Only Andromeda Tonks had made it out alive and Disapparate. Tonks was dead. Lupin too, along with any other inhabitant of the house, apart from Luna, Blaise, and Teddy – or at least she hoped so.
She had told no one what she'd done. She was positive Malfoy knew nothing about Blaise, despite being his best friend, or whatever it was they were. He treated him as equal, that must count for something.
Hermione believed she was getting better at being unreadable. She'd taken a random book from one of the giant bookshelves in Malfoy Manor and started reading absently on an armchair in the hall overlooking the large, dimly lit and sumptuously decorated hallway that led to the front door.
She was doing everything in her power not to start thinking, which would inevitably lead to crying. Reading magic literature was a lot better. Or, at least, she guessed it was magic literature, since she was so nervous that she was reading the lines without really understanding them.
She jumped slightly when she heard and amplified knock on the door and grimaced. It was probably Greyback with other traitors or rebels. Wind burst into the room as Narcissa Malfoy opened the door with her wand and Hermione tried to look uninterested as Blaise Zabini – of all people – entered the Manor.
"Blaise, are you here to see Draco?" Narcissa's cold voice echoed in the room and she saw Blaise look at her out of the corner of her eye and then nod.
"Yes, Mrs Malfoy. Is he here?"
"Yes, dear. I'll have one of the elves call him for you," she said, and left towards the library.
At least, Blaise had the common sense to wait for the woman to leave the room, before speaking. "Have you…?" There was no need to end the sentence for Hermione to understand.
"No."
"But you are thinking about it," he stated as a matter of fact, as he got closer to her and sat on a couch.
"What makes you think that?" She sighed. Right when she thought she was being good at hiding her emotions.
"Don't worry, your face didn't give you away. Draco was a good teacher, I can tell. It looks like I'm speaking to him, if it wasn't that he would never read that book. We studied Travel with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart in second year and I'm pretty sure you know it by heart," he said, while looking rather smug. With a sigh, she decided he was right, so she closed the book and murmured a spell to make it fly back to his place on the bookshelf.
"Well, I guess you want an explanation for what you saw."
"Explanations are the last thing I want," she rushed out, before a confused Blaise Zabini could add anything else, "The less I know, the better I feel. Besides, I don't care about your love life, I barely know you."
Draco Malfoy appeared from the hallway leading to the furthest wing of the Manor.
"What's going on? You'd better not be fucking my mate, Granger," he smirked and she couldn't hold back a disgusted groan.
"I have things to do," she just said and Summoned her cloak, then left Malfoy Manor.
The truth was that Hermione had absolutely nothing to do but she desperately wanted to get out of the Manor and, quite frankly, out of the Wizarding World. Crossing the gates of smoke of the Malfoy property, Hermione Disapparated and landed behind her Muggle house, where neighbors couldn't see a girl randomly appearing out of nowhere. That was the house she had Obliviated her parents to forget.
She took the keys from her charmed bag and entered, closed the door and sat on the floor, taking her head in her hands. After a good ten minutes she spent despairing, she forced herself to get up and get a hold of herself.
Walking around her home, she smiled sadly at the sight of the pictures of her parents without her. She still had to make a decision and, even though she knew what was the right thing to do, she didn't have the courage to admit it to herself. Her old bedroom, now blank and empty, felt suffocating and she couldn't help but feel an outsider in her own home.
Her familiar bedroom was now a guest room, all of her things gone, the red blankets replaced with some blank, white ones; her books, her desk, her pictures, all gone.
She got out of there before bursting into tears and stopped by her mom's library to take some books with her, readings her mother had taught her to love. She was suddenly eager to leave her childhood house. Locking the door, she walked to the café she would always go to, and ordered a coffee to go.
The cold weather of London made her feel even worse. It wasn't raining, for once, but it was still cloudy and dark outside. After paying for her coffee, she left the store and walked to a desert alley she could use to Disapparate back to Diagon Alley.
Still a little shaken, she decided to take a walk there before going back to the Manor. When she eyed Sugarplum's Sweets Shop, she just couldn't resist and stopped by to buy some Pumpkin Pasties, her favorite. She passed Quality Quidditch Supplies and Broomstix trying not to think about Harry and Ron while avoiding Flourish & Blott's so she wouldn't get stuck in there for hours, reading.
Eventually, when she noticed she was starting to get too much attention from people, Hermione Apparated back to Malfoy Manor and waited for the wrought-iron gates to let her pass through them as if they were smoke, as the front door swung open to let her in. Hermione took off her jacket and Transfigured it back into a cloak.
"Finally." Severus Snape always had the same disgusted voice when talking to her.
"What have I missed?" She sighed and threw her cloak over an armchair.
"Miss Granger, I am not your Daily Prophet."
Hermione rolled her eyes and made her way towards the Drawing Room – that wasn't much used for actual drawing since the Dark Lord had taken his residence in Malfoy Manor – where the House-elves had almost finished set the ornate table for dinner.
She grimaced when she caught sight of what was happening in the room. They had taken Mundungus Fletcher. Who knew what he'd tried to steal this time, she thought, since there was no way he was caught for saying the Dark Lord's name with the Taboo in place. The witch made a face when he gave a sign that he'd recognized her.
"Bellatrix, can you take this somewhere else? We eat in here," she sighed.
"So?"
"So, I don't like the smell of blood before dinner. There are cellars, use them." She took her place at the table and observed the scene in front of her.
Hermione couldn't give away anything she was thinking but she did let a bitter smile cross her lips when she stretched her arm to get some pumpkin juice and Mundungus looked horrified at her Mark. Same reaction every time. People were so predictable.
"Bellatrix, Hermione, I thought I'd made myself clear about the fighting." The Dark Lord watched her lover, or whatever Bellatrix Lestrange was to him. "My dear, do take your prisoner to a cellar, dinner's ready."
Hermione noticed the House-elves had indeed disappeared. She slightly bowed her head when Voldemort sat next to her, then took a breadstick, waiting for the others to sit.
The first of September finally came and Hermione wasn't eager to come back to Hogwarts this year. Thinking about all the people that would be there made her nervous and coming back without Harry and Ron gave her chills.
"Hermione, you need to calm down. You're making me nervous too," Daphne Greengrass chuckled near her. Daphne passed a hand through her blonde hair and Hermione couldn't but feel incredibly out of place, as any other time she was near her.
"I can't," she admitted, annoyed. Having no control over her body was irritating, at best.
Daphne wasn't the snob, spoiled girl she thought she was. It was weird, but she had actually been a distraction for her. Hermione hadn't been speaking with another girl for a long time when she met her and Daphne had become her friend, which was exactly what she needed. She didn't really care about her blood, she said, it was only an occasional play to stay alive.
"Distract me, please," she decided. Thinking about the same thing all over again was of no use.
"Fine." She looked around to make sure no one was listening. "I've seen them," she then whispered with a twisted grin.
"Seen who?" Hermione furrowed her eyebrows.
"Draco and Astoria," she clearly couldn't wait to tell someone.
"You spied on them?" Hermione laughed and shook her head. Daphne was unbelievable.
The witch smirked and nodded at the train.
"We'll wait on the train." She elbowed Malfoy's arm and he barely acknowledged her, before returning to his Quidditch talk with Zabini – who was surprisingly still alive – and Nott.
The two girls levitated their trunks on the Hogwarts Express and occupied the first empty compartment they found.
"They are not a good couple," Daphne complained once they were inside. Hermione laughed and sat near the window. "I know Draco since I was born and Astoria's my sister but they just don't work. She's too childish and he's too… Malfoy. It was the most awkward thing I've ever spied on, and I spy on a lot of people."
"Come on," she chuckled and crossed her legs next to the witch. She didn't really want to know Malfoy's sketchy business with Daphne's little sister but she'd missed the girl talk and she needed a distraction, or she'd start thinking again, which would be of no good.
"It was disgusting, but maybe it's because we're talking about my little sister and Draco." Her expression was half twisted in a grimace. "I don't think it was their first time, though, they were way too intimate. Hey, at least now I finally understand why half the female body in Hogwarts is into him. Merlin, he knows what he's doing," Daphne broke into laughter and shook her head.
"Cut to you saying you think of him as a brother," she started chuckling too, mostly because of Daphne's contagious laughter, "And please spare me the details, it's still Malfoy we're talking about."
"Oh, don't tell me you don't think he's attractive!" She looked at her the way you look at someone hospitalized in the Janus Thickey Ward for irrevocable spell damage at St Mungo's.
"Of course I don't." Hermione raised a confused brow.
Daphne was about to reply, when Blaise Zabini opened the door and sat in front of them.
"What are you girls talking about? First day of school and you're already plotting something?"
"Funny," Hermione snorted.
"Granger, you're hurting me," he placed a hand on his heart.
"Fitting, have you ever considered an acting career?" she asked with fake interest, but he just rolled his eyes and smirked.
He was about to answer, but Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott entered the compartment and sat respectively next to Blaise and Daphne.
"I have to admit, Granger, you can take the witch out of Gryffindor but not the Gryffindor out of the witch," Theo said, and she was left starting at him questioningly. "You're not that bad. Blaise needs someone to put him in his place, his jokes are terrible."
Hermione smiled at that and shook her head in disbelief. "You're not that bad yourself," she said. Maybe she could get used to the company.
The atmosphere in the Great Hall was tense. The tables and the dorms had been reassigned and there was nothing cheerful about the feast. The first and second years were assigned the Hufflepuff dorms and table. Third and fourth years, Gryffindor. Fifth and sixth years to Ravenclaw. And last, seventh years were going to live in the Slytherin dungeons.
That meant Hermione was more than a little susceptible. The meals were one thing, she could easily sit at the opposite side of the table and avoid them, but she couldn't do that for the whole year if they were going to live in the same dorms. Of course, there were no space problems, since the students coming back were less than the past years. She was the only Muggle-born left and the few Half-bloods who had managed to leave England weren't concerned with the law.
Her mood only got worse if she thought about the final part of their way to Hogwarts, when Pansy Parkinson, who clearly didn't know about Draco and Astoria, entered their compartment and stuck to him as if there was no tomorrow. Hermione had given Daphne a puzzled look as she just shrugged. Luckily enough, Astoria was in another compartment with her Pureblood friends, who were almost as frivolous as her.
However, the worst moment of her evening occurred was the annual Headmaster's speech. Severus Snape had obviously reminded everyone that every activity tied in any way to the Order of the Phoenix and every initiative that went against the Dark Lord's interests were going to be severely punished. He reported, then, Filch's usual complaints, the list of their professors, and other stuff that Hermione, nervous and hostile towards everyone, didn't bother to pay attention to.
"I would also like to add that, although Miss Hermione Granger is, as many of you know, a Muggle-born, any of you who will even dare to point a wand in her direction will deal with the Dark Lord. I am sure Miss Granger is able to defend herself very well but his orders were clear and I am merely warning you."
Professor Snape seemed to be mocking her with his usual blank voice. A chorus of whispers echoed in the Great Hall and the glances felt like daggers in her back. She felt a kick on her shin and she turned towards Malfoy as he lightly nodded at Snape. Hermione took a deep breath and forced herself to smile and thank the Headmaster with a nod.
After the feast, they all went back to the Slytherin common room, which Hermione had to admit was breath-taking. It was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs, with lots of black and dark green leather sofas; its windows looked out into the depths of the lake surrounding Hogwarts.
The space was decorated with tapestries featuring famous Medieval Slytherins and there were five firestones. On the east side there was a massive library Hermione couldn't wait to dive into and a long table adorned the room everyone went to study in. To access the dorms there was a mahogany staircase with snakes carved into the wood and, on top of that, a hallway led to the bedrooms.
"I'm so tired," Theo protested and threw himself on a sofa.
"Is there anything you don't complain about?" Despite the scorn, Malfoy sat next to him.
"Look who's talking," she grumbled as she sat in an armchair, noticing that people were now slowly crowding the room. Pansy Parkinson sat in a majestic wood carved chair next to them.
She began blabbering about how excited she was for the new year and how disgusting having to share their air with Gryffindors was. Five minutes later, Theo looked like he wanted to leave, while Malfoy was merely ignoring her, probably used to her being background noise.
"I'm out," she muttered and got up, making her way towards the dorms.
"Yeah, me too," Theo looked at her, grateful for giving him the chance to leave.
She pitied Daphne, bound to share a room with her, but the girl was positive Pansy actually got better when you got to know her, although Hermione wasn't ready to agree with her just yet.
She wasn't surprised the dormitories were as stunning as the common room. The long hallway had rooms both on the right side and the left side, and she figured out the left part of it was occupied by the girls' dorms, as her room was the last one on the left. Every door had a silver plaque on it with the names of the students living there.
The first thing Hermione thought as she opened her bedroom door was that her room was outrageously big. It was a sort of circular-shaped dungeon and it had windowpanes all around it, along with a silver chandelier and lanterns hanging from the ceiling that enlightened the bedroom. At her right there was a door she supposed led to the bathroom, followed by a giant bookshelf that covered all the space between a windowpane and another, and then a wood desk.
The four-posters with green silk hangings and embroidered bedspreads was the star of the room. Two more windowpanes framed the bed, while on the left side of the door there was her closet. A fireplace on the wall opposite to the bed warmed the room, while in front of it there were a black leather sofa and two identical armchairs.
The Slytherin House's presence was everywhere.
Hermione had managed some good hours of sleep without the usual nightmares and it happened so rarely she just wanted to stay in bed and hope to fall asleep again. Unluckily for her, it was the first day of school.
While passing in front of the mirror to reach the shower, right next to the bathtub in the beautiful private bathroom annexed to her room, she groaned at the sight of her hair. When she'd finished, she put on her Slytherin uniform and tried not to look in the mirror again.
Someone knocked on the door and she was glad it was Daphne.
"Good morning!" she was radiant, as always. Almost immediately, she felt the familiar sense of inadequacy fill her.
She moved to let her pass and closed the door, as she noticed how the witch was looking at her. "Come on, say whatever you need to say."
"Can I please shorten your skirt?" She looked at her with that pleading voice of hers.
"What's wrong with it? This is the standard length." She furrowed her brows and looked at herself.
"It's way too long," Daphne rolled her eyes.
"It's not. This is the dress code."
"It is. Please?" She smiled and chuckled.
"Will you leave me alone if I say yes?"
Daphne nodded. At the end of the day, why even bother arguing with her? They had already changed her in every way possible, they had made her torture and kill, what could a shorter skirt do? When Hermione turned around, she was already pointing her wand at her. Daphne made her close her eyes and she didn't even dare to ask herself why.
When she'd finished, she wished she had never agreed in the first place. You gave Daphne a hand and she took the whole damn arm, along with a shoulder and a leg. Unsurprisingly, Daphne Greengrass and Hermione Granger were among the last ones to get in the Great Hall for breakfast.
Hermione was still pretty annoyed at her friend for how she'd changed her uniform and for whatever nonverbal spell she cast not to let her shirt, skirt or even tie – a tie that now refused to be tied in the usual perfect knot and automatically loosened up – come back to normal.
The only good part of it was that Daphne actually managed to braid her hair so that it did look more normal and less like a bush.
When they entered the Great Hall everyone at the Slytherin portion of the seventh-year table turned to look at them and Hermione blamed Daphne for it.
"Granger, for Salazar's grave, where have you been hiding all these years?" Theo asked her, whispering.
"In a dress-code-friendly uniform," she muttered.
"At least someone appreciates my efforts," Daphne said in response and sat next to her, drawing her hair on her right shoulder.
Hermione rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of coffee, then grabbed a muffin. She looked at her schedule of classes, grimacing at the double Potions waiting for her. After that, Advanced Arithmancy, Transfiguration with McGonagall – she just couldn't wait for her disapproving glances – and finally Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies, since the subject had been made compulsory.
"What?" She mumbled as she realized Zabini had just said something to her.
"I said, we need to go or we'll be late for Potions."
"Yeah, I'm coming. Who else has it?" She took her schedule and bag and got up.
"Draco and Pansy."
"My day keeps getting better," she took a deep breath and started walking, along with Blaise. She saw Malfoy getting up as well and catch up with them, while Pansy stayed behind, still talking to Millicent Bulstrode.
The Potions classroom was enlightened by some torches as usual and it was almost empty, except for a group of former Hufflepuffs, too scared to say anything. Professor Slughorn was there, though.
"Hermione, my dear!" His loud voice was still the same, "And Mr Malfoy and Zabini!"
Before the two Slytherins next to her could answer, she smiled. "Good morning, Professor. It's nice to see you again."
"The feeling is mutual, my dear. Pretty unusual to see the three of you together, though," the Professor said and looked questioningly at them.
"Granger's finally chosen the right side to be on. Consequently, I think you will see us together quite often from now on," Malfoy stated before she could say anything.
Slughorn brandished a surprised expression that was meant to hide the worry, mumbling something, and went back to his desk, as the other students were arriving.
The three of them took their seats at the back of the class, regardless of Hermione's complaints. She wanted to sit next to Blaise, definitely nicer and much more friendly than Malfoy, but he sat next to her anyway. She glared at him and he only smirked.
"I have to help you, remember?"
"I don't need your help."
"Really? You didn't get your precious Outstanding in Potions last year, Slughorn's attention was all on Potter."
"Well, you didn't get it in the other subjects!" She was outraged.
"First of all, I was too focused on the Dark Lord's orders to give a damn about school and, second of all, I don't care. You do," he smirked. Again.
Hermione didn't find anything smart to say, so she hushed and turned around, pretending he didn't even exist, while he just laughed at her.
"Draco, don't be rude." Blaise, at the table before them, turned around. At the same time, Luna and Neville entered the class and she focused her attention on him.
Luna Lovegood and Blaise Zabini exchanged such a brief look you'd only have noticed if you were observing them, which she was.
If the Slytherin who was now talking to Malfoy was really a part of the Order – since nothing else could explain his presence in that house or his relationship with Luna – then she had a lot more than Draco Malfoy to worry about.