T R A I N E D T O S I N | dramione

Twenty eight

Hermione's sleep was all but easy to drift off into. But when she woke, she gathered, by the elf standing in the middle of her room, that she had slept long enough to wake up to lunch.

Topsy hadn't woken her, though, and stood patiently waiting.

"The Mudblood must eat," she said finally after a few moments of silence. Topsy revealed the plate she hid behind her back, almost looking worried how Hermione would react in the presence of food.

Hermione stared down at the plate, equal parts greens and bread. Her lunch always consisted of the same thing, a sandwich.

The bruises on Topsy's arm had faded slightly, the once jagged outlines of blue, blending into her pale veiny skin. Topsy slowly approached where Hermione sat on the bed, plate slightly extended.

With a sigh, the witch reached forward, slowly not to startle the elf, and retrieved the plate. When she set it in her lap, she eyed it. Her stomach growled.

She brought one piece of bread to her mouth, hesitating even in her stomachs urgency, and then bit a small piece off. As always, she couldn't pick a single thing wrong with the meal, that was until it turned to ash on her tongue and she had to strain just to swallow it and keep it down.

Hermione's stomach was always knotted, couldn't remember a time where it wasn't, or what that felt like.

"Thankyou," Hermione said, forcing down the last of the one side of sandwich.

But when she held the plate back out to Topsy, the elf shook her head.

In the end, it took Hermione an hour to finish the meal, and every single piece sat uncomfortably on top of the stones in her stomach. She had grown accustomed to them, though, and only when she ate did she notice the feeling.

Topsy took the plate from Hermione and disappeared leaving not so much as a crumb behind.

Hermione sighed, planning on spending Christmas Eve asleep, wrapped up in her bed where, if she was lucky, her problems disappeared for a few hours and she could leave it all behind.

Topsy popped back into the room, startling Hermione.

"Is the Mudblood needing anything?"

Hermione turned to the window. The sky was a mottled grey, enveloped in clouds of different shades.

"Is Lucius still gone?"
Topsy nodded. "Topsy thinks Master Lucius is still away."
"Where is Narcissa?"

Topsy shuffled on her feet. "Mmm," she hummed uneasily, bringing her hands to hover in front of her chest where she fiddled with her skinny fingers.

"Where's Draco?" Hermione replaced the question with another.
"Master Draco is in his room."
"Okay, thankyou, Topsy, that's all."

The elf apparated with nothing more than a hurried nod.

Hermione hadn't seen even half of the manor. She wondered how the kitchens looked, how big she suspected them to be. It had been so long since she was able to wander into a kitchen, fill her arms with as much food as she could, and smuggle it to her room. The idea wasn't exactly tempting now, but it was a fond memory nonetheless.