Chapter 3 – The Pendant
Disclaimer – I don't own any of the recognisable characters in this story. I only own Maria and Chantelle so far! :P
Last Chapter - "Urgh!" Hermione screamed in frustration, thrashing about more than ever. Draco stared at her, a strange glint in his eyes - an almost crazy glint. Hermione returned a fearful gaze, which was just what Draco wanted. Slowly he moved his face closer to hers, until their lips were just inches apart, their noses almost touching. Hermione could feel Draco's hot breath on her face. Her eyes widened as his eyes closed and he moved closer and closer until.....
"Draco!" Lucius Malfoy called out as he strolled down the corridor. "Draco, we need to talk!"
Draco's eyes snapped open and he looked at Hermione with very obvious fake disappointment.
He leaned in close to her ear and whispered dangerously, "We'll continue this later," with a smirk. Hermione's eyes flashed with disgust and went to slap him but Draco still had her arms pinned above her head.
He's just teasing... right? Hermione thought not all that confidently.
Draco gave her another smirk before suddenly remembering the matter at. He glanced down at Chantelle, then back at Hermione whom he was still on top of and decided that if his father found them in a state like this, he most certainly would not be pleased.
With a flick of his wand, the door silently closed itself, hopefully it would stall Lucius for a few moments. Then he scrambled off the floor, taking Hermione with him.
"Listen to me if you want to live," Draco hissed in her ear. Hermione's eyes widened and she listened intently.
A few moments later, Hermione found herself on the floor of the bathroom after being roughly and hurriedly pushed in there by Draco. She stood up angrily and opened her mouth to yell at her enemy and captor but the door was suddenly slammed in her face. Hermione clenched her fists furiously, wanting more than anything to punch him in the face like she did in third year. But this was no time to be foolish and irrational. Draco meant it when he implied his fathers dangerousness.
As she irritably sat down on the side of the bathtub, Hermione heard Draco mutter something to restore the chains back to their original state, then another to remove the food. She wondered how he was going to get out of this one...
"Draco? Are you in there?" Lucius asked, tapping on the door with his serpent cane. Hermione felt her heart rate quicken when she heart his soft, cool voice. Hermione felt chills go up and down her spine; she mentally slapped herself.
Get a grip on yourself!
Hermione heard the door open and Lucius Malfoy enter the room.
"Draco, we-"Lucius stopped mid sentence, obviously finding the unconscious maid sprawled on the floor. The corner of Hermione's mouth curled up into a smile. Oh, what she would have done to see the look on his face...
"What on Earth..."
"Father, I can explain," Hermione heard Draco say.
"Well you see... Chantelle, the maid... stupid girl... the food was especially... for Granger... must have eaten...."
Hermione got up off the tub and pressed her ear against the door, hoping to hear more. But it seemed as though they lowered their voices even more! She heard a muffled response from Lucius but couldn't make it out. What ever it was, it seemed angry.
"I got the chef... mild Muggle poison... food – not deadly... excellent sedative..."
Hermione's brows creased as she strugged to hear more.
What on Earth are they talking about?
"Obviously... too much in... maid collapsed..."
"Muggle methods?" Lucius raised his voice angrily. "Why are you using Muggle methods when you could just as easily knock her out with a quick spell?" Draco's voice lowered immediately to a whisper and Hermione only just made out parts of his anwer.
"I want... trust."
Lucius laughed hollowy, "Why do you... trust? You'll be... month-"
"Father, we may need to further this discussion at another time and place. The Mudblood's using the bathroom-"
"Draco what have I told you about-"Lucius began heatedly.
"Father, please!" Draco yelled over the top of him and more muffled speaking followed.
"Alright... trust you'll... prepare for tonight?" Lucius asked, again so softly Hermione had to strain to hear the words.
"Yes father... be ready..."
There was a moment of silence before Hermione heard Lucius's footsteps head out of the room and the door click as he closed it behind him and his footsteps fade quickly away. As soon as she was sure he was gone, Hermione threw the bathroom door open.
"Alright Malfoy, what the hell is going on?!" Hermione demanded, stomping over to where he stood beside the bed.
Draco sighed, "All will become clear tonight, Granger."
Hermione glared at him and spat, "What do you mean by that?"
"My father has invited you to join us for dinner tonight," Draco said shortly. "I'll have to find something decent for you to wear." He looked Hermione up and down from her torn and dirty robes to her messy, frizzed hair. "And for someone to help you with... that."
Hermione narrowed her eyes unsurely at him. Draco rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the arm.
"Come on!" He exclaimed and pulled Hermione forcefully out of the room.
"Where are you taking me?" Hermione insisted, resisting against him.
"To get ready, surely you don't want to go like that!" Draco pointed at her robes. Hermione thought about it for a second before giving up resisting and following Draco down the hall in silence.
"Here we are," Draco said as they reached a high wooden door.
"What exactly is here?" Hermione inquired, as Draco pushed the door open. Inside the huge room sat tables and racks and desks; all filled with clothes and makeup.
"Wow..." Hermione breathed. She saw Draco watching her with amusement, so she replaced her awed look with another frown. Suddenly, a woman appeared from between the racks.
"Ah, mister Malfoy. This is her, I presume?"
Draco nodded curtly. "Yes, Maria, this is Hermione Granger, Hermione – Maria." A short glance at both of them before he continued. "My father invited her to dinner tonight and..." They both glanced at Hermione before back at each other, a look of understanding on the womans face.
"Ah, yes. Well don't you worry. I'll have her looking a million galleons!" Hermione stared at the woman, still in shock with what was happening. Suddenly she found Maria's hand on her shoulder, guiding her around the room. Hermione opened her mouth and turned around to talk to Draco but found he was gone.
"... red really is your colour, did you know?"
Hermione span back around. "Sorry, what?"
"Red, dear. It looks good on you," Maria repeated, showing Hermione a tight red dress that she thought would show a lot more skin than what she was willing to; especially to Malfoy.
"No, no... not red, thanks," Hermione insisted and Maria continued to drag her further down the aisle.
"Sunset orange, pixie green, floral pink... aha!" Maria stopped so suddenly that Hermione ran into her.
"Serpent Green." Maria's eyes flashed with recognition as she pulled the coat hanger off the rack and held the dress up in front of her. Before she could get a good look at the dress, the woman threw it at Hermione's chest – almost knocking her out with the sheer force – and pushed her into a small room and shut the door.
The room was the wizards equivalent to a Muggle's changeroom, quite alike those shops Hermione's parents took her shopping. Hermione hung the dress up on a hook on the wall and quickly stripped off her dirty robes, jeans and t-shirt. She then took the dress off the hanger and put it over her head, gently easing it on. As soon as it was on completely, Hermione felt an odd shiver run through her body; nothing painful, just... unusual.
The dress fitted perfectly, as if it were made for her. It clung tightly to her figure but wasn't uncomfortably or suffocating. The neckline was v-shaped and hung quite low, but not so much so that Hermione was uncomfortable in it. Serpent Green... it did remind her a little of snake skin – but only the colour. The material was hard to pick. It seemed to be velvet but felt so much better – like some kind of upper-class velvet. Hermione suppresesed a snort.
Trust Malfoy to get the best of everything.
Hermione couldn't understand the feeling she got from this dress; it was surreal, she couldn't explain it. But she didn't have much more time to think about it as a voice interupted her thoughts.
"Hermione, are you done dear?" Maria's voice came from behind the door. Hermione opened the door and stepped back out into the other room.
"Ah, yes... perfect!" Maria exclaimed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands, not unlike a small child. Hermione was a little taken aback with her enthusiasm, and took a small step backwards. Maria either didn't notice or ignored this action, as she stepped forward and pulled Hermione over towards a mirror. She stood behind Hermione and began playing with her hair, holding it up in all sorts of styles. After a little while, she pulled out her wand and began trying a few things out.
Finally, she decided on a nice, simple straight style, which Hermione was quite content with. After that, Maira picked out a nice pair of black, strappy heels; and just the right size too...
Then she applied some makeup. Hermione refused to let the woman completely doll her up, so Maria was forced to only apply the basics.
Once done, Maria looked Hermione up and down, frowning a little.
"What, is something wrong?" Hermione asked.
"There's just something missing..." The crease in Maria's forehead immediately disappeared and it seemed as though she had come up with a solution. She skipped happily down one of the aisle and disappeared. A moment later she reappeared with a gold chain in her hands. As she clasped it together at the back of Hermione's neck and let it hang, Hermione could hardly not be impressed.
A gold heart-shaped pendant hung from the chain. It was quite heavy, but not annoyingly so. There was a clasp on the edge. As Hermione reached to open it, Maria cut her off.
"Ah yes, that's perfect! Well, Mister Malfoy will be expecting you. Come on, let's go!" Before Hermione could do anything, she found herself, for what seemed the umpteenth time that day, being dragged out of the room.
Hermione - whilst being dragged out of the room and up the corridor – had a closer look at the pendant and something peculiar caught her eye. It was an engraving; an inscription. Holding the pendant closer to her eye, Hermione observed it closer. Two letters; initials to be exact.
HG
A/N – I love cliffies! Lol, I'm sure you don't though! Sorry, most of that was really badly written... I think I'm suffering from a writers block!!! Also, I promised I'd update by yesterday at the latest... lol obviously I'm a little late.
I was sitting at the computer and something fell from the roof into the computer. I had a look but I couldn't see anything. So I continued writing this story!!! Next second I look up and there's this huge white tail spider on my printer!!! So I ran out of the room screaming and refused to go in there for the rest of the night... Lol I hate spiders. Ah well... that's why it's late.
Oh and thanks to ALL my reviewers! Mwa, I love yaz! Oh and one in particular...
Nicetuff – I hate it in stories when they rush the kiss, lol, so I'm going to try and keep it off for a while as you suggested!
Also, I'd reply to all of my other reviewers, but I'm sure you'd all prefer me to write the story, right? But thanks HEAPS to all of you!
Please review!!!
Marauders Gal