It was a mystery. Not even the kind where you can get excited or where there is a reward given to the person who solves it. No, this was just plain irritating, annoying, exasperating, infuriating and highly irksome.
Who had Hermione Granger gotten engaged to? If only she had gotten married too; then her last name would have changed to give the wondering population a clue as to whom her fiancé was but no, she still had her maiden name.
But let's start from the beginning, no?
The Great War was raging on between the Light side and the Dark side. It was a miracle that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly was reopening. Everyone got their letters and showed up at Platform 9 ¾. Well, almost everyone.
The heroes were missing along with their enemy: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Draco Malfoy. It was a great shock but the bigger shock had yet to come.
Hermione Granger had shown up, all alone seeing as her parents had been killed by Death Eaters during the summer. At the platform, she met with her roommates, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Everything was going normally until very high-pitched squeals were heard from the girls. Everyone turned their attention to Lavender and Parvati who were holding Hermione's left hand and listened.
"Oh my God! You're engaged?" they had asked Hermione who in turn had nodded.
"When? To whom?" questions bubbled from them.
"This summer, and I'm afraid you don't know him."
"Maybe we do. What's his name?"
She just shook her head. "You don't know him."
That is what had started it all. No matter how much people insisted that they might know Hermione's unknown fiancé, no matter how much anyone asked, she always, always said, "You don't know him."
Through gossip, it became apparent that everyone thought that it was one of the three missing students. Everyone had their own opinions though.
Some thought it was Harry Potter because of all the articles written about them in 4th year. Many people dismissed the thought immediately because they knew that the relation between Harry and Hermione was purely platonic. Sometimes, they even acted like brother and sister!
Draco Malfoy and she were known to hate each other but hey, enemy love was cool. However with the amount of insults they threw each others way and the occurrences between the two, it was hard to reason that she would get engaged to him. After all, hadn't he attempted to kill their beloved late Headmaster the previous year?
Ronald Weasley was the most thought of person. When the theory came out, Lavender burst into tears. It was actually quite a shock that she had even talked to Hermione in the first place that year. Hermione had gone to her and said that she was not engaged to Ron. It took a lot of convincing, but in the end Lavender believed Hermione.
And that brought everyone back to the question of who he was. Once or twice every month, she would get a letter delivered by a black tawny owl. Once in three months, she would get a letter from a snow white owl. Once, she even got a letter from a really small, really hyper owl. The entire owls were recognized though. The black one, Hermione had gotten this summer. The white one was Harry's and the little hyper one was Ron's.
So . . . that was even more frustrating. School passed quite fast. There was always news of the ongoing war around. The Daily Prophet made sure everyone knew. Raids, murders, kidnappings/disappearances were all extremely common to be heard about now. First term passed quickly and it was the Christmas holidays. No one was allowed to leave. Then they ended and school began again. Other holidays also started coming and going but still no one was allowed to leave.
The school wasn't even allowing Hogsmeade visits for Merlin's sake!
Before anyone knew it, it was the end of the school year. That meant it was graduation time for the seventh years. Still there was no word of the war ending or of the heroes and their enemy returning.
Everyone got all dressed up for the Graduating Ceremony. Parents were going to be there along with ministry officials. Besides, it was a once in a lifetime thing so why not dress up for it? Hermione had come down looking absolutely stunning much like she had in 4th year at the Yule Ball. But she didn't have anyone to impress, so it was figured that she just wanted to do it for herself.
The ceremony went by smoothly. When everyone had gotten their certificates, they all got together for the final time. Congratulations, hugs, kisses, and tears were exchanged. People tried asking Hermione a final time who she would be marrying. And that's when it happened.
The oak doors of the Great Hall flew open and in marched Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Draco Malfoy with huge grins on their face. The mere sight of them was enough to know the reason behind their smiles.
THE WAR WAS OVER! THEY HAD WON! THE LIGHT SIDE HAD WON!
Everyone cheered. Now this called for a celebration.
Hermione rushed over to the three young men, hugging all of them. But she got to Draco Malfoy last and along with that hug, she also gave him a kiss.
It was finally obvious who her fiancé was. As hard as it was to believe, Draco Malfoy had indeed joined the light side and he and Hermione were in love. If Harry and Ron could accept it, so could everyone else.
A few questions remained unanswered though. However all were answered by the end of the night.
Why did she say that they didn't know him? Everyone knew Draco Malfoy. He had almost killed Dumbledore. Why would she love him?
Harry answered the last part of the question first. Draco didn't kill Dumbledore and that was that. Even Dumbledore knew he wouldn't. And Hermione had fallen in love with a completely different Draco Malfoy; one that they didn't know about. Draco Malfoy wasn't the façade that he appeared to be.
What was all that drama between Hermione and Ron last year?
Ron loved Lavender but he wanted to protect her. That's why he and Hermione played that little charade. When it was all over, it all stopped too. There was nothing between them, much to the joy of Lavender.
And they all lived happily (most of the time) and peacefully after ever - peaceful as in no war, not no arguments.
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Reviews will be appreciated!
