Author's note: Here is the second chapter of my story. I'm glad you found it interesting enough to continue on. I'd just like you to know, anytime you see an error, or you think you can help improve my story such as, maybe characters are too 'ooc' or some factorial error i would love it if you told me. I'm definitly not perfect and want to improve this story as it goes on. And who knows, you're comments may very likely change the story. for instance, one person happily mentioned that 'Hermione' was not spelled 'hermoine'. haha, silly me
Hermione quickly recovered and blushed when she saw Mr. Florish's reaction. "Do you two know each other?" He said rather hesitantly. "Draco is in my same year," was all Hermione replied with. Draco just shrugged. Looking very bored and uninterested, Draco stood next to his mother, Narcissa. Mr. Florish cleared his throat, "Well then, now that you know each other, are there any questions or concerns?" Silence followed. "Wonderful! You all know the procedures, so now I leave you. I expect the first report next week. Good day, and," Mr. Florish paused, "good luck." Another awkward silence filled the room, and then Mr. Florish left.
Narcissa cleared her throat, "Well, let's go then," was all she said. Hermione slowly gathered all her things and numbly followed the Malfoys out the door. She quietly boarded the lift and followed them to another floor, to the Floo Network Public Fireplace. She saw as Draco and Narcissa each yelled "MALFOY MANOR", and disappear in the harmless flames. Hermione drew in a deep breath, exhaled, and yelled, "MALFOY MANOR", and crossed into the fierce blaze.
DracoDraco watched as Hermione entered through the fireplace. Eyes narrowed, he said, "Follow me." Leading her to her room, he heard Hermione gasp. "This is where you'll stay for the next…..two months. Dinner's at seven." Draco turned and looked at her. "Wear something that doesn't suggest what you are," he sneered, "Mudblood." Turning on his heel, he left and headed towards his room. Malfoy grabbed his broom and headed towards the backyard. "Great. Just great." He mounted and pushed off the ground. "They got Granger here! Worthless Mudblood." Malfoy zoomed around his backyard. "How could she possibly help us? Since when did we need help in the first place? Mother and I did just fine by ourselves when father landed in Azkaban. We don't need the Ministry of Magic's pity. Now we're stuck with Granger for the next two months. I'm never gonna hear the end of 'The answer to number one on the homework is' and that stupid Elfish Welfare thing that mudblood's always going on about. One thing's for sure, she's certainly not welcome here." Malfoy finished one more lap and dismounted his broom. Heading inside, he grabbed a new set of clothes and headed towards the bath for a shower.
Hermione
Hermione watched as Draco left the room. Her bedroom. The room was incredibly beautiful. It was larger than her garage at home. Looking around, it was pale green with white lining. The carpet was so soft and a shimmering white that Hermione suspected no one has ever set foot in this room. Sitting on her bed, she smiled. It was extremely soft, yet had a hard firmness to it. It looked new. Her walk-in closets were a beautiful luscious brown with plenty of space. Across the room was a stunning, large light brown desk just ready to be studied upon. Hermione sighed. A room this beautiful couldn't possibly belong to a family of a death eater. Grabbing her trunk, she dragged it to the foot of her bed. Hermione then took out her wind chimes, opened her large window, and hung the jingling wind chimes. A fresh wind blew from the backyard. She could see Malfoy on his broom flying with a strong determination. Climbing on top of her bed, she could feel her emotions surface. "How, HOW could I have landed in the Malfoy house? This is impossible! Out of all the families out there that need true help, HOLF puts me here! Having a father in prison is one thing, but when you're this rich and you have a guest room that has never seen a human being in its life, that's a totally different story!" Fuming, Hermione got out of bed and headed towards the desk. Grabbing three pieces of parchment, she miserably wrote three letters to Harry, her parents, and Ron and Ginny. When she was done, she looked at the time, 6:30. Sighing, she headed towards her trunk and began putting away her clothes. Then, picking out an outfit, she began to change. "I'm not changing because that git called me a Mudblood. I'm changing because I've just traveled a long way and I believe in looking decent during dinner," she scowled to herself. At 6:55, Hermione heard a knock at the door.
"Miss Hermione?" Hermione turned around in surprise. There, in the doorway, was a little house elf with large, hazel eyes and frail skin. Hermione guessed it was a girl. "Miss Hermione, dinner is being served soon, please follow me to the dining room." Shocked, Hermione tagged along behind the elf. "Figures. Off course they have a house elf in their home."
"Excuse me, what is your name?" She asked as politely as she could.
"Tinky, Miss. Hermione." The house elf answered.
"And how many house elves er-serve here, Tinky?" Hermione questioned. At this, Tinky's ears slightly dropped and a noticeable sadness crossed her face.
"Before, many house elves used to serve masters and mistress, almost as much as five. But now, there is only two. Tinky's mother and grandmother and close friend are now gone because master has…left. Now, it is just me and Olfie, Tinkie's own cousin. Tinkie misses the other house elves, oh yes she does. Especially her grandmother elf. Grandmother loved Tinky very much..." Realizing, what she just said, Tinky stopped and her eyes grew big. "Oh! Miss Hermione must forgive Tinky! Tinky did not realize she was mumbling to mistress! Bad Tinky! Bad!" At this, Tinky began sobbing and ran headfirst into the wall. "Oh, Tinky! Stop! Stop!" She grabbed the little house elf and forced her down. "Tinky, I forbid you to stop this at once!" She commanded. Shakily, Tinky nodded. "Thanks you for your kindness Miss Hermione…" Tinky began. "No Tinky! That wasn't kindness. That was sensibility! You must stop hurting yourself! House elves do not need to subject themselves to others! They can live their own lives!" Hermione interrupted. She opened her mouth to continue but Tinky's eyes grew big and said, "Forgive me miss. We must go to dinner now, or else you will be late!" And with that, despite Hermione's protests, the strong house elf grabbed her wrists and dragged her the rest of the way to the dining room.
Stopping before two large double doors, the house elf gave her one final nudge and then scurried off. Hermione, shaking her head, opened the doors and entered the dining room. Her jaw dropped. The ceiling and one whole side of the wall was actual glass, so you could see the marvelous backyard and gardens. The evening sunlight poured into the room, eliminating the need to turn on the elegant, and rather simply, dazzling chandelier. In the middle of the room stood an especially long and handsome table, with six distinctive chairs. Narcissa sat at the far end of the table. She eyed Hermione for a moment and then returned to looking outside. Still feeling in awe, Hermione moved to one of the side chairs facing the glass-wall and sat. A moment of silence followed.
Clearing her throat, Hermione said, "You really have a beautiful dining room, Mrs. Malfoy." Narcissa just nodded. "I can imagine the wonderful gatherings you could have in this here, it really is quite stunning." Hermione continued, trying to keep her voice nice and light. Narcissa nodded again. Giving up, Hermione let her eyes wonder. The room was a pale peach with small designs running up and down the wall. There was a lovely glass medium-sized centerpiece on the table of two simple swans. Somewhere in the large mansion, a clock chimed 7:00, and at that instant, Draco walked in the room at a brisk pace and sat in the chair opposite of Hermione. A door opened from the kitchens and the house elf, Olfie, walked in with the appetizers. 10 short minutes later, Tinky walked in and brought out several dishes, followed by 2 more courses of the main dish.
They all ate in silence, as the sun dipped lower and lower into the horizon.
Finished with her meal, Hermione looked up to find Draco staring at her. He smirked. Rolling her eyes, she turned to Narcissa. "The dinner was lovely, Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you so much for letting me stay with your family. I really do hope the following two months go well. I've been looking forward to this for such a long time." Hermione smiled, thinking it was impossible for Mrs. Malfoy to not answer her.
Narcissa looked up, and said simply, "Your welcome".
"Well at least we're getting somewhere," Hermione thought, as she headed towards her room. When she reached the top of the staircase, she all of a sudden felt utterly lost. It was darker than when she left her room, and she couldn't get a hold of where she was. Was she even on the right staircase?
"Lost Granger?" Hermione felt shivers up her spine. Turning, she faced two icy eyes. Caught off guard and feeling a little embarrassed, she gave in. "Yes Draco. You caught me. If you haven't noticed, your house is huge. So, could you please," Hermione took in a large breath, "show me where my room is?" feeling slightly vulnerable. Draco looked into her eyes, if he was gonna mock Granger, it wouldn't be tonight, maybe tomorrow. He didn't feel like it today. "Follow me. Your room is two down from mine," was all he said.
Back in her room, Hermione felt the strong lull of sleep tug at her. She changed quickly into her pajamas, brushed her teeth in the bathroom next to her, and climbed into bed. Staring outside, the moon from last night had disappeared and left a dark vast of night and stars. The cool night breeze brushed against her wind chimes, which slowly sang her to peaceful sleep.