Hi! This idea popped into my head, and I decided to start writing it. I know I'm not good at sticking to stories but I really want to continue this one. I'm going to stop myself right there, I don't want to ramble on my first chapter.
Anyway, thanks for clicking on this story and please read and review! :)
Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter. Santa didn't give it to me. I'm going to try it again next year!
Chapter 1 : Two Down, One to Go
Hermione Granger entered the Great Hall at exactly 9 am with her two friends, Harry and Ron. The food and plates from breakfast were all gone and the long tables were replaced with desks and chairs facing the front. She took a seat and immediately started pondering about what this class would be about. It was supported by the Ministry, and she could only hope that this class would at least be interesting. After she shared this thought with Harry and Ron, she was met with similar replies from the both of them.
"Relax, Hermione. Whatever they have in store for us, you'll ace it. Smartest witch of our year, no?
"Blimey, you find History of Magic interesting. You've set your bar for 'interesting' very low. I'm sure this'll make your cut."
She smiled sheepishly, maybe she was over reacting. Yes, that was it, she was still giddy about the whole Hogwarts-thing since it was her 7th year. The Ministry of Magic wouldn't do anything drastic, especially now that the war was over. At least, she hoped not. She put her bag next to her desk and took out a quill and an ink bottle. She set them neatly on the table as a woman, no doubt from the Ministry, entered the Hall and sat down in one of the teacher's seats. Other Ministry workers followed and lastly, Professor McGonagall, no, Headmaster McGonagall came in. She shut the tall doors behind her and made her way to the front.
She opened her mouth and every student in the Hall shut theirs.
"As you might have noticed, this class consists only of 6th and 7th years. The Ministry have informed us of their idea for this class and Hogwarts accepted it. The war has thankfully ended, but there were many deaths, injuries, and heartbreak. As a result, many witches and wizards have decided to get a divorce with their once-loved ones. But this problem is increasing, and you should all know what divorce is a very difficult subject in our magical world, which puts the Ministry in a dilemma. To prevent this problem from escalating, we have decided to, please excuse my language, play matchmaker."
Many gaped at the people standing before them. The Ministry. Play matchmaker? What an absurd idea. Hermione looked around her surrounding people to see their reaction. Many were blinking stupidly and others had their jaws dropped. Some were whispering excitedly, and some were claiming that this was an idiotic idea.
Headmaster McGonagall snapped her fingers as an attempt to quiet down the older students and surprisingly, it worked. Every eye was on her again. It took a moment for absolute silence, though.
"We will have to use a charm on every single one of you to have access to your interests, personalities and such. Then, we will make it into a small amulet. And the amulet will possess a power to pull itself towards the amulet that belongs to someone who is compatible for its owner when it is in 3 feet of it. And to disconnect the two amulets, the two people with have to say 'Merci Venus' at the same time. We will limit the number of compatible persons to three, in hopes that you will carry on a relationship with one of the three compatibles. And to make these amulets, we must use some ingredients that are usually used in love potions. So one might have the sudden urge to be with their compatibles, in other words, it might influence you to behave as if you are under a love potion. But it's influence will be somewhat weak, so it is not a big thing to worry about. We will get right to business, so if you'll please line up in front of the people that are standing behind me..." the Headmaster did not get a chance to finish her speech due to everyone rising to their feet and hurrying up to the Ministry workers. Hermione got in line and was happy to find herself the 5th in line.
Each worker asked the student for their names and put their wand to said student's head. They pulled out a strand of white hair-like substance, like the ones one would put into a pensive, and put them into a bottle with their names. They repeated this process until every student had their turn. Headmaster McGonagall informed them that their amulets would arrive at lunch and dismissed them.
Hermione Granger put away her quill and ink-bottle and slung her bag over her shoulder. As she was about to leave, someone bumped into her.
"Watch where you're going, Granger." Draco Malfoy hissed as he brushed the non-existent dust off of his robes. Hermione shot him down with a glare and he swaggered away to his next class.
"Insufferable git." Ron growled, he had witnessed the whole thing. "He bumped into you, not the other way around." Hermione smiled and assured him that Malfoy was the least of their worries.
"I wonder who my compatibles would be. I mean, it would have to be someone who's personality goes well with mine, no? And so far, no offense to both of you, I haven't met anyone who's like that at Hogwarts." said Hermione. Both boys shrugged and the three carried on with their conversation.
"So, how's sharing a dormitory with Malfoy?" Harry asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and reminded him that it had only been 3 days. She added that she did not know why he had become one of the Head Boy. They all laughed and agreed that while Hermione deserved the Head Girl place, Malfoy did not.
The first half of the day passed by quickly and soon, it was time for lunch. Hermione sat down next to Ginny and Harry and Ron sat, facing them. Ginny and Hermione started trading thoughts on the whole love-amulet business while Harry and Ron started talking about Quidditch. The two girls agreed that the Ministry was ignorant, how could they have devised a plan to play matchmaker with the Hogwarts students?! Talk about nosy. The two boys carried on, rambling about how Gryffindor was going to win the house cup again.
Just then, the windows letting the owls in opened, and hundreds of owls swooped down. There was more than the usual number of birds, the Ministry's love-amulets was the reason, and many owls had a package in their mouths.
An owl made its way to Hermione and took landing on the table and nudged her to take the package, labeled 'To Miss Hermione Granger'. She obeyed the owl and petted it. It gave her an affectionate nip and flew off. She ripped off the packaging and discovered a box. She opened it and it revealed a necklace with a ruby-red amulet the size of her fingernail.
She turned to Ginny, who had the same necklace, except for the color, Ginny's was orange. They admired each other's amulet, along with their own, and turned to Harry and Ron. Hermione's amulet instantly connected with Harry's gold one. They both had an embarrassed look on their faces and quickly muttered 'Merci Venus' together. After the disconnection, Harry's gold amulet connect itself with Ginny's. Harry looked more surprised at finding two of his compatibles in such a short amount of time and they both said the two words.
There was a pregnant silence.
"One down, two to go." Hermione laughed awkwardly and the others followed. The uncomfortable laughter made the whole situation more unbearable, if possible.
Meanwhile, in the Slytherin tables, Pansy Parkinson was hitting her amulet and Draco's together in an unsuccessful attempt to get them to stick. She tried that for 5 more minutes, to Draco's annoyance. Draco's green amulet must have been annoyed, too, it decided to launch itself far away from Pansy's sickly pink one. It landed somewhere near the Gryffindor table and Draco glowered at the pouting, pug-like girl. He stood up with a sigh and walked over to the Gryffindor table to retrieve it, with Pansy trailing behind him.
Just as he found it, gleaming underneath the many lights on the ceiling, it pulled itself away. Draco's eyes widened as his green amulet connected itself with a red one. Someone was holding the chain that had the red amulet on it. Pansy opened her mouth and shut her eyes tightly. Draco recognized this action and his hands flew to cover his ears.
Pansy let out an ear-splitting shriek and everyone within a 25 feet radar winced. She turned to the owner of the amulet that was connected with her beloved Draco's. And yes, the owner was the Gryffindor Princess, Hermione Granger.
"You!" Pansy screamed. Hermione got to her feet and started taking backward steps. Pansy advanced closer to her. Hermione looked bewildered as she glanced at her amulet that had connected itself with a green one. Draco was trying to tear the amulets apart with his strength, but the amulets did not budge. Hermione's eyes widened. The green amulet belonged to Malfoy. The head boy who shared a mutual hatred with her. Ugh, she was disgusted. Pansy gripped Hermione's soft brown curls and pulled her closer.
"You!" Pansy repeated. Hermione closed her eyes as Pansy let out another shriek. "Why you? You don't deserve Draco!"
Hermione opened her eyes, guessing that Pansy was done. "First of all." she started in a business-like tone. "It's not like we have to get married or anything. We just happened to be compatible." Hermione shuddered at the word 'compatible.' "And please let go of my hair, or I swear, I will chop off yours."
Pansy let of Hermione's hair at once. She took a step backward, which made her about a foot closer to the Gryffindor table. Ron's amulet burst out of his grip and so did Pansy's. Pansy turned around and saw that her amulet had met with a orange-ish red amulet. Ron looked dumbfounded. After realizing that it belonged to Ron Weasly, Pansy looked as if she wanted to kill something. "And if you'll excuse me, I have to disconnect my amulet." Hermione finished and she marched up to a appalled Malfoy.
"Why you?!" Draco echoed Pansy's words. He looked stunned, then his expression turned to anger. "What did you do?!" he demanded in a deadly tone. Harry and Ron got to their feet and stood next to Hermione protectively.
"Our 'Mione didn't do anything." Harry replied indignantly.
"It's not her fault that she's compatible to a ferret." added Ron. Draco glared at Ron and he whipped out his wand and pointed at Ron. Ron and Harry got their wands out, too, and pointed it at Draco. Hermione put her hands on their shoulders as a sign that she could handle this. The three boys lowered their wands, but continued to give each other evil looks.
"Just say it with me, and we can get this over with. It's no use picking fights." Hermione said calmly. Inside, she was tearing her hair out in frustration. Harry was okay, it was right in assuming that they were compatible! They did get along well. Their personalities were compatible. But Malfoy? No. It was not okay. Maybe Malfoy's amulet became defective when it landed on the floor!
Pansy looked on the verge of tears. Draco gripped his head as if he had a massive headache and paid no attention to Hermione. Harry seemed to be fighting an urge to tackle Malfoy and Ginny's eyes were as big as saucers, her jaw dropping and almost hitting the floor. Ron was staring at Pansy and he looked like he wanted to puke. And almost everyone else in the Great Hall seem to have lost interest in the food put in front of them, they were paying their full attention to them. No one could blame them, Pansy had made quite a ruckus.
"Two down, one to go." Hermione thought.
Like it? Hate it? Should I continue? Or give up? Please give me your opinion and I'll make sure I'll respond back! Thanks so much for reading and ciao!