A Twist Of Time

by blackxhole21

When Dumbledore discovers that Hogwarts' only chance of uniting rests with the unlikely chance of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy falling in love, he realizes this may be his one chance to save his students. So he sends them back in time...together.

4. Notes

CHAPTER THREE: NOTES

PRINCESS MYA GRANGER

HOME OF KING CHARLES

The next morning I woke at a knock on my door.

"Who be at my door?" I asked, trying to sound as awake as possible.

"It is Rosalie, my lady," Rosalie's voice answered.

"Enter," I allowed sleepily, and the door opened to reveal Rosalie's bright eyes and rosy cheeks as she poked her head into the room.

She bustled around the room, pulling out my outfit for the day, replacing the book I'd started reading on it's shelf, and finally throwing open the curtains, proclaiming, "It's a beautiful day, you know." She peered out the window, a puzzled look on her normally cheerful face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up in bed and attempting to tame my hair somewhat so that I didn't look like a space creature.

"Nothing, my lady, it's just you left something on the balcony," she replied, sliding the glass doors open and stepping outside to retrieve whatever it was.

My brows furrowed. I hadn't brought anything outside with me last night. But Rosalie came back inside with a roll of parchment, tied with a green ribbon, and a single white rose---my favorite flower.

"It would appear, my lady," Rosalie said, smiling as she brought the flower and parchment to me, "That one of your admirers took the trouble of climbing the castle wall to get this to you."

"But who?" I asked, taking the parchment from her as she put the rose in a slender vase. But my question was answered when I saw the initials DM on the outside of the parchment. I slid the ribbon off and opened the scroll. It read:

My Dear Princess Mya:

In the event that this should be read by someone other than yourself, I'll not introduce myself. You know my name already. I was merely wondering if you might consider a truce while we are...in our current situation, shall I say? I was also wondering if you'd like to meet with me before the next ball; of course, that's assuming there is a next one. I'd like to see you, as I'm very curious about the coming (or not coming...?) ball, and I have a few questions I'd like to ask you--that is, if you are able to get away from your many admirers.

Well, in any case, my lady, please leave your response on the balcony railing and I shall pick it up tonight.

Until next time,

DM

Surprised, I asked Rosalie---who was currently ironing the outfit that I was to wear that day---if I had any parchment and ink.

"Of course, my lady," she said, putting down the iron. "Let me fetch it for you."

"No, no," I replied kindly, getting out of bed. "Just tell me where it is."

"On your writing-table, my lady," she replied, and I crossed the room to the old rolltop writing table. I slid the top open and sat down, pulling a piece of parchment towards me and opening an inkwell. Thinking for a moment, I wrote:

Dear Sir Draco:

A proposal for a truce...now there's something I never thought I'd see from you. Well, thank you very much for the offer--and I'll accept; if not only because I believe I am the first you have offered this opportunity to. And now I have an offer for you: I'll tell you all about the next ball--every detail I can get about it--if you'll tell me how that note got onto my balcony. Unless I'm much mistaken, you'd practically need rock-climbing equipment to scale that wall, and so far as I know, they haven't even invented that yet. I'm deadly curious, because I can't think for the life of me how you did it; so if you'll tell me how that note managed to get onto my balcony, I'll tell you everything I know about the ball. Do we have a deal?

Yours Truly,

HG

When Rosalie left, telling me I should get dressed and meet my sisters in the dining hall, I rolled up the note I'd written. I tied it with a smoke-grey ribbon, then went on the balcony and set it on the railing. I looked around, half-expecting Malfoy to show up looking for his response already, then went back inside. I changed into the underdress, then the corset. Then I picked up the dress Rosalie had ironed for me---a plain brown calico dress that I supposed was everyday wear---and put that on too.

Luckily, I'd passed the dining hall on the way to the ballroom the night before, so I located it easily and saw Annamaria sitting at the end of the table---a table that would have seated about fifty. I crossed the room and sat across from her.

"Good morning to you," Annamaria said, looking up from the toast she'd been spreading jam on.

"And to you," I replied politely as a butler placed a plate of food in front of me. "How are you this morning?"

"Wonderful, thank you," she replied, smiling. "It's a lovely day, and we've got horseback riding this afternoon."

I smiled back. "I'd forgotten," I realized, remembering the daily schedule Rosalie left by my bed every morning. Today's had said Breakfast for an hour, then Ball Planning for a few more, then an hour and a half for lunch. After lunch came Horseback Riding for an hour, an hour and a half had been dedicated to Dress Fittings, and then we had dinner.

I was thrilled about the horseback riding---I'd been riding horses since I was six.

Just then, Elizabeth breezed in, seating herself next to Annamaria. "Morning, all," she said carelessly, snapping to the butler to bring her food. "Dreadful afternoon planned for us today, did you see the schedule? Horseback riding...I do hope they'll allow us to sidesaddle, I can't imagine riding like a man while we're wearing dresses...why does Father insist on us riding the terrible beasts?"

Annamaria merely raised her eyebrows and said calmly, "Elizabeth, I think you're just frightened of them. Mya and I have been riding since we were small, and nothing has ever happened to us. You've only been a few times. I know you've only been once, but you'll love it, I promise."

Elizabeth let out a laugh that closely resembled a snort. "Love it? They'll bite you as soon as look at you, horses will..."

"That's not true," I replied, surprised and not enchanted with her attitude. She seemed so...high-and-mighty, and far too girly for my tastes.

She turned her bright blue eyes on me. "What?" she asked quietly, but her voice was irritated, as if she couldn't believe I'd contradicted her.

"Horses are lovely creatures, Elizabeth," I replied. "They're a lot of work---taking care of one, anyway---but they're the kindest things in the world. Unless you make one angry, of course, but what creature won't defend itself when provoked? They're lovely animals. And what's wrong with riding astride a horse? Sidesaddle hardly counts as real horse-riding, in any case; it's not as if you can go very fast."

"Fast?" Elizabeth replied, flabbergasted. "What on earth would possess you to go fast on a horse? Get them more out of control until they throw you off their backs, that's all that will happen if you try. Horses have killed people!"

I laughed. "So have humans," I replied.

"What?"

"You said horses have killed people. That's hardly a valid argument, my dear sister, considering the number of people who have died at the hands of not creatures, but other people. The number of murders committed, whether in war or otherwise, far exceeds the number of people who have been killed by animals," I pointed out.

"Well, forget about that for a moment. How are we expected to ride a horse in a dress?" Elizabeth asked.

I laughed. "You can't," I replied. "Well, it's possible, I suppose, but not without your dress either riding up your thighs or ripping down the middle. We'll wear trousers, as we always do."

"Trousers?" Elizabeth asked incredulously. "You can't be serious. I never wear trousers. You'll look like men!"

"Who cares?" I asked bluntly.

"I do!" she shouted. "I'm going to find Father and put a stop to this nonsense straightaway!" She snorted. "Trousers! Honestly!" And with that, she stormed out of the dining hall.

Annamaria calmly took a sip of orange juice and said sarcastically, "She took that well."

"Yes," I agreed, rolling my eyes. "Sometimes I think she's the youngest."

Annamaria nodded. "Yes, well," she replied. "It is her first time really riding a horse, while we've been riding them since we were small. She's got her own horse, yet she's never ridden it since she fell off that first time. I don't think she likes knowing that we know how to do something she doesn't."

"You're probably right," I agreed. "Well, it's nearly time for the ball planning to begin. Do you know where that's happening?"

Annamaria nodded. "The front hall, Rosalie said. Shall we go?"

"Sure," I replied, and we both went out into the hall, where several small round tables had been set up, each with some of the staff sitting at them. All were working hard.

"Mary," Annamaria asked a staff member who was walking by with an armful of crafts stuff---ribbons, paint, calligraphy pens and the like, "How can we help?"

Mary looked pleased and pointed to a table. "My lady Mya, you can assist with the decorations, and my lady Annamaria, you can help with the design and writing of the invitations. But I've got to get all these things to that table," she said, gesturing to another table, "and then I've got to get back to the fabrics room, because we've not even picked the color for your dresses as of yet, and we've got only three days left. I must go," she added, and hurried off to drop off the materials.

The morning passed by quickly, mainly because there was so much to do. Then we had lunch, and afterwards Annamaria and I changed into tall boots and trousers in order to go to our horseback riding lesson. Elizabeth hadn't shown up, so we left for the stables without her.

To our surprise, she was there at the stables waiting for us---in a dress. A fancy dress, at that---it looked like she was going to a ball. A pale green silk dress, strappy heels in black, elbow gloves of the same material as the dress, and a black shawl. She sat atop a white horse, with a saddle made specifically for side saddling. Jack, the stable boy, held the bridle of her horse.

"I," she proclaimed in that high-and-mighty voice I was beginning to detest, "will ride like a lady, and I'll have none of this foolishness about trousers."

Annamaria shrugged and began attaching a bridle to her horse. "So be it, then, I suppose," she said, and Elizabeth held her head high.

"Lead me over there, if you will, Jack," she said bossily, and Jack led the horse into the paddock.

Annamaria watched in disdain. "If she thinks she's going to ride a horse in that outfit and not get dirty, she's going to learn really fast that she doesn't like horses."

"Amen," I agreed, laughing as I saddled the other horse. I suddenly realized I didn't know my horse's name.

"Annamaria," I said, confused.

"Yes?" she asked, adjusting her horses saddle.

"You remember the morning of the Masquerade Ball, I fell and hit my head? And I said my memory was off for a bit?"

"Yes," she replied, straightening to fix me with a worried gaze.

"Well, occasionally I'll forget something," I admitted, "And won't remember until later, when I don't need to remember anymore."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you all right? What have you forgotten?"

"No, I'm fine, I just can't remember my horse's name."

Annamaria laughed. "Well, you wouldn't, Mya. That's not your memory; she doesn't have one. None of the horses do."

"Why not?" I asked.

Annamaria shrugged and mounted her horse. "I never thought to name him."

I turned to look at my horse, a huge chestnut-colored mare with a white spot on her head.

"Her name is Perle Noire, or Perle for short," I decided, swinging my leg over the saddle and seating myself on the horse's back. With that, we both began riding the horses around the paddock.

"How do you know French? Oh," she added, apparently remembering something as we galloped around the edge of the paddock, near the fence. "I keep forgetting it was your first language. You're still fluent?"

"Yes," I replied, thankful I truly was.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"Black Pearl, or Pearl for short," I replied, still surprised that in this world also, French had been my first language. There were startling similarities between this time and the one I'd left behind.

"How pretty," Annamaria commented. "What should I name him?" she asked, looking at the horse she was riding---a black stallion with a white spot on his head, shaped like a star. We slowed to a canter, then a trot, and finally a slow walk.

"Well, there's a lot of things you can name a black horse. You want them in French or English?" I asked.

"Ooh, French, if you can," Annamaria replied.

"All right, I'll throw them out there and you tell me if you like them or not," I told her.

"Okay," she agreed.

"Minuit," I said. "Midnight in English."

Annamaria looked at her horse and tried to fit the name to him. She shook her head.

"Okay," I said. "Bandit," I tried. Though the words were identical, in French it was pronounced "bahn-DEE". I translated it for Annamaria, and she shook her head.

"Soir Noir," I said, then realized it rhymed. "Oh, never mind, that's a terrible one," I said, smiling.

"What did it mean?"

"Black Night," I replied. "How about Aube? It means dawn or daybreak."

"I like dawn, but not Aube," Annamaria admitted.

"How about Lumiere du jour? It means Light of Day."

"Too long," Annamaria decided.

"Hmm...ooh, I've got a good one," I decided. I looked at her horse, then back at Annamaria, a smile on my face. "Etoiles," I said, then translated: "Starlight."

She smiled at me. "I like that. Etoiles. Very pretty. Oh," Annamaria added, seeing Louis leading both an irate Elizabeth and one very pissed-off horse into the stable, "I think we've got to head back to the castle and get cleaned up for lunch."

"All right," I agreed, and we both headed back toward the castle. "What have we got after lunch?"

"Dress fittings, I believe," she replied. "That ought to be quite boring."

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, I forgot; you spent as little time in there as possible at the last fittings. The head seamstress nearly tucked the waist of your Masquerade dress too far, because you kept leaving. She'll not let you leave this time, she swore it. Really, all the fittings are is standing on a pedestal with a massive piece of cloth hanging off you while they nip and tuck everywhere and pin things together."

"So we get to see what our next ball dresses will look like?"

"Oh, no," Annamaria said, shaking her head as we walked back to the castle. "No, they really only make the design of the dress. They'll never let us see our dresses before the day we wear them. They have us try them on once they're finished, of course, in case they need to adjust them, but you've got to keep your eyes closed for that bit. It's bad luck to see your ball gown before the ball, you know that."

Annamaria and I split up at the top of the stairs to go back to our rooms. I bathed quickly, getting all the dirt and grime out of my hair and off of my skin, then changed into an underdress before realizing I didn't know what I was supposed to wear. I went to my bedroom door and called, "Rosalie?"

She appeared at the end of the hall and came to my door. "Yes, my lady? What is it?"

"I'm sorry, Rosalie, but I can't seem to remember what I'm meant to wear to lunch and the dress fittings."

She smiled. "Well, of course you don't, my lady. It is the servants' job to dress you for all occasions. If I may enter, my lady?"

"Oh," I said. "Yes, please, come in."

Rosalie went to the closet and got out the dreaded corset. "Put this on while I choose your dress, my lady, and I'll pull the strings for you in a minute."

I obediently pulled the corset over my shoulders, adjusted it so that it fit well, and allowed Rosalie to tighten it.

"Now, my lady, I will go get some hair things while you put on your dress," Rosalie said, gesturing to a blue calico dress she'd picked out. With that, she left, closing the door behind her. I'd always been able to change quickly, and I put the dress on as fast as I could---though I couldn't reach the buttons in back. I went out on the balcony to find a note (the initials DM clearly visible) with another white rose. Smiling, I brought the note back inside and added the rose to the vase with the first one.

The note was short and to the point:

My lady,

If you wish to see me, meet me tonight in the caves at the foot of the mountains. I know you've walked there; I assume you'll recall the largest cave's location? If you can, tie a grey ribbon on the balcony railing and meet me there at midnight; if you can't come, tie a red ribbon to the balcony railing and I'll know to go home.

Until then, Princess.

DM

He was right; I had walked by the caves at the foot of the nearby mountains. I knew the cave he spoke of; it was secluded, and by no means large; there was hardly enough room to stand. But as it was the largest one, so I decided to go. I took a grey ribbon, went outside, and tied it to the railing; when I went inside, it was to hear Rosalie's knock.

"Are you finished, my lady?" I heard her ask.

"I am," I replied, closing the roll-top desk hurriedly. "But I'm afraid I can't reach the buttons."

Rosalie entered the room and set some hairstyling things down in the bathroom. Then she came and helped me with the buttons before she fixed my hair, taming it and pulling it into large blue combs with elaborate white lace attached.

"You are all set, my lady," she told me.

"Thank you, Rosalie," I replied, and left for lunch.

Lunch was awful. Annamaria and I were getting on well until Elizabeth came storming in, muttering about "dumb beasts" who had "mucked up my favorite dress," and so on. I resisted the urge to say, "I told you so," and Annamaria and I ate in silence.

From lunch, we went to dress fittings. We ended up taking off our dresses and standing on pedestal in our underdresses and corsets. The rest of the day dragged on. Because we weren't allowed to view the actual dress or material, they used starched white cloth that looked like it was the same material as hospital gowns were made of. So we stood on pedestal, with massive amounts of starched white cloth hanging off of us, as six or seven seamstresses pinned, unpinned, adjusted, tucked, and measured the material as they designed the dresses. It took over two hours---longer than expected. I got to move only once---
apparently there was a train of sorts on my dress, because they asked me to step off the pedestal and walk once around the room so that they could see how it moved. And then I stood on the pedestal for another half an hour, being touched and prodded and poked and asked to stand about nineteen different ways, until they said we could go.

I went back to my room and put the dress that Rosalie had picked out on for dinner.

Dinner was remarkably pleasant---mainly, I suspected, because Elizabeth wasn't in the room for a good portion of it. She came in, ate a salad, then claimed to have caught "a terrible cold from those dreadful beasts" and went back to her room to lie down.

"I think she's taking the horse thing a bit too far," Annamaria admitted to us.

"She just doesn't like the animals, that's all," Father replied, helping himself to more food.

"Yes, Father, but she wore a ball gown to go horseback riding, after we told her that she should wear tall boots and trousers. Father, she was more concerned with looking good than practicality."

"Yes, Annamaria," Father replied. "But propriety is very important. One day you two will realize that."

"But Father, the paddock is fenced in!" I protested. "No one sees us when we ride."

"And we do understand propriety," Annamaria insisted, "it's only that it isn't very important to us."

Father regarded us fondly, though he wore an exasperated expression. "Maybe it should be," he replied simply. "You must realize that whatever you might think of propriety, it is important. It determines your social standing."

"We're Princesses!" I burst out. "What more do we need?"

He looked at me sternly. "You, Hermione, will be Queen one day. I would wish for you to be more concerned with propriety than you currently are. This lack of caring disturbs me."

"It's not a 'lack of caring,' " I objected. "I'm merely pointing out that whoever I end up marrying should love me for who I am, and not because I'm the eldest daughter of King Charles."

Annamaria laughed. "It would be nice, I agree, but you'll never find a decent man like that."

"I'll tell you what, Annamaria," I told her. "I'll find a man like that, just to prove you wrong."

Annamaria smiled. "If you can find a man like that and you don't want him, I'll take him," she told me, starting to laugh. Father also began chuckling, his big belly shaking.

"Sure, Annamaria," I replied, laughing as well. "I'll put him in a box with masses of ribbons on it and hand him over to be your husband, all right?"

"Thank you," she answered, grinning. "You've spared me the trouble of finding one for myself."

"Not until I find one, I haven't," I replied, smiling at the thought. "And that's only if I don't want to marry him myself."

"That's true," she replied, still giggling at the absurdity of the conversation.

"Well, I've got my work cut out for me, then," I said. "All I've got to do is find a man who loves me that doesn't care about being King."

"Easy," Annamaria agreed.

"Well, before you begin your task," Father said, smiling, "You both need a good night's sleep. Off with you!"

When I returned to my room, I bathed and changed into my trousers, realizing as I pulled them on that they were the only clothing I had that wasn't a dress. I also put on the tall boots, then waited until the castle was dark and silent. At ten to midnight, I went onto the balcony---and took to the sky.