The Gloriana Set

The Contract

"Well, well," the Snake Charmer portrait sneered. "The nosy little Hellebore is back. I assume you're not looking for Theodore this time." The painted cobra hissed.

The Charmer turned to Draco. "It is better to be feared than loved," he said.

"Only if you cannot be both," Draco answered.

"You'd speak Slytherin secrets in front of a Gryffindor?" The Snake Charmer shook his turbaned head. "Sad days, indeed." He waved his flute and the dungeon door opened.

Hermione stared as they entered the Slytherin common room. She hadn't been in a state to appreciate the surroundings during her last visit, her mind had been full of breaking up with Theo, or the night of her birthday, what with all those shots, but now ...

Unlike Gryffindor's cosy common room, Slytherin's was cool and formal, like a medieval court, built on three tiers. Green lamps hung from the high, arched ceilings, and the frosted glass windows shone with an eerie light from the lake. The tapestries, chairs and carpets were heavily worked with silver, which contrasted with the black leather sofas. A giant fireplace hewn out of glossy black basalt dominated the room. There was a definite hierarchy to the seats and tables, with the most ornate at the highest level, close to the fireplace. The atmosphere was intimidating, overwhelming ... and beautiful. Shining basalt stairs led downwards, dividing into (presumably) girls' and boys' dorms.

Hermione and Draco's steps sounded loud in the empty room until they reached a thick, green patterned carpet with silver tassels and began descending the stairs. Draco led her down the left-hand fork.

"What happens if you go down the girls' stairs?" Hermione asked, the first words she'd spoken since they'd neared the dungeon. At Gryffindor Tower, the girls' stairs turned into a slide.

Draco shrugged. "A wall of spikes appears, blocking your way."

Hermione shivered, sorry she'd asked. A carved mahogany door opened automatically at their entrance, and suddenly the surroundings felt familiar, like a typical Hogwarts dormitory passage, which was what it was. The corridor was the same as in the Gryffindor dorms, with torches and stone walls and dark wooden doors, except for those tapestries depicting smarmy wizards and witches. They passed Theo's door on the right and Draco stopped at a left-hand door. He waved his wand and gestured for her to enter.

She did so, and stood in amazement. The room was smaller than a typical room; perhaps half the size of her and Ginny's dorm, and theirs was smaller than most, accommodating only three students. But except for the stone walls and tall, stained-glass windows, Draco's bedroom looked quite unlike any Hogwarts dorm. It didn't even look particularly Slytherin. Instead the room's furniture was painted wood in blue, green and gold, with heavy dark blue velvet curtains embroidered in golden fleur-de-lis. The bed—Draco's bed—Hermione noticed with a flush, was covered in cream-colored satin and silk and looked sinfully opulent. The desk before the window was a little work of art, intricately carved, lit by a familiar glass ball placed on a delicate silver stand.

Draco came up behind her, hands sliding around her waist. "Well?" he asked, his soft voice in her ear. "Do you like it?"

"Are we still at Hogwarts? In England?"

"Oh yes. Aimee decorated the room for me."

"I can't believe you sleep here. I'd never want to leave."

"I don't want you to leave," he murmured, his hands drifting to her hips.

"Has Aimee always been with you, here at Hogwarts?"

"No, only this year, when I was given my own room." Still standing behind her, Draco's hands ran softly over her long, suede skirt. (Hermione had changed her clothes for the Feast.) "This is much like my bedroom at our chateau in France."