A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a few days; my area was affected by that
major power outage in Ontario and the eastern seaboard of the States and I
had no power for a while.
True to his word, on the evening of June twenty-fifth, Draco paid another visit to Hermione at Hogwarts. This time, he found her sitting outside in the late evening sun by the lake. She was staring off into the distance with a soft smile on her face.
"Hermione?" She jumped as he spoke her name. "I didn't mean to scare you," he added.
She shook her head. "You didn't. I'm just lost in my own thoughts." She thought he looked a little sad when she mentioned that but chose to ignore it. "What are you doing here?"
He gave her a tiny smile. "I told you that if I didn't hear from you by today's date, you would be hearing from me.
"Right." Hermione hadn't forgotten this fact but pretended not to seem to eager about it. She had decided not long after Draco had left from his previous visit that she would join him at Malfoy Manor for the summer. If Lucius got on her case too much, she would simply go to her parents' house for the remainder of the holiday and bear her mother's ungrateful acts and comments.
"So?" he asked, watching her expectantly. "What's it going to be?"
She sighed. "If your father drives me crazy, I will have to kill him."
Draco burst out into a huge smile. "I promise you," he said, placing his hand over his heart, "he won't be there most of the summer. So you'll definitely come?"
"I'll be there on the evening of the thirtieth," she pledged, enjoying the excited look on his face. "But one screw-up from either of your family members, including you, and I will leave."
Draco's face fell. "You won't have to worry about Mother," he said solemnly. "Trust me on that." He flashed one quick smile her way before departing, saying he would meet her at the Manor on the thirtieth.
Hermione spent the next few days packing. She was in awe how in the entire school year, so many of her possessions managed to escape her clutches and wind up in the oddest places. She found lecture notes from the previous November tucked way under her bed when she could have sworn she had filed them away. Letters from Ron, Harry and her father were scattered throughout the room, but Hermione chalked that up to carelessness. When reading the letters, she sometimes lost track of the time and left the letters lying in peculiar spots.
When she was finally finished packing, she looked around the bare room. Even though she would be returning the following September, she had packed everything in the room for fear that she might forget something that she needed over the holidays. She bewitched her trunk and bags to fly down the staircase and carried them out to the school lobby where she loaded them on to the carriage that would take her to Malfoy Manor. Despite the bumpy ride, she managed to feel relatively calm. She was dreading seeing Lucius again; the last time they had parted, Draco had been revealing that his father forged a minister to conduct the wedding ceremony, therefore making the marriage null and void. However, it gave her some satisfaction to know that Lucius would be angry as all hell that she had moved on with her life and was now working for his most hated person.
The carriage drew up in front of the gates to the Manor and Hermione's heart lurched. She loved the first sight of the Manor; the feeling it had given her the first time made her almost squeal with excitement. Draco had told her that every glance at the house was like the first and she understood exactly what he was talking about as the carriage drew nearer to the front door.
Draco was sitting on the steps, relaxed, examining his fingernails again. When the carriage stopped, he stood up and made his way to the door. "Welcome," he said, taking Hermione's hand and helping her down from the step. "Again."
"You were right," she breathed to him quietly. "Every glance is like the first."
"Do I know my house or what?" he asked and Hermione was strongly reminded of the mansion they had briefly shared as husband and wife. It had been very similar to Malfoy Manor, indeed, as Hermione noticed when she entered the Manor. During the construction of their house, Lucius had taken special care of the plans, to ensure that it took on a parallel form of Malfoy Manor to forever remind Hermione what she had gotten herself in to.
"Dad's at work right now," Draco assured her as they began ascending the staircase that led to the floor with Draco's bedroom. Hermione had also shared that floor before the wedding last year.
Draco swung open the door to her old familiar bedroom, at the end of the hallway. He motioned for the butler to set her luggage on the bedroom floor. She roamed around the room while her things were being brought up, reflecting on all the old feelings she had experienced in this room. She had dreaded waking up every morning and seeing the dull grey ceiling but now it was different. In two months she would be going back to Hogwarts, her true home, to resume teaching a subject that she loved.
"All set, then?" Draco's voice yanked her back to the present. She nodded eagerly.
"Thanks for letting me stay here."
He shrugged. "I could use the company this summer anyway." He continued to hover in the doorway like a bellboy waiting for a tip. "Well, I guess I'll go back to my room." He gestured to the door two doors down on the left side. "Call me if you need anything." He hesitated for a moment longer before leaving her sight.
She began to unpack, recalling old memories of when she first unpacked in this same room. She wondered how Lucius would react to her being here and whether or not he had already okayed the matter. Not that she really cared what he thought, but she didn't want him to be so angry that he chucked her out of the house.
Looking around the room, it occurred to her just then: she was back. Not for good this time, though. In September she would be leaving again to keep up with her 'education'. She sighed and began to unpack her clothing.
She was in bed early that evening and didn't see Lucius at all that night. Draco had appeared briefly in the hallway outside her open door to say goodnight. He hesitated again, like he wanted to say something, but vanished out of sight, leaving Hermione puzzled.
The next morning, she awoke to birds singing outside her open window. A healthy breeze drifted in, making her stir and take notice of where she was. For a brief moment, in that sleepy state between unconsciousness and consciousness, she thought she had been kidnapped and brought back here against her will. But then she relaxed, remembering this time she was free to do as she pleased. She leaned back against the pillows, listening to Draco's bedroom door creak open and him tiptoe down the hallway in the opposite direction.
She swung her legs around the side of the bed and threw her housecoat around her. The floor creaked under her weight as she paraded across the bedroom floor and out the door, eager yet dreading to see the look on Lucius' face when he saw her. But much to her disappointment, Lucius was not at the breakfast table downstairs.
"He already left for work," Draco muttered, staring into his cereal bowl. "Unfortunately, when you left last year, Dad was insistent that I leave my job at the Ministry. Apparently he couldn't face the shame of his friends from the Ministry knowing that I let you choose whether or not to leave."
Hermione just nodded as she sat down and the cook brought out a bowl of cereal for her. She began eating slowly, picking at her food, looking around the kitchen for Mrs. Malfoy.
Almost as if she had heard her thoughts, Narcissa Malfoy walked into the kitchen, looking rather cheery. "Hello!" she greeted everyone in the kitchen. "How is everyone today?"
If Hermione thought that Draco couldn't lower his head any further, she was wrong. He looked as if he dropped his head any more, it would fall into his breakfast bowl. Ignoring his odd actions, Hermione greeted her back.
"Morning," she said. "I'm well, thanks; how are you?"
Narcissa gave a tinkling laugh. "Very well, thank you, Bellatrix." She swooped down on a confused Hermione and kissed her cheek lightly. "Very well indeed. Tell me, Bella, are we going shopping today like you promised we would?"
Hermione gave Draco a puzzled glance and he spoke up. "Mum, that's Hermione, not Bellatrix."
Narcissa gave no notice of his comment and sat down for breakfast, not waiting for an answer to her question. When she got a chance, Hermione whispered to Draco out of the corner of her mouth.
"Bellatrix died in our sixth year; why is your mother acting like I'm her?"
Draco flushed. "Remember me telling you that my mother was in a world of her own? Well, it's a bit more than that. She's gone a tad insane in the head." He looked embarrassed as Hermione studied Narcissa.
She looked completely content, chewing happily on her cereal. Every so often she would smile at the two of them. "Isn't my son perfect, Bella?" she asked. "Such a wonderful little gentleman." She reached out to ruffle Draco's hair but he ducked out of her reach. Ignoring his actions, she continued to babble.
"She also confuses time," Draco confessed, watching his mother carry on a conversation with the cook as if she were one of her family members. "Often she will speak as if Bella is here and the last time Bella visited was before I was born." He looked incredibly sad.
"Why is she like this?"
Draco shrugged. "Personally, I think it's from years of not having her own mind. Dad's been controlling her for as long as I can remember." He looked thoughtful. "Perhaps 'control' is the wrong word. Whatever he said, she went along with it. And I think she finally snapped."
"I guess that's what you get from years of mistreatment," Hermione muttered under her breath. She looked back at her cereal, not feeling the least bit hungry, and pushed away the bowl. "I'm going to get changed," she said, pushing back her chair. "Then I think I'll go hang out in the back for a while." She headed upstairs, her true thoughts unspoken.
She planned to write in her journal all the conflicting feelings she was having. How she longed to be with Ron and Harry at that time, but she also enjoyed Draco's company. Seeing how his mother was, she felt sorry for him and understood why he didn't want to be alone with her. But when the time came to go back to school, would she want to leave?
True to his word, on the evening of June twenty-fifth, Draco paid another visit to Hermione at Hogwarts. This time, he found her sitting outside in the late evening sun by the lake. She was staring off into the distance with a soft smile on her face.
"Hermione?" She jumped as he spoke her name. "I didn't mean to scare you," he added.
She shook her head. "You didn't. I'm just lost in my own thoughts." She thought he looked a little sad when she mentioned that but chose to ignore it. "What are you doing here?"
He gave her a tiny smile. "I told you that if I didn't hear from you by today's date, you would be hearing from me.
"Right." Hermione hadn't forgotten this fact but pretended not to seem to eager about it. She had decided not long after Draco had left from his previous visit that she would join him at Malfoy Manor for the summer. If Lucius got on her case too much, she would simply go to her parents' house for the remainder of the holiday and bear her mother's ungrateful acts and comments.
"So?" he asked, watching her expectantly. "What's it going to be?"
She sighed. "If your father drives me crazy, I will have to kill him."
Draco burst out into a huge smile. "I promise you," he said, placing his hand over his heart, "he won't be there most of the summer. So you'll definitely come?"
"I'll be there on the evening of the thirtieth," she pledged, enjoying the excited look on his face. "But one screw-up from either of your family members, including you, and I will leave."
Draco's face fell. "You won't have to worry about Mother," he said solemnly. "Trust me on that." He flashed one quick smile her way before departing, saying he would meet her at the Manor on the thirtieth.
Hermione spent the next few days packing. She was in awe how in the entire school year, so many of her possessions managed to escape her clutches and wind up in the oddest places. She found lecture notes from the previous November tucked way under her bed when she could have sworn she had filed them away. Letters from Ron, Harry and her father were scattered throughout the room, but Hermione chalked that up to carelessness. When reading the letters, she sometimes lost track of the time and left the letters lying in peculiar spots.
When she was finally finished packing, she looked around the bare room. Even though she would be returning the following September, she had packed everything in the room for fear that she might forget something that she needed over the holidays. She bewitched her trunk and bags to fly down the staircase and carried them out to the school lobby where she loaded them on to the carriage that would take her to Malfoy Manor. Despite the bumpy ride, she managed to feel relatively calm. She was dreading seeing Lucius again; the last time they had parted, Draco had been revealing that his father forged a minister to conduct the wedding ceremony, therefore making the marriage null and void. However, it gave her some satisfaction to know that Lucius would be angry as all hell that she had moved on with her life and was now working for his most hated person.
The carriage drew up in front of the gates to the Manor and Hermione's heart lurched. She loved the first sight of the Manor; the feeling it had given her the first time made her almost squeal with excitement. Draco had told her that every glance at the house was like the first and she understood exactly what he was talking about as the carriage drew nearer to the front door.
Draco was sitting on the steps, relaxed, examining his fingernails again. When the carriage stopped, he stood up and made his way to the door. "Welcome," he said, taking Hermione's hand and helping her down from the step. "Again."
"You were right," she breathed to him quietly. "Every glance is like the first."
"Do I know my house or what?" he asked and Hermione was strongly reminded of the mansion they had briefly shared as husband and wife. It had been very similar to Malfoy Manor, indeed, as Hermione noticed when she entered the Manor. During the construction of their house, Lucius had taken special care of the plans, to ensure that it took on a parallel form of Malfoy Manor to forever remind Hermione what she had gotten herself in to.
"Dad's at work right now," Draco assured her as they began ascending the staircase that led to the floor with Draco's bedroom. Hermione had also shared that floor before the wedding last year.
Draco swung open the door to her old familiar bedroom, at the end of the hallway. He motioned for the butler to set her luggage on the bedroom floor. She roamed around the room while her things were being brought up, reflecting on all the old feelings she had experienced in this room. She had dreaded waking up every morning and seeing the dull grey ceiling but now it was different. In two months she would be going back to Hogwarts, her true home, to resume teaching a subject that she loved.
"All set, then?" Draco's voice yanked her back to the present. She nodded eagerly.
"Thanks for letting me stay here."
He shrugged. "I could use the company this summer anyway." He continued to hover in the doorway like a bellboy waiting for a tip. "Well, I guess I'll go back to my room." He gestured to the door two doors down on the left side. "Call me if you need anything." He hesitated for a moment longer before leaving her sight.
She began to unpack, recalling old memories of when she first unpacked in this same room. She wondered how Lucius would react to her being here and whether or not he had already okayed the matter. Not that she really cared what he thought, but she didn't want him to be so angry that he chucked her out of the house.
Looking around the room, it occurred to her just then: she was back. Not for good this time, though. In September she would be leaving again to keep up with her 'education'. She sighed and began to unpack her clothing.
She was in bed early that evening and didn't see Lucius at all that night. Draco had appeared briefly in the hallway outside her open door to say goodnight. He hesitated again, like he wanted to say something, but vanished out of sight, leaving Hermione puzzled.
The next morning, she awoke to birds singing outside her open window. A healthy breeze drifted in, making her stir and take notice of where she was. For a brief moment, in that sleepy state between unconsciousness and consciousness, she thought she had been kidnapped and brought back here against her will. But then she relaxed, remembering this time she was free to do as she pleased. She leaned back against the pillows, listening to Draco's bedroom door creak open and him tiptoe down the hallway in the opposite direction.
She swung her legs around the side of the bed and threw her housecoat around her. The floor creaked under her weight as she paraded across the bedroom floor and out the door, eager yet dreading to see the look on Lucius' face when he saw her. But much to her disappointment, Lucius was not at the breakfast table downstairs.
"He already left for work," Draco muttered, staring into his cereal bowl. "Unfortunately, when you left last year, Dad was insistent that I leave my job at the Ministry. Apparently he couldn't face the shame of his friends from the Ministry knowing that I let you choose whether or not to leave."
Hermione just nodded as she sat down and the cook brought out a bowl of cereal for her. She began eating slowly, picking at her food, looking around the kitchen for Mrs. Malfoy.
Almost as if she had heard her thoughts, Narcissa Malfoy walked into the kitchen, looking rather cheery. "Hello!" she greeted everyone in the kitchen. "How is everyone today?"
If Hermione thought that Draco couldn't lower his head any further, she was wrong. He looked as if he dropped his head any more, it would fall into his breakfast bowl. Ignoring his odd actions, Hermione greeted her back.
"Morning," she said. "I'm well, thanks; how are you?"
Narcissa gave a tinkling laugh. "Very well, thank you, Bellatrix." She swooped down on a confused Hermione and kissed her cheek lightly. "Very well indeed. Tell me, Bella, are we going shopping today like you promised we would?"
Hermione gave Draco a puzzled glance and he spoke up. "Mum, that's Hermione, not Bellatrix."
Narcissa gave no notice of his comment and sat down for breakfast, not waiting for an answer to her question. When she got a chance, Hermione whispered to Draco out of the corner of her mouth.
"Bellatrix died in our sixth year; why is your mother acting like I'm her?"
Draco flushed. "Remember me telling you that my mother was in a world of her own? Well, it's a bit more than that. She's gone a tad insane in the head." He looked embarrassed as Hermione studied Narcissa.
She looked completely content, chewing happily on her cereal. Every so often she would smile at the two of them. "Isn't my son perfect, Bella?" she asked. "Such a wonderful little gentleman." She reached out to ruffle Draco's hair but he ducked out of her reach. Ignoring his actions, she continued to babble.
"She also confuses time," Draco confessed, watching his mother carry on a conversation with the cook as if she were one of her family members. "Often she will speak as if Bella is here and the last time Bella visited was before I was born." He looked incredibly sad.
"Why is she like this?"
Draco shrugged. "Personally, I think it's from years of not having her own mind. Dad's been controlling her for as long as I can remember." He looked thoughtful. "Perhaps 'control' is the wrong word. Whatever he said, she went along with it. And I think she finally snapped."
"I guess that's what you get from years of mistreatment," Hermione muttered under her breath. She looked back at her cereal, not feeling the least bit hungry, and pushed away the bowl. "I'm going to get changed," she said, pushing back her chair. "Then I think I'll go hang out in the back for a while." She headed upstairs, her true thoughts unspoken.
She planned to write in her journal all the conflicting feelings she was having. How she longed to be with Ron and Harry at that time, but she also enjoyed Draco's company. Seeing how his mother was, she felt sorry for him and understood why he didn't want to be alone with her. But when the time came to go back to school, would she want to leave?