Parts of a Whole
by: Weirdly Anonymous
disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! (Though like most, I wish I did!) I do own Stephanie Vanderbilt in this story. If there really is a Stephanie Vanderbilt out there, I do not know about you. Sorry!
AN: Hehe... This is my first fanfiction. Hope you guys like it!
Chapter 1
Hermione was tired. Glancing around the bar, she sighed before putting on her slow and mysterious smile. It was show time.
"Hermione love! Haven't seen you in the longest time!" Austin Van Dorf. Heir to an empire worth more than billions of pounds. The epitome of the cool, sexy and utterly spoiled son of the rich. A narcissistic man who though himself God's greatest gift to the other sex, who depended solely on his family's fortune and had never worked a single day in his existence.
He was an annoyance to Hermione's already black mood.
"Austin! I see nothing has changed..." Hermione smirked inwardly thinking of a getaway plan.
Austin grinned charmingly. "And I see some things have changed with you." Slowly, seductively glancing at Hermione from head to the tips of her hot pink- painted toes, the corner of his mouth lifted into a sensual half- smirk as an eyebrow lifted towards the heavens. "Looking good, 'Mione".
She had grown a lot from the awkward puberty stage. Now standing at 5 feet 6 inches, she was in one word... hot. Her bushy curls had tamed down to beautiful spirals that went down her back. A perfect hourglass figure with long white legs complemented any outfit she seemed to wear. Thick lashes framed light brown eyes and her pink lips were full and pout.
Austin had long wanted to conquer the elusive temptress named Hermione Granger. She was deemed untouchable. No one has ever been able to keep up with her.
Vaguely, he recalled a younger, gawky, bushy haired Hermione stealing glances and looking at him longingly. He had snickered to his friends. Now Hermione was no longer that teen, she was much much more... and Austin wanted her. 'Maybe this old crush can work to my advantage...'
"Want to dance, love?" Austin asked suavely, peering at her through his lashes. His eyes were smoldering.
Silently, Hermione simply lifted an eyebrow in return. 'He really is a handsome devil... tempting' She thought to herself as she appraised him in return. 'But not what I'm looking for... the whole snobby brat thing turns me off' she sneered mentally.
Hermione didn't bother to answer. Once more glancing around the dark room, her spirits were lifted as she caught sight of her friends enter the club. Salvation!
"As much as I would like to catch up and do the whole social routine, my friends are waiting for me."
Before Austin could protest, she grinned and turned her back on him, swinging her hips teasingly as she headed towards her friends. She didn't need to glance back to feel Austin's eyes. She knew she looked good and she wasn't stupid enough not to know when someone wanted her.
Austin wanted her.
'Humph. how ironic' Hermione smirked, thinking back to her embarrassing, gawky, adolescent stage when she had secretly sworn undying love to the prat Austin Van Dorf. Now the memory simply made her cringe. That had been utterly embarassing.
'Maybe if Austin had asked me a few years ago I would have immediately said yes.' But now she simply didn't care.
She just wanted to go home. But she had things to do, duties to fulfill. Society was fickle, and tongues were loose and malicious. Appearances have to be made and kept up.
'Thank Merlin I'm only here during the summer' she wearily thought.
This was Hermione's life outside of Hogwarts' great walls. In the muggle world, no one knew she was at the top of her wizarding class, an insufferable bookworm and the greatest witch of her time. Of course... not a lot new she was a witch.
Then again, no one at Hogwarts knew who she really was outside school. They only saw her as the know it all Gryffindor. The bookworm... the brain of the golden trio. Harry Potter's accomplice. No one knew that she was Hermione Elizabeth Vanderbilt Granger: daughter of two socialites coming from the most prestigious of families. She herself was the only heir to billions. She, and even her future kin, would not have need to work a single day in their life. It was a good thing her parents were so down to Earth, choosing to continue being dentists whilst handling their various businesses.
Sometimes Hermione shuddered to think what her Hogwarts friends would say once they found out who she really was. No, she did not mind that she was only known as a Harry Potter's side kick while in the muggle world she was considered a princess.
She did not mind that in the wizarding world she was a bushy haired, bossy plain Jane, while in the muggle world she was the smoldering temptress her peers, and even those older and most especially those younger than her sought to conquer. But the temptress what never interested. She was simply that... a temptress and nothing else. "Ice" was what they named her. She was beautiful...but utterly cold and unreachable. No, she did not mind at all. In fact, she preferred it that way.
"Hermione!"
Looking up, a genuine smile crossed her face. She laughed when her best friend Stephanie sashayed through the crowd, winking at a guy, who turned beet red and smiled back charmingly. Steph flipped her silky straight black hair with a flourish as she reached her best friend. Both smirked at each other, raising eyebrows before finally laughing and throwing their arms each other.
"Where have you been Steph?" Hermione demanded. "I've been waiting here for almost 15 minutes... and you were gone practically the whole month!"
"I know, I know I'm sorry! Mother forced me to go with her to the Carribbeans! And you know me, I could never resist the call of the sea"
Stephanie Vanderbilt. Her cousin.
Men called her the Siren. Standing almost at 5'8 with long silky black hair and a perpetual exotic tan, she was a natural headturner.
She was Hermione's complete physical opposite, but they were the best of friends, the closest of cousins and the strongest of allies. Together they led one of the most powerful and influential groups of the upper class society.
Hermione shook her head. "So you spent the whole month there?" she questioned. Steph laughed. "Of course not! I would have died of boredom! After that we went to Hawaii then took an Asian tour." Steph grinned wickedly. Hermione elegantly lifted a brow before smiling wryly and shaking her head. "Looks like you had more than just a great time" She sighed. "At least one of us has been having a great summer..."
Steph furrowed a brow. "I see things here were dull as usual..."
"You have no idea..." Mione muttered.
The club was hopping and the excitement level was at its peak. Throngs of people gyrated on the dance floor as the house DJ played one song after another. Lights, skin, and sexual tension vibrated through the club. You could practically smell it in the air. But both cousins weren't up to dancing. Hermione cocked her head towards the private booths and Steph simply nodded.
Walking towards the VIP area, the bouncer took one glance and immediately let them through.
Both girls strutted towards their usual booth, nodding and greeting people they knew on the way, both aware of the males turning their heads to follow their trek.
True to their nicknames, Hermione did not acknowledge anyone, but her lips had taken a half- smirking half- smiling stretch, her her lashes lowered and her hips unconsciously moving with sensual grace. Steph winked at a few guys and smiled charmingly.
Andrew Wellington was the first to see them arrive. He stood up and grinned. "Finally!" He exclaimed and enveloped both in a hug. "My favorite girls are here!"
Steph and Hermione laughed. Andrew had always been their closest childhood friend. The best male best friend any girl could ask for.
They greeted their other friends who had arrived just a few minutes before they did. All of them sons and daughters of multimillionaires, reeking confidence, power, money and physical beauty.
But none of them had ever let it go to their heads. That was what bound them together. Yes, they were rich and powerful, but they refused to become a stereotype. They refused to be the brats and snobs that people expected them to be.
Sitting in the booth and chatting with her friends, Hermione suddenly felt happier... at home. This was what made her summer bearable.
Draco Malfoy gritted his teeth in pain. Blood dripped down his forehead as sweat rolled down his back. His arms burned like hell, he was almost sure it was broken. His normally slick hair was sticking in all directions... it was caked with blood. His face was pale, paler than normal, and his eyes burned with an unholy fire. It promised pain. It burned with hate... hate for his father.
"You will obey me!" Lucius Malfoy thundered at the prone figure crumpled on the cold, marble floor.
"I will not become a death eater!" Draco growled with disgust. He tensely waited for the pain he expected to follow his declaration.
"Crucio!"
Biting down on his lip, hard enough to draw blood, Draco refused to scream. He refused to give in. His body ached and his head pounded. He wished for this to end.
Eventually it stopped.
"You will do as I say." His father intoned quietly. With one last glare, Lucius swept out the room, looking and warding the door behind him.
Draco tensed for a moment, then finally allowed himself to relax. He was safe... for now.
'No... I am never safe here' he though bitterly. I am never safe in my own home.
"Draco..."
Draco was startled. 'Mother!' his mind screamed. She should not have to see him like this. Draco struggled to get up.
Gentle hands brushed his hair out of his face. His mother's worried face popped into his view. Draco's eyes softened. His mother cared him. Lucius on the other hand...
His eyes widened at the though of his father. The wards! They would have alerted him to her entrance.
Narcissa seemed to have read the panic in his eyes.
"I came in through the hidden passage just before he left. He doesn't know I am here." His mother said softly.
Taking out her wand, she healed Draco's wounds, closing cuts and relieving the pain as much as she could.
"And your father said he will be leaving on business tonight, so there is no need to worry."
His mother continued as she levitated him to his bed. Tucking the blankets around him, she smiled sadly. Tears glistened in her eyes but did not fall.
'My son... my dear son... I am sorry...'
His mother did not say anything, but Draco knew.
He gritted his teeth. They were both in hell.
They needed to get out.
End of Part 1