A Sinister Plot

Chapter One

Shopping with my mother. I swear, if any of the Slytherins saw me, I would be the laughing stock of the entire house for... well, for a very long time. As long as Potter and Weasley didn't see me in these--

CLING

As the door opened, I froze on the spot and prayed that it wasn't anybody I knew - but, of course, it was Potter, Weasley, and Granger.

"Well, I'll be darned. Malfoy in pink robes." Stupid Potter. And why are Weasley and Granger laughing? It's not that funny.

"First of all, Potter," I started (I had to make something up so I wouldn't seem to be a total idiot), " these are for the Grand Rose Ball, which is for pure-bloods only. Granger, you'll be going, right? Oh! I forgot you can't, because you're just a filthy little mud--"

"Finish that sentence and I'll hex you into oblivion!"

"Why Weasley, surely you're going... right?"

"No, I wouldn't go to some stupid ball where you are."

"No matter, because you wouldn't be able to go because you and your family couldn't afford to go anyway. I believe you need to have more than one room in your house to be able to go." I loved this but I hadn't gotten at Potter's buttons yet. Hmmm, something about his mum always sends him over the edge. "Too bad you couldn't go, Potter." He and Weasley stopped heading for the chairs by the entrance of the shop and turned back to me.

"And why is that?" he asked, with no small amount of bitterness.

"Because it's for purebloods, and your mum was just a filthy, mud-blood, just like Granger here." Maybe I'd gone too far, because they all had their wands pointed at me and my wand was in my other robes. I guess it was a good thing then that Madam Malkin and mother interrupted all of this.

"Put those wands away!" said Madam Malkin, but she was ignored completely by all three of them.

"Malfoy, don't you ever call my mum--"

"What she is? Your mum is the same as Granger a--"

"Draco, hush. Madam, please finish up; we're quite busy today." Leave it to mother to ruin my fun.

"Always listen to your mummy, Malfoy?" Mother suddenly turned on her heal and faced them.

"Don't you ever threaten my son again." She said this in the calmest tone of voice, like she always did. "Now put those away!" Why does mother always have to make it worse than it already is? I noticed Granger had lowered her wand and was trying to coax Potter and Weasley into lowering theirs as well.

"Please... he's not worth it... you'll both be in so much trouble... please!" I hated it when she said that! What did she mean I wasn't worth it?! I was worth every goddamn thing! Thankfully, they listened to her and lowered their wands.

"Finally. Now, please wait over there while I finish up Mr. Malfoy's dress robes." They all glared bitterly at me. Or rather, Potter and Weasley did; Granger, on the other hand, looked like she was about to burst into tears. This was much to my satisfaction.

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Why did Malfoy have to be such a git? I was sick and tired of him, not to mention people in general, treating me as if I were lower than dirt. I just wanted to go back home to my bed and cry, or at least go back to the Burrow and cry - at least there, Ron could hold me and make it seem as if nothing was wrong. No more Voldemort, no more Death Eaters, no more Malfoy, and no more problems. I leaned against Ron and he put his arms around me and pulled me close to him, and everything else just melted away. That is, until Malfoy started talking again.

"You two are together? Too bad - your kids will be the ugliest around. Most likely the stupidest, too." I knew which part was directed toward Ron and I prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid or rash.

"You can call me dumb..." Damn! He's going to do something... hang on, did he just say Malfoy could call him stupid? That's not like Ron.

"...You can call Harry the biggest prat in the world..."

"Thanks mate."

"Oh, shut up Harry, let Ron say what he's going to say."

"...But never, never call Hermionie ugly!" Aww, he's so sweet, I thought, but I was quick enough to pocket his wand as he reached for it. He looked down at his pocket and looked rather worried, and Malfoy snorted. I got up and shot my most Mrs. Weasley-ish glare at Malfoy as I handed Ron back his wand and dragged him to the couch, and up in his arms once more.

"Of course, the blood traitor has to fall in love with a mud-blood."

"I will not hear such talk in my shop!" Madam Malkin quickly finished up his robes, probably trying to make sure the three boys didn't end up brawling in her shop. As she showed the Malfoys out, I could tell that she was glad to be rid of them. Ron came back from helping Harry pick out the fabric for his robes. Although I'm sure they were just off, talking about Quidditch. As Ron came and sat down next to me, he asked,

"How is my beautiful girl doing?" Oh, he's so sweet!

"Oh, just wonderful, except..."

"Except what? Was it something that Malfoy did because I'll kill him if he----"

"No, no, no. It's just that, with me being Head Girl, I wont get to see you as often."

"Oh. That." He started to sit back down. " Well, I can visit you, and I'm almost certain you'll still be allowed in the Gryffindor Common Room." I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. I'm going to hate having to move when Madam Malkin calls me to get my robes fitted. My old robes would have been fine if those bloody gnomes hadn't ripped them to shreds.

Flashback

Hermione grabbed her bag from Stan and ran towards the Burrow as the Knight Bus disappeared. I haven't seen Ron in months. I can't wait to glomp him with a hug! Her thoughts were so focused on seeing Ron again that she didn't notice the rather large rock in front of her, and she tripped over it, cursing her own clumsiness as she fell. She was examining her skinned knee when she heard the high-pitched squeals of garden gnomes behind her. Turning around, she realised belatedly that everything had fallen out of her trunk, and the gnomes were making off with her belongings! She rushed, trying to get everything safely away again before there was nothing left. Her school robes, so she quickly grabbed her wand. "Accio Robes!" They came whizzing back to her, and it wasn't until she had them grasped in her hand again that she noticed that they had been torn to shreds.

"Damn gnomes!" She glared at the sky, muttering under her breath.

"Hermione, did you just--?"

"Ron!" She launched herself at him and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you too. Now tell me, why you are swearing?"

"Oh, sorry, it's just those bloody gnomes shredded my school robes."

"Ah well, I'm sure mum can fix 'em."

"No, I'll just get new ones - thank you, though."

"Come on; let's get you all fixed up... you look great by the way!"

"Thanks, you don't look half-bad yourself." Both of them were smiling they walked to the Burrow hand-in-hand, Ron dragging Hermionie's trunk behind them.

End Flashback

"Alright dear, you next." Snapping out of my daydream, I got up, trying to escape Ron's hold on me.

"Ron, let go of me."

"No, you can't leave."

"Ron, please... " I looked at him with the biggest puppy dog look I think I ever gave, and with that he let go of me.

"Hurry back!" he called after me. I went into the dressing room to get changed and saw the cutest plaid skirt; it looked like it would reach about mid-thigh on me. That looks like it would fit me perfectly! I tried it on before I placed the basic form of the school robes on. I studied myself in the mirror. It could be a bit shorter and still be within the school dress code. I placed the skirt back onto the hanger just as Madam Malkin entered the dressing room.

"Well, hurry up dear, we don't want to be in here all day do we?" I smiled and shook my head and stood on the platform in the corner of the dressing room.

"Um, Madam?"

"Yes, dear."

"I was wondering if I could get an extra few inches trimmed off the bottom of this skirt?" I pointed to the skirt that was currently hanging on the wall. She suddenly stopped working on my robes and looked at the skirt.

"Hmm," she tapped her wand against her mouth, "I suppose I could and you would still be able to wear it at school... Very well then. But may I suggest that you also buy some of these white shirts, maybe a few other skirts, too? And do without the altering for the others?" She was smiling - it seemed as if she knew exactly what was going through my head! She continued her work as I began to ponder whether or not I should get more shirts and skirts. I saw no reason not to; the shirts were just plain white uniform shirts that showed off my curves, like a few other shirts I had. Why not? I know Ron will have no objection. I chuckled. Nor will any other boy, I suppose.

"Well, that's done, now let's get to work on that skirt." It took her no less than a minute to trim off three inches from the bottom and another two minutes to re-hem it. "There we go. Do you like it?"

"Yes! Thank you very much Madam! And I would like to buy five of those shirts and three more skirts, please."

"No problem." She walked over to the counter and added up the total while I changed back into my normal clothes. I walked over to the counter. "Your total is twenty-five galleons, three sickles, and a knut." I thanked her as I paid her and, my money bag feeling much lighter, made my way over to Ron and Harry. They appeared to once again be talking about Quidditch. They noticed me heading their way.

"Merlin, Hermionie, how much stuff did you get?!"

"Not much. Just some necessities: some skirts, some new shirts, and, of course, new school robes."

"Why don't you wear one of them out of the shop?" suggested Ron.

"Oh, alright, I don't know how good I'll look in it though." I turned around and headed back toward the dressing room to get changed. I pulled out my new plaid skirt and one of the white shirts and hung them on the wall. Just as I was about to change, I heard a loud POP! that came from directly behind me. I turned around to see who it was... and screamed.