Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!
A/N: Thankyou for all your reviews
They followed Vivienne through the halls of the small castle. It was so beautiful and open, each of them feeling truly at home for the first time in almost all their lives.
"I am sorry to say that we didn't truly have much time to prepare for you coming here so we have had to put you all into the same suite. You will each have your own bedroom of course but you will have to share a small living area and a bathroom"
"I'm sure it will be fine!" Blaise answered for all of them
The room was beautiful. The stone walls of course matched the cream with gold flecked stones of the rest of the castle. The small living area had a couple of overstuffed couches and armchairs all in a soft blue, a coffee table, a soft rug on the floor, a couple of bookshelves and of course a fireplace. Along the back wall were 5 doors. The middle door was large and glass and led to a balcony that had seats and a table on it.
"Each of the bedrooms are exactly the same, there is two on one side and one on the other. The bathroom is the far door on the left" Vivienne quickly snapped her fingers and 3 house elves appeared each of them dressed in a sweet little blue dress "This is Milly, Mippy and Missy. They are your house elves and will take care of any of your needs. Now Hermione I have heard of your concerns for house elf rights, but I must inform you that all house elves here are paid, clothed, and given vacation time, so there is no need to try and free them. Now please each of you give them your trunks and they will unpack and put everything away for you"
All three pulled out their shrunken trunks from their pockets and handed them to the house elves. Hermione was in too much of a daze to complain about anything.
"Now I will leave you. If you follow go out the door and turn to your left and follow that hallway you will end up in the dining hall. I hope that you will all join us for meals. Do any of you have any other questions?"
"Was I named after you?" Hermione asked in a bit of a whisper, gaining confused looks from Blaise and Draco
"Yes dear I think you were. If that's all I will leave you to get settled"
After Vivienne left Blaise and Draco turned to Hermione "What's with that Granger?"
"With what?"
"Her name is Vivienne and yours is Hermione. How can you be named after her?"
"My middle name is Vivienne. I think I'll take the room next to the bathroom, if you don't mind"
Hermione walked off to her room with a house elf in tow. The bedroom was just as beautiful as the living room. Everything done in light blue and creams. There was a big queen size bed with side tables, a desk, a wardrobe and vanity. There was a large window with a built in seat that looked out onto the rest of Avalon.
She sat in the middle of the bed and absentmindedly watched the elf as it enlarged Hermione's trunk and put all her clothes away in the wardrobe, lined the books up along the desk and generally made everything neat and tidy.
"Is Miss wanting anything else?"
"No thankyou. Thankyou for putting everything away"
"Milly is happy to Miss"
"Please call me Hermione"
"Can Milly speak to Miss Hermione?"
"Of course!"
"I is happy to have you back Miss Hermione. I took care of you and the Masters the day you was born. Miss Vivienne was so sad to see you all go, but she has been so happy since you came back"
"It will be nice to really get to know her"
"Yes Miss Hermione she is nice lady. If you need anything just call for Milly"
"Thankyou Milly"
Hermione sat in the middle of the bed thinking over everything. How much would her life change? Were they expected to do something all great and powerful? What was expected of them at all?
This whole day was just getting weirder and weirder. First being here with the two Slytherin Princes, then said Slytherins being nice. Having all this information dumped on them at once. It was all too much! She needed to have a bath and relax and try and forget about everything, even if it were only for a short amount of time.
Draco and Blaise each sat on one of the couches, both seeming to be as lost in thought as Hermione had been.
"If you two don't need the bathroom for a while, I think I am going to go soak in a bath for a while"
"We're fine!"
vVv
"You know we are going to have to explain a few things to her and you're definitely going to have to apologise!"
"That's going to be easy!"
"What are you going to do, keep treating her like shit just to keep up appearances?"
"No! It's just that I am not looking forward to telling her or anyone else that the reason I acted the way that I did was because I was scared of my father!"
"She knows who your father is Drake, I'm sure she will understand. As for everyone else well screw em'!"
"This is all so fucked up! Why out of all the witches and wizards in the world did it have to be us? She was right you know; We have all lived through too much shit just to have this dumped on us now!"
"Wow twice in one day the great Draco Malfoy says that Hermione Granger is right. The world must be coming to an end!" Blaise laughed
"Fuck off!" Draco said as he threw a cushion at Blaise's head "Did you ever think our missing piece would be her?"
"Truthfully I thought that we were just weird for thinking that we had a missing piece at all! Imagine what it must have been like for her though. It was hard enough having one missing piece but she had two"
"Probably why she hung out with Potter and Weasley all the time. Trying to fill the void"
"I'm kind of glad she did though. Without her Potter and Weasley probably would have lost and our world would be run by a crazy nutball!"
"Thank the gods for small favours!"
"What did you do during the war Drake?"
"Sev put my mother and me into hiding in his house after she and I ran. I begged her to go to your house in Italy but she said that that would be one of the first places that he would look"
"He did come, my father kicked him out! Wouldn't he have gone to Severus' house as well?"
"Sev is one of my father's oldest and dearest friends, but what my father doesn't know is that Sev is a great liar. It seems our dear potions professor who everyone thought was a great death eater was actually a spy for the other side"
"Huh, I guess you never really know anyone"
"He tried to get my mother and me to join the other side, but neither of us wanted anything to do with it. So I spent most of my time making potions and exploring Sev's house"
"Find anything interesting?"
"Just what you'd expect. There was this one locked room though and not matter what I tried I could never get into the blasted thing"
"Wonder what he's hiding?"
"Who knows? It did hinder my brick counting though!"
"I thought you were joking!"
"I wish. I had made some many potions that Severus ran out of supplies; I had read every bloody book in that house twice. So it was either count the bricks or learn how to embroider from my mother"
"Thankfully you went with the former"
"Mmm" Draco mumbled turning away
"You didn't? Please tell me that brick counting was your first choice?"
"Hey man if you were as bored as I was you would have tried anything and it's not as bloody easy as it looks!"
Blaise was grabbing his sides laughing. He actually fell off his seat and began rolling around the floor. His laughs echoing around the room.
"Go on laugh it up"
"Oh this is just too good. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Qudditch Captain, Ladies man and he can embroider!"
"Are you about done?"
"Come on man. If that was me, you would be laughing your ass off!"
Blaise calmed down and both sat quietly going over all their thoughts, Draco was also thinking of how to explain everything to Hermione. This was not going to be easy; he had been a real ass. He also thought of all the times that he had been around her and how he felt. Why couldn't things have been like the very first time that he saw her?
"What are you thinking about?"
"The first time that I met Granger"
"I remember that!" Hermione said as she came out of the bathroom in long black cotton pants and a white tank top, her hair twisted into a bun. "Everything seemed so big and exciting then and everyone was a mystery"
"You came into our compartment looking for Longbottom's toad. That was the first time in my whole life that I had felt complete"
"When we were all being sorted you two were sorted before me and I was so desperate to get into Slytherin, but they put me in Gryffindor"
"It's probably for the best. You could have been seriously hurt or killed if you were put into Slytherin"
"I figured that out later on"
"Speaking of which Granger, could you sit down, we need to talk to you about a few things"
"Ah sure I guess"
Hermione sat on one of the armchairs and got comfortable
"First I want to apologise for all the horrible things that I have said to you over the years" Hermione's mouth almost fell to the floor "There are a few reasons and none of them are sufficient enough really but I truly mean it when I say sorry!"
Hermione sat stunned. Mouth still open, just staring at Draco
"Granger...Granger" Blaise called out waving his hands around
"I tripped right? I tripped in the bathroom and smacked my head on the tile. Actually all of this is way too weird so something must have happened at Harry's. Charlie got too rough and I smacked my head on the headboard and now I am passed out and this whole day is one really strange dream"
"Granger snap out of it. Sorry to say but none of this is a dream and as for Charlie and the headboard, we want to hear about that later"
"I don't understand any of this!"
"I or we think that we are going to have to tell you a few things for you to truly understand, but I really don't want these things to get around"
"You can trust me"
"You know my father, you know that he is pretty much a monster, what most people don't know is that he is not only a monster to others but also to my mother and I. The first time that he used the Cruciatus curse on me I was 5 years old. I was flying around my room on a toy broom and lost control putting a hole in the wall. He then beat my mother for buying me the broom in the first place. Things continued on that way for as long as I can remember. During our first Christmas vacation from Hogwarts he found out about the first time we met on the train and that you were a muggle-born. He locked me in my room for the whole vacation with no food and no way of escape. The only reason that I got water was because of my bathroom. Can you see where I am going with all of this?"
"I think so"
"I know that it's not really an excuse, but me being mean to you probably saved mine and my mother's lives. If it makes you feel any better each time that I called you Mudblood I went and threw up"
"I think that after the first couple of times I stopped really hearing. It was only really the first time that you said it that it really got to me. It felt like you broke my heart!"
"I remember what you were like Drake. You were sick for days" Blaise added
"That was one thing I really hated my father for, though the list of reasons of why I hate my father is rather long"
"Do you think the reason that it made you sick was because of this connection that Vivienne was talking about?"
"Possibly that and the fact that I hated to do the things my father made me do"
"Please tell me that I'm not the only one that finds all of this strange!"
"You're not the only one Granger; all of this is as crazy as hell and damned annoying. Did you really listen to Dumbledore and Vivienne? No one knows what the hell is going to happen to any of us. No one knows what this great power is supposed to be and you know that when it all comes down to it, everyone is going to look to us to answer all their questions! Like we have any idea of what the fuck is going on!"
"What's your story Zabini, why are you so quiet?" Hermione asked
"Not much of a story. My family and I believe in not choosing sides. We saw faults with both side of the war so chose neither. Most people seem to have an opinion one way or another and seeing as I really don't, I tend to keep my mouth closed"
"You're Switzerland!"
"Huh?"
"When the muggles went to war every country seems to pick a side, but Switzerland never chooses. It's neutral. It's neither for one side or the other. For that Switzerland is a fairly safe place during war time"
"Yeah, I guess my family are like Switzerland then!"
"What about you Granger? Why did you decide to help Potter out with all this?"
"Because Harry's my friend and to protect myself. I had read about what Voldemort had done to muggles and muggle-borns and I could not just sit by and let it happen. I knew if Voldemort came into power then the wizarding world would turn into what it was like in Nazi Germany. I would probably be dead or put into some camp wishing I was dead!"
"My father made me read books on Nazi Germany and Hitler. He said it was something to aspire to. I just found it as something else that made me vomit!"
"He said Hitler was something to aspire to?"
"This is Lucius Malfoy we are talking about!"
"Oh right!"
"How do you think that they are going to teach us to control our powers when they don't know exactly what they are?"
"Like we have any clue Granger!"
"Ok if we are going to be working and living together for the next few months do you think that we could use each others first names"
"I think that can be done, but do you have a nickname, Hermione is kind of long"
"Harry and Ron call me Mione" They screwed up their nose at that "Charlie calls me Mina"
"Ok after the 'headboard' comment I don't think we'll go with that one" Hermione blushed
"Well the only one left is Princess and only my Dad called me that"
"How about Mia?"
"I like that!"
"Then Mia it is!"
"So other what else can you tell us about yourself Mia?" Blaise asked
"There isn't really that much more to tell!"
"What about your parents? What do they think about you coming here for the whole summer?"
Hermione got a really sad look on her face "My parents were killed by Deatheaters"
"When?"
"During second year"
"Why didn't we hear anything about it?"
"It was kept quiet for safety reasons. If they knew my parents were dead they would have tried to come after me to get to Harry"
"So who have you been living with?"
"When I'm not at Hogwarts I either live with my guardian or I am at the Burrow. Lately I have been living at Harry's"
"Do you know which Deatheaters it was?"
"Yeah I do!" Hermione said looking away
"It was my father wasn't it?"
"And your Aunt"
"I'm sorry Mia"
"I don't blame you Draco"
"You're about the only one that doesn't"
"I think that I am going to go to bed. This whole day has been ridiculous and I have a huge headache"
"You're right about that! Goodnight"
"Goodnight Cara"
"Goodnight Draco. Goodnight Blaise"
They sat and watched her go to her room and close the door
"That went easier than I expected"
"I just feel like want to protect her Drake. When she was telling us about her parents, she seemed so lost and scared. I just wanted to pull her in and hug her. Tell her that with us everything is going ok"
"Tell me about it. I never noticed how little she is. When I lifted her up onto that horse I almost threw her over the bloody thing"
"How can Potter and Weasley keep putting her into so much danger?"
"Have you truly met her? She may be little and may need taking care of every once in a while, but she is also stubborn and headstrong. She would have gone into danger whether she was with them or not!"
"You like her don't you?"
"Hey I'm not the only one!" Draco said giving Blaise a pointed look
"Since when?"
"First year on the train and it just grew from there. You?"
"Second year when I heard that she had been petrified"
"I remember that. I snuck in and sat with her for a little while"
"So did I"
"I guess we really are drawn to each other!"