Hermione felt incredibly lonely in the approach to Christmas, now that Ron was busy snogging Lavender at every opportunity and Harry was understandably splitting his time between them. So she found herself spending more and more time with Gellert, or more accurately Gellert's books as he was often teaching. They were fascinating in a way the Hogwarts library had long ceased to be, and he never failed to direct her to a new one.
In their free time they worked on her homework and he taught her more and more impressive spells, as well as taking many walks around the grounds. In school it was easy to forget he wasn't just a student like her, or perhaps the Gerard she had first met in her muggle home. It helped that he was perfectly willing to use his particular brand of humour on both McLaggen and Ron.
He also saved her from asking McLaggen to Slughorn's dance. She found him waiting with Harry in the corridor outside, both boys looking immaculate in their dress robes. Of course, Gellert pulled it off the aristocratic robes he wore, with their embroidered family crest far better than Harry could have ever dreamed of.
Gellert bowed to her, offering an approving nod at the dress she had chosen and she was glad that she had decided to wear the long one and she took his offered arm with one gloved hand. They couldn't be faulted by even the most uppity pureblood. Luna joined them a minute later in a silvery dress and she saw Harry's sigh of relief; with Luna it was almost impossible to know whether she was planning to wear something vegetable based.
The party was a blur of meeting people and making connections. She endeavoured to remember everyone's name and occupation, continually amazed when Gellert managed without fail.
'It's your sight.' She declared as they left a Russian man whose name contained such a bewildering combination of Vs and Ks that she hadn't even wanted to try pronouncing it correctly.
'Certainly not; it's pure talent.' He drawled, 'Oh look out, its Trelawney.' True enough, Hermione looked up to see that the divination teacher truly was approaching. From the grimace on Gellert's face he had already found there to be no exit routes.
'I bet she loves you.' Hermione joked.
'Oh no, she's convinced I'm a fraud.' He contradicted. 'The quickest exit route will be to listen to her rant about Firenze.' He informed her, then he glanced towards the door as though he could see something. Perhaps he could, he was taller than her.
'Harry's on a rampage.' He muttered. 'Prepare for more Draco is a Death Eater theories this evening.'
As it turned out, she didn't have to hear his theories. Harry went home to the Burrow with Ron the next morning before she had even managed to get out of bed. Her alarm had mysteriously not gone off, and Lavender was also missing. She was almost certain the other girl had had something to do with it, but she couldn't do much more than vow to employ one of Gellert's plans when she returned after Christmas.
Gellert met her in the hall, noticing the downcast expression on her face almost immediately.
'You know, we could invite everyone over to the family house in Russia. Purposely not invite Ron and his grilfriend.' He joked which earned him a smile. In the end he did extend a more formal invitation to spend Christmas day in his Russian home with a family of his friends who were in hiding, which she accepted.
They left three days after the rest of the students, taking a port key to the estate. Hermione was incredibly excited because she had never actually seen where Gellert had grown up, and was certain that the house was certain to be incredible.
She was surprised when the portkey took them to a field of snow, which they sunk into up to their waists. She groaned, wishing she hadn't worn robes as the cold snow soaked into the material and weighed her down despite the featherlight charm Gellert cast on their feet to allow them to walk over the snow without sinking. It was dark this far north and she had heard people say that there would be barely any sunlight this far north in Winter.
'That's the house. I'll warn you, they're nicer than you expect, be polite and give them a chance.' He gestured to something that looked like a hill and she followed him to what she realised was a tunnel going down to the real earth where a door waited for them.
A house elf opened it, heat and light spilling out welcomingly, along with the sound of someone playing the piano. They rushed in to stop too much heat escaping and she was amazed to find herself in a bona fide log cabin. She removed her shoes on the rough entrance mat and her socks sunk into the thick fur that covered the floor. The walls themselves were hung with tapestries depicting various hunts that wouldn't have looked out of place in a medieval castle if the hunters hadn't been carrying staffs and riding pegasi. The room was massive, carved furniture covered in furs and a huge roaring fire heating the room, along with the massive number of candles. A huge Christmas tree sat next to the fire, decorated by real fairies and delicately glittering icicles. Holly boughs were fastened to the beams and red ribbons decorated the stuffed heads on the walls.
'Gellert, welcome home.' The music had stopped, a woman standing up from behind the piano. 'You must be Miss Granger, Draco has told us so much about you.'
With a sinking feeling she realised just who this woman must be, her hair immaculate despite its casual updo and wearing a stunning set of robes. The woman had looked very different last time they had met, far more formal but even now there was no mistaking her. She would be spending Christmas with the Malfoys.
'Narcissa, are Draco and Lucius here?' Gellert asked with a bow and a kiss on her cheek. Then Narcissa turned to her and Gellert's request to be polite, offered her a quick curtsey.
'Yes, yes, they're just next door. Misfit, let the men know that Gellert and Miss Granger are here.' Narcissa sent a house elf off to summon the men, who appeared through the darker corridor at the end of the room a moment later.
'Granger, Gellert.' Draco Malfoy greeted curtly, seeming completely impervious to her having intruded on his family Christmas. The Elder Malfoy added his greetings, shaking hands with Gellert smartly before surprisingly offering the same courtesy to her as well. She half expected him to wipe his hand off on his robes afterwards, but he didn't, instead repeating that he had heard much about her from Draco and beckoning them to the dining table at the end of the room.
A nudge from Gellert on the way over had her politely inviting them to call her Hermione once they sat down, and in return she was granted permission to use everyone else's first names. As soon as they took their seats, a hearty soup appeared in front of them, hunks of bread appearing in the middle of the table. She tucked in happily, remaining mostly silent as the two Malfoy adults and Grindelwald discussed the war effort.
The soup really was delicious, putting the Hogwarts elves to shame – something she hadn't even believed possible. It was followed by a roast, crispy potatoes and perfectly caramelised parsnips accompanied by a crisp salad and beans, then they had a brief pause as the picked over a cheese platter.
She tried to copy the way Narcissa delicately shaved a slice of brie and spread it across her cracker, applying slightly too much pressure and snapping the biscuit. She folded the two halves over as if it was intentional and stuffed them in her mouth. Draco Malfoy smirked at her across the table and she scowled back at him. Inexplicably, that made him smile, so she decided to ignore him, instead listening as Lucius and Gellert discussed the progress of the Wizengamot on Sirius Black's freedom.
The serving of the apple pie and custard was a welcome interruption and the discussion moved to plans for Christmas Eve tomorrow. Lucius had invited a couple of new allies for dinner, as had Gellert and Narcissa simply accepted this information without complaint. They agreed to meet for breakfast, then Narcissa stood and excused herself. Every eye in the room fixed on Hermione and she sat cluelessly in the awkward silence.
'How about I show you to your room, Hermione?' Narcissa finally said awkwardly, sharing a look with Lucius Malfoy that let her know she had somehow missed some pureblood rule she was meant to know. She nodded and jumped up, already suspecting this was going to be a terrible Christmas.
She was led into a very different room through the hall, this one furnished with comfortable settees and a much smaller little fireplace. It was a very private setting and nothing like what Hermione had expected.
'This isn't where I'm staying.' She said suspiciously, staring around the space.
'No dear!' Narcissa exclaimed, 'But we are neither Heads of House nor Scions, so it wouldn't be appropriate to stay at the table.' She said it like it was obvious, and Hermione just gawped at her.
'What do you mean?'
'Oh Darling, Gellert really has done a wonderful job of educating you but he just can't fill in for a woman.' Narcissa seemed as though she felt sorry for her, and Hermione couldn't for the life of her understand why she was meant to have known to leave the table at all. It definitely wasn't like the Weasleys had any tradition like it, even when they had guests over. Then again, she had never had a formal dinner with the Weasleys.
'What am I meant to know?' She asked cautiously, knowing that she was likely opening a can of worms.