A/N – From here the story transfers to a medieval setting for the majority of the story. As the book Hermione is immersed in is a racy romance the details of the time period might be slightly off (I just used what I know and what I've seen on various films and television programmes). The longer Hermione is in the book the more invested she becomes and her real thoughts and opinions merge more with her characters so at times in later chapters there is no distinction between Hermione and Queen Hermione. Hermione and Draco are usually just referred to by name, their titles aren't always mentioned whereas everyone else is always referred to by title.
Almost as soon as she cast the spell Hermione felt her eyes closing. Once her eyes were closed Hermione became aware that her surroundings were fading, for a minute or so she could feel herself sitting on her bed but gradually the feeling of sitting on her bed was replaced by the feeling of standing. Slowly Hermione became aware that she could feel air on her face and hear some faint noises, including bird song. As the noises grew louder something in Hermione told her to open her eyes.
When Hermione opened her eyes she found herself standing at a window, looking down on a bustling courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard stood a golden carriage and the surrounding area was teeming with knights and servants as they went about their duties. Looking down at herself she found she was wearing a long, golden gown. The skirts pooled around her feet while the bodice was quite tight and pushed her breasts up to look like quite an eyeful, all in all Hermione liked the way she looked in her fancy dress. Tearing her gaze away from herself Hermione turned back to the window, she watched the scene with interest for a few minutes before she turned away and gazed around the room she was in.
The room was exactly like Hermione pictured medieval chambers, the walls and floors were stone and the furniture was all practical. There was a four poster bed in half of the room, along with a dressing table and wooden wardrobe. The rest of the room contained a table and chairs and a large rocking chair next to the fire. Apart from the window she had been looking at there was three other windows in the room and the light flowed into the room nicely.
As she was looking around the room Hermione spotted a large wall hanging, a golden lion on a red background. Hermione recognised it as the symbol of Gryffindor, but she knew in this life Gryffindor was a kingdom and she was the princess. A quick scan through her thoughts revealed that there was four major kingdoms in the land, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Hermione couldn't help but chuckle that the names of the kingdoms had come from the four Hogwarts houses, clearly the spell used all of her knowledge to create the immersion fantasy.
Hermione was surprised by how much she knew as the princess, while her normal thoughts and memories were present in her head she had a whole set of thoughts and memories that came from Princess Hermione and her life in the kingdom of Gryffindor. Despite all she knew however no faces or names were coming to mind when she thought of people she knew as the princess, she was guessing that until she met them she wouldn't know who was cast in that particular role in the story.
A knock on the door suddenly halted Hermione's thoughts. "Come in." She called, without even thinking about responding, clearly the book's pull was stronger than her own curiosity.
Hermione watched the door as it opened and Ginny strode in, smiling widely at Hermione. The second Ginny entered the room Hermione knew she was her handmaiden, as well as her best friend. Hermione knew she and Ginny were practically the same age in the story and Ginny had been serving her for years, although in private they were more like sisters than mistress and servant.
"My Lady." Ginny curtsied quickly before shutting the door to the chambers behind her. "Are you nearly ready?"
At Ginny's question Hermione quickly discovered a new fact popped into her head, she was leaving Gryffindor to be married. An alliance had been formed with Gryffindor's neighbouring kingdom, Slytherin, and Hermione was to be married to their king. The alliance was to prevent war from breaking out between the two kingdoms, relations were decidedly frosty between Gryffindor and Slytherin and a union between Hermione and the King of Slytherin was hopefully a way to bring everlasting peace to the kingdoms.
"Yes." Hermione nodded. "Are you? You know you can stay here if you wish, this is your home after all."
"My place is with you." Ginny responded. "Unless of course you would rather I not accompany you."
"I really want you to come. I'll need a friendly face when we arrive in Slytherin." Hermione reassured Ginny with a smile. "I just don't want you to drag you away from your life. What about Sir Harry, I thought you were involved with him?"
"I am, but it's nothing serious." Ginny shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure Slytherin has some cute knights."
Hermione chuckled softly at Ginny's words. From her memories in this life Hermione knew her handmaiden was always up for a good time with the knights and over the course of the last few years she had bedded a few of them. Hermione was initially surprised that she had cast Ginny in such a promiscuous role but the more she thought about it the more apt it seemed, before Harry her friend had dated a few boys and even now she was with him she wasn't opposed to eyeing up good looking boys.
Another knock on the door interrupted the girl's conversation. This time Ginny walked over to the doors and opened them, revealing Ron standing in the doorway wearing a full set of armour and a red cloak with a gold lion emblem on it.
"The King and Queen are waiting for you, My Lady." Sir Ron announced.
"Thank you, Sir Ron." Hermione nodded at the knight as she turned and grabbed a red cloak that was sitting nearby.
After putting the cloak on Hermione took one final look around the room before she followed Ron from the room. Ron led the way from Princess Hermione's chambers, through the stone corridors, while Ginny and Hermione walked slightly behind him.
"Are you going to miss Sir Ron?" Ginny whispered, making sure the knight in front of her didn't hear. "After all he has been your personal protector for nearly five years."
"I'll miss him as a friend, as I will all the knights." Hermione responded. "But I won't miss the fact he's clearly in love with me and I can't find a way to let him down without hurting his feelings. Maybe my leaving will allow him to move on and find a nice girl he can settle down with."
"Maybe." Ginny said, although her tone displayed her lack of conviction.
Hermione sighed as they continued to follow Ron out to the courtyard. It seemed that in both her real life and the story that she was facing the same problems with Ron. Hermione knew Ron was in love with her and for years she had ignored the fact, hoping he would move on and find someone who wanted him. She'd never actually confronted Ron about his feelings as she hadn't wanted to risk losing his friendship and looked like Princess Hermione was having the same dilemma with Sir Ron.
Hermione forgot all about her problems with Ron as they left the castle and descended into the courtyard. Standing beside the royal carriage was Harry, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. Like Ron they were dressed as knights and Hermione suddenly had the knowledge that they were the five best knight in the kingdom and were the King's most trusted men. Hermione also had the knowledge that Princess Hermione had grown up with all five men and like Ginny, they were her friend's.
The knights all greeted Hermione with a little bow and a smile before returning to their duties. Hermione watched as the knights set about making the final preparations for the trip. Ginny joined the men, laughing and joking with them as she prepared her own horse, while Hermione watched her friends. Princess Hermione had wanted to ride with her friends on the journey but the king had insisted that she travel in the carriage, while Hermione knew this she still had no picture of the king in her head.
"Hermione, it's nearly time we were off. We need to get in the carriage."
Hermione turned round at the voice and found herself face to face with Albus Dumbledore, King of Gryffindor and Princess Hermione's father. At his side was the Queen, Minerva McGonagall. Hermione inwardly chuckled at the thought of the headmaster and her head of house being King and Queen of Gryffindor and her parents in the story. Despite knowing the two of them in real life Hermione also now had a head full of memories of King Albus and Queen Minerva.
"Come along dear, get aboard." The Queen smiled at Hermione, gesturing to the carriage.
Casting a quick glance at her friends Hermione did as she was told and boarded the carriage. Minutes later Queen Minerva joined her, followed by King Albus and shortly after that the party set off towards the kingdom of Slytherin. While Hermione sat on one side of the carriage the King and Queen sat on the other side, talking quietly to each other.
Hermione watched the beautiful scenery as they rode to Slytherin, after leaving the castle and the main part of Gryffindor behind they entered open country. Lush green fields and rolling hills passed by the window, making Hermione wish she was riding outside with her friends. Hermione knew that as a Princess she rode every day and was hoping to be able to continue the pastime when she arrived at her new home in Slytherin.
Thinking of her new home got Hermione wondering who she was going off to marry. Because he hadn't entered the story yet the King of Slytherin had no name and no identity in her head, he was merely the King. The thought of getting married was also a worrying one for Hermione and she was wishing she hadn't rushed into the immersion part of the book without checking the plot line more thoroughly. All Hermione knew about the story was that a queen fell in love with a knight and they embarked upon a passionate affair. Since Hermione wasn't a queen yet she figured the affair was with a knight in the kingdom of Slytherin, which caused her to worry some more.
Judging from the way she had cast everyone so far Hermione figured that the male lead in the story would be a Slytherin and she was also heading off to marry a Slytherin. For nearly an hour Hermione thought about who she wanted to be her leading man and despite her reservations there was only one person in her thoughts, Draco Malfoy. As much as Hermione had been trying to deny it since returning to school, she had somehow developed a slight crush on her fellow head student. While a big part of Hermione was hoping that Draco would be her leading man a part of her was hoping he wasn't, if he was she really didn't think she would be able to face him after experiencing some of the hotter scenes she was expecting to be present in the story.
Hermione's thoughts were interrupted as the carriage stopped for a short break. Getting out and stretching her legs Hermione had a quick chat with Ginny before heading back inside the carriage. When they got under way again King Albus announced they would only be travelling for another hour or so before reaching Slytherin.
It was just over an hour and a half before Hermione spotted the citadel of Slytherin. Taking a good look at their surroundings as they neared the royal castle Hermione decided that the kingdom of Slytherin was just as beautiful as the kingdom of Gryffindor. Looking at the rapidly approaching castle Hermione realised the stones that built it were darker but it looked to have far more windows than the castle she had left behind a few hours ago.
Pulling up outside the castle Hermione noticed the stairway to the main entrance was lined with the knights of Slytherin. Hermione smiled to herself as she noticed the knights cloaks were emerald green with an emblem of a silver snake on them, clearly the house symbols and colours represented the kingdoms bearing the same name.
When the carriage door was opened King Albus and Queen Minerva alighted first and Hermione followed them, standing slightly behind them and off to the side. As the knights of Gryffindor stood alongside their royal family the front doors of the castle opened and five knights emerged and walked down the stairs. Hermione immediately identified the knights as Draco, Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Reaching the foot of the steps the knights stepped aside, revealing their king.
"Severus, it's good to see you." King Albus stepped forward and greeted his fellow King.
At the sight of her potions Professor as the King of Slytherin, Hermione wanted to turn and run, but the story's reactions took precedent over her inner turmoil and she remained standing where she was. Hermione was mentally cursing herself for not reading the book before immersing herself in it. Now she was stuck having to marry Severus Snape and there was nothing she could do about it.