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Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I just like to play with them
Special thanks to my beta fastfashiondispatch for helping me understand Draco a little better
Class
Hermione was running late for Transfiguration. Her mind had been on her situation since school had started and as a result she was lagging in her studies and late to class almost as often as the boys. As much as she would like to have forgotten about her fate and focus on classes Draco Malfoy would have none of it. If he passed by her he made a comment about the dementors and then he started in on suggestive comments about her only alternative. Her only comfort was that at least she didn’t understand about half of what he’d been saying to her. The halls were deserted, she would be arriving more than five minutes late, she was so focused on getting there that she didn’t notice when Draco stepped into her path.
Hermione bumped into Draco’s chest causing her to drop her books, she bent down to pick them up but he pushed her down first, making her fall.
“You should really watch where you’re going, mudblood.”
Hermione stopped rising to the bait with him a long time ago, she was better than him. She tried to gather her books but he kicked at them scattering them about, she made to draw her wand but he was faster.
“Less than a month, Granger,” he picked her up by her robes and threw her against the wall. “Tell you what,” he licked her neck starting at the base and ending just below her ear lobe. “I’ll keep you out of the hands of the dementors….” She felt his breath hot on her neck. “If you admit you’re nothing but a common, mudblood whore.” Hermione shuddered involuntarily, shaking with fear, confused by her body’s reaction to his act. She was utterly repulsed and yet the place he licked tingled.
Hermione remembered herself and brought her foot down on his, she elbowed him in the ribs and ran a few feet from him, wand at the ready. Draco tried to recover, holding his side, gasping for air, his face red with the pain. “Petrificus Totalis,” she cried. Draco fell to the floor with a thud. “Accio books!” She gathered her things and ran to her class, fifteen minutes late at least. Professor McGonagall took twenty house points from Gryffindor and gave a short lecture on the value of punctuality.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione sat quietly in the common room with Harry and Ron, not comprehending their attempts to draw her into their conversation. Ron went so far as to say he was going to see if Dumbledore would let him keep one of castle’s elves, getting absolutely no reaction. Harry lay an uncertain hand on her leg, finally drawing her attention to them. “What?”
“Hermione, what’s wrong? You’ve not been yourself since we’ve been back.”
Hermione sighed. She would love to tell them about Draco and whine about her predicament with Sirius but she feared their reaction. They would most certainly get thrown out for what they would do to Draco and if she mentioned marriage it would darken Ron. She cast about in her mind for something to say but couldn’t come up with anything convincing.
“I’m just a little distracted is all.”
Ginny walked into the common room, face flush and eyes on fire. She stormed over to her friends and threw herself into a couch dramatically with a huff.
“I can’t believe that foul little ferret. He was joking about asking Hermione to marry him. Said he’d take her down a peg. Can you believe that? Mr. Pureblood saying he’d marry a muggleborn.”
Hermione choked out a sob and immediately shook herself quiet, angry that she had lost control.
“What has he done?” Harry’s voice was soft, dangerous. His green eyes pierced hers, she relented her control for just a fleeting moment. He didn’t know what had happened and knew she wouldn’t tell him, that didn’t matter though, he was going to kill him. Azkaban would be worth it.
“Harry please don’t,” she whimpered. “I can’t survive this without you and Ron, please.”
Harry was shaking with fury.
“Fine, but you’re not leaving our sight. I’ll be damned if he gets close enough to hurt you again.”
Realizing that he wasn’t going to do something rash she let the sobs overtake her. Never making a single sound the tears coursed down her face as her body shook. Ginny pulled Hermione into an embrace, the girls held each other on the couch. Ginny had missed the first part of the conversation, she was smart enough to make a good guess. She made a mental note to owl Fred and George for a suggestion. Draco needed to be taught a lesson.
True to their word, someone was close to Hermione at all times. Draco hovered but never got close enough to threaten, he sated himself with leering and lewd comments from a distance. Hermione was sitting in the great hall eating her breakfast in silence, her custom of late. The post owls came flying through, an eagle owl landed gracefully in front of her, sticking its leg out so far it nearly toppled. It seemed the owl disdained to have her touch it. Hermione took the proffered post, the owl flew off before she could offer it a treat. She unrolled the parchment and blanched.
Dearest Mudblood Whore,
Your date with the dementors approaches. I graciously offer to service you as your husband. Think it over. Either way you’ll be screaming and begging. Of the two, I’m the better option.
~DM
Hermione was so shocked she didn’t have time to react. Ron reached over and grabbed the letter out of her hands. As he read it his face turned a delicate shade of plum. He handed the letter to Harry and stormed over to Slytherin table, not waiting for Harry’s reaction. Draco wasn’t prepared for Ron. The entire room watched as Ron pushed Draco’s face into his cereal, wand under the other boys chin.
“Contact her again and her fiancé hears about this. They won’t be able to identify the pieces when he’s through with you.”
“F-fiancé ?”
Dumbledore’s voice boomed over the hall, the two Heads of House rushed down from their table to break up the fight. A hush descended over the hall, Professor Snape broke the boys apart. Harry ran over with the note and handed it to Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore walked calmly over, she handed him the note, there was a fire in her eyes.
“Mr. Weasly, Mr. Malfoy, please go to my office. Minerva, Severus will you escort them. Oh, and Minerva if you don’t mind I would like to borrow your office.”
“Of course, Headmaster.” Professor McGonagall gave Professor Dumbledore a curt nod of her head and turned to Professor Snape. “Shall we, gentlemen?”
Professor Dumbledore turned to Harry, “If you would be so kind as to collect Miss Granger, Harry. Take her to Professor McGonagall’s private office, the password is excellence.”
Harry nodded to Professor Dumbledore and returned to the Gryffindor table. He spoke quietly to a still mortified Hermione. Red faced and unable to lift her eyes to the room Hermione allowed herself to be led through the silence in the great hall. Harry had a look in his eyes that dared the student body to utter a single word. Most of the older students had already averted their eyes, only the younger ones watched with their mouths agape and eyes wide. Harry and Hermione walked to Professor McGonagall’s office where they waited for the others.
“It’s going to be alright, Hermione. Dumbledore has the note from Malfoy.” They both sat on the edge of Professor McGonagalls desk, eyes on the door.
“Have you heard about all the girls that are going to Azkaban on the first of October?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“I just can’t believe it’s real. It’s really real. I’ve been feeling so sorry for myself, I didn’t think about those who had it worse than me.”
“I’m really glad Sirius is able to help you. I don’t like to think about you in Azkaban.”
“I feel really grateful for him and sorry for him.”
“I don’t feel sorry for him.”
“What? Why not?”
“He gets a beautiful, young wife Hermione. Don’t feel sorry for him.”
“He’s forced into this Harry, just like me. Besides I’m just a bossy know-it-all, little miss bookworm.”
“Sirius would have to be blind not to see how special you are.”
Hermione wasn’t able to respond because the door to Professor McGonagall’s office opened. They both jumped guiltily off of the desk. It was only Ron coming through the door and they let out a sigh of relief, neither wanted to be caught with their bottoms on the professor’s desk. Ron wore a smug grin until he met Hermione’s eyes, he immediately dropped it in exchange for a look of concern.
“What happened?” Harry was the first to speak.
Ron glanced at Hermione, he didn’t want to appear too pleased. They all preferred that none of this had ever happened.
“Well, I got a week of detentions with Professor Snape.”
He heard a sharp intake of breath from Hermione.
“Don’t, Hermione. Don’t think a thing about it. It was worth after what he’s done to you.”
“Thank you, Ron,” she sniffed and looked like she might be about to cry again. Ron wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close before releasing her again.
“Wait until you hear what Malfoy got. He has a months worth of detentions with Mcgonagall.
Harry let out a low whistle.
“That’s not the best part though. Dumbledore is writing to Sirius, Malfoy has to make an apology to the both of you.”
Hermione’s eyes went wide and Harry doubled over with laughter.
“I wish I could be a fly on the wall for that,” cried Harry.
Hermione let out a soft giggle and playfully slapped Harry on the arm.
The door to McGonagall’s office opened once more and in strode Professor’s Dumbledore and McGonagall. Professor McGonagall walked up to Hermione and gently cupped her face with one hand.
“I’m very sorry about this, Miss Granger.”
Hermione held her Head of House in such high esteem, she felt her emotions threatening to overtake her once again. Before she was completely overcome Professor McGonagall took her hand away and walked around to stand behind her desk.
“I assume Mr. Weasley has filled you in on the pertinent details?”
Harry and Hermione nodded. Harry heard Professor Dumbledore walk up behind them and clear his throat.
“Miss Granger if Mr. Malfoy continues to pursue you in such a vulgar manner I insist you report it to Professor McGonagall immediately. One more such incident and he will be removed from the school.”
“Yes, sir.”
Professor McGonagall asked them if they had anything to add, Hermione gave her friends a sharp look and shook her head. The boys stared at her in wonder but kept their mouths shut. Ron managed to keep quiet until they were out in the hall.
“Why didn’t you tell them what happened the other day?”
“I want that apology.”
The boys looked at each other and grinned.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Two wizards stood in front of a cottage that was nestled in a little valley surrounded by towering mountains covered in white. The brook that ran directly behind the cottage babbled gaily, the air was crisp and clean. The valley’s low rising hills and straight fields were covered in lush green grass that was dotted with the white fluffy forms of grazing sheep. The cottage was one of five and the wizards waited as the caretaker’s wife waved her wand and lowered the charms from the cottage.
“Why is it warded?”
“It’s not Moony, they charm the place so it stays pristine for my family. We hardly ever came here but always demanded it be ready at a moments notice.”
Sirius spoke quietly in German before the older woman walked away.
“She’s going to stock it with food. Let’s have a look, shall we?”
“Exactly why did you have to come here in person? Couldn’t you have just sent an owl?”
“My German is shite, Moony. I can barely speak it, if I tried to write I’d probably instruct her to vanish it altogether.”
Remus laughed as they walked through the door to the cottage to have a look around. The cottage was open and spacious with two floors. The living area had several sumptuous couches and chairs situated around a large fireplace. A large bear skin rug that snarled quietly if tread on lay just in front of the hearth. Sirius walked over to the rug and Silenced it. The bear’s eyes followed Sirius as he walked off toward the stairs.
“I never understood why father wanted to hear that poor beast.”
Remus looked up from his position in the little dining area which was just off the kitchen. He was admiring the hand painted chairs which had a decidedly Bavarian influence. He smiled at the grimace on his friends face and followed him up the stairs.
The bedroom was quite spacious, it opened into an overlook on the living room below and to its rear was a large balcony overlooking the brook. The tables and chest of drawers were all painted in Bavarian designs, similar to the chairs below. Remus entered the bathroom where he found a huge claw footed old fashioned bathtub. He looked back at his friend, who happened to be looking away, and smiled.
“Well, it’s the same old place and everything seems to be in order. This was always our cottage; me and Regulus.”
Sirius walked down the stairs headed for the entrance when he heard a pecking sound, he looked over to the kitchen window and saw a large barn owl. He opened the door and took the parchment from its leg and apologized for not having a treat. The owl huffily shook its feathers and flew back out the open window. Remus walked over to his friend when he noticed the muscle jump in Sirius’ jaw.
“What is it, Padfoot?”
Sirius handed him the letter as an answer, Remus read it and looked nervously at his friend.
“Padfoot, please don’t do anything rash. Voldemort has his hand in everything. Getting yourself killed or imprisoned will be of no help to Hermione.”
Sirius stood still for a moment, he took in a deep breath and let it slowly out. He nodded his head, his friend was right. Dumbledore had handled the problem well, although it may still raise the ire of Malfoy’s family. Apologizing to a muggleborn was unheard of these days and was a brave move for the old man.
“We’d better get going”
Remus nodded and followed his friend out the door. They stopped by the caretaker’s home before Apparating away.
Special thanks to my beta fastfashiondispatch for helping me understand Draco a little better
Class
Hermione was running late for Transfiguration. Her mind had been on her situation since school had started and as a result she was lagging in her studies and late to class almost as often as the boys. As much as she would like to have forgotten about her fate and focus on classes Draco Malfoy would have none of it. If he passed by her he made a comment about the dementors and then he started in on suggestive comments about her only alternative. Her only comfort was that at least she didn’t understand about half of what he’d been saying to her. The halls were deserted, she would be arriving more than five minutes late, she was so focused on getting there that she didn’t notice when Draco stepped into her path.
Hermione bumped into Draco’s chest causing her to drop her books, she bent down to pick them up but he pushed her down first, making her fall.
“You should really watch where you’re going, mudblood.”
Hermione stopped rising to the bait with him a long time ago, she was better than him. She tried to gather her books but he kicked at them scattering them about, she made to draw her wand but he was faster.
“Less than a month, Granger,” he picked her up by her robes and threw her against the wall. “Tell you what,” he licked her neck starting at the base and ending just below her ear lobe. “I’ll keep you out of the hands of the dementors….” She felt his breath hot on her neck. “If you admit you’re nothing but a common, mudblood whore.” Hermione shuddered involuntarily, shaking with fear, confused by her body’s reaction to his act. She was utterly repulsed and yet the place he licked tingled.
Hermione remembered herself and brought her foot down on his, she elbowed him in the ribs and ran a few feet from him, wand at the ready. Draco tried to recover, holding his side, gasping for air, his face red with the pain. “Petrificus Totalis,” she cried. Draco fell to the floor with a thud. “Accio books!” She gathered her things and ran to her class, fifteen minutes late at least. Professor McGonagall took twenty house points from Gryffindor and gave a short lecture on the value of punctuality.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione sat quietly in the common room with Harry and Ron, not comprehending their attempts to draw her into their conversation. Ron went so far as to say he was going to see if Dumbledore would let him keep one of castle’s elves, getting absolutely no reaction. Harry lay an uncertain hand on her leg, finally drawing her attention to them. “What?”
“Hermione, what’s wrong? You’ve not been yourself since we’ve been back.”
Hermione sighed. She would love to tell them about Draco and whine about her predicament with Sirius but she feared their reaction. They would most certainly get thrown out for what they would do to Draco and if she mentioned marriage it would darken Ron. She cast about in her mind for something to say but couldn’t come up with anything convincing.
“I’m just a little distracted is all.”
Ginny walked into the common room, face flush and eyes on fire. She stormed over to her friends and threw herself into a couch dramatically with a huff.
“I can’t believe that foul little ferret. He was joking about asking Hermione to marry him. Said he’d take her down a peg. Can you believe that? Mr. Pureblood saying he’d marry a muggleborn.”
Hermione choked out a sob and immediately shook herself quiet, angry that she had lost control.
“What has he done?” Harry’s voice was soft, dangerous. His green eyes pierced hers, she relented her control for just a fleeting moment. He didn’t know what had happened and knew she wouldn’t tell him, that didn’t matter though, he was going to kill him. Azkaban would be worth it.
“Harry please don’t,” she whimpered. “I can’t survive this without you and Ron, please.”
Harry was shaking with fury.
“Fine, but you’re not leaving our sight. I’ll be damned if he gets close enough to hurt you again.”
Realizing that he wasn’t going to do something rash she let the sobs overtake her. Never making a single sound the tears coursed down her face as her body shook. Ginny pulled Hermione into an embrace, the girls held each other on the couch. Ginny had missed the first part of the conversation, she was smart enough to make a good guess. She made a mental note to owl Fred and George for a suggestion. Draco needed to be taught a lesson.
True to their word, someone was close to Hermione at all times. Draco hovered but never got close enough to threaten, he sated himself with leering and lewd comments from a distance. Hermione was sitting in the great hall eating her breakfast in silence, her custom of late. The post owls came flying through, an eagle owl landed gracefully in front of her, sticking its leg out so far it nearly toppled. It seemed the owl disdained to have her touch it. Hermione took the proffered post, the owl flew off before she could offer it a treat. She unrolled the parchment and blanched.
Dearest Mudblood Whore,
Your date with the dementors approaches. I graciously offer to service you as your husband. Think it over. Either way you’ll be screaming and begging. Of the two, I’m the better option.
~DM
Hermione was so shocked she didn’t have time to react. Ron reached over and grabbed the letter out of her hands. As he read it his face turned a delicate shade of plum. He handed the letter to Harry and stormed over to Slytherin table, not waiting for Harry’s reaction. Draco wasn’t prepared for Ron. The entire room watched as Ron pushed Draco’s face into his cereal, wand under the other boys chin.
“Contact her again and her fiancé hears about this. They won’t be able to identify the pieces when he’s through with you.”
“F-fiancé ?”
Dumbledore’s voice boomed over the hall, the two Heads of House rushed down from their table to break up the fight. A hush descended over the hall, Professor Snape broke the boys apart. Harry ran over with the note and handed it to Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore walked calmly over, she handed him the note, there was a fire in her eyes.
“Mr. Weasly, Mr. Malfoy, please go to my office. Minerva, Severus will you escort them. Oh, and Minerva if you don’t mind I would like to borrow your office.”
“Of course, Headmaster.” Professor McGonagall gave Professor Dumbledore a curt nod of her head and turned to Professor Snape. “Shall we, gentlemen?”
Professor Dumbledore turned to Harry, “If you would be so kind as to collect Miss Granger, Harry. Take her to Professor McGonagall’s private office, the password is excellence.”
Harry nodded to Professor Dumbledore and returned to the Gryffindor table. He spoke quietly to a still mortified Hermione. Red faced and unable to lift her eyes to the room Hermione allowed herself to be led through the silence in the great hall. Harry had a look in his eyes that dared the student body to utter a single word. Most of the older students had already averted their eyes, only the younger ones watched with their mouths agape and eyes wide. Harry and Hermione walked to Professor McGonagall’s office where they waited for the others.
“It’s going to be alright, Hermione. Dumbledore has the note from Malfoy.” They both sat on the edge of Professor McGonagalls desk, eyes on the door.
“Have you heard about all the girls that are going to Azkaban on the first of October?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“I just can’t believe it’s real. It’s really real. I’ve been feeling so sorry for myself, I didn’t think about those who had it worse than me.”
“I’m really glad Sirius is able to help you. I don’t like to think about you in Azkaban.”
“I feel really grateful for him and sorry for him.”
“I don’t feel sorry for him.”
“What? Why not?”
“He gets a beautiful, young wife Hermione. Don’t feel sorry for him.”
“He’s forced into this Harry, just like me. Besides I’m just a bossy know-it-all, little miss bookworm.”
“Sirius would have to be blind not to see how special you are.”
Hermione wasn’t able to respond because the door to Professor McGonagall’s office opened. They both jumped guiltily off of the desk. It was only Ron coming through the door and they let out a sigh of relief, neither wanted to be caught with their bottoms on the professor’s desk. Ron wore a smug grin until he met Hermione’s eyes, he immediately dropped it in exchange for a look of concern.
“What happened?” Harry was the first to speak.
Ron glanced at Hermione, he didn’t want to appear too pleased. They all preferred that none of this had ever happened.
“Well, I got a week of detentions with Professor Snape.”
He heard a sharp intake of breath from Hermione.
“Don’t, Hermione. Don’t think a thing about it. It was worth after what he’s done to you.”
“Thank you, Ron,” she sniffed and looked like she might be about to cry again. Ron wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close before releasing her again.
“Wait until you hear what Malfoy got. He has a months worth of detentions with Mcgonagall.
Harry let out a low whistle.
“That’s not the best part though. Dumbledore is writing to Sirius, Malfoy has to make an apology to the both of you.”
Hermione’s eyes went wide and Harry doubled over with laughter.
“I wish I could be a fly on the wall for that,” cried Harry.
Hermione let out a soft giggle and playfully slapped Harry on the arm.
The door to McGonagall’s office opened once more and in strode Professor’s Dumbledore and McGonagall. Professor McGonagall walked up to Hermione and gently cupped her face with one hand.
“I’m very sorry about this, Miss Granger.”
Hermione held her Head of House in such high esteem, she felt her emotions threatening to overtake her once again. Before she was completely overcome Professor McGonagall took her hand away and walked around to stand behind her desk.
“I assume Mr. Weasley has filled you in on the pertinent details?”
Harry and Hermione nodded. Harry heard Professor Dumbledore walk up behind them and clear his throat.
“Miss Granger if Mr. Malfoy continues to pursue you in such a vulgar manner I insist you report it to Professor McGonagall immediately. One more such incident and he will be removed from the school.”
“Yes, sir.”
Professor McGonagall asked them if they had anything to add, Hermione gave her friends a sharp look and shook her head. The boys stared at her in wonder but kept their mouths shut. Ron managed to keep quiet until they were out in the hall.
“Why didn’t you tell them what happened the other day?”
“I want that apology.”
The boys looked at each other and grinned.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Two wizards stood in front of a cottage that was nestled in a little valley surrounded by towering mountains covered in white. The brook that ran directly behind the cottage babbled gaily, the air was crisp and clean. The valley’s low rising hills and straight fields were covered in lush green grass that was dotted with the white fluffy forms of grazing sheep. The cottage was one of five and the wizards waited as the caretaker’s wife waved her wand and lowered the charms from the cottage.
“Why is it warded?”
“It’s not Moony, they charm the place so it stays pristine for my family. We hardly ever came here but always demanded it be ready at a moments notice.”
Sirius spoke quietly in German before the older woman walked away.
“She’s going to stock it with food. Let’s have a look, shall we?”
“Exactly why did you have to come here in person? Couldn’t you have just sent an owl?”
“My German is shite, Moony. I can barely speak it, if I tried to write I’d probably instruct her to vanish it altogether.”
Remus laughed as they walked through the door to the cottage to have a look around. The cottage was open and spacious with two floors. The living area had several sumptuous couches and chairs situated around a large fireplace. A large bear skin rug that snarled quietly if tread on lay just in front of the hearth. Sirius walked over to the rug and Silenced it. The bear’s eyes followed Sirius as he walked off toward the stairs.
“I never understood why father wanted to hear that poor beast.”
Remus looked up from his position in the little dining area which was just off the kitchen. He was admiring the hand painted chairs which had a decidedly Bavarian influence. He smiled at the grimace on his friends face and followed him up the stairs.
The bedroom was quite spacious, it opened into an overlook on the living room below and to its rear was a large balcony overlooking the brook. The tables and chest of drawers were all painted in Bavarian designs, similar to the chairs below. Remus entered the bathroom where he found a huge claw footed old fashioned bathtub. He looked back at his friend, who happened to be looking away, and smiled.
“Well, it’s the same old place and everything seems to be in order. This was always our cottage; me and Regulus.”
Sirius walked down the stairs headed for the entrance when he heard a pecking sound, he looked over to the kitchen window and saw a large barn owl. He opened the door and took the parchment from its leg and apologized for not having a treat. The owl huffily shook its feathers and flew back out the open window. Remus walked over to his friend when he noticed the muscle jump in Sirius’ jaw.
“What is it, Padfoot?”
Sirius handed him the letter as an answer, Remus read it and looked nervously at his friend.
“Padfoot, please don’t do anything rash. Voldemort has his hand in everything. Getting yourself killed or imprisoned will be of no help to Hermione.”
Sirius stood still for a moment, he took in a deep breath and let it slowly out. He nodded his head, his friend was right. Dumbledore had handled the problem well, although it may still raise the ire of Malfoy’s family. Apologizing to a muggleborn was unheard of these days and was a brave move for the old man.
“We’d better get going”
Remus nodded and followed his friend out the door. They stopped by the caretaker’s home before Apparating away.
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From:
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I'm so glad I looked! What a treasure this story is turning out to be. Though I have to say I was a little disappointed when I saw that the chapter listing has so many more chapters than there are links!
*cough*moremoremore*cough*
From:
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Again, thank you so much for the compliment. I am glad you are enjoying it.
From:
no subject
I will say that I enjoyed the entire fic immensely. You're very good at twists - which I love - and at character portrayal. I could easily see both Hermione and Sirius in each of the scenes! Nicely done.