Author's Note: Small transition chapter with not really any plot, but it sets up some relationships to be used in the future. Tom makes an official appearance next chapter, so be sure to stay tuned.
He's dead.
Hermione sprinted towards Abraxas's fallen form, panic gripping her. She was not particularly scared of the punishment that would be inflicted on her if the youngest Malfoy happened to die, as there was nothing the Malfoys could do that would really hurt her, but Abraxas was a tolerable figure in Hermione's mind. She truly didn't mind him being alive, which was more than she could say for the rest of the family, especially Gabriel, whose perverted ways had only grew the more times Hermione came in contact with him.
She spotted a patch of blond hair sticking out of his green Slytherin robes as she neared him. Hermione was slightly relieved when she didn't spot any red, but it turned out she didn't have to search for long. She had reached him and found that his condition was pretty bad. Abraxas was groaning; the front of his robes stained in red. It seemed as if he had tried to use his chest to skid along the rough patches of grass and rocks when he fell. He had seemed to believe that that would have helped.
There was so much blood. She dropped down carefully next to him and prodded him with her finger. "Abraxas," She said gently, forgetting to address him by his title. She highly doubted that he minded at the moment, though. He was hardly in the condition to get up, let alone curse her. "Are you all right?"
Hermione thought that he was going to snarl at her and tell her to stop touching him because of her dirty blood, but instead he managed to roll his eyes and say sarcastically, "Yes, I'm perfectly fine. I just love bleeding my insides out for fun, don't you?"
Of course he wasn't. That was a stupid question. As gently as she could, she opened his green robes to see his chest filled with his blood. It was as if something had cut his body open, though it took the liberty of cutting everywhere instead of in a straight line.
"Hold still," She said when he squirmed in pain, accidently causing part of his robes to press against his injuries. "I'm going to heal you, but I'm going to end up blasting your head off if you keep moving around."
Hermione didn't know how he did it, with the amount of pain he was in, but he had stopped moving and looked her straight in the eye and said, "You're going to heal me?" He added in a deadpanned voice, clearly not believing her. "You don't need an excuse to peak at this unsuspecting, innocent, half naked man. Go ahead, look all you want." He smirked when Hermione opened her mouth to protest. "I'm sure, though, that you can understand my chest has seen better days,"
She rolled her eyes as Abraxas grinned at her. She could definitely see why he and Gabriel were related, but she was more surprised that he was trying to joke around with her. Hermione knew that if he weren't half dead, he would never be caught even talking to her. Maybe dying was like getting drunk, Hermione thought to herself. You wouldn't be aware of what you were doing.
"Yes, you are definitely what I would associate with the word innocent," Hermione said dryly, and Abraxas grinned, only to find it painful to do so. His hands curled together into fists and he breathed heavily. She looked into his eyes to gauge his reaction, only to find them shut. He seemed to be too out of it to even see her anymore.
"I'm going to heal you now," She said, though she might as well have been talking to herself. He made an indistinctive sound, and Hermione took that as an agreement for her to go on. Checking quickly to make sure his eyes were still closed—though she supposed by now, it didn't really matter anymore—she drew her real wand out of her pocket and started healing him. Her restricted wand would probably burst before it performed anything useful. Hermione soon found out that most of his injuries would need different types of potions, but at least she could get rid of the life threatening wounds first.
Hermione remembered that she had met a young girl named Luna Lovegood once at a wizard hospital. Luna claimed she was just a rookie in healing, but if what Luna did was a rookie, Hermione couldn't even imagine what an expert was like. The first time the two met, Hermione had a broken arm which had been caused by her father throwing her against the wall. It had been completely justified though; she had been rather disobedient, after all. Luna had been nice about it, not prying as the other nurses would've done. Instead, she healed Hermione quickly without asking any questions, and offered to teach her about healing.
Hermione had always loved knowledge, and Luna gave her books and advice, and soon Hermione found herself with numerous "accidents" to drive herself back to the hospital. After awhile, Hermione had learned everything she needed to know about healing, so there was no need for her to return to the hospital. She did anyways. Luna always welcomed her back with warm arms.
Of course, that was before her father decided to take things into his own hands. Luna was deemed a distraction, and if there was anything Grindelwald hated, it was distractions. He planned everything perfectly, and distractions were unnecessary and bothersome obstacles that he had to take out.
Suddenly, a hand gripped Hermione's wand and only her years of training kept her from shrieking out in surprise. She had been so lost in her memories that she forgot about what she was doing, forgot where she was. Abraxas's blue eyes stared at the piece of wood she was holding, and Hermione stared back at him calmly. If he wanted to fire her for having a wand, then so be it; she, however, did not feel obliged to showing pain and cowering before him.
"You healed me," Abraxas said simply, surprising Hermione. Not, 'You have a wand,' though Hermione could guess that was going to come right after. She simply nodded, obliviation becoming a welcoming thought. However, she had never been as good at the spell as her father; she often erased either too little or too much. Both, in this case, would be no use for her.
Her father never made her use that spell because he hardly left any of his victims alive; the killing curse was much more effective and it guaranteed eternal silence. It was much more useful, and Hermione herself had become rather good at casting that particular curse over the years.
"Pretty advanced magic," Abraxas mused, though Hermione wasn't sure if he was talking to her or himself. He looked down at his chest, poking himself with one finger. "It doesn't seem as if I'm going to die. I feel much better now." He sat up, and then clutched his right shoulder, hissing slightly. "I spoke too soon."
Hermione tapped his shoulder with his wand. Abraxas looked at her, startled, and flexed his shoulders, surprised when no pain came. Whoops, Hermione thought to herself. Guess I wasn't supposed to perform nonverbal magic.
"Looks like they're home to enjoy the show," Abraxas grimaced, breaking the awkward silence between the two. He busied himself with checking to see if all of his body parts were present and working. Hermione could hear the sound of Lady Malfoy's high pitched voice giggling, followed by Gabriel's obnoxious voice saying something else. Oh joy, Hermione thought dryly. Her two favorite people were home.
Hermione got up, dusting her rags off. Only then had she realized how cold it really was outside. She shivered. Abraxas noticed as well, and stood up rather elegantly for someone who had just been dying the ground. She decided to humor herself and make the best of the situation. He raised an eyebrow when she ducked her head.
"I'm sorry, Master," She whispered, reverting back to his title, trying hard to keep the snigger out of her voice. Since she had just blown her own cover, she figured she might as well enjoy this whole 'maid' act while it lasted. "I shouldn't have done that. Please don't punish me," she forced her eyes downwards in a submissive gesture.
Abraxas was silent for a long time, and finally, Hermione looked at him to make sure he hadn't fainted and died. His icy blue eyes were piercing into her, as if judging her. Hermione had to keep herself from smirking; he was really playing the part of the stern master.
Too bad she wasn't the innocent, naïve servant he thought her to be.
Abraxas turned around and swiftly walked towards the mansion, but not before saying,
"Come to my room after dinner,"
ஐ
"You're an idiot,"
Hermione almost threw the carrot she was holding in her hands at him. As if she needed a lecture from him. She knew exactly what she was doing. "I know, Harry. Thanks for rubbing it in."
"Not only have you managed to break about fifty rules," Harry continued on, ignoring her. "But you have made yourself a potential threat to them. Purebloods hate threats. You have to know they're not going to keep you here after that."
"I know," Hermione grumbled, chopping at the carrot furiously. The pieces came out uneven, but she didn't care. If they had a problem with it, they could cut it themselves. It wasn't her fault anyway; she had never been told to cook anything before. This was all new to her. "What exactly do you want me to do about it?"
"Though," Harry mused, as if he hadn't heard Hermione at all. "After they give you your punishment, being released might be one of the happiest moments of your life."
Hermione glared at him, and he held his hands up in defeat. He still had the nerve to grin. "Just a thought."
If only that was true—punishment at the Malfoy Manor was just a rat compared to what her father could offer.
"I didn't tell you so you could make fun of me," Hermione sighed, throwing the chopped up pieces of carrots into a bowl. Oh, she was not looking forward to dinner. Because as soon as dinner was over, Abraxas was expecting her. And while he seemed to have everything planned out, she didn't know what to expect of him. Hermione didn't know what sort of voodoodoo thing he did in his free time.
Come to my room after dinner.
Hermione almost snorted; so formal.
"I'm not making fun of you," Harry said, putting the eggplant he was holding onto the cutting board and thrusting his hands in his pockets, turning around to face her. "Why did you tell me, though? You obviously know this would happen. I'm obnoxious, and whatever comes out of my mouth will be obnoxious."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Can you imagine if I told Lavender?" She imitated Lavender's high voice. "Oh Merlin, you saw Abraxas half naked! You're so lucky!" Harry snickered. Hermione continued, "Yes, I knew you'd be obnoxious, but I thought that after you had gotten over being obnoxious, you would take the news seriously and sensibly."
"Hey, I am taking it seriously!" Harry protested. "I don't know what you want me to say though! You'll just have to see what happens after dinner. Sorry, but there's nothing I can do for you, Hermione," Suddenly, his face lit up and he said, "Say, if you don't come back, can I have your wand?"
Hermione aimed a half hearted kick at him, which he swiftly dodged, laughing. However, his face then turned somber and said, "But seriously. Want me to take your shift tonight? I know you probably aren't ready to face them all yet, and dinner is supposed to be served in," Harry checked the clock hanging next to the doorway. "About ten minutes. Why don't you go and lie down for awhile?"
"No, I'll be fine," Hermione shrugged. Harry had assumed that this was a big thing, but frankly, Hermione wasn't worried about it the least. "Thanks for the offer."
They worked in silence for a couple of minutes, Harry whistling cheerfully. Lavender's elephant snoring could still be heard, and though the girl was getting better, Hermione still divided her shift between herself and Harry. They often ended up doing it together. It warded off any bothersome advances from Gabriel, who, though he could do no more than smirk and make a couple of crude comments, was becoming rather annoying. Upon hearing this, Harry had made it his duty to accompany her to jobs where she was alone. It was amusing to watch him pretend to be her bodyguard.
"Say, Hermione," Harry said, after cleaning himself off. Hermione turned down the stove and cocked her head to one side. "Where did you learn those healing spells, anyways? One doesn't just simply pick up a wand and know the incantations,"
"Oh, that," Hermione said nonchalantly, waving him off as she washed her hands. "I like reading."
"Reading?" Harry said incredulously. "Hermione, you're meeting with Abraxas in about an hour. You're going to have to come up with a better lie than that."
Hermione snorted. "I'm not lying, Harry," she said blandly, though she was. Though, it wasn't a complete lie. She had practice, of course, but she had started off through books. "I learned about most of it from books, though a friend did help me once."
Harry's eyes glimmered curiously. "Tell me about this friend."
"She was a healer," Hermione said shortly. She didn't want to share her past; it might arouse unnecessary suspicion from Harry. "She was a bit cuckoo, but other than that, she was brilliant. She was extraordinarily nice, too, and put up with me coming back to visit her every two days. Anyone who can put up with me for that long is extraordinary."
"Slightly cuckoo, huh," Harry grinned. "Guess you must've learned it from somewhere," This time, he wasn't quickly enough to dodge Hermione's well placed kick. "Ow, why do you have to be so violent?" He glared.
"Guess I must've learned it from somewhere," Hermione replied in a singing voice, and Harry turned around angrily, though not before Hermione saw a grin lighting up his face.
Hermione rolled her eyes as he dramatically ignored her. "Luna wasn't my type of cuckoo. She was, I slightly insane. She believed in Nargles. She would talk about them all day, and talk to them all day, kind of like Lavender talking about makeup or you talking about Quidditch. Nonstop blabbering."
Harry laughed, but stopped when the dinner bell rang. "That's my cue," He said seriously, turning to Hermione. "Try to get some rest, will you? Relax, they won't kill you, not when they could get money for you when they sell you."
"Thanks, Harry. Real positive." Hermione snorted; she must've been an extraordinary actress, to have tricked him for so long. That or he was just extremely oblivious.
ஐ
Hermione opened the door to Abraxas' room, the first thought coming to her mind was how clean the ceilings were. She had never been assigned to clean Abraxas's room, as Lavender had always volunteered herself whenever either Abraxas or Gabriel had something they needed cleaning. She had known where it was, of course. Lavender had outlined it to her at least fifty times, but Hermione couldn't help but wish she just got lost in the mansion. So lost that no one, not even her father, could find her.
The room was bigger than the kitchen, if possible. One large king bed dominated the upper right corner of the room. The bed sheets were green with a huge snake slithering in the middle. Typical Slytherin, Hermione thought with a snort.
A closed closet stood next to the doorway, and a faint light illuminated the room. Abraxas himself sat on an armchair, looking out at the window. However, as far as Hermione could see, there was nothing out there. Just rows and rows of trees.
"Erm, Master?" Hermione said, slipping easily back in to her proper role. She was slightly surprised that neither his parents nor his brother was there. She had expected a full blown out torture. Abraxas shifted his head slightly so he could look at her, but he made no move to say anything or pull out his wand. "You requested my presence?"
His blue eyes raked over her, as if sizing her up. Hermione scowled and crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring back at him. He smirked and drawled slowly, "Come over here." He seemed very amused for some reason.
"Sit down,"
He hadn't gestured to anything, and Hermione eyed the empty chair next to him. Then, she glanced down at the floor and made a face. However, feeling rather accomplished that she had made it so far with her acting, she sat down on the floor.
Abraxas rolled his eyes and snickered darkly. "Where'd you get the wand?" Abraxas inquired. She must've scowled, because he chuckled and just shrugged, waiting for her to go further.
"I can't tell you," Hermione smiled innocently at him, cocking her head to one side for the effect. "But I'm sure you expected that answer."
Abraxas's facial expression didn't change, but Hermione saw it twitch with annoyance. Good. She was having fun annoying him. "Alright, then. Where did you learn that magic?"
"It wasn't that hard," Hermione rolled her eyes. Abraxas raised an eyebrow, and she added, "I read it in a book. Surely, you've heard of one before." She wondered why he didn't fire her quickly so she could get the hell out of the manor. Her cover was already blown, so why drag out the inevitable result? She decided to drop her servant act and got up, ignoring Abraxas' raised eyebrow, and sat down on his bed.
"In a book," Abraxas repeated, seemingly not believing her. She merely looked back at him, as if daring him to challenge her. Abraxas, instead, sighed and said, "Get off my bed."
"Make me," she taunted, bracing herself for any curses that he might throw at her. Her hand drifted towards her wand in her pocket as a precaution.
Abraxas rolled his eyes. "I think you might want to stand up. I have something that might interest you."
Highly doubting it, Hermione stood up anyway and said, "Well, I'm up. What do I get?"
"Show me a stunner,"
He leaned back in his chair comfortably. Hermione mentally rolled her eyes; he didn't want her to perform a stunner. Her father made her into a dueling freak; as soon as she got in to dueling mode, she could not stop until her opponent was defeated or she was unconscious. It was something her father considered a gift, while she considered a curse.
She pulled out the restricted wand that the Malfoys had given her, and then stared at it hard, trying and failing miserably at intimidating it. She heard Abraxas snort in the background, but she ignored him.
"Stupefy," She said, not surprised when a few measly sparks crackled out. She cut him off before he could speak. "See these wands that you give us? They'll blow up the house before anything good ever comes out of them." Abraxas looked amused at her little rant. Hermione, however, was still muttering angrily to herself. "Can't even cast a stunner. Stupid piece of wood."
"Right," He drawled slowly, and Hermione closed her mouth. "How did you know the incantation then? I didn't tell you."
"Object seems to have a case of short term memory loss," Hermione mused, and Abraxas scowled at her. "I told you already; I learned it from books."
Abraxas looked very amused for some reason. "Can you even read?" he asked finally.
Hermione was thoroughly offended. "For your sake," she snapped at him. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."
"Pretend away," he cracked the first grin that she had seen since she had gotten here. He looked thoughtful. "This is the first time that I've been spoken too like that by a servant," he said, though Hermione could tell that the troubled look on his face was just to humor her. "I'm not entirely sure what I should do."
Hermione decided that anyone who could put up with her talking back to them was worth her time, and she suggested helpfully, "You could let me go."
"Something tells me that you're going to do so whether or not I give you my permission."
Hermione smirked. "It's like you've known me for years."
Abraxas remained quiet for a few minutes, though Hermione could see the grin he was trying to hide, before nodding slowly. "Alright. You are dismissed."
Hermione smiled sweetly at him, and then headed towards the door. However, he called out, "Oh Hermione?" He still hadn't faced her, but it didn't slip by her that he used her first name.
Hermione grinned. "Yes Master?" she said mockingly.
Abraxas cracked a small smile. "Meet me here after breakfast tomorrow," he said simply. Abraxas waved his wand, and the door slammed in Hermione's face. Hermione stared at the door, before shrugging and then heading back down to the kitchen.
"That went rather well," she mused to herself.
ஐ
The only thing that she regretted about her evening was the fact that when she got back to the servant headquarters, Lavender bombarded her with questions.
Harry hadn't been helpful either. Apparently, Gabriel had given him a hard time when he found out "his favorite brunette" wasn't serving him and was ditching him for his brother. Harry had came back to the servant's quarters, grumbling and was rather moody. He had locked himself in his room and ignored the world. Hermione didn't blame him; Gabriel could be annoying when he wanted to be.
Thankfully, Lavender had agreed to go back to working, so Hermione wouldn't have too much work, but she would only do so if Hermione promised to tell her exactly what happened with Abraxas. Hermione found it quite entertaining to make up the story as she went, telling how she was cowering on the floor while Abraxas stood above her with a whip. Lavender seemed to believe every word that came out of her mouth, and Hermione barely restrained herself from laughing at the absurd things that she said.
When Hermione left to go to Abraxas' room again, Lavender shot her a wink. Ah, Hermione thought to herself. She misinterpreted the whole thing. No wonder she wasn't scarred for life at the images I tossed at her.
Hermione found the door unlocked, but the room empty. Abraxas must still be at breakfast. Quickly, she did a small scan around the room, out of habit, but found nothing of importance. Her presence at this mansion was unnecessary, as she had told her father. There was nothing here of interest, nothing here worth her time.
Why couldn't he just enroll her into Hogwarts? Albus Dumbledore was there, not here. Grumbling slightly, her eyes fell on a blank black book on his desk. It looked like a diary. Hermione snorted. Abraxas didn't seem like the type of person to keep a notebook of his life. However, the closer she got to it, the more she could feel the power rolling off of it.
Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, she opened the diary. It was blank; no sign of ink nor stains on its pages. Hermione stared at it uncomprehending, trying to figure out what its secret was, but before she could investigate further, she heard footsteps pounding down the hallway. Sighing, Hermione closed the book and put as much space as she could between the desk. She was aware, that as she paced back and forth in the room, she looked anything but innocent. Abraxas burst in a few minutes later.
He blinked when he saw her. "What are you doing in here?" He asked.
"I'm just looking out the window," He raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. She simply stared back. "It's a really nice view, isn't it? Lots of green trees."
Abraxas looked at her, but didn't say anything. Instead, he sighed, raked a hand through his hair, and sat down in his arm chair. "Sit down," He ordered, but then noticed what Hermione was doing, and then amended his command. "On the chair."
"I like the bed," she shot back, raising an eyebrow in a challenging gesture. Abraxas rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion with his hands and Hermione sat down happily.
"So, don't think I've forgotten the fact that I found you with a wand," Abraxas said. Hermione merely shrugged. Did he regret not turning her in yesterday and was going to do so today? She still had no doubt she could easily escape should it come down to that. What she was going to tell her father, however, when she got back, she still didn't know yet.
"I propose a trade," He declared. Hermione stared at him, prompting him to go on. "My proposition is," Abraxas drawled slowly and dramatically, and Hermione rolled her eyes as he dragged it out. "I won't tell anyone about your little stunt yesterday, but you have to help me with my summer homework,"
Hermione blinked. "Summer homework," she repeated. A sudden light bulb popped up in her head; the summer homework was no doubt linked to Hogwarts. This was probably the closest she could get to Hogwarts. She would be a fool not to accept.
"You clearly haven't seen my homework," Abraxas shrugged. "Transfiguration is terrible. The Old Codger gives out so much unnecessary homework," He grinned. "Sorry, that's Tom's name for old Dumbledore. The two of them don't get along well together." Abraxas paused, frowning slightly. "Actually, that's an understatement."
"You got yourself a deal," Hermione smirked and offered him her hand to seal the deal. Abraxas looked at it curiously, but decided to play along with her and shook her hand.
"What if I didn't understand Transfiguration?" She asked after they had let go of each other's hands.
To her surprise, he chuckled softly and said, "I'm quite surprised you lasted so long when your real personality differed so much from the one you were trying to portray," Hermione grinned proudly. "I could tell that you were smart enough to understand this," He said simply. "I don't know how you do, and I'm not asking you to tell me. All I'm asking is for you to help me with my homework. My family will never know." He raised his eyebrows at her. "And I thought, who wouldn't want to help this poor, failing boy?" He gestured dramatically towards himself.
"Alright, get out your book," Hermione rolled her eyes. This didn't seem quite fair from his side of the arrangement, as Hermione felt as if she was gaining the most here. She got to keep her position as a servant at the Manor—though a part of her had wished he kicked her out so she wouldn't have to act any longer—and he also offered her books to read. However, Abraxas seemed happy with the arrangement as well, a triumph look crossing his face.
"Where are you?" Hermione flipped to the middle of the packet and found it blank. Black ink filled the page, and she took a moment to drink it all in.
"Funny you should ask," Abraxas grinned sheepishly. "I actually haven't started yet."
ஐ
This was ironic, Hermione mused quietly to herself a couple days later, as she lay on bed as Abraxas scratched his head, staring irritably down at his parchment. What would my father say if he saw me now?
The two of them spent increasingly more time with each other as days past. It had become the point past where she was just his homework tutor and he was just her student and her boss. Hermione herself had even begun to warm up to him, something that she hadn't done for a long time. And she could only assume that since Abraxas seemed happy enough, he didn't particularly mind her presence either.
The major downside was, though, Hermione had thought Lavender was chatty in the beginning when she first met her, she was nothing compared to what she was now. She had demanded to know where Hermione was creeping around to every day, only to hear a 'It's none of your business, Lavender.' And it really wasn't, though Lavender took the response suspiciously and began snooping around.
The two of them kept up their acting in public. To everyone, Abraxas still ordered Hermione around calmly when they weren't alone, and Hermione still responded timidly, addressing him by his proper title. Abraxas would sometimes slip and accidentally grin, but his parent's took it as an evil snarl and encouraged him to continue.
If there was an award for the stupid, this family would be major contenders.
Gabriel still annoyed her to no ends, but there was nothing she nor Abraxas could do about it but ignore him, though the latter often shot dark scowls at his brother when he wasn't looking. Hermione himself made faces at his retreating back; she hated not being able to do it in his face.
As for Lord and Lady Malfoy, they rarely punished her, because there was nothing she was doing. To them, she was still the dutiful servant, doing everything she was told to do.
Harry, she could tell, was disapproving of her little interactions with Abraxas, though ee never demanded any explanation from her. She gave him a mirror that Abraxas had given her that allowed the user to talk to whoever they wanted to, as she had no use for it. Harry spent hours talking to his friend, though he wouldn't give Hermione any clues. The only thing she could figure out from occasionally sneaking a peak was that the mysterious person had red hair. Very red hair.
"Hermiooonnnne," Abraxas whined, scribbling furiously over his paper. It had only taken him a day to show his true colors: a fully grown, immature baby. Hermione looked at him, but said nothing. "Help me, I can't do this. It's too hard."
"You have a textbook right in front of you," Hermione pointed out, returning to the book she was reading. She was about halfway through the Malfoy library. She could start rereading books in about a week. "Use it. The answer's right in there. I checked already."
"I don't see why you can spend the effort to find it in the text, but you won't leave the page open for me to copy the answers." Abraxas grumbled. "This requires too much effort."
Hermione merely shrugged, and stared out the window. The sky was a pleasant blue, but she could see the tinges of black thunder clouds rolling in. They were going to be hit by a storm sometime soon. Nothing's ever peaceful for long around me, Hermione thought sadly. "Do your homework by yourself, Abraxas."
"Merlin, I hired you to do my homework for me, not to be my slave driver," Abraxas muttered darkly, flipping furiously through the textbook. He apparently cut his finger on a page, as he swore loudly and glared at the textbook as if it had done something wrong. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and waved him off.
They worked in peaceful silence. It usually didn't take Abraxas too long to get over his hissy fits and work by himself, tossing Hermione a book to entertain herself. When she was back home living with her father, he never allowed her to touch any books. Any knowledge she would get would come from him, and he made sure of that. However, he never considered that his obedient little daughter would dare to sneak to the library at night. Hermione reassured herself that the books were too alluring, and if it was anyone's fault, it was theirs, not hers.
"I forgot to tell you," Abraxas's smooth voice interrupted her reading, and she looked up, scowling. She had gotten to a particularly good theory about animagus, and she didn't want to stop now, certainly not to answer one Abraxas's ridiculous questions or his pleas for help. She knew he was smart, but sometimes he acted stupid just to spite her. He held up his hands, grinning.
"No need to be so angry," He said easily. Hermione noticed he had put his quill down. So it wasn't a homework question. "I just wanted to say that Tom will be coming later today. He's my friend that I mentioned," He twitched slightly at the mention of 'friend.' Hermione raised her eyes suspiciously, but didn't comment. "He'll be staying for the rest of the summer."
Hermione nodded again. "You're saying that this deal is completed?" She asked.
"Nice try, but you're not escaping that quickly," Abraxas grinned. "I'm not done with my homework yet, and your debt is not yet paid," He added after a small pause. "Though you really aren't helping now anyways. But can you come up here after ten each night? We can spend an hour together. Tom usually goes to sleep before then."
"Yeah, sure," Hermione nodded. She didn't think it'd work, but it was worth a try. She smirked. "Funny how you know when he goes to bed. Slightly suspicious, don't you think? Is there something you haven't been telling me?"
Abraxas's face flushed dark red, clashing horribly with his hair, and Hermione laughed at the bewildering sight. "You don't know what you're saying," Abraxas muttered darkly. "Tom and I, that's so wrong, it's not even funny."
He had trailed off and stared into space. Hermione hopped off the bed and told Abraxas that she'd be back later. She didn't think he even heard her. As she left, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.
Abraxas was massaging his left arm as if it burned.
To Be Continued…
