A/N: I'm very sorry for the delay, I needed some time off. Don't worry, I will still continue and finish this work. :)
The elves had to pretty much force the e-reader out of Lucius's hands, since it was so late already, they refused to wait 'just one more page'. Hermione had the decency to hold her giggles back at his visible disappointment.
The table was quickly filled with a surprisingly ordinary dinner. Hermione was half-expecting them to test her about some ridiculously niche dining etiquette, but instead, the elves took them on a journey through France with appetizers, main and side dishes, eaten in silent reverence by all parties.
As they were finishing up, Narcissa turned to her son.
"How is your Muggle Studies class going? I hope you are not squandering our dear Hermione's help. The girl deserves an Outstanding even vicariously and you are to give it to her."
Draco's ears flushed red. "I've… still much to learn. But I have a brilliant teacher." He looked warmly at Hermione and she had to smile back, keen parental stares be damned. She was a great teacher, not like a certain someone else, and no doubt the reason for Narcissa to bring this up. She waited for a caring mother's warning about the Dementor just so she could dazzle her by saying she already knew and is working on it.
"That is great to hear," Narcissa said before going back to her wine, dropping the subject.
Hermione's smile froze and her brain was suddenly nagging her to dig deeper.
Have they already dealt with that menace of a professor? She was awfully quiet these days. But why ask Draco then? Was this just small talk?
She probably shouldn't push further. She felt woefully inadequate for social interactions right now, pushing on her twenty-sixth hour awake. She only wished to survive the remainder of the evening with as little conflict as possible.
Still, her thirst for knowledge and unsatisfiable curiosity eventually won over the wish for calm silence and desserts. She pushed her near-finished plate out of the way and - with a most unassuming smile - tried to twist the question to be more investigative rather than accusing.
"Do you know our new professor? Miss Hyde?" Hermione asked Narcissa, hoping that the witch would give her something more than a prompt yes or no.
If Narcissa was disturbed by her question, she didn't show it. "No, darling," she answered thoughtfully. "I'm afraid she is a quite new addition to Hogwarts, and I haven't had the opportunity to talk to her myself. Why do you ask?"
Hermione worried her lip. "Oh, no reason, I was just surprised to learn that a pureblood would teach a Muggle course, and I hoped you had a guess about her intentions."
Narcissa shook her head apologetically. "Intentions? No. But the times are changing. She might have been fascinated by Muggles for a while, and wished to share it with some eager students, now that it is no longer frowned upon."
The word fascination summoned a wide-eyed Arthur Weasley into Hermione's mind, with his endless questions about the 'inter-web' Ginny liked to talk about, and whether its creator is related to Acromantulas, and her blood boiled by the comparison. That witch… That menace has not a single speck of fascination in her soul.
She turned to Lucius to see if he had any other ideas but found the man immersed in the strangely packaged sweets his son just spread out on the table.
Hermione switched her tactics, turning back to Narcissa.
"Do you have any, umm… feuds with the other old families?"
The witch elegantly shook her head again. "We do not have any joint ventures, and most of them have taken a neutral side. For them, it's just a waiting game at this point to see if we will prevail or disappear like many others."
Out of all that, Hermione's brain only caught one thing: They had absolutely no clue about the Dementor. Her belief in the Malfoys being unreachable and untouchable was slowly crumbling. Narcissa, while well informed, was now confined to whatever news the owls brought, and Lucius - understandably - was still trying to find a way out of his gilded cage. Merlin, last year she would've been delighted by the gaping holes in their defences.
Now she panicked, but still had one last chance. She swirled to Draco.
"Have you noticed anything?" She asked, then quickly added, "About Cassandra? Is she treating you well?"
Draco frowned, thought about it for a bit, but eventually gave a noncommittal shrug. "She had failed me on every test this year, but looking back on them… she might have had a point."
She might have. But that didn't matter anymore.
"She wants you to rot in Azkaban," Hermione blurted out.
The quiet clatter of utensils stopped completely.
"I sincerely thought you would know better than to carelessly spread these sorts of rumours," Lucius scolded her - upset by the mere assumption - before returning to the sweets.
She quipped back instantly. "And I thought you would know better than to carelessly dismiss what I say."
He only sneered. "No one at Hogwarts would dare do anything against my family. Do I have to remind you that I have enough power to immediately terminate any of your professors?"
She heard he'd bought his seat back on the Board of Governors, which still boggled her mind. Apparently, rebuilding Hogwarts took a lot of money and time, and the man had both to spare. Still, he may have been in his old position, but Hermione knew from experience how little that meant. Her lips pulled into a sardonic smile.
"No, you don't have to," she said. "You also don't have to remind me that three teenagers had the power to ruin every plan of yours so far."
Lucius's fork screeched on the plate.
She really didn't plan on bringing this up, but he deserved it. She was pulling out all the stops trying to help them, and he kept sneering at her like a rabid dog.
Just how much distrust could reside in a single man?
With a stiff lip, Lucius bore his eyes into hers. "I had many plans come to fruition long before you even knew about our world."
Oh, she could imagine. Embezzling funds and conning the con men, or something to that caliber. She could not dispute that. But that 'our world' part hurt.
She snapped at him. "Yes, and not a single one after the fact. You might not accept me as a part of your precious world, but even I can see simple cause and effect. Now, may I tell you what I heard? You must be at least curious."
Unfortunately, the same trick did not work twice in one night. Lucius's following snort was far from elegant. He dismissed her with another annoying flick of his hand.
Before Hermione could double down, Narcissa came to her support. "She is right, darling. Why don't we let her explain first?"
Lucius looked at his wife, then at Hermione, no doubt suspecting some secret alliance between them. Distrust, again. Before long, however, he gave in, probably due to Narcissa's thunderous stare. One point for the Matriarch.
"Go ahead then. Convince me," he said with a tight smile, cynicism dripping from his tone.
Draco suddenly caught her hand under the table, squeezing it in warning.
"Are you sure you heard this right? Father has many portraits spying for him, and he hasn't heard anything," he half-whispered.
"Tactfully put, son," Lucius murmured in annoyance.
Oh, she definitely had a plan to show Lucius the truth. Was it a bad idea? Yes, absolutely, but even the most perseverant of minds had a limit. Hermione reached hers about an hour ago. So she decided to throw caution to the wind, and manners doubly so. Let some real snake take up the Sisyphean task of convincing Lucius subtly.
With a small nod to Draco, she drew her wand, careful not to point it at anyone, and faced the old snake with the same false-sweet smile she gave to his father's portrait.
"You're a Legilimens, right?"
A/N: Thank you all for reading this silly little story and thank you so much to all of my reviewers! You guys make my day! :)
Love,
LydieBerry