The day passed painfully slow. Blaise was in Eleanor's office as they talked privately, leaving Hermione alone. She spent most of the time in her room, lying on the bed. She stared at the ring on her finger, it fit too perfectly. Glancing at the time, she sat up. It was nearly 4:30, she had spent over 6 hours doing nothing. She ran a hand through her hair as she sighed. Is this what they did all day? Just sit in their rooms alone and only talk for 10 minutes after meals? She heard a pop in the corner of her room and looked up. It was Recor.
"Mistress Eleanor is coming soon to help Mistress Hermione get ready"Recor squeaked. Barely a second later, there was a knock on the door. "Come in"Hermione said. Eleanor walked in, 2 other ladies with her. "Dear, these two will help you get ready. Quinn will do your hair, Jerly will help you get dressed"Eleanor told, smiling, giving Hermione the dress in her hand.
"Recor, go fetch the rest of her accessories from my room"Eleanor ordered. A bit annoyed with how she spoke to Recor, Hermione went to the bathroom and put on the dress. She stared in the mirror, it looked alright, like something she would wear at a ball. "Come dear, we don't have much time, we have to be there before 6" Eleanor said.
She sat in a chair at her vanity, Quinn behind her as she waited for the curler to heat, and Jerly with Eleanor as they picked out jewelry. "Your mother would like me to do this style, do you like it?"Quinn asked as she handed Hermione a picture. It was a half-up, half-down hairdo.
"They're picking out a nice hair clip to match your dress, so it's not as plain as this picture"Quinn added. Hermione nodded but she didn't say anything. Quinn began on her hair as Hermione flipped through a magazine. 10 to 20 minutes later, Jerly walked over to them, a medium sized bag in her hand. "I have to go help Miss Eleanor, The jewelry is in here. We'll be back before 5:30"Jerly said.
The two left, and Quinn put down the hair curler before looking in the bag. She pulled out a smaller bag and looked into it. "These look cute, do you like them?"Quinn asked, showing Hermione the pins inside. There was two, made of gold and had small emeralds on them. "They look nice"Hermione smiled. Quinn grinned and picked up the curler again, knowing she was at rush now due to the time. 10 minutes later, Hermione felt Quinn slowly putting the pins in her hair cautiously, not wanting to ruin her work.
Hermione was later left alone, Quinn leaving to help Eleanor after she was finished everything. Hermione was going through the bag and found only one thing left inside, a black velvet box. Hermione pulled it out and opened it. Slightly surprised, she picked up the necklace and stared at it. It had small details, not too crowded, cute, and matched the pins, it seemed perfect.
She was putting it on when there was a knock on her door. She glanced at the clock, it was 5:35. Hermione went to the door and opened it a bit, peering out. "Come on dear, the restaurant is 15 minutes away. We have to go"Eleanor said. She was wearing a long black dress, and had her hair in an elegant bun. Hermione nodded, silently accio-ing her wand to her. Sticking it in the small pocket in the waistline, she left her room. They walked down to the front door and Blaise and Michael were there, glaring at each other. Blaise was wearing a dark green suit, and Michael was wearing black dress robes, matching Eleanor.
"Blaise, please take Hermione and go to the car. I just need a word with your- I need a word with Michael"Eleanor corrected herself quickly. Blaise continued to glare at Michael as he passed him, leaving the house as Hermione followed. "I can't believe him, he thinks we're just gonna kiss up to him like when we were babies! He doesn't even know why he left!"Blaise snarled, the limo's door opening by itself. He went in first and moved over for Hermione to sit. "Why would he come here if he's hiding from Voldemort?" Hermione asked.
Blaise seemed to tense at the name but answered her. "He used to be a loyal supporter but he wouldn't get the dark mark. He was one of the people who snitched to the ministry so they wouldn't arrest him. He stayed with us for a year, than vanished. No letter, no good bye, nothing. He just walked out of the manor and never came back. 14 years later he comes back and begs to stay here so the dark lord wouldn't kill him. He's a coward"Blaise told.
Hermione stared down at her hands. Yes she didn't like the fact that she was living a lie for most of her life but deep down, she was glad she wasn't raised with them. Eleanor and Michael entered the car a few minutes later, and Michael began driving.
Arriving at the place nearly a minute late, Eleanor led Blaise and Hermione through the restaurant as Michael parked the car. The restaurant was private, everyone got their own dining room. "They're in number 3"Eleanor said, stopping at the front desk. "You are to mention 3 families" The worker told. "Parkinsons, Greengrass' and Notts"Eleanor named. "And you are the Zabini's I believe?"She asked. Eleanor nodded and the worker handed them 4 tickets. "Have a good evening" She smiled.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for Michael"Eleanor said to Hermione and Blaise, handing them their tickets. Blaise wanted to glare at his mother but he knew better. He pulled Hermione with him as he walked away. "See what I mean, she's acting like he saved the whole world"Blaise told. "Maybe she has a reason?" Hermione suggested, not wanting to pick sides yet. "You weren't the one hearing her cry every night"He snarled. Hermione went quiet. He was right, she hadn't been with them, she doesn't have a say. He made it to door 3 and let go of Hermione's wrist. He was about to push the door open before he stopped. "Nearly every Slytherin you hate is in that room"Blaise said. "I was told"Hermione replied.
He looked behind him and saw a button on the wall. He pressed it and a piece of paper came out. He handed it to her, "This is the seating chart. There's two circle tables, one for us, and one for the parents. We're sitting across the Greengrass sisters. Closest to you is Pike, and closest to me is Nott. You decide if we switch"He told. She nodded slowly as she looked through the paper. There was more than 14 of them at one table, she never realized how much of them there were. "We'll switch"She muttered, seeing that she would be further from Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy. Theodore Nott barely spoke to her, and Pike was usually an asshole.
He pushed the door and walked in, Hermione hesitantly following behind. No one was there yet, 'thankfully' she thought. They sat down, their parents entering a second later with 4 other people. Hermione recognized two of them: Astoria and Daphne Greengrass. She assumed the other two were their parents, but she looked away before they could look over. As they were walking toward them, the door opened again, more people entering. The room filled up within 2 minutes, all of them greeting each other. Hermione looked down at her hands, feeling out of place. She had to leave, she had to find a way, but how?
She felt the seat beside her move and knew they were sitting down as more chairs screeched against the wood floors as they moved. She held her breath as they talked, not wanting to look up. Her face was covered by her hair, barely showing anything. "Hogwarts again, I can't believe it. They always complained how we would be fit in a better school but than make us redo our last year at that crappy school"Hermione heard. She rolled her eyes, 'it'd do everyone a favour if you all left'. "Does she go to Hogwarts?" One of them asked, it was Sally Smith.
Hermione bit her tongue, why did they have to talk? "Yeah, I was surprised myself"Blaise spoke, hearing a little chuckle escape him. "Fuck you"She muttered. "Well who is it?" Astoria Greengrass asked. Hermione wanted to disappear as Blaise nudged her. She lifted her head to glare at him, only to see the shocked faces of the others. "Her?" She heard a snarl. That was the voice of Millicent Bulstrode. "Apparently"Daphne Greengrass mumbled. "Are you sure?"Tracey Davis questioned. "She wouldn't be here if we weren't"Blaise said. Hermione looked at the table, she wasn't going to look back down at her hands as if she were shy, neither was she going to stare at them, she didn't want to be around them, let alone look at them.
Hermione sat silently between them as they talked. Half the time they were complaining about Hogwarts, the other half they were talking as if they were normal. 'They're not normal, they're all insane' Hermione convinced herself. They stopped 2 or 3 times to ask her something stupid like "do your little golden group know this?", to which Hermione ignored. The food appeared in gold plates on the table a few minutes later. A large Stake and a bowl of salad each, along with a glass of red wine. Hermione didn't touch her plate, she didn't feel hungry. She was also too focused on trying to make time pass by. It had felt like a decade in only half an hour.
Blaise noticed how they practically ignored her existence after she didn't answer. He could tell that she was bored out of her mind. With the excuse of going to the bathroom, Blaise went to the front desk and asked where he could find the library. "Would you like us to collect something for you?"The worker asked. Blaise glanced at his watch and nodded. "Get me 3 books, but make sure they're different genres" He said, not having a clue what she read. "We'll bring them to your table in 10 minutes"The worker smiled. He nodded and walked away awkwardly, he never understood why people smiled at strangers. Entering the room, he walked over to the table unnoticed.
Hermione glanced up when she felt Blaise get up, regretting even agreeing to come to this stupid meetup. A minute passed, and she felt Theodore Nott nudge her. Resisting the urge to tell him to fuck off, she looked over at him. "Aren't you gonna eat?" He questioned. "No" She answered. "It's not poisoned you know"Gavin Pike said. Hermione ignored him, just wanting to disappear. "Why'd you come if you aren't even gonna talk?"Pansy Parkinson asked.
"I didn't have a choice" Hermione snarled. Pansy rolled her eyes, going back to eating her food. 'Who would willingly come to spend time with them?' Hermione thought bitterly. "I doubt Aunt Eleanor would force you"Tracey Davis scoffed. She was going to continue but she realized that Blaise was walking over to the table and went silent. He obviously could tell something had happened, Hermione was actually staring at the others. He drew the attention away from her and went on talking.
They finished eating and the dishes disappeared. Hermione almost didn't notice the bag that appeared between her and Blaise on the floor. Blaise slightly pushed it with his foot towards her so she knew it was for her. She reached her hand to the bag and opened it. She glanced over at him but he wasn't paying attention. Feeling a bit touched, she pulled out a book.
Almost half an hour later, the parents told them that they were being moved outside. Hermione was pulled to the side by her mother as the others went outside. "I don't know why you seem so shy. Just try socializing with them a bit, they're great people. At least 20 minutes"Eleanor said, seeming a bit pitiful. She held her hand out and Hermione handed her the bag of books unwillingly. "Thank you"She smiled, before walking out. Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to her seat. "Did the baby get her book confiscated?"Millicent sneered.
Ignoring her, she leaned back in her chair, glaring at any one who glanced at her. Some held their gaze longer than others, as if seeing it like a competition. "Mother is considering asking McGonagall to resort you" Blaise whispered to her, making sure the others were talking so they wouldn't hear. "What" She snapped, sitting up straight. "She wants you to talk so you'll at least know some people before you switch houses" He told. "I'm not switching houses"She said. "You might, so at least try to befriend them in a way" He added as he got up.