Yay! Extras! (Hee)
Well, time for some alternative scenes…
Alternative Scene 1: In the first version of the "finally get together" scene, Harry admitted his feelings for Hermione after a jealous outburst concerning Dean (although he tried to cover it with, "He kissed you while you were drunk! Any friend would be angry," he decided to just tell her). Hermione would be shocked, and Harry, downtrodden, would leave her with her thoughts. The next day he'd return to her room, wondering if she had made up her mind…
"I have an answer," Hermione mumbled, blushing under Harry's intense gaze.
"Well?" Harry waited patiently, but Hermione did not answer, instead massaging the back of her left hand with her right thumb. "What is it?"
Biting her lip, Hermione handed Harry a piece of parchment. He looked at her, clearly confused, but then looked down at the parchment to read that it was "The List."
"Hermione, what…?" Harry didn't understand at all.
"I…I think it'd be best if you hid that somewhere," Hermione said, turning away so as not to be face-to-face. "I…I don't think it'd be wise to keep it anymore."
"Are you…are you saying…" Harry felt as if he was choking on air. "That…that your answer is…that you…no?"
Hermione closed her eyes, slowly breathing in and out. "I…" she trailed off. "Maybe you should read the list again, to understand why I'm replying as I am."
"How will rereading the list help me understand your rejection?" Harry demanded, his anger and disappointment almost getting the better of him.
"Please?" Hermione begged softly, turning to face him once more. It took Harry a full two minutes before he finally gave in and began to read the list, all 187 names.
"Ginny…McGonagall…Mrs. Weasley…Ron…Mrs. Granger…Luna…Draco…Ernie…" Harry read on and on, until his eyes fell on number 187, "Harry Potter." He was ready to ask Hermione how on earth this had helped him when he realized that there was something written underneath his name.
188. Hermione Granger
His eyes widened as he looked up to find Hermione grinning widely at him. "Are you…are you serious?" he managed to ask (cue ending from posted chapter)
In the end, I decided that the characters were a bit too OOC, and it just didn't flow as well as I wanted it to. Furthermore, I wrote that excerpt back when I started the story, and by the time I had reached the point when I needed to get moving on the second to last chapter, this version just didn't feel right anymore. So I finally rewrote it on July 4th, at two am, while waiting for an episode of Kim Possible to download.
*****
Alternative Scene 2: This is one of my three endings that I wrote up for The List… This first one would begin right after "number ten" on the final list.
"Harry! What is the meaning of this?" Hermione stormed over to Ron, Harry, and Ginny, holding the journal containing The List in her hand and looking absolutely livid.
"Oh no," Harry said, blanching. "You didn't see…did you?"
"Yes, I saw," Hermione snapped at him. "And I can't even begin to say how angry I am that you would go and…" She gave a small scream and flung the book at him.
Looking rather amused, Ginny took The List and began flipping through it. "Wait a second!" she exclaimed. Hermione turned on the spot and her face transformed from that of anger to panic. "You wrote your name, too. Number eleven: Hermione Jane Granger," Ginny read. "Only not really, as the only way I could write anything on here is if I wrote my name. Harry James Potter, we need to have a talk right now. Not to mention a bonfire. If Ginny gets a hold of this (or Rita Skeeter…or anyone else for that matter), this year will make fourth and that small bit back in early Winter look like a piece of cake.
"Well, looks like I've got a hold of it," Ginny grinned at Hermione.
Hermione glared at Ginny and then turned on Harry. "You can consider next Hogsmeade weekend cancelled, too. And if I see you walking within ten metres of a jewellery store, I will change the password to our Common Room and you can bunk with Ron. I swear, I will. And if that's not enough of a threat," Hermione continued, "I'll tell my father."
Harry stared at her, horrified. "You wouldn't!"
"But I love you!" Hermione said, giving him a smell peck on the cheek, happy now that she felt she had put her boyfriend in place, and settled down on the couch.
"Don't worry, Harry," Ginny said airily. "She'll come around."
"Eh, I wouldn't put it past her," Ron said, flipping casually through a book about the Cannons that Harry had given him. "She can be rather stubborn when she wants to. She threw birds at me once, you know. You better watch out, Harry…"
"Now this is just getting ridiculous," Hermione cried. "First off, stop talking about me as if I'm not even here. Second, let me just say right now that I have no intention of marrying before I'm twenty-eight, at the earliest. I have many goals to accomplish, not the least of which include lobbying the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to take proper measures to ensure house elves' equality, and who knows how long it will take for them to come to their senses? And for the record," Hermione continued, turning on Ron, "you deserved those canaries, you sexist, womanising, little…" Hermione took in a deep breath and then added, "You're lucky Luna can get through to your human side."
"Speaking of which, I said I was going to meet up with her five minutes ago," Ron said, closing his book.
"Typical," Hermione muttered.
"Gotta go!"
Harry shook his head. No doubt Ron was just trying to escape a rather long lecture.
"So that's not a `no' on the `Are you going to marry Harry?' front, right?" Ginny asked once Ron had left the room, her pen poised above a spare piece of parchment as if she were taking notes for an article.
"Ginny!!"
"Ha! I thought so. Perfect. That's definitely going to be categorized as `evidence' for my essay." Ginny smiled satisfactorily as she began writing.
"Harry!" Hermione cried, turning towards Harry for help.
"It's Ginny, Hermione. What do you expect me to do?"
"You can face off with Voldemort, but you're afraid of a sixteen-year-old redhead?"
"IT'S GINNY! You go confront her then if she's just a `sixteen-year-old redhead'!"
Hermione's eyes widened. "So, about that Hogsmeade date…" she said, quickly changing the topic.
"You two owe me so much," Ginny said, shaking her head in disgust. "You should give me one of your children for every problem I solve in your relationship…"
"Ginny," Hermione said, looking angry, "we're not going to have chil- " She suddenly stopped as realization dawned on her. "This is never going to end, is it?"
"Never," Ginny said happily. "And when you two get married, I'll be the one objecting just so I can say, `I told you so.'" Ginny stood up, brushed off her jeans, and walked towards the door. "I'm going to go work on that essay now. And by the way, you still owe me fifty galleons," Ginny called over her shoulder. "And I charge interest!"
Harry and Hermione looked at one another, shook their heads, and laughed.
"You're paying the interest, you know," Hermione told Harry, resting her head on his shoulder. "And the rest of the fifty galleons."
"Me, why me?" Harry demanded.
"Because," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "you just had to make that stupid list, didn't you?"
"But…I thought…I mean…" Harry fought for words. "I thought The List ended up being a good thing!"
"Who said I was complaining?" Hermione asked, a small smirk playing at her lips. "Now come on. We have some catching up to do."
"Catching up?" Harry perked up immediately. "Really?"
"Mmhmm," Hermione nodded as she stood up and pulled Harry with her.
"Where are we going?"
"The library."
"The library?" Harry looked apprehensive. "Hermione, are you sure that's a wise place to `catch up'?"
"Of course!" Hermione said, looking at Harry with a look that clearly said he was out of his mind. "Where else are we going to get enough peace and quiet? We still have 472 pages until we've finished reading Hogwarts: A History - Revised Edition!"
*****
Alternative Scene 3: A week after I finished the above ending, I added this…
Harry groaned, but complied, sighing, "I might as well. At least this way I'll know what on earth you're talking about."
Hermione beamed at him and pecked him on the cheek. "Perhaps you're not a lost cause after all."
*****
In the end, I decided that neither ending worked well. I never seemed to get either to a place where I was actually comfortable with it. Plus, by ending with a list, it sort of wraps everything up.
*****
And now, time for some Fun Facts…
*Originally, Harry and Hermione were going to watch When Harry Met Sally on December 30th, and Hermione would confess to Harry that it's her favorite movie because, "There's nothing more romantic than falling in love with your best friend." This would lead not only to a rather awkward moment between the two, but to Harry deciding to tell Hermione how he felt at New Years, just like Harry did with Sally, and repeat the famous line, "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Don't worry! You didn't miss out on something horribly romantic. Hermione was still going to snog Dean, destroying Harry's plan (yes, I'm evil).
*In my first outline, Harry and Hermione were going to actually carry out the "secret dating." There was no getting caught by Ginny the second they returned to school. Harry and Hermione would continue to act as if nothing had changed, while Ginny and co continued to place them in situations to get them to admit their feelings (i.e. the classic lock them in a closet scheme, in which Harry and Hermione would snog until they heard footsteps, when they would tidy up. When Ginny opened the door, the two would be talking). Hermione would also date Dean as a cover, who would reluctantly do so on Ginny's orders to "make Harry stew with jealousy." Hermione would eventually break up with Dean, feeling like every time she kissed him she was cheating on Harry (even though he had agreed to it and hadn't been jealous/angry at all). In the end, Ginny would catch Harry and Hermione the day before Easter, thus winning the fifty galleons. Needless to say, I decided that this plot would not only string along the story for chapter after chapter, but it was pointless and would only destroy the fic. Plus, I would have to write three more months!!!
* The hardest chapter to write was "Christmas with the Grangers." Hermione's relatives were so annoying to write! I wrote out half of the chapter before I realized that Aunt Anna was being an absolute bitch (acting incredibly snobby - more so than how I eventually wrote her - and just plain cruel at times; almost like Julie Cooper or the earlier version of Summer, for any of you O.C. fans out there), and no one but Hermione's cousins were accusing Harry and Hermione of dating - hardly the hell I promised you. In fact, I wrote almost all of the final chapters before I finally wrote "Christmas." One of the worst writer's blocks in my life (with my current one for One Last Adventure beating it).
* Originally, I was going to reveal that Dean was only happy to hear that Hermione was going to be at the party because he wanted to talk to her about his chances of winning Ginny back. Sadly, that never made it into the final cut, as other things took precedent. You still, hopefully, get the feeling that Dean still likes Ginny (and that Ginny may just like him as well), and that something might just work out for those two after all.
* Hermione initially lived in a house out in a more suburban area, but I had such little luck with research, and I'm so picky when it comes to getting things right, that I opted to move her into the city.
* I spent two hours researching where Hermione would live (after deciding it would be a city). In fact, I used Google satellite images to see if certain areas would work. Then I spent another half hour researching what houses in the area looked like.
* In an alternate ending for The List, to get back at Ginny, Harry and Hermione threatened to start the "How many people think Ginny and Dean should get back together" list (instead of just teasing her). Ginny would then, in a rage, threaten to make up her list, and Harry and Hermione would back down. Of course, Ginny makes the list anyway (H2 are too nice to go through with their threats).
* While trying to write "Christmas" by hand, I instead brainstormed what all of the presents would be (from Ron to Harry, Hermione to her cousins, etc.), started making floor plans for the Granger house, doodled a weird Hermione, and made three drafts of the family tree (which included the lovely two Granger-Potter daughters from "Neurotic!"). You can see all of these pictures, etc., on my LiveJournal (HMSHarmony).
* Hermione's grandparents were going to come for Christmas, but then I got lazy and wrote them out…
* I had actually forgotten about Crookshanks and Hedwig until Hermione came home! That brief explanation about Crookshanks getting injured and Hermione's mum being afraid of Hedwig was an attempt to cover up Crookshanks disappearance from Hogwarts and Hedwig's from Christmas.
* I spent two days searching for quotes.
* In my original plans, Harry and Hermione had no romantic developments over Christmas. They were going to return to Hogwarts with their relationship in the same state as before because I was determined to avoid the cliché of, "Harry goes home with Hermione and a relationship blooms." Well, I guess it's a cliché for a reason, because the relationship developed all on its own.
* Mona was supposed to have a cute, little crush on Harry. In fact, my only mistletoed planned kiss was a peck that Harry gave Mona on the cheek when she came rushing in with mistletoe. Aunt Anna was going to get into an argument with Mrs. Granger about who was better suited for Harry - Mona or Hermione (yes, even though Mona was seven. You know how mothers can be…)
Well, I hope you all enjoyed that. Thanks again for reading. I've had the most amazing time writing this story, and I can't begin to say how grateful I really am.
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