Chapter 4 - Dinner and Dessert
Disclaimer – I don't own any of the recognisable characters in this story. I only own Maria and Chantelle so far! :P
Last Chapter - Hermione - whilst being dragged out of the room and up the corridor – had a closer look at the pendant and something peculiar caught her eye. It was an engraving; an inscription. Holding the pendant closer to her eye, Hermione observed it closer. Two letters; initials to be exact…. HG.
"What the hell?!" Hermione shrieked, stopping dead in the middle of the corridor. Maria, who had been holding her arm at the time, was jerked backwards and almost lost her balance.
"Good heavens, dear! What on earth are you doing?" Maria exclaimed, regaining her composure. Hermione ran a finger over the engraving, feeling her initials inscribed on the pendant.
"This!" She shoved the pendant in Maria's face. "What the hell is this?!" Hermione demanded.
Maria delicately took the pendant from Hermione with her heavily adorned fingers and moved in closer so Hermione didn't break the chain in her frenzy to shove it under Maria's nose. Maria brought it up to her eye, inspecting it thoroughly, even sliding one of her many rings out of her way for a closer look. Her brow wrinkled and she moved it even closer to her eye, as if it were something miniscule. Hermione was growing impatient. She tapped her foot on the ground, before finally losing whatever patience she had left.
She snatched the pendant back off Maria and pointing to the initials, "There! Right there, see them? HG-"
Hermione froze, mid-sentence. Her eyes widened in shock and her brow creased in confusion. For there were no initials. The back of the pendant was blank.
"But it was there…" Hermione breathed.
"My, my… Don't worry dear, it's probably just all the stress. Trust me, it gets worse from here!" Maria waved her jeweled fingers at her, and laughed shrilly before grabbing Hermione's arm and pulling her up the corridor. The incredulous look on Hermione's face, however, did not waver, nor did the thoughts inside her head stop circulating around her brain.
There's no way I imagined that! I can still feel the engraving on my fingers!
Hermione looked down at her index finger, the one which she ran along the engraving.
It was real.
It had to be.
How could it not be?
Am I going crazy …?
"Here we are, dear!" Maria stopped suddenly in front of two double doors, bringing Hermione back into reality. The doors were huge, and as grand as some of the ones Hermione had seen at Hogwarts. Hermione felt a sinking feeling in her stomach when she thought about Hogwarts. She wondered what Harry and Ron were doing. She wondered if they would have even noticed her absence…"Now, dear, a word of advice: Be nice. Do not anger him… you'll come out of it worse off if you do." Hermione shot her a puzzled look.
"Why should I? I've been taken from my school against my free will, chained to the bed of my enemy and almost poisoned by the maid! Why the hell should I be nice?"
"You'll regret it if you don't."
"Why are they inviting me to dinner? You can't tell me you don't think that's a little strange!" Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Find out for yourself," Maria said as she opened the door, then pushed Hermione inside. Hermione went to protest but the figures of Lucius and Draco Malfoy sitting at table caught her eye. Lucius was sitting at the head of the table, with Draco in the seat to the left of him. Both had identical raised eyebrows and half-smirks plastered on their faces. She blushed deeply, embarrassed that she had stumbled and quickly composed herself.
"Ah, Miss Granger. Nice of you to finally join us," Lucius Malfoy commented, the smirk never leaving his face. Hermione knew was testing her.
"My greatest apologies, Mr Malfoy. But I got, ah-" Her eyes deliberately flicked over at Draco before back to his father. "-held up." She could practically feel Draco's furious glare, but her eyes never left Lucius's. She wasn't going to let him walk all over her.
"Don't worry, not all of us are perfect." Hermione laughed politely.
"Well, who is?" Hermione could have sworn she saw Lucius's incredible fake smile falter for just an instant, but before he could react, Hermione spoke again. "May I?" She asked, indicating to a chair opposite Draco and to Lucius's right. Lucius stood up immediately and pulled out her chair, his fake smile now fully regained. Hermione smiled, walked slowly over and sat down. She exchanged a quick glance with Draco before Lucius returned to his seat.
"Now, we have a lot to discuss tonight, but let's first indulge in our evening repast." Lucius clapped his hands together, and right on cue the doors behind him burst open and in came several women dressed in black skirts and blouses, carrying trays of food. Just seeing the food made Hermione's stomach growl in protest. She hadn't eaten the whole time she had been here. Sure, she had tried to, but Malfoy had attempted to poison her.
As the women placed their trays on the table, and exited one by one through the doors of which they entered, a thought crossed Hermione's mind.
What if they're trying to poison me again?
And so Hermione did not reach over as Draco and Lucius did, to help herself some of the potatoes or the roast – or anything for that matter. Her stomach seemed to scream at her, but she ignored it. Her fingers were itching to just reach over and pile some food on to her plate and she certainly eyed it longingly. Hermione looked up at Draco who was staring right at her, a blank expression on his face. She then glanced over at Lucius who, too, was looking at her. It made her feel a little uneasy.
"Don't worry, Hermione. If we were trying to poison you we would have done it earlier," Lucius informed her with a smile. Hermione stared at him incredulously.
"But-"
"Granger it was to sedate you. I don't think you realised how out of it you were," Draco said calmly, as if discussing poisoning people was a normal everyday thing. Hermione looked at him with her mouth open.
"We just want you to feel safe here with us," Lucius said seriously, politely dabbing at his chin with his napkin.
Safe?! Hermione opened her mouth to exclaim her thoughts but she caught Draco's eye. His face was a serious one, and his steely grey eyes showed that this was something of great importance.
"Don't," he mouthed silently, shaking his head slightly. Another warning. Her head snapped back around towards Lucius, who flashed her an incredibly fake smile.
Just how dangerous is this man?
Diane's words of warning suddenly echoed inside her head.
"Be nice. Do not anger him… you'll come out of it worse off… You'll regret it if you don't."
This sent shivers down Hermione's spine. It definitely seemed more appropriate to take Draco's side on this one.
"Safe, yes of course," Hermione exclaimed, hoping her uncertainty and fear didn't show through. If it did, neither Lucius or Draco commented on it. Slowly she reached over and spooned some vegetables onto her plate, followed by two potatoes and a few slices of the roast. She eyes the peas tentatively, wondering if within the wrinkled green skin lay a poison just waiting to slowly suck the life out of her.
Hermione shuddered. It wasn't the most pleasant of thoughts. Her eyes flickered upwards and met Draco's, who was staring intently at her. With as little movement as possible, so as to not catch Lucius's attention, he nodded his head, motioning for her to eat.
Hermione looked at him, town between keeping her pride and trusting him. She was so hungry – but he had tried to poison her earlier. Her stomach growled again. If she refused to eat, she'd eventually starve anyway. And if she was going to escape, she'd need her energy. And escaping was exactly what she intended to do. Sure, her first attempt had failed – and quite miserably at that – but she wasn't about to give up so easily.
Next chance I get…
But Hermione's thoughts were cut into when she realised that Lucius had begun speaking again.
"This is quite a spectacular dinner tonight, don't you agree Draco, Hermione?" Lucius asked, turning towards each of them in turn. Hermione nodded as she slowly popped a spoonful of peas into her mouth. Draco bowed his head slightly, not taking his eyes off her.
Hermione began to wonder why he was suddenly taking such an interest in her. He was always watching her, hanging onto each one of her words and movements. His face, usually quite impassive, had nervousness written all over it. It was as if he was worried about how she acted, especially towards his father.
"I especially like the veal. Remind me later to compliment the chef on his fantastic work," Lucius said.
Hermione stared at him. He seemed very… not himself; out of character. This wasn't the same cruel, cold-hearted, Muggle-hating Lucius Malfoy Hermione had first met in Flourish and Blotts in her second year. His actions and his words were quite welcoming. Hermione would even go as far as to say she did feel quite welcome; except for the fact that this was Lucius Malfoy.
Hermione had heard many horrible things about the man and didn't doubt any of them. His reputation in the Dark Arts, being linked so close to Voldemort, plus all the stories Hermione had heard was enough to frighten most people.
But even past all that, Hermione could tell how fake this whole set up was.
He's hiding something. Something big. I know it.
She looked again over at Lucius. Every single one of his actions seemed forced. Each word that came out sounded like those written down in a script; then read out by some really bad actors.
What is going on here?
Hermione tried to ignore her thoughts as she dug into her good. She was famished. Hermione wasn't really sure how long she'd actually been here for, or even what day was it. For all she knew, she may not have eaten for a few days. Hermione emptied her plate of food in no time at all. She even helped herself to seconds. A short while after that, another group of maids entered the room and placed plate after plate of dessert on the table.
Hermione's eyes widened at all the food: Jelly, ice cream, chocolate mousse, cake – you name it and it was probably there. Hermione gladly helped herself to some of the red jelly, chocolate mousse and even a chocolate frog from a huge bowl full of them. She even found a tiny little blue bowl filled to the brim with multi-coloured speckles; sprinkles!
Hermione poured a heap of 100's and 1000's onto her mousse and dug in. Whilst in the middle of eating, a thought entered her mind.
100's and 1000's are a Muggle treat…
Hermione's eyes flicked upwards and caught Draco and Lucius watching her eagerly, as if waiting for something to happen. Neither of them had touched the dessert. Hermione swallowed her mouthful of chocolate mousse. It didn't taste like the chocolate mousse her mother used to make her when she was younger… there was something else in there.
Hermione gasped and dropped her spoon. It landed with a clatter in her bowl. She stared wide-eyed at Lucius and Draco, who were both wearing smirks on their faces.
"Poison…" Hermione breathed, a wave of dizziness suddenly hitting her. Lucius laughed.
"Not quite, Granger. Veritaserum, actually. A truth potion," he added, trying to goad her.
"I know what Veritaserum is!!" Hermione snapped heatedly. How could she have put her guard down? How did she let them trick her? Slowly she began to feel the effects of the potion working its magic on her. It seemed to wipe her brain free of every thought except one; the truth.
Just before it managed to take full control over her, Hermione snatched up her dessert bowl and threw it across the table towards Draco. It landed just in front of him, shattering and sending chocolate mousse and shards of china up in the air. She smirked triumphantly seeing the splattered mousse on his face before all thoughts were driven out of her mind.
"Now, Granger…" Lucius began.
"Yes?" Hermione asked tonelessly, her eyes staring blankly at both Malfoy's.
"I'm going to have to ask you a few questions." Hermione continued to stare unblinkingly at Lucius, waiting for the questions to come. Draco's eyes flicked from Hermione, to his father and then back to Hermione, waiting in anticipation. Had Hermione not been under the influence of Veritaserum she would have noticed the apprehension in his stare.
Lucius set his elbows down on the table and leaned forward on his chair, resting his head in his hands. He looked into Hermione's staring eyes before the six words that would have made Hermione's blood run cold if she had been completely conscious.
"Questions concerning you and my son."
A/N – Bit of a cliffy… nothing too major though! There are just a few things I would like to clarify about this chapter.
First off, incase you noticed, in the books Veritaserum seems to kick in instantly. Well, obviously, this isn't the case in this story. It fitted better in this chapter anyway.
And secondly, Lucius – in about the middle of this chapter – seemed very out of character!! This is completely intentional!! Please don't flame because you've picked this up.
Thanks to all my reviewers! I'm loving all your advice and constructive criticism! Please keep them coming! I love reading my reviews!
Oh, and if you could, please tell me what you would like to see in the next chapter… or anywhere in the story! It would help me a lot and I'd probably update quicker… hint hint!!!
Thanks again!
Marauders Gal