Hermione stared up at the Georgian stately home. It would be her home now.
The house was friendlier than Malfoy Manor, the stone was sunny Bath stone, and the whole place had an air that no real evil had happened there and lingered as some houses had. The gardens were well attended and beautifully fashioned.
But there was something wrong.
It was quiet, almost too quiet. Hermione couldn't think why it was so. There were birds singing in the woodlands behind the estate boundary. A blackbird was singing away quite happily somewhere nearby.
Turning to the village, on the border of which sat Malfoy Place, Hermione realized what the problem was.
The village was a ghost town. Not a soul was present except Hermione and Draco. He was looking at her curiously, observing how she took the news.
"What happened to everyone?"
"Voldemort happened. The first war. House was occupied then. Grandfather lived here while my parents had the Manor. He'd already willed it to me from birth but he didn't believe in Voldemort's ways and methods. Don't get me wrong he believed in pure-blood supremacy but not how Voldemort went about securing it. To punish him for not joining the Death Eaters and for publically denouncing Voldemort and my father for joining him, one night Voldemort cursed this village. A plague came stealthily in the night and killed everyone suddenly. Grandfather caved and donated a large sum of money to Voldemort's cause. Voldemort released the curse but everyone was already dead."
"That's terrible. They didn't do anything to him."
"When has that ever stopped him?"
Hermione knew it was true and turned back to the house. A ghost house for a ghost town.
Hermione was losing herself in her thoughts about the house when she felt a strong hand grip her elbow. "Come along." Draco said gruffly, pulling her forwards into the house.
Inside it was grand but a little dusty. "House elves have only been in since last night. First job, clean up the place." Draco said chuckling a little. "I may even help you."
She looked at him surprised but wisely held her tongue. A snarky comment might reduce her privilege list.
He took her up to her room, small for a house this size but about the same size as the head girl dorm at Hogwarts. Draco made a joke about this; he had been the head boy and they had spent that last year at school yelling at each other in their shared common room. Needless to say it hadn't exactly been a productive partnership.
Hermione liked it, this she could work with. Part of her privilege list had been liberty to ransack the attics and pick out what she wanted. This included hundreds of portraits and beautiful furniture. It also included the clothes she would wear; stored wardrobes of Draco's grandmothers and great grandmothers.
The walls were plainly wallpapered in a golden poppy colour, slightly hideous but when she saw the angle the room faced she understood. The windows faced south and west meaning that it would catch the sun all day. The wallpaper would make the room light without the need for candles and lamps. Plain simple furniture stood around with a similar bed to the ones at Hogwarts.
For the first few days she and her little team of four elves worked hard to clean, tidy and arrange the house. Draco even helped out with some of the heavy lifting. He couldn't help the snide little remark about the fact that Hermione's magic was a little rusty, but he smiled as he said it so she knew it was in jest.
But she hadn't been called to his bed yet. It couldn't be nerves; he was a stud and he knew it. At school he'd been termed the bona fide Sex God.
It was more the fact that he would be her first. He had been right when he said she didn't have a great deal of experience in this area. In fact she practically had no experience.
She observed Draco when she could do so inconspicuously. He caught her looking a lot and sometimes when she was working she felt his eyes on her. He had a habit of appearing suddenly in doorways, making a snide comment and then leaving again.
Days passed before he told her very calmly as she served him dinner that she was to come to his room later that night. And so it begins…
In the same breath he informed her that she had to organise a housewarming party for the death eaters and that he would give her the guest list in the morning. Very casually, and with a devilish smirk on his face, he told her that he had advised them to bring their human slaves along to prevent escapes in their absence.