"I felt something catch in my throat, a sudden surge of sadness that caught me unaware, almost taking my breath away. That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it’s reconciled, accepted, someone points it out to you and it just hits you all over again."
— Sarah Dessen
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Dinner was spent in silence for the most part, though occasionally Hermione would catch someone staring at her strange yet amazingly tasty dish. Natalie and Narcissa did their best to be discreet about it, but Pansy didn’t bother to hide her sneer. Malfoy was nothing but plain amused.
Once finished, they waited for dessert, only this time Hermione was sure she was the only one actually expecting dessert. What time she’d hoped to spend stuffing her face in the classiest way one could with oodles of chocolate, was instead filled with questions about her work with Malfoy.
“So what happens when an elf has no home?” asked Natalie, sipping from her glass of wine.
“Simple,” Hermione said. “We send out advertisements for them with the expectations of said elf and see who applies. It’s like applying for a job, I suppose.”
“Ah, I see. But aren’t elves supposed to remain loyal to their original families?”
Hermione considered this for a moment, and she didn’t fail to notice the way Natalie studied her, as if waiting for some kind of slip up. “Elves aren’t quite as… how would you put it? They’re not, well they’re loyal by all means to their rightful family, and usually under only extreme circumstances will they leave, but they’re not as committed. They have minds of their own to know when they’re being treated wrongly and they’ll do something about it.”
“If they’re not allowed to say anything about it?”
“We have inspections anyway. There are records of every household that has an elf and we pay monthly visits to see how things are going.”
“Where do the house elves go when they have nowhere? Do they –?”
“Oh, we had a situation like that this afternoon.” Hermione tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “You may even be familiar with the elf – both of you,” she added, looking at Narcissa. “Her name’s Tully. She was, uh, Theodore Nott’s elf? We’ve got her currently and… and…” she trailed off, not because she had forgotten what she was saying, but because at that precise moment, her eyes had unconsciously wondered over to Pansy. It was the look on the other woman’s face that distracted her.
Everyone at the table was now watching Pansy; Narcissa, Natalie and Malfoy with caution, Hermione with confusion.
Parkinson looked as though she was about to explode; her face had paled so much she could have blended in with the white checkers on the tablecloth. In no time at all, after a succession of rapid breathing, she gave a loud wail and burst into tears.
Hermione gave a startled jump, staring at her in surprise, and Malfoy, who was on Pansy’s other side, did very much the same. Natalie and Narcissa both tried shushing her to calm her down, but that only made it worse. Her sobs grew so loud, eventually Pansy stood up so quickly that she bumped the table: Malfoy and Hermione quickly jumping on their feet to steady it, before Pansy went running towards the exit – everybody in the restaurant staring after her.
There was a pause. The people around them whispering, Natalie and Narcissa staring determinedly in their laps, Hermione and Malfoy’s hands still holding onto the table, glancing around uncomfortably.
YOU ARE READING
A Wonderful Fortuitous Love
Fanfiction"You see, Draco Malfoy, without your sarcastic replies to endure each morning and that arrogance only you could carry, I find myself somewhat missing you." Draco thought the biggest problem living for a year under the same roof as Hermione Granger w...
