Realize

By: Rachel

Dedicated to Joni, Happy Birthday

A true story…

Chapter one

They couldn't breathe, the closest that the pair had ever been to death, was laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe. This was one of those moments, they were laughing so hard the house lights were turned on and a glaring older lady looked out the window sternly. They stopped laughing immediately and looked down at their shoes, as if ashamed. Mrs. Granger closed the curtains and they started laughing harder, clutching their stomach's, that were, by this time cramping.

They, meaning Ginny and Hermione, were two adolescent teens, Ginny was fourteen, and Hermione was turning fifteen in a few weeks. They were currently camping outside Hermione's house in a tent, right next to their large, brand new, pool. Soft music was playing in the background, and they hummed to it while eating large amounts of food at a time, consuming almost two bags of chips without even realizing they were eating.

They talked and chatted, hearing the soft and calming sounds of nature. Hermione lived out on a farm, isolated from many nearby people, and having no neighbors, made it easy to be loud. Even though her mother got mad about the loud noise when she was trying to sleep. Ginny and Hermione often promised their exhausted parents that they would be quiet…well that they would try…and trying didn't mean they had to be.

Sleepover's for their kids, often resulted in drugs. Using medicine to get rid of their headaches from the sleepless night of course. So now, being bored of their previous entertainment, they moved onto more serious topics, at the moment, they were laying on their backs, gazing at the stars, dancing in the glow of the moonlight.

"Have you ever wanted to be someone, someone that is not you? Someone that could be everything that your not?" Ginny whispered softly, she wasn't watching Hermione but she knew she was nodding her head, "All the time…" Hermione said, and they both zoned out for a while.

"Then lets do it," Ginny sat up suddenly, shaking Hermione out of her daydream, "What are you talking about?" she asked, lost. "Let's pretend, if only for a night, to be someone else!" Hermione looked at Ginny incredulously, "That idea, is so…perfect!" they grinned at each other. "Okay!" they both said in unison, this was going to be a fun sleepover, they could already tell.

"Who shall we be?" Ginny asked, her eyes wide and sparkling with mischief. "Hmm…" Hermione thought for a few moments, scrunching her eyes up in concentration, she had an idea. "I know! There's this girl I know, she's really pretty, and she's sixteen, her name is Kyrin, we could be her!" Ginny nodded in agreement.

"Who will we fool though?" Hermione wondered out loud, this was where Ginny had an idea, and she ran out of the room for several moments, and came back out of the house carrying a thin, tall papery folder. Hermione realized it wasn't a folder, it was their yearbook! They thumbed through it for almost an hour, considering each and every person, they decided it would be more fun to trick a guy.

They finally decided on Draco Malfoy, someone they never talk to, and he's also very gullible, they were starting to think this plan could work, he wouldn't recognize their voices, and certainly wouldn't be able to figure this out.

Hermione knew he didn't know her number, and the real Kyrin had talked to one of Draco's friends named Blaise, so Blaise already thought that Hermione's number was Kyrin's. this plan was fitting together like a puzzle piece, she would ask Blaise for Draco's number, then talk to him. They sent a text message to Blaise, and he told them Draco's number.

Snickering, Hermione typed in Draco's number with shaking fingers, and there was a click as he picked up. "Hello?" his deep voice came from across the phone, Hermione sat there with her mouth open, the words were frozen in her mouth. "Hey, this is Kyrin." She almost stumbled over her words, and there was a slight pause on the other side of the phone. "Oh aren't you that girl Blaise has been talking to?" he asked, and she nodded, until she figured out he couldn't see her.

"Yeah, so what's up?"

"Not much, just wacking it."

Hermione looked at Ginny, confused, "What does that mean?" she whispered and Ginny whispered it in her ear, Hermione looked horrified.

"I'm kidding!"

"Oh…good so…"

"How old are you Kyrin?"

"16, you?"

"14…does that bother you?"

"Age is but a number!"

"That's hot!"
"Um…thanks?"

"Are you a virgin?"

"Uh…no?"

"Nice!"

The conversation led on that way, they talked for almost an hour, watched Hermione in wonderment, she was a good actress! This was so funny, she kept mouthing stuff to Ginny, and they laughed silently at everything he said. Ginny smiled, this was going to be a very fun prank.

Chapter Two

Day's turned into weeks, and week's into months. Hermione and Draco…or should I say Kyrin and Draco talked almost every night, and texted almost contently, Hermione would talk to him, find something funny he said, and tell Ginny later that day.

Lets just say they got into a lot of trouble from their parents for giggling and whispering all the time, instead of paying attention. Luckily, neither girls had seen him anywhere, and it was nearing the start of the year, so they had only a month of school left. Ginny noticed Hermione talking about Draco more and more, it was fine though, this joke had exploded and was now almost everything they talked about.

They whispered inside jokes, things he had said, and it was all they could do to keep from bursting into laughter every time they saw him. Hermione had a dream that she was walking down the hallway, carrying her books, she noticed Draco walking by and tipped her books just a little to far, she dropped a few of them, and papers went all over the hallway, she jumped when he handed her some of them, her eyes lingering on him as he walked away.

Hermione needed an excuse to leave the dinner table, she acted like she was mad at her dad, when she really wasn't, she stormed off, just so she could leave. Her pocket had started vibrating at that moment, and she knew it was Draco.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe."

"Hey Draco, what's up?"

"I'm going to this club, you should go tonight!"

"Oh…I would…but I have plans."

"With who?!"

"A girl at your school, her name is like Hermione."

"Oh I know her, she's a freak, no offence, well…ok um I'll talk to you later."

"bye."

Draco hung up.

Ginny was on the other line, suppressing giggles, "I can't believe he believed that! Well, I didn't think he would believe any of this anyways, but still! Wow, he seems to really like Kyrin!" Hermione could hear the smile on Ginny, "Yeah, he does, this has been going on for a long time now, like almost two months! That's crazy!"

"Yeah, when are we going to end this?" Ginny asked, Hermione was silent, and Ginny checked her phone to see if she had accidentally hit a button or something, but it was just Hermione not talking. "I'll end it soon, it's just to funny to end right now!" Hermione laughed, and Ginny somewhat agreed, she thought it was being drug on for a little to long.

"Ok, well I'm going to go take a shower, keep me updated babe!" Ginny said, and they ended their conversation, and Hermione plugged in her phone, all this talking on it was wearing out the battery.

Ginny thought while she was in the shower, Hermione was getting a little to into this game, she had a nagging feeling that this should be ended soon, Draco was really liking Kyrin, and they didn't want him getting to attached, it was supposed to be a few days thing, not a few months!

Meanwhile with Hermione…

Hermione heard her phone go off later that night, "Hello?" she said sleepily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Hey, guess who?" she smiled, it was Draco, she never tired of his voice. It had a soft drawl to it, she actually enjoyed talking to him, it relaxed her.

"I wish I could meet you, we would be amazing together…"

"I know, we would, we would be the best,"

"Kyrin…will you go out with me?"

"…Yes! I really like you Draco…"

Hermione's heart gave a little flutter, she smiled, telling herself this was all for the sake of humor.

"I love you…" he said, Hermione's mouth fell open.

"I love you too…"

"I don't believe you."

And the phone clicked, Draco had hung up.

Hermione sat on the floor, holding her phone, stunned, she couldn't believe that she was going out with Draco. No, Kyrin's going out with Draco, not you, she told herself, shook her head as if trying to knock sense back into herself. Hermione got up and went to the kitchen to get something to calm her stomach.

She knew she needed to tell him…she quickly dialed his number, dreading every ring of the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey uh…I have to tell you something…my name isn't Kyrin…"

Stunned silence

"What?" he sounded hurt.

"I…uh….my name is Elizabeth, and Kyrin is my middle name…I go by my middle name…I thought you should know." She grimaced at the taste of this new lie on her tongue, and they talked for a few more minutes before hanging up for like the fifth time that night.

Hermione closed her door, leaning her back against it she slowly slid down the door, finally sitting on the ground, what had she gotten herself into?

Chapter Three

Hermione was currently in one of her chatting sessions with, oh my gosh who would've guessed, Draco! They were fighting about who loved each other more…gag. Anyways they were so into it that Hermione didn't even notice Ginny randomly walking into her room, Ginny saw she hadn't been noticed and took this few seconds to make faces at Hermione.

"Haha, no! I love YOU more!"

"Nope!"

Hermione hadn't giggled so much since that time that Professor Sprout got stuck in her greenhouse without her wand!

Ginny however, was sitting in the corner of the room, planning out how she was going to kill herself when Hermione looked over, completely surprised, "Hey, hold on really quick," Hermione said into the phone, covering the mouthpiece she turned to Ginny. "I didn't even notice you, so…" and she rambled a summery of what they had been talking about for the past half hour.

Ginny nodded, pretending to listen, when really she was deciding on how many times she should bang her head against the wall before jumping into the pool and "accidentally" drowning when she started to talk to him again.

Hermione turned the phone on speaker and soon Draco's voice filled the room.

"So, can I have another picture of you babe?"

Hermione turned to Ginny for help, they had to find a picture, and fast.

"Okay, I'll send you it then call you back,"

"Kay, thanks,"

Draco hung up.

The two girls scrambled to find a picture, they had to hook up the computer to the internet, which took like ten minutes! They waited impatiently for it to connect, and Joni finally got the picture, taking it with her phone she sent it.

"You look so hot in this!" was Draco's reply to her picture, Hermione's reply to that was a giggle. How original, Ginny thought dryly, then the talking calmed down for a while, until he asked for her myspace url, "I deleted mine, but I'll make a new one, just for you!" Hermione said as Ginny signed on, making a new account frantically.

"There, just add me…my name is Kyrin….uh….Brunsma! Look me up," Hermione smiled into the phone, she saw a new friend request, and she was consumed by talking to him.

Ginny realized that they talked all the time now, either texting or talking, Hermione smiled every time she saw it was him, Ginny was, by now, truly worried for Hermione's mental health. She frowned when it wasn't him, he even had his own ringtone!

And Ginny was the one who noticed all of these changes, no one else seemed to take notice, but then again, there's no one else that knew about this, and no one else that spent as much time with Hermione as Ginny did.

Why was Hermione so into this prank opposed to others? That was the question that Ginny pondered over for so long. She decided right then and there that she would make Hermione end this, next time they talked, it wasn't worth everything they were doing with it. Plus, she felt kind of bad now, knowing Draco's past and all the problems that he has.

It was only supposed to be for that one night, that one sleepover, how did it explode into this big thing? They couldn't figure it. After the two hung up Ginny confronted Hermione.

"This NEEDS to end Hermione, you know that,"

"I know, I'll end it soon,"

"Hermione …I'm serious this time!"

"okay, I'll end it tomorrow… I swear…"

"Okay, my ride is here, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Then Ginny left.

Ginny was worried, she saw the way Hermione giggled when she talked to Draco, the way she acted like she was flirting with him. Ginny didn't believe that Hermione was acting anymore.

Chapter Four

Hermione tossed in fitful sleep the entire night, she couldn't sleep, she had to tell Draco the next day, and she definitely didn't want to. She didn't have a choice, she knew that this was way past its due date, but she couldn't help herself.

She finally got to sleep for a few hours, waking up to a beeping on her phone, it was a voicemail from Ginny.

"Hey Mione, I just wanted to remind you so you don't back out of this, you need to know why its important you end this, he thinks your Kyrin! You two can NEVER be together, I'm sorry, but you needed to hear that. Now call him Hermione, right now. Good luck." There was a beep and the message was over.

Hermione felt like she was back in that first night of calling him, when her hands were shaking, for they were shaking again right now. She dialed each number carefully, and listened while it rang slowly, she felt like this was worse then torture until he finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey…it's me."

"Hey, I needed to talk to you!"

"About what?"

"Kyrin, I was thinking…I think I've truly fallen in love with you…"

Hermione was stunned, pained tears fell from her eyes, her vision blurred.

"I….Draco…I can't talk to you anymore…"

"Why? Whatever it is, we can get through it, I feel that strongly…"

"No Draco, you aren't in love with me."

"Yes I am!"

"I don't love you, never talk to me again!" she shouted into the phone.

Draco was in pained silence.

"I hate you…" she lied in a dead whisper.

The phone clicked as Draco hung up on her.

"I love you Draco…" Hermione whispered to the empty phone, but no one was there to hear it, Draco would never call her again. She couldn't believe she had let herself get so involved, when it was never meant to be. When that hit her, she fell to the floor, and then the tears came.

In the background music was softly playing, it was Realize, by Colbie Caillat, how true that song was for this moment, the moment her heart broke.

Take time to realize,
That your warmth is.

Crashing down on in.
Take time to realize,
That I am on your side
Didn't I, Didn't I tell you.

But I can't spell it out for you,
No it's never gonna be that simple
No I cant spell it out for you

C: If you just realize what I just realized,
Then we'd be perfect for each other
and will never find another
Just realized what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder if
we missed out on each other now.

V2: Take time to realize
Oh-oh I'm on your side
didn't I, didn't I tell you.
Take time to realize
This all can pass you by.. Didn't I tell you

But I can't spell it out for you,
no its never gonna be that simple
no I can't spell it out for you.

C: If you just realized what I just realized
then we'd be perfect for each other
then we'd never find another
Just realized what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder if
we missed out on each other now.

V3: It's not always the same
no it's never the same
if you don't feel it to.
If you meet me half way
If you would meet me half way.
It could be the same for you.

C: If you just realized what I just realized
then we'd be perfect for each other
then we'd never find another
Just realized what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder
Just realized what I just realized

OoOoOOo

missed out on each other now
missed out on each other now

Many years later…

Hermione was now entering college, she hadn't talked to Draco ever again after that faithful day, for he moved to another school due to his father's hatred of Hogwarts, and she had almost forgotten completely about him. She was at her first day, not ready to go to class just yet, she was worried, she sat on a nearby bench that was the only one empty.

A boy came and sat by her, he looked like her age, and she realized that college wasn't going to be so bad. There was a speaker on a stand by them, outside the classes, and it started playing oldies, suddenly a wave of emotion knocked Hermione over, Realize started playing, she couldn't believe it.

She turned to the cute boy next to her, and studied him, he had blonde hair, she asked him quietly, "Did your first love hurt as much as mine did, and you had your heart crushed?"

His reply came softly, "Yeah… her name was Kyrin…"