Pretending.
Chapter 1
Changing
"Hello, pretty".
Hermione rolled her eyes as a guy murmured the stupid compliment to her and winked his eye. 'Men', she thought as she took out her 'parler', which was a piece of magical crystal that worked as a mobile, and simply said,"Ron".
She waited a few seconds.
"Hello?", a male's voice said on the other side.
"Ron...it's so good to hear your voice", she said with tenderness, "You didn't forget about tonights party, did you?".
"Um...party?", he asked, "What party?...Oh, right, Lavander's birthday, right? No, of course I didn't forget, I-ouch!".
"What was that?", she said as she heard a very strange noise.
"Nothing...it was nothing," Ron said quietly, "I'll pick you up at eight thirty".
"Ok...until then", Hermione said,"I love you".
"I love you too", he said, "Bye".
She sighed, but before she could put away the parler, she heard Ron's voice again. She smiled: Ron wanted to say something else, of course.
"What is it, my love?", she said seductively.
But nobody answered. Instead Hermione heard giggles and laughter that were too high to belong to Ron. Hermione stood there, in the middle of the street hearing Ron whispering excited words and chuckling now and then.
"Lavander...", was the last word she heard before smashing the parler into the floor.
"You know why you are here?", the psychiatrist asked.
"It has something to do with a rifle?", Hermione answered.
"You tried to kill two people today with it", he said.
"I just wanted to scare them", she said innocently, "If I had wanted to kill them, I would've used my wand".
The psychiatrist wrote a few notes on his notepad.
"I've always been a very calm woman, doctor,", Hermione said slowly, "If you let me go...I promise that my future will be completely rifle-free".
The doctor looked at her for a few seconds, then, he put down his pen and notepad, sighed deeply and finally said, "And the rifle...was it loaded?".
Hermione raised her eyebrow, smiled, and said, "Um...what rifle?".
The air smelled salty and the climate was humid. Hermione heard wood creaking under her feet as she entered her new apartment, she let out a deep sigh, before sitting down on the nearest chair.
Yes, of course, perhaps can show me some of your work? Any article would be just fine, Miss Grant...okay, until tomorrow, then".
The newspaper director's voice still made an echo on Hermione's head. She smiled at the prospect of a new job and what came with it.
She put down all the bags of shopping she'd just a acquired, took out some things and examined them as if they were precious jewels: make up, new clothes, horrible shoes and a human transfiguration book she'd bought before leaving London.
Hermione placed herself in front of a mirror and took out her wand, a wide smile across her lips...
"Good afternoon, I'm looking for Mr. Miller", Hermione said as she walked into the restaurant.
"Of course, he is right over there , I'll send a waiter right away", the man she was talking to responded.
Mr. Miller was a very big man, he wore a gray suit and shiny black shoes, he had a black mustache and a serious expression on his face that made a couple of age lines show every time he talked. But as he saw Hermione, his expression became anything but serious.
From head to toes, she could be described with one word: ugly.
Her hair looked as if a donkey had taken a bite and then, as if she had tried to fix it with a very large amount of hair gel. Her face was full of pimples and it looked as greasy as her hair. As she smiled, Mr. Miller noticed her yellowish and uneven teeth.
Her orange dress with little white flowers showed off her plump figure and to add a special touch to the whole parade, she had black granny shoes that made her walk a little inclined to the right.
Mr. Miller tried to erase his shocked expression as Hermione said, "Good afternoon Mr. Miller, I'm Helga Grant, nice to meet you".
Despite her change of appearance (and name), Hermione's cleverness remained untouched. She surprised Mr. Miller with three fictional articles she had written the night before and she got the job before dessert was served.
"Very well, Mrs. Grant, we'll see you tomorrow morning", Mr. Miller said, "I'm sure that you will get along just fine with our other reporters which, of course, you'll meet tomorrow".
"I can barely wait", Hermione said.
The next day, Hermione arrived early to the office. Her new appearance was working just fine. She didn't have to stand any disrespectful comments or lustful stares, it was as if she was completely invisible to men.
Although...
As Hermione finished arranging her new office, someone came in. "Good morning", a deep male's voice said from the door's frame.
Hermione slowly looked up, as she recognized the man standing there her jaw dropped. Handsome, tall, a few years older and with a very large ego, Draco Malfoy was staring at her with a very badly hidden disdain and a perfect smile on his lips.