The Malfoys end of summer picnic was every bit as impressive as Hermione had expected. Hermione and her parents had arrived at Malfoy Manor before anyone else, and while Voldemort had disappeared off to talk Death Eater business with Lucius, Hermione and Leah had headed into the vast gardens of the manor with Narcissa and Draco. It was clear the gardens spanned much more than the lush green grass directly behind the manor, but for the time being that's where Hermione's focus was. There were two large tables crammed full of every sort of food and drink imaginable. Tables and chairs were positioned around the lawn, and there was a large blanket spread out over a section of the grass.
"I'll give you a full tour of the gardens later if you want," Draco offered Hermione. "We've got a lake a bit further down the garden where a family of swans live."
"That sounds great," Hermione replied with a smile.
Moments later her smile faded as her father and Lucius emerged from the house alongside the Potions Professor, and Head of Slytherin, Severus Snape. Hermione hadn't given much thought to Snape before, but now he was here she realised she didn't trust him. Harry had always been convinced that Snape was evil, but Dumbledore hadn't, and from what Hermione had seen she didn't think Snape's loyalties were with her father. Yes, he was biased towards the Slytherins in school and clearly disliked Harry, but that didn't mean his loyalties were to the dark.
"Hermione, come over here," Voldemort called.
Reluctantly Hermione left Draco's side and walked over to where her father was standing with Lucius and Snape. Lucius gave her a small smile as Voldemort officially introduced her to Severus Snape.
"If you have any problems at school, I want you to go to Severus and tell him," Voldemort said.
"Why would I have problems?" Hermione asked with a frown. "I thought you were going to place some protection spells on me before I went back."
"I am," Voldemort replied. "But I'm sure not all your problems will involve people trying to hurt you. I just want to make sure you're aware that you have an adult on hand if you need him."
"I'm sure I won't," Hermione said confidently.
"Even so, I intend to make sure you're well protected," Voldemort said. "Severus will be watching out for you, even if you don't trust him."
"I never said I didn't trust him," Hermione protested.
"You didn't have to, it was written all over your face," Voldemort replied with a chuckle.
"Not that I blame you," Severus said, speaking for the first time since saying hello to Hermione. "I don't suppose I've given you much reason to trust me over the last four years."
"Not really," Hermione agreed. "It's hard to believe you're on our side when you saved Harry's life in first year."
"If I recall you had a bit to do with that," Severus replied, arching an eyebrow at the young witch. "Quirrell's spell failed because of the fire you set on my robes."
"I was keeping suspicion away from myself," Hermione muttered. "It would have looked odd had I just sat back and done nothing when Harry was in trouble."
"And I was just repaying a debt to Potter's father," Severus said with a grimace. "The man once saved my life, after endangering it in the first place I might add. I was merely repaying that debt by making sure his son didn't die. However, the debt is now paid and there is no reason for me to try and save Potter again."
"Life debts should be paid, Hermione," Voldemort said. "Severus was doing the right thing. However, saving Harry from falling to his death in first year was a good thing. If he'd died then, I wouldn't be stood here now. What's important is that Severus is with us, and over time you'll come to see where his loyalties truly lie."
"I'm sure I will," Hermione replied with a small smile. She still wasn't convinced Snape was on their side, and until she knew otherwise she was going to be cautious of the Potions Professor.
Leaving the three wizards to do whatever they planned on doing with their afternoon, Hermione headed back to join Draco on the blanket. Their mothers were sitting nearby talking, and their fathers and Snape had settled down at the table nearest to where they'd been standing.
"You don't look happy," Draco remarked. "Did your father upset you?"
"Not really, he just wants me to put my trust in Snape," Hermione replied.
"And?" Draco frowned, not seeing the problem. He'd known Severus all his life, and after his parents he was the person he trusted the most.
"And I don't trust him," Hermione said. "Dumbledore's convinced he's loyal to the light."
"You believe Dumbledore over your father?" Draco asked in disbelief. "Take it from someone who knows Severus, he's on our side. He's just got Dumbledore fooled into thinking he's with the light."
"And what if it's my father he's got fooled?" Hermione questioned. "What's if he's going to betray us all?"
"He wouldn't do that," Draco insisted with a firm shake of his head. "I understand that your experiences with him haven't been great, but just give him a chance. You'll soon see where his loyalties lie."
Hermione had to chuckle as Draco voiced the exact same sentiments at her father. "I promise I'll keep an open mind. I don't trust him, but I will give him a chance to earn that trust."
Draco nodded happily, but before the conversation could continue the other guests began to arrive. Within a few minutes talk of Snape was abandoned as their friends began to arrive. Once again, Hermione was taken aback with the ease in which she slipped into the group. She didn't feel at all like the new girl, she felt perfectly at ease with the group.
Amongst the last to arrive were the Parkinsons, and Hermione didn't miss the glare Pansy shot her way when she spotted her sitting next to Draco. Ignoring the look Pansy had just given her, Hermione smiled politely and asked the other girl if she'd had a good summer as she settled down on the blanket next to Theo. Hermione had only seen Pansy a few times, all of which had been in group situations, and for the last few weeks the Parkinsons had been on holiday in Spain.
"It was okay," Pansy replied with a shrug. "We've just returned from Spain."
"What was it like?" Daphne asked. "I've never been to Spain."
"It was okay," Pansy answered. "I prefer France."
"I like Spain," Millicent said. "We went last year and it was lovely."
"As I said, it was okay. Nothing special," Pansy said. "So what have you lot been up to? Have I missed much?"
"Not really," Draco answered. "We've just been hanging out and getting to know Hermione."
"And a few of us went to Diagon Alley last week," Theo added.
"I was there yesterday," Pansy said. "I spotted your friends, Hermione. Potter and the Weasleys were doing their shopping."
"Even Gryffindors have to do their back to school shopping," Blaise chuckled.
Pansy shot Blaise an unimpressed look as she reached into her pocket. Pulling out a shiny, perfects badge she held it up for everyone to see. "Look what I got with my Hogwarts letter."
"Congrats, Pansy," Daphne said with a smile.
"Make sure you dock points from the Gryffindors," Greg added with a laugh.
"I'm sure Draco and I will manage to dock plenty of points from the Gryffindors," Pansy smirked.
"Me?" Draco looked over at Pansy in confusion. "What do I have to do with anything?"
"As a fellow prefect, you'll have the ability to dock points."
"I'm not a prefect," Draco said with a chuckle. "According to Snape, Dumbledore doesn't trust me and didn't want me having any sort of power."
"That's unfair," Pansy pouted. "You should be a prefect."
"I'm really not fussed," Draco replied with a shrug. "Who wants to spend their evenings patrolling the draughty castle? I'm much happier to continue on without the extra responsibility. I'm sure you and Theo will manage things quite adequately."
Pansy turned to Theo with a slight frown. "You're the new prefect?"
"I am," Theo replied with a proud grin. "And don't worry, I intend to use my powers to bring down the Gryffindors."
Everyone laughed at Theo as Draco proposed a toast to him and Pansy as the two new Slytherin prefects. Despite her obvious annoyance that she wouldn't be spending extra time with Draco as prefects, Pansy let herself get swept into the good natured enjoyment of their last get together before the end of the summer. She even managed to talk to Hermione without making it too obvious she resented her presence in the group.
"So are you nervous about returning to school?" Vince asked Hermione as the afternoon drew on.
"A bit," Hermione confessed. "It'll be good to be myself for once, but I know it's not going to be easy. No doubt half the school will hate me."
"Welcome to the world of Slytherins," Blaise chuckled. "We're all hated because we're Slytherins, and not one person who's judged us actually know us."
Hermione opened her mouth to say she was sure that wasn't true, but she stopped when she thought about it. Her experiences actually backed up what Blaise had said. No-one in Gryffindor actually knew any of the Slytherins, yet they all hated them. Some of them, like Blaise, were merely judged by their house, whereas some of them, like Draco, were also judged on their name. Either way, the people who hated them didn't know them in the slightest, and they were in no position to judge what sort of people they truly were.
"At least you won't be alone," Draco said, giving Hermione a smile. "We'll all be there for you."
"Yeah, we'll look after you," Vince said with a nod of his head, which Greg readily agreed with.
"Thanks guys." Hermione smiled at the pair, touched by their devotion to her after only really knowing her a few weeks. She had no doubt that the pair would be every bit as loyal to her as they were to Draco.
"Do you fancy that tour now?" Draco asked Hermione as a few people got up to get some food.
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "I just need to run to the bathroom."
While Hermione headed indoors to use the bathroom, Draco headed over to the food table to tell Blaise and Theo what was going on.
"Let's guess, you want us to make sure the others stay here so you can have a bit of alone time with Hermione," Blaise said with a wicked grin.
"Not in the way you think," Draco replied, rolling his eyes at Blaise. It was just typical of his best friend to turn things suggestive.
"Come on Draco, you'd have to be blind not to fancy her," Theo said. "Now she doesn't wear those baggy clothes, she's a knock out."
"If you're not interested, just say the word and I'll ask her out," Blaise remarked.
"Or me," Theo quickly added. "I'd ask her out in a heartbeat."
"No-one is asking her out," Draco bit out with a low growl. "Give her some space. Her whole world is changing, the last thing she needs is people bombarding her with requests to date her."
"Okay, we'll back off," Blaise said, sharing a smirk with Theo. They both knew their best friend well enough to know he did quite fancy Hermione and he would eventually ask her out, he was just waiting a bit before making his move.
"Just the boys I wanted to see," a voice suddenly called from behind the trio. Whirling around the three teenagers found themselves in front of Voldemort.
"My Lord," Draco said respectively as Blaise and Theo lowered their heads.
"You don't need to stand on ceremony boys," Voldemort chuckled. "You're not in my service quite yet. I just want to ask the three of you a quick favour before Hermione comes back."
"Anything," Draco said.
"I want the three of you to watch out for her when you go back to school," Voldemort explained. "I know she's capable of looking after herself, but it won't hurt if she's got extra protection. Hermione is very precious to me, and I'm trusting you three to ensure no harm comes to her while she's out of my protection."
"We'll look after her," Draco promised. "Nothing will happen to her as long as we're around."
"And if anyone does try anything, they'll regret it," Blaise added menacingly.
"Thank you," Voldemort said, a ghost of a smile playing around his lips. "I'm sure the three of you won't let me down."
The three teenagers were all aware of the implied threat in Voldemort's words as he turned around and walked away. However, they fully intended to keep their promise so they weren't particularly worried about the wrath of The Dark Lord. Even without his request, they would have protected Hermione. Nothing was going to happen to her on their watch, they were sure of it.
A couple of minutes after Voldemort had departed, Hermione reappeared outside. Even though Voldemort hadn't mentioned keeping his request quiet, no-one said anything to Hermione when she approached them. Draco just whisked her off to explore the gardens while Blaise and Theo returned to the others.
"Where are Draco and Hermione going?" Pansy asked with a frown as the pair disappeared down the garden, laughing merrily together.
"Draco's showing Hermione the gardens," Theo answered.
"Why didn't they say anything, we all could have gone," Pansy said.
"I don't think he wanted everyone tagging along," Blaise chuckled. "He was taking her to see the swans."
"And?" Pansy protested. "I like swans."
"Yeah, but Draco isn't trying to impress you," Theo pointed out.
"Let's spell this out to you, Pansy," Blaise said when Pansy still looked confused. "Draco fancies Hermione, and he's building up to asking her out."
Pansy frowned, but didn't say anything as she digested Blaise's words. Part of her could understand why Draco was interested in Hermione. She was rather attractive now she made an effort with her appearance, and she was The Dark Lord's daughter. However, she'd been friends with Draco her entire life and she'd been led to believe romance would inevitably blossom between them, especially following the previous year when they'd attended the Yule Ball. It just wasn't fair that Draco's head was turned the second Hermione entered the picture.
Pansy was still pouting about Draco and Hermione over half an hour later when her parents announced it was time to leave. Even though Draco and Hermione still weren't back, Pansy was forced to leave with her parents. All she could do was hope that nothing had happened between them, and by the time they got back to school they were still only friends. If that was the case she was going to go all out to snag Draco for herself. It was about time Hermione learnt that she wasn't the only Slytherin princess. Pansy held that title before her, and she intended to be the one who ended up with Draco as her prince.