The start of summer has arrived for our wonderful duo and things could not be anymore tense!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I do hope you all enjoy what I have to offer for the next few updates!
Less than an hour into the afternoon and Hermione had already settled into the slightly smaller home that belonged to her grandfather. Upon stepping into the main entrance, she was immediately greeted by the happy portraits of her ancestors who whispered gleefully and waved at the younger girl, so obviously one of their own.
She had brought her bags to her room with the help of an elf and had decided to go roaming around the pristine eggshell coloured walls. The spacious halls we in their best condition as if painted only a few days before and the chandeliers shining their sparkling crystals. The bright white-based colours were much more inviting and comforting than the manor was.
When she was about to exit through the back door, she noted the clouds that had begun getting darker in greys and had decided to retire back to her room and unpack her belongings.
Why was she being separated from Lucius? She was as much of a child to Abraxas as he was and she seemed to be forbidden of going to the manor, for how long she had no idea. And what of her mother? What had happened to her? Why had they decided to send her to her grandfather's of all places. Everyone in the family knew Abraxas and Alexandra were not close to Septimus Malfoy, yet her father still took the decision.
A knock on the door brought her from her thoughts and an elf appeared on the other side.
"Missy is being summons for dinner," the elf said happily. "Master has sent to go find her."
"Oh thank, you, I'll go." Hermione sent the elf off and got ready for dinner, staying back for a few more minutes to ensure she looked alright.
Dinner had been a very quiet event, a usual greeting shared and the plates being brought by the House Elfs and they had begun eating as per habit. Occasionally Hermione looked up to see her grandfather eating his dinner at his usual slow pace and occasionally he looked up at his granddaughter and continued eating. It wasn't until nearly the end of the meal when Hermione began speaking.
"Grandfather, may I know why Lucius isn't here as well?" Hermione asked, putting her fork and knife down beside her plate. "Did something happen while we were gone?"
Her grandfather wiped his mouth with his napkin and sighed. "At the moment, let's just enjoy our dinners. I will inform you of what you need to know in the following days." He answered.
"Will I at least be able to see mother?" she asked.
"Perhaps at some point during the summer you will, yes." He continued to eat his dinner in silence, leaving Hermione in confusion for the remainder of the evening.
Something was wrong, she knew it from the deepest part of her heart. In the memories of this life, she had no recollection of ever being separated like this, and she felt the need to investigate, but a part of her respectively told her to leave it be for now and spend time with her grandfather, whom had offered to show her the new animals he had purchased for the large grounds surrounding the expensively large home.
"Hermione, I do hope you do not hold it against me that I withhold the information from you. I, myself, do not have all the details and would prefer not to divulge anything until I have all the pieces." He explained silently as he finished his plate. "I do not want to cause a misunderstanding within our family, so I will be keeping you in the dark for now, my dear." He finished and summoned an elf who helped clean off the dirty dishes from the table.
"It's alright, I understand." She responded back, picking up her plate before the elf could and she walked off towards the kitchen with it.
The remaining of the evening was spent in the library playing a game of checkers and Grandfather Malfoy asking about the school year and if she'd met anyone interesting, and even went as far as to tell her of the last time he had conversed with her Head of House, Professor Slughorn.
They had played a dozen games of Hermione had shown him a card game she had learnt from Anita Urquhart and she had even told him of her Hufflepuff friends whom he seemed interested and intrigued in her choice of friends. Her grandfather had also shown her how to play an advanced card game he used to play back in the days of his youth and even pulled out his antique chessboard to play a game of wizards' chess against Hermione, who lost five matches and had won only one against the older, more experienced player.
It wasn't until she was about to retire to her room that her grandfather stopped her and urged her to sit while his chessboard put itself away.
"You wanted to know why Lucius isn't here, correct?" He asked, his old steel-coloured eyes looking into her softer blue ones.
"Yes of course!" Hermione had to keep the excitement of new knowledge out of her voice as she listened carefully to her grandfather. Instead of responding immediately, he looked off to one of the older bookshelves for a few moments, contemplation in his expression before sighing and turning back.
"I have no doubt you have noticed a few odd tensions these last few weeks. You have always had an eye for detail, ever since you were small." He started, Hermione nodding along to the words. "I'm also aware you know more than you should, to what extent, I'm not aware." Hermione could feel some cold run down her nerves, worried that she had given herself away so easily. "What I teach you here is to stay between you and I. No one is to know, not your father, your brother or your friends."
"Understood completely." She caught his words and the small deliberate slip.
"I have told your father I am to teach you to be a proper Pureblood wife," He started, having stood up from his chair and gone to one of the bookshelves. "though I have different plans for you, dear."
He surveyed the shelves, his finger running across the bindings and the titles before stopped and pulling one particularly old tome and lightly brushing the dust from the cover and returning to the table, book in hand and placed it in her hands.
Secrets of the mind blocked by Anna Artfell.
"I will be teaching you Occlumency for the next few weeks while you are here with me." He stated, taking his seat once again in his velvet chair. "I shall teach you to protect the secrets in your mind, but you will need to do one thing for me."
"And what is that?"
"In order to teach occlumency, the teacher must be able to go within the mind and memories of the student in order to gage the comprehension of the teaching until he or she is able to block out the teacher." He informed her gently, not wanting any unwanted emotional outbursts.
"That means-"
"You will need to give me permission to enter your mind during our lessons."
With the Blacks, things were strained the moment they had stepped foot inside of Grimmauld Place.
Bellatrix and Andromeda, before even having said hello to their aunt or cousins, had been screamed at about three times and they hadn't even been home for a total of ten minutes yet. But at least they'd been called by their names.
Fred on the other hand, had received a cold hug and was referred to as 'boy' and 'child'. He'd been surprised when Narcissa wasn't there to greet them as she had been there the last time.
"You remember Sirius? And your cousin Regulus?" His uncle Orion showed the two younger children to Fred. "We'll all be staying here indefinitely with you and the girls." He smiled, though Fred couldn't help but notice the hand squeezing the two boy's shoulders.
"Y-yes, can't wait to spend time with you." Regulus said timidly while SIrius kept quiet.
"Sirius, you won't greet Frederick?" Orion's voice had the threatening undertone that had Sirius roll his eyes, barely noticeable, but Fred had been used to detecting these sassy things from his sisters.
"How are you Frederick?" Sirius asked, not looking into his eyes, but next to them. In the distance, he could still hear Aunt Walburga shouting obscenities at Bellatrix a few floors above and the shrillness carry through the air.
'This is going to be a long summer' He thought, looking at the clock and sighing once he realised only fifteen minutes had gone by since he arrived home.
"CLEAN UP YOUR FILTHY HAIR YOUNGLADY! YOU LOOK NO BETTER THAN A COMMON PROSTITUTE!" Was amongst the things that Walburga shouted at Bellatrix and Andromeda soon received the short end of the stick rather quickly. "NO GOOD CHILD! DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE BRAT!" Was heard when Bellatrix reappeared without Andromeda by her side.
"You're lucky, she hasn't shouted at you yet." She told him before he'd even left the entrance of his own home. Sirius, Regulus and Orion were still standing near him, his uncle clearly had gotten used to all the shrieking from his wife but his eyes winced just a bit at the shrill tone and echo her voice released.
"Tell me about your friends Frederick." Orion and Walburga were quick to ask as dinner time rolled around. The table had been enlarged to fit the branch family alongside theirs.
The mantra he'd repeated to himself the whole train ride home repeated in his head and spoke aloud as if he hadn't expecting the question. "All pureblood and Slytherin, Aunt Walburga." He answered, monotone and without any hint of emotion.
"Please, do not be so cold, aunty is fine." Walburga smiled, more a disgusting excuse of a grin according to Fred's inner voice.
"No, I'd much prefer Aunt Walburga." He responded dryly. He wasn't about to start being respectful or affectionate to the woman who he knew would stop at nothing to annoy every member of the family.
He heard Bellatrix snigger and Andromeda cough on her peas while Narcissa remained quietly seated between her mother and father, both watching the exchange with neutral expressions.
"Say Walburga, is there anything new at all in your life recently?" His father asked curiously, trying to hide his teasing grin with a napkin as he deflected the conversation. "Surely you haven't simply wasted away in that old cottage of yours with your sons?"
"Most certainly not! I've been getting a portrait done recently!"
"Fearing an incoming death, are we?" Druella mumbled just loud enough for her husband and her children to hear. "God bless us." she mumbled under her breath.
"And you shall keep that portrait anywhere but here, understood?"
"Oh, but I had found the perfect place for it too." She pretended to sulk in her chair across the table. "Upstairs in the empty hall"
"As long as it doesn't speak when it doesn't need to." Cygnus sighed, feeling half defeated, knowing his cousin wouldn't let go about her stupid portrait.
"No worries there, cousin." The older woman smiled—again, grimaced grossly—and looked right back to Fred once more. "now, Frederick, have you met any interesting witches?"
"Why do I have the feeling you're trying to get me married?"
"Well it's never too early to start seeing someone."
"I'm twelve."
"He is talking to-" Bellatrix was cut off by Fred's foot hitting her shin roughly and she stopped talking and glared at Fred.
"Talking to whom?" Orion's curiosity was peaked. Fred groaned inwardly when the entire table began pitching in, trying to guess who the mystery person was, though he had a feeling his mother and sister would be more than willing to share the information for a price in the very near future.
Somehow, dinner had passed surprisingly quick and he simply waved his family off and head up the stairs to go get a good night sleep. Though the moment he'd opened his bedroom door, he quickly took note of the single bed in the room, the bed his sister would usually have now absent. And his bed. This one was definitely smaller.
"Oh, we must have forgotten to inform you." Orion came up behind him discreetly. "Your room has changed floors." Fred turned and looked the older man in the eye, his dark brown eyes meeting his off-shaded brown ones with suspicion.
"What do you mean by that?" He inquired further, not liking how the branch family was suddenly everywhere in the house, especially where they weren't meant to go.
According to his memories and what he'd heard from his mother's letters, the second floor bedrooms were always the more luxurious ones, reserved for the main branch of the family, the quality of the walls and furniture being newer—and thus in better quality—than the upper, older floors.
"You now sleep on the fourth floor, not the second."
"And who took this decision?" Someone's authority was being undermined and he was aware of it. Never had his uncle been so disrespectful of him before, even if he was superior in age. Though he still needed to know where this arrogance came from, especially if it had just began popping out of nowhere like this.
"We did." Fred watched his uncle walk away, the sly, almost inexistent smile curving his lip just a bit in the corner. His uncle stopped at the stairs and looked back at Fred before opening his mouth once more. "And you're no longer with your sister. Separate rooms have been given to you both. Pleasant night, Frederick."
'What!? But we've always been together! We've always shared a room ever since we were little!' His thoughts quickly took over his rational side and his frustration began seeping through while his uncle took his leave back down to the main floor. 'Wait, we haven't always been together... Only since August... ' He quickly recorrected his mind, a cold washing over his head as he ran up the stairs to the fourth floor where he passed Kreacher cleaning the crippling old wallpaper without even saying a word. ' I never told Hermione! Dammit! ' He screamed and cursed himself inwardly for letting it slip his mind. She had told him that she wouldn't be able to get in touch with him very often due to the fact that she was going to be staying with her grandfather—Fred made a note to remember this detail specifically—and he'd let what he'd been trying to tell her for an entire month slip right by his mind as if it was a useless fleeting thought.
There had to be someone he could talk to who wouldn't throw him straight into St. Mungo's Janus Thickey ward for mentally ill patients or accuse him of being a worthless blood-traitorous imposter searching for attention...
After he had located his room, the nicer one from the grimy level of the house, he had taken out his journal that he'd begun writing in about the past and the future. He didn't know how long he had written for, but he'd covered three pages, both sides of the page, full of writing when a knock on his door caused him to push the small leather book under his blankets.
"Freddie?" A small blonde head pocked in through the door curiously. "Can I come in?" He smiled. He hadn't seen Narcissa very much until dinnertime and he'd been a bit worried by her very calm manner. He waved her over and patted the other end of his bed as an invitation to sit.
"Did something happen?" He asked as she practically ran and jumped onto his bed and folded her legs beneath her long skirt.
"Too many things while you were gone! It feels like a prison!" She almost shouted, though she caught herself in time, not wanting to attract the attention of the wrong person with her loud voice.
"Prison? How so?" He inquired further, wanting to know what exactly was going on ever since he'd left after Christmas with Bellatrix and Andromeda back to Hogwarts.
"Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion. They're trying to change everything." She said. She began explaining from the little things to the bigger things. "They started saying that they'd already done the changes so it was too late to undo them and father began letting it slide, but it's gotten out of hand Freddie. They kicked me out of my room and aunt Walburga started insisting to mother that she find me a suitable husband.
Fred was appalled at the information being revealed. Of course he know of arranged marriages within Pureblood families, but he also knew that the Black family women had the opportunity to choose their own spouses—as long as they were pureblood or, in rare cases, very high standing halfbloods—and to hear that his aunt was pressuring his mother in choosing a husband for a ten year-old was downright infuriating.
"And what did Mother say about this?"
"Mother told me never to repeat the words so I'll give you the just of it. She said 'take your shitty outdated mudblood worthy opinion and shove it through your back door.' Aunt Walburga turned purple!"
"And that's being nice about it?"
"I forgot most of the words mother used, but it was much, much longer than that." Narcissa sighed.
"Well, I'll have to tell mother that I approve whole-heartedly of her opinion." Fred snorted and extended back to lay on his sheets.
"Forget about aunty for a bit now," He detected an excitement in his youngest sister's voice replace the doom and gloom of the conversation ten seconds before. "tell me about your friends! Was your first-year fun? Are you playing Quidditch or part of any clubs? How are the Notts doing? What about the Malfoys?"
Fred looked off to the grandfather clock in the corner and sighed. Ten O'clock at night and his sister was this full of energy, it was going to be a long night of answering a few dozen questions.
The next update should come withing the next two or three weeks and I'm excited to say that much of their fifth year has been drafted and much of the sixth year has been made into writing as well!
Any questions or comments are welcome in the Reviews! I love any sort of comment, whether it's just where you're reading this or when you are, it's always a joy to see a new Review or comment on it! And if you're too shy to leave a comment, I'd love to get a message! I answer them all!
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