Chapter Two:
They picked themselves off the floor they all stood up.
"Well….Where do we go?" Fred asked. Suddenly, out of the boot, flew a snitch. It silently flew to the door of a grand mansion that was just to their left.
"I would assume there" Blaise snorted, this earnt a smirk from Draco and a snort of laughter on Theo.
"Can't believe we're stuck with these gits indefinitely" Ron said in a hushed whisper, Theo and Blaise didn't seem to hear but Draco sent a death glare their way, shutting Ron up.
The snitch went through the letterbox. None of the students moved. Hermione then slowly walked up and raised the knocker when the door opened, an old woman of about 80 opened the door, she was slim and tall, despite being hunched over a small cane.
"Harry Potter" she said her voice, despite showing signs of hr age, was confident and strong, yet calming. Almost a bit flirtatious. Everyone looked at Harry. Draco raised an eyebrow. Unimpressed with his reputation even within the far out wizardry community.
"It's a pleasure to have you all here" the woman said. Her voice the same but lacking the flirtatious glint. "I'm Vanessa but you can call me Ness, I will be here to help you with everything you need, but before you jump to any conclusions, I am a squib, and this is a muggle village so we don't discuss anything from the community outside. Only inside. Understood?" She asked the students nodded. Their was a faint 'Thud' in the distance. "Oh your trunks have arrived" she said, walking back to the door, no one moved "Well come on in then, it's chilly out" she said, shivering despite the warm October air. Again, no one moved. Harry slowly inched forward and got to the door, Ness put a hand to his back and pushed him inside the house, for an old woman she had a lot of strength, causing Harry to trip over the threshold. A snort of laughter came from the three Slytherin's.
"My my…Draco Malfoy…It is a An honour" she said. The flirtatious tone had returned in her voice and had escalated
"As it is mine, meeting you" Draco said, his tone matching hers. Theo and Blaise smirked, knowing that he was only playing, but Fred and George quirked an eyebrow at him. Hermione and Ginny bit back a laugh. Harry and Ron both shared looks of horror. Neville on the other hand was starring fearfully at a gargoyle that stood proudly on the roof of the porch.
"Let me show you to your rooms" Ness said. Her ice-Blue eyes never leaving Draco's greenish grey ones. Draco winked st her, causing her to break the contact, but he held out his arm to help her back up the marble steps into the house.
"Such a gentlemen, he's a keeper" Ness muttered to Hermione, who flushed bright red.
Ron opened his mouth to say something but George put his hand over his mouth before an words came out.
"Let's see where this goes" Fred whispers in Ron's ear. Beneath his hand, George felt Rons mouth clamp closed, taking the hint that he should stay silent. Draco proceeded to wink at Hermione, to which she blushed if possible a deeper shade of red.
Ness and Draco led the way, they walked through the grand dining hall, and into an equally magnificent living room. There was a staircase to the right, made of dark oak. They made their way up there. There was three doors.
"Girls on the left, guys on the right" Ness said
"What's the other door for?" Theodore said
"You will find out should you ever need it" Ness said, brushing it off. She hobbled back downstairs.
"I guess this is it then" Ginny said turning to the door on the left. She opened the door and walked inside, followed closely by Hermione. The door slammed shut in the guys faces.
Harry opened the door to the guys room as no guys made any effort to move. The walked inside and they gasped. The room was huge. About the size of the dorms and the common room in the castle. To the immediate left was three doors, each leading to a glamorous, and generously sized bathroom, there were three beds on the left side of the room, all delightful king sized four poster dark oak beds, with soft mattresses, plenty of pillows and finely stitched green Slytherin covers. In the middle of the room were plenty of comfortable looking dark leather sofas, there was also a large muggle device which none of the guys knew how to use. Harry made a mental note to ask Hermione what it was. Behind was a large oak table, with matching oak and leather chairs. Behind that was a kitchen area, a few work tops, some mugs and a sink, as well as more muggle devices. On the right of the room was 5 beds, matching the Slytherin ones except they had neat red Gryffindor covers. There was a trunk at the end of each bed. The guys quickly found their own and started sorting their belongings.
The girls room was almost as big. They had a large bathroom each, beautifully designed and well maintained. There were two bed each side of the room, there was a lounge, dining and kitchen area in the girls room too. They found their trunks and unpacked their belongings, much quicker than the guys. After ten minutes, they had finished, they changed out of their pyjamas and into their home clothes. In the hall they heard a rampart of footsteps. They concluded that the guys had gone downstairs. Ginny followed them, Hermione hung back to use the bathroom. Once she had finished she walked into the hall, she heard a faint noise coming from the guys room. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided it was probably Fred or George messing with dorm wizardry. Furious at them already disobeying the no magic law, she walked in without knocking. Inside the room was no Fred or George, In fact it was no one, except Malfoy. His back was to the door and he was shirtless. He too seemed to feel the desire to change He spun round to grab his shirt. Hermione gasped as she saw the rippling, rock hard muscles escalating from his lean, toned body. Her gasp caused Draco to look up, shocked. He said nothing, but he raised an eyebrow at her. She blushed a deeper red than ever before and left her hands start to sweat. He was looking directly at her. Her breathing increased. She mumbled a breathless "Sorry" and slammed the door shut. She ran back into her room and into her bathroom. She closed that door too and threw her head back. Still breathing heavily. Why did she do that? Why did she just walk in? Why didn't she walk away, but those muscles Merlin those muscles! She thought subconsciously scalding herself for being distracted. She got her breath back to normal and ran some cool water, and washed her face quickly. Calming herself down. Once she looked suitable she left her room and made her way downstairs to find the rest of the students. Draco looked bored. His eyes glanced at her but only hovered on her for a few seconds before sending an evil look into the back of Harry's head. Ness was sitting at the head of the table. The only spare seat was next to Theo. Hermione took her cue and sat down.
"How nice of you to finally join us Miss Granger" Ness said. Theo, Blaise, Draco Fred and George smirked. Harry, Ron and Neville rolled their eyes.
" I have here your wands. Magic is forbidden around here so only use them as a last resort" she said handing round the flimsy wood.
"Also you may have noticed a few muggle devices around the place. They were given to me by Dumbledore for your pleasure. I myself have no idea what they are, but I believe that Miss Granger does, so Miss Granger…after you" she said
All eyes turned to Hermione.
"Alright what do you guys want to start with?" She asked
"How about these?" Ness said pulling out 11 small black boxes
"Oh brilliant. These are called mobile phones" Hermione said. She went through every detail of the phone and didn't stop until everyone, including the Slytherin's who, while reluctant at first, soon came to like the muggle contraptions, felt confident in using them. She then went on to explain the purpose of and how to use, light switches, the fridge, the microwave, kettle, toaster, the oven, the TV, the computers and finally a ball point pen.
By the time she had finished, they were getting quite peckish and it was well into the afternoon. Vanessa may have been a squib and possessed no magical qualities but she still had house elves who knew how to cook a decent meal. Obviously from a pure blood family line, going by the loyalty of the elves.
Once they had eaten until they were full, they decided to settle down with some "TV". After an hour of watching a few episodes of a comedy, Hermione and Ginny decided to go to bed. They bade the boys and Vanessa a goodnight, thanking her for her hospitality. Before making their way to their room. As soon as their door closed they heard a loud thumping as the boys also made their way to bed. Although Hermione and Ginny didn't go to bed, they made their way to the living section. Hermione showed Ginny how to use the kettle to make a hot chocolate, they found a chick flick on and settled down, within moments they were in hysterics.