To The Devil's Doorstep

Disclaimer: These characters don’t belong to me. They belong to the talented JKR. I’m just toying with them.


Chapter 9
Some Questions & Answers


Hermione awoke slowly, stretching her aching body. She had had quite a first day of slavery yesterday. Two encounters with the elder Malfoy and one with the younger. She glanced over to the bedside table to look at her watch, which read eight o’clock, when her eyes happened upon a vial. She could tell by the color of the potion that it was a healing draught. Hmm, the elves again?

It didn’t really matter who gave it to her. She most certainly needed it this morning. She picked up the vial and headed straight for the bathroom. Drawing herself a hot bath, she added the contents of the vial to the water. She eased herself into the hot water slowly, sighing as the heat enveloped her body. She immediately felt the effects of the potion seeping into the bruises on her sides, easing the soreness there. She leaned back in the tub to wet her hair so she could wash it. After washing her hair, she continued to soak in the tub until the water started to cool down.

Feeling better, she stepped out of the tub and grabbed two towels, one for her hair and one for her body. After drying herself off, she wrapped the towel around her and headed back into her bedroom to ready herself for the day. She looked in the mirror to see how well the healing draught had worked and was pleased to see that there were only slight red marks on her sides and they weren’t accompanied by any pain. The only glaring reminder of her encounter with Draco last night was the mark left by his bite, as dark as it was last night and placed prominently on her neck where it couldn’t be hid without a glamour.

Seeing the mark on her neck made her remember her realization last night that she had masochistic tendencies. She had thoroughly enjoyed that bite and the whipping that followed. She tried to tell herself that maybe it was a fluke. Maybe she was secretly ‘that’ attracted to Draco Malfoy, that anything he would have done to her would have excited her? Although she did enjoy her encounter with Lucius in the dungeon yesterday too. And although he hadn’t done any bodily harm to her, he certainly wasn’t gentle either.

She shook the thoughts out of her head and went to her wardrobe to get into uniform. After donning the said garment she began the now tedious job of managing her hair. Without magic it was an incredibly difficult job to do, but she managed to put it up in a tight twist. As she was finishing that, she heard a slight knock on the door.

“Come in,” she said.

Harkey entered the room carrying her breakfast tray. It had assorted fruits and pastries, with some breakfast meats and potatoes. There was also some pumpkin juice, coffee and milk. The house elf placed the tray on her little table and turned to look at her.

“Is the Miss needing anything else froms Harkey?” the elf asked Hermione.

She began to say no but then remembered that she wanted to ask about the potion on her bedside table. Knowing she would probably get the same reply as yesterday she asked him anyway.

“Yes Harkey. Did you or any of the other house elves leave a potion on my table last night?” she asked.

“No Miss. We is not being allowed to offer the Miss special favors.” he replied. “Anythings else Miss?”

“Harkey, can you speak to me freely?” Hermione asked.

“Mostly Miss, but Harkey is keeping his Masters’ secrets and can’t tells anyone Miss.” Harkey replied.

“Can you tell me who has made the small changes to my room?”

“No Miss. I isn’t knowing” he replied, bowing to her in a way that told Hermione that the elf wanted to leave quickly.

“Thank you Harkey “ she said to him in a dismissive tone.

“If you needs anythings to help in cleaning Miss, you can ask us.” Harkey said as he went to pop out of the room.

Hermione’s brows furrowed as the diminutive elf apparated probably back to the kitchens. If the elves hadn’t been improving her room, could it be one of the Malfoys? She looked down at the food in front of her and began to dish some of the fruit onto her plate and pour herself a cup of iced cold pumpkin juice and a cup of coffee. She was really hungry but had difficulty eating when she was nervous.

She had a few questions to ask Lucius today and was wondering when she would see him next. She was going to ask for her rights to owls and floo calls. No, she was going to demand them as they were in her contract. She was already planning her letter to Harry in her head and could hardly wait to get it onto parchment and get some answers.

She had no sooner finished eating then she heard a sharp rap on her door. Not waiting for an answer, Lucius Malfoy sprung the door open and entered Hermione’s room.

“Good morning Miss Granger “ he said to her.

“Good morning Sir “ Hermione replied, looking at him sharply.

“I trust your first night here was acceptable “ Lucius said rather snarkily.

“Yes Sir, it was fine”

“Are you ready to begin your work Miss Granger?”

“Sir, if it would be ok with you I have a few questions regarding my contract that I’d like to discuss with you” she said with pride in her voice.

“Certainly Miss Granger. Perhaps this is not the best place for this discussion. Would you care to go to the study to have this conversation Miss Granger?”

“Yes Sir. That would be fine with me.”

Lucius walked through the open bedroom door and proceeded up to the main floor where the study was. Hermione followed, having to walk quicker due to his strides being much longer than hers. Soon they were at the study and seated comfortably.

“Go ahead Miss Granger. Ask whatever questions may be on your mind regarding the contract. I assure you, it is perfectly legal and binding.” Lucius said with authority.

“I am aware of the legality of it Sir. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t even be here. My questions are regarding my rights as your slave Sir. Hermione said, looking to the lord of the manor for permission to continue. He gave a slight nod, allowing her to go on.

“The provisions of the contract state that I am allowed to place or receive one floo call per week and both send and receive two owls per week. Will you be allowing me these rights Sir?” Hermione questioned.

“Of course, Miss Granger. I would never deny you your rights as our slave.” Lucius replied. “I will provide you with one of our owls twice a week and you shall be allowed to have one ten minute floo call here in the study once a week.”

“Will my calls and letters be kept private Sir?”

“Miss Granger, as the Lord of this manor I have every right to inspect or audit any goings on in my home. For now I will allow you your privacy, but in the future I may rescind this offer and inspect your correspondence with others to make sure you are not saying disparaging remarks about my family.”

“Thank you Sir. I appreciate your graciousness and have no intention of speaking poorly of you or Master Malfoy” she stated to him, speaking honestly. If she told her friends that she was being poorly treated, she had no doubt that they would do something rash and stupid, which could get them hurt or in trouble.

“Are these your only questions Miss Granger or are there more?” he said in a rather bored tone.

“No Sir. That’s all … for now anyway Sir.” she replied, realizing that she didn’t want to push her luck.

“Now Miss Granger, I’m sure you remember the way to the dungeon room that you are to begin cleaning today. In any case, I’m going to accompany you and supervise your methods to make sure they are acceptable to me” Lucius said, leaving no argument to be said. It was an order, not a question.

They proceeded down to the dungeon.

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A/N: Thanks for the reviews.