AUTHOR'S NOTE: Even though I said I was going to update weekly, you all made me so excited that I sat down and this started to type itself. I hope you like this chapter. Don't expect Draco and Hermione to fall in love with each other so quickly. Even though he's a bit friendlier now, they still are rivals – both in intelligence and in every aspect of their lives. There will be a longer AN in the bottom, so make sure your read down there too.
TRUE AS IT CAN BE: [CHAPTER TWO]
A few days had passed and as the days went by, the only thing that Hermione looked forward to each day was the new bouquet of roses and lilies that popped up daily on her dining room table. The locket that Ginny had found next to the flowers was gracefully put around her neck. She had Charlie check it for any charms or hexes on it, and although he proclaimed it free of magic, she could feel a more ancient magic coursing through the locket. Ron and Harry didn't make anything better, as now they had taken to making fun of Hermione and her unknown admirer.
She sat at work, fingering the necklace, the locket warm against her slender neck. She touched the key hole, wondering what the inscription really meant. She doubted it was the Racrumpets, or whatever Luna had claimed them to be. She loved Luna with all her heart, but still she couldn't help but wonder where Luna's mind was half the time. Lucky Neville handled Luna well. They complemented each other very well, both of them being gentle and wonderful souls. Just like how Harry and Ginny completed each other, but they couldn't get over what happened to them. Hermione would have loved to be in Ginny and Harry's wedding – which was supposed to be inevitable, but now she wasn't sure anymore.
It made her wonder if Ron and Lavender were really going to tie the knot soon. Lavender and Hermione got along pretty well, even though for a while Lavender thought Hermione was a threat to her and Ron's relationship. And Hermione had the Daily Prophet to thank for that. Rita Skeeter had once again tried to ruin Hermione's good name by posting in the newspaper that Hermione had not only tied the knot with Ron, but also had brought Harry into what seemed to be a weird three-way marriage. That opened the door to the boys teasing Hermione and was the reason for the ease that came to it. Ginny knew it was a lie, but Lavender was jealous for a while. She just didn't understand why Hermione and Ron were such good friends.
Ron and Harry were staples in her life. Since they all were eleven years old, and now, ten years later, Hermione still depended on them for the simplest things. They were her family, her backbone, her strength. She was their conscience, their wisdom, and the one that they went to for relationship advice. She was hoping that Harry would come back into her office, so she could talk some sense into him about Ginny. They belonged together, any one could see that. But, as of the moment, he was currently pursuing the idea of cavorting with Lisa Turpin, a Ravenclaw graduate that was so wrong for him. And Ginny was currently not dating. And although Ginny swore on Merlin that it wasn't because she was secretly pining away for Harry, Hermione knew the truth. Ginny would never be happy until she was with Harry.
She chewed on the nib of her Sugar Quill. Taking one habit from Dumbledore, Merlin rest his soul, she always kept candy around. Even though her parents were dentists, and tried to instill the goodness of not eating sweets, Hermione fell in love with Wizarding candy. It was completely different than the candy that she was used to. And it was there, completely serene, that her day started to go haywire.
First, her snowy white owl, reminiscent of Hedwig, came flying through her window, a letter in her beak. When she took the letter from Selene, she sighed. It was the letter she had just sent to her father asking him if he was okay. The letter was returned to her, unopened. Getting some owl treats, she held her hand open to her owl, petting the snowy white feathers. "I just don't understand it, Selene. I'm his daughter. He should be talking to me. It isn't my fault that Mum isn't here anymore." Tears bordered her lids, making her vision blurry.
Harry walked into her office, and immediately knew something was wrong with Hermione. "'Mione, what's wrong?" He sat at the corner of her desk, his back facing the office door, and Hermione laid her head into his lap. "Harry, I just don't know what to do anymore," she sighed. "Hermione, you need to stop feeling so bad. He'll talk to you, when he's ready that is," he said while playing with her curls.
"You're right, Harry. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself." She sat up, and started to straighten a few loose papers on her desk. "Anyways, what's the matter, Harry? It's the middle of the day, isn't there an Auror call?"
He laughed at the scrunched up way she said Auror. "Yes, 'Mione, but even us Aurors need to eat, and that's exactly what you're going to do too." He grabbed her hands, and pulled her to stand up, as he jumped off her desk. "Ron's waiting at the Entrance Level. We're going to go get something I've been craving for a while."
Sensing her turn to bring a blush to the raven-haired boy, she said quite innocently, "Ginny?"
The blush that spread across his cheeks gave her all the information she needed. She was going to get the two back together by any means necessary.
Meanwhile in an office across Diagon Alley, Draco Malfoy stood in front of a desk, in frustration at the woman who was sitting in the chair across from him. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL, PANSY!" Pansy Parkinson, former Slytherin and former obsessed over Draco himself, sat smugly behind the desk.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?"
Pansy Parkinson, a woman who finally grew into her looks, sat back in her comfy chair, and looked at Draco with a sense of satisfaction in her eyes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Draco. Maybe if you would explain…"
"I TURNED INTO A BLOODY –"
"If you can't keep your voice down, then I would have to ask one of my oldest friends to leave. I don't want to do that, so I suggest you lower your temper, Draco Abraxas Malfoy."
"BEAST!"
"Hmm. How fitting. Your exterior matches your interior now. Why would you assume that it is me to blame?"
"I was with you last night, Pans. You're the only one that was around me, yesterday besides Granger, but I didn't eat anything around her. It had to be something in the food. And plus, you're always saying that I should have been born an animal rather than the handsome man that's in front of you now."
Pansy hid a snicker behind her hand. It was her entire design. Blaise Zabini and she had decided that they had enough of Draco's bachelor ways. So, they developed a Potion, and she fed it to him in his dinner. It was designed to turn him into a beast at night until he found the one he was destined to be with. Once the girl had proclaimed her love for him, then the spell would be broken. Until then, when the sun went down, Draco's beautiful exterior would turn hairy and disgusting.
The only thing that they weren't thinking of was how he'd react to the entire thing when he found out.
Last night, after Pansy and he had had their usual weekly dinner to catch up on things, she left and he went upstairs of the Malfoy Manor, to retire for work the next day. Taking a hot shower, everything was fine, until he toweled off and noticed instead of his usual silky skin, there was hair all over his body, and not in the places that he was used to seeing them in. After the mansion had quieted with his screams, he called for his personal house-elf, Dixie. Even Dixie didn't know what was wrong with him, so that meant only one person knew what was wrong with him. Pansy. And he could tell by the reaction on her face, that she was the one to blame for it all.
"Well," she said, twisting her hair in her fingers, "Let's just say that these next few couple of months should be very interesting."
"A FEW MONTHS?"
Pansy rolled her eyes at Draco's bellowing. "Yes, Draco. A few months, unless you stop being an arrogant jerk for once, and let someone in your heart. That's when the enchantment will end, and you find your true love in the process."
"Oh, Pans, and tell me, how in the bloody hell am I supposed to know who my true sodding love is?"
A wry smile spread on Pansy's face. "Oh, you'll know." Her hand found its way under the table, to her robe pocket where an oddly shaped key laid. Now, her own problem, as she watched Draco Malfoy storm out of her office, was getting the key around his neck. He probably wouldn't trust her anymore. She needed to enlist the help of Blaise now. Whistling, she called forth one of her employees to write a note to one of her oldest friends.
"Harry, where are you taking me?" Hermione laughed. Harry had brought a black blindfold, and used it to stop Hermione from seeing where they were going. "Trust me", were his only words as he used his wand to stop her from taking off the blindfold.
"'Mione, just trust me. We're not that far." He was leading her by the arm, and she was pretty sure people were watching them and laughing at her. Always observant of other people, it was like Harry had taken away one of the senses that she depended upon. It felt so weird to be walking and not seeing where she was going.
A bell rang in her ear, and she heard Harry said "Potter. I have a reservation. I should have more guests coming."
"Harry?"
He ignored her, and led her to a table where she banged her leg on her chair. He sat her down, and then took the blindfold off of her eyes. It took her a while to get adjusted to the dim lights that were dimly light, as if they were in a romantic setting.
Again, she tried. "Harry? Where are we?"
He pointed to the wall, and written in elaborate script was the name Gaston's. She squealed with happiness, knowing that it was a restaurant that she had been dying to try, but the prices were rumored to be too high for her spending limit. Harry, on the other hand, had been left a fortune not only by his parents and by Sirius, but when he defeated Voldemort, he was given a portion of Dumbledore's estate and a portion from the Ministry. Hermione and Ron also got their rewards from Dumbledore's estate and the Ministry, but she had used most of the money to buy her flat. At least now she didn't have to pay rent.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERMIONE!"
With a start, Hermione turned around and saw all of her friends all around the restaurant. She gasped in recognition that it was her birthday. She didn't even remember her own birthday. Ron came up from behind her, and kissed her on the cheek, placing a box on her lap. Ginny, all dressed in white, used her wand to place all the tables together, almost like the tables in Hogwarts. Hermione stood up and hugged her. "You knew about this, didn't you?" Ginny's megawatt smile gave Hermione the answer she needed.
Luna, Neville, Hannah Abbott, Dennis Creevey, George, Charlie, Fleur, and were there, along with a few other faces that were familiar to her. But what surprised her the most, was the three faces she thought would never be around her in a public setting.
Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson. Although, Draco did look like he was having a bad day. His blond hair was sticking up in the front, and his eyes kept darting around the room as if he was afraid that someone was going to duel him in the middle of the restaurant. Being polite, Hermione approached the three, thanking them for coming to her surprise lunch birthday party.
That's when Draco sullenly replied, "As if this was my choice. It was either come and deal with Potter and Weasel, and not to mention these two blockheads, or actually live peacefully. I'm just here for the free food." Hermione looked at Draco, with a cleverly disguised hurt look, but it was obvious to Blaise and Pansy that what he said affected her. Pansy gave Blaise a smile, and smacked Draco at the back of his head, as Hermione walked away, mumbling something that sounded like "Boys are idiots and they're the reason why so many women were becoming lesbian."
"Draco, play nicely." He growled in response to her, and Blaise took that chance to move away from the two.
"Hermione!" He called.
She turned to him, a graceful creature, adorned in a emerald green robe that accentuated her curves, even though it wasn't her intention. "Yes, Blaise?" She had become good friends with Blaise over the years. He worked with her for a few years in the Potions department before finding out that he was better running his own store than working for the Ministry. They kept a correspondence and Hermione had bought products from Blaise to fulfill the Ministry's orders of Potions. She was more comfortable with the former Slytherin than the other two that had came with him.
"Don't mind the idiot; he's having a rough day."
"I never mind the idiot. I really think Narcissa Malfoy dropped him on his head as a baby, and I don't care what the prat has to say about me."
Blaise smiled softly. "Quite frankly, I agree with you, but please refrain from saying Narcissa's name in front of Draco. His mother died in a tragic way, and the boy hasn't been the same since."
Now that Hermione thought of it, she was sure that she remembered something about Narcissa Malfoy being murdered for her participation in the Second War. Her features softened slightly as she turned back to look at Draco. "I forgot," she said softly.
Blaise looked at her, watching her face. How interesting, he thought. She can show compassion for him. Maybe…
"Don't worry about it, Hermione." He gave her a hug. "Happy birthday. Who knows, maybe this year, one of your dreams will come true."
She gave Blaise a small smile. "Most of my dreams have already come true." As she walked away from the former Slytherin, she didn't notice the glance that Draco Malfoy gave her, as she passed him. And she surely didn't notice the looks that passed from Pansy to Blaise.
Pansy walked back over to Blaise, her hand in her pocket resting against the warming key. "You will never guess what just happened."
'Oh, Pans. I think I know what just happened. Bloody Draco Malfoy." He shook his head, watching as the blonde looked lost among the people that were there.
"I just hope they don't rip each other into pieces."
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: Review and tell me what you think of it so far. You can ask questions, or make requests, or anything you like. I'm just glad to be getting positive feedback. This means a lot to me, guys. You have no idea. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my story. You all made my weekend. See you next Friday for the next chapter of Beauty and the Beast. Like I said, every week I will update. Possibly more than once a week, but still its something. You guys all rock!
