It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were flying their brooms by the lake.
"So Hermy… I was thinking.. Would you like to-..." Ron said, stopping as Hermione turned around to look at him with her beautiful brown eyes. She's gorgeous, Ron thought, forgetting to finish his sentence.
"Yes, Ron?" Hermione said.
"Uh.. Would you like to go on a date with me next week? We get to go to Hogsmeade again," Ron finished, his cheeks turning pink. "Um… you know… if you don't want to and all, it's okay," Ron added quietly.
Hermione blushed. "No no, I'd love to, Ron."
"Great, then!" Ron said eagerly. "Quidditch practice starts soon. I gotta go. See you at dinner!" Hermione watched him jump up and down as he ran to the Quidditch field, happy as ever.
Hermione rushed to dinner, hurrying into the great hall. The whole Gryffindor table hushed as Hermione walked in. When she realized what everyone must have been thinking, she quickened her pace, eager to sit down and hide under Ginny's armpit. But before she did that, she had to kill Ron.
"You little weasel!" Hermione said angrily, her hand in the air, ready to smack Ron.
"Hermione, stop! I'm really sorry! I was so excited, I got carried away!" Ron quickly explained, his hand over his head.
"You know how embarrassed I get over these kind of things! I don't like everyone's attention on me!" Hermione yelled, causing even more people to turn and watch the scene.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry and I'll never do it again dear," Ron said, emphasizing the dear.
Oh, Ron. How could I ever tell you how I feel about you now? How I just want to smack your big fat backside and tear your face apart, Hermione thought. And what's with the 'dear'?
"No matter, what's done is done," said Harry wisely.
Hermione ate her dinner as fast as possible and stormed out the great hall, heading for the library.
"Hey, wait up!" someone called. Hermione turned around, and smiled her widest when she saw who it was.
"Malfoy! Decided to come early this time?" Hermione smirked.
"Ha ha. Yes, for you," Malfoy said. Hermione looked away so he wouldn't see her turn bright red.
"Well, let's go then."
Hermione and Draco got into the library and took their seats at a private place, and began their work.
"Okay, so… let's see. We're still at Chapter 3. You have to learn the rules and precautions during the procedure. If you get the formula wrong, you could erase the dream or fantasy," Hermione explained.
"You could also erase his or her entire memory, and he or she would probably never recover, if unlucky," Malfoy continued proudly.
"I see you've been studying," Hermione smiled. "Well, I thought it'd be fun if we tried the fantasy thing again. So now you'll make the entire thing, and I'll watch and instruct. It's my turn to read your fantasies."
Half an hour later, Draco stirred the milky water and took a gulp and three sips. He handed Hermione the goblet, and she finished it off.
A moment later, Hermione was on the ground, choking, tears coming out of her eyes, the pain in her stomach was unbearable. Draco sat back and watched, totally calm as this very procedure had happened to him the last time they tried this. Then, when Hermione could choke or cry no more, the pain subsided as quick as lightning, and her eyes automatically closed. Draco layed back, and fell into a deep, silent sleep.
Hermione waited, and found herself walking around in a blank space. There was absolutely nothing around anywhere, and she began to panic. What if she was going to be lost in Draco's mind forever?
Then suddenly, a television set appeared, along with a couch and the remote control. She picked it up, and began flipping through channels.
Each channel contained a part of Malfoy's memory. She flipped and flipped until she reached a channel called Fantasy Land. She felt the couch slowly move towards the TV screen, and the next thing she knew, she was in Fantasy Land, circus rides and games surrounding her.
"Where am I?" She asked no one in particular.
She looked at the sign boards of every amusement ride, and they all had weird titles of Draco's activities in school, such as Bullying Potter, Poisoning Patil, and one which made Hermione furious, Granger the Mudblood.
She walked into the House of Mirrors, and played around with the mirrors. But to her surprise, they weren't reflecting herself, they were reflecting other people. She saw a mirror with the words Best Friends printed all over the frame, and in the mirror stood Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini. She walked to the very end of the House, until she reached a beautifully designed mirror, with ribbons and hearts all around it, facing the wall. She walked up to it, eager to see who the person standing in that love mirror was.
Just as she was about to take a look, a voice from the back of her head yelled, "Time's up!"
Hermione's eyes shot open, and she looked up at Draco. "Malfoy! Why did you interrupt me? I was just getting to the good part."
"Oh, whatever. I was already awake a long time ago and I saw you sleeping there, wasting my precious time, so I woke you up. I don't have all night, Granger," Malfoy smirked, and they went back to their studying, rapping it up an hour later and planning their next meeting together.
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Hogsmeade weekend came, and Hermione and Ron were at Madam Parotti's Love House. Ron had worn an especially nice outfit that day, and was being a true gentleman..
"So, um… Hermione… How's life?" Ron asked stupidly as they sat down at a heart-shaped booth.
"Good, good," Hermione answered, playing with her fingers. They both felt the uneasiness, and were desperate to ease the atmosphere. They were so much better as friends. Being in a relationship could ruin it all.
"Um… I was voted best keeper of all the Quidditch teams," Ron said, trying to make conversation.
"Uh, that's great Ron," Hermione answered, still playing with her fingers
"So, would the lovely couple like to order?" a waitress in bright pink said.
"Um, we're not uh… never mind," Hermione started. "Yes, I'd like a FrogChocolata and French fries please," Hermione ordered.
"And I would take the lasagna and greenberry pie," Ron said.
The waitress walked off, and the uneasiness came back once again. Hermione placed her hands on the table, but Ron mistook it as a hint to hold her hand. He giggled, and reached forward, playing with her fingers. Hermione, startled, pulled back, and blushed.
"Um, Ron… I don't think I'm ready for that yet," Hermione said shyly.
"What? I was just holding your hand… I would have understood if it was about sex or something, but this?" Ron said, losing his patience. "Look, Hermione, do you or do you not want to go out with me? Is there someone else you fancy?"
Hermione sighed. "No, Ron. It's not that."
"Then what is it, Hermione? I'd really like to know," Ron shouted.
"Keep your voice down, Ron!" Hermione said self-conciously.
"Don't tell me what to do, Granger!" Ron yelled even louder, making everyone turn and stare. He got up, upsetting the table. "You're wasting my time." And with that, he stormed out the restaurant, leaving Hermione guilty and embarrassed.
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"Malfoy," Blaise Zabini called. Draco turned around and smiled.
"Yo Zabini. What's up?" Draco replied. They strolled around in the cool breeze, window shopping.
"I saw you with that nerdy girl, Granger. What's going on?" Blaise confronted.
"It's nothing, Zabini. I've just been teasing her about being a Mudblood a lot lately," Draco lied. "She's getting weaker and weaker, so it's more fun to tease. She's loosening up, giving in, totally letting me insult her parents and herself! What a loser."
Draco immediately felt guilty for saying so many bad things about Hermione, but he had to keep his reputation up. He never liked being a mean guy, but it was the only way he could prove he was tough and not a little weakling. He wanted to prove that he was up to his father's standards.
"Whatever, Malfoy," Zabini said, shrugging.
"Hi Draccccoooooo!" a girl's voice called out. Pansy Parkinson ran up to Draco and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I know you're still saving your first lip kiss for that 'special someone'. Well, it's so obvious that I'm that special someone, but I'll be patient and let you get used to me kissing your cheek, then I'll move on to your lips later," Pansy announced happily.
Draco forced a smile, and looked back at Zabini.
"It's nothing, Zabini. Me and that Granger girl have got nothing going on, alright? She's just a useless ugly bushy-haired freak who seeks too much attention. I just talk to her and insult her more to show her what a total arse she is," Draco said.
Blaise looked at Draco for a second, searching for a lie on his face, but Draco had so much experience and he could hide it so well. Blaise decided to believe Draco, and smiled.
"Yeah, Malfoy, burn that Mudblood," Zabini said, patting his back. "That's the way life goes."
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"So, yea, that's how you figure out whether your partner's dream was good or not," Hermione explained. Hermione looked at Draco, but all he did was stare at her.
She's got pretty eyes, he thought to himself.
"Malfoy, are you even listening to me?" Hermione asked, irritated.
"You look cute when you get angry," Draco commented.
"Oh, shut up Malfoy. I have no time for this. Do you want to get an A for Divination or not?" Hermione snapped.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Draco shrugged.
"Now, I'll ask you some questions according to the book, and you're gonna have to answer them truthfully," Hermione instructed. Hermione began to question him, and Draco obediently answered.
"What's your favourite food?"
"Uh… I like jelly beans," Draco answered.
"Okay… what do you do when you're bored?"
"Beat up little kids," Draco snickered. Hermione rolled her eyes, and blushed at the next question. "What is it?" Draco asked.
"Who do you fancy at the moment?" Hermione asked. Somehow, a part of her wondered if he was going to say it was her.
"I'm not going to answer that," Draco said simply.
"Malfoy… come on," Hermione pleaded. Draco gathered his books and pushed his chair underneath the table. "We're done for the night."
Hermione watched as Malfoy stormed out the library, and sighed. "You just had to scare him away, huh?" she muttered to herself. But somehow she was desperate to know who he fancied... probably because she kind of wished it was her.
Well, there's only one way to find out, Hermione thought. The Fantasy potion.
Everyone in the great hall watched in shock as Hermione walked over to the Slytherin table and hopped up to Draco with a big smile on her face, a little bottle of the Fantasy potion in her hand.
"Hi, Malfoy!" Hermione said cheerfully. Malfoy glared at her, with a look that said, why are you trying to ruin my reputation!
"I just wanted to tell you that your feet stink," Hermione said lamely. The whole Malfoy gang laughed at her pathetic attempt to insult Draco.
"What do you really want, Granger?" Pansy said, smirking. "Don't stand here too long, you're ruining my image."
"Well, actually, I was in the middle of a fight with Malfoy last night, and he said some nasty things about you, Pansy. I don't know why he brought you up. He said I'm as idiotic as you are or something like that. I just wanted to come and tell you the truth, because I couldn't stand to have this little brat lying," Hermione said.
"Oh, is that so?" Pansy said, turning to Draco angrily.
"Wha- But I- No it's not what you-.." Draco began. Pansy and Draco started to argue loudly, and no one's attention was on Hermione any longer. She seized the chance to pour half of the potion in his cup, and she was done.
"Well, I'd better get going then," Hermione said cheerfully, turning around. She ran out of the great hall, grabbed some toast as her breakfast, ran to the Gryffindor common room and drank up the potion that was left in the bottle. Then she waited for Draco to drink his, and the spell would begin.
It seemed that Draco was taking a long time to finish his goblet of juice, but he finally got down to it, and Hermione began to feel the pain in her stomach. She yelped and ached, squinting her eyes, begging the pain to stop, and soon enough it did, and Hermione was once again in a blank world, with a television set and a comfy couch.
She flipped through the channels until she had found Fantasy Land, and the couch brought her in. She walked around the familiar funfair, and found the House of Mirrors. Without hesitation, she ran in, all the way to the back of the room, and saw the beautiful decorated mirror facing the wall. Hermione walked up towards it slowly, and turned to look at it.
And to her disappointment, she saw Pansy.
All of the sudden, memories began to flash back. Draco hadn't drunk the potion according to gulps and sips, so it wasn't working well. All she could see were flashes of what happened between him and Pansy. What Hermione saw was horrible, and she was too shocked to utter a single word.
She saw Pansy running up to Malfoy, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Then it went off and she heard Malfoy say awful things about her.
"What a loser."
"She's just a useless ugly bushy-haired freak who seeks too much attention."
Before Hermione could hear what else Draco said, she snapped back to reality. She closed her eyes, tears wetting her cheeks, and buried her face in her hands.
Draco didn't fancy her. He hated her. She was a Mudblood, his enemy. Now she knew the truth.
But why did the truth have to be so cruel ?
Hi again! Sorry if this chapter seemed too rushed. I wrote both chapters on the same day, because of the rush of ideas coming to me. So, thanks anyway for my first 4 reviews. They really gave me a boost. ) Review some more! Feel free to point out mistakes or give advice, just don't be too mean (