Not Exactly Hate
Chapter One: The Invitation
Hermione woke up to the sound of twittering birds just outside her window. She wished she was allowed to do magic over the summer, she would have shut those stupid birds up for waking her so early.
She tumbled clumsily out of bed to get dressed then walked over to her wardrobe and quickly picked out something to wear. Today Hermione was going to Diagon Alley to meet Harry and the Weasley's.
She hadn't seen them for most of the summer. Her parents took her on a surprise trip to Paris. They had been with her all summer; apparently they felt like they were going to lose their little girl soon, since she was going into her seventh year at Hogwarts. Therefore throughout the summer she was either out sightseeing with them, at some sort of fancy restaurant with them for dinner, watching movies together, or planning for the next day. To make it even more annoying her mum had gotten it into her head that Hermione was a "boring dresser" so she spent a lot of time being dragged off to shopping malls trying on, what seemed like the whole shop. She knew she should be happy that she had such caring parents, she loved them and everything, but they wouldn't leave her alone! The last few days of their holiday was one of the worse Hermione had ever had! She was glad when an owl came from Mrs. Weasley inviting her over to the Burrow for the last week of summer.
Hermione looked at herself in her full-sized mirror. She was wearing a white tank top under a light pink hoodie, long blue jeans, and white shoes. She wrinkled her nose at her impossible light brown hair. It was as bushy as always. She ran a brush through her hair with much difficulty, and tied it in a high ponytail, figuring that it was much better than letting it stay in an unruly mass. Pushing away the strands of hair that tended to come lose out of her face, Hermione headed to the downstairs for breakfast.
In the sunlit kitchen her dad was reading the paper, while her mum was making breakfast. "Good morning dear!" her mum exclaimed. Lately, she always greeted Hermione as though she hadn't seen her in four years.
They all looked at the kitchen window to see an official looking bird with a letter clamped safely in its mouth. "Oh!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed. She hurried over to the window, and took the letter from the owl. She opened it quickly, Hermione knew that her mum was eager to see if Hermione had been made Head Girl or not. She let out a squeal of delight. "Congratulations! You're Head Girl!"
Hermione's jaw dropped. She didn't know why it was such a shock. After all she was expecting this, and Dumbledore all but told her this was going to happen. She quickly gobbled down her food the, she had to tell Harry and Ron. Hermione was so eager; she haphazardly threw her letter into her purse, not noticing that there was another piece of paper in her envelope marked "urgent"!
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Hermione walked into the Leakey Cauldron with a sigh of freedom. She looked around the pub. She loved Paris and everything, but since her parents kept her in constant watch she wasn't able to go to the magical side there. She missed being able to do magic, since she finished her homework before they arrived there she had little contact with the Wizarding World.
She spotted the Weasley's famous red hair almost instantly. They were sitting near the back. Hermione noticed how Harry's raven black hair stood out so dramatically against Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny's scarlet.
Ginny spotted her first. "Hi Hermione!" She said as she got up to greet her. "Hi Gin, I missed you!" Hermione said, giving Ginny a hug. "Hey!" Ron exclaimed. "What about me!" He stood up to give Hermione a hug, but Harry pushed passed him before he could. "What about you?" He said, wrapping his arms around Hermione before Ron could reach her. Hermione laughed, she pulled away from Harry and turned to Ron. Hermione noticed how tall he had gotten. She looked into his eyes. She loved them, they were his best feature; sea blue with hints of green. He wrapped his arms around her waist and Hermione instantly knew that this hug was different than the ones they shared in the past. She seemed to be more aware his body pressed against hers. A soft tingling sensation rose in her. "I missed you," he whispered so softly that Hermione almost failed to notice it. She raised herself on her toes to whisper back too him, "I missed you too"
"Hey you two get a room!" Fred said. Hermione and Ron broke away to see everyone looking at them. Hermione blushed; she hadn't realized how long they took. She and Ron sat down next to each other.
The other occupants of the booth shared a knowing glance. "So, how was your summer Hermione?" Harry asked. "It was a nightmare!" Hermione replied. She knew that whining was very child-like, but she had no one to talk to all summer, she had to dump her problems on someone else before she exploded. "The food on the flight tasted like plastic, I didn't get to go to a single bookstore for more that five minutes because both my parents were with me practically every second of the waking hours, my mum made me go shopping forever and bought me a whole bunch of clothes, all of which are various shades of pink, and the food on the flight back tasted like old plastic!" She said that all in practically one breath. She took a deep breath and looked around to see everyone giving her weird looks. "Your just a little ray of sunshine aren't you Hermione?" George asked her.
She was going to reply but was interrupted by Ginny, "so were you made Head Girl or not?" she demanded. "Yep!" she replied cheerfully, I got my letter this morning!" Everyone congratulated Hermione. Fred sighed and said, "so many jokes to little time!" "Ya," George agreed " we'll make fun of you later Hermione, we got to get back to work, you too Ginny." Hermione turned to Ginny. "You got a job at the joke shop," she asked. Ginny smiled "Ya, it's really fun! You should drop by, seeya!" She followed the twins out of the pub, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione alone.
"So that's it?" Ron asked suddenly. "What do you mean?" Hermione said, surprised. "Oh ya!" Harry said, as if he just remembered something. "Ever since the summer started everyone has been talking about something special that's supposed to take place this year," Harry told her. "Well what is it?" Hermione asked. Ron looked annoyed and said "well that's just it! We have no idea!" Harry nodded and said, "They're acting just like how they were before the Triwizard Tournament." Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she said, "Well that time it was top secret. Only people in the Ministry knew about it. What makes you think I know something?" "Something Dumbledore said the other day." Harry said, "Something about the "event" being for the Head Boy and Girl and that we would find out when you find out."
"Did it say something about it in the letter you got"? Ron asked her, eager to know what everyone had been so secretive about. No, Hermione thought and pulled out her letter When she opened the envelope and saw a piece of parchment that she hadn't noticed before. She opened it and read. Harry and Ron watched impatiently, as Hermione's eyes grew wider and wider as she read the letter. She finished and looked up at them in awe. "Well?" Ron demanded. Since she didn't look capable of speaking Harry took the letter from her hands and read it, Ron looking over his shoulder.
The letter read:
Dear Miss Granger,
You have reached amazing heights in your years at Hogwarts. I congratulate you for your achievements and success in helping Harry Potter defeat Voldemort this last year. Therefore I, Professor Malligo R. Morissey invite you to attend a semester of your seventh year at Venificus Trellum Academy for the Gifted.
Venificus Trellum is a school that has the necessary tools you need to train the particular level if magic that you have reached. Upon accepting this invitation you will be able to attend highly advanced classes with the student already attending the school. This opportunity will enhance your magical abilities very dramatically. You will be getting a very hands-on method of learning magic. This school has prided itself for training some of the best sorcerers of all time!
Your Head Master, Albus Dumbledore has been informed, and approves of this invitation. While it is highly recommended that you attend a semester's worth of training at Venificus Trellum, it is not required of you to go.
Additional information about the school has been enclosed. Term starts September 1st. Your reply must be sent in by August 30th. We hope to see you soon.
Sincerely,
Malligo R. Morissey(Head Master of Venificus Trellum, Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorcerer Recognition, and Wizard World Record for having the Largest Chocolate Frog Card Collection)
Harry and Ron finished reading and looked back at Hermione. A deafening silence fell upon the three friends as they thought about how this would affect not just Hermione, but all three of them.
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Draco Stared up at his canopy. He stalled going downstairs where he would be met by Pansy. She had been hanging around the manor more and more throughout the summer. It was one of the worse summers Draco could ever recall having. That included the summer of The Incident in Paris. Draco shuddered. It was so horribly embarrassing that he felt it necessary to capitalize it.
Figuring that he might as well get the worst over with, Draco got out of bed with a distinct feeling that today would be very interesting.
He took a quick shower, wondering if his letter would come today. He really wanted to know if he got that Head Boy position. Or maybe stupid Potty or the Weasel took it from him. It would have been obvious that it was only because they were Dumbledore's favorite students. He might as well just give up hope.
He picked out all black to wear, as usual, and went downstairs to meet his mother for breakfast. Surprisingly, She was alone, Pansy was no where to be seen.
His mother mist have seen the surprise on his face because she said, "She not here, she's sick. She must have caught something while she was waiting for you outside the boy's loo at that festival you ditched her at." Her voice was disapproving and stern. "Draco, I know she's tragically dim-witted, but must you be so mean to her?" Draco stalked over to the far end of the huge table to where his mother was sitting at the head, where his father used to sit.
He sat down at her right and said "Yes mother, I do have to be horrible to her, because no matter what I say the girl doesn't understand that all I want her to do is sod off!"
"Mind your tongue! You know, your father had high hopes for the two of you. After all, you did take her to the Yule Ball fourth year."
"That was years ago and I haven't asked her to a single one since then!
"Yes, I know dear, but that one was so public. The press was there and everything! And it doesn't hurt that she's a pureblood. I can't stand her either though. She's always sucking up to me like a fiancé would to her mother-in-law, as if I would ever accept such an unfortunate waste of good blood.
"If you don't like her either then why are you so keen on us going out?"
"To fulfill your father's wishes, I suppose. He was sure you two would marry… but I guess there's no reason for that now is there?" she gave Draco a half hearted smile.
Draco didn't say anything, him and his mom barely ever talked about Lucius since he got the life sentence in Azkaban after the war. Narcissa smiled then.
"Oh yes, I've just remembered! Draco, you remember Nicole Golden from Paris don't you?"
Draco cringed; she was the reason of the summer of The Incident. If he never saw her again, it would be too soon.
"She's coming to Hogwarts this year! Isn't that lovely? I know you two had so much fun that summer we went to Paris!"
Draco looked at his mother, horrified. "You're not serious? Mother, you know we hated each others guts! We were always out to get each other! She hates me!"
"Oh come now, that was a long time ago! She's really grown up to be a beautiful young lady. The Golden bloodline is almost as pure as ours! She would be perfect for you!"
"If you mean perfect to kill me, and make it seem like it was an accident!"
His mom seemed to want to protest but was cut off by their house elf, Tippy.
"Excuse me, but a letter just arrived from Hogwarts for you sir" he said giving Draco his letter.
Draco swiftly tore up the letter, and was scanning its contents in a matter of seconds.
He looked up with a puzzled look.
"What the hell is Venificus Trellum?"
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