A/N: Yes, there were clocks around 1485 but they were rare and situated only in castles or cathedrals. Watches were not invented till around 1510. You can look up history of clocks on the net for more info. Who says fanfiction isn't educational? *grins*
Chapter 7: Five Points To Gryffindor
"May we have a word with you about the visit, daughter?" said Lord Granger, after breakfast.
"Yes, father." said Hermione. Her father had just told the assembled breakfast table about Lord Camvile's visit. She wondered what her parents could have to say to her in private.
The family went into a side room which her father treated as his study.
Her mother held her hand. Lord Granger looked sternly at his daughter- he looked so much like her own father in the future that she felt quite at ease with him. But Hermione was beginning to notice slight differences in the physical appearance of her mother and father that assured her they were different from her future parents. For example, Lady Granger had tiny feet, whereas her mother in the future had size 10 feet. Lord Granger had a larger nose than her future father.
"Yes father?" she asked politely.
"Sweeting," said her mother, petting her hand, "Your father and I don't want to be hard on you but…" her mother glanced at her husband.
"Hermione, daughter," he said gently, "This will be the seventh suitor we have visiting…"
"Suitor?" Hermione exclaimed in shock.
"Sweeting?" her mother looked surprised. "Are you all right?"
Hermione held her tongue. She supposed that she was expected to remember the other six suitors who had come previously.
"Yes, mother. Of course."
"Ahem…this is the seventh suitor who has asked to visit…I ask that you consider him seriously, and treat him with respect. Not like…ahem…Lord Mannerly. I'm sure you remember."
Hermione's mother turned red. Hermione had the good sense to hang her head. She wondered what she had done to Lord Mannerly?
"Or like you did with Baron De Labeche." said her mother, softly, shaking her head.
"You are no longer young. Most others of your age are already holding their first babies on their laps. We have been soft with you- we did not want to force you into anything. We did not see the need for an arranged marriage- you are so beautiful, Hermione, that the best suitors have been lining up for your hand. Any of those previous Lords and Barons would have made the Granger name even more powerful…So, do not abuse our trust in you. Choose soon, consider seriously Lord Camvile. His estate is large, his purse is heavy."
This was the longest speech her father had given her since she had appeared in this time. Hermione nodded slowly. "Yes father. I will treat Lord Camvile with utmost consideration."
Her mother beamed. "I have already asked Mary to lay out your best dresses and finest jewels. You will shine like a star when Lord Camvile is here. I am sure you two will find each other's company most charming. A marriage with the Camviles will be extremely advantageous."
"Thank you mother," said Hermione, having no intention whatsoever of ever considering marriage to any Lord or Baron, however rich or powerful they were. God, she had to get back to Hogwarts quick!
"Excellent, daughter." said her father. "Lord Camvile will be here at an hour past noon, see that you wear your finest clothes for him at midday."
Wear her finest clothes for some strange man?!
"Yes father" said Hermione meekly.
Her mother took her by the hand and led her to her room.
******************************************
Draco stood near the end of a long line of servants. He was so far down the line that he could not see clearly what was going on at the head of the line where the Granger family stood to welcome Lord Camvile. The other stable-hands and gardener's boys stood around him- all were exhausted with the preparations for the Lord's visit. Hibbings had gone to join the bailiff and steward near the head of the line.
Draco suddenly realized that he was craning his neck, looking for someone. There were a few well-dressed ladies near the head of the line…they were gathered in a tight group, talking quietly. He watched intently as they eventually split up and stood in a straight row. There she was.
She was even more beautiful by today's sunlight than by yesterday's lamplight. Today she wore a light blue gown, with white ribbons in her hair. She looked girlish and sweet and she was smiling. The sun glinted off the natural gold highlights in her chestnut hair.
Really, one would never have known she was a mudblood, thought Draco. She had every appearance of fine-breeding and aristocracy- as she already had when back in Hogwarts. Added to the fact that she was the most powerful witch he knew…it seemed an insult to all of Draco's beliefs that a mudblood could so naturally display all the qualities most coveted by the pureblood families.
"Bow" said someone by his side.
He noticed all the other servants beginning to lower their heads. It was not in a Malfoy's instinct to bow to another and Draco couldn't bring himself to lower his head more than just a tiniest fraction of an inch. It was this that allowed him to see the carriage of Lord Camvile drive past and halt in front of the Granger family.
Servants rushed to open the doors and finally, the long awaited Lord stepped out into the compound of the manor. There was some talking and movement at the head of the line but Draco was too far away to see for certain what was going on. The last thing he saw before they were dismissed was Hermione and Lord Camvile entering the manor side by side. They were smiling at each other.
Smiling at each other. Draco hammered another nail into the side of the new barn. Smiling. He hammered yet another nail into the wall.
"Ye be nifty wit the hammer" said Thomas, who was sawing planks of wood next to him.
Draco nodded and expertly placed another nail an equal distance between the two already hammered in and whacked it in. Once he had been shown what to do, work on the barn wasn't that hard. He certainly preferred it to cleaning out the stables. And Thomas was quite good company- even though he was a peasant. He was kind and simple, and he had shared his lunch the day before with Draco when the latter had been hungry.
Draco couldn't believe he was making friends with peasants. Could it be they were not the low-life he had always thought they were?
"Ye don't talk much" said Thomas, sawing away.
Draco shook his head. With each swipe of the hammer, he wondered what Hermione and Lord Camvile might be doing together in the castle. Would she be thinking of a plan? Did she even remember he existed?
"That's all right. Yer ain't like some other boys there've been- all talk and no work. I like yer" Thomas grinned at him.
Draco stopped his hammering and turned around to face Thomas.
"Thank ye" Draco said.
And from that moment on, they were friends.
A few hours later, Draco wiped the sweat from his brow and splashed water on his face from the common pump. The sun was setting.
"I live in the village yonder," said Thomas, pointing to the West "Would ye like to visit? Mam nivver minded afore and there is always broth on the fire."
Draco shook his head. "Not this night, Thomas. Thank ye."
Thomas waved goodbye and started across the fields along a well-worn path. Draco watched all the other boys and servants begin the trek home. His stomach growled because there was never enough food and work was hard. Quietly, he settled himself in a corner of the new barn and leaned back, waiting.
He hoped Hermione wouldn't be too busy with Lord Camvile to meet him tonight. Did she enjoy his company very much? He had seen them together in the inner compound a few times earlier in the day. She had not cast a single glance to the outer compound and seemed completely absorbed in whatever Camvile was saying.
As life on the manor slowed down with the setting of the sun, Draco drowsed in the smell of the earth and the new wood of the barn. As his eyes began to close, his last thoughts were of the sun glinting off chestnut hair.
******************************************
Hermione peered into the darkness.
"Malfoy" she whispered, holding up her newly acquired hurricane lamp. The shadows it cast on the walls loomed large and ominous. She was even later than she had been the night before because the feast held in honour of Lord Camvile's visit had gone on longer than expected.
"Malfoy"
She heard a rustling in the corner. Nervously, she approached the stack of logs and planks. "Is that you?"
The lamp cast a glow upon the figure of a man sleeping against a pile of logs. He had messy blonde hair and very fine, strong features. It was like a veil had been lifted from her eyes. Could it be possible that she was at last seeing what Lavender, Parvati and all the other giggling Gryffindor girls had been trying in vain to tell her?
"Wake up!" she knelt down and shook him. "Hey, wake up."
Draco slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Hermione smiling at him. Smiling? He couldn't be sure what he had seen because in a second she had turned away to settle herself on a pile of logs opposite him. He stretched and sat up.
"You're late," he said, crossly.
Hermione looked contrite. "Sorry, the welcome feast went on longer than I expected and I just couldn't get away. I was Lord Camvile's escort for the night and he had so much to say to me."
"I'll bet he did," Draco said dryly.
"What do you mean by that?"
Draco smirked. "You're the lady of the manor now, you know. Wealthy and all that. Who wouldn't want to talk to you now, Granger. "
"Get over it, Malfoy" Hermione said tiredly. "I didn't ask to come back like this, you know. I don't know why this happened, but as long as it has, can't you just grow up and help us get back to Hogwarts? I thought we had a truce."
"Well, I was seriously considering a truce until dear Lord Camvile came and took up all your time…while you were feasting in the Great Hall, I was sitting out here with the rats and woodlice."
"Oh come off it. You were sleeping like a baby. And I've not seen a single rat on this manor yet."
"I bet you haven't even been thinking of a plan to help us." Draco said sourly.
Hermione began to feel the familiar urge to slap Ferret Boy again but she had learnt that the best way to deal with Draco was never to rise to his challenges. "Why are you so worked up? I said I was sorry I was late…and anyway, I have been thinking of a plan. I've thought of one that might work."
"So have I."
"Well what's yours?"
"I asked you first Granger."
"Stop being so childish!" she said, her voice rising. "What's wrong with you tonight? You were much more…sensible last night! I really thought we could work together."
"And I thought you were serious about getting back! Not mucking around with feasts and Lord Camviles!"
"I wasn't!"
"I saw you! All afternoon, swanning around the inner compound, staring into each other's eyes…"
"Were you watching me again, freak?!"
"Not like I had to try hard to…strutting around all afternoon with him…"
"I promised my parents I would be a good host, all right? What's your problem? I told you I thought of a plan!"
"Well, it makes me sick to…" Draco caught himself mid-sentence and choked.
"Sick to what?" Hermione said. She tossed her carefully set hair back and by the glow of the lamp, her eyes flashed angrily.
"…sick to see you living it up while I'm out here dying by inches. I'm filthy, I'm exhausted and, I'm starving too okay? So don't you talk to me about feasts!"
"Oh!" Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth and her eyes grew wide. "Oh Malfoy! I- I'm sorry. I didn't realize how insensitive I must have sounded. I didn't know you were hungry."
"Well, I am. No need to feel sorry for me, you probably feel I deserve it." He said bitterly.
Hermione shook her head vigorously. "No I don't. I think it's disgraceful how they treat servants around here. I know you are worked too hard for too little pay…but I didn't know they don't feed you. I wish I could do something about it…maybe if I spoke to my father…"
"Don't get all SPEW on me, Granger" Draco said. "There's nothing you can do. This is the way it's been for centuries. You're only a woman, they'll never listen to you. And if Lord Granger started treating servants better, he wouldn't be respected in his circles. He knows it too, so you can give up all these wonderful plans."
Hermione still looked upset. Malfoy was secretly impressed about her social conscience. It was a concept that had been alien to him…until now.
"I'm not that hungry." He said at last. "According to history books, I should live to the ripe old age of 30 at least."
Hermione knew Malfoy was trying to make a joke, and she smiled weakly.
"Malfoy?"
"What?"
"How come every time we meet to plan our way back, we quarrel?"
"Because we hate each other?"
"Good reason." Hermione sighed. "But it makes it awfully difficult to discuss anything properly. I don't know about you but I really really really want to get back to our time."
"So do I. You should try the food they feed us here. Makes you want to get out of this century real quick."
"Well, then why don't we just try and get along? Then we can both go back to where we belong and you can go back to being a rich pureblood and I can go back to being nice, plain, Hermione Granger."
"Cut out the 'nice' bit and it sounds do-able."
"There you go again…"
Draco threw his hands up in a mock gesture of defeat. "Ok, ok. I was wrong. I was a brat to keep quarrelling with Hermione Granger. I promise to co-operate from now on. Well...I promise to try to co-operate. So what's your plan?"
Hermione smoothed down the wrinkles in her grey silk dress. She now thought of it as her "sneaking out at night" dress. "Weeell, we don't have wands…so the only way we can get back is to either get help from other magical people or, do the only 'magical' thing that we don't need wands for which is…"
"…brrew a Reverse Thyme Eliminus potion" Draco concluded for her.
She nodded.
"That was the only thing I could think of as well" he said. "I don't think it's a good idea to go looking for other magical people. If anyone here realizes we're a witch and wizard, they'll grill us like pork chops. And without wands, we can't do a vanishing charm when we're roasting on the spit."
"Yes. Exactly. So our only option is to brew a Reverse Thyme Eliminus of the exact potency to take us back to 2005. I'm not sure how accurate we can make it, but I have a pretty good idea that by varying the critical ingredient I can make it accurate enough to take us back to that year at least."
She sounded so much like she did when answering a professor's question in class that Draco thought he was back in Hogwarts.
"Five points to Gryffindor." He said.
Hermione ignored him and continued. "And lucky for us, I remember all the ingredients necessary to make a Reverse Thyme Eliminus. In fact, I've written them all down on this piece of parchment."
She took out a slip of paper from inside her shoe.
Draco was impressed. She really had given this more thought than he imagined. Maybe her mind hadn't been on Lord Camvile the whole day.
"Let's see" he said, taking it from her.
On the parchment, in Hermione's neat hand, was written:
R.T.E
1 dove feather
1 pinch fernseed (litha)
fistful ash of heather, mullein, patchouli, and sage (samhain)
fresh thyme (CI)
Draco was impressed. Being good at Potions himself, he knew immediately that the ingredients were correct. They were the same ingredients as for the normal Thyme Eliminus potion but with the critical ingredient "reversed" to produce the reverse effect. Every potion had a critical ingredient which guaranteed its desired effect. To reverse that effect, one had to know how to "reverse" the critical ingredient. For example, in Veritaserum, the CI was a shaving from a key. To brew a reverse Veritaserum, the CI would be a shaving from a lock.
"Five more points to Gryffindor" he said, looking up. At least he wasn't stuck in the past with Neville Longbottom. "And lucky for you, we have a herb patch with all these herbs. Well, at least all except the fernseed. But I'm sure I can find it growing somewhere. There's plenty of woodland about. And the dove feather- we'll find it somehow. This potion's our best bet."
Although Malfoy was beginning to become enthusiastic, Hermione wore a worried expression. "But Malfoy, don't you see what's wrong with our idea?"
Malfoy shook his head. "What's the problem? These are pretty common herbs. I told you I think we have all of them."
"Litha, Malfoy! Samhain! Don't these things mean anything to you?"
"Er…midsummer's eve? Halloween? I did go to Hogwarts and study magic you know. I know what Litha and Samhain are."
Hermione made an impatient gesture with her hands. "But Malfoy! Those days are MONTHS away! That means we'll be stuck here till after October 31st!"
Malfoy put the paper away in his boot and shrugged. "Too bad I guess."
"Too bad? That's all you have to say?"
Malfoy yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Relax Granger. What've you got to worry about? You've got fine robes, a huge manor, a rich father…I know how great all that is. I lived like that most of my life. Trust me, you'll survive till November. Maybe you won't even want to leave."
"Oh I'll want to leave all right," said Hermione, giving a fierce tug to her dress. "I have to do embroidery everyday, I can't speak at the dining table, I can't go out of this damned castle, and I must do exactly as my father and his steward says…ALL THE TIME!"
"Steady on…"
"And worst of all, these gowns may be pretty but they are totally uncomfortable! What I wouldn't give for my jeans…"
"Poor little rich girl" drawled Malfoy.
"You try wearing these ridiculous layers of clothes and corsets!"
"I don't have such tendencies, thanks very much."
Hermione gathered her skirts about her and stood up grandly. "I think this conversation is at an end, good night."
Malfoy couldn't help thinking about the word corsets. Grinning, he reached behind him for something and got to his feet. She saw that he had taken the hurricane lamp she had given him last night out from a hiding place.
"Got a light?" he asked, holding the lamp out to her. Using a piece of straw, they managed to transfer the flame from her lamp to his quite easily. Soon, the barn was lit with the light of two lamps.
"I'm off now" she said, and turned away.
"Wait."
Hermione stopped.
"I'll walk you back."
"I have a lamp tonight"
"I know, but ladies really shouldn't walk alone at night."
Hermione was stunned. Malfoy actually had some decency! Who would have known?
He walked beside her as they headed back for the castle. She no longer felt as awkward as last night and sneaked a look at him. He was very tall and his silvery-blonde hair hung messily around his face. Malfoy was concentrating on the ground, steering both of them away from patches of horse dung and mud. Had he done that last night as well? She didn't look where she was going and felt him grasp her arm firmly and move her gently to the left, away from a pothole. Either he's really changed or this is some new side of Malfoy I never knew existed.
They stopped about thirty yards from the side door. This time, Malfoy didn't slip away like he had the night before.
"Thanks." Hermione managed to say. It was definitely the first time in her entire life that she had thanked him.
Malfoy had hidden the glow of his lamp behind a rag so she couldn't see his face clearly. She heard him say rather stiffly, "Now we've got a plan, there's no real need to meet again, at least, not till midsummer."
He was right, of course. But somehow the thought of not seeing her only connection to the future world for a whole month seemed terrifying. There was a tense silence between them.
"Would you like that?" she asked at last, hoping for him to give her the answer she wanted, and yet, trying to tell herself it didn't matter whatever he said.
"It's up to you."
That wasn't the answer she had been hoping for, but it wasn't the worst thing he could have said either. Damnnit! He was forcing her into a corner! The longer this went on, the more she felt like blurting out that she actually found his company a source of comfort to her in this strange world. She took a deep breath.
"Fine. Well, I think we shouldn't completely lose contact. We're…er…kind of allies now you know. It's more practical to keep contact."
"I thought it was a good idea to keep in touch too."
"Then why didn't you say so, idiot?"
"You always used to prefer to see as little of me as possible."
"Well I do, still. I only said it was practical to keep in touch."
"When can I see you again?"
"Not until after Lord Camvile's visit in six days, I think. It isn't safe. There're festivities on every night and I'm expected to be there."
There was another short silence.
"D'you enjoy his company that much?" Draco tried to sound sneering about it but Hermione picked up a note of nervousness in his voice. Why did he have such a bee in his bonnet about this visit anyway?
"Well actually, Malfoy. I don't. Camvile is an overprivileged, narrow-minded, snob. If my father hadn't ordered me to be nice to him, I'd put a furnunculus on him. Wish I had my wand."
Again, it was too dark to read his expression, but she thought he sounded cheerful when he said, "I'll see you next Thursday. Same time and place." He turned away and halted. "Don't be late."
She hadn't done anything strenuous that night, but as Hermione slipped into the side door, she found that her heart was beating unnaturally fast and her face and hands were hot. She had never felt like that before.
It felt nice.