In this bed, I felt very comfortable. It was as though I was sleeping on warm, fluffy clouds. This wasn't my bed. I sat up abruptly and checked my surroundings. The cloudy bed was a 4-poster bed with a silver theme, much like the rest of the room. It seemed I was still at the manor – the Zabini manor. My eyebrows creased together as I wondered why I didn't remember much of what happened yesterday apart from being apparated here and the hugs.
A scowl formed on my face and I looked around for my purse.
"Is miss Hermione missing something? Freddy has been asked to help the miss if she needs help!" A house elf's voice sounded. Out of shock I turned around and the slight anger I had boiling in me raised in intensity and I was fuming.
"Can you please take me to Mrs Zabini, Freddy?" I asked as politely as I could, but failing to hide my anger while the elf cowered a little.
"Yes miss- Freddy has been ordered to help." He grabbed my hand and we popped out of the room and into a dining room where the godamn woman was sipping some tea while reading the Daily Prophet. My anger erupted as I began yelling at her.
"What the hell makes you think you can treat me like this even if you are my biological mother! You're a foul woman to think you can just swoop in like some sort of saviour just to make yourself seem like a fucking goddess in your opinion! I am my own person and I wish you never contacted me, you're going to take me back to my home, with my purse and a new umbrella, right. Now." My fists were tightly clenched, much like my teeth and I was sure my hair looked like a big brown bush. I was a little more relieved from the anger at being able to yell it out. But when I heard an unfamiliar chuckle from the other side of the table, I was caught off guard. I spun around to see Blaise Zabini from school. Even though he never bothered me, I glared at him, I hated all these purebloods that thought they were above everyone else.
I looked back at the woman and she had put down the newspaper and the cup of tea. She looked like she was about to cry. My anger faded and I felt concerned. I never make people cry.
"I-I'm sorry-I just don't know how to handle this situation; it's all very confusing and hard to adjust to. I wish none of this ever happened." I began to turn away and find the house elf to see if he might help me leave but he wasn't anywhere. I turned back, Blaise was no longer in the room, Maria was sitting there, weeping. I almost sighed but I didn't want to make her feel worse.
"Are you okay…Maria?" At this she seemed to try and bring herself to stop crying as she wiped her face carefully and stood up to walk towards me. Her voice was croaky when she talked.
"I just wish you would let me be your mother now, Hermione." My forehead wrinkled as my eyebrows moved upwards. How can she expect that? I'm almost an adult, its too late for her to take that role from my mum – Mrs Granger.
"Who's my father then?" My anger returned, but then I could see a hint of panic in her features and she began to weep again. Out of impulse I hugged her and asked her no to cry and out of the corner of my eye I saw Freddy.
"Freddy can you please grab some tissues?" He popped away and popped back with a blue box of tissues. I took it and put it on the table, removing myself from Maria and grabbed a tissue to hand to her.
"Thank you, dear." She said softly and brokenly. She blew her nose loudly, something I would have never thought she would do in front of me.
"I-I'm sorry, Hermione. I was a very stupid woman when I was younger." Having made mistakes myself, I found myself sympathising for her. She hugged me again and I wasn't sure whether I liked it, loved it or hated it. And, again, she was stroking my hair, making me close my eyes instinctively.
After a few long moments she let me go after hearing my stomach growl.
"Are you hungry? I can fetch a house elf to make you fresh breakfast." She caressed my face with a tender affection. But I refused to have the elves be used as servants.
"Maria, I'm capable of cooking something for myself, you needn't make a hou-"
"Of course, dear. I've heard about how passionate you are about the treatment of the elves, we're the kind of people who don't treat them roughly, there's an unusual respectful relationship between Blaise, myself and the house elves. Other purebloods are rough and rude to them, I refuse to live like that. Just because they're not people doesn't mean they don't have feelings." I could have believed every word she said, but I was confident it was all for show.
"How do you know so much about me?" She smiled at me, as though pleased that I asked.
"Blaise has a very close friendship to another boy in Slytherin, they've been good friends for most of their lives and I tend to overhear things, when I heard that Draco," a scowl formed on my face at the mention of his name, "was second to a muggle-born at school, it was most curious. So I investigated into you and found out that you were Hermione."
"But… why now? Why not as soon as you found out?" It annoyed me greatly that she wouldn't do that, but then again, that could be a good thing to grow up the way I did.
She was nodding her head, eyes closed in agreement. "Indeed, I should have. I wish I did, but I don't think you would have turned out as beautifully as you have, Hermione." She smiled a proud smile at me and hugged me again. I thought I would be sick of her hugs by now, but I wasn't.
"Which way is the kitchen, Maria?" I implored, my stomach was very unsettled.
"It's this way," Mrs Zabini stated and we walked through a door near where she was eating beforehand and we followed through a cosy corridor and into another room, obviously the kitchen. It was filled with kitchenware along one wall to the right, a bench through the middle, a stove and an oven on the other side and stored ingredients stored at the wall furthered from me. I grabbed some sliced sourdough bread and started to poach two eggs. I could feel Maria's eyes on me and it didn't bother me whilst I saw it as an opportunity to show her I'm capable without her.
It took me several more minutes to finish up eating, then I realised that since I had egg, I would need to fix up my breath.
"Mrs Zabini? Do you know what happened to my purse? I can't remember anything from yesterday after we arrived." I thought I almost heard her start to laugh maliciously but it would have been in my head because she didn't seem even slightly evil right now.
"I thought Freddy had left it on the bedside table in your room." I hoped she didn't imply that she wanted that room to be my bedroom other than for last night, never to be used again.
"Okay, where is that?" Now she did laugh, but it was a friendly one. I stared at her, trying to figure out why it would be funny, until I realised that I had stormed into the dining room after being apparated there by Freddy and then I found myself laughing too. I felt at ease with her. Maybe I could give her a chance, but Mrs Granger will always be the woman who raised me.
Maria started walking whilst holding my hand and dragged me back through the door and we manoeuvred through a couple of corridors to get back to the silver and room. And, upon a second glance, it was present on the stable beside the bed I slept in. I felt a little foolish, but this was all too much to take in.
"Did you want to go to the ministry?" Maria asked me, on top of all of these things. It angered me again, I would've forgotten.
"I need to brush my teeth, first, Mrs Zabini."
She waved her wand and I felt a cold sensation through my mouth. And then I smiled at her, but not willingly.
"Shall we?" She was very eager.
"We shall." I said, trying to sound as cautious as I was feeling, preventing her from being able to catch onto that. I thought about all the things this woman has done to me in the past, why would she let me be happy with myself and then take that away from me? I was comfortable with who I was, she had no right to take that away. I tried not to grunt in frustration and instead followed her to the floo fireplace.
"I've organised with the Department of Children for a discrete appointment, so we will floo directly there." She grabbed some powder from a bowl sitting on a table and stepped into the flames. I wish she were being burnt. "Office of Legitimacy." She said it flawlessly and enunciated each syllable with such grace that left a sour taste in my mouth. I grabbed a moderate amount of powder and walked into the fire and threw it down as I repeated Maria.