Rating:
R
House:
Astronomy Tower
Ships:
Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger
Characters:
Hermione Granger
Genres:
Angst
Era:
Harry and Classmates Post-Hogwarts
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Stats:
Published: 04/29/2005
Updated: 11/11/2005
Words: 46,788
Chapters: 23
Hits: 87,447

The Sweetest Sin

Annie

Story Summary:
In the years following Voldemort's victory in the second war, Muggle-borns must become slaves and servants to purebloods in order to survive. Over time, Hermione Granger has learned to suppress her pride and independence in households where she is considered lower than dirt. She thought she would be prepared for this new family, just like she was for all the previous ones. What she didn't know was that this new family was none other than Draco Malfoy's. Will she manage to hold up when she finds herself struggling to withhold her sharp tongue, returning hatred, and... something else?

Chapter 06

Chapter Summary:
Hermione and Pansy have a nice little discussion in Kathryn's room, in which Pansy discovers something she never knew about the new mudblood.
Posted:
05/21/2005
Hits:
3,401


Chapter 6: Her Own Secret

The next day, Hermione woke up just in time to quickly shrug on her robe and hurry upstairs for breakfast. When she arrived at the dining room, Draco and Pansy were just seating themselves. The children were not at the table, and after a few moments of confusion, Hermione felt her heart sink as she realized that she was the one who was supposed to bring them down.

"I..." she started to say when Pansy turned to her with a questioning look.

"Where are they?" the other woman asked sharply.

"I forgot," Hermione said quietly. "I'll go get them right now."

Not wanting to hear the response, Hermione turned around and made her way as fast as she could to the children's bedrooms.

Once upstairs, the first room she entered was Kathryn's. Hey, if Tommy hates me, at least I'll have her there to protect me, she thought wryly as she knocked lightly on the door. No one answered, so she pushed it open.

At first, Hermione couldn't find the occupant of the room anywhere. Panic starting rising in her, but then she saw a small form wrapped in blankets, lying on the bed. She smiled in relief, and walked over to the bed.

"Kathryn," she whispered, gently shaking the girl's sleeping form. "Wake up, dear."

A mumble came from the bundle of blankets, then Kathryn's disheveled hair, followed by her sleepy face, appeared. "Isn't it Saturday?" she asked with a yawn.

"Yes, but your mother and father are still expecting you for breakfast," replied Hermione as she bustled around and picked out a blouse and skirt for Kathryn to wear. "Put these on while I go wake your brother up."

Instead of doing what Hermione had said, Kathryn simply sat up and stared at her blankly. "Put them on?" she repeated.

"You do know how to put on your own clothes, right?" Hermione asked jokingly.

"No."

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, turning around to look at the little girl with disbelief.

Kathryn's eyes widened in fear at the outburst and she whimpered, "No one ever taught me."

Hermione restrained a groan of frustration. "I can't BELIEVE this," she muttered under her breath. "Okay Kathryn, today you're going to learn," she announced out loud.

Kathryn pouted. "Do I have to?" she whined.

"Yes," Hermione replied firmly. She grabbed the tiny blouse and kneeled down in front of Kathryn. "Okay, first your shirt. You have to put your arms in the sleeves, one at a time, first. Then, for the buttons, you slip the round part into the hole."

Kathryn gazed at Hermione attentively, then followed her orders. She at first had trouble fastening the buttons, but after a bit of struggling, managed to get her blouse on the right way. She looked down at herself proudly, then exclaimed, "I did it!"

Hermione smiled wearily and congratulated the little girl. "Good job! Are you ready for your skirt now?"

Nodding eagerly, Kathryn reached out for her skirt. Just then, a voice sharply interrupted from behind her, "What are you doing?"

Hermione spun around and saw Pansy standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, looking furious. "I told you to bring the children downstairs. Why are you playing with her right now?" the other woman continued.

"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered. "I was teaching her how to dress herself."

"That's servant's work," snapped Pansy.

"She wanted to," Hermione argued back. "And she has to learn someday. I might as well teach her right now."

As if to confirm Hermione's statement, Kathryn nodded eagerly. "Mum, look, I put my blouse on all by myself!" she said happily, pointing at the done-up buttons.

Pansy's cold glare noticeably softened, and she said in a more gentle tone, "Is that so? Mummy's little girl is growing up, isn't she?"

Kathryn nodded and then said, "Hermyne is teaching me how to put on my skirt now!"

Too late, Hermione realized that Pansy now knew her name and could figure out her identity. She was right - Kathryn's mother straightened up and her eyes widened with shock. "Hermione? Hermione Granger?!" she half-shrieked.

Hermione inwardly cursed herself for telling Kathryn her name. "Yes," she muttered.

"The Hermione Granger? The goody-goody, bushy-haired mudblood from Hogwarts?"

"That's me," Hermione replied, annoyance creeping into her tone. What the hell does this have to do with Kathryn getting dressed? she thought angrily.

Pansy shook her head, unable to speak through the fit of giggles that had overtaken her. Hermione watched her with a slight frown. She was about to turn back to Kathryn and try to ignore Pansy's presence when the other woman spoke up again.

"My, my, who would have thought you'd be degraded to this?"

Hermione said nothing.

"I suppose Draco knows about this?"

Hermione nodded stonily.

"Oh, no wonder why he's taken such an interest in you. He usually doesn't pay much attention to the mudblood servants. Of course, he's too busy at work to rea-" Pansy cut off there and an odd expression spread across her face. A split second later, she shook her head and snapped, "Get back to work."

Surprised at the sudden change of mood, Hermione nodded and turned back to Kathryn, but not before shooting a curious look at Pansy. The other woman was looking away so Hermione couldn't read her facial expression.

After a few minutes, Hermione timidly asked, "Can you go get Tommy ready?"

A second or two of silence followed Hermione's question. At last, without turning around, Pansy replied in a tense voice, "Fine. Keep in mind, however, that this is your job and I will not be doing this again."

Hermione shrugged and watched Pansy leave the room. The moment the door shut, she turned to Kathryn. "Do you know...?"

The little girl shook her head. "Mum's always like that when she talks about Daddy working," she explained to her caretaker.

"That's interesting," Hermione murmured out loud thoughtfully as she watched Kathryn fasten the buckles on her skirt. "Good job," she added when Kathryn had succeeded.

Drake's daughter beamed at Hermione. "That wasn't as hard as it looked!" she squealed, hopping off the bed. "Thanks for teaching me, Hermyne."

Hermione let out a breath of relief now that her morning's task had been completed, although her mind was still partially on Pansy's odd behaviour moments ago. "You're welcome," she replied with a smile. "Do you want to go down to breakfast now?"

Kathryn nodded eagerly. "Is Daddy going to be proud of me?" she asked, her eyes gleaming.

Hermione paused for a moment, then slowly replied, "Yes he will, dear."

Kathryn grinned. "Let's go!" she urged. She took Hermione's hand and tried to tug her toward the door.

"Okay, okay," Hermione said with a laugh. She allowed Kathryn to drag her to the top of the stairs, where Pansy was already waiting with Tommy at her side. Similar glares appeared on the faces of both mother and son at the arrival of the two latecomers.

"We've been waiting," Pansy pointed out shortly. "Let's go."

Instead of waiting for Hermione and Kathryn to follow, she took Tommy's hand and the two of them descended the stairs quickly. As they disappeared around the curve of the stairs, the little boy's eyes came to rest on his sister's. For a moment, Hermione could nearly see the daggers shooting from his seemingly innocent blue eyes. The next, he and Pansy were gone.

"Is Tommy mad at me?" Kathryn asked, her voice quivering slightly.

"No, not at all," Hermione hurriedly said. "He's just..." She stopped, biting her lip "He's just having a bad day."

"Oh, okay," Kathryn said, although all sparkle in her tone that had been there just minutes ago was now gone. It was in a much more dejected voice that she asked, "Can we go down now?"

Hermione started, then replied, "Of course." She had been so distracted by the strange behaviour exhibited by Draco's wife and son that she'd forgotten they were supposed to be down in the dining room.

When the two of them finally arrived downstairs, breakfast had already begun. Kathryn quickly hurried over to her seat without looking at her parents or brother. Unsure as to what to do, Hermione simply stood in the doorway and fidgeted with a strand of hair that had strayed from her messy ponytail.

Draco looked up and noticed Hermione's discomfort. He gazed at her for a few seconds, looking as if he were contemplating something, then at last said in a hard, emotionless voice, "Sit down."

Hermione was so shocked by the fact that Draco was actually suggesting she take a seat that she followed his command with no objection. As she tried to find a comfortable position on the stiff-backed chair, Hermione happened to glance up. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Draco's, which were still fixed on her. She saw a flicker of some unreadable light appear in his silvery eyes, but before she could even think upon it, it was gone. Draco turned away, and she did so as well. The brief exchange between the two of them went by unnoticed by anyone else at the table, and breakfast continued on in stony silence.


Author notes: Sorry for the short and not-so-interesting chapter, guys. After the next chapter, things will start livening up. Anyway, answers to questions:

penguininpink - Answered that question in the previous chapter.

ButterBeer_alcoholic - Well...Draco is able to stand Pansy enough to marry her, but as you can probably tell, he doesn't like her all that much (it'll be more evident in chapter...9, I think)

tk421beth and Queen Queso - On his own accord. But he conveniently managed to blame it on Hermione :P

Sorceress014 - I have no idea how long I want to make it, lol. I have up to chapter 10 written but I'm not even half-way done yet. So probably somewhere between 20 - 30 chapters.