Note: Oops! Sorry for the long wait everybody! Actually, I've got bad news: it'll be this way from now on... I'll update every two weeks... I know I know, it sucks, but if I had gone on like this, I coudn't have written as fast as I updated. So there you have it. On a brighter note, I decided to update event though I didn't get the 35 reviews I asked for ;) I mean, it's not that much... is it? Oh well, here's chapter 6!

Chapter 6: My Luck, My Shop

Looking around, Hermione found nothing but piles and stacks and mountains of scarves of every color imaginable: blue, violet, black, yellow, green –she even caught a glimpse of a rainbow one. She felt she was going to get dizzy in a matter of seconds if she didn't find her brother right away.

She passed through hats, gloves, mittens, books –How to Look Good in Your Uniform, Vol. I, II, III, IV, V and VI– to finally reach an old customer, whom she asked for directions to the back store, where her brother might, hopefully, be.

"The back of the store? That's just where you are, milady!" he laughed.

Seeing her confused look, he continued:

"I'm Frankie Sinatra, second manager of this shop, nice to meet you. Why did you want to visit the back of the store, may I ask?"

"Frank Sinatra? Like the famous muggle? That must be so weird…" she remarked to herself. "I'm Hermione, nice to meet you, too. I came here to have a word with my brother, Edward..."

He laughed again and motioned to her to follow him. After 5 long minutes of walking through accessories of different shapes, styles, forms, colors and fabrics, they finally reached her brother, who was in deep conversation with a teenage girl Hermione immediately recognised. She cringed before making herself known.

"Edward, can I―"

"Hermione! Oh, what a pleasure to see you! I've heard everything about the scandal, dear. Were you really sequestrated by a muggle terrorist band that had kidnapped you when you were 2 months old? How did you escape? Is it true they threatened to reveal to the world the existence of the magical world? You know, Ron and I were talking about that and I thought he was sooo wrong because he kept saying you had a normal life and it is definitely not true. I mean, look at you! You're the perfect example of a beaten, undernourished girl! You must tell him he's wrong, or he'll just keep babbling nonsense all along and I sooo don't like that, you know!

Hermione looked at Lavender for a second with disgust. The girl reminded her how angry she was with Ron and was the main reason she had hated him so much for weeks now.

"Actually, even if I totally hate to say this, you know, but Won-Won is sooo more right than you," she mimicked the girl.

Oh, God, how she hated her. And Ron. She hated them both!

She turned to her brother and commanded him to find another place so they could talk... alone, she finished while sending a murderous glare to the girl in front of her. She repeated to herself that violence was never a solution, nor was murder. "Keep calm, breathe slowly, everything will be alright. Keep calm, breathe slowly..."

"What is it, dear sister?" he asked in a tone which really meant, "I'm ready, you can scream at me now."

"What is it? What is it? Because of you, I will marry someone I hate in a matter of months, or even worse, in a matter of days! What were you thinking, you thick-head?"

At this point she slapped him on the shoulder since she couldn't reach his head. The mere presence of Lavender had made her exceptionally angry, and she subconsciously let out her frustration on her brother, even if he had nothing to do about it.

"You can discuss it with mother if you don't like her choice. There's nothing I can do about what she thinks is best for you!"

"You were the one who decided to show me off like a piece of meat to all those pureblood guys! You got me in this mess! And you will get me out of it!"

"What do you want me to do? Annihilate all pureblood males so they won't ask for your hand?"

"No! I just want you to... Never mind."

She sighed in resignation. Her brother was right after all. He didn't have anything to do with Malfoy's proposal. He couldn't fix the situation, no one could. Of course he had started the ball rolling –"what a dumb expression", she thought– but he wasn't in a bit responsible for another's action. Edward looked at her in concern.

"What is it? Is their choice so bad?"

"No, not if it's who I want them to chose, but... I don't want to marry him. I have to, but I don't want to. It's difficult."

"I'm so sorry sister, but I don't know who you're talking about. Hell, I don't even know who proposed to you!"

"Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle, and all Michael Zouri's family," she automatically answered.

"It's a good amount," he chuckled, not even trying to remain serious.

"No, it's not," she groaned, exasperated. "I hate them all! There was Zabini who might have been decent enough, but then I just learned he had a 'tendency to violence with his girls'. Now I'm supposed to marry my biggest enemy, a stupid, self-centered, manipulating bleached ferret, because if I don't, he'll marry my friend, and I'll be stuck with one of his two stupid goons!"

She progressively raised her voice until it was so high she swore it could have broken a glass. Her brother seemed a little taken aback by her sudden outburst –sure he knew she was a bit frustrated, but at this point?

"Calm down, sister! I'm sure you can find a solution, bright as you are..." he tried to cool her down, to no avail.

"I can't calm down! How do you suppose I can calm down? I'm gonna marry Draco Malfoy! How can I calm down, for God's sake?"

"Think logically. You're gonna marry him –it's a pureblood union: you conceive an heir and the job is done! You'll be friends, you'll be rich, and you'll have your separate love life, like every other pureblood couples married by contract. It's simple!"

"I hate him, Edward! And you're just gross! Conceiving an heir with him would mean... to do it with him! This is just plain repulsive!"

"Look, Hermione. This," he motioned to her to look around, "is my shop. Notice the possessive pronoun: my shop. And in my shop, you can't just blow your rage at me for nothing. Look, I was lucky. Life decided to give me a chance, and I took it; it's my luck, my shop. What you have to do is to take the chance you have now. Do whatever crazy things your mind can come up with, enjoy what's left of your free time, and when you marry, establish a truce with him. That'll make your life a way lot easier. It's your chance, sister."

"Don't start with your 'chance, luck and life', Edward. It'll only get worse."

"It's your opinion. I gave you my advice; the only thing you can do now is to follow what you think is best after you saw it from a neutral position."

"Neutral position?"

"Yeah. Cool down, and stop seeing only the bad side. It helps, sometimes..." he finished quite sarcastically.

Having nothing more to say to him, and feeling slightly less frustrated than she had been, she made a move to go back home... until she realised she didn't know the way back to the back store.

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Don't have much to say about this chapter. Isn't her brother nice? XD Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!

Featherstrike

...and D. and Firnoviel!