Adrielle's Note: Sorry it took so long between updates. It's entirely my fault, so come at me with torches and pitchforks, not Matilda.
A/N: Well we all have to take our time, I'm really happy that you BETA Adrielle, thanks.
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Chapter 7. What's up with love?
Hermione entered the Charms classroom with her classmates and sat down with Harry and Ron on her left side. Today they had no practical work in Charms, only reading. Hermione opened her book to the page they should read, but as she already had read it about five times, she didn't feel like reading it again. Instead of asking what to do as she used to, she stared down at the pages and pretending she was extremely interested. The picture of a man who didn't move made her think of her summer and the Moulin Rouge movie. Could anyone love her the way Christian had loved Satine? She decided to stop thinking about that. 'No one could ever like me as more than a friend. Look at me; no one could like this body. This is what I like about our school uniforms; you can't see the body. Look at my hair next. It looks like a bush! And my face! My eyes are just weird, and my eyebrows are too big. If someone likes me, who would they be? Harry? No, he's just a friend, and so is Ron. Seamus or Dean? No, both of them have girlfriends, but what about Terry Boot, in Ravenclaw? He's always so sweet. We used to work together in Arithmancy the few times we had to be in pairs. But I can really only see him as a classmate, he hasn't shown anything about fancying me or anything…
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"Moulin Rouge is a story based on the couple 'Romeo and Juliet.' Christian is a penniless writer who has come to Paris to write about 'truth, beauty, freedom, and most of all, love'. Satine and the owner of the Moulin Rouge are in the midst of wooing the well-heeled Duke of Worcester into investing in the Moulin Rouge. By sleeping with the Duke, Satine will seal a deal that will transform the Moulin Rouge into a legitimate theatre and make Satine a real actress. Satine accidentally mistakes Christian for the Duke and finds herself in a quandary as she must choose between the penniless writer whom she loves, and the wealthy Duke whose finances will make her a star and ensure a future for the Moulin Rouge."
'Interesting,' Snape thought as he closed the book. 'One more of those love stories, fairytales, or whatever you want to call them.' No, he didn't like that kind of story at all. He had read Romeo and Juliet once, and he had liked it, but there were too many copies of it. Moulin Rouge was only one of them. Love and be loved. It was never unhappy love, like when the character failed or the girl didn't love him back. It wasn't reality, just fairytales. His life looked more like "Romeo and his dungeon". There was no Juliet and there was no Satine. There was only him, his room, and the thoughts he didn't want to think about the Granger girl. Now that he thought of it again, he had started to read just because he shouldn't think about it! Merlin, how hard could it be? He'd better go make a potion or something to occupy his mind. He found an old book on his desk under some unchecked essays. Which potion should he make? Fairytale sleep, beauty potion, what was this kind of book doing on his desk? Princesses' dream elixir, love potion. LOVE POTION? The fates weren't with him today. He threw the book into the fireplace and watched the pages burning, one by one.
"Go back where you belong," he muttered and rose up to prepare the lesson for the fifth years in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
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The evening drew on and Hermione was watching Harry and Ron play wizard chess.
"Harry?" Hermione suddenly asked.
"Mhm?"
"Did you watch TV this summer?" she wondered.
"No, Dursleys wouldn't let me," he said.
"So, you didn't see the Moulin Rouge movie?" she sighed.
Harry shook his head. Of course, he hadn't, but Hermione was hoping that there was someone she could talk to about the movie. Anyone. There were just a few people left in the common room, and Hermione was searching for someone that she could possibly chat with. Both Harry and Ron were so damn busy with their stupid chess. The only thing she could find was a book lying on the floor, next to the fireplace. She rose up and went over there, and the boys didn't notice anything. The book was burnt in a few places. Who would do such a thing to a book? She dusted some soot away from the front of the book so she could read the title. Potions of a Fairytale. She opened it somewhere in the middle. Of course, she just had to see a recipe for a Love Potion, as if she didn't already think about love too much. She turned the page, to a Draught of Exterminate Evil Witches. She turned some pages backwards to find a recipe for Fairytale Sleep written in calligraphy. She put the book on a table near her. It would make her crazy if she kept reading, and its owner may miss it. She rose up from the floor and went back over to the boys.
"Night Harry," she said and ruffled his hair. "Night Ron."
As she passed Ron she put a hand on his shoulder, just light enough that she barely noticed it herself.
"Night He-mione," Ron said yawning.
"Yeah, good night Hermione," Harry added.