"Draco what are you doing here? What is she doing here?" Narcissa Malfoy squealed in surprise, her eyes travelling between the two young people in front of her.
Draco finally stepped away to face his mother directly.
"Calm down, will you?" he rolled his eyes at her.
"Don't you roll your eyes on me Draco! Have you any idea how hard it was for me to hide my shock when Bella said you were back so soon! And let me see your arm." she walked over to him and grabbed his arm forcefully. Alarmed at the agonized expression on her son's face, she immediately let go of his arm, mumbling an apology.
"What happened?" she asked quietly. Hermione mused at how the woman's tone changed from fury into sympathy at such rapid speed.
"A change of plan." he said.
"That much is clear, my questions are what and why." Narcissa glared at her son, infuriated by how simple he made it sound.
"I thought it wouldn't make any sense if I was never injured during my search and...aunt Bella would probably doubt it so I thought an injury would convince her of how hard I am working on my mission." he explained. Earning himself a wide-eyed look from Hermione who couldn't believe how fast he came up with a lie.
Narcissa Malfoy sat on the chair opposite to her and looked at him for a while. She seemed to be weighing his answer in her head then she asked.
"If that's the case then what's she doing with you?" she asked, intentionally avoiding looking at Hermione's direction.
"Well, if I left her there, chances are she would've ran away the minute I left. So I thought keeping her with me was much safer." he informed confidently.
She has a name and is standing in the same room! Hermione thought, angry at the fact that they both seemed to pretend she didn't exist.
Narcissa's frown started fading and it was replaced by a smile she was trying to hide. She laced her fingers together and rested her chin on her hands, looking directly at him.
"Tell me, Draco," she said, "in all the tales you've read and heard during your whole life. How many tales were there where a boy lied to his mother and she didn't know it instantly?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
Malfoy grinned back at his mother and Hermione thought this was the most genuine smile he had ever shown.
"Quite a few, actually." he replied humorously.
"Alright then, do you plan on telling me the truth or should I wait here until you come up with a more convincing lie?" Narcissa Malfoy raised one perfectly trimmed eyebrow at her son.
Draco hesitated for a while. He knew lying to his mother wasn't going to work but it was worth a try. How could he tell her the truth when he himself seemed to only have a dimmed version of it. He didn't want to show his mother how little they trusted him. Neither could he tell how she would react if he told her he was supposed to be hunting for information when Voldemort himself was occupying their house. Actually no, he knew how she would react, it would be disastrous. It was Hermione's voice that snapped him out of his thoughts.
"We're looking for something." Hermione informed "It's...supposed to be in the Lestrange vault. But...we're not sure if it's there so we thought that maybe...if I return, I might hear something that helps us." she added, annoyed by the piercing gaze of the older woman.
"So, Ms. Granger. You're saying that you are looking for something that's supposedly in Gringots, but you're not even sure whether it's there or not. And you're back in my house in the hope of miraculously hearing something that will help you find it." Narcissa Malfoy said her words carefully. "As brilliant as your plan sounds, I'm afraid I'll have to ruin it for you. My sister is not in the habit of randomly boasting about her possessions." she added.
"Well it's worth trying."Hermione replied impatiently.
"Tell me then, how do you plan on executing that plan of yours? Because I have to tell you, most of the people in this house will be quite alarmed if they saw you roaming around." Narcissa Malfoy faked a serious expression.
Hermione was getting more and more fed up by the woman's mockery. She could see clearly where Malfoy had gotten his sense of humor from and she didn't like it one single bit. She was so determined on ridiculing everything Hermione said or did. How could she help her or as Malfoy had said guide her in the Muggle world when she was maintaining that insufferable attitude!
"I would really appreciate it if you didn't sound so sarcastic." Hermione raised her chin up, crossing her arms over her chest. Narcissa Malfoy's blank expression was no longer there, she looked offended by Hermione's remark.
Sensing the tension that had been building up in the room, Draco decided to interfere. He knew his mother was about to say something back. And it would only cause the fight that had been waiting to happen ever since she walked into the room to erupt.
"I think she has the hiding part covered, plus.." he started to say.
"I have a name!" Hermione snapped at him.
"You have a nerve!" Narcissa snapped back at her.
"You can't speak to me like that!" Hermione fumed.
"This is my house, I will do as I please!" Narcissa bit back indignantly.
"Well maybe you should say that to your sister. As far as I recall, she's the one who runs around giving orders." Hermione sneered at her.
Narcissa Malfoy's mouth fell open, her eyes widened as Hermione's last remark obviously hit home.
"Enough!" Draco spoke forcefully. Hastily grabbing the shirt he had discarded earlier, he took his mother's elbow and started to urge her out of the room.
"Let's get out, I promise I'll explain." he pleaded with her "Mother, please. Let's go to your room." he pursued when she refused to move.
Narcissa Malfoy stood fixed in her place. She wasn't glaring at Hermione anymore, nor was she looking at her son's face. She was staring distractedly on the fingerprints Hermione's bloodied hand had left on his chest. Her gaze lingered there for a while before looking back at Hermione who stood bracing herself for the woman's retort. But it never came as Narcissa Malfoy left the room without another word, followed by her son.
Long hours passed before Malfoy finally came back.
"That last remark was definitely uncalled for." he said as he closed the door behind him.
"I was mad. Your mother had spared no effort in ridiculing anything I said or did from the very first moment." Hermione defended herself.
"She could be...provocative some times." he chose his words with care. "But she has a good reason to, this whole situation is stressing her out too much." he added, sounding concerned.
"This situation isn't easy for anybody but you don't see me having an attitude problem, do you?" Hermione demanded.
"Watch your language, Granger. That's my mother you're talking about." he said with a tone of warning.
"Oh another fight with another Malfoy, perfect!" Hermione scoffed.
"I'm not looking for a fight; I've had my fair share of fighting during the past couple of hours." Malfoy shook his head at her. "I'm simply saying that she has to live in this place, not allowed to leave it. And there's this plan I told you about before, it's worrying her and it's not easy for her to have to think twice about everything before saying it. At some point she had spent most of her days in her room because she was paranoid that my aunt would read her mind." he confided. "It makes her feel weak, not exactly the best feeling." he added.
Hermione took a minute to think about what Malfoy had just said. She felt some sympathy for the older woman and tried to remind herself that they were supposed to be on the same side now. But that doesn't give her any excuse to treat me like that, Hermione decided.
"What do you mean she's not allowed to leave the house?" she asked.
"Potter's escape, it enraged the Dark lord. And when he knew that you too have escaped, he decided to...punish us. So me, my parents and my aunt are confined to the Manor, not allowed to go out. With the exception of me of course, because I'm supposed to be fixing the mistake that got us punished in the first place." he explained.
"He punished you by keeping you prisoners in your own house?" Hermione repeated disbelievingly.
"Yes. So you could see why my mother is too sensitive about that issue. She used to have full authority in this house now she has zero to none, and it's driving her mad." he said. Hermione nodded silently.
"I'm tired and I need to sleep." he said, nearly collapsing on the bed. "Don't leave the room on your own, not even under the cloak, just don't." he dictated, looking at her through half opened eyes.
Hermione mumbled something inaudible in response and headed to the book shelf to find something to read. It disoriented her how easily she was able to find her way through the room, how she knew exactly where every book was and how familiar it all felt. She glanced over at Malfoy's sleeping body and he looked fast asleep already. She had very little time and if she was spending it in the confines of Malfoy's room then she wasn't going to get anything done. She opened her bag and took out the invisibility cloak and draped it over her body. Opening the door slightly, she looked around to see if anybody was there but the corridor seemed empty. She closed the door slowly behind her and went on to explore the Malfoy Manor for the first time.
There were death eaters in every corner of the house, and she almost let out an audible gasp when she heard two men talking about Voldemort's sudden arrival at the Manor. For some reason the idea of her being at the same place as he was, even if he wasn't able to see her, sent a tremor through her body. She wandered aimlessly around the Manor, most of the rooms where empty as all of the men gathered in the drawing room. She tried to hear what they were saying but the door was too thick so she waited outside hoping that somebody would open the door and she'd be able to sneak in. But nobody seemed to get in or out of the room.
There was a small room across the hall and Hermione slipped in to see what was there. The room was small in opposition to most of the spacious rooms in the Manor. A fireplace dominated it, but what caught Hermione's attention were the pictures placed on a table near the fire place. There were photographs of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy as a younger couple, they looked less formal and much happier than the huge painting that she had seen earlier. Then she saw them, three framed pictures of a younger Narcissa Malfoy. In one of them she cradling a familiar looking baby, in the other picture she was holding him up cheerfully. And in the third one the baby had grown into a toddler and Narcissa was crouched on the floor next to him. She was looking lovingly at him while he looked back at her with a smile similar to the one he showed earlier.
Distracted with the pictures, Hermione hadn't noticed the door opening behind her. "Lumos" the man at the door muttered and Hermione jumped in surprise. He walked further into the room looking around him suspiciously. Hermione held her breath and reached carefully for her wand as the man came closer to her.