Chapter Fourteen: More Slytherin Plotting

(i) The characters and world of Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this.

(ii) Thank you once again for the kind reviews. Please do continue to let me know what you think of the story.

(iii) A big hug of gratitude to my smashingly lovely beta, Queen_of_Stars.

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Once the dancing was concluded, the guests at the Ministry Ball moved to the dining area. A number of lengthy speeches were made over a magnificent dinner, and toasts were drunk in dizzying succession. Hermione was more than grateful for Cissy's intervention with the seating arrangement, for having Professor Snape by her side ensured that she was spared the worst of Ron's wrath. He could only glare impotently at her and snub her presence. Ginny was too busy being photographed to irritate and belittle Hermione, which was, in her mind, a very good thing indeed.

Professor Snape continued his provocative and perplexing behaviour, but he was extremely witty and sarcastic with his snide comments to the outpourings of the international guest speakers. This helped keep Hermione in mirth throughout the proceedings, for which she was very pleased. She knew that without his presence by her side, dinner and the evening could have been extremely uncomfortable. Professor Snape seemed to have taken his promise of being her friend seriously, for he was by her side until the very end of the ball.

Hermione knew that Harry was watching the two of them with a curious expression on his face, but Professor McGonagall and Kingsley seemed to find their united front completely ordinary, which helped keep their side of the table filled with pleasant and intelligent conversation, as well as banter. As the many goblets of excellent wine and mead relaxed Hermione, her initial fears concerning her discomfort and inability to converse with Professor Snape's looming presence were completely removed. Instead, she found herself enjoying her evening of stimulating conversation. She even responded to Professor Snape's sardonic flirting with what she thought was adequate aplomb.

Severus found Miss Granger a pleasant diversion on what could have proved to be a tedious evening. Minerva and Kingsley were pleasant dinner companions, but a young woman who blushed and giggled while still managing to respond with intelligent and pithy comments to his more sarcastic outpourings was a rare find. He realised that Cissy had once again stepped in and done him a delightful favour, for having Miss Granger by his side was definitely preferable to his original seating beside the pedestrian company of Molly Weasley. Moreover, his new seating and companionship allowed Severus to thoroughly enjoy riling up the emotions of Molly and the idiotic ginger-haired menace who glared at Severus for his audacity in flirting outrageously with Miss Granger. Thus, as the meal progressed, Severus began to casually drape his arm over the back of Hermione's chair as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Don't react to what I am going to do, Miss Granger," said Severus quietly. "People are watching. Just play along and all will be explained."

Hermione nodded in agreement before casually looking up at Professor Snape to follow the direction of his sardonic gaze. Meeting Ron's angry stare, she smiled sweetly and leaned even closer to Professor Snape's shoulder. "All right, Professor," she said into his ear, "but I've never really been good at acting."

He smirked at her and said, "And here I thought you were well versed in the art, after having lured Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest."

Hermione blushed. "Will I never live that down?" she asked in embarrassment. "I had to do something, and I couldn't think of anything else."

Severus chuckled and used his long fingered hand to casually push a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I merely brought up the subject to help you realise the need for subterfuge."

Hermione smiled. "Yes, Professor. Lead on."

Thus, when the final cheese and fruit courses were served, Severus took pleasure in introducing her to the more exotic options, going as far as to feed her delectable bites off his fork.

At the end of the Ball, Severus courteously walked Hermione to the Floo. There, she was bid a cordial goodnight by Lucius, who kissed her hand with a flourish, and Narcissa, who pecked her on the cheek. Kingsley, too, was not slow in hugging the young woman goodbye, and Minerva patted her arm in farewell. Severus followed Lucius' example. He bowed low over her hand in a surprisingly gentlemanly fashion before kissing it in adieu. Hermione realised that the very over-the-top farewells had been done to mitigate the gossip over her obvious breach with the Weasleys, for it had been very noticeable that Hermione had not spent any time with Harry or Ron throughout the entire evening's proceedings.

Once Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place, however, the tension was thick and uncomfortable. An extremely disgruntled Ron glared at her, and Ginny spitefully whispered, "And here is the Slytherin whore. I see now why you wore a green dress to the ball. Did you enjoy flirting with the Greasy Git?"

Hermione did not respond. She did not want to ruin the wonderful mood she was in. Instead, she did her best to smile brightly at Mr. Weasley and Harry. "I think I shall go to bed now, Harry," she said with false cheer. "Goodnight, everyone," she called out before making her way speedily up the stairs.

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The morning of Sunday, the twenty-fourth of May, dawned bright and beautiful. However, for Hermione, the morning brought nothing but discomfort, for she knew that the Weasleys would be down below, waiting to further upset her with hateful comments. Hermione was generally an early riser. But knowing what awaited her caused her to dither and debate going down for a fair length of time. Finally, after a nice, long shower, she convinced herself that she was strong enough to pretend she could not hear the horrible comments and remarks. She dressed in her comfortable, if slightly tattered, blue jeans and button-down Oxford shirt and went down for breakfast.

However, Hermione was met with total silence. No one else was present in the kitchen, not even the usually bustling Molly. This surprised Hermione, but she was not one to rue her good fortune. She quickly made herself a pile of toast with butter and marmalade, and filling herself a mug of tea, she retired to the library.

It was there that Narcissa's elegant, short-eared owl found her. It lifted its foot daintily to offer its missive.

Dear Hermione,

Cissy

Hermione felt tears threaten. Someone understood how she felt.

She had visited Stonehenge with her parents when she was twelve, but she had never really seen it through magical eyes. Cissy's perfectly timed invitation filled Hermione with delight. Looking at the time, she realised it was already a quarter to eleven. Dashing back up to her room, she brushed her teeth and tried to figure out what to wear to a picnic with the Malfoys. She knew that they were using her to prove their altered political inclinations, but she did realise that Cissy was also trying to be a friend. In spite of Professor Snape's slightly disturbing remarks, Hermione had understood that she had nothing to fear from the Malfoys. They meant her no harm.

Hermione first looked at her robes before discarding them in favour of her Muggle attire. None of her summer frocks seemed suitable. Finally, Hermione decided that they would just have to accept her as she was. The best she could do was change her rather battered pair of pale blue jeans for a smarter pair of cord trousers in a warm honey brown which she teamed with a smart, ivory t-shirt and matching cardigan. A good brush of her hair, plenty of Muggle leave-on conditioner and silicon serum to tame her hair into submission, and she was done. She debated wearing make-up before settling for a lick of mascara and a coloured lip-gloss. Hermione had never been one to doll up; she was not about to change her style.

Once her preparations were done, Hermione looked at the time again. She was a little surprised to find that it was already five past eleven. Quickly, she put on her comfortable hiking boots, packed her essentials in her beaded bag, which she tucked into her jacket pocket, and returned to the library. There, she penned a note to Harry, in case he worried. Then, she waited for her Port-key to activate.

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After the ball, Severus returned with the Malfoys to the manor. There, the four Slytherins enjoyed a final nightcap of excellent Malfoy brandy while discussing and analysing everything that they had seen and heard. It was a long-standing tradition, for Lucius and Severus had always thus torn apart the gatherings they had attended together. Severus had, at first, encouraged such discussions with his spying in mind, for Lucius was more likely to divulge useful information late in the evening over what was, in his mind, a private tête-à-tête. Later on, once the Dark Lord had been vanquished for the first time, Narcissa had joined their little late night sessions, and Severus had come to appreciate the woman's brilliant insights and observations. She was excellent at seeing and hearing things discussed by the wives of Death Eaters, and she was an invaluable source of information for Severus.

Tonight's post-mortem started off with the behaviour of the youngest Mr. Weasley and his rather public display of affection for Miss Brown. Draco sniggered as the topic was brought up. "Brown's been with nearly every boy in school," he said with a smirk. "Weasley's got appalling taste if he's dallying with her so openly."

"I think she was just a convenient way to show up Hermione," said Narcissa. "The poor girl was distraught when she saw them at the ball."

Severus nodded with a smirk. "Yes, I realised that was why you brought her over to us. The best way to rescue a Gryffindor from Gryffindor harassment is to embroil her in Slytherin manipulation. Though I must thank you for the seating rearrangements. I must admit I found the alterations much more to my liking."

Lucius laughed and said, "Yes, I saw your rather striking flirtation with the delectable Miss Granger."

When Severus heard Lucius refer to Miss Granger with the title of "delectable Miss Granger," he nearly choked on his brandy. It was only his long experience in maintaining a calm and stony façade that prevented him from showing his surprise and amusement at the pronouncement.

Draco, unfortunately, lacked the experience and choked rather spectacularly. "Really, Father," said Draco in horror. "Granger, delectable?"

Lucius laughed. "Your mother, my brilliant wife, has changed my perception of the Mudblood. I had never really observed her at length, never having cause or opportunity. But tonight, I could not help but notice her graceful carriage and her rather fetching smile. I especially enjoyed watching Severus' flirtation. What was that with the feeding of fruit towards the end of the evening, old boy? I thought Potter's ginger side-kick was going to burst a blood vessel, so hard did he glare at the two of you."

Severus chuckled darkly. "I found it rather amusing to rile up the insolent pup. Gryffindors are so easy to aggravate and manipulate."

"Yes," said Lucius with a smirk. "I thought that had to be one of the reasons behind the display."

"Ah, Lucius," said Severus jovially. "You know me too well, if you suspect there was another reason."

It was now Narcissa's turn to giggle. She had had far too much to drink and was in rather high spirits. "I think you make a beautiful couple," she said with a surprisingly youthful grin. "The dashing spy and the brains of the golden trio; I can just see the headlines in the newspapers now. They'll be speculating over the length of your relationship and other juicy details."

Severus barked with laughter. "Oh, that will make things exciting when school reopens. How I'd love to be a fly on the wall when the Weasley matriarch and the ginger-haired menace read that bit of supposition."

Lucius smirked. He had brought up the topic of Severus' flirtation to tease his old friend. He had not expected Severus to join in the fun quite so readily or find humour in his own behaviour. The old Severus would have glared stonily at Lucius and possibly gone to bed in a huff. This new Severus, the one who laughed and joined in the banter so convivially, was both a surprise as well as a pleasure. Lucius realised that the end of the war had altered his old, cautious friend significantly.

Draco, too, seemed to observe the difference in his godfather. "It is good to hear you laugh," said the young man. "It has been so long since I remember you laughing."

Severus sobered at the comment. "For a long time, I could not find a reason to laugh," he said quietly. "I did not expect to survive the war, but now I have a chance to live. These past weeks have shown me who my friends are; how can I not enjoy their company or indeed..." and here he smirked sardonically at Lucius, "...the company of an attractive young woman who blushes so very fetchingly?"

"Oh, Severus," said Narcissa with emotion.

Meanwhile, Lucius smirked back at his old friend. This witty Severus was much like the young man Lucius had known and befriended as a youth, before their Death Eater days.

Severus next smirked at Draco. "I noticed the attention you were paying the younger Miss Greengrass. Did you not start the evening as the escort of her older sister?"

Draco coloured briefly before laughing at his turn of the roasting. "Daphne is in love with Roger Davies. He's a half-blood and a Ravenclaw, though, and her parents are not pleased. I'm a useful distraction mechanism. I dance and flirt, and they are pleased a Malfoy is paying court to her. Once their attention is diverted, I can pursue my own interests."

Lucius chuckled. "And what about young Miss Parkinson? I remember hearing about your rather public school romance."

"Yes, indeed," said Narcissa. "Why, her mother, the obnoxious woman, almost became overly familiar when news of your romance hit the society circles."

Draco shrugged. "Pansy's a good friend and will always be dear to me, but she's like the House broom. Now that the time has come to put away childish things, I realise that the woman I pursue needs to be of a different calibre. Astoria is much prettier than Daphne and more intelligent, too. I enjoyed her company this evening."

Narcissa smiled with motherly pride. It was good to see her son finally showing some maturity and careful thought to his future prospects.

Soon enough, the conversation turned to discussing the speeches and Miss Weasley's rather shameless dress. Draco sardonically observed that he had been able to ascertain with a good deal of accuracy that she had not been wearing any underwear. This caused both Lucius and Severus to chuckle rather darkly, while Narcissa blushed before joining in the laughter.

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The next morning, as Severus was making his way down for breakfast, he overheard Narcissa and Lucius talking about Miss Granger.

Narcissa observed, "I'm worried about her, Lucius. I didn't really expect to like the girl, but seeing her vulnerability really upset me last night. She's a very sweet thing, and I think she's been given a difficult time by her so-called friends. She's only Draco's age, and if someone had hurt my child in that way, I would be out for blood. How could her friends abandon her to such scandalous gossip, especially after she did everything to help them?"

Lucius' reply was so quiet that Severus had to strain to hear it, stood as he was outside the door. "Cissy, dearest, your heart is overly sensitive. I'm sure she's fine."

"I don't agree, my love," responded Narcissa. "Did you see Molly's glare? If Hermione is forced to be in that woman's presence, it is sure to get ugly rather quickly. I wish I could help."

Lucius grunted. Severus could well imagine Lucius' exasperated expression at his wife's sudden interest in Miss Granger.

"To call that young woman promiscuous is akin to saying my sister Bella was an untried virgin when she left school."

This caused Lucius to burst out laughing. "Cissy, I love your turn of phrase."

Narcissa laughed too. Then she continued, "But really, dear heart, only an innocent would choose to wear the dress she did. A woman who knew her own sexuality would never wear something like that, or if she did, she could never pull the look off without looking ridiculously ingénue."

Severus had to agree with Narcissa's logic. Miss Granger had looked charming with her long chiffon dress in pale mint green, with its broad satin sash and tiny white satin rosebuds sewn on to the gently curving neckline. The dress had been pretty and suited her complexion remarkably well, but it was virginal. In contrast, both Miss Weasley and Miss Brown looked like sexually active women, while Miss Granger was glaringly still a schoolgirl, albeit an intelligent, witty and attractive one.

Severus' thoughts were brought back to the conversation he was listening in on when Narcissa said, "I've had an idea. Let us all go for a picnic somewhere nice. The weather is glorious, Severus is still with us, and we can use the opportunity to invite both Hermione and Astoria. I want to get to know both of the young women better. Besides, given our discussion yesterday, the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that Hermione would make an ideal match for Severus."

Severus had to use his considerable skill as a spy to not betray his eavesdropping. He had thought Cissy was jesting when she said she was matchmaking. Apparently not. This caused Severus to re-examine his thinking over the girl. Yes, it was true; he had flirted with her, but that had been more to infuriate the Weasley matriarch and her two youngest brats, as well as to give the gossips something to twitter about, than with any real sense of attraction to the girl. Rescuing Miss Granger and fulfilling his debt of honour to her had merely sweetened the deal. However, the thought of pursuing the Gryffindor Princess in actuality, to use her as the mother of his children, that was an entirely different idea. As Severus thought on the subject further, he could see the reasoning behind Narcissa's supposition that they were well matched. They had a love of learning and books; she could be easily manipulated and taught to appreciate Slytherin and the more traditional values of magic. She was basically alone, which would mean little or no contact with irritating in-laws, and most importantly, she knew him, his role in the war and would not need to be with him to fulfil her own grand desires of fame and fortune. Hmm... mused Severus thoughtfully, the idea does have merit. Severus decided that he would see how it all panned out.

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The picnic at Stonehenge turned out to be everything that Hermione could have wished for. No one commented on her obviously Muggle choice of attire. Professor Snape, who proved to be extremely knowledgeable about the historical and magical properties of the site, walked her around and explained a number of interesting features. He, together with Cissy and Lucius, turned out to be aficionados of magical historical tradition, and they delighted in educating someone with a similar passion for information. Hermione could still not get over how comfortable she felt in the entirely Slytherin group.

I can't believe Lucius asked me to call him by his first name, thought Hermione with a deep sense of shock. Not long ago, we were mortal enemies, and now we are walking around, discussing Ancient Runes and their hidden meanings. Could things get any stranger? Apparently, they could. Draco, who had always called Hermione nothing other than "Mudblood," or if forced to in the presence of observant teachers, "Granger," seemed perfectly at ease in referring to her as Hermione to her face and even shared his Muggle stash of canned Jamaican Ginger Beer, complaining that the older group had no sense of taste whatsoever when they stuck to their elf-made wine.

Hermione had thought that Astoria would be a stuck-up pureblood. She was now learning that the perception was very different from reality. The young woman turned out to have a warm, earthy sense of humour, with a sharp wit to match the Slytherin penchant for sarcasm and an intelligent turn of phrase.

The afternoon cemented the firm friendship of the group, and Cissy's delight in the two younger women was so obvious that the three men teased her unmercifully. At some point in the afternoon, as the ladies decided to rest and relax after their sumptuous picnic feast, the men set off for a brisk climb. It was then that Narcissa laid her trap. Looking pointedly at Hermione she said, "I'm really glad you and Severus get on so well."

As Hermione blushed and began to explain, saying, "No, Cissy, he's just toying with me..."

She was interrupted by Narcissa. "No, my dear. I don't mean to disapprove. I was going to thank you for rescuing Severus from the clutches of attention and glory-seeking women, who are desperate to be seen on the arm of the dashing hero and spy."

Astoria snorted. "Definitely," said the young woman shortly. "Why, last night I heard Parvati Patil and her little friend Romilda Vane discussing how dishy Severus was and how it would look really good if they could nab him since he's been reinstated as Headmaster."

"Goodness," said Hermione in disgust.

"Yes," said Narcissa. "You, on the other hand, are the kind of woman who does not require a man to boost her place in society. Your intelligence and actions speak for themselves. Besides, you would not use him and discard him."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "But, Cissy," said Hermione, "what would you have me do?"

"Nothing you feel uncomfortable with," said the older woman, "but you could be his friend, his date, if you will. It would help you quieten the rumours that are circulating following the Weasleys' treatment of you, and if you were seen to be with Severus, the gossips would not dare speak against you. Similarly, being seen with you would save Severus the trouble of having to avoid gold-diggers, and it would be lovely to have you join our little group. You may have noticed that we don't really socialise intimately with too many people; we are very private, and it would be lovely to include you in our midst."

Astoria smiled and nodded. "I've enjoyed today, and since Draco and I are hoping to see more of each other...." She blushed then and grew silent.

Narcissa giggled. "I've always wanted a daughter. I've waited a long time to have young girls to shop and gossip with. I think we make a fine trio, if I do say so myself."

Hermione smiled. Her mother had always said, "When one door closes, another opens." This was definitely proving to be the case. When she had felt completely alone and isolated, when she had thought that she had lost Ron, Ginny and the Weasleys, and when she suspected that Luna was being encouraged to move permanently to Sweden by her father, who was tired and disheartened with Wizarding Britain, it was lovely to find intelligent and interesting friends. "How can I refuse?" she said with a grin. "It will be a pleasure, both for the good company and the chance to prove my detractors wrong."

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