Chapter 2: Too Good to be True
"Have you seen Trevor?" puffed Neville as he braced himself against the entrance of the compartment door, utterly exhausted.
"Sorry," they all said in unison. It had become almost tradition that Neville Longbottom entered their compartment unannounced, in search of his pet toad that he always seemed to misplace on the ride from Kingscross to Hogwarts.
"Sorry for bothering you," Neville said sadly before closing the door. The three looked at each other, knowing that Neville would more than likely fuss throughout dinner, only to find that his toad would finally appear between his bedsheets later that evening.
Without warning, Dean and Ginny burst into their compartment giggling uncontrollably.
"Dean and I let off a stink bomb in Malfoy's compartment!" she gasped clutching a stitch in her side as she sat down next to Hermione, shifting over quickly to make room for Dean.
"He is cussing up a storm, he is!" Both Dean and Ginny looked at each other for a few seconds without speaking and immediately erupted into another fit of laughter.
It was all Ron, Harry and Hermione could do to keep themselves from joining them as they imagined Malfoy's face contorted with rage.
It was great to be back with her friends. Though they didn't completely erase the pain she had suffered through this summer, they acted like a balm to soothe the wounds forming on the inside. The lingering pain jutted through her heart like a knife, a cold knife, very much like Derrick used to slice the side of her body. She still had scars to prove it. She had too many scars to count. Though the physical ones looked more painful, it was truly the emotional ones that would continue to haunt her.
"Hermione!" Ginny shrieked wrapping her arms around her friend. "You are so tanned! I wouldn't have recognized you had you not been carrying a book! How was your summer? Go somewhere warm?"
"Yeah. I went for a vacation," she replied simply. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows but did not press the matter.
"So-Did you meet any cute guys?" She asked, scooting closer. Hermione swallowed painfully.
"No. I didn't get out much." Hermione could see that Ginny was looking for a more detailed answer, so she decided to provide her with one. "There was a few that were very attractive on the beach," Hermione tried. There were a few that she had found mildly...exceedingly attractive so it wasn't exactly a lie.
"As long as you had fun!" Ginny said cheerfully, probably knowing that this was the best that she would be able to get out of her friend with a group of boys around her. After all, she was not the type to be very vocal about boys- she would ambush her in the common room later. Hermione merely smiled back. The smile did not reach her eyes. Little did Ginny know, that each smile that Hermione attempted ached, pressing the already heavy weight further into the pit of her stomach.
Just then, the apartment door banged open once more, revealing the lanky figures of George and Fred. "stink bomb eh?" One of the twins said shaking a head. "Those are so last year sis!" finished the other.
"Well what do you suggest, oh dearest brother?" Ginny replied cheekily. The twins looked at one another, seeming to debate something within their minds. After a few moments, the twins nodded in perfect synchronization and stepped into the compartment. Fred stood looking at the group while George had his back to them as he murmured a silencing charm that would ensure that they were not overheard.
The group remained silent, waiting in anticipation. As there was no more space left to sit, Fred and George remained standing. "What we are about to tell you-" one twin began, "does not leave this compartment!" Everyone nodded in unison. "Fred and I have been working for the past summer on something that we thought might be rather helpful this coming school year! It all began with inspiration from our visit to the muggle movie theater. The janitor was vacombing the carpet and-"
"Vacuuming?" Hermione corrected with a slight smile playing across her lips. It still hurt. Both boys looked at her strangely. "You mean vacuuming right?" Hermione tried again "not...vacombing?"
"Naw, that thing where the muggles push a stick back and forth with a little sucky thing on the bottom!" replied George confidently, beaming with excitement. He reached out into thin air, grasping an imaginary vacuum. His mouth buzzed, attempting to recreate the sound emitted from the contraption. Hermione allowed the smile to grow. It was hard to hold back when they were being so serious about it. "Anyway,"Fred continued, "as the woman was vacombing, her hair began to stand on end!"
"And voila! We had our new product!" Fred beamed.
"You mean a vacomber?" Ron questioned stupidly? Hermione rolled her eyes.
"No! Ron, if it were not for the red hair, it would confirm our suspicion that you are not related to us? We are referring to the woman's hair! The hair! The hair! Our new products allow us to make hair stand on end!" Fred pulled a packet out of his pocket and tossed it to Hermione. "Try one, love! See what happens!" Hermione looked at the packet with a rather frightened expression on her face. "Oh come on, its not going to bite you!"
"Pass me one mate!" Ron called to Fred. After distributing a candy to each of the people in the compartment, they counted down and placed the sweet into their mouths. Within seconds after swallowing the candy, every hair on every head in the compartment stood on end. Everyone erupted into laughter, pointing at the heads of one another. Harry began to cough and roughly began to push Hermione's bush of hair out of his eyes and mouth.
"You're suffocating me Hermione!"
"Your hair doesn't appear that much different Hermione!" Seamus teased. Hermione glared back, unable to choke back a fit of laughter. She knew it was true, and it did not bother her one bit! Hermione cocked an eyebrow.
"Can't you do that by using gel, rather than going to all the trouble?" Hermione felt Harry's struggles against her mane began to weaver. If she did not act soon, he might actually suffocate. "And how do I get my hair to go down!" she cried
"You need one of these!" George replied, holding up, yet another candy. Hermione thrust her body, reaching for the package. He moved his arm above his head at the last moment, just out of her reach.
"Oh, I get it!" cried Ginny, smiling. "This is actually quite brilliant!" The two twins grinned back at her. Ron pushed back some of his red hair so that he could see his sister.
"What? How the bloody hell is this brilliant?"
"It's nice to know that at least one other sibling understands our methods," Fred muttered to George.
Don't you see the plan?" Ginny asked exasperated? The crowd looked around at her looked at her dumbly, disregarding Hermione who was still jumping up in down, in desperate attempts to reach the package. "If we each carry a few of those sweets in our pockets and happen across Malfoy and his goons, they will evidently take what ever they can from us. And Malfoy always wants what he can't have. Him not having heard of these sweets will give him all the more reason to take them from us! And of course Crabbe and Goyle will put anything and everything they possibly can in their mouths! Frankly I am quite surprised they have not swallowed their tongues! Anyway, once they take the candies they will eat them, and will probably be more inclined to do so if we tell them the truth! And once they do, well, you know the rest!" Ginny finished running her fingers vertically through her hair. Hermione thought she looked rather similar to a troll doll, especially with her bright red hair.
Harry smiled, understanding. "And because they don't have the candy to reverse the affect-" The crowed erupted into laughter, yet again, overpowering Harry's epiphany.
"Hmm. We were planning on forcing the candies down their throats, but we like your idea better!" Fred applauded. "Not bad Gin. It seems that there may be hope for you yet!"
After Hermione had coxed the boys into giving her a candy, she swallowed it quickly, now noting the slightly sour tang it had-much different from the first that had been sweet. Her pouf of hair immediately shrunk in size. The twin looked at one another, question in their eyes. They turned back to face Hermione, grinning.
"Hey Mione. Try another."
"Why? Does one not counteract the other? A one to one ratio obviously makes sense unless you put different concentrations in each pill. I could help you correct this error if you like. We need only calculate the number of moles of the subst-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Fred stepped forward and shoved the candy into her mouth. To avoid choking, Hermione reluctantly allowed the candy to slide down her throat.
"What the bloody hell was that for!-"
"Hermione!" Ginny took a fist full of her friends hair and began to examine it.
"What on earth are you doing? We all know that my hair is an unruly ball of fluff, before and after the candy! Can we please stop dwelling on what we cannot change? I have accepted the fact that it wont ever be-"
The hair that lay in Ginny's hand was lightly wavy, with no frizz to obstruct her hand. Hermione quickly brought her hands to her scalp to examine the stands for herself. Silky? Smooth? Malleable? Hair? She would have never thought that her hair would ever be described in such a way, even in her own head. She also noted that without the insulation of her hair, her shoulders had already begun to feel chilled. Hermione looked at the group of boys in the compartment, knowing that Ginny, at the moment, was too distracted. Ron stared at her open mouthed, his lips moving as though searching for something to say. Seamus, Dean and Harry remained quiet also. Harry was the only one who seemed capable of speech.
"Hermione...I think that your hair...well...its-its different!"
"Well spotted!" Fred replied sarcastically. Removing her hands from her hair, she stood and walked over to the twins. Hermione reached into one of the two pouches they were holding retrieving a candy. After popping it into her mouth, she immediately felt the mass of hair began to fill the empty space on her shoulders.
"That's better." She returned to her seat next to Ron. "Ronald! Do close your mouth, it is very unbecoming." He closed his mouth quickly, his teeth clanging together in his mouth audibly, and began to blink stupidly.
"Why did you make your hair revert back to normal? It looked so nice!" Ginny whimpered, attempting the impossible task of running her fingers through her friends hair.
"I don't want people to stare at me," she replied simply. It was enough that they would already begin to regard her differently because of her tan. The thought of more stares made her shiver.
"S'Okay Hermione." George shrugged his shoulders. "You'll know where to find us if you ever consider a different option for your hair, though its only temporary. Five, six hours or so," he said ruefully.
"But we plan to extend the life time on it by about...I don't know...several weeks, maybe a few months before we give one to Malfoy and his lot!" Fred finished for his twin.
"I am good at the moment thank you. I'll let you know if I ever reconsider," Hermione concluded doubtfully. She didn't exactly love her hair per say, but it was safe. Something to hide behind.
"Will do." The twins winked at her and left the compartment.
As the Hogwarts Express neared their destination, the Gryffindor students repeated their annual ritual, the boys leaving the girls in the compartment in search of another with a few more male friends, leaving the girls to change into their robes. Usually Hermione at this point would be ecstatic, pondering the possibilities of the upcoming school year. But now, Hermione only felt anxious. She absentmindedly clawed at her skin, perhaps hoping for a possibility to shed it. She wanted to cower in a dark hole. A dark, grimy, dingy hole. She knew she belonged there. Her skin couldn't possibly get anymore dirty, even if she rolled around in the hole. She was spoiled.
Hermione's breath cough in her throat as Ginny stripped down to her black lace panties without the least bit of shame. It was not her friend's lack of clothing that made her frightened, as she had seen her in a similar state every year before reaching Hogwarts, but rather it was the prospect that her friends were to see her without any clothing. In previous years, this had not been an issue. Though she was a modest girl, she had felt completely comfortable to change into her robes in the company of Ginny and on the odd occasion Luna, but after this summer, not only emotional scares were present. Reveling her scars, some of which had not completed to process of fully healing, was a notion she was not yet ready to undertake.
"Hermione? Are you alright?" Ginny questioned, looking down briefly to button her crisp white dress shirt over her matching black lace brassier.
"Yes," Hermione paused. "I-I am just going to go to the loo quickly before we reach the station," she finished quickly, leaving the compartment. Closing the door behind her, she took a deep breath in trying to steady herself. 'This is lie number one,' she thought ruefully. It hurt her to lie to her best girl friend, but she knew it would hurt more to reveal the secret buried just beneath the surface.
...
Though he had only been seated in his usual compartment for a few minutes, Draco already felt more irritable than ever. His little run in with Potter and Weasel did nothing to help his temper, that could easily bubble over the edge. A hand began to trace lightly up and down his thigh. Such sultry, seductive movements would have naturally turned any man on, no matter the giver of such ministrations, but Draco's mind was elsewhere.
Outside the bubble of his mind, he could faintly hear Pansy's squeaky voice, evidently ignorant to the fact that he was not paying the least bit of attention to what she had to say; he didn't have the decency to nod or pretend he was interested, rather, choosing to occupy himself by watching the flat expanse of land that rolled out beside them . Though if she did happen to notice, it did not deter her from spilling her guts to the blond.
Pansy. She and himself had a very interesting relationship. Upon first meeting her, Draco had become irritated rather quickly for she had become quite infatuated with him. With his looks and bloodline, it was understandable. Through their years of school together, he had managed to tolerate her, mostly because in return for doing so she gave a great shag. He liked that. No strings attached, and their periodic...frequent 'study sessions' allowed both to relinquish their tensions. He wouldn't say that Pansy wasn't attractive - though even if she was as ugly as a cow, Draco was sure that she would be able to catch the attention of the male population because of her generous amount of cleavage.
Though she was bothersome at times, she had learned his body well. Best of all, Draco did not have to worry about satisfying his partner. She seemed somehow able to satisfy herself while pleasuring him. Now, Draco had trained himself to become indifferent to her presence altogether, though her high-pitch laughter and constant need for affection still irked him greatly.
For whatever reason today, the longer he seemed to sit pressed against the black haired girl beside him, the more claustrophobic he became. Her hand dipped to the inseam of his black trousers, running along his inner thigh. The male Slytherin was certain that if Crabbe and Goyle had not been seated across from them that Pansy would have done him right there. For that he was thankful; at the moment he wasn't interested in screwing anyone at the moment.
The invisible ropes that had begun to wind themselves around him pressed upon him tighter. The feeling that was currently possessing him, making his chest hurt, his breaths shallow, was not worth the shag he was expecting from Pansy once they returned to their dorms. He needed to get out.
Draco stood suddenly, barely noticing that he knocked Pansy to the floor in his haste. Crabbe and Goyle rose silently waiting for his bid. The blooming berks. "You lot stay here, I am going to a prefect meeting." The Slytherins nodded thickly and reseated themselves. By this time, Pansy had successfully clambered back onto her previous seat, but upon hearing his words, nearly fell off once again
"A prefect!" She screeched at Draco, who had positioned himself stiffly against the doors frame of the open compartment. He glared at a few students attempting to peer into their compartment in search of the source of the squeal. He turned back to Pansy, who had a curious smile on her face and shrugged.
"Our nutty headmaster would be a fool not to choose me," he scoffed, not bothering to mask his supercilious tone. Pansy just remained gawking at him, a smile on her features. Though he would never admit it, Draco was actually just as surprised as she was, perhaps more so, when he first received a letter telling him the following fall that he was granted the 'pleasure of becoming a prefect'. Pleasure. Hardly. He could care less about the little meetings that they had. But he knew this would prove to be an advantage, knowing he would no longer be penalized should he be caught roaming the halls of Hogwarts at night, especially with the year he had planned ahead of him. Yes. This would not only prove to be an advantage in that aspect, but would also heighten his already high status.
Draco turned away before she could reply and began to walk toward the prefect compartment located closer to the front of the train. He was going to be early, he knew that. But he just couldn't remain another second in the company of his fellow Slytherins. He was usually the type to arrive fashionably late, making him the centre of attention and ensure that everyone around him knew that they were not worth his time. This need to escape his compartment overpowered that urge to express his superiority. The promise of an empty compartment was desirable, as it would allow him to have more time to contemplate the million questions that were currently zooming about in his brain. His palms begun to sweat and his throat became dry as he thought back to the Death Eater meeting he had finally been permitted to attend this summer. One year left until he would finally be admitted into their ranks. At the moment he was indifferent to his future membership. His father had told him that his partiality would eventually turn into stark passion, something that Draco was not certain that he would have. A nice quiet compartment; a compartment without Pansy sounded just peachy.
His pace slowed momentarily as he considered that he might not be the only one to arrive early for the meeting. He could not imagine Miss Know-it-all Granger, not being one of the representatives from Gryffindor house. She would surely be seated when he entered, back ram rod straight, quill poised over her parchment, eager to take notes.
A bubble of annoyance burst in his chest. Of course she would be there. Dumbledore would be a off his rocker had he chosen not offer her the position of Gryffindor Prefect! What with her perfect grades, 'Gryffindor courage' and her bloody morals, she was a perfect candidate for head girl. Not that that would matter next year anyway...
She thought she was so god damn perfect. Of course she would be there early. An ill-mannered thought suddenly appeared in his brain. This would give him another perfect opportunity to annoy the hell out of the girl he despised. It seemed all to good to be true for the devil residing in his body. He lengthened his strides in anticipation. The quicker he arrived, the more time he had to nettle her; though he had to take care not to make her cry, after all, a teacher would soon arrive. She was too proud to allow anyone see her tears. This would be fun. He stopped outside of the prefect's compartment. With a smirk that would make Satan jealous, he slid open the door.
It really was too good to be true...
