When Hermione Fights

Malfoy Manor

Chapter beta: Dani & Livy

Chapter translator: Nik (& Aivy)

Special thanks to Nik for translating most of this and all the last few chapters.

My whole team is wonderful und stood by me in the last few months. More on that in the End Notes.

~WHF~WHF~WHF~WHF~WHF~WHF~WHF~

Snape's POV

As we stood under the sprawling old oak tree, Hermione looked pensively at the romantic little cottage she owned. I understood why she didn't jump at the chance to move to the Manor but she had known what she was getting herself into. She remained composed as expected, her face betraying nothing. Illegible and emotionless - she was talented!

Today she had taken me quite a bit by surprise with her looks. Her dress flattered her slender figure very favourably, and it was only thanks to my ability to always stay calm, that I managed to master the challenge she posed. She looked, and smelled, fantastic today. I recalled seeing her in a ball gown in a memory I viewed while checking her Occlumency level, and I can honestly say that she was as gorgeous now as she was then.

Her skin had a delicate golden sheen. She would look downright edible from Lucius' point of view, I thought quite sarcastically. Feeling her hand lying softly on my arm again, I looked at her. I waited until her dark brown eyes focused on me, and apparated us away.

Soon, we stood on the broad path leading to the Manor, surrounded on both sides by a mighty, well-kept magical yew hedge. She paused, looking around in amazement.

I tried to understand what she saw in it. Knowing the Manor since my childhood, it was un-spectacularly normal for me. I looked at the large, massive, wrought-iron double gate, which carried the same sign in the centre as she did on her abdomen: the intricate and ornate 'M' of the Malfoys!

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she simply accepted that she now belonged to my family and endured this with such patience and with so much pride in her stance. For she clearly knew that this was not a nice, normal family - she was not naive.

We may look out for each other, but we enjoyed playing games with each other too much to not always try to throw each other under the bus. We played rough behind these aristocratic walls. But if I had learned one thing this past year, it was that if anyone could play alongside us, it would be Hermione. The danger was always present, and I was well aware of it, that if we weren't cautious, she'd one day set the rules of the game for this family. She was a cunning, crafty bitch.

I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating her. Well, not anymore, I admitted to myself grudgingly.

Behind the gate, one could discern the vast size of the park-like complex. On the wide gravel path, in front of the large building, a showy white fountain, splashing incessantly, inevitably caught the eye of every visitor. And Lucius' terribly annoying, horribly conceited white peacocks strutted royally across the court as if the world belonged to them.

The proud creatures were spread all over the property and got on my nerves with their strange cries. When I had grilled one of the annoying beasts that one time, the Master of the Manor threw such a fit that I almost longed to have the bloody beast back again. Lucius and his stupid white peacocks. Yes, coloured ones were not welcome. It was like a form of symbiosis – one that drives you insane, at that! But with their lofty strutting, they resembled Lucius quite well indeed.

The estate, which seemed to stretch into the sky, had both an incredibly feudal and dark presence. It was ancient and could keep up with Hogwarts, but had undergone constant structural changes. The last external changes had taken place during the Elizabethan period, and the façade had been preserved since. It was a two-storey building, on top of which were many towers, essentially forming the third floor, even if they only ever contained one large room. The golden-yellow sandstone used for the building, a noble building material also used for churches and cathedrals, reinforced the stately impression. Shiny black shingles covered the roof of the pointed towers.