Time of Your Life
Chapter Three: A Cinderella Story
By
Min
A/N: *grins evilly* I've been getting requests for
D/H… Well, I dunno… I've always been more H/H. And I *do* have a little
something in mind for Hermione and our favorite Slytherin… Romance? Well, not
exactly… Once again, Borgin, muchas gracias for beta-ing! This chapter is
dedicated to Dillon, who will (hopefully) never read this. Dillon, we love you, you lil' leprechaun!!! *blows him a kiss and
watches him run off in horror* Love ya, baby!
"It's the same all over.
Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere."
--Mr. Borgin, Chamber of Secrets
"When you lost all hope and
excuses
and the cheapskates and the
losers
Nothing's left to cling onto
You got to hold on to
yourself"
--Hold On, Greenday (are y'all seeing a pattern with my quotes?)
-------------------*]
"Er…" Draco, for once, was feeling very awkward. Hermione blushed bright red and looked away.
"Malfoy, I can honestly say that though I've contemplated several different ways you might spend your summer break, this certainly wasn't on my list. My, my – I don't think even Ron thought that you… er…" Hermione giggled.
Draco scowled. "You… weren't…" he stuttered. "Why are you
here, anyway? Who invited the mudblood over? Father won't like
this…"
Hermione's face fell. "Don't you… you… know?"
Draco hurriedly wiped the purple lipstick off. "Know what? Why aren't
you off making out with Potty or Weasel, anyway? Don't your parents have
anyplace to keep you for the summer, or do they hate having you around as much
as I do?"
The girl's wand clattered down the stone steps of the entrance.
Hermione gave Draco a scathing look, then lunged for his throat.
"DON'T-YOU-DARE-SAY-ANYTHING-ABOUT-MY-PARENTS-" Hermione pummeled
Draco. He got ready to fight back, when he noticed that Hermione stopped trying
to beat him up. She was sitting on threshold of the door… crying. She was
clutching a black envelope, which looked like…
"Grang - Hermione… Wait… What'd I say?" Draco's voice
softened. He sat down on the other edge of the entrance, as far away from
Hermione as possible. She thrust the envelope into his hands.
Draco read through the contents. "Oh, I'm sorry… I – I, I
didn't mean–"
Hermione wiped away her tears. "You didn't mean to mock my now dead
parents. You see here?" Hermione poked the letter. "They were killed by
Death Eaters. You-Know-Who, Malfoy…"
"…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Draco ran his fingers
through his still wet, clumpy hair. He couldn't believe he was being civil to
Granger.
"You're right. Though I never thought I'd see you apologizing, not
after the torture you've put me and Harry and Ron through these past five
years."
"Don't expect me to be nice to you just because your parents are
dead, Mudblood. I'm Draco Malfoy, not Potty or Weasel. I'm not here to give
you a shoulder to cry on, you got that?" Draco got up and brushed dirt off his
bathrobe. He looked back at Hermione, who had a rather strange look on her face.
"And don't you dare tell anyone about, you know," he motioned at the robe
and the smudged lipstick, "this. I can make your life living hell around here,
Granger."
Hermione looked shocked. She rubbed her puffy eyes, and gave Draco a cold
look. "I underestimated you, Malfoy. For a while there, I thought you were
human. My mistake."
"Oh, I'm human! More of a human than–"
"Draco! I see you've met Hermione!" Narcissa stepped out from
behind a statuette of Merlin. Draco stared at his mother.
"You-you-KNEW about this?" was all that he could manage to say.
"Knew?" laughed Narcissa. "Why, it was I who arranged it all,
really!" She gave a high-pitched giggle and hiccupped. Draco backed away.
Narcissa brushed back her blonde hair and finally noticed what Draco was
wearing. "Why, Draco, whatever is that? Pink? No, no dear… that really
doesn't go well with your delicate complexion!"
Draco slapped his forehead. Crap, he thought, she's drunk. Drunk! And
in front of Granger! Rita Skeeter would have a field day with this. He
could see the headlines already… "Lucius Malfoy's Son Crossdresser!" and
"Malfoy Loves Muggles?" and "Alcoholics in the Malfoy Manor!" and
perhaps even "Malfoy Molesting Muggleborn?"
His train of thought was interrupted by a rather loud sob coming from
Hermione. He looked in the direction of the gardens and hurriedly wiped away her
tears. A tall, gaunt figure, dressed in black was moving towards them.
"Bridget! Wonderful, wonderful!" Narcissa giggled drunkenly and sat
down on the steps in a rather unladylike fashion. Bridget was at the foot of the
stairs, giving both Hermione and Narcissa a stiff, disapproving glare. She put
on a fake looking thin smile and helped Narcissa up.
"Now, now, Madame… We must get all of you inside, you'll catch a
cold. Master Lucius wouldn't be pleased, would he now?" Bridget literally
dragged Narcissa inside as Mrs. Malfoy yelled to Draco:
"Draco, dear, do help Hermione with her trunk!" Draco glowered at
Hermione and heaved her trunk into the mansion. Hermione followed meekly,
gritting her teeth and wishing she was anywhere but here.
-------------------*]
"WHAT?
Hermione is – NO! – this is impossible! Evil! They'll kill her! Poison
her! Slit her throat while she's asleep, or feed her to Dementors!" Ron
banged his fist against the table. "Why wasn't I told? My best friend is in
the clutches of the Malfoys, and I'm the last one to find out?"
Mrs. Weasley
sighed and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by a loud
clattering
from the stairs. Harry bumped his head against the railing and rolled
down the last few steps. He rubbed his forehead, and walked to the kitchen
counter.
"What?
What'd I miss?" asked Harry. "And where's Hermione?"
"Second to
last to know, Ron. Second to last," whispered Mrs. Weasley as Harry looked at
everybody in confusion.
"But I
can't believe it! What stupid Ministry law allows those sorts of things to
happen?" Ron proceeded to stab his breakfast toast with his knife.
"Calm down!
Arthur will figure something out. Hermione won't have to be there for long,"
Molly Weasley said worriedly.
Harry groaned.
"Why don't I ever know anything? What's wrong with Hermione? What about
the Ministry?"
"Harry, the
Malfoys have got Hermione!" Ron yelled and shook Harry's shoulder. Harry
looked at him wide eyed.
"Ron, stop
kiddin' around. I'm too tired for these sorts of jokes. Where is Hermione,
really? I need help with my Charms essay…" Harry trailed off.
"It's true.
The death notice – that was her parents. It's a Ministry law, you see. If a
Muggle born witch's or wizard's parents are killed by something related to
magic, they are taken in by a wealthy Ministry family, at least until their
magical education is completed. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were killed in a Death
Eater attack in London." Mrs. Weasley wiped her eyes with a tissue.
"NO! This is - this is – impossible! Why didn't anybody tell me?"
Harry was having the same reaction as Ron.
"There's only one thing we can do," said Mrs. Weasley firmly.
"What?" asked Harry and Ron simultaneously.
"Wait and hope."
-------------------*]
"You are
comfortable here, I trust?" Bridget asked stiffly as she helped Hermione push
her trunk into a rather bare white room. There was a small twin size bed in the
corner, a round mirror, and a cheap looking picture on the wall of a vase of
flowers. A small writing table stood next to a dusty window, and there was a
bookcase full of titles like "Muggle Breeding in the Late 1800's" and
"Malfoys: 1200-1700". Hermione sighed.
"Yes, it's
very… nice," she mumbled and sat down on the bed stiffly. Bridget gave her
another scrutinizing look and walked out of the room, shutting the door loudly
behind her.
"Oh God!"
Hermione moaned as she banged her head against a heavily starched pillow.
Before, she couldn't stop crying loud, ungraceful sobs. Now all she could do
is shake and bury her face in the rough bed covers. The tears could no longer
flow freely down her cheeks; she felt as though she had cried them all out, and
now there was nothing left there, except a dull, beating ache in her heart.
And it felt
much worse than any physical pain she had ever experienced. This is what
Cinderella must have felt like, living with her evil stepmother, Hermione
thought. How ironic. At least Cinderella had her ball and her Prince. All
Hermione had was a trunk full of books and a broken heart.
-------------------*]
Dear Hermione,
Look… we're
very, very sorry about what happened. We didn't know that… you know… Your
parents were killed. Mrs. Weasley sent us away as soon as the telegram arrived.
We were going to ask you, but then you were gone, and we only just found out.
I hope the
Malfoys aren't being too cruel. Listen,
if they lay a finger on you, just owl us. Mr. Weasley will be over in a second,
to get you out of there. We're trying to let the Ministry allow you to stay
with us, at the Burrow.
Dad will stop by soon to bring you Crookshanks. He's been running wild
in the woods, we only just caught him.
Good luck. Don't let those pricks get you down, and we'll kill Malfoy
for you if he dares say anything.
Love,
Harry and Ron
-------------------*]
Lucius Malfoy
paced up and down the dark burgundy hallway. He glared at the small golden
plaque that had "Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic" engraved on it.
"Ah! Lucius!
So good to see you!" Cornelius Fudge smiled a big, toothy grin. Some said that
he could rival Gilderoy Lockhart for the whiteness and shininess of his teeth.
To tell the truth, the Colgate grin made most people wary and distrustful.
Lucius, on the other hand, simply found it amusing. He, for one, knew that those
pearly whites were about as real as Britney Spears's body. (A/N: Sorry.
Couldn't resist! Let's just say that Lucius knows more 'bout Muggles than
we think… And, to keep with the times, he watches the Mickey Mouse Club, too.
So there's more to him than we thought!).
"Hullo,
Cornelius," Lucius said sourly.
The Minister of
Magic slapped his shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Why, Lucius! Whatever's
wrong?" Malfoy sighed. Remind me again, he said to himself while rubbing his
temples, how this idiot ended up the Minister…
"What's
wrong, Cornelius?" Lucius muttered through clenched teeth. "You want to know
what's wrong?" The Minister nodded dumbly, backing away just the
slightest bit.
"THERE IS A
MUGGLE IN MY HOUSE! WITH MY WIFE AND CHILD! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN, AGAIN?"
Lucius exploded. Fudge fingered his wand nervously.
"Well…
uh… you see…" he cleared his throat. "Narcissa said that you were
perfectly okay with it, and after all, the poor thing's parents were
killed in a Death Eater attack, and you know how bloody often these things are
happening now. It was the least we could do to help the girl, and your wife
really wanted her over," Cornelius said all in one breath.
Lucius turned a
peculiar shade of pink, then red, then a rather painful looking maroon with a
tint of burgundy. "I DON'T CARE IF THEY WERE MAULED BY BLOODY DRAGONS! I
DON'T WANT THAT… MUGGLE LIVING UNDER MY ROOF!!!" Malfoy's blonde hair
was getting mussed and greasy. He was sweating, and, for once, his black silk
robes did not give him the advantage of looking superior.
The Minister of
Magic pressed a small red button near his desk. He tripped over a chair and
landed on a small black armchair in his office. He turned pale as he saw Malfoy
grip his wand and start moving slowly towards him.
The doors to
his office burst open, and three wizards in plain black robes surrounded Lucius.
They gently took him by the arms and attempted to lead him out of the door.
Lucius struggled and attempted to kick at one of them.
"YOU BLOODY
BASTARDS! Don't you know who I am? I'm Lucius Malfoy, damn it! I can have
your liver on a platter by Monday morning!!!" he screamed in a rage. One of
the black robed men nodded sympathetically.
"Sure ya
are," he said in a rather annoying American accent. He tipped his wand to
Fudge (who was now turning back to his normal color), and helped the other two
men "assist" Mr. Lucius Malfoy out of the Ministry Headquarters.
-------------------*]
Draco was
having by far the worst day of his summer. Even being in a stuffy and dusty room
full of gloomy old wizards for five hours was better than this. Not that, Draco
hurriedly added, his father was old or gloomy. Just a bit… imposing, that's
all.
Draco prayed to whatever god watched over spoiled little rich boys - please
don't let anybody find out about this.
-------------------*]
A/N: So this was all
cut a little short. I've been in a rut. Oh, and for anybody here that's
interested. I have discovered the new love of my life - Seamus Finnigan!
*growls* Mine! And don't any of you's forget it!
-Mina
