Once Upon a Hogwarts - Chapter Six
By Lily in a Pond
Disclaimer: Human Growth and Development is disgusting! (shudders) Now, see here, if I was Jo, I would not be freaked out about a man and woman's bodies because Jo and her husband has obviously done it, since they have the most adorable baby EVER! Seriously, Mackenzie is probably the best looking baby I have ever seen, with the exception of some celebrities' babies.
A/N- Last chapter, I mentioned that Draco found Hermione's Cinderella book. However, this only means that he thinks that something weird is going on, not that he actually knows that Hermione is Cinderella. And besides, do you really think Draco will just suddenly accept that the girl of his dreams is his sworn enemy? (Well, Blaise and Mandy are an exception. But more on them later!) He is pretty in character in this story, except for the prologue. Anyways, just wanted to clear things up……..
Please read and review!
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Draco Malfoy was stumped. He had looked in the library, bullied a Gryffindor to check in their common room, and scoured all the empty classrooms, but still no Granger anywhere. Where could she be? Off playing dead in a corner? Or actually being dead? Draco paused from thinking to chuckle quietly at his own cleverness. A Hufflepuff standing near him squeaked and ran away in fright.
Draco looked around. People were staring.
He cleared his throat and attemped to smile. "Ahem, young fellow, do you happen to know where is Hermione Granger of Gryffindor?" he said to a terrified-looking third year.
"Um - I - I - I don't know!" the third year stammered out.
Draco rolled out and jabbed the boy's chest, noticing the Slytherin crest on his robes. "Well, then you shouldn't have bothered to answer me, you disgrace of a Slytherin! Why don't you just go back home?"
The boy burst into tears and ran away. There was an uncomfortable silence and Draco looked around. More people were staring.
"What are you lall ooking at?" he sneered. "Get lost!"
The students ran away, one particular short blond boy leading the pack.
"If I were Hermione Granger, where would I be?" Draco pondered out loud, walking down the corridor and mumbling to himself, which made him look like a male and blond version of Professor Trelawny. Draco didn't seem to notice where he was heading until he bumped head-on to a statue. He swore loudly and kicked the statue. However, this only resulted in a lot of pain in his toe, considering that his shoes were quite thin.
Draco then started pacing in place, thinking that it would probably be best if he didn't keep walking while thinking.
"Come on, Granger, where are you?"
Suddenly, a door appeared right beside the statue. Draco's eyes bulged out of their sockets. This school was a menace to common sense and rationality! his mind screamed.
Taking a deep breath, Draco slowly took a step forward and placed his hand on the doorknob.
Wait! his conscience screamed at him. Are you mad?! This door could lead to anywhere! Don't you remember that curiosity killed the cat?
Well, then, the cat had eight more lives left! Draco furiously yelled back, his frustration igniting now that he was starting to hear voices in his head, the universally known first sign of insanity. And screw you! I'll make my own decisions! You're just my conscience!
Why don't you go screw yourself? You haven't been laid for what, two months?
Draco gritted his teeth and grasped the doorknob again and – DIE, Draco, DIE! his conscience screamed at him – pulled.
Inside the room were Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley, talking quietly in whispers, and looking very surprised that someone had managed to come in.
--
Hermione looked up at the sound of a doorknob being turned. Stringy blond hair, not-so-sparkling gray eyes, an anorexia-plagued figure - her oh-so-handsome Prince Charming complete with a smirk. Oh, that smirk.
"Malfoy? What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question, Granger," Malfoy replied.
"Well, you obviously needed to find her since this room hasn't changed one bit," Ginny jumped in.
"Shut up, Weasley," Draco said automatically. "And why would you think that, anyway?"
"Because this is the Room of Requirements. It is a room that is the exact thing you need at the present time," said Hermione matter-of-factly, sounding like she was reading this from a book, which she had probably memorized for this explanation.
"There is no way I would be looking for you!" Malfoy tried to scream as quietly as he could. "Why would I be looking for you?"
Hermione smiled. "Because you found my book, didn't you?"
Ginny twitched in her seat.
Malfoy looked temporarily stunned. "Wh – how – what?"
"Malfoy, I'm not Crabbe or Goyle, I can actually figure out what I lost."
"Don't you mean Longbottom?"
"No, I mean Crabbe and Goyle." Secretly, Hermione agreed with him, but there was absolutely no way she was going to admit that out loud! "Anyways, now you're investigating into this Cinderella book plot, correct?"
"Yes," Malfoy replied miserably, wishing that he hadn't lost the upper hand in this conversation, accidently saying this out loud. Hermione and Ginny smirked. Of course, he never really had the upper hand in this conversation, but whatever, Ginny thought smugly, be delusional.
"I'm not going to tell you anything," Hermione was saying as she got up and walked towards the door. "You have to figure this out by yourself. Goodbye, ferret."
"What! How am I supposed to do this? This is too confusing!" He looked helplessly as the door closed behind Hermione.
"Well, I'll give you some clues," said Ginny, looking at Malfoy. "You should probably write them down."
A quill, ink pot, and parchment appeared on a desk.
"How snappy! " Malfoy exclaimed. He dipped the quill in ink and hovered it over the parchment.
"One, she's your friend in a very complex and long way. Two, she's the correction to a mistake you made. Three, you once fell in love with her. And four, she will never be the girl you loved until you start seeing the wizarding world differently."
Ginny stood up, replaying what she had just done in her mind. "That's all the clues I can give you, Malfoy. I hope you and your true love are reunited soon."
Ginny closed the door. Leaning up against the wall, she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.
"Ginny? What are you doing outside the Room of Requirements?"
Ginny smiled reassuringly at a worried-looking Harry. "It's about Hermione. Come on, let's talk while we walk. I need to go the kitchens for a snack...anyway, has Hermione ever told you she was in love and is still in love with Draco Malfoy?"
Harry choked on air, stopping immediately in his tracks. "Say WHAT? Hermione - Hermione Granger - our Hermione? In love with M-M-M-M-M-Malfoy? Please tell you're joking, Gin."
"I'm not lying. Did you notice that Hermione was seen quite a few times during the Yule Ball without her man-accessory, Krum?" Harry nodded slowly. "Well, she was with her other man-accessory, Malfoy."
Harry's mouth dropped open. "NO."
"Yes," Ginny said.
"NO."
"Yes..."
"NO."
"We can play your game some other time, Harry," Ginny sighed. "Anyways, she was with him. However, since Hermione was rather...different that night, Malfoy thought she was a Slytherin. And unfortunately for Hermione, that night, Daphne Greengrass was also wearing a blue dress. She didn't exactly tell me the details - well, Hermione didn't tell me anything at all, that little weasel - but I'm guessing Malfoy took one look at Daphne Greengrass' blue dress, brown hair, and brown eyes, and declared quite rashly, I might add, that she was his beloved soul mate. And then Hermione was sad...blah blah blah, filler content, and now, there is a huge problem. This is their seventh year...the last year they have together before they go their separate ways. And who knows, maybe Malfoy will become a Death Eater. But more importantly, Hermione doesn't deserve to be the one cowering in the shadows, only being with her prince in her dreams."
Harry grumbled. "...I hate it when you're right, Ginny."
Ginny laughed, but then quickly sobered. "Well, I hope Malfoy figures it out soon," Ginny said quietly. "Without Daphne in the way now, maybe he'll finally get a chance to see that all along, what he desired most...was already his."
--
As the sun came down, the birds moved to their beds, and the winds arose, a conspiracy was being planned in the library involving Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. It seemed that a few members of Slytherin House were getting fed up with seeing Draco with Daphne pretending to be Cinderella and wanted to do something about it. Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Morag MacDougal were all seated in front of a statue of a large pineapple, heads close together.
Suddenly, Theodore sat up. "Alright people, listen up. I've got what seems like a plan." It was pretty clear that Theo was the obvious leader in this group without Malfoy.
"For what?" Ernie Macmillan interrupted, striding forward into their group with Justin Finch-Fletchey, Hannah Abbott, and Susan Bones. Following them closely was Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, and surprisingly, Neville Longbottom.
"Sod off," replied Blaise without looking up. "Wait a minute, stay here." Blaise leaned forward and whispered something to the Slytherins. They all nodded after a bit.
"What's going on?" Susan asked suspiciously.
"A conspiracy!" replied Pansy perkily. "Care to join?"
"It depends," answered a new voice. "Who's it involving?"
Mandy Brocklehurst, Anthony Goldstein, and Lisa Turpin had showed up also. Now, the formerly spacious area wasn't so big anymore.
"Anthony!" Pansy squealed as she rushed to hug her boyfriend.
"Brocklehurst," Blaise acknowledged, his face stoic.
"Zabini," Mandy said back, facial expression exactly the same.
As Theo explained his plan, Justin Finch-Fletchey was getting more and more confused. "But I don't really understand why all you Slytherins want Malfoy and Hermione together? Aren't you supposed to have some loyalty towards your housemate, Daphne?"
"NO." Blaise, Pansy, and Morag said together.
"Oh, alright," Justin said quietly, shrinking back into his overstuffed pink armchair.
"Look, this isn't about House loyalties or alliances or even friends, it's justice," Theo said. " As much as I like Daphne, I can't force myself to go along with her lies and deception anymore. The last few years were unbearable, but if Draco and Daphne ever ended up together after school, I couldn't live the rest of my life knowing that I knew Daphne robbed an innocent girl out of a happy ending. And the worst part would be that I knew about it all, but didn't do anything."
They were silent for a moment. Then -
" - Since this place is getting a bit stuffy with people breathing down my neck, how about everybody that wants Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger to get together adjourn to the Great Hall?" Blaise said loudly.
Madam Pince appeared behind a bookshelf and glared at them. "OUT! Now."
"Gladly," Morag replied cheekily as he and all the Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and the rest of the Slytherins marched solemnly out of the library, down the many flights of stairs, and into the Great Hall.
Students witnessing this memorable event will swear that they thought this was a demonstration march for Inter-House Unity, but alas, to the late Professor Dumbledore's dismay, it wasn't.
Too bad!
Once settled in the Great Hall, Ginny Weasley, Terry Boot, Orla Quirke, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley trailed by Luna Lovegood burst in huffing and puffing with the exception of Luna who was seemingly breathing regularly.
"Heard – Ginny – Hermione – Malfoy – going out – help – plan - must - Hermione - happy," Harry wheezed out. Although fast as Harry was, he wasn't particularly gifted in the endurance area.
Ginny and Ron's replies were mostly the same.
"Come, come, join us!" Theo called jovially from the center of the Great Hall.
A few Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors gaped at him.
"What? The Slytherins aren't all as cracked up as they're rumored to be," protested Theo.
Mandy nodded without even realizing it and Blaise and Pansy smirked knowingly. Luckily, everyone had their attention on Theo.
"Alright, this is what we're going to do," began Theo. "But first of all, is everyone in here with me on this plan to get Hermione and Draco together? Even you two?" He pointed at Harry and Ron.
"Yeah, Ginny told me everything and I told the abridged version to Ron," huffed out Harry. Apparently, he still hadn't recovered from his insane sprinting from the Gryffindor Common Room to the Great Hall.
"Now that I've heard the whole story, I really blame Malfoy for not picking the right girl and Hermione for pretending she was a Slytherin. If she didn't, Malfoy may have actually considered her as his Cinderella girl after all!" added Ron, smiling tightly as if there was something unpleasant in his mouth. Lavender looked at him sharply.
"Really? You seriously blame Hermione as well as Malfoy?"
Ron blushed when Lavender turned to him. "No...I kinda still blame Malfoy a lot."
"Whipped," Harry coughed.
Ginny suddenly cackled evilly, making some people jump. "I'm one step ahead of all you guys!" And then she proceeded to tell everyone of what she had told Malfoy in the Room of Requirements.
"Okay, so now Ginny's got Malfoy's mind whirling with the possiblilties, all we have to do is to make sure that he realizes Hermione is the ONLY possibility," Theo said, sounding very much like a dictator. "Somebody, write this all down."
Tiny Orla Quirke whipped out her Quick-Quotes-Quill and it started scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment. Harry blanched at the sight of the Quick-Quotes-Quill, remembering the fiasco that was his life in fourth year.
"So, we've got to present some scenarios to Draco. Make sure that in every opportunity, they get as close as possible and clarify some clues. Any questions?"
Harry raised his hand, then put it down, muttering, "Oh, what am I doing?"
"Yeah, Potter?"
"Right, when can we start?"
Theo chuckled, but immediately stopped and looked serious. "Now."
"All the Ravenclaws, go lament about some book that you read that tells of the fine line between hate and love or some sappy love story involving two enemies getting together to Hermione or Draco, like that Romeo and Juliet story, oh, I forgot what the characters' names were...Hufflepuffs, make an opportunity to mess something up or whatever if you see Hermione. And when she helps you, tell her that Draco did the same thing. Gryffindors, you do basically all the same things, but you have to be more creative since you guys spend the most time around her. And as for us Slytherins, we've got to convince Draco to put everything aside and take a gamble for an opportunity."
As the whole group nodded and scattered, Theo turned around and whispered, almost to himself, "Just wait a month or two and we'll see how you'll handle almost the entire seventh year forcing you two together. It's all of us against you."
"Let the games begin."
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A/N-Well, you guys should get a pretty good idea of what going to happen next! The war is on!
For my wonderful, lovely, harmonious, and generally spiffy reviewers –
dramioneshipper-Well, this chapter should answer all your questions! But about the Draco realizing Cinderella is Hermione thing? It's not going to happen so soon. I mean, he's been thinking his Cinderella girl is Daphne for about three years now, so why is he going to give that cemented thought up for someone who he hates, but possibly could be Cinderella? Keyword: possibly. Nott? Well, the only way he's going to get Daphne is by breaking her and Draco up, so he's organizing that little conspiracy plot to get them apart as fast as possible. But in the end, Nott may not even end up with Daphne...dun dun dun! INFINITY MORE THAN YOU WILL SAY WITH TUBS OF BUTTER PECAN, MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP, COFFEE, ORANGE SHERBET, NEAPOLITAN, AND PEACH ICE CREAM WITH COCONUT FLAKES, BARS OF HOENYDUKES' CHOCOLATE, EVERY FLAVOR BEANS, CRUSHED OREOS, AND THE BIGGEST CHERRY IN THE WORLD ON TOP OF A SPUN SUGAR AND CANDY CANE MODEL OF DISNEYLAND!
Love Joy Hope-You spelled Theodore wrong. Haha. And I am SO not moving this story quickly! Nothing has even happened so far except for Draco finding out Blaise and Mandy, a conspiracy plot being organized, and Draco getting suspicions. Actually, that might be a lot of important stuff for the future.
Natural-181-Hehe, Chapter Five actually gave a lot of obvious clues for Mandy and Blaise's relationship, if you read really carefully and between the lines and took notice of their "fight" outside the classroom.
Additional thanks to White-Pink-Fluffy-Strawberriez, Truth Like a Blazing Fire, Ms. Winters, carly, pinkicing101, dragoneyes5000, Christina A. Malfoy, absolutelyjoyful, and KyootNShort!
EDIT 10/09/07: Added the part outside the RoR when Harry and Ginny talk, took out some necessary sentences, and added in some other lines for comic purposes. This is the last edit for this chapter.
Please review!
Lily in a Pond