Chapter Twenty Four: Just Another Unexciting Summer

Gossip Girl here. Immense apologies for this extremely late episode. Hopefully, this replenishes your thirst to know more about how our dear H is currently doing!

Without further ado, I present this episode, titled Just Another Unexciting Summer.

To the young girl, his face was vacant and stoic; displaying all that she perceived a member of a prominent pureblood family to be. Blank waves of thought swirled through her mind as she calmly gazed at her birth father, at a loss as to what to do in this situation. After all this wasn't something that happened every day; this wasn't something you could read about; this wasn't scribbled and hidden somewhere in an instruction manual; where one met their real parents after sixteen years of believing something else that was the polar opposite to your very existence.

It seemed like a page had been torn out of a fairy tale. It could have been either muggle or wizard. But this was the story at its turning point; at the moment where everything begins to go wrong and a solution is necessary to swiftly rectify the matter at hand.

Needless to say, Lucius Malfoy was also in immense shock. No coherent thought could formulate in his mind, for:

Unexpected visitors were usually a surprise anyway.

But not at this time of day! Especially when his arrival home was supposed to be unnoticed!

Hermione was not expected to come for another year yet. After all, the twins turned seventeen next year.

And she was sort of intruding on his 'alone' time. This was a time when he was able to savour and enjoy his alcohol without his hawk of a wife (but not to worry – he loved her anyway despite this minute flaw) breathing down his neck, demanding that he cut down on his drinking.

He sighed. Drinking was his way to escape from reality; to relieve himself from the stress of his daily life; and to forget about giving Hermione away.

And finally, it is a point to make that Lucius Malfoy never made lists. Unless something really serious or extremely shocking has happened.

Well, I suppose that this does count for a serious and surprising issue.

He gulped, albeit quite audibly. Like his birth daughter, he had not a clue as to how to proceed forward with the situation. He never envisioned this to be so awkward, but pictured it to be something similar to one of those clichéd moments where a long-lost someone has reunited with their other long-lost someone by running in slow motion towards them – arms open wide – and having one of those emotional moments that one would often observe in a soppy romance novel.

Now let's pause for just one teeny second – Lucius Malfoy doesn't read such rubbish. It's preposterous!

Well, I suppose he was once caught taking a peek at one of Narcissa's novels that was neatly placed next to the intricate lamp. Aniela Hawthorne to be precise. The trashiest novels by such a scandalous authoress you can find available in a typical wizarding bookstore.

But I digress.

Lucius breathed slowly, not wanting to create a bad impression (but fearing he did) and spoke two words.

"Hermione, finally."

The girl who had previously been known as a muggleborn was still. She couldn't move. She instinctively knew she couldn't believe everything she was hearing as many questions raged across her mind. Isn't he supposed to be evil? How can he be my father? How can I even be related to this… man? Of course, she could do nothing without asking questions.

"Why?" It was blurted out before she could form a coherent and logical thought. "How?"

A natural response tumbled out of the usually cautious man's mouth. "A condensed version would be that it was for your safety. It still is. As for the long story…"

Lucius Malfoy blinked, evidently discomforted by the whole situation as he rapidly but smoothly schooled his features into a nonchalant expression. Just how could all of this be so awkward and strange? Wasn't it supposed to be a walk through a vast field of sunflowers and daisies when they reunited? This was obviously a myth. Or just something he desperately wanted to believe in.

The door burst open.

"Hermione?" The familiar voice of Narcissa called.

Lucius's eyes widened even more than they had when he first saw Hermione in the room. It would have been rather comical had the situation not been so serious – the imposing man jumped from where he had been positioned, evidently scared out of his wits, and hid his deep green bottle of bubbly, forcing it under the plush sofa.

Hermione inwardly smiled. It was soothing to see that at least there was some sort of a normal dynamic in the Malfoy household, something that reminded her of home – well, now it was technically the place that she thought had been her home.

"Lucius Malfoy!" An incensed Narcissa Malfoy fumed, but in a quiet tone. "What on earth have you been doing!"

The blonde haired man at least had the decency to look embarrassed, sheepishly looking anywhere in the room but at his formidable wife, who was clearly a force to be reckoned with. Quickly adopting a suave approach, he smirked –

"Well, I've just been-"

"Don't you dare try to pull one over me!" Her eyes flashed with evident frustration.

Seeming to know when to keep his mouth shut around his wife, Lucius wordlessly made his way to seat himself onto the plush sofa. Hermione stood near the window, shell shocked.

"Oh, dearie. Running those tedious errands took longer than I thought. Are you feeling alright? You look a hint bit peachy…" Narcissa peered at her daughter.

Hermione blinked and gave a small but cautious smile, masking her true feelings of doubt and confusion. "Oh no. I'm quite alright, thank you. Just a little… overwhelmed by everything that's happened today."

Lucius discreetly raised an eyebrow, as though in disbelief. Narcissa smiled, albeit a bit sadly.

It seemed like it was just another party. It was another reason to socialise, to catch up with people; another time to enjoy what you didn't enjoy in your earthly life; another excuse to get drunk and pass out. These were precisely the reasons why Lily decided to hold another party for the whole neighbourhood.

To give thanks for what you have. To celebrate. To live again.

Sirius sat – slouched – on the sofa, mindlessly dreaming about nothing in particular as he waited for Caroline to get ready.

"Caro, this is just a party. Lily's party, to be precise." He sighed loudly. "It's casual, and there's no need to dress up or take this long to do a 'quick touch-up'!"

"You just don't make the effort at all, Siri. Do you?" Caroline retorted, her voice muffled by the many walls in between the rooms her and Sirius were in. "If you must remember, this is my first party. I need to make a good impression!"

Sirius rolled his eyes good naturedly, but slightly impatient with time. "I thought you meant 10 minutes, not a whole hour! That's more than I bargained for!"

"Well." A pair of arms snaked around him from behind, totally catching him by surprise – he hadn't heard her footsteps. "You won't have to wait any longer, will you now?"

Sirius rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and drowsily stood up, turning around to see who exactly it was.

Caroline stood there in a casual and simple navy blue dress, a stark contrast to her life on Earth. She glowed with happiness, with a huge smile on her face. She evidently dominated the dress – she wore the dress, and the dress didn't wear her.

"What do you think?" She asked, in a low voice.

"I'm just thinking about all the things I could do to you." He said simply, unable to take his eyes off of his girlfriend's beauty – her face, her eyes, her smile. "You're beautiful."

"Thank you, Sirius." Caroline blushed, seeming slightly embarrassed, as though she was on her very first date, which was a far cry from her usual behaviour back on Earth as an elegant and graceful lady of high rank.

He returned to his room, not acknowledging Blaise or Theo and evidently in the state of something in between distress and being taken aback. Blaise and Theo could only keep quiet. Every now and then, they would quickly glance over to each other with worried looks, as they observed the shocked teenager, and also being alert for out-of-the-ordinary behaviour that he could display.

Nothing happened.

At all.

No fidgeting, no coughing, no clearing of throats. Draco's room seemed to be completely empty; desolate. If one were to pass by the room, it would be difficult to distinguish if there really were people present at all. In fact, they sat in this silence (whether awkward or not, it is difficult to say) for quite a while. About thirty minutes, to be precise. It was probably the longest time that Draco had ever been silent, with the reason being that he was extremely shocked at something.

"All my life, particularly when I was younger, I wished and wished for a sibling and I constantly wondered why I didn't have any at all. I remember asking Mother and Father about why I didn't have one – they used to just look over at each other in this forlorn way and I knew never to ask again… something I never noticed…"

Blaise and Theo knew not to say anything, after all, when there was nothing good to say, it was best to stay silent.

"I think that's why they spoiled me so much… to compensate for not having a daughter." Draco sighed, flopping on his bed almost resignedly; his limbs sprawled across the whole bed.

"Now I know why."

"Sirius, Caroline!" Lily exclaimed happily as she opened the door. "I'm so glad you both managed to make it!"

Sirius grinned broadly, as at the same time, Caroline seemed to be a little more cautious. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

He squeezed her hand, giving her comfort. She smiled weakly, glancing at the woman at the door who didn't seem to notice this.

"Oh, Caroline." Lily smiled, as Sirius made his way inside and she proceeded to say a few words of comfort to the woman who had been married to Malfoy in her lifetime.

Hermione slowly made her way up the stairs; her hands following the direction of the polished railings. Lucius and Narcissa had decided to leave her alone, allowing their daughter the space to collect her thoughts, but seemed to forget to tell her where she would be staying.

She winced at her forgetfulness; knowing the vastness of Malfoy Manor, it would take her years to become familiar with it.

She stopped in her tracks. Was she seriously considering to stay here, where everything was so stilted and so awkward? Where everything was so immaculately and meticulously done, and everybody was so graceful and poised? Shaking the thoughts that she had mistakenly stumbled across, she continued up the stairs, and turned a right when she got to the top.

She had never felt this lost in her life. She was used to knowing what was going to happen – being able to predict ahead was something that she preferred. Not knowing the path ahead, her brows began to furrow with worry, as she continued walking forward with a slight determination in her step.

Becoming all Gryffindor, are you? A small voice whispered. Hermione smiled slightly.

Narcissa had vaguely described the way to her bedroom. "It's in the West Wing. Turn right when you arrive at the top. Walk straight along the corridor, and you'll see a door. It's a dark brown door – rosewood, to be precise – with a curved gold handle."

Little did Hermione know at the time, that all the doors along the corridor she was on, were dark brown and rosewood.

But she forgot about colour of the handle.

And thus proceeded to feel even more lost. She began to panic, glancing around furtively in the corridor of light, with the sparkling chandelier and the large windows that was ushering in the light breeze. She continued walking down the corridor that fell under the West Wing – a step at a time – knowing that there was no point in worrying. She had reached halfway in her path down the corridor, noticing that the doors were becoming more spaced out. She took the time to admire the décor –

"I trust that you're enjoying the view?" A deep voice sounded from behind.

She felt her blonde curls make a swoosh sound in the cool summer breeze, as she whirled around to meet the person who had disturbed the peacefulness she felt – disturbingly enough, it was just as she was becoming more comfortable with being in Malfoy Manor. A place that had often been described as being cold, desolate and vast – a total contrast to someone with a warm personality like her.

"Typical Gryffindor." The figure, shrouded in the shadows, smirked, clearly well aware of the fact that she was not a Gryffindor. "You're lost, aren't you?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at his audacity, unsure of the boy's identity – she knew she had seen him somewhere, but didn't know where. "What makes you think that?"

Her voice, innocent and feminine, sounded even more melodic than Narcissa's, caught him by surprise. Filing away this shock for future reference, he retorted in response. "No one isn't lost when they are stuck in a long corridor and admiring the décor."

"If I'm lost, then what does that make you?" She responded, slightly haughtily, walking further and deeper into the corridor.

I'm sounding more pureblood than I thought I would be. She thought to herself, not sure if she was supposed to be proud or disgusted with herself.

"I was just being around," he said vaguely, with a playful gleam in his eyes.

He had to give her credit for her remark, and knew that this was definitely Draco's sister. He noticed that she had decided to walk off – typical girl, he thought – and hurried after her. They arrived at a certain door as they walked together in silence in the never-ending corridor.

It was then when the sun decided to conveniently shine its brightest rays into the room, revealing the identity of this mysterious figure.

"Zabini!" Hermione exclaimed in annoyance.

He smirked. "Welcome to your room. So much for being lost, eh?"

Hermione could only grumble at him in response, much to his amusement. He proceeded to turn around, softly whistling to himself as his footsteps reverberated the corridor.

"Thank you, Zabini." She managed out, before turning the knob on the door and entering the room.

Blaise stopped slightly in his tracks and smiled. Maybe this won't be as bad as Draco thinks. And then he continued on his way back to the room where Theo and Draco were.

This was just as Hermione gaped in awe at the size of her room. It was beautiful, with plush royal blue furnishings – the exact colour of her school house – a large king-sized bed, a polished dark brown desk, shelves strategically scattered around and a vast wardrobe that at first glance, was triple the size of her former bedroom in the Granger residence.

She found out later that it wasn't triple the size, but more, if you must know.

She smiled to herself, thinking that if this was to be a horrible experience, at least it was going to be comfortable. But she couldn't help but wonder why it was him that took her to her room, and not someone else.

Lily frowned slightly. Her intuitiveness sensed something; something that had caused the awkwardness in the relationship between the two purebloods on Earth to disappear, which provoked an imbalance in their rocky relationship. Something was evidently off.

"James… what do you think is up with Sirius and Caroline? They seem so… unusually happy together. You don't think they…"

The man with the glasses and messy hair slowly gazed across the room at the laughing couple who were so comfortable around each other, conversing among themselves and others so naturally.

"Had sex?" He joked, with mirth in his eyes. "It is possible, knowing how Sirius is."

Lily slapped his arm. "James! This is a really serious matter! We're talking about your friend's happiness!"

"He is happy." James responded absent mindedly, fingering his breadstick but observing the relationship dynamic between one Sirius Black and one Caroline Mayfair.

"James." A warning tone was evident, and all joking ceased.

"Okay, okay. Fine." James held his hands up in protest. "Maybe they really are together."

Theo and Draco sat in silence just as Blaise entered the room, whistling softly and breaking the comfortable tranquility.

Theo glared at Blaise, as if knowing what he had just done.

"I should greet Granger, shouldn't I? Being the 'obedient' son I am…"

Not a murmur of agreement or disagreement came from the boys, obviously not knowing how to respond to the question / statement. They couldn't tell if it was one or the other, deciding to sit on the fence on this issue and gave Draco the opportunity to make the decision himself. After all, it was his choice as to where he stood with his newfound sister.

Draco glowered at the friends who were as close to him as brothers; and languidly strolled out the door.

"Oh, this is just simply wonderful!" Lily gushed. "This is just like old times at Hogwarts!"

Sirius and Caroline glanced sideways and meaningfully at each other. Was it really? Was all the drama regarding pureblood supremacy and the first war really on a par with the peaceful land they were in at this moment in time?

No.

What had happened, was that Lily had decided to go up to the two who had been born a Black and a Mayfair, and bluntly asked of the relationship status between them, much to James' amusement.

Typical Lily. He smiled affectionately, keeping his thoughts to himself. Sirius noticed this, and rolled his eyes at his best friend turning into a puddle of goo.

"Well, maybe not really, but you do get what I mean…" Lily stammered a little sheepishly, and James put his arm around her, kissing her cheek and laughing.

"Oh, Lily."

A knock sounded at the door. Hermione sat up from the plush bed and instinctively glanced out of the window – it was dark. She had evidently been tired; overwhelmed by all that had occurred during the day. Quickly remembering that there was someone at the door, she clearly uttered a polite "Come in!" to the unexpected guest.

She wondered who it would be.

Zabini again? No. Somehow she understood his character – the way he was – he wouldn't be back again. Mal-Draco? She thought long to herself, not knowing how he would react to her being related to him. Lucius?

Her thoughts came to a halt when the guest entered.

"Hermione, darling?"

Definitely not Malfoy, she thought, as she stood up – albeit a little too quickly and feeling a little woozy – and smoothed the invisible creases on her jeans. Chancing a quick gaze at the mirror at her outward appearance, she could only see fatigue and weariness from the expression on her face. This was absolutely not the best time to be seeing people in this state. However, Hermione knew her manners and smiled at the woman she was now to call her mother, someone who had now become relatively familiar to her in this large manor that the Malfoys called a home.

"Oh, honey. You look so tired. You've been sleeping?" The older woman inquired kindly, her sparkling blue eyes dazzling despite the dimness in the room.

Hermione nodded, slightly sleepy.

"How about I run you a bath?" Narcissa asked, smiling. "Dinner is soon, and you will need to be well refreshed to be officially meeting Draco."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. How would he react to seeing her? How would he feel knowing that she was now his sister?

"Oh, don't worry about Draco. He'll come around to the idea." Narcissa smiled reassuringly and comfortingly.

Unlikely. Hermione thought to herself. She was a little dubious, but walked off to the wardrobe that she had a peek in just a few hours ago to retrieve some nice clothes, as her mother went into the ensuite bathroom to run her daughter's bath.

When she came out of her wardrobe quite a few minutes later – half an hour to be exact – it was so big that she had gotten lost in it – she found a small creature with large eyes, the size of teacups, peering at her.

"Miss! Miss!" It said excitedly, jumping up and down. "You're back!"

Hermione's first and instinctive reaction? Her eyes were exaggeratedly enlarged, as if about to pop out, and she let out a scream.

He pensively sat in the bathroom that nobody knew about. Well, the 'nobody' being Blaise and Theo. Granted, this was a rather odd place to be philosophical and to be sitting in, but it was the last place where anyone would search for him.

I mean, who would think about searching for someone in a bathroom?

He gathered his scattered thoughts together, attempting to be thinking in a more logical and coherent manner. Some things he managed to establish? He knew that he didn't know how to react to all of this. He knew that he didn't know how to feel about this situation. He definitely knew that he didn't know what to do or how to go about the circumstances that he had been thrown into.

"So why does it have to be Granger?" He lamented aloud.

She was someone of a distinctive race – the 'muggleborns' or for a more derogatory term, a 'mudblood' – something that had been instilled in him to despise, or to feel indifferent to, since birth. A natural feeling that rose within all purebloods when they came into contact with one of them. Just how could she be a pureblood then? It wasn't logical at all. But the question was: why on earth had his father and mother put her with a muggle family? Did they not believe in the cause of pureblood supremacy? And most importantly, did they oppose the Dark Lord?

Questions, questions, questions. Everything needed an answer. He had to know what in the name of Merlin was going on.

He sighed, knowing that he had just been round and round at one of his many tangents, which when put together with all his other problems and issues wove into a complicated web of his hopes, worries and deceptions. He rubbed his left arm, wincing.

Readers, I know we all know why this has all happened, but we must sympathise with Draco here. This is a situation where the boy doesn't even know what to do; a situation that does not happen every day and therefore has not been published as a write-up.

But oh D, what have you been up to recently?

Narcissa jumped awkwardly when she heard the unfamiliar scream. Hermione.

Completely forgetting to correct her unusual behaviour, she quickly brandished her wand from her sleeve, dashing out of the bathroom where she had been pondering upon whether Hermione would prefer a lavender scented bath salt or one of a rosy fragrance, both of which were sitting on the gleaming white bathroom shelf. As she rushed out into the room, she could only see Hermione and –

"Bubbles! How nice of you to join us!" She said kindly, but she could only display a perplexed expression on her face, seeing nothing wrong with Hermione or her bedroom.

"Um…" Hermione stuttered ungracefully.

And then the older woman realised where her daughter had been for the past sixteen years, and a hearty sound of laughter emitted from her lips. She swiftly composed herself after a few moments –

"This, my dear, is your personal house elf."

Hermione's eyes widened for the second time in a few moments, and seemed embarrassed. The Hogwarts elves were different to the normal house elf. "Oh God. I've read about them before, it's just that… I've never actually been up close to one…"

The young girl berated herself for this knowledge she had gained from reading many books flying out the window, but really, she hadn't seen a house elf of this species so close before – these ones seemed to have much bigger eyes!

Narcissa's eyes twinkled with laughter, as she spoke, "Darling, you will be seeing all sorts of rather… interesting things from now."

Soon, it was time for dinner. Hermione stood next to her always impeccably dressed mother. The former was dressed up in a gold summery dress and adorned with a simple necklace and earrings. Narcissa felt Hermione shake slightly – from nervousness – and was aware of the possibility that Hermione probably did not know the extent to which her life would change.

It wasn't just moving homes and being in such a close vicinity to her birth family, it was also the emotional experience of it all and so many other things.

She placed an encouraging hand on her daughter's shoulder. Hermione felt as though Narcissa was telepathically saying to her: Don't worry. You'll get through this.

She hoped so too.

Draco stared at himself in the mirror; his face void of any emotion. Blaise and Theo had left earlier, knowing when to leave their best friend alone with his personal space. He was wearing a smart shirt and black trousers, a familiar routine that he had become accustomed to since birth. As for today? Although the dinner was something that was usual to him, it was the people whom he was not accustomed to. His father and mother – he had been with them since birth, but he didn't know how they would behave tonight. The elves, and the portrait of Georgiana – what would they do, and how would they react?

So many what ifs, so many different possible outcomes to the dinner and so many ways his life could have been if she had not been sent away.

Yes; and her in particular.

It was a few weeks later when it seemed appropriate to write something to the place that she had left.

Dear – She stopped, not knowing how to address them. A large ink spot appeared on the parchment where the tip of her quill had been. She sighed, throwing away her third piece of quality parchment, well aware of the fact that she could have just made a draft before starting on the best copy.

Mum and Dad,

It felt painful not knowing how to address them, as she had referred to them as 'Mum' and 'Dad' all her life.

How have you been? I trust you have been well.

She groaned to herself as her mind drew to another blank. What on earth am I supposed to write in this letter without hurting them?

Another blotch of black ink appeared where the quill tip touched the parchment as an irritated grumble echoed and another piece of parchment was thrown across the room.

What's wrong with H? Why such a reaction? What has happened?

Tell me what YOU think – we all want to know, as does Ms Smiles, who highly covets your opinions and

Xoxo

Gossip Girl