Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter. On top of fulfilling a prompt for the Untold Forty collection this story is the next story in Not So Muggle Moments which is a remix of the second story, "Year One: Even Dracula Thinks This is Insane" Muggle(born) Moments with this being the reaction remix. All of these remixes involve the addition of my headcanon of Regulus being Mr. Granger, which in turn means he is alive an well.

See notes at the bottom for what elements from the one-shot shaped what I did in my own story.

Prompt: In canon we see Hermione interacting mostly with Ron and Harry, but for this story have her interact with one of the unloved forty instead (writer's choice of course). It can just be platonic or the writer can choose to ship, but their relationship should be the main focus of the story.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Princess Black

"Princesses can do anything they set their mind on doing."

Hermione glanced up from the books set out on the table in front of her, her mouth pushing together in a thin line, her mind taking in what her father had just said, even though the words were directed at her youngest sister, who sat perched on her father's lap.

Black locks cascaded around, framing his face, some falling in front of his silver-gray eyes as he smiled at her younger sister, whose own silver-gray eyes were glued on the book he'd been reading Jules. The six-year-old sat there while Sebastian Granger took the time to gently straighten out the stray strands of black hair that managed to escape the braids he'd put Jules's hair in that morning while Jules remained occupied with the joy of listening to a story read to her, her silver-gray eyes wide with delight.

"Poo-poo," Jules said, tiny fingers trying to hold onto the book their father read while Hermione picked out the Muggle books she'd take with her.

"Poo-poo?" her father asked, looking utterly perplexed while remaining patient with his youngest, who'd always managed to be different from her sisters and cousins. "Where'd that come from?"

"Poo-poo." Jules looked up at Hermione. "Lizzy and princesses."

Hermione frowned, her brown eyes blinking while her father frowned. Sebastian's head tilted. "But Lizzy likes princesses. That's why her nickname…"

Hermione snorted, ducking her head so she didn't see the look sent her way for her inappropriate reaction.

"What?"

"When will you learn Elizabeth doesn't like being called princess anymore, Papa?" Hermione said, continuing to hunker down, her mouth twisted into a smirk

"Well, she is. You all are."

"Poo-poo."

"Really?" Sebastian said, turning to look at his youngest, frowning at her insistence on using those words. "Believe it or not, you're all princesses." And then, "I thought Lizzy liked princesses."

"Oh, she does," Hermione said. "Just not her daddy calling her princess in front of her friends. Particularly since…" Another laugh came as she looked up at her father, who looked like an absolute Prince Charming to hers and Elizabeth's classmates. She didn't say anything.

"Mio knows," Jules said.

"I know," Hermione said, frowning as she looked up. "Oh. That."

"That?"

"Poo-poo."

"Alright, my sweet Juliet," Sebastian said, using Jules' full name. "Perhaps we not use that particular word?"

"But Lizzy was poo-pooing."

Hermione ducked her head, unable to prevent a laugh from escaping. She glanced up without looking up to see her father glancing around to make sure nobody was watching, letting out a sigh that resulted in Jules patting his face, her way of asking what the matter was. "So, I know I can be a bit dense sometimes, but Jules sweetheart."

And there was her sister, frowning at what their father was trying to get. Hermione took a deep breath. "Lizzy would be very embarrassed if she heard you saying that, Jules."

"Oh," Jules said. "Embarrassed about poo-pooing princesses doing anything?"

"Yup," Hermione laughed as her Uncle approached the corner of the bookstore's shelves, an eyebrow lifting in amusement as Sebastian held onto his youngest.

"Uncle Lettie!" Jules called out, reaching for her uncle. "Lizzy's embarrassed about poo-pooing princesses doing anything!"

The smirk quickly changed into a frown as the six-year-old launched herself into Hamlet Granger's arms while Sebastian Granger mouthed, "Help me. Please."

"Hey," Hamlet said. "I think it's far more likely your sister would be embarrassed that you're using her name in the same sentence as words that involve the bathroom."

"Bathroom?" Jules said, looking at her uncle as if she were an innocent little angel, which wasn't always apt. Her eyes widened, and she laughed. "Oh! Poo-pooing! Lizzy's embarrassed to be poo-pooing!" She leaned in close, whispering rather loudly. "But everybody has to go poo-poo!"

Hermione bit her lip as she tried holding back her amusement, knowing full well Elizabeth would be mortified if this got back to any of her classmates, and yet there was her father, wholly mortified as he buried his face in his hands. "Olivia's going to kill me."

"How about I explain things to Olivia?" Hamlet said. "I mean, she's my sister after all." He turned to look at Hermione, smiling. "So, have you figured out what books you'll take with you to this boarding school of yours?"

"No," Hermione sighed.

Sebastian lowered his hands, smiling, although slightly pale, not to mention the tips of his ears were red. "She's a lot of textbooks."

"The school assigns a lot of textbooks for a first year?" Hamlet said, frowning.

"Of course not!" Hermione said. "I got extra!"

There came a sigh. "What kid buys extra textbooks? I mean, where…" Hamlet stopped seeing, noticing how Sebastian glanced away, looking up at the ceiling. "Oh. Wait." And then came the laugh. "Sebastian would, that's who. And you did, didn't you?"

"I'm not saying I did or didn't." Her father swallowed, the tips of his ears turning slightly more red than before.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Uncle Lettie?" Hermione turned to look at her Uncle.

"Instead of trying to decide what you're absolute favorite is," her uncle said, looking right at her father. "As we all know how hard that is for bookworms, why not pick something to help you make friends with the girls in your dorm? Something they may like!"

"Princesses!" Jules cried out from her uncle's arms. "And Time Lords!"

"Time Lords might confuddle them, Jules," Sebastian said, leaning back in the chair. "And Lizzy doesn't like Time Lords."

"But Mio does! And I do! So does Daddy and Uncle Lettie!"

"Yes, but we're not doing with Hermione, are we?" Hamlet said while Sebastian gave the girls' uncle a pointed look. "But yes. Pick books the other girls might like. Something you can talk with the other girls about. That should work, right?"

…

It didn't work, Hermione found out.

There was undoubtedly a reaction to the books she brought, yet not the reaction she was expecting, but the response was disheartening, "I didn't think we were allowed to bring Muggle books to school."

There was undoubtedly a scowl indicating the other preteen girl thought Muggle books were dirty, almost as if they were equivalent to the adult romances Hermione heard about yet never read. "What are you talking about?"

"Aren't they, you know, banned?"

"They're not."

"What would you know? You're a Muggleborn, aren't you?" the girl sneered. "It's obvious since you've got a Muggle book with you."

Thus, instead of bridging the gap between her and the other girls, she alienated herself from her peers, who likely all came from wizard families, although none spoke with her enough to find out. In the back of her mind, she felt Elizabeth would have handled the situation better than she did, given the older of her younger sisters was more inclined towards gossiping about boys rather than books and studying.

"At least I'm not bullied like I was at my Muggle school," Hermione thought. "Just ignored. And I can deal with that."

Or, she thought she could, until Ron decided to open her mouth and say her being a know-it-all, something she usually took pride in, was the reason she didn't have any friends rather than because she was a Muggleborn trying to fit in among girls who had an advantage to her magically. This, in turn, led to her ending up in the bathroom, crying, knowing just how alone she felt. She could hear the girls coming and going during dinner time, the whispers as none of them approached.

And then she ran into the troll.

In the end, that wasn't how anyone in her family likely wanted her to make friends, yet that was how it happened.

They—the two boys—rescued her, and she took the blame. Which—

"Why did you take the blame?"

"What?" Hermione glanced up from her desk where she was doing her homework. The girl who spoke to her was Lily Moon, a quieter member of their dorm who let the other girls do the speaking.

"Come on," Parvati sighed. "Everyone knows they're the reason you were in the bathroom in the first place. None of this is going off to find the troll on your own."

Hermione shrugged it off, remembering how nobody came to check in on her after class, feeling there was some truth to Ron's words about turning the other girls away by being a know-it-all. She didn't know how to respond.

"It's romantic, though."

This made Hermione look up, frowning in confusion. "What?"

"It's like," Lavender Brown said, hugging her pillow, her eyes fluttering like Elizabeth and her friends did. However, in Elizabeth's case, Hermione was sure her sister was pretending not to be as intelligent as she actually was. "Those fairy tales of a princess being rescued."

Hermione felt her eyebrows go up, keeping her mouth shut. "A princess. I'm not…"

There was, of course, her father's insistence that she was one while insisting that princesses could do anything they set their mind on, which, at the moment, felt at odds given the boys came to her rescue.

"That book."

Hermione's eyes blinked, focusing on Parvati. "What book?"

"The one with the princess in the title? Could I borrow it?"

"Are you kidding, Parvati," said the girl who came down on Hermione for having a Muggle book at school, Sophie Roper. "Muggle books are banned!"

Hermione took a deep breath. "I've told you they're not."

"They are! My mom wouldn't lie."

"Neither would Professor McGonagall, but do you remember when you tried getting Hermione in trouble for having a Muggle book?" Parvarti said, glaring at Sophie.

"I remember!" Lavender said, hugging her pillow tighter. "Her face! You thought she was horrified Hermione had a Muggle book."

"Wait? What?" Hermione swallowed. "When did that happen?"

"The first day," Lily Moon said, quiet as ever. "Of McGonagall's class. She told Sophie to stop being prejudiced."

"But do you have to tease her about it?" Hermione asked. She watched Parvarti and Lily look at each other while Lavender continued hugging her pillow. Sophie, on the other hand, stormed out of their dorm room. She stared. "What? What did I say?"

Lavender flopped onto her bed, still holding her pillow. Parvati frowned. "We didn't want you to know. That Sophie doesn't like you."

"I didn't," Hermione bit down on her tongue, deciding not to mention that she didn't think any girls liked her. Yet, it occurred to her that Sophie disliked her differently. "Why? What did I do?"

"I don't know," Parvati said.

"She got rescued," Lavender chimed in.

Parvati frowned. "Sophie disliked Hermione from day one, remember?"

"Hey," Hermione started to say, as the other girls were now gossiping about Sophie, which she didn't like.

"Doris Purkiss."

Parvati glanced over at Lily. "Her aunt?"

"Oh!" Lavender said. "The one who thinks she's dating Stubby Boardman but isn't."

"Sophie's batty aunt Dori?" Parvati asked. "The one Sophie believes is actually dating Stubby Boardman?"

"Could we please not talk about her behind her back?" Hermione said, finally getting a word in.

"She did it to you," Lavender chimed in.

"It's not nice," Hermione said.

"No, it's not." Parvati frowned. "You should still know Sophie believes everything her Aunt Dori says. Actually, that might be where this whole idea Muggle books are banned comes from."

"Ah," Hermione said. "The book is in my trunk, but feel free to borrow any you want to."

"What if we forget to return it?" Lavender blurted out. "I tend to forget things! Would I even be able to read the book?"

"Lavender doesn't like reading," Parvati said, "But I think she's sold on the princess part."

Hermione's mouth twisted slightly. "Well, if you read it and like it, you can keep it."

"Wait? Really? But wouldn't that be a problem if you no longer have it?"

"Not really," Hermione said, tilting her head to look at Lavender. "I practically grew up in my grandfather's bookstore and the local libraries…."

"More than one library!" Lavender's eyes went wide.

"Well," Hermione frowned. "They're quite small unless you take the bus for a few hours."

"A couple of hours? Are you going out of the country?"

"Well, no," Hermione said, confused about what Lavender was getting at. She took a deep breath. "Oh. The Knight Bus. Muggle buses don't instantly take you where you want to go like the Knight Bus."

"Amazing," Lavender said. "I didn't know that."

"A bookstore, though?" Parvati asked, grinning. "That actually sounds quite wonderful. Like growing up and going to Flourish and Blotts every day?"

"Yeah. I guess so," Hermione said, noticing Lily Moon had fallen silent again. "But kind of not, as they've also got a selection of older books for sale. So, yes. I can replace the book."

…

"It's satire," Hermione bemused.

"Satyr?" Lavender's mouth formed a pout. "I don't remember reading about a satyr in the story. I remember the romance between Buttercup and Westley." She flopped onto the bed with her copy of The Princess Bride. "Doesn't every girl dream of meeting a prince charming?"

Hermione frowned, not wanting to argue about the importance of satire when it came to The Princess Bride , how it was more than just a romance, only to bite her tongue, reminding herself the other girls weren 't familiar with Muggle literature. " Not to mention Elizabeth didn 't get it either."

"Handsome, talented," Parvati nodded her head. "Of course, he's not a prince, is he?"

"He marries Buttercup, though," Lavender said. "And she's a princess, remember, so that would make him a prince."

"If you say so," Lily Moon said softly, smiling at Lavender's train of logic that didn't follow through in reality.

"What? Are you not interested in meeting your prince charming?"

Hermione turned her head to look at Sophie, frowning. The other girl seemed to pick up on Hermione's disinterest in talking about boys. "You do realize life isn't a storybook, right?"

"But what if it was!" Lavender said, continuing to swoon over the book as the other girls packed so they could head home for the winter break, distinctly missing one of the book's messages regarding how life didn't involve fairy tale endings.

"Well, he certainly wouldn't be a boy our age," Hermione said. "They're kind of—you know."

"No. We don't know," Sophie muttered. "Or are you going to enlighten us?"

"Sophie, be nice," Parvati said, shaking her head.

"Immature," Hermione said, frowning.

"True." Parvati nodded her head. "They do a lot of stupid things." Her mouth wrinkled. "Unless, of course, you're Percy Weasley."

"Ew," Lavender said, her nose wrinkling up. "That nerd." She sat up, eyes wide. "Sorry, Hermione."

"It's alright. He can be a bit of a stuffy shirt," Hermione said.

"So you like him?" Sophie said, again acting the way she did.

"Didn't say that either," Hermione said, glaring at her.

"Isn't there anybody who you have a crush on?" Sophie said.

"I don't know. Cary Elwes?"

"Who?"

"Uh," Hermione said, unsure how to explain The Princess Bride was adapted into a film. "Muggle actor."

It sounded strange to say he was a Muggle actor instead of an English actor.

"So you like older men?"

"Sophie," Parvati said, shaking her head.

"It's not that," Hermione said. "I'm not even thinking of dating until I'm older, so I just don't worry about it."

"Well, I bet this Clive Owen can't compare to my Aunt Doris' boyfriend, Stubby Boardman," Sophie said, smirking as if she'd won up.

"Who?"

Sophie's facial features shattered. "He's the lead singer of the Hobgoblins."

"Hermione wouldn't know who they are," Parvati said, which resulted in Sophie becoming smug again. "And your aunt isn't dating him."

"Is too," Sophie let out a sniff.

Hermione wasn't in the mood to argue and returned to packing her trunk.

"But he's definitely a prince charming," Sophie said. "My Aunt Doris says so."

Hermione shrugged while Parvati and Lily Moon looked at Sophie. Lavender continued holding onto her copy of The Princess Bride, resulting in Parvati reminding Lavender they needed to pack for the train. They left, and the other girls expected Sophie to say goodbye to her until the next school year, Lily Moon speaking softly as usual. She joined Harry and Ron on the train.

"Lavender isn't wrong in saying that every girl dreams of meeting their prince charming," Hermione thought on the train when she wasn't thinking about the events of that year and as she left the platform to find her parents. "But is there such a thing as a prince charming?"

Her eyes blinked, seeing her father standing there waiting, standing prim and proper. She hurried over, letting him take her into his arms as he swung her around, asking if she'd had a fantastic year before pulling her trunk behind them so he could load it into their family car.

"I did," Hermione said, unsure how to explain many things, such as the incident with the troll. "Never mind. Mum got to marry her prince charming, so maybe finding one prince charming isn't about finding someone perfect because Dad isn't perfect."

"I'm glad all three of my princesses are home for Christmas," her father said. "I missed you."

Hermione laughed. "I was only gone for the semester."

"Still," her father said, smiling, definitely looking like a prince charming, always acting like a perfect gentleman even though there were times he'd bumble into situations. He said nothing more as they got into the car to head home.

- In the story I'm remixing, Hermione has an Aunt Edith who gives her books, whereas in my headcanon of Regulus being Mr. Granger and what the Granger family is like, Hermione's grandfather (actually great-grandfather) runs a bookshop where her Uncle Hamlet works.
- There is the implication in Anonymous' one-shot that Muggle books are banned at Hogwarts. The headcanon concept is compelling, and if anyone wants to run with developing the concept contextually, I encourage them to do so. However, this headcanon isn't canon; if it were, Harry's acceptance letter would have mentioned Muggle books not being allowed, so I ran with the concept as a misconception another character has, one of Hermione's dormmates.
- When it comes to The Princess Bride, bookworms can be divided into the ones focused just on the romance elements and the ones who understand from the onset the satirical elements of the book. The writer of the one-shot went with Hermione being the former, while I went with her being the latter.