Money Bought- chapter two
Author: Tigre
Rating: PG-13!
A/N: Thank you to the kind reviewers! Those who have motivated lazy ol' me definitely deserve kudos, in their figurative sense. (Meaning: You don't get the chocolate flavoured granola bars that are popular among the sugar high!) Okay…I'm done babbling. You all want to see what's to happen to Hermione, right? OF COURSE! WE ALL DO! To be honest, I really don't even know.
Dedication: For my friends. They know who they are, unless they have lost their identity. ^^
Disclaimer: If you ask J.K. Rowling's lawyers, they will probably be happy to tell you all about how these characters are not mine. They will also tell you something *hopefully* about the muggles lawsuit with N. K. Stouffer. *Go JKR! She is sooooo cool! Her birthday's a half a year away from mine, bet you didn't know that…but she is older than I am…a lot older…
***2 days later***
Monday morning rolled around, and the bet was all but forgotten. Hermione wasn't regretting the fact that she was flirting with disaster, but knew that if she failed she probably would never get a boyfriend.
In the two days, Hermione hadn't gotten any sort of list that she was promised. She began to contemplate about letting Lavender and Parvati map out her love life for her, but then again, they knew about boys from experience. The type of experience which almost never comes in handy in real life.
"Hermione, you still up for the bet?" Parvati asked her at breakfast. "Because if you are, I have The List." The last part of Parvati's speech was whispered. In a second, a piece of manila parchment was firmly placed in the palm of her hand. "You wouldn't want to be a chicken, now would you? Because, seriously, the first rule to getting a date is to NOT be a goody-two-shoes Gryffindor."
Hermione managed a slight smirk as she opened the note. If this bet did fail, she would have some major problems around school. Everyone would know that she was not "perfect", and, yet again, her squeaky-clean persona would be in the danger of being tarnished. One of these days, when she was actually Head Girl, she would have to try to be just as rebellious as everyone else- it sounded like a lot of fun. Ah, but who was to say that she was going to lose the bet? She would have to make sure that she won.
The vanilla-coloured letter was covered in Parvati Patil's trademark bright amethyst ink. Names of many of the…more interesting males of Hogwarts were scrawled over the paper. Draco Malfoy, Roger Davies, Blaise Zabini…they were all written down on the infamous record of "hot guys".
'Wonder what Mr. Ferret would say if he knew that a lot of 'measly' Gryffindors happened to think that he was the least bit attractive.' Hermione's thoughts were rather sardonic, but after looking at this list, she felt perfectly well like being a heartless brat. None of the guys on the "drop-dead gorgeous" register had even a sense of personality. The one thing that they had was cold, hard cash, and tons of it. Maybe it was the fact that all of the men had loads of galleons invested in famous wizarding wear that Parvati was attracted to these dementor-like souls. Either way, Hermione sure as heck didn't think that they were nearly as attractive as they were made out to be.
A high, valley girl-esque broke into the figurative pensive of Hermione's thoughts. "Okay," It commanded, "Now all you need to do is choose one of the guys from the list, and owl them. Notes really are a lot more effective in cases like these. It gives the object of flirtation time to think about going out with said flirt, instead of direct, on-the-spot asking out. If I were you, I'd choose Draco Malfoy. Then again, Blaise is probably the most like your type of man."
Hermione's very blood curdled. She knew Blaise, the one Slytherin who would dare to be at least remotely intelligent. It was probably because of his Egyptian-Greek good looks that he was on the list, not because of his brains. Or maybe it was because of his money. The Zabinis were nearly rolling in galleons, and if they decided to , could fill 3 swimming pools with the vast amounts of currency that they'd acquired. Either way, she found him very boring, and arrogant as heck. He was one of those people who, if they were strong enough, would throw a dagger your way.
She spoke up for herself, not letting her self-esteem be knocked down as easily as a chess piece. "I'll pick who I want, thanks. Trust me, when I owl the person, Parvati, you and Lavvie dearest will be the first to know." Besides Harry and Ron, of course, she thought to herself. The inner blondes didn't need to know that she was going to tell her best friends instead of the betters.
"You better be telling the truth, because if you aren't, you lose the bet. By the way, I really could change the rules at any time. We didn't pen them down, did we? Something is best legal when it's signed. Blood is best. Anyway, if you lie, you've got to pay us eighty galleons on the spot, for being a coward. That's Hufflepuff fare. The first makeover session is coming up really soon, and you've got to go. Seven o' clock, Saturday night. So that you could look nice for your date." Parvati shot back.
"Date? Saturday night? With…some unknown stranger? We never agreed to the first part, there."
"SO? You implied it yourself, Hermione. All's fair in love and war. Meet you Saturday."
Hermione stalked off moodily towards her first class, Potions. It was Double, with the Slytherins. A perfect opportunity to decide if she really would consider Draco for the blind date.
* * * *
"…Today we are having a chapter review over chapters 123-125, which you all read over the weekend. Tomorrow, we will be having a quiz. The only reason why I do these study guides is because that it's required. Trust me, it would be only so much easier if Professor Dumbledore and the Ministry let me fail everyone who deserves an F. That would be at least three quarters of the class. The bell curve is what is saving all of your necks." Professor Snape looked straight at Harry, Hermione, and Ron as he said his speech. .
The dull monotonous notes of Professor Snape's speech melted into a grey sort of oblivion. Hermione spent most of the class wondering about the bet. It wouldn't matter. Potions was something that she could easily pass without a scratch. She'd read the chapters three times each, she didn't have to pay attention.
'Look at him, Hermione. Draco Malfoy, the person you NEVER thought that you would be gazing at during Potions, let alone any other class. Admire the way that his light blond hair shades those gorgeous pewter eyes. The way that the slender fingers gracefully grip the peacock quill. The steadiness of his left hand as he writes. The way that the black robes that he is wearing contradict his pallor. Face it, Hermione. You already knew well before this morning with the list that Draco Malfoy would be your choice, No, you don't know why, but that's what you are going to figure out. He is an enigma. Until you find out who he really is, the female population of Hogwarts will always be misty-eyed over him. That wouldn't be good because girls would always be considered idiots.'
"…MISS GRANGER!" Snape roared, the sharp British accent reverberating against the stone walls of his dungeons. "What does a formula of Beeswax and a infusion of Ambrosia make? If you don't know, there will be an additional 10 points from Gryffindor, including the 15 I already marked you down because of your daydreaming!" Snape snapped, pacing at the front of the room.
Hermione was still Hermione, after all, and she knew the answer. She was no fool, of course she'd read the chapters. "A formula of Beeswax and an infusion of Ambrosia make a MindErase potion." She smirked as the many emotions flitted across the potions professor's face until he decided on a cold smirk.
* * * * * *
Later on, when all of the classes were done, Hermione decided to start on the letter. After double-checking her options, she had finally decided on Draco Malfoy. Contrary to his marks, he seemed very intelligent. So was Blaise, but Blaise would never talk about anything remotely interesting. Honestly, the man called weather fascinating!
She picked up a cerulean quill and cream-coloured parchment. Hermione found her rare sapphire ink, and began to write. If she was going to scribe a love letter, she might as well do this properly.
The letter read:
Dear Draco,
I don't know how to really phrase this, but I think I love you. You are by far the most interesting, enigmatic student at Hogwarts. Basically, I was wondering if you would like to go out with me or something like that. I know that we have gone against each other in the past, but we are older and mature now. I have seen that some things do get better-with time.
Sincerely,
Hermione Granger
Hermione peered down at the letter, admiring what she had wrote. She was happy with the note, until she got to the last line. "…Some things DO get BETTER IN TIME?" Hermione said out loud, appalled. Was she…flirting? Ugh, because if that one line was flirtatious, Hermione was likely to be very ill. She was also talking about Draco Malfoy, too, who made her cringe.
'Honestly though, where did all of this mush come from. Hermione, you're anti-romantic. When you see people slow dancing, you have to rush right away to the girl's bathroom, otherwise you'll puke. But, you wrote this love letter to someone that you loathe. Maybe this makes you a hypocrite.'
Slowly, Hermione walked down to the owl post, folded letter in hand. She had to mail the piece of sap. She wouldn't let Parvati and Lavender best her. Hermione picked out a great snowy owl to send to Draco. "I hope he likes it," she said with a sigh. Her mind flinched at such remarks. What had become of her lately? Or, more importantly, what was she going to become? Another hopeless girl? She certainly hoped not.
* * *
A/N: Whoo hoo! Chapter two is done! I promise that chapter three will be out sometime after Thanksgiving. It all depends if you review or not. *..* Thanks to: Angel, *hoped you liked this chapter*, Ankle *anime fanfics rule, okay? So does Hotaru.* Kiki *hope that this chapter was as cool as the last* , Ohimesama Shinigami *Princess Goddess Shinigami, right? Like I said, I know about anime! ^^;* The Strange One *You like my writing style? (squeaks) That's so totally awesome…* Myanda-*It's coming along, slowly but surely…* maxcat2564 *There is gonna be a lot more, I promise!* The Soul Innocence-*Of course this is going to be a great story! J/K! I think it will be though…* pretty babi- *Thank you!* Lily Shouk- *Well, believe it or not, Parvati and Lavender are based on some people I know…J * Draco's girl-*Lots more* anna- *I think that this was interesting* black coffee-*I'm planning for both of them to not really fall, but a love/hate relationship. Those rock.* draco's gurl- *We all like to dream about Draco in leather! But no, Draco isn't going to be a fluffy marshmallow. Mainly because fluffy marshmallows are a cliché by now. I personally like Draco more than Hermione…* Fro Potter- *Well, he's Tom Felton!* Lavender Gold-*We'd all like to think that Tom Felton was ours…* OVERALL I GOT 16 REVIEWS! If you liked this one, mosey on over to my other story, Eclipse! *..*
A/N2: Did you all like this chapter better? *Raises hand* ME! ME! I liked the whole Draco thing! Next chapter Draco is actually gonna get into the story! *..* Or, so I hope. Unless my mind decides to pull a spur of the moment thing…okay, people! I'm done babbling, so review! Any questions will be answered next chapter. Any comments, good or bad, will either be cherished, laughed at, or given to the Weasleys to warm their house in the winter. ^^!
Peace out, minna-chan!
~*Tigre*~
