Disclaimer: Ownership of characters. I no have it.
A.N. I hit another pacing problem. I wanted to add another scene in this chapter, but it felt right to stop it here. I already have a rough outline for the next chapter, but the next update would take a while because of midterms.
Yes, there is a lot of grammatical errors in this chapter. I want to get this up as soon as possible, so I could go back to studying. On that note, I am still looking for a beta, someone who I could bounce ideas with, and someone who could correct my grammar. The last chapter was horrible.
Special thanks to fspsarcastic, guest, Amber-isright, dutch potterfan, Elased and River, who made it a point to comment on every single chapter in one day.
Ch. 6
The day after the Victory Ball, the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and even the Quibbler all published stories about the Ministry's Victory ball. In fact, all the stories they published in those publications were about the Victory ball.
The Daily Prophet's front-page story was about the Wizarding World coming together to help the poor orphans. It should be noted that the orphans were not mentioned in the paper for the rest of the newspaper.
The Wizarding Home Monthly magazine was already advertising that they would have a 12-page spread of the Nott household. Complete with an inspiration board created by the party planner. It included before pictures, preparations, and the results.
While the newspapers generally mentioned who attended and who they came with, Witch Weekly detailed everything that happened that night. There was a section of who wore what dress. There was a list of the top ten best-dressed witches in the entire ball. Surprisingly Hermione was included.
There was an entire four-page spread about the Golden Trio. One page was just a glossy picture of them standing together at the ball, perhaps while they were giving their mandatory interview. Though neither Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave them an interview, the article was written to give an impression that they did.
In the article, they wrote everything they could find about the three of them. The article talked about Ron and Hermione's breakup and Harry's possible engagement with Ginny. The article talked about what they have been doing in the past year.
There was also a little blurb about Hermione talking to an unknown blonde-haired man at the balcony. The only proof the blurb had was that the woman at the balcony had the same color dress robes as Hermione. This was all the proof that was needed because Hermione was the only person at the ball who was wearing light salmon dress robes.
That little blurb caused a lot of interest. Hermione Granger's mysterious blonde man led to many speculations coming from Rita Skeeter and other professional gossipmongers like her for the next week. Those who spotted the peck at the ball confirmed the rumor in their afternoon Tea Parties. Those who have too much time nothing else essential to write about enjoyed figuring who might be Hermione Granger's mystery beau. Was it someone she knew from school? Was it one of the foreign diplomats from the continent?
The Wizarding public became amateur detectives while they tried to figure out who could have captured the war heroine's heart. The only clue was that he was blonde.
The rumors turned Hermione's week after the Victor Ball from exciting to exhausting.
Monday started out really nice. Hermione went to school, had her usual chat with Anthony, and they made plans to study next week for their final test. They planned to lock themselves in the library after her teatime with Harry.
During teatime with Harry, he mentioned that he planned to propose to Ginny soon. Harry planned to ask her between now and Christmas. The news made Hermione squeal in excitement. He wanted to surprise Ginny, so he wanted the paparazzi to stop talking about a possible engagement to calm down.
Hermione agreed to come down to Gringotts with him on Friday when they both have most of the day off.
She spent her Tuesday studying with classes and studying for upcoming finals. She re-read her essays and made a couple of corrections. Overall, she had a busy day, but she was happy to finish many things she wanted to do before the weekend.
Wednesday was when the letters start to arrive. It started out as a small note from Witch Weekly asking for an interview about her beau. Hermione rolled her eyes and dismissed the note. She was trying to be a medical researcher; she had no time to satisfy the curiosities of those who wanted to live vicariously through her. Besides, she did not have a new beau to talk to them about.
She later found out what the hubbub was about through a patient she passed by on her way to her dorm. Two nosy old women were whispering amongst each other when she passed by.
"Excuse me." One of them said. "Are you that Granger girl? The famous mudblood who helped Harry Potter defeat You-Know-Who?"
Hermione brushed off the derogatory term and nodded.
"Oh, that's good. You see, my friend and I here are trying to figure out who your mysterious beau was during the Ministry's victory ball. Tell us, is he an old friend at Hogwarts or a businessman from the continent?"
Hermione blinked in surprise.
The two old biddies showed her an article of this week's Witch Weekly. And though it was only a little blurb, she could tell that the patients around her were eager for an answer.
She told them that it was an old friend at Hogwarts. No, there was nothing romantic about their encounter. It was just a peck goodbye the old friend thought would be funny to give her.
Hermione brushed off the incident as two old ladies with too much of their time nosing around on other people's business. Thursday was when she first realized how the little rumor had a significant impact on her life.
Unlike Hogwarts, everybody at St. Mungo's was too busy with studying for the test or their patients to care for the latest celebrity gossip. Therefore, when a reporter confronted Hermione during her lunch break, it came as a big surprise. The man was asked to leave right away, which he complied because he was on the staff and student only part of the building.
It all went downhill on Friday when Hermione went out with Harry. Harry planned to check his family's vault to see if there were any rings in his family vault he could use as an engagement right. Hermione went along with him to Gringotts, but they could not find anything that seemed appropriate as an engagement ring.
Harry and Hermione suspected that was the cause, so they agreed to check out the Jewelry store at Diagon Alley. Hopefully, they might find something appropriate there. As a last resort, they plan to visit a muggle jewelry store.
Their plans were interrupted when a reporter came up to take pictures of them in the lobby of Gringotts. He was a confident ass. He had a hungry look on his eyes when he spotted Harry and Hermione.
"Harry Potter! Hermione Granger! What are you two doing at Gringotts?"
Harry stared at him in surprise while Hermione just glared at him.
"Well, I'm sure you two are just spending time together. It's nice to see that the two of you are still friends after all these years." The reporter chatted on. "Hey, since you two are such good friends, I'm sure that Harry Potter here knows who your mystery man. Right, Ms. Granger? Mr. Potter?"
"Wha-" Harry gave him an odd look. While Hermione shook her head about the absurdity about it all.
"The blonde fella Hermione spent some time with during the Ministry's Victory Ball." The reporter explained. "Is he from the continent, or is he from Britain? Can we get a name for the article?"
Despite the clearly curious expression Harry had, he tried his best to get out of Gringotts with Hermione. Ever since fourth grade, Harry learned that the best way to deal with annoying reporters was to ignore them.
Harry pointed at the small café near Gringotts, but they were greeted with curious glances. Though the people tried to hide it, they could not help but point at them and look at them curiously.
With a quick tap on the shoulder, Harry indicated that they should leave the place. They mutually agreed that going to a jewelry store in the middle of Diagon alley would yield the same results. Neither one of them were eager to go out to Muggle London without muggle cash. That would mean going back to Gringotts to exchange currency. By then, it was almost time for them to go back to school and work.
"Well, this day was a bust," Hermione said.
"Don't worry about it," Harry said. "Maybe it's too soon to buy the ring anyway."
Hermione nodded. They made plans to go out to Muggle London to buy the ring later.
The weekend gave no relief for Hermione as the reports sent her multiple requests for an interview. Because St. Mungo's was public property, she avoided going out of her dorm room for the rest of the weekend. She only went out during meal times and if she needed something at the library.
On Sunday, she was obligated to go at the Weasley's weekly roast. She was too tired to transfigure an old dress that day, so she put on the first one that caught her eye.
The Sunday roast was an awkward affair. The food was remarkable, as always. There were still good conversations and some fun games, but the atmosphere was significantly tenser. She could tell that the mysterious blonde man was the elephant in the room.
Molly seemed a bit disappointed with her for some reason. Fleur and Ginny, on the other hand, were eager to get her alone so they could talk about the mysterious blonde man she spoke to at Nott's balcony. Once they did catch her on her own, Hermione quickly told them that the blonde man was not her mate. She said to them that he was an old schoolmate who got too excited after seeing her.
Both women were disappointed at the thought, and Hermione felt terrible about lying to them. Nonetheless, she knew that it was the best course of action. The two of them would switch to matchmaker mode once they knew that the blonde man was indeed her mate. She still did not know how they would react if they know that Malfoy was her mate, but the last thing she wanted was for anyone to push her towards that vindictive, bitted ass.
While the Weasley family seized their curious glares once Hermione explained to them that she didn't have a mysterious beau, the press was still eager to feed the flames.
The next issue of Witch Weekly published the eligible bachelors that could be Hermione's mysterious beau. While the publication suggested multiple men, the editors strongly suspected that it was Anthony Goldstein. After all, Goldstein was blonde, smart, and he knew Hermione from Hogwarts. The editors also pointed out that Hermione and Anthony were lab partners, and they spent a considerable amount of time together, according to the students at St. Mungo's.
Molly told Hermione about the article that Sunday, but she thought nothing would come of it. After all, Anthony was only one of the many suggested men in the report. But her hopes for a peaceful life were crushed when she entered her Restorative Medical Potions class a week after the Ministry's Victory ball.
Everybody was eyeing Hermione when she entered. During class, she spotted a couple of people watching how she and Anthony interacted with each other. Students who were busy studying for the finals a week ago were now focused on the latest gossip. Sadly, they were not the only ones who were watching her during class.
Apparently, the press heard that she and Anthony were in the same class that day; therefore, they sent a paparazzo to take pictures. The paparazzo tried to take a photo during class by trying to find the right angle to take a picture of them from the window. Thankfully, the professor closed the curtains. That did not stop the photographer from waiting outside their door to see if he could take a picture of Anthony and Hermione after class.
What was worse than Anthony was very gruff with her that morning. Usually, they start the class by greeting each other and asking what they did during the weekend. That day, Anthony barely even glanced at her. She could tell that he was in a lousy mood. Hermione chose to ignore it, and she just hoped that it would not ruin their study session for the finals.
By the time Hermione arrived at Harry's office for their weekly tea, she was ready to rant.
"Why did we left Hogwarts, Harry?" Hermione asked when she entered Harry's office.
"Because we were finished with our education."
"I know, but the press didn't bother us at Hogwarts. Sure, we had letters from people we do not know telling us how to live our lives, but we knew when those letters were coming."
Harry gave her a smile.
"Hard day in school?" Harry asked
"Yes," Hermione said.
"So, I'm guessing you want to have chamomile tea while you tell me all about it?" Harry asked.
"You're an angel," Hermione said.
Hermione relayed to Harry what happened during the day. She told him about the increasingly aggressive press and how it was already affecting her relationships with her professor and her classmates, particularly Anthony.
"Is the press bothering Anthony?" Harry asked.
"The photographer tried to take his picture when we got out of class, but I don't know if they were bothering him or his family," Hermione said.
"So he's okay then?" Harry asked.
"I guess," Hermione said, sipping on her chamomile tea. "He was not really eager to talk to me today. He did not even confirm if we are still studying together tonight."
She tapped her on her mug nervously. She took a sip, but the chamomile tea did not calm her down.
Harry tried to distract her with treats and a funny story on how a dunderhead messed up a mission. The newbie thought that the best way to gain respect from his colleagues was to act macho. He puffed his chest and even tried to intimidate the people they were trying to question.
Hermione responded appropriately to Harry's story. She nodded, asked the appropriate questions, but she was clearly not engaged like the other times. Harry tells her funny stories about his work.
"Are you okay?"
"No, I'm okay," Hermione said exasperatedly. "I'm sorry for not paying attention to you, Harry. But finals are around the corner, and I still need to compare notes with Anthony for some of our classes, and I still don't know if he was going to talk to me."
"Is he mad at you?" Harry asked.
"Yes, no… I don't know." Hermione said.
Harry just stared at her.
"I don't know why the press was bothering Anthony when he wasn't even at the ball," Harry said.
"Yes! Exactly." Hermione perked up.
Maybe if she sent the letter pointing this out to the editors of Witch Weekly, they would leave Anthony alone, and he would not be mad at her.
Harry nodded. "But what's odd to me is that you are very avoidant about the entire thing. Not only to the press but to the Weasleys as well."
Hermione immediately raked her brain for an excuse.
"That's because it's nothing, Harry," Hermione said flippantly. "An old classmate of ours from Hogwarts talked to me at the ball and gave me a kiss goodbye."
"That isn't the story you told Ginny." Harry pointed out. "You told her that the old classmate got overeager and kissed you goodbye."
"Oh come on, Harry, he was overeager when he kissed me goodbye." Hermione tried her best.
"Furthermore, you keep referring to the guy at the balcony as 'an old classmate.' If it was just any old classmate, you would have called him by his name right now." Harry pointed out.
Hermione pursed her lips and contemplated what to say next.
"Does it have something to do with the secret you share with Fleur and Ginny?" Harry asked seriously.
He sipped on his tea while Hermione stared at him with a scared expression.
"What makes you think that I have a secret with Fleur and Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"I know because of the way Ginny and Fleur interact with each other. Ginny doesn't even like Fleur. She also used to call her 'phlegm,' remember? They still do not get along from time to time. But whenever you are concerned, they always put that animosity behind them."
Hermione kept quiet.
"More than that, you guys act like you guys have a secret. Part of me was disappointed that you didn't talk to me about it since I am your best friend, but I figured it's 'Girl Problems.'"
Harry used air quotes to emphasize "Girl Problems," which almost made Hermione grin if she was not panicking.
"But I could see that it's bigger than that now. I'm your best friend Hermione, I could tell that you've been hiding a secret for a while now and it's catching up to you."
Hermione looked at him with a mixture of shame and love. He was absolutely right. He was her best friend, and she should feel secure enough to tell him anything. So she did. She told him about her heritage while Harry sat down and listened to her intently. She told him about her problem, figuring out which traits passed to her and which ones were not.
She told him how her heritage affected her decisions over the years. How she had to break up with Ron because he wanted to start a family while she was afraid to give it to him in fear of abandoning him and their children. How she refused to be involved in a relationship afterward.
She also told him how she suddenly became more conscious of her appearances, and so does others. How she became critical of what looked good on her and what did not. She credited a lot of her knowledge to Fleur and Ginny, who helped guide her to all things girly.
"Blimey Hermione. That's pretty big." Harry said.
Hermione nodded. "I didn't want to tell you because I'm still confused about a lot of things. I learned a lot about myself this past couple of months, but I'm there are still traits I'm unsure about."
"Blimey, is that why you wanted to become a medical researcher?"
Hermione nodded. "Muggles have been using genetics for a while now and slowly, they are piecing together the Human Genome Project. However, the magical world still had not caught on. I want to start a Magical Genome project to see if we could isolate the alleles that make a person magical. I wanted to explore if werewolves change genetics after they were bitten and to see what makes French Veelas different from Greek Veelas."
Hermione rambled on about what she imagined the Magical Genome Project could do. It was the first time Hermione ever told anybody about her dream. For some reason, she thought that questions about her project would lead to more questions that would eventually lead to her secret. It was freeing to talk about it with Harry. And in kind, Harry listened intently, and he even made a few suggestions that Hermione did not even think of.
"I love that you're so passionate about this, but this project is big," Harry said. "And I mean really big. It could take years, maybe even a century!"
Hermione smiled at him. "Yeah. I don't really expect to be alive to see it all finished. Still, I hope that I could see significant progress during my lifetime."
Harry sipped on his tea, but he realized that it was already cold, so he placed it back down.
"I think this project is brilliant," Harry said. "But what concerned me is that as you said, there's a fifty-fifty chance that you might die if you're not mated when you're thirty. And studying genetics and magical medicine takes time that you should be spending looking for your mate instead."
Hermione paused and looked down on the table.
"Hermione, I know that you love school and all, but you need to be alive for a very long time to finish this project. Your studies could wait." Harry placed his hand over hers. He tried to look at her eyes, but she avoided it.
"Unless… Hermione, do you already know who's your mate?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head, but she knows that he knows that she was lying.
"Hermione. I'm your best friend. I'm already upset that you told Ginny and Fleur about your heritage before you told me. Fleur! Hermione. You didn't even like her during their fourth-year hand you told her before you told me."
"Fine," Hermione conceded. "He's that ass, Draco Malfoy."
Harry stared at her. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish.
"Does he know?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head.
"I talked to him during the Victory ball rand he was still the same bully when we were going to school. The last thing I wanted was to tell him that I'm actually a veela and he was my mate because I know that he would just laugh in my face."
Hermione magically warmed up the tea before pouring a cuppa for herself.
"Wow," Harry said. He magically warmed up his tea and took a sip. "So all along, he was the mysterious blonde?"
Hermione nodded.
"But doesn't that mean that he had some affection to you? Why don't you go talk to him to see if he wanted to date you?" Harry said encouragingly.
Hermione shook her head.
"That peck was not affectionate," Hermione said. "He knew that the best way to discredit a woman was to make her look like a slut. He was trying to tarnish my image, Harry. He said so himself."
"Bloody Hell," Harry said. "He is still an ass."
Harry stared onto his cup.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
Hermione shrugged.
"I already decided to carry on with my life," Hermione said. "I'm going to study hard in school, start the Magical Genome Project. If I'm going to die when I'm thirty, then so be it. That would just mean that I have eight years to work on my dream."