Harry and Hermione are transported into the world of fairy tales, set on their own little quest of finding "Happily Ever After."
From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/7337/
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, or the fairy tales unfortunately.
Warning: None
A/N: Okay, so I was in a real mood to do a humour and I know I should finish my ones that I haven’t finished but meh, I felt like writing this one!
It Was An Accident
If you’ve never read a fairy tale, then you would not understand why a girl sometimes desires to be swept of her feet by her knight in shining armour. It is her greatest dream to be rescued from dangerous situations and be a damsel in distress. Her hero must be handsome, and maybe even be a prince; of course she doesn’t find that out until the end...
There is one girl, however, who never cared for such things. She would read every book her little hands could find, but the fairy tales she read were too unrealistic for her taste. Her practical mind scoffed at young ladies being stolen by dragons and being enchanted by ugly, old witches. She found it rather irritating that it was always the females being kidnapped, as though they were too weak to protect themselves. The whole idea was just ridiculous.
It seemed things had not changed…
“But Hermione, don’t you think it would be wonderful to be rescued by a handsome prince, just like Rapunzel?” A pretty red head said energetically, her expressive brown eyes alight with the fire of romance. “I’d love to have my very own knight in shining armour.”
Hermione scoffed as she placed a large and dusty book back on the rickety shelves. “No, I don’t. I think it would be highly inconvenient. Not to mention having that horrible, long hair and being kept in a tower all your life.”
“But it’s so romantic!” said the red head wistfully. “Just think, you wait all that time to be rescued and then suddenly a handsome prince astride a white stallion comes to save you. Then you kiss and live happily ever after.”
Hermione laughed slightly, “You’re too romantic Ginny. Now do stop prattling on about those silly fairy tales and help me find this book.”
Ginny sighed, “Okay, but you know, it’s such a lovely day, why waste it inside this musty old library?”
Hermione gave Ginny a very hard stare. She loved the library very much and practically viewed the place as sacred.
Ginny seemed to have noticed that she had offended her bookish friend and quickly stood up. “Well, I only seem to be in your way. I think I’ll go see what Luna is doing.”
Hermione watched as Ginny left the library and shook her head slightly. Though they were good friends, they did not have that much in common. Ginny was vivacious, sporty and liked by just about everybody, not to mention she was stunningly pretty. Hermione, on the other-hand, was bookish, a know-it-all, had bushy brown hair of no extraordinary colour and her figure was neither athletic, nor curvaceous. Her eyes were her only real asset, being an almost honey brown with a gentle depth to them.
Despite not having much to offer in the way of looks, Hermione never minded how people compared her to other girls. She was intelligent and had two great friends. Good looks were hardly anything to boast about when you were old and wrinkly.
With a slight shrug, Hermione continued to search the shelves. Her eyes fell on a very fat book with faded gold writing on its spine. Curious, Hermione pulled out the book and blew of the dust that blanketed the cover.
“The Happily Ever After Quests” She read aloud.
“Hermione!” A voice said loudly from behind her, making her jump practically out of her skin. The book fell with a clatter to the floor and Hermione turned around to face the intruder.
“Harry!” She exclaimed startled, “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
She hated how Ron and Harry always managed to give her frights. They were always sneaking up on her in the library (unintentionally, of course) and making her drop things. If only they would announce their presence in a not so startling way…
Harry gave an apologetic look but whatever he was about to say was cut off as a blinding flash of light surrounded them, followed by a loud humming noise.
“What’s going on?” She heard Harry mumble in shock.
Hermione looked around in panic and noticed the book she had dropped glowing with an almost unearthly light. It appeared that the book had opened from the fall and had somehow activated some special magic because of it.
“Oh no.” Hermione exclaimed horrified.
“What?” Harry said distracted. “What’s wrong?”
“I think we’re about to find out.” Hermione muttered before she felt her body being swallowed by the light in a painful feeling, much like when you disapparate. The world was dissolving around her and she briefly saw a glimpse of a rather startled student, before everything went a blinding white.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Hermione opened her eyes and rubbed her head slightly, pausing when she saw a girl wearing a red cape go skipping by. Quickly, Hermione scrambled off the ground and ran towards the girl. “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”
The girl cocked her head to the side and smiled, “Why, you’re in the Eternal Wood, of course.”
Hermione frowned. She had never heard of this place before and it seemed Harry had vanished too.
“Um, have you seen a boy with messy, black hair and green eyes go walking by?”
The girl shook her head, “Nope. But I saw a wolf just before. I’m off to see my grandma, to give her some treats packed by Mama.”
“A wolf?” Hermione said startled. Was it possible that this was Little Red Riding Hood? If this was the case, the poor grandma was going to be in definite danger and probably eaten by now.
“May I walk with you until I find my friend?” Hermione asked. She didn’t think it was good to let the girl go in these woods by herself.
The girl nodded and Hermione was soon glancing warily about the forest. She felt her pocket and gasped when she realised her wand had gone; this place had obviously taken away her magic, for she knew she had her wand on her when she came into the book and there was no sign of it anywhere…
The girl, who told Hermione her name was Elise, chatted innocently about little things here and there, while clutching a basket of goodies in her little hands. Hermione responded to her absently, trying to ignore the feelings of worry creeping in her stomach; she had still seen not a glimpse of Harry.
“Here we are.” Elise said with a cheerful smile. “This is my grandma’s house. You can come in if you like?”
Hermione stared at the naïve girl, her mind practically fighting with conflicting thoughts. On one hand she was worried that the little girl might get eaten by a wolf, on the other hand, she needed to find Harry and get out of this place.
“Maybe just for a little while.” Hermione said giving in to the pleading expression in the little girl’s eyes. Elise instantly beamed and grabbed Hermione’s hand, pulling her towards the cosy cottage. A small sign that said ‘Grandma’s house’ was stuck in the rich dirt where little, pink flowers peeped up to add to the homely atmosphere. Hermione thought the place was quite picturesque, but she still couldn’t stop the niggling worry growing inside her. It was just too much of a coincidence that this girl should be wearing a red cape and had seen a wolf.
“I know Grandma will be pleased to meet you.” Elise exclaimed happily as she knocked on the door. When nobody answered she frowned.
“Maybe we should go?” Hermione said hopefully. “Your Grandma is obviously not home.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Elise said confidently. “She’s unwell, so she’s probably too sick to get out of bed.”
Hermione sighed as the girl opened the door and walked in, leaving her no choice but to follow. She glanced about suspiciously, praying inwardly that no wolf was going to appear. She couldn’t remember every detail about the fairy tale, but she was sure that the wolf dressed up as the Grandma…. now if only she could remember just how the wolf was stopped.
“Grandma!” Elise called as she walked through the house, placing her little basket of goodies on the little table. “GRANDMA!”
“I’m in here, dear.” A muffled voice said from behind a closed door. Elise opened the door and walked in, her eyes going wide as she stared at her grandma. Hermione walked in and felt her breath catch. She could already see by the large ears, long nose and hairy face that this was no little, old lady.
“Stay back!” Hermione ordered, pulling Elise behind her. The wolf stood up, the pink nightgown and cap clashing terribly with its matted fur. It growled slightly, showing very pointed teeth. Hermione couldn’t help but think of the stupid lines going through her head that she remembered in the fairy tale. Too bad for this wolf that she already figured out its plan, for she was no naïve, little girl.
“Why’d you have to spoil my fun?” The wolf snapped irritably. Hermione could only stare at the completely, ridiculous situation she was in. There was a wolf pretending to be an old lady, a little girl who was so naïve it was quite scary, and here she was, somehow having to be the hero in this mad situation.
“Do you honestly think anyone would fall for that trick?” Hermione asked scornfully, plucking up her Gryffindor courage. No magic or not, she was not going to let this wolf eat her, or the little girl.
The wolf grinned and walked towards her, failing miserably to look intimidating in the ridiculous outfit. “Well, it seems you are not as foolish to fall for my trick, but no matter. I’ll still eat you anyway!”
Elise squealed as the wolf lunged towards her, but Hermione quickly pushed her out of the way. She ran towards the bed, picking up the battered walked cane lying on the floor and started bashing the wolf with it. The wolf let out a bloodcurdling growl and tried to bite her leg, but she quickly dodged its attack, falling with a hard thump to the ground as she lost her balance.
“ELISE, GET OUT OF HERE!” Hermione bellowed at the fear-stricken girl, as she tried to kick the wolf away from her. Suddenly, someone smashed through the window, axe in hand, and hit the wolf square in the head. Hermione could only watch with wide eyes as blood splattered all over her. The wolf collapsed to the ground dead, and Hermione had barely enough time to sigh in relief before Elise hurtled into her, clutching her for dear life. Hermione placed her arms around the frightened girl and looked up to her hero, only to see familiar messy black hair and striking green eyes.
“Harry!” She exclaimed with relief. Harry put down the bloody axe and collapsed next to her, his breathing coming raggedly as if he was trying to catch his breath.
“So glad you’re okay.” Harry panted as he sat by her side, resting his head against the wall.
“How did you know where we were?” Hermione asked in surprise.
“I heard you shouting. I figured you were in trouble and there was this axe just sitting next to me, so I decided to grab it and just ran.”
“That was good timing.” Elise said shyly. “We could have been eaten otherwise.”
Harry was about to speak when they heard a muffled cry from the cupboard. Hermione frowned and looked at Harry.
“What was that?” Hermione asked warily. Harry stood up, picking up the axe again, and walked over to the cupboard. He took a deep breath and then pulled the handle, letting the door open. All three of them screamed as something fell out of the cupboard.
“GRANDMA!” Elise shouted. Hermione stared at the old woman now lying on the ground; her mouth gagged and ropes binding her whole body. She was glad that little bit had changed in the story; goodness knows she did not particularly feel like cutting open the wolf to get the grandma out.
Harry quickly untied the ropes and pulled out the gag, helping the little, old lady get to her feet.
“Goodness me, that’s the wolf who tried to impersonate me!” The grandma said with a surprised look at the dead wolf on the ground. Hermione nodded and stood next to Harry.
“He was going to eat your granddaughter, but don’t worry, we stopped him.”
“Oh, well, however can I thank you? You not only saved me, but also my dear Elise. Please, why don’t you take a biscuit for all your trouble?”
Harry raised his eyebrow at Hermione but took the biscuit with a polite thank you. Hermione followed suit.
“We really should be going.” Harry said with a pointed expression at Hermione. Hermione nodded and smiled down at Elise.
“You be good now, okay? No talking to strangers that you meet in the woods.”
“I won’t.” Elise said firmly.
“Thank you again, and take care.” The grandma said with a cherry smile. Hermione and Harry both waved, nodding their heads to the old woman and the young girl as they left the house. Once outside, Harry started laughing to himself until he was sniggering uncontrollably.
“What’s so funny?” Hermione asked with a frown. She had found nothing funny at all about being nearly eaten by a wolf, even if it was a gender-confused one.
Harry laughed again, his green eyes lighting up with amusement. “We save her from being eaten by a wolf and she gives us a biscuit.”
“Oh.” Hermione said, catching on. “You’re right, that is quite funny, but then what were you expecting? A golden egg?”
Harry shook his head. “No, I just found it funny that she thought it was a great reward.”
Hermione sighed at Harry and continued to walk back through the beaten path in the Eternal Woods. Somehow they were stuck in a world of fairy tales, but the question was how were they going to get back to their world?
“Harry,” Hermione began as she looked at her friend. “You do realise where we are, right?”
Harry frowned to himself, his green eyes clouding over as he pondered her words. “I think we’ve been somehow transported into some magical world that is not our own, only we don’t have magic.”
Hermione shook her head, “That’s not what I meant. Don’t you remember reading the story of ‘Little Red Riding Hood?’”
Harry ran a hand through his already messy hair and looked at her through his emerald green eyes. “Only vaguely. I never really got to read much in the way of books when I was younger. Uncle Vernon wouldn’t let me have a library card, and at school I was mostly being chased by Dudley and his friends so….” Harry trailed off and frowned at her. “Why?”
“Because that is the story that just happened. Of course a few minor details were changed with us being here, but you get the point. Somehow we are trapped in a world of muggle fairy tales.”
“So…what do we do then?” Harry asked.
Hermione shrugged and rubbed her eyelids. “I’m not sure, but if we stick together I should be able to get us through this until we figure out a way to get back. I just hope we don’t run into some of the more nasty fairy tales.”
Harry silently nodded, and together they walked deeper into the forest, completely unaware of what strange adventures lay ahead in the land of Eternal Enchantment.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, or the fairy tales unfortunately.
Warning: None
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! You guys rock! And I’m sorry that last chapter might have seemed a bit weird. I wrote it at midnight when I was pretty tired, but it seems to not have been full of typos, so that’s something at least. This chapter hasn’t been Beta’d either, so hopefully it won’t be too bad, because I am awful at picking out my own mistakes.
Okay, I warn you now, I actually only vaguely remember these fairy tales myself, and I don’t remember the spelling of the names. If I get stuff wrong, please don’t be too annoyed, but just keep in mind that I am changing certain things for the story as well. Oh and this is only going to be a short fic, so I think there will only be one more chapter after this.
Bread Crumbs
Hermione let out a frustrated moan as she saw the same twisted tree she had seen five times before. She glanced at Harry, noticing his less than amused expression. They both had realised they were completely lost, and with no magic, they had no idea how to find which way to go. Hermione walked past the tree and started stomping off into the woods when she felt a firm hand grasp her shoulder. She turned around to see Harry staring down at her, his green eyes frowning where his mouth would not.
“I think we should stop, Hermione.” Harry said as nicely as possible. Hermione figured he had probably realised how tense she was getting. She was not used to being so useless, so unable to help herself, but without her magic she was just a girl. The knowledge that they were also lost was just adding to her already frustrated mind, and so she was ready to explode.
“Okay.” Hermione said with a nod, taking a deep breath. “You’re probably right. But, Harry,” Hermione exclaimed, her voice getting louder with each word. “How on earth are we going to find where we are supposed to be going? We’ve been walking in circles all day, and we’ve been walking on the stupid path for goodness sakes!”
Harry scratched his head lightly and gazed about the dark forest. Hermione had to admire how calm he was taking this. He looked back at her, a small smile playing on his lips. Hermione suddenly felt very wary. That smile was Harry’s adventurous smile, and the last thing she wanted right now was to go careering off into another adventure where she would probably have someone try eating her again.
“We’ll have to go off the path then, won’t we?”
“But I-”
“Come on.” Harry urged, pulling her irresistibly forward by her wrist. Hermione was going to complain but Harry must have sensed it and quickly put his free hand over her mouth. “Just trust me, Hermione.”
Hermione looked into his emerald green eyes, wondering if he really did have any idea what they were doing. She had to admit that she had no bright ideas, and so really they had no choice but to leave the path; she refused to see that stupid tree again that was for sure. Harry pulled his hand away and waited for her response.
“Alright, I trust you. But let’s just be careful this time.” Hermione said more calmly.
Harry laughed and started pulling her forward again; Hermione didn’t see fit to question why he was still holding onto her wrist. She found it quite comforting actually.
“You’re the one who knows the fairy tales; if you see something that looks like it might resemble a fairy tale, than we’ll just steer clear of it.”
Hermione frowned, yes that was true, but then she remembered just how the wolf was killed. It was the woodchopper, but in this world no woodchopper had come to save them.
“Harry, I think we are the heroes.”
“What?” Harry said in surprise. Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyes again; this world really was irritating her, but it seemed clearer than ever; they were the ones supposed to be saving the poor people from the ridiculous situations.
“I mean that if you had not showed up at Grandma’s house, we would have all been eaten. You were the woodchopper from the story, which means that if we see another fairy tale, we have no choice but to help them because we are the only ones who can.” Hermione scrunched up her face in thought, “Besides, I know that you wouldn’t leave someone in trouble; you do have a saving people thing.”
Harry looked offended at the last of her words but wisely chose not to say anything. “Well, I guess that settles it then. We need to go find us a fairy tale.”
“Yeah, let’s just not get killed in the process.” Hermione muttered under her breath and once again they started trudging off into the dark forest, leaving the beaten path behind.
It was getting darker now, and Hermione was beginning to feel increasingly worried as she nervously checked behind her. Anything could be prowling about these woods, for there were so many stories that involved woods and people lost in those woods. She found herself moving closer to Harry and was just glad that he didn’t look afraid. It was just like when they walked through the Forbidden Forest: Harry would be the one leading the way, a determined expression on her face, while she would be nervously following. This time was different though, because this time she had no way to save herself if things got nasty.
“Hey,” Harry said in surprise, kneeling down to stare at something on the ground. “Are those bread crumbs?” Hermione knelt down beside him and stared at the white bits of bread that were almost glowing because of the moonlight.
“I…I think they are.” Hermione answered, holding a hand to her head. If this was true than they were sure to find a ginger bread house soon. Hermione looked about the trail of bread crumbs, noticing that the birds must have already been eating them because there were patches where the trail was barely recognisable and then it just stopped completely.
“I think we should keep moving.” Hermione said in a resigned voice. “I think we just found our fairy tale.”
Harry nodded and led her off into the woods. It seemed like hours before Hermione saw the smoke rising from the little house that was made of ginger bread. Harry’s eyes went wide but he did not try eating anything, which Hermione was profoundly grateful for; not for the first time she thought how glad she was that it was Harry she was stuck here with and not Ron.
“This entire house is edible.” Harry exclaimed in surprise. Hermione nodded her head, wondering if Hansel and Gretel were already inside, locked up and waiting for when the evil woman would eat them.
“Come on. We should be cautious though; this isn’t a friendly house.”
Harry nodded his head again and, for reasons unknown to Hermione, grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the window. “Let’s have a peek inside.” Harry whispered and looked through the candy glass. Hermione followed suit and gasped in surprise when she saw that the house looked perfectly normal. There was no cage with Hansel stuck inside, no Gretel slaving away for the evil woman…
“Hrm, this is strange.”
“What?” Harry said looking at her.
“Well, it’s just we found the bread crumbs, so I assumed that we would also find the two children, but there’s no one here.”
“What do you think it means?” Harry asked with a frown. Hermione shrugged, but before she could say anything something hard collided with her head and all she could see was darkness.
OOO
Hermione could hear shuffling somewhere close to her head. The faint smell of delicious cooking tantalised her nostrils, and her stomach rumbled in protest at being so close to food but not being able to eat it. She blearily opened her eyes, gasping at the sudden pain that surged through her head. Gingerly she reached up her hand and felt the large throbbing lump on the back of her skull.
“Owch.” Hermione muttered and pulled her fingers away. She sat up, ignoring the blood rushing to her brain and glanced about the room. It appeared to be a kitchen, but her eyes were drawn to the large oven, which could have quite easily fit a grown man in it. It made her feel very disturbed, especially when she knew that they were in the fairy tale which had frightened her the most when she was a child.
Suddenly something sharp poked her hard in the back, and Hermione turned her head to see an ugly looking woman holding a sharp stick, her clouded eyes not really looking at her but Hermione knew she was looking at her.
“Well, well, so you’re finally awake.” The woman said in a gleeful voice. “Get up and help me with this food. I need to fatten up that dear boy of yours.”
Hermione could only gape in horror. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Hansel and Gretel were the ones who were trapped, not Harry and herself. She stared at the woman holding the stick at her face and wished for about the hundredth time that she had her magic. She could have just stunned the woman and be done with it…but then it came to her? This was just some blind, old bat; she didn’t even need her magic. All she had to do was just steal that stick and be done with it. The problem was, she was terribly hungry and weak. This woman may be old and blind, but there was something about her, something magical…
“Get a move on girl and grab that tray of food.” The old woman snapped. Hermione glared at her but stood up and picked up the tray. As the old saying went, live today, fight tomorrow. She knew the old woman wasn’t going to try kill Harry anytime soon, so she’d might as well just listen to the old bat until she could find a way to get that stick.
“Right, he’s just down here.”
Hermione followed the old woman to another room, listening to the old woman mutter something about tasty boys. Hermione shook her head, almost snorting to herself when she realised this fairy tale was very familiar to the whole paedophile, ‘get in my car and I’ll give you candy’ approach.
“Hermione!” Harry exclaimed in relief. Hermione smiled at him, momentarily forgetting the old woman, as she placed down the tray and ran to Harry who was trapped in the cage. He grasped her hands in his own, holding them through the cage, his eyes swimming with relief that she was okay. Hermione stared into his face, feeling a warm feeling growing inside her at the clear worry he had felt about her. Harry really did care about her, and it never failed to make her feel comforted; however, this was her turn to save him.
“Girl, what are you doing? Hurry up and give him the food.”
“Don’t worry, Harry.” Hermione whispered. “I’ll get you out soon.”
Harry nodded, and Hermione walked back to pick up the tray and give it to him. Harry took the tray and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look at him.
“Be careful.”
Hermione nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. Harry released her wrist and Hermione followed the old woman out of the room, giving one last glance at Harry’s concerned face before the door was shut. She turned her eyes to the blind woman and frowned. How on earth was she going to get the upper hand? This woman obviously had magic, but Hermione did have the advantage of being younger and she could see. She would just have to use all her initiative; there had to be a way to do it.
“Get the oven ready; I’m going to bake a cake.” The old woman snapped, brandishing her stick at Hermione’s face. Hermione scowled dreadfully to keep up the act, but her eyes watched the stick intently. In all appearances it would have appeared to be a walking stick, but Hermione was sure it was magical.
She walked over to the large oven and turned on the switch. She knew that in the story the old woman had been pushed in the oven but Hermione doubted she would have luck like that. Unfortunately for her, this was not a fictional story, and therefore things were not going to happen ironically or by coincidence. Hermione would have to do this herself and just hope for the best, for she didn’t have Harry to protect her this time.
She watched the old woman gathering the ingredients for her cake, the walking stick clutched in her wrinkly hand. Perhaps it was time to stop thinking like herself and start thinking like Harry? What would he do if he had to get the stick off the old woman? Hermione frowned to herself; more than likely, Harry would do something unbelievably foolish and brave, and yet still pull it off. She nodded her head in agreement with herself, finally deciding what she was going to do.
Hermione moved around to where the old woman was and suddenly leapt at her, her shoulder bowling the woman over from the impact. Hermione almost cracked her head open, as she too went flying to the ground, but luckily she was able to move fast enough before her head smacked into the table leg. She quickly scrabbled up off the ground and moved towards the stick, which was now lying only a few feet away. She reached out her hand to grab the stick, when a wrinkly hand grabbed her hair. Hermione gasped, screwing up her face as her head was pulled into an uncomfortable position, so that she could stare into the clouded, white eyes of the old woman. She felt something cold against her neck and realised that one of the cooking knives was being held to her throat.
“That was very foolish.” The old woman said in a dangerous voice, her fingers tightening on Hermione’s hair so that Hermione thought her whole scalp might be pulled off. Who would have thought the old woman was so strong?
“Perhaps it is time I taught you a lesson in respecting your elders?”
Hermione ignored the old woman, desperately trying to reach out her hand to grab the stick only mere inches away. It was too far, and Hermione strained her arm, her fingers stretching as far as they could until they closed around the gnarled wood of the stick. She felt the cool metal of the knife scrap against her skin and gasped as blood started to trickle down her neck; she had moved too far and had forced herself to be cut, but thankfully it was not a deep one.
Hermione turned her eyes up to the woman, the stick in her hand. It was clear the woman had not realised because she was blind, so Hermione pulled the stick up closer towards her. “Maybe it is you who needs the lesson.” Hermione spat hatefully and pushed the sharp side of the stick hard up into the old woman’s face. The old woman screamed and dropped the knife, as well as letting go of Hermione’s hair, as she fell back clutching her face, which was now bleeding terribly.
Hermione picked up the stick again and whacked the woman around the head, hearing the loud crack of her skull breaking. She gasped slightly, feeling suddenly very sick as the old woman’s body collapsed to the floor in a pool of blood. Hermione could only stand there watching, her free hand covering her neck where the knife had cut her, breathing deeply as she realised she had killed someone.
“Hermione!” Harry shouted from the room. “What’s wrong?”
Hermione quickly dropped the stick and ran to the old woman’s body, hoping that the key to the cage was there. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the key and ran to the door where Harry was being kept. It was locked so she gave it a mighty kick and let out a shout of joy as the door flew open. She raced into the room, tears springing to her eyes as she got to the cage, seeing Harry’s familiar face watching her with concern.
“Oh, Harry,” Hermione exclaimed tearfully, as she opened the cage door with the key. “I know she was evil, but I killed her!”
The cage door opened, and Harry quickly stepped out, pulling Hermione into a comforting hug. Hermione let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and clutched him to her, just glad that everything was over.
“It’s okay, Hermione,” Harry said softly. “You just did what you had to do. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“But-”
“Don’t worry about it.” Harry said firmly, tilting her face up to his. He gave her a small smile and pushed the hair out of her face. “Let’s just focus on the good. We’re both alive, and you managed to kill the witch. You did what you were supposed to do.”
“Thanks Harry.” Hermione said gratefully and hugged him again. Harry rubbed her back slightly and then pulled himself away.
“So what do we do now? I mean I managed to kill a wolf, now you killed the witch that tries to eat people. What now?”
“I don’t know.” Hermione said truthfully, “But whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll find out.”
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, or the fairy tales unfortunately.
Warning: None
A/N: Well, this is the last chapter, and I should thank rainbow star for giving me the brilliant idea about the ending! You are awesome!!
Happily Ever After
Hermione walked with Harry through the woods, her eyes noticing the little animals running to and fro as they peeped out from the jade leaves. A small stream gurgled by them, the clear water running over the smooth, black rocks as it twisted and turned down to a miniature waterfall, and beautiful flowers blossomed before their very eyes under the warm sun. Really, the woods could be quite pretty when nothing bad was happening.
“Hermione, I found a path.” Harry called out, his emerald-green eyes flashing in the sun. Hermione nodded and walked over, coming to stand next to him. The path looked much more welcoming than the previous path they had been on with the twisted trees. This one had little flowers popping up around it, and trees with bottle-green leaves towering over top.
“Shall we follow it?” Harry asked. Hermione nodded again, and together they headed up the path. Hermione frowned as she saw smoke curling up into the sky in the distance. It seemed that they had found another house.
“Look.” Hermione said, pointing at the smoke. “That has to be coming from a chimney.” Harry nodded, though he seemed a little reluctant to continue walking.
“Are you sure you want to go to the house?”
“Why? You don’t want to?” Hermione asked in surprise. Harry was normally the one who ran off after adventures, but here he was, actually worried about what might be waiting for them. Hermione hadn’t even considered that anything bad would be there. She couldn’t imagine anything surrounded by such beauty could be evil.
“It’s just, every house we’ve gone to we’ve ended up nearly being killed. I don’t want to risk it again.” Harry said quietly. Hermione frowned again, realising he had a point, but then what choice did they have? Perhaps this final fairy tale would let them go back to where they belonged?
“We have to go there, Harry. This could be our chance to get back home.”
Harry nodded somewhat reluctantly and they continued to walk down the path. Hermione spotted the house first, noticing the cherry feeling surrounding the house, with the little vegetable garden and pretty flowers sprouting up under the tiny windows. The house itself seemed rather small, and Hermione frowned as she stared at the door, realising that she and Harry would both have to duck to just get inside.
Hermione walked up to the house and knocked on the door. When nobody answered, she turned the handle and gave Harry a quick smile when it opened.
“Shall we go in then?” Harry asked in a resigned voice. Hermione nodded and ducked her head to enter, Harry following suit behind her. She gazed about the little house, noticing the tiny seven chairs and one long table. The kitchen was a mess with dishes piled up on the sink, and the floors looked like they hadn’t been mopped for weeks.
“I’m going to go have a look around, okay?” Hermione said to Harry. He nodded and walked over to examine the table and chairs, while Hermione headed up the stairs, still keeping her head lowered so she could fit. She opened the door that said ‘bedroom’ and gasped in surprise when she saw seven little beds dotted around the room with seven bedside tables. On each bed was a plaque, stating what she knew to be the name of the person who slept in it. She read:
Dopey
Grumpy
Doc
Happy
Bashful
Sneezy
Sleepy
“So this must be Snow White and the seven dwarves.” Hermione mused out loud. She jumped as something crashed down the stairs and quickly made her way out of the room to where Harry had been. She gasped when she saw him lying on the ground, his eyes shut tight and a half eaten apple resting by his hand.
“Oh no!” Hermione exclaimed and quickly collapsed down next to him. She didn’t understand why Harry had been given the poisoned apple, but what she did know was that he was in a very dangerous situation now. She felt the pulse in his neck and practically burst into tears when she felt nothing. He was dead.
“What’s going on here?” A fierce, little dwarf demanded in a red coat. She stared at the long, black beard and realised, this was Grumpy.
“My friend, I think he has been poisoned, and he might be dead.” Hermione said almost hysterically.
“Well that’s no good. Would you like me to have a look at him?” A slightly more refined dwarf with glasses asked.
“Um, I don’t think that will help.” Hermione said bluntly.
“Perhaps he’s just having a sleep?” Another dwarf asked promptly falling asleep himself. Hermione blinked, feeling her frustration rising.
“It could- sneeze- be- sneeze- that- sneeze- he’s just eaten too- sneeze- much.”
“Poison how terrible!” Another dwarf exclaimed, but the broad smile on his face somewhat ruined his words.
Hermione stood up and practically fell over as a bald dwarf banged into her, a dim expression on his face. Another dwarf was watching her with a very red face from blushing. She felt rather irritated with all these little dwarves. Harry had been poisoned and all they could do was annoy her by making silly reasons for why he would be dead.
“Look!” Hermione exclaimed in annoyance. “Just give me some room so I can think what to do.” The dwarves all backed away, but their eyes still watched her. Shaking her head slightly, Hermione knelt back down by Harry and frowned. What had happened in the story? The apple had poisoned Snow White and then she had died, but something had brought her back to life. It was a prince, but what did he do?
“He kissed her.” Hermione whispered, her eyes instantly flicking to Harry’s peaceful face. She stared at his lips, realising she was the only one who could do it, but could she kiss her friend?
“What are you looking so bashful about? That’s Bashful’s job to do that.” The dwarf named Grumpy said crossly. Hermione scowled at him, wishing that all the stupid dwarves would go away so she could kiss Harry in privacy. She didn’t want to do it with all of them watching.
Hermione looked back at Harry’s lips, feeling all of the eyes watching her. She could feel herself trembling and slowly leant down pressing her lips lightly on his. It felt strange to be kissing someone who was dead, but it was the only way she could have brought him back. She opened her eyes slightly and practically screamed when she saw Harry’s emerald-green eyes watching her with a stricken expression. Hermione quickly pulled her lips away, her face blushing fiercely.
“I-I’m sorry.” Hermione said in a mortified voice. What would he think of her now? And would he accept her explanation that she only did it because she had to save him? Harry only stared at her, his eyes, Hermione realised with a jolt, watching her lips. He reached out his hand, pulling her face gently towards him to kiss her softly on the lips. Hermione’s eyes widened but soon closed as she soon found herself kissing him back. It was strange, but it was also the most beautiful thing she had ever experienced. There was nothing sordid about the kiss; it was simple, comforting, and sweet, much like their relationship.
Harry pulled himself away first, and Hermione opened her eyes to see him staring around the room, a faint blush on his cheeks. She noticed he was staring at the seven dwarves and realised with embarrassment that those sneaky, little men had all been watching.
“Who are all these people?” Harry asked dimly. Hermione shook her head slightly and helped him to his feet.
“These are the seven dwarves. They live in this house. Obviously the Queen must have come along and poisoned you, because she was the one in the fairy tale who gave Snow White the apple.”
Harry laughed slightly. “Oh, is that why the weird woman was telling me I had skin as white as snow and hair as black as night.”
“Yes.” Hermione said with a slight roll of her eyes. “But you let yourself get poisoned when you ate her apple.”
Harry shrugged apologetically. “I don’t mind too much; it was worth it.”
Hermione blushed as she realised what he meant and gave a shy smile. “Yes, well, I had to save you somehow.”
Harry grinned and took her hand, his green eyes lighting up with that comforting warmth Hermione loved. “Well I’m glad you did.”
Just then a sudden light burst around them. Hermione and Harry stared at each other, identical expressions of shock, as once more they found themselves being sucked into the light, vanishing with a loud crack from the dwarves’ house.
OOO
“Are they awake yet?” Someone with a familiar voice whispered.
“I dunno, but did you see them kiss before? Who would have thought Harry and Hermione liked each other in that way.”
Hermione frowned at the voices buzzing in her head and blinked once, twice, and then a third time as she saw the familiar ceiling of the Hogwarts library over her head. She sat up and noticed the odd assortment of people watching her, each wearing an identical grin. Hermione’s heart stopped slightly as she noticed that Ginny was holding the “Happily Ever After Quests” in her hand, a sly grin on her pretty face.
“You know, Hermione,” Ginny said with a little laugh. “For all your scoffing at damsel’s in distress and knights in shining armour, you certainly seemed to be enjoying yourself.”
“What are you talking about?” Hermione asked confused. She glanced at Harry who had been lying next to her, as he sat up and stared at her, an equally confused expression on his face.
“We’re back at Hogwarts…. and why are all these people staring at us?” Harry asked in a bewildered voice.
“Because we just read your adventures in this book.” Ginny said with a grin.
“And got to see the priceless moment of a good snog.” Seamus Finnigan said with a nudge in Harry’s ribs.
“You were watching!” Hermione exclaimed, her face going red. She didn’t know how she was going to face everyone now, knowing that they had all seen her kiss Harry, and seen the second kiss that had made her feel weak at the knees.
“Nothing to be ashamed of,” Seamus said with a smirk. “I thought it was quite romantic. I wish I had a knight in shining armour like you, Hermione.”
Ginny giggled, “I wouldn’t say no to a Harry in distress either.”
Hermione and Harry stared at each other and both nodded. There was no way Hermione was going to put up with this ridicule any longer, and it seemed Harry wanted to get out too. She stood up, as did Harry, and together they walked past the laughing crowd of people and headed out of the library, each with identical blushing faces.
Harry stopped and looked at her, a shy smile coming to his face. “Well, apart from that rather embarrassing ending, I would say I am glad we got stuck in that book, aren’t you?”
Hermione smiled. Yes she was glad she got stuck in that book, if only to know how she truly felt about Harry and how he felt about her. She could have passed with the nearly being eaten twice, but the kiss at the end was truly magical. She guessed it must be the same for all of those fairy tales. Though bad stuff happens, you could always look forward to the kiss at the end.
“Yeah, I’m glad we did.” Hermione said softly and leaned up to give him a quick kiss.
And they lived happily ever after…
The End.