By Some Cruel Twist of Fate
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, though.
Summary: Someone is reading Hermione's diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn't counting on: LOVE.
Pairing: DMHG
Setting: Seventh Year
Chapter 1
Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ri—
"Some wonderful, beautiful way of waking up…" Hermione Granger muttered to herself that morning.
She was in her room, the smallest room in that big house, which actually wasn't that small. She complained about it sometimes, but not because of the size, but because of the noise that the outside made, particularly the outside closest to her room. A group of rowdy boys owned the room across hers, and they had a habit of being awake until dawn. They were noisiest when Hermione was trying to sleep, something that Hermione had thought to be a complete coincidence until it happened eleven times in a row. She discovered that one of the boys, Rupert, watched for the closing of her light and then signaled for loud music to be turned on. She told her parents, and her parents told the boys' parents, but nothing much happened. Hermione experienced a quiet week then it happened all over again. She couldn't wait till she could do magic; then she could soundproof her room.
Hermione went to the bathroom and washed her face. She had this habit of washing it with cleanser, rinsing it, wiping her face dry and repeating the process. Today, she was in quite a hurry, but she still did it. It was healthy anyway; to be aware of being healthy, if that made any sense at all.
She took a shower, the three-minute kind she took at Hogwarts and she changed in the bathroom: another one of her habits. She never changed in her bedroom, except if she really had to.
When she reentered her bedroom, she took her comb and walked around her room while combing her still-damp hair. She was near her window when she saw the boys looking at her. She walked away from the window, like nothing happened, but she could've sworn that one of them winked at her.
Hermione tied her hair up in a neat bun, like she did when she was around the house, or reading. Then, she grabbed the letter that Hogwarts had sent her a few days ago. They needed more books now, especially Hermione, who took more classes than anyone else in their year. She didn't regret it; after all, it was better to be a well-rounded student than to be a slacker. Besides, she enjoyed the attention and being able to be irritable with the excuse of too much homework. She glanced over at Crookshanks, who was still sleeping at his usual spot under her desk. That cat had been her only company that summer, and he was quite good at keeping her amused.
She trudged downstairs with her new maroon body bag. Her older brother bought it for her in France, the older brother that she missed terribly but never mentioned. Even Harry and Ron didn't know about Jake Granger, but they never asked, so she figured it technically wasn't a lie.
Jake Granger was a dark haired boy with dark eyes. They weren't cold like a death eater's, but rather, they were warm and welcoming. Hermione and Jake got along quite well, as they were both intelligent people who didn't think that fighting did anything good. Jake, however, got into an accident that got him paralyzed and laying in a hospital bed in France, where he was being studied and given therapy. What made it worse was that 4 years ago, he was diagnosed with Leukemia. Jake ordered the bag off a catalog that he had gotten from a nurse, and the nurse was more than happy to get Jake more catalogs. He sent gifts to Hermione all the time, but never during the school year, as he was told not to; Hermione didn't want anyone sympathizing with her, and Jake had understood. This had made Hermione love him even more.
Just thinking about Jake made Hermione bite her lip, and she walked to the breakfast table thinking about how Jake was doing. She had resolved to cure him herself with magic, but she really didn't think that time would come anytime soon.
"Good morning, honey", Mrs. Granger said, still quite sleepy.
"Good morning mum," Hermione said, "Mum, you aren't even dressed yet…you haven't forgotten about Diagon Alley, have you?"
"I have to be at work, Hermione, so your father will take you", her mother said, glancing at the newspaper, held by Hermione's father.
"Dad, don't you have work as well?"
"No dear, your mum just needs to be there this morning for an emergency appointment by Carrie Douglas"
Hermione grinned. Carrie Douglas was an eight-year old kid who had huge cavities all the time and went to the dentist at least three times a month. Sometimes, she even got into fights, as she was a very disagreeable child. She got her teeth knocked out twice and bent at least thrice.
Hermione's mum handed her a plate of her favorite omelet and she ate it quickly and sipped her juice.
"No hurry, dear..." her mother reminded her. Hermione glanced at the clock: 8:30, exactly 15 minutes before she had hit the alarm clock. She had woken up earlier than she had planned, and she had no idea who had done this to her.
"Mum, did you change the time on my alarm clock?"
"No, honey, why would I do such a thing?"
"I don't know. I set my alarm at 8:45, and when it rang, my clock said 8:45, so I thought I was running a bit late...Dad, did you do it?"
"Hermione, I woke up just 15 minutes ago"
"Oh"
Someone must have done that, maybe one of the boys across the street…but Hermione was a very light sleeper, and her clock made a beeping noise every time the time is changed, so she would've woken up.
Maybe someone had taken the clock out of her room before setting the time so that she would hear nothing but silence. Silence. Maybe someone had silence the clock with magic…
But who was willing to go all the way to her Muggle community just to play a practical joke?
Maybe Harry or Ron did it. Maybe they were so sick of having her on time all the time that they had decided to give her a little scare before they met up at Diagon Alley…but Harry couldn't have done it because he wasn't allowed out of the house at all. Ron could have done it, or at least one of the Weasleys, as all of them, except Ginny, had taken their apparition tests. From Ron's letters, he had not only passed the apparition test, but he had passed it with flying colors.
Hah! I passed my apparition test. When are you having yours?
-Ron
Because of Ron's letters, she had written to the ministry and asked to have her apparition test sometime during the school year, most preferably a weekend. She couldn't wait.
Five minutes later, after brushing her teeth and checking her things, she and her father got into their car and drove off to the Leaky Cauldron. Then, they went to Gringotts and had some money changed. Her father always gave her more than enough, as a treat for her being such a good and intelligent daughter who never asked for anything else but love, besides the occasional new t-shirts and faded jeans, but that was another story.
When they exited Gringotts, she spotted Harry and Ron immediately, because of the Weasleys' flaming hair.
"Hello, Mr. Granger," Harry said cheerily and Ron waved his hand and smiled.
"Dad, you remember Harry and Ron, right?"
Her father reached out his hand for the two to shake it.
"I'll be going on my way now, I'll pick you up in a few hours, Hermione", her father said with a smile, "Have fun"
"Thanks dad," Hermione said, and she kissed his cheek, giving Harry a sting of jealousy at the word 'dad'.
Harry Potter had gotten over his parents' death, yes, but he missed them terribly, especially at times like this. Another thing was Sirius. Sirius' death was something Harry found himself playing over and over in his mind. He dreamt about it and wrote long letters to Sirius but never sent them. He found himself guilty, because technically, Sirius' death was nobody's fault but his. His friends had definitely helped him cope in their sixth year, but still, he wondered…what if things happened differently?
Hermione and Ron sent him letters, telling him not to worry, but he still did. He had pain that nobody suffered. Sirius was his only true family, but he had died, just like the rest of his loved ones. He wanted to lock himself away, in fear that Hermione and Ron might be next. They had no idea what he was going through, losing parents and someone who promised him a real home, someone to love him in place of his parents.
Then Molly Weasley caught sight of Hermione's father. Before he entered the Leaky Cauldron, she ran up to him.
"Mr. Granger—"
"Please, call me Scott—you're Ron's mother, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am. Actually, my husband and I were wondering if Hermione could stay with us for the rest of the summer, if you have nothing planned."
"Of course she could, but she's going to have to collect her luggage…"
"Oh yes, I hadn't thought about that…"
"She has her things packed and ready to go anyway, so maybe I could pick it up now and bring it back here?"
"Oh no, if she has her things all packed, then my husband and I could pick it up at your house later"
"But that would take a lot of your time; we live in the suburbs west of here"
"We could apparate there—appear just by magic?"
"Yes of course…"
Hermione had come over to see what they were talking about. When her father told her that she would be staying at the Weasleys for the rest of the summer, she was completely overjoyed.
"Thank you, daddy!" she said, and she went over to Ron and Harry to tell them about it.
"Maybe we could take our apparition tests together, Hermione", Harry said, "Mine is this weekend"
"Yes, maybe I could, but don't you need to make an appointment at least two weeks before?"
"They could probably make an exception. I mean, everybody else I know in our year has had their test already so, the Ministry could probably fit you in…" Ron said, "but I want to go visit Fred and George now…"
Hermione had forgotten all about Fred and George, but they sent her a catalog a few weeks ago, along with a box of toffees.
Not bewitched, we promise. They're just really good. We bought tons of boxes on or trip to Ireland. They're distributing our fake wands over there, you know. Business has never been better.
-Fred and George
Hermione had hesitated before trying one of the toffees but she had found them to be right. Within days, the box was empty.
"Harry, Ron…Hermione", Fred said from behind the purple counter, "Good morning!"
"Hello Fred," she and Harry said.
"Fred, what's wrong with your voice?" Ron said, taking a free piece of candy from a bowl at the counter.
"I'm practicing intonation for talking to customers…a load of crap actually…the Daily Prophet sent it to me…"
"Oh", Hermione said, looking around.
The joke shop was extremely colorful, although none of these colors clashed, so they were very pleasing to the eye.
The counter was purple, each wall was a different color, and tricks and jokes lined the walls, on colorful, shiny shelves.
"Good morning,"
Hermione whirled around and saw George, dressed like an orange Willy Wonka. She looked over at Fred and saw that he had changed into a green version of George's suit. They had top hats, long coats and shiny, shiny shoes.
Hermione tried not to giggle, but Ron pointed and laughed, making Hermione burst out laughing as well. Harry, who had been examining the different varieties of fake wands, looked up and joined in the laughter.
"What is that?" Harry asked.
"Employees' suits. It actually works…we got them yesterday, and we've been having the highest sales ever…"
They left Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes a few minutes later. Ron and Harry stocked up on discounted practical jokes and Hermione merely rolled her eyes, holding the fake wand George had handed her for free, and was a little startled when it changed into an old boot.
They met up with Mrs. Weasley in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. She was carrying their books.
"I only got the basics…Hermione, I understand you have some extra classes…"
"Oh yes, I'll get them myself…", she answered and she stood up to go to Flourish and Blott's.
"I'll go with you, Hermione, I've been wanting to buy a book on Quidditch…" Harry said
"Okay dears, we'll meet you at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary…" Mrs. Weasley called out.
Hermione nodded and she and Harry went on to Flourish and Blott's.
At Flourish and Blott's, Hermione clutched the list of books while going through the titles. She still had one more book to look for when she bumped into a boy with platinum blonde hair.
"Watch where you're going, Granger", he said, his pale eyes piercing into her own honey colored ones.
"Me? You're the one walking with your nose stuck in a book", she said with all confidence.
"I'm sorry", he sneered, and said, "I don't talk to Mudbloods"
"Go eat filth, ferret", she said. She grabbed the book she needed off the shelf and stormed off.
Draco Malfoy smiled that cold smile that was all too famous among the Gryffindors. He handled that situation quite well, if he did say so himself.
"Guess who I bumped into?" Hermione said over lunch at The Leaky Cauldron.
"One of the teachers?" Ginny guessed. Ginny herself had bumped into Professor Sinistra.
"Nope. Draco Malfoy", she said, quite plainly, and Ron shook his head and patted Hermione's back.
"I'm sorry that you had to go through that…", he said apologetically, obviously faking it.
They ate the rest of their food chattering about everything they could think of. Fred and George also joined them later, and they shared stories about the customers they encountered at their joke shop.
Mrs. Weasley smiled. She had started to accept that being practical jokers were what her sons wanted to be. She was disappointed at first, but she had seen how successful they were becoming, and how happy they were, that she had begun to see that they were very, very much the people she had wanted them to grow up as: successful and happy.
All in all, they were a very happy bunch when they left by floo powder to the burrow. Hermione was brushing some ash from her t-shirt when Mrs. Weasley announced that she was going to Hermione's house to collect her things. Arthur was at the ministry so Ron volunteered to come along, as he was the only one, in the house able to apparate.
About fifteen minutes later, they appeared again, Ron grinning from ear to ear, "Congratulations, Hermione"
"What is it?" Hermione asked. She had been reading one of the books she picked up at Diagon Alley.
"You made head girl", he said, holding up a letter.
Hermione's eyes widened, "You're kidding!" she said and rushed over to read the letter.
Miss Granger,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been made Head Girl for this school year. Enclosed is your badge. Please be at the Prefects Compartment on the 1st of September. We trust that you will help make this school year a pleasant and memorable experience.
Professor Minerva McGonagall
P.S. I am aware that this letter came quite late. To be honest, it completely slipped my mind. My apologies.
"Congratulations dear, from your parents as well"
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley"
Harry walked into the room and Hermione beamed at him, "I made Head Girl!"
"Congratulations, Hermione", he said, smiling as well, but then his smile faded, "Who's head boy?"
"I have no idea. It obviously isn't Ron, as he doesn't have a letter. Oh well, maybe it's Ernie Macmillan…"
"Hermione, is this yours?" Ginny Weasley said while separating all the books that had been thrown into one pile.
Hermione looked over from the letter she was writing to her parents. Ginny was holding up a leather-bound notebook that Hermione had bought in the stationery shop.
"Yes", she replied, "could you put it in my pile, please? Thanks"
A few minutes later, Hermione had finished writing the letter. She tied it to Pig's leg and sent him off. She bent over to pick up the leather-bound notebook and took a pen. On the first page, she wrote Hermione Granger's Diary.
She had bought it because it was their final year at Hogwarts. She usually bought notebooks when she went to foreign countries. She had avoided buying notebooks for Hogwarts because she feared that non-wizards would find it, but this year she was quite sure that she could keep it away from the non-Wizarding community. Besides, she reasoned, how often do you get a chance to document your final year at school?
Hermione was very sleepy that night, but that morning's incident popped inside her head. She hadn't asked Harry or Ron if they had set her alarm as a joke.
She couldn't get it out of her head, so she slipped out of Ginny's room and opened the door to Ron's room.
"Harry…", she whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you have anything to do with my alarm clock this morning?"
"What?"
By this time, Harry was awake, from what had been the start of another Sirius-related dream.
"Did you set my alarm early as a joke?"
"No, I didn't. I was at the Dursleys' the whole summer 'til today…"
"Well someone did…" Hermione said, and she moved over to Ron.
"Ron…"
"Wha—"
"Ron!" Hermione was getting so impatient that her voice had turned a little louder, making Ron sit up suddenly.
"Hermione, why are you here?" Ron asked, obviously a little annoyed.
"Did you set my alarm an hour early this morning?" she asked.
"What?—no I didn't"
"Someone did…and it couldn't have been a Muggle"
"We'll talk about it tomorrow, Hermione…please?"
Hermione sighed and left the room. Despite the fact that she still didn't know who played that trick on her, she slept peacefully that night partly because she was so sleepy. Partly, also, because she had no idea that someone was watching her from the window.
A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter of By Some Cruel Twist of Fate
If you liked this chapter, be sure to review. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. Because this is actually just an experimental fic, to see if people like the idea. So tell me what you think!