Once Upon a Hogwarts-Chapter Five
By Lily in a Pond
Disclaimer: Woot! Talent shows suck and rock! Woot! Woot!
As you can see obviously above, I am definitely not JK Rowling and therefore not the owner of Harry and Co. because JK Rowling would not be wasting her time jumping and screaming about a talent show, she would be busy taking care of her kids and baby and writing the seventh book, WHICH HAS YET TO COME OUT! (hint hint)
Please read and review!
--
Theodore Edmund Nott was grinning at the Slytherin table, looking utterly out of the place in the sea of scowls. If someone had looked at him closely, they would have seen the maniacal glint in his eyes. But since even the Slytherins were interested in eating, nobody did and Theodore's slightly crazy side was overlooked.
Theodore had just returned from a very exciting encounter he had secretly witnessed in the library. There he was, researching the constallation Gemini for his Astronomy project, when he heard a familiar voice. Daphne Greengrass, had just admitted that Hermione Granger was the one Draco had danced with at the Yule Ball three years ago.
"Daphne," he sighed softly. "My poor, precious Daphne. She only wanted a shot at love, but it all spiralled into one big mess..."
Daphne Olivia Greengrass was the one Theo knew he loved. He had liked her when they had first met on the train to Hogwarts, but it wasn't until third year, when hormones had kicked in, that he really began to develop a crush on her. She was his first love, and she was his true love.
When Daphne went with him to the Yule Ball in their fourth year, Theo was elated. His true love was finally reciprocating his feelings, or so he thought. But on that night, Draco Malfoy had asked his beloved Daphne to be his girlfriend, and she had accepted. That hurt him the most.
But now, Theo had information, information that could finally break Daphne and Draco apart. After they separated, Daphne would of course be heartbroken and sob all day, and Theo would be there to pick up the pieces. He smiled. He could almost imagine the rest of his life with her: a beautiful engagement ring and a proposal on top of the Eiffel Tower, a grand wedding that would keep the wizarding community talking for decades, a charming manor house in the country, and finally, two adorable brunette children sitting on their laps as he and Daphne watched the rain cascade down their frosted glass windows.
And all he had to do was break them up.
"Does anyone know where Daphne is?" Malfoy asked. Through the noisy sounds of the Great Hall, Theo heard a fork clatter loudly on a table and knew that however many forks were dropped at the exact same time, he was sure this one belonged to Hermione Granger.
Theo was still a bit angry at what Granger did to Daphne, but he supposed that was what happened when girls got really angry and lost control of their magic. Besides, Granger was probably upset at what Daphne was saying, which he personally thought was a bit over the edge, but still, it was Daphne. Daphne was an angel...she could do no wrong.
"I think I saw her in the library talking to Granger," Blaise Zabini said after a while. "Dunno why though."
"You don't know why you saw Daphne in the library?" giggled Pansy Parkinson. A few years ago, Pansy had been incredibly in love with Malfoy, but now, thankfully, she had abandoned the squealing fangirl phase and moved on to some Ravenclaw, Anthony or Anton Goldfish...well, whatever his name was, he would make a better boyfriend than Malfoy.
Blaise rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."
"Why was she talking to Granger, though?" Malfoy asked. "It's not like Daphne had anything to talk to Granger about."
Theo snorted softly into his goblet.
"Well, I didn't hear their conversation," answered an annoyed Blaise. "I was too busy trailing Mandy Brocklehurst."
Suddenly, Pansy flew into an intense coughing fit. "You mean stalking your favorite person," she choked out between wheezes.
"Are you all right?" Theo asked. If there was one thing Theo couldn't stand, it was sick, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, hackling, snotty, pathetically sickly weak people.
"Oh, I'm fine, Theo," replied Pansy nonchalantly, waving her hand in the air casually. "It was a joke, Blaise! It's not like you and Mandy are actually dating." She winked at Blaise.
"So!" Blaise said loudly. "I was thinking of a whole bunch of us doing Aguamenti at the same time to drench Brocklehurst. How 'bout it?"
"No thanks," replied Pansy. "Whatever happens between you and Mandy is strictly none of my business. Besides, Mandy and I are friends." She then looked pointedly at Malfoy, who gulped.
"Yes, yes, well, I don't think I'll be joining it either," said Malfoy hurriedly. "I have to……er……comb my hair." He blushed after this. "Er……comb some books."
Theo smirked.
"Well, what about you, Theo?"
"No, thanks, I have to study for a Divination exam."
"You don't take Divination, Theo," Pansy said flatly.
Theo smirked again. "I know."
"Morag? Please say yes, I can't handle her on my own; she's got the support of the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors!"
Morag MacDougal leaned back into his chair. "As much as I would have loved to say yes and pour water on an innocent girl - " Blaise snorted " - I say no for obvious reasons."
"And what exactly are those reasons?" Blaise demanded.
"One, she's gonna cream you anyways, with or without our help, so I'm not going to interfere and get myself on her bad list, and two, your plan is retarded."
Blaise gave him the finger.
"Hey, hey, no rude gestures at the dinner table!" Morag exclaimed. Blaise gave him the finger, too.
"Anyway," Draco cut in to what could've been a very exciting and climatic fistfight, "if anyone sees Daphne, tell me, alright? I'm really worried about her."
Pansy blew bubbles in her glass of pumpkin juice.
"I'm serious about this. I think we're drifting apart day by day," he continued.
Blaise blinked. "...Maybe that's because you are."
Draco looked affronted. "I certainly do not think so! Well, I have had my share of suspicions - "
"Well, there you go," Pansy said. "Always follow your gut feelings."
"But," Draco ground between his teeth, "I do think we're just going through a rough time right now, so if anyone sees her, kindly inform me."
"Yeah, I'll inform you where you can go stick your bloody high nose," Theo muttered darkly. Blaise choked on his pork chop.
--
"Are you okay, Hermione?" Ginny asked, peering into Hermione's face. "You look a bit worried..."
Luna Lovegood glided by their table. "She's fine, Ginny. Though, perhaps, Hermione, you might actually try to talk to him about it." Luna then glided away back to the Ravenclaw table, leaving Hermione shocked and Ginny confused. Then Ginny's eyes lit up with realization and she moved closer to Hermione.
"Oh, Hermione, it's okay," she reassured her, patting Hermione on the back. "You'll get him to like you, it's not your fault that he just seems to like Lavender right now. But guys are just like that - looks over personality any horny day."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione was confused for once.
"Ron! You know, the guy you might want to talk to?"
"Ginny!"
"What? Luna meant Ron, right?"
Hermione stood up and banged her fist on the table in frustration. "NO! I DO NOT LIKE RONALD WEASLEY! I SPENT SEVEN YEARS AT THIS SCHOOL, AND EVIDENTLY NO ONE HAS BOTHERED TO PICK UP ON THAT LITTLE FACT."
The Great Hall fell immediately silent. Hermione could hear the loud, obnoxious giggles of Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode and the snickers of the Slytherin boys.
"Oh, shut up, you lot," said Ginny angrily. "Hermione doesn't have a crush on Ron, she likes Harry."
The Great Hall was even more silent after this, with the absence of the Slytherins' laughter.
"NO, GINNY! I DON'T LIKE HARRY OR RON!" Hermione was practically spouting steam by now. "Now if all of you are done staring, I would like to eat my dinner in peace!" She sat down heavily on her seat, pulling a plate of lamp chops near her. After chewing viciously, Hermione looked up and saw everyone still staring. "What is your problem? Are you really interested in this ridiculous situation? Shoo!"
No one reacted.
"Hey, Pansy," Mandy Brocklehurst said loudly, to break the uncomfortable silence that had continued, "Did you and Anthony do it yet?"
Everyone groaned and started mumbling things like, "This is definitely not the time," and, "A little too much information," and went back to eating.
Mandy winked and called, "Works like a charm every time, Hermione."
Hermione smiled weakly and stood up. "I'm going to go to bed early tonight, guys. Bye."
"Wait, Hermione! Are you going to watch us tomorrow at Quidditch practice?" Harry called after her. Oblivious, Hermione thought. I just had a very embarrassing moment involving him and Ron, and he's still in the Quidditch-zone.
"Depends on what time," Hermione replied without turning around.
"Five – "
"Count me out, then."
As Hermione stepped in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, she noticed that a note was pinned to the wall next to it.
After she had scanned it, Hermione gasped.
If you have a blue earring missing, brown eyes and brown hair, and attended the Yule Ball in your fourth year, please come down to breakfast tomorrow holding a book.
Hermione smiled. She didn't know who put the note on there, but maybe, just maybe...good things were finally going to come her way. She grinned to herself.
"The boy who left this here was awfully rude, my dear," said the Fat Lady. "He's one of those Slytherins, you know. He had the gall to tell me to go do rude things to myself when I wouldn't let him in! Can you believe that? Children these days are so impetuous. And speaking of that," she bent down so that she was face-to-face with Hermione,"I heard from my friend Tabitha that two girls had a wild catfight in the library today, and then one of them was apparently pushed into a bookcase. She's now in the Hospital Wing," she whispered. "Isn't that just mad?"
Hermione managed a weak smile at the Fat Lady. "Yeah, it really looks like the entire school's off their chumps."
--
The next morning, Hermione woke up early and nearly tore her bookshelf apart to search for the perfect book she could carry down to breakfast. At first, Hermione was going for appearance, as she remembered what Ginny had said last night (looks over appearance any horny day), but then she decided that Draco needed a distinct clue to figure out who among the many brown haired and eyed girls that were missing a sapphire earring and attended the Yule Ball was his real Cinderella. So then, Hermione decided to pull out her favorite fairy tale book, Cinderella, for symbolism.
Feeling bright and confident, Hermione was sure nothing could go wrong.
She immediately took that thought back when she stepped into the Great Hall.
The first thing Hermione saw upon entering was at least a hundred girls swarming around Draco Malfoy, each carrying a book and screaming, "I'm your Cinderella girl!" or something along the lines of that.
Obviously, the rumor that had flown around three years ago was now confirmed. Draco Malfoy didn't choose the right girl the night of the Yule Ball.
To make it worse, Hermione spotted Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini sitting near Draco, accompanied by Pansy Parkinson, all wearing identical smirks. There was probably only one thing the smirk meant: they knew.
"Hey, Hermione!" Ron popped up suddenly from behind her. "I heard that Malfoy's looking for some girl that he missed or whatever three years ago."
"Well, I have no idea what you're talking about," Hermione lied.
"Apparently, people are saying Malfoy picked the wrong girl at the Yule Ball and now he wants a chance to shag every girl carrying a book or something to pick who the new girl is," said Harry appearing in front of them, wearing rumpled robes and a disgusted look. Ginny soon appeared behind him also, robes also crinkled, and added, "Zabini, Parkinson, and Nott all know too. That's why they're smirking so widely."
Wrong, wrong, and definitely wrong, Hermione silently screamed at them.
"No, actually, Blaise, Pansy, and Theo wrote a note or something to all the girls at Hogwarts, irregardless of their house, because they know that Daphne Greengrass isn't the real Cinderella girl. They're trying to help Malfoy find the person he fell in love at the Yule Ball," said Luna Lovegood, appearing behind them and making them all jump three feet in the air. The four of them stared at Luna.
"...I like the other version better," said Ginny suddenly, breaking the silence that went on after Luna's surprisingly true comment.
"Yeah, me too," agreed Harry and Ron. Hermione shook her head disapprovingly. Disgusting, sick-minded, people, she thought.
"Hey, what's that book you're holding?" Ron asked.
Hermione gasped. She had forgotten all about her book. "Erm, it's nothing. Just a little...research I'm doing for a project. It's about how...erm...life imitates literature." She blinked and Ron, Ginny, and Harry slowly nodded, seemingly understanding. That was the fastest lie I ever told, she thought. Maybe I should do it more often...
Hermione managed to get through breakfast without slipping something out about what she knew about the rumors. When the bell rang, Hermione was so lost in her thoughts and didn't hear the bell, so she had to dash quickly to her first class this morning, Ancient Runes.
Hermione didn't realize that she had left her book on the table and when she had stood up, the book fell on the floor.
A few hours later, the book was still on the ground...
"...Look, I really like Anthony, so I don't think there's anything you can do about that," Pansy said, her voice slightly echoing as she and Draco neared the empty Great Hall (Professor Jocular had let their NEWT Transfigurations class out early).
"But he's so impoverished, Pansy! Whenever I think about you two spending the rest of your lives together, I cringe with the mental agony! You won't have that white wedding you wanted, or that huge diamond ring, or an eight-bedroom mansion! Hell, you'll be lucky to afford three bedrooms!"
"Who said I was going to marry him?" Pansy asked curiously.
Draco rolled his eyes. "It was a hypothetical situation."
"Oh. Well, you should've made that clearer. Anyway, that's all fine, Draco. Those things can come and go, but you remember what happened in our sixth year, don't you?"
Draco stopped in his tracks but said nothing.
Pansy continued. "Look, sometimes you have to choose between what you want to do and what you should do. And well, my sense of propriety took over." She laughed bitterly. "I didn't even think I had a sense of propriety before I..." She looked umcomfortable. "Well, that's that. Anyways, I just feel that I owe it to him. Call me crazy, but I know it's what I'm supposed to do. I have to go now; see you later, Draco."
Draco stood there silently.
Pansy's voice rang out through the empty hall, making him jump. He thought she had left. "You know, when a girl finishes a great gushing of feelings like that, the guy is supposed to walk on, feigning indifference. Get a move on!"
"Oh. Right," Draco said, and hurried into the Great Hall. His eyes landed on a slightly shabby looking leather-bound book with a title in fancy gold script.
Cinderella, it read on the top.
Instantly all thoughts of Pansy and Anthony swept out of his mind. Was it possible that his Cinderella girl actually was there in the Great Hall this morning, but didn't reveal herself to him? Was it possible that his real Cinderella was still there waiting for him after all those years? Was it possible…?
There was only one thing he could do to get a step closer to this mystery. He opened the book.
Hermione Granger, it read on the inside cover in neat cursive. Draco groaned. Well, this definitely dashed all his hopes. Granger couldn't be his Cinderella girl!
Or could she? refuted a nagging little voice in the back of his head. She does have brown hair and brown eyes...
Yes, along with the other three million brunette girls, Draco snapped at the voice. But this is suspicious...I have to talk to Granger about it. Maybe she knows something that I don't about the Cinderella girl.
Two loud voices were heard arguing behind him and Draco quickly stuffed the book in his bag.
"I'm telling you, Mandy, size so does not matter!" Draco immediately recognized Blaise's voice. And………Mandy? What was Blaise talking about with Mandy Brocklehurst, his sworn enemy?
"Well, if you could admit it yourself, then don't be such a hypocrite about it!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
"Be that way!"
"Don't worry, I will!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
Blaise and Mandy stormed into the Hall, not noticing Draco at all. They each sat at their respective tables and blew their hair away from their eyes.
Mandy was mumbling some, er…interesting things under her breath.
Blaise was fuming and the plates in front of him seemed to emitting red sparks.
Suddenly, Mandy got a sneaky look in her eye and reached for her wand. Since Blaise was concentrating on the plates, he didn't notice Mandy point her wand at him.
Draco winced as a solid gold plate fell from a very high elevation in the air onto Blaise's head. Ouch, that had to hurt, he thought. Well, that just makes Quidditch practice tomorrow absolute hell. Daphne's still gone (by the way, where is she?), so one Beater for two Bludgers, no Keeper...yeah, that's going to be a nice practice.
"I know you're there, Draco," Mandy said suddenly as she placed the plate back on the table, making him jump in his hiding spot. "Relax, I'm not going to hex you," Draco's shoulders loosened slightly, "but if you say anything about our relationship to anyone, anyone at all, you will be so very deceased. See what I did to Blaise? That was just a wind-up. Thousands of plates will drop onto your head as I watch you suffer," she hissed sinisterly. "So be a smart boy, Draco, and keep your mouth shut."
"Oh, and by the way, the password to the Heads' Common Room is Veritas in Lux. Hermione usually goes in there after dinner to study and do her homework and stays there until nine-thirty, when she heads back to Gryffindor Tower. Have fun," Mandy smiled, the sadistic edge gone. She blew a kiss, turned on her leather heel, and walked briskly out of the Great Hall, leaving Draco at a loss for words.
--
A/N-Whoa, lots of things revealed in this chapter! Theodore Nott, suspicions of Hermione being of Cinderella, and Mandy and Blaise. I must admit, I am giving into that mistaken idea that Ravenclaws are mini versions of Slytherins by writing Mandy as very Slytherin-ish.
Speaking of which, we're even. Chapter 4 was late, but Chapter 5 revealed lots of info and I finished it in four hours! Ha!
Ahh, my beautiful, wonderful, blithe reviews!
dragoneyes5000 – Hehe, this chapter's happenings was just the basis for the BIG DUEL! And as you know already, Malfoy didn't hear Daphne and Hermione. I would never let Draco find out so easily and quickly into the story! I mean, it's still three months until the ball! The Theodore Nott concept throws a little curveball into the plot, plus he adds something to the plot: he wants Draco and Daphne to break up.
dramioneshipper – Hmm, strange, the list of reasons wasn't even supposed to be funny! Ah, oh well! Whatever makes my story funny! GO GO HERMIONE! Hooray, she knocked Daphne out for two days! INFINITY KISSES WITH MOUNTAINS OF BEN & JERRY'S CHERRY GARCIA ICE CREAM, MARSHMALLOWS, CINNAMON POPCORN, A WATERFALL OF FUDGE TOPPING, AND COTTON CANDY CLOUDS ABOVE A CHOCOLATE PALACE!
Cheeky splash – Looks like you were right about your suspicions. Wow, two people actually liked the bit about the guilty party! Hmm……….looks like random ideas really do work!And don't worry, history will repeat itself. Hmm, Hermione might not end up with Draco, eh? It's…………possible. JUST KIDDING! I wouldn't be that cruel...or would I? (dun dun dun) And Madam Pince is just simply very passionate about the books.
me044 – Strangely, you remind me of myself when I'm reading a really good fanfic….
Skavnema – Unfortunately, the 'evil prat' isn't dead. (reviewers boo in background.) But she almost died!
Additional thanks to Joy (hehe, you lucky cherry, you get to hear a spoiler at school), spanna, Natural-181, and tomboycutie!
9/15/07 - Finished editing this chapter for the last time.
7/19/08 - hehe okay I lied. THIS is the last edit.
Please review!
-Lily in a Pond