The Witches Pyramid
Chapter One Part One
TO KNOW
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Thanks to Alex & Beatrix for reviewing (finally someone besides me has read the Mists of Avalon!). It's much appreciated.
The drummers stopped drumming, the chanters quieted immediately, the dancers froze in place. All looked curiously at the slip of a girl who dared interrupt their ceremony. Hermione's parents opened their eyes and looked at her, slightly alarmed. Her mother closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, gazing upon her daughter with an intellect matched only by few.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Hermione looked like a rabbit caught in a trap. Her voice trembled.
"Find out what? What's going on here? Mum?" The pitch of her voice rose with each question. Collect yourself, girl. Where's that Gryffindor courage? Buck up! She listened to her inner self and took a deep breath, looking at her parents, calm and composed as ever.
"I think I deserve some answers."
Lucius Malfoy swept through the halls of his great manor, his robes swirling behind him in a haze of black. A few portraits looked at him with glances of approval, nodding to him as he flew past them. He hardly paused to nod back or even acknowledge them at all. Was this what he had worked so hard for, for so long? This house, this family, his position at the Dark Lord's side? No.
What he had strived to perfect for so long, what he had cursed and sweated and bled over, the bane of his existence yet the sole purpose of his very life lay in a room two hallways down from where he was walking now.
"Draco, Draco. Why do you do this to me..." He muttered. A few of the near by portraits sneered at him. He contemplated ripping them to shreds, but feared the complex magic that had created them. Lucius stopped abruptly. He faced an ebony door, adorned with carvings of a tall figure, half man half deer and a maiden bowing down to him.
The door burst open and Draco sat upright in his bed, wand at the ready, lips beginning to recite a powerful curse. Realizing who it was, he put the wand down. His father smirked.
"Quick, Draco, but not nearly quick enough. What if it had not been one such as myself opening this door? Why, you would already have been blasted to smithereens." His voice sounded sophisticated and smooth as ever, as if this wasn't the day that he had been praying for all his life.
Draco's face arranged itself almost mechanically into a perfect imitation of his father's. Today was the day of the initiation. He would finally be let into the ranks of the Death Eaters, and with any luck he would be let into their inner circle.
His father nodded at him and left the room. Draco dressed in a set of expensive white robes, fingering the precious material they had been created with. White. How ironic that he should be wearing something so...... pure and clean. He closed his eyes and wiped his mind clean of any thought or feeling before walking down the hall in a trancelike state. He was ready for what was to come.
"Oh, Hermione, this is why we didn't tell you! We knew you'd act like this when the truth came out!" Her father looked down at his wife and daughter, exasperated.
"Act like what, father?" She spat, looking upon them as coldly as ever.
"What exactly were you planning to do? Kidnap me and hope I didn't notice? Drug me perhaps?"
"No, love. You simply don't understand! We wanted to protect you! We just couldn't come out until our Lord came out of hiding. Now, pretend for one second that you aren't in Gryffindor. Isn't this a wonderful opportunity? Think of all the knowledge and power you could gain! You're so ambitious darling, and if you hadn't thought you were a muggle the Hat would've placed you in Slytherin for sure." Her mother smoothed Hermione's hair soothingly.
Hermione looked coldly at her parents.
"I only wish that you had told me of this sooner. If I'd known you were Death Eaters before, perhaps I would be more open to the idea. But that you were going to have me INITIATED? That is simply out of the question! I would rather-"She had been about to say, I would rather die, but would she? Was she willing to die for her beliefs?
"Rather what, Hermione?" Her father asked coolly. Hermione stiffened.
"I will give it some thought, and tomorrow morning I will let you have my answer."
She stalked off to her room, scarcely believing all she had just heard. Everything that she knew, had ever believed, was crumbling around her ears. How could they have neglected to tell her? She was always mature for her age. She would have understood! But this wasn't even the worst of it. They had plans to initiate her into the Dark Lord's circle tomorrow. She was to be initiated along with a boy from Hogwarts.
She opened her door and sat down on her bed, grabbing for a stuffed animal. Would she really rather die than be initiated? Maybe she should try to see things from their point of view. It was true, the Sorting Hat had contemplated putting her into Slytherin, but she thought that was merely because of her driving ambition and cleverness. Maybe she would go along with this.
She threw the stuffed animal and grabbed Crookshanks instead. If she was going to be a Death Eater then she would need more resolve than could be found in a stupid stuffed animal. As she drifted off her sleep, she comforted herself with the thought that it was only for the knowledge.
Hermione's parents stood within the congregation of Death Eaters in the middle of their living room. Their guests bustled around, chatting merrily about this and that shop on Knockturn Alley, or such and such spell for turning your opponent inside out.
Annette and Damien Granger shared a secret smile.
"We'd best get her some initiation robes that fit."
Well? How was that? Since I only got two reviews I didn't have much motivation to make this chapter longer. The more reviews I get, the more pages I write. R&R.
Chapter One Part One
TO KNOW
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Thanks to Alex & Beatrix for reviewing (finally someone besides me has read the Mists of Avalon!). It's much appreciated.
The drummers stopped drumming, the chanters quieted immediately, the dancers froze in place. All looked curiously at the slip of a girl who dared interrupt their ceremony. Hermione's parents opened their eyes and looked at her, slightly alarmed. Her mother closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, gazing upon her daughter with an intellect matched only by few.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Hermione looked like a rabbit caught in a trap. Her voice trembled.
"Find out what? What's going on here? Mum?" The pitch of her voice rose with each question. Collect yourself, girl. Where's that Gryffindor courage? Buck up! She listened to her inner self and took a deep breath, looking at her parents, calm and composed as ever.
"I think I deserve some answers."
Lucius Malfoy swept through the halls of his great manor, his robes swirling behind him in a haze of black. A few portraits looked at him with glances of approval, nodding to him as he flew past them. He hardly paused to nod back or even acknowledge them at all. Was this what he had worked so hard for, for so long? This house, this family, his position at the Dark Lord's side? No.
What he had strived to perfect for so long, what he had cursed and sweated and bled over, the bane of his existence yet the sole purpose of his very life lay in a room two hallways down from where he was walking now.
"Draco, Draco. Why do you do this to me..." He muttered. A few of the near by portraits sneered at him. He contemplated ripping them to shreds, but feared the complex magic that had created them. Lucius stopped abruptly. He faced an ebony door, adorned with carvings of a tall figure, half man half deer and a maiden bowing down to him.
The door burst open and Draco sat upright in his bed, wand at the ready, lips beginning to recite a powerful curse. Realizing who it was, he put the wand down. His father smirked.
"Quick, Draco, but not nearly quick enough. What if it had not been one such as myself opening this door? Why, you would already have been blasted to smithereens." His voice sounded sophisticated and smooth as ever, as if this wasn't the day that he had been praying for all his life.
Draco's face arranged itself almost mechanically into a perfect imitation of his father's. Today was the day of the initiation. He would finally be let into the ranks of the Death Eaters, and with any luck he would be let into their inner circle.
His father nodded at him and left the room. Draco dressed in a set of expensive white robes, fingering the precious material they had been created with. White. How ironic that he should be wearing something so...... pure and clean. He closed his eyes and wiped his mind clean of any thought or feeling before walking down the hall in a trancelike state. He was ready for what was to come.
"Oh, Hermione, this is why we didn't tell you! We knew you'd act like this when the truth came out!" Her father looked down at his wife and daughter, exasperated.
"Act like what, father?" She spat, looking upon them as coldly as ever.
"What exactly were you planning to do? Kidnap me and hope I didn't notice? Drug me perhaps?"
"No, love. You simply don't understand! We wanted to protect you! We just couldn't come out until our Lord came out of hiding. Now, pretend for one second that you aren't in Gryffindor. Isn't this a wonderful opportunity? Think of all the knowledge and power you could gain! You're so ambitious darling, and if you hadn't thought you were a muggle the Hat would've placed you in Slytherin for sure." Her mother smoothed Hermione's hair soothingly.
Hermione looked coldly at her parents.
"I only wish that you had told me of this sooner. If I'd known you were Death Eaters before, perhaps I would be more open to the idea. But that you were going to have me INITIATED? That is simply out of the question! I would rather-"She had been about to say, I would rather die, but would she? Was she willing to die for her beliefs?
"Rather what, Hermione?" Her father asked coolly. Hermione stiffened.
"I will give it some thought, and tomorrow morning I will let you have my answer."
She stalked off to her room, scarcely believing all she had just heard. Everything that she knew, had ever believed, was crumbling around her ears. How could they have neglected to tell her? She was always mature for her age. She would have understood! But this wasn't even the worst of it. They had plans to initiate her into the Dark Lord's circle tomorrow. She was to be initiated along with a boy from Hogwarts.
She opened her door and sat down on her bed, grabbing for a stuffed animal. Would she really rather die than be initiated? Maybe she should try to see things from their point of view. It was true, the Sorting Hat had contemplated putting her into Slytherin, but she thought that was merely because of her driving ambition and cleverness. Maybe she would go along with this.
She threw the stuffed animal and grabbed Crookshanks instead. If she was going to be a Death Eater then she would need more resolve than could be found in a stupid stuffed animal. As she drifted off her sleep, she comforted herself with the thought that it was only for the knowledge.
Hermione's parents stood within the congregation of Death Eaters in the middle of their living room. Their guests bustled around, chatting merrily about this and that shop on Knockturn Alley, or such and such spell for turning your opponent inside out.
Annette and Damien Granger shared a secret smile.
"We'd best get her some initiation robes that fit."
Well? How was that? Since I only got two reviews I didn't have much motivation to make this chapter longer. The more reviews I get, the more pages I write. R&R.