I DON'T OWN ANYTHING…kay, thanks.

CHAPTER 3

Mia leaned back against the seat, closed her eyes and smiled. For the first time since she had started her schooling at Hogwarts, she felt like herself. Opening her eyes, she smiled at her two best friends. Lucy and Greg were arguing about how to best open the bottle of champagne without sending the cork through the privacy glass and into the front of the Rolls.

"Oh, just give me the damn thing," Greg finally snapped.

"We'll do this the old-fashioned way." Seemingly out of nowhere Greg had produced a wand from his shirtsleeve and with a quick flick and a soft pop the bottle was open.

Surprise was not even the word that described how the faces in the Great Hall appeared.

"Oi! Weasley! Even her muggle friends can do a spell without their wand blowing smoke in their face!" Ernie MacMillian spoke from the Hufflepuff table, his comment also earning a laugh from those sitting around him. Although he had been able to set aside his angst during the war, that was over now and he, along with his fellow housemates, were still bitter about the way the Triwizard Tournament had ended.

Both the Slytherins and their Head of House smirked. A few members of both the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor houses and some professors also gave smiles to the comment. Now that the war was over, a feat that was contributed to by a group effort, Harry's humble attitude was more appreciated than the "King of the World" attitude adopted by one Ronald Weasley.

Ron's face was beginning to turn as red as his hair. Seeing that this was a good time to prove her worth to her man, Lavender saddled up next to him and started stroking his hair and whispering in his ear, hoping to boost both his ego and a certain part of his male anatomy.

Harry would have preferred not to hear any of what they were saying at all, especially after hearing snipettes of "big man" and "ferocious lion". Thank Merlin, he thought, that he always cast a charm to mute outside noises when he went to sleep.

"And I was beginning to think your lesser educations at Madrid had made you incapable of even simple magic." Mia winked at her friends. In actuality she was quite jealous that they were able to attend school together, and in sunny Spain no less. She couldn't help but think that she should have been there with them.

The Madrid Academy similar in education to Hogwarts, but was specially geared towards young witches and wizards who lived both in the muggle and wizarding worlds. Greg had already graduated but the setup of the school allowed for Greg to come back for frequent visits.

"Hey! Don't forget that we know who you really are. Don't get all high-and-mighty on us now." Greg had a stern look on his face, but it broke out into a smile in less than a second. Seeing the frown on Mia's face he wrapped her up in a bug and have her a kiss on her temple.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I know it wasn't your choice." With that the three smiled at each other, the subject was dropped, and the champagne was poured.

Well, those three had dropped the subject.

"How in fuck's name does that mudblood know people from Madrid?!" Pansy was seething. When it had become apparent that the war was really going to happen, her mother had tried to transfer her to the neutral school. However, even the pureblood Pansy had received a letter of regret saying that she "just didn't meet their qualifications".

"I know plenty of people from Madrid. My parents actually considered sending me there, I would have gone as well if it hadn't been for the family legacy here." Draco said this for two reasons. One was to flaunt that no apparent muggle was better than he, but also for those close to him, like Blaise, to know that he would be speaking with his contacts there.

"Best to know exactly what we are dealing with, yeah mate?" Blaise looked over at Draco and received an almost unperceivable nod in return. With that Blaise nodded to himself. He could always trust Draco to be on top of the situation.

Back on the screen the car had pulled up to a high-rise building, and the trio was spilling out on to the street. Greg led the way swinging the bottle of champagne as Mia and Lucy brought up the rear, linking arms to support each other.

Greg pressed the tip of his wand to the door handle and waiting for a green glow, with that he opened the door.

"Ladies before beauty." He winked as Mia smacked him on the arm while passing by. Greg used his wand in a similar manner to again access to the elevator and his floor.

"Oh, the penthouse, snazzy." Mia grinned as she entered the foyer and spun around.

"I do hope you find it to your standards, Miss Grangée."

The ears of seventh year purebloods, those old enough to remember, perked. Grangée, they hadn't heard that name since their childhood. A prominent pureblood name, the family had a daughter about a year younger than they. But no one could remember hearing of them once they had turned age ten; it was almost as though they dropped of the face of the earth. That being so, no one could really remember their faces; all they saw were bodies, the faces blurry.

Slytherins looked around at each other, all in denial, the mudblood could not be pureblood. It must be a joke.

"Mate, I don't know if this is a joke." Blaise looked over to Draco, the more he saw the more he found himself wondering what part of the picture they had missed.

Draco sat silently, fuming. He did not like the facts that he believed to be true being drawn into question. Forget trying to get the inside information from his connections, if he wanted the truth he was going to have to go to the two people he didn't want to know that he was questioning blood status.

"Fuck, I'm going to have to ask my parents. They are the only ones who would know." Draco had a grim look on his face; he didn't expect it to be a pleasant conversation.

Across the Great Hall, Ginny was seething in jealousy. She had watched someone she once pitied to have everything that Ginny had coveted and wanted in her life. It was not possible that Hermione was pureblood. It just wasn't. Ginny refused to let it be true. That was one way that Ginny would always be superior. It had to be.

Or did it?

Harry just watched the Weasley's sitting on either side of him. Ginny was almost a literal green with her envy and Ron looked like he had been hit over the head. Hermione, no, Mia might have been right about them. It might be time to create some distance.

Mia and Lucy kicked off their shoes and settled themselves on the couch. The camera focused on Mia has she curled her feet up under her and revealed a nearly indecent amount of thigh.

Draco again felt himself unconsciously tightening his grip on his glass as he watched the responses in the males around him. It would not do to have others ogling her in that way. But then, as soon as thought that he was also trying to figure out why the hell he felt that way to begin with. What the hell was happening to him? He hadn't felt possessive like this since childhood.

And what was that towards?

"So spill girlie, what's going on in your life? Fabulous as ever? Probably since you" Lucy inserted a dramatic pause "saved the wizarding world!"

"Wait! We are going to need full glasses for this!" Greg quickly filled their glasses, then sat back down, fidgeting for a few moments before sitting still.

"Okay, now I'm ready. Go."

"The truth?" Mia asked as she circled the rim of her champagne flute with her fingertip, biting her lip.

"We don't tell each other anything else." Lucy tried to smile encouragingly at her best friend, expecting to hear tales of splendor.

"Simply put, it sucks. I grew up as one person, and then had my whole life turned upside down. I entered school a year early, without any of my friends, and then I had to con my way into a house that wasn't my family legacy in order to play my role in my father's grand scheme. And now, when it's all over, I don't know how to be myself at Hogwarts. Where I am there is wrong, it's just all so wrong. I don't feel like I saved anything aside from Harry and Ron's asses. I'm not Mary Jane's and knee-highs, I'm Christian Louboutin's and thigh highs. Ah well, after this the only way to go is up, yeah?"

Greg and Lucy stared at Mia in open-mouth wonder as she threw back the entire contents of her glass. The Mia they knew was cool and composed, this Mia looked broken.

"Oh sweetie", Lucy wrapped her arms around Mia, "I never thought of how all that would effect you." Greg joined them on the couch as they had a group hug.

"Actually, I've just made a decision." Mia said as they all resumed their places in their previous seats.

"From this moment on I'm going to be me. My parents can't say anything else; I did everything I was asked to do. It's my turn now." Mia's stare seemed to penetrate right into the souls of those sitting in the Great Hall, there was a fierceness in her glare coupled with the pompous glare one had to be born with.

"There's my girl! That's the Mia we know. The fierce bitch is back!" Greg was beyond drunk at this point, he had fallen to his knees in front of Mia, bowing down.

"She has returned!"

The evening had not gone on much longer, the trio being far to drunk to continue their drinking or be understood. Attendance in the Great Hall gradually dissipated as their conversations became more fits of giggles than words. Eventually both the students and the friends found themselves in their respective beds.

Mia found herself rolling over in bed at the same time breakfast was being served in the Great Hall. All eyes snapped towards the screen.

"Shit. Why the hell are the curtains open?" Mia asked the question seemingly to no one, yet has she said it the ties keeping them closed came undone and the sun was blocked out.

"Oh thank Merlin. Darkness." Mia gingerly climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb the hangover it was correctly assumed that she was suffering from. She had changed into an emerald green silk chemise with black lace edging and matching silk shorts for sleeping. Stumbling over to the settee in her room she grabbed black silk robe and threw it on haphazardly, not bothering to tie it closed, and set off downstairs in search of a cure and food.

"She needs to get out of our colors. What a scanky wannabe." Pansy snarled to the few girls that continued to hang on her every word. Draco had to disagree, he rather enjoyed seeing her prance around in such obvious Slytherin attires.

"Eh, I wouldn't mind seeing her out of our colors. If you know what I mean." Crabbe elbowed Goyle and laughed as he said this, the innuendo obvious in his tone.

Pansy huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, looking anywhere that wasn't the giant screen or the faces that were firmly affixed to it.

Mia breezed in the kitchen, looking much better than she felt. Hair gently tousled, robe now closed, and eyes, almost, wide open. Theodore and Rosalie already seated at the table, well into their breakfast.

"Well would you look at that dear, she lives." Theodore had amusement in his voice as he watched his daughter struggle over the assault of smells coming from the breakfast food.

"I think you'll find what you are looking for next to your juice glass." With that suggestion and a smirk, he brought his paper back up and continued reading, the first of seven international papers he read throughout the day.

All attention was drawn to the small vial of orange liquid that was sitting next to the empty glass. Curiously, it looked liked hangover potion.

Odd, no?

Feeling much more like her normal self, Mia grinned and started putting berries on her oatmeal. She looked up at her parents, both preoccupied, and decided now was the best time to tell them about her revelation from last night. She wanted to feel as much like who she really was as possible.

"Mum, Daddy, can I talk to you both for a minute." She waited a beat and to make sure she had her parents' full attention before continuing.

"I think I have played my role in everything quite well, but now that it is all over I would like to return to being Mia, not Hermione." She steeled herself for whatever backlash she thought might come.

"Well naturally sweetie. That's what tonight is all about, to celebrate our success and reintroduce you into society. Now eat up, you have a dress appointment at eleven." Rosalie smiled at her daughter, grinning at her child's silly belief that they would make her carry on as someone she wasn't.

Mia felt the weight of the world lift off her shoulders. That couldn't have gone any better. Perhaps she could get Lucy to meet her shopping today. She had a whole new wardrobe to buy for school. Visibly brightened by her excitement, Mia ate with purpose. She loved shopping days.

Society? Victory? What is this family playing at? The Great Hall simmered with anticipation laced with confusion. Today was destined to go down as the slowest day in history.

I AM SO SORRY! This chapter was really hard for me to write, it was mostly filler to get me to my big action and revelation scenes and every time I went to work on it I got distracted by my big ideas. BUT NO MORE! I got it done and I can write the rest of the chapters and put all my ideas to paper. I'm quite excited.

Thank you to all who have stuck with me! It's going to get better! I promise.

As always, PLEASE REVIEW, nice things preferred. If you have a problem, please use a private message to convey it.