Author's Note: what is there to say but that I cannot wait until school ends on June 28th and that I cannot believe Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End came out today. I just love Johnny Depp and of course Orlando Bloom. Any movie that has those two in it has to be seen by me…anyhow…
The dinner…originally this was a ball but then I didn't get the right result from a ball. I couldn't bring in more of the background for one of my main plot ideas…anyhow enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: as you should be aware, I do not own them…except for the few characters that will be introduced to you in this chapter.
Chapter Four
The Malfoy's Christmas Dinner
The top half of her hair was a purple-pink with a layer of black. The bottom had black and purple streaks. Her eyes were brown and she wore black rimmed glasses. Her name was Katariina Smith and she sat in a secluded, dark corner in a pub.
She was waiting for him again, he had agreed to meet her, and it was already way past the time they had agreed upon. Katariina was not too happy with the fact that she was skipping her family dinner to be there and yet there she was waiting for Severus Snape just as she had every Friday in the past month.
When the pub door opened she saw him, he had a hooded cloak and was limping. He sat down next to her and hid in shadows so no one would see him. "Katariina" he said.
"Severus" she replied back.
They stared at each other for a while but then Severus let out a low moan of pain. Katariina moved closer to him. "Are you alright?" she asked "are you okay?"
He shrugged "He was mad" he said "I didn't deliver the news I had to get and he was very angry"
"Come on, you're coming with me" she said and helped him up. They had gone through this before. When he was hurt he hated anyone helping him but she never deterred from it and she knew that he didn't mind it much.
Katariina had grown upon him like no one else had. He in fact didn't know what he would be doing if she wasn't in his life, she was the one person he trusted, and that was saying a lot seeing as he barely trusted anyone.
Katariina's apartment was not a large place which Severus had pointed out to her in many an occasion when there. "Come on you are going to the my room"
The apartment had one bedroom, a small den, kitchen, and a bathroom. The bedroom had a bed with a queen sized bed, a bookshelf, and a desk. It was as neat as possible could be and seemed to have an air of what could easily be called warmth and welcome ness, if that could be called a word.
Katariina handed him a potion for the pain—she had learnt soon after their first incident when he found her after having held the cruciatus many times as well as a few other curses—that she needed to keep a few potions in her flat. Severus had been the suppliant of course.
"Thanks" he said after drinking it down and then lying back on the bed.
"Look, I think I could still make it to the dinner, I mean it's not exactly family but they took me in after everything that happened" she sighed.
Katariina's family was hard to explain. Her mother was and would always be the perfect mother much less of a mother than that of a friend whom all of Katariina's friends had adored. But there was a flaw as there was in many families. Katariina's parents were not together, in fact her mother remarried. When Katariina turned eighteen her mother contracted a very serious magical illness that not only stopped her from using magic but weakened her. It was very contagious so that she had to be moved to St. Mungo's.
The family received a very hard hit then. Connie Smith being underage still lived with her step-father but that didn't work for long. Connie and Katariina hated their step-father. For a time Connie lived with Katariina in her flat during summers while attending Hogwarts but that soon stopped when their mother died and their step-father stopped supporting Katariina simply because he decided he no longer needed to after Julie left all of her money to her daughters.
The money did not last and this was where Lasiandra Malfoy came in. Lasiandra was a friend of her mothers and Katariina was very friendly with Alyssandra, her daughter.
Lasiandra took Connie in as a sort of daughter while having Katariina over as much as she could simply because she loved her. Now Lasiandra Malfoy was the kind of person that loved life as a rule, she never even gave anything a second thought before she took the two girls in as family.
Lasiandra also had a history. She got pregnant while in her last year at Hogwarts and was soon disowned from the family because she didn't want to marry her boyfriend of the time. Lasiandra had her daughter and then later married her boss. After her father died she was once more allowed into the family by her brother whom she adored.
Katariina had met the rest of the Malfoy and they too had accepted her sister and herself into the family. She smiled remembering how everything had happened.
"Yes, go ahead" Severus said to her "I might just stay the night" he then closed his eyes in a tired manner.
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Katariina was laughing as she waved goodbye to a couple of friends. It was a spring night, not the warmest of nights but it was nice out, a clear night.
She was in Hogsmade and heading towards her flat when a man ran straight into her. He was tall and wearing black robes. He looked down at her and she recognized him for her old Potion's professor.
Katariina began to back off and was about to just turn and leave when she noticed how hurt the man in front of her was as if he had been in some sort of fight but he could have taken care of that but she knew his origins, she knew how dark he truly was. Katariina also knew what times were changing to and so knew that he had either betrayed Lord Voldemort or done something wrong.
Either way when he stumbled and fell, she caught him.
That was the beginning and while she finished getting Ready Katariina—or as she liked being called most of the time, Kat—thought about how the friendship she held above all others had started.
She smiled at how she looked in the mirror wearing a black off the shoulder dress which was needed seeing as this dinner was rather important and she did not need to be her usual self and wear her hoodie, which she wore most of the time.
Kat apparated in front of the Malfoy Manor, it was a large house which she had been in only twice. She knocked on the door and smiled at the house elf that opened the door. Handing him her cloak she asked if the dinner had begun.
"Yes, miss, just a few minutes ago" he answered.
Kat ran towards the dinning room and with a grace that she knew was expected of her she entered the room. "Sorry to be late" she said looking around. She knew everyone there that is everyone but the man that sat at the head of the table and the woman that sat to his right. Then after a few minutes she realized that she also did not know the couple that sat near the middle of the table.
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Lasiandra was taller than most women. She had long blond hair that fell to her waist but that she always had up in a bun, or somehow not down. Her eyes were blue, a sapphire blue that could not be mistaken. Her skin was pale in a way that somehow made her look even more aristocratic than usual, she was a beautiful woman and very thought to deal with but she had a great heart and cared for anything and everything that lived.
Her daughter Alyssandra, or rather Aly for short, was very different from her mother. She was a darker version of her mother with the same fair skin yet with hair the color of chocolate and hazel eyes.
She, her mother, and Connie were the first to arrive along with Aly's step-father, Richard Cory. "Hello Lucius" Lasiandra said hugging her brother. Aly then hugged her uncle and entered the rather large drawing room. They were soon joined there by Narcissa while Lucius, Draco, and Richard left the girls to get a drink in Lucius' office the girls conversed about the dinner that was to be held that night.
"A girl, one of Draco's friends is coming" Narcissa said "I don't know much about her just that she is from a very respective family. Meeting the dark lord here tonight in fact"
Connie and Aly were surprised to hear that Lord Voldemort would be there for the dinner. While they had met him before, being somewhat close to the Malfoys entitled them to this, there was always the question of meeting him more than just once.
It was a few minutes later that Draco came out wearing a cloak. "Where are you going, sweetheart?" Narcissa asked his son.
"I'm bringing the Sombroys here, mother" he answered "Father wants to have a word with Hermione"
This got Connie's and Aly's attention and the two of them shared a look wondering if what they were assuming was at all correct.
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Hermione had spent the last two hours getting ready and she was happy to say that she looked perfect. Her mother entered her room. "You look wonderful, dear" she said "now, I was wondering if you had seen my quartz necklace?"
"No, mother" Hermione shrugged "sorry but, that is all I have" she pointed to all the jewellery that did not include any quartz in it.
"Oh well, you can never go wrong with diamonds, I suppose" Lucretia shrugged "when is the Malfoy boy getting here anyhow?"
"Soon, I guess. He said the dinner would start by eight so sometime between seven thirty and then"
Lucretia nodded and once more left her daughter.
When the doorbell rang a few minutes latter, Hermione knew who it was. When her house elf came to her to tell her she nodded "tell him to wait for a few minutes and inform my parents"
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Draco looked about himself, the house was bigger than his own and older, but then again it was to be expected. When he heard a creak on the stairs he looked up and smiled at Lucretia Sombroy wearing a lavender dress.
"Hello" he said "I'm Draco Malfoy" he smiled at her.
"Lucretia Sombroy, Hermione's mother" she said "they will be down in a minute or so" she smiled at him "your father was an interesting man back when I knew him, I look forward to seeing him. Your mother on the other hand" she stopped there as Mythir joined them and then Hermione walked towards them.
Draco's breath caught. She was beautiful.
Hermione wore an emerald green dress that clung to her bodice perfectly. Her hair fell to her shoulders in ringlets and she smiled at them. Draco grinned and walked towards her "hi" he said.
Hermione shook her head at him "should we go?" she asked.
"Yes" he said.
Lucretia and Mythir had a better idea of where they were going. Hermione on the other hand didn't so Draco took hold of her hand and apparated the two of them to the outside of Malfoy Manor.
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Dinner began when Lord Voldemort arrived. Hermione was surprised at how different from the description Harry gave of him, he was. He was rather tall with pale skin and wavy black hair which fell to his shoulders. His eyes were green with a tint of red to them and Hermione looking at him instantly thought of Harry. They looked very alike except for the fact that the dark lord had tameable looking hair.
"Where is Katariina?" Draco was asking as soon as they sat down.
She should be here soon" his aunt Lasiandra said looking at the empty chair between Connie and Aly across from her. Draco nodded and smiled reassuring at Hermione.
Hermione sat on the right hand side of Lord Voldemort with Lucius at her side. He knew how nervous she was and had been whispering calming words to her since they sat down.
Lord Voldemort had spoken but a single word with Hermione and that had been hello. When Katariina rushed in all of them looked up.
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She took the seat that was empty and sighed…there was simply nothing she liked better than to make an entrance. As soon as Katariina took her seat everyone began to talk again.
"Why, were you late?" Aly asked
"Got caught up with something" she shrugged. No one knew that she was friends with Severus. No one in fact expected that from her. She held a different life from all of those—not including her sister—that sat at this table.
"With what?" Aly asked again.
"Nothing you should worry yourself silly about" Katariina returned "it just doesn't matter"
"Hmm" Ali said with a roll of her eyes.
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Hermione wondered who the girl was. She figured Connie's sister whom she had heard about a little earlier. Hermione's thoughts left her as she felt Lucius nudge her at her side. "Yeah?" she asked him.
"I just thought you'd like to know that he is watching you and is about to address you" he smiled at her softly "I just thought you were a little too pensive"
Hermione nodded.
His voice was not cold but soft and slightly warm, in fact had she not known whom he was she wouldn't have been so adamant to keep cool and emotionless as she spoke to him.
"Lady Sombroy" he said "I have heard a lot about you. Now being from my own bloodline has always given your family power and I accept this. In fact this is why I want you on our side; you can be great on our side. Powerful, I wouldn't be surprised if they all listened to your commands for I would expect you to be my heir."
"Yes, well" Hermione said "it would be an honor" she smiled at him "to be a death eater has always been somehow not a dream but more of an expectation of myself by myself" this made him laugh.
"But one thing I would like to know" he said then "Is how come you hid with a cover name for all those years"
Hermione was about to answer but her mother beat her to it and answered for her. "I believe, my lord, that once you lost your power and it was not expected you to come back the only reasonable thought to me occurred that Hermione must become friends with Harry Potter if only to be in the light side in case anything else were to happen or to help you out"
He seemed to like the answer and took it plainly.
The Christmas Dinner of the Malfoys consisted of a lot of food. Most of which, in Hermione's opinion, could be compared to Hogwarts food and be great competition.
They finished dinner some three hours later, talking and eating took a long time especially with so many courses. After dinner everyone moved into the drawing room.
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There is nothing like a long hot shower, Hermione realized as she got into bed after her said shower. It made everything seem better than it was and even then. Some time between going into the drawing room and Voldemort inviting Hermione to Lucius' office to have a talk Hermione had found herself with Lucius walking down a long hallway.
Hermione in the long run didn't know how they had ended up walking down a hallway together. They were quiet; the two of them didn't know how to begin a conversation and Hermione hating anything awkward stopped suddenly.
"Did you know" she said "that there was a curse long ago that was worst than those known to us?"
"Yes, but no one knows how it works" he said with a small smile "why do you mention it?"
"Simply because I know for a fact that one of the Malfoy's created this spell" she said "And we just passed his picture"
Lucius looked at her impressed. He had known, as everyone else knew, that Hermione was the brightest witch of the current time but he hadn't really expected her to know about anything concerning old magic. Like old English which was a lot like Latin and other such mixtures of old languages old magic had the same language origins and had a sort of magic that just couldn't be put to use.
In fact not many people know about this. Simply because like when they called language like Shakespearean language old English no one seemed to realize how old, magic really was and what old magic truly was.
"I have to say my son is a whiny kind of person and I have to say that when he kept on complaining about how higher your marks were than his that I really did not, in any way, think that he was telling the truth but using you as an excuse" he laughed lightly then "I guess that I overestimated you" he took a pause then.
"Yes, apparently" Hermione said and began to walk again "why did you feel compelled to ask me to join your side when you thought that I was a simple mudblood?"
He didn't look her and just kept walking not answering her question and then suddenly he took her hand in his and stopped them once more. She looked up at him. He was like his son much taller than her, even more so than Draco.
"You are beautiful" was all he said "and while I know that I am your father's age, and that I am in fact nothing less than just an old man in your eyes" he said the last part mockingly "I guess I saw the magic that calls to you, that day at the quidditch world cup I saw how dark you were and it called to me.
"It was this which kept me from going crazy in Azkaban, it was you. I guess that because I learnt after this that the dark lord wasn't pure that I began questioning purity.
"I began questioning what was so great about it" and as he said this Hermione thought of a secret that she didn't want out, but she knew that it wasn't much of a secret, in fact it couldn't be much of a secret. All the pureblood families knew them.
"I guess I can say that whatever else can happen with all this purity, that witches and wizards will somehow end up losing most of their magic" he didn't mention that it had already begun in his family but Hermione knew. Of course she knew. She knew why Draco was an only child.
Hermione lay in bed still thinking about her conversation and soon drifted off to sleep not knowing that miles away in Malfoy Manor the man that she had been thinking of was also thinking of her.
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October 1981
Remus Lupin stood in a dark pub waiting for his friend to arrive. Peter needed to get there and quickly. After all Remus couldn't possibly be the one that would end up getting the blame in the end. Remus knew what he was doing, he knew how wrong it was to be doing this but he also understood that it needed to be done.
The plan had begun about a year earlier and even then he had doubted betraying his friends but while he had no excuse for what he was about to do he knew that it was this which would change everything, he just didn't know who would benefit from it. The door opened and finally Peter Pettigrew entered and walked towards Remus.
"I told him" Peter said "he knows where to find them now"
Remus smirked. When he first learnt of the prophecy he hadn't heard all of it but the main parts, he had learnt enough to know it would interest the dark lord and so he had gone and told him. Remus would find out that his master already knew. But the plan would still be formed.
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Remus remembered how the year when the Potters died went. Deep in thought about that during the order meeting made some of the other members wonder what was on his mind.
Ron and Harry had not joined the order but were now allowed to come to some meetings as was Hermione. They were all of age and while they were not yet out of Hogwarts it no longer mattered. Lord Voldemort was growing in power and the three would be needed in the order.
"Remus" Tonks whining at his side made him frown. He didn't like the auror much, really. In fact the only reason that they were together was because of a certain Molly Weasley.
"What is it, Tonks?" Remus asked her.
"Oh, it's just you looked a bit spaced out and Dumbledore wanted to know if you were willing to go to London tomorrow and follow Draco Malfoy for him"
"Oh, yeah sure" Remus said and then stood up, the meeting was over.
Remus didn't really mind the endless amount of tasks that were set upon him. It wasn't like he did all of them. Most of them were usually just left alone and he would pretend to have done them giving them some story. What bothered him was the fact that he was the one that got the tasks and no one else.
Yes, he understood that he was the werewolf, and the one that had no job as of the moment. But still, he had better things to do. It wasn't at all like he had nothing else to do.
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Lucius thought once more of her beauty. She was perfection if he had just waited a little longer. Lucius sat in his office a book open in front of him. He sighed looking at it. So many had tried, why did he think that this time it would work? Lucius knew that if he wasn't successful on this task that everything would end in ruins.
Looking down at the book he smiled. The glory, and power that it would bring him, but he needed a plan, something that would be executed perfectly. He didn't hear, or if he did, he didn't care, the dark lord entered the room.
"What did you think of her?" he asked "Hermione Sombroy, I mean"
"I believe she will serve you loyally" Lucius answered
"Yes, I think so as well" Lord Voldemort said "She will be a great asset" it was with a long sigh that he sat down in front of Lucius "I have known you for a long time, Lucius" he said "I offered you a place as a death eater long ago back in your seventh year.
"I remember well how that went on, and I remember what you told me that day. 'I will join you but you are not my leader' I was intrigued by that. I allowed you to join me anyway. You are a strong wizard, Lucius, my slippery friend.
"It was not until a fortnight ago that I knew what you referred to. Your linage is old, very old, in fact had it not been for Hermione I would never have discovered what every member of your family did every decade. You try to regain what was once yours and what will never be. You have ten years until your time finally runs out. If it does Draco will not continue the tradition and you, and your family will be cursed for eternity"
Lucius didn't know how the dark lord found out. He couldn't possibly know what had happened. It was old history and it wasn't like it only affected his family. It affected almost every pureblood family left in the wizarding world…
Author's Note: Please review, as always…chapter five coming soon…
Lupin's Mistress