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Hermione hugged Draco and Harry, and then ran to Narcissa to hug her as well. Lucius and Arthur were both off to work, and Severus was taking Hermione to see Dumbledore. No one in the house was happy with this, but Severus could not figure a way out of it. At least, not without letting the old man realize they mistrusted him.
"I'll be back soon," she told them all solemnly before walking over and taking her Guardian's hand.
"Remember the rules," Draco reminded her.
She nodded. "No sweets, and don't look into his eyes." When Draco looked as if he would speak, she added, "and if you do happen to meet his eyes think of something that he would think of as normal for a young girl."
"When you get back all of the other children should be here, and they're staying for the weekend," Narcissa told the nervous child.
That did bring a smile to Hermione's face. As scared as she'd been to meet them, afterwards she'd really liked them. Now they would be meeting Harry, and she could only hope they were as nice to him as they had been to her.
Harry paled slightly. "You have to be back soon then."
Severus found himself wanting to soothe the boy's fears. He'd thought Harry would remind him of the bad times between Lily, the Marauders and him. But he found that the boy reminded him of his own childhood, Hermione's life, and the friendship he'd ended up having with Lily and her Gryffindor friends. "I will only have her gone for a few hours. Just long enough for Albus to believe I got my work done, and he has a chance to speak with her. She will be safe."
Harry looked at the tall, dour man, and believed him. He nodded. "Thank you… Unc-Uncle."
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Severus apparated right outside of the gates of Hogwarts. He'd considered just flooing into his office, but he thought it would be easier on Hermione if they had the chance to walk up, through the grounds.
"It's really beautiful here," Hermione murmured as they made their way to the castle.
"Yes. Hogwarts can be an amazing place," Severus responded. "I do believe that once term begins, and you're sorted into your house, you'll be happy."
Hermione smiled up at him. "I am excited about starting classes. I like to learn. And there will be so many things I've never even heard of!"
They had just reached the steps to the castle, and the doors swung open. Dumbledore stepping out into the early morning sun.
"The man is beyond obvious," Severus murmured, mostly to himself, though Hermione heard him.
"Severus, dear boy, I'm so glad you're back!" Dumbledore's friendly, and enthusiastic voice broke the peace of the quiet morning. "Pomona was looking for you. I do believe it was in regards to some ingredients you were requiring." His tone made it clear he was dismissing the Potion's Master.
Severus squeezed Hermione's shoulder gently before speaking. "I will head directly to the greenhouses then."
Dumbledore turned his attention onto the child moving closer. "Ah, Miss Granger. How lovely to see you, I feel that it has been ages since we last met!"
Hermione swallowed deeply and spoke, "Yes, Sir. Everything has been quite busy. It's felt like a holiday."
He began walking with her as she entered the building. "And how are you enjoying Spinner's End?"
Hermione was prepared for this. "Oh, I quite like it, Sir. There is a small pond in back of the house, and it's quite nice to stretch out and read there."
"That's wonderful, I do believe I know the spot you are speaking of. And Severus tells me that you've met the Malfoy family and their son, Draco. I do believe he's your age in fact."
Now was when she needed to be on guard. "Yes, Sir. I met them. They were very polite."
Dumbledore chuckled. It didn't sound as if the Malfoys were embracing the Muggle-born child. Good. "Only polite?"
"Well… I suppose they've been kind enough, I really hadn't seen them that often. And it doesn't seem as if their son and I have all that much in common."
"Have they not had any other children over to entertain?" Dumbledore frowned, pretending to be confused. He knew Harry Potter was there, and he was fairly certain that the Manor was where Arthur Weasley had run off to hide. That would mean several of the man's children would be wandering around.
She shrugged. "I suppose there might have been a few other boys running around. I much prefer reading though." Hermione was getting nervous. He was seriously trying to question her. She began automatically heading towards the library, and the old man was keeping pace. "Spinner's End has a lovely library."
"Indeed it does. Miss Granger, I feel it necessary to speak to you regarding certain events," Dumbledore made his voice somber.
Hermione faced him, putting confusion into her expression. "Events, Sir?"
She had taken a seat at a table, the library seemingly empty save for the two of them. He actually took the seat across from her. "Miss Granger, I haven't been entirely honest with you," now Dumbledore sounded regretful, and sheepish. "The night we came and picked you up from your home, I realized that you were indeed the child of a prophecy. Much like Harry Potter."
"A… a prophecy?"
"Yes, child. There is a little known prophecy that states that a Muggle-born child will be able to bring peace to the land when she joins with the followers of the phoenix," he lied skillfully. "I don't know how this comes about, but as I know you've read about the war against Voldemort and his dark followers, you must realize, with as intelligent as you are, that the light MUST defeat the dark?"
She was nodding, "Well, of course the light must win. I don't want our world to turn into such a horrible place… from what the book said, it seemed that some of the goals of those people were slavery or eradication of all Muggle-borns and Half-bloods."
Dumbledore had to admit he was impressed. Her verbiage was just another indicator of her true intelligence. "Yes, indeed. I know of the phoenixes they speak of. I myself lead a group called The Order of the Phoenix. I…we worry for your safety; your's and Harry Potter's. You must be incredibly careful, Miss Granger," he stood, circling around the desk and taking a seat next to her. "There have been stories told since the Dark Lord's defeat, that his followers have devised a way to bring him back using…" he trailed off.
Hermione was frowning, and asked, "Using what, Sir?" She was actually surprised that he was so accepting of her not speaking. She'd thought he was going to question her intensively, but that all seemed to be slipping away. And what was he talking about? Resurrection?
"I don't mean to frighten you child," he spoke softly, leaned in, and placed his large hand on her fragile shoulder. "The information my group has been able to gather states that they must have the blood and flesh of a Muggle-born and the blood and flesh of a Half-blood."
She jerked back. Her mind went reeling, but she was still cautious enough not to meet his eyes. Hermione felt nauseous, and she wasn't sure if that was from everything flooding into her mind, or if was from his hand gently rubbing her shoulder. "I don't understand," she whispered, swallowing air hard enough that she felt a sharp pain in her chest.
Dumbledore scooted a bit closer, and leaned in a bit as if to tell her a secret. "Why don't you have a lemon-drop, Miss Granger, it will help your throat." He held it out to her, expecting her to take it.
She shook her head, "Oh, no thank you, Sir. I don't care for the flavor of lemons."
"I insist, Miss Granger. They are very soothing." Dumbledore pushed the sweet at her again.
Hermione continued shaking her head. "My parents… well, the Grangers were dentists, and dental hygiene was very important to them. I very rarely eat sweets."
A look of consternation enveloped his face, and it looked as though he would become more forceful with having her take the little yellow candy, but he was interrupted.
"There you are, Albus," Minerva McGonagall came sweeping around the corner and up to their table, "Oh, and Miss Granger, how lovely to see you again!"
Dumbledore looked annoyed. "What did you need Minerva?"
She raised one eyebrow at his tone. "I do believe you need to have a conversation with Peeves. He put dung bombs in the daily soup, and the elves are in an uproar. He refuses to speak to me civilly." Minerva turned her attention onto Hermione. "Come with me, Miss Granger, I have several books I've found that might interest you. I had set them all aside to give to Severus, but now I can give them to you directly."
Hermione stood and moved to the old woman's side. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall." She turned back to the Headmaster. "I will remember what you told me sir." For a moment rage had covered his face, and it scared her, but then his features smoothed out into one of concern.
Hermione spent the rest of her time at Hogwarts that morning with either Minerva, or in the library with Madame Pince, the librarian. She found herself becoming lonely without the Malfoy's or Harry there with her, and was glad she would be going home very soon. And she would be glad when Professor Snape returned.
This morning the Headmaster had frightened her greatly. First, she'd thought he was going to interrogate her about the Malfoys… or perhaps even Mr. Weasley. She had sort of wondered who he was speaking of when he'd asked about other children. He'd seemed to get sidetracked, however. So many things, she thought. There were so many things the old man had done in the library this morning that had been… wrong. Hermione wondered if the man was going mad, if he wasn't already. The questioning, the whispering, the touching… Hermione shuddered. Then that piece of candy. She had a feeling that if Professor McGonagall had not shown up the Headmaster would have gotten forceful with her eating that candy. Hermione frowned. She should have somehow managed to get the piece of candy. Then she could have given it to her Guardian. Perhaps he could have done something to it, analyze it the way one would in a science laboratory, and could have found out what was so special about it.
"I figured I would find you here."
Severus's voice broke her out of her thoughts. She felt instant relief, stood and ran to him, throwing her arms around his waist.
"Hermione," Severus had at first thought she was just being sweet, but when her body began to shudder, he knew something was wrong. "Are you all right?"
"Can we go now?" she asked in a small voice.
His mouth tightened grimly. "Of course," he told her, hugging her body to him for a moment. This time Severus did not even consider walking down to the gates. He took Hermione down to his quarters, and they flooed quickly to Spinner's End, and then onto Malfoy Manor. He needed to get the little girl home.