A/N Right, so I don't speak Italian, so I'm not entirely sure whether any of the Italian here makes sense… If you do speak Italian, please do correct me. I just want Blaise to kind of slip between the two, even though no one else understands him.
Anyways, this is the last of my pre written chapters, but I am done with exams (who says I can't organise stuff?) and so I have a whole week off to write ahead! Thanks to everyone supporting this, the email notifications I get whenever someone follows/favourites/reviews make me so happy xx
She had got into a habit of waking up early so as to be able to eat breakfast on her own. She was forced to eat dinner with the others, and tended to eat as quickly as possible then run, but otherwise she barely saw Mr Nott, and Theo seemed to be avoiding her. Today however, she had just sat down when Mr Nott joined her at the table.
"Isabella. Lovely to see you."
She clenched her fist slightly at his use of her false name but didn't say anything. She had learned that arguing about it got her nowhere, and that if she ignored it he was far more bearable.
"Now, I have some business to deal with today. Some of Theodore's friends are coming by the mansion to celebrate the last few days of the holidays. I'd like you to meet them."
She froze. "No."
He looked at her incredulously. "No?"
"I will not spend my day pretending to be polite to people like Pansy Parkinson and Malfoy."
He smirked slightly. "Yes, I always have found it difficult to be genuine with the Parkinson girl. Never matter though, Theo has many other friends. Although I do wish you would acquaint yourself with the Malfoy boy, Lucius and I are very dear friends."
"I think Malfoy and I are acquainted enough." She said stiffly.
"Hmmph. He didn't know who you were before. Now I can assure you that you will receive nothing but politeness from him."
"Of course, now that I'm not dirt beneath his feet-"
"Isabella. You will achieve nothing if you refuse to accept the prejudices in this world. By all means attempt to convert Draco Malfoy." He chuckled slightly "But do not waste my time by tirelessly bringing up certain mistakes I have made in the past. You will spend the day with Theo's friends."
She sat in the largest of the mansion's many lounges opposite Theo. Mr Nott stood by the door, possibly to ensure that she didn't escape the dreadful encounter that she was sure was about to ensue. The flames in the fireplace flickered green and died down as a green clad boy leaped out of the flames.
"Theo!" The other boy sprang up and slapped the boy, who Hermione now recognised as Blaise Zabini, on the back.
"Blaise! How are you?"
"Grande! Le mie feste erano brillanti" Theo laughed and stood back, allowing Blaise to look around the room.
"Mr Nott. Great to see you." He nodded politely and then glanced over to Hermione in shock.
"Blaise, this is my sister, Isabella Nott. We have only just found her again, after being separated for a very long time." Blaise stared at Hermione and she could feel him silently judging her.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Isabella." He muttered reluctantly.
"I'll leave you to it." Mr Nott said, stepping out of the room. The second he was gone Hermione's face relaxed into a scowl and Blaise turned to Theo.
"What the hell is Granger doing in your house? È il vostro padre insano?"
"Shut up. I told you, long lost sister, blah blah blah." Theo turned away dismissively and Blaise grinned. "That's crazy."
They began a quiet conversation, which was only interrupted when the flames flickered higher and two more figures stepped out in quick succession.
"Theo! Blaise!" Pansy Parkinson, dressed in an alarming shade of pink threw her arms around the boys and planted a kiss on each of their cheeks. "I've missed you so much! How were your holidays? Mine were awful, mother dragged me out to Florida again… so barbaric!" She took a deep breath and continued speaking in a high pitched voice, punctuated by sharp giggles. "Oh, and you'll never guess who I met- Oh! Theo what is she doing here?" She turned to Hermione with an expression of disgust on her face.
"This is Isabella. You know how I told you my sister was coming back this summer? Well, guess who's been living with muggles for the last few years. Isabella, this is Pansy Parkinson and Tracey Davis." Theo gestured to the quiet girl who Pansy appeared to be dragging around after her. Hermione stared at them both quietly.
"Oh! Theo poor you! Imagine having to live with someone like her." She shrieked and turned and flounced off. Hermione stared after her in shock. Tracey looked at her sympathetically, the first person to show her any pity so far before Pansy grabbed her arm.
Fortunately the next people to enter the room, Crabbe and Goyle, didn't even notice her presence, and as the room filled up with Slytherins they were all too involved in the food and drink and music to notice her.
She settled down on her sofa and resolved to make her escape in a fe minutes. Theo wouldn't notice, and Mr Nott would never have to know.
A girl dressed in a pale blue dress approached Hermione and she glanced up in surprise.
"Hi. I'm Daphne Greengrass."
"Hermione Granger."
"Oh." She looked faintly surprised. "Theo said we were to call you Isabella."
Hermione scowled. "He did, did he?"
"But I can call you Hermione. I don't mind, it's not like I have a right to decide what to call you anyway."
Hermione stared at her in surprise and Daphne giggled slightly.
"Wow. Things must be really bad here. You shouldn't worry about Theo though. He has to act tough or the guys would never take him seriously."
She raised an eyebrow and smiled. Daphne was the only person yet to show any politeness to her and she decided that she would stick by her. At least having someone who didn't hate her might make everything somewhat more enjoyable.
"Urgh." Daphne groaned and Hermione looked at her in surprise. "What?"
"Look" she pointed to where a young blonde girl was dancing with Marcus Flint. "Astoria, my sister. Mother made me bring her. I mean, look at her dress! No one should ever leave the house in that shade of yellow."
Hermione was about to respond when a shadow fell over their sofa. She looked up to see Malfoy looming over them.
"Daphne, so nice to see you." He said smoothly. "And, Isabella" A slight smirk appeared on his face. "I do hope you're enjoying your first party in civilised society."
She glared. "I'm surrounded by Slytherins, Malfoy. I don't think there's any civility to be found." She glanced over at Daphne. "Present company excluded, it would seem."
The other girl smiled and looked back at the blonde Slytherin. "I see they're beginning the dancing. Care to dance?"
He shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid that if I stole your first dance Theo might never invite me back one of these parties."
Daphne laughed. "Well if he wants me to save a dance for him, he should hurry on over. If you won't dance with me, take Hermione. I'm sure she would love a dance."
Draco sighed reluctantly but held out a hand. "Miss Nott?"
Hermione scowled and sat back further but Daphne pushed her forwards. She took the outstretched hand and stood up. "What are you doing Malfoy?" she hissed.
"I'm dancing, Isabella. You do understand the concept?"
"Stop that." She hit his arm and he turned to her. "Stop what?"
"Stop calling me Isabella. Call me Granger, or something."
He raised one elegant eyebrow. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Isabella. It's not your name." He shrugged and spun her around. "So, I'm sure you must feel so relieved after your… ordeal."
"What are you talking about?"
"Living with muggles? Such terrible misfortune."
"How dare you?" She stepped away from him. "The only ordeal is being stuck here, talking to you."
He bowed his head slightly. "I'm afraid that I cannot compare to the horrors of the muggle world."
She pushed him away angrily. "Oh believe me Malfoy, you are far, far worse!"
She turned and stormed out, ignoring the shocked whispers and giggles. As soon as the door closed behind her Pansy proclaimed loudly that "Of course she has no manners, poor girl, raised by muggles" And with a loud laugh the party continued.