Hermione
"That is a horrendous color." Snape drawled. "If I wanted that color in my house I would have done it myself." We were sitting on his moldy couch, picking out color schemes.
"What is wrong with the color?" I asked frustrated. We have been doing this for the past three hours now and every color I picked he had some complaint about.
"It's not black." He answered stiffly and I rolled my eyes at him. "Obviously."
"Severus, you promised to trust me. I know what I am doing." I replied. "I also explained why we couldn't paint the whole house black."
He glared at me, which wasn't unusual. "Do tell."
"Seriously?" He just kept glaring at me and I sighed. "When this is all over, don't you want to come back to someplace you would be comfortable and safe?"
"I don't see why painting a house different colors would change that."
"I get that you don't have very fond memories of this place, so why don't you make new ones?"
He sighed. "Fine. Where should we start?"
I grinned at him and grabbed another color. "I think we should start with the living room, since it's the first place you see when you walk in."
He stared at the color in my hand, "You want that color?" He asked distastefully.
"What's wrong with Auburn?" I asked. "It's dark and it has a warm homey feeling."
He stared at me in disbelief. "I doubt the color makes much difference. What do you want me to do?"
"First, we need to get rid of all the furniture. We have to buy all new stuff, the stuff you have now is moldy and moth eaten, and since I am not of age yet, you will have to do it."
He pulled a wand out of his robe, it was sleek and white. "Here." He shoved it into my hand. "You can use this, the Ministry can not trace it."
I rose an eyebrow in question. "Whose was it?"
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "My mothers."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly use this..." I started to hand the wand back to him but he shook his head.
"She has no use of it now, I will do the living room, you can do the kitchen." He turned around and started shrinking everything he wanted to throw out, the only thing he didn't shrink was the bookshelf in the far corner.
"Severus, do you have a library?" I asked as I watched him work.
"I'm pretty sure there was one here at one time, but I don't know where." He answered, his back still turned away from me.
"I see." I grabbed a magazine out of my bag and threw it on the floor by his feet. "Last night I circled all the furniture and appliances that would go with the rest of the house. I need you to pick them up."
I didn't wait for an answer but made my way to the kitchen and started shrinking and putting the stuff into boxes. There really wasn't a whole lot in the kitchen, a few plates and utensils, a couple pots, a frying pan and two cups. Talk about the bare necessities. I moved on to the appliances, we turned the water and power off in the kitchen after we had showers. Of course this would take a lot longer if we didn't have magic. Snape came into the kitchen to inform me he was leaving and I was suddenly alone in the depressing little house.
I finished in the kitchen and made my way back to the living room, it wasn't so bad when all the furniture was out of it. I rolled up my sleeves and tied my hair back in a loose pony, then grabbed the book that would help me with my vision. I swished my borrowed wand and muttered circumlinisti stibio. I watched with wide eyes as the walls started painting themselves. Smiling to myself I turned my attention to the floor, once upon a time I imagined the wood flooring used to shine in the dim afternoon light, now it looked rotted and worn. With another wand flick and a mumbled reponere, the wood smoothed itself out and started to shine like new.
Satisfied with myself I made my way back to the kitchen, replacing the tiles, cupboards and painted it a soft gray color. I decided to do the second floor last, it was a reasonable choice, I needed Snape's input for his bedroom and such. As I was making my way to the back of the house towards the bathroom I noticed something on one of the walls. There was a single portrait hanging on the wall, it was so out of place that it was practically screaming at me to investigate it further. It was a Muggle photograph of a man and woman and a small child that could be no one but Snape. This must have been taken when he was around four years old, his nose wasn't crooked in the picture and they actually looked pretty normal.
I removed the painting and put it on the floor gently and turned my attention back to the wall. I placed my hand on the wall and started moving my hand slowly, noticing that the wall was raised a few inches in places. Intrigued I grabbed my wand and started ripping away the already peeling wallpaper, I gasped as I spotted a door in the wall. I wonder if Snape knew about this? I shrugged and decided to go for it, who knew how long he was going to be and my curiosity could not wait for him to return.
"What are you doing?"
I jumped and squealed at the voice, turning around and glaring at Snape. "You almost gave me a heart attack you jerk!"
He came closer, inspecting what I was staring at. "Is that a door?"
"You mean you didn't know this was here?" He shook his head. "Wanna check it out?"
"Even if I said no you would still go in there, wouldn't you?" I nodded. "Figures, let's go then." I was about to unlock the door when he stopped me again. "After we get back."
"Where are we going?"
"We have been invited to dinner by the Malfoy's."
"Oh, lovely." I muttered. "What does one wear to the Malfoy's for dinner?"
"Nothing you own." He eyed my Muggle shorts and tank top with distaste.
"So you expect me to go naked?" I asked.
"Of course not. Mrs. Malfoy will have something for you to wear."
I sighed. "No way of getting out of this is there?" He shook his head. "Of course not. Well let's go then, I will have to shower there, there is no water here."
He grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the front entrance, towards the fireplace I somehow missed before. He shoved me in, yelled out Malfoy Manor and I was gone. I stumbled out of the fireplace, barely keeping my balance. Muttering to myself I dusted the soot out of my clothes as I looked around, apparently I was in some kind of sitting room. Draco Malfoy sat in one of the chairs, scowling at me.
"You might want to move." He suggested, and before I could utter a reply something heavy fell on top of me, sending me crashing to the ground. "I did try to warn you."
"You stupid girl." I heard Snape grumble as he pushed off of me.
"Sorry." I apologized quickly. "I was disoriented for a second and Malfoy should have warned me sooner." I glowered at the boy who was smirking at me.
Snape ignored me and turned his glare towards Malfoy. "Where is your mother? She was suppose to meet us."
"She is waiting for Hermione." Malfoy answered. "I am suppose to show her the way."
Snape nodded and shoved me towards the blonde boy, "Go with him, I will see you shortly."
I stared at Snape, suddenly terrified. He was just going to leave me? Draco grabbed my arm, trying to get me to follow him, I shrieked and pulled my arm away from him. A shudder passed through me as my thoughts drifted back to my Muggle cousin. Malfoy and Snape shared a look I couldn't quite decipher and then Malfoy turned back to look at me, urging me to follow him. I gave one last hopeless glance at Snape before I followed after Malfoy.
Severus Snape
I stared after the two teens as they left the room, confused. Hermione has never acted that way when Potter or even when I touched her, so why did she freak out as soon as Draco did? I will have to question Potter later, shaking my head I made my way towards Lucius' office. I knocked on the door and waited for the deep enter before I entered the room. As usual, Lucius sat behind his desk, papers scattered everywhere and a glass of fire whiskey in his hand.
"Severus." Lucius greeted.
"Lucius." I nodded in return. "We are not having any unexpected company at this dinner, are we?"
"Like who?" Lucius raised a brow in curiosity.
"The Dark Lord perhaps?" I suggested.
"Worried?" Lucius smirked, looking all too much like his son.
"I have not properly prepared the girl for meeting him." I replied curtly. "The girl has no etiquette when it comes to social gatherings."
"Indeed? Cissa will love her then." Lucius answered sarcastically. "The Dark Lord will not be attending this evening."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Good, I would not want her to embarrass me."
Lucius stared at me, his eyes narrowing. "Indeed."
"Shall we go?" I asked irritably.
"Of course."
I nodded and we both walked out of the office, making our way to the dining hall. Lucius filling in the silence with idle chatter. This was going to be a long night.
Hermione
"Thank you Draco, I can take it from here." A woman with blonde hair and a cold face spoke from a doorway, I assumed she was Mrs. Malfoy.
"Mother, this is Hermione." He introduced. "Hermione, this is my mother, Narcissa Malfoy."
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Malfoy." I did a little curtsy, a blush coming to my face. This woman was not someone you wanted to cross. Malfoy looked at me curiously before shrugging and running away.
I stood there nervously as her cold blue eyes wandered up and down my body, trying to stifle the shudders that wracked my body. She sneered and ushered me into the bedroom. "Strip, take a shower. You positively reek." She ordered me, pointing to the door I assumed was the bathroom.
"Yes Ma'am." I squeaked and hurriedly made my way there, shutting the door quickly behind me.
"Make it quick, our guests will be arriving shortly."
"OK." I stripped quickly and jumped into the overly huge shower. Washing myself as fast as I could, when I was done I shut the water off and grabbed a towel. I let out a small moan as I wrapped the towel around me. It felt so soft and fluffy, almost like a cloud.
"Hurry up." She demanded from the other side of the door.
I jumped up, startled. I came out of the bathroom and she pointed to a chair, I obediently sat down and kept my mouth shut. She started with my hair, muttering about what a hopeless cause it was. I resigned myself to the torture of brushing my hair. Instead she grabbed her hand, did a few little flicks, a few muttered spells and my hair was now falling down my back in elegant waves. I stared transfixed, my hair has never been that tame before. I wonder if she would show me the spells?
She spun me away from the mirror so she could see my face better. She repeated her muttering of spells and wand flicking, after a minute she was done. She laid her wand down and went to the bed, pulling a dress off of it.
"Am I going to wear that?" I squeaked in horror.
She glared at me. "Don't be stupid, of course you are. You have to look presentable."
"I have never worn anything like that before." I confessed.
She grinned, but it wasn't happy, it looked more… feral. "Perfect time to start. Come here." I walked over to her slowly, and she sighed. "Now." I moved more quickly, terrified of this woman.
She slipped the dress over my head, turned me around and did up the zipper. She handed me a pair of white gloves that went all the way up to my elbow and I slipped them one. "All done." She smirked, proud of her work.
She shoved me towards the full length mirror and I gasped loudly at my reflection. I didn't look like me anymore, I looked like a princess from those fairy tale books I read when I was younger. The bodice of the dress was tight fitted, showing off my curves while the skirt was poofy and reached all the down to the floor, the color of the dress was a dark blue, reminding me of the night sky. I felt like I was in the 18th century. My eyes widened in horror as I watch Mrs. Malfoy come over with a pair of stilettos.
"I am not wearing those." I warned.
She rose a perfect brow in surprise. "You can not wear a dress with out heels Hermione."
"Are you trying to kill me?" I asked, eyeing the 4 inches of heel distastefully.
"You have never worn heels?" Mrs. Malfoy asked, surprised.
"Never had to before." I shrugged.
She sighed, obviously agitated. "Severus you blithering idiot." I snorted, trying to stifle the laughter that erupted from me. "Put them on girl. I will enchant them so you won't fall to your death."
"Erm.. thanks, I think." I slid into the shoes, scrunching my nose in disgust as I felt my toes squish painfully together.
"You get used to it." Mrs. Malfoy said simply, after seeing my expression.
"If you say so." I muttered.
"Walk to the door and back, I need to see what kind of charms I need to add." She ordered and I, of course, obliged. Halfway through the walk, I fell flat on my face, groaning as I sat up. "More than I thought." She muttered and I glared at her. "One more thing." She grabbed a box off the table. "I know you are not a Malfoy, but with your neck so exposed, you need something to cover it."
She opened the box and inside was a simple necklace of gold, with a large diamond heart in the center of it. "Wow, it's beautiful." I looked up at her, terrified. "I couldn't possibly wear that."
Mrs. Malfoy smiled, and I had to stifle my surprise at how genuine it looked. "Think of it as a present for your missed birthday."
"Wait.. what?" I asked, stunned. "You're giving this to me?" She nodded. "Why?"
She gave me a sly smile. "Reasons." She took the necklace out of the box and placed it around my neck. "You truly are a beautiful girl Hermione." She praised.
My cheeks flushed red. "Erm.. thanks."
"Shall we go then? I am sure the others have arrived by now." I nodded and we made our way out the door. We finally reached the stairs and I seen Mr. Malfoy and Snape both standing there. Both men stared up at us with mouths wide open and I had to stifle my laugh as Mrs. Malfoy beamed proudly. She helped me down the stairs and then handed me off to Snape.
"You," He whispered into my ear. "Look absolutely stunning. No one will be able to keep their eyes off you."
My face heated up once again, "Thanks." I muttered, not really sure what else to say.
Snape led me into the dining hall and I sucked in a breath quickly at the numerous amount of people crowding in the hall. I stared up at Snape, horrified, only to see he looked surprised as well. "That damn Malfoy." He whispered harshly. "Don't leave my side tonight Hermione."
"OK." I nodded.
"May I present to you Lord Voldemort!" Someone yelled into the room, and as one everyone turned in the direction we were standing. I froze at the name, my heartbeat racing. I was not ready for this. I slowly turned around to see the most terrifying things I have ever seen in my life. I had to swallow the scream that bubbled up inside me. Voldemort's red snake like eyes bore into mine, with an evil smirk on his face.
"You must be Hermione." He spoke quietly, but every word felt like he was physically touching me.
A/N: And that's it for chapter 13. Quite a lot of mysteries in this one. How will Hermione handle her early meeting with Voldemort? And what is behind the secret door Hermione found in Snape's home? Keep reading to find out. As always, read and review please. I love to hear from you. Until next time…
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