She was scared of heights.
No, scratch that. She was terrified of heights.
She watched as Theo mounted his elevated broom. Slowly, he rose higher and higher, until his shoes were no longer making contact with the grass. He continued to levitate until he was approximately five feet above the ground. Hermione watched in part-amazement and part-terror. Theo tightened his grip on the shaft and gave a playful smirk. Faster than she ever thought possible, he zoomed across the Nott estate's garden.
As he darted around, cheering loudly, Draco, Blaise, Daphne, and Tracey mounted similar brooms too. They chased after Theo and played a game of broomstick-tag. Hermione eyed the broom in her hands warily.
The broom she used was provided by Theo's father. The other children, like Draco, Pansy, and Blaise had brought their own. Draco's broom was one-of-a-kind. It was the Speed of Light '83, but the kids' version. He showed it off to almost everyone, telling them that it was his parents' gift to him and he treasured it above all his other possessions.
Daphne called out to her from across the vast garden. "Hermione!" She had learned its proper pronunciation from hearing the others say her name regularly. "Come on! What're you waiting for?"
Hermione looked at Daphne, then looked back at the broom. She gingerly placed the imposing object on the ground, worried that if she were to accidentally let it slip, it might actually attack her. Daphne flew towards her.
"What's with your broom?" She asked, tilting her head. Daphne hovered four feet in the air and Hermione's neck strained as she tilted it to speak.
"I… don't know how to use it," Hermione admitted.
"You're joking," she chuckled. Hermione spared her a worrisome glance, and all sense of humor washed away from Hermione's face.
"I'm not." She grimaced.
Theo landed beside them "Hermione! What's going on?"
"She doesn't know how to ride a broomstick," Daphne told Theo.
Pansy threw her a glance from the corner of her eye and rode her broom seamlessly. Hermione pursed her lips, perplexed.
"That won't do. Hmm…" Theo suddenly had an idea. "I can teach you, Hermione! I am older than you, so that makes me smarter."
Daphne laughed, shaking her head. "You're wrong, Theo. You haven't sat in class with her. She's the smartest person ever."
He ignored her, dismounting his broom. "Right then, 'Mione. Hold your arm out like this and say 'up.'" As Theo tried to teach Hermione, Daphne sped away, returning to the game of tag.
After a while, all the kids were up in the air, except for Hermione, Theo, and Daphne's younger sister named Astoria. The little girl was old enough to be running around, but she couldn't form complete sentences yet. She mostly jumped up and down by the patio as she cheered her sister on. There were also other children present who weren't in Madam Rosier's classes. Hermione was introduced to an older boy named Marcus Flint, a pimpled boy named Adrian Pucey, a mysterious girl named Gemma Farley, and an unknown Miles Bletchley. There were also others whose names she'd already forgotten. She noticed that the older kids didn't mingle at all. They tended to hang around their respective age groups.
Inside Theo's house, the adults were also having a party… though their definition of the word was much less enjoyable. Their mothers were having tea in one of the drawing rooms, while their fathers were smoking paper cylinders called 'cigars'. Hermione couldn't imagine what they were talking about for so long until Draco was pulled inside by Narcissa. Overcome with curiosity, Daphne and Hermione crept around bushes and hid under the drawing room's window in order to hear what Draco was doing inside.
Narcissa was essentially showing him off. She was listing his achievements, saying that he was one of the top students of Madam Rosier's class. Of course, Narcissa failed to mention that he wasn't the top, per se, because Hermione took that spot. Draco came in second. The girls peeked inside. What they saw was priceless. It was Draco standing in the middle of the room with his nose up in the air, a sign of arrogance. Hermione and Daphne laughed at him, and his head snapped in their direction. They swiftly ducked behind the bushes again but were not able to control their laughter, forcing them to run away to avoid getting caught eavesdropping.
"... and after that, you can fly!" Concluded Theo. Hermione looked at him with an open mouth. She'd zoned out the whole time. Theo sensed her uneasiness, so he guided her by showing her exactly what she should be doing. This time, Hermione paid closer attention.
After a while, Hermione managed to levitate slowly off the ground. Theo cheered her on as she wobbled. He assured her that the broomsticks were not real, as they were only charmed to fly a maximum of five feet. They were also apparently slower, though Hermione doubted it as she spotted Draco moving rather not-slowly. She found herself thankful for Narcissa's advice that morning to wear trousers instead of her usual sundress because she couldn't be riding a broom in a skirt unless she'd like to have bruises and first-degree burns along her thighs the next day.
An hour later, Theodore Nott Sr. informed the kids that it was time to eat. Their house-elves set up colorful picnic blankets with bowls of fruit, cheese, and other sweet treats for them. Their group sat away from the older kids, forming a circle and playing games.
"I want Blaise to be my boyfriend!" Exclaimed Daphne, pointing a finger to him on the other side of the circle. Blaise looked down bashfully and took a bite of his sandwich. Everyone cooed and squealed. Pansy—who was seated next to Blaise—gave Daphne a knowing smirk. She scooted over so there was space in between herself and Blaise. Daphne giggled in delight as she stood from the spot next to Hermione and sat in between them. She kissed his cheek, and everybody squealed once again.
Blaise was hiding his face from the others, but Tracey asked him, "Blaise, do you have a crush on Daphne?"
He sunk even deeper and confirmed it by doing so. Tracey started singing. "He does! He does! Blaise and Daphne sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" By then, everyone was laughing so hard, they were attracting unwanted attention from the older kids.
Hermione held a plate of peeled orange slices and was munching on them happily, squirting orange juice on her clothes every time she took a bite. She was also sharing the plate with Theo, who was equally as messy.
Daphne turned to Tracey. "What 'bout you, Trace? Who have you got a crush on?"
Tracey turned beet-red. "Nobody!"
"No lying allowed!" Daphne said in reply. Hermione, Crabbe, and Theo verbally agreed. After Tracey stayed quiet for more than ten seconds, Daphne started chanting: "Tell us, tell us, tell us." Soon, everybody joined in.
Tracey played with a loose ribbon on her wrist. "Alright... it's him." She said, pointing to Draco. Everyone gasped. Crabbe moved away from Draco and patted the spot next to him. Tracey got up and sat next to Draco. Hermione laughed at his reddening complexion as Tracey kissed his cheek shyly.
"Goyle!" Barked Daphne. "Point to your crush," She giggled.
Goyle shook his head, eyes blown wide in embarrassment.
"Go on, Goyle!"
He shook his head again.
"If you don't do it…" Daphne thought for a while. "Hmm… oh! You have to touch a Mudblood!"
Everybody except Hermione cringed and hollered in disgust. Millie pretended to vomit. Hermione tilted her head in confusion. She recognized that word. Draco said she wouldn't have to worry about them today because there wouldn't be any Mudbloods at the party, but he didn't tell her what they were.
After Goyle pointed to Pansy and sat next to her, Hermione asked loudly, "What's a Mudblood?"
"What's a Mudblood, she says!" Exclaimed Theo.
"Your parents—I mean your house-elf didn't teach you what a Mudblood is?"
"No, I've never seen one."
Tracey said, "A Mudblood is someone who's really filthy. My mum tells me their blood isn't like ours. It's made of thick, stinkin' mud. Yuck!"
"Yeah," Blaise said. "Their parents are Muggles, and Muggles are disgusting. But Mudbloods can do magic."
"But why? Where do they get their magic?" Hermione asked.
"No one knows. That's why it's so gross." Daphne lowered her voice into a whisper and leaned in. "I heard a rumor that they steal it from us in our sleep when it's dark and we can't see them."
Tracey covered her eyes with her palms. "No scary stories!" She said. "I don't like scary stories." Her eyes started watering, and they moved on from the topic. They didn't want Tracey to have another episode. Merlin knows it'd take hours before she'd calm down.
"Hey Malfoy, d'ya think you can be the keeper?"
They then started talking about their game of quidditch (it was the kids' version where the balls were made of much lighter materials) scheduled in an hour. They were playing against the older kids, so they assigned each a strategic position. As they calculated strengths and weaknesses, Hermione thought about Mudbloods again. She still didn't know exactly what they were, but she was sure that she'd avoid them if they were as despicable as the others said. She wondered if there were Mudbloods at Hogwarts, but thought better of it. The world's best Wizarding school couldn't possibly allow such a hideous creature to step foot within its walls. Relief washed over her.
An hour after eating, the parents gathered on the patio to watch their kids play. Hermione opted to sit out of the Quidditch game, as it was her first time on a broom today, and she refused to do it again.
The older kids made intimidating opponents. Hermione had heard whispers from the older kids' parents that they planned to have them on Hogwarts's Quidditch team as soon as possible.
Not long after, the game began.
Hermione was still unfamiliar with the positions and jobs of different players, but she found herself able to understand the game's flow easily enough. Theo was fast on a broom, but Draco was more agile. He made easy work out of tricky twists and turns. However, Pansy was the true sight to behold. She was powerful and fearless as she threw the ball at an older boy without so much as batting an eye. She was responsible for at least half of their points.
The older kids weren't completely useless, either. Marcus Flint gave Pansy a toothy sneer and decided that she was the opposing team's strongest player... and thus, the first to go. He whispered something to a boy named Terrence Higgs. Higgs nodded. Flint took the Quaffle with a smirk from Blaise by bumping him harshly, then diving for the ball when Blaise lost his grip. The Quaffle made its way across the lawn underneath Flint's armpit. All the players of the opposing team got distracted by Higgs and decided to go after him.
Hermione was adept at reading people, and she noticed that Higgs hadn't taken his eyes off Pansy for a while. She watched with bated breath as he zoomed across the lawn and tackled Pansy clean off her broom. She lost her balance and descended towards the ground, screaming.
Suddenly, it wasn't a friendly game any longer.
Theo's father shot out of his chair and onto the lawn where Pansy lay. He demanded that all players stop and get back on the ground. He crouched beside Pansy. Her parents were approaching the scene as well. They fussed over her, but she denied feeling hurt. After all, she said, she was only five feet above the ground.
The other parents, along with Hermione and Millie (who had sat out of the game as well) came running to the field.
Draco charged towards Higgs. "You! You did it on purpose!" He shoved the older boy so hard, he almost fell backward. Gemma Farley caught him.
"I saw you!" Draco continued, his face taking the color of a tomato.
Higgs seethed at him. "I don't know what you're talking about, kid." He said slowly, emphasizing the last word. "She was in my way. It was an accident."
"Yeah? Well, now you're in my way." Draco charged for him again, only to be held back by Theo and Tracey. "Let me go! I want to hit him, let me go!"
"No, Malfoy you'll just—" Tracey started.
Lucius interrupted. "Draco. Stop this at once."
Immediately, Tracey, Theo, and Draco straightened up. Nobody moved. Nobody dared to even glance away. Lucius gave them a stern look before gesturing for Draco to follow him. Soon, the pair walked inside the house and into the Floo. They disappeared in green smoke.
Narcissa walked towards Theodore Sr., apologizing for having to leave so early. He told her that he understood, and bid her goodbye. Other parents, too, left right after. Narcissa took Hermione's hand and led her to the fireplace. Crabbe and his father were taking the powder in their hands, so Hermione and Narcissa waited for them to disappear before stepping in.
In the Malfoy Manor, Hermione could hear Lucius yelling. As soon as they got out of the Floo, they saw him scolding his son, who was glaring at the floor defiantly. Hermoine could tell he was trying not to cry.
Lucius was saying, "...was unbelievable behavior! You humiliated yourself and the Malfoy name in front of everyone." He gestured wildly with his arms.
He seethed. "What were you thinking, you insolent boy? Did you forget everything I've taught you? What did I tell you?"
Draco frowned at the floor, not saying a word. Lucius's chest heaved.
"Answer me, boy!"
Draco jumped in surprise at the sonority of his father's voice directed at him. "'A Malfoy must never lose his temper.'" He trembled.
Narcissa took a step forward. "Lucius, that's enough."
The Malfoy patriarch lifted a hand to his wife. "Do not interrupt me, Narcissa. This does not concern you. Go."
Narcissa shut her mouth but stubbornly refused to move from where she stood.
Hermione quietly made her way out of the room, staying close to the wall and making herself scarce. Once she was outside and out of their vision, she leaned against the wall and listened closely to the Malfoys.
"You single-handedly ruined Theodore Nott's birthday party. People will be talking about how I raised an uncivil, disrespectful child, and they will not," he emphasized. "Allow their children to be around you with an attitude like that. How does that make you feel? Hm?"
Draco sniffed. "I couldn't—"
"Do not talk back to me, boy! " Lucius interrupted.
His voice ricocheted off the tall walls of the marble room, coming back to them in multiple imposing echoes. Hermione's lower lip trembled for her first friend. She wanted nothing more than to run back into the room and stand in front of Draco to face his father. Draco had merely stood up for one of his friends. He had done nothing wrong.
Hermione turned her body and peeked. She saw Narcissa with her back to her, hands on her hips and glaring ferociously at her husband. Draco was still in the same position as when she first saw him: standing with a hunched back and glowering emptily at the floor in front of Lucius.
"I hope you know, Draco," Lucius paused. "That there are consequences to your actions."
Draco finally looked up, and it seemed as if a single tear slipped from his left eye. Though from Hermione's vantage point, it could have simply been a trick of the light.
Lucius continued, "Lie on the sofa, face-down." Draco trembled and took a step back. Hermione wasn't sure of what she was seeing, but it looked as if Lucius was reaching for his belt buckle.
"Lucius, no!" Narcissa objected, taking her husband's forearm as it began to unbuckle his belt.
"Let go of me Narcissa."
She did not.
"Let go of me, or I promise you Draco's punishment will be much more severe than it needs to be."
Narcissa reluctantly released her hold on his forearm. "Lu—"
"Get out. Now." He demanded.
"No! I won't—"
Suddenly, so suddenly, in fact, Hermione would have missed it had she blinked, Lucius drew his wand and pointed it to Draco, who was sitting on the sofa. The tip of his wand hovered above where his eyebrows met, and Draco started muttering something under his breath that sounded like "Please, no, please Father…"
Narcissa stared, wide-eyed. She realized that she was cornered. Her presence would only make things worse. However, she refused to leave the two alone in fear that he might do some serious irreversible damage to her son. So she backed out of the room slowly, as if Lucius was a predator and she was his prey. She stopped at the threshold. She planted her feet in a gesture that screamed, 'I will go no further'.
Lucius looked back at his son who was still pleading under his breath. He lowered his wand. "Quiet," Lucius said softly. "Lie down. You know what to do," he ordered him.
Draco needs not to be told twice. He lied across the sofa's cushions, turning his head outwards so that he could see his Father from that angle. Then, he shimmied out his beige pants up to his knees, his white briefs on display. Soon, those were brought down as well. Draco lied there with his bare buttocks facing up.
Lucius's belt came undone. He took his sweet time as he coiled the buckled end around his palm once, twice, thrice. He brought it down on his other hand at moderate speed, slapping it mildly. Draco's gaze dropped to the floor.
"Ten swipes."
Draco nodded, having understood what it meant long ago.
"'I besmirched the Malfoy name'. Say it."
Draco repeated in a trembling voice. "I besmirched the Malfoy name."
Crack!
The belt came down on Draco's buttocks. Hard. Hermione stifled a cry as Draco jerked and howled in pain. Narcissa staggered back, wanting to flee, but also wanting to charge inside and Avada her own husband. She was frozen.
Draco's cries got progressively louder as Hermione watched the red mark of a belt bloom on his skin where Lucius had struck him.
"Quiet!" Lucius roared. Draco abruptly stopped. "Say it again."
Draco said, "I besmirched the Malfoy name."
Crack!
Draco cried out even louder. At this point, not only were the belt marks reddening, but also Draco's face. His tears flowed freely, and his breath came in hard uneven gasps.
If the sound scarred Hermione, she couldn't imagine what kind of damage it was inflicting on Draco. Hermione was angry. She was livid. She probably would have stepped in to stop Lucius from his violent discipline, but there was something in his reaction to Narcissa's intervention that told her that it was a very bad idea… both for herself and Draco.
"Again."
"I-I besmirched the Malfoy n-name."
Crack!
Lucius recoiled before striking him this time, so the sound was much sharper and louder than the previous two. Draco's voice turned hoarse as he screamed, writhing in pain. Hermione kept a hand over her mouth to stifle the soft gasps and cries that would reveal her presence.
"The faster you say it, the faster this is going to be over."
"I besmirched the Malfoy name!" He rushed out.
Crack!
This time, Draco balled his hand and put it to his mouth, stopping his cry of anguish to escape. Narcissa felt blindly for the doorframe, seeming to have lost balance in her shaky legs and gaining support from the wood.
"I besmirched the Malfoy name."
Crack!
Wounds were starting to form on Draco's behind. They looked like blunt cuts and they stood out redder than the already scarlet area of abuse. Draco wouldn't be able to sit for days.
After catching his breath for fifteen seconds, Draco didn't repeat the punishing words. He seemed to steel himself first before another crack of his father's belt came slashing down on him. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes, ridding it of tears and wiping his wet hand on the sofa. He stared at the floor in determination, repeating the statement with a little more willpower.
"I besmirched the Mal-"
Crack!
Draco wasn't prepared for the harsh slap of the belt because it came down while he was talking. Lucius had recoiled again, but his slashes were getting progressively more painful, even if his father didn't do it any harder, because of the wounds. Hermione saw a ribbon of dark red liquid creeping its way down the curve of his buttocks.
Her knees felt weak too, and she found herself crouched on the floor with her arms around her legs, rocking herself back and forth while rubbing the gooseflesh on her forearms.
"Four more, Draco. Just…" Narcissa sniffed. "Hang on, dear. It's gonna be over soon." She said, barely above a whisper. She doubted Draco could hear it, but Hermione figured that the matriarch had said it for herself too.
"I besmirched the Malfoy name." He said, looking more broken than ever.
Crack!
Draco's blood splattered on the floor, little droplets of crimson decorating the otherwise spotless grey marble. He jerked, but the sound that came out of his mouth was cracked and broken.
"I besmirched the Malfoy name."
Crack!
Hermione realized that the softness of his voice was because it was no longer there.
"I besmirched the Malfoy name."
Crack!
Draco trembled, grasping the cushions below him with his small hands. His knuckles turned bone-white as he pleaded. "Please, Father, no more, i-it hurts… please."
Lucius ignored him. "One last, Draco. Say it."
Draco gulped. His grip tightened on the cushions. Hermione shut her eyes and covered her ears with the palms of her hand.
"I besmirched the Malfoy name," Draco said for the last time.
Crack!
Finally, after what seemed like years, Lucius dropped the belt. The sound of the buckle hitting the ground resembled a bell's toll. It signified the end of this physical torture. Lucius ordered Draco to put his clothes on and stand. Draco did exactly that. With his back turned to her, she could see that the red splotches were beginning to spread on the tan-colored pants he wore.
"You besmirched the Malfoy name, did you not?" Lucius asked.
Draco answered lowly, "Yes, Father."
"Will you do it again?"
He bowed his head. "No, Father."
"If you do, you will not be facing the belt, but the Cruciatus curse. Do you understand, Draco?" Hermione did not know what the Cruciatus curse was, but it did not sound friendly.
He nodded.
"Do you understand, Draco?" Lucius boomed.
"Y-Yes, Father." He said loudly.
"You will not heal the wounds for three days, Narcissa." Lucius kept his eyes on Draco while talking to his wife. "If you do, I will not hesitate to do it all again." Lucius took one last look at his son and departed, leaving his makeshift whip on the floor. As soon as he was out of sight, Narcissa rushed towards her son.
Hermione sat in the shadows, drying her tears. Later, she will go into the room and place a hand on Draco's shoulder in solidarity, but now, she tried to compose herself somewhat.
She will not know it yet, but that was the day Draco Malfoy grew cold.
In the weeks that followed, Draco stuck to his bedroom and his wing of the house. He only parted from it whenever it was mealtime, or whenever Madam Rosier's afternoon class started. He didn't even show up for the one hour he had with both the morning and afternoon class children.
Hermione barely saw him anymore. Instead, she busied herself with the fully-stocked (but rather small) library of the guest house whenever she was finished studying. When she realized that she was reading at a pace that would soon run her out of books to read, she would wander again.
On a winter night, Hermione found herself unable to sleep. She vaguely remembered the torture Draco had undergone with his father and pushed the thought away from her head. The memory would always haunt her, for the rest of her life, but she would never stop to entertain it. It brought too much pain.
She remembered (after having wandered the guest house for the hundredth time) that there was a piano in one of the rooms. It was by no means as large or as grand as the main house's pianoforte, but it was still in very good shape. It was glossy, black, and the kind that was designed to lean on a wall. Hermione had pressed a key experimentally and decided that the note sounded full and loud. She decided to learn, but she also decided to put it off to another day, as she was, at the time, engrossed in a lengthy tome.
Hermione headed to the room with the piano and looked under the chair for beginner's books she might use to learn. She found music sheets, but they were basically gibberish to her. She didn't know how to read them… yet. So she played random keys that night, recalling from fuzzy memories the tune of some songs she grew up listening to.
The next day, she had asked Dobby where the beginner's piano books were located, and Dobby had informed her that they were located in the Manor's library. She had asked Narcissa if she could borrow them, and in no time, she was able to read basic notes and symbols. She also studied hand positions, chord progressions, and body language. She learned her first song that day, and she hasn't stopped practicing since. She was rather proud of this achievement, as she had no help from anybody. She played every single day and soon, she was a self-taught musician at age six.
Daphne and Theo had begun noticing Draco's aloofness one cold morning, but Hermione lied, saying that she didn't know why he was acting this way.
This continued for weeks, months, years. Several birthday parties, galas, and charity balls have come and gone, and Draco would only appear for the length of time he was expected to, no more. And when he did, he would only talk to Crabbe and Goyle. They followed him around like a pair of lost puppies. Even Hermione was snubbed, along with everybody else. She convinced herself that he was just taking his time… but on her seventh birthday, after only appearing for ten minutes, she was convinced otherwise. Even Millie, who wasn't around every day, was a more frequent presence in Hermione's life than Draco, who slept next door.
On the rare occasion that he did speak to them, it was usually to reprimand them. He would tell the others that they were being too loud, or that they weren't allowed to touch that lest they break it, or something of that sort. He had claimed that his father was holding him accountable for any destructive activity of his peers. That, Hermione understood.
In class, however, his grades were stellar. For three years, he and Hermione were tied for the first rank, both of whom were a far cry from the second rank, who was Pansy.
She no longer considered Draco as her best friend. As time went on, she, Daphne, Tracey, and Pansy became inseparable. They were joined by Blaise and Theo when they were around. The seven children grew tightly-knit. Hermione had found her family in them, and she was happy.