A Day In the Life – formerly titled The Lovely Story That Has Yet to be Named

By Lady Terayne

Chapter 1: A Muggle Introduction

            Another boring day in my life, thought Hermione Granger as she prepared for school. Let's see…Trigonometry homework: check; Chemistry: check; Advanced Honors English: got that; extra credit French VII: finished! Hermione was a star student at her school, but lately her grades had been dropping down from 110's to "mere" 100's, and Hermione didn't know why, It just seemed as if studying had lost its thrill, and she felt somewhat depressed. Well, maybe it was that she had very few friends; in fact, she knew only one person whom she could really call a "friend." Most other people just wanted someone to get answers or tutoring from.

            Hermione was known to some people at her school as the "genius-freak" because weird things sometimes happened when she was mad. One time when she was twelve, she had been at a classmate's birthday party. The bratty host had decided to mock Hermione's teeth, and she had suddenly found her own teeth to be a foot long. Two things happened as a result: Hermione got braces, but she was never again invited to a party.

            It was hard for her, but she'd always had her parents and her friend Sera to talk to. Now, though, that didn't seem to be enough and Sera was becoming more distant.

            Hermione was always an outgoing girl, but never at school. At home, she would never shut up, so when her father drove her to school one morning, he noted that she was uncharacteristically quiet.

            "Hermione, what's bothering you?"

            "Hmm? Oh, nothing, Dad…I'm just glad there are only two weeks left of school."

            "Yes, of course. Well, have a nice day, honey."

            "I'll try. See you this afternoon," Hermione replied.

***

            Hermione found it very difficult to stay awake in Chemistry that day, and that was a class she usually found fascinating. Finally, she did doze off, and failed to respond when the teacher called on her.

            "Hermione? Hermione Granger, wake up this instant! You'll not be snoozing in my class! Get up to the front of the room immediately!"

            This started the whole class snickering. You never wanted to be the target of a teacher's anger, but Mr. Jenkin's temper was the worst. No one in the class had ever seen perfect Hermione Granger in trouble before, and one boy even took out a camera to capture the moment.

            "Now, little Miss-I-can-sleep-in-Chemistry-and-pass-Granger, I've got news for you. I do NOT tolerate sleeping in my class, as you should well know by the examples I have made of others." He looked pointedly at several specific people in the classroom. "However, for your forgetfulness, I will not assign the routine detention. Instead, I'll teach you a lesson you're sure to remember: only ¾ credit on our next exam. Therefore, the highest you can receive on it is a 75%. I think that's fair…Don't you agree, class? Oh, and while you're up here, Miss Granger, make yourself useful and hand me those two beakers with the clear liquid."

            The class nodded emphatically in response to his question. Inside, Hermione was seething. How DARE he say that and expect her to do that for him! However, she did hand him the containers he specified.

            She was dismissed back to her seat, and class resumed. Mr. Jenkins continued to lecture on about all the information they would need for the upcoming end-of-year exam, no doubt the one she could only get a 75 on. It was incredibly unfair! Ooh, what Hermione wouldn't give for that beaker in his hand to explode in his face…and suddenly, it did. He looked stunned at the front of the room.

            "But…no! Impossible! Why, it was only…no! These chemicals could not possibly have that kind of reaction! It's just not possible!"

            Hermione had to work very hard to contain the grin that threatened to take over her face. She was sure it was none of her doing, after all, she handed him exact two beakers he had wanted. But then…weird things were always happening whenever she got mad.

The rest of the day progressed as normally as was possible. She sat alone at lunch, spoke to no one in her next two classes, and was very quiet as her father drove her home.

School went on, but finally came to an end. She finished up with all perfect grades, even in Chemistry. Summer had finally arrived!

***

            "C'mon, Hermione, into the office. We've got lots of things planned for today, and here's the first! You get your braces off!" announced a beaming Anna Granger as she led her fourteen-year-old daughter into the Granger's at-home dentistry office on a beautiful Saturday morning.

            How ever happy Mrs. Granger was, Hermione was ten times happier. First, she got her braces off, and then she and her mother were going shopping in London with Hermione's friend, Sera.

            Once the infernal things were off her teeth, Hermione, Sera, and Mrs. Granger left for London.

***

            Meanwhile, at the Burrow, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were discussing their plans for the day.

            "Say, Harry, have you been to Diagon Alley lately? I've heard some of the stores are having a discount, so Mum said it would be a good family trip…discount, you know? So, you want to come?" Ron asked.

            "Sure! Beats de-knoming the garden any day!"

            The whole Weasley family and Harry were soon gathered around the fireplace, ready to floo over to Diagon Alley..

***

            "Mom, would you mind if Sera and I headed to town this way, and you went the other? We can meet you back here in about six hours…" Hermione trailed off.

            Mrs. Granger bit her lip nervously. "Well, I guess so. You girls are old enough now that you don't need me breathing down your necks. Just—be careful. There are some real weirdos out there."

            "Don't worry, Mum! We'll be fine. See you in six hours!"

            After nearly two hours of nonstop shopping, both girls were a bit tired and very hungry.

            "Yes! First meal without braces, here I come! Sera, d'you see any good looking cafés around?"

            They both looked down the street, and Hermione finally spotted a dilapidated old building, practically in shambles.

            "Let's head over there! It looks like they've got good food."

            "Where? I don't see it!" Sera whined.

            "Right there! Come on, let's go!" Hermione said, pointing.

            "Umm…if you say so…but they'd better have bathrooms," Sera grumbled to herself.

            "The Leaky Cauldron," Hermione stated as she pushed the door open. "Wow, this must be a costume party going on! I wonder how we can join in," she whispered excitedly to Sera.

            Finally, they spotted an empty table in the back and sat down. After a few minutes, an oddly dressed young man approached, obviously a worker at what they could now identify as a bar.

            "Can I get you girls something?" he asked.

            "Could you tell me where the loo is?" Sera replied with a question of her own. She got directions, and headed off to relieve herself.

            "So, how long have you been here?" Hermione asked, referring to the bar.

            "Me? Well, I've been here ever since I got fired from my job as a dragon handler. 'not enough patience' they said. Ooh, I'll give them patience…"

            "Actually, I meant the bar, but whatever do you mean by "dragon handler?" Surely such things don't exist…"

            "We have enough trouble as it is keeping them away from Muggles, so I guess I can see you a young witch like yourself wouldn't know about them. I do wonder, though, what it must be coming to if Hogwarts can't even teach their students about dragons…Say, what year are you in? I graduated four years ago," he said proudly.

            Now, Hermione was thoroughly confused. Muggles? Witch? Hogwarts? Dragons? Even a girl as smart as herself had trouble processing so much information. So, she'd said the first thing that had come to mind:

            "What kind of food and drinks do you serve here?"

            "Eh? Food and drinks? Ohh, heh…well, we've got butterbeer to drink, of course," Sera came back right then, and she was still quite confused as well. "…and for eats, we're a pub, so this isn't the kind of place you'll be wanting to get a big meal at, but we have most of the good stuff: chocolate frogs, every flavor beans….so, what'll it be?"

            "Erm, how much would two "butterbeers" and two "chocolate frogs" cost?" asked Hermione, ever the practical one.

            "Comes to seven Galleons. Why, not got that much?"

            "No, I guess we need to…go to the bank or something," Sera said.

            "Thank you, though!" Hermione said as they stood up to leave. "There's just one more thing…could you help us out of here?"

            "Of course! Right this way!" He was leading them to the back of the bar, but they just shrugged and continued to follow their waiter.

            When they reached a blank wall, the waiter pulled out and odd little stick and tapped a sequence on the wall. Amazingly, the brick wall began to open!

            "Pleasure to help, girls. See you around!"

            Hermione had just enough time to yell, "Thanks again!" before the wall shut behind them.

            As they turned around, they finally took in what they were seeing. What was this place?

            "OK, I'm getting out of here!" Sera exclaimed, the proceeded to slam herself face-first into the wall that had closed behind them. "Ouch."

            "I guess we're stuck here! If you really want to leave, we could probably…Sera? Sera! Where'd you go?!"

            But Sera had left, and Hermione soon found her talking to two teenaged boys, probably asking for directions.

            "…out of here? We're hopelessly lost," Sera finished.

            Hermione cut in, "Well, could you first show us around? This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience!" I might as well learn as much from this as I can. "By the way, my name's Hermione Granger, and my friend is Sera Smith."

            The two boys looked at each other, then shrugged. One of them had very unruly black hair and glasses, and the other was a tall, freckled redhead. The redhead introduced himself as Ron Weasley and his friend as Harry Potter.

            Harry looked at first relieved when they had no reaction to his name other than to acknowledge it, but then he started to feel nervous. "You mean to tell me you've never been to Diagon Alley? How did you possibly get in?"

            "Well, the pub we came out of was one of the only places around that looked like it had food, so we stopped in. Then, trying to get out, I guess we stumbled out the back way…but this is very unusual, because this "Diagon Alley" is way too large to be hidden behind that bar. This is so confusing! Ooh, look, there's a bookstore!" Hermione exclaimed, and began to pull Sera towards the bookstore.

            However, Sera had other plans. The wall back to "civilization" had opened again, and Sera dashed through before it could close again, leaving Hermione stranded.

            "Erm…well, then…will you show me around?" Hermione asked.

            Harry was still dumbfounded. "You're a Muggle, and you still got in? Ron, go get your father. We need some Memory Charming done, I think."

            "I think not! I refuse to be "memory charmed!" You only have to ask me to keep this to myself, it's just Sera you need to worry about. Just what is a "Muggle," anyway?"

            "And I think you've learned enough--" Harry began, but was cut off mid-sentence by Hermione.

            "I have NEVER learned enough, and neither have you! As long as there is something here to learn, and I think there is, I plan on learning it. I hope you plan on teaching me."

            Harry appeared to have given up, and Ron looked happy to be "teaching" someone as smart-looking as Hermione appeared to be.

            "Well, if you plan on buying anything, Gringotts is the place to go for exchanging money. It's sort of our bank here in the wizarding world. As you just pointed out, there is Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore…" Ron continued to point out certain places as they passed on their way to Gringotts.

            Finally, Hermione got half of her money exchanged and was heading out the bank's doors to buy some wizarding souvenirs when she ran into someone.

            "Oh! Excuse me!" she exclaimed, looking up at a relatively tall boy who had astonishingly pale blond hair and cold steel-gray eyes.

            "Watch where you're going…hey, who are you?" The boy looked up, and saw Harry and Ron right behind this girl. "So you know the joined-at-the-hip boys? And I haven't seen you at school?"

            "Actually, I'm--"

            "Shut up! I'm onto you…well, Potter here's an orphan, and you're sure as hell no Weasley, so you can't just be a hidden squibb or something…Holy! You're a bloody Muggle? And you touched me? Please excuse me while I go cleanse myself of your filthy lack of magic! Rest assured that these clothes will be burned as soon as I get home! However, I am not surprised that you'd be hanging around with Mudblood lovers such as Potty and Weasel. Also, don't be surprised when the Ministry comes to charm this little episode out of your head!" He had a very triumphant sneer on his face as he turned to walk away.

            At this point, Hermione's Muggle blood was boiling. Who really cares that she wasn't magical? Hermione was glaring at the obnoxious boy's receding back, and suddenly icy-blond hair was suddenly solid ice, and it appeared that she had also saved him the trouble of disposing the clothes: they were on fire! Luckily for this snotty boy, he knew they charm to put out fire, but he didn't know how to transform his head of icicles back to normal hair. So, he did as expected: ran to his father.

            "I have a feeling that this isn't going to be pretty. Let's get out of here!" Seeing the looks on their faces, Hermione added, "What?"

            If Ron and Harry had had any doubts about liking this girl, they sure were friends now. How could they not be friends with someone who despised Malfoy? They responded at the same time.

            "You just humiliated Draco Malfoy!" said Ron ecstatically.

            "Are you sure you're not magical?" asked Harry.

            "Well, I don't--" Her face suddenly went white. "Oh! No! I just remembered…but, I'm sure this can't be connected! What did you say the name of your school was? I got this letter a few years ago…green ink, I believe, and I threw it away!"

            "Our school's called Hogwarts," Ron volunteered helpfully.

            "Yeah, that was it…" Hermione trailed off.

            Just then, Harry saw some Ministry officials a few blocks down, headed by no other than Lucius Malfoy, and they were headed their way.

            "Ron! Hermione! RUN!" Harry yelled.

            Such an eventful day this has turned out to be, thought Hermione as she ran. She had no idea of where to run to, so she followed Harry, who seem to have some clue as to where to go.

            They stopped at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Panting, but still free, they found a booth in the back of the nearly empty salon. Harry muttered a few charms quickly, and Ron was soon short and black-haired. Then, he turned to Hermione.

            "Corpulus," he said. Hermione, who had never been overweight, was now very obese. Another charm was placed on her, and she became a blond with enormous glasses.

            "Ron, change my look, and FAST. I estimate we've got just a few seconds before they come in…" Even as Harry spoke, he was transformed into a tall, very tan boy with long black hair. All three teenagers were virtually unrecognizable as they sat at a booth, waiting to see what would happen next. Just as the gang of Ministry officials walked in, Florean himself came over to take the trio's order.

            Each of them had the special of the day, a scoop of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Ice Cream. Hermione was rather insulted when Florean gave her an odd look when she ordered so little ice cream. They watched and laughed as Lucius Malfoy got mad at his son for taking them on a wild goose chase.

            "B-but father, I know it was Potter and Weasley! They were showing a Muggle around, and then the little ingrate froze my head and burnt my clothes!"

            "Shut up, boy! Now I'm the laughingstock of the whole magical community!" snarled Lucius.

            This "conversation" between father and son could be heard as the two left the parlor and continued down the street.

            Once they were sure the danger had passed, the trio paid for their treat and began changing back to their normal appearances. Soon, Ron and Harry were back to normal and only Hermione's weight had yet to be corrected.

            "Reversae Corpulus," Harry murmured.

            "Now then, children, don't you know that you shouldn't be practicing magic over the summer, even if you are here in Diagon Alley? If you're able to be doing magic, does that mean you don't have enough homework?" asked a very aged man with a long, white beard.       

            "Professor—wait, we can explain!" stuttered Harry.

            The old man patted a silvery cloak that was resting on his lap. "No need for that, Mr. Potter. I had planned on returning this lovely cloak to you via owl post, but as you're here, I'll just give it to you now. You seem to have left it at Hogwarts during one of your escapades before school let out." He then turned his attention to Hermione, "Miss, I don't believe we've met. You're Hermione Granger, and I'm the Headmaster at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore. Nice to make your acquaintance."

            "Yes…Professor, it's very nice to meet you. But how did you know my name?"

            "I have been following you the whole time! Now, just how did we miss you? I know you got the letter, why ever did you not come to Hogwarts?"

            "Truthfully, I thought it was a prank," Hermione admitted sheepishly, and then hesitated. Would her new friends think badly of her if she continued? She decided to risk it. "You see, I'm not exactly the most popular Muggle back where I currently go to school."

            "Miss Granger, you must be a witch if you've just now been exposed to magic and you're already referring to non-magical people as Muggles," said the Headmaster.

            Sudden realization dawned on Hermione. "What time is it? I feel like I've been here all day!"

            Dumbledore had the answer, "Four and one half hours have passed since you first entered the Leaky Cauldron."

            Hermione looked incredulously at Dumbledore. "How do you know this stuff?"

            But all he did was smile, and his eyes were twinkling brightly.

            "Is there anyway I can keep in touch with you guys? I hope--"

            Ron and Harry, having been silent for the past few minutes, suddenly had a lot to say.

            "Come to Hogwarts!" exclaimed Ron.

            "I'll buy you an owl!" offered Harry.

            "I will send you a school owl temporarily until we can get this sorted out. You'll be hearing from me shortly," said Dumbledore.

            Hermione picked up the small bag of Galleons that she had exchanged and turned around, headed for the exit to the Ice Cream Parlor when Dumbledore's voice again stopped her.

            "Oh, and Miss Granger? You needn't worry about the Ministry. I can easily have that taken care of."

            She grinned and finally went to find her mother.

A/N: yay! I got the chapter done! It's pretty long, too. I've already got the next one written, just have to find the time to type it up! Please review!