yay I found inspiration to write more, even if I am using stupid notebooks on my android and this site on my mobile (not sure if you know how much a pain this site is if you have missed grammar errors and have to go back and fix them. If I miss something, tell me in a pm or review, criticism makes me grow as an author after all. And this is the last time I will bitch about how I overlook words etc, it's just that I know how much they bother me in a story, especially if people continue to write it wrong (biggest peeve being people that mix up quiet, quit and quite)
On another note, I am super inspired right now for writing this, I am doing my best to write another one before my eurotrip (starting on the 1st of August and ending on the 22 of September approximately) but when I'm out travelling I have little access to internet. So if you have to wait a while you know why, but this story will not be abandoned!
As always thanks so much to every follower and everyone that has put this story in their favorites. I blush like mad whenever I see an email from this site alerting me off it. Special thanks to my reviewers; AliceEnchanted and purple breeze, you make my day!
Ps: Longest Chapter yet!
Scorching Summer
The manor was very quiet for the next few days. The adults were out most of the time, and the boys kept out of sight. With the return to Hogwarts coming up, and the many books Hermione had procured on their little trip, she felt like she was in heaven.
But sadly all good things most come to an end.
Another dreadful tea party with the high society Purebloods came up, thankfully the last before her return to Hogwarts, but with it came other girls her age.
She had another part of her plan that involved the ladies, she needed to talk with them and somehow not be interrupted by the girls her age. The last thing she would do to Rosier before their return to school.
The day came, and she was introduced to them all, the ones she needed to pay attention to (at least that she could tell from the whispers in her ear from Lady Rosier) were Bellatrix and Narcissa Black and Lorraine Yaxley.
Narcissa was nice enough, one year younger than Lucius Malfoy, the head of her body guard team at Hogwarts (at least that's how she saw it.) She told her all about how she hoped they would be engaged soon, an opinion most of the ladies at the tea parties mirrored.
Lorraine was a year younger than Hermione, starting Hogwarts soon and hoping to end up in Slytherin. From what Bellatrix whispered in her ear Lorraine was quite enamoured with the young Rosier son, and hoped to snag him. Hermione silently thought that she could have the little brat, and hoped that her attention took his focus off Hermione.
She soon formed a strange friendship with Bellatrix, but was taken aback when she discovered why she was so interested in becoming Hermiones friend. Narcissa quietly told her about Bella's infatuation with her father.
They all insisted she call them Lorry, Cissa and Bella respectively, and gave her the nickname Merry. They explained it was from her middle name Merope, and Hermione fave them a tight lipped smile that barely passed for genuine (she didn't understand why Slytherins like them couldn't see through it, on the other hand maybe they did but choose to ignore it.) At least it wasn't something stupid like Mione or Herms.
"Do you think your father will show up to this?" Bellatrix asked, the hope in her voice shinning through, the smile at the thought hid behind her cup of tea being brought to her lip.
"To ladies tea?" Narcissa raised an eyebrow at her sister.
Bellatrix looked away and took a sip from her almost empty cup, making a slight slurping noise that earned her a glare from her mother at the other table.
"I won't see him until he sends me off to Hogwarts again I imagine." Hermione said, putting another cucumber sandwich on her plate. She could never get enough to eat at these things. She usually didn't eat much, but the tiny sizes and light dishes meant she only got hungrier when she tried filling up her empty stomach with the tiny snacks.
Bellatrix sighed at that "I was hoping I'd get a glimpse of him." She mumbled.
"Wouldn't your fiancee mind?" Lorraine asked carelessly.
Bellatrix sent her a glare.
"I wouldn't think so, isn't he joining his organization Bella?" Narcissa asked, trying to derail her sister from throttling the girl.
"Yes he is Cissa! Hopefully I will get to join too, oh wouldn't that be wonderful Merry, I could come over to your house all the time and we could talk about our hair and clothes, maybe even about your crush on the young Rosier." She wiggled her eyebrows at her.
Hermione hid her discomfort at the thought of Bellatrix spending that much time with her, by voicing her opinion on the boy.
"I find him dreadful. He has been nothing but a thorn in my side this summer. It is sad too, I have had such wonderful hosts in the Lady Rosier and Lord Rosier."
She noticed the narrow eyes from Lorraine by Bellatrix's question, and the exhale at Hermiones answer. Hopefully Lorraine wouldn't turn into an enemy, she was just scathing by with Narcissa and her intendeds body guard duties.
"I think he's wonderful" Lorraine said wistfully, which earned a giggle from the Black sisters, Hermione barely containing her eye roll.
"I heard that Hermione has been seen with the young Fenwick at Hogwarts." Narcissa said, which made Hermione blush.
"The blood traitor?!" Bellatrix gasped in horror.
"He's just a friend." Hermione mumbled.
Narcissa raised an eyebrow at that, making Hermione scramble to change the topic "what about your fiancee Bellatrix?"
"He knows better than to associate with anybody but purebloods. She sniffed.
Hermione rolled her eyes "of course, I meant who is he? How is he like? That sort of thing, I'm afraid I haven't even heard his name."
That sent Bellatrix on a long winded explanation about everything Rodulphus Lestrange. By the end of it Hermione was sure she knew more about the man than she knew about herself. Bellatrix had after all gone into an outline of his family tree and her own. Hermione only really knew she was descended from Merope Gaunt, and they were descended from Salazar Slytherins himself.
Bellatrix ended the monologue by explanation of blood purity and the sentence "but of course you come from Salazar Slytherins himself don't you Merry?"
Hermione felt the silence that followed her sentence slammer inwards on her, she suddenly had the attention of everyone in the room. The older ladies knew better than too stare at her, but she saw their stiff postures, and the grips on the fine China. Curiously enough she saw the age of everyone in the group at that moment by how well they hid that they were waiting for her answer. The oldest lady there was nibbling on a crab sandwich like she had no idea that everyone else was holding their breath.
"That is true, father told me of our great and powerful ancestor long ago. Most people don't question it when they know of father's ability to talk to snakes." Her answer made most ladies breathe out and hide better that they were listening intently on the conversation now, but some of them had to hide their faces so they wouldn't show their fear at that statement. Bellatrix eyes shot up by the glare Hermione sent her, and her insinuation that she questioned the Dark Lord.
For some unfathomable reason, Hermione cared a great deal about her ancestry being questioned. Maybe it had something to do with the way her father would react when people did, or maybe she just didn't react well to people who took too much of an interest in her personal business.
"Can you do it?" Lorraine blurted out, making both Hermiones and Bellatrix's eyes snap from their intense hold on each other, and down onto her.
"Of course." She scoffed.
"Show us." Lorraine breathed.
"Speaking to snakes is not a parlour trick Lorry." She winced at Hermione tone, and the older Ladies suddenly found that they had a lot to talk about. Even if she was just a young girl, Hermione was the Dark Lords daughter, and falling out or not, that meant her power far exceeded theirs. When she was just a baby they had learned that making her cry for any reason whatsoever meant a crucio from the Dark Lord himself. Thankfully she had been a very quiet child.
"Please!" Lorraine pleaded, clearly not knowing when to stop.
"Snakes have very little to talk about, mostly it is about eating or sleeping. But they also have a sort of hunger to kill." She paused for dramatic effect, tilting her head to the side and giving Lorraine a meaningful look. "So what it is you want me to talk to them about?"
Narcissa suddenly jumped in to change the subject, Lorraine gulping while Hermione continued to stare at her. She might be much more amicable than her father, kind and caring, and a Ravenclaw, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to threaten a girl that wouldn't stop pestering her. It was something she wouldn't have done at the start of her summer, but now she did. Her father would have been very proud of her in that moment, the thought of that made Hermione stop staring down the girl, and put her mind to getting the boys off her back.
Narcissas question of anticipation for Hogwarts provided an excellent in.
"I'm not sure how I feel about it. The boys continue to follow me around and I don't know how that looks. What if people get the wrong idea and start to question my virtue?"
Sadly that was not how to go about it. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the mother's of said boys talking her down, saying they know that the boys would not dare to lay a finger on her. When they were done chastising her, Narcissa started, saying her boyfriend would never so such a thing, that he had been nothing but a gentleman to her.
Hermione protest against them by saying she was assured they would not touch her, did not change what others thought.
Suddenly the loud and horrid Walburga Black butted in, saying that the daughter of the Dark Lord should not worry about finding a husband, and that she should be assured of the boys destruction if they actually did lay a finger on her. She was also told that her role as his daughter was not to question him, but to be his most loyal follower.
For the remainder of the tea party, Hermione stayed pretty silent, she was mad that her plans of getting the boys off her back had not worked, she was starting to resign to the fact that she would have another year of trying to avoid the snobbish brats. And the parting words of Walburga assuring her that her son Regulus would never be anything but a gentleman made her heart sink more. Because it meant she was getting another boy following her every move.
She was laying out in the sun, glad for the temporary reprieve from the Rosiers son usually swift revenge. Maybe he was embracing his inner Slytherin, like she had, and was planning ahead instead of jumping into ill thought out bullying.
Somehow she doubted that, it was more likely the incident in Diagon Alley had left him with ringing ears and warnings to stay away.
The spot she was sitting at was her favorite, it had taken her a while to find it. It was close enough to the castle that they could see her resting spot, and they wouldn't send someone to bring her in, but far enough away that she got peace and quiet.
She stretched out in the sun with her book, one of the few she had salvaged from a particularly nasty burning previously in the summer. The edges were still frayed and scorched slightly, but she thought it made the book seem cosy, like Hogwarts itself. The book was "Hogwarts a history" one she had read many times over. She never tired of it, and she knew that it was her father's favorite too. One of the few things they had in common was their love for the magical school in Scotland. Although in his typical fashion, it was not something they actually bonded over.
Over the years she had learned that the only things he wanted to bond over was murder and torture. He indulged her by giving her books and access to his Library, but their shared love for books was never brought up by either of them, and casually brushed aside if one of his followers brought it up in his presence.
Another thing that was good about this spot was that she could see anyone coming for her from far away, like she could see the Son and his cronies walking towards her with purpose.
She gently put away the book, leaning back to get a better angle to look up at them when they would finally stand before her.
They surrounded her, her back to the tree, and them blocking her sides, Rosier standing in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down his nose at her.
"Boys." She nodded at them. "What can I help you with?"
"The usual." Rosier shrugged and sent her a smirk.
Then the boys lit her tree on fire, Hermione picked up her book quickly, and jumped away from it before she could catch on fire too, She bumped into Rosier, the boy sending her a dirty glare before shoving her away from him. Her feet scrambled to keep her upright, but she failed.
She tumbled down to the laughter of the boys. The stood around her in a circle, the heat from the burning tree making the nice summer's day seem unbearably hot all of a sudden.
"Look at the little thing, all covered in ash and dirt. I think she needs a bath, don't you boys?" The cronies threw their heads back with laughter while he covered her with water. As she sputtered and tried to shield herself with her arms, she briefly thought that those boys would laugh at anything.
The water didn't stop coming, and Hermione had no way of escaping their lame attempt at revenge with them on either side of her. So she kicked out at Rosier, hitting him somewhere, he toppled over, falling on top of her.
As the water seized to cover her frame, Hermione gasped for breath again. While her breathing steadied, she noticed her chest bumping against something when she inhaled. She opened her eyes and looked up into the brilliant blue eyes of Rosier. The colors reminded her of the quiet after a storm, of life and sun and lazy summer days looking at the clear blue sky. Still water in a quiet lake, flowers springing out in spring and the familiarity of her house colors. There was an intensity behind them, and warmth that surprised her.
He looked down into her eyes ans saw the same warmth in them that she saw in his. He was reminded of chocolate on cold winter days, honey in his tea when he was sick, dirty knees when he had been out playing, the color of Qudditch brooms and so many other things he loved. The colors were swirling as he could see her mind whirring.
"Get off me." She ground out suddenly, surprising both of them.
"Glad to." He answered, and jumped off and stepped away from her.
Neither admitted to themselves that they had been lost in each other's eyes, enemies don't do that sort of thing.
"This is the best you could do?" She asked, and he looked over at her dripping frame. How she could still make a terrifying figure when she was soaked through, standing in front of her favorite tree being burned to ashes, was something Evan Rosier could not fathom. He had always feared her in small part for her father's influence. But the more time they were forced to spend together that summer, the more he saw off this figure, of the Hermione that could stand tall no matter what. This person scared him, that confidence that she exuded from every pore was something he longed to have himself. And her control over magic without a wand was immensely impressive and something few could match, even as adults.
"You burn a tree in your own back yard and make me a little wet? Pathetic!" She brushed herself off, wringing her dress to get rid of some water, and picked up her book. She noticed that it had escaped the worst of Rosiers spell, only becoming slightly wet on the outside, most of which she brushed off.
She flicked her wet hair behind her shoulder, making a few droplets splatter on the three boys, and sauntered off with her head held high, leaving a wet trail behind her. Evan tried not to admit to himself that Hermione was definitely a force to be reckoned with, a force that he and his friends had made their mission to anger. He gulped as his two best friend laughed at her retreating form, complimenting him on his work with the water spell.
This year was going to be a rough one.