Chapter 27
Hermione, Harry, and Lily were all swept through the fireplace with a wave goodbye to Richard and Dudley. The pair they left behind were watching some show on the television, a cooking show it looked like. With a flash of green, the trio was gone, traveling in an instant from London to Wiltshire.
Stepping out of the fireplace, Hermione's breath caught as she looked around at the foyer that they'd been deposited into. "This is absurd," she muttered, walking past what must have been some of the most intricate tapestries she'd ever seen. The displays of witches drinking wine were mute, but they must have understood what she'd said as they each began to giggle behind their hands.
"I'm pretty sure there's gold woven in these," Lily said with awe, stepping closer to the walls, clearly as taken aback as Hermione was. The witch Lily was studying began to sweep her gown, showing off the glittering pattern as if confirming Lily's suspicions to be true.
"Hm, I suppose," Harry said, looking around, completely oblivious to the wealth that surrounded them. "Do you think they're feeding us?" He asked, his hands in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his feet waiting for his mother and sister to finish gawking at the decor.
Lily's only response to her son was slapping him upside his head as she lifted her skirt to follow behind the little house elf that was waiting to escort them to where the party was being held. As they walked through the corridor, Hermione's mind was spinning as she tried to take in the environment. Everything, from the marble floor tiles to the crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, all screamed old money.
"Do you think the rumors that one of their ancestors had a relationship with Queen Elizabeth are true?" Lily asked as they passed a portrait of a blonde man standing outside Buckingham Palace.
"Honestly, I wouldn't put it past this family," Hermione replied in a hush tone as they entered the room the house elf was indicating to.
"It was actually the first Lucius Malfoy who sought her hand," a man said, smiling at the two witches who'd just been gossiping about his family history. "Ambitious man, however Elizabeth was not a witch, and he nearly cost us everything by breaking the statue of secrecy pursuing her. Luckily, a memory charm was easy enough to place, therefore saving him from being prosecuted. Lucius Malfoy, and this is my darling wife Narcissa. We've very pleased to welcome the three of you into our home." Draco's father said, taking Lily's hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles.
It felt like she was looking into Draco's future. Long white hair hung freely around his shoulders, his silver eyes a bit more almond shaped as opposed to Draco's rounder ones. The dress robes he wore were clearly custom made, as they fit him perfectly, showing off the broad chest and his waist not nearly as narrow as his sons'. Lord, if she had a thing for older men, Lucius Malfoy would top the list.
"Draco has told us so much about you Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger," Draco's mother, Narcissa said, pulling Hermione's attention away from his father to the witch next to him. Hermione felt Lily use her finger to close her mouth as Hermione stared at the witch standing before her.
She was, well to put it simply, one of the most beautiful women Hermione had ever seen. High cheekbones with full pink lips. Her slender frame was something to envy and made her seem delicate, but her height made her intimidating. Her eyes were an icy blue and paired with the silver blonde hair, if Hermione had to waver a guess, she would put money on it that Narcissa had veela blood in her.
"And of course Draco has told me so much about you as well, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione lied. Draco had hardly mentioned his parents, seeing as how recently the little blonde git could hardly remove his lips from her… Well, anyway.
It appeared that his mother knew Hermione was only being polite, a smirk similar to Draco's tugging at the corners of her mouth. A few other pleasantries were exchanged between the adults before the trio left the hosts to continue greeting their guests.
As soon as Harry spotted Pansy, he ran off, without so much as a goodbye to either Hermione or his mother. It didn't take long after that when Hermione finally spotted her two wizards off in the corner, absorbed in whatever they were busy doing.
"Go on, have fun with your friends," Lily told her, pushing her towards the small crowd. "I'll be fine on my own, I'm sure there's someone here that will be willing to entertain me." The redheaded witch told her stepdaughter as she accepted a glass of champagne floating past her.
Not needing to be told twice, Hermione darted across the room, straight towards the prats that she called hers. "A small gathering of close friends?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow as soon as she was within earshot of Draco. When he gave her a questioning look, she gestured at the rather large group gathered in the Malfoy's 'smaller, more intimate' ballroom.
Theo, his mom, and stepdad (the bloody Minister of Magic), Astoria had brought her parents, sister, and her sister's boyfriend, along with the boyfriend's family. Pansy, her family, Harry, Lily, and Hermione. Of course, can't forget Luna with her mom and stepdad. And for some unknown reason, Sirius had managed to get an invitation from Draco's mother, of course bringing Remus and Draco's Aunt Andromeda with her husband, pregnant daughter, and son-in-law. That's not even mentioning the countless other more prominent wizarding families who Hermione had no idea who they were.
"I didn't realize your cousin was married to a Weasley," Hermione commented as the rather large redheaded man followed closely behind his heavily pregnant wife. His body was mostly covered in scars and burns, making Hermione deduce that he more than likely worked closely with dragons, if not an actual dragon handler. The cousin seemed to be unaware that her hair was flashing an array of color every time she sneezed, and no one besides Hermione appeared phased by this, meaning this was not caused by her pregnancy, but that she was a natural metamorphmagus.
"Oh, Tonks," Draco said, looking up from the game of chess he was currently beating Blaise Zabini in. (Forgot to mention that this also had nearly all of Draco's friends on the guest list as well.) "Yeah, well Charlie isn't too bad. He moved to Romania right out of Hogwarts and then was recruited to come back to England to start up a dragon sanctuary here. Bloke is a bloody genius when it comes to dragons. Checkmate."
"There's no way! You cheated!" Blaise exclaimed, knocking the chess board to the ground, and tackling Draco as he leaped across the table.
"Anyway," Hermione said to herself, walking away from the now brawling boys as a small group of other idiot wizards gathered to cheer them on. No longer surprised by the array of guests, Hermione waved as Ginny rounded the corner to see her boyfriend currently fighting for his honor, or whatever they were doing.
"Draco cheated?" The Gryffindor girl asked as she spotted the pair now being chastised by Narcissa.
"I wouldn't believe there's something he hasn't cheated on besides Theodore," Hermione commented, making the younger witch snort with laughter.
"Honestly, the entire display is a disgrace," a man Hermione knew to be Pansy's father scowled loud enough to be heard before sweeping away.
"What's his problem?" Hermione asked Ginny, who only shrugged her shoulders.
"He's one of the Wizengamot members who keeps blocking any of the reforms that Kings keeps trying to push through. Dad says that he sees him talking with Nott Sr all the time in the Ministry. Pretty sure they're working together, but for some reason Parkinson keeps his nastier comments to himself. Oh, for Merlin's sake," Ginny said, looking at Blaise who was whispering to his house elf. "If you'll excuse me," the younger witch smiled at Hermione before marching up to her boyfriend.
Now alone and not wanting to stay in the overly crowded room, Hermione looked around to ensure that no one was paying any attention to her before she slipped from the space. Small gathering her ass, there had to be nearly one-hundred people crammed in there.
Walking down the dimly lit corridor, Hermione couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable at the hissed insults being thrown her way by the portraits. "An American mudblood, Lucius couldn't sink the family name any lower." One spat at her as she opened a door, peering inside at the small impersonal study. "First he produces a gay heir, and now he allows mudblood filth to wander the halls of our ancestral home!" Another screeched when Hermione stopped to inspect a suit of armor that kept adjusting its position to keep her in its direct line of sight.
Becoming more irritated by the moment, Hermione rubbed her sleeve on one of the vases, causing a collective gasp of horror at her lack of use of magic to try and clean such a precious piece of pottery. "She's trying to steal our magic!" One of the portraits exclaimed at her actions, making Hermione roll her eyes.
In all honesty, had Hermione not cared what Narcissa thought of her, she probably would have knocked it over and let the damn thing shatter on the ground. As is, she decided it might be poor etiquette to break something on her first visit. The second, however, anything was possible.
Continuing her exploration, Hermione's breath caught as she opened an obscure door that she might have otherwise missed if she hadn't been carefully searching every inch of the manor she was examining. The small side door was what she assumed was a secret entrance into the most magnificent library she'd ever seen in her life. Books filled every space for as far as the eye could see, the magic within enticing her to go further into the room. Hermione felt as if she were in a trance as she ran her fingers over the bindings, the magic held within each humming in response, as if they were eager for her to pick them up.
With no real reason, Hermione selected an older book on one of the lower shelves, and carried it to a plush chair facing a low burning fireplace. The small amount of light the fire gave, in addition to the heat warming her, allowed for Hermione to lose herself in The Tale of Three Brothers.
Hours might have passed, seeing as Hermione had read the children's book multiple times in addition to the small pile that had seemingly just appeared next to her. She'd thus far covered the fairy tales of British wizarding children, potions theories of the fourteenth century, the trials of the goblin rebellions, and a fascinating collection of personal journals written by Salazar Slytherin himself.
If anyone had missed her or had been looking for her, Hermione was none the wiser, lost in the wonderful histories written and preserved in the pages.
Truly, the only reason Hermione had even paused in her readings was the sound of footsteps walking towards her, and hushed voices, clearly not wanting to be overheard, thinking they were alone. Pulling her knees against her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible.
"This is out of control, Lucius," a man hissed. "You have not one, but two mudbloods in your home. One of whom is the mother of the filth my daughter is trying to sully herself with!" The man exclaimed, followed by the rattling of a bookshelf.
"And what would you have me do, Poseidon?" Draco's father drawled, sounding much more relaxed like his younger son than the clipped tones Luc tended to speak with. "Throw them out? Make a scene to please you? Draco insists that he and Theodore are going to make the girl their wife by the end of the next year, and I'll do no such thing that would insult her. She's brilliant, and given the right opportunity, she could do great things. Potter's father was a renowned Auror and his family lineage is nothing to scoff at, you should be pleased with the prospects of him joining your family."
"That's another thing, Malfoy," Pansy's father sneered, "your bloodline will be ruined if you allow this foolishness to continue. A gay son, openly sharing affection with another wizard in front of the entire room. I know you present your case to appear to align with the Minister, but to allow it under your roof? It's a disgrace, an outrage, your father would never have allowed it!"
Hermione's blood was beginning to boil the more she listened, but she did not dare reveal herself out of fear of what Lord Parkinson might be capable of. Lily had warned her that not all the pureblood families were as welcoming to those born to No Maj's, but this wasn't what she'd expected to overhear coming to visit Draco's home for the first time.
"Don't overstep yourself, Parkinson." Draco's father stated, sounding much more tense than he had just moments before. "My son and the type of life he lives is none of your business."
"My daughter insists that she's going to marry the Potter boy! I've entertained her long enough, allowing her to do as she pleases. I demand a contract to be written up between Draco and Pansy by the end of the night. There will be no half-blood on my family tree, fathering my grandchildren!" The other man shouted before a bang caused the room to shake and Hermione to let out a little squeak of surprise.
Luckily, it seemed that Mr. Malfoy hadn't heard Hermione. Peeking around the chair, she could see the long silver hair swaying with his movements as he began to move Pansy's unconscious father from the room, completely oblivious to the witness. Hermione ducked back into her place, not moving until the heavy main doors clicked shut. Still curled in the same ball, her breaths were coming rapidly as she thought about the main piece of information that she had to take away from that conversation.
Draco and Theo planned to marry her, by the end of the following year…