A/N: Thanks for the reviews girls and guys. I know that you are all anxious to get into some Dramoine time... but there needs to be a little bit more lead up to it. I can tell you that September 19th will be a BIG day in the story. I hope you're liking it... as an upcoming event is what made me start this fiction in the first place.
Chapter 9: Hogwarts Again
The next day, Hermione awoke and after dressing made her way to the Headmistress' office. She stood in front of the Gargoyle that guarded the entrance for several minutes remembering the man who had once kept office in this tower. The generous, if not slightly mad old man, had kept the children of the castle safe as long as he was able, and had acted as a role model to Hermione during her time at the school. She wiped the stray tear from her cheek; and knocked on the Gargoyle's left shoulder.
"Who is it?" the Headmistress' voice sounded.
"Hermione Granger" she replied.
"Come up Miss Granger" the disembodied voice said.
She made her way up the circular stairs, and into the office that was so familiar to her. While the decor had changed since the old Headmaster had died, the office in itself is hadn't changed much. She sat in the chair that was, as always, placed in front of the solid oak desk, behind which the stern old woman sat.
"Miss Granger, I am not sure as to how much you know about your past, but; as a child your parents enrolled you in this school because your great uncle worked here. That was Albus"
"Professor, I spent the majority of my summer at my family estate in Russia. I know most of my past"
"Well, then Miss Granger, you know that you shall be going through some difficulties in the next little while, and as you've now discovered who you are; it is my obligation to address you by your given nam-"
"NO!"
"Pardon Miss Granger?"
"I don't want to be addressed as anything different than Miss Granger until my 19th birthday. After that, the glamour will wear off that my parents cast over me, and I will then be my true self. Please Minerva, I can't deal with this yet; I'm still trying to deal with the fact that I was adopted"
"Very well Miss Granger, I will allow this until your 19th birthday, and then we will re-evaluate"
The meeting ended when Hermione thanked the older woman, and left the office.
The days started slowly for Hermione, she took her education seriously, and being surrounded by students who didn't was starting to get on her nerves. The one person, who annoyed her the least, surprisingly, was her roommate. Draco Malfoy kept to himself; he spent most of his nights sitting in his corner of their common room studying from the pile of text books that mirrored her own.
In Potions class, they sat across the room, and this suited both perfectly, as they spent much too much time sitting together. The last two weeks had been spent organizing the welcome back feast and dance that occurred annually for students' year 5 and up. They had decided that it would occur September 18th, a Thursday night. Friday classes were normally lighter, and as the weekend afterwards would be a free weekend, many students would be running off to Hogsmeade now that it was safe to do so. As Hermione sat stirring her Skele-Gro potion, she sat silently waiting for it to turn the ghastly pale colour it was known to be. Covertly, she allowed herself to check out the competition, so to speak. She gazed at the cauldrons of the students beside her; theirs were similar to hers. Silently she thanked Merlin that she was in an Advanced Potions class, and did not have to deal with the ineptitude of her loved, but potions clumsy friends.
She finished her potion just as the others were finishing off the last 20 or so clockwise mixes, and using her ladle, poured the silvery liquid into a vial and walking up to the Professors' desk left it in the specified rack. Returning to her own work area, she methodically cleaned her instruments and her workspace. She then collected her bag, and made her way up to her common room.
It was soon the weekend before the Welcome Back dance, and Hermione was in dire need of a gown. She, Ginny and several other of the 7th year Gryffindors made their way to Hogsmeade Village. Once they reached Gladrags Wizard Wear they entered and soon were shifting through racks of gowns, both wizarding and muggle. Hermione spent over an hour searching for the perfect outfit, and finally found it, buried deep on the back rack in the far corner of the shop.
"Perfect" she said smiling, and with that, she went off to pay for her dress.
The next several days were spent in anticipation of the big event, and finally it was there. The 5 through 7th years were given the day off to prepare, and Hermione spent the day first washing her hair, and then finally straightening it magically. She was meticulous with her makeup, and her shoe choices. Once she was finished making herself up, she slipped into the dress she'd be wearing that night, and made her way down the stairs and into her common room. Draco, Blaise and a couple of Slytherin girls were on the couches there, and while the girls ignored her, Draco nudged Blaise with his elbow. Blaise looked up, and sneered.
"How did you afford that Granger, Daddy take out a 5th mortgage on your hovel?"
"Sorry Zambini, I didn't understand you through your bias; did you say something important- I highly doubt it," she said as she walked through the portrait.
When Hermione entered the Great Hall, the entire room went silent. Her deep red gown was skin tight and showed off her natural curves beautifully. She wore 4-inch heels, and slight golden jewellery around her neck and ankle. She smiled at her fellow students and made her way to the Head table. She nodded to her Professors as she passed. Finally, she made it to her table and sat down; as she did a tiny elf put a plate and goblet in front of her. She smiled at the elf and thanked it, before bringing the goblet to her mouth and taking a sip. She was surprised to find that it was Elvin Wine; not the ordinary Wizarding Wine she had ordered for the 7th years. The drink warmed her as she took another sip.
When dinner was over, the tables magically moved to the back corner of the room, to leave room for the dancing. As the students looked around to see what was happening The Weird Sisters appeared on stage, and began to play. The student body went crazy, screaming and dancing around. Hermione smiled at what she had done; what she had planned. It was all coming together.
It was almost 3 in the morning before Hermione made her way up to her room. She stripped and fell into bed. She was dead asleep before her head hit her pillow. 5 hours later, her alarm went off, and rolling over, Hermione ignored it. Usually, she would have jumped out of bed, and showered and made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, but this morning, the usually punctual Hermione rolled over and went back to sleep.
It was 8:55am when Hermione finally opened her eyes. With a flick of her wand, she displayed the time on the ceiling.
"SHIT" she yelled. She jumped out of bed, and pulled on the first things she grabbed from her closet, a pair of skinny jeans and a random top. She shoved her feet into the shoes she'd been wearing the night before and ran down into the common room, out into the hall and down the 8 flights of stairs it took her to get to the dungeons. She flew into the Potions class just as the door was about to close and sat in the first available seat.
The entire class was looking at her strangely; she thought it was because of her being late, but when the Professor looked oddly at her, she began to get concerned.
"Good morning- umm... who are you?"
"What do you mean, who am I?" Hermione said.
"Well, I don't know who you are Miss."
"Granger" she said looking confusedly at her classmates.
"Well... yes, of course you are. I believe you may be mistaken; Miss Granger is our Head Girl. I think you may need to go to the Headmistress' office," the Professor said, as she began to lead Hermione out of the room. She stopped and pulled her wand, and cast a spell,
"Mirorrumdium" a mirror appeared in front of her, and she stared at herself. Her hair was a deeper shade of brown, highlighted with sparkles of reds and her eyes were a sparkling violet. Her face had not changed at all, and she could not see how those around her did not recognize her.
"Oh crap..." she heard from behind her.
"Nice tat... whoever you are" another voice said, as Hermione realized that the shirt she'd pulled on while she was her backless black silk dress shirt. It curled around her neck; and around her waist and covered only the front of her torso. The tattoo was curled up at the small of her back, a small dragon, the gorgeous design she'd seen only weeks ago. As the class stared at her, the dragon came to life, and with a flare of it's wings, took flight and began soaring around her back, flashing its' teeth, protecting it's mistress from what it saw as an attack.
"Sweet Merlin- that's awesome" another student said
"Where can I get one- holy crap- look at that thing"
Hermione turned, glared at the student and stomped from the room, and through the castle towards the Headmistress' office.
Stomping up to the Gargoyle, Hermione yelled the password she'd be given a few weeks before and ran up the stairs. She paused only a few seconds to knock on the door, before entering the office of her most loved Professor.
"Hello...Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall shrieked,
"Professor McGonagall... the glamour wore off this morning. No one knows who the hell I am"
"As I can see Miss Dracontos; well; I'll excuse for today; and we will officially introduce you to the school this evening at dinner. Happy Birthday Hermione"
"Gabrielle" she corrected.
"Yes, Gabrielle" McGonagall nodded, and thus dismissed the girl.
Hermione left the office and returned to her sitting room and walking up to the mirror in the corner of the room; she saw her new reflection.
Her hair was a deep dark cocoa, the length reaching the small of her back. Her eyes had turned a lovely shade of violet, reminiscent of the picture of her birth mother. Her body had not changed in any other significant way, she was not taller, bigger breasted, or of different skin tone. She was still Hermione Granger, just with a somewhat different look. She returned to her room, and entered her bathroom, leaving her clothing scattered on the floor. She stepped into the shower, and began washing the night's excitement off of herself. She had, after all, gone to bed without so much as washing her face after the ball. Stepping out of shower, she wrapped herself in a warm, fluffy towel and finally made her way back to her closet. Along the way, she picked up her wand, and with a flick of her wrist; she dried her hair, making it curl into itself. Once her hair was dry, she dried the rest of her body and, opening her closet, she pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, a ¾ sleeve sweater, and her knee high black boots. Dressing, and looking one final time in the mirror she smiled and grabbed her cloak from the chair she'd thrown it on after entering her room. She made her way through the castle, and down through the Entrance Hall and finally out into the sunshine of Northern Scotland. She wandered to the lake, to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and finally towards the hut that inhabited a half-giant whom she had come to love. Off to the side of the hut, she saw the man, and 20 students sitting on the grass watching the tiniest white unicorn she'd ever seen. She watched as the small children approached, one by one, the creature that sat skittishly beside the giant man. After watching for several more minutes, Hermione turned and made her way back to the castle. She then made her way up her favourite place in the entire castle: the library. Once entering she made her way towards her table, as she'd like to call it, at the very back of the room. Along the way, she picked up a textbook, The Advanced Potions Encyclopaedia, and finally curled herself into a gorgeous leather chair that was hidden deep in the back of the library. Opening the book, she began to imagine her way through each of the potions inside the tome. It was mid-afternoon by the time she emerged from her reading, and feeling hungry, she returned the book to its' shelf and made her way down to the portrait of the bowl of fruit. Looking around to ensure that there were no students about, she tickled the pear, and was allowed entrance to the massive kitchens of the gorgeous schools.
"ooo…ooo, Misses how may we helps you" an elf approached her, jumping up and down in its excitement.
"Yes, could you please give me a plate, I missed both breakfast and lunch today"
"Yes, Yes Misses" he skipped off and returned only minutes later with a plate, and a goblet of pumpkin juice. The tiny elf led her to a table off to the side of the kitchen, and sat her food there.
"Eats here Misses" he said, the left her to her food. She sat down and ate her roast beef sandwich, and contemplated what she would do before she met the school as her new self.
She left the kitchen 20 minutes later, and decided to make her way back up to her room. She entered the common room, and followed the room to the stairs to her room. She crawled into her bed, and after setting her wand to wake her for dinner, fell asleep.
A ringing trill woke her up in time to smooth her hair, pull on her boots, and get to the Great Hall in enough time to meet the Headmistress.
"Miss Dracontos; I will call you up at the beginning of dinner, as Miss Granger, and then you may tell the school who you are, is this sufficient for you"
"Of course Headmistress"
Minerva McGonagall smiled at the child she'd seen grow up, and led her into the hall. Hermione sat at the first chair at the Gryffindor table, and awaited her fellow students. They soon began to trickle into the room, sitting with friends and chatting between them. Waiting for their dinners to magically appear on the tables, as per usual. However, as the room became more and more full, the Headmistress stood and made her way to the eagle podium. The room silenced as one after the other, nudged their neighbour into silence.
"Before we begin the wonderful feast the elves have most assuredly made us, I would like to ask the Head Girl to come speak with us. Miss Granger" the Headmistress nodded towards her.
She stood and made her way across the hall, hearing, but ignoring the whispers of the students up and down the table.
"Good evening fellow students, as you may have noticed," she began; "I have undergone several changed seemingly overnight. I would like to tell you why, so that there are not nasty rumours flying around the school. My name is, as I recently discovered, not Hermione Granger; but Gabrielle Dracontos" The purebloods in the room gasped and began whispering at each other
"My parents, hid me in the muggle world to save me from Voldermort" the school gasped again, "and kept me hidden under a glamour charm until the morning of my 19th birthday. From now on, I will be Gabrielle, not Hermione. I would thank you to keep your questions to yourself, my new life is still quite fresh and I need time to get used to it, have a good dinner" she said as she stepped from the podium and went back to her seat at the Gryffindor table. She ate in silence, ignoring the stares from around the room. After finishing her meal, she stood, and left the room and quietly made her way back to her common room.
An hour later, the portrait opened and Draco walked in.
"So- you really aren't a mudblood then" he said
"Apparently not Malfoy"
He nodded,
"Well then, I guess all those things I've said over the last 7 years have been a lie. Why not come forward in first year, no one would have stood against you, after all your great uncle was here then"
"Malfoy- while I get your curiosity- I didn't discover this until several months ago- and I'd rather not have to explain it to anyone, especially to you" Hermione said and turning made her way back to her room.
"Yes well-" he said from behind her "you shouldn't upset the Princess" he slightly sneered.
"Fuck you Malfoy" Hermione yelled over her shoulder, as she slammed her bedroom door.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it!