Title- Sweet Dreams
Author- Oo.DrAcOzAnJeL.oO
A/N- Hey everybody! Okay, this is my third attempt at a DM/HG romance fic and you know what they say, third time's a charm … so here it goes …
DISCLAIMER- I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters in this story … I only own the plot … =( … I also don't own those lines from Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' [ ACT 3, Scene 2 and ACT 4, Scene 1 ]. They, of course, belong to Shakespeare.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
If in my dreams was the only place that I could see you, then I would sleep forever …
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The soft wind blew the orange leaves around Hermione as she sat under a huge oak tree. The sun was shining brightly and occasionally, its rays managed to penetrate the leaves and branches of the tree so Hermione's hair rippled with sunlight and shadows. As she slowly turned the page and tilted her head sideways a bit, the sunlight caught her face and her skin glowed.
Her chocolate brown eyes scanned every page quickly and skillfully, as if she was born to read books as a profession. Her small nose was sprinkled with freckles and her wavy brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders. She smiled with content as she leaned her bony back against the hard, rough bark of the oak tree as she absorbed every word of 'Romeo and Juliet'.
'Now, nurse, what news? What hast thou there? the cords
That Romeo bid thee fetch?'
A gentle breeze ruffled the sort, green grass Hermione was sitting on and her hair softly blew out behind her, tangling and de-tangling themselves in the wind.
'Love give me strength! and strength shall help afford.'
Hermione sighed dreamily as she placed a bookmark to mark the page she had read up to and closed her eyes.
How wonderful would it be to fall in love! She had read about love so many times but she herself had never been in love.
I wonder what it's like, she thought to herself.
She supposed it would be a life of bliss, a chance to show the whole world that you were loved and appreciated. She sighed again as she opened her eyes and sat up straight. She would probably never fall in love and feel that sensation. She would grow up single and a virgin and would die single and a virgin. Turning old and shriveling up while watching her friends lead happy lives wasn't exactly Hermione's idea of a perfect future but, quoting from Ron, shit happens.
But then, maybe, her life would take an unexpected turn. Maybe she would grow up and marry, have lots of children and make an incredible magical discovery.
Stop dreaming already, Hermione's brain told herself.
Hermione stood up and looked down at her body. She was average-sized for a seventeen year old and didn't exactly look that old. One might mistaken her for a fifteen year old.
She glanced at her Gucci watch, a birthday present from her parents the previous year. Luckily, Dumbledore allowed watches. It was the only muggle 'contraption' able to be used in Hogwarts' Grounds.
Damn, she thought herself, I was suppose to meet Harry and Ron ten minutes ago.
She quickly brushed the dry bits of grass off her clothes and broke into a run towards the castle.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A pale haired boy strolled leisurely on the castle grounds, whistling to himself. His grey eyes were cold and intense, they revealed no emotion within. He stuffed his slender hand into his pockets and spotted a shady oak tree, it looked perfect for a nice nap. He headed over to the towering, old oak and slumped down on the - on something ... hard???
He jumped up and looked at the spot he had just sat on. A small, black, hardcover book was lying innocently on the soft grass, unaware that it had just had a good view of a very attractive young man's behind.
"What the?" he muttered, picking up the book and reading the title.
"Romeo and Juliet? What's that?"
It must not have been a magical book or he would've heard of it. He should know; his library back at home was big enough to fit in fifteen football fields and had enough room left over to fit an Olympic sized swimming pool.
Not that he knew what football was or what the Olympics were, it's just a description.
So anyways … back to the tree …
He flipped open the page and attempted to read some of the script.
"O Romeo, O Romeo, where for- art?"
Do muggles always write like this? he thought to himself.
He turned to the front of the book and on the first page, right under the title, was neatly scribbled 'Property of Hermione Granger'.
He smirked.
"Not anymore," he muttered, pocketing the book and heading back to the castle.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Hermione! Where have you been?" demanded Ron, looking cross and placing his hands on his hips.
Hermione stifled a giggle; he resembled her father in this current pose.
"Sorry, Ron, I was out reading and I just lost track of the time. Please forgive me," she pleaded, pretending to look sad.
"Fine, but only if you promise to hang out with me and Harry for the rest of the afternoon, we hardly do that anymore," he said gruffly.
"Alright, and Ron, it's 'Harry and I' not 'Me and Harry'," Hermione corrected him.
"Whatever," he muttered and turned his head to call Harry down from the boys' dormitories and into the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Harry! Oi, Harry! 'Mione's here!!!"
Hermione admired Ron from where she was standing. During the past few years, Ron had grown considerably. He was no longer tall and lanky, instead, he had a fit body and looked sturdy, unlike before. His red hair was no longer rough and short, it fell in neat, straight locks across his face. His freckles had blended to form an almost tan and his bright blue eyes added an extra plus to his blossomed looks.
A few minutes later, a disheveled Harry pounded down the stairs. He, too, had grown into his body. His body was also fit and muscled, from Quidditch, and his black hair was not as messy as before; although it was still a bit unmanageable, it never got out of hand like it did before and was soft and shiny. His emerald eyes shone from behind his glasses. His face, along with his arms, neck and legs were tanned a nice, healthy looking colour. Well, at least Hermione thought he was only tanned in those body parts; she had never seen anything more than that.
Hermione felt extremely childish compared to her two best friends; they had grown up and moved on to different things from what they liked when they were younger and Hermione was still the same, never-changing bookworm. One change in them, that was very noticeable, was their interest in girls.
Since they were both 'so hot' and 'ever so handsome' (at least that's what Hermione heard), they were officially amongst Hogwarts Most Eligible Men. Girls swooned over them, occasionally making Hermione feel unwanted whenever they planned double dates and etc. Hermione also had to admit (although very reluctantly), she did spot a few issues of 'PlayWizard' under Harry's bed during last Christmas.
"Hermione! There you are! We've waiting for ages!" exclaimed Harry, flashing her a knee-buckling smile.
Hermione had to confess, her best friends were considerably handsome and were expert flirters. She sighed to herself; sometimes they were too handsome for their own good.
"Yeah, I was just telling Ron, I got caught up in my reading," she explained to him.
Harry's smile did not waver as he heard this comment and he strode over to her, enveloping her in a big hug.
"Man, I missed you," he said.
She pulled away, looking a bit embarrassed and trying not to cough and splutter at Harry's immensely strong cologne.
"Harry, we last saw yesterday, remember?"
"Yeah, but things aren't the same without you," he said, grinning at her again. She couldn't help but grin back.
But somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought, How come you've got time for me now but whenever there are other, more prettier girls around, you just desert me?
"Alright, what do you guys wanna do today?" Ron asked, looking hopefully at the Wizard's Chess set.
"How about we just catch up with each other?" suggested Harry, "we hardly know what's going on with each other's lives anymore."
Hermione knew that was a lie; Harry and Ron knew each other's lives perfectly well, as if it was their own but they probably haven't the slightest clue what Hermione's been up to.
So the rest of the afternoon was spent walking along the Hogwart's Castle grounds, the setting sun casting their long shadows on the grassy plains, interlocking the three best friends' shadows.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As Hermione fell onto her bed, tired from the day's activities, she realized how far apart she was to Ron and Harry these days.
During the afternoon, they had talked and she had listened to each boy, consulting their problems as if they were her own. But whenever she said something, she couldn't help but notice that they looked uninterestedly away. They never shared those 'after lights' out' adventures anymore (well at least not any that she knew of) and occasionally, Harry and Ron would discuss 'men' topics that would excluded her from their conversations.
She sighed; perhaps it was just her but did having a lot of male friends actually slow down her process of puberty? Or was she simply not 'into' that stuff?
Lavender and Parvati were perfect examples of the opposites of Hermione.
Suddenly, an idea crept up on Hermione.
What if she, Hermione Rachel Granger, were to undergo a makeover that would make everyone notice her?
But would it renew your friendship with Harry and Ron?
That small voice objected to Hermione's spontaneous plan and she agreed silently with it; she would always be the person that she is right now and nothing could change it. She would just have to figure out a different way to repair her friendship with Harry and Ron.
So she settled back against her pillows on her bed and decided to read some Shakespeare; he usually got her in a thinking mood.
But after five turned over pillows, six opened and ransacked drawers and a flipped upside down trunk, she could not find her copy of Romeo and Juliet.
Lavender and Parvati entered the room to find a disgruntled Hermione on the floor, peering under her four poster bed.
"What's wrong, Hermione? Dropped your lip gloss down there?" asked Lavender, rushing over and bending over slowly as thought she might break in half.
"Oh, that happened to me once. But then Harry came and did that Accio spell thing and got it back for me. Such a sweetie," sighed Parvati dreamily.
Hermione looked at the black haired, brown eyed girl, wearing blue eye shadow and so much lip gloss that Hermione could swear that she could see her own reflection in them. As it was Sunday, Dumbledore allowed muggle clothes and Parvati was currently wearing a boob tube with 'Playboy Bunny' written across it, a very small mini skirt and platform sandals with a ton of jewelery.
"Why didn't you let me know," she asked, frowning slightly, "I would've gotten it faster and besides, it would've been more convenient if a girl did it."
"Oh, well, he was just … there, and wanted to help …" she trailed off, looking embarrassed.
Lavender giggled.
"'Varti's got a crush on him," she told Hermione.
Hermione looked skeptically at the amber eyed girl. Her hair was naturally red and she streaked it orange. Today, she was dressed in really tight hipster jeans with big flares that covered mot of her pointy-toed high heeled shoes, a yellow off-the-shoulder top that read 'Babe 69', pinky lip gloss that shimmered and shone, heavy mascara, blue eye shadow like Parvati and a ton of jewelery, also like Parvati.
Compared to them, Hermione felt very plain in her over-sized sweater and matching grey sweat pants with white running shoes. Her hair was down and although it wasn't bushy like before, it still wasn't as sleeky and smooth as Parvati's or as permy and fluffy as Lavander's. She wore no make-up, just a little bit of lip balm to protect her lips from drying and cracking.
"Well at least I don't like Ron," proclaimed Parvati, which ended in Lavender turning a bright shade of red.
Parvati perched herself on her bed and took off her platforms.
"They're killing me," she complained, wincing as she plopped them under her bed.
Lavender turned back to Hermione's bed.
"I can't see it," she said, looking under her bed until her eyes practically bulged out.
"I'm not looking for lip gloss," sighed Hermione, "I just lost a book and I was just checking if it was under there."
Lavender straightened up at once.
"A book? I went on my hands and knees for a book?" she spluttered getting up and sat on Parvati's bed.
"Oh well, guess I should've known," she said looking at Hermione, "I mean, you're not interested in that stuff yet, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not," grumbled Hermione, throwing herself onto her bed.
"Well, if you're bored, you can read some of my magazines," Parvati offered. She plopped a handful of magazines such as 'Funky Witch' and 'Glam'.
"Er … no, thanks," said Hermione, giving them back, "I'll be fine."
She lay on her bed and closed her eyes as the other two girls fell into conversations about God-knows-what.
Great, now I've lost the only source of inspiration I had.
She slowly retraced her steps in her mind and concluded that she must've left it under the big oak tree in the afternoon.
Oh well, nothing I can do about that. Guess I'll just have to hope that it's still there next morning when I go find it.
She yawned and drew the curtains around her bed, changed into her pj's and slipped under the covers. Her last conscious thought, before drifting off to sleep was, Why do Parvati and Lavender giggle so much?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N- Finally, done with the first chapter! I think it's pretty long for the beginning of a story, it really illustrates the kinds of people our original characters turned into and yeah, now that all the describing is out of the way, the story can commence [ HG/DM]. I'm sorry if there wasn't enough action this chapter, we'll see more of them together in the future chapters. I wrote this chapter out like five times, each more different than the last and I finally decided to just go with this one. I'm sorry if I somehow insulted anyone in this chapter. Remember they're just fictional and made up with my own imagination. And also, remember that I'm not British so I don't know what the weather is like in September, all I know is that it's autumn so I'm sorry if I got any details wrong. So did you like it or not? Tell me in your reviews !!!