CHAPTER TWO: A COSMETICS CENTER
Special thanks to all those reviewers! I forgot to put a disclaimer! Gah!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything Harry Potter except some merchandise. I wish I owned D/Hr but I don't. The founder does. The Ministry of Magic would also be nice to own but unfortunately I don't own it. JK Rowling does, and the fate of my OTP rests in her hands, at least up to the last book.
waves to L&Lers
Never before did Draco have any real friends. Crabbe and Goyle were just dumb… well, followers. Pansy was a weird fangirl who eventually got tired of him and went for Blaise. And Millicent… well, she was always nice to him but they were never really close.
No, it was really Hermione. Hermione was the only one who ever understood him, and he felt as if he understood her as well.
Most people couldn't understand them. They only thought in black and white. Of course, they thought he was black and she was white. He was evil and she was good. Black and white, evil and good, vice and virtue, Draco and Hermione. That. Other people thought he was just a machine, a tool of his father's. They also thought Hermione was a machine, a road to passing the exams. A non-living, non-feeling, non-thinking machine.
Oh well, he thought. Let them think that. Sooner or later they'll be proved wrong anyway.
Hermione was happy. Forgotten as she was, she was soon going to be recognized again. The Christmas party idea was approved, and, thanks to their handsome and charming but quite informal Minister, it was to be casual. No gowns or tuxedos allowed.
She had an idea. She was not going to make herself beautiful. She wasn't going to be pretty, even. She was going to make an impact. Attract everyone with sheer simplicity. That always got people. Everyone would be so dressed up, seeing as they probably didn't even have a pair of denim jeans in their closets, she would stand out. After all, she was only twenty. She still looked good in denims.
Then maybe people wouldn't think that the people in Misuse of Muggle Artifacts were just there to fill space. They would think that she actually lived, breathed, thought and had feelings. Unlike some people back in school.
What about Draco? Part of her wondered. He deserves his standing-out time too. This calls for Parvati and Lavender.
"Good afternoon, Patil and Brown Wizarding Cosmetics Center." Padma's voice answered the phone they had recently installed. "Actually, make that Patil and Patil and Brown Wizarding Cosme-"
"Padma? It's Hermione."
"Hermione? Er…"
"Granger. Gryffindor. Bushy-haired girl who went around with Ron and Harry. Little miss know-it-all."
"Hermione! Now I remember! So, finally decided to get a new look?"
"No. I need lessons."
"On what?"
"How to stand out in a huge group of formal people. I've got everything, from artificial flowers to zebra-striped jeans."
"Why don't you come over here?"
"How much?"
"Free, unless you bring someone along. Then that'll cost only 15 Galleons for that person. You're absolutely free."
"Er, what about Draco Malfoy?"
"Who?
"Malfoy. Slytherin. Really scrawny guy with white-blond hair who you used to think was hot. Death Eater's son."
"Oh my gosh! MALFOY? GREAT! ABSOLUTELY FREE!"
"We'll be there in ten minutes."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Erk. Very fluffy chapter in my opinion. ( It'll be hard to make this angsty, but I love angst. Oh, and the thanks go to a) THE PEOPLE WHO LIKED CHAPTER ONE: THANK YOU SO MUCH! THAT WAS SO NICE OF YOU GUYS! b) THE PEOPLE WHO SAID MY STORY IS WEIRD AND DIDN'T GET A THING OUT OF IT: Thank you as well. I doubt you'll be reading my whole fic, but I have another one coming and you might like that. And I just realized how weird it actually is. I just got a bit of inspiration because I read about someone who forgot everyone he knew, and I thought it would be cool if everyone forgot someone they used to know. GREAT THANKS. )
And as for the L&Lers: Love you guys! I've been lurking around the ship for ages.