A/N: Hey, guys! This is just a one shot about Hermione winning the election. It just popped into my head for fun and I decided to write it and keep everything about it confidential for the SHOCK VALUE at the plot twist. Lol I hope you all liked it and I hope the twist got you! Haha Please let me know in the comment/review section. Love you guys!

Veronica Cecilia Lodge stormed out of the Pembrooke with nothing but rage, fear, and concern for Archie on her mind. She wanted to see him immediately after the Election announcements, but her father insisted that she go to the celebration of her mother's win at their respected home later that evening. Her heart wasn't in the win. She needed Mr. Andrews to win. She loved her mother, but she could see what this was doing to her. What her father was doing to her. A part of her wished her dad had run instead, but the more rational part of her knew that Hiram Lodge as mayor of the town of Riverdale...of any town, really, would be a more than egregious idea. So, she stuck by her mother after the win, making sure she wouldn't be too overwhelmed or bombarded by their party guests, a protective side of Veronica coming out that she hadn't experienced before. She stood by her mother the entire celebration like Hermione's personal bodyguard, making sure no one would do more than shake Madame Mayor Lodge's hand. But two hours into the soiree, she couldn't take it. Her father made several outrageous statements on both her and her mother's behalf, almost as if he HAD won as mayor himself. But the moment he mentioned Fred's defeat, bashing him in front of every rich person in Riverdale, Veronica stormed out of the Pembrooke without a word, heading for Archie's house to check on him and his dad as well as to get away for awhile.

"Something's off, Archie." She admitted, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"About what?" He wondered, setting his guitar back into its case across the room.

"The election, my mom, my dad. I don't know. I have this feeling something big is about to happen and I can't seem to shake it."

The redhead stood up from his chair, making his way over to her and kneeling on the floor in front of her. "Something big?"

"Yeah." She responded, her brows furrowed in confusion. Her hands found their way to his shoulders in front of her. "But the thing is...I don't know if it's good or bad." She shook her head. "Usually my instincts can tell me if something positive or negative is about to happen, but this time...it-it's like a blur. I have no clue."

Archie put his arms around her waist, looking up at her. "Maybe you shouldn't worry about it so much. Push it aside for now and just focus on being happy for your mom."

"Usually I would, Arch, but….whatever is about to happen...whatever's coming…" She stared deeply into his eyes with intent and sincerity. "...it's gonna change everything."

One week after the election had passed and Veronica had spent a lot of her time at the breakfast table, observing the way her parents spoke to each other, trying to catch any little detail about their plans for her mother's mayoral reign. She'd internally roll her eyes and sigh every time they mentioned the new prison or her father's "business partners." But one morning….something was different. The atmosphere of one side of the table was something she'd never ever felt in their household before. It was her mother's. As far as Ronnie could tell, Hermione hadn't looked different, hadn't dressed differently, didn't even speak differently, but it was something….something that caught her attention. She observed her mother closely while she ate and they spoke.

Looking at her father's side of the table, she felt the same as always had...well, always had since she learned of his criminal acts. His side of the table seemed its usual dark and manipulative, cloudy self. Ever since he'd come back from prison...she would picture a literal dark cloud over his head, it brewing with more and more dark plans. It was still there this morning. She felt unphased by it.

Looking at her mother's side of the table, she saw something she couldn't even explain to herself. Ever since she was born, Veronica would picture a bright white cloud above her mother, the sun shining through it with a single bird chirped upon the cloud. The bird was always weeping, looking around as if searching for something, but Ronnie never knew what it was. Once her father returned from prison, she would look at her mother and see a similar image above her, only sometimes the bird was there and sometimes, it was not. This morning...she had no clue what she was looking at. It was almost chaos for her, feeling so unsure of the image. She saw the sun, standing alone. Below it, a tree with an empty nest. Beneath that tree she saw a cloud, two or three birds circling it. She could not make out if there were two or three, they flew so fast. The white cloud moved as if trying to escape the bird, but it hadn't a clue where to go. Confusion hit her harder than puberty and after a while, she could no longer look at her mother, too overwhelmed by the sudden change in scenery above her.

"I'll see you two after school." Veronica abruptly stood, the sounds of the birds chirping distracting her from every word her parents would say. She gave Hiram a kiss on the cheek and turned to head for the door. While she passed her mother, she fixated on stopping to kiss her cheek as well, but she couldn't, her mind only letting her see the birds flying overhead. When she passed her mother without so much as saying goodbye, Hermione's face fell, but she quickly fixed it to hide her pain from Hiram.

"Archie!" Veronica rushed to her boyfriend's locker at Riverdale High.

"What is it, Veronica?" He could already hear the mystery in her tone.

"It's my mom. Something's off."

"Isn't that normal? For both of your parents?" Jughead Jones asked, walking up to them with Betty Cooper as the end of the day school bell rang.

"I don't mean something's off with her...I mean 'she's' off." The Lodge girl said, placing a hand on Archie's back while the other held his stomach.

"What's the difference?" Juggy wondered with an odd smirk.

"She's like a different person. I don't know. I can't explain it. I could try, but if I do...you'll probably think I'm crazy or a future serial killer or something."

"Why would we think that?" Elizabeth asked when they started down the hallway for the exit.

Veronica let out a long sigh. "I have this thing where I see different images over people's heads and they're like some type of crazy version of symbolism? I guess? I don't know, I've had it since I was a kid, I don't know how to explain it."

They stepped out of the school and into the parking lot, making their way to the sidewalk to head toward Pop's.

"You see images? What? Like voices in your head?" Jughead joked.

"See? This is why I didn't wanna tell you." She rolled her eyes.

"No, no, V." Betty nudged Jughead. "Go on."

"It's basically my mind trying to tell me the kind of person someone is at that moment in time." Ronnie went on with a hint of irritation.

"What do you see over my head?" The young Mr. Jones asked.

The brunette girl rolled her eyes once more. "Right now it's a swordfish because I'm about three seconds from visualizing it's long, sharp nose going up your-"

"Veronica!" Both Archie and Betty stopped her.

"Whoa! I was only kidding, Morticia. Put the claws away." Jug responded, his tone turning serious. "I'm sorry for interrupting. I will keep my mouth unequivocally shut for the rest of this walk." He motioned zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key before putting both hands in his coat pockets. Betty slid her hand under his elbow, linking her arm with his as they went on.

"Anyway…" Ronnie was finally able to continue. "...I've always seen the same thing with my mother. Her images have been slightly different before. Just little things missing every now and then. But this morning….something was way, way off. Her image was almost something brand new entirely. It used a lot of the same symbols, but in different ways and almost, it felt, in different context as well. It's almost like she's a completely different person...or warping into one."

"Why do you think that is?" Betty asked, genuinely concerned.

"Do you think it's because she's the mayor now?" Archie wondered beside her.

"I mean, that's a possibility. I usually look up what symbols mean in order to figure them out. When I get home, I'll-" She halted her step in the middle of the sidewalk, causing the other three to stop as well, looking back at her. "Oh my god." She stared ahead at the tree a few feet away, it reminded her of the tree from her mother's image.

"What?" Archie asked for the other two as well.

"The tree."

"The tree?" Juggy spoke again. "What about the tree?"

"In my mother's image. I've seen trees over people before. It usually means immortality. And the empty bird's nest. It represents the love and enthusiasm that goes into making a home."

"Okay?" Jughead said, looking to Betty with confusion. She returned the same look before turning to watch Veronica's jaw drop in realization.

"I have to go home. Now!" She immediately turned, running back to the school parking lot to hop into Betty's mom's (borrowed) car.

"Wait, V!" Betty called after her, running as well and both boys quickly followed.

The four of them drove off and headed to the Pembrooke, running up the stairs, too impatient and panicked to wait for the elevators.

"Ronnie, would you please tell us what's going on?" Archie panted up the last flight of stairs.

She refused to speak, focusing on her breathing and the nervous beat of her heart as she ran to her penthouse, shouting the moment they all stepped in. "Mom!?"

They looked around...the open space of the apartment that they could see was empty.

"Mrs. Lodge?" Archie called out, seeing the fear in Veronica's eyes, though not understanding it himself.

"Mom!" The brunette called again. When there was no answer, she frantically stepped toward her parents' bedroom, opening the door and seeing that it was empty as well. With as much panic in her body as her voice, she left the room and headed for her father's office. "Daddy?"

"Mr. Lodge?" Jughead called out.

"Mrs. Lodge." Betty joined in, though she and Jug felt it wasn't in their place to move from their spot near the door.

Just as Veronica made it to the door to her father's office, it opened. "Veronica, what are you doing home?" Hermione wondered, closing the door behind her. "I thought you kids would be at Pop's."

"We were going th-" Ronnie was still panting from running up the stairs. "I thought…" She couldn't see her mother's imagery at all. "I was worried about you."

Hermione's tone turned to amused almost. "Veronica, just because I am mayor now does not mean I'm gonna be assassinated in our own home." Her arms folded over her chest and her eyes shifted between all four teens. "I'm fine, Veronica, really. You don't have to worry about me."

"Mom, what's going on?" The sixteen year old's eyes fell to the closed office door. "Is Daddy here?"

"No, mi hija. Your father went out of town on business. We spoke about this at breakfast this morning. Weren't you listening?"

Veronica looked over her mother, trying her best to see her image, but she still saw nothing. She squinted at the office door. "What were you doing in Daddy's office?"

Hermione let out a ridiculous chortle. "I'm the mayor now, mi hija. It's no longer gonna be your father's office. I was just moving some of my things in there."

It was silent between the five of them for a moment before Ronnie's suspicions were a bit heightened and she trusted her instincts, her own arms folding over her chest to mirror her mother. She took in a deep breath before speaking. "Mother, who's in there?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Veronica."

"Don't play games with me, Mom. I know someone's in there."

They both glared at each other for some time when near the door, Jughead whispered to Betty. "Well, this is awkward."

After a moment, Hermione's eyes shot to Jughead and she sighed, turning just a bit and she opened her mouth, yelling through the office door. "Come on out."

All four teens watched the door with anticipation as it slowly opened. Mayor Lodge took one step to the side, allowing the ex-Serpent to exit the office beside her.

"What is she doing here?" Veronica wondered, as did the others, though she got it out quicker.

Over by the door, Betty and Jughead gasped, looking to each other and near the fireplace, Archie hadn't a clue what to feel or even think.

"We were having a meeting about what to do with Southside High." Hermione spoke up, looking to the blonde beside her.

"But I thought you and Daddy were turning it into the pris-"

"Your father's plans have always been a little….off from my own. And now that I'M mayor and he's gone...I've decided that things are gonna be run MY way."

Jughead took one step forward. "Okay, but Penny Peabody?" He glared at the woman he once skinned alive, standing beside Hermione. "Why her?"

"Because Jughead." Mrs. Lodge glared at the teen boy. "Penny has big plans for the Southside and I was the only one willing to listen. As mayor, it's my duty to hear every Riverdale citizen's point of view and when Penny came to me...I actually loved a lot of her ideas. So...we're gonna try things her way and see how we can help unite the North and South sides."

"Do you know how dangerous she is?!" Jughead asked with a yell.

"How dangerous I am?" Penny spoke up. "Who sliced up a person's arm and left them on the side of the road to bleed out?"

"Jughead, I'm the mayor now and I have enough power to prove what you did to this women and get you sent to a junior correctional facility if you don't watch your tone, young man."

He was pissed, but knew he was defeated. Scoffing, he turned to abruptly leave with a shake of his head, Betty running after him. Veronica squinted at the blonde before taking a deep breath to speak. "Come on, Archie. These two have a business meeting to uphold apparently." She turned and headed for her boyfriend, taking him by the hand and leading him to the door. When they stopped near it, she turned and looked to her mother. "I hope you know what you're doing." And with that, they left, shutting the door behind them.

Hermione let out a breath she had been holding, turning to look at Penny beside her. "That was a close one. We need to be more careful. They could've heard and I don't think Veronica would be so pleased that we're planning on poisoning her father."

"That Jughead's a real little prick."

"Don't worry about him." Hermione turned her body to fully face the woman. "I can take care of Jughead."

Penny turned to face Hermione as well, taking one step toward her. "Now….where were we?"

Mayor Lodge smirked, pulling Penny in for a steamy kiss.

The End.

A/N: Wow. Okay. That turned out differently than I expected. Lol Yes, the plot twists at the end were part of the plan, but Veronica's imagery thing was NOT. Anyway, the first imagery of Hermione was that she always wanted to be a bright happy person, hence the sun, but she always felt sad and lonely, hence the weeping bird. And when the bird wasn't there, it was because Hermione sometimes never felt important enough to be there, especially in Hiram's life. The new imagery was basically about how things were about to get chaotic with her working with Penny and the two/three birds were Penny, Veronica, and Hermione, and the tree was immortality because there was soon gonna be a death in the family (Hiram) and the bird's nest was representing how Hermione was gonna do what she could to create a better home (get rid of Hiram).

Anyway, I really hope you liked this and its crazy plot twist at the end. Haha. Please leave comments/reviews. Love you guys! MWAH!