Hermione doesn't quite know how to react when Sirius tears her door open, but she doesn't have time anyway, she's out of the carriage and tied up before she can do much of anything. Another carriage is waiting, one a lot less ornate on the outside and less plush on the inside.
"What's going on?" she asks, Sirius isn't at all the kind but strange man she had met at the ball.
"My lord wants you and he'll have you. My idiot cousin made a huge mistake in letting you leave alone." He says, that crazed look still sitting behind his eyes.
"Who's your lord?" she asks, trying to stall and hoping that someone will come across them. Before any of that can happen, Sirius hits her over the head and she slumps in her seat.
When Hermione wakes, her head pounds, but she does notice that she's in a nice room, the bed she's on is comfortable and the decor of the room is nice, if a bit sparse. The window is boarded up though, so she can't see or climb out. There are books on a shelf beside the window and she heads over, but most of them are textbooks or in foreign languages, so that strikes out that idea. She sits on the chair by the shelf, cradling her aching head. The door opens and a somewhat familiar face peeks in, but she can't quite recall where she'd seen it before.
"Oh, good, you're awake, I'll go tell Lord Ridd-" the woman stops herself and scurries off, clearly having done something wrong. Hermione smiles slightly to herself, at least now she knows what side has taken her. A few minutes later, Sirius comes into the room.
"Ah, so you're finally awake," he says, "took you long enough," Hermione scoffs at him.
"You're the one who whacked me over the head," she says indignantly.
"I couldn't have you asking questions, but it seems you already know who has you,"
"It seems I do, though I've only heard the name Riddle a couple of times, care to enlighten me?" She asks, hoping to get something out of Sirius.
"What you know is all you need to know, you'll learn more when I take you to him,"
"Oh yes, you want me as a vampire, but why?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, he will though, now come, no more questions," Sirius turns to walk out the door, trusting Hermione to follow him. The halls seem familiar, something about the wallpaper reminds her of a house she'd been in before, but she can't put her finger on where. When they make it to a dining room, it finally hits her, this is Malfoy Manor.
A handsome man stands at the end of the table, a smile that seems more like a sneer gracing his thin lips.
"Hermione," he says, his voice sounding warm on the surface but there's something disconcerting about it all, "welcome,"
"Why am I here?" She asks.
"Right down to business I see, how rude. I thought maybe we could chat, have a drink, maybe even have dinner, but we can do it your way," he begins walking around the table, slowly dragging his hand along the back of each chair, "you're here because your blood is strong, it calls out to vampires in a way that hasn't been heard of in years," He gets about an arms length away from her before stopping, "I'm sure your dear Bellatrix has told you what a strong vampire you'd make, and I'm sure you're smart enough to know why we want you."
"I'm not becoming a vampire," Hermione says, adamant that Riddle will not get to her.
"Oh I'm sure after some convincing, you'll change your mind." He gestures for her to follow and for some reason, she does, they wander around the slightly familiar manor until he stops in a library. "Now, as I was saying, Bellatrix has told you all about our world, but I'm afraid she wasn't very fair. You see, she claimed you before anyone else could even get a whiff, and that's not how our little game here is played. I made a counterclaim, but it seems the old rules took her side."
'You!" Hermione exclaims, taking a step back, "You're the one who attacked me!"
"I figured Bella would've told you that by now," he pauses, "I wonder what else she's keeping from you,"
"You're just trying to get me to take your side," Hermione says angrily.
"Of course I am, I want you on my side,"
"Well you're not getting me!" She shouts, losing her temper a bit.
"Sirius!" Riddle shouts, Sirius comes into the library, "It seems like we're done for the day, please take her back to her room, we'll try again tomorrow,"
A week has passed and Bellatrix paces around her library in the now abandoned Lestrange manor. She's worried about whether or not Hermione made it without issue, worried that she doesn't love her in the same way she does. She could have misread all of this, she could have been so very wrong, and she can't even talk to Andy about it, she wouldn't understand. The idea of visiting Narcissa has crossed her mind, but she can't stand Lucius, last time she saw him, he was taking the side of Riddle and her sister was agreeing with him as any dutiful wife would. But still, maybe she could cheer her up, they were always close as children. She decides she'll visit tonight, when she can head there without the headache the sun causes. Until then, she's decided to read one of Hermione's books in her favorite spot by the window. God I'm hopeless, she thinks to herself. Dinner comes and goes but she doesn't leave the library until nightfall.
Typically, she wouldn't make this walk across town, but really there's no reason not to. The cool evening air is a good way to clear her head too. But, despite her efforts to push her to the recesses of her mind, Hermione still finds her way to the forefront. The normal sounds of night make Bella jump, afraid that some drunkard stumbling is somehow Hermione. Eventually, she makes it to Malfoy Manor and walks in. The butler greets her and calls Narcissa from the dining room, a late dinner perhaps.
"Bella, what are you doing here?" Her sister's voice sounds panicked.
"Cissa, I assumed you'd be happy to see me, is everything alright?" She takes a step closer but Narcissa steps back. As she takes another step into the house, she smells vanilla and fresh baked bread, Hermione's scent, it catches her off guard but she doesn't let it show.
"Yes, everything is fine, you can't stay long though," she says, shaking her head to clear it and smoothing her skirts.
"I just wanted to visit with you, Hermione is off to the countryside and I'm bored at home," Narcissa is visibly relieved as she lets out a breath that she'd been holding since she saw her sister.
"Oh, that's fine then, let's go to the drawing room, Lucius has visitors in the dining room," She turns and walks briskly toward the drawing room before Bella can ask who's visiting. When they make it there, Narcissa is still very clearly on edge.
"Who's visiting?" Bella asks, trying to break the tension.
"I really don't see how that's your business," Narcissa snaps, her face falls, "I'm sorry, it's just a very important visitor from the board of elders, we're seeing about getting Lucius a higher position." Bella can tell she's lying, but doesn't want to let on, something odd is going on here.
"Oh, well I hope he gets it," Bella says, shifting in the rather uncomfortable chair, "How has Draco been these last few weeks?"
"He and Astoria are getting on just fine, I'm not surprised though, he's going to make such a good husband."
Hermione knew something was off the moment Narcissa rushed from the dining room to greet a visitor, no one visits at this hour. The slight whiff of sandalwood she gets makes her head turn, but she's convinced she's just imagining it. There's no way Bella would be here. She never got on with Lucius.
"You need to eat," Riddle's voice pulls her from her thoughts, she hasn't touched the food placed in front of her.
"I'm not very hungry," she says, pushing food around with her fork.
"Nonsense, we have a big day tomorrow, I can't have you going to bed hungry." Hermione has already gotten lost in her thoughts again, she's too busy trying to figure out a way out of this place. She knows the way to her father's apartment if she can just get out, but she needs to seem compliant beforehand, so she can gain their trust.
"I want to go to my room now," she says, standing quickly, "I also want to see Narcissa,"
"Why would you want to see her?" Lucius pipes up, disgust clear in his voice.
"Now Lucius, let her be, she's had a rough week," Riddle says before turning to Hermione, "I think it can be arranged that Madam Malfoy will visit you in your room."
Bella hears the sounds of people walking somewhere else in the house. She smells the warm vanilla and fresh baked bread again and hears the voice of a woman coming toward the drawing room. It can't be Hermione, she can't be here. But then there are footsteps on the stairs. She waits for the sound to pass but keeps an ear out above them to hear where the footsteps are leading. Narcissa has calmed down considerably, a glass of brandy will do that to you. Bella waits, comfortable chatter between her and her sister flows until she feels enough time has passed that her leaving the room won't seem suspicious.
"I think I'm going to head home, Cissy," Bella says, standing, gauging her sister's reaction, to her relief, she doesn't stand to walk out with her. Stepping as lightly as she can after leaving the drawing room, she walks to the foot of the stairs. She keeps telling herself that Hermione can't be here, but something makes her want to walk up those stairs and just take a look. She walks as quickly up the stairs as she can without making any noise, she knows the place well, and assumes that if they were, they'd be keeping Hermione in the guest room. She tries the doorknob, it's locked. She runs her hand over the top of the doorframe and finds a key along with quite a bit of dust, it seems they need to fire a maid.
Her hands tremble as she puts the key in the lock, nervous for what could be on the other side. She knows her sister doesn't keep random doors locked. As the door swings open, she sees Hermione sitting in a chair beside a bookcase, she perks up as soon as she sees Bella.
"Bella," she whispers, she stands up and hugs her, inhaling the smell of sandalwood.
"I knew it," Bella says, promising herself she'll listen to her instincts from now on, "follow me," she grabs Hermione's arm and quietly walks out of the room, peering around every corner before taking a step. When they get to the top of the stairs, she sees Riddle walking into the drawing room, they duck back before he sees them. The walk down the stairs seems painstakingly slow and loud, but they make it to the door, trying to open it without a sound. The hinges creak and they hear voices get louder in the drawing room.
"Run," Bella is still whispering, but this time it's more urgent. Both of them take off out the door, caring less about being quiet and more about getting out of there, there's shouting from the house but they don't hear it, they just run. A few streets later, they finally slow down, Hermione coughing and sputtering from exercise she's not used to.
"How'd you know I was there?" Hermione asks, gasps breaking up every other word.
"I didn't at first, but I smelled you there, I almost didn't look for you at all," they're walking, a welcome break for Hermione. It doesn't seem that anyone followed them, but there's really no way to be sure. The walk to Andy's takes a lot longer than it should've, but Hermione has barely touched her food for the past week and hasn't been sleeping on top of that. But they do eventually make it back, and as soon as they do, Hermione collapses onto a couch in the foyer.
"Andy!" Bella yells, finally in a situation where she can be angry.
"What in the world, Bella? Do you know what time it is?" Andy comes into the foyer, only a robe covering her chemise. The annoyance in her face is quickly replaced with worry when she sees Hermione.
"What happened?"
"I went to visit Cissy and smelled Hermione, I can't believe her, she knows Hermione is mine," Bella nearly shouts.
"Calm down, let's all just go to bed, we can talk more in the morning," Andy says, going back to her room. Bella turns to Hermione.
"Don't you want to sleep in your bed, pet?" Bella asks, Hermione stands slowly, realizing how tired she is after all of the adrenaline has worn off. Once they make it to her room, they both get undressed, just like so many nights before, this time though, it's different. Bella is nervous and Hermione can tell. She's keeping her distance and keeps her back to Hermione until she's under the covers even though it's just a chemise. Once Bella finally gets into bed, Hermione rolls over to look at her.
"Bella," Hermione says.
"Hmm?" is her only response.
"I love you too."