Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters.
Author's Note: I hope everyone liked the first chapter of the story. This is an alternate universe piece so Hogwarts does not exist.
Personal Replies:
Alison: I'm not sure about the love triangle because I'll think about it.
chibi-ryo-akuinennn: I'm glad you like the story.
Carolyn: I hope this chapter will be more interesting for your tastes.
Chapter 2: Happy Birthday!
Hermione woke up under her silk sheets with a smile on her face. Today had arrived! She
was finally fourteen years old! Hermione got out of bed and walked across her room to observe
herself in the full length mirror. She saw a young girl with deep-set caramel eyes, curly auburn
hair, a slightly turned up nose, and full lush lips staring back at her. Hermione slightly frowned as
she realized nothing about her looks had changed since she aged a year. She was still the same
at a height of 5'6 and weight of 100 pounds. Hermione wished she could gain some weight to fill
out her figure but no matter how much she ate, she never managed to gain one ounce. Her
mother said it was because she had a fast metabolism.
Her frown turned deeper as her thoughts drifted to Draco. After he left that summer day,
she never heard from him again. For her eleventh, twelve, and thirteenth birthdays, she sent him
invitations to her birthday parties but he never came. He never responded to any of her letters
either. Hermione shrugged the thoughts away because she didn't want him ruining her day. She
glanced once more in the mirror before getting dressed.
The morning passed by quickly and was filled with phone calls and packages delivered to
her house from relatives in other cities. Her parents always took a vacation from work when
Hermione's birthday came around to organize her birthday party and order her cake.
When the doorbell rang at noon, Hermione knew her first party guest had arrived. She ran
out of her room and stopped in the middle of the stairs to see a cheerful Harry handing his coat
and a package to the butler. She grinned and ran down the rest of the way while yelling,
"Harry!"
Once she reached him, the two best friends hugged tightly. "Hermione, it's so good to see
you again! Harry spoke in his handsome British accent. Happy birthday!"
"It's good to see you too! You've changed so much this summer! Tell me, how was
England?" Hermione said cheerfully. She let go of Harry and looked him up and down to see
what had changed since she last saw him. He was very tan and grew a good four inches but the
friendly blue eyes and cute smile was still there.
"England was great. I visited all the tourist attractions including Buckingham Palace and
Westminster Abbey! It rained a lot during my stay so I had six colds during my vacation!" Harry
joked.
Hermione was so glad her best friend was there. She met Harry last year at school. They
were put next to each other in English class and the everyday hellos was the foundation of a
great friendship. They understood each other perfectly and went out on dates often but never
had any romantic feelings toward each other.
The doorbell rang again and again after that and a whole crowd of teenagers poured in
including Ron Weasley, another friend Hermione met through Harry. The party swung into
action and Hermione had tons of fun mingling with guests and opening her birthday presents.
At the end of the day, after everyone left, Hermione was sprawled out across her bed
dead tired. A knock came at the door and Hermione groaned before walking lazily to the door.
She came face to face with her mother.
"Hey sweetheart, did you have a good birthday party?"
"Yes Mom, thanks for organizing my party. Thank Dad for me too, will you?"
Her mom nodded before handing her an envelope.
"What's this?"
"It's a letter from Draco; it just arrived with the rest of the mail. About time that boy
contacted you."
Hermione froze after those words left her mother's mouth. Draco had sent her a letter?
Her mother gave her an expectant look before leaving. Hermione closed the door after her and
sat down on her bed in amazement, not sure what to think. Finally, she opened the envelope and
the contents spilled out. It included a pink and blue birthday card and something golden.
Hermione gently picked up the card and read the writing,
Hermione,
I hope you have a really great fourteenth birthday!
Love,
Draco
P.S. Inside the envelope is your present. I think you'll really like it.
Hermione picked up her present with trembling hands and stared in awe at the gold
bracelet in her hands. This must have cost him a fortune! She fell back on the bed with a huge
grin. This was definitely the best birthday ever!
Draco was bored out of his mind. He was in another one of his father's business meetingsthat ranted on and on about commercial advertising. Lucifer Malfoy stood at the front of the
room with a laser held in one hand pointing at the overhead projector.
Draco decided he had enough. Noticing that his father's back was turned, he immediately
got out of seat and rushed out the door. He walked out of the building and took a stroll
downtown. Life was great in San Francisco for Draco. He had an unlimited amount of girls,
friends, and money to last him a lifetime. Even at the age of fifteen, Draco could hold intelligent
conversations with grown-ups and had poise and confidence to match an adult's.
He looked up at the billboards and suddenly stopped because there, in front of his eyes
was a picture of Hermione Granger with the headline, "Beauty Queen Grows Up in the
Country."
Wow, he thought, she was incredibly beautiful. Her face was much more feminine now and
her body was very shapely but what Draco noticed most were her eyes and how they still held
the same look of happiness and warmth that reach deep into soul. Then he realized that today
was a birthday. For the past three years, Lucifer always checked Draco's mail and threw out
what he thought was junk, including all of Hermione's letters and birthday party invitations.
Draco would never forgive him for it and swore that when he grew up, he would make sure that
his father suffered.
Hermione was probably mad at Draco but what was he going to do to make it up to her?
Suddenly, he had an idea; he would send Hermione a birthday card and a present. He called a
taxi and rushed home. He wrote a fast card and took one of his mother's bracelets out of her
jewelry box and stuffed it in an envelope and asked the chauffeur to take it to the post office.
Once that was done, Draco rushed back to the meeting room hoping that his father hadn't
discovered that he left. He was just in time because he saw the meeting door room open and
men and women dressed in business suits start pouring out. He breathed out in relief but froze
when he saw his father walking over.
"Draco, where were you!" Lucifer angrily asked.
"I had to go to the restroom," Draco said, hoping that his white lie would work. It did as
he saw his father's face soften.
"Come one, let's go home." Lucifer took his son by the arm. They were going home.
Lucifer immediately went to the servants' lounge when he and Draco arrived home. He
was going to check whether Draco had been home earlier that day because he had the feeling
his son had lied to him about his whereabouts. The chauffeur informed him that Mr. Malfoy
came home around four and left fifteen minutes later but not before he handed the chauffeur a
letter to mail out. Lucifer was outraged when he heard the letter was mailed out already.
"Who was it addressed to?"
"I believe the letter was for a Ms. Hermione Granger."
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. He was not going to allow that girl to get near Draco. He knew
what he had to do. He was going to make sure that his son would never care about anyone else
in his entire life again.