Fallen & Risen 20. Troubling Invitation

Hermione sat in her Head Girl room. While she absentmindedly stroked Crookshanks, her long haired, orange half-Kneazel half-cat hybrid, she thought about the past weeks. She recalled all the times they met with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. She must admit. This year, the Slytherins were nice and easy to hang out with. The war had changed them for the better, particularly Draco Malfoy. Not once did he call her 'mudblood' since the beginning of the year. He had changed a lot. The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was the most blatant proof. Draco Malfoy was turning into a very good person. He was much more composed and mature than before. When he spoke, it was intelligently done. He did very good work as Head Boy. He was fair when he deducted and rewarded points. As far as Hermione knew, the younger Hogswartians respected him, even with the knowledge that his father was currently imprisoned in Azkaban.

Once a while, the group studied together with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini in the library because Neville and Heley were partners with them. Ron was reluctant to leave Heley with Malfoy, so he was always there to be a watch-dog over the haired girl. And to make sure that a fight didn't start between Ron and Draco, Hermione always joined with them as well. At the begining, people were wary to see the group of Gryffindors and Slytherins together. It was too strange to see the students from the two most fierce rival houses gathered around the same table without throwing hexes and curses over their head. But eventually, they became used to it. Gradually, Draco Malfoy was becoming friendly to Ron, Hermione and Neville thought he was much nicer towards Heley. He took his time to explain concepts she hadn't understand in Potions to her and even taught her some of his tricks. He and Heley were even on a first name basis now. Hermione smiled. She remembered the first day Draco Malfoy called Heley by her first name.

Flashback

It was lunch time and Ron - more exactly Ron's stomach -, led everyone to the Great Hall. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Heley encountered Draco and Blaise at the entrance of the Hall. They stopped face to face right in front of the door. The door wasn't large enough for all of them to cross at the same time, so they just stood there and stared at the other party. They eyed each side for who knew how long, unable to decide who was going inside first, attracting everyone attention to them. Draco sighed.

'This is ridiculous, standing in front of the door and not moving,' Draco thought. He decided to make the first step.

"After you, Heley," Draco said, showing the way with his arm like a gentleman. Hermione, Ron, Neville and Heley dropped their jaw and froze from head to toe. They made a Oscar-worth picture for a horror movie. And Heley would certainly deserve more than everyone. Heley thought that her heart skipped out of her chest and ran a 100 meter marathon in one minute. Only Blaise, who was smiling in the corner of his mouth, found the situation funny. Heley's reaction made it even more hilarious because she was the one who gave Draco permission to call her by her first name. It was obvious that she completely forgot about it.

When the Gryffindors sat at their table, Seamus and Dean assaulted Heley. They heard Draco when they entered the Hall.

"Heley, why does Malfoy call you by your first name?" Dean cried out, eyes wide and slightly hysterical.

"Ya! I thought I had a heart attack when I heard him," Seamus commented, accompanying his words with an exaggerated swoon.

"Err, well, it was in return for saving me from the explosion of your potion," Heley answered.

"Oh!" Hermione, Ron, Neville and Dean oh-ed. Seamus scratched his head, embarrassed. It was partially because of him that Draco Malfoy got to get more intimate with Heley.

"When did it happen?" Neville asked.

"In the infirmary, after you told me what happened in Potions," Heley answered.

"Then why did you look so surprised when you were the one who gave him the permission?" Ron asked, cocking an eyebrow curiously. Heley blushed, embarrassed.

"Err… I… hmn… kind of… (bite her lips) completely forgot that I did it…" Heley sheepishly mumbled. She lowed her face from Ron's stare, gulped and scratched her left ear.

"Pffffft! Hmn hmn hmn!" Neville and Hermione muffled their laugh in their hand while Ron rolled his eyes.

'She is sooooo like Harry!' Ron thought.

"Guru guru guru… GURU GURU GURU GURUUUUUUUUU!" Their stomaches harmoniously grumbled together.

". . . " Collective blush. Then, "Hahahahaha!" they laughed wholeheartedly.

"Okay! Time to dig in!" Ron proclaimed.

End flashback

Hermione smiled again at Heley's embarrassement before something occurred to her. The smile that had appeared on her face found itself just as quickly wiped away.

"Wait…"

Hermione pictured Heley in her head once more: lowing face, gulping and bringing up her left hand to scratch her left ear. Hermione frowned.

"The way Heley gulped and scratched her left ear in embarrassement…" Hermione mumbled.

She replayed the scene again, Heley's every gestures in slow motion, analyzing each movement.

"…It's exactly like how Harry always do when he feel uneasy…" Hermione finished, a very deep frowned sculpting her forehead.

Unnoticed by Hermione, Crookshanks froze under her hands, his tail ceasing it's hypnotic swing.

'This is not good,' Crookshanks thought.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gryffindor common room. One day before Christmas vacations.

"Woo hoo! Exactly 21 hours, 33 minutes and 19 seconds before Christmas vacation everyone!" Seamus gleefully shouted out loud in the common room.

"Haaaa…" Ron, Neville and Dean gave out a long and exhausted sigh.

"Seamus, how can you be happy at this exact period of our school year?" Neville skeptically asked.

"We still have four tests tomorrow. FOUR tests!" Ron pointed out.

"There are also five essays with minimum five scrolls each, two projects to finish and… and… and… And I lost count of the rest…" Heley trailed off, giving up counting on the tip of her fingers.

"And you should be the one most worried about your results, Seam!" Dean scolded, sounding eerily like Hermione.

"Don't worry! I will manage to scratch myself a Passable grade by the end of the year!" Seamus proudly stated, puffing up his chest.

"And the worst thing is, you always manage to save your asrse every year in the same way," Hermione muttered, glaring. "I'm still amazed at how you got yourself an Exceed Expectations every year when your grades during the school year are Trolls! I really don't get it!"

"That's because I'm a genius!" Seamus beamed, prouder than ever.

"Haaaa…" Hermione, Ron, Neville and Dean heavily sighed, killed by Seamus's strange logic. Only Heley laughed.

"Hahahaha!" Heley clutched her stomach and laught gleefully. Seamus grinned at her, showing all his teeth.

"You agree with me, right Heley?" Seamus asked.

"Hahaha! Only you can turn the worst situation into a comedy, Seam! Hahaha!" Heley said, laughing harder. Heley was crying her tears for laughing too much.

"But that's how you must enjoy life!" Seamus exclaimed. "You guys should be like me! Life is meant to be enjoyed. You must laugh at every situation you find yourself in, the happy ones as well as the sad ones! If not, you will be left with regrets later!" Seamus philosophized. Heley startled and stopped laughing.

'Those words…' she thought. They were same ones she always pondered on. To think that she would hear them voiced out by someone else made her heart twist in her chest.

"So, instead of killing yourself with the stressful mood of the tests," Seamus continued, "you should be thinking about the joy of the up coming Christmas vacations, WHICH WILL BE STARTING THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW! Woo hoo hoo! Yeah yeah yeah!" Seamus jumped into a jiggling dancing round around the room, singing a weird leprechaun song. The only result he got was killing everyone in the room with his super hyper energy.

"Haaaaa…" Hermione, Ron, Neville and Dean gave a long sigh for the XXXth times.

"Dean, don't let him have more than one Chocolate Frog per week. Please." Hermione cautioned. "It's mortal for our mental!" Dean and Neville nodded agreedly with her.

"Oh Merlin! Dean, how have you dealt with him all these years long?" Ron asked.

"Actually, I was asking myself the same question," Dean replied. "It's a miracle that I'm still sane after spending so much time with him!"

"Haa…" Ron and Dean sighed.

"But in a certain way, he is right," Neville calmly said. "As I can see today, the older we get, the less chance we have to laugh. We shoiuld smile and enjoy our life as much we can when we still can do it. We never know what other misfortune will strike us again… like during the war…" he whispered the last line, his voice laced with sadness, thinking about a lost friend. Ron, Hermione and Dean knew what Neville meant and who he was thinking about. "So we must cherish every little happy memory we make and smile whenever we can, even if it's only for one second."

". . . " Hermione, Ron, Dean and Heley looked at him in awe, amazed by the maturity of his speech. They let Neville's words sunk in their heart. Heley casted her eyes down, looking at her knees. She closed her fists to avoid her fingers from shaking. It was time like this that she feel remorses for making Harry Potter disapear. Hermione broke the silence.

"That was wonderful what you said, Neville," she said, smiling approvingly. Neville only smiled back.

"Really cool…" Ron added, flabbergasted. Dean nodded.

"Huhuhuhu!" Neville chuckled. "Oh, stop looking at me like this, guys! You make me feel weird!"

"Hahahaha!" they laughed together.

"That's right! That's how you should do it!" Seamus popped in front of them, happily exclaiming his joy to the world.

"Oh! You finish your crazy dancing?" Dean asked him.

"Ya!" Seamus replied, nodding his head rapidly. "Now, tell me what were you talking about to make yourselves laugh so hard?" They looked at him with round eyes.

"Well, with that low level of maturity of yours, I doubt that you will understand," Hermione said, an eyebrow raised.

"Hun hum," Ron and Dean nodded, agreeing with her.

"Awww!" Seamus whined like a baby. "Tell me!"

". . ." Hermione, Ron, Neville, Heley and Dean looked at him, blinking. Then, "Hahahaha!" they laughed.

"Seamus, you just confirmed what 'Mione said. You WON'T be able to understand!" Dean managed to gasp out between crackles.

"Hey! That was mean!" Seamus protested.

"Hey guys!" Ginny appeared. She just entered the Gryffindor common room and went straight to them in front of the chimney. "What's all the laughing about?"

"They refused to tell me," Seamus complained to her.

"Must be laughing at you," Blaise said.

"Ah! Zabini!" Seamus jumped. Heley, Hermione, Ron, Neville and Dean started when they saw the Slytherin standing behind Ginny. "What are you doing here?" Seamus asked. "And since when were you here?"

"Oh geez, Finnigan!" Blaise flipped his hands. "You saw Ginny, but you didn't see me. Yet, I'm taller than her! I came in with her of course! And Draco's here too!" Blaise gestured to the blond Slytherin next to him.

"Ginny, you brought snakes into the lion den!" Dean screeched in a scandalous comical act. Ginny sighed.

"Zabi-…" Ginny started.

"Ahem!" Blaise coughed into his fist, interrupting her.

"BLAISE," Ginny continued, rolling her eyes, "and Malfoy had something to discuss with you guys, so they asked me to let them in."

'Hurry up and be there already, December 31, so I can get rid of him!' Ginny grunted in her head, eyes slitted. Ron and Blaise knew perfectly well what she was thinking, but Blaise didn't feel hurt. He smiled. He knew it was a challenge to conquer her, but he wasn't going to give up. He still had until December 31 to win her heart. Hermione looked at Blaise and Draco.

"What do you want to discuss with us?" Hermione asked.

Draco stepped forward and stopped in front of Heley. He slipped his hand under his robe and pulled out an envelope. It was an envelope made in a pretty craft shining grey pearl paper, stamped with the Malfoy crest sealing wax. Draco handed the envelope to Heley.

"This is for you, Heley," Draco said. "There is a New Year Celebration at the Malfoy Manor on the December 31. You are invited to attend to the party. This is your invitation."

"Heh?" Heley blinked. She wasn't sure she heard the right thing.

"My mother wishes to meet you," Draco explained, placing the envelope in Heley's hand because the girl didn't move to take it. Heley was frozen on the spot, still shock by the sudden invitation. "Mother has something very important to tell you and she wishes to speak with you."

"What is it?" Heley asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"I don't know," Draco said. "She only told me to invite you to the Manor. She will be very happy if you accept the invitation and come to our New Year Celebration."

"WHAT!" Ron jumped to his feet. "Malfoy, do you really think that I'm going to let her go alone to your place? What do your mother and you want to do to her? I'm not going to let you hurt her, you hear m-!" Ron shut his mouth when Draco shoved an identical envelope into his face.

"I thought you would be reacting like this, Weasley," Draco said. "This is also an invitation for you and for your family. You are invited to come to the Malfoy New Year party too."

"What! For real!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly. "We are going to a party at the Malfoy Manor?"

"What? Why is it 'we are going'?" Ron groaned. "No way in hell! We are NOT going to step one step into your trap!" Ron was going to grab the envelope from Draco's hand to throw it in the fire, but Ginny was faster than him.

"Let me see!" Ginny snatched the envelope from Draco's hand before Ron's fingers reached it. Excitedly, she opened the invitation and read it. "Oh wow! So cool! A party at the Malfoy Manor! I'll definitely go!"

"Of course you will!" Blaise said. "Remember you promise me a dance for New Year."

"Heh? When did I say I was going to dance with you on New Year?" Ginny asked.

"You just did," Blaise said.

"What?" she screeched. He got her. "Hey! I'm excited about at party at the Malfoy Manor, but I'm not thrilled to know that you will be there too!" Ginny scowled. Blaise took her hand in his.

"I will make sure that you will not regret coming," Blaise promised, kissing the back of her hand. Ginny was going to slap him, but a pointy glare from Ron stopped her.

'Ginny, I don't like it as much as you do, but you still owe him for saving you until the end of the month, so keep your words!' Ron's eyes were saying. Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes. Blaise was spared from her slap.

'Grrrrrr! Ron is no fun!' she inwardly groaned.

Next, Draco slowly pulled out another envelope from his robe and handed it to… Hermione.

"You are also welcome to the Malfoy Manor for New Year Celebration with your parents, Granger," Draco politely said, not a tiny hint of disdain at all in his voice.

"Gawk!" The Gryffindors dropped their jaw as they looked at Draco, in shock. Draco Malfoy was inviting a Muggle-born Gryffindor and both Muggle parents to the Malfoy Manor for a party?

'No way! This can't be real!' everybody in the room thought, picking up their jaw from the floor. 'Maybe the mid-year examinations finally succeeded to kill me and my brain!'

Something wasn't right. AND Draco Malfoy personally handed out the invitation to Hermione Granger, very curtly and civilly, instead of owling it or sending a house-elf or an owl to deliver it. Hermione raised an eyebrow, wondering what game the Slytherin Prince was playing. Then, she noticed Draco's discreet glances at Heley. It came to her in a flash, making her eyes widen.

'Oh! So that's why!' Hermione understood.

Draco Malfoy really wanted Heley to come to the Malfoy Manor on December 31. His mother must have really insisted upon it. However, there was little chance that Heley would accept the invitation. Yes, Heley was Draco's Potions partner, but their relationship stopped there. As far as Hermione knew, Heley had always been kind of stiff when Draco Malfoy was around. Hermione never saw Heley and Draco together alone without anyone near by. As a matter of fact, Heley seemed to be scared to be alone with him. She always made sure that there was always at least a third party around when she must interact with Draco. Draco must have noticed it. Therefore, it was right to assume that Heley would refuse the invitation. Besides, Heley was the kind of girl who wasn't fond of celebrations or any kind of party. During the party in the Gryffindor common room, Heley liked to stay alone in a corner, unless it was Ginny or Seamus who pulled her out to join everyone. Even then, Heley always stayed close to Ron, or to Neville or to her, Hermione. If her friends weren't around, then Heley would have certainly flee somewhere else to be alone.

Which brings everything down to Draco Malfoy's invitation. Draco knew it: unless her close friends were with her, Heley wouldn't come alone by herself. Thus, to get Heley to accept the invitation, he would have Heley's closest friends to come to the Manor too.

'If Ron and I were with her, Heley would feel less scared. In a sense, the main purpose of his invitation is to make Heley feel secure,' Hermione thought, still staring at Draco.

Draco bit his lips, Hermione's quiet answer was making him feel uneasy. He was unaware that he was pleading with Hermione to accept to help him with fulfilling the task his mother wanted him to do. But Draco found that he was doubting himself. That was what he found the most surprising. Before, he would have no doubt that Hermione Granger would jump on the chance to see a pure blood manor, classified as one of the History of Magic construction. But today, after knowing her a little bit more over the past months group-studying with the Gryffindors, Draco Malfoy he knew that Hermione Granger valued her friends' well-being over everything and she could easily put aside her interests for them. And Hermione Granger was an intelligent girl: she must have seen Heley's anxiety and uneasiness when he was around. What made him think that the Gryffindor Head Girl would accept the invitation when her friend Heley was so obviously reluctant to accept?

'Yeah, right,' Draco bitterly thought, 'As if she was going to accept after all the bad names I called her over the past seven years.'

But Hermione surprised him. She took the envelope from his hand.

"Thank you, Malfoy," Hermione said, smiling. "It will be a honor to come to the Malfoy Manor. My parents will be thrilled to come too."

"HEEEEEH?" Ron, Dean, Seamus and Heley shouted. Only Neville had the common sense not to overact. For the rest, surely they must have heard wrong. Surely Hermione didn't say that she would come to the Malfoy Manor with her parents. Surely it was only their imagination or that they have some hearing dysfunction. Ya, that was it! They all had a collective hearing dysfunction! It was certainly because of the mid-year evaluations must have killed a big proportion of their brain, affecting the hearing cortex zone. Only Ron was sure that his brain was still healthy and clear and that he didn't have any hearing dysfunction. He burst.

"What da-… (Hit) Omphff?" Neville shut Ron up with his elbow rudely connecting to Ron's ribs. Draco blinked at Hermione once, twice, then sighed in relief. He nodded to her.

"What? Hermione, you…!" Heley hesitated, not understanding what was happening between Hermione and Draco. Hermione put an arm around Heley's shoulders.

"This will be fun, Heley. A wizard New Year Celebration! I never saw one before! And visiting a pure blood manor filled with fascinating History of Magic treasures. I'm so excited about the perspective!" Hermione said, waving the invitation in front of Heley's face. "You are also coming with me, right Heley?"

"Heh? What? I never said I-…!"

"We will see you on December 31 at the Malfoy Manor, Malfoy," Hermione cut Heley as she spoke to Draco. Draco nodded to her, relieved and grateful. Next, he spoke to Neville, Dean and Seamus.

"Longbottom, Thomas, Finnigan," Draco gave each to them an invitation card. "This is also for you and your family. It will be a honor for us to welcome you all to the Malfoy Manor for New Year Celebration," Draco said. After distributing all the invitations, Draco and Blaise headed toward the exit of the Gryffindor common room, leaving the speechless Gryffindors behind. Blaise turned around to speak to Ginny.

"See you, Ginny," Blaise said, winking to the red hair girl. Ginny just rolled her eyes. Draco and Blaise gave a last curteous nod to everyone before stepping out through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Heley looked at the invitation in her hands, chewing her bottom lip, eyes slitted.

'What kind of troubles did I get myself in again?' she wondered.

A/N: Yeah, I know it's not the right season for this chapter because spring is at our door, but I started this chapter last Christmas. I was in the mood. So, pretend that you are around Christmas.

Update on Tuesday March 30, 2010. Beta-ed on Friday July 16.