Chapter 2
Hermione opened her eyes and was assaulted by a sharp pain in her head. She quickly closed her eyes and covered her face. What was going on? Where was she? It took her a bit remember she had gone to Hogwarts to see McGonagall.
Cracking an eye open light spilled through a window with purple velvet drapes. Turning her head to examine the room she felt anxiety begin to build in her chest. Looking around she saw a bureau, a vanity filled with glass bottles and what appeared to be a jewelry box. The room was done in purple and cream. This wasn't Minerva's office.
Her eye fell on the king sized bed in the middle of the bed. The bed hangings were pulled back with an unlooked touch to it.
Breathe, she told herself. She searched her mind for the last thing she remembered. How in the hell did she end up in this place to begin with?
Then it hit her. The engravings on the piece had to of been an old spell, but what kind? She sighed heavily and slowly cracked her other eye. Her head didn't pain her as much this time as the light streamed through the window.
A noise outside the window caught her attention. She paused for a moment. It sounded like horse hooves, but that would just be silly. Slowly she sat up and peered out the window. He stared agog at the scene bellow the window. Horses and carriages were being pulled through the street. There were people walking in clothes she had come familiar with through books. How had this happened?
Hermione ran to the bureau and threw it open. Victorian era dresses were neatly hung up in there. She ran to a door at the side of the wrenching it open; a dressing room.
She was trying to pull her thoughts together when she heard scratching outside of the bedroom door. Slowly it started to creak open. She closed the dressing room door closed until only a crack was there she could see through.
She heard heavy footsteps and then a pause. The deep voice called, "Hermione? Are you in here?"
Sighing she opened the door and stepped out. "Yes I am."
Draco spun around with a exasperated look on his face. "What did you do?" he exclaimed.
Her brows furrowed as she glared at him. "I did NOT do anything. I translated the piece for you."
"You had to of done something," he said, "Otherwise we wouldn't be here! Look at this!"
Hermione finally noticed the clothes he was in. He wore a green jacket with a snow white shirt underneath. A cravat tied expertly at his neck. He wore a silver vest and black breaches with polished Hessians on his feet.
His broad frame was more defined in the form fitting clothes. Her eyes quickly roved over his muscular this that was outlined in the breaches. Giving a mental shake she glared at him again.
"Well don't you look grand?" She asked.
Draco stiffened at her tone. She was obviously just as annoyed as he was, but he hadn't time for this. They were messing with something they didn't understand.
"Well, Madam, you yourself are about to look as grand as I." He marched over to the bureau and started to pull random clothes out. "You must fit the part as much as I."
"I haven't the faintest clue on how to put those on." Hermione walked to the bed and ran her fingers over a morning dress of a pale pink color.
She heard a mumbled from inside of the bureau. He was on his hands and needs with his head in the closet.
"I'm sorry you said what?" Hermione asked as she ran her fingers down a silk shift. The clothes were absolutely magnificent.
"I said," He repeated, "I will help you dress." He stood up holding a pair of matching slippers.
"You most certainly will not!" She told him aghast. "I will ring for maid. Look, there is a bell pull." She started to reach for it when she felt herself being tugged away.
"Don't be silly, Hermione. Would you use your brains that you were so proud of in school for five seconds?" The words came out sounding harsher than he intended but kept on. "There is no time for modesty. Go into the dressing room and put this on. Call me when you need me to lace your corset."
She looked at the stiff whalebone corset and shook her head. "I can't wear that. I've never worn one a day in my life. I wouldn't be able to breathe."
A small smile played on his lips. "Most women couldn't breathe, that's the point. Now hurry up before we are discovered."
Quickly she hurried to the dressing room as he moved to the bedroom door to lock it. She undressed as fast she could. Too bad she didn't have her wand; it was in her cloak in Minerva's office. That was stupidly done of her. When she got the corset on she looked into a mirror. Oh great, she thought, holding the corset closely to her body.
"I need your assistance." She called through the door.
Draco marched through the door. She didn't notice him stop for the briefest of moments. His eyes took in her frame in the corset. Surely God couldn't be this cruel, could he? Swallowing the lump in his throat he moved behind her.
He started to tug on the strings. Hermione was jerked back against Draco's chest. She felt a fissure of heat slide down her spine. She jumped forward and put a hand against a wall to steady her.
She felt his warm fingertips brush over her as he pulled the strings tightly. Slowly her air was cut off and forced to stand with a posture she didn't know even existed. Her breasts were raised high as the whalebone came closer and closer.
She tried to take a deep breath and immediately felt herself start to get dizzy. That wasn't a good idea. She closed her eyes briefly trying to not pass out. How did women live like this?
She was standing up when Draco came over and pulled the pale pink dress over her head. She tugged it down over her body. The cap sleeves hung off her shoulders while the bodice cut down lower than anything she had ever worn.
Her appearance had quickly altered from the woman she knew to someone she hadn't seen before. Draco busily laced up the back of her dress. Anymore laces and she won't be able to breathe no matter how much she wanted to.
"Can't we do a spell to make it look like I have a corset on?" She breathed.
"My wand was in my cloak." He replied as he moved to get her stockings and slippers.
"So was mine." She said almost sadly.
He handed her the stockings and garters. "Put these on." He told her.
She moved to sit on a chaise but couldn't bed down. She gave him a helpless look as he looked up at the ceiling.
He moved to kneel in front of her. He lifted her gown up to her thighs. He felt his mouth go dry. There was only so much he could handle in a day. She had a beautiful body. Slowly he pulled the silk stockings up each leg, deliberately running his fingertips over her legs. He tied the garters around her thighs.
He slipped each slipper on before standing to help her up. Before either could say anything there was a knock on the door.
"Lady Sophia?" came a voice through the door.
"Yes?" She called back.
Draco gave her a look shaking his head whispering, "We don't know who this Lady Sophia is."
"If I'm right we are about to find out that is me. Stay here." Before he could object she closed the dressing room door and swiftly moved to the bedroom one to unlock it.
"I was wonderin' if'n you had already gotten dressed." A slight woman of about her age was standing before her in a maids outfit. "But I sees you already have done so."
"Yes, thank you I have." Hermione smiled at the woman.
The woman shook her head as she rushed into the room to start cleaning up the mess she and Draco had made. "Always have been one to rush her appearance. Now sit here so I can dress your hair."
She reached up to touch her curls. "Alright."
She sad at the vanity and watched as the maid brushed her hair. Hermione studied her in the mirror. She had blonde hair pulled back in a maids cap. Her eyes were a soft green. Her fingers moved deftly as she started to pile her hair on top of her head. She threaded a matching ribbon through her curls.
It took her fifteen minutes to get her hair up with pins. "Don't ye look sight fer sore eyes?" she teased. "Yer father has been askin' if'n when you were goin' to be down fer breakfast."
"I'll head down there in just a moment." Hermione assured her. "If you'd go tell father so for me?"
The maid bobbed her head. "As you wish, Lady Sophia."
Hermione raced to the dressing room door throwing it open. "Let us follow the maid."
"This doesn't seem like a bright idea." Draco said softly.
Hermione opened her door and stuck her head out peering down each side of the hallway. Last thing she needed was to be caught in a room with Draco in a time period where it would be completely scandalous.
"I need you to trust me on this," she said to him as they moved down the hallway a sedate pace behind the maid. "I think the thing you had was a time piece of sorts. Do you know anything on this time period?"
He visibly stiffened at her words. "Of course I know of this time period."
She nodded as they went down the grand staircases. "Apply it here. It is going to be our saving grace. We need to find out what part you are playing in this."
They passed through another hallway where she peered into several drawing rooms.
"I've a feeling we are about to find out exactly what part that is going to be." He whispered as they came to the breakfast room doors.
She stepped into the room behind the maid and heard a deep male voice say, "Thank you, Mildred."
The maid hurried out of the room as Hermione tentatively step closer to the table. "Ah, Sofia, you have arrived at last." The man at the end of the table stood as she took in his dark good looks. He was an older gentleman of about forty. He had almost the same shade of hair as her but his eyes were an emerald green.
She smiled at the man. "Yes, Papa, I am here." She moved to the chair next to the man hoping she was right he was her father. A footman close to her pulled out the chair for her. She sat down while another footman brought her a hot plate of food from the sideboard.
The man turned to Draco and nodded. "I trust you slept well last night, Matthew, after your journey?"
"Indeed, sir, I did." Draco moved to the other side of the gentleman as he sat down Draco took his chair. Another footman scurried to bring him a hot plate full. Coffee was poured for him as he watched Hermione delicately pick at her food.
The older gentleman nodded as he picked up his paper and scanned the headlines. "Sofia, dear, are you ready for the Parkinson's ball tonight?"
A panicked look crossed her face for a moment before she composed herself. "As ready as one can be for one of these affairs."
The man chuckled. "Right you are, sweetheart. How about your cousin? Matthew are you prepared?"
It took Draco a second before he realized the older man was speaking to him. "Looking forward to nothing else."
"Wonderful," he said, "Maybe this will be the year Sofia decides she is ready to marry."
Draco smiled at Hermione. "Mayhap so, sir."
Hermione's eyes narrowed just a bit. What was he smiling at? She didn't need this getting of the way of trying to find out how to get back home.
"We shall see about that, Papa." Hermione said lifting her cup to sip her tea. How were they going to get out of this? She didn't even know how to dance! If there was ever a moment she needed her wand more.
After breakfast Hermione excused herself to run into a gentleman caller in the foyer.
"Sofia!" he called as she spun around. The man had midnight black hair and alluring green eyes. He was tall, but not as tall as Draco. His smile enchanted her immediately.
"The Earl of Canton here to call upon you, Lady Sofia." The butler bowed and showed them into a morning room.
"My Lord," Hermione murmured to the gentleman.
He was still smiling at her and took both of her hands. "How glad I am to see you. I have longed for this moment since the Season ended last."
Hermione gave him a smile. She couldn't but like the gentleman. He really was a charming man.
"I plan to get a yes out of you this year, Sofia, even if I have to pester it out of you." He declared.
Hermione raised a brow. "A yes to what?"
The man looked perplexed for a moment. "To my marriage proposal, what else would I be referring to?"
Hermione was shocked. But not as shocked when she heard Draco's voice in the doorway. "We shall see about that."
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