Disclaimer: I own a portable DVD player, I own this laptop, I own my clothes, my books, my cds, my movies, my cell phone, everything that's mine. But regardless of how much I own, I do not own Harry Potter. For the sake of this story, Draco and Hermione have never met owing to the fact that to better fit my story, Draco was homeschooled in his magical training because his father didn't want him associating with low-lifes.
Once upon a time in a far away kingdom, okay, not really far away, just in the rich part of England, there lived a very wealthy family by the name of Malfoy. They were King Lucius Malfoy, Queen Narcissa Malfoy, and Prince Draco Malfoy. It was widely known that the Malfoys were one of the richest pure-blood wizarding families in all the land and they loathed anyone who was lower than them, especially anyone that disgraced the name of wizard. There was only one pure-blood family that the Malfoys hated just as much as anyone who was not a Malfoy, they were the Weasley family but let's not get carried away, that's a whole nother story.
As I was saying, the Malfoy family loathed anyone who was lower than them but there was probably no one the Malfoys loathed more than any witch or wizard that just happened to be muggleborn. "Mudbloods", they called them, which was a really foul name for anyone who was muggleborn.
Now, about this time, King Lucius was getting rather old and would not be able to maintain control of the throne and family fortune much longer so it was decided upon that it was time for Draco to find himself a bride and take over the family. But Draco was being very difficult, he disliked any and all of the lovely pure-blooded princesses his parents provided for him as suitable brides. The King was getting anxious and when Draco actually turned away Princess Pansy Parkinson, whom Lucius had thought for sure would capture his son's heart, he decided that it was the last draw.
"That's it Draco! I am not going to leave the choice of a bride up to you anymore! You will wed Princess Pansy whether you like or not!" he finally shouted as the young prince shrugged the princess off for about the billionth time in the last ten minutes.
"That's not fair!" Prince Draco shouted back.
"Oh it's not is it?!" the King said threateningly. The prince gulped and shrunk back. He didn't dare talk back to his father. King Lucius had a foul temper and he was nearly always in a bad mood. Sometimes, he took his anger out on Prince Draco just because he felt like it and now the prince didn't wanted to give him any real cause to do such damage. "I thought so!" King Lucius replied finally and he turned to look at some of the house elves that had obediently been dusting the room. "Start preparing the wedding. It must be ready in two weeks time."
"Yes your highness," the house elves responded, bowing low and scurrying out of the room to start on the wedding preparations. Queen Narcissa looked at her husband, an expression of worry on her face.
"Dear, are you sure it's a good idea to force Draco into this? I mean, he's only just got out of school. He needs time to settle down and get his life together first."
"Narcissa, this is absolutely necessary. My time in reign is coming to an end and Draco has to be ready to take the throne but I will not hand it over unless he has a wife to stand by his side. I need to be assured that there will be an heir to carry on the bloodline after Draco dies before I can leave him to take over." The Queen said nothing, she merely sighed, thinking to herself that should would rather her son get married on his own accord. She didn't like seeing Draco get forced into anything but she knew that her husband's mind was made up and that meant there was no use arguing with him.
That night, it started to rain, very very hard. Thunder clapped and lightning struck as the rain poured down on Malfoy Manor where the three Malfoys and their guest, Princess Pansy were cozily inside.
While the Malfoys and the princess were safely inside, a lone figure in a long black traveling cloak was scurrying through the rain outside, a wand brandished in front of it with the tip lit. The figure, whomever it was, had obviously used the Lumos spell in an attempt to see if the light would help it to see through the rain better. "It's no use," the figure stated, stopping just down the walk from the Malfoys' front door and pulling down its hood, revealing a main of bushy brown hair that framed a face that was soaked with rain water, the brown eyes squinting so small they looked as though they were closed. It was a young girl that could not have been much older than Prince Draco himself. "Nox," the girl muttered and the light at the tip of her wand went out. She squinted around, obviously looking for somewhere to go. Turning her head to look behind her, she was just able to make out a large mansion and feeling grateful, she hurried towards it as fast as she could, trying desparately to avoid being rained on much more than she already was. She finally reached the door and panting, stuck out her hand to take hold of the brass knocker. She knocked the knocker against the door and waited.
The door was opened a minute later by a grubby looking house elf. The house elf's ears were unusually short for the creature and it's nose was long and pointed. What looked like a dishtowel was draped over it with a small hole in the middle to allow the neck to pop through. The girl scowled in anger. She hated seeing an enslaved house elf, they were so mistreated in her mind. She was determined to get better welfare and care for the creatures. But, seeing as she really had nowhere else to turn to, she reluctantly wiped the scowl from her face and looked down at the house elf.
"Um, hello," she said hesitantly. The house elf cocked its head to the side and looked at her curiously.
"Blinky is very busy now miss, what can Blinky do for you?" it asked in a rather hurried way. It started to glance around as though worried its master would appear at any moment and scold it for answering the door.
"Um..." the girl started and when Blinky glanced around again she added, "I'm so sorry to bother you but there's a storm brewing and there's no way I can get home in this. I really just need a place to stay for the night, if it isn't too much trouble." The house elf just looked at her for a moment, one hand still on the open door. The girl stood awkwardly in the doorway, traveling cloak and all soaked from the raging storm outside.
"Blinky," said a voice. The house elf's head whipped around to see none other than Prince Draco himself walking towards the door.
"Blinky is sorry young highness," the house elf said hurriedly with a low bow. Prince Draco dismissed it with a wave of his hand.
"Never mind that, who's at the door." Blinky turned back to look at the girl who still stood awkwardly in the doorway. Draco followed its gaze and his eyes widened as the roved over the most beautiful he had ever seen. The girl smiled at him weakly.
"Er...hello," she said, sticking out her hand, "I'm Hermione Granger. I was caught out in that storm and I really needed a place to stay for the night. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to intrude." Draco smiled warmly as he took the girl's hand and shook it.
"No problem Miss. Granger," he said, "I'm Prince Draco Malfoy by the way but you may call me Draco. Please," added, gestering into the house, "Do come in, you soaping wet and I daresay you will need warm shower and a hot meal." Hermione smiled gratefully and stepped into the room. Blinky, looking rather worried, shut the door behind her.
Just then, King Lucius and Queen Narcissa entered the room. When the Queen saw Hermione she rushed over and immediately began to check and make sure everything was alright with her. Conjuring up a towel, she started trying to dry off Hermione's hair. Seeing as the project was going to take some work, Narcissa draped the towel around Hermione and led her out of the room. Lucius watched them leaved and then rounded on his son and the house elf, who still looked extremely worried.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked in a calm cold voice. Draco looked down at the Blinky who immediately jumped and started running into the wall, clearly trying to punish herself. Draco made a move as if to go and stop her but Lucius spoke again. Pointing at Draco, he said, "Never mind her, I want to know what is going on. Who is that girl and what is she doing here?"
"Her name is Hermione Granger," Draco said calmly, not wanting to argue. "She was out in the storm and just needed a place to stay the night. I said it was alright that she stay here."
"Oh you did, did you?" Draco nodded. Lucius walked up to his son and slapped him across the face. Draco gasped and clutched a hand to his cheek where his father had just hit it. "Fool, do you realize what you have done!" Draco just stared at him, his hand still clutched to his cheek. "That girl could be a muggle and you know that I will not have that kind of filth in my house!"
"I don't think she's a muggle father," Draco said quietly, still nursing his injury. Lucius looked at him for a moment before he slapped him again, this time on the other cheek. Draco gasped again and his free hand flew up to nurse the new injury. He stared at his father in disbelief.
"How do you know that huh?!" the King shouted. "How Draco?! Are you a seer or something? Can you read peoples minds?"
"Dear please!" said a voice from behind them. It was Narcissa. She had returned with Hermione who was now wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe and clutching a hot cup of tea in her hands. Draco blushed a bit when he saw her. "Draco is telling the truth. This young lady had just been telling me that she is in fact a witch who has just recently gratuated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Lucius put his fists on his hips and glared at Hermione who glared right back.
"A witch, huh?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "We'll just see about that!" and he stormed away, nose high in the air, and fists still clenched. Hermione watched him with a look of worry on her face. She glanced at Narcissa who was shaking her head and then at Malfoy who was still slightly pink at seeing her in a bathrobe. Hermione heard Narcissa sigh and she looked back up at her.
"Blinky," the Queen said.
"Blinky is at your service, your highness," the elf said, giving yet another low bow. Narcissa, like her son, shrugged it off.
"I want you to go and prepare a bed for Miss. Granger."
"Yes ma'am," the house elf replied. There was a popping sound as the elf vanished.
"Come along dear, let's get you something to eat and then it's off to bed with you," Narcissa said, turning Hermione and steering her back out of the room. Draco hung back for a moment.
That girl is so beautiful, he thought to himself, She's the one, I know she is! The funny thing is, I really couldn't care what her blood is. Even if it turned out that she was a muggle, I still know that she's the girl for me. But how am I going to get out of marrying Pansy? Shrugging, he sighed heavily and followed his mother and Hermione out of room.
Meanwhile, in another part of the manor, Lucius had seen Blinky scurrying into one of the guest rooms and had assumed that Narcissa had sent her to prepare a bed for their new guest. Choosing his timing just right, he walked into the room where Blinky was preparing to go about making up the bed. "Blinky," he said. She gave a start and looked round at him, her huge blue eyes dazed over in surprise.
"Your majesty!" she cried. She hurried over to bow at his feet. "His majesty must forgive Blinky for she did now see him sir." Lucius smirked.
"That is quite alright Blinky, I did not expect you to know that I was coming." Blinky looked even more surprised at this and if possible, her blue eyes opened even wider. "Go and help the other elves prepare for the wedding, I will finish this for you."
"Is his majesty sure? Blinky will not let her King do something he ought not have to do." Lucius nodded and with a small pop, the house elf was gone.
A wide smirk played across the King's face. He looked at the unmade bed and produced a spare wand from the pocket of his robes. He then walked over to the bed and lifted up the mattress, placing the wand carefully down on the box spring and then he sat the mattress back down. Pulling out his own wand, he conjured up a large, very high pile of identical mattresses, neatly stacked one on top of the other. He levitated the stack of mattresses carefully onto the first mattress and then proceeded to use his wand to make up the bed. When he had finished, he stuck his wand away and stood back to admire his handywork. He snickered to himself, knowing that there was no way the so-called witch would pass his test.
"Okay Granger," he said, staring at the stack of mattresses, "This'll tell us if you're really a witch or not. Only a real witch or wizard would be able to feel a wand under so many mattresses." He snickered again, turned, and left the room. All he had to do now was make sure that he was the one to show her to her room. If not, whoever did would be asking him a whole lot of questions when they returned.
Moments later, the King entered the kitchen to find the Queen, the Prince, and the unwanted guest all chatting happily while Princess Pansy slumped in a corner, her arms crossed over her chest. She was frowning and Lucius saw at once that his son must've taken an immediately liking to the strange girl. "That will be quite enough!" he said loudly and the three stopped talking to turn and look at him. "I do believe it is time for Miss. Granger to be getting some rest. She's been through enough tonight and I am sure she is very exhausted. If you'll follow me Miss. Granger, I'll show you to your room." Hermione nodded, got up from her seat, and followed him out of the room. Draco watched her go sadly, he had been having a good time chatting with her and he loved watching her smile His heart skipped a beat everytime the beautiful girl smiled. He knew there was no question about it, it was definitely a case of love at first sight for him.
Lucius led Hermione through the Manor to the corridor in which the bedroom where she would be staying was. He spoke not a word to her the whole way and she didn't protest. Nor did she try to make conversation herself and that was fine for Lucius seeing as he didn't want to have to come up with a reason to not talk to her.
When they approached the room, Lucius cleared his throat. "Here we are, this'll be your room for the night. You should have everything you need in there." Hermione nodded, not sure whether she should thank him or not. But her question was answered when the King just turned and walked off without another word. She watched him go for a moment, relieving at not having to speak to him. The man gave her the creeps, but his son on the other hand, Draco, was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. Her heart skipped as she thought of Draco's shimmering blonde hair and silver like grey eyes. She smiled warmly to herself before placing a hand on the doorknob, turning it, and entering the room.
Hermione gasped as she took in the scene before her. It was beautiful. The floor was a soft white carpet and the walls and ceiling were a light pale green. The furniture such as the nighttables, a desk, an armwhoir, a vanity, and a dresser, were all painted a slightly darker green to compliment the walls and ceiling. A glass coffee table stood on one side of the room. A cluster of big squashy green armchairs stood around it. But the thing that caught Hermione's eye the most was the large bed that stood in the center of the room. It had high posts that were painted white to match the carpet but that wasn't what had caught her attention. The bed was layered with what had to be at least twenty mattresses yet the bedding seemed to cover all of them. Hermione found this a bit peculiar but didn't think much of it. Realizing she had no way to get up to the top, she pulled out her wand and conjured up a ladder. Placing it carefully to the side of the mattresses, she climbed up to the top of the bed. Feeling very tired, she climbed into the bed and drifted off to sleep.
But Hermione did not sleep well that night. The mattress she was sleeping on felt as though it had a long skinny object stuffed inside and it was extremely uncomfortable to sleep on. She kept tossing and turning and waking up, trying to find a comfortable position in which to sleep. But it was no good, no matter what way she turned, she couldn't help but to feel the long skinny object underneathe her and as a result, she didn't sleep a wink. "Stupid mattress!" she cried when after what seemed like a long and exhausting night, morning finally dawned.
Hermione immediately slid out of the bed and crawled over to the ladder. Taking it one step at a time, she carefully made her way down the ladder. With a wave of her wand, she made the ladder disappear. Yawning she changed back into her clothes which she found neatly folded in one of the armchairs and made her way out to the kitchen for breakfast.
When she entered the kitchen, the three Malfoys were already there. "Good morning Miss. Granger," said the Queen, "I do trust you slept well?" Hermione shook her head.
"Not at all well, I'm afraid."
"Oh, was something wrong with the room?" Again Hermione shook her head.
"No, it wasn't the room. It was the mattress, or the bed. I kept feeling like someone had placed a wand inside my mattress. It kept me up all night tossing and turning." At this, Lucius, who was reading the morning's edition of The Daily Prophet, spat out his tea and set the paper down on the table.
"You did?" he asked in an astounded voice. It had been clear to him that Hermione was not a witch and that she would have no trouble sleeping in that bed or if she did, she never would've guessed that he had put a wand under all those mattresses. The Queen glared at her husband and folded her arms across her chest. Princess Pansy, who was also in the room, scowled at the girl and took hold of Draco's hand but Draco yanked his hand free. He was smiling up at Hermione and it was clear that the princess didn't like that.
"Lucius," Narcissa began. Her husband looked up at her. "Did you put a wand in Miss. Granger's bed?" The King merely looked at her for a moment.
"So I did. I didn't think it would do anything to her as I thought there was no way she was a witch but I suppose the test proved me wrong." Hermione's eyes went wide and Draco was staring at his father, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.
"How could you do that?!" the Prince shouted angrily "You couldn't just trust her when she said that she was a witch, could you?! Had to go and give her the test, didn't you?! Well I'll have you know something, I love Hermione and I intend on marrying her!" The whole room fell silent and still. Hermione stared at the Prince, her mouth open in shock. Lucius wore a similar expression although there was anger in his eyes as well. Princess Pansy scowled even harder, got up, stormed from the room, and few seconds later, they could all hear the sound of the front door slam as she left the house. Narcissa, however, smiled widely and threw her arms around her son and started kissing him all over. It took him ages but Draco finally go her to stop and then he walked over to Hermione. "So, how 'bout it Hermione, would you be my bride?" She looked at him for a moment before a smile crossed her face and she nodded.
"Yes," she said, "Yes, I'll be your bride." Then Draco did something she wasn't expecting, he kissed her.
Not long after that the two were married and they both lived happily ever after.
And the moral of the story is...er...don't put a wand under a mattress.
A/N: Well, what did you think? I saw that nobody had bothered to do a Princess and the Pea kind of story for Harry Potter so I just had to be the first. If I didn't think it might throw you all off, I would've titled this story "The Witch and the Wand" but I wasn't sure if you would get the concept. Anyway, please review! It makes me so happy when you do.