CHAPTER ONE
"You will go to that wedding!" "No I will not!" Once again, my mom and I were arguing about that stupid wedding. We were in the kitchen, sitting at the table, having a cup of coffee. "This wedding is important. You'll be able to meet your family!" My mom said. "They are not my family!" I retorted. "This is important to your father, dear" My mother replied calmly. "He is not my father! He is not! Will you stop acting like he is?" I screamed.
It was summer break before my 7th year at Hogwarts. During the summer of my 5th year, my father had been murdered. Already my mother had remarried to a guy named Dan. My mom thinks that if she acts like Dan is my real father that I will forget my dad and be happy. Whatever, it really pisses me off. There is no way I could ever forget my daddy. No way.
My stepfather's cousin was getting married, and my mom really wanted me to attend the wedding, to get to know my "family". I'm totally against it. Dan is a lawyer, the only thing he ever talks about is the stupid cases he's done! He especially talks about my dad's case! That's how he and my mom met! He handled my dad's murder trail, and my mom started dating him! I can't believe it either. There is now way in hell I wanted to meet the family of a guy that makes me relive my dads death everyday at dinner. "There will be kids there you're age!" My mom said happily. What? Was I supposed to jump up and down now? "Oh goody." I said sarcastically. My mother had had enough childish arguing. "You will go to that wedding, and that is final!" My mom said, raising her voice. She got up and left the kitchen muttering about my immaturity.
Tears of frustration ran down my face. I hated it when I had no choice in things. It made me feel so helpless! Just then I heard the front door open, and Dan's voice rang out "Hello my dears! I'm home!" Neither I, nor my mother responded. My mother was probably still fuming about me in her room, and I was still fuming about her in the kitchen. Dan's head poked in through the kitchen door. "Hello Hermione! Where's your mother?" I looked at him angrily. I shook my head in disbelief, walked right pass him without a word, and headed towards my room.
About an hour had passed, and I was lying on my bed writing in my journal. This wasn't a 'dear journal, guess what happened today!' sort of journal. This was a journal that I confided my feelings into. Whenever I felt strongly about something I write about it. A lot of my entries included house elves, and a lot of them included Draco Malfoy. Here's one I wrote last year.
Dear Journal,
Well, I just arrived back at Hogwarts for the new school year. Everyone's pretty much the same...except for one person. The moment I saw Draco Malfoy my heart leapt. He looked so cute, and so much more mature. But when we were on the train, he called me a mudblood again, and I was sure I imagined the mature the part. WHY does he have to do that? Why does he have to talk to me like I'm less than him!? We both got into the same school! We both got the same amount of O.W.L's! I've seen him talking to Pansy, and he's really said some nice things to her. I really wish he would be that nice with me. He'd have so many more friends if he would just be nice every once in a while! I really don't get him. He's the one person I can't look in the eyes, and know the whole story. That bothers me. When I look into his eyes, they're dark and cloudy. They hide something. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure him out before I get an impulse to kill him. I have a feeling I might act on my impulse. And if he calls me 'mudblood' one more time...
Right now, my entry looked like this:
Dear Journal,
ARG! It looks like I'm going to the STUPID wedding! Why do people get married anyway! The whole concept seems kinda stupid to me. Oh well, I know it's not the wedding that's bothering me. It's just that I really miss my dad, and it feels like if I go to this wedding, I'm completely forgetting him. It was bad enough when my mom married Dan. But now it feels like we're adopting his family too, and I don't like it. I just want my daddy back. I hate dan! I HATE HIM! Why'd he have to come and ruin my life?
Tears rolled down my face for the second time that day as I put my pen down. My stomach growled loudly. I got of my bed. I put a little make-up on so that my mother wouldn't be able to tell I was crying and exited my room. I was about to walk into my mom's room to ask her if dinner was ready, when I heard voices coming from the open door. Mom's, and Dan's voice to be exact. I stopped to listen to them. "I'm worried about her Dan. She's never acted like this. She's always been good about doing things that mean a lot to me. I do feel really bad about forcing her into going to something she doesn't want to go to." My mom said. I heard Dan's voice reply. "Don't worry about it honey! She'll be fine. She's going through some tough times now. You know how teenage years are! She'll have fun at the wedding! I promise! My family is awesome, and they are dying to meet her! She'll be able to wear a pretty dress, and meet a few boys." He laughed. "A few boys?" My mother repeated skeptically. "I don't know if Hermione should date anyone from your family...I mean I know they're not really related, but...you know. If she's going to adopt them as family, she shouldn't go out with them." Dan laughed again. "No, no! Not boys from my family! We have some family friends that are coming. Really nice! Lucius, and Narccisia Malfoy! Really charming people! They have a very gentlemanly son named Draco! I have a feeling she and Draco will get along spectacularly! Same age! And Draco's quite the looker! If you know what I mean!" This time my mother laughed. "Oh Dan, I love you!" Dan Chuckled. "I love you too honey."
I couldn't take much more of that. I walked in through the door, just as they were about to kiss. "Hermione!" My mom said in surprise. I acted natural. "Hey mom, is dinner ready? I'm starving!" "Oh, yes honey, lets go down stairs to the kitchen." As we all walked down the stairs, I evaluated what I had just heard. Dan was friends with the Malfoys?! Had I hear that right? I highly doubted it! The Malfoys were a pureblood family! They would never socialize with muggles! I must have hear wrong! I decided to dig at it during dinner.
"Hermione, pass the pea's please." Dan asked. "Sure, Dan" I said passing him the bowl of pea's. "Hey Dan?" I asked "Yup sweetums?" "Do I have to go to the wedding? I mean, wouldn't it just be boring for me?" I said it innocently, but I noticed the angry look I was getting from my mother. Dan however, didn't seem to mind. "Oh I think you'll find it plenty fun." He answered simply. "But what would I do there? I mean, after all, I missing my summer at Ron's house for this!" I was determind to get him to talk of the Malfoy's again. "Ah well, you'll be able to talk with some interesting people!" "Like who?" I asked. "Well, there will be a boy there named Draco! He's is very nice, and very well behaved. I tihnk you'll get along with him!" Okay, So I achomplised the first step of my scheme. Now all I had to do was figure out if we were thinking of the same Draco. "Draco?" I replied. "Doesn't that mean Dragon? He doesn't sound very kind to me! What does he look like?" Dan smiled. "My, you are smart Hermione. Draco is about 6 inches taller than you, and he has white blond hair, and blue eyes." "Oh" I replied. But my mind was doing a lot more than "oh" My mind was swimming. It certainly sounded like this were the same Draco who attened my school. I decided I would go to the wedding. This would be fun to investigate. "You know what, Dan?" I said. "What?" "I really can't wait for this wedding."
"You will go to that wedding!" "No I will not!" Once again, my mom and I were arguing about that stupid wedding. We were in the kitchen, sitting at the table, having a cup of coffee. "This wedding is important. You'll be able to meet your family!" My mom said. "They are not my family!" I retorted. "This is important to your father, dear" My mother replied calmly. "He is not my father! He is not! Will you stop acting like he is?" I screamed.
It was summer break before my 7th year at Hogwarts. During the summer of my 5th year, my father had been murdered. Already my mother had remarried to a guy named Dan. My mom thinks that if she acts like Dan is my real father that I will forget my dad and be happy. Whatever, it really pisses me off. There is no way I could ever forget my daddy. No way.
My stepfather's cousin was getting married, and my mom really wanted me to attend the wedding, to get to know my "family". I'm totally against it. Dan is a lawyer, the only thing he ever talks about is the stupid cases he's done! He especially talks about my dad's case! That's how he and my mom met! He handled my dad's murder trail, and my mom started dating him! I can't believe it either. There is now way in hell I wanted to meet the family of a guy that makes me relive my dads death everyday at dinner. "There will be kids there you're age!" My mom said happily. What? Was I supposed to jump up and down now? "Oh goody." I said sarcastically. My mother had had enough childish arguing. "You will go to that wedding, and that is final!" My mom said, raising her voice. She got up and left the kitchen muttering about my immaturity.
Tears of frustration ran down my face. I hated it when I had no choice in things. It made me feel so helpless! Just then I heard the front door open, and Dan's voice rang out "Hello my dears! I'm home!" Neither I, nor my mother responded. My mother was probably still fuming about me in her room, and I was still fuming about her in the kitchen. Dan's head poked in through the kitchen door. "Hello Hermione! Where's your mother?" I looked at him angrily. I shook my head in disbelief, walked right pass him without a word, and headed towards my room.
About an hour had passed, and I was lying on my bed writing in my journal. This wasn't a 'dear journal, guess what happened today!' sort of journal. This was a journal that I confided my feelings into. Whenever I felt strongly about something I write about it. A lot of my entries included house elves, and a lot of them included Draco Malfoy. Here's one I wrote last year.
Dear Journal,
Well, I just arrived back at Hogwarts for the new school year. Everyone's pretty much the same...except for one person. The moment I saw Draco Malfoy my heart leapt. He looked so cute, and so much more mature. But when we were on the train, he called me a mudblood again, and I was sure I imagined the mature the part. WHY does he have to do that? Why does he have to talk to me like I'm less than him!? We both got into the same school! We both got the same amount of O.W.L's! I've seen him talking to Pansy, and he's really said some nice things to her. I really wish he would be that nice with me. He'd have so many more friends if he would just be nice every once in a while! I really don't get him. He's the one person I can't look in the eyes, and know the whole story. That bothers me. When I look into his eyes, they're dark and cloudy. They hide something. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure him out before I get an impulse to kill him. I have a feeling I might act on my impulse. And if he calls me 'mudblood' one more time...
Right now, my entry looked like this:
Dear Journal,
ARG! It looks like I'm going to the STUPID wedding! Why do people get married anyway! The whole concept seems kinda stupid to me. Oh well, I know it's not the wedding that's bothering me. It's just that I really miss my dad, and it feels like if I go to this wedding, I'm completely forgetting him. It was bad enough when my mom married Dan. But now it feels like we're adopting his family too, and I don't like it. I just want my daddy back. I hate dan! I HATE HIM! Why'd he have to come and ruin my life?
Tears rolled down my face for the second time that day as I put my pen down. My stomach growled loudly. I got of my bed. I put a little make-up on so that my mother wouldn't be able to tell I was crying and exited my room. I was about to walk into my mom's room to ask her if dinner was ready, when I heard voices coming from the open door. Mom's, and Dan's voice to be exact. I stopped to listen to them. "I'm worried about her Dan. She's never acted like this. She's always been good about doing things that mean a lot to me. I do feel really bad about forcing her into going to something she doesn't want to go to." My mom said. I heard Dan's voice reply. "Don't worry about it honey! She'll be fine. She's going through some tough times now. You know how teenage years are! She'll have fun at the wedding! I promise! My family is awesome, and they are dying to meet her! She'll be able to wear a pretty dress, and meet a few boys." He laughed. "A few boys?" My mother repeated skeptically. "I don't know if Hermione should date anyone from your family...I mean I know they're not really related, but...you know. If she's going to adopt them as family, she shouldn't go out with them." Dan laughed again. "No, no! Not boys from my family! We have some family friends that are coming. Really nice! Lucius, and Narccisia Malfoy! Really charming people! They have a very gentlemanly son named Draco! I have a feeling she and Draco will get along spectacularly! Same age! And Draco's quite the looker! If you know what I mean!" This time my mother laughed. "Oh Dan, I love you!" Dan Chuckled. "I love you too honey."
I couldn't take much more of that. I walked in through the door, just as they were about to kiss. "Hermione!" My mom said in surprise. I acted natural. "Hey mom, is dinner ready? I'm starving!" "Oh, yes honey, lets go down stairs to the kitchen." As we all walked down the stairs, I evaluated what I had just heard. Dan was friends with the Malfoys?! Had I hear that right? I highly doubted it! The Malfoys were a pureblood family! They would never socialize with muggles! I must have hear wrong! I decided to dig at it during dinner.
"Hermione, pass the pea's please." Dan asked. "Sure, Dan" I said passing him the bowl of pea's. "Hey Dan?" I asked "Yup sweetums?" "Do I have to go to the wedding? I mean, wouldn't it just be boring for me?" I said it innocently, but I noticed the angry look I was getting from my mother. Dan however, didn't seem to mind. "Oh I think you'll find it plenty fun." He answered simply. "But what would I do there? I mean, after all, I missing my summer at Ron's house for this!" I was determind to get him to talk of the Malfoy's again. "Ah well, you'll be able to talk with some interesting people!" "Like who?" I asked. "Well, there will be a boy there named Draco! He's is very nice, and very well behaved. I tihnk you'll get along with him!" Okay, So I achomplised the first step of my scheme. Now all I had to do was figure out if we were thinking of the same Draco. "Draco?" I replied. "Doesn't that mean Dragon? He doesn't sound very kind to me! What does he look like?" Dan smiled. "My, you are smart Hermione. Draco is about 6 inches taller than you, and he has white blond hair, and blue eyes." "Oh" I replied. But my mind was doing a lot more than "oh" My mind was swimming. It certainly sounded like this were the same Draco who attened my school. I decided I would go to the wedding. This would be fun to investigate. "You know what, Dan?" I said. "What?" "I really can't wait for this wedding."