Disclaimer: Sir, no, sir! I do not own Harry Potter! Although...I wish I owned him. He'd be all mine MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Warnings: Just people being stupid. You know how that is.
Author's Note: Hehe, lotsa reviews! I feel so loved! Thank you! Amanda: Thanks for the wishes on the finals. I hope I did ok...it stupid how we don't find out for another weeks. Ah! The tension! Oh well, it's a week off of school! RazzaR and Dangerkitteh13: Hm...how to put this? I guess the only way for you to find out about the whole Hermione/Harry/Ron thing is to keep reading and reviewing :D I'm so evil. But don't worry...I'm not that evil ;) Inandout: Wow, I never would have guessed that you were Lindy! But anyway, you're so very welcome about the underline thing, I felt so bad :( but I hope it made up for it :) I was hoping for that line to be an interest grabber, and I guess it is! It sounded a little cliché on me, but now I love it lol. ChilLinPNaY: What is Draco's problem? I never understood that in the books...anyway, I guess his problem is that he's hiding something from himself. Haha. How you hide something from yourself, I do not know...
Fit For A Queen
Hermione ran to her room and slammed the door behind her. She collapsed on the bed and looked up at the ceiling now letting the tears spill down her cheeks. She hated it, she truly did.
She wanted to be close to Draco and yet she didn't want to be near him sometimes. She had only slapped him once before. She slapped him defending Hagrid, who now didn't even speak to her. Now she slapped him for making her feel this way.
She felt like she was sick all the time. She had butterflies in her stomach when he was around. Her head was fuzzy when he touched her and her knees were weak when he kissed her. She hated it! She wanted to be stronger than this!
She rolled over and looked at her beside table. On it was a picture album. She pulled it out and stared at it for a moment. She never really looked at it a lot. She liked to relive the memories in her mind, not just from a photo. She turned the pages slowly looking at each picture for a long moment.
In the beginning of the book it was pictures of Harry, Ron, and her. She smiled at a picture taken their first year together on the Hogwarts Express. She was in the middle of Harry and Ron and hugging them both very tightly. None of them could stop smiling as people shuffled by. Sometimes passer-bys would stop and pose for the camera or wave. Hermione laughed out loud as Neville started to wave while walking and fell down. He never was the most graceful of people.
She turned the page and gasped forgetting she even had a picture like this. It was a picture of Harry and Ron again. Hermione was still in between them, only this was in their sixth year. About a month before Hermione was taken. She kept leaning over and kissing them each on the cheek. Ron would blush crimson and almost blend in with his hair. Harry would smile and laugh his bark-like laugh when she kissed him. Then Harry and Ron both leaned in and kissed Hermione on either cheek. She made a funny face and laughed each time they did it.
Hermione laughed when she gazed at them. That had only been a couple months ago and now...she frowned and turned the page.
Now the pictures changed to pictures of Hermione, Blaise, and Pansy. They would make funny poses for the camera like they were models. Pansy would do her runway walk and trip. Blaise would disappear from the picture laughing so hard that she was doubled over. Hermione would laugh and have to lean on the frame of the picture for support.
Hermione laughed and turned to page again. It was a picture that Draco had given her. It was a few nights after she had first kissed him. It was a picture of Hermione and Draco hugging playfully. Hermione would lean over and give Draco a nuggie (messing up his perfect hair, she mused) and then he would chase her around for a while. When he caught up to her he would kiss her as her 'punishment'.
Hermione's eyes sprang with new tears. They looked so perfect together. Hermione slammed the book shut and put it heavily back on the bedside table. She got up from her bed and started pacing around the room trying to clear her head.
So many things were happening in her life and she didn't like it! She knew someday soon she would have to face Voldemort again. She shivered at the thought. She barely survived the last attack by him and she wished she hadn't survived.
Sometimes she thought about how things would be different if she had just died. Harry and Ron would know the truth and be upset that she was gone. Or at least Hermione hoped they would be upset, the way they were acting now it was hard to tell if they would be upset at all. She imagined Harry being driven to attack Voldemort. There would be a huge fight and Harry would triumph over him.
She smiled at the thought of it. She didn't care about herself. She wanted to world to be happy. If she wasn't happy she was ok with that. She sighed as the door opened.
Parvati and Padama came waltzing in like they owned the whole castle. "Oh, just the person I wanted to see," said Parvati walking up to Hermione slowly.
Hermione looked at her quizzically. "What do you want---What in the hell do you think you're doing?"
Padama had opened Hermione's trunk and was shuffling through it throwing different items around. "We're just looking for something," Parvati explained joining her sister in searching.
"Stop it! What do you want?" Hermione yelled trying to shove them away from her trunk, but they wouldn't budge.
"Aha!" Padama exclaimed holding up a small notebook. Hermione's eyes widened as she realized that it was her diary.
"Give that back!" She screamed tackling her to the floor. Padama screamed and tried to get Hermione off her, but Hermione hung on trying to grab her diary. Parvati took the diary from Padama and flipped through the pages.
"Dear, dear, Hermione. You sure do write a lot in this thing. It's going to take me a while to read it all," she said glancing at the latest date.
Hermione couldn't move. She was frozen in her spot trying to understand why they would want her diary. The only conclusion was that they were more evil than she thought they were.
Parvati looked at Hermione for a moment and smiled. She stepped up to her and slapped her hard across the face. Hermione felt her nails go deep into her skin and knew that she was bleeding. Hermione brought her hand to her face trying to ease the pain. "I do not look like a wet dog!"
Padama hit Hermione hard in the shoulder. "If you said she looked like a wet dog, you said I did, bitch!"
Hermione couldn't understand it. Why were they doing this? She had never done anything to harm them! They smiled and left the room with Hermione's diary. Hermione looked at the door they had just walked out of and collapsed to the floor in a fatal position.
She didn't want to be bothered. She didn't want to chase after them to get her diary back. All she wanted was to lie down and forget all her worries.
As she lay on the floor a thought came to her and she smiled the most wicked smile she could conjure up. Actually, two thoughts came to her.
One, she had put a spell on her diary. No one could read the true meaning of it unless she wanted them to. Parvati had read the wet dog thing because Hermione could care less what she thought. But they wouldn't be able to read anything else.
Two, Hermione knew the best plan on getting them back...
LINE
The next day Hermione awoke before the sun did. She showered and snuck out to the astronomy tower to watch the sunrise.
The balcony had frost splattered here and there. Hermione's feet felt like ice when she first touched it through her thin socks. The trees in the forbidden forest were covered with white puffy snow. It looked like a post card. Nothing had been touched. The gray sunlight started to seep through the trees and the snow glistened like a diamond.
Hermione smiled. She loved the smell of winter; the way it reminded her of gingerbread cookies at her Grandmothers house. The snow cracked as the sun started beating down on it.
It was a beautiful sunrise. The sun was pink and purple in the east. In the west you could still see a trace of the full moon. In between the two large circles the trees and snow glistened and cracked.
Hermione saw a deer step out from the forbidden forest followed by her young fawns. She smiled to herself. The doe's eyes were wide with caution while her twins bounced around in the foot deep snow. The mother would occasionally shoot the young ones warning glances but would never act upon punishing them. Something cracked in the distance and the doe shot off her twins' right in tow.
Hermione watched their graceful leaps and bounds in the snow. They didn't send any snow flying and it seemed that they didn't even touch the ground as they went from place to place. The only way you could tell that they were even touching the ground was because of the tracks they left behind.
Hermione sighed and left the balcony to get breakfast. She was the only one there...or so she thought.
"Miss Hermione!" A voice screeched from a far corner. Hermione smiled recognizing the voice of Dobby.
"Dobby!""It's so good to see you miss," he said hugging her middle.
"Oh, Dobby, I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been?" She hugged him back politely.
"Great, miss! Dobby is grateful for Master Dumbledore. Dobby now gets paid two Knuts per week and buys his own clothes!"
Hermione smiled down at him. His big green eyes shone with happiness. They talked nonchalantly for a while. Then students started to file into the hall wanting a breakfast before heading to Hogsmeade.
"Dobby must be leaving now, miss," he said looking at Harry and Ron who had just entered the hall. Dobby smiled and waved to them. Ron looked appalled while Harry just nodded his head at his presence. Dobby frowned slightly. "Why isn't Miss Hermione with Master Harry and Wheezy?" he asked turning again to Hermione.
"Oh," Hermione thought. She didn't want to bring Dobby's high spirits down. "We just had a little fight that's all."
Dobby looked at her keenly. "Dobby hopes yous make up soon."
Hermione smiled. "Me too."
They said their goodbyes and Hermione walked out of the hall. Pansy and Blaise were just coming down the steps. "Hermione!" Pansy yelled walking up to her friend. "Oh, I can't wait until nine o'clock! We need to go shopping!"
Hermione smiled slightly. Pansy was always the primpiest girl in the year. She liked to have make up on and liked to be pampered. She wasn't a snob, just a person who liked to be...perfect. "Hermione what happened?" Blaise asked touching her face.
Hermione looked sheepishly down at the floor. "I uh...I just...Parvati just...got mad," she explained.
"That girl is the devil!" Said Blaise.
Hermione nodded. "We'll just have to teach her a lesson," she winked at Pansy. Pansy was great at pranks. She laughed and agreed that they would.
LINE
At nine o'clock people started filing out of the school to head toward Hogsmeade. Hermione walked between Pansy and Blaise. Pansy couldn't stop talking about the kind of dress that she wanted. Hermione and Blaise talked about who they would or wouldn't go with to the ball; Pansy didn't notice that they were ignoring her.
"What about...Jonathan Nott?" Hermione asked teasingly.
"That's so gross, Hermione!" Blaise said making a face. "His parents are one of the top death eaters! He says himself that he wants to fall in line with his history of death eaters. Yuck. No thank you!"
"Well said. What Creevy?" Hermione laughed.
"Who?"
"He's the kid that follows Potter around asking for pictures," Pansy said joining their conversation.
"Oh, no way! No Potter worshipers please!" Hermione smiled faintly.
"Hermione, would you go with Draco?" Pansy asked smiling.
Hermione blushed crimson. "W-what? I-I-I..."
Pansy laughed. "Aha! I found who you like!" She shouted with joy. Several people turned around to look at them interested in the latest gossip to pass around. Hermione blushed deeper.
"I don't like him--" she began.
"Yes, you do! It's obvious. I think he likes you too!" Blaise said smiling. "Aw, you guys make such a sweet couple. It's like Romeo and Juliet."
"You read muggle literature?" Hermione asked raising her eyebrows at her.
Blaise blushed. "Ok, so maybe I do. Do you have something to say about it?"
"No," Hermione smiled.
They had reached Hogsmeade in no time. Usually it was full of people, but today it seemed that the Hogwarts students were the only ones there. Hermione smiled liking the isolation. Blaise and Pansy lead Hermione to various shops before deciding they needed to go to the shop.
Hermione followed them down unfamiliar roads. She had never been this far into Hogsmeade before and didn't know what anything was. Harry had told her he had been down Knockturn Alley, but Hermione knew that this wasn't it. The shops in this part of town were fancy and beautifully made. Hermione knew right away that these shops were too expensive for her.
"Where are we?" She asked seeing a bakery that had the most delicious looking cakes in the window.
"It's Shooter Alley," Blaise said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Hermione nodded like she knew that all along.
They turned a corner and Hermione saw the biggest store she had ever seen in her life. It was made of beautiful reddish marble. It was three stories tall and expanded itself down the entire street. The windows were all frosted slightly and the doors had Christmas reefs on them. People shuffled out carrying big bags that said 'Marquiiz" on them.
"Marquiiz?" Hermione sounded it out slightly.
Pansy laughed. "It's Mark-ees," she said in a heavy French accent. "Some French guy made it. Come on! We need to find the perfect dress remember?"
Hermione walked up the stone steps afraid of somehow dirtying the sparkling clean building. They entered the store and Hermione gasped.
It was larger than she had imagined it. Salespeople were everywhere dressed in the finest of clothing. The men had fancy tuxedo like dress robes while the women had elegant dress robes on with sparkling jewelry. The clothes were separated by color. On the right was all the red, the left was all yellow. There were signs pointing to the different colors.
Hermione looked at the ceiling and saw a beautiful picture of angels and dragons in the sky. They were painted on the big dome. It must have taken the artist years to finish it. Pansy dragged her along to the different colors. Hermione didn't pay too much attention to the different dresses that Pansy and Blaise tried on. She was too stunned by the cost of them all.
Pansy found her dress right away. It was yellow. Hermione didn't like the color yellow too much, but this yellow was perfect for her. It was a very pale yellow and it went well with Pansy's jet black hair. It was just like a dress a princess would wear. It was long and swished out at the bottom. Hermione was reminded of Belle from The Beauty and the Beast. Pansy had the perfect hair style in mind and Hermione was sure that it would be dazzling.
Blaise took longer to find a dress. She didn't like the colors of most of the dresses saying that they were too depressing or too happy. Finally after an hour of searching she found something she liked. It was a red elegant looking dress. Pansy said that it looked like it was woven out of blood and fire mixed together. Hermione had to agree. It felt like water woven together. She was almost surprised when it didn't burn her when she touched it.
"Blaise is on fire!" Hermione had said when she came out of the dressing room. Blaise laughed and Pansy smiled.
"Now, all we have to do is find a dress for you, missy," she had said laughing at Hermione.
"No, you guys, I'm fine with the one that I have," Hermione protested.
"Hermione, the last time you wore that, it was the Yule ball in fourth year! You've grown out of it."
"Well, I can alter it," Hermione suggested.
"No, we're going to find one for you."
They searched. Hermione tried to object again but they wouldn't listen to her. Blaise led her over to the black colors. "Oh, no. Black is too depressing!" Pansy said. But Hermione had to disagree with her. She would have normally agreed but she saw a dress that caught her attention.
It was jet black and made of some of the finest silk. It was a strapless one that had criss-crossings all down the back. Hermione was usually appalled by such a dress but the way this one looked she liked. It wasn't just black. It shifted colors in the light. If you turned it to the way the light shone specks of red would appear. If you put it in the shadows it would be blue specks. So many colors were woven in. Everything about the dress just shimmered.
Hermione felt it and felt like she just wanted to curl up on it and fall asleep. It felt like a cloud; it was so soft. Pansy and Blaise urged her to try it on. Hermione gave in and tried it on. It fit perfectly.
"Hermione! That looks gorgeous!" Blaise gushed when she came out of the dressing room.
Hermione looked down and smiled. She did agree that it fit her perfectly. Almost like it was made for her. "But it costs so much," she said frowning.
"Consider it a Christmas present from Pansy and I then," Blaise said urging her to get it.
"But, it's too much for a gift!" Hermione said.
"Nothing's too much for you, Hermione," Blaise said hugging her. Hermione smiled and turned to Pansy.
"Do you hate it that much?" She asked. "You haven't said anything."
Pansy looked at her. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were slightly out of focus. She smiled and shut her mouth. "Hermione that dress is fit for a queen," she began. "And you look stunning in it."
Author's Note: Oh, no cliffhanger now! I hope it still sparked your interest though. Next chapter DUN DUN DUN! The Ball! I hope ya'll like that one! Anyway, thanks for all the lovely reviews and I have a favor to ask of you...
Can I please have 50 reviews? I'm at 42, it's only eight reviews! If you review, I'll use your name in an upcoming chapter! Just leave your name in the review and I'll use it I promise. You won't be bad either! Unless...you want to be. ;)
Please Review!!! 50 remember?