Chapter 2 - Once Upon A Time

Author's Notes: Again, Tinnidawg, you are the greatest!

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Chapter 2 – Once Upon A Time

Looking around, they noticed they were standing on the pavement of a cobbled street. Instead of cars and buses, however, there were horse drawn carriages and people riding on horseback. Hermione saw women dressed in long, empire-waist gowns while the majority of men wore light colored, form fitting pants with short dark jackets. Severus, though he had traveled extensively, did not recognize any familiar landmarks.

“Hermione! What are you doing out there? Come inside. Father wants to speak to you.” Hermione whipped around and saw Draco coming down the steps of a very large brick townhouse.

“Severus! We have been looking for you all over, old chap. Ron and Remus are already at the club!” Severus looked up and saw Harry Potter headed towards him with a very happy expression on his face. He turned a horrified face towards Hermione.

“Oh, no! Not them,” Hermione groaned.

“Not them? You have ten seconds to explain this to me before I start hexing Potter,” Snape growled out of the corner of his mouth.

“Just go along with Harry! Please? I will meet you later. We have to find out exactly where we are. Besides, I am not sure that we can do any magic. Nobody I see is carrying a wand.” Despite landing in an unknown situation, Hermione’s eyes were at once cautious and excited. Severus rolled his own eyes and steeled himself for whatever horrible punishment was sure to come. She heaved a sigh of relief when he allowed himself to be hauled away by a very happy Harry.

“What were the Duke of Walforth and you talking about? Father will want to know this immediately. Come inside before people start commenting about you standing in the street.”

Hermione let herself be ushered into the large townhouse before her. Her mind was racing, trying to understand this new world. She had the vague feeling that she had heard the name Walforth before. She had learned over the years to control her questions, as observation and patience usually yielded the same results.

Nothing prepared her for meeting her “father” however. She was ushered into what she assumed was a library and came face to face with none other than Lucius Malfoy. He was dressed in black trousers and a long black frock coat. His long silver blond hair was tied back with a narrow black ribbon. She felt the blood drain from her face. She pinched the back of her hand, fervently hoping she would wake up from this dream.

“I thought you were in Azkaban. What are you doing here?”

“Young lady, that is not amusing. I have never been to this place you call Azkaban, as you well know. Your brother noticed you standing in the middle of the street creating a spectacle of yourself with the Duke of Walforth. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Hermione looked down and let out a soft gasp. Her black robes had changed into a soft blue, high-waisted gown. How interesting for the transportation spell to change a person’s clothing and setting so completely, she thought. “Well, sir. I honestly do not recall how I met him. He just appeared and helped me up, sir.” Oh, Merlin, what have we gotten into? she thought.

“Well, my poppet, it appears that you two are familiar with each other. Am I correct then in assuming that nothing unseemly is going on between you two? Did he mention anything about tonight?”

“No, sir, he did not. I think I would like to go to my room now.” Hermione turned away to leave the room, but his voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Of course, of course. Before you go, did he mention anything about, oh, I don’t know, marriage?”

Hermione whipped around. “What?” she screeched.

“Kindly moderate your voice, young lady! What would your mother say to hear you raise it in such a fashion? Go to your room and freshen up.” Lucius dropped a kiss on Hermione’s forehead before turning away to sit behind his desk. He immediately pulled paper and pen towards him and started writing. “Don’t forget the supper we are attending tonight at seven.”

Hermione turned and walked out of the door in a daze. It was a strange day when Hermione did not know what to think. This would be the second time in her life when she was so shocked. She mounted the staircase and turned down the corridor at the top. She was going to have to play “guess the room,” as she had no idea which room was hers.

“Little sister, I really think you should start paying attention to where you are headed,” a voice lazily drawled.

“Hmmm?”

“Your room is two doors back.” Draco opened the correct door and followed her into her room. He sprawled in one of the chairs and watched her as she paced around the room. “You know, you are acting very peculiar. What is going on, Hermione?”

“Draco, how well do we get along?” She was guessing on the name, but as he called her by her own name, she assumed his was the same as well.

Draco cocked an eyebrow, amused. “Well enough, I guess. You are my favorite twin sister. You adore me and I adore me. Why?”

“I was just curious. How well do you know the Duke of Walforth? Were those friends of his that dragged him away?” No time like the present to start gathering information. Now that some of the shock was wearing off, Hermione thought she would enjoy this, if only for a short while. It was very surreal to think of Lucius Malfoy as her father and Draco as her caring, twin brother. How ironic that the two people who hated her most in her world were actually related to her in this world.

“I know that he and father used to be friends, but had some sort of disagreement. Father has been trying to get back into his good graces and advance his influence within Parliament. We belong to the same Club but are not close intimates. Harry is his younger brother, and they are very close. Ron and Remus are close friends of His Grace’s.” Draco watched her make another circuit around the room. “You are going to make me dizzy. Lie down and rest, Hermne. I will see you later. I believe all of us have to attend the supper tonight.”

Hermione lay down on the bed. Hermne? She shuddered at that name. When she had time, she vowed to get to the bottom of that nickname. She was not very tired, but decided she could put the quiet time to good use. She was starting to suspect what had happened but needed to gather more information. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing when she thought about Severus and Harry being related. Now, she just had to figure out how to get out of this world, but in the meantime, things looked like they could be very entertaining.