Tsukiyo69

You are welcome dearie! Yes, while the rest of us are dreaming about unicorns and leprechauns our dear Salazar is dreaming about using his favourite spell upon the innocent muggle-borns!

Our dear Godric was drinking for a whole new reason that will be disclosed in the future chapters. Hermione is seventeen-years old. A full grown-up witch. Tehee!

SereniteRose

You made me blush. Thank you for your kind words.

Waterflower20

It's secret! MUAHAHAHA! On a more serious note, whatever Salazar father asked of him can't be good. He's not a very good person, you see. Oops. Said too much already!

SpiritLoverMuggleborn

I wouldn't dream of it. Updates will be very slow at this point of my life but they will happen. I hope everyone will stick around though! *W*

DinaTheCat

OMG! I love your name dearie! xD! Here's the update! I hope you like it!

I give you this to take with you; nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting."

- Judith Minty, Letters to My Daughters.

Chapter III

Her heart was beating too fast and almost violently against her ribcage. Her gaze followed her fingertips as they brushed through the cold stone wall. She could feel the magic within. It was old and completely foreign to her. This was the Slytherin magic – the magic of hundreds of generations was surrounding her and it was intoxicating. This had been the magic that Salazar Slytherin had grown-up into. This was the magic that he had encountered every day; seducing, mysterious and powerful dark magic.

"What are ye' standing there for lass?" Ingrid snapped as she looked at the tiny woman that the young master had simply dumped in their midst. If she had to be honest with herself, she found Hermione Granger a hindrance but she had to endure it and make sure that the young woman did not land herself in trouble.

Hermione blinked and blushed bright red as she hurried towards the older woman. She muttered an apology and together they walked down the long dark corridor that led them to the servant's quarters.

Thankfully, Hermione adjusted fairly quickly to the new job, which was a blessing since Ingrid was a hard taskmaster. She shadowed her and other two servants for a whole week, learning the ropes and routines of the Slytherin household.

Her main duties was making beds, collecting laundry, and clearing up after meals. When there was time, she would join the other three maidservants she shared her room with and together they would spend time in the servant's room or would sneak out for a walk outside.

For the next weeks, she worked in peace. She befriended her fellow servants, including the young women she shared her room with.

Eowa was from the city; her family ran a business of making leather shoes. She was quiet and reserved but no less prone to town gossip. She had accepted to become a maidservant for the Slytherin Household to run away from an arranged marriage. According to her, she would only marry when she found her true love. Hermione hoped that she would find it someday. She couldn't imagine someone grow old and waste their life away serving someone else.

Clarice was the opposite from Eowa. She was always talking, smiling and laughing. She loved telling stories about her previous lovers which did not bode well with the highly conservative Ingrid which was not the biggest fan of those tales.

And then there was Katherine.

Hermione did not see much of Katherine. She often heard the young woman sneak back into their room late in the night and she often left again early in the morning. Clarice and Eowa shared the theory that Katherine was seeing one of the high lords of the Slytherin house and that she had been hired to perform the tasks of a mistress.

The bushy-haired witch thought that there must be more to the story but she should not pry into other people's business.

When asked, Hermione told both Clarice and Eowa that she did not remember much about her past. She remembered being rescued by Salazar Slytherin which made both women gasp and squeal. Hermione was surprised when both women claimed that they would make sure that they would help her build new memories of her now new life.

She immediately broke into tears as she thought back to both Ronald and Harry. She missed them dearly and the thought of going home was constant plaguing her mind. She needed to go to Hogwarts. She strongly felt that the castle held the ticket that would get her back home.

"Hermione, a word please."

"Yes, Ingrid," she replied, leaving both Eowa and Clarice in the bedroom. Once outside she was startled to see the older woman with her arms crossed and a concerned expression plastered on her face.

"You are not sleeping," She stated bluntly. Ingrid was not one for pleasantries.

"I… I have a lot on my mind," she blurted out, blinking and tried to keep herself from breaking down in front of the other woman.

Ingrid gave her a piercing look, one that clearly told Hermione to be out with it. This was Ingrid's kindness. She would not coddle her like her roommates. She was direct and preferred to tackle the problem head on.

"Salazar…"

"Lord Salazar," corrected Ingrid forcibly.

Hermione looked down and smoothed her skirt, "L-lord Salazar… I… I need to see him."

"Lord Salazar left." Ingrid blurted out and looked down at Hermione in absolute confusion. What did she want with the young Lord? All the other maidservants were scared to even speak his name. He was not a pleasant lad to the ladies. He was not a pleasant lad to anyone, period.

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked back at Ingrid as though she had been slapped hard. He had left? To Hogwarts?! She had wanted to ask but the stern look on Ingrid's face stopped her from doing so.

Hermione nodded curtly and quickly walked back to her room, surprising both Eowa and Clarice as she collapsed in bed and screamed, cried, all at once.

"It looks good, Eowa." Hermione told her, admiring the arrangement of leaves she was setting up in a large glass vase.

Eowa smiled, "I'm nowhere as good as you are," she said as she waved her wand, "I remember-"

Both women seemed to take notice of the awkward silence that seemed to have consumed the entire servant's room. Slowly, Hermione looked over her shoulder, taking in the well-dressed Lord that was in the room facing an extremely shocked Ingrid.

"My lord…. Salazar, uh… please welcome."

"I am looking for someone. A young woman by the name of Hermione granger."

Hermione's eyes widened in sheer recognition as the man turned around revealing the familiar face of Salazar Slytherin. She immediately sat up and walked up to him fighting the urge to lift her hand up to touch him to make sure that he was real and not just a fragment of her imagination. Maybe she should slap him. Make sure that he was real and show him how upset she was that he had left.

His bright green eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement as she stopped before him. He looked down at her as if he was silently challenging her and that infuriated her.

"Where is my wand!?" she demanded, her cheeks burning as she had meant to ask something else entirely different. She waved the wand she had in her possession in front of his face and he didn't seem the slightest daunted about it.

A slight smirk came to play on his handsome face, "It is safe, milady." He said and looked around offering everyone a short nod which was clearly more of a polite dismissing.

Hermione blinked as everyone hurried to fulfill their Lord demand and she felt herself blushing furiously as Eowa winked at her on her way out. Get a hold of yourself, Hermione thought as she straightened up and faced Salazar Slytherin, both now completely alone.

"I want it back." She said and took a deep breath, "I want my wand back. I appreciate what you have done for me. You… you saved my life but I need to go back home…" she didn't even know where to start, could she even trust him?

"And is your wand the only thing keeping you away from home?" he asked her, a knowing look plastered on his face.

She didn't like the way he was looking at her as though he knew every secret of hers. She swallowed hard as his words caught her completely off guard. "It's complicated…"

"Yes. I wouldn't need you to tell me about it. After all, home doesn't sound to be the safest place for you, now is it?" he asked, moving around to circle around her. He smiled as she paled up considerably. She was frightened at the thought of home and yet she so desperately wished to return to it. How odd.

"Where is home, Hermione?" he asked, stopping behind her, whispering the question as he placed his mouth next to her ear.

His voice was like the magic that surrounded this place; - intoxicating.

The hair of the back of her neck stood on its end as his breath tickled her skin. Goosebumps spread on her skin and she wished to find a place to hide. He was toying with her. Trying to break her, trying to find the answers to whatever he was seeking.

Clenching her jaw, she turned around slowly, their faces mere inches away from each other, "Hogwarts." She answered and was surprised as he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and violently pushed her against the wall.

"No." he hissed, "Hogwarts is not your home." He said with gritted teeth, a strange look now on his face as he looked at her, "Your kind does not have a home." He spat angrily now.

She shook as he was hurting her. She brought her own hands and placed them on his chest, trying to push him off her but to no avail. He was taller and stronger.

He knew she was a muggle-born then? How? Her brain tried to process all at once but she felt tired, frightened and confused.

"My kind?" She asked angrily as she tried to push him off her, "What? You can smell it off me?!"

He suddenly let her go and seemed to be awfully composed for what had just transpired between the two of them. Salazar ran a hand through his dark hair and took a deep breath as he looked down at her. She was rubbing her left shoulder and he knew he must have hurt her and suddenly felt ashamed.

"Abandon your duties as a servant." He suddenly spoke, noticing the way her eyes widened slightly, "I will send a servant collect your things."

She took a deep breath and nodded slowly, "Are we going back to Hogwarts?" she asked and did not like the way he smirked back at her.

"No, love." He said with a frightening smirk on his face. He moved his hand to caress her cheek and he loved the way she trembled and tried to appear strong at the same time, "Not until I'm done with you."

Hey dearies, I realized second chapter sounded a bit rushed. So I decided to tweak this chapter a bit so it complimented the previous one in a better way. o_o am i making any sense? Jeesus. ANYWAY!

Are you a beta reader? PM me. I need someone to help me out with this story!

Lot's of love, Matsujunchann