After chapter four, the updates will not be this quick. Probably once a week or so. I just happen to have the first four chapters already written and being proof read.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the views and reviews and follows! I'm serious shocked that this little whoha has gotten so much attention :D
This chapter is kinda long... that or the last chapter was just really short. We'll see.
CHAPTER THREE - THE NOTT BOX
Hermione groaned. Her head was throbbing. She rolled over, and noticed she was against something warm and soft. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up… way too fast. Her vision went black for a second and she fell back down onto the bed.
"Slow down, let's get you some hangover potion." A female voice said softly. Hermione opened her eyes slowly to see Pansy leaning over her.
"I feel terrible." Hermione complained.
"Faerie Quila will do that to you." Tracey stated from across the room.
"Where are we?" She groaned as Pansy helped her sit up. Tracey handed her the potion.
"My room. We were afraid if we left you alone you'd choke on your own vomit. You about fell off the bed thrashing in your sleep so I got Tracey to come over so we could act as barriers so you wouldn't fall." Pansy explained.
"Oh, Godric, I'm so sorry." Hermione groaned. Her head was finally clearing.
"No worried, it our fault we didn't warn you." Tracey admitted. "Now, we've got to do something about that bed head of yours."
Hermione ran her hand through her hair. It was slightly damp. "Did I take a shower?"
"Not really." Pansy said, her eyebrows knitting in concern. "It was more of we stuck you under the water clothes and all. Even Drake was soaked."
"Malfoy was there?" Hermione yipped.
"Yeah, he carried you. He was the least drunk of the boys. He was afraid the others would drop you." Tracey explained. "He made sure you didn't pass out in the shower too."
"You… kind of repaid him by vomiting all over him too." Pansy snickered. Hermione groaned.
"I'll have to apologize." She muttered.
"Nah, don't worry about it. He was furious that we didn't tell you about the Quila ahead of time though. Weasley was too. It's bad enough to get chewed out by Drake, but Weasley takes the cake. She hexed Blaise and Theo. Her bat-boogey hex really is terrifying." Pansy laughed.
"She's a good friend." Tracey finished. "Come on, we missed breakfast, but lunch is about to be served. You need food."
"Hold on, let me do something about that rat's nest." Pansy stated, pulling out a spell book from her drawer.
"My hair is not a rat's nest!" Hermione pouted.
"Pilorum Mundi." Pansy cast. Hermione felt her hair twist about her head. "Much better."
Hermione stood up, and examined herself in the full length mirror Pansy had in her room. She was wearing sweats that obviously belonged to a Slytherin, and a baggy loose fitting grey tee shirt that was most definitely not hers. Her hair had braided itself into a spiral against her head. It was cute.
"I didn't know there were spells for that!" Hermione said in glee.
Pansy snorted. "I figured you didn't know. They're released is Beauty Witch every month." She held a magazine out to Hermione. On the cover was a witch whose hair and makeup kept changing from one style to another then looped back. "You can tell 'cause you never did anything with that mop until the Yule ball."
Hermione pouted. "It took me two hours to fix my hair for that dance."
"Oh and it was well worth it." Tracey said gleefully. "You even got Viktor Krum as a date!"
Hermione's face went red, remembering her short stint with the Bulgarian wizard. They still kept in contact occasionally, and he sent her tickets to every single one of his games but she never found the opportunity to go.
"Food, now." Pansy grumbled, opening the door. Hermione sputtered.
"We need to change. I don't even know who's clothes I'm wearing."
"My clothes. It's the weekend, no one cares. Just sit at our table you'll fit right in. After what we let you go through, you're officially an honorary snake." Pansy stated as she hooked arms with Hermione and dragged her away.
Even though it was already past the first week of term, nearly no one except a hand full of students sat anywhere except for their house tables. The Patil twins took turns sitting together at their houses and Luna sat with Ginny and Neville. Hermione was on auto pilot and started towards the Gryffindor table.
"Nuh uh, sweetie. This way." Pansy hooked their arms together again, leading the way to the Slytherin table. Hermione shot an apologetic look towards Ginny, who in return gave her a thumbs up. Hermione's brow knitted together in confusion. What the heck did a thumbs up mean?
"Look who's alive!" Blaise declared, scooting over to allow enough room for Hermione to sit between him and Pansy. Tracey sat across from them between Theo and Malfoy.
"What will it be Princess? Waffles? Pancakes? Eggs and Bacon?" Blaise offered.
"Um, I usually have a Strawberry Scone." She said sheepishly. "And coffee."
Blaise served her. That wasn't something she was quite used to.
"Your hair looks nice." Malfoy said, Hermione blushed. "For once."
Tracey smacked his arm. "Ow?"
"Play nice." Pansy barked.
"Bloody hell, she barfed on me. I get to not play nice as much as I want." Malfoy growled.
"I'm so sorry." Hermione said, burring her face in her hands.
Malfoy snorted, taking a large chug of his coffee. "You owe me." Hermione nodded, without considering what owing a snake meant. Pansy seemed to notice, and gave Malfoy a warning look. He just shrugged, face carefully blank.
"Don't you have a date today, Pansy?" Malfoy scuffed.
"Oh right! I'll be right back. Play. Nice." She ordered Malfoy, who shot her his classic sneer. Several students watched in awe as Pansy made her way to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Neville, who turned visibly red from the Slytherin table.
"Well, I have an Ancient Runes essay in need of completion, so if you don't mind." Hermione excused herself, and made a quick escape back to the third floor corridor on the right hand side.
Snape stood there in the middle of the portrait sneering down at her. "Well if it isn't the insufferable know it all." He drawled down at her. "Tell me, why are you wearing my house colors. That don't flatter you a bit."
"Albus." Hermione growled through her teeth. Snape scuffed, and stepped to the side.
In the common room, the remains of yesterday's party had vanished—as well as her book and essay! Hermione darted up the stairs in an instant, and yanked open her room. She scoured through almost all of her stuff, unable to locate her belongings. Even her Arithmancy equations were gone.
By this time, she was able to hear others beginning to filter into the common room. It was Saturday, she could only assume they would be there for only a moment before vanishing. She hurried to the stairs, and leaned over the railing. The five other Gryffindor eighth years were bustling about. "Has anyone seen my books and Ancient Runes essay? It's gone."
Seamus shrugged. "Check wit' the elves." He suggested, peering up at her.
Cormac snorted. Hermione's eyes narrowed at him. "What's so funny McLaggen?" She demanded. "Do you know where my stuff is?"
Cormac shook his head. "Nah, why don't you go ask your beloved snakes? They're sly enough to take your things." He sneered. "Looks like they even made you one of them last night." He nodded at her clothes. "Who was it? Nott? Zabini? Malfoy?" He had a nasty tone about him.
Seamus and Dean gave her a concerning look. Hermione rolled her eyes. "For your information, Cormac—" She snapped back, "These are Pansy's clothes. I accidently got ahold of some Faerie Quila, her and Tracey took care of me." She said as-a-matter-of-factly.
"It's true." Neville claimed.
"Oh shut up, Longbottom. You're just as much of a snake lover as she." Cormac smeared. Neville went red.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and made her way down the stairs. She brushed past McLaggen, ignoring him. She was on her way out of the common room when she collided with a body coming into the common room. A rich, musky smell filled her nose and she looked up. A platinum blonde smirk greeted her. "In a rush to come see me, Princess?"
Hermione growled. "Nope, just trying to find my homework."
"Your stuff from last night?" Theo appeared right behind them, and Malfoy pushed past her to make way. He paused in front of Cormac, who was giving him a death glare. Malfoy smirked at him, and continued on his way towards the rooms. Hermione and Theo watched the interaction as the others trickled in behind them. Cormac shoved past them and out the portrait hole. Theo gave a disgusted and confused snarl at the back of his head before turning back to Hermione. "I have your stuff in my room. I was going to drop it off in your room last night but evidently there's a barrier on your room. None of us could get in. Ends up we can't get into other people's rooms without permission." He shrugged.
Hermione followed him upstairs. He passed by all the other rooms, but she paused at the open door labeled D. Malfoy. She peered past the threshold to see the blonde haired wizard standing with his back to her—a back, that was covered in deep crisscrossing scars from his shoulders down past the hem of his pants. She gasped. Draco spun around, his face contorted in pure horror, and with the wave of his hand the door slammed shut in her face.
"Hey, you coming?" Theo called from down the hall. Hermione quickly caught up with him. His room was the last one down the hall, next to hers. She paused at his door. The gold lettering spelling out T. Nott. She faltered.
"Hey, Theo I'll be right back, I want you to look at something." She said quickly, before hopping through her own threshold to hunt down a certain wooden box.
"If it's your naked body, wait a moment. I haven't prepared myself." He joked. She sneered at him as she brought the box into his room. She dropped it on the foot of his bed. He dropped her books and papers next to it. He stared at the wooden engraving for a long moment. "Why do you have this? It's got my mother's family sign on it." He said, pointing to the sigil right below his last name. "Why is that doing on a box with 'Nott' written on it, in your possession?" He didn't try to hid his confusion and disgust at all.
"I found it in my mother's stuff. She said a Matilda Nott left it in her care. She couldn't remember what it was though… probably since I wiped her memory of all things magical…" She faded out, sighing.
Theo gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, I heard about it. Malfoy said something about it after his father's trial." She threw him a questioning look. He shrugged it off. "Let's just open this and see what mommy dearest hid away all those years ago."
A feat, however, he was quickly finding he couldn't accomplish.
"What the hell?" He complained, casting his umpteenth unlocking spell on it.
"I couldn't open it either." She admitted.
Theo stared at it for a long moment, before being hit by an epiphany. "Let's ask Vipsy." He said in excitement, throwing the box under his arm. Hermione scurried out of his room after him.
"Who's Vipsy?" She asked, following him down the stairs.
"My mother's house elf. After she died my father dismissed her. I discovered she started living here after my second year." He led her out of the common room. Hermione paused, about to complain that she was still in Pansy's sweats, but instead groaned aloud and followed him out. She used all her self-control to ignore the scuffs of a certain potions master she wasn't quite missing anymore.
"Where are we going?" Hermione questioned as she followed Theo through the halls. There weren't many students inside on a day such as this one, and the few that did pass by didn't give them a second thought.
"The kitchens." He admitted.
"You know where the kitchens are?" She asked in shock.
He snorted at her shock. "Uh, yeah. Not that hard when your mother's house elf demands on dotting on you."
Hermione stared at him in annoyance. "She's been let free and you still make her do your bidding?" She screeched. "How inhumane can you get?"
"How thick can you get." Theo spat back. "I don't make her do anything."
Hermione's face was set in disgust as they finally made it to the fruit portrait. Theo stopped and sighed. "Just a warning though. Vipsy is a little, well, old."
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"Vipsy is under the illusion that she never was dismissed and that she still serves my mother. She's also under the delusion that my grandmother's still alive." He sighed. He tickled the pear. "You'll understand."
"Young Master! How wonderful it is for Vipsy to see you!" An older house elf yipped as they walked into the kitchens. Even though Theo told her that Vipsy had been freed, she did in fact still wear her slave garments. "Does the young master want some food? Pumpkin juice? Please allow Vipsy to serve young master." The elf begged.
"Some pumpkin juice would be nice. Can you get some for my friend here too?" Theo asked. "And some chairs? We need to talk to you."
Vipsy shook in excitement, darting about getting pumpkin juice and chairs to appear out of thin air. Hermione and Theo sat down, and sipped at their pumpkin juice while Vipsy looked awfully pleased with herself.
"How are you doing Vipsy?" Theo asked.
"Vipsy's alright, young master. Vipsy wonders if he has spoken to Mistress Maya since last year?" She asked, giving him a hopeful look.
Theo shot a glance at Hermione as if to say 'see?'. "No Vipsy, we've been over this. Ma'am'ma Maya and Mom passed away a long time ago." He pouted.
Vipsy's tiny body shook as she wailed. "Mistress Matilda was a wonderful woman." She cried. "Very kind to Vipsy. But Mistress Maya did not pass away. Only hidden." The tiny elf calmed herself enough to where she was only hiccupping every so often.
Hermione raised her eyebrows in suspicion. "Vipsy, can I ask, why is Maya hiding?"
Vipsy looked at her and pouted. "Mistress Matilda told Vipsy never to tell." She hiccupped.
Hermione shook her head. Theo decided it was time to move on, and pulled out the box. Hermione couldn't take her eyes off of it.
"Vipsy, do you know what this is?" Theo asked, handing the box to the elf, who was barely twice the size of it.
"It belonged to Mistress Matilda!" She exclaimed, holding it close. "This… This was all of Mistress Maya's things before Mistress Matilda hid her from that awful man." She scorned.
'My father.' Theo mouthed to Hermione.
"Vipsy, can you open it?" Hermione asked.
Vipsy shook her head. "Only the seal of Hessit can open the box."
"Vipsy… The Hessit family died off with my mother." Theo said cautiously.
Vipsy grinned up at her young master with a mischievous look. "That's why Mistress Matilda left Vipsy with this." Vipsy pulled out a small ring from inside her garbs. Theo looked at her in shock.
"Vipsy, this is a Hessit Seal!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Thank you!" He pulled the small elf into a hug and she looked like she was about to die of embarrassment and excitement. The other elves seemed to throw snide remarks at her for being in such a close relationship with someone she didn't serve. However, she didn't seem to care.
"Come on, Granger." He said, pulling her along behind him.
"Slow down, my legs aren't that long!" Hermione squealed as he led her through the castle. They stopped in the eighth year common room, and Hermione was panting out of exhaustion.
"Let's go up to my room and open this. I don't want to open it in front of the others." Theo whispered flashing glances at Seamus and Dean. They were sitting on the floor playing exploding snap—or were; Seamus had just lost, his cards bursting into flames in his face. They had cracked up laughing, ignoring the pair as they slipped upstairs.
They ran into less luck in the hallway, however, as they ran right into Pansy and Tracey.
"There you are!" Tracey exclaimed, looking right at Hermione. "We've been looking all over for you."
"Where have you been?" Pansy asked, glaring down Theo like a protective sister.
Theo quickly rearranged his face to reflect no emotion. "It's none of your business, Parkinson."
"He's just helping me with my homework." Hermione panicked. "We've got a lot to do. Give us an hour and I'll come find you." She pushed Theo down the hall, past the girls who were glaring at them knowingly. "We'll see you at dinner!" She squealed as she threw them into Theo's room and closed the door behind them. She started placing privacy and silencing wards on the door.
"You know, you really got to get better at lying." Theo groaned. "They totally expect us to be shagging in here now."
Hermione spun around to stare at him. Her jaw opened and closed in shock. "I—you—what—I'd never!" She finally forced out. Theo just snorted at her and motioned her to sit next to him.
The sat on the bed, both eagerly leaning above the box. Theo cautiously lined the Hessit ring to the sigil on the box. The words started to glow, and the word NOTT slowly morphed into the word Hessit. They glanced up at each other as the box clicked open. Slowly, Theo opened it.
"Bloody hell, this is just a bunch of baby stuff." He said simply, pulling out a onesie for an infant, baby shoes, and a baby hat; all bright pink. "None of this was mine, I can tell you that much." He said flatly.
"Was it your mothers?" Hermione asked, taking the hat in her hands. It was soft, but very warm. Probably enchanted to keep a little head cozy and warm.
"There's something else, hang on." He started pulling out a pile of pictures.
"Well, this is for sure my family." He stated, showing the first picture to her. On the back in a neat script was written 'Matilda, Tiberius and Theodore Nott (4 months of age) 3 October 1980.' The photo was a loop of a happy family, smiling up at her. "I don't remember this ever being mentioned at dinner." Shock was painted on his face as he handed another family portrait, only this time it didn't include Theo. Instead, it pictured an anxious woman holding a tiny bundle wearing that same baby hat, and standing next to them was a familiar face, much younger than she ever remembered it. In the same neat script another name was on the back 'Matilda and Maya (2 months of age) and family friend Helen Granger, 19 November 1979.
Thoughts raced through her head. She panicked at what this could mean. "I-is there anything else in the box?!" She exclaimed, yanking it towards her. Sure enough, at the very bottom was a yellow envelope sealed with the Hessit sigil. She yanked it out and ripped it open; a small key fell into her lap but she ignored it. Theo didn't argue, too entranced with the photos of his mother.
Hermione read the note aloud.
"Maya,
By the time you read this you will have been of age and ready. First and foremost; I am sorry. I had to send you away for your own safety. I know that you will never forgive me for this action, but I hope you will forgive your new mother for never telling you. Helen is a wonderful woman, and will take care of you I know it.
However, it's time you knew the truth. Your birth name was Maya Jean Nott, and you are a witch. I know you'll be an amazing witch one day. Even though I'm telling you this, I want you to know, for your protection. Do not try to find us. My husband is a wicked man, and if he knew the truth about you, I'm afraid he will try to hurt you. Stay away from him at all costs.
I left my house elf, Vipsy, and her daughter Pips, to take care of you. If you ever need anything just call their names; they will find you. I also left quite a fortune in a vault at Gringotts for you. You will live well. I love you, my sweet Maya.
Forever your mother,
Matilda Nott nee Hessit"
Hermione jumped up in shock, which caused her books to fall off the bed and onto the floor.
About the ma'am'ma; Mamma (pronounced Ma'am Ma) is how my family refers to my grandma. I didn't want to just write Mamma, since it looks too much like Mama, and it's not a term for a mother. If I stop writing it like ma'am'ma and start writing it like Mamma, it's the same thing.
I've done a bunch of research on Theo and his family. Past the fact that she's dead I can't find anything on Mrs. Nott. Therefore, the entire background of Matilda Nott nee Hessit is completely made up and not a part of canon. If someone finds something and wants to let me know that would be quite lovely.
Current Hessit background: Maya Hessit nee Avery married an unnamed man, they had one child; Matilda Hessit. They lived in England for some time, and Matilda somehow knew a muggle girl named Helen (Granger's mother). Matilda's father nixed this relationship in their young years when Matilda went to Hogwarts (Slytherin house), where we can assume she met Tiberius Nott (again, no name was mentioned so let's borrow one from another fandom). Sometime later she married him. They had two children, Maya and Theodore. For some reason, (which will be explained later) Matilda handed off her daughter to Helen Granger, who adopted the child as her own. We're going to imply, however, that Helen was fully aware of the magic her daughter possessed, but Mr. Granger probably didn't.