To Brew A Scandal by stars_in_motion

Chapter 4

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @stars_in_motion ON A03!!

One of the first lessons Hermione had been taught as a young girl was the importance of addressing those in the peerage by their proper titles and how to curtsy for her father's important guests and business partners. When Hermione entered magical society and found her newfound freedom, it did not mean the peerage was entirely done away with. No, in fact, these titles and lands had made their way into the Wizarding World as well.

"They swore loyalty to a muggle Queen?" Hermione questioned in the common room one day, reading their assigned chapters for History of Magic.

Ron was the one to answer her. "Many pureblood families did. Though the King was a muggle and could not perform magic, he was somehow immune to it. No one can go imperiusing the King or Queen, or their descendants. After a considerable effort to avoid war, the wizarding families at the time and the Royal family came to an agreement. They would gain titles over lands not already given to muggle lords, and swear to uphold them for the royal family. That is why we have a Duke of Essex, Duke of Wiltshire, and some others I can't recall. Percy is the only one keeping up with all that."

"Wiltshire?" Hermione asked, startled at the mention.

"Yeah, I believe they're the Malfoys. Nasty, calculating lot, they are. They think they're too good to be seen in regular society, so I've never seen them. Dad believes they're in it with You-Know-Who."

From what Hermione could tell, there was something always left unspoken about the Weasley family and their own position in the ministry. From the treatment they received from others, the Weasleys seemed to be delegated at the bottom of the list of nobles, too poor to actively participate, so they had been removed from their earned seats at the Wizengamont, though they never once looked down upon the Queen or the muggles she ruled over.

After meeting Sirius Black for the first time, Harry learned that he was a part of this system as well.

"Your father was an Earl," Sirius explained to Harry. "Though that was the least interesting thing about the man. His title and lands did not save him from Lord Voldemort, and did not protect your mother Lily either. But he was a good man. And when you become of age, that title will become yours as well."

Finding out he was titled in some way made sense given the amount of gold left in his vaults, Hermione reasoned.

Sirius continued on, "And to my late parent's great displeasure, I am a Duke. The title was most certainly meant to go to Regulus, with my father making every possible effort to have it skip over me entirely. But seeing as I am the only living male descendent of the Black family, I retain the title of the Duke of Essex."

Professor Binns went into greater detail than did Ron and Sirius. It seemed most Slytherin families had some sort of ties to the peerage, along with other purebloods, like the Lovegoods, the Bones, and the MacMillans.

The information stuck with her and replayed in her head, over and over again, but she knew it was of no use to her. It was just another society that Hermione would never be able to enter, and she had no desire to participate in such ridiculous things.

The summer after the disastrous Triwizard Tournament, Hermione welcomed a few weeks in the countryside for holiday. The coverage of her in the Daily Prophet had been bothersome, and walking around Diagon Alley was the last thing she wanted to do. At the first available opportunity, she made her way to their spot along the river, to find Draco skipping stones at the water's edge. His head shot up at the sight of her clearing the trees.

The sight of him instantly made her smile. "Draco!" she called out, making her way over to him.

Perhaps he had managed to convince his mother that hair product was no longer necessary, his white-blond hair instead falling across his forehead, brushing against his ears. He had grown a year older, but he looked more boyish this way, less refined and stiff. She noticed in recent years, he would choose to wear a nice shirt and trousers over the expensive robes that he was once buried in.