Author's note: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for taking so long to update, I've been fairly busy lately. Hope you enjoy this one anyway!
Chapter Four: Bithdays and Parties
Hermione tossed and turned in her bed that night, having a very odd dream:
Three new relationships will start, all of them forbidden.
Creating three trails of Forbidden Love.
The first is happening right now, with two different people who lead different lives.
The second will come, when a man will realise his true feelings and dances with a friend's sister.
And the third will start unexpectedly, as these two are enemies but they will see beyond their hate and realise they're meant for each other.
Only one person will know about each relationship except for the third one…all will be caught when they least expect it.
The trails are starting…
Hermione suddenly woke up, very confused about what she just dreamt. She thought she heard someone talking to her, but didn't see anyone. It must have been her imagination.
Shrugging it off, she turned around and went back to sleep, this time not dreaming of anything…
"Harry?" Ron asked through the dark that night.
"Yeah?" Harry answered, turning round to face his best friend. It had been two hours since they returned back to The Burrow and everyone had gone to bed. Ron and Harry were sleeping in Ron's room.
"If I tell you something will you promise not to tell Hermione?" Ron whispered.
Harry nodded. "Of course mate, you can tell me anything. I wouldn't tell Hermione unless it required her help. What's up?"
Ron paused. "I think I have a crush on Annabel," he said, going red.
Harry looked at his friend in disbelief. "Ok Ron, two things. One, she's Hermione's cousin and two, she has a boyfriend."
"She broke up with him," said Ron promptly.
"How do you k-"
"She rang him after dinner and dumped him. She said he was too immature."
Harry laughed softly. "So are you going to tell her, mate?"
Ron looked away from Harry. "I already did," he answered, looking guilty.
"And?"
"She kissed me," Ron answered. "She wants me to be her boyfriend."
"But you have only known each other for only a day! Isn't it too soon to start being more than friends?"
"Not to her or me," Ron said simply. "There's something about her…it drives me wild. Please don't tell Hermione."
Harry nodded and settled back into bed. "I'm happy for you mate."
"You are?" Ron sighed in relief. "I thought you would be mad."
"Why would I be mad?" asked Harry, staring at the ceiling. "I just hope you actually like her and you aren't going out with her to make Hermione jealous."
"Nah, I got over Hermione long ago. Didn't you see the way I looked at Annabel? I really like her, Harry."
"A warning," said Harry, "don't display your affection towards her in front of Hermione; otherwise she's going to get suspicious."
Ron nodded and they both rolled over in their beds, falling asleep immediately.
Hermione was woken in the early hours of the morning hearing a soft tap, tap somewhere in her room. She sat up and looked around for the source of the noise and saw Hedwig sitting on her windowsill, a letter tied to her leg.
"Oh Hedwig, what are you doing here?" she asked, crossing to the window and opening it.
Hedwig hooted softly and held out her leg, somehow knowing it wasn't wise to come in.
Hermione then untied the letter from her leg, gave her an owl treat from a box nearby and patted the owl affectionately. Hedwig hooted silently in thanks and she flew away, a soaring bird in the sky.
Hermione smiled after her and unrolled the letter:
Hermione,
Mrs Weasley is holding a party for my seventeen on my actual birthday, thirty-first July. It will start at around six-thirty pm but she says you can come in the morning if you wish. It should end at around eleven pm and Mr Weasley will escort you home if you wish since it might not be a good idea to Apparate while Annabel is staying at your house. No offence to her or anything, but I don't think it's a good idea for her to come.
See you in two days!
Harry.
No offence taken, Hermione thought happily as she hid the letter in a draw. She didn't want Annabel coming to Harry's birthday and she was quite happy to leave her at home while she had fun with her friends.
"Oh why can't I come?"
"Because it's my friend's birthday and you weren't invited!"
"But I'm Harry's friend –"
"No, you're not, Annabel, you only met him the other day and he didn't seem to take much liking into you like Ron did."
Annabel turned slightly red, but Hermione didn't notice.
"Fine," she huffed. "I'll stay here while you have the time of your life at a stupid seventeenth. I don't see all the fuss you're going over anyway, it's not as if he's eighteen or anything. That's the big celebration I would rather be at."
Yeah well we are adults at seventeen when we're wizards and witches, thought Hermione.
"Hello? Aren't you listening to me, Hermy?"
"Huh?" said Hermione, snapping out of her thoughts.
Annabel shook her head, annoyed that her cousin wasn't listening to her. "Will Draco be there?" she asked hopefully.
"No, Malfoy will not be there as he's not one of Harry's friends," Hermione said, very annoyed. "Why are you obsessed with him anyway?"
"I'm not obsessed with him, I just happen to get along with him unlike you. He is really hot you know –"
"Whatever, Annabel," said Hermione, not listening as she was trying to wrap up Harry's present. She smiled to herself, hoping he liked it. It took her ages to find something he might like. Finally, it was wrapped up with the card on top, written and sealed.
"Right, I'm going," said Hermione, picking up her handbag and swinging it over her shoulder. She then picked up her present.
"What time will you be back? I'm going to be so bored without you here," pouted Annabel.
"Late," said Hermione. "I'll probably come back when you're asleep." As if Annabel will be bored while I'm gone…she'll probably get the bus to the shops and stay there for six hours.
"Bye Annabel! Bye Mum!"
"Bye Hermione!" her mum called from the study upstairs.
Hermione walked out of her house and up to the end of the street where she would Disapparate to The Burrow. She didn't want to Disapparate from her house as Annabel was there and give her cover away. If Annabel had gone shopping at nine, she would have done it there.
She reached the street sign post and turned on the spot, thinking of appearing at The Burrow as she did so. Her street disappeared and she saw a crooked house in front of her instead. She smiled and walked quickly towards it, imagining the look on Harry's face when he opened her present.
She approached the door and knocked. "Hello? I'm here!" she called at the door.
Footsteps sounded inside and Mrs Weasley opened the door, a wide smile on her face.
"Oh hello, Hermione! How are you? I wasn't expecting you till twelve!"
"I'm fine, Mrs Weasley, thank you," Hermione smiled, hugging Mrs Weasley. "Are they up yet?"
"No they're not up yet," said Mrs Weasley, as Hermione stepped inside and closed the door. "You would think the boys would be up by now since it is Harry's birthday."
"I'll go and surprise them then," said Hermione, with a sneaky smile on her face. She started climbing the staircase, walking past the many floors of the house. On the third floor, she saw a familiar long red haired friend.
"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed from her desk in her room. "I haven't seen you in ages. I've missed you so much! How are you?"
Hermione put a finger to her lips as if to say 'Shssh.'. "Hi, Ginny, I've missed you too. I can't talk now, I'm trying to surprise them," she whispered, keeping her voice low. She pointed to the ceiling.
Ginny nodded and closed her door. Hermione continued climbing the staircase until she reached the top floor where Ron's room was, tiptoeing towards it.
"You know you can do magic today, Harry," Ron's voice said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot! What spell should I try first? What do you reckon?" Harry's voice said excitedly.
"I don't know…maybe something to detect watchment or something?"
"I don't know how to do that, that's something Hermione would be able to do."
"Hmm…" Ron was evidently thinking hard. "Maybe you could try to summon something?"
"Alright then. Accio Qudditch through the Ages."
There was a pause during which Hermione figured the book must have been summoured. "Wow, it feels great, being able to do magic legally," Harry said happily.
"And you have me to thank for teaching you how to do that spell properly," Hermione spoke up, revelling herself at last.
Harry and Ron jumped and looked around to see her standing in the doorway, grinning.
"Hermione, you scared me! When did you get here?" asked Ron, surprise written all over his face.
"About ten minutes ago. Though I would come and surprise you two. Happy Birthday Harry!"
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry replied, blushing a little. "You didn't bring Annabel with you, did you?"
"No, of course not, she's at home or probably going shopping –"
"Why didn't she come?" Ron asked.
"Because she wasn't invited," Harry growled at Ron, giving him a warning look. "She's not a friend of mine, only Hermione's cousin. She didn't mind, did she?"
"Actually she did, but I didn't want her to come," said Hermione, sitting on the edge of Ron's bed. "Do you think I want her gloating about how spoilt she is and start talking about Malfoy –"
"What about Malfoy?" Harry demanded, looking up from Qudditch through the Ages and sending Hermione a questioning look.
"She mentioned him again," Hermione replied, sighing in annoyance. "She was asking if he was going to be at your party, probably why she wanted to come. I don't know why she keeps asking and talking about him…maybe she's in love with him."
"She can't be in love with him," Ron said suddenly.
Harry sighed and hit his head with his hand while Hermione looked at Ron weirdly. "What do you mean she can't be in love with him? She talks about him all the time saying how hot he is."
"I meant that she couldn't possibly fall for that slimy ferret git because he doesn't have any feelings whatsoever about anyone but himself," Ron quickly answered, trying to argue his point.
Hermione seemed satisfied with his answer though.
"Come on, let's go downstairs," said Harry, quickly changing the subject. "I think it's about time we had breakfast Ron and besides I want to open my presents!"
Ron rolled his eyes and got out of bed. "Mum said you weren't going to open your presents until your little party but seeing as though you got so many, you might have to start opening them now, it'll take all day!"
"Really?" said Harry, getting out of bed and following Ron and Hermione out into the hallway. "I wonder why I have so many presents."
"Duh, Harry, it's because you're famous!" Hermione mocked, rolling her eyes, but grinning at Harry's fooliness.
"I knew that, Hermione, I was only joking," grinned Harry, as they walked down the stairs.
The door to "Marcy's Glays Fashion Store" opened and Annabel stepped out, clutching three bags full of clothes and shoes. She had decided to go shopping for the day since Hermione was out at a party all day.
She's going to have a rotten time without me there, nobody to light up the party.
She missed Ron terribly as she hadn't seen him for two days, but was happy that he was coming to Hermione's early eighteenth party. She had brought him something, a picture frame so he could put a picture of her in it and look at it while he was at the school in the mountains.
Annabel suddenly had the feeling that someone was watching her; maybe another boy was checking her out. She then felt someone grab her wrist. Alarmed, she turned around to face the culprit and suddenly everything went dark.
Next thing she knew, she was standing in front of a large white manor with tall iron gates in front of it and a garden full of weeds. What in the world – how did I get here? It is a nice manor but the garden is terrible, does anyone live here?
Someone cleared their throat and she whipped around to see Draco Malfoy leaning against a tree, staring at her.
"Draco, you scared me!" exclaimed Annabel, surprised to see him again.
"I noticed," said Draco, smirking a little. "I was wondering when I would see you again."
"Yeah…" said Annabel, trailing off. "How did I get here? One minute I was at the shops and the next minute I was here."
"Magic," Draco answered with a smug smirk.
Annabel's eyes flashed darkly. "I don't believe in magic," she growled, frowning.
"You don't?" Draco sounded surprised and for a moment Annabel wondered why. He shook his head and looked at the manor behind Annabel. She turned around and looked at it too.
"Does anyone live here?" she asked in wonder.
"I do," said Draco.
"It's a lovely manor," said Annabel, admiring it. "Is your mother home? How is she?"
Draco fell silent and looked at the ground. Annabel turned to see that small tears were flowing down his face.
"Not good?" she asked sympathetically.
He nodded, wiping his face with his sleeve.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Draco, I really am," she whispered. He nodded again.
"How's your cousin?" he asked, the sadness gone from his face.
"Oh, she's doing fine. She's at some seventeen party today, one of her friends named Henry or something. I can't remember his name. Anyway I wasn't invited, but she's having a early eighteenth party and I'm going to that so –"
She paused, suddenly getting a good idea. "Hey, you could come to her party as my guest! How about it?" She looked at Draco hopefully.
He shook his head. "Nah, she won't like that, I don't think."
"Oh, but –" Annabel began, but Draco cut across her.
"No, really. It was nice of you to offer, but me and your cousin aren't friends. Never have been and never will. She would be so mad if she saw me there, trust me."
Annabel looked very disappointed. "Oh, alright then. You know what? I think you and her would be good together, if you ever saw past each other's hatred."
Draco looked surprised that she said that and his eyes flashed darkly for a second, but Annabel didn't notice.
"Anyway, I better get back home," said Annabel, gathering up her shopping. "Aunt Elizabeth will freak if I don't come home by three. But how I'll get back, I don't know."
Draco smiled. "Oh I know a way…"
Next thing she knew, Annabel was back on the sidewalk, ten steps away from "Marcy's Glays Fashion Store", Draco nowhere in sight.
She stood there confused for awhile, wondering if she really left the sidewalk and saw a white manor. Maybe she just dozed off in the middle of the sidewalk, imagining things. Yeah, that'll be right. Though, she was talking to Draco, she knew that happened…
She shook her head, getting rid of her insane thoughts and walked up the street, thinking of getting a coffee from Starbucks.
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Harry! Happy birthday to you!"
"Hip-hip!" called Ron.
"Hooray!"
"Hip-hip!"
"Hooray!"
"HIP-HIP!"
"HOORAY!"
"Thank you everyone," said Harry, grateful for the celebration everyone was giving him. He then closed his eyes, thinking of a wish and blew out the seventeen candles on the cake.
"For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow! And so say all of us! And so say all of us!" sang Fred and George.
"That's enough, boys!" called Mrs Weasley, handing Harry the knife.
He cut the cake, from the middle down, careful not to cut himself in the process. "I cut up the rest of it," Mrs Weasley said as Harry handed back the knife and carried the cake back into the kitchen.
"Why don't you open our presents now, Harry?" asked Fred.
Harry waved his wand and the presents zoomed towards him, landing on the table. He grinned and opened the first present on top of the pile.
"Thank you very much, Mr and Mrs Weasley!" he exclaimed.
"It's tradition that a wizard gets a watch when he turns seventeen," said Mr Weasley. "It was nothing really." Mrs Weasley came back into the room and served everyone a piece of cake.
"Thanks, Ron," Harry said gratefully, as he opened the next present to see that Ron had given him An Encyclopaedia of Qudditch Players throughout History.
"The amazing thing about that book is that it adds a name to it when the player debuts so your name will be in there one day!"
"I doubt that, Ron, but it's a nice thought," Harry laughed as he set it aside and opened the next present to revel a book of merchandise from Fred and George's shop.
"They're all new mate, not stocked on the selves until October," said George.
"Don't worry, we've tested them and they aren't dangerous," added Fred, noticing the worried look on Harry's face.
Bill and Fleur had given Harry green dress robes made of silk which they had brought in France. Lupin had given him a new Sneakoscope, Tonks gave him a new chess set and Ginny gave him a photo frame. Finally Harry was down to the last two presents. He opened Hermione's present.
"Hey thanks, Hermione!" he exclaimed as he revelled what was inside, a full set of his own Qudditch gear minus a broomstick since he had one. "That must have been really expensive, Hermione, you shouldn't have!"
"Oh, but I did," Hermione smiled.
"What's this one?' he asked, opening the last present. Hermione's heart sank.
"Annabel thought she would give you something," she growled through gritted teeth. "What did she get you?"
Harry pushed the wrapping and held up a bottle. "Aftershave," he grumbled.
"I'll tell her you said thanks," said Hermione, fighting back not to laugh at Annabel's thoughtfulness. "Well, it's time for me to go unfortunately. See you guys soon, for my eighteenth disco."
"Bye Hermione, thanks for the present," said Harry, hugging her and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Bye Hermione," said Ron, also hugging her. Everyone bided Hermione farewell and Mr Weasley escorted her outside to Disapperated.
"So what street, Hermione?" he asked.
"Franklin's Road."
The Burrow disappeared and Hermione's street came into view. "Thanks Mr Weasley, have a good night," Hermione said starting to walk towards her house.
"Bye Hermione," said Mr Weasley, and with a crack, he Disapperated.
Hermione entered the quiet house and crept up to her bedroom, but not before taking a peak at her cousin's room. She was sleeping soundly in a deep sleep. Hermione walked into her room, got into her pyjamas and in bed, falling asleep immediately.
A few weeks later…
"I'll get that!" Hermione called as the doorbell rang. She ran to the door to welcome her first guests and opened it to reveal her Muggle friends. "Hi Eliza, Rachel, Tim!" she exclaimed, very happy to see them. She hadn't seen most of her Muggle friends except for Eliza and Julie (her best Muggle friends) for ages.
"Hey, Hermione, happy birthday," greeted Rachel as she stepped inside.
"I thought your birthday was in September," Tim muttered, confused.
"It is. I'm just celebrating it early as I'll be at boarding school when it comes around," Hermione replied, as she closed the door behind her.
"Is Annabel here?" asked Rachel.
Tim groaned loudly, hoping she wasn't there. She was an ex-girlfriend of his.
"Yes, she is, in the living room," answered Hermione.
Rachel nodded and walked towards the living room, dragging Tim with her.
The doorbell rang again and Julie was on the doorstep. "How are you?" she asked closing the door behind her. "Do I get to meet these friends of yours from Hogwarts?" Julie and Eliza were the only ones out of Hermione's Muggle friends who knew that she was a witch and thought it was cool to have a witch as a friend.
"Yeah Harry and Ron are coming," Hermione answered, smiling.
"I wish I went to your school, Hermione," Eliza whispered excitedly. "I can't believe you know someone famous!"
"Yeah, but he's only famous in the wizardry world," Hermione muttered as the doorbell rang again.
Over the next hour, more of Hermione's friends arrived and one of her cousins Violet came along. Finally, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Felicity Higgins arrived.
"Hey Felicity," said Hermione warmly, greeting Ginny's best friend. "How was your trip to America?"
"Interesting actually," said Felicity, hugging Hermione. "Mum threatened to sue some policeman that tried to search me because he thought I was carrying a gun instead of my wand."
"Oh no! Were you okay?"
"Oh yeah. Mum scared him away, but Dad said she should have let him handle it since he has a wand. We nearly got mugged in New York, but Dad Stunned them, Mum wasn't too pleased, she's still scared of Dad when he uses a wand. And I added a new colour to my hair," she added, holding out a streak of hair that was coloured orange. "Mum's not happy about it of course…"
Hermione laughed. Felicity used to have blonde hair, but she dyed it black and then added red, blue, yellow and purple streaks in her hair. Mrs Higgins was against Felicity dying her hair in the first place so of course she wouldn't be happy about the new addition to it.
"So, anyone want to go to the disco? We're about to start."
They nodded and followed Hermione through to the back room where the disco was taking place. Annabel was going to be in charge of music for awhile and started the music as soon as Hermione walked in.
Relax don't do it
When you want to go to it
Relax don't do it
When you want to come
"Eliza and Julie, meet Harry, Ron, Ginny and Felicity, my friends from Hogwarts. Guys, Julie and Eliza are my friends from primary school."
"You told them about Hogwarts?" Harry asked, as Ginny and Felicity said "Hi" to Eliza and Julie.
"Yeah, she did. Don't worry, we're cool about it," said Eliza, looking at Harry. "So, you guys take care of our Hermione at school?"
"Yep, we sure do," said Ron, smiling at both girls. "And she's very smart."
"That's no surprise, she was top of every class in school," said Julie. "Hey, you look like a rock chick!" she exclaimed to Felicity, noticing her streaks in her hair.
Felicity twirled her hair in her fingers. "Yeah, my father is a wizard and my mum is a Muggle like you. She's a lawyer."
They all stopped talking to dance along with everyone else to the beat of music. It was going well when Hermione stopped as she heard the next song.
"Annabel, what the hell is this?" Hermione yelled at her cousin who was at the CD player.
"Spice Girls," she answered, stepping away from the CD player. "You can't have a disco party without playing the Spice Girls, can you? Besides, everyone loves it." She stepped in the middle of the dance floor. "Okay everyone follow me, I'm going to do a little dance in the chorus and you follow me. Ready?"
Stop right now thank you very much
She stepped forward with her hands outstretched in front of her, swaying her hips a little.
I need somebody with the human touch
She then bent down, arms flowing down her body and stood back up again.
Hey you always on the run
She then pointed her finger at no one in particular and did a little run on the spot and shaking her hips again.
Gotta slow it down baby, gotta have some fun.
To Hermione's dismay, everyone copied Annabel but soon found herself following everyone else, having a little fun. She didn't even notice Annabel repeating the song twice before suddenly changing it to "Dancing Queen" by ABBA.
"Dance with me, Ron!" she shouted over the music, grabbing Ron's hand and steering him away from Hermione and the rest of her friends.
Hermione rolled her eyes and glanced towards Harry who held his hand out. She took it and started to dance.
You can dance you can jive
Having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
As they danced, Hermione thought she felt Harry grow tense, but didn't worry that much. She was having too much fun at her party, not caring what music Annabel would put on next. She didn't even notice Annabel and Ron dancing in the corner of the room very close to each other and then share a passionate kiss. All too soon, it was time to cut her early birthday cake.
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Hermione! Happy birthday to you!"
"Happy early birthday!" corrected Tim, and as everyone laughed at him, Hermione closed her eyes and tried to think of a wish…
I wish…what do I wish? I basically have everything I could ever want…my family, my friends, doing well in school, everything except…someone to love me. Someone to love me and surprise me. Yeah, that's what I wish for…oh and that I get Head Girl.
She blew out her candles, smoking flowing from the extinguished candles.
"Hip-hip!" called Annabel.
"Hooray!"
"Hip-hip!"
"Hooray!"
"HIP-HIP!"
"HOORAY!"
Author's note: Review? :D