Chapter 2

"Why? Why the disguise your highness?" Sirius asked Harry back at the palace. "After I begged you."

"I had a great day today Sirius. No one treated me like a prince. What a relief to be among the real people for a change." Harry replied as he sank down on the chair. "Not the people that constantly ask if I need anything or follow me around anywhere. People that will push me out of the way when I walk in front of them. People that will yell at me if I piss them off. Oh what I would do if I could just be them for a day." Sirius let out a blast of hot air.

"Don't you think they are wishing they could be you? Your rich your gorgeous and you have beautiful women throwing themselves at your feet. Is there something I'm not getting?" Sirius demanded.

"Sirius I swear someday you are going to go to far and I'm going to kill you." Harry threatened as he walked out of the room.

"Your mother wants to see you." Sirius bellowed after him. If he wants to kill me why doesn't he just trample me with a carriage and get it over with? Sirius wondered

Harry strolled into the lounge where his parents were talking. As soon as James noticed that Harry entered the room, he put a finger to his lips to warn his wife. She immediately stopped talking and turned to face him.

"You wanted to see me mother?" Harry asked politely.

"Harry darling, where have you been? Your father and I have been talking about you." Lily looked at his clothes and found them in perfect condition.

"Your mother was talking I was listening corrected James. But Harry still gave no indication as to where he went all day. Harry just nodded.

"So what have you been talking about?" He said, eyebrows raised.

"Just planning a little get together, nothing fancy. Just family, a few friends-"

"And the whole Kingdom." Harry finished. He had been subjected to this conversation many times before.

"And all the eligible women in the Kingdom." She finished, not even noticing Harry had said anything.

"Mother!" reprimands Harry.

"What we are only talking about 4 to 5 hundred at the most." She gave him an innocent look.

"Mother you can't keep doing this to me." Harry said, obviously annoyed. Lily turns to her husband.

"James what is he saying?" She questions.

"My dear, I think he's saying he would not like another Ball." James says soothingly. Suddenly Lily saw red.

"No he's not. Right Harry?" She looked at Harry for reassurance.

"Harry, it's very simple. Your mother and I just want you to be happy." James declares. "Happiness has nothing to do with it and you know it James!" Lily shouts as she becomes madder. She took a moment to collect herself after the unusual outburst and continued. & nbsp; "I mean.. well of course we want you to be happy. but you do have certain obligations to your Kingdom." She looked uneasy. So this is what this is all about. My "obligations" Harry thought. James cut in. "What your mother is trying to say is we think it is time you chose a bride and produce an heir." He says calmly.

"Someday this Kingdom will all be yours Harry." Lily tells him. For the umpteenth time. "Not that soon." James countered. Harry stared at them trance-like.

"Look, all I ask is that you let me choose my bride myself, in my own way. I just have this silly idea that I want to be in love with my bride when we wed. Just like you two were." James takes Lily's hands and they smile fondly at each other. "Yes darling, but there is nothing saying that you can't fall in love at the ball, it happens all the time." Lily said, remembering how she and James met.

"Now, Harry I should probably go through the menus with you, we will have all of your favourite foods..." Lily said as Harry storms out of the room. "Was it something I said?" Lily said turning to James with a questioning look on her face. James nodded his head reassuringly.

"Sirius?" Sirius!" calls Lily. "Yes, your majesty?" he answers. "Proclamation from the Prince..." She begins. "Excuse me, your majesty he interrupts."I couldn't help but overhearing and the Prince didn't sound too happy about this idea." Lily ignores him.

"Sirius. Take this down."

Lily: His royal highness, Harold James,

Windamehr Ladameir,

Carl Alexander,

Francois Reginald,

Lancelot Herman...

"Herman?" asked Sirius. "Herman" Lily answers

Gregory Robert

He'll thank us for it later
is giving a ball!

Sirius

His royal highness, Harold James

Son of Her Majesty Queen Lillian,

Charley Germantrude

Gwenivier Mazy...

"Mazy?" asks the stepmother "Mazy" answers Sirius

Margarita...

Is Giving a Ball!

Townspeople:
The Prince is giving a Ball!
The Prince is giving a Ball!

Stepmother:

They've spread the message far and wide the Prince is giving a Ball!
They say he wants to find a bride he may find one at the ball.

Pavarti:
Oh if only he proposes to me

Lavender:

I wish that he'd propose to me!

Stepmother:

Just leave the hair and clothes to me

All:

The Prince is Giving a Ball!

Sirius:
Now if you please the crown decrees some peau de soie with frills
a silky sateen in aubergine, a red if someone spills.

Now surely I'll need a side of ham, and lots of beef fillets
some marbleized steak, a rack of lamb
and veal to raise the braise.

Limburger, Swiss, and Gourmandine
Cheddar, mozzarella, and blue
Chunks of Swiss in barrels, please
make sure that it's holey too!

Puddings and pies and rum soufflés
Succulent chocolate rounds
Cream puffs they can chew away to gain some royal pounds.


Pavarti+ Townspeople
The Prince in giving a Ball! The Prince is giving a Ball!

Sirius

His royal highness...
200 orchids, 400 poppies, 600 roses, 800 lilies.
Harold James...
1000 oranges, 2000 plums
Windermere, Vladimir

Karl Alexander
Raspberry, Blueberry
Strawberry, Gooseberry
Francois Reginald, Lancelot Herman

Son of her majesty, Queen Lillian
Chocolate and Cheddar
and Charlotte and Mazy
Son of his caviar
King James
Godfrey Ladislan
Leopold Sidney

Townspeople:

Sidney!

Sirius:

Sidney!
All

Is giving a ball!

Hermione:

The Prince in Giving a Ball!

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, back at Hermione's house the four women are returning from their shopping trip in the village. They walk to the door and stand, then turn and look at Hermione who was struggling with all of their many packages.

"Hermione, get the door." The stepmother whines.

"Oh, right. Yes, okay coming." She says as she struggles up the stairs. They all walk in leaving Hermione to deal with all of the packages.

"Hermione, my wrap." shouts the Stepmother.

"Hermione my hat." shouts Lavender.

"Hermione, my gloves." shouts Pavarti. While she rushes to gather all of the things, the Stepmother starts yelling again.

"Hermione have you dusted the Rafters?" She asks.

"Not yet Stepmother," Hermione tells her. "I've had a very busy day."

"You had a busy day?" The shocked Stepmother asked.

"Well, yes I've been with you in the Village." Hermione pointed out.

"The impertinence! After your father died everyone said I should have thrown you out onto the street. But no, I've kept you here all these years and this is the thanks I get. I've always been told I had too big a heart." the Stepmother said airily.

"You do have a big heart mother." Lavender and Pavarti said in unison.

"Well now girls," says the Stepmother, suddenly cheerful. "We need our beauty rest if we want to look our best fro the Ball tomorrow night, Hermione we will take our tea upstairs." she says as she gets up.

"Stepmother?" Hermione asks timidly.

"What is it now?" she answered impatiently.

"I was wondering about the ball. All the eligible women are invited and- " she starts, but the Stepmother interrupts.

"I should have known this was going to happen." she said to no one in particular. "I suppose you think the prince is going to take one look at you and fall in love?" she says mockingly.

"I-I didn't mean-" said Hermione nervously.

"Take my advice Hermione. Know your place and be satisfied with what you have got. I promise you, you'll be much happier." says the Stepmother unsuccessfully trying to sound wise. Suddenly shouts came from upstairs.

"Hermione hot water!" came from one room and "Hermione warm milk!" came form another. When Hermione didn't answer they got frustrated and screamed louder. The stepmother, smirking in triumph, fled the room. Hermione walked into the kitchen and mimicked her stepsisters. "Hermione hot water, Hermione warm milk. Hermione this, Hermione that.

Hermione:

I'm as mild and as meek as a mouse
when I hear a command, I obey.
But I know of a spot in my house
where no one can stand in my way.

In my own little corner, in my own little chair
I can be whatever I want to be
on the wings of my fancy I can fly anywhere
and the world will open its arms to me

I'm a young Egyptian princess or even a milk-maid
I'm the greatest prima-Donna in Milan

I'm a heiress who has always had her silk made
by her own flock of silk-worms in Japan

I'm a girl men go mad for, love's a game I can play
with a cool and confident kind of air
Just as long as I stay in my own little corner
All alone, in my own, on my chair.

I can be whatever I want to be

I'm a thief in Calcutta, I'm a queen in Peru I'm a mermaid dancing upon the sea
I'm a huntress on an African Safari

In the night I sally-forth to seek my quarry
and I find I forgot to bring my gun.
I am lost in the jungle all alone and unarmed

When I meet a lioness in her lair!

Then I'm glad to be back in my own little corner
All alone, in my own, little chair.

"HERMIONE! HERMIONE WE WANT OUR TEA!" squealed Lavender and Pavarti.

The next day at the palace an angry Harry burst in the doors.

"MOTHER!" He shouts. Lily gets up and tries to leave the room but Harry grabs her arm and stops her.

"You have got to cancel this ball." He tell her.

"Not possible." she said with her nose in the air. "It's very difficult once you get the ball rolling." she laughed at her little joke. "Besides what would we tell everyone?

"Tell them you went behind my back and you are ashamed of it." Harry said defiantly.

"Ashamed?" an astonished Lily said.

"I have never been ashamed in my life and I do not intend to start now." James stated. Just then Sirius decides to play the mediator in this feud.

"I probably shouldn't interfere-" he begins.

"Then don't." said the three Royals a once.

"But let's just say Harry does go to the ball tonight." He continues.

"Traitor." Harry mutters.

"I like the way that sounds." Lily said gleefully.

"If he should find a bride, that's wonderful, but if he does not..." Harry interrupts him.

"Sirius, you are brilliant! Mother, will go to this Ball, but if I don't find her tonight you will let me fall in love on my own, without any interference. For as long as it takes." Harry stood up.

"Alright, fair enough." she agreed.

"Thank you mother." Harry nods and then walks out of the room. Sirius looks at Lily.

"Don't worry your Majesty he will meet someone tonight, I can feel it in my bones." She gives him a threatening look.

"You'll feel it in your bones if he doesn't."

Back at Hermione's house, the Stepmothers and Stepsisters are getting ready for the ball.

"My girls, you are going to be the Belles of the Ball." the Stepmother gushed.

"Do you really think so mother?" Pavarti asks as her mother pulls her corset tighter.

"Owh-Mother-You-Are-Hurting-Me." she said in between gasps of pain.

"Beauty knows no pain girls. Now if I have done my job right. Which I am certain I have. Then the Prince will just have to pick one of you to be his Bride." she said excitingly. "Now how will you capture his attention ladies?" Their mother demands.

"First, I'll flutter my eyelashes-" remarks Lavender.

"Excellent," smiles the mother." I'm going to start with a curtsy." says Pavarti.

"Then I'm going to start with a curtsy too." Lavender agrees.

"Okay let's move on. Lavender try not to snort, and Pavarti, you must try not to scratch.

"I can't help it mother," complains Pavarti." You know I scratch when I get nervous."

"Well you must remember. We women hide our flaws-" says the stepmother

"-Until after the wedding" the Stepsisters finish.

"But shouldn't a man love you in spite of everything?" says a little voice in the corner. Hermione came out of the shadowed corner holding a broom and looking very dirty.

"How quaint," says the Stepmother. "And tell me Hermione. What would you do to capture the Prince?"

"I don't know." she shrugs her shoulders.

"Of course you don't." Snaps the Stepmother.

"But whatever I said," Hermione continued, ignoring the angered look on her Stepmothers face. "We would know we were meant for each other. Then he would smile and kiss my hand..." she was about to continue when the Stepmother intruded.

"RUBBISH." she said." This isn't about love, it's about marriage. Haven't I taught you girls anything?"

Stepmother:

Falling in love with Love is falling for make-believe
Falling in Love with love is playing the fool!
Caring to much is such a juvenile fantasy
Learning to trust is just for children in school.

I fell in love with Love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see!

I fell in love with Love, Love-everlasting
but Love fell out with me!

Stepsisters:

Falling in love with love is falling for make-believe
Falling in love with love is playing the fool!

Stepmother:

Caring to much is such a juvenile fantasy

Stepmother:

Learning to trust is just for children in school.
I fell in love with Love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see!

Stepsisters & Stepmother:

I fell in love with Love, Love Ever-lasting.

Stepmother:

But Love fell out with me!

Hermione is left alone in the house, she goes into the kitchen and sits in her chair in front of the fireplace

"Go to the ball? Me? Why would I want to go to the ball?" she says sadly "I'd much rather sit here by the fireplace."

Hermione:

In my own littler corner, in my own little chair I can be whatever I want to be
On the wings of my fancy, I can fly anywhere
and the world will open it's arms to me
I am in the royal palace, of all places
I am chatting with the prince and King and Queen.
And the color on my two stepsisters' faces
is a queer, sort-of sour apple green
I am coy and flirtatious when alone with the prince

I'm the bell of the ball, in my own little corner
all alone...

She then begins to cry.

"I wish, oh how I wish I could go to the Ball!" Out of nowhere she hears this tiny voice. She strains to hear and she can tell the voice is getting louder. Then:

"FALDERRA AND FIDELDY DEE FIDDELDY FADDALY FADDLE ALL THE WISHES IN THE WORLD ARE POPPYCOCK AND TWADDLE." And a woman pops out of thin air.

"Who are you?" Hermione asks timidly.

"Why my dear, I am your fairy godmother." she replied.

"I never dreamed..." Hermione started but the fairy interrupted her.

"FALDERRA AND FIDELDY DEE FIDDELDY FADDALY FOODLE. ALL OF THE DREAMERS IN THE WORLD ARE...DIZZY IN THE NOODLE!"

"That's terrible!" says Hermione.

"Hey you try coming up with a rhyme on the spot like that." remarks the Fairy Godmother. "No, no what you said about dreams. Hermione says " The Fairy sighs "I can see this is going to take a while. Is it me or is it freezing in here?" she asked as she took out a bunch of dust and threw it into the fireplace. Suddenly flames shut up from out of nowhere.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked in awe. "Practice" answers the fairy.

"I have always dreamed someone would come take me out of here." Hermione said hopefully.

"If you want to get out of here you have to do it on your own accord." replied the Fairy. "The music is in you. Deep down in your soul. When you find it, nothing will be able to keep you from walking out that door."

"You obviously haven't met my Stepmother." said Hermione.

"You know what their problem is? They can't handle how fabulous you are." The Fairy told her.

"Fabulous? Me?" Hermione asks in disbelief.

"Well I don't see anyone else in this room. Do you?" The fairy replied sarcastically.

"Those three are all I've got. Before my father died, I promised him that we would stay together as a family." Hermione says solemnly.

"This definitely not what your father had in mind for you sweetheart." says the Fairy Godmother.

"I've dreamt about leaving so many times." says Hermione.

"That is the problem with most people." says the Fairy. "They dream about what they want instead of actually doing it."

"Oh I wish...well I guess wishing is no good either." Hermione countered herself.

"Everything starts with a wish." the fairy told her.

"Know what I was wishing just before you got here?" asks Hermione

"That one of those pumpkins would turn into a carriage and take you to the ball?" Hermione nods her head.

"I guess I know what you're going to say, Fal-der-a and Fidel-dy Dee?"

"Fidaldy Fadeldy Foodle" answers the fairy godmother. Hermione sighs.

"I guess your right. It is impossible."

Fairy godmother:

Impossible! For a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage.
Impossible! For a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage.
And four white mice will never be four white horses!
Such fal-der-a and fidel-dy dee of course is, Impossible!

But the world is full of zanies and fools!
Who don't believe in sensible rules.
And won't believe what sensible people say
and because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes keep
building up impossible hopes,
Impossible things are happening every day!

Hermione:

Impossible

Godmother:

Impossible
Both:

Impossible!

Hermione walks into the yard with the Fairy Godmother.

"Wait!" she says as a light bulb goes off in her head. "If impossible things are happening every day, then why can I not have impossibly high hopes and dreams? Even something as impossible as ever going to a Ball?"

"Then go to the Ball Hermione, no one is stopping you but yourself." The fairy said maternally.

"You have got a point there." the Fairy said. "Okay Hermione go stand over there." Hermione moves out of the way and the Fairy threw some powder into the air. It landed on the pumpkin but all it did was move around. The Fairy got agitated.

"Sheesh, you would think after 600 years...Alright lets try this again." she throws more powder into the air and the pumpkin rolls out of the garden, onto the pathway and turns into a beautiful gold encrusted carriage.

"Oh my gosh, Godmother it is beautiful!" Hermione cried out.

"Now we need some horses." ponders the fairy godmother. Just then some mice scurry by and four of them turn into white horses.

"They are beautiful!" remarks Hermione as she scratches one behind the ears.

"You better not run away from me!" the fairy godmother says to the remaining mice as they become the footman and driver.

"Okay we have the coach, horses, footman, and driver" says the Fairy. "Am I forgetting anything?" Hermione looks down at her rags

"Spin around, I do not want to have to do all the work." The Fairy says. Hermione spins around and all of the sudden she is wearing a beautiful baby blue gown. With bracelets and rings decorating her fingers. She gasps in awe. She tries to walk but realises that she is wearing glass high heels instead of her normal sneakers.

"Thank you so much Godmother!" she says joyfully.

"There is one tiny little thing, before I forget." the Fairy starts. "You must lave the Ball before the clock strikes twelve. it is very important that you do not forget." she says sternly.

"Before twelve?" Hermione asks disappointedly.

"Look I don't make the rules" the fairy godmother says "The magic only lasts until midnight, now come on it's time to go" Hermione gets into the carriage and blows a kiss to the fairy godmother. Then the carriage drives away the fairy godmother flies along side it.

Hermione:

It's possible! For a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage.

It's Possible! For a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage!

Godmother

And four white mice are easily turned to horses.

Such fala-der-a and fidel-e-dy of course is,

Both:

Quite possible. It's possible.

Hermione:

For the world is full of zanies and fools

Godmother

Who don't believe in sensible rules.

Hermione

And won't believe what sensible people say

Both:

And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes keep building up impossible hopes,

Impossible things are happening everyday.

Hermione

It's possible!

Godmother

It's possible!

Both

It's Possible!

AN:Okay so there's the update thanks to everyone who reviewed and a huge thanks to my beta, Kaity.