The Truth About Hermione Granger

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, it appears that I have some good news for you and my daughter," said Snape as they sat waiting for the house-elves to zap in the food. "The Dark Lord has just paid us a visit. It appears as if he has arranged a courtship between you and Hermione."

Draco looked from Snape to Hermione to his father. "If that is what The Dark Lord wants," he said with an air of arrogance. "Then, that is what he shall get."

Snape looked at Hermione with a questioning, yet stern glance. "And you, daughter?" he asked.

"I shall do whatever is required of me," she said, exhibiting the same air Draco had.

"Good," said Lucius. "That was easy enough. Your courtship shall be solidified at the upcoming presentation on Halloween. I understand there is to be a Ball at school? Good. You are to attend together and leave promptly at eleven to give yourselves enough time to get into the Dark Forrest for the presentation. I trust you have given your daughter her Invisibility Cloak, Severus?"

"I have not yet had the opportunity to give it to her, but I do have one," he answered. "Be sure to remind me when we return to school, Hermione."

"Yes, father," she said.

Her father gazed across the table at her with what Hermione decided was the perfect mix of pride, satisfaction and arrogance- almost as if he had expected her to answer in such a manner. Hermione noticed, however, that Lucius barely looked at Draco.

Point noted, she thought as lunch appeared before them.

* * * * * * * *

"You must never use it for your own personal gain, nor must you ever give it to anybody. You must never let anyone see you with it, nor shall you leave it anywhere for someone to find. You shall not even so much as tell anyone that you have it. This is something that has to remain a secret from EVERYONE!"

With the last word, Snape brought his fist down on his desk, causing Hermione to jump. It was later that night and he had just given her the promised invisibility cloak and was in the process of lecturing her on its proper use. To her surprise, she wasn't even to tell Dumbledore that she had possession of one. Her father had told her that he was under strict orders from Dumbledore himself to only tell what he thought the headmaster would need to know and this was most certainly NOT something he NEEDED to know.

"Do you understand, Hermione?" he asked almost pleadingly.

"Yes, sir," she answered. "I won't tell a soul and I won't use it for my own personal gain and I won't leave it anywhere and I won't let anyone see it."

"Very good, poppet," replied Snape, nodding at the small box which supposedly contained the cloak. "Use it wisely. And remember, not even Weasley and Potter can know about it."

"Yes, sir," she repeated.

"Now, go straight to your room and put it away in your trunk," he told her. "You won't need it until Halloween. And don't you let me catch you misusing it!"

"I won't," she answered, heading towards the door.

"Oh, and Hermione?" he said, a bit softer.

Hermione paused with her hand on the door and turned to look at her father.

"I'm sorry I slapped you," he said.

"It's okay," she answered. "I understand. After all, you've got to act the part. And besides, it didn't even hurt."

He gave her a little half smile and silently went back to his work. Hermione left quietly and hurried through the halls. She hoped the boys weren't in the common room. They'd want to know what was in the box and she didn't know what she would tell them. Just as she told the Fat Lady the password, ("buttered scones") it came to her.

"Hey, Hermione!" called Ron from across the room. "How'd it go at the Malfoys'?"

"What's in the box?" asked Harry.

"None of your business," she answered, sitting down next to them.

"Aw, come on, Herm!" said Ron. "Show us!"

"Did you ever think that maybe it's your Christmas presents?" she asked quickly.

"Really, Hermione, Christmas shopping in September?" asked Harry.

"It's nearly October," she said. "And besides, I like to get my shopping done early!"

"All right, all right," said Ron. "We'll leave you be about it. But what happened at the Malfoys'? Tell us all about it!"

And so she did, leaving out the part where Draco kissed her and especially leaving out the part that she'd kind of liked it. Harry was annoyed that Voldemort would even THINK that Hermione should marry a Malfoy. After all, she was above such a thing! She should be able to choose for herself.

"Harry, really!" she hissed. "I can't very well tell him no! Besides, I'd look really funny dating anyone except a Death Eater's son, wouldn't I? How do you suppose Vol- You-Know-Who would react if he found out I was seeing Ron? Or you? Do you think he'd just sit back and say, oh, well, it's her choice, after all, isn't it? No, he'd probably have me killed!"

"Still Herm," he said, still keeping his voice low. "You'd think he'd let you choose out of them."

"Even if he did, I'd still choose Draco," she answered.

"WHAT?" yelled Ron.

"Quiet, Ron!" she said. "Could you really see me with any of the others? Crabbe? Or Goyle maybe? And besides, he's been really sweet to me lately, and he even told me that he thought I was cute since our first year, only he couldn't do anything about it because I was muggle born. Well, now we know I'm not and he can like me without worrying about his father blowing up at him or anything."

"Did you really believe him, Hermione?" asked Harry. "I mean, he could just be trying to get on your good side."

"What for?" she asked. "What do I have that he needs?"

He thought for a minute. "He could be trying to get to me!" he said, finally.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Then you don't have to talk to him," she said. "When I'm around him, just steer clear."

He sighed and sat back in his chair. "Fine, then, Hermione," he said. "If you want to be his friend, go right ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"I won't," she said, rolling her eyes again and standing to go to her room. "But I've got to go put this away before you two think you can steal it and peek at it!" With that, she hurried up the stairs to the girl's dorms and hid the box in the bottom of her trunk. Before heading back down to the common room, she locked her trunk and put a quick charm on the key so only she could use it.

After all, she had to be careful.

* * * * * * * *

The next Saturday, Hermione headed down to Hodsmeade with Draco to pick out their costumes. He had wanted to go as Vampires, but Hermione had talked him out of it, saying that everybody and their brother would be going as Vampires. So, they headed into several different novelty shops and a second hand shop. It wasn't until they had almost given up that Draco spotted some old American Western gear in a corner of the second hand shop. "We could go as Americans!" he said.

"Oh, I know!" said Hermione. "That sharp shooter, oh, what was her name? Annie Oakley! I could be Annie Oakley and you could be her husband, Frank Butler! They were wizards, you know!" And quickly, she found herself a buckskin skirt and matching vest.

"Who?" asked Draco, confused.

"Annie Oakley and Frank Butler!" said Hermione, exasperated. "See, when Annie was just seven, her father died, leaving the family with no source of income. Well, her family was starving and she decided to do something about it! Since she was still an underage witch, she had to learn how to shoot a gun like a muggle. She'd get rabbits and ducks and geese and even deer and she'd sell the pelts so they could buy fruits and vegetables. Anyway, she got so good at shooting, she became famous. She won contests and pretty soon went on the road with a muggle called Buffalo Bill and that's where she met Frank Butler."

"And they're wizards?" asked Draco, picking out a pair of jeans, some chaps and a vest.

"Sure," answered Hermione, finding cowboy hats for each of them. "Though not many people know it. They didn't use magic much. Didn't have a need to, really."

Draco grinned at her. "But you would because you read everything you can get your hands on," he said.

She grinned back. "Of course I do," she said. "You know me; I've got to know absolutely everything!"

Draco watched carefully as Hermione found two belts, each with a pop gun hanging in a holster. "Look at these!" she said, pulling one out and pulling the trigger. It popped nosily and Draco jumped back. "Relax!" she said. "They just make noise. They won't hurt you."

Draco grinned as he took one from her and examined it carefully. Then, he took the gun out and pulled the trigger. It popped and he jumped. Hermione giggled at the surprised expression on his face. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she answered. "You just looked so funny. Like a child in a candy store!"

Slowly, he began to laugh with her. Finally, the two paid for their costumes and headed for Honeydukes. After buying several pounds of candy each, they headed into Zonko's where they found Ron and Harry checking out some new joke stuff.

"Hey, guys," said Hermione, approaching them. "What's all this?"

"I'm going to go find Crabbe and Goyle, okay, Mione?" said Draco nervously.

"All right," she said as he headed out of the store to find his cronies.

"Look at this, Hermione!" called Ron. He hadn't seen Draco because he was so interested in what was on the shelves. Hermione hurried over to her friends and when she saw what was on the shelf, she, too, became interested in it.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" she asked, checking some of the stuff out. "So, I take it Fred and George got their way and started their own joke company, huh?"

"I guess so," said Ron. "They got their own place in London, so mom doesn't really know what they do in their spare time. This stuff is so cool!"

"You got that right!" said the storeowner, stacking more things on the shelves. "We can't keep these things in stock! Kids are always in here buying them up as fast as I get them out! I've just sent out another owl with a huge order for all this stuff. Maybe that'll keep it here for awhile." With another chuckle, he left them to browse.

"Well, good for them," said Hermione. "Did you guys pick out costumes, yet?"

"Not yet," said Ron. "I still haven't got anyone to go with."

"Go by yourself, then," said Hermione. "How about you, Harry?"

Harry blushed slightly and tried to interest Hermione in a fake wand, but she wasn't about to be distracted. "Come on, Harry, who're you going with?" she asked emphatically.

"Promise you won't laugh," he said sheepishly.

"Why would I laugh?" she said.

Harry sighed. "Ginny," he said finally.

"What, did she finally get up the nerve to ask you?" said Hermione.

"No," answered Harry. "I asked HER."

Ron's jaw dropped. "YOU asked MY sister to the Ball?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"Why not?" asked Harry. "She's a sweet girl. Besides, I learned my lesson at the Yule Ball two years ago. I'm not waiting until the last minute to ask someone!"

"But, but-" stammered Ron. "But, she's my SISTER!"

"My, my, protective aren't we, Ron?" said Hermione. "You don't trust your best friend with your little sister?"

"It's not that," said Ron. "It's just... but, she's my SISTER!"

Hermione grinned and punched Ron playfully in the arm. "Close your mouth before something flies in, Ron," she said. "Besides, Ginny's big enough to take care of herself. And, she's been in love with Harry since forever. Let her have fun for once! And, Harry, that was very sweet of you, asking her to the Ball. I'm sure she'll have a wonderful time with you!"

"I didn't ask her for HER," said Harry. "I asked her because... well, because I think she's very nice and very smart and well, I think she's sort of... cute."

"You think my sister is CUTE?" exclaimed Ron.

Hermione just laughed at her friends. "Come on, you two," she said. "I'll buy you a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks."

But, even when they made their way back up to school that night, Ron was still having a fit about Harry asking his sister to the Ball.