Draco Malfoy had changed a great deal since his Hogwarts days and so had Hermione Granger. The War changed everybody. Who thought that the Ferret would become friends with The Chosen One and he could maintain a civil relationship with the Brightest...
The white peacocks were beautiful, thought a wonderstruck Hermione as they rode towards the gates of the Manor. "Close your mouth dear. You don't want Nargles to rush in." Draco whispered into her eyes which made her giggle. His reference to Luna's favourite most mischievous magical creature brought on a sense of nostalgia. It washed over her with warmth. The strange need to feel accepted in the Manor had her on the edge.
"What if they know am not a half-blood?" She asked in a hushed tone.
"How will they? Only you and I know the truth over here. And I am sure Fawley's know the disdain that Malfoy's hold for all muggle born witches and wizards and would have omitted the details of your birth, thus."
"What if there's some spell?"
"You know it, don't you? Magic doesn't differentiate in blood. We have had this conversation before. Look here." He turned the brunette to face him. "You are a wonderful witch and they are nobody to either of us. For me, they are just my ancestors who now hang as scornful portraits in some storage area of the Manor. They are rather snarky and rude, but then you know how utterly charming and snarky I can get."
Hermione felt her stomach flip at the smirk he gave her and couldn't help but return it with a smile.
As they entered the familiar Manor, the change in atmosphere struck them. The Manor was beautiful in all its splendour. Magical sconces on the walls seemed to lend the hallways a warm glow with the sunlight that spread throughout from the large French windows.
The walls held beautiful and ornate frescoes and everywhere you saw art, rich untouched art. The Malfoy Manor was always opulent, but this was an art lover's paradise. Even Draco was left awestruck.
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They were greeted by a butler and an elf, who enquired if they would be needing anything to eat or drink. Both politely declined and were shown to the library with a genteel but stern reminder that they were not to meddle with books that were restricted for the Malfoys only as tampering with the spells on them could bring some serious bodily harm upon them.
The duo quickly got to work and checked if there was anything related to Silvius that they could find in the library. While Hermione kept an eye, Draco had moved into the place where they kept all the Malfoy secrets in the alcove. Hermione couldn't get over the initial shock of the alcove and its contents. Draco had even teased her that he might have to obliviate her if she couldn't wrap her mind around the fact and get over it herself.
Meanwhile, Hermione located one of the books off Draco's list and started pretending to study it while Draco rummaged through the alcove. She was careful to make some notes to pretend as if she had been busy while she was actually looking out for anyone who might appear in the library unannounced.
A disappointed Draco moved out and shut the alcove. "Nothing. No memories of him, no diary, nothing! Almost as if he never existed." He groaned in frustration.
"Draco this is just a theory, but is it possible that he travelled in time and it got botched and somehow he does not exist now?"
"It could be a possibility save for the fact that we arrived at the hut where Adelia was banished for falling in love with my Great grand uncle. Which wouldn't happen if they didn't exist, plus, he is mentioned in my Great Grandfather, Septimus's diary from last year." He looked at Hermione who seemed to look annoyed that she had missed the obvious fact.
"You can't always be the smart one Hermione. Relax." He cooed.
"Whoa, you actually made notes?" he said while picking up the parchment. "Someone has to keep up the ruse."
"You would have made an excellent Slytherin, you know?"
"Am a happy Gryffindor, Malfoy." He smirked and chastised, "Zabini, your dear husband, not Malfoy."
"The library clearly holds nothing of worth to us. We can check the restricted books, though."
"No. The Manor is full of dark magic and artefacts and we don't want to trigger something beyond any of our capacity Hermione. God only knows what could happen. Those books dwell in dark and blood magic and were brought here from across the world. There are books on Tantrik Vidya from India, Vodou from Haiti, Pagan, Wiccan and Hermetic magical practices. Merlin knows that if we get them out, things can only go horribly wrong. The Ministry seized most of the books, but the most sinister of the lot that was hidden through the ages got seized after the War when the Ministry checked the Manor for any lingering Death Eaters and dark magic before they let me or my Mother settle back in."
Hermione was taken aback at his outburst but he seemed really hell bent on staying away from dark magic. Hermione obviously would never practise any of it, but there was no harm in reading or knowing of it. She ransacked her brains for any other ideas while Draco made a few faux notes of his own.
"We need to at least look around!"
"We will, but we can't do everything in a day, can we? Plus, we don't want to overstay our welcome. We will be back tomorrow. Don't worry."
The duo took their leave while thanking the butler for his cooperation and help. Right before they apparated back to the Estate, Draco asked, "You mind if we make a small detour to Diagon Alley?" Hermione opened her mouth to ask why, but then decided against it. She was too exhausted to get into a war of words with him. She silently nodded as she held his arm for a side-along apparition.
Diagon Alley had not changed much in appearance over the years, yet it was centuries apart, one could tell. Gringott's sat exactly where it was although it looked older only by a century or two. Ollivander's further down the line looked as ancient as it did in the present. The only other building that Hermione recognised was the Leaky Cauldron. There was no Flourish and Blott's, no Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour and definitely no Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She suddenly felt the burden that this was no vacation, they were truly alone in this strange world.
As Hermione followed Draco, she realised they were moving towards Horizon Alley. "Draco, where are we going? We have almost crossed Diagon Alley completely. Are we headed towards the Carkitt Market?"
"No. Knockturn Alley." Draco murmured as he took her hand and pulled her along with him. As they entered the ominous lane, Hermione's insides chilled. If Knockturn Alley was shady in the future, it was downright notorious and scary in this era. She held on to Draco tighter who stopped in front of a shop that had its door shut. The worn out paint on the wall above the door said, Moribund's in faded letters. Centuries later Harry would try to enter this store when he would land up at Knockturn Alley by mistake. The door was locked as it would be then, but there was a light that was shining through, meaning that there was someone inside. Draco discreetly pulled off the transfiguration spells on him and looked like the true Malfoy that he was.
"Monsieur?" He called out in his best French accent.
The ratty doorknob suddenly started glowing. Draco quickly took his wand and sliced up his finger a little and pressed it onto the knob. Hermione gasped at the blood that was now oozing onto the knob when she heard a metallic click. The door swung open slightly. Hermione had a million questions in her mind, but Draco's grave expression told her that it was best she does not ask for any explanation right now.
The room was dark with strange shapes and objects all around them. It looked like a run down version of Borgin and Burkes. The two walked in hand in hand, wary of even the slightest of movements, wands ready.
Hermione knew very basic French having spent a summer there on a vacation as a child. But her knowledge was rather limited and rusty. Even the brilliant Hermione Granger would take more than a vacation to learn a new language. She listened to the two men and occasionally caught a few words in between. On the whole, none of them seemed to make any sense neither were they in the same context. She even briefly wondered if it was simply Draco's ploy to irritate her.
The old frail man that had greeted them, Hermione suspected he was Moribund himself, soon turned around and disappeared into a room in the back of the store. A while later he returned with a package the size of a small box and gave it to Draco. He took the package and put ten galleons on the counter. Hermione's eyebrows shot up at the amount as she looked at him.
"Merci beaucoup Monsieur Moribund."
Draco held her hand and pulled her out. They apparated away to the Estate the moment they stepped out of the strange shop. Draco with a package that he had hidden well within his robes and Hermione with now a trillion questions hounding her.
(A/N)
Thank you for your birthday wishes! And here is a short but super important chapter. There will be plenty of action for them at the Manor, so don't worry.
I am glad that this story means so much to the bunch of you. Thank you for making it so special for me!
Also, I wanted to mention that all the places and shops that I have mentioned in the chapter exist in the Potterverse. In fact, The Leaky Cauldron is believed to be the oldest standing shop in Diagon Alley, thus it has the entry to it. It's believed that Gringotts' was made and then the other shops grew around it. However, it is also a possibility that Ollivander is possibly the oldest since it has been here since the fourth century or even before!
