The next morning came bright and early for the guys they had received a reply back from Dumbledore saying that he would stop by the house at noon. They decided to get up and go downstairs once they smelled breakfast being cooked. Once downstairs they noticed that only Hermione was up and it looked as if she didn't sleep at all.
"Mina…you ok?" asked Cayden.
"Yeah I'm fine, just got a lot on my mind" she replied as she continued making pancakes.
"You guys go watch a movie or something, breakfast won't be ready for a while" Hermione said after a long silence with only the sound of pancakes frying in the background.
The boys shrugged and left Hermione to her cooking except for Blaise and Draco.
"Hermione…" Blaise said hesitantly.
Hermione looked at the two men standing behind the bar to her right. She watched them fidget like they were nervous about something. She was just about to say something when Blaise spoke up again.
"Hermione I am so sorry for the way that I have treated you in the past, please forgive me" he said with such sorrow in his voice.
"You're forgiven Blaise" she said. Immediately after she heard him release a sigh of relief as he turned to join his and her brothers in the living room.
She looked up to see Draco still standing there watching her. She continued cooking waiting for him to say something after about ten minutes of watching Hermione in the silence he swallowed his pride.
"Hermione…can we talk?" Draco asked hesitantly
"Can it wait until after breakfast?" she asked sensing that he didn't want anyone to overhear them.
"Yeah that's fine" he said tension still in his voice. Instead of leaving like Blaise said he continued to watch her.
He was captivated by the way she made the simple task of making breakfast look so elegant and delicate. But to Hermione is observant eyes made her nervous and uncomfortable. It was to the point where Hermione couldn't take his eyes anymore so she stopped cooking turned to him.
"Are you just going to sit there and watch me are would you like to help me?" she said with a slight smirk on her face.
Instead of answering, he stood up from the chair he had sat in and walked over to her and started to fry the bacon she had just sat out to cook. Hermione was impressed; she didn't know that Draco could cook. Draco noticed the look on her face and turned to her.
"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me or are you going to help? I know I'm good looking but you have all the time in the world to stare, so let's finish breakfast" he said with a genuine smile and a wink.
Hermione started blushing and went back to fixing the eggs for breakfast. As she continued cooking she felt less embarrassed and started to chat with him.
"I didn't know you could cook" Hermione said shooting him a side glance.
"My mom taught me how before she died"
"Oh Draco I'm so sorry…"
"It's ok, you didn't know" he said cutting her off with sadness in his voice.
Hermione felt really bad about bringing up memories, as they finished making breakfast she noticed that he was sniffling. She turned to look at him as a single tear fell from his eye.
"Draco" she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. At first he stiffened then he eventually relaxed in her arms and wrapped his around her tightly.
They stayed there for a few more minutes wrapped in each other's embrace until Stella walked in with a small smile on her face. She cleared her throat and the two teens jumped apart and started blushing.
"Well breakfast is ready, Stella will you tell everyone it's time to eat" Hermione said as she carried the food to the kitchen table.
Draco followed her lead and brought over the milk and juice and set them on the table.
"Hermione, can we have that talk now?" Draco asked
"Yeah grab a plate. We can go outside on the back porch" Hermione replied quickly before everyone came in for breakfast.
Draco realized what she was doing and hurried along with her out the back door as they heard footsteps approaching. Once outside they settled into the chairs around the table on the porch, and ate their breakfast in silence. Once they were finished Draco didn't know where to begin so he started playing with his napkin. Hermione saw this and tried to help him out a bit.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Hermione pushed him.
"I..I…I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for all the shit I put you through and I hope that you can find it somewhere in the big heart of yours to forgive me" he said never looking up from his plate.
"Draco I have already forgave you" she said
He then snapped his head up to look into her honey eyes, "Really?" he asked in disbelief
"Yes really" she said with a smile
"Thank you" he whispered and looked back down at his plate.
"Draco are you ok?" Hermione asked with a twinge of worry in her voice.
"I don't know"
"Do you wanna talk to me about it?" Hermione asked sincerely wanting to help him out.
Draco was about to say something when Cayden walked out onto the porch.
"There you two are, we've been looking everywhere for you" Cayden said.
"Well you found us" Draco said as he got up from the table and walked into the house carrying his and Hermione's dishes.
"What's his problem?" Cayden asked once the door shut behind Draco
"I was just about to find out" Hermione said moodily
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Cayden asked not liking the attitude from his friend and sister.
"Sorry, I just… I don't know I feel him reaching out to me yet every time he gets close enough to tell me what's going on something or someone interrupts us "
"Maybe the fates are trying to tell you something, considering he doesn't get close to anyone let alone the girl he has despised since he was eleven" Cayden said with emphasis on the word despised.
"He apologized" was all she said before getting up and walking into the house.
Cayden was floored; Draco Malfoy didn't apologize to anyone for anything. Something was going on and he wanted to get to the bottom of it, without being a pest of course.
By the time Cayden had gotten inside and rounded everyone up it was a quarter till noon, and to say everyone was anxious would've been an understatement.
After 15 grueling minutes the fireplace lit up and Dumbledore stepped out.
"Good afternoon students" she said cheerily noticing that they were waiting for him.
"Afternoon professor" Hermione said as the others nodded in agreement.
The group moved from the room with the fire place into the family room. The room held a sofa, two loveseats and a wing-backed chair with a glass coffee table in the middle. Dumbledore chose to sit in the chair, Cayden and Skyler sat on one of the loveseats, Blaise and Ginny sat on the other, leaving Draco Hermione and Stella to sit on the sofa. Things were pretty awkward until everyone was situated in his or her seat, and after they all stopped moving Dumbledore began to speak.
"Cayden, Hermione, and Stella I am sorry for this intrusion of your privacy but I hope you don't mind that I added some extra security to the house. I have confirmed what was written in your letters, there are deatheaters lurking about and Draco's father was one of them. I would first like to ask how you knew it was your father Draco?" Dumbledore asked as everyone then turned to look at Draco.
Draco glanced at Hermione who was sitting beside him and said "Malfoy's have a charm like enchantment placed on them at birth. It lets us be able to find one another through scent if the need ever arises. The plus side of the charm is if the person doesn't want to be found then they can psychologically turn the charm off. The downside however is that the charm has to be turned off in order for it to stay off. For instance I turned mine off last summer but father still had his on, I could smell it on him." He finished looking down in embarrassment.
"Son there is no need to be embarrassed" said Dumbledore before addressing the group again. "I have also been informed of the reason why they are here. It seems that two very powerful deatheaters have resurfaced after being pronounced dead over 13 years ago."
Cayden felt his eyes widen and his body go rigid. He looked at Dumbledore and all he got was a small nod that wasn't noticed by any other occupants. Cayden then stood up and excused himself claiming to need a drink of water and that Dumbledore should continue.
Dumbledore's crestfallen expression had them all worried but they didn't have to worry about what was affecting the headmaster for long.
He turned to the sofa where Hermione and Stella sat side-by-side. "Girls I'm sorry that I have kept you both in the dark for so long about this, but the deatheaters that are back from the dead are your parents. Meaning that you two are sisters and of course Cayden is your brother." He paused waiting for any kind of reaction (which he got).
"you mean to tell me you lied to me after all these years" Hermione said deadly clam with a voice laced with venom.
She then quickly got up and ran out of the room. The only one that dared to follow her was Draco.
Draco found her sitting outside by the pool, with her feet in the water. As he approached her he noticed that tears were falling down from her eyes.
"Hermione" he whispered as he came closer to her.
Hermione's head snapped up to him when he spoke.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked as she tried to hide her tears from him.
"I came to see if you were ok" he said crouching down beside her and taking her hands away from her tearstained face.
"I'm fine" she mumbled as a single tear drop fell from her right eye, hoping that he didn't see it.
But of course he did see the tear. He slowly reached up and wiped the tear from her cheek. She then turned to hide her face from him as more tears started to fall. He gently took her by the chin and turned her to face him.
"You don't have to hide from me" he told her softly.
After he said that Hermione broke down into sobs. Draco quickly gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly in his strong arms. They sat like that until Hermione's tears subsided. Draco loosened the hold he had on her but didn't let go completely.
"Thank you" Hermione told him as she relaxed into his embrace.
"Any time" he replied. "Do you wanna tell me what got you so upset?"
"I just- I…I don't really know. It's like I've been lied to all my life and now the truth is finally coming out and it's just really overwhelming. I have always wanted a sister and now I find out that I've had one this whole time. And I don't like the feeling of not knowing what's going on especially when it's about my own life." She replied exasperated.
After a few more minutes of a comfortable silence Draco finally convinced Hermione to go back inside and listed to what Dumbledore had to say.
Once the pair walked back inside all who were left in the living room were Dumbledore, Cayden, and Stella. Hermione and Draco made their way to the now vacant loveseat positioned beside the one Cayden and Stella was sitting on and across from Dumbledore's chair.
"I see that we are all ok, now if I could continue" he looked at Hermione and Draco and once he received a nod from both of them he continued "the four of you are going to need to stick together. These are dark times that are approaching and you four are very powerful in your own ways. I need you four as well as Ginny, Skyler, and Blaise to stay together, never leave without someone with you. I would actually prefer if you moved back into the castle for the rest of the summer. The order and I can protect you better there as opposed to bringing members here and raising the neighbor's suspicions."
"But Professor" Hermione protested "What about my job?"
"Hermione what is more important you job or your safety?" Dumbledore asked back sending her a knowing glance.
"Fine" she grumbled and sat back against the loveseat with her arms crossed in a defeated position.
"Now back to what I was saying, I would like for all of you to move back into the castle tomorrow morning. The others are already packing everything that you will need. The house elves will come by later this evening to bring your things to the castle. Once you arrive tomorrow come to my office and we will further discuss what to do about your parents and where everyone will stay. I must bid you adieu for it is getting closer to dinner and I have to meet with the order" he finished as he stood from the chair and flooed from the house.
"Well then now that that is settled what would everyone like for dinner?" Hermione said a little downtrodden.
The group told her what they wanted and she walked out of the living room. Cayden then turned to Draco and told him everything he and Hermione had missed (including who their parents were). The three in the living room were soon joined by the three that were sent to pack all the trunks. Ginny immediately noticed that Hermione wasn't there and started to ask how she was taking all the news. About ten minutes after the six had been talking in the living room Hermione had called them into the dining room for dinner.
Dinner was a silent affair, everyone kept to themselves each lost in his or her own thoughts about how the rest of the summer was going to play out. Hermione was the first one done with her dinner; she left the room feeling everyone's eyes on her as she walked out. Draco, Ginny and Cayden all stood up at the same time, Cayden looked at them and said that he would go talk to her and for them to finish eating.
Cayden walked out of the room and found Hermione sitting on her bed.
"Mina, is everything ok?" he asked as he sat beside her.
"I don't know Cay, I just feel like everything has gone wrong this summer. This was supposed to be the best summer ever considering it's the last one we will spend together."
"Oh Mina, is that what all this is about? Me graduating and you not seeing me anymore… well let me tell you, you are the most amazing person and the fact that you are my sister is never gonna keep me from seeing you" he said reassuring her and pulling her in for a hug.
"Cay why is it that every time I'm upset you are somewhere right around the corner?" she said with a smile on her face.
"Because I know you… I do want you to know that I almost had to fight to be the one to come find you" he said with a wink.
"Who? Draco?" she asked
"Him and Ginny. Mina there is no doubt in my mind that you are loved and have many friends that care for you deeply. Now let's go spend our last night here at the club. Get ready I'll tell the others and send up Ginny" he said as he walked out of her bedroom and back to the dining room where everyone was waiting.
A few minutes later Hermione's bedroom door opened up again and Ginny walked in. Ginny could already tell that Hermione was in a better mood than she had been in since Dumbledore arrived (her biggest clue was the music Hermione was currently dancing to).
"Hermione!" Ginny said loudly to get her attention.
Hermione shrieked and then started laughing when she saw who had called her.
"Ginny you scared me! Come on we have to get ready" Hermione said with a smile on her face.
The girls started to get ready and dance around the room. The music was loud and the bass was worth dancing to. They decided to split Hermione's bedroom into a sitting room and a dressing room. Once the guys were ready they saw that Hermione's door was open and went in to her room to wait for the girls to be ready. The guys were sitting there listening to the music when a half dressed Hermione (she had on her skirt and a bra) came running through the sitting room. She saw all the boys staring at her and grabbed her brother and exclaimed 'there you are' and dragged him behind the makeshift wall with her. Thinking something was wrong Cayden as well as the other boys started to panic slightly until they heard the giggles coming from behind the curtain. It turns out that the zipper on the dress Hermione wanted to wear was broken and she needed help buckling her heels (Ginny was getting ready in the bathroom and couldn't help, plus Cayden was seventeen and could do magic outside of school). Once Hermione ushered Cayden out from behind the makeshift wall her one of her favorite songs came on while she was doing her makeup and hair. Hermione and Ginny were dancing and putting the finishing touches on their look when Cayden came to tell them that the boys were going to leave without them if they didn't hurry. The girls decided to dance their way to Hermione's door and grab the boys on the way out.
Once the group finally arrived to the club they got a table and drinks. Hermione and Ginny then went into the middle of the dance floor; they refused all the offers they got from other guys, secretly hoping that the two that were watching them from the table would come join. The girls finally got their wish as Blaise and Draco made their way over to the girls. Blaise grabbed Ginny by the hips and pulled her closer to him and whispered into her ear, telling her to look at how jealous Draco was (he is in on the plan to set up Draco and Hermione). The pair watched as Draco came up behind Hermione, they saw him growl something in her ear as he wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist possessively. Ginny also noticed that whatever Draco said made Hermione blush. Ginny couldn't wait to find out what Draco had said, so she pulled Hermione's upper body to her so she could whisper in her ear and keep dancing.
"What did he say to make you blush that much" Ginny whispered in Hermione's ear
"He said that if that's how I dance with you he can't wait to see how I Dance with him, and something about how he is extremely jealous that you were the one I dragged onto the dance floor and not him"
Ginny pulled away from Hermione laughing as they both gave their boys their full attention again. Ginny also told Blaise what Hermione had said and he smirked towards Hermione and Draco. After the song was over the four joined Cayden and Skyler back at the table. Cayden had told Hermione's manager that they were moving and that tonight was their last night in town, so Hermione's manager made her way to their table to ask Hermione to do a special goodbye performance and Hermione of course agreed.
The teens got home around 4 the next morning, and decided to crash in Hermione's bedroom since it was big enough and closer than the other rooms.
Dumbledore couldn't help but laugh when he walked into Hermione's room and found Hermione, Draco, Ginny, and Blaise all laying Hermione's be asleep (the girls in the middle) and Cayden and Skyler were sprawled out over the two couches that were in Hermione's sitting area. Dumbledore knew that they didn't have long so he left questioning them until they got back to the castle, but first they needed to pick Stella up from the Order's Headquarters.