Author notes: Keep in mind this story is completely A/U. I'm basing on the
1995 (Colin Firth) adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (I got it for Christmas and have been watching it
nonstop). I don't care if no one bothers to read this, it's halfway done, a million pages long, and I'm
finishing it. So there. Hmm *sticks tongue out at hypothetical reader*.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter and never will. And with the way the series ended, I
wouldn't want to.
Intro Summary: Luna, Hermione, and Lavender are sisters, living with their Aunt Aurora Granger in Meriton, England. It's Christmastime, in the year of our Lord 1850.
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Hermione stood by the window of her Aunt Aurora's large townhouse in the heart of frozen Meriton. Snow flurries dotted the sky, and the scattered bunch seemed to hang in the air before floating to the ground. Hermione touched the glass, savoring the chill. A crack in the pane offered Hermione a little relief from the stifling heat of the drawing room, which was currently filled with what appeared to be the entire town. Her aunt was hosting her annual Christmas party. Everyone in the village had attended, and they were in a mood for merrymaking. The large drawing room was decorated from floor to ceiling with reams of gold silk and gilded bells. The music from the piano was drowned out by bursts of laughter and a chorus of clinking glasses.
Hermione brushed away a few stray curls and scanned the sea of familiar faces for her sisters. She caught sight of her older sister Luna, who was smiling her dreamy smile to no one in particular.
Hermione took a moment to admire Luna's long blonde hair, which Hermione herself had charmed into a complicated pattern of woven plaits. Luna's violet eyes and Scandinavian fairness was heightened by the flowing light blue dress she was wearing. Although Luna's dress was more elaborate than Hermione's own lilac gown, Hermione's fit exceptionally well, emphasizing her slight waist and her flawlessly fair skin.
Hermione made her way through the crowd toward Luna, giving her sister a hug to let her know she was there. Luna had been busy gazing around the room, following the golden satin streamers that Hermione had spelled to playfully dart around the beams of the vaulted ceilings.
Luna smiled fondly at Hermione. "The streamers are lovely," Luna said softly. "I love the way the gold glitters."
Hermione gave a knowing grin. "So does Aunt Aurora."
Luna giggled at Hermione's immense understatement as they both looked round the room at the preeminent amount of gold that adorned their aunt's house. The tree was covered with champagne colored crystals that made tingling noises whenever someone passed by. Their aunt had charmed the walls and furniture a burnt honey color and had insisted that Hermione make handfuls of glittery gold sparkles pop and crackle in the giant flames of the fireplace. Aunt Aurora herself was dressed in layers of gold and canary-colored ruffles, lest anyone forget the color theme of this year's Christmas.
Gold or no, Hermione couldn't help but think that her aunt looked like an enormous ear of corn.
As Hermione and Luna chatted about the party, an unmistakable laugh rang out over the mass of people.
Hermione gave Luna a look that said "let's go check on Lavender" and without a word they linked arms and stepped into the crowd. All Hermione had to do was follow the boisterous laughter to find her little sister. The youngest Granger sister was never one to disappear into a crowd, although tonight with her butterscotch colored dress and caramel wrap, she threatened to blend into the golden decor. A flash of brown ringlets and a few giggles and Hermione and Luna found Lavender standing by the Christmas tree, surrounded by half-a-dozen soldiers decked out in their finest red uniform cloaks. Lav obviously loved the male attention and had a mind to make the most of it.
"Captain Finnigan, your face is turning as red as your cloak!" She giggled and swung at him with the tassels on her wrap.
"It's this wine Lav," Seamus answered slyly, "Your aunt always serves the best wine in the county."
Lav's face fell. "The wine? Oh, it's fine I suppose." She sniffed. "Aunt Aurora won't let me have more than one glass. She says it makes me too giggly." Lav paused and pouted an irresistible pout. "Do you think I'm giggly?"
Although she'd asked the question to Seamus, she turned to the half-circle around her, hoping that the rest of them would come to her defense.
"Oh no Ma'am."… "No mum"… "Of course not Lav"… "absolutely not"…
One by one they offered their answers.
"It's just your good, healthy nature." Seamus smiled and leaned closer to her. "If you'd like, I could ask your aunt to make an exception tonight. It's a crime not to enjoy this year's vintage."
Hermione rolled her eyes and decided to intervene. "Thank you Captain Finnigan," she said wryly. "But I'm sure Lavender's capable of enjoying herself without help from this year's vintage." Hermione took Lavender's arm and led her away from a grinning Seamus, who offered Luna a devilish smile before she blushed and hastily trailed after them.
When Hermione thought they were out of earshot she turned to Lav with an intimidating glare. Lavender just giggled and batted her mischievous green eyes, a gesture which only enhanced the kittenish qualities of her face. Hermione was suddenly reminded that her "little sis" was also very physically mature for her sixteen years and shouldn't be flirting with men with reputations like Seamus Finnigan. (All told, Lav had a talent to make men forget themselves, although Hermione had long suspected that Lav herself didn't exactly discourage them).
But Hermione was bent on protecting her little sister, no matter how much bullocks Hermione had to spin to do so.
"Gosh that was funny Hermione." Lav laughed and twirled on her heel. "Telling Seamus that I can (Lav
adopted a prim and proper Hermione voice) 'amuse myself without his vintage.' Do you think
he'll be jealous!?" Lav giggled again. "I hope so. He's such a silly flirt!"
He's the silly flirt? Hermione thought, but she bit back the comment. She'd long since stopped trying to drill sense into her younger sister's unbelievably thick skull; however, she wasn't about to let Lav gaily trot back into the party just yet.
Hermione smiled slightly. "Lav, try to remember that the militia is leaving for Brighton in three weeks."
Lav's glowing face dimmed at the thought. Her eyes fell to the ground and she sniffed at the thought of all her lovely red cloaks leaving her to be all alone and un-admired in boring old Meriton.
"And," Hermione continued, "if you're too nice to them, they might miss you so terribly and become so sad that they fail all their important…um…soldier exams."
Lav looked stricken at the thought.
"Oh Hermione," Lav cried, "I hadn't thought of that. Of course they'll miss me. And here I am, looking my best without thinking of how they're going to get through the next three months without me." Lav straightened her dress and donned a melodramatically grave expression (It was Lav's way of behaving like a grown up). "I'll be much more mindful of my behavior from now on," Lav promised solemnly. "I won't be charming in the least."
Luna covered her mouth with her hands, concealing a laugh while Hermione entertained a faint hope that her little
sister actually meant what she said.
However, all sense of propriety vanished as Lav caught sight of her friend Parvati, the wife of Colonel Denny, and raced to her, giggling the whole way.
Luna linked arms with Hermione. "Nice try," Luna whispered, gazing after her youngest sister, "I thought it would calm her down for a little while."
Hermione looked at her with a knowing grin. "I don't expect anything to calm her down anymore. I'm at the point where I'm considering chloroform, a wheelbarrow, and a locked box in the wine cellar."
Luna giggled. "I think Aunt Aurora would worry too much to let her be missed for a whole party."
"Oh I wouldn't keep her down there for the whole party. Just long enough to keep her from making a horse's arse of herself."
Luna looked at her wryly. "Soooo. The whole party then."
The girls laughed and headed toward the foyer. Three new guests had arrived, and Luna and Hermione would be expected to greet them.
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Hermione and Luna walked arm in arm toward the front hallway. Their aunt Aurora was making a right fuss over the new arrivals, and Hermione noticed that the yellowy folds of her dress were fluttering uncontrollably.
Popped corn, Hermione involuntarily thought as she hid her smile.
The newcomers were a party of three: a handsome man with red hair and freckles, a lovely young witch with the same red hair and an elaborate olive green dress, and a tall man with round glasses and dark hair.
Hermione couldn't help but admire the dark-haired man's haunting, emerald green eyes. She stared at him for a second and quickly lowered her gaze when he noticed.
Greeting and flattering the new guests, Aunt Aurora wasn't holding much back. She was practically foaming at the mouth with compliments.
"Mr. Weasley and Ms. Weasley," she gushed, "I can't tell you how much I'm delighted to have you as my guest. We've been looking forward to meeting you ever since we heard you'd taken The Burrow."
Aunt Aurora went on to rave about how the neighborhood needed residents like them and how the neighbors were lucky to have such people in their midst….
Hermione and Luna were used to their aunt's aggressive politeness, and the two redheads seemed to bear it well. Hermione noticed her aunt's behavior annoyed only the dark- haired man, who looked at Aunt Aurora as though she'd crawled out from under a rock to curse them.
Hermione snuck another peek at his lovely eyes before stepping forward to meet Mr. Ronald Weasley and his sister and Ms. Weasley.
"I'm Ronald Weasley" he said eagerly, bowing to Hermione before turning and beaming at a shy Luna. "And this is my sister, Ginny Weasely."
The beautiful redhead stepped forward and curtsied. She gave a fake smile and nodded to Hermione. "Pleased to meet you," she said without feeling. Recognizing insincerity when she saw it, Hermione smiled politely but did little more.
The dark-haired man did not offer an introduction. Aunt Aurora grew more flustered as the seconds ticked by and he remained silent. Luckily Ron Weasley pulled his gaze away from Luna long enough to introduce his friend. "Oh...and this is Harry Potter. He's just arrived from Godric's Hollow and is staying with us at The Burrow."
Hermione and Luna bowed while a newly excited Aunt Aurora offered an elaborate curtsy. "Mr. Potter of Godric's Hollow!" She exclaimed shrilly. "Of course! I'd heard you were in the area....oh it is quite an honor. Quite an honor indeed!"
Hermione wasn't sure how his staying at a friend's house constituted an honor, and apparently neither did Harry Potter. He simply grunted something about how he wasn't planning on staying long. He then stole a glance at Hermione and fell back into silence.
His eyes...they're amazing...beautiful… were Hermione's scattered thoughts as she briefly locked eyes with him. Her fascination with his eyes was cut painfully short when she noticed the unfriendly expression on the face surrounding them.
A pity that he appears so unfriendly, she thought, slightly disappointed. She never noticed men, and the jarring effect that those emerald eyes had on her was entirely unexpected. She couldn't help but feel a poignant regret that the owner of them should appear so brooding and disagreeable.
"Well, at least his friend seems sociable," Hermione grumbled to herself as she studied Ronald. She smiled as she overheard his conversation with Luna.
"You house is very...um...gold," Ronald offered with a self-conscious grin.
"Yes," Luna answered quietly, "Every Christmas my aunt chooses a color for the decorations. Last year it was purple." She shook her head. "All I wanted to do was eat eggplants."
Ronald smiled. "I hate eggplants."
Luna smiled a dreamy smile back. "I do too. It made for a very confusing holiday."
He laughed at that and paused before quietly asking her for a dance. Luna accepted happily and the two made their way
to the dance floor where several other couples had started forming a line.
Harry Potter offered his hand to Ginny, who gave a self-satisfied grin when she took it. Unnoticed, he snuck a final look at Hermione as they passed. "Pretty girl," he thought as he led Ginny away.
Hermione was left with her aunt, who was still babbling about the "honor" of having such an elite group at
their house party.
"I don't understand how it's an 'honor' Aunt," Hermione answered grimly.
Aunt Aurora gave an exaggerated sigh. "My dear, the Potters of Godric's Hollow are the richest family in these
parts. They have over 20,000 Galleons a year." Aunt Aurora shot him a look that screamed "oh if only one
of my nieces would marry him..."
And Hermione knew that's exactly where this conversation was leading (the same place nearly every conversation with Aunt Aurora led to, marriage). Before her aunt could continue, Hermione excused herself and made her way her way to the back of the party. She took a chair near one of the wide windows and watched the next few dances, enjoying the music and the sight of her sister dancing happily with Ronald Weasley. Hermione looked on for four more dances and couldn't help but notice that Ronald had asked Luna to dance a total of three times.
Before the next dance had begun, she realized she was thirsty and rose to get a drink when she caught sight of a shock
of white-blond hair coming toward her.
"Tonks!" Hermione said happily as she hugged her cousin.
"Hermione!" Nymphadora Tonks grinned and batted at one of Hermione's corkscrew
curls. Tonks frowned when the curl bounced perfectly back into place. "Wish my hair did that," she pouted. "My curling charms never turn out."
Hermione studied her cousin's new blonde color. It was pulled back into a giant bun at the back of her head and shimmered with a golden glitter charm. "Your hair looks fine Tonks. The blonde is ....different."
"Well, different is good," Tonks said proudly.
"Yes, different is good. Except now you look like Luna's twin," Hermione teased. She immediately
braced herself for Tonk's wrath.
"I. Do. Not," Tonks spat. She looked around as she lowered her voice. "Not to knock old Luna, but dear goddess that girl and I have nothing in common. Not even our hair. Not even our hair color. And I know that for a fact, so even if it looks the same, its not. So. There. Hmm." Tonks stuck her tongue out.
"That makes no sense whatsoever Tonks," Hermione shook her head.
"It makes sense," Tonks assured her. "You just have to see the two of us side by side. Then you'll
definitely see how our hair color isn't at all alike. Go get her, I'll show you." Tonks began to grow
excited. "Then you'll get to say how utterly wrong you are and have to offer up public apologizes which I may
or may not accept." Tonks seemed delighted at the prospect of proving her clever cousin wrong.
"All right. All right," Hermione laughed. "We'll compare you both as soon as she's finished
dancing with Ronald Weasley."
"Who's Ronald Weasley?" Tonks was momentarily distracted from her hair-color rant.
"He's the one who's leased The Burrow," Hermione answered.
"Ohhhh." Tonks leaned toward the dance floor. "Is he cute? Which one is he?" She practically drooled at the prospect of having new handsome face to fawn over.
Hermione shook her head fondly. "He's the redhead next to Luna."
Tonks looked at the dance floor, where a smiling Luna and a blushing Ron were stepping in time with the music.
Tonk let out a satisfied mummer, "Ok. He'll do. Go introduced me."
Hermione laughed. "We have to wait for the song to finish."
Tonks stuck out her bottom lip. "I'm no good at waiting. Why don't you just distract Luna and I'll just cut in. We're both blondes. He won't know the difference."
"And then what?" Hermione was beginning to wonder if Tonks was serious. She could never quite tell when she was joking.
"Elopement. Fornication. Babies." Tonks shrugged. "The usual."
Hermione let out a laugh and Tonks giggled too. They were too busy enjoying themselves to notice Harry studying Hermione intently from across the room.
"You're horrible Tonks."
Tonks took the comment as a compliment. "I try."
"I needed to laugh after what I've just been through," Hermione sighed.
"What happened?" Tonks looked concerned. "Did Lavender insist on singing again? Because that's
flipping hilarious. She sounds like Crookshanks hacking up a dead mouse."
Hermione winced at the memory of Lavender's last recital. "No. It wasn't as emotionally scarring as
that." Hermione lowered her voice. "I've had the not-so-great pleasure of meeting Harry Potter."
Tonk's eyes widened. "Harry Potter? The Harry Potter? Wow. You met him? Where is he? Is he dancing? Can I cut in? Does he like blondes?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "No he's not dancing. He hasn't danced yet. Not one time since he's been
here."
Tonks, who loved all things dancing, was confused. "He hasn't danced? Then why did he come. This is a party, where people, you know, dance."
"I don't know why he came, but it's certainly not for the company. He hasn't spoken to above five people since he's been here. He's just standing in the corner by himself." Hermione nodded toward across the room. "Even his friend, Ginny Weasley left him," Hermione huffed. "I think he's awful."
"I think he's adorable." Tonks licked her lips as she studied the dark figure and his unruly hair. "Nice hair."
"Humm? Oh, well. Yes, I suppose he is handsome. Oh…well, yes he's very handsome. And he has lovely eyes," Hermione reluctantly added.
Tonks' jaw dropped. "Hermione Granger!" She cried as she folded Hermione in a crushing hug.
"Owffff," Hermione grunted.
Tonks pulled back. "I'm so proud of you. Noticing a man's eyes. There's hope for you yet!"
"I didn't notice anyone's eyes," Hermione protested. "They were in front of me, I had to notice them. I mean, I didn't notice them… I just happened to see them, because we met and I had to look somewhere."
"OOOOh. And you were trying not to look someplace else?" Tonks smiled mischievously. "Naughty girl."
"Yes...I ...I mean no...Nothing like that." Hermione stomped her foot in frustration.
Only Tonks could do this to her. Get her all riled up over nothing.
Tonks hopped up and down and giggled. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to tell simply EVERYONE you're in love with him! Then you'll be the one eloping and having babies. And that young lady will teach you to compare my hair color to Luna's. hah aha haa ha." Tonk's laugh rang out over the crowd.
Hermione pursed her lips and fought down the urge to throttle her cousin. My dearest dearest most delightful joking cousin, Hermione repeated silently to herself.
Much to Hermione's relief, Tonks went skipping after a floating drink tray, disappearing into the mass of partygoers, the loose tendrils of her hair trailing behind her.
The song ended and Hermione watched as Ronald led a breathless Luna off the dance floor. He handed her a glass of punch from a floating serving tray and took one for himself. The shared a laugh before they were interrupted by Ginny Weasley, who seemed intent on forming an acquaintance with her brother's new friend.
Hermione smiled. It was clear that that Ron Weasley admired Luna. For her part, Luna appeared as calm and otherworldly as ever, but Hermione knew that she was just as smitten as he was.
Hoping to get away from the heat and the noisy throng, Hermione helped herself to a glass of punch and made her way to the back staircase. She climbed the winding stairs that led to an alcove overlooking the drawing room.
With a wave of her hand, several suspended candles along the wall lit, lighting her way through the dark stone passage. She stood on the alcove's small balcony and from there she looked out among the crowd.
The balcony was her favorite spot. When she was younger and less comfortable in society, she'd hide up there for hours, watching the partygoers come and go, catching snippets of their conversations, and smiling at the bits of gossip that floated her way. She never understood any of the goings on, but there was a comfort in observing the actions of others, of being set apart and impartial. It was certainly safer than actually being in the midst of things.
As she leaned over the rail, she heard a familiar voice below her.
"That Luna Granger…well, she's just beautiful. I've never met anyone like her."
He has good taste. Hermione smiled with sisterly pride. The voice belonged to Ronald Weasley. Apparently Luna had made an impression on him.
Somebody scoffed. "Ron, besides your sister, she's the only pretty girl here. And you've had the good luck of dancing with her all night."
Hermione leaned farther over the railing until she saw who'd answered him. "Harry Potter," she said, rolling her eyes. She wasn't surprised. Only he'd make such a ridiculously snide comment at a crowded Christmas party.
Ronald protested, "Oh really Harry, there's lots of attractive witches here. Hermione Granger is gorgeous…"
Harry didn't let him finish. "Hermione Granger is fine. She's…all right. But I wouldn't call her "gorgeous" by any means. She's nothing compared to her sister at any rate. Not even close…" Harry trailed off. Hermione had assumed that they moved from their spot below her.
Hermione took a step back, her cheeks flaming red. She absently raised her hands to them, hoping to cool them off.
"Horrible man," she said to herself, cursing the fact that she was blushing. Though she wanted to flip her hair and straighten her dress and return to the party just to prove to herself that she wasn't bothered, she lingered a little while in her hidden spot.
She swallowed her indignation as she cheerfully waved to Tonks (who knew about her fondness for her hidden perch). She then grimly observed Lavender flirting with a group of red cloaks and saw the large form of her aunt fretting over a few well-dressed guests. And all the while, Hermione forced herself not to think about what He had said or about how He sounded or how she would act when she met Him again.
Finishing her drink in one gulp, she felt more than up to the task of ignoring Harry Potter. She turned toward the stairs and yelped in surprise. There was a man standing at the top of the staircase staring at her.
"Hello Hermione," he said evenly as he took a few steps toward her.
He emerged from the shadows, and as the light flickered across his face, she recognized him as none other than horrible Harry Potter himself.