Beauty and the Unexpected Beast

The Study

The next few days went by blurring together. Granger avoided me as much as possible. Cookie was giving her food after or before I had eaten, but I wasn't mad that she was disobeying me. Even if I did loose my temper around Cookie I could never hurt her, she is practically the only person on my side. I was actually glad Granger wasn't going to starve, one less person I had to worry about dying. I stayed in my study most of the time, trying to research more about my problem. There was surprisingly very little on the topic, and each time I came to a dead end I was even more enraged. Anything around me suffered greatly.

I knew I couldn't give up of course. There had to be a way an easier way, that wasn't as impossible as the two I had found, and when I find it, I'll do it.

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It was surprising how easily I could navigate through the Manor now that I was accustomed to it. Malfoy stayed at one end of it, while I stayed at the other, far from crossing each others paths. Even if we ever tried to I knew where to find him and I was sure he could guess where I was. Cookie was nice enough to always inform me when Malfoy had left the dinning room, then I would precede to going downstairs to eat.

After the first day, I had remembered that I'd grabbed one of my purses, and was grateful. Though it meant Harry didn't have a change of clothes or a first-aid cit, I knew he'd be okay without those since the other bag held all of the important items like the books. I on the other hand now had two weeks of clothing and the dress I had worn to the wedding. When my parents had picked it out for me I loved it, hoping that the way it showed off my figure Ron would actually notice me the way he seemed to have at the Yule Ball, no such luck of course.

Ron and Harry seemed to be on my minds whenever I was not eating or reading in the massive library. It always began with me wondering if Harry was still alone, or if he could kill all the Horcruxes alone. Someone had placed the sword in that lake, maybe they were helping him now. Then I began to wonder if Ron had found Harry, and if they were looking for me or for the Horcruxes. Did they think I was a lost hope? I couldn't answer that question if it was turned on me though.

Malfoy had a temper, but it didn't seem like he posed any threat to me. It was obvious Malfoy knew I was eating, but he didn't seem to mind very much. I wasn't sure what he did through the day, a few days I wasn't even sure if he was even in the manor, then he would yell in outrage or I would hear a door slam. It made me wonder what always makes him so upset. In the middle of the week I had been on my way down to the kitchen when I heard Malfoy screaming and thrashing around upstairs, a few things seemed to have exploded too. On instinct I ran to the nearest room and stood my ground, listening for on coming footsteps or curses. It took me a few minutes to realize it wasn't an attack.

Though I would never admit it aloud, I was glad the rest of the Malfoy family were absent from the Manor. If his father was here I'd be in the dungeons or I would be tortured for information. Instead I was allowed to walk around the Manor and read all the books I pleased. Malfoy could have even forgotten I was here, I hadn't seen him since the first day two weeks ago.

Now I was finishing my favorite muggle book Pride and Prejudice. I was surprised when I first looked around the library, to see many different muggle books, but they looked untouched, more of a way to fill space. As I shut the book, thinking over the plot like I always do when I finish a fictional book. I got out of the comfortable couch that was positioned near a fireplace at the back of the library. The library itself was at least five stories, and practically the whole wall was covered in books. More books than I could ever read were in this library. I walked out of the library and Cookie appeared in front of me.

"Hello miss!" she says happily.

"Cookie," I say shaking my head. "I told you to call me Hermione"