Happy Traditions, everyone! Title: Unlikely Bedfellows, Part 6 Author:cmwinters Gift For: all fest participants! [original recipient] wanted hurt/comfort, D/s with spanking and femmedom, threesome, Eastern Europan Summer Solstice/Festival of St. John the Baptist, Saturnalia/Yule, Lammas/First Fruits, anything Jewish and/or anything Christian. Er, I tried. Pairing(s): Lucius/Hermione/Severus, Lucius/Severus Summary: Hermione finds herself in a strange alliance with the Malfoy family when it's discovered that Snape is alive and in desperate need of immediate medical attention Rating: NC-17 Warnings: BDSM, hurt/comfort, slightly dominant female, threesome, some homosexual themes although I wouldn't strictly call it "slash" Author's notes: I hope the beginning isn't too entirely boring. I tried to set it up for something plausible. The muse went on the warpath here. *stabs her with a rusty titanium spork*
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 With a few remaining misgivings, Hermione Apparated her parents to the edge of Malfoy Manor. She'd explained about the party to them, and about her exams, and had even Apparated each of them from their home in London to the the Leaky Cauldron and back to get them used to the sensation. When they appeared at the end of the lane, Hermione urged her parents to walk through the heavy, wrought-iron gates between the hedgerow.
"Good word. Are they royals?" Hermione's mother gasped.
Hermione giggled softly. "I doubt it. They, um, haven't really been the type to associate outside of the Wizarding culture, mostly." She privately thought that Lucius and Narcissa would have been impressed with how delicately she stated that.
As they approached the heavy oaken doors, her father stared at the light from inside the house which was spilling onto the expansive lawn. "Why is it doing that?" he muttered to himself.
"Doing what, dad?" Hermione said, trying to follow his gaze.
"The refraction of the light . . . that isn't glass, I don't think," he explained, turning to face her. "How old did you say this family was?"
"I dunno. At least a thousand years, why?"
He looked at their surroundings. "I just . . . have a feeling that window is not breakable," he opined.
They were denied further contemplation of the Manor architecture when the door opened. Doddy stood there with his hands raised to receive their cloaks.
"Oh dear God, what on earth is that?" Hermione's mother said with no small amount of shock. Hermione couldn't help but laugh.
"It's a house-elf, mum; it's like, a brownie from old mythology. His name is Doddy."
Hermione's mother stared at her for a moment. Her eyes flickered to her husband, and then she bent down, hand outstretched. "Pleased to meet you, Doddy, I'm Jane Granger."
Doddy look so scandalised Hermione had to laugh again. "Doddy is to be opening doors and taking cloaks, not socialising with guests!" he squeaked, trembling.
"It's okay, Doddy," Hermione assured him. "This is my father, John."
"Doddy is to be taking cloaks!" he asserted, and looked down. His hands were still raised, so this posture made him look even more comical.
Hermione shook her head and handed her cloak to the elf. Her parents mimicked her, and followed her down the long hallway. A large room at the end contained a number of people and some significant sounds of merriment.
"Ah!" Lucius said, spying them as they walked into the room. He strode over to them to welcome them. "Mr and Mrs Granger, I presume?"
They nodded. Hermione's father stuck out his hand. "John," he clarified, and Lucius shook his hand.
"Jane," Hermione's mother said, presenting her own hand, which Lucius managed to delicately bring to his lips.
"Lucius Malfoy. Welcome to my home. You have raised quite an accomplished and intelligent daughter. Please, come in," he beckoned, guiding them toward a couch.
"Thank you," they replied in unison while Hermione tried to will herself not to blush.
"I'm sorry," John said. "Forgive me, but I'm still having some difficulty clarifying things in my mind. Have we met? You look vaguely familiar."
Hermione froze, but a look at Lucius expression calmed her slightly. "I don't believe so," he said. "Although you may have seen me at Flourish and Blotts some years ago."
John turned to his wife with a frown, clearly uncertain.
"Oh, the bookstore!" Jane Granger replied after a moment's thought. "When we took you to get your books that year, dear, and that fop with the obnoxiously fake smile?"
"That's right," Hermione breathed, relieved. At that moment, Narcissa glided up, looking even more elegant than usual in an exquisitely tailored set of ice-blue robes.
"My wife, Narcissa," Lucius introduced. "John and Jane Granger."
"So glad you could make it. I'd hoped to have a larger gathering, but unfortunately only my son and your daughter took their exams," Narcissa said, looking the slightest bit disappointed. "Have you had a drink?"
Jane shook her head. "We've only just walked in the door."
Narcissa snapped her fingers softly and an elf that Hermione had not yet met appeared with a tray laden with champagne and hors d'oeuvres.
"Funny creatures you've got there," John stated. "We tried to introduce ourselves to the one at the door but he refused to speak to us."
Lucius looked appalled. "I should certainly hope not!"
Narcissa laid a hand on his arm and Hermione leveled him a glare. She was definitely going to have to say something about this.
He wisely decided to change the subject. "So, you mentioned you're still having some problems with your memory?" Lucius demurred.
"Yes, although that chap that was with Hermione last week said it would clear on its own so long as we keep drinking that vile concoction he gave us."
"Ah, Severus. Yes. We are all quite fortunate that Hermione thought to go after him."
"Hm?" John queried, clearly confused.
Narcissa sighed softly and Lucius examined them with cold eyes. "You mean he didn't tell you?" he enunciated coldly.
Narcissa closed her eyes and shook her head, and Lucius ignored the question for a moment, turning a gaze of frozen fury across the room to where Snape, partially obscured by shadow, was holding an involved discussion with Draco.
"I'll bring my son over to meet you," Narcissa offered, excusing herself with a smile.
"You do that," Lucius replied, nostrils flared in annoyance.
"Lucius, please!" Hermione protested softly. Her parents were staring at each other and at them with confusion.
"He goes too far, Hermione. His mother raised him better than that, and I taught him better than that." He turned to the Grangers with a beaming smile, all trace of anger gone. "Please forgive me. Your daughter arrived on the scene as Severus was bleeding to death. If not for her quick thinking and reaction, he'd surely be dead. And then she spent almost the entire summer here ensuring he'd recover. You owe your own recovery to her, because I'm not sure who else could have brewed your potion. Excuse me, I'm going to go attend to my other guests," he said, backing off with a bow.
"I do believe that man can be quite dangerous," her mother speculated as she watched Lucius stride purposefully across the ballroom floor.
"Er, yeah. He and Professor Snape were both Death Eaters."
Her parents turned on her. "Don't they want to kill all the Muggles?"
She cleared her throat. "No, um, actually . . . they were okay with Muggles. It was Muggle-born witches and wizards they took objection to."
Her parents gawked at her.
"The organisation, I mean. Professor Snape hadn't been a loyal Death Eater since before I was born; he was spying for Professor Dumbledore, and Lucius and Narcissa changed sides when Draco was threatened."
Her parents continued to stare at her as if they'd never seen her.
"Draco!" she exclaimed as her classmate walked up with his mother. "Mum, Dad, Draco Malfoy. He's the only other one that took exams with me."
Draco frowned slightly at the obvious tension between Hermione and her parents, but greeted them genially. "Pleased to meet you. I know Hermione was very concerned for you. The entire time Severus was recovering, she had her nose in a book on mind magic."
Her father laughed. "That's our Hermione!"
"No," Draco insisted, waving his hands. "I've gone to school with her. I know what she's like. Trust me. You haven't seen this. There were a few times I wondered if she was just going to ram the book into her skull."
"Draco!" Hermione protested, affronted.
Narcissa snickered and cast a sheepish glance at Jane. "I swear, I do not know these men," she declared lightly, holding her hands up in surrendering protest. "Honest, I haven't any idea what's gotten into them."
"Maybe it's the champagne," Jane said with a wink.
"I didn't put anything in it. Maybe I should!" she laughed.
"No . . . Seriously," Draco said with a fading grin. "Your recovery was really important to her. I know she regretted every minute you were away."
"What would you have done if you were me, Draco?" Hermione demanded.
He stared at her for a moment before answering. "I would have done exactly what you did," he declared. Then, echoing his father, he taunted her good-naturedly. "That was quite Slytherin of you."
She wrinkled her nose at him. "You say that like it's a bad thing!"
Draco smirked and turned back to her parents. "If you have any problems with headaches, let us know. We have a number of potions we can give you."
Hermione's parents looked at each other, confused. "I haven't had a headache, dear, have you?"
"No . . . "
Draco and Narcissa exchanged a glance. "Wow," Draco replied. "I'm impressed. Legilimency . . . especially protracted Legilimency . . . frequently leaves the target uncomfortable, and the discomfort may last a while. The first time the Dark Lord did it to me, I got a nosebleed, and Crabbe . . . Crabbe passed out!" He looked at Hermione. "Crabbe! What do you need to use that much force on Crabbe for, to find out what he's thinking? You could just ask him; he'd tell you!"
"Maybe he wasn't very good at it?" Hermione's mother offered.
Narcissa shifted in her seat before answering. "Oh no. He was quite good at it. He was the most fantastically talented Legilimens the world had ever known. Both by nature and by nurture."
"But he'd bludgeon you with it," Draco continued. He turned to Hermione. "Have you ever been Legilimised by Snape?"
She shrugged. "I don't know . . . maybe?"
"Yeah, that's just it. Maybe. When Snape does it, it's like a feather-light caress around the outside of your mind. When the Dark Lord did it, it was like he was battering your eyeballs with a red-hot dagger. He could do it so that you wouldn't even know; he just chose not to. He controlled us from the fear, but I think he was more subtle with Snape. Or maybe Snape's just a good enough Occlumens he was able to combat it." He turned back to the Grangers. "Anyway, we have potions should you develop a headache. Hermione knows how to find us," he said, and turned to her. "They're in the lab. Ask any of us which ones, depending on the headache they have."
She nodded. "Thanks."
At that moment, Andromeda walked in, with her grandson bound to her chest. She was quite the spectacle in her sensible, deep brown robes, wearing a neon orange wrap-around sling, with Teddy's electric blue hair peeking wildly out of it. Narcissa winced at the contrast of colours, and Andromeda sighed. "I give up. His hair . . . it's everywhere!" she declared. "And yesterday," she said with a grimace of distaste, "it was a particularly virulent shade of mustard green."
Jane Granger blinked at the newcomer. "You dyed his hair green?" she asked incredulously.
Andromeda turned, and was on the verge of answering when she saw Hermione. "Hermione! I didn't see you there! Congratulations, dear! And these must be your parents?"
Hermione smiled and nodded. "John and Jane Granger. Mum, Dad, this is Andromeda Tonks. The baby is her grandson Teddy. She didn't dye his hair; he's a Metamorphamagus and he can change his own appearance."
As if to illustrate the point, Teddy giggled and his hair turned a violent shade of fuchsia. His ears and nose also changed shape slightly. Andromeda sighed again, and shook her head slightly. "At least he's not blending in with the furniture — yet. Dora used to drive me spare doing that."
"Your grandson, you say?" John said, not sure he liked the idea of not being able to find his own child or grandchild. "Are his parents coming?"
"Oh dear Merlin, I should hope not! Although with this crowd, there have been times when I would have wondered!"
Hermione snorted in spite of herself.
The Grangers exchanged a look. "Do you . . . not get along?"
"With my daughter and her husband?" Andromeda asked. "Oh, we got along famously. But they're dead."
"I'm so sorry to hear that. How did they die?" John asked, sounding truly contrite.
"My sister killed them," she said blithely, flashing them a cheery smile. At their horrified expression, she clarified, "My other sister, not that one," pointing at Narcissa.
The Grangers continued to gawk at her. "Pure-bloods, baby" she winked. "We define dysfunction!"
Hermione laughed outright at that and most of the other occupants of the room chuckled or at the very least cast guiltily amused glances amongst each other.
"But don't worry!" Andromeda declared, clearly having waited some time to make this pronouncement and enjoying every moment of it. "She's dead, too. Killed by my third-cousin twice removed by marriage . . . or something like that," she said, waving her hand dismissively before muttering, "And good riddance, too. She was batshit."
Almost everyone in the room scoffed and winced.
"See now, Andromeda," Lucius admonished good-naturedly, "you know we're not to speak ill of the dead. Bella had her good traits. She was quite dedicated and loyal, for example!" Lucius said with a deprecating wink.
"And powerful," murmured Snape amenably, just off to Lucius' left.
"And batshit!" Narcissa declared with finality.
Everyone laughed. "And batshit," they agreed.
Narcissa stood, and raised her glass. "I'd like to propose a toast!"
Her family and guests stared at her in astonishment. Narcissa winked at Andromeda.
"Here's to NOT being 'batshit'!"
"Hear hear!" everyone replied, and drank heartily.
"And not becoming food for floating cobras," Lucius opined. They all drank again, although Snape scowled at Lucius.
"And not getting a nosebleed when talking to your boss!" Draco offered with a glance toward Hermione.
"How about, 'not having a boss'," Snape murmured, and they all drank twice to that in unspoken agreement.
"And not camping ever again for the rest of my life, and no more mushrooms!" Hermione declared.
"STOP! You'll all be completely pissed within the quarter-hour!" Andromeda admonished them, although there was no heat to her protest and she was laughing.
Hermione's parents looked at her sharply. "Mushrooms? Camping? What are you talking about?" her father demanded.
Well, see, Dad, I erased your memory and sent you to the other side of the world so I could spend the better part of the year wandering aimlessly around the wilderness of Great Britain with two guys, and all we ate was mushrooms . . .. Somehow, she didn't think that conversation was going to go over well. Hermione sighed. It was going to be a long night.