I think updates are going to become more frequent now, since (ironically) I have lots of free time right before school starts. So, here we are.
Once Upon A Dream, Chapter Four.
Field Trips.
Days and weeks went by since Hermione and her friends fought. They didn't try to talk to her and she didn't try to talk to them. She drifted away from the Gryffindor crowd and hung out with the Slytherins more often than usual. She and Draco spent more time together, though no one apart from their small group of people knew why.
Hermione's Point of View.
"Wake up." I heard someone mutter. They shook my shoulder and I smacked it away.
"Granger, wake up! Your unruly hair really expands." Draco murmured. I cracked an eye open and saw him looking down at me. I grinned at him and he snorted.
"Oh, don't make those noises, Malfoy. It doesn't suit you." I said, sitting up. Which caused all of my books and notes to fall off the sofa and onto the floor. I stood up and used my wand to stack the mess up into a pile on the table.
"How long were we up last night?" I asked with a small groan. We had been researching more things about the letters, and had found absolutely nothing.
"Ah, you fell asleep around one, maybe one thirty in the morning? I fell asleep about an hour after that." He replied. I stood up and stretched, walking around and picking up some scattered papers and books. I glanced at the calendar on the wall and a smile came to my face.
"What are you smiling about?" He asked me.
"Oh, nothing much. Just that it's Halloween and we go to Hogsmeade today." I said. A light chuckle came from him as I let out a small squeal.
"You get over excited, Granger." He commented.
"I do not!" I scoffed. He glanced over at me with that smug look of his and I threw a very heavy book at him. He caught it deftly with both hands and rolled his eyes.
"You do, Granger. I'm going to shower so we can get down to breakfast." He replied, making his way into the bathroom.
"Can you not leave all your hair products all over the bathroom this time!?" I called as he shut the door and the dorm's door opened.
"Wow. You think he's actually listening to you, lucciola?" Blaise asked, walking in.
"Oh, Blaise, stop with that ridiculous nickname. It's Mia!" Daphne Greengrass said, following him and smacking him on the shoulder. She was a part of one of the few pureblood families who were fine with muggle borns and half-bloods. I had made good friends with her and he sister, Astoria.
"Hi Blaise, Nina." I said. "Unfortunately, you couldn't have come at a worst time." I finished.
"Cleaning this train wreck up, Mia?" Daphne asked.
"You're researching pretty hard nowadays, eh?" Blaise asked. I rolled my eyes at him and picked up my duvet. I folded it and walked into my room, the duo following me.
"You heading down to breakfast?" Daphne asked.
"I will as soon as Malfoy gets out of the shower. Hopefully he won't take long." I said, placing the duvet down on the bed and rifling through my drawers for something to wear. It was a slightly warm fall, and it had rained a lot. I pulled out a tank top, a large green sweatshirt, some black skinny jeans and a pair of black boots. Daphne and Astoria had owled their mother as soon a they'd seen my old wardrobe and had Slytherin-ized me. I walked out of the room with my shadows behind me and banged on the bathroom door.
"I'm out, Granger, I'm out!" Draco yelled, opening the door, a towel hanging loosley from his hips and his hair dripping.
"I swear, if I have to see your naked chest one more time, Draco Malfoy, I will super glue a shirt to you!" I groaned, shoving him aside and stomping into the room. I kicked the door shut and turned the water on. I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth and ran a brush through my wet hair. I turned to look for my clothes, and realised they were sitting on the couch.
"Nina?" I asked, poking my head out of the bathroom. Draco was sitting next to her with a mischievous grin on his face, my clothes in his hand.
"I'm sorry, lucciola, he got to them before we did." Blaise said.
"Those nicknames are so stupid! Give her something unique, like Mina." Draco said.
"Uh-huh. You can discuss my nicknames when I'm not naked and waiting for a certain blond to bring me my clothes!" I hissed. Said arrogant man swaggered over to me and held my clothes a foot away from me.
"Come out, come out, Mina." He said.
"No." I stated.
"Guess you're not getting these." He replied. I groaned before grabbing my towel and wrapping it tightly around myself. I stepped out of the bathroom and snatched my clothes from him and let out a snort.
"What was the point of this, Malfoy?" I asked, opening the door again.
"Just embarrassing you is enough, Mina." Draco said, walking back to the couch and sitting on Daphne.
"Bloody hell, Draco! Get your fat arse off me!" She screamed.
Walking into breakfast that morning, I didn't expect to be ambushed by tons of underclassmen. But that was exactly what happened. I had simply walked into the Great Hall, in the middle of insulting Draco with encouragement from Blaise and Daphne, when a couple of fifth years bum rushed me.
"Is it true you're secretly a pureblood!?" One girl had asked me.
"And you're going to see who your real mum is?" A boy chimed in. My eyes widened and I immediately turned to the three people behind me.
"Mia, I would never!" Daphne cried.
"I don't know, lucciola, but it wasn't me." Blaise said.
"It wasn't me, Mina! Don't you dare!" Draco hissed. If they didn't say anything, than only three other people could have spread the rumour. I pushed past the group of people and stomped over to where Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting.
"Either you three have very large mouths, or you just feel the need to tell everyone everything!" I yelled, glaring at them.
"Oh, now miss high-and-mighty feels she can come talk to us now." Ginny said sarcastically.
"Which one of you told!?" I hissed.
"Hermione, how do you know it wasn't someone in your little Slytherin gang?" Ron muttered. He was fiddling with his food and not making eye contact. Harry was doing to same thing.
"Boys. You know how important it was to keep this secret. I'm really hurt that you won't tell me who said something! This is family we're talking about." I said, putting a hurt look on my face. I added a little sniffle, and they broke.
"It was Gin!" Harry cried.
"She told Parkinson, who told some Hufflepuff who's like the bloody gossip fountain!" Ron finished. I turned to the redheaded girl and let out a scream.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!? YOU TELL ME I SHOULD TELL YOU EVERYTHING, THEN YOU TELL EVERYONE ELSE BECAUSE WE HAD ONE LITTLE TIFF?" I yelled. I raised an arm to smack her but couldn't bring it down. I turned to see Draco holding it with a vice-like grip.
"Not here, Mina. Not now." He said. I gritted my teeth and jerked my arm out of his grip, putting it down. I turned to Ginny with a growl.
"We're not done here, not by a long shot." I said, turning on my heel and walking away, Draco, Astoria and Blaise right behind me. I had almost made it back to the Astronomy Tower when I realised I was crying. I wiped my eyes and let out a huff, leaning on a wall near me.
"What was the sense of having spies during the War when Voldemort could have just had Ginny?" I asked, which caused Draco to choke out a laugh.
"Your best friend just betrayed you, and you make a joke. You've hung out with us too much, Mia." Daphne said with a giggle, giving me a hug. I chuckled and wiped at my eyes once again.
"Of course I have. Ginny's the one running the show. Ron doesn't do anything because she's his little sister and his mum would hive him hell if she found out. Harry doesn't do anything because he loves that insane little girl." I muttered. I ran a hand through my hair and began walking to the dorms.
"Do you want me to ask the Elves to get you something?" She asked.
"No. We've got a kitchenette and haven't even used it yet." I replied.
"Psh. I've lived in my house for seventeen years and I never even stepped into the kitchen once." Draco scoffed. A slow grin crept up my face at the moment.
"Does that mean you've never tried baking before?" I asked.
"Um..no." He said uneasily. I began to giggle and Blaise glanced at Draco.
"You better run while you can, mate. Pureblood women have a thing with baking." He stated.
"We do not!" Daphne insisted. The two began to walk off and have a heated debate on what pureblood women liked and disliked.
"You're going to make me help you bake a cake, aren't you Granger?" He asked me. I grinned and clapped my hands, taking his arm and dragging him to the dorms.
Draco's Point of View.
As soon as we got back to the dorms, Hermione immediately went to the kitchenette and pulled out random bottles and bowls and silverware. She had the most excited look on her face as she pulled her hair up out of her face.
'Come here, come here!" She urged, beckoning me over to her. I slowly walked over to her as she shoved a bowl and a spoon into my hands.
"We're going to make a sweet from scratch. Pick any recipe you want, I'll know it." She stated. I had to think about it for a second, but then it his me..
"..lemon bars." I said.
"Lemon bars? That's a first." She said.
"My mum made them when I was younger. You can try to beat them if you want." I teased. She light gaze turned steely and she nodded.
"Challenge accepted." She said. I chuckled as she grabbed more things. She snatched the bowl away from me and began measuring things out and mixing them together. Soon, she had the lemon bars on a wire rack cooling while she cleaned everything up. She had flour on her face and some lemon zest in her hair. How, I didn't know, but she did. She had just put everything away and settled on the couch when she popped up again.
"Merlin! We've got to get to the orphanage!" She exclaimed.
'We do, don't we?" I asked, already pulling out the paperwork she had stored in the library. She slipped on her shoes and I followed her out to Dumbledore's office. We headed and he seemed to be waiting for us.
"Ah, Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy. I was wondering when you two would show up. Would you like to Floo or Apparate?" He asked.
'Floo. It'll be faster." Hermione said. He nodded and I looked down at the paper in her hands.
"Safe Haven Orphanage. Got it." I said. Hermione went first and I went after, taking a handful of the powder and throwing it into the fireplace. I yelled the name and stepped into the emerald flames. Hermione reached out and grabbed my shirt through the many fireplaces that were passing in and out of sight. I stumbled into her and she sucked on her teeth in a very unladylike way.
"For a pureblood, you've got very bad poise." She muttered.
"Mm-hmm. Says the pureblooded woman with zest in her hair and covered in flour." I replied, pushing her towards the bathrooms. We entered the ladies' and she stopped when she saw her reflection.
"Oh my God! Malfoy, why'd you let me leave the castle looking like this?" She exclaimed.
"Why do you think we're in here, Granger?" I muttered, taking a paper towel and running it under the tap. I wiped off her face as she took her hair down and shoot out the small bits of lemon peel in it
"This never would have happened if you'd just baked a cake when you were younger" She muttered I rolled my eyes, and added a head shake for good measure. Of course she blamed me for her mishaps. Once she deemed herself presentable, we headed to the main office of the building. There was a plaque on the door that said 'Mrs. Megan Gwynn', so I assumed she was the head director or something. Hermione snapped and she grinned a bit.
"Megan is a bit older than I am, if I remember correctly. I remember I used to have dreams about a girl with bright red hair when I was younger." She knocked on the door and a girl with bright red hair (brighter than the Weasleys') and blue eyes came out. She looked to be no older that twenty, and was shorter than both Hermione and I. She looked confused for a second, and then seemed to realise who she was looking at.
"Oh my Merlin! H-Hermione?" Megan asked with a small grin. Hermione smiled at her and they shared a hug.
"Hi, Megan. You've taken over now?" Hermione asked.
"Pretty much! How've you been? And who's this?" Megan asked, ushering us into her office. She sat behind her desk and we sat in front of it.
"Fine. And this is Draco Malfoy." Hermione said. I reached my hand out and shook Megan's hand.
"Ooh, a Malfoy. Are we together?" Megan asked.
"HA!" "AS IF!" We said at the same time. Megan chuckled and turned to Hermione.
"What brings you to your old orphanage?" She asked.
"A pureblood family lost a daughter around thirteen years ago, remember? Around the time I popped up?" She started. Megan's brow furrowed and she shrugged. "Well, that daughter...is me." Hermione finished.
"Damn. That's some heavy stuff. Unfortunately, I don't think it was recorded in the Prophet. You would've been three, and if anyone could hide a missing three-year-old from the Prophet, it would be a super powerful pureblood family." Megan stated. Draco let out a groan and leaned over to the two girls.
"We've got to be dealing with a Sacred family, excluding Abbott, Longbottom, Macmillan, Ollivander, Prewett and Weasley." I said.
"Sacred?" They chorused.
"The Sacred Twenty-Eight. The twenty-eight families in Britain that were still truly pureblood in the 1930's." I drawled, leaning back and using my hands to support my head.
"Wow. McGonagall was born in that decade.." Hermione murmured.
"Of course you'd know that." I replied with a grin.
"Anyways..." Megan interrupted. "So, during that time, the only super powerful pureblood families I can think of are Draco's, the Zabinis, the Parkinsons, Notts, basically any of your Slytherin pals, really." She said.
"I'm not even going to ask how you know I'm in Slytherin.." I mumbled. "Anyways, show her the papers, Granger." I said. Hermione handed over the files and the letters and Megan looked through them.
"You guys can go wander around while I talk to some of the staff. The woman before me, Tessa, still helps around. If you find her, make sure you say hi. You can't deny you weren't one of her favourites." She teased. Hermione made a noise and stood up, pulling me along with her. We walked down the halls until she found a door that lead outside. The warm Autumn sunlight poured out and almost blinded me.
"You expect me to play with children?" I asked.
"You can while I go talk to Tessa." She replied, pointing to a tiny old woman sitting on a bench, singing with some small children.
"What are they singing?" I asked as we walked closer.
"Muggle lullabies. She also makes her own." She replied.
"...was not a real sheep. But rather, just a cuddly toy-"
"She nicked from Miss Bo-Peep!" Hermione finished with a giggle. Tessa looked up and smiled warmly at her. She stood up and wrapped Hermione in a big hug. They began chatting and I wandered over to the older children. They seemed to be old enough to go to Hogwarts, but they were younger than I was.
"Oi, you're Draco Malfoy, right?" A boy asked. He looked about fifteen, and I nodded. There were two girls sitting on his left and a boy sitting on his right. They were all about the same age. The boy I was talking to was a brunette with green eyes and fair skin. The two girls were fraternal twins, one had blond hair and blue eyes while the other had black hair and grey eyes. The silent boy was raven haired with dark brown eyes.
"I'm Wyatt. What're you doing here?" He asked.
"I'm with Mina." I said, pointing to Hermione. The two girl's eyes brightened and they turned to me quickly.
"She looks like," One of them said.
"Hermione Granger." The other finished. My eyes widened and I backed away a little.
"What's wrong," "With you?" Oh. Merlin. They were doing that insane thing the Weasley twins did. I turned around and saw Hermione walking towards me.
"Mina! Help!" I called. "It's like those twins all over again!" She rushed over just as they started talking.
"The twins?" "What twins?" Hermione's eyes widened and she let out a sound of confusion.
"...what?" Was all she said.
"What are your names?" I asked.
"I'm Lux, this is Nox." The blond said.
"Oh my God. You're just the non-redhead versions of Fred and George." Hermione mumbled to herself.
"You are Hermione Granger!" Wyatt exclaimed.
"Big whoop." The quiet one finally said.
"Ooh. Someone's in a bad mood." I whispered to Hermione, who giggled.
"Are you guys dating? Because you could totally get disowned, man." The quiet one said again.
"I could if we were still living in the Dark Ages." I said sarcastically. "Besides, Mina isn't-" I was interrupted when Hermione grabbed my head, dragged me away and apparated into Megan's office. The redhead practically jumped out of her skin as Hermione yelled at me.
"You can't go around telling random children that I'm a pureblood! It's not public information yet!" She hissed.
"It might as well be, Mina! Pansy is the biggest snitch that has every existed! I guarantee it'll be in the Prophet tomorrow, and Skeeter's going to be down here before Wednesday!" I yelled back.
"If you two would calm down, I've got good news and bad news." Megan interrupted.
"Bad news first." Hermione said quickly.
"Bad news, not much of the older staff remembers anything about you. Good news is, I remember your adoptive mother came here with a man. I don't remember what he looks like, though." Megan said. After that, we sat in silence for a bit until I came up with an idea.
"Hey..Megan. Do you mind me rifling through your mind a bit?"
Aaaaand, scene! Forgive me if this chapter's crappy. School starts in a week and I'm behind on everything I need. I'm ordering my bag and textbooks online, and my schedule is all wrong and just..(violently screams).
SO. YEAH.
-Xynn