Chapter Sixteen The Books
Hermione blinked. She'd never expected Malfoy Manor to be quite so…bright. All her memories of it were tinted with the shades of night and the clouding shadows that pain had drawn over her eyes as Bellatrix had worked her mischief. The room they were in was divorced from the bleak memory of her torture.
It was a morning room, about twice the size of the entire bottom floor of her cottage. Brocaded silk in a pale celadon green papered the walls, and the fireplace they had stepped out of was white alabaster, serpents crowned with flowers twisting around the arch of it. The furniture, fittings, and ornaments were just as elegant, and a single glance told her she was looking at genuine antiques. Large French windows faced out onto perfectly manicured lawns that gave way to sprawling gardens, which were tinted orange in the dusk light.
"Wow," she breathed.
Draco glanced at her, then at the room. His mother had become extremely keen on interior decorating after being put under house arrest and had managed to overhaul the entire mansion in just over a year and a half. The traditional family colours were still important to the colour scheme, but things weren't as dark as they had been. It was part of the reason why he'd chosen this particular sitting room to arrive at; it was their main morning room, which his mother liked to hold morning teas in, and as such was light and pleasant. He had no desire to make what he anticipated to be a trying situation any harder for Granger. He recalled Granger's house, however, and understood her awe.
"They know I'm bringing someone from the Ministry to talk to them," Draco said quietly, omitting the fact that he'd all but ordered his parents to attend the moment they'd arrived at the Manor without addressing the obvious elephant in the room. His mother had quickly reconciled herself to the matter, composing herself, but his father had glowered in a manner that made Draco glad he didn't have a wand. He led the way to the gold gilt doors to their left, Hermione following him silently. "But they don't know it's you." He opened the doors, and led her into the corridor beyond. The other benefit of the room was that it was closer to his father's study than the fires in the front hall, and he knew that his parents would be in the study. Between them and Hermione was now only the thickly carpeted hall that led to the door.
The corridor seemed to melt away, and then the door was before them. He paused, glancing at her.
Hermione gave him a firm look and nodded. They had come this far; she was not going to let the past deter her.
They entered.
"Miss Granger, we meet again," Lucius drawled.
"Father, Mother; Hermione has some questions for you." Draco couldn't resist the dig of using her first name. His mother's eyes flickered to him briefly as it left his lips, but she smiled politely enough.
"Anything to help the Ministry," she replied smoothly.
Draco restrained an eye roll at his mother's veneer of composure and guided Granger to a chair opposite his parents. They were sitting together on a low settee near the black marble fireplace. His father's study had remained much the same – dark, brooding, and with an edge of mystery to it that hinted at menace. Draco had had a terrified yet awed fascination with the room as a child, filled as it was with artefacts and interesting objects, all of which he had been forbidden to lay a finger on. Now of course it seemed a touch excessive. There was more theatre than substance to the aura of intimidation and danger. To be fair, the Ministry had confiscated anything that could have been dangerous or associated with Dark magic, but even back then Draco knew his mother wouldn't have allowed his father to keep anything lethal within reach of their child son.
"Thank you for letting me come and speak to you," Hermione returned with equal civility, carefully taking her seat.
Draco immediate sat beside her, eyeing his parents. Lucius's sneer of contempt was obvious, but his mother's nostrils merely flared very slightly.
Hermione glanced at Draco, and he instantly turned to meet her look, the flintiness of his eyes melting for a brief moment. She took courage from it. "As I'm sure you are aware, Draco and I are working on a case concerning the unsolved murders of Muggle-borns, reformed blood purists, and ex-Death Eaters. We have been researching the manner in which the victims were killed, and we have narrowed it down to some medieval torture curses, in the case of the more recent group murders." She produced a list from her pocket, and extended it.
Narcissa and Lucius both regarded the scroll of parchment, clearly considering whether touching something handled by a Mudblood would soil their hands. Narcissa reached out, and very deliberately took it, unrolling the paper to read through the list.
"The seven individual murders of the previous case would appear to be linked to this one, but they were killed with a different curse. We were wondering if, given your superior knowledge, whether you might know of any curses, or spell books, or even the time period of such a curse."
Lucius read through the list his wife held, his eyes glittering as he recognised the spells. "You will have to fill me in on what this curse you're looking for does. You see, I've only just come home from a rather long time away, and where I was staying they didn't provide us with the papers. Atrocious room service, I know." His silver eyes bored into Hermione's, and she was suddenly struck by how different they were to his son's. Draco's were warm, no matter how distant or seemingly cold they became, but Lucius's were like icebound steel.
"My apologies. The curse used drained the victims of their blood. We believe it was part of a ritual requiring the blood of seven adults, all of whom were magical."
A look travelled between Lucius and Narcissa.
"You know something," Draco said immediately. He had remained silent until then as Granger hadn't required his help, but the flicker that passed between his parents was too important for him not to pursue.
His parents continued their silent communication, some kind of a debate passing between them. Draco knew there was every likelihood they were engaging in a form of wandless Legilimency.
"Cissa," Lucius eventually hissed softly, his expression the softest Hermione had ever seen it, what she dared to think was concern briefly lighting the cold eyes. Perhaps they weren't always icebound steel after all.
His wife drew herself up, however, ignoring the plea, turned to them and nodded. "There was a spell that the Dark Lord was interested in many years ago. Bella was involved in researching it with him, although she never confided exactly what the nature of it was to me," she sighed, suddenly looking much more human, and less like an ice queen. "The book it was in has no name. It was one of a pair. One was bound in black leather, the other in white. I need not explain to you what that symbolises, I imagine."
Hermione nodded, spellbound as she listened.
"Why haven't I been told this before?" Draco interrupted, frowning at his mother.
Narcissa smiled very faintly at her son. "It was so long ago it seemed irrelevant to anything we were doing, Draco. You were a young child. There was no point in me telling a tale containing information that might have endangered you."
Hermione raised her eyebrows at that, disbelief clearly etched in her face, and a comment on the tip of her tongue. Draco's parents didn't seem to have had much trouble in confiding in him a wealth of lethal details inappropriate for a school-age boy to know, nor in associating with Death Eaters. A sudden image of Draco as a child in this echoing building entered her mind, watching his parents in the company of Dark wizards, and her heart tightened. How could they? Before Voldemort's return they'd at least had a chance to cut ties once and for all, and they'd still remained faithful!
Granger…
Draco's warning voice slipped into Hermione's mind unexpectedly, and it took all her self-control not to scream with surprise.
Malfoy, what the Hell are you doing in my head?
Draco decided to run with it. Rising panic had pushed him to such an extreme contingency, knowing he could well irrevocably alienate Granger by entering her mind without her permission, but behaving as if he hadn't perfectly thought through the action wouldn't help.
Giving you advice, of course.
But when did you get in – and how did you get in? Why didn't I feel it?
Draco bit the inside of his cheek as a deeply inappropriate reply came to mind, and he'd thought it before he could stop himself.
I just Slythered-in.
He could feel her withering disapproval.
Really, Malfoy? That joke must be centuries old.
It is. I'm not joking though – it wasn't exactly hard to ease in.
Hermione hesitated for less than a breath, momentarily struck by the fact that his mind entering hers had felt so natural she hadn't even registered it before she was recalled to the situation.
Shut up. This is neither the time nor the place for smutty innuendos. Your mother was telling us something important – and serious. Get out of my head!
As you wish.
Draco left, restraining himself with great difficulty from asking when she considered was the right time for innuendos, glad she had reacted in what he considered to be an extremely favourable way given that he had just invaded her mind without permission, and immensely relieved that he'd managed to distract her from making a comment that would surely have destroyed any chance of their finding the information they were so close to receiving.
"I understand, Mother," he said docilely.
Narcissa turned to Hermione, unaware of the mental conversation that had passed between her son and the Muggle-born girl. "The black grimoire is where you will find the curse, although I do not know whether my sister ever did manage to find it – or indeed whether the spell and the books are any more than a myth. The ancient wizards liked to shroud themselves in greater mystery as protection from the Muggles," Narcissa's tone didn't change as she said the word, he pale blue eyes fixed solemnly on Hermione's. "You are getting involved with very Dark magic, Miss Granger."
Hermione blinked. "I rather suspected that from the start, Mrs Malfoy," she replied solemnly.
Narcissa gazed at her a moment longer before her expression changed, and she was a proud matriarch once more. "Do you have more questions?"
Hermione nodded. "Is it possible that I make use of your personal library? I haven't heard mention of these twin texts in any of the research I have done thus far, and something tells me you might have something a little more illuminating on it."
Narcissa almost smiled at that. "Draco will show you where the library is. We have a section devoted to the topic. Bella was…most thorough."
Hermione nodded, smiling her thanks very faintly. "Having seen the details of the case in the paper, and paired with what we've told you, does it…does it remind you of anyone? Anyone in particular? Their style, or…"
"We've already told Draco that," Lucius snapped. "No."
Narcissa made a peculiar expression. "Bella is the only one who springs to mind. But she's dead." She said the words without inflection; it was hard to tell whether she didn't care or not.
Hermione nodded. Her eyes flickered briefly to Draco, and she gathered her courage, rushing out the words before anything might stop her. "Do you know how to remove the Dark Mark?" She could hear the sharp intake of his breath beside her, but willed herself not to look at him.
Narcissa's eyes moved first to her son, then to her husband.
Lucius was frowning, and there was an expression in his eyes that Hermione didn't like. "And how is that of relevance to this case of yours?" he asked silkily.
Hermione came to the realisation that even after six years in Azkaban, Lucius Malfoy was still as slippery a snake as he had ever been. They had withheld the information that the murderer was branding victims with Dark Marks from every single person possible, and she knew she was treading a very fine tightrope mentioning them now. "It's of personal interest," she replied coolly, the thought that Lucius would probably consider the removal of the Mark some kind of blasphemy warning her to be guarded in her reply. She very much doubted that he knew his son had gone to extraordinary lengths in attempt to remove it. "Looking into this Dark magic I've been wondering whether there are ways of undoing it. Just as there are two sides to a reflection – two sides to the grimoires," her eyes flickered to Narcissa, "there should logically be two sides to the curse. Curse and counter-curse."
"By that logic there ought to be a counter-curse to Avada Kedavra, and yet I see the likelihood of there being a spell that might bring life back to the dead without creating an Inferius or the like utterly impossible," Lucius snapped bitingly.
Hermione took a breath and soldiered on. "Nevertheless, I have made it an area of research that I wish to pursue. I believe there are a number of ex-Death Eaters who would welcome the removal of it. Even the shadow of a Mark can cause undue distress and troubles for those wishing to move on in life."
Lucius raised an eyebrow, clearly biting back a damning remark.
Narcissa calmly reached over to take his hand in hers.
"I…know of no such method," he answered eventually.
Hermione felt Draco deflate very slightly beside her and resisted the temptation to give him a consoling smile; it had been a long shot. She reached out to brush her mind against his.
Don't think I'm beaten yet.
She felt his start of surprise at her sudden presence, and his glumness, and withdrew. She stood. "Thank you very much; you've been most helpful."
"Wait." The request that escaped Mrs Malfoy verged on desperate.
Hermione checked her ascent and seated herself once more. "Yes?"
"We know one of the victims of the murder on Saturday evening was Mr Parkinson," Narcissa began calmly, although there was a glimmer of concern in the blue eyes that appealed to Hermione. Even if she couldn't stand Mr Malfoy, his wife wasn't so bad; she at least seemed something more than the haughty condescension she put forth, even if she did have a history of questionable parenting. "I am concerned, what with our family being in the paper with Lucius's return recently, that we may be on their list of targets."
Lucius snorted but when he looked at his wife's expression his own became serious.
Hermione pressed her lips together as she thought. "It would be remiss of me to lull you into a false sense of security, Mrs Malfoy. You three are potentially the most famous former Voldemort supporters, and as a result you are probably very high on the murderer's list, if they have one."
Narcissa flinched at the name of her husband's former master, and even Lucius struggled to hide an involuntary twitch.
Every inch the professional now, Hermione ignored their reactions. "However, the fact that yourself and Mr Malfoy rarely leave your home," Lucius sniffed at that, "should work in your favour. The Manor already has strong existing protection on it, and our Aurors have gone over the defences to ensure they will hold." She glanced at Draco. "Draco is in slightly more danger, given that he actually moves about in public, and because he has been more publicly active than either you or your husband. The general public are not aware of his involvement on the case, however, so it is unlikely that the murderer would target him especially for that reason." Hermione paused and the professionalism of her tone was eclipsed by a faint strain of honest pride. "However, I have overseen his Auror Training myself, and can assure you that he is more than capable of defending himself." She caught the disparaging flicker in Lucius's expression, and forged onwards. "I may not be as brutal in battle as a Death Eater, but I have versed them and survived, and I believe I may safely say that Draco is capable of doing the same if things came to that. Furthermore, if he was attacked he would have the full might of the Ministry as backup. He's one of us now; we protect our own."
Draco stared at Granger, astounded by her statements. A kind of fire and entered her eyes as the last few sentences passed her lips, and it made his heart lift for some indescribable reason. She glanced at him and a very faint smile twitched the corners of his lips.
Lucius sneered. "You can't even find this killer, how are your assurances of protection supposed to carry any weight? Your words are meaningless."
"Lucius," Narcissa remonstrated softly, putting a hand on his arm, but Lucius shook her off.
"No, let's hear what Miss Granger has to say for herself and her Ministry." He sneered down his nose at her, challenge in his eyes.
Hermione frowned at that. "I do not deny that we are fallible – that comes with being human; but your safety is paramount to us. We are doing everything in our power to solve this case as quickly as possible given the intelligence we have. As it is we are doing all we can to ensure a third group killing doesn't happen. If you have further concerns about your personal safety I can organise for an Auror to be assigned to you."
Lucius snorted richly at that, but Narcissa's knee moved and she seemed to tread hard on his toes below the sweep of their robes if the change of his expression was anything to go by.
"Thank you for the offer; it would be most welcome," she said politely.
Hermione nodded, offering a slight smile to the cold Malfoy matriarch, and dared to think she might have received the intimation of one in return. "I'll arrange for it in the morning." She glanced at Draco, then back at Narcissa and the sulking Lucius. "If that's all, I'll trespass on your time no longer."
Narcissa nodded and Hermione stood, Draco following suit, looming protectively behind her.
"Thank you for answering my questions. You have been most helpful."
Draco placed a light hand on the small of her back. "I'll take you to the library."
Narcissa gave a graceful nod, and Lucius jerked his chin slightly.
"Well that wasn't so bad," Hermione whispered once they were back in the corridor. Her eyes were shining at the prospect of seeing the Malfoy library – she'd heard many things about it, but very few people had ever been granted access.
Draco restrained a slight smirk, surfacing from his own astonishment. "My father showed surprising restraint," he acknowledged, beginning to lead the way to the library. "Those re-education classes might be having an effect after all."
Hermione snorted softly. "I wouldn't expect that so soon. More like he's sensible enough to heed your mother."
Draco raised an eyebrow, shooting her a questioning look.
Hermione blushed, catching his glance from the corner of her eye, but explained. "I have eyes, you know. I could see how they were behaving. Whatever else I might think about your family, I can't say that your parents don't love each other." Her colour deepened with the presumptuous remark and she kept her face turned forwards. "Of course, I didn't expect your father to be prudent enough to show so much deference to your mother, but…" her voice trailed off into the silence between them.
Draco had stopped walking and Hermione followed suit, blushing furiously now, their feet sinking into the thick velour of the dark green carpet.
"Sorry," she muttered, "I…I didn't mean to be rude or –"
"I have never met anyone who has been able to pick up on their relationship as you have, Granger," Draco said slowly. He was staring at her with something akin to wonder, glad she was too embarrassed to look at him so the gormless expression would go unnoticed.
She glanced up at that, however, her cheeks still a becoming shade of pink. "What?"
Draco shrugged, his expression collected once more, and he began walking again. "My parents show what they want people to see. They aren't usually so relaxed around outsiders, or even insiders – and yet even if they had been, few would have come to the same conclusion as you."
Hermione blinked. "I should have thought it was quite obvious." Her tone softened. "It's encouraging to see their love was resilient enough to get through everything," she met his gaze reluctantly, "not many relationships could weather Voldemort, defection, and being separated afterwards. Their bond must be quite astonishing."
Draco grunted. The way she was talking it made it seem as though his parents were love struck teenagers, determined to be together against all the odds. Granted there was a degree of that, but it wasn't all roses and sunshine and happy endings. They were a broken family, and not in the conventional sense. He had never wanted for anything as a child, except perhaps the careless, warming expression of love that Granger appeared to subscribe to, and he had been too young to voice the desire for it. He didn't doubt his mother's love for him – hadn't she proved that to the nth degree already – but towards the later years of his childhood, he could not claim to have known the warmth of openly expressed affection. By then he was deemed too old for such childish displays, and it was too dangerous a thing for his family, and his father was not particularly given to demonstrations of affection in any case. He was a very much a product of his generation and his social position.
He glanced sideways at Granger speculatively. She gave out the sense of being loved openly; it was one of those things that seemed to shine out of people like a kind of quiet confidence in themselves. There was no coldness about her. He rolled his shoulders, trying to dispel the strange mantle of thoughts and the uneasiness that came with them. Thinking about Granger in intimate human terms like that was a dangerous pastime. Not that he had a problem with danger, but…
Draco cleared his throat, and stopped outside a plain, ebony panelled door, opening it. "The library."
Hermione stepped in, and instantly decided the room had to have powerful extension charms on it. It was enormous. And beautiful. And took her breath away.
She let out a breath that would have been a gasp if she had the air to.
Row upon row of elegant bookshelves marched away from them, and reading tables with comfortable, elegant chairs were tucked into alcoves at intervals along the walls, into which more shelves had been set. The embossed spines of many seemed to glimmer at her, enticing her to enter and read their titles.
Draco smirked slightly, following her in. "I take it you approve of the library, Granger?" he asked softly.
Hermione nodded mutely.
Draco closed the door behind them. "Not all of the books in here will be to your liking," he said candidly. "Most are about the Dark Arts, curses, torture, et cetera, et cetera."
Hermione collected herself. "Just as well," she replied insouciantly, "that's what we're here for, after all." She shot him a grin.
Draco simply rolled his eyes and shook his head, but a smile was curling the corners of his mouth.
Hermione glanced back at the multitude of books. "Um, I don't suppose you know where in here the books your mother mentioned might be?"
Draco feigned surprise. "What? Hermione Granger, not wanting to read every book she lays her eyes on? Sacrebleu!"
Hermione gave him a look of exasperated amusement. "Se taire," she replied witheringly. "We do have a time limit to work with."
Draco stopped smirking to blink at her with surprise. "You speak French?"
"Oui. Un petit peu. My parents and I went on holiday there in fourth year. I'd learnt a bit before Hogwarts and just continued teaching myself." Hermione grinned at his dumbfounded expression, heading off into the library. "Come on, we'd better start looking else we'll be here all night."
"We'll be here all night regardless," Draco muttered, mulling over the fact that he didn't mind that so much as she turned back, caught him around the elbow, and dragged him forwards.
"Keep an eye out for any books bound in black with no title. Just because Bellatrix didn't let your mother know whether she'd found the black grimoire doesn't mean it might not be here. It would be an excellent place to hide it."
Draco raised an eyebrow at Hermione. "You do realise that the vast majority of the books in here are bound in black, right?"
"I only said to look at the ones without titles," she replied with whiplash speed, grinning at him over her shoulder.
He had to chuckle at that even as he rolled his eyes. "A reply for everything, Granger?"
"Oh no, not everything." She grinned. "Well, let's get cracking then."
So I promised I would try to post this one, and here it is! Sadly, I cannot make any promises about sticking to a once monthly update anymore, as uni has started once more, and every day brings a new explosion of drama that I must manage in one of my various capacities. Big a fool me for taking on multiple responsibilities. I will try to post the next chapter in as timely a fashion as I can manage, as I enjoy it greatly and think you will too.
But as for this chapter. I love this because Hermione interacting with the Malfoys as a family is basically the crux of why this whole fic came about. You'll eventually get to see the scene that brought all this into being (it's very close to the end, so it will be a while I'm afraid), but until then, have your first proper interaction!
LEGILIEMENCY! It's baaaaaack. Hehehehe. Absolutely one of my favourite things to write in this fic. Obviously, Draco entering Hermione's mind because he panicked was totally non-consensual, and I absolutely think that if he'd done it earlier in their association (or even realised he could) then she would have cursed him for ten thousand years. It's a knotty little moment, but I wanted it to stay.
Also, Draco's innuendo...
I do think that Narcissa, now that she's had the edge taken off her somewhat, would recognise Hermione as an equal in terms of not only her magical ability but also her determination and resolve. Obviously it would take a miracle for Lucius to get even halfway to that same point.
And what do you think about the grimoires?
Another thing that I really like the idea of is that Lucius and Narcissa truly do love each other and Draco. Like it's literally canon with them running wandless through the battle of Hogwarts, screaming for Draco (putting to one side their many many questionable parenting decisions). But yeah, I love the idea of them being a properly devoted couple, and Hermione seeing that, despite the fact that she doesn't like them and that she disagrees with basically everything they believe in, is just #mindblowing for Draco haha. Especially because being Purebloods they'd totally not be demonstrative.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and that it's got your minds ticking over ideas.
Please do review and/or favourite :) Tell me what you like or don't like :) Questions and speculations are always welcome :D As is incomprehensible flailing if that's what you go in for :)
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