A/N: Not many people reviewed. Please please please review! I'm really sorry that this took forever. I went to South Africa over Christmas to visit my nani and we have exams in school now. I am really sorry though.
SUMMARY: This is my first fanfic so I'm not great on summaries. Hermione returns home for what she thinks is a perfectly normal summer but her parents have news which will change her life. Draco Malfoy just happens to be around. He doesn't know who she is until a ball. What will happen?
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own these characters except Jenny, Natasha and Stephanie. J.K Rowling owns everyone else. I own the storyline too.
On with the story
Arrival, Malfoy and a lot of going on's
Loretta gasped when she saw the house, sorry mansion, which would be her home for the next two months minimum. It was a large, white washed building, but had enormous pillars holding it up. Loretta had never seen a building so big apart from Hogwarts Castle, but many areas of that she wasn't allowed into, such as the other houses common rooms. This house was just for her.
As her parents stared to walk towards the house Loretta followed and noticed that a red carpet had been rolled out for them. There were big crowds, many of which were reporters with their camera men. She posed with her parents for a couple of pictures and realised why her mother had wanted her appearance to be immaculate.
There were servants all lined up at the door waiting for them. They all bowed, or curtseyed. Her parents introduced her to the main people she would associate with, mainly the butler, Mr Stewart, and her own personal maid, Stephanie.
Stephanie showed Loretta to her room saying that one of the other servants would bring up her bags. The room was the biggest Loretta had ever seen and was furnished with such extravagance and delicacy.
"Miss Stoughton. I have already told your mother and father this but I think it right that you know too." Stephanie started
"Yes, what is it?" Loretta asked
"My nephew is here for the holidays because there is some sort of family crisis at the moment. He's about the same age as you and..." Stephanie trailed off
"Would you like me to sort of hang out with him?" Loretta asked
"Would you miss? That would be ever so kind" Stephanie said
"He'd probably be a help to me too" Loretta said
"Thank you miss. When do you wish to meet him?"
"I'll have a shower first and get into some different clothes because I don't have to wear ball dresses and the like all the time do I?"
"Not if you don't wish too miss. I'll leave you then. When do you wish me back?"
"I'll find my way down to the hall. I'll probably be there in about half an hour"
With that Stephanie left the room. Loretta took her hair out of its pile and got out of her shoes when there came a knock at the door. Probably my clothes and stuff. Loretta thought to herself. She opened the door and sure enough it was her clothes
"Leave the cases by the bed Thank you" Loretta said after opening the door going back to her dressing table to brush her hair.
"Should I send up a maid to unpack for you?" The servant asked
"Wha…No thank you. What's your name?" Loretta asked
"Mine miss? Mine is Jack" The boy said
Loretta turned to look at him. At first she didn't recognise him. She then looked at his face and realised It was Jack the Annoying. Oh No! Why does he have to be here? Wait, he doesn't know me. I'm not like Hermione any more. Thank goodness! Loretta asked him to leave and she had a shower and got into a flowing black skirt and a baby pink off-the-shoulder top. She brushed and dried her hair and put on a small amount of lip gloss and then thought she looked presentable.
Loretta found her way downstairs the way she had come with Stephanie and found Stephanie and another boy standing waiting for her. The boy looked familiar but she couldn't place him.
"Miss Stoughton, this is my nephew Draco Malfoy. Draco dear, this is Miss Stoughton" Stephanie introduced
Oh Shit! Please tell me this isn't happening! First Jack Now Malfoy! Help me! What is my life coming to, although he doesn't know me though either. Ha, maybe I can have some fun with the Almighty Draco Malfoy. Just to keep me occupied until Harry and Ron and Ginny come up.
"Pleased to meet you" Loretta said holding out her hand
"And you, Your Highness" Malfoy said taking Loretta's hand and kissing it
"I have to go and work in the kitchens. I trust that you Draco will show Miss Stoughton around." Stephanie said
"Of Course Aunt Stephanie" Malfoy said before Stephanie hurried down a corridor.
Malfoy and Loretta were left standing awkwardly until Malfoy said that they should start. They turned down a different corridor to the one which Stephanie had gone down.
"Where does this lead to?" Loretta asked
"I think this one leads to the library, recording studio, art gallery and probably more which I can't think of. This is the creative side of the house." Malfoy said
"We have a Recording Studio?" asked Loretta in wonderment
"Yes, the library is massive. A girl I know in school would kill for the library here" Malfoy was telling her
"Hermione Granger?" Loretta said
"Yea…How did you know?" Malfoy asked
"I know you Draco Malfoy. I go to the same school as you." Malfoy was looking at her as though she'd sprouted an extra head "Yes, I'm as much a witch as you are a wizard. I'm what you might call a 'mudblood'" Loretta said
"How come I've never seen you before? You're too pretty to miss. What house are you in?" Malfoy was wondering
"Guess" was Loretta's answer
"Can't be Slytherin, you're not slutty enough" Malfoy said
"That's a fine way to talk about your own house. It's true but that is beside the point" Loretta said
"Yeah, whatever. You're not dim-witted enough to be Hufflepuff" Malfoy said
"Honestly, that's not very nice"
"Yeah, do I look like I care? You're either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor." Malfoy said
"Too right I am" Loretta muttered. "Is this the recording studio?" Loretta asked dismissing the subject
"Yeah. Do you want me to show you how to work it?" Malfoy asked
"O.k." Loretta said
While Malfoy was fiddling with some knobs and switched Loretta took the time to look at him. She never got the chance at Hogwarts because he never gave her the chance. She didn't know why she wanted to look at him but she noticed that he had a great body and his hair fell gorgeously into his eyes while he was fixing it.
"Sorry some wires had to be connected. I'll leave them connected so that you can use it when you want. Come over here and I'll show you how to use it." Malfoy said
Loretta moved closer to him and he showed her how to do all different things with the microphone and the music etc.
Just then a bell sounded
"What's that?" asked Loretta worriedly
"Don't worry miss. That's only the lunch bell. Follow me" Malfoy said leading her out of the room
"Don't keep calling me Miss Stoughton. My name is Loretta, call me by that" Loretta asked
Malfoy agreed and lead them into a big dining room. Her parents were already waiting for her. Malfoy lead her to a seat and pulled out a chair and waited for her to sit down. He then made as though to leave the room but her parents called him back and invited him to eat with them.
After lunch Loretta's parents asked if she could talk to them for a minute.
"Loretta, we're giving a party for you on Saturday as a sort of Homecoming thing. We've already got invitations out to our friends. We want to know who you want to invite and the invitations will be made out and then you can send them as soon as Bambi gets back. Mr. Malfoy has already invited his friends" Loretta's mother told her
"Ok. I just want to invite Harry, Ron and Ginny. Mum, Is Dumbledore coming?" Loretta asked
"Yes, he, Minerva and Serverus have agreed to come" Her mother answered "What are the full names of the people you wish to invite"
"Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Ginevra Weasley. Mum, Snape and Malfoy really don't like Harry and co." Loretta said
"It'll be fine. You can go of on your exploring again now" her mother said
Malfoy was waiting for Loretta. It was a warm day so he decided to show her the grounds. Loretta was amazed at the extent and beautifulness (I don't know if that's a real word or not) of the grounds. There wereat least 6 fountains, 2 ponds (with ducks etc.), a river/stream with a bridge across it and a big open field which Loretta's father sometimes rented to people for big football games or other big event.
"This all belongs to my dad?" Loretta was whispering in wonderment
"Yep, and one day it'll belong to you" Malfoy said
"Which of your friends are you inviting to the ball?" Loretta asked
"Blaise Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle. That's about it" Malfoy said
"No Parkinson?" Loretta asked
"No and how do you know about me?" Malfoy asked
"It's the same as I told you before. You'll realise soon enough who I am, probably through my friends. Let's get on with the grounds" Loretta said
Loretta and Malfoy had been walking around the grounds for about 2 hours when it started to rain.
"Great this British weather, isn't it?" Malfoy said and Loretta stared to laugh
Loretta started to run back towards the castle and Malfoy followed her. Loretta tripped and fell and Malfoy fell on top of her. Malfoy quickly got off of her and helped her to her feet. They were standing very close together and at that moment Stephanie came running out. Malfoy quickly stepped away from Loretta and Stephanie looked at him with a weird look in her eyes. Loretta saw it and was curious as to its meaning.
"Come on now miss. It's raining and you're all muddy. I think you'll need another bath" Stephanie said and ushered her indoors with Malfoy following.
Once inside the hall Loretta started to walk up the stairs but as she got to the first landing she looked down and saw Stephanie obviously giving Malfoy a hard time. She felt sorry for him but couldn't understand why. Loretta decided to talk about it to Malfoy and hurried up the stairs for a 10 minute bath.
As Loretta got out of the bath her mother knocked on the door.
"Loretta, please wear this dress for dinner tonight" her mother said holding out a red velvet dress that fell to her ankles. With that her mother turned and left the room.
Loretta put the dress on, applied her make up carefully and put on her shoes which were just red, sequined pumps. Loretta brushed her hair and left it down. Loretta was admiring her self in the mirror when she was interrupted by another knock on the door.
"Hello" she called out and went to put on her ear rings
"Um…I was told to bring you down for dinner" the person said
"Hi Jack" Loretta said turning around. "I don't know why they sent someone to collect me but I am perfectly capable of going by myself but if that's what they want then let's go"
Loretta walked down with Jack hardly making a sound. She left Jack at the dining room door and went in by herself. Her mother and father were there, as was Malfoy and then herself. Malfoy seemed very quiet hardly making any contact with her at all. Basically dinner was quiet.
After everything had been finished with and was cleared away Loretta asked to be excused, as did Malfoy. They walked out in silence. As they were walking up the stairs Loretta decided to ask Malfoy about earlier.
"What was your aunt saying to you after I left to go for my bath 'cause she seemed to be giving you a hard time?" Loretta said
"Oh, she got the wrong end of the stick when she found us in the rain. We were very close just because I was helping you up. I explained that to her but she still blamed me. It was this whole 'Don't be getting ideas above your position thing'" Malfoy said
"She could be saying that to Jack" Loretta muttered out loud
"Should be saying it to who?" Malfoy said
"To Jack. He's some porter person here. I always tried to avoid him. He's always had a crush in me. In fact I didn't know he worked here. The last time I saw him was the day before we came here. He lives near Mayfair in London. I see him and I run. He's always in the park so I normally run through the park" Loretta said
"The day before you came here, huh? Running through the park…" Malfoy was saying practically to himself
"Yeah what about it. I live near Mayfair" Loretta said. After realising the contents of her words she clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Well, I think that gives me a couple more clues as to who you really are. I saw someone near Mayfair the day before you came here running through the park." Malfoy said
"You did, great. I have to go" Loretta said in a quietly subdued sort of voice and ran up the stairs, all the time aware of Malfoy's gaze following her. He knows! I bet he does. What have I done?
He'd know anyway when Harry, Ron and Ginny come but why did he have to figure it out for himself?
A/N: How is it? I know it's a kind of long chapter but I didn't know where to leave off. I am honestly going to try to update sooner.
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