Hermione was seated across from Minerva Mcgonagall and it was a different thing entirely when you weren't doing what she wanted you to.
"Hermione. Coming back here. It will be good for you. I know that your academics have always been important to you." This was the third way she had rephrased this and Sabrina shifted slightly beside her.
"Headmistress. I sent in my letter of refusal and have my approved testing date. I'm sorry that my not coming back here disappoints you." She was sincere but firm and the witch didn't nod but Hermione thought that she believed her now.
"Then Miss Rowle is your reason for this appointment." The witch stated and Hermione nodded.
"Her sixth year can begin as normal is she flashes the tests given the first week back. We anticipate groups of mixed years for the first half of the school year." The professor spoke frankly and Hermione looked to Sabrina. Asking if she wanted to speak. The look she got back was more frightened than Hermione liked or would have expected. ,
"Sabrina is concerned and frankly so am I. Concerned about the protection in place to prevent her from being targeted, due to actions not her own." Hermione spoke firmly and kept eye contact. Wanting to see the witch's reaction. It wasn't the stern denial of the situation or a blanket assurance It would be fine.
"This year will be different. Ravenclaw so less attention than her Slytherin counterparts I am sure. More because of you I would think." Hermione just kept eye contact and waited. A thin brow rose on the face across from hers.
"Speculation because of me and some comments about my lack of having had sex, maybe. But the slurs and insults about her family and brother are what concerns me. It didn't seem to concern the school when I was the one being called disgusting names but I assure you that I will not tolerate Sabrina suffering the same indignities." She felt as if she was brave. For speaking so this witch. Who had supported them but rarely helped. Almost never stepped up and said anything in front of other students or teachers. Hermione had cried to her about her parentage and all she got was the platitudes about not letting others opinions be her guide. Ridiculous.
"It won't be Slytherins this time either. Not primarily." This was a gauntlet hitting the arena floor and both of them knew it. Sabrina shifted beside her again and Hermione didn't look at her.
"We can't offer special treatment." The witch began and her shoulders slumped. That was her answer. No assurance or even indication Sabrina could come to her or her own Head of House. That things would be dealt with.
"Her owls are done Professor." Hermione finally spoke in response. The two of them had pushed through a four week study schedule and the younger witch had taken her exams last week. The results had come yesterday and she had owned for a meeting. Sabrina's apprehension about school not lessening.
"Hermione." McGonagall protested. Understanding that with them, the witch could transfer or be homeschooled.
"I think it is important that this place doesn't stay a castle of nightmares for her. That she wins through and succeeds. I am not concerned about her academics but her personally. In fact there is a number of students in similar situations." This was true. Sinclair Lestrange was coming here this year. A cousin and having been found, like she was, the Ministry had taken guardianship and determined he was coming here. It was enough to make her sick. She hadn't met the boy but wanted to. To see if that tree could sprout something normal.
"You know that I would never sanction such attitudes." The witch replied and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Whether you will do something about it remains to be seen though. Dumbledore didn't. Didn't seem to think the house rivalries of importance. The differing rules based on the teacher handing out punishments worth changing either. I will do what is best for her. Now it is coming here. I hope that remains the case." Hermione smiled a bit then. Sincerely. It was what she wanted to have happen.
"I'm sorry not to have you this year Hermione. I had hoped for Head Girl." Mcgonagall spoke as the two of them stood to leave.
"I don't think I could have done that even if I came back. It's to open, I would have had to be too available. I'm not her professor. Or who she would have been. No Malfoy to stand opposite me either." The two faced each other and both understood. They had been the top of their classes by far. Would have been Heads together. She couldn't imagine it now. So much had happened. It wasn't the change in her last name but in her, in their whole world.
"Hermione." Sabrinas voice brought her out of the Runes translation she was doing at the breakfast table.
"Just a sec. Yes." She finished the line she was doing and looked up at the beautiful girl. Sabrina was lovely and when she smiled it was nearly breathtaking. No smile now though. She was holding a letter and looked apprehensive.
"Claudia wrote me. She is back." Hermione nodded. Her best friend Claudia Peters was a half blood and had left at Christmas break last year and not come back. Sabrina hadn't been surprised and had urged her friend to go with her parents. Nothing had come until now though and Hermione hoped the letter had been kind. Sabrina has been so worried about it. About her and whether she would come back or want to be her friend.
"Does she want to see you?" Hermione asked and then waited. The blue grey eyes scanned the letter again and then looked up.
"Yes. But her mother wants to meet you." Hermione looked her question and it was answered.
"It's her dad that's a muggle. He isn't around much. Works away. Where it's freezing. I don't know what he does. Is that okay?" It was as if the girl thought hermione would just say no and crush her hopes and dreams.
"Of course. When? And where?" Hermione asked.
"Claudia wants to come here. Her mother doesn't let us have really any time alone." She sounded unsure still and Hermione straightened in her chair and put down her quill.
"Sabrina. This is your home too. If your friend wants to come over I see no problem. You are mature enough to make those decisions. Just tell me what you need me to do in order to make this happen." Sabrina relaxed at the direct words and Hermione smiled at her. The one she got was wobbly but genuine enough and she knew it was okay.
"Eleven this morning if it works for us." Was the reply then a quick letter back the girls had settled back into newspapers and rune translations until Patter popped in. She was a Rowle elf and had begged to be allowed to stay here full time. Hermione didn't care and only wanted them to be happy, without terrorizing her. So Patter delivered their messages and ran errands. Anything she could pop in and say she would do instead of that female getting up to do it themselves. Hermione had taken to walking around the grounds. Long ones or this food and ability to remain in a book would change her body shape more than its repair from months on the run warranted.
"Mrs Peters and her daughter is here Miss." The elf looked to her for direction.
"Thank you Patter. Show her to the yellow room I like. It's sunny now. We are coming." Hermione didn't like keeping people waiting and the two of them stood and spelled the ink off their hands. Then grinned and headed for the yellow room. To many rooms to be practical Hermione thought to herself.
"Hermione Granger! Or Rosier I suppose. What a surprise." The witch was pretty enough but the pinched look on her face made her seem less pleasant.
"Hello Mrs Peters. It's a pleasure to meet you and Claudia. I've been hoping to meet you before school." She spoke genuinely but made sure the younger witch noticed her real smile and the one she got back was relieving.
"Of course I wouldn't dream of keeping my Claudia away, not that Sabrina has family not tainted. Of course it isn't her fault, the dear girl, but certainly better for her to be with you than with her brother." Hermione stared for a moment and Claudia looked as if she wanted to cry suddenly.
"If you refuse to have your daughter associate with Sabrina's family then I am sorry that their friendship will have to stay at school. If you are willing to have her here. In the Rosier Estate with me, her brothers betrothed, then we are happy to have her as often as she can and wants to come." Hermione spoke with as friendly a tone as she could muster.
"Of course not. It's just. Well maybe this isn't the place with these little ears. Send her along tonight then." The kiss the daughter received was ostentatious in the extreme. As the woman walked out and Hermione was about to turn to Sabrina, standing behind her, Patter popped in.
"Miss. A man's is trying to floo." The elf said and wrung it's little hands in worry. Then Zavi popped in and spoke.
"It be's Mr Zabini Miss." He said and hermione was surprised. What on earth was Blaise Zabini doing here.
"Let him in Zavi. Thank you both." Then she turned to the girls who were looking at her sceptically.
"I have no idea. Well? I expected you to have run off to talk and eat all the sweets you can weedle out of the elves." Sabrina laughed but Claudia just looked unsure.
"Thank you for having me Miss Rosier and i'm sorry for my mother." Then the girl dropped a curtsy and Hermione noticed she was wearing a tea dress as her mother had been. Merlin and Morgana.
"Sabrina is so happy to have you home. Please try and think of this as a place you are welcome. I know she has missed you and I always found time away from my friends to be difficult. A lot has happened since you were together last. I showed you those size charms if either of you want to be more comfortable." She offered as politely as she could and smiled genuinely. Sabrina laced her fingers with her friend and grinned at her. Then she began pulling her out of the room. Talking quickly.
"She is great. You can come often now and your mother can't really say anything. I'll show you my clothes and I got a couple things for you." It died away as the two rounded the corner and she took a breath. So relieved and happy for the younger witch who had missed her friend terribly.
"Miss." Patter spoke from beside her and she tried not to jump. Right, Zabini.
"Where?" She asked the elf and hoped it understood.
"I tells him to wait." The elf replied bossily and she nodded. Of course she had. The elf hadn't liked a male it had met here. Hermione was tempted to ask if knew about the bride rights but didn't want to blush in front of the elf. There he was. Looking out a window in the long room used for floo and apparition.
"Granger." He spoke and then turned dramatically. She tried not to smile at him. Draco, Theo, and Blaise were best friends but sixth year had been different. The only one without a Death Eater father, Blaise had tried his best to prop the two up but only Theo had accepted his friends support. So he had known about Theo and her. Had been a decent friend to her personally that year too. When he could. In fact they had been cordial from the beginning and more and more friendly from fourth year on. When no one else was around to comment anyways.
"It's good to see you Zabini." She replied and smiled genuinely. Then walked over to his tall form and hugged him around the waste.
"I'm glad you left. I'm glad you came back." She said as she pulled away and there was a slightly pink tint to his olive skin.
"I'll admit that you helped get me back here. I had to ask you." His eyes were steady but his tone made it clear what he meant and she grimaced.
"Are you staying for tea? I'd prefer coffee and not to be standing in this room." She responded without addressing his question. He nodded his assent and followed her into a darker room. Done in dark greens and browns. The couches were low and wide. It felt more cozy to her and she didn't want to take him up to the family floor, Sabrina was up there with Claudia. Salty popped in with trays and Hermione didn't even get a chance to thank the elf before it was gone.
"How natural it looks to have you in an ancestral estate with elves at your beck and call. Even a ward to take care of." Hermione looked her question at the confrontational words.
"I don't want to fence Zabini. What's the problem?" She hadn't spoken to him after Theo and her stopped talking. It had only been a week before school ended and a day before Dumbledore died. No time or inclination to.
"Theo is the damn problem Granger." The sneer was unpleasant.
"Please explain." She bit out. Trying to remain calm or seem so. The man looked as relaxed as ever.
"It turns out the witch he loves is a Rosier. One with a contract already in place. Like Merlin blessed him and this is the outcome." He gestured around them. As if The Dale was the problem. She just stared and then composed herself a bit before responding. Laughing hysterically wasn't something she wanted to do. It would lead to tears surely.
"The witch he loves. Surely you don't mean me? He could never trust his house to a witch like me." She spoke as evenly as she could and kept her face blank. He blinked.
"I don't know who fed you that shit Granger." He began and did lean forward.
"He did you ass! I can't believe you came here to berate me. He didn't want me. I wasn't enough. To risk his family on. To overturn his own beliefs. Fuck you Zabini." She kept her tone quiet but hissed the last sentence. Not feeling bad for cursing at all.
"Theo would never have said that Granger." Blaise replied though he had sat back in surprise.
"Oh he did. We were speaking of duty. Mine and his. He liked to talk about that sort of thing. All vague and without using names or specifics. It was always how he talked. Then I asked why. Like an idiot I just looked into his gorgeous light green eyes and asked him. How did he let go of thinking me less? Then silence reigned Blaise. Seconds passed and then he spoke. Then I left." She spoke the last in a hard voice. Daring him to judge her actions wrong.
"Swear it." He said and she scoffed.
"As if. I owe you nothing." She replied to his ridiculous demand.
"Granger. Rosier. Whatever. Even if he said that. He didn't mean it. Didn't think you less. The guy thought you everything. The best. Brightest. Truest. I can't even tell you all adjectives that he used. Some of them were less polite. How frustrated he was to not go further." He stopped at that and levelled her a contemplative look.
"Did you know then?" He asked and she laughed bitterly.
"No. No I didn't. My answer would have been the same though." She relaxed back into the couch. Thinking back to then. The weeks after. "I couldn't believe it. I could actually but I didn't want to. He was so perfect in most ways but some of his beliefs or whatever. Even things he asked me. He truly thought me less for having different parents. Growing up without magic. All those things are still true. They were when the contracts were spread out on the table. It was an easy choice." Deciding he would accept things easier if she just was honest with him. None of this was secret and she wasn't that ashamed. Not at all really.
"Even so. Even with that. You picked Rowle. Why?" It was none of his business and she shot him a glare then told him so.
"Are you going back to school?" Blaise changed the subject and she was relieved.
"No, are you? Did you take your exams there?" She asked, interested despite herself.
"No, I tried to forget. Drank too much and there's parts I don't remember. Spent most of my time on the beach or by the pool." He spoke as if it was an admittance and she blinked a few times before giggling and then laughing. Eventually she stopped and could respond.
"That's so different from my last year." He laughed too then and Hermione felt better. Someone who wasn't here, he had come back and seemed okay. He hadn't just kept going though. It was heartening.