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The Potter Vs. Granger Rivalry by lillyfan16
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The Potter Vs. Granger Rivalry

lillyfan16

Hey, Archie here, what's up? Right, first off, I want to thank everyone for their reviews, they really mean a lot to me. Also, a lot of you mentioned something about Romeo and Juliet. I have never read that story, so if you are expecting these events be similar, I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't even know the story, and when I came up with the idea for PVGR, I had no clue that it resembled Shakespeare's play. So no, I do not plan to kill them off in the end or whatever. It's kinda funny that I've never read any of his plays, but I use his quotes a few times in my story, I just realized that. Anyway, moving on. I'm sorry about all the profanities, but I just think they kinda work for the personalities I gave the characters. Also, someone mentioned something about the boys playing basketball in the magic world. Remember, Lily is alive, so don't be surprised if they have more Muggle lifestyle than in the books. In my opinion, I think she would be proud of her Muggle heritage, so she raises her son in a Muggle atmosphere as well as a magical atmosphere.

As for other relationships, I dunno yet. And the whole Voldemort issue….well you'll just have to read and find out. I'm not even completely sure about that. We'll just have to see how this pans out and what my mind can come up with!

This chapter may seem as if I'm rushing things, but believe me, I'm not. Later, you'll be begging me to speed things up. I need to go at a slow pace in the beginning to create the kind of background I'm looking for. There will be plenty of Harry and Hermione later on.

I tried to post this this morning, but it got all f'd up, so that's why it showed I had posted.

I think that's everything, so read and review! Enjoy!

Chapter 3 "It Was An Accident!"

She couldn't believe what she had just done. Hermione has no clue what had come over her; what had possessed her to act like that. She had never been so bold with a complete stranger in that way. What she had done was so incredibly shocking, not only to herself, but to him as well. She didn't even know him! She was just so…happy! Everyone in the close vicinity was in danger of her affection, so it wasn't as if she just singled him out or anything. But he had given her some advice and helped her pass her Apparation test, so a hug was slightly understandable…but a kiss!

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Wow. That was…unexpected. What in hell had just happened? He was just an innocent by-stander, simply happy she had passed. Ok, sure he might have enjoyed that hug a little more than he should've, being strangers and all, but damn! He was happy for her, after she hugged him, he was even happier for himself. Oh, he had never had such a wonderful time at the Ministry before, even counting the time he had met the seeker for the Transylvania Quidditch team! The second their lips made contact, however soft and brief it had been, Harry was sure he had died and gone Heaven. It was a complete accident, he knew, but a boy could dream couldn't he? A simple brush of the lips because they happen to bump heads, so maybe it wasn't qualified as a "kiss," but it was close enough! His first ever kiss (yes, he was going to live in denial about it being an accident for the time being) was with a complete stranger. Hermione, that's what she had told him her name was. Hermione. Very nice name. Unique, very pretty, much like herself. Wow, since when had any name, or girl for that matter, ever been "pretty?" to him? Ok, this was just stupid, why was he even thinking about this? Who cares really? So what if they had simply had a slight brush of the lips, if you can even call it that? 'What! No, it can be called that, it was that! I refuse to believe differently. Way t go, Potter, telling your mind to think with your mind, you make no sense at all!' Harry sighed, what it hell was he thinking? It meant nothing; he didn't even know this girl. There was a simple explanation for this, she was a little overjoyed when she passed and, since he had given her advice, she had given him a little hug, 'More like tried to rape me in the corridor…not that I'd mind…oh shut-up you sick pervert.' Maybe she was just really outgoing and hugged strangers all the time? Maybe this wasn't so weird, just extremely confusing…

Ok, he just needed to sort this out, meaning Ron and Draco needed to be over here NOW! Second opinions were always a good thing.

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It was an accident. What had come over her? Why couldn't she just keep her bloody hands to her bloody self? Aarrghgh, this was so frustrating! She didn't even know him for God's sake! But it was an accident. His name was Harry. Accident. He was really nice to her. It meant absolutely nothing. He probably has a girlfriend. At that thought, a feeling of jealously settled in the pit of her stomach. But hey, it was an accident, so it's not important. Of course he had a girlfriend, look at how handsome he was! 'Why do you care, remember, accident…..his girlfriend probably looks like a super model…..Why am I still on about this?' she thought furiously as she and Clarence made their way into the library, 'It happened an hour ago!' And besides: It. Was. An. A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T! A simple fumble. Something that was just exchanged between two complete strangers, that happen to find out each other's names after The Incident, no make The Accident. Sounds better; incident doesn't imply the act in question was an accident. Besides, it wasn't even a kiss, just a simple 'Opps,-my-lips-happen-to-touch-yours-for-the-briefest-of-seconds-and-it-happen-to-feel-nice kind of ACCIDENTS.' Nothing less, definitely nothing more. Ok, maybe it was Opps,-my-lips-happen-to-touch-yours-for-the-briefest-of-seconds-and-it-happen-to-feel-quite-nice, no wait GREAT kind of ACCIDENTS!' 'What are you saying, Granger? Did you enjoy it?' 'You know, I think you should really just shut your month, you know, it's none of your business.' 'Ok, just listen to what you just thought, moron. Shut my mouth? What mouth? And it's none of my business? We are the same bloody person, idiot!' 'I'm not making much sense, am I?' 'Go figure, Einstein.' This was incredibly stupid, Hermione decided. There was nothing else for it. Complete accident. 'But you liked it.' A stupid misunderstanding. 'One that you didn't mind having.' 'I said it was an accident!' 'And I said it was one accident you enjoyed.'

"I don't even know the boy! It was a complete accident for God's sake!" Hermione suddenly burst out angrily. Clarence looked towards Hermione, her eyes wide with surprise from her outburst. They hadn't said anything on the way home, so Hermione had no clue what Clarence thought about the situation, 'Correction: Accident.'

"Hermione! This is a library!" Clarence said shrilly, but Hermione knew it wasn't a reprimand.

"I'm sorry; just a little frustrated I guess,"

Clarence nodded her head in approval and waited for Hermione to speak. When Hermione remained silent, she decided to take things upon herself. "Hermione, you have every right to feel a little frustrated, but let's not forget you did pass your test, so let's not let that little incident ruin this for you."

"Accident. Not incident. It was an accident," Hermione corrected her.

Clarence raised her eyebrows in a questioning gesture, and asked, "And do I believe in "accidents," Hermione?" Hermione remained silent. Of course she didn't, Clarence had always told her that. She said what ever happens, there is always some sort of reason, despite how twisted and messed up it may be. And usually, Hermione agreed whole-heartedly, but this was special circumstances dammit!

"Maybe I'll get lucky and just never see him again, think I'll try to avoid the embarrassment at all costs. I suppose it is a big world out there, so the chance's of ever seeing him again is slim," Hermione stated with a sigh. She glanced at Clarence and didn't miss the look she was sporting now. "What?" Hermione asked, with slight indignity.

Clarence just laughed at Hermione's expression, "Of course you will see him again, Hermione. He probably attends Hogwarts, and though the school is big, you won't miss him," Clarence said matter-of-factly. Then she turned towards her desk and started making her way to it.

Hermione strode up to catch up with her, and then went on, she wasn't done yet. "But how do you know if he attends Hogwarts? I mean, he could be older and maybe just got out of school. Or, maybe he goes to another school, like that Durmstrang school you've told me about.'

"He's seventeen, and he attends Hogwarts, I know this for a fact, Hermione." Clarence said absently, searching through her drawers, aimlessly.

Hermione glared at her accusingly. "What? Do you know him? It didn't seem like you had any more of a clue who he was than I did." She retorted.

Sighing, Clarence finally shut her drawers and looked at Hermione. She had a slight wary look to her, and she didn't want to let Hermione in on exactly what "Harry" this gentleman they had run in to was. "Hermione, you have that examination at Hogwarts in 2 days, shouldn't you be studying and preparing for it?" Clarence asked, raising her eyebrows again.

With that proclamation, Hermione gasped and a look of distinct horror appeared on her face, as her eyebrows shot up, disappearing in her bangs and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. It was apparent she had forgotten, probably because of recent events. "Oh my God, how could I have forgotten? It's just 2 days away! I-I can't believe it! I must study. Today. Now. I need to go to the library. I must prepare. Anything. No, everything. I must look over all my notes!" Hermione said this breathlessly in quick succession as she began to franticly pace in front of Clarence, biting her lip and looking suddenly worried.

"Hermione, you are in a library, why don't you go look over you charms notes and I will be back later to see how you are doing?" Clarence asked, shaking her head. She knew how uptight Hermione could be and how anxious she was about Hogwarts. It did the trick; Hermione nodded her head and then rushed to the back of the library to start looking over her notes, without a second thought to who this mystery Harry was.

Hermione picked up her bag that was sitting neatly beside one of the back tables and took a few of her notebooks out. Grabbing a pen from her bag too, she set to work, writing out definitions, copying over notes again, and looking up references in books. She stayed there for an hour before Clarence brought some food, which she quickly ate then was back to the textbooks and notes. She needed to prepare!

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"Ok. Let's go over this one more time, just make sure we're not missing anything."

"You went to the Ministry with your father this morning…"

"Do we really need to start from the beginning?"

"Yes, just to make sure we got all our facts straight, just answer the damn question!"

"Yes."

"They you go to the Level Six to do something for him in the Portkey Office…"

"Yes!"

"Then, you hear a girl and an old woman walking to down the hall, because she was about to take her Apparation test-"

"And you offer the girl a few pointers and good luck on the test…"

"You already know all this," Harry pointed out, heaving a sigh.

Ignoring his remark, his two friends pressed on. "She went in and took the test, and you saw her come out, looking all happy and shit?"

Harry grinned slightly now, remembering how thrilled Hermione had looked. She was positively on Cloud Nine. "Yeah, she looked completely overjoyed," Harry said, looking dreamily off into space with a silly grin on his face now.

His friends raised an eyebrow at each other and had to suppress from grinning. "Right. Now then she jumps into your arms and snogs your brains out!" Ron said with a snicker.

"Yea-WHAT? No. No. No. It wasn't anything like that, she just sort of hugged me and well,…we kind of bumped heads," Harry finished lamely with a shrug.

"Are you sure there was nothing more?" Draco asked, in a slight exasperated voice, and a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, it was just…," Another shrug.

Harry had went back to the Sixth Level after going back to his father, he was just waiting around. Truth be told, he was slightly curious about that girl, she didn't look familiar. So he was just waiting, what for, he wasn't sure. He just wanted to know if she had done well or not. He didn't have to wait too long, and he saw the girl emerge from the door with a grin that told him exactly what the end result had been. Harry couldn't help but grin as he watched her hug the old woman, who looked quite pleased as well. The girl turned around and ran into an older man, but he just wobbled a bit, and she gave him a grin and said a quick apology. She hadn't seen him yet, Harry decided. Surely she would say something. She started walking towards him, that huge grin still on her face. 'She looks really cute' Harry thought with a grin still on his face. 'Wait. What? Did he just think a girl was cute?' He had to tell Ron and Draco about this, they were still debating whether he was gay or not. 'She's looking at me!' Sure enough, her eyes fell on him and she gave him a huge hug. Harry's eyebrows flew up, disappearing in his bangs with slight shock, but then he returned the hug awkwardly, 'How in the hell were you suppose to hug a girl?' he wondered because he never done anything like this before, but he began to relax in the hug. 'Ok, she was kinda cute.' Her face turned towards his quickly and they bumped heads. Harry felt her lips on his for the briefest of seconds, before he felt her rush out of his arms, looking completely horror-struck. Whether it was because she realized she had hugged him, or whether she felt them brush lips, he wasn't sure. They both stood there, an awkward silence fell over them.

"So, uh, I guess you passed then?" Harry asked, not sure what to say. He chanced a look at her. Her look of horror passed into that grin again. He could feel his face start heating up.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Her cheeks were red and she was stammering slightly.

"I'm Harry by the way," Harry said, returning her grin.

"Hermione," She replied, sticking out her hand. Harry shook It, but was really thinking about how much he would like to have one of her hugs again. He dismissed that thought quickly.

"Well, I wanted to say thanks for the advice. And I apologize for just…just…attacking you like that! I don't usually do that. I'm really sorry." Hermione was blushing now even more now, and still looking at the floor.

"Um…it's alright, no serious damage right? Nothing wrong with a good 'ole hug every now and then." Harry said, trying to keep his voice light, but he was still tingling all over.

"I…um…I've really got to go, thanks again. Goodbye," And with that, Hermione, checks still glowing in embarrassment, turned down the corridor. The old woman she had been with looked at him for a second, as if trying to see something that wasn't there. Harry stared back at the woman, not sure if he should be feeling weird or not. He shuffled awkwardly, not sure why she was looking at him. Then, the woman raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a small smile and let out a soft sigh. She glanced down the hall towards Hermione then with one last look at him, she started down the hall after the girl. Despite feeling a little disturbed under the strange woman's gaze, Harry couldn't help the grin that he was sporting as he walked back to Level Five where his father was.

"So, what did you think of her then? Was she hot?" Draco's voice pulled Harry out of his reverie. Harry glanced up and saw both his friends looking at them expectantly.

"Er…what?" Harry managed.

Rolling his eyes, Ron shook his head, "God Harry, you are a fucking wall when it comes to girls! Do you ever even notice what girls look like? Do you ever acknowledge whether they look good or not?" Ron asked exasperated.

"Er…not really Ron, and before you say anything, I am NOT gay!"

"I dunno, Harry," Draco piped up, "Longbottom gets more action than you! At least he's been on a date or two."

"You know, it's not exactly hard to get a date with Ginny Weasley," Harry said in his defense, 'She's a bloody walking piece of ass to half the guys at school…' Harry thought bitterly. Ginny had tried to get him a few times, but Harry couldn't stand her. She may be Ron's sister, but even Ron didn't have any respect for her.

"Good point," Draco said fairly. Ron stayed quiet. It didn't bother him really, when his sister was mentioned like this, because he knew it was true. He knew some of the sneaky things she pulled, and he didn't like it one bit. As far as he was concerned, she wasn't a part of the Weasley Family.

"You never answered our question. What did you think of Hermione?" Ron asked suddenly.

Harry blushed slightly, and finally managed to get a few words out, "Well, she was…sorta cute…"

"Sorta cute?" Draco said, looking a bit disappointed.

"Alright, fine! She is very pretty. She has long brown hair that's bushy but it looks really great on her. She's a little shorter than I am. Not super skinny and all, but average. Her eyes…they were all different colors of brown; I could definitely look at them all day. She wasn't wearing much makeup, but her face looked beautiful. She isn't the kind of girl that someone would stop and gawk at or anything. Her beauty was more, I dunno, like it catches you by surprise and you can't help but wonder where they make them like that, you know? Her smile lights up her whole face, and after the whole incident, she looked extremely embarrassed and her face was all flushed. It was…I dunno…" Harry finished, slightly amazed at what he had come up with, and had a small smile playing on his lips as he looked up at his friends' faces.

To say Ron and Draco were astonished was an understatement. They both had their mouths open in shock and their eyes were wide. After the surprise wore off, Ron just grinned and shook Harry's hand vigorously. "See mate, I told you Harry wasn't gay. He just lost himself for a while. I knew some girl would catch his eye one of these days. I had hoped it would be sooner rather than later, I mean, look Harry, I love you man, but if I catch you checking out my ass again like you did last week and countless times before that, I will have you committed." Ron and Draco burst into laughter.

Harry feigned a look of complete horror and said in mock surprise, "You knew?! And I thought I was being discreet!"

"Yea, he's eyes on the back of his head, you know? But…it looks like you will be thinking of Hermione's ass now and forget all about ours'! I dunno, Harry, I'm starting to feel a bit jealous of this Hermione. You barely know her and you say all this stuff about her; you've known me forever and you never told me how beautiful I look! I'm affronted! How can you throw away what we have over some girl?" Draco asked in mock astonishment and anger.

Harry just shook his head. "Look, I know you guys love to check out my ass all time, so don't pin this one on me! I say we settle this like men out on the court."

"You're on"

"As long as you sissies don't mind losing."

The three boys made their way outside. After a few energetic games of basketball, they all came back inside, Ron and Draco took over the PlayStation 2 while Harry settled down with his guitar.

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She was exhausted. She had been studying for what seemed like for hours, which she had. She still had quite a bit to look over, but she still had a few days. Right now, she was dead tired. All Hermione wanted to do was take a nice hot bubble bath and maybe watch a movie with her parents. Her parents. She knew she would miss them terribly. Hermione had never been away from home so long before. She had never been invited to sleepovers at a girl friend's birthday slumber party, or stayed up all night making s'mores in the microwave at a cousin's house. She had stayed with her grandma and grandpa a few times when her parents had to go away on a dentist convention or just a weekend getaway on their anniversary. But this was different. This was huge. She would only be at her grandparents' for a few days at the most. Plus, she has known them her entire life! But Hogwarts, she would know no one, and she would be there a lot longer than just a few days. It was scary when she really thought about it. She had no clue what she was going to; she was just jumping in the water, hoping she won't sink, which is something she isn't accustom to doing.

Hermione sighed as she lay on her bed. She really needed that damn bubble bath, maybe it would relieve some of her stress. After another regretful sigh, she just put on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt, and headed downstairs. She didn't have that much more time with her parents and she really wanted to make the most of it. She found her parents sitting at the table, finishing up their dentist paper work.

"Hey, Mum, Dad. I was wondering if you two would like to play a few games or something. Make tonight an unofficial game mania night?" Hermione asked, giving her parents a sweet smile. Her father stretched while her mother stood up with a manila folder on hand and a few pens in the other.

Mrs. Granger smiled at her daughter. "That sounds great, sweetie. Let me just put these up in our room while you and your father go pick out a few games." So Hermione and her dad went to the game cupboard. After selecting a few games, they settled back into the kitchen, and Hermione cleared off the table then went to get a clean dish rag to wipe it down. Her father got drinks for everyone and put in a cd for background music. After Mrs. Granger came back in, they all gathered around the table and started a game of Clue.

Hermione glanced around the table. They were well into their second game of Clue, and she was having fun. It had been a while since the last time they all sat down and did something together as a family. They used to play a few games of something every week, and always went out for ice cream and a walk in the park all the time. Everyone had just been caught up with work and in her case, magic, it had been too long since their last little outing. She missed those times with her parents; they were some of her greatest treasures. Hermione had always been quite close to both of her parents, and look at her now: she was deceiving them and would be gone soon. Hermione glanced at her parents again. They had no idea what she was planning; they were just smiling and so unsuspecting. They never had to suspect Hermione of any foul play. When she had a problem, they could talk it out. She never had to keep something from them. 'If they only knew…'

The conversation was light; the atmosphere content. Everything was how it should be. Hermione sighed inwardly. Everything was so damn perfect and she hated every minute of it. With another sigh, she pushed all thoughts of Hogwarts and magic out of her mind and forced her brain to think about what was happening now and trying to figure out what room Mr. Plum murdered Mr. Body in with the candlestick. 'It's not the Kitchen, and Mum has the Ballroom, Hallway, and Conservatory. Maybe I'll check the Library, but what a dreadful place to murder someone! With all those books you could get blood on. It should be illegal! Of course, it is murder, so it is illegal, but STILL!'

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"Oy Harry, why don't you put that banjo down and play some PS2 with us? We started a new fighter for training in the UFC game."

"Yeah, if I hear you sing another song, I think I'm going to go mad! Take a break and beat this fucking asshole Shamrock, we've been at it for what seems like bloody hours!" Draco called from the couch they were sitting on in front of his TV in his "Chillin' Room."

Harry had most of the upstairs the house to himself. He had his room, with a bathroom connected, then another room that he and his buddies deemed the "Chillin' Room", which is where there was a pretty decent size TV with a few different game systems hooked up to it, and a DVD player. There was a stereo on the other side of the room with a surround-sound speaker system. There was three doors in this room, one that lead into the hall, another was a closet, and of course, the last one lead to his own room. A dark blue and green couch sat in front of the TV, with a dark oak coffee table in front of the couch, and matching end tables by the blue and green recliner chair and love seat. A futon was on the other wall, close to the stereo, which Harry was sitting on right now. The carpet was blue and the walls were a matching blue with a green border, but you couldn't see much of the walls because of the large, pale gray canvases that stretched across each wall. There were many different pictures Harry had drawn on them, and then painted or colored. One wall was dedicated solely to music, with the names of his favorite bands in creative lettering. Another wall was lyrics he liked. The other wall was just free draw. Harry was quite an artist, and he doodled on his walls all the time. The last wall what plain, he hadn't thought of what to do with it yet. Canvases were covering the walls so he could keep all his "artistic expressions." If they weren't outside on the court or playing football or something, they were in here playing video games or messing around with music or whatnot. His parents liked to call this his "lair" because if he was in the house, he was usually in here, but his parents weren't home half the time, so it's not like he's missing quality time with them or anything.

"Damn, I never knew you guys had so much stamina, I would've thought Shamrock would be sated by now." Harry called to Draco and Ron, earning a pillow being chucked at him. "Hey, do you want me to beat Shamrock or not? Chucking pillows at me isn't a very nice way to persuade your Savior to help out, you know." Harry said sarcastically, dodging another pillow. Setting his guitar down on his futon, he made his way to the couch. He sat down and took the controller from Ron. "Right, now the key to beating Shamrock is having skill at this game, seeing as how you two lack in the department of anything that necessitates skill, I understand your short-comings."

"Oh sod off, Potter and just beat this fucking asshole, you Dipshit." Ron said with a role of the eyes.

Harry shot him a smirk, gave him the controller back and stood up. "Now that I have been insulted, I've decided that I will not help and instead, I'm thinking that we should go and get some junk food." Within 5 minutes, the boys were out the door and in Harry's 2003 Mustang making there way to the store, despite the late hour.

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It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just wanna live while I'm alive
It's my life

"It's My Life" BON JOVI

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"Where are you going this morning, sweetheart?" Hermione's mother asked as she put eggs and toast on all their breakfast plates. "Don't tell me that whimsy library again." Her mother said, giving Hermione a pointed look.

"It's not 'whimsy' mother, it is perfect realistic," Hermione said with a sigh, though knowing how futile it was to argue.

"Call it what you want, Hermione, but it's all rubbish to me, just a little fantasy you are living in. Instead of learning all that magic nonsense, you should be doing something worthwhile. This paranormal universe you keep in your life is just getting in the way of more relevant happenings. You should preparing for your next year in high school and whatnot."

"Mother! I am not living in a paranormal universe! Magic means a lot to me and whether you like it or not, it is a part of who I am!" Why couldn't her parents just get it? Why were they so blind and ignorant that they refuse to see the role magic plays in her life? Why did they try to condemn her because of it?

"What? Are you planning on making a living waving around a piece of wood and enunciating a few hocus pocus words?" Her mother condescendingly waved around the spatula, and reciting a chant she had seen on the television, making a mockery of the art of magic and wand waving. She stopped and put her hands on her hips, giving Hermione a reproachful look and continued, "You need to get you head out of the clouds and where it should be. You should be spending time with teenagers your age and joining committees. Just think about how much help and volunteer work you could be issuing if you spent less time at that miserable library and with that…that…woman! I am your mother and you spend more of you time with her than me." She stated, shaking her head.

This had been brewing for a while now, Hermione knew. Anytime she mentioned magic or said she would be going to Madam Suddusk's, she didn't miss the glances that tinged with bitterness or the sighs that unveiled their concealed disappointment. She had just hoped it wouldn't come to a head any time soon. Even though she wasn't a dreamer, she slipped into fantasy every once and while, and this was one of the few occasions when she had believed her idealist accounts might come true and she would be able to avoid confrontation with her parents with her leave for Hogwarts so close. But it was just too much of an optimistic farewell vision, and she should've seen something of this sort coming. Why was she so unprepared now? When had she let idealism overcome her realist intentions? All she could think to do was face it head-on. Despite the shame her name brought to the Wizarding World, Hermione had developed a slight protective attitude over magic. If her parents insulted magic, they insulted her. They make a mockery display of her.

"So your father and I decided, that it would be best if you joined the Girls' Club. It promises fun and excitement. With help from this Club, you will excel in leadership and confidence. With more self-esteem, maybe you will try joining a few societies this year in high school. You are living such a plain life, and the more outgoing you are and the more extracurricular activities you take part in, the better you will look on your university applications. Your first meeting will be this afternoon, and you will be there if I have to drive you there myself. End of discussion," Hermione's mother said sternly, going back to pouring orange juice in everyone's glass.

To say Hermione was stunned was an understatement. She didn't see this coming at all. There was no way she would be going to this "Girls' Club" without a fight. "There is no way I am going." Hermione said defiantly, locking her angry eyes with her mother's.

"You aren't gong?" her mother's eyes blazed with anger that match Hermione's.

Finally, her father decided to chip in on the battle the two women of the house were having. "Hermione, you will go. This sounds like a great experience for a girl. Your mother went to one when she was your age and you will do the same."

Hermione just shook her head, she knew her mother had been quite the social butterfly when she was younger. She always pointed that out to Hermione, about how she was Homecoming Queen and all the volunteer hours she spent in her community. Hermione usually dismissed it to keep peace, but this was the last straw. "When she was my age, she may have. But that's not me, that's her. I'm not that kind of person-"

"Hermione, you are such a private person, it's not a wonder why you don't have any friends or go to any sleepover parties. If you just open up to a few people instead of hiding behind your books and magic, you might discover that there is a whole other world out there with friends and fun that doesn't include magic or books. Where the Real World is!" Her mother said exasperated, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

"I am not going. You can't make me. And I DO NOT live in some fantasy world!" Hermione retorted angrily.

"Darrel? Please help me out here," Mrs. Granger said to her husband.

Darrel Granger looked at his daughter again, and said in a stern voice, "Hermione Jane Granger, go upstairs to your room and bring down your magic wand."

Hermione looked fearful. 'What are they going to do?' "But-"

"No buts, go get your wand NOW."

Hermione swallowed painfully and made her way upstairs. What were they going to do? She needed her wand! She had that exam at Hogwarts soon! Taking her wand from its place inside the drawer of her bedside table, she headed back down the stairs, nervous and keeping inside the tears that wanted to fall. She was met with a heart wrenching silence when she walked back into the kitchen. She set her most prized possession on the sleek ceramic tabletop. Her father looked at her and began to tell her the terms of her punishment for back talking and all the while Hermione felt like they were giving her a death sentence.

Cause I been waiting all my life

For a break like this

It's my chance of a lifetime I just know it is

I gotta go find these dreams

"Then I Did" RASCAL FLATTS

Thanks for reading and please review!

*~Archie~*