Minister Riddle Will See You Now
Chapter 9: Family Dinner
Hermione wasn't paying attention and was taken off guard by Tom's apparition so she stumbled upon arrival. Tom's hands steadied her.
"Well, Miss Granger, we have a couple hours before we are expected so I will give you your instructions. You are to have a nice relaxing bath which my house elf will draw for you. I expect you to allow him to help with your hair without any trouble," Tom said with a firm face that gave her the impression that he was well aware of her views on house elves.
She crossed her arms and was formulating an argument but he held up his hand. "Frankly, you are not prepared for the stringent way Narcissa runs a function and to allow you to walk in there any less best dressed and groomed than perfect will leave you feeling inadequate and that's not going to help you to trust me. So, trust me now when I say that you'll be thankful for the help later."
She sighed and shrugged. She should have expected this, really. She knew she wasn't as well manicured or coiffed as Mrs. Malfoy and anyone on Tom's arm would have to be equally meticulous with their appearance.
A kiss was pressed to her cheek and his lips lingered on her skin as he told her, "You are perfectly beautiful for me, Hermione. I would be proud to take you there now, as is, but I think you'll find the Malfoys are a world of their own and we all have to make adjustments for them. Me included."
"Okay," she agrees in a small voice.
"Good," Tom says firmly. "I have some work to catch up on before I get ready. I'll give you free reign of the bedroom and ensuite. I'll come collect you when I'm ready," he told Hermione while pouring them both a glass of water from an iced pitcher sitting on the kitchen counter.
"Hop."
Tom's house elf appeared. "Yes, Master, how may I assist you?"
Hop was wearing an elegant tunic, much nicer than anything she'd seen other house elves wearing.
"You can remove the things that I'll need to wear to dinner at the Malfoys this evening and place them in the guest bedroom. Miss Granger will need a bath drawn in the ensuite of the master bedroom for her preparations. Please assist her in her preparations so that she will be fit for Narcissa's judgement and ignore her attitude or negativity on being assisted."
"Hop will be delighted," the elf stated politely and then he was gone.
"Drink," Tom commanded. "There will be wine a-plenty tonight and water is the antidote to a hangover."
Even though his tone was firm and demanding, he pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it softly before letting it fall to her side. He strode out of the room in a direction she hadn't been. The guest room must be that way.
Ambling slowly, Hermione made her way to Tom's bedroom. She noticed the curtains had been repaired and she sat her satchel down on the chair that was in the corner of Tom's room. On the bed, a dress was laid out.
The dress was absolutely gorgeous. Hermione wasn't a girl that had an eye for fashion nor was she very vain about her appearance but even she could admit how beautiful the dress was. Her fingers skimmed the fabric, a soft silk that looked lighter than water. It was a very pale silver that reminded Hermione of moonlight.
Without picking it up, she couldn't tell much about the fit but she could see that it was long and would be very fitted in the torso. The top of it was strapless with a sweetheart neckline that was modest. It was simple and yet she knew that the quality of the fabric alone was stunning. Fingering it, she was certain it was made from acromantula silk.
Next to the dress on the bed was a pair of heels that were far too tall for Hermione to feel comfortable wearing. She rarely wore heels and when she did, she kept them low to avoid wobbling around like a drunk hippogriff. Perhaps she could transfigure them without Tom realizing it. He hadn't seen the dress yet so it stood to reason he hadn't seen the shoes either.
"Your bath is ready, Miss," Hop announced from the door to the loo, startling Hermione.
She entered the bathroom to see that Hop had gone all out on setting a comforting and relaxing atmosphere for her. There were a few candles lit to give the bathroom a low light and the bathtub had a delicious scent of rosewater coming from the bubbles on the surface.
Hop stood far away from the tub, hands folded in front of him. It was clear he took Tom's orders to heart and wasn't going to leave. Hermione sighed, not really wanting to undress in front of a house elf but she knew this was a test of her trust in Tom.
A moment later she was undressed and sinking into the water. Hoping took care of her clothes, banishing them to the laundry the minute she was laying back against the tub.
"Oh, but, the dress was mine. It needs to go to my satchel to take hom," Hermione told Hop who shook his head.
"Hop will launder and return it to yous."
The next hour was very trying for Hermione. She knew Tom gave Hop free reign over her preparation but was it really necessary to have him use depilatory soap on her when she'd just done that a day ago? Was it really necessary to have the elf wash her hair for her? The manicure and pedicure, she understood as her nails were bitten down in places from stress. Narcissa's nails had been long and well-cared for so Hermione knew that shaking hands with jagged nails and hangnails was not a good way to make a positive impression as the girlfriend of the Minister of Magic.
When Hop was satisfied that she'd been cleansed thoroughly, he drained the water while she was still sitting in it. Her protest was ignored as he filled the tub with clean water and dumped a potion in it. It was the same potion Tom had used earlier. She relaxed as her thigh muscles were quite sore from not having ever been used in this manner before. Thoughts of her moments with Tom from the last day played out in her mind as she let the potion help. Hop offered her the open jar of salve but said nothing. She knew that this was one job Hop would not be doing, damn what Tom might say, so she was grateful that Hop only intended to allow her to apply it for herself. She took a small amount.
"Please turn around for this part," Hermione begged.
Hop turned and she quickly applied the salve to the inside of her vagina, feeling the relief instantly. She wondered how long it took for sex to stop hurting in the aftermath.
When Hop turned back around at her signal, the water vanished again but this time Hop used the hoseless shower wand to rinse the potion off her body.
She stepped out of the tub and accepted the large fluffy towel which felt great on her warm skin. She didn't understand how witches and wizards could be satisfied with cleaning spells and drying charms. Muggle baths and towels were superior, in her opinion.
Hop offered her a choice of lotions to apply and she selected the one that smelled like freshia. She quickly rubbed it in in case this was something that Hop decided he should help with. Hop instructed her to sit on a stool that he conjured so Hermione crossed her legs as she sat in her towel and allowed Hop to run his fingers through her hair, applying something to her hair and drying it at the same time.
"Hair potion will last a week," Hop told her as he gestured for her turn and look in the mirror behind her.
Her hair had never looked so good before. While the natural state of her hair was to be frizzy, it was capable of looking good when cared for. What it didn't like was being dried at high temperatures, being brushed, or having Hermione run her fingers through it as she attempted to force it out of her face when reading or brewing or doing anything during the day. The hair she saw was still unnaturally thick but with the curls sleek and glossy and tamed, much more than they had been yesterday, the thickness worked with her.
Hop stood on a second stool and a pair of scissors levitated by her hair. "Hop needs to trim the dead ends," he stated in a tone that brokered no arguments.
"Just the dead ends, please," Hermione pleaded nervously. "If my hair isn't long, it gets unmanageable."
Flashbacks of childhood haircuts from hell reminded Hermione of what happened when her hair was short. Her first act of conscious magic had been wishing her hair would grow a few inches after her mother, unused to hair types like hers, had taken Hermione to get her haircut at six years old. With her hair cut to shoulder length, it had frizzed up into a big ball of fluff on her head that had both mother and daughter in tears. Neither mentioned how Hermione's hair somehow was four inches longer the next day, weighing it down enough to not stand up off her head the way it had post-haircut.
Hop seemed to know what he was doing and only an inch or so of her hair was trimmed. Magical haircuts were much cleaner than muggle ones. Hop had vanished the cut part of her hair before it hit the floor.
With the dead end cut, Hermione noticed a few layers that had been added to her hair, keeping it from being as thick at the ends as it was at her scalp. When Hop finished, Hermione was in tears. She looked beautiful. She'd never really felt this way before. Yesterday she had thought she looked good in a "this is the best I can do with what I've got" sort of way. Today, however, she felt like she was actually as beautiful as other girls. Her hair was now something others might envy rather than mock. It was long, flowing down her back and it was a perfectly ordered riotous halo of curls.
"Can we leave it like this?" Hermione asked Hop, with a hopeful expression.
The little house elf looked doubtful but held up a finger to indicate that he needed one minute. He winked out of existence and returned a moment later. Hermione had found the face cream on the bathroom counter and was applying it.
"Master said that you may leave it down so long as it makes you comfortable."
She sighed in relief at not having to put her hair up in an elegant updo that would require charms and spells to force it to stay put.
Another half hour was spent applying a few makeup charms. Hop used very little product or spells to achieve her look and Hermione was confused as to why she hadn't been caked with makeup. His answer had been simple.
"Master likes natural beauty. Lady Malfoy only wants sophistication. Makeup not needed for that."
Her cheeks were blushed so that she looked fairly innocent and demure. Perhaps it would hide her true blushes beneath it as it seemed that Tom was constantly provoking that reaction from her. Her lashes were still dark from a darkening charm rather than a product. Her lips had been stained a very dark red that Hermione would never have chosen for herself but even she had to admit that it added a few years to her age. She would be happy to look older than 18 for this dinner given that Draco was only recently 18 himself and was Tom's godson.
In the bedroom, a box was resting next to the dress. Hermione opened the lid to peak in and found racy lingerie that made her flush at the thought of Tom peeling them off her. She lifted the knickers from the box to see how little of them there actually was. Instead of being called knickers it really could have been considered a scrap. The silver lacy was missing the fabric that would cover her arse. She slipped them on and found that they were charmed not to be uncomfortable which was good as Hermione wasn't used to wearing thongs. Didn't magic mean she could wear what was comfortable and charm away the knicker lines? Or charm the dress to avoid showing knicker lines?
Next was a garter belt and stockings. The stockings were thin and soft and rolled up her legs easily. Hop was busying himself with something else as she pulled them on. She clumsily attached the garter belt to the tops of the stockings and stared down at them. She'd never worn a garter belt as it was a very muggle way of keeping stockings up. Witches had magic to keep the stockings from slipping down their thighs. This must be a fetish of Tom's.
There was no bra to match so she assumed she was not to wear one with the dress. Hop ordered her to hold still as he levitated the dress in front of her, unzipped, for her to step into. Magic zipped the back and then hid the zipper from being seen. A floor length mirror appeared in front of her and she gaped at herself.
The reflection she was seeing was not herself. A woman with a luscious mane of curls in a soft chestnut color looked back at her, wearing a silky silver gown that wrapped around her like a glove. Her breasts and tiny waist were emphasized by the shape of the bodice. Giving her an hourglass figure that she wasn't used to having. The skirt of the gown had one slit in the front of her left thigh. She pushed her thigh forward, test to see how far she could step without revealing the tops of her garters. The answer was that she should take small steps lest her garter straps be seen. Surely there was a spell to hide them?
Hop was on the floor in front of her with her heels. She bit her lip as she frowned at them.
"Hop has charmed them to provide stability and comfort," the house elf assured her, lifting one ankle and placing the shoe on her foot. He lifted the other and Hermione did not wobble at all as she stood in them, becoming three inches taller.
Her pearl bracelet and earring were put back on and the last thing she was to don was a wand sheath. It was a supple dragonhide that buckled around her left thigh with the wand resting against the outside of her leg. The magic woven into the leather allowed the holster to remain invisible when worn so it would be out of view for the rest of the night.
She was standing there, admiring her reflection for once, when a movement at the door caught her eye.
Leaning against the door, wearing robes in a charcoal color with a fine silver thread rubbing through it, was Tom. The dark look of lust on his face as he ogled her from across the bedroom was a sight that Hermione was unused to seeing directed at her. She turned to face him and smiled anxiously.
"Hermione...you are utterly delectable in that gown," he said after a long moment of staring at her.
Heat washed over her as she breathed in deeply, enjoying the way he drank in the sight of her.
He stepped up to her behind the mirror and she turned to look at their reflections, catching his eye in the mirror.
His hands started at her hips, gliding along the silk of her dress like fingers skimming the top of water. "This color compliments you but not nearly as much as it does your figure."
Reaching up behind her, Hermione allowed her hand to touch the back of his neck. He leaned over her shoulder and kissed her hard. His hand pushed her stomach back into him and she felt his hard length along her arse. She gasped into his mouth and he pulled away, slightly breathless.
"We can't start that now. We're expected to arrive shortly and you look ravishing," Tom breathed and stepped away from her, hands catching hers.
She was guided by the hand back into the living room where the floo was located. Tom looked her over one more time, more appreciatively than anything. Hermione knew he was doing a check before leading her into the serpent's nest though.
"Do I need a robe? I transfigured mine from yesterday-" she started to say but Tom shook his head.
"You don't have to have a robe to prove you're a witch. By muggle standards, you're ready for a night out on the town and that is enough. Unless you'd prefer one...I confess I hadn't considered that you might prefer to wear dress robes."
A smile lit her face. "No, this is perfect. I just want to be what you want me to be for this."
Tom frowned. "Just be you. You aren't acting a part here. You are, technically, my girlfriend. We may have only just labeled ourselves officially hours ago but no one needs to know that. I'll answer the details that are tricky. You just have to be honest."
"Honest?"
"Well," a wry grin settled on his full lips, "as honest as you are allowed to be."
Right. The vow of silence would keep her from revealing anything Tom didn't want to be told.
"Any other advice on surviving the snake nest?"
A chuckle. "Manners will be extended to you. You only need to reflect what is shown to you. If you are unsure, as my girlfriend you can whisper sweet nothings in my ear when needed."
She filed that tip away and bit her lip.
Tom's hand tugged her bottom lip away from her teeth. "Don't do that. It's my job."
Her mouth popped open as she followed him to the floo. Tom cast a spell over them both to prevent floo powder from clinging to them, before he pulled her to him inside the grate.
"Ready?"
"Yes, sir," she replied, loving the darkening of his eyes and the tightening of his hand on her hip as she said it.
"Malfoy Manor!"
Together they stepped out of the grate on the other end and Hermione tried to be as elegant in her movements as possible. Tom stepped out first and helped her next. A house elf wearing a fancier version of Hop's tunic, guided them to a very posh sitting room which held several blondes. A quick count totaled more than she was expecting to be here.
"Tom!" A tall wizard with long blonde hair greeted them as he stood.
Hermione had never officially met him but she knew this to be Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father and Narcissa's husband. He had been coming to see quidditch matches for years. He was also a school board member and was often a guest at dinner in the Great Hall.
"Lucius, it's a pleasure to see you again. Have you met Hermione Granger?"
Lucius turned his cool blue eyes on her. She noted that Draco seemed to favor his father more so than his mother. Narcissa was blonde but not nearly as blonde as her husband and son. The Malfoy men favored a pale blonde that was almost silver-white.
Draco's pointed nose and chin also seemed to come from Lucius, now that she was looking at him up close. The blue eyes were probably the only part of Lucius that he didn't pass down to his son. Draco's eyes were the grey-blue of the Black family, passed down to him through his mother.
Exhibiting his pureblood manners, Lucius bowed deeply to her and took her hand to place a kiss upon it.
"Miss Granger, it's nice to make your acquaintance. Welcome to my home."
She tried not to blush at being shown the respect of his bow and greeting, Hermione replied, "It's a pleasure to be invited here and a greater pleasure to meet you as well."
Draco stepped up next and bowed in an imitation of his father though he did not kiss her hand.
"Granger, it's good to see you again," Draco said with a tight smile.
He did not look upset to see her but he wasn't as thrilled with her presence as his parents seemed to be for some odd reason.
"Draco, it's good to see you too. Congratulations on your graduation!" she greeted.
All the adults in the room broke out into laughter at that and she flushed. The irony that she had also just graduated was not lost on her but she hadn't meant to make a joke of it. She only wanted to convey that she knew it was Draco's celebration and that she wasn't trying to take away his attention.
"Hermione," Tom said from beside her, "let me also introduce Malvinna and Abraxas Malfoy."
She didn't need Tom to tell her that these were Draco's grandparents. Abraxas was as tall as Lucius and Draco even though he was probably in his 70s. Melvinna Malfoy was every bit as beautiful as Narcissa and just as well-groomed.
Hermione watched Abraxas bow and Melvinna crossed her ankles in a shallow cutesy. Hermione crossed her own ankles and was sure to drop a bit deeper into the curtsey than the elder Mrs. Malfoy had. Abraxas took her hand and pressed a dry kiss to it with a smile that was genuine.
"It's an honor to finally have Tom bring a witch home," he told her conspiratorially with a wink.
Melvinna stepped up to Hermione's side and guided her away from Tom and to sit on a white velvet couch next to her.
"Yes, you're very much a pleasant treat for tonight's celebration, Miss Granger," the elder witch said with sparkling hazel eyes.
All eyes in the room seemed to be on her and Hermione blushed and ducked her head. The couch next to her sank with the weight of another person and the pressure of an arm across her back told her it was Tom.
"Let's not spoil her with too much attention," Tom drawled as he accepted a drink off a tray that was floating in the air in front of them.
The drink was pressed into her hand and she looked up to see Tom take a second drink from the tray for himself.
The rest of the Malfoy family was seated as well, having resumed their positions they had been in before her arrival, she assumed. Abraxas and Lucius were seated in wingback chairs that matched the two couches. All the seating was arranged around a rich coffee table with two long couches facing each other and two wingback chairs two the left and the right, creating a square of seating that allowed the guests to see the others.
The opposing couch contained Narcissa and Draco with the two arm chairs opposite Draco and Lucius being devoid of occupants.
She sipped her champagne noting how much better it was than what she had drank yesterday at Hogwarts. Her face must have shown it as Lucius chuckled.
"We have an excellent wine cellar here, Miss Granger. As refreshing as the champagne was yesterday, you'll find anything we serve here to be a much higher quality so please be cautious on how much you drink if you're not accustomed to it," Lucius advised.
She stiffened but Tom's fingers curled around her shoulder and stroked her skin slightly.
"I may have forgotten to warn her, thank you, Lucius," Tom replied politely, always observing proper manners.
"Well, I must say, Tom, she is a beautiful witch," Melvinna commented from beside her.
Hermione looked at her to see that she was being scrutinized quite deeply without her having noticed. Melvinna herself was still a beautiful witch, even in her 70s. Her light brown hair was tucked up into an updo so Hermione could not tell the length of it but it was a lighter color than Hermione's own hair. She was doubting her request to leave her hair down for the evening as she noted that both Melvinna and Narcissa had their hair done up and off their neck and shoulders.
A flush creeped up her chest and neck and she was sure that her cheeks were bright under the attention that made her want to hide in Tom's neck. Tom's fingers lightly drew patterns on her shoulder.
"She is indeed quite beautiful," Tom agreed with a smile. "I'm a very lucky wizard."
There was a murmur of agreement from Lucius and Abraxas.
"Wherever did you happen upon such a beautiful witch, Tom?" Melvinna asked conversationally.
Across from her on the other couch Draco coughed a little into his drink, causing Narcissa to scold him silently about his manners. Draco looked a bit sheepish as he coughed a second time to help clear his throat.
The only way she could be more embarrassed right now was if it was mentioned that Narcissa practically walked in and caught them in bed together.
Thankfully she was saved from having to answer.
"Actually, she interviewed me for the newest publication, The Hogwarts happening," Tom replied with no further details and Hermione prayed that would be answer enough.
It wasn't.
"The Hogwarts Happening? I've not heard of it yet," Melvinna remarked before sipping her champagne.
"That's because it is a paper only currently available to Hogwarts students," Draco smirked, having recovered from his coughing fit.
You slimy ferret!
"That doesn't seem like a very lucrative job," Melvinna continued.
"Are you a journalist?" Abraxas questioned.
"No, sir," Hermione admitted. "I was only filling in for the actual journalist who was supposed to interview Tom. She had an accident quite literally moments before leaving for her appointment and I was drafted to take her place."
There was a moment of silence as the Malfoy grandparents put the pieces together in their heads.
"Hermione graduated with me yesterday," Draco blurted out to the room as he placed his empty glass on the empty tray that sat on the coffee table.
Thoughts of how to get back at Draco Malfoy flitted through her mind as she registered the gasp from Melvinna beside her.
Age gaps weren't uncommon in the wizarding world since witches and wizards tended to live longer. While an age gap of 10 years wasn't much even by muggle standards, it was rare for a witch as young as she to be linked to a man as powerful as the Minister of Magic only a day after graduation. She was sure the shock was from the notion that Tom was slumming it with a witch fresh out of school. She wanted to slide down into the floor and die.
The floo flared again and from it stepped her former potions professor, Severus Snape.
It keeps getting worse.
The interrogation of Hermione was halted momentarily as Snape accepted a drink and greeted the room, of which no one needed to be introduced, she realized. Snape took a seat in one of the empty armchairs, the one closest to Tom.
Abraxas cleared his throat. "Severus, I assume you've met Miss Hermione Granger?"
Her potions professor's eyes settled on hers and he smirked at her in the way she was familiar with from being in his classroom for seven years. That smirk said that he was deriving pleasure from something that humiliated someone else.
"Why yes, I do believe I recall the last seven years of her presence in my classroom," Snape commented. "It's nice to see you again, Miss Granger, and so soon."
Doing her best to appear calm, Hermione smiled and greeted him, "Hello, Professor Snape. It's good to see you again."
Professor Snape took a sip of his drink before he sighed. "You cannot keep calling me 'Professor' so I suppose I should invite you to call me Mr. Snape."
"Severus," Narcissa scolded lightly.
"Fine, you may call me Severus," he conceded.
"You'll have to call me Hermione, then" she agreed as smoothly as she could.
Unwilling to allow a lull in the conversation, Narcissa and Melvinna commented on how the weather was supposed to be nice all week without rain and Abraxas thanked Severus for his most recent potions shipment for his bad back.
Hermione turned to Tom, embarrassed to remember that Severus had brewed potions that she herself had used just hours ago. Tom smiled back at her not giving away his thoughts as he trailed his fingers across her neck. She was mesmerized by how dark his green eyes looked when he was staring at her. She broke his gaze with a smile before she did something embarrassing like kiss him in front of his family.
It seemed that Narcissa and Melvinna were asking Draco about who he intended to bring to the Ministry gala that was being held in a few weeks. Draco had been courting Astoria Greengrass for nearly a year when they broke up shortly before Draco's NEWTs and the news had been all over Hogwarts but no one seemed to know what caused the breakup.
A drink from her glass helped hide her smile at seeing Draco fidget under the attentions of his grandmother and mother.
"You simply cannot attend alone, Draco. I understand that you can not be expected to take Astoria now that you've broken ties but you cannot attend alone," Narcissa was saying.
"It sends the wrong message," Melvinna agreed. "There are lots of witches who would love an escort and you are such an eligible, young and handsome escort. Attending without a date would just be selfish."
Narcissa caught Melvinna's eye and Hermione saw them exchange a look that said they were worried about Draco.
"Are you sure you've not thought of someone you could convince to attend even as a friend? I know you don't want me to set you up but if I need to, I can," Narcissa was saying in a way that was soft yet threatening.
It worked. Draco's eyes grew. "Mother, that's not necessary. I will find an acceptable date that doesn't make me want to AK myself, thank you."
Severus snorted, "You should probably get on that, then. You know that your ex will be there on the arm of Mr. Pucey."
An empty glass was set down loudly on the tray and Hermione glanced over to see Lucius' grim mouth was tight as if he was trying to say nothing on the matter. It sounded to Hermione like Astoria had cheated on Draco with Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin a few years older than she and Draco were. Astoria was a year younger than they were and would only just now be considered a 7th year student at Hogwarts.
Draco groaned and took a fresh glass of champagne. "I'll find someone acceptable, mother."
Even though watching Draco flounder under his mother's stare was entertaining, Hermione spoke up. "What are you looking for in a date for the event, Draco? Perhaps I can help."
The fingers on her shoulder stilled.
At first Draco glared at her but then he remembered his manners. "I just want someone who can clean up nicely, observe the proper etiquette and not bore me to tears with pureblooded drivel."
Lucius froze in his seat but Hermione ignored it. She knew the Malfoy family was known for their purity. She, a muggleborn, might be welcome here as a guest but she'd never be someone they would want to marry the Malfoy heir. She knew that even though he hadn't said it, Draco was expected to take a Pureblood. To take anyone else would be like announcing that he couldn't keep a proper pureblood and had to do with a half-blood or a muggleborn. To put this in words would be embarrassing as most people in the room knew she was a muggleborn.
"Well, if you want, I have a flatmate who might be interested. She's beautiful, she has good manners, and she's never boring. As a budding journalist, she'd definitely be excited to receive an invitation to the gala. She's single and she should return from her expedition by the time of the event. I could put you in contact if you would like," she offered him.
She'd left Luna's name out of the suggestion so that Draco could pretend he wasn't interested without it being personal if he didn't want to take her up on it. Having gone to school together for 7 years, there was no way Draco wouldn't know who she was referring to by the description she gave.
He nodded his head. "Actually, that is a good suggestion. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Hermione was stunned he seemed to be accepting her suggestion. "We'll need to arrange something before Wednesday. Her father is taking her on an expedition in Africa and she'll not return for two weeks."
Coming to the rescue, Tom offered, "Perhaps we could all have dinner at your new flat Tuesday?"
"Monday might be better," Hermione winced. "My other roommate has a meet and greet with her quidditch team scheduled for Monday night."
"Excellent," Tom smiled at her and then Draco.
"Sure, that sounds acceptable," Draco muttered.
"Besides," Tom directed a hard look at Severus. "It will be educational for you to see the view from Hermione's new flat in London."
She turned her head away from Tom so he wouldn't see her angry look. He'd already made his opinion on her flat known earlier today but it was the best she and Ginny and Luna could afford.
"Yes," Severus agreed. "I'm sure he will enjoy seeing a different side of London."
Internally Hermione was seething at the fact that her flat's location in a run down area of London was being bandied about in conversation in front of her. She didn't know why Tom wasn't too embarrassed by her flat to mention aloud in a room of his family but if he was trying to bother her, he had succeeded.
A house elf announced dinner and she was rescued by Tom's arm as he escorted her to her place at a grand table that was big enough to seat 20 people.
Dinner was delicious. Draco's favorite meal was being served and Hermione found that she quite liked the smoked duck. Beside her Tom smiled when he saw her eating and she wondered if he had a food fetish.
Conversation was light and mostly focused on Draco. Hermione discovered that Draco actually planned to work a job. His father made investments and so his job was less of a 'go to a desk and work and come home' type so Hermione was interested to hear that Draco wanted to work at the Ministry in the Department for Magical Creatures. In their third year, Draco had been hurt by a hippogriff due to his lack of following directions. He had worked hard after that to learn more about the creatures they were dealing with in Care of Magical Creatures so that he wouldn't get hurt again and discovered a passion for it.
He and Luna have more in common than they know.
That brought the conversation back to her, however. She found everyone at the table was waiting to hear what she was going to do with her life now.
"Well, as much as I would love to attend Oxford in any of the magical departments that would take me, I think I'll probably take a job for a year or so. I've not heard back from where I've applied to about interviews yet but I'm sure that I'll get replies this week."
"You, Hermione Granger, waited to apply for a job until NEWTs?" Draco scoffed.
She ducked her head. "I wanted to have my NEWT scores when I attended my interviews so that I can prove I am qualified."
Another snort came from Severus but it seemed the family mostly ignored him when he did that since it happened so often.
"Where have you applied, dear?" Abraxas asked politely.
Her eyes flicked to Tom and she didn't really want to answer. "Oh, I've applied for a potion's assistant position and an entry level clerk position and also a law firm. I'm really just looking for something that can help me start out."
Saying that out loud made her seem crazy. These people were rich and they wouldn't understand that she needed to take whatever job would make her money the fastest so she could afford to live. Finding a job she liked could come later but she couldn't come out and say she was too poor to find the job she really wanted.
Snape said it for her.
"Anyone who has ever met you would know that you would be bored with all of those jobs. They do have scholarships for Oxford," Snape stated with his deep baritone that commanded attention.
"They do," Hermione agreed nervously. "I hope to accept one possibly next year."
"You can easily earn one now, Granger," Draco sided with Severus.
They weren't going to let up on her until she was humiliated thoroughly, she decided.
"Yes, but they only cover tuition so it will take me some time to be able to accept one. Excuse me, Narcissa, could you direct me to a restroom?"
All the men at the table stood as she hastily retreated in the direct Narcissa had indicated. She blinked to rid herself of a tear as she walked down the hallway with the click of her heels the only sound.
Her parents were dentists and while in the muggle world that indicated that they earned quite a bit but the truth was, both of her parents did a lot of charity work and their profits weren't as high as they could be.
Silas Troy Granger and Helen Jean Puckle had met in uni when they took a class together. Silas had used their names as a pick up line to convince Helen to go on a date with him. The joke was that they were meant to be since he had the name "Troy" and she was Helen. It worked and after a few dates, they were in love. The two had finished their doctorates and took out a loan to open a practice together. It took years before they were able to pay down their student loans and their business loans. Hermione was already 8 by the time they paid off their debts. It took that long because neither Silas or Helen could turn people away when they had a need. They had started a charity that they would send people to apply for and they would do the dental work pro bono when the charity sent someone. This meant their profit margins were low. They afforded Hogwarts for Hermione but she knew they couldn't afford to pay for her to attend Oxford nor would she want them to. She wanted to manage uni the way they had: on her own merit and by affording it herself.
Her parents had decided to divorce when she was 4. They still worked in the same city and in the same practice but they weren't married. Hermione had lived with them both off and on until Helen had remarried. The man she married hadn't been very nice and it took one instance of him hitting on 13 year old Hermione for her to move in with her father and only visit her mother in public places. Thankfully, her mother had divorced the creep and things had been normal until about a year ago. Helen met and married a man who was Australian so she sold her half of the practice to Silas and moved. Silas had barely been able to pay his ex-wife the cash for her half of the practice and he was recovering. Helen was happily living life in Australia with Scott Jacobs and had only taken a job in someone else's dentistry to help with their bills.
Growing up she'd always had plenty of food, plenty of good clothes, and the same opportunities that her classmates had but Hermione had the same heart of her parents. She wanted people to have dental work when they needed it and so she'd never asked her parents for anything she didn't need. For birthdays and Christmas she occasionally asked for her parents to put her gift into the charity. Someone who needed a crown would get one on her behalf and that was enough to make her smile.
Admitting this to other people was not something she had ever done before. Most of her friends were wizards and had no idea that being the daughter of two dentists should mean she was upper class. None of them knew why it was odd then that Hermione was always very frugal with her money. Ginny Weasley came from a very poor family herself and would certainly understand but even Ginny was able to save up enough money to cover her share of the rent as had Luna. Of course, neither of them had invested a lot of their summer wages into potion ingredients to fund potion experiments for their seventh year potion project. There were times she'd had to stall her work to wait on her paycheck in order to buy the ingredient she needed to continue on. She knew Severus Snape knew she was paying for everything she had herself because of those awkward conversations. He hadn't offered her any solutions to her money issue and she was thankful for it. If expensive ingredients had been handed to her free she might not have worked as hard as she had nor would it feel as good as it did to have achieved it all herself.
Tom, though, should understand better than anyone what being poor felt like. He had been raised in an orphanage for most of his youth. It wasn't until he was 14 or so that the Malfoy family had adopted him. What was he trying to accomplish by bringing up her poverty in a room full of wealthy purebloods?
She did her business and washed her hands. If she was gone any longer, they would start to wonder.
As she exited the bathroom, she was startled by Tom standing there, waiting for her.
"Hiding in the loo?"
Angry all over again, Hermione retorted, "No, I was not hiding. I needed a moment to calm down."
"You're angry," Tom observed, his eyes wary.
"Why wouldn't I be? You were deliberately pointing out in front of everyone that I'm poor because I live in a part of London you don't like."
Shaking his head, he advanced on her. She backed up into the wall, a little fearful of the fierce look on his face that had replaced the wariness.
"No, I was communicating to my friend that a person we both care about is living in an area that can get her killed. I don't like you living there where you won't be able to use magic to save yourself without violating the law nor do I want you involved in any muggle violence. Severus agrees with me about young women living in bad areas and I know that he'll back me up."
Confused, Hermione tried to discern why Tom would need Severus to help him convince her the area was bad.
Tiredly, she sighed. "Tom, I'm aware that I live in a less than wholesome neighborhood. It's what I can afford. Ginny and Luna and I, none of us are rich. When we make enough money to move somewhere better, we will. For now, it's what we can afford. I promise to discuss the locks and wards with them. Why is this an issue for you? You already told me you didn't like it."
"It's an issue for me because you have to apparate to and from an alley that is a place that houses drug deals or did you not notice the needles? You will get jumped one of these days, it's only a matter of time," he angrily huffed, leaning into her with his body pressing hers against the wall. "And, you live with one roommate who is never home and another who is too wrapped up in herself to even notice if you go missing."
"I have a wand, Tom," Hermione reminded him. "It's not against the law to protect yourself from life endangerment using magic."
A snort came from Tom. "After witnessing you underneath Weasley in a magical and public place, decidedly NOT pulling your wand on him to hex him off of you, I think my trust in your willingness to defend yourself is shook."
She blinked in shock at what he just indicated.
"I was not going to allow Ron to do anything to me. I was reluctant to have to because of our friendship and I delayed in hopes that he would back off from me saying 'No!' rather than having to rely on my wand."
"You should have hexed him before he took a step near you with the intentions he had!"
"How would you know?"
"Because I know he had sex with you in mind and he was drunk enough to have beleived that you would want him if he just kissed you. I've been in minds like that before. They turn into rapists!"
This was not a conversation they should be having in the hallway by the bathroom of the Malfoy Manor. Hermione seethed.
"You don't have the right to decide where I live, or who I live with," she informed him. "I'm aware that I'm here because you got backed into a corner by getting caught having shagged me the night of graduation but you don't need to pretend to have any vested interest in my life beyond my ability to fuck you."
Tom was pissed. One look at his face and she knew she'd pushed him beyond angry.
"You are here because I want you to be. Do not think you know anything about what I want because you do not. We will revisit this conversation later when it's safe to do so but understand that if you are anything less than pleasant when we return, I will find a place in this manner to turn you over my knee and redden your arse before we make it home."
Her eyes were wide. Did he really think to spank her? Another look at his eyes darkening with lust and she knew that yes, he did mean it.
"Have no doubt, I will have you over my knee before the night is over for this outburst. I am well within my rights as your boyfriend to express concern over your safety and wellbeing. I am sorry if the way I'm going about it is upsetting to you but I do have the right to be concerned."
His breathing was coming fast and Hermione was suddenly aware of his erection digging into her stomach as he pressed her into the wall by the bathroom. She had to look up at him as he was taller than she was but he was not so tall that she couldn't see him licking his lips.
His mouth was on hers, hot and open. She kissed him back enthusiastically, hands threading in the back of his hair. One of his hands found the slit in her gown and trailed up to her knickers. No preamble, no teasing, Tom simply plunged his hands down the front of her lacy thong and into her. Two fingers all at once and her reaction was visceral. Her left thigh came up to circle his hips as best she could with the split in her gown restricting her.
She moaned at the sensation of his fingers pumping into her and his thumb circling her clitoris.
"Tom," she gasped as she felt herself building up already. "We're at Malfoy Manor."
"Your job," he gritted his teeth, "is to take what I give you and not worry about the where, the when, and the why."
She tried to push her anxiety of being caught out of her head and the orgasm Tom pushed her into came fast. His lips were on her neck as she called out, "Oh, gods, Tom!"
When she came down from her high, Tom straightened her knickers underneath her gown and removed his hand. He pulled away from her just enough for her to let her leg down and straighten the skirt of her dress. She looked up to see Tom holding up the two fingers he'd just removed from her in front of his face. There was nothing she could do as she watched him lick her juices off his fingers.
"You taste better than the dessert that is about to be served," Tom whispered into her ear.
Disappointment flooded her when he stepped back out of her reach and fixed his hair.
"We'll table this discussion for now. Come, we should get back."
When she took his hand and let him lead her back to the dining room, they turned a corner to see Severus standing there, arms crossed, looking bored.
Hermione stumbled at seeing him so close to where the bathroom was but Tom ignored him.
"You owe me one for keeping watch during that, Tom," Snape called out.
Her breathing hitched but Tom only shrugged.
"He won't say anything," Tom explained quietly.
It wasn't about him saying something. It was about her potions professor having just listened to her orgasming to the Minister of Magic inside the Malfoy Manor of which she was a first time guest. He was her professor.
"Look," Tom sighed, "Severus is my friend and he has witnessed worse behavior from me. He's not going to judge you badly by what he might have heard."
That really didn't reassure her much but it did at least make her feel better about the thought that Severus might tell the rest of the gathering what had just happened.
Dessert was the most decadent chocolate cake she'd ever witnessed and she could only take a couple bites before she could stand no more.
"Is it not to your liking?" Melvinna frowned.
"Her parents are dentists," Narcissa explained, proving that she was paying attention earlier in the day when Hermione had not taken sugar in her tea.
Abraxas and Melvinna didn't seem to know what dentists were so Hermione told them, "They are muggle teeth healers."
"Ah," Abraxas smiled between bites. "That's a decent job in the muggle world, is it not?"
"It usually is, yes," Hermione admitted.
Scrunching up his face, Draco asked, "Why do muggles have to separate the healing into categories like that? Teeth healing...does it really provide enough work with only the ability to heal teeth?"
"It takes nearly a decade to obtain a mastery for any healing in the muggle world. It's a long time to be in uni and that's with muggles only studying to heal one particular area of the body. No magic makes everything take longer to heal and the academic side of it is quite long."
"Were you allowed sweets as a child?" Melvinna asked.
A snort came from Severus but again, the rest of the room ignored him. Hermione could only imagine that snort was in response to having her childhood referred to when he no doubt still considered her a child.
"There are sugar-free versions of most sweets that I was allowed on occasion but no. My parents rarely kept anything containing sugar in the house. I never really developed a taste for it."
The topic had gone from there to Lucius making a grand speech about how proud he was of Draco for his graduation and his efforts over the years. Narcissa had been next to say something about how she was pleased to have raised such a gentleman to which Hermione refrained from snorting about. Abraxas and Melvinna echoed Draco's parents' words and Severus muttered how he was happy that Draco wasn't a complete dunderhead and how he hadn't embarrassed him at Hogwarts.
Tom smiled and raised his water glass at Draco from across the table. "Draco, I am very glad that I could be your godfather and I know that you're going out to the wizarding world prepared to make your own pathway. You're going to make a difference and I'm honored to have been able to help prepare you for that pathway."
"Thank you, Tom," Draco said, blushing.
Eyes were on Hermione who realized that she was the last one and was expected to say something.
"Draco, I've been your classmate long enough to have personally witnessed you grow as a person and I want to say that I am thankful you have turned out to be a person who cares about magical creatures and I want to wish you the best in your endeavors."
"Thanks, Granger," Draco said, a little shyly.
Dessert was cleared away and they all trailed to the sitting room for after dinner drinks. Everyone sat where they had been sitting before dinner but she felt Tom pull her closer this time. She angled herself so that Tom was able to pull her back against his side while he draped an arm over her shoulders. She felt so warm and protected.
Too bad he doesn't really want to be with me in a relationship. I could get used to him like this.
Conversation flowed between the men about something meeting that happened a few weeks ago. It didn't involve passing any new laws so Hermione mostly just listened quietly, enjoying the feeling of Tom holding her hand in his lap with his free one. He tickled her palm with his index finger sending delicious shivers down her spine.
Narcissa and Melvinna were considering the details of the upcoming Ministry gala and Hermione discovered that Narcissa was behind the planning of it. Suddenly the urgency of Draco having a proper date to escort was making plenty of sense to Hermione.
"What are you planning to wear, dear?" Melvinna was asking her conversationally. "There's still a little time if you've not had luck finding something."
"I'm afraid Miss Granger has probably not had an opportunity to search what with being in Hogwarts until yesterday," Narcissa reminded her mother-in-law, rescuing Hermione from having to point out that she wasn't attending the ball.
Clasping her hand firmly, Tom broke into the conversation, "Ah, yes, Narcissa, thanks for bringing it up. I'd love to take her shopping but I'm afraid if I do so before the gala, the Prophet will get hold of the story. I was hoping that I could convince you to take her for me?"
Melvinna clapped her hands together in excitement at having someone to help shop for a dress and it was only Tom's forceful grip that kept her from turning to glare at him. Galas were not her thing, dress robes that cost a month's worth of her pay was not her thing, and shopping with wealthy witches who would view her as a muggle Barbie doll was for sure not her thing.
Narcissa beamed a smile that was so genuine that Hermione found her irritation melting. "I would be delighted to take her shopping!"
Narcissa and Melvinna decided to arrange a private fitting in the evening Thursday night with Hermione reluctantly agreeing.
"I'll owl you the details once I speak to a few people about arrangements," Narcissa informed her and the dread in her stomach solidified knowing that she couldn't back out of any of this without upsetting a lot of people.
For the next few minutes she responded politely when her input was required as the witches gossiped about what color would suit Hermione best and what horrible robes had been worn last year.
"If you convince Miss Lovegood to attend with Draco, you'll have a friend within our party," Tom murmured to her lowly, keeping the rest of the party from hearing him.
"Yes, that's true," was all Hermione said as she wondered how Tom felt about this.
He was the Minister and there was no way his bringing a date at long last would go unnoticed. All eyes would be on her and her every move. Her past would be scrutinized and her quick attachment to Tom would be scoured as well by every journalist in the wizarding world.
This seemed an odd move for a man who really only wanted her so he could dominate her in bed as a way of relieving his tension from his day to day stresses and his control issues. He agreed to be her boyfriend for all intents and purposes under duress and she was regretting that very much as she looked around at what that got her.
As much as she knew that she could be happy with Tom, she was worried that he would not be happy with her. If he only craved sex and submission from her, he would resent her for trapping him in a relationship when the newness of fucking her wore off. He would resent that the public now knew he was open to having a relationship and when he dumped her, the witches would be all over him. They may not even wait for Hermione to get the axe, so to speak.
Her heart plummeted at the realization that her relationship with Tom was going to be short and the end would be approaching already even as she sat next to him, recently satisfied and holding his hand.
She shook herself mentally and listened to Tom and Severus debate the merits of providing werewolves with free potion as an outreach program and Draco chimed in to offer ideas on how they could manage it. Hermione smiled when Draco spoke with compassion showing for people like Remus Lupin. As much as she wanted to speak up and join, she listened quietly and said nothing. Tom's girlfriend should be a proper witch and not challenge his points in front of his family. It was killing her to keep her mouth shut.
The topic moved on to Draco and his plans for the summer. It turned out that he was planning to spend a week in France with their former classmate and Draco's best friend, Blaise Zabini doing whatever it is boys do when away from the parents and on their own for the first time. She repressed an eye roll when Severus sarcastically asked Draco if he would like to brew his own disease antidote or if he should send along some with the hangover relief. Narcissa scolded him but Lucius and Abraxas laughed. Of course boys were allowed to sleep around and drink but if a female did the same, she was a slut. Discussing a young man heading to France to fuck a bunch of women while drunk for a week straight was hilarious, even when only referring to his intentions with inneuindos and sarcastic comments.
A new problem made itself known to Hermione over the time spent in the sitting room after dinner. Her skin was itching in a way that she wasn't really sure what was wrong. It gradually increased until she noticed it and now she could ignore it no longer. Something was wrong. It was like there was something alive and floating under her skin, fighting to find a way out. She scratched her forearm a little but Tom grabbed her hand to stop her. He gave her a look that said he knew what was happening but refused to say anything in front of their hosts.
At the first lull in the conversation, Tom offered to show Hermione around the grounds a little as the sunset was something to see from the gardens, and she smiled in agreement. The rest of the group decided to accompany them and she tried not to sigh at the loss of an opportunity to be with Tom without her guard up.
The grounds were lovely and the air was perfectly warm. She stood there in the middle of the gardens with her eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the last of the sun's rays on her skin, fighting the urge to fidget and scratch. Scratching didn't help as it wasn't that sort of an itch but she didn't really know how to relieve it.
From behind her, Tom's hands encircled her waist and he leaned his head near her ear. To the others in the garden, it would just look like they were enjoying the sunset but he was whispering instructions in her ear.
"Your power boost is a bit much for you right now. After you received it, you've not used it much aside from setting my curtains on fire. You need to discharge some."
Her breathing increased as she looked to see Draco leading his grandmother over to a rosebush nearby.
"O-okay," she said shakily, hating how unsteady she sounded.
"The best way to relieve it is a fast and hard spell. If you can do it wandlessly, it will help even more," Tom told her, his voice soothing in her ear as he pulled her back into him. "We're going to cast a wandless bombarda against a target that I'm going to conjure. All you need to do is focus completely on the spell. You need to reach inside and find where all your magic is floating under your skin and push it out as best you can. All at once."
She opened her eyes and saw there was a big red ball on the ground in front of her about 20 years ahead. The ball looked to be about 1 meter tall and she wasn't sure what it was composed of but she trusted Tom not to have put anything in front of her to blast that would hurt someone.
"Eyes on the target. Good girl," he hissed. "Feel the magic that's causing you to itch. Gather it all up in one place. Gather it, imagine seeing it all in one place. Say the spell in your head and imagine the magic leaving your body and hitting the target."
Following his direction, she focused on all the tingling magic and imagined gathering it all up in her center; her core. Her chest felt like it could burst but she gathered all of it from her legs and arms and forced it all into a ball beneath her chest. When it felt like she had it all, she thought bombarda! and imagined expelling the spell from her body at the red ball.
There was a tremendous explosion as the red ball cracked and exploded into confetti. She stared up at the air above them as little pieces of green and white paper fluttered down on all of their heads. She heard the gasps and confusion from those who hadn't been watching her and Tom, the noise of the explosion having startled them.
Suddenly, their voices were fading and she felt lightheaded.
"Tom," she cried out as her legs gave out.
She barely registered Tom's loud exclamation of, "Fuck! Hermione!" and his arms catching her before her vision went black.