To say Hermione Granger's life was complicated would be an understatement. On one hand, her father was the king of the land. On the other, he died three years ago leaving her step-mother in charge of the kingdom. Unfortunately for Hermione, Merope Guant was not a loving figure in any sense of the word. Hermione's father had married Lady Merope for political reasons after Hermione's mother had died in childbirth. While her father had been alive Merope had done little besides ignore Hermione. After the king had died and she had become monarch of the county though, things started to change.
It became apparent quickly Merope hated Hermione with a burning passion. What the reason was, Hermione's natural beauty or magical talent or incomparable intellect no one knew. What Hermione did know, was that not long after her father died the Queen took away any nice thing Hermione had, snapped her wand, and made her clean the castle with the House elves.
Even through all of this Hermione found the best, and the worst, in this situation. As she worked with the House Elves, she became very close friends with the elves that worked in the castle. She also found out that when her father died the treatment of the House Elves treatment changed dramatically. While the king had been alive, the elves were treated as any other servant in the household, they were not paid, but they were treated well and enjoyed serving their king. When the Queen came to power, she started treating the elves as nothing but dirt beneath her shoe.
This outraged Hermione. She had grown up with many of these elves as playmates. They had cared for her when she was sick and made special cakes for her on her birthday. To see them treated like this made her blood boil. So, she decided to do something about it. While she was treated like a servant, she was still the princess and heir to the kingdom. People would listen to her.
She knew going straight to the queen would accomplish nothing, so Hermione started with the human servants and nobility. She pleaded the case of House Elves to them and to treat them well and fairly. The servants were all too scarred of the queen to do anything though. This did not stop Hermione though, she tried to convince anyone she could of the elves plight.
News of Hermione effort soon made their way to the Queen. She sat on her throne and thought about this problem. Her Step-daughter would soon become a nuisance the so-called plight of the House Elves would not affect her in the long run. However, if Hermione was successful then people would pay attention to her and remember her when she came of age and was supposed to take the throne. This did not suit the Queen's purposes; she knew what she needed to do
"Send for my huntsman," the Queen called out. A few minutes later and the huntsman arrived. He walked into the throne room and knelt before the Queen. "You have summoned me your Highness?" he asked in a low tone. "Yes, my huntsman. I have a special job for you. You are to take the princess Hermione out into the forest tomorrow and kill her." The huntsman didn't even blink at the request, he had done worse at the Queen's command. "Of course, my Queen. It shall be done." He rose and turned to exit the room.
"And Draco," the queen said. The Huntsman turned back to look at the Queen. "Bring me her heart in a box to make sure she is dead." Draco Malfoy only nodded and left.
The day was pleasant, birds sang on the winds, the rivers called to each other, the sun shone with a brilliance unmatched in nature. Hermione and the Queen's Huntsman walked along the forest path. Hermione was very suspicious of the fact that the Queen had told her to go into the woods with the Huntsman. So suspicious in fact that she took the wand that she made in secret with her.
As they walked along Hermione kept a close eye on the man following a few steps behind her, never taking his eyes off of her.
When they passed the river, Hermione looked down and saw a nice piece of malachite that would fit nicely in her rock collection. As she reached down to pick it up a streak of green light shot over her head. With uncanny reflexes Hermione rolled to side and pulled out her wand in one smooth movement. The Huntsman's eyes widen at the sight of her wand, but it was too late. He had already been stunned by her spell.
Hermione looked at the Huntsman, the Queen had obviously told him to kill her, that much was not too surprising. The question was what to do now though. Hermione quickly searched the Huntsman and took anything that could be useful to her, some coins, a knife, and some food. She then began running through the woods, with no other real plan besides putting distance between her and the castle.
After a long night of travel, Hermione came across a small cabin in a clearing in the woods. It looked like a normal cabin except that it was scaled down from what Hermione was used to. Not having any other options Hermione walked up to the door of the cabin and knocked. The door was open by a very surprised looking House Elf.
"Hello missus, can I be helping you?" asked the elf. "Please," said Hermione in a tired voice. "Can you give me shelter for the night. I have traveled far and am hiding from the Queen." The elf immediately let her in and brought her to the table where six other elves were having breakfast. "Missus, I am Dobby. This is my wife Winky and our kids," he said gesturing to the assembled elves. "Please sit and tell us your story and why you are here."
So, Hermione spent the next hour telling the Elvin family the story of her life, of her father and step-mother, of the Huntsman and the short battle, of her trek through the woods, and her discovery of their cabin.
"Yous will be staying with us then," Dobby said. "No, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that for me." Dobby looked at her with firm but loving eyes. "Yous is now a guest in my home. You will stay till it is safe and you can leave."
Unfortunately, Hermione didn't see any other options. She followed one of the elf children up to a room that was not built for people her size and sat down on the bed. She thought about what had happened and how to deal with it. It appeared that staying with Dobby was the best option. Hermione looked in the small mirror in the room. If she needed to hide, she should probably change her appearance. She pulled out her wand and began the transformation.
Her smooth midnight black hair was changed to be a dull brown and extremely bushy. Her snow-white skin was darkened to a more normal coloring. She made her two front teeth grow to be bucktoothed. Now when she looked in the mirror, Hermione saw a completely different girl. At the same time though, it was still her.
And so time passed. Hermione lived with Dobby and his family and life went on. Dobby worked as a furniture maker and traveled to town with his family once a month for market to sell his wares. These were the only times when Hermione was alone in the cabin. Very rarely did anyone show up during these times did anyone visit the cabin, but one time an old lady came on her way to market to sell fruit.
Hermione, never one to pass up on an opportunity, decided to buy a few apples from her and make a pie for dinner when Dobby returned home. After the old lady left and the pie was made, Hermione sat in the kitchen and read a book from Dobby's library. She still had one apple left from the pie and she munched on it while reading.
When the elf family returned home that evening, they found Hermione laying on the floor with an apple core in her hand. After close examination, they found the apple had been laced with a Draught of the Living Death, for which there was no cure. The family could not bear to see Hermione go forever. So, they made a glass coffin that would keep Hermione as she was, forever.
And so the years passed. Hermione lay in her coffin and life went on for the family of elves. When Dobby's great-grandson had his own children then something happened.
One day, into the clearing where the cabin stood, came a rider. A prince from a far-off land, who claimed his title by defeating a dark lord. He had lost himself in the forest and needed directions. The elves in the cabin made him stay for supper and water his horse. While there the prince couldn't help but notice the beautiful maiden that was in the glass coffin.
"Who is she?" he asked. "She was a friend of my great-grandfather's," Hobby replied. "She was poisoned with a Draught of Living Death." Now the prince had not grown up with his parents, but his father had been a potions mastermind and had left extensive journals of the subject. He had theorized that a Draught of Living Death could be broken by a true love's kiss.
Now the prince knew it was very premature to say she was his true love, but he felt he owed to the girl to try. "Open the coffin, I might be able to help her." The elves looked at him shocked, but moved to do as he said. The prince walked over to the girl and looked down. By most standards she was not what one would call beautiful, her hair was a mess, her features plain, and had large buckteeth. But to Harry, she was beautiful.
He leaned down slowly, closed his eyes, and gently put his lips on hers. Harry had never kissed a girl before; he didn't know how it should feel. This kiss, to him felt like heaven itself had come down. He rose up to look at the girl laying before him. Her eyes fluttered and then opened, looking straight into his. "Hello there," the prince said and offered his hand to help her up. "My name is Harry Potter, and we have a lot to talk about."