Enchantress

Chapter Six - The Start of Something New

Chapter Six – The Start of Something New

Sirius wasn’t getting nearly enough sleep. His quest was taking up so much time. He hadn’t had a chance to charm a beautiful girl since he’d returned from the veil. He wished he’d been able to bring his brother back with him but whatever fates had allowed him back obviously hadn’t felt that his brother deserved to return as well.

He’d been excited when he’d first found proof of Isabella’s existence but his excitement had quickly vanished when he realized how hard it was to find more information on her. This woman seemed to have lived the most secluded life, but Sirius was up for the challenge as he’d promised his brother he’d find the truth.

Hermione worried about Sirius’s obsession with finding this mysterious woman but recognized the need to follow it through to the end. It became her mission to make sure he didn’t forget to eat and sleep. Hermione had dinner at the Manor tonight and had resigned herself to telling Lucius and Severus what she’d learnt.

April 1978

Today was my Seventeenth birthday. Two letters arrived for me this morning and I managed to intercept them before Matron. One detailed the money Great Uncle Alfred had left me and how I could access it from Gringotts. But the second letter made my day, I’ve stuck it in here so I’ll always remember. It was addressed to The Brown Eyed Beauty, In the Smallest Room of Red Cottage:

Brown Eyes,

     Happy Birthday! I wonder what you would do now with all your inherited money. Will you live a life of action and adventure? You certainly have the spitfire personality to do it. I loved watching you dress down your parents. Purebloods like the mare of the weakest kind. If you wondered why I was there you parents owe money to mine and I was sent to make sure they didn’t try to escape their debt. I’m glad you stuck to your guns and your money. Your parents can’t hurt you now.

The owl’s name is Bel, she will always find you when you want to send a letter and she will always find you for me.

You don’t deserve the hand you’ve been given and I know you’ll do great things. I want to be a part of your life. I haven’t managed to stop thinking about you. I come from an old Pureblood family where tradition and devotion go hand in hand. There is so much expected of me and all I want to do is make my own decisions but I haven’t been given a chance.

I await your response with the gladdest of hearts!

     Your talk dark and handsome stranger.

It seemed to Hermione that he Mother had been besotted with this stranger, she just hooped as she read on that this stranger didn’t break her Mother’s heart. Who was this stranger? Why were no names mentioned? Who or what were they hiding from?

Hermione dressed in a daze flooing to the Manor with a million questions embedded in her mind. Between reading the diary and flooing here she’d began to feel guilty for the way she’d treated her Mother while she was alive. If Hermione had had a past like her Mother’s she’d have probably wanted to keep it a secret as well. There were suddenly moments of Hermione’s past that were put into perfect clarity.

“Hermione, Hermione! Miss Granger!!” bellowed Severus.

“Sorry” said Hermione, slightly dazed.

“Are you alright Hermione?” asked a concerned Lucius.

“Yes” replied a distant Hermione.

Lucius and Severus exchanged a look and ushered Hermione into a chair by the fire as she had gone a deathly pale white. It was as if all the things she’d found out had finally sunk in and she’d gone into a panicked shock.