A/N~ See? I'm not entirely mean and leaving you with a semi-cliffy. The last chapter was named after a piano song by Kavin Hoo. I'm going to try and title each chapter after a sky/star related song. So feel free to send some suggestions my way! Also, note this is not named after sparkly vampired. Cedric is dead, people... and he sparkles. :[
Chapter 2 ~*~ Twilight ~*~
"No, this can't be happening. I'm dreaming. That's it." Hermione flopped back over, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"
"This is no dream, fur ball." Rowena remarked, sitting unceremoniously on the edge of the bed. Hermione sat up to glare at her once more and the other girl shrugged noncommittally. "Where exactly is here, anyway? Some kind of homeless shelter for redheads?"
Hermione gave her a confused glance. "How do you know it's full of redheads?"
"I came in through the back door." Rowena said rolling her eyes. "Logic. Clearly, it's for the undereducated as well. I ran into some weird boy with black hair in the hallway- couldn't even form full sentences. Tragic, really, what magic has fallen to."
"Magic hasn't fallen to anything!" Hermione snapped, liking her less and less by the moment. "Um, what are you doing here?"
Rowena shrugged again. "Seems someone here wished me here. I'm assuming it's you. At least, I think the mousy girl last night was you- perhaps with less tangles."
"I just woke up!" Hermione snapped. "Ok, I just need to think about how to fix this… clearly, I need to go to St. Mungo's… I should shower first to look presentable. No, what am I saying? Crazy people hardly care about looking presentable…"
"You're not crazy."
"But you can't be here! You've already grown up, founded Hogwarts and passed on!" Hermione cried, waving her arms dramatically as if this would somehow prove her point. It only succeeded in causing Rowena to arch a perfectly shaped brow at her in concern. "Look, accio Hogwarts, a History!"
The book came flying from the tiny clutch bag at the foot of the bed and Rowena looked on with surprise and a hint of admiration. "Undetectable extension charm? Clever."
"Look, see here?" Hermione opened immediately to the page headlining the chapter all about Rowena Ravenclaw, where a portrait of a much older, bespectacled version of the girl before her smiled up at them coolly. "That's you! Older and more mature… this was done ages ago!"
"Well, clearly I'm here sitting right next to you and I can say without a doubt I am one-hundred-percent real. So something must be at work here beyond either of us." Rowena pointed out.
Hermione's wish from the night before came crashing back on her. She held her head in her hands, feeling suddenly very sick. "Oh no… oh that bloody stupid shooting star!"
"You wished for me on a shooting star?" Rowena reiterated, looking skeptical once more. "You couldn't, you know, wish for love or a certain guy or something… like a normal teenage girl?"
"No, that was my second wish… and before you point it out, yes I know, only one wish per star!" Hermione snapped, already annoyed with the know-it-all, snobby attitude of the girl before her. And the fact she had to look so perfect. Why did she look so bloody perfect? Hermione sighed, calming down. "I was angry last night as something my friend said and I was thinking about you, how you're so smart and clever and probably would never let something like having no love life upset you and I guess I wished to know what you were like as a teenager. That was before the star even struck the pond, I didn't think it'd actually count for anything!"
The slender, model-like girl blinked at her for a moment, before a smug look came over her. "Of course I worry about having a love life. I mean, what kind of normal girl doesn't want one?"
"I didn't say I don't want one! I'm just having trouble finding one." Hermione said sharply, folding her arms. She ran a hand through her tangled curls in frustration.
"Gee, I wonder why." Rowena retorted sarcastically, her gaze focused on how Hermione's hair stood on end peculiarly. She shook her head and said, "So, how do we fix this? Do I just go on my own way or something?"
"I don't think so… I mean, I wished you here so you have to stick around until whatever's fulfilled right?"
"What is supposed to be… fulfilled?" Rowena demanded with a smirk.
"I don't know, I don't remember what exactly I said… or maybe it has to do with the second wish." Hermione mused, biting her lip.
"I have to find you a love life? That's a challenge and a half." Rowena offered unhelpfully.
"You know what? You're right. Maybe you should just go away!" Hermione said angrily before getting up and stomping out of the room to go take her shower and deflect Rowena's attention from her hair. As soon as she left the room, she ran into Harry on his way back from his own shower. He gave her a peculiar look.
"Hey, Hermione? Um… have you seen some strange girl with dark hair running around?"
"Yes, Harry!" was all she'd say before shutting the door and casting a silencing charm on it. Once she was sure she couldn't hear anyone and they couldn't hear her, she let out a frustrated scream. "Of all the bloody stupid luck! This is bullocks, that's what it is! Complete and utter dragon crap!"
"Sounds like a mess." came the smooth familiar voice of Charlie. Hermione whipped around to yell at him but lost her voice somewhere in her throat. He was brushing his teeth… shirtless. He smirked at her blank expression and spit the toothpaste before turning with a smirk. "Sorry but maybe next time you should make sure the room is clear before blowing up."
"I'm not even surprised because you know, it's just going to be the kind of day I have it seems. Anything that can go wrong, will." She whined, sitting on the toilet seat and putting her head in her hands. Charlie studied her with a frown.
"What's happened? Nice hair, by the way."
She fired a death glare at him for the hair remark but explained, "Well, it seems I've somehow managed to wish Rowena Ravenclaw back to life as a teenage girl."
His eyes widened a little but it seemed the subject peaked his interest a bit. "Really? How's she for a looker? We always thought she'd been sexy from how well she looks in her portrait."
"She's gorgeous." Hermione relented with a roll of her eyes. Charlie gave an approving nod.
"Can I get a look at her?"
"No." Hermione said bluntly, not liking the turn of conversation. "I've told her she could go on her merry way somewhere."
"Why would you want to do that?"
"Because I am not hanging out with the co-founder of Hogwarts!" Hermione lied, not wishing to go into detail about how said co-founder was snobby and rude. Charlie just shook his head, seeming to give her up for a lost cause.
"Could have let me have a look at her at least." He mumbled before letting himself out. Thoroughly ready to crawl back into bed and lay there until it was time to go back to Hogwarts for the year, Hermione forced herself to shower and prepare for the day.
So one of the founders of Hogwarts was loose somewhere as a teenager. That wasn't such a bad thing, right? I mean, they got to relive their lives… right? Hermione wasn't doing a totally bad thing letting them wander freely around. It wasn't messing with any time-space continuum or whatever it was… right?
"Have you ever considered an oil treatment? And you're using the wrong shampoo. Moisturizing would do your hair some good." A snide voice commented from somewhere outside the shower curtain. Hermione poked her head out in disbelief but sure enough, Rowena sat on the sink, her legs crossed primly as she flicked through a magazine in a bored fashion.
"Why are you here?"
"I wanted to inspect your shampoo products to see if you were even using anything beneficial to your hair. You're not, of course. Which is part of your problem right there." Rowena remarked.
"No, I meant here as in still at the Burrow! I told you that you could leave and do whatever you wanted." Hermione pointed out, trying to ignore yet another jab at her hair.
"Funny thing happened when I tried to apparate out of this little village… I wound up right back at the boundary lines. Couldn't get anywhere. Tried walking only to find that I wasn't really covering any distance. Seems I'm rooted to whatever town, city, location you decide to be in until I help you with whatever your issue is." Rowena explained dryly. "It's like a restraining order only instead of saying I must stay out of a certain distance of you, I seem to have to stay within it."
"So, I'm stuck with you?"
Rowena shot her a dark look. "Well the way I see it, there's two options. Option A: we could pretend not to know each other and live private lives with the only catch being they have to be in the same town as each other. Option B: I help you and get my freedom."
"Well, which are you going to go with?" Hermione demanded.
"Option B, obviously!" Rowena huffed. "I merely named it second cause it was the most dismal of the two. But I'm certainly not going to allow myself to be limited for the rest of my life. Best to face this like the clever witch I am."
"Right." Agreed Hermione grimly. She was completely disgusted with the whole thing and kept cursing herself for all the rotten luck and stupidity she seemed to have created in the matter of hours. "It could be worse."
"I don't see how." Rowena countered.
"Right." Hermione allowed before shutting off the water, grabbing her towel and trudging back to the room she shared with Ginny. Rowena trailed her like a ghost, sending her a shivery reminder of the poor Grey Lady at Hogwarts.
"So I take it you don't have any hot oil treatments or moisturizing shampoo just lying around." Rowena mused, studying a snow globe on Ginny's shelf as Hermione quickly threw on some cargo pants and a baggy T-shirt.
"Can't say that I actually do." She shot back.
"We'll have to go shopping then." Rowena pointed out, turning to glance at the girl. Her face became crestfallen at the other girl's outfit. "For some clothes too while we're at it."
"It's not very helpful to my self esteem if you keep making cracks like that." Hermione pointed out, setting her hands on her hips defiantly.
"Trust me, your self esteem will get a make over too once we get you fixed up. You doing anything today?"
"I was going to read up more on the conflicts over the years between the houses-"
"Wrong answer. We're going to go to some ordinary muggle stores and teach you how to be a girl." Rowena swore. Hermione became indignant.
"You can't just swoop in out of thin air and start controlling my life!"
"Do you want a love life or not?" Rowena argued. Hermione began to stammer something but Rowena cut her off with, "Let me rephrase that: do you want me out of your hair or not?"
"Yes!"
"Alright then. Let's go shopping."
"Baggy clothes are not flattering, Hermione." Rowena insisted, pushing a tank top back into Hermione's hands. "Now go try it on."
"I don't want to wear something so form fitting that it leaves little to the imagination!" Hermione flinched away from the offending tank top but Rowena just threw it over her shoulder regardless and began steering her into the changing rooms, gathering more pants and shirts as she went.
"Guys like form fitting! They go gaga over form fitting!" Rowena barked out, sounding like the fashion police. In fact, in her skinny jeans, mid-calf length boots, and flowing swoop-necked shirt carelessly belted at the waist, she even dressed like a freaking model. "You're not giving me much to work with if you keep fussing!"
She then unceremoniously shoved Hermione into the dressing room, threw the clothes at her so they covered the poor girl's head and shut the door. "Try those on or I'm coming in there and putting them on you myself."
Hermione scowled. She was so pushy! Who knew that the founder of the smartest house in Hogwarts was so meticulous and bossy when it came to trivial things such as appearances. Than again, she had been a happily married witch in her time. She must have known a thing or two about attracting the opposite sex. Hermione grudgingly put on one of the outfits. She turned to herself in the mirror and her eyes widened to saucers. "I am not wearing this!"
"Let me see!" Rowena urged.
"No!" Hermione said childishly. Rowena rolled her eyes, checked left and right before whipping out her wand and opening the locked door. She slipped inside and took in the other girls outfit.
"Hermione, that looks so great on you! Why don't you like it?"
"Because it shows everything!" Hermione cried, crossing her arms self consciously. She was in the tank top with a jacket thrown over it and some boot cut jeans and her usual converse shoes.
"Hardly." Rowena commented, confused. This was one of the least flashy outfits she'd handed her. "I mean, if you think that shows anything, try on the scoop-neck t-shirt next."
"No, I don't mean cleavage." The other girl said, comically lowering her voice to a whisper. "I mean… look at my stomach. It bulges out. And my thighs! I have such fat thighs! I can't wear this, Rowena… I'm sorry."
"Hermione, you look fine." Rowena said delicately. "I mean, I may be model slim, and often guys do prefer that in a girl, but there are some guys who prefer fuller bodies too."
Hermione tried to ignore the sting in that compliment, knowing that Rowena only meant well. She studied herself carefully in the mirror. Her stomach wasn't really bulging… it didn't cave in like Rowena's did, it was still rather flat. Sure, her thighs had shape to them but that was what was good about them- they had shape. Rowena's looked like twigs. She beamed. "You're right. I feel so much better. Hand me the next outfit!"
"That's the spirit!" And she obediently gave her a more playful outfit for nights out. As they tried on clothes, they began to joke but it was difficult with Rowena still playing the bossy, snobby girl. Hermione tried to remember that was just who she was but she made it so difficult, especially when she made cracks about her hair.
"Trust me, you'll be unrecognizable when I'm through with that nest on your head." Rowena swore as they walked down the London streets to a bath and beauty store. Hermione just shook her head at that, keeping her thoughts to herself. Rowena went on, "Why wasn't Jenny ever helped you out like this before? She seemed to have a huge stack of fashion magazines she could have helped you pull tips from."
"Ginny." Hermione correctly for the fifth time. "And she has a lot on her plate. She's going to be in her last year of Hogwarts and she just acquired her boyfriend. All her time and energy goes into that sort of stuff."
"Well yes, but before that she could have helped you. I'm sure she doesn't spend all her time on this new boyfriend and academics. Otherwise she'd be competing with you as 'smartest witch of her age'" Rowena commented with a smug smirk. She thought it quaint that little Hermione was considered that. From what she could tell the poor girl worked very hard indeed to maintain that title and she didn't have the heart to tell her that she would sweep her away once they got to Hogwarts. If she was still around by then that is.
"Well, I suppose she was just never forced to." Hermione tried to joke. Rowena laughed politely and nodded her head.
"That certainly does give motivation." She glanced over the hair products with a sage eye. She quickly grabbed up some moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, pressing them into Hermione's hands. She grabbed down some hot oil treatment packets as well and they began to head towards the counter. "Now, for future reference, you have curly hair."
"I hadn't noticed." Hermione supplied sarcastically. Rowena ignored this.
"Curly hair is fragile. It breaks easier than straight hair and has a harder time maintaining moisture. You'll want moisturizing shampoo or special curly hair products but I find those to be rather expensive and still lacking in results-"
"How would you know? You don't even have curly hair." Hermione cut in, so sick of Rowena knowing every single thing, not just academic but in beauty tips as well.
"Because, Hermione, I've done my research." She insisted patiently. "Now the hot oil treatments will also help retain moisture. Once a week with those. Shampoo every other day at most, condition every day. Got it?"
"No-"
"Trust me, it's well worth it when you see the results. I'll be so proud of myself." Rowena mused as they returned to the streets to go somewhere quiet and lonely to apparate back to the Burrow.
"How is it you know so much about girly stuff like this? I thought you had been a bookworm back in school just like me? I haven't heard you say a single academically related bit of knowledge." Hermione pointed out finally. Rowena turned with a pitying eye.
"There's more to being a smart witch than academics, Hermione. For instance, in most conversation, academics is not the topic of choice. People want something simple and flowing, easy to follow for all sorts. It's called gossip." Rowena lectured. "Also, as a teenage witch I had my own issues with self image. I did research on it. I had plenty of time around my studies of course because I had one of those photographic memories. Devilishly helpful, that."
"I should be so lucky." Hermione said, grimly.
"Just remember everything I'm telling you know and you'll be completely transformed. The best part is, we didn't need to use a whole lot of magic to do so!" Rowena giggled like a little school girl. With the exciting prospect of a make over ahead of them, they apparated away.
I was stained with a role
In a day not my own
But as you walked into my life
You showed what needed to be shown
And I always knew what was right
I just didn't know that I might
Peel away and choose to see
With such a different sight
And I will never see the sky the same way…
Twilight~ Vanessa Carlton
~More sky/star related song titles welcome! The more the merrier! :D