Mismatched Love
Chapter 5, part one: Lucky
(A/N: Now the fun begins!! Hermione's encounter with Draco… Wonder what'll happen?? Read on!!)
Hermione tossed and turned as she lay in her four-poster bed. She sighed and propped herself up. It was already the fourth day of school, but surprisingly she couldn't seem to be able to get any sleep at night, every night after the first day.
Hermione looked around the dormitory, she was very tired and she knew it was beginning to show, starting with the dark circles under her eyes making her look like a panda however, she just couldn't get to sleep.
She tried everything imaginable but she couldn't get to sleep, everytime when she felt that she had finally fallen asleep, she would somehow awake. Feeling very tired, she tried closing her eyes again.
flashback
"Malfoy, look here as much as I hate it, but half our Potions grade depends on this bloody project and as deep as my disgust for you goes I still have to work with you, so meet me in the library at three. " Hermione said to a rather surprised Draco.
Seeing that he didn't respond at all, Hermione just walked away from the Gryffindor table and headed to her own table.
i Later at three… /i
Hermione grabbed her things and headed down to the library, she wanted to some research on her own before Draco arrived.
She dumped her book bag in one of the maroon sofas and proceeded to one of the bookshelves. She found one entitled, "The Magical and Many Uses of Herbs"
Satisfied, she headed back to the sofa, to find Draco already seated there with the same book in his hand. Feeling sick, she turned and walked back to find another book.
By the time she actually found one, Draco had left with a note stuck on her book bag.
i Had to leave for Quidditch practice left some of the notes I copied in your bag. Meet you here again at the same time tomorrow.
Draco /i
Hermione eyed her bag with instant disgust and proceeded to throw it away. She had plenty of book bags, it wouldn't matter if she threw away one.
The next day, she arrived later than expected as she was held back by Professor Flitwick.
Again, the same thing had happened, Draco had left for Quidditch practice and Hermione angry with herself left for the Slytherin Common Room, no longer in the mood to research.
On the third day, she arrived earlier than usual and was about to take down some notes when an owl swooped into the library and stood on the table top as it stretched out it's leg for Hermione to take the piece of parchment.
i Can't do research today. Busy.
Draco. /i
Hermione angrily crushed up the parchment and was about to scream when she suddenly remembered she was in the library. Composing herself, she placed the book back and went back to the Slytherin Common Room.
end flashback
"Well, project seems to be going smoothly, I know we'll definitely get it done… by the time I die!" Hermione angrily hissed.
She tossed and turned and before long, found herself singing the lyrics of a song she heard that summer when she had walked down to a muggle library.
This is a story about a girl named Lucky...
Early morning,
she wakes up
Knock, knock, knock
on the door
It's time for make up,
perfect smile
It's you they're all waiting for
They go...
"Isn't she lovely, this
Hollywood girl?"
And they say...
She's so lucky, she's a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her
lonely heart, thinking
If there's nothing missing
in my life
Then why do these tears come at
night?
Lost in an image (image),
in a dream
But no one there to
wake her up
And the world is spinning, and
she keeps on winning,
But tell me what happens when
it stops?
They go...
"Isn't she lovely, this
Hollywood girl?"
She's so lucky, she's a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her
lonely heart, thinking
If there's nothing missing
in my life
Then why do these tears come at
night?
"Best actress, and the
winner is...Lucky!"
"I'm Roger Johnson for Pop
News standing outside the
arena waiting for Lucky!"
"Oh, my God...here
she comes!"
Isn't she lucky, this
Hollywood girl?
She is so lucky, but why does
she cry?
If there is nothing missing in
her life
Why do tears come at night?
She's so lucky, she's a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her
lonely heart, thinking
If there's nothing missing
in my life
Then why do these tears come at
night?
Hermione as she sang, started to cry. She didn't know who sang it, but now thinking about the meaning of the lyrics, she somehow felt that was how her life was. People kept thinking that being a Granger, the Princess of Slytherin and the richest kid in school was lucky, but no one really knew what it was like to be her.
As she sang the first few lines of the song again, she cried even more.
Early morning,
she wakes up
Knock, knock, knock
on the door
It's time for make up,
perfect smile
It's you they're all waiting for
The lyrics were exactly what the people saw. Her parents wanted her to be perfect. So perfect that they didn't seem to realise that she was just a human being, a teenager in fact.
She recalled that day as she headed down to the muggle library.
Flashback
It was a really nice day and she was really happy, she had managed to escape from the house!!
Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the looming figure of the library ahead. She practically ran towards the doors and rushed in as the cool air of the library hit her cheeks.
She immediately sat down on one of the chairs and grabbed book, she had always loved to read but because she had been so busy she had only been reading her textbooks.
The book she had taken was a romance novel and she felt herself absorbed into the plot, it was nothing she had ever felt before and she soon found herself going back to that same library day after day to read.
It was a very happy time for her, she felt for the first time she was living the life of a regular teen and not as Hermione Granger, Princess of Slytherin.
Then, her father found out. He was not happy, to put it mildly. That night he had asked her to meet him in his study. When she had got there, her father was at his desk writing, he hardly looked up and just told her to sit.
"Hermione, how have you been doing at school? Don't answer that, as a Granger, you should know that you are required to always be the winner! Look at me, I'm a winner, your ancestors are winners! How do you expect to be living in this house if we, the Grangers weren't winners?!" Her father angrily said and seeing him in that state of mood again, she wisely kept her mouth shut and listened to his ramblings.
"So as a Granger like I said, you have to be a winner!!! So as a winner, you should be first in your year!! How come I then have news about a person who's first in the year and not you!! Worst of all, that person is a damn mudblood!!!! You are a Granger!! How can you lose to a mudblood, a mudblood of all people!!!" Hermione watched as her father now started to pace the room, his voice continuously rising in crescendo.
"I don't think you know the severity of things now, don't take for granted that just because we are well-off doesn't mean you can take things easy!! The Dark Lord is planning his return and I, as his faithful servant will serve him. You, however are a disgrace to the family name, losing to a mudblood! Academics are the easiest things to excel in and yet you can fail so miserably!! Do you know how much money I put in to paying those tuition teachers of yours!! I pay them so much money, money which I have to work bloody hard for, and you not only squander away the money, you also disgrace the family name by losing to a mudblood!!!" Hermione seethed inwardly as she watched her father screaming at her.
Her father then calmly walked back to his seat on the chair and pausing for a while, turn to face the fireplace. He muttered a spell and there was a crackling in the fireplace and the head of her teacher, Mr Flutesnoot, appeared in the flames.
"Good evening, Mr Flutesnoot, sorry to disturb you, I trust that you've had your dinner already?" Hermione watched quietly, how can her father so easily hide his anger.
"Yes, Mr Granger, it's nice to see you again. Good evening, Miss Granger, it's a pleasure to see you again." Mr Flutesnoot amicably replied.
"Mr Flutesnoot, I don't know if you've remembered, but I think I promised you a two month bonus if Hermione does well in her subjects at school."
At this, Flutesnoot's face seemed to brighten immensely and he said, "Yes sir, I remember."
"Good, however, I find that Hermione here is not performing up to par. She did not meet the requirements we had discussed about." At this, Hermione noticed a sudden change in her father's expression, but it quickly disappeared.
"On the contrary, Mr Granger I must say that your daughter is the most talented witch I've ever come across, to say that she met your requirements sir is belittling her. She has exceeded the requirements you've set!" Flutesnoot replied, beaming slightly.
"Well done then, I see that I've placed her in good hands. Here's the cheque for the bonus. Mr Flutesnoot, on another subject, you know that Hermione's NEWTS will be coming very soon, I'm hoping that you can further inspire her to excel more in her studies."
"Yes sir, I'll do my best, said Flutesnoot as he held the envelope in his mouth.
"Well done! Now about the next tuition, you'll be coming tomorrow right?" Hermione's heart started to pound furiously, she had been telling Mr Flutesnoot not to come!! She had been going down to the libraries!!
"No sir, apparently I heard from Miss Granger herself that she'll be busy." Flutesnoot replied, obviously unaware of the situation.
"Busy? With what?" Hermione watched as her father turned around and eyed her suspiciously.
"I've been busy father, I've been catching up... on my reading, at the library at home." Hermione said, hoping her father would accept it.
"Well, with your NEWTS coming soon, I don't think you'll require to catch up on your reading, you've been reading too much anyway." Hermione looked as her father glared at her slightly.
"Mr Granger, am I then to assume I'm coming tomorrow for tuition?" Flutesnoot asked.
"Of course! Hermione has nothing to do and will definitely be waiting for you. Thank you again and take care, Mr Flutesnoot. Good bye."
"Bye. Thank you sir." Flutesnoot's head then disappeared from the flames.
"You'll stop this fooling around if yours immediately, I had quite enough of it. Go to your room." Hermione cursed inwardly as she walked out of her father's study.
"I hate him." She said quietly as she trudged down the long hallway.
(A/N: I was really tempted to have Draco and Hermione meet up, but then I felt that I should let the readers know what the inner Hermione's like. Hoped you like it. This is my longest chapter so far!! BTW, if you don't know, the song is "Lucky" by Britney Spears. That's all for now, please review!!
Coming soon: Part 2 of this chapter, Hermione fed up with being unable to sleep takes a stroll…