you to leave, as the point of you visiting Gringotts had just become redundant, since Miss Granger denounced your House."

Lord Dagworth-Granger looked ill as he glanced at the inappropriate behavior of the witches in front of him. He was incensed that the Mudblood dared to taunt him this way. "Very well, goblin. I shall take my leave, but we're not finished," he announced, and turned to look at the brunette once more. "As for you and your distasteful little display… it just shows how unfit you are for any proper House. In fact," he raised his wand. "I, Lord Hector Dagworth-Granger, Lord of the House of Dagworth-Granger hereby rebuke and censure any connection between my House and Hermione Granger. No offspring springing from her depraved wombs shall find peace or acceptance with me or mine, so mote it be."

There was another flash of light, and incredible pain engulfed Hermione, then everything went black...

A/N: Well, okay, so this is what happens when the characters come alive and take control. I always planned for Hector denouncing Hermione, but it surprised me when she did the denouncing on her own, and then things really went awry. I was going to write about the Ravenclaw vault experience as well, but that will come in the next chapter with the rest of the vaults, I suppose.

I really hope that you enjoy when my mind takes such twists and turns.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate every single one of you!