Chapter 7

Golden Girl: New Families, Lost Friends, and New Love Triangles?

By: Rita Skeeter

As promised yesterday, this amazingly talented reporter has managed to get the scoop on what goes on in the life of a certain Hermione Granger. Yesterday, spotted in a quiet bar, was Ms. Granger, accompanied by her lovely men Malfoy and Zabini, as well as the rest of the Golden Trio. So why were they all there at the same time, one might ask? Well no need to fret my dear readers, because I have all the dirty secrets of what happened!

Granger first started by revealing to Potter and Weasley that she is in fact the pureblood child of the Zabinis. Now the Zabinis had been neutral during the war to protect their child. Who knew they had more than one of them? So that sorts out why she had been spotted with Blaise. But this was too much to take for Ronald Weasley. Finding out that she is different from his expectations set that ginger of the rails! He proclaimed that our favourite love hero "turned out to be a common whore" and that she would be better off dead. Ouch Weasley.

But that didn't get Granger down for long. Harry Potter, before stating that he was to go on a date with the lovely Ginevra Weasley, proclaimed his love for Miss Hermione Granger. But he wasn't the only person who seems to have taken a love interest in the heroine. Draco Malfoy seemed extremely wounded at the harsh words and took it upon himself to personally comfort her.

Now readers, I don't know about you, but if I had two of the most famous men after me, then I wouldn't hesitate on taking them both for myself. Meow!

So who will Miss Hermione Granger choose; Mr. Potter or Mr. Malfoy? If only one could have both boys at once. And what shall she do over the loss of one of her age old friend? Stay tuned for more of this thrilling story.

"Ronald Weasley, you and Harry get your arses down here right now," Mrs. Weasley screeched as she threw down the copy of the paper. She was in a foul mood after reading how her son made a mockery of their family in public. And not to mention Harry making a move on Hermione while hurting her poor Ginny. What was this world coming to?

The two of them scurried down the stairs like little mice that had just been caught stealing something. She pointed at the two chairs in front of them and glared at the two of them.

"Sit," she said sternly. As they listened to her, confusion rested upon their faces. She picked up the article and threw it in their faces. "Do you want to tell me how much of this is truth, or will I have to ask poor Hermione to come over here and explain," she thundered angrily.

As the pair skimmed the article, Ron's face turned red from anger and Harry's from embarrassment.

"Mrs. Weasley, she took the thing I said out of context. I told Hermione that I love her like a sister and if anyone ever hurt her then I would personally go after them. I love Ginny and would never do anything to mess that up," Harry said sincerely.

Her face softened as she looked at her surrogate son, knowing that he was completely telling the truth. She had seen the two of them together and knew that they would always be like siblings to one an other.

"So is the part about Hermione true? Is she a pureblood?" she asked Harry, knowing full well Ron wasn't going to answer her questions.

He nodded. "She was given up to protect her from Voldemort and now that he is gone she has been told of her identity. Blaise is her twin brother," he told her.

Oh that poor girl. To have to find out something like this after eighteen years. It must have been absolutely heart-wrenching for her entire family, both adoptive and biological. She felt her heart go out to Hermione and hoped that it would all be okay. Which brought her to her next point.

She glared at her youngest son. "And Ronald, can I assume she made some sort of misprint and took what you said out of context as well?" she asked him in a careful yet still terrorizing voice.

He mumbled something she could not make out.

"What was that? Speak up Ronald," she said louder. How he was going to regret this if he answered wrongly.

"No," he said, still quietly but loud enough for her to hear. "No she didn't."

Molly felt the anger rush through her. "Ronald Bilus Weasley, how dare you say something like that to that poor girl? Hermione has done nothing but be nice to you and this is how you repay her? I demand you go over there and apologise for acting like such a foul being!" she yelled out, face turning full on red.

Ron winced at the sound of her voice but did not back down. "I don't though. I meant every last word of it. She needs to get over me without fooling around with others. She can do better than them but she still makes a slag out of herself just because she cannot get over me," he said in a voice with growing bravery.

She just laughed. "Is that so?" she asked him. "And why Ronald, do you see yourself as such a catch? If anything, with your relationship with her, it was she would was the catch. Ronald Weasley I am going to say this once. You are a good man, as I have often told you. But you are not above everyone else. What Hermione does, she doesn't do because of you. She is thinking of herself, which is exactly what she should be doing. You two decided that you are friends, and you did not dump her. She has no reason to 'whore herself' as you so delicately put. She is a grown woman and she is perfectly capable to do as she pleases. And she is not the type of woman who would do that sort of thing," she huffed out.

In a gentler voice she proceeded, "I'm sorry if I raised you in such a manner that made you believe that you are extremely important. You are sweetheart, but not to everyone. Hermione loves you, but not like that, and the last thing she needs right now is having you act like a first class git."

Ron stared at his hands and Molly knew that her lesson had sunken into his often thick skull. She gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "You should go apologise Ron."

"No. I refuse to see her now," he said stubbornly.

She gave him an annoyed glance before sending him out of the kitchen. She knew he would come around, but just needed some time.

Harry remained behind.

"Harry dear, do you and Ginny want to visit Hermione to see if she is doing alright? This must be hard on her and she probably needs the two of you around to help her through this confusing time in her life," she asked him.

He nodded eagerly, before racing up the stairs to find her only daughter, while Molly smiled to herself knowing that her work here was done.

Hermione slung herself over the armchair while the boys were busy engaging themselves in an intense game of wizarding chess. She honestly didn't see what it was that made boys go completely crazy over that barbaric game. When she had voice her thoughts on it, Draco and Blaise had begun to taunt her about her mere innocence to these sorts of games. Ruddy Gits.

It had reminded her so much of when Ron and Harry played the game. It would often get competitive between the two, as it was one of the few rare things that Ron beat Harry in. That itself was enough of an accomplishment for him, but he loved to showcase his talents off whenever he could.

Her heart sunk at the thought of Ron and the hurtful things he had said.

She had tried her best to forget about it, and she almost had for a while this morning before she had been instantly reminded as soon as she read the headlines that morning. Honestly Skeeter was becoming more of a problem that it was worth. She almost contemplated going straight down to the Law Enforcement department and turning in the unregistered animagus. But her nicer half had chosen that moment to take over, guilting her into not going after that wrecked woman.

Blaise and Draco had not been pleased one bit, nor had her parents. They were all upset that the pain Ron had given her had been so publicly announced. It was like salt in fresh wounds.

But her mother had managed to make light of the event stating that they need to properly introduce Hermione into society as her daughter. The words of a witch few believed would simply not be good enough. So she had decided to make a formal announcement in a few weeks' time before all of them returned back to Hogwarts to complete their final year.

She looked up at the sound of the fireplace receiving a floo to see Harry and Ginny standing there. They always did get their timing right on when she needed them both.

Draco looked up from his game to see Potter and the She-Weasel in the fireplace. He guessed that they would be making an appearance today. After yesterday's events, no matter how much Draco and Blaise were able to support her, she still needed them. After all, they were the ones who had been there for her for the past seven years.

He knew it hurt Blaise to be unable to shield his sister from the rant she got yesterday from that weasel, and secretly he wished he could have prevented it as well. No one deserved to be treated that way, especially not her. He didn't know what it was that Weasley was thinking. Hermione was one of the most innocent, purist people he had ever met in his life. She was the perfect Gryffindor; brave and courageous, while still managing to put others first. It came to no surprise that she had been dubbed the Gryffindor Princess; after all she was everything they value. And to accuse her of fooling around was unbelievable. He wanted to go after him and rip him limb from limb for hurting her so. She was definitely not better off dead.

He watched as the couple embraced Hermione in their arms and held her tight. Harry was telling her how much of a git Ron was and that he'll accept it sooner or later. The weaselette said that her brother would not be allowed anywhere near her until his thick-headed self, came to his senses.

Draco watched in envy. Not because of Hermione getting so much attention from them, but because they cared that much about her. It seemed to him that the only people who cared about Draco in the slightest were the Zabinis. His own father spent his entire life telling him how much of a disgrace he was and his mother kept silent, doing nothing through all the times he was beaten or hexed. But his only true friend was Blaise. Hermione was extremely lucky to have so many people in her life that cared about her.

He also owed a lot to Harry Potter. As much as he hated to admit it, Potter had saved his life that day in the Room of Requirements. It was also that day that Draco realised that he could not fight on Voldemort's side any longer. It was that day that changed his fate.

His father would probably kill him if he found out that he switched sides and owed his life to Potter. After all, Malfoys do not owe debts to anyone. Especially not the Chosen One. But then again, in his life he had done many, many things that his father would not approve of. The biggest example? He had fallen in love with a muggle-born at Hogwarts.