A/n- for the chapter's sake, Pansy is a pureblood.

When Draco and Hermione landed, all seemed right with the world. They recognized where they were, and it was exactly the place they should be. It was Malfoy Manor. Draco took Hermione's hand and they walked up the front steps, and Draco rapped on the front door, waiting eagerly for someone to come answer it. To say that they were nervous about what or who might be on the other side of the door was an understatement.

They breathed a sigh of relief when it was just a house-elf, who recognized them immediately and ushered them inside, saying that Master Lucius and Mistress Narcissa wished to have a talk with them.

As soon as the house-elf was out of sight, Hermione gave Draco a look. "What do you think your parents would want to talk to me about?" she asked him. "They don't even like me as far as I can remember. The only reason why they put up with me before was so that your grandmother wouldn't kill them both."

Draco nodded. "That's true. But they might want to talk to you because around here, they do like you. I mean, we did cause your muggle great-grandfather to get in a car accident and die before he even met your great-grandmother. What if, somehow, you're a pureblood in this reality? I mean, assuming we are in a different reality. Oh, and if they ask us anything that seems strange, I suggest that we just go along with it so they won't worry and think we need to be sent to the hospital or something."

Hermione nodded. When another house-elf happened by, Draco asked it where his parents were, and it led them to the good parlor, where Narcissa sat drinking a cup of tea, and Lucius was beside her, reading a thick book.

As they entered the room, Narcissa looked up and saw them, a smile lighting her face. "There you two are! I was wondering when you would get back! We have so much to do and so little time to do it!"

As Draco and Hermione watched, Narcissa gestured to a small, white silk-covered book in her lap. "I have all the details right here, so we shouldn't have too much trouble." Still smiling, she looked up at Hermione.

"Don't worry if you feel a bit overwhelmed. I called your mother, and she said that Pansy would be more then willing to help you with the plans if you need it. After all, what are cousins for?"

"Of course," Hermione agreed confusedly, not having the slightest idea what she was talking about. "I need to talk to Draco about something alone for a moment, if you don't mind."

Narcissa nodded, and Hermione grabbed a surprised Draco by the arm and dragged him to one of the rooms down the hall, shutting the door behind her.

"Do you have any idea what your mother is talking about?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Don't look at me; your guess is as good as mine."

Hermione growled softly. "We've been in this reality for all of twenty minutes and already I hate it. Your mum likes me and for some reason and I find that creepy. I think that if we would have stayed in the parlor, she would have eventually tried to hug me! Tell me that you don't consider that odd behavior."

Draco nodded. "Yeah. That and the fact that she said Pansy was your cousin. That can only mean one thing: you are pureblood in this life. I know Pansy's parents and they would not tolerate any muggle relations."

Hermione's eyes widened at that. "You can't be serious. If I'm Pansy's cousin, that probably means that I was in Slytherin in this reality, and that means that Ron, Harry and I were never friends. In fact, that makes them my enemies. I don't like this. I don't like this one bit." Growling slightly, she flopped into a chair and closed her eyes.

Draco sighed. "So you don't like it. What do you suggest we do? Go back in time again and make sure Stanley Granger doesn't get in the car accident?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, that is what we should do. Then everything will be back to normal and I will be happy."

Draco looked away from her and pulled a tiny hand mirror from a dressing table that was positioned next to him and handed it to her. "Before you go back in time, you might want to take a look at yourself."

Reluctantly, Hermione opened her eyes and took the hand mirror from him, looking at herself. She was surprised to see that she didn't look that different. She still looked a lot like herself, but she looked better then before. Her hair was no longer bushy, her teeth were straight and tiny and her nose was pert. Her eyes had lightened from dark brown to a lighter chestnut.

Smiling to herself, she slowly let the mirror down. "Is that really me?" she asked.

Draco looked for a moment and nodded. "It is indeed. Now, think of how you looked before, and everything else about your life in the other reality. Do you really want to go back to that just for Potter and Weasley?"

Hermione thought. "Could I have a few minutes alone?" she asked. Draco nodded and left, shutting the door behind him. She sat down at the desk and fumed for a moment, angry that she had to make such a choice. At the beginning of the summer, she wouldn't have thought that this could happen. She'd been bored and looking for a little excitement. Draco had shown up at the beach needing a fake fiancée, and just to get away from a lovesick and annoying prepubescent, she'd all but sold her soul. Despite all the times they'd shared this summer, she still wasn't really sure she liked Draco or anything. And now, she had to choose between the two greatest friends she'd ever had and a pretty face.

Abruptly, a sharp knock on the door interrupted her musings. She called for the person on the other side to enter, thinking it to be Draco. To her shock, it was not him, but a grumpy-looking Pansy Parkinson on the other side, holding in her arms the book that Narcissa had had in her lap earlier.

"Okay, my mum forced me to come over here because Draco's mother called her and said that you needed help planning your wedding."

Hermione looked at Pansy wide-eyed, not understanding what she was saying. "Excuse me, could you repeat that? I need help planning my what?"

Pansy just glared at her. "Don't be stupid. You know perfectly well you and Draco are getting married next week. It could have been me, but no, he wanted to marry you. And he had to pick my birthday party to make his proposal. It's apparently not enough that I have to play second fiddle to you because even my parents think that you're smarter and prettier then I am. Now I have to be humiliated and forgotten because precious, smart and wonderful Hermione gets proposed to!" She glared at Hermione with an expression of intense dislike, too angry to speak anymore.

Hermione felt herself start to grin. She excused herself to run into the bathroom where she burst out laughing. A moment later, there was a knock at the bathroom door and Draco entered grinning.

"What's going on?" he asked. "You suddenly seem pretty happy."

Hermione smiled back. "Well, apparently, you and I are getting married next week."

"Really?"

"Yep," she nodded. "Pansy's really upset about it too. Apparently, everyone we know including our parents think I'm smarter, prettier and all around better then she is. In fact, you even proposed marriage to me at her birthday party in front of all her friends." She smiled. "That was so bad of you."

Draco smiled. "Well, probably figured it would just make your day."

"What?" Hermione asked. "The getting proposed to, or seeing Pansy one-upped at her own birthday party?"

"Both." He looked at her slyly. "See? Now aren't you even the teeniest bit glad that we didn't rush back to save Stanley Granger from the car accident?"

Hermione gave a small nod and leaned against him. "Maybe just a teeny bit." She paused. "But where exactly do I come from in this reality? There has to be more to me then just being Pansy Parkinson's cousin."

Just then, Narcissa opened the door and smiled at them. "Draco, Hermione, Valerian and Marguerite have arrived for a visit. Valerian in particular seems very eager to speak to you."

Intrigued, they left the bathroom and followed Narcissa back to the parlor where Lucius and Valerian were involved in a discussion about something very complicated. When Narcissa interrupted them wit "Valerian, I found Hermione and Draco," the conversation ceased and Lucius suddenly got up to go find a book in the library and Narcissa followed, leaving Hermione, Draco and Valerian alone.

"Do you have any questions?" Valerian asked after a few moments of silence. "If you do, ask me, and I'll answer them as best I can. I'll explain how I know what I do afterwards."

Hermione and Draco nodded.

"I have one," Hermione asked. "We sort of killed Stanley Granger before Ariella ever had a chance to meet him, so where do I come from?"

Valerian smiled slightly. "I thought you'd ask that. This time around, your full name is Hermione Ariella Dionis. Your great-grandfather is Ariella's younger brother Rhys. Your mother's name is Charlotte Parkinson, and your father's name is Adrian Dionis."

Draco looked at Hermione and smiled. "See, I knew you were pureblood in this life."

"What happened to Ariella?"

Valerian looked pained for a moment. "She died in childbirth, both her and the baby. And your family has its magic because Ailbert sacrificed Lydia, who turned out not to be a squib."

Hermione felt herself start to tear. "I'm sorry."

Valerian nodded. "Thank you. Anyway, I know what I know because as part of the spell you cast, the people in the house with you know what happen so they can answer questions in the event that you change history."

"That's convenient."

Valerian smiled. "It really is a nice little spell, if you know what you're doing." He gazed at Hermione. "What's going on with you two this time around?"

"Well," Hermione answered, smiling, "Draco and I are getting married next week."


"…And do you Draco Malfoy take Hermione Dionis to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Draco looked at Hermione and smiled. "I do."

"And do you, Hermione Dionis take Draco Malfoy to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Hermione nodded. "I do."

"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The kiss was met with cheers and applause from the wedding guests, and when Hermione's mother asked the couple if they were glad to be married, they looked at each other, and Draco said "yes, it marks the end of a very strange engagement."

The End...for now.

A/n-if anyone wants a sequel and wants to PM me ideas, feel free! And if you're worried about the ending, read ch. 1 of sequel "A Stranger Life." It helps explain why I ended this story the way I did. Don't worry, there is a reason. I'm not being weird or needlessly cruel.