Severus sat down heavily as he re-read Minerva's letter, wondering how he had missed it as he glanced at the paper that accompanied it. He was pleased for the Weasley's truly he was but fucking hell did they have to go to bloody Egypt now? He could, he imagined, bring the boy to live with him but the thought of living with Harry bloody Potter for a week while Hermione was on holiday with her parents was not a particularly fun one. He wondered if Petunia would accept it if he begged? Probably not.
He summoned some parchment as he began a letter to the Grangers. They might be more accepting if he begged. Hopefully. It would only be a week if he could convince Petunia to keep the boy an extra couple of days. Two days, surely the woman could manage that? Fucking hell he would have to go and visit her in person if the Grangers agreed. Calling for Nyx, his personal elf, he asked her to deliver this immediately, stressing the importance of not being seen, asking her to wait on their reply. The little elf rolled her eyes at him.
"Nyx knows nots to be seen by the muggles, Master."
He nodded shortly as she popped out of sight.
Sighing he picked up the morning's Prophet. Sirius Black had escaped. Fuck that wasn't good. The man looked more insane than even he had assumed he was as he screamed in his mug shot.
"Everything alright, Father?" Hermione yawned as she walked sleepily into the dining room, reaching for the teapot.
"Hmm. Yes."
"Who's that?" she asked as she peered at the newspaper.
"Sirius Black. A convict who apparently managed the impossible and escaped Azkaban."
"Azkaban?"
"The wizarding prison, it's in the middle of the North sea and apparently has insurmountable defences. It appears the latter assumption is wrong."
"Oh. He looks pretty insane."
"I'd blame the dementors but he always was." Severus muttered.
"What are dementors? And you knew him?"
"Dementors are the guards at Azkaban. They are vile creatures and I truly hope you never encounter one. As for Black, knew is a strong word. He and I were at school together. We were not friends."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "What aren't you saying?"
Waving his hand he deposited breakfast in front of her. "Nothing of importance."
"Father." she bit out.
"Hermione?"
"You're impossible." she sighed, accepting that he wasn't going to tell her anything.
"Yes, well at least you come by that particular trait honestly." he smirked.
Hermione rolled her eyes, before she looked at him curiously. "How did last night go?"
He sighed. "Can I not have my coffee first?"
"No."
"Remind me why I love you?"
Hermione snorted a laugh. "Because I'm wonderful." she smirked at him, making him laugh. He prayed to whatever deity was listening that she'd keep that cheek once their conversation was finished.
"Indeed." he drawled. "Very well. It went….as I expected."
She frowned slightly, "So, not well then?"
He sighed heavily. "She wishes to meet you however I would not have any expectations, Hermione." he began gently. "Ella is….self absorbed, more so than even I was expecting. She is unimpressed with your House and your friends, you'll need to be prepared for her to comment."
"What is her issue with my friends?"
"She does not believe they are good enough."
He watched with fascination as her face hardened, "We'll see about that."
He had to work exceptionally hard not to smirk. Ella had no fucking idea what was coming. His girl was as loyal as they came, questioning her choice of friends was a spectacularly stupid move. He schooled his face into an acceptable expression.
"Hermione."
"Yes Father?" she asked, her eyes still hard.
"Remember that nothing she says or believes has any real bearing on your life. And you have the right to refuse to see her. Her wanting to meet you means nothing if you have no interest in meeting her."
Hermione nodded slowly. "I want to meet her. Even if it's just once."
"Are you sure?"
"You think it's a bad idea." she stated.
"Truthfully, yes. I do. While I would love nothing more than to watch you put that woman in her place, I am worried about how you'll feel after you've met the reality of all your imaginings."
Hermione shrugged, "I have no idea how I'll be Father. But I still want to meet her. I've imagined it for as long as I can remember. I realise that she'll be nothing like any of the things I imagined but I still need to do this."
"If you are sure," he replied softly. "We will not leave you alone with her, Hermione."
"Promise?" she asked, her voice small.
"I promise, my girl." he replied as he stood, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "Now eat. Then get ready. Hermione, if you wish to lull her into a false sense of security, have Lori dress you." he smirked.
Hermione laughed. "That's wicked, Father!"
"Perhaps." he replied with a shrug as he left to attend to his own dressing, wondering how early was too early for a drink to fortify his nerves. Breakfast was probably too early, he decided sadly.
He met Hermione an hour later, smirking when he saw she had taken his advice.
"Was this what you had in mind, Father?" she asked, betraying her nerves.
"Exactly." he smirked. And it was. She looked demure and genteel in soft lilac day robes, her heels were low enough to be acceptable and her hair was tamed and left loose. She reminded him forcibly of a younger Ella. "Are you ready?"
She nodded shakily, as she took a deep breath in, straightening her spine, shoving her shoulders back. He could only imagine the internal pep talk she was giving herself.
"Remember, you can leave at any point." he said gently, "Do you wish me to go first?"
"Yes."
"Very well, I shall meet you there."
He stepped out of the floo, spotting Cissa waiting on them.
"How is she?" she asked on seeing him. The floo roared behind him.
"Reasonably well." he responded quickly as he turned to watch Hermione emerge.
He offered her his arm as Narcissa nodded.
"You look lovely, dearest."
"Thank you, Aunt Cissa." She took a few breaths, recentering herself. "Well, shall we get this over with?"
Narcissa nodded, leading them back to the livingroom they had been in the night before.
Ellas eyes widened as she took in the girl on his arm.
"You look almost exactly as I pictured." she breathed.
Hermione arched a brow, refusing to relinquish his arm. "Do i?"
Ella frowned slightly, clearly expecting a different response. "Yes. You can let go of Severus, I do not bite."
Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat on the sofa at Severus' side. "Forgive me for being a little unsure given what I've heard. What exactly is it you wish to know?"
"Severus tells me you're a Gryffindor."
"Yes." Hermione responded. Severus hid his smirk. She was going to make Ella work for this. Ella appeared to come to the same conclusion.
"I hear you're friends with Harry Potter." she said casually.
"Yes."
"You know, this would go along much better if you would give more than one word answers."
"Perhaps." Hermione shrugged, "But you've not actually asked me a question yet."
Narcissa hid her grin in her teacup.
"Your manners leave a lot to be desired." Ella commented lightly.
"A bit like your parenting skills." Hermione shot back.
Lucius lost his composure and laughed. "Fuck this is more entertaining than I had expected." Severus heard him murmur.
"Is there a point to this if you are determined to be hostile?"
"You wanted to meet me." Hermione reminded her. "And I'm not exactly sure how else you expected me to be."
"Not like this." Ella intoned slowly. "You look the part, I'll grant you but your behaviour needs work. And apparently your friendships. Is it too much to ask for you to befriend some acceptable children?"
Severus felt Hermione breathe deeply next to him, clearly calming her temper. "Of course not, however there was the teeny tiny issue of those acceptable families having an issue with my being muggleborn."
"But you are not a muggleborn!"
"And other than you, who exactly knew that until this year? And as you didn't even have the decency to inform my father of my existence, I'm afraid you'll have to excuse those acceptable children for their ignorance."
Ella stared at Hermione, her jaw dropping, "Well they know now." she said finally.
"Ah yes, I'm all acceptable now because my blood status has changed, of course I should drop those friends who never cared about it in the first place."
"They say the Dark Lord will return." Ella said conversationally.
"Probably," Hermione shrugged, "Harry ran into him last year."
"Pardon?" Ella barked.
"I'm unsure as to what was difficult in what I said. For clarification, I was agreeing with you."
"Do not sass me, child. I'm still your mother!"
"You are not my mother!" Hermione spat.
Ella rolled her eyes. "I suggest disciplining that attitude out of her." she said turning to Severus. "It won't do her any favours in the long run."
"I'll take my chances." Severus drawled with a shrug, hiding his smirk. It was wrong for this to be entertaining, but fuck it, it was. Ella clearly had no idea how to deal with a child like Hermione.
"Fine. And when she's a spinster because no one respectable will have her, it'll be on your head."
"Like you, you mean?" Hermione asked conversationally.
In a move so uncouth no one would have suspected it from her, Narcissa spat her tea out as she fought to contain her laugh. "Sweet Circe, Hermione! You can't say things like that! I'll choke!"
"Sorry, Aunt Cissa." Hermione murmured, hiding her grin.
Ella glared at them both. "Explain to me why I shouldn't discipline you for your blatant rudeness, madam?"
"I assume because Father won't allow you to."
Ella turned to Severus. "Explain to the child what will happen when the Dark Lord returns and she's still mouthy and friends with blood traitors and Harry Potter?"
Severus shrugged. "It is not something she will ever have to worry about."
"Be serious, Severus! A daughter of House Fawley and House Prince. Your daughter. Of course she will have to deal with it!"
"She will not, Elladora." he responded, his voice hard. "I won't allow it."
"And how will you prevent it?" she hissed. "Do you truly think yourself a match for the Dark Lord?"
"A Dark Lord you professed not to believe in?" he asked mildly.
"Go to hell, Severus, you know I'm right. The stupid little chit is going to get herself murdered and you're going to let her. Perhaps you aren't as fond of her as you'd have us all believe."
"That is enough!" Severus snarled, his voice dangerous. "I think it is time we left, Hermione."
Hermione nodded slowly. "I'd like to say it has been a pleasure." she said, inclining her head towards Ella. "Sadly I dont think we'll be seeing each other again."
"Don't bet on it, child. Your education is woefully lacking, someone needs to fix it."
"That someone won't be you." Narcissa interjected her voice deadly, before Severus could hex her. "Interfere, Ella, and Lucius will ensure you are tied up in paperwork until Hermione is of age."
"Don't be absurd Cissa! You heard her! Someone needs to take her in hand."
"Severus and I have it covered." Narcissa retorted.
"Clearly you do not!"
"Forgive us for not meeting your standards Ella, we only found out she existed towards the end of last year." Severus snarled.
"Long enough to have done something!"
"I have done something!" he spat. "I've spent time getting to know Hermione, building a relationship with her parents so they'll allow me a place in her life, bridging the gap between her friends and Draco. Tell me, Ella, in the almost fourteen years you've known of her existence, what exactly have you done?"
"It hardly matters, I intend to do something now!"
"What? Turn her into the perfect imitation of a pureblood princess? That image you fucking hated when you were her age! Ignore everything that makes her her, her friends, her interests, her wants. Fuck off Ella. None of us are going to let you near her."
"I am her mother!"
"You are her surrogate." Severus spat. "Her mother is a delightful muggle woman who adores her."
"Enough!" Hermione's voice rang out, her face pale as she watched them argue. "Why exactly did you want to meet me?" She asked, looking directly at Ella.
"Cissa mentioned she knew who you were, I was curious."
Severus stiffened. She was fucking lying. He wasn't sure how he knew but he did. He was going to have to discuss it with Lucius. Fuck. What the fuck was her real motive?
"I assume that curiosity is now satisfied?"
Ella studied her "I dislike your attitude and your ideals. Your choice in friends is abysmal and despite dressing the part, you clearly do not belong in our set. None of the girls would be so ill bred as to have spoken the way you have this morning. I had nothing to do with you other than share a few genes and I am ashamed. Perhaps your muggle parents don't know enough to feel it but sweet Merlin they should. Gods knows your father may not show it but he'll be cringing inside because of your behaviour this morning. I would have expected him to have taught you better restraint, perhaps he has tried and failed. Based on the last few minutes, I can only conclude you are a lost cause. I shall certainly never admit to bearing you, especially given that it is abundantly clear I will not be allowed to fix the mistakes made."
"That is enough." Severus' voice was so low it was almost a whisper, his white knuckled gip on his wand clearly displaying his feelings. "Hermione go home. I shall follow presently."
"I think I'll come with you." Cissa spoke, escorting Hermione shakily from the room.
"Give me a good reason not to fucking murder you, you callous bitch?"
Ella rolled her eyes. "Because you wont, we all know you're Dumbledore's pet now, you won't risk it."
"Who would know, Ella?"
"I have friends who would notice me gone!"
"Perhaps, eventually."
"And Lucius isn't going to let you murder me, would you Luc?"
"No." Lucius said slowly, "I am not inclined to let you murder her, Severus." Ella smiled triumphantly before he continued, "Not alone anyway. I expect to be allowed to help."
Ella whirled to look at him. "What?"
"How dare you speak to that girl like that! Are you so fucking miserable, Ella, that you have to endeavour to make everyone else feel as you do? Cissa will never forgive you! You are no longer welcome here. I expect you gone by the morning." Lucius exploded, leaving Ella shell shocked.
He motioned to Severus, before huffing and bodily removing him from the room. "I think we shall stay with you tonight. I cannot guarantee I wont smother her in her sleep. Miffy?"
A small elf in a blue tea towel popped into existence. "Fetch Draco please and pack enough for us all to stay overnight. Deliver it to Prince Hall."
"Of course, Master."
Draco was in front of them within two minutes looking confused. "What's going on?"
"Sleepover at your Godfathers." Lucius said with forced joviality.
Draco's eyes widened. "It went that badly?"
Severus sighed. "Yes."
"Is Hermione ok?"
"I do not know, she is with your mother, come along."
They exited the floo at Prince Hall, finding Narcissa sat beside a pale faced Hermione, clutching her hand.
"Hermione?" Severus said softly, crouching down in front of her. "Are you alright?"
She let out a humourless laugh. "Just wonderful, Father. I'm impressed that you can overcome your shame long enough to be in the same room as me."
He saw Draco shoot Lucius a questioning look out of the corner of his eye, Lucius shook his head. Fuck how was he supposed to deal with this. He had known that meeting the woman was likely to end badly but she had surpassed even his expectations with that rant.
Sighing he moved so he was sitting next to her in the space Narcissa had vacated. He pulled her in close, feeling the tension in her shoulders.
"I am not, nor will I ever be ashamed of you my girl." he said softly, "What she said was unforgivable."
Hermione nodded slowly, the tears slowly dripping down her face. "Am I truly that awful?" she whispered.
He glanced at Narcissa hoping for some help only to see all three Malfoys frozen, a stricken look on their faces as they watched the scene in front of them. He was on his own with this one then.
Sighing, he pulled her bodily onto his lap. It was a position he was becoming familiar with and not for the first time he wished she was younger and therefore easier to maneuver. He wondered if other fathers had to contend with this when comforting their teenage children. He was just grateful that she was still petite enough for him to pull this off.
"Of course you are not, sweetheart," he murmured into her hair as she burrowed into him. "She is a sad, lonely woman who clearly wants everyone else to feel as she does. I have no idea what's happened to turn her into the woman you met, the Ella I knew would never have been that cruel. Nor would she have pushed the pureblood nonsense she appears to have decided now has merit."
He sighed as he stroked her hair.
"What did I say about allowing her opinions to colour your relationships and self worth?"
"Not to," she whispered into his neck.
"Exactly. You cannot let her win, Hermione."
He felt her nod, attempting to inject some levity, he moved her slightly so she was forced to look at him. "Now. I have been cried on more in the last few months than I ever have in my entire life. What can I do to make it stop? My coat neck may shrink and strangle me."
She snorted a laugh. "Buy me a pet to cry on instead?" she hedged.
He rolled his eyes. "Do I look like an animal person?"
She sighed, dropping her head back to his shoulder. "I do hope you've anti shrinking charms on your coat then, Father."
He kissed the top of her head as he pulled her closer. "I have not. The wool doesn't like it." he admitted before coming to a decision. "You'll keep it out of my lab?"
Her head shot up to look at him, "Truly?"
"I have a feeling I shall come to regret it but yes. We can look once you're back from France."
He knew Lucius was smirking without having to look. Bastard. Was it so wrong to want to make her happy? He wasn't a pushover. He was just doing something nice. That was all. Not a pushover at all.
"Thank you, Father!"
And now she was hugging him. And she wasn't crying any more. See. Nice. Not a pushover. He decided to ignore the fact that both Lucius and Narcissa looked to be struggling not to laugh.
Severus invited the Grangers to come to him that night, explaining how badly the meeting with Ella had gone. Draco had gone out of his way to cheer Hermione up in typical Draco fashion which involved taunting her until she allowed him to attempt to teach her to fly. It had been amusing to watch, although the witch truly was abysmal on a broomstick. Still it had done the trick, even if he had been convinced she was going to hex the boy at one point.
Now, he was back in his diningroom watching Lucius attempt to converse with two muggles like a normal human being. He didn't think he had watched anything so funny in all his life as Richard attempted to explain a TV to the man.
"So it's a box that has people in it?" Lucius asked horrified.
"Not in it, no. They're on the screen but they're not inside the actual TV, that would be barbaric!"
"I don't understand."
Hermione was laughing openly. "If you're still coming for dinner on Thursday we'll show you." she promised.
"But how do the people get inside the little box?"
"Oh. Oh Gods, Uncle Lucius, they don't!"
"Then how do they appear on the screen?"
"They're transmitted via signals."
"They're what?"
"Oh my god, please. Just let us show you on Thursday!"
"Very well." Lucius responded stiffly as Hermione hid her face in her mothers neck as she laughed.
"I actually wanted to discuss something with you. Severus and Narcissa were speaking and they queried whether you thought it would have been beneficial to know about Hermione's magic before her Hogwarts letter arrived?"
Jean and Richard looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?"
"Ah...yes?" Lucius replied looking unsure.
"Of course it would have been! We spent Hermione's childhood with strange things happening that we had no explanation for, we thought we were going insane! We even questioned whether Hermione was possessed and the house haunted!"
"Surely you would have known if your house was haunted?" Lucius asked confused, "I know they're not solid but ghosts are still pretty clear!"
Hermione coughed, "Actually Uncle Lucius, muggles can't see ghosts."
"They can't? But how do you know if you have one then?"
Hermione laughed, "Most muggles don't believe in them to be honest."
"I don't understand." Lucius all but whined making Hermione laugh.
"Perhaps alongside the etiquette and behaviour lessons Aunt Cissa is insisting on, we should give you a crash course in muggle culture." Hermione turned to Draco with a smirk, "Fancy taking your dad to the cinema?"
"The giant moving picture pensive thing?"
"Something like that," Hermione snorted.
"Yes! We get to take snacks don't we?"
"It's practically mandatory," Hermione agreed.
Lucius cleared his throat looking slightly panicked. "Back to my point….."
"Yes?" Jean asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What would you have liked to happen?"
"With the accidental magic?"
"Yes."
"I'd have liked someone to have explained it to me, perhaps somewhere we could have gone so Hermione could meet other children like her, where I could have met other children like her and their parents. I don't understand why you hide it until they're eleven."
"I think there are concerns about telling muggle parents in case it risks the statute."
"And the children having outbursts of accidental magic in public, panicked parents who are involving medical professionals because they have zero idea what is going on, children being placed into the care system because they frighten their parents, therefore exposing them to more people….all those things apparently protect it?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes, well, when you put it like that…." Lucius fidgeted uncomfortably. "I'll draft something, perhaps you would be willing to look it over before I present it to the Minister?"
"Yes," Jean sighed, "Do you think it will work?"
"I intend to use your argument about the statute," he replied with a shrug. "So I imagine so."
Jean nodded, looking thoughtful. "I suppose it won't hurt." she said finally.
"Wonderful. Dobby!"
A small bedraggled looking House Elf appeared in front of him. Narcissa wrinkled her nose in distaste and the Grangers openly gaped.
"Master calls for Dobby?"
"Dobby, could you bring me the headed parchment?"
"Ofs course Master."
"What the bloody hell was that?" Richard asked, horrified as Dobby popped out of existence.
"He's a House Elf." Lucius started, as Dobby reappeared, parchment in hand. "Thank you, Dobby." he said as he took it, clearly dismissing the elf.
"A what?"
"A house elf, they live with the older families. They cook, clean, run errands."
"Like staff?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, sort of. They need the family magic to survive. Or Hogwarts magic, I suppose. The castle has hundreds of elves."
"Do they?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Yes. House elves should not be seen carrying out their daily tasks, it's some sort of strange honour thing amongst them."
"I don't understand."
"I'm not sure I can give you an acceptable explanation. Elves have magic of their own, different to ours, but they need ours to anchor it or they lose it. However, that does not mean that they do not have rules and expectations that are unique to them. I imagine if you asked an elf they would be able to answer the question better." Lucius said with a shrug.
"Are they all so…..dirty?" Jean asked horrified.
"No." Lucius sighed, "Dobby was my fathers personal elf. "He was…..cruel to him. I try to give him small jobs to do, elves need to feel useful or they become depressed, however I'm not sure he is entirely sane."
"Why didn't he just leave if your father was so bad?"
"They cant, in order for a house elf to leave their service, they need to be given clothes by their family. My father would never have. He found Dobbys punishments far too entertaining."
"Punishments?"
"If an elf feels they have displeased their Masters they punish themselves unless directly ordered not to. It's why you have to be so careful to ensure they never think you are unhappy with their work. Dobby was always particularly inventive with his punishments and I've never been able to stop him."
"That's barbaric." Hermione breathed looking revolted
"Yes. Most decent families look after their elves well, many were raised by them. However there are the odd outliers. Unfortunately one of those was my father."
"Why would Dobby visit Harry?"
"Pardon?" Lucius looked startled.
"Dobby. He visited Harry and warned him he couldn't return to Hogwarts. He was hiding Harry's letters so he would think we didn't care enough to write to him. Harry got an underage magic warning after Dobby dropped a pavlova on top of one of his Uncle's guests. And he closed off the barrier to the platform, that's how Harry and Ron ended up flying that car. He was adamant Harry needed to stay at home."
"What?" Lucius spluttered. "Dobby!"
"Master calls Dobby?"
"Dobby, have you visited Harry Potter?
Hermione watched as the elf cringed. "Yes, Master," he said reluctantly. "Dobby irons his fingers as punishment."
Hermione gasped in horror and Lucius pinched the bridge of his nose. "We've discussed these punishments, Dobby. I'm sure I ordered you not to. Why were you visiting Harry Potter?"
"Harry Potter shoulds not have gone back to Hogwarts!" the little elf exclaimed. "Bad things be happening at Hogwarts. It's not safe for Harry Potter."
Severus looked at the elf curiously.
"What sort of bad things?"
"Dobby cans not speak of it." he said, looking directly at Lucius.
"And if I asked, could you?"
"If Master ordered Dobby to speaks of it then he musts."
"Dobby, I order you to tell me what you know."
Dobby looked uncomfortable
"Elves can bes feeling souls. The Dairy was bad for Harry Potter, Dobby knew. Dobby knew bad things bes happening at Hogwarts. Old Master spoke of it."
"You can sense souls?" Lucius asked incredulously.
"Yes, Master."
Lucius looked thoughtful. "All elves can sense souls?"
"Yes master."
"And if I wanted to find the soul that the diary belongs with, could the elves do that?"
Dobby looked uneasy. "Yes master. If wes had the soul to use to help and the souls was in the area"
"Thank you Dobby. You have been most helpful."
"Fucking hell, does that mean the elves could help find the rest of them?" Severus breathed.
"Yes. I don't know how it works, though. We cannot just send elves out to scour the world hoping they stubble cross it. You heard him, the elves have to be in the general vicinity to feel it. But its more than we had. Perhaps if we narrow down areas we can ask the elves if they can sense them?"
Severus nodded thoughtfully, it may just work. Dear Gods he hoped so. He didn't want his former master anywhere near his daughter. For all her faults, Ella had been right. If the Dark Lord came back he would want Hermione and if he got her, she would be punished for her choice of friends. The thought sent a shiver through him as he reached for his whiskey, drinking it in one.