AN: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. I'm happy to see so many people invested in this story so early on. It warms my heart. Huge thanks to Bex for fixing my mistakes.
Lost Souls of Nott Castle
Ch 4 - Safe Haven
Hermione moved through the castle in a daze. Malfoy's hand was on the small of her back, guiding her to the front doors. Merlin help her, she was taking comfort in knowing that he was there, even if only for a few minutes.
As soon as she left the castle, reality came crashing back over her in suffocating waves. She knew she needed to get away before she lost control of her emotions. Already tears were leaking from her eyes and her hands were shaking. Of course, that could have been from lack of food. When was the last time she had eaten? Yesterday? Or was it the day before?
"Draco, finally!" The shout startled her and she snapped her head up to see Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini at the bottom of the stairs.
"We were starting to think you had gone off and left us," Nott continued with a large grin on his face.
She was surprised to find that Malfoy was still guiding her down the front steps of the castle to his waiting friends. She wiped at the tears frantically, but they had already seen them.
"Granger," Zabini said with a nod. "What the hell did this git do now?"
"Hey!" Malfoy interjected from behind her. "What? You see her crying and automatically think it's my fault?"
"Well, yeah." Both of his friends nodded in agreement. Hermione couldn't help but smile just a little at them.
"Zabini. Nott." She acknowledged both of them with a nod, then she turned to face the blond that was still standing right behind her. In fact, his hand was still resting on the small of her back. As she turned, it slid around to rest comfortably on her waist. She was so close to him that she could see the blue flecks dancing in his eyes.
"Malfoy," she stopped to clear her throat. She also took a large step backwards, giving herself much needed space. His hand slid off of her and fell uselessly at his side.
"Thanks for...well...thanks. I'll see you Monday." She nodded quickly at Zabini and Nott, then turned on her heel and continued down the path towards the front gate. Behind her, the three Slytherins were sharing bewildered looks.
Draco watched her for a few long seconds. He could easily let her go on. Hell, she was Hermione Granger, right? Brightest witch of their age. The last thing she needed was his help, right?
Except...what if she did need his help? After what she had done for him, wasn't he at least obligated to offer?
It was that thought that finally spurred him into action. She was halfway to the gate by then.
"Bloody hell," he mumbled to himself before following after the brunette witch.
"Granger, wait." He caught up to her easily enough. Blaise and Theo weren't far behind. "We were going to Hogsmeade for dinner. Would you care to join us?"
At the mention of food, her stomach let out a very unladylike growl.
"I can't, Malfoy." She responded quietly. Food was a luxury she literally could not afford at the moment.
He could see it now that he looked. Her face looked thinner than it had at his trial. Her words from earlier ran through his mind. 'No food. No money.' He suddenly wondered when she had eaten her last meal.
"My treat," he insisted. It was the least he could do, wasn't it?
She wanted to turn him down out of pride. He knew that she didn't have any money. He knew that she didn't have anything. At all. She didn't want to accept his charity. She knew that she needed to, though.
She didn't meet his gaze when she nodded yes.
"Thank you," she whispered, wrapping her arms around her stomach and trying to shrink as far into herself as she could.
"Alright! You see that, Blaise? We're having DINNER with THE Golden Girl herself!" Theo put his arm over her shoulder and started guiding her down the path once again. "She even knew my name!"
"Uh..." she shrugged out from under his arm, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment.
"Ignore him," Zabini laughed as they passed through the gates and out of the wards surrounding the castle. "He doesn't get out much."
Malfoy's hand snaked around her waist again and she felt his breath close to her ear.
"Hold on, Golden Girl" he smirked. Then she felt herself being sucked into the void of apparition. Seconds later they reappeared in Hogsmeade.
"I am perfectly capable of apparating on my own, thank you very much!" She huffed as she pushed away from him. In truth, she wasn't sure she liked the way her heart had raced when he had his arm around her, or the warmth that had spread down her spine when he whispered in her ear. She needed a moment to catch her breath.
"Of course you are," he replied. "But what fun is that when Potter and Weasley were watching?"
Of course, she thought. He hadn't actually been flirting with her. Why on Earth would he? This entire charade was only meant to piss off her friends.
Former friends.
Harry and Ron.
Inside the pub they each ordered fish and chips and butterbeer, then they sat in a corner booth. Hermione sat next to Theo, with Malfoy across from her and Zabini next to him. When the food came, she made it a point to eat slowly, savoring every bite. She didn't want to eat too fast and upset her empty stomach. Also, she couldn't be sure when her next meal would be, so she planned to only eat half and save the rest for the next day.
While they ate, the guys talked about quidditch, of course, and then about the tests they would be taking in six weeks time. She listened, but did not participate in the conversation. Not even when they started talking about study sessions to prepare for NEWT'S.
Instead she was focused on eating slowly, and thinking about where she might sleep that night. It would be getting dark soon, so she needed to figure something out quickly. She wasn't relishing sleeping under a bridge again like she had that first night. It had not been a pleasant experience.
"Granger? Are you still with us?" Malfoy's voice cut through her thoughts. She blinked quickly to focus her eyes on him.
"Sorry, I zoned out a little there. What did you ask?"
"He asked if you wanted to study with us," Theo whispered loud enough that everyone at the table could hear him.
"Oh. Um...I don't know if I'll be able to. And I don't have any of my books or materials..." She put her head in her hands, and when she did, she realized that she had finished off all the food on her plate. She wouldn't have leftovers for tomorrow after all.
"What am I going to do," she muttered to herself.
"Alright. Would one of you please fill us in? What the hell is going on?" Blaise asked, looking back and forth from Hermione to Draco.
She took a shaky breath. She had no idea if she could trust them. All she really knew about Zabini or Nott was that they were Slytherins in her year. Neither of them had bullied her the way Malfoy had over the years, but did that really mean anything? Malfoy already knew most of it, and of the three he would be the one most likely to use the information against her in some way if he could.
Her brain was starting to hurt thinking of the possible bad outcomes that could come of telling these three what had happened. With another deep breath, she decided to ignore all of those possible outcomes. They would know sooner or later anyway.
"After sixth year, I knew things were going to get bad," she started. "To keep my parents safe, I erased myself from their memories, and I sent them far away from here."
There was a collective gasp around the table as they were hearing this information for the first time.
"Sometime after that, snatchers figured out where I lived. They didn't find my parents there, but they did burn the place to the ground." She pushed her hair back out of her face and sighed deeply. "After Voldemort was defeated, I didn't have anywhere to go. The Weasley's took me in."
She cleared her throat and took a long drink of her butterbeer before continuing.
"After I testified on Malfoy's behalf, the whole family was livid. They kicked me out with nothing but the clothes on my back. I went back the next day to collect my things, but the wards had been changed. I couldn't get through. I asked Harry today if I could pick up my stuff. He told me that Ginny destroyed all of it."
The table was absolutely silent.
"That was a week ago," Theo finally said. "Where have you been staying?"
Her face turned red and she shrugged her shoulder.
"Here and there," she answered quietly.
"What have you been eating?" Blaise asked, looking at her empty basket.
"Not much," she admitted and cleared her throat.
The table was silent for a good long minute. Finally Theo broke the silence again.
"It's getting late. We should head home and discuss this more tomorrow."
"Right you are," Blaise responded, throwing some money on the table.
"Agreed," Malfoy nodded and dropped some more money.
"Right," Hermione knew she needed to get a move on, too. They all stepped out of the pub into the darkening night together. She took a deep breath of the muggy air. The wind was picking up. A storm was moving in.
She turned away from the group. There was a barn at the edge of town that she knew she could stay in undetected. It would keep her out of the storm at least.
She was shocked when Malfoy once again put his hand on her waist and pulled her against his side.
"This time, we have to apparate together, I'm afraid." He muttered into her ear. "You'll never get through the wards on your own."
She glanced up at him. The last thing she saw before the void of apparition swallowed her was his eyes staring into her own.
When she regained her footing, she was standing in a sitting room she had never seen before. The walls were dark stone. The furniture was mahogany with light gray upholstery. The windows were tall and wide with a clear view of the night sky and a dark lake outside.
"Where are we?" She asked as she took in her surroundings.
"Welcome to Nott Castle, Granger." Theo announced with a flourish.
She didn't know what to say. For what may very well have been the first time in her life, she was completely speechless.
"Nott...I mean, Theo..." her hand covered her heart and she could feel tears in her eyes again. Did this mean what she thought it meant? Was he offering her a place to stay? Why?
"Look, without you, Potter never would have survived first year, let alone go on to defeat you-know-who. As far as I'm concerned, you're the one that saved the world, not Potter. And I won't have the savior of our world living on the streets starving to death. Not if I can help it."
She blinked several times at him as she took in what he was saying. She glanced around at Blaise and Malfoy and they were both nodding in agreement.
"So, you can stay here with us, pass your NEWT'S, go on to be the next Minister of Magic and move into your own castle."
"I don't know what to say." She wiped at the tears that were now flowing freely.
"Say thank you, Granger." Malfoy said from behind her.
She couldn't hold back any longer. She launched at Theo, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug.
"Thank you, Theo. Thank you so much."
He patted her back awkwardly.
"Okay, enough of that." He sounded extremely uncomfortable as he backed away from her. "You can stay in my sister Annabelle's room. She left tons of clothes when she moved to Paris, so you are welcome to any of them you want."
Theo led the way out of the sitting room into a large entryway. There was a set of stone stairs leading to the second floor that he took. At the top of the stairs there was a landing that circled the entryway. On each wall there was a set of double doors. There was also a staircase that continued up to the third floor.
They followed the landing around to the left. At the first set of doors, he stopped.
"This is where Blaise stays." He continued around to the next set of doors. "This is where you will be staying. Draco is in the next room, and the one straight across from here is mine."
She paused.
"I didn't realize that Malfoy and Zabini live here too," she admitted.
"Long stories that we should save for another day. Please, sleep well." He opened the door for her and she stepped inside.
The sitting room had a fireplace, a couch and an armchair. There was also a desk against the wall with a leather chair pushed underneath. The floor was covered in plush, pale yellow carpet.
A doorway to the right opened into the bedroom. A queen sized bed sat against the far wall. There was a sliding glass door that opened onto an enclosed balcony that overlooked the lake. A separate door led to a dressing room that was filled with more clothes than she would be able to wear in a lifetime. Lastly, there was a door to the bathroom, which held a shower big enough for two and a deep soaking tub.
"It's very yellow, isn't it?" Blaise offered with a snicker.
"Annabelle was a Hufflepuff," Theo admitted with a deep sigh.
"It's perfect," she assured him with a smile. "Absolutely perfect."
"We'll let you get settled. Good night, Granger." Theo left quickly lest she feel the need to hug him again. Blaise gave her a nod and followed Theo.
Malfoy hesitated for a moment. Their eyes locked and she was once again taken aback by how nice they were when he wasn't scowling at her.
"Thank you, Malfoy," she said with a small smile. Even though Theo had offered her a room at his house, something told her that it was really Malfoy that was behind the gesture. "I don't know how I'll ever thank you enough, actually."
"Let's just call it even, yeah?" He ran his hand through his hair and turned to leave.
"You're safe here, Granger," he assured her before taking his leave.
She knew that he was right. She felt safe, which she knew was completely bonkers. She locked the door and put up wards anyway, more out of habit than anything.
The last week suddenly caught up with her and exhaustion weighed her down. She curled up on the bed and fell asleep within minutes.
Her dreams were plagued by silver-blue eyes.