Hermione and Draco: The Story That Changes Everything
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P.S. I dont own HP, JK does
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Chapter Three: Fixed
It had taken her a whole day but she'd finally tracked down the potion that had been thrown at her. She'd also had to sneek out of the dormitory early in the morning so nobody would see her and her black hair. She was slightly miffed that doing this research had taken up all her time for studying, it was the weekend and that was what weekends were for wasn't it? A time for students to catch up on their studying. Now she only had Sunday to do everything...
She sighed as she scanned the page for an antidote.
"Infusion of wormwood, sunflower seeds, drops of lake water, and foxtail palm tree leaves..." she murmured to herself, writing it all down on a scroll of parchment. "I think Snape has everything but the foxtail... Hmmm..." she wondered who would have it.
"Oh, of course!" she said jumping up. "Hagrid would have some..." she knew it had been used to help the burns students had gotten from the blast-ended shrewts.
She grabbed her bag and the list and raced out of the library. She raced around the corner and smack into Ron, Harry, Fred and George.
"Hermione!" George laughed suddenly, "What the hell happened to your hair?"
She blushed slightly, "Nothing."
"Wanna bet? It's gone midnight," Fred insisted.
"It's gone Goth is what it is," George countered.
"Nah, the midnight sounded better," Harry disagreed.
Ron nodded his head in agreement.
"So Hermione what's with the new look?" Ron asked.
"I told you, blockhead," Harry said punching his shoulder, "Hermione's hair got hit with some funky stuff yesterday."
"Oh, yeah."
"And now if you'll excuse me," Hermione interrupted them all, "I've got to go see Hagrid about helping me get it changed back." With that she stalked off towards the nearest exit.
It took her the rest of the day but she finally got all of the ingredients and the antidote brewed in the girl's bathroom. Thankfully Moaning Myrtle was nowhere to be found.
"Here goes nothing," she said as she lifted a vile of orangey looking liquid. She splashed her hair and said the incantation. Her hair instantly returned to normal. She sighed with relief at her old bushy reflection in the mirror.
"And now for some changes." She lifted her wand once more and did a spell. Her hair went immediately straight.
She smiled. Then did another spell her hair was immediately dyed different colors of browns. It was attractively streaky.
Then she tried for one last thing. She waved her wand. Then her hair was suddenly shortened and layered so that it formed her face beautifully.
"Wow," she murmured to herself, "I'm actually pretty."
Giddy now she cleaned up the mess with a flick of her wand and rushed out of the bathroom, making a beeline for Gryffindor tower. She needed to change into something more attractive. For once she was going to show herself off. She had the right to be a little vain after all the years of being bushy, bookworm Granger, didn't she?
*************
Hermione grinned when she saw Ron's face a few hours later as she walked down from her dorm.
"What the bloody hell did you do?"
"Really, Ronald," Hermione said, walking past him out the porthole into the corridor, "I just fiddled with it, nothing major. You can close your mouth now; I believe your jaw is open." She walked away only to run into Harry as he made his way to dinner.
"Oh. Hey, Hermione, did you finish that, um, assignment on the differences of..." his eyes went wide, "Hermione, what happened to you?"
She laughed and pushed past him. "Harry, I just changed my hair."
"Yeah, but... you look..." he was nearly at a loss for words, "You look fantastic. Dazzling, really." He walked with her.
She grinned slightly, she had a little vanity, and after all she was only human. "I know and I love it." She flipped her new do.
"Wow, Hermione what did you do to your hair?" Lavender asked. Hermione didn't miss the quick flash of envy in her eyes.
"Oh, nothing much, Lavender. I just cut it short, straightened it. Played with the color a little."
"Hermione! You now have a cap of luxurious brown streaky hair that curves to your face beautifully," Ginny commented coming up to walk with them. "Your hazel eyes are simply glowing and the touch of makeup accents everything subtly and effectively. Good job. I love your new look!"
"Thanks, Gin," Hermione said with a grin.
"That look is casual and simply stunning on you, Hermione," Parvati added as she walked past.
"Thanks," Hermione called after her, blushing slightly. As they turned the corner and descended the main stars, Malfoy was there at the bottom. What she didn't know was that he'd been waiting there to get in a good laugh.
She also didn't see his eyes widen or hear his intake of breath, but Harry saw him and noted the reaction, filing it away in his head for later thought.
Hermione laughed at something Luna said. She'd come to join them on their way to the Great Hall.
As he stood at the bottom of the stairs, Draco felt his mouth go dry. She looked... spectacular. Like a fairy tale. Not at all what he had been expecting. Not that he was complaining. A Malfoy never refused to glance upon beauty, even if she was a mudblood.
And this mudblood looked like a pixie. He had a feeling that he was in for trouble, whether he liked it or not. Especially with Potter giving him the studied look. He'd probably figured it out, the idiot.
*************
At the Gryffindor table Hermione got many more compliments, some of which making Ron flustered. "Really, Hermione, I don't see why you had to change it. It looked fine the way it as the first time," Ron insisted for the fifth time between bites of jellied donuts.
Hermione ignored him and turned toward Harry. "You wanted to say something earlier?"
"Oh. Yeah." He leaned closer toward her, "I think Malfoy's the one who messed with your hair Hermione. He's the only one I can think of right now and the way he was waiting at the bottom of the stairs was odd. You should've seen the shock on his face when he got a load of you. It was worth it though; the evil git deserves a little punch now and then."
Ron had missed their conversation, blissfully ignorant.
He carried on his earlier statement, "Besides," slurp of pumpkin juice, picking up a fork, "I think this new look of yours makes you look... I don't know, like... fickle or is it whimsical? One of those, maybe both... Anyways it's not you..." He bit into his steak, not noticing Hermione's face turning slightly pink.
"Well, Ronald, I like it just fine. In fact, I like it better this way, so bug off!" She stood, picked up her cashmere sweater, and then swept out of the hall.
Harry turned to Ron, "Need some more help shoving your other foot into your mouth?"
Ron merely shrugged; he didn't know what he'd said that had offended her.
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NOTE FROM THE AUTOR
Oh, poor Ronald being a lamebrain arse as usual... but its really not his fault thats just the way he is, he cant really help it can he?
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---- Ashley