Chapter 8 Folks! Read and review

Chapter 8

Atop of a deserted hill stood a house, the demeanour, if a house could be considered to have any personality was that of an impressive hazard. The kind of warning or fear one feels when they are being loomed over by who one could consider to be a superior being. This house gave off that and more, it was well built and sturdy, as physically powerful, but just as mean spirited as its owner. The man who came to swirling halt looked up and shivered, this home would give his parent's manor a run for its money...still. He shook of the feeling of impressive domination and with a brush of his fine robes, only the best for him, he strode up to the iron clad gates. He had a sneaking suspicion the iron on the gates would be the smallest part of the house's security, and so he was right.

"Whaddah ya want?"

"I didn't think it was possible to train a troll to be a gatekeeper?" the man replied, not to be intimidated by the bullish ugly being that had blocked his entry... for he was ugly. Standing nearly eight feet tall the gatekeeper gave of a pungent odour of cheese mixed with moss, implying that he spent an awful amount of time hanging around in the bushes by the gate. The great troll like creature wiped away the snot that had begun to hang from his nose with his arm and then wiped it on his trousers, had he been wearing a shirt this would have had similar treatment.

"What?" the thing replied thickly, leaning over to get a better look at this interfering puny human.

"I said that I was here to see your Master."

"Oh," the thing scratched its thinning hair and then yanked open the gate wide enough for the visitor to step through.

"Up this way...little person."

"The name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Draco Malfoy gave the thing a stern look as it lead him up the path towards the front door of the house, shrugging with disinterest as it went. Clubbing open the front door the thing stomped up the stairs of the house and bellowed into one of the rooms.

"Master a Dungo Malfly is here at the house, he is near the door, should I squash him?"

"No thank you Pulp." Malfoy smirked to himself, Pulp... and people laughed at his name. "Please bring Mr MALFOY in to see me." Malfoy strode past Pulp no longer desiring to be lead by something that he constantly had to stay downwind of, with a dismissive hand gesture he climbed the stairs and entered the only room with the door open, smoothing his still white blonde hair as he went.

"Good Morning Draco long time no see," Draco let his eyes gaze on the face he had not seen for a long time, aside from the nose being broken a couple more times, thus more bumps were present...the man who had summoned him looked virtually the same. Draco chose the word summoned because that was what it was, he was not asked politely to Apparate to the manor, and this man was more powerful than he cared to let on, it was not fear that brought Draco to this place but the desire to aid the devil, even if he could not be his right hand man... it was better than being in his path.

"It certainly is... I see you are still doing well for yourself."

"Huh," the man replied with a quick scan around the room, "it is merely a pile of bricks, not my real treasure; tell me Draco I presume you are still living with your parent's? as that is where my owl returned from, thinner I hasten to add."

"I shall dismiss our Owl Keeper immediately," Draco replied, it was not in his nature to grovel but being in the presence of this man made him was to place a cushioning charm on his knee caps and get down on the stone floor.

"If Daddy lets you," the man chortled a laugh, "Don't be so nervous Draco, I've asked you here for your help not to criticise your care of magical creatures."

Fair enough, Draco thought and slid into the seat next to the man who was spinning his wand in his fingers. "So, how can I help you?"

"You recall my recent marriage?" Draco nodded at the question he had seen the article, albeit a small piece on the man's recent marriage to that blood traitor Hermione Granger, not that he dared to use that term ...apart from in his head.

"I certainly do, to the erm...Granger girl I attended Hogwarts with."

"Precisely that Malfoy, you attended Hogwarts with her."

"How is she?" Draco asked reluctantly, merely seeming to be polite, he had little interest in discussing the Mudblood who had made his life a living hell for many years, and still the repercussions of her fine work were living on. His father no longer had the power he once had and his family were now forced to be 'modest' in their opinions, it revolted Draco.

"Hermione has, how you say, fled the nest and taken our daughter with her." Draco was surprised at this news, he wondered how anyone would dare to defy this man and yet the Mudblood had.

"Really?" he replied more interested now.

"She dared to defy me and now I want her back where she belongs with our child and this Mr Malfoy is where you come in, I need you to find her for me."

"Why me?" he asked suddenly, surprised by this request. "Surely you have enough men to do this for you, better trained in finding people than I can ever be?"

"As you stated before Mr Malfoy, you went to school with her, you knew her as a child and thus how she thought when she was with Harry Potter, when she was devious and clever."

Draco could never imagine that Hermione would ever be anything but clever but he was keen for her husband's favour and readily agreed to the task, he was flattered.

"I accept."

"Excellent. Now shall we have a drink...PULP!" Draco winced again as the troll thing loped into the room and served the two drinks to the men.

"To my wife?"

"To your wife," Draco replied.

Severus paced uneasily outside of Hermione's home, he had knocked repeatedly that morning, walked away, come back, and knocked again to no reply.

"Where are you Granger?" he shouted skyward hoping to get a response from an upstairs window...none came.

Severus severely regretted his actions of a week ago and now having spent seven days sulking in his house, he realised just how much he missed dossing around on Miss Granger's sofa and just how much, he dared to admit to himself only that once, he missed the girl herself. Now she seemed to have gone AWOL on him and this disturbed him even more than how much he enjoyed the girl's company. So here he was throwing stones at her window in the manner of pathetic Romeo endeavouring to get his Juliet's attention. This was fruitless...it was evident the house was empty and that Miss Granger had gone missing, he was certain she had not gone to work as she would have clipped past his front window at some point during the morning and, he wasn't proud to admit that he had kept a watchful vigil by the bay in his velvet armchair. Stomping back home in an even fouler mood than when he had come out Severus threw himself into the aforementioned armchair and placed his head in his hands to think...where could she have gone? He had stealthily checked up on Nevaeh and found she was still in her regular place, at school and in the playground running around with the other children...Hermione wouldn't leave her daughter permanently...he mused...what if she had been taken? But there were no signs of forced entry? Magic? All manner of magical situations were running through his head now, ranging from a team of stealth trained Aurors arresting Hermione to Ronald Weasley coming and abducting her with that blessed flying car of his.

Severus needed to think and there was only one place he could go where his head would be clearer without that smog and smoke blowing through his brain, grabbing a dry travelling cloak and casting an Impervious charm over himself he swirled on the spot and out of sight, leaving a barking dog in his wake confused by the dark man's sudden disappearance.

Shivering even with his Impervious charm Severus stalked his way through the stone headstones that marked the final resting places of so many wizards, old and young searching for one particular grave. It called out to him as he walked paving the way for his visit, 'Severus you haven't been to talk to me in such a long time', "I know Lily," he murmured out loud as he sank in front of the grave. The fresh flowers that had been laid by someone unknown, probably Potter he mused, were beginning to wilt. Severus flourished his wand and the flowers immediately looked more cheery in the dim light. "Where could she be Lily? I'm not afraid to admit to you I'm a bit worried about her." Severus did not expect an answer and nearly toppled over when a reply came from behind him.

"Have you lost your Missus Sir?" an old Muggle caretaker had happened upon Snape and hearing his question to the person whose name was on the grave had chosen to reply in her place.

"No I..." Severus stopped, something was familiar about the old man, his smile...those eyes...he sounded like a teenage girl but...

"Albus you do realise how very wrong it is to inhabit Muggle bodies when you have supposed to have passed on?" The old caretaker chuckled a familiar chuckle. I saw you down here Severus and couldn't resist popping into old Isaac here so we could have a chat, live person to live person as you would say.

"I wouldn't say anything of the sort! And she is not my missus!"

"Now you really do sound like a teenager."

Severus got to his feet to assess the older man, "What do you want Albus? And how often do you spy on me out of interest?"

"Not spying, no, taking an interest in you my boy and how you are getting on, I see you have made a friend."

"Jake at the pub could hardly be considered a...oh you mean Miss Granger?" Severus was suddenly sheepish.

"You seemed to have lost her though?" Albus swung slightly on his walking stick, "I miss walking." He mused.

"Don't you walk when you...never mind back to Miss Granger... do you know where she is Albus?"

"Severus you need to consider the girl in question you have overlooked a major factor about her...by the way Lily say's she misses talking to you also."

Severus's eyes saddened at those words and he looked back at the etched name on the stone.

"You wouldn't be betraying her you know?"

"I'm surely not certain what you mean Albus we are merely friends, I wouldn't even call us that...acquaintances maybe."

"Then why are you looking for her, and telling Lily that you are concerned for the girl, it has become apparent to me recently that Miss Granger likes her solitude, there must be a clue that gives away where she has gone and I guarantee it will be alone. Oh...Lily says it would be prudent to go into her home this time and not stand lobbing stones at the windows, she also states that Mrs Evans would spin in her grave if she witnessed you do that again."

"Ok Lily! I won't throw anymore stones at your windows...do you know for two omniscient deceased people you are bloody unhelpful."

"Go back Severus and think about Miss Granger further...I'm sure you will seek and find the answer you are looking for."

"But Albus..."

"Ere Sonny Jim what did you call me?" the older man stumbled and looked around confused... "I was just tending those begonias when..."

Severus chose to no longer engage in this garbage and swiftly found a clearing to Apparate back to Hermione's home. With a swirl of his cloak he found himself in the back garden of the house, knowing there would be no wards in place and picked the lock with a simple Alohomora (Standard book of spells chapter 1). He entered into Miss Granger's kitchen and was dismayed to find it rather dusty; she must have been gone the entire week he had left her alone. Cursing his own selfish soul for choosing not to bother with her, he began to hunt around. Raking in drawers he found nothing that would indicate the whereabouts of Miss Granger, he chose then to open the fridge and was greeted by lots of different fruits which had all begun to turn to mould...yuck.

Slamming the fridge door too, he leaned against the counter top to think...where could she have gone to? Severus's eyes then lay upon an old postcard he saw on the fridge front... this evidently did not belong to Hermione. The paper was far too old and yellowed to belong to the girl and the evidence of under the fridge dust bunnies were clinging to the edges of the old paper...yet it had been pinned up by a 'I love you Mummy' fridge magnet. Snape sighed and his mind jumped to the little girl living just around the corner from her distraught mother.

Whipping the postcard from the fridge Severus spoke to the roof in general "Thank you Lily." With that he stepped out of the back door and apparated to the point of interest marked on the card.