THE EIGHTH YEAR
CHAPTER 8
Christmas Break
By: hermioneeeeeee
Hermione was nervous as she boarded the Hogwarts Express again. She would be meeting Draco's parents at Malfoy Manor.
"Don't worry. The place has changed a lot since last year. We've added brighter and lighter colors and the topiaries have changed to famous wizards and witches rather than wizards over muggles. Honestly, don't get worried." Draco reassured her. Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep like that for the rest of the train journey.
They had stopped at the second to last stop of the train's route and walked to Malfoy Manor. The building was still dark and foreboding but Draco was right, the topiaries had changed and the statues of the 'Magic is Might' quote was gone. They walked inside.
"Mum! Dad!" Draco yelled through the near-empty house.
"Have you told them about me?" Hermione asked.
"No. Didn't want them to tell me to break up with you before they even met you." Draco said. Hermione nodded. Lucius came out and looked at Hermione.
"Narcissa! Draco's brought a girl home." Lucius called.
"Is Mum better?" Draco asked. Lucius nodded stiffly. Narcissa came out of a room and shook Hermione's hand.
"Aren't you lovely? What's your name?" Narcissa asked.
"Hermione Granger." Hermione replied.
"Granger? As in Dagworth-Granger?" Narcissa asked.
"No. Just Granger."
"I haven't heard of that name before. Are you a half-blood, dear?"
"No, I'm actually muggleborn."
"What? Draco! You must tell this girl to leave. We may not be affiliated with the Dark Lord anymore but, we are still purebloods! Come back with a different girl. What was wrong with one of the Greengrass sisters?"
"NO! I knew you would say that! She's not leaving until you at least get to know her. Please." Draco said.
"Fine. But, I get to test her to see if she is worthy enough for my son or not." Narcissa said, hatching a plan.
"What? That's not-" Draco began.
"She either takes the test, or goes away."
"FINE!" Draco shouted. He went to go show Hermione a room when Narcissa stopped him.
"No, dear. I will show her a room. Come with me, Hermione." Narcissa said. Hermione held out her hand to Draco but it was too late.
"You'll be sleeping in here." Narcissa said, gesturing to a small and dirty room. Hermione politely thanked her and asked if she might have some food.
"Yes! Here." Narcissa snapped her fingers and a house elf came bringing bread and water.
"Will I get to see Draco at all?" Hermione asked.
"Oh. Early every morning and at night. But not this night, you've already seen him." Narcissa answered. Then she shut the door. Hermione was confused and mad. She ate her meal and then went to bed.
"Hermione! How's it going?" Draco asked.
"Horribly. Your mum hates me and she's given me a tiny room and it's probably the dirtiest room in the whole house. I'm sorry." Hermione admitted. Draco nodded.
"Draco, we're going to be testing soon. You can go somewhere else, please." Narcissa said. She grabbed Hermione's wrist and dragged her to a room.
"First test of the day! Dressing. All pureblood girls must know how to dress. All you need to do is pick an outfit that you would wear at a formal ball. I'll let you know when you've found the right ensemble. Let's see how many tries it takes." Narcissa said, opening a door that led to a room full of dresses. Hermione looked through the dresses nervously and picked an outfit.
"Let's see. Floor-length dress, no jewelry, no makeup, no hairstyle. Go try again." Narcissa criticized, even though she thought that the girl did look good in it. However, Narcissa was blinded by her pureblood status. Hermione went back into the room and chose a red dress that went to her knees. She applied mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick and pulled her hair back into a twist. She waited for Narcissa to talk.
"You don't need to go around looking like a clown. Go back." Narcissa complained. It took Hermione several tries until Narcissa got tired of the Dress Test. They moved on.
"How well can you do at the Table Test." Narcissa said. Hermione looked at all of the silverware and the fancy food that she was going to eat. Hermione cut her Brussel Sprouts (Narcissa said that she was cutting for too long). Hermione took a bite of her roasted potatoes (too big of a bite). It went on like this for another twenty minutes and then went on to the next test.
By evening, the tests had finished. Hermione got to see Draco and the two were waiting on the verdict of if she had passed the tests or not. Hermione clung to Draco and didn't want to let go.
"You failed miserably at all of them. A girl who is going to be with my son must be good enough for me as well. Draco, say goodbye to your Miss Granger." Narcissa said emotionless.
"What?" Draco said angrily.
"You heard me." Narcissa said.
"Please! No! Do anything to me! Anything at all! Cast the Cruciatus Curse on me! I can't possibly live without him. Please." Hermione begged.
"Even if I did use Crucio on you, my son would still be dating a mudblood." Narcissa insisted.
"No. I won't let you separate us! I'll run away and you can dismember me from the family. I don't care!" Draco shouted.
"Don't yell at your mother!" Lucius said fiercely.
"Draco, don't. It's not worth you getting dismembered from your family. There are plenty of other girls anyway." Hermione said as bravely as she could.
"Let me say goodbye then." Draco said. They kissed long and hard. Then, Hermione was forced out of Malfoy Manor.
Hermione was miserable. She couldn't possibly go back to Hogwarts. She couldn't go anywhere. She decided to go to a muggle hotel and stay there for the rest of her Christmas Break. She checked in and flopped onto her bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Draco was livid. He hated that his parents still cared about blood statuses. Now, he would never be able to date the girl he truly loved.
"Draco, it's not worth getting angry about." Lucius said tiredly.
"OF COURSE IT IS! I LOVE HER AND YOU CARE TO MUCH ABOUT BLOOD TO CARE ABOUT ANYTHING! YOU CAN'T TELL NOT GET ANGRY ABOUT LOVE! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT LOVE IS. YOU ONLY MARRIED MUM BECAUSE SHE WAS A PUREBLOOD." Draco raged.
"Draco, darling, what's the matter?" Narcissa asked worriedly. Draco stared at her angrily and went up to his room and cried himself to sleep.
It was Christmas Day and Hermione had nobody to spend it with. Nothing mattered anymore. Not if Draco wasn't with her. And now he never would be.
"Draco! Please come downstairs. It's Christmas morning." Narcissa called.
"I don't want to and I don't care." Draco said from his room.
"He really does love that girl." Narcissa said sadly.
"Yes. She and Harry Potter were best friends. I remember her a lot. She is very clever and it would do Draco some good to have a girl who can look out for him. Admit it, Narcissa. You don't hate the girl, do you?" Lucius said.
"No, I suppose I don't. It's just, I've always been raised to know that anyone besides a pureblood is unfit to be with anybody but a pureblood. I want my Draco to be happy. She should be the one to be with him." Narcissa agreed. She didn't agree with the way Draco had spoken to his father earlier but, it was all out of love.
"Draco! Please come out of your room. I've changed my mind. You and Hermione should be together." Narcissa said.
"Seriously?" Draco asked as her practically ran down the stairs. Narcissa sent her Patronus to send the message to Hermione.
Hermione was lying on her bed awake. Her tears had dried but she could feel a fresh stream coming on. Suddenly, a Black Mamba Patronus entered her room. It said: Come to Malfoy Manor. Hermione immediately packed her bags and Apparated to the manor.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry. You and Draco are clearly meant for one another. I'm ashamed that I put blood status before love." Narcissa said. Hermione ran towards Draco and they kissed passionately, happy that they were back together again.
"I got the best Christmas present ever today." Draco said.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"You."