A pair of dark mysterious eyes

Again...I don't own anything exept the plot blah blah blah!

Btw thanku for the really exellent reviews! They've spurred me on to greater heights shall we say!

Enjoy!

“Maple? The old dark pureblood family maple?” Ron sat dumbfounded at the Gryffindor table along with all the others that had grown up in the wizarding community. “God, i didn’t know there were even Maples alive anymore!” Ron craned his neck to get a better look at the young man sitting at the Slytherin table.

There was a lot of murmuring throughout the tables as the students who had grown up with wizarding parents explained the reputation and history of the Maple family to the muggle borns.

Harry, who had never heard the name before, looked over to the new student and followed his line of vision. Liam’s eyes had not left Hermione’s and she was transfixed, her mouth slightly open in a surprised way. Harry continued to look between the two, confused, while Ron continued to explain the bloodlines of the Maples to an intently listening audience.

“Hermione?” Harry asked. He had noticed the small smile that had appeared on Liam’s face as he stared. A few other students had noticed his fascination with Hermione and he finally looked away and his eyes darted round the hall at the stares from all the other students

“Hermione?” Harry asked again. She was still staring at Maple like she’d never seen a boy before. “Is that the guy you saw last night?” he asked.

She nodded and looked at Harry.
“Was he staring at you like that at the ball?” Hermione nodded again and looked uncomfortably at all her fellow gryffindors that had noticed her staring competition. Ginny leaned over to her and whispered in her ear,
“He’s pretty hot Hermione you’ve got to admit! Look at the way he was staring at you! You should give him a shot!” Hermione glanced at her not really knowing what to say

“What?” chirped in Ron, “You saw him last night?”

“Yeah, I saw him sitting at a table by the dance floor. That was after you...” Hermione trailed off at the end of the sentence when she saw Ron’s cheeks flush with embarrassment. To fill the awkward pause she quickly said, “So you say he’s from an old wizarding family?”

“Yeah,” replied Ron, still looking uncomfortable “They were one of the oldest ever families; even older than the Malfoys. They weren’t really supporters of Voldemort, but they were well known for supporting other, older dark wizards. Legend has it that they were really into weird rituals.”

“Really?” Hermione glanced uncomfortably at the stranger again “What sort of rituals?”

“Actually, I think they were mainly to do with love...or something.” He was suddenly looking edgy again. “I think it was some kind of special marriage thing...something to do with true love. But they were really proud purebloods. I remember reading about a Maple that was murdered by his family because he fell in love with a muggle.”

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.
“Ron, you know how to read?” Harry laughed at Hermione’s words and Ron went a brighter red.

“Look all I’m saying is lets stay clear of that one! I’m sure him and Malfoy will become bum chums sooner or later!”

Harry laughed and Ron gave him a small smile. Hermione looked back over to the Slytherin table and sure enough saw the boy in conversation with the blond Malfoy who looked almost in awe of the Maple.

“Would you look at that?” Hermione mused, “Malfoy has finally found someone who he considers an equal! Hey why do you think he’s here now? There’s only one more year left to go anyway!”

Harry and Ron shrugged as they began to stuff their mouths with food. The rest of the students had started to do the same and the volume of noise gradually returned to normal.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione found herself thinking about the new boy Liam Maple more and more as the days went by. She had watched him in classes like potions and was amazed at his intelligence…and, she hated to admit it, she was also enticed by his appearance. She had never dreamed that she’d find a Slytherin attractive. Hermione was also getting plenty of dirty looks from the girls in her classes.
Ginny turned out to be right. Maple was quickly overtaking Malfoy in the ‘one that all the girls swooned over’ competition and all the intense gazes that Liam was giving Hermione hadn’t gone unnoticed by them.

Hermione wasn’t sure what she felt about him. On the one hand...had given her, Hermione Granger, more attention in a week than any other boy had...EVER, apart from maybe Ron.

But on the other hand...he was in Slytherin, and the rumours about his ancestors were spreading through the school like wildfire. Hermione didn’t believe half of them. For instance...that every full moon his family sacrifices a virgin to feed the werewolves in their 700 acre forest... She finally decided to go to the library to see if she could find any information on the Maple family and so Hermione found herself in amongst the books on a beautiful September Saturday morning.

Hermione loved this place. Everything was so mysterious! So many books hadn’t been opened for so long! All she wanted to do was just get lost in one and stay lost for hours...

She started browsing in the section dealing with ancient families but the only families she found under ‘M’ were Malfoy and Marlston. She sighed in frustration and her eyes wandered round to the more or less empty library and over to the red cord that separated the restricted section from the main area.

Hermione wandered over to the section. As head girl she had the privilege of being able to use the restricted section so without preamble she stepped over the dividing rope and moved in between the dusty shelves, searching...

At last, after forty minutes, she found what she was looking for. It was a big, old manuscript whose black, dusty cover showed a title in gold print ‘The History of Magical Rituals and Their Use.’ Hermione flicked through the pages and finally found it on a page titled, “Family Rituals”

Hermione scanned down the page, her eyes widening at some of the weird traditions that some families had started...

Finally she found that all-important name, Maple. She started to read eagerly:

“The Maple family claimed that they themselves were symbols of true wizarding love and performed certain marriage ceremonies used to bond two loves together. Once made, their vows can never be broken. The result of disobeying these rules has the effect much like that of the dementors kiss. The victims will not loose their souls, but will instead loose the ability to experience emotions such as love. This, to the Maples, was the ultimate punishment.
The Maple’s love did not, however, extend to the non-magical community. Legend has it that William Maple fell in love with a muggle ancestor, resulting in both of their murders. The couple declared their undying love and demanded a wedding ceremony to the fury of the Maple family. This rift between the magical and non-magical world is believed to be one of the first of its kind and the story of William Maple and Gwendolyn Granger has been passed down the generations.”

Hermione stared, dumbfounded at the name printed on the crusting yellowish page.

Could it be? Could that Gwendolyn Granger actually be her ancestor?

If it was true then it could explain all the intense stares Liam Maple had been giving her. She should have realised that no one could honestly be interested in her above all the other far more materialistic girls in the school. She knew that she wasn’t ugly, Ron had showed her that much. She saw her figure as average but the eyes of Hermione Granger seemed to only be able to see the negatives or nothing at all unless it was a book…She thought that her legs were too short, her breasts too big, just like her bum. She didn’t see the tiny waist or the flat stomach, and the fact that her round bum only added to her curves…

Hermione slammed the book shut, irritated with herself for being so naïve. She stood up abruptly, her honey coloured curls falling in front of her face. She stuffed the book back onto the shelf and stormed out, over the red rope and towards the exit of the library, earning herself an angry glare from madam pince.

Hermione stomped through the cool corridors, thinking…
If it was true, and she was a descendent of Gwendolyn Granger, wouldn’t Liam be giving her looks of anger and hatred rather than blatant lust? Or was he the boy who’s parents couldn’t stand muggle borns but he was the rebel, willing to accept anything new? But if that was true then what was he doing hanging around with ‘Draco I will kill limitless people just to look and act like my father Malfoy’ It just didn’t add up…

She began to slow her pace and her breathing returned to normal. Hermione decided that the best way to cool off would be to go back to her room to have a good swim, so she quickly turned on her heel and headed off in the opposite direction, toward Gryffindor tower.

The common room was more or less empty apart from three second years completing some homework by the window table. Hermione guessed everyone was soaking up the last of the sun before winter set in. She climbed the stairs to her private quarters and after dropping her bag off in her room, crossed the corridor to the room that was quickly becoming one of her favourite places in the school.

The bathroom looked as spectacular as it ever did! She couldn’t help but smile at the tiny humming birds darting in and out of the enchanted lilies. Once again she stripped off her clothes but this time decided to put on her favourite bikini that was in a cupboard to her left. It was a fairly simple two-piece with a deep red halter neck top half, and little briefs.

Hermione sat herself on the edge of the steaming pool and with an intake of breath at the warm water, lowered herself into the pool. She did a couple of lengths before deciding to leave the pool and climb the marble steps up to the hot tub.

Hermione let out a long sigh as she felt the pressure jets massage her creamy skin and she sat on the side, up to her neck in the bubbling, steamy water, surrounded by tropical plants and jewel bright birds. It was simply paradise…

She let her eyes slowly close and thoughts of Liam filled her head. Despite all her pretences, she had to admit, he was probably the finest thing she had ever laid her eyes on. She remembered gazing at the back of his head in a recent potions lesson, marvelling at how his beautiful black hair could look so incredible while being fairly long for a boy. She had always found that boys that used the ‘wet look’ were far more attractive than hair that’s slicked back or just spiky… She was amazed at the clearness of his complexion and his olive skin but these traits were nothing compared to those pools of…..oh no words could describe the complexity of those eyes…They were full of mysteries, a past, a swirling mass of seduction. They had captured the hearts of so many girls and even women before her, and unbeknown to Hermione, they were slowly capturing hers too…

Hermione lazily lifted her hand from out of the bubbly water and clicked her fingers. Soft music began to play in her ears. She loved this particular song, it was so slow and relaxing but also really sad at the same time…

I’ve been watching your world from afar
I’ve been trying to be where you are
And I’ve been secretly falling apart
I’ll see…

To me you’re strange and you’re beautiful
You’d be so perfect with me but you just
Can’t see
You turn every head but you don’t
See me…

I’ll put a spell on you
You’ll fall asleep when
I put a spell on you
And when I wake you I’ll be the first thing you see
And you’ll realise that you
Love
Me…

As the song played, a dark haired man listened, feeling each word like a knife forcing its way into him deeper and deeper…

~*~*~*~*~*~*
oooOOOOoooo…the plot thickens! Well not really. Haha. I’ve got to do the whole boring watching from the sidelines thing first and this chapter may have been boring but was pretty vital to the plot!
The song at the end was called Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung. Ooo and before I forget I used a quick reference to the family ‘Marlston’ early on in the chapter. I took this family from the story ‘What a Witch Needs’ by petalsoft because it’s such an EXELLENT story and it also fitted in well. Please R&R! xx