A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I know I am putting Hermione through a hard time, but I hope to show her a good time in not too much longer. You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions. Huge thanks to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter five and be on the lookout for chapter six in a few days!
Hermione stared at the floral monstrosity in her hands with unveiled curiosity. She had not thought that the dress with vivid neon greens, blues, pinks and oranges could look more out of place than it had in her Mum's closet, but it did when held up against her own body.
"Well? What do you think?" her mum asked, expectantly.
"It's…bright," Hermione said, with a grimace. She could not believe that this was the only attire that her mum could possibly spare her to wear to the neighborhood party that she just had to go to.
"It's actually what I was wearing the first time that I met your father," her mum said with a fond grin. "I was fourteen and we'd just moved here. I was so worried that he was going to think I was some pampered princess like Cissa."
Hermione could feel the corners of her lips turn up, but tried to fight off the smile. "I don't know how anyone could accuse you of that," she said. Her mum, while beautiful, was certainly a bit rough around the edges. She did whatever she wanted and never waited for anyone to give her what she thought she deserved. She took it.
"He couldn't take his eyes off me all night," her mum continued. "But I think he liked me more for who I was than what I wore."
That was a fact evident to anyone who had eyes. Even though Hermione still despised her parents and their criminal lifestyle, she knew that their love for one another was very deep and unyielding. She realized that she didn't know too much about their life before she had been born into it though.
"And grandpa was thrilled about that, I'm sure," she answered.
"Well, he never thought anyone was good enough for his girls," Bellatrix conceded. "But I always got my way in the end."
Hermione bit her lower lip and wondered if she might be able to bend her own father to her will, the way her mum had. Seeing as she was living with them and forced to go to this thrice damned party seemed to indicate the opposite.
She cleared her throat, pulling her mum out of her reverie. "Mum, it's a nice dress, but it's a sleeveless sundress," Hermione said, trying to hand it back. "And it's the end of September. It's too cold to wear it."
"Nonsense," Bellatrix answered. "I don't have anything else for you. You can just borrow one of my jackets if you are worried about the cold."
Hermione wanted to suggest that she should just stay home for the day, while her parents went out, but they'd already had that argument about five times over. She took the dress and retreated to her room.
Slipping out of her jeans and tshirt, Hermione stared at herself in the mirror, vaguely admiring the dips and curves of her body. She couldn't wait for Sirius to bring over her things, but unfortunately that would have to wait one more day. Pulling the dress over her head, she was surprised that it at least did suit her complexion.
She only had a pair of white tennis shoes other than the black heels she'd worn to court, so those would have to do unless she wanted to look like a tart. Somehow, Hermione thought her father wouldn't be too pleased with that.
When she joined her parents in the living room, her mum offered her a well loved black leather jacket. Hermione raised an eyebrow, but took the offered garment anyway, knowing that she would be cold if she didn't. It was a bit large, but still fit well enough.
"Thanks Mum," she said, her eyes dropping to the ground.
"We should head over," her father suggested. "I need to find Auggie before he heads out for the day."
Hermione fell into step behind her parents while they made the two block walk to the back garden the party was being held in, trying not to listen as they discussed the details of their latest scheme. Auggie — Augustus Rookwood, if she remembered correctly — was a fence, specializing in car parts.
Well, she hadn't known what a fence was when she was little, but she had known that he sold stolen things. He'd given her a pair of tiny sapphire earrings when she was five — jewels that were too small to be worth finding a buyer for.
She wondered if they were still in her little jewelry box at home.
The walk wasn't long and soon they were walking through another nondescript townhouse into the back, where a grill was billowing smoke. Her parents didn't bother to introduce her or walk her around, instead leaving her to bolt over to Auggie, a veritable giant of a man, even now that she was no longer a child.
Awkwardly, she stood off to one side, completely unsure of herself. Everyone here was in some way involved with Tom Riddle. She recognized a lot of familiar faces, only looking much older now. There was a table of wives who would spend the whole afternoon gossiping. At the grill, some of the men chatted about football scores. Still more men sat around Tom Riddle where he was holding court.
Hermione knew that she would have recognized him even if it had been a hundred years, but she was surprised at how ageless he was when compared to her memories. He must be at least fifty by now, but his thick black hair didn't have a single grey — and it didn't appear to be from any artificial color either. Clean shaven, he lounged back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Hot damn, Hermione. Is that really you?" Theo's familiar voice came from over her shoulder.
She turned around and looked at her former friend, her eyes narrowing. "Hello to you, too, Theo," she said, feeling a bit cross with him drawing attention to her. "Did my parents ask you to keep me company? Because I really don't need a babysitter."
He gave her a crooked half-smile, showing off his white teeth. "No, I'm talking to you all of my own accord," he revealed, looking proud. "And how could I keep away when you look good enough to eat?"
Hermione immediately blushed at the unexpected compliment. Somehow, it didn't feel like it fit her or Theo for that matter. She knew that she was pretty enough, but hot? No — that had never been used to describe her, least of all by a boy who'd been so disgusted at the idea of marrying her when they were six and inseparable.
"Don't do that," she insisted, crossing her arms over her chest, wishing she could disappear in her slightly too-large leather jacket. She suddenly felt like a little girl, dressed up in Mum's clothing — literally.
"What? Be honest with you?" he pressed, amused.
Hermione shook her head. "No, flirt with me," she answered. Her heart skipped a bit at the idea of Theo flirting with her. She must be wrong about his intentions, but she didn't know what else to call it.
"My cousin wouldn't want to be with you anyway," a voice butted into their conversation. "She has better taste than that."
Hermione turned to see the white blond hair of Draco Malfoy and rolled her eyes at him. "Well, you certainly don't get a say in my life," Hermione said, pressing her hands to her hips. "We haven't talked for years and all of a sudden you want to play protector? No."
It wasn't that she didn't want to be with Theo...she didn't really know this new version of him well enough to make that sort of decision. She found his association with Tom Riddle to be pretty detestable, but it wasn't as if it totally ruled him out. It was just that she was pretty sure Theo was trying to mess with her.
Besides, she'd thought that Theo and Draco were occasional friends. Why should Draco care if they ended up with one another?
Theo gave Draco a smirk by way of greeting. "Can't believe you've come down from your ivory tower to mingle with us peasants," he said, his voice all fake pleasantry.
Maybe they weren't such friends after all.
"Father had business with Riddle today," Draco explained with a sniff. "Mum didn't want me to come with, but he thinks that it's time that I start learning."
There was so much unspoken that Hermione simply didn't understand. She'd always known that the Malfoys had a role to play in the business, but what exactly that was, she wasn't entirely sure. They were separated from the unsavory work that others — her parents included — were expected to do. She knew that her Aunt Narcissa in particular had a pretty dim view of her parents' drug use.
Not that Hermione blamed her.
But, she didn't really like the idea that Malfoy thought he was somehow better than her or Theo just because his father had never stolen a car or moved cocaine. He was still a part of the business and, as far as Hermione was concerned, Lucius Malfoy was just as dirty as any of them.
"Well, Theo was just telling me he was going to introduce me to some of his friends, so, I guess we'll see you around," she told her cousin with a frown, not really wanting to spend more time with him than strictly necessary.
She turned around, grabbing Theo's hand in hers as she went, pulling him along. He laughed at what she did to escape her cousin and she tried to focus on the sound rather than the feel of his fingers against her own. His hand was much bigger than hers, and warm — comforting.
"You didn't need to lie," he said, leaning in to whisper into her ear, his breath tickling the skin on her neck and making it prickle in delight. "I can handle Draco."
"I know that, but—" she bit her lip, unsure of what she wanted to say. "I just didn't feel like talking to him today."
Theo guided them over to a cooler and grabbed them each a beer, egging her on to drink it even though she was technically still underage. Sirius never let her drink, but she knew that he let Harry sneak a can or two when he thought Sirius didn't know. It was total bullshit, but she also wasn't jumping at a chance to break the rules.
"Are you trying to make me into a delinquent or something?" she asked.
"No," Theo said with a chuckle. "And one beer isn't going to make you one either. Everyone here knows that you are a good girl, Hermione."
She wasn't sure why, but the way that he said it almost stung. Yes, she was a good girl. So what? Why did she want to prove to him that she was something more?
She took the beer.
Cautiously glancing over to her parents, she found them laughing with Uncle Rabastan and a man she thought was called Barty. They obviously couldn't care less what she did. Bringing the bottle's neck up to her lips, she took a dainty sip.
Even though he hadn't offered, Theo did bring her over to a small corner of the back garden where some of his friends were hanging out and introduced her to them. One was familiar, but the other less so.
Marcus Flint had to be just about the largest man she'd ever seen, with broad shoulders and massive arms that looked like they could squash someone's head like a watermelon. She vaguely remembered him as one of the older boys from the neighborhood who was most noticeable for his crooked and overly large teeth. It seemed that he'd grown into them over the years, but it still seemed like he didn't fancy a lot of attention on himself. He mostly smiled with his mouth closed, only showing his teeth when he laughed.
Adrian Pucey was not familiar to her, but Theo explained that he had moved in only after she left. His family wasn't affiliated with Tom Riddle, unlike so many of their parents, but he was willing to do an odd job here and there and that had endeared him to the man. Currently, Pucey was going to University, but made sure to come back to the neighborhood often.
He was rather ordinary in looks, with brown hair and eyes and slim build, but it seemed that he was pretty smart and driven. He also thought very highly of himself, Hermione was quick to realize. She didn't think that he particularly liked her.
Talking to Adrian, she once again wondered why Theo had dropped out. Couldn't he have looked to Adrian as a slightly older role model of a path that he could reasonably take, even if he was determined to remain linked to Riddle?
Before she could work up the nerve to broach the topic with her friend, her father had come up behind her and taken her by the shoulder. Nerves settled in the pit of her stomach and she wondered if she'd done something wrong.
"Come on, Tom wants to be reintroduced to you," he said gruffly, before pulling her over to where Tom Riddle sat on his throne among his subjects.
Hermione didn't want to speak with him and she felt her feet dragging on the pavement. Her father wasn't letting her get out of it, though, and before she knew it, she was being presented.
Riddle's eyes would have been a lovely blue if it wasn't so obvious to her how uncaring he was, she decided. His gaze felt like ice on her skin. His words, while smooth and gentle, did little to put her at ease.
"I was so glad to hear that you'd been returned to your parents, Miss Lestrange," he said, his lips turned up at the corners in an approximation of a smile. "It seems like Slughorn actually was worth his fee."
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to stop from snapping that her surname was Granger, like she would have with anyone else. Somehow, she didn't think that he would find it cute to have her backtalk him. "It has been an adjustment to be home, sir," she said, thinking that it was the only thing she could say that wouldn't offend or reveal her true feelings.
This time he did smile. "Yes, I'm sure it is. It must have also been an adjustment when Black plucked you from your parents," he added.
She decided not to say anything, though she desperately wanted to defend Sirius — the only person who'd actually given a damn about her when she was little.
"Bella tells me that you are doing well in school," he stated.
Hermione turned to look at her mum, who was watching her proudly. Suddenly, she felt very rotten for having the beer bottle in hand. "I think that's a fair assessment," she agreed. She was doing better than well, but somehow, she didn't think that it would be wise to brag to Tom.
"What are you studying?" he asked.
"All sorts of subjects, sir — politics, English, history, maths," she said, biting her lower lip. "I think I'll take four exams, though to be honest, I'd love to take a fifth, even though my counselor hasn't really advised it."
Riddle laughed at her aside. "I see that you are doing well in school, Miss Lestrange," he pronounced, as if his words alone made it so. "And what would you like to do after school?"
"Well, I plan to go to University, obviously, but I haven't really decided what I want to study yet," she explained. "I am leaning towards law. I could see myself being a solicitor."
"I could see that path for you as well," he agreed with a secretive little smile.
"I want to help other people the way that I was helped," she said, wanting him to know that she was doing it to help protect people, not for some desire for money or whatever he might be expecting of her.
"I will have to pass on your compliments to Slughorn," Riddle answered, this time with a smirk. He seemed to know that that hadn't been what she meant at all. "He will be so glad to know how much he helped you when he returned you to your real family."
"We are so happy to have her back," her father said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
"Yes, thank you, Tom," her mum practically fell over herself to thank him again, even though he'd done barely more than lift a finger.
"It was good to see you again, Miss Lestrange," he said, effectively dismissing her. "You've grown so much since I last spoke with you, but I am sure that we can expect great things out of you."
Hermione swallowed and nodded, unable to repeat the pleasantries back to the dangerous man, too afraid to offend or annoy him. It already seemed like he had the power to look through her and see what she really thought.
Her parents were quite pleased with her. After talking to Tom, they each pulled her into a tight hug and her father even brought her a second beer, apparently unbothered by her drinking alcohol. Their earlier business with Auggie having been handled, it felt as if they suddenly remembered that she was there again and invited her over to speak with Antonin Dolohov again. The man made a gross joke about her sitting on Uncle Antonin's lap that had her father spitting mad and ready to fight, but the three adults quickly laughed it off, Dolohov's misstep effectively forgotten.
Hermione looked over to where Theo, Marcus and Pucey were laughing and joking and she longed to go join them. Even though they weren't her first choice of companions — no one could replace Harry and Ron — Hermione still found them preferable to her parents and their friends.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, she wished with all her might that she was still with Harry, Sirius and Remus. They'd probably be out somewhere themselves or maybe even having a grill out in their own garden. She wondered if they missed her as deeply as she missed them or if anything would ever soothe the ache in her heart.