------------------------------------------------------MIRROR MIRROR---------------------------------------------------------
Hermione, testing Malfoy's theory (although she knew it was right) decided to try something. She picked up a piece of paper, and flicked it at Ginny who was a good few seats down the bench on the other side of the table. Hermione – despite being pretty pathetic at sport – had quite a good aim. The paper swiped Ginny's cheek, and Ginny spun her head around searching for the culprit. She had an annoyed look in her eyes, but when she spotted Hermione, and made the connection, she grinned. She waved 'hello', and Hermione smiled and beckoned her closer.
Ginny whispered something to her friend and then slid across the bench she was on until she was directly across Hermione. "Hermione," she smiled.
"Hey, Gin," she said. She slid a plate of crumpets over to her. "Want some?"
Ginny took a few and piled them onto her plate. She squirted golden syrup sauce onto them and bit into them. "Mm, these are really good," she said after she had swallowed a mouthful.
"I know," Hermione said, smiling. She didn't actually know. She didn't really eat crumpets. "Listen, Gin..."
"You need to tell me something?" Ginny guessed, her eyes sparkling.
Hermione's eyes widened, and she faltered for a second. "How did you know?"
Ginny laughed. "No reason, Hermione – It was kind of obvious. You look really surprised though ... did I guess right?"
"Sort of. It's more of a question, actually..." Hermione started.
Ginny bit into another crumpet. She swallowed. "Just spit it out, Hermione. I've got McGonagall first period and she hates latecomers," she said not unkindly.
Hermione looked around her to make sure that there was nobody else within earshot. She leaned in, and said in a rush, "Do you happen to know a Gladys Winter?" Hermione held her breath, waiting for the answer.
Ginny's eyebrows furrowed. "Gladys who?" she asked.
Hermione drew back. "I guess that's a no, then." She folded her hands over each other on the table.
"Should I know her?" Ginny asked, her crumpet completely forgotten.
"If his theory is correct, then you should get to know her soon," Hermione murmured, more to herself than to Ginny.
"Whose theory?" Ginny asked, now completely baffled. "Look, Hermione, you're not making much sense right now."
Hermione sighed, but forced her mouth to stretch into a smile. "Sorry, Gin. I guess I'm not. But look...Oh, never mind; it's unavoidable. I cannot even prevent you from talking to her."
Ginny narrowed her eyes. "You. Are. Not. Making. Any. Damn. Sense!"
"Never mind!" Hermione said, noticing that people around her were getting up. First period was about to start. "What do you have first period?" she asked, trying to change the topic.
Ginny pushed away her plate. She looked at Hermione strangely. "I already told you. McGonagall, remember?"
"Oh, right! Of course I remember," Hermione said, laughing.
"Uh huh," Ginny said. "Hermione are you sure you're feeling alri—"
"Ginny, we're going now! Are you coming?"
Ginny turned around to see who was talking to her. A group of three girls stood there: Padma and Parvati Patil and ... Romilda Vane. Romilda nodded at Hermione, and Hermione smiled back awkwardly. "You people carry on," Ginny said. "I'll be right behind you."
They nodded and hurried off.
Hermione waited for them to leave the Hall before saying, "Romilda Vane?"
Ginny shrugged. "I realized that she's not much competition, you know? Harry...he'll come around," she said, and sighed wistfully.
"But I thought you hated her!" Hermione said in a whisper.
"I do hate her," Ginny said. "But she became all sympathetic for Padma and Parvati after their mum died last year, so she's been hanging out with them ever since. And since they're pretty much my friends, too..."
"But you have Neville and Luna, Ginny," Hermione pointed out.
Ginny grimaced. "Exactly. Have you not noticed how close the two of them have become recently? It makes me bloody uncomfortable when I'm with them...Now, the twins and Romilda ... it's unlikely they'll get into a threesome, so I'm safe," Ginny finished off cheerfully.
Hermione was still focused on the first part of what Ginny said. "Neville and Luna?" she asked incredulously.
Ginny shook her head, but grinned. "Absolutely."
"Wow," Hermione said, still shocked.
"Yeah, it's pretty much of a 'wow' factor," Ginny commented. She turned around to look at Neville. Hermione followed her gaze and almost said 'wow' again. Neville and Luna were wrapped up in quite an intense discussion, and were leaning incredibly close toward each other.
Hermione shook her head, trying to clear it. "Ginny, I think that we should go. First period starts in a few minutes."
Ginny nodded, and got up from her seat, swinging her bag over her shoulder. Hermione imitated her, and the two walked out of the hall together.
"So, is it awkward between you and Romilda?" Hermione asked.
Ginny shrugged. "I don't really notice much, to be honest. I focus more on Padma and Parvati, actually. Romilda is more of an ... accessory."
Hermione laughed. They parted ways after that, and Hermione headed for the dungeons.
The class was filed outside Slughorn's classroom; Hermione joined the end of the line right behind Malfoy. He was casually leaning against the wall, looking at a group of girls. They looked back at him, and then broke out into a fit of giggles. Hermione rolled her eyes. Honestly. People needed to learn the concept of maturity.
"Malfoy," she said, interrupting him.
"Yes?" he asked, not looking at her.
"Malfoy," she said.
He sighed, and acting as if it was a huge effort, he rolled his head around to face her. "Yes?" he asked, matching her tone of voice.
"I need to talk to you about something," she said.
"Then talk," he said, his silver eyes staring at her. He looked thoroughly bored.
Hermione was extremely reluctant to admit the next bit, "I'm confused about something," she mumbled.
"Sorry, what? I didn't catch that," he said, stepping closer to her to listen properly.
She stared defiantly into his eyes. "I said I'm confused."
His lips threatened to lift into a grin, but Hermione's flashing eyes stopped him. "About what?" he asked.
"This fairytale thing," she said.
"Would you get to the point, Granger," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"There are double roles," she stated.
He contemplated what she said. He placed a hand on the wall next to him. "And by double roles, you mean Potter and your father, and Winter and Vane?" he asked.
"Yes," Hermione said, nodding.
Slughorn arrived then, interrupting their conversation. He ushered the class in, and Hermione took a seat next to Malfoy. He raised his eyebrows.
Hermione folded her arms defensively. "I'm still talking to you, aren't I?" she asked. She glanced over to the other side of the classroom where Harry and Ron were staring at her with shocked expressions. She mouthed an I'll tell you later and they nodded, though a bit hesitantly. She turned to face Malfoy, and then frowned. "Does anybody else sit next to you?" she asked, pointing at the seat she was about to occupy.
Malfoy shook his head. "I told you that I like working by myself."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Right, as we were saying ..." she trailed off, thinking. "What were we saying?"
Malfoy smiled, and he said, "Let me just go get the ingredients for this lesson."
"Thank you," Hermione said, thinking he was going to get hers as well.
Draco tilted his head. "Er...would you like me to get yours as well?" he asked, sounding completely unsure.
Hermione's mouth dropped open, but she closed it quickly. "Sorry! I just assumed...It's okay, I'll get mine." She got up from her seat, but before she could even start walking, Malfoy stopped her.
"No matter. I'll get them." He jumped up from his seat and rushed to the cupboard.
Draco selected all the necessary ingredients – in double quantities. He had no idea that he was supposed to fetch hers as well! But really, that was the gentlemanly thing to do, wasn't it? Not that he really considered himself a gentleman, per se. But if this was how friendship properly worked, then so be it. The only friendship he had been used to was the one where he led everything. In this friendship, everything seemed so very equal and divided. Granger was a force of her own.
He made his way back to their table. Thankfully, their table was right at the very back of the classroom; away from everybody else. When he arrived at their table, he noticed that she had placed both their textbooks out on the table, open to the right page. She was already making additional notes on the page of her textbook. Draco glanced at his textbook. Had she taken it out of his bag by use of her hand or by use of her wand? Because there was a huge difference. If she'd taken it out using her hand, she would've seen everything in his bag. What had he kept in his bag?
"I Summoned it, Malfoy. In case you were wondering."
The girl could read his thoughts! "No, I wasn't wondering, Granger," he replied smoothly, sitting down. Then he stood up again, realizing that he needed to stand in order to make a potion.
"As we were saying," she began.
"What were we saying?" he asked, dicing up his ingredients.
"About the double roles," she said. "I was wondering how they would be played out."
This time Draco didn't follow. "How do you mean?"
"Well, both of them can't be the King, right? And both of them can't be the evil, step-mother, right?" Granger asked, cutting up her roots as well.
"Maybe you're over-thinking it, Granger," Draco murmured, measuring a spoonful of Bulbadox juice.
"If your theory is correct, Malfoy—"
"—which we've already proven it is," Draco said, dropping the Bulbadox into the cauldron.
"If your theory is correct, then surely someone should want to poison me?"
Draco grimaced. She didn't even sound as if she cared whether she got poisoned or not. "Someone does want to poison you, Granger," he said quietly, squirting Horklump juice into the potion.
"My point is though, which someone?"
Draco lowered the bottle, and looked at her. "You're confused whether it's going to be Winter or Vane?"
"Yes!" she said, dropping a handful of beetle's eyes into her potion.
Draco's lips twitched. He returned to his potion, still thinking. "I honestly do not know, Granger," he said quietly, stirring his potion. He wished he could give her an answer. He felt good when he knew the answers to the questions she asked. "Maybe," he said, "it will be Winter because she's more..." he stopped. He couldn't find the right word.
"Evil?" Granger suggested.
"Perhaps," Draco acknowledged. "I just don't think that Vane has it in her to poison you."
"You don't even know her though," Granger said.
Draco glanced down at his textbook, reading his next instructions. "I know people, Granger," he murmured.
"So do I, but I don't think I can characterize someone just by looking at them," she said, adding crushed rose thorns to her potion.
"Pity. I can," Draco said, smirking. He really could. He could read people very easily.
"Lucky you," she muttered sarcastically. "But that doesn't help us with the matter at hand, Malfoy."
"I beg to differ," Draco said, adding in the crushed rose thorns. "I believe I just told you that Vane isn't capable of poisoning you. Winter is."
"Don't be too quick to assume," Granger warned him.
Draco shrugged, and stirred his potion.
They stirred quietly, the silence comfortable. He felt her gaze on him. "So you don't think I should be wary of Vane?"
"I don't know, Granger," Draco replied honestly. "You need to think about it yourself, as well. What if she does end up poisoning you? Merlin, what if they both end up poisoning you?" He snapped his mouth shut, and shot a quick look at her, realizing that he probably shouldn't have said the last part.
"Could that happen?" she whispered.
He opened his mouth, and then closed it, not too sure whether to lie or not. Not. "They both have the same role, right? So it's possible."
Granger groaned. She didn't cry, but she groaned. "Malfoy, we have to work this out before then."
Draco didn't say anything. He agreed with her completely. And it wasn't just because of the poisoning aspect of the fairytale.
Meanwhile, in the 6th year class, Charms...
Ginny suddenly felt a jolt in her body. Well, it felt like a jolt because her thoughts suddenly changed. She turned in her chair to face Romilda. Romilda was holding up a compact mirror, tilting her head this way and that. "Ginny, I am indeed exquisitely beautiful, you know that?"
Ginny wanted to raise her eyebrows. In fact, she tried to raise them, but found that she couldn't. Something inside her told her to agree with whatever Romilda said, because whatever Romilda said was right. "You are indeed, Romilda," she replied softly.
Romilda glanced at Ginny once, and frowned. "You know, it doesn't sound right coming from you, Ginny. I mean, I know you mean it, but a girl like me needs constant assurance, you know?"
Actually, Ginny had no idea what Romilda was talking about. She dearly wanted to disagree with Romilda. Who in the bloody hell needed to have constant assurance that they were beautiful? Did Romilda feel that insecure? Ginny felt like asking her all these questions, but her mouth refused to open. Instead, she kept silent.
Romilda puckered her lips, seeing how effective her pout was. "Aren't I the most beautiful girl in the entire school?" she murmured.
Ginny felt incredibly repulsed. She knew that Romilda was vain, but she had never known that she was this vain.
Romilda tapped her wand against the table. "I think I'm going to charm this mirror, Ginny," she said tranquilly.
Ginny realized that she couldn't act on her true emotions. She had no idea why, but she just couldn't. She gave into the voice inside her head who was guiding her. "What will you make it do, Romilda?" she asked, following the voice.
"It's going to constantly assure me of my beauty," she replied.
Ginny looked around the classroom to see if anybody else was witnessing the same thing she was. Everyone was concentrated on transforming the object in front of them into a book that could read aloud. Unfortunately, Ginny was paired with Romilda and their object was the mirror.
She's very much in-character, thought Ginny, thinking of the evil, step-mother from the fairytale. Maybe this is all deliberate. Ginny decided to play along. "That's such a good idea, my Queen," she said teasingly. She was surprised that the words could come out so easily.
Romilda shot her a look. "Why did you call me that?" she asked sharply.
Ginny's eyes widened. "No reason," she said softly. Romilda was being serious!
Romilda waved her wand murmuring something under her breath.
A flash of red.
And then nothing.
Ginny blinked. Was something spectacular supposed to happen?
"It worked," Romilda said softly, angling her mirror this way and that.
How did she even know? Though the voice in her head told Ginny to ask it differently, "Would you like to test it, Romilda?"
"Mirror, mirror, who's the most beautiful in Hogwarts?" Romilda whispered excitedly.
Ginny gasped when she heard the reply from the unblemished surface of the mirror, "Lady Romilda, you are the most beautiful."
Professor McGonagall lifted her head up, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from. When she saw Miss Vane with the mirror, and the mirror talking back to her, Professor McGonagall knew. That Malfoy boy was right.
It was four days later when The Incident happened. She was in the Great Hall, eating supper with Ron and Harry when she saw the whole scene unfold before her eyes. She smelt her first. It was a sweet smell. Too sweet. Hermione turned around, and sure enough, Romilda was there. She hadn't come for Hermione though. Her focus was upon someone else.
"Harry," Romilda said softly, her voice low.
She's trying to woo him, Hermione thought worriedly. Draco had told her that everything in the book had to happen. Hermione's heart clenched as she watched Harry's freedom get slowly snatched away.
Harry looked up at Romilda. He saw the look in her eyes, and then he looked at Hermione, alarm clouding his features. Hermione nodded her head subtly. Harry stood up, and clearly against his will, smiled. "Hi Romilda. How are you?"
She batted her eyes. "Always good," she said. "Would you like to come for a walk with me, Harry?"
She trailed her fingers down Harry's arm, and Hermione sympathized with him. He was clearly suffering. He shot her a quick look. Go, she mouthed. Harry shook his head subtly. Romilda didn't even notice.
Hermione sighed. Even if Harry didn't want to go, he'd go anyway. After a second, his resolve slipped, and he said, "Sure."
He closed his eyes. Hermione felt immense pity for him. How hard this must be!
Romilda smiled brightly, and slipped her hand into his. Then the two of them left the Great Hall. Hermione looked until they were completely out of sight. Just as she was turning around, she caught Malfoy's eyes. They exchanged a look of seriousness. She nodded, and he nodded. Yes, his theory was definitely correct.
Hermione turned back around. "What are we going to do?" she whispered to Ron.
"You're going to have to come up with something, I suppose," he said, and reached forward to grab a drumstick. He couldn't reach it, so he asked Hermione, "Can you get that please?"
"How could you?"
Hermione whipped her head around.
Ginny.
An angry Ginny.
"I'm guessing you saw that?" Hermione said.
"The whole thing," Ginny spat.
Ginny sat down angrily next to Hermione. "How could you, Hermione?"
"I had to, Ginny," Hermione said sadly.
Ginny laughed without humour. "What, you had to give him away to Romilda Vane?"
"I didn't give him away," Hermione said, rubbing her eyes. She was really tired. "Look, Gin, it's all a complicated story, and I—"
"You knew that I loved him," Ginny carried on in a fierce whisper. "Yet you still let him get off with that bitch!"
"Ginny, you're not letting me explain—"
"Save it, Hermione. I don't want to know." She got up and left. Hermione blinked. How had it all come back to her? How?
Ginny paced the grounds outside angrily. How dare Hermione do that to her? She saw Hermione urging Harry on. Who knows? Perhaps if Hermione hadn't said anything, Harry mightn't have gone off with Romilda Vane, and now they were who-knew-where doing who-knew-what.
Ginny was indeed bloody angry.
She spotted a figure heading back to the castle, and in the dark she couldn't really make the figure out. From the way the person walked, to his structure and hair, it looked like Harry ... which meant that the she-devil was somewhere near.
Ginny spun around, eager to have it out with Romilda.
Yet when she came into view, Ginny felt that same jolt in her body, and she found herself bowing her head. She heard Romilda approach. "Ah, Ginny," Romilda said.
Ginny lifted her head. She wanted so badly to say something mean, something cruel – something that would cause Romilda to feel double the pain that Ginny had gone through because of her. But of course, she couldn't say anything. The voice in her head was quiet, so Ginny too stayed quiet.
"Isn't it absolutely fantastic that Harry and I are a couple now?"
Ginny wanted to scream. She obeyed the voice in her head, "Yes."
"Life is so good," Romilda commented, taking out her mirror. Ginny observed her. ""Mirror, mirror, who's the most beautiful in Hogwarts?"
The mirror remained silent, and Romilda opened her mouth to repeat the question when it spoke, "Hermione Granger is the most beautiful."
Romilda let out a short laugh. She shook the mirror. "Perhaps this thing isn't working properly." She cleared her throat, and said in a louder voice, ""Mirror, mirror, who's the most beautiful in Hogwarts?"
"Hermione Granger is the most beautiful."
Romilda screamed. An actual scream. "This cannot be! My spell must have worn off!"
"But, Romilda, the mirror still speaks," Ginny commented, noting that the voice allowed her to say this.
"Argh!" Romilda yelled, throwing the mirror onto the grass. She turned to face Ginny, her eyes ablaze with fire. "You hate Granger, don't you?"
The voice told her to say yes. Ginny fought it. "N-yes."
"Don't be so confused, Ginny," Romilda spat. "Of course you hate her, for doing that to Harry. Aren't you in love with Harry?"
The voice was quiet. Ginny didn't say anything. Romilda was making it very difficult for her to tolerate. But she couldn't say anything.
"Get her expelled, Ginny. Get her far away from my sight."
"What?" Ginny asked, shocked.
Romilda regarded her, the fury still in her eyes. "If she's expelled, she'll be gone from the school, and I'll once again be the most beautiful at Hogwarts.
"Romilda, this is a very ridicu-brilliant plan," Ginny found herself saying. She couldn't even formulate the sentence properly. What was Romilda thinking?! What was driving her to say all of this?
All in the name of beauty.
"You're going to do it, Ginny," Romilda ordered.
Ginny inwardly refused. She couldn't do that to Hermione. As much as she was angry with Hermione, she still loved her. But there was some mysterious power over her that forced her to say, "Date. Place. Time."
A/N: Okay, so personally, I'm not a fan of this chapter, but I feel that it's completely necessary for the actually story. So I'm sorry if you guys didn't like it but thanks for all your reviews