Hi everyone! This was my submission for the 2014 DramioneLove Love Fest. It is complete, and five chapters long. As per the prompt I chose, this is an A/U story, canon only through to OoTP. Lucius and Bellatrix are in Azkaban as Harry managed to kill Voldemort, who was simply a sadistic, racist dictator, at the DoM in a fit of rage after the death of Sirius. The characters featured, particularly Draco, are kind of OOC due to the changes. I've tried to keep them relatively true to form, but please keep it in mind. Also note, the concept for the mirror in the story was rather shamelessly lifted from the Disney version of 'Beauty and the Beast', and on the off chance someone notices or is curious, the title was adapted from a play written by French playwright, Moliere, called 'The Impostures of Scapin', and there is another nod to the play in the third chapter.

Super mega thank you to kanames_harisen for beta'ing this one, and to RZZMG, who modded the fest and did final beta checks of all the stories that were submitted, this one included.

WARNINGS: Very brief mentions of alcoholism, 'potions dependency' and possible suicidal tendencies for an off-screen character. Lots of profanity. Implied child abuse. One moment of non-explicit nudity. Little bits of innuendo interspersed throughout.

DISCLAIMER: "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This work of fiction was created entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.

The Great Hall; morning
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Monday, December 1, 1997

Dear Miss Granger,

It is with great pleasure that we inform you that you are the winner of the First Annual Ministry 'Charm Me' competition.

As you are aware, the competition, open to all school-aged children in Wizarding Britain and numerous outlying European nations, required entrants to create and construct a charm that, in their eyes, our world needs. Your charm demonstrated a remarkable level of ingenuity and intelligence beyond your years, and was chosen in a unanimous decision by our esteemed panel of judges over nearly 5,000 other entrants!

You will also be pleased to know that your charm has been implemented for a trial run in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (D.M.L.E.), and is expected to do extremely well.

Please accept our sincerest congratulations. You will find your prize attached.

Yours sincerely,

Persephone P. Smythe,
Dept. of Magical Competitions
Ministry of Magic

"Congratulations, Hermione," Harry said sincerely as he handed her letter back. "Though I don't think there was ever any doubt that you'd win a charms competition."

"Pretty neat about them using your charm in the Auror department, too," Ron chipped in brightly.

"Thank you, boys," Hermione replied warmly as she folded the letter and tucked it safely back into the voluminous pockets of her robes.

"When did you even find the time to enter?" Harry asked as he scooped up a spoonful of porridge. "I remember you mentioning the competition over the holidays, but you wouldn't have been able to work magic then."

"I've actually had the theory for the charm down since the summer before fifth year," Hermione explained, wincing at Harry's small flinch and deflated expression. "It seemed like something we might have needed at the time, with everything that was happening. Thankfully," she added, with a pointed look at Harry, "that happened not to be the case."

"What was your charm even for?" Ron asked, oblivious to Harry's discomfort and the withering glare that was sent his way.

"It was a means of using wands as homing beacons," Hermione elaborated as she spread a liberal amount of strawberry jam on her toast. "I can link my wand to Harry's, for example, and in the event that I went missing, he could use his wand to find mine, hopefully finding me in the process."

"Neat," Ron said simply before turning his attention back to his eggs. "A little odd that the Aurors didn't already have something like that, though," he muttered.

"What's the prize, anyway?" Harry cut in, looking around interestedly for a clue.

Hermione smiled and lifted a shoebox-sized parcel from the bench next to her. Harry and Ron leaned forward, expectant, watching as she slid her finger under the folds of the box, unfurling it to reveal a nest of delicate, snow-white tissue paper. Carefully, Hermione parted the soft tissue, grinning widely when it revealed a silver hand mirror wrapped in a piece of soft, lilac-coloured cloth.

"All that work for a bloody mirror?" Ron snorted incredulously as he fell back to his seat. "What sort of prize is that?"

"Oh, honestly, Ronald, do remember where we are," Hermione huffed. "You don't really believe the Ministry would give out ordinary hand mirrors as prizes, do you?"

She lifted the mirror out of its bed and laid it in the palm of her hand. The silver of the body was polished to its own mirror finish, and the glass within it rolled like storm clouds. She traced the ornate carvings on the handle and around the face; the engraved details were that of a peacock feather.

"There's some parchment on the back, stuck to the handle," Harry said suddenly, extending an arm across the table to pluck the offending article off and read it. "It's a little rhyme."

Her brow furrowed as she took the proffered piece of paper and read the short rhyme written upon it in elegant, glittering cursive:

I show you things you cannot find,
and those you cannot see.
The magic of this mirror gives
their image unto thee.

Tap your wand to the mirror and speak the name of the person you wish to see.
To end, tap your wand to the glass again and say 'Finite'.

Setting aside the scrap of parchment, Hermione tentatively pressed the tip of her wand to the glass of the mirror and whispered, "Show me Dr. Eleanor Granger."

The clouds in the mirror swirled violently before parting to reveal the silent image of a harried looking woman with wild, curly hair, scribbling on some paperwork at a large mahogany desk.

"Is that your mum?" Harry asked.

"That's her," Hermione affirmed with a smile.

"You two look a lot alike."

Hermione simply smiled as she watched her mother work. After a few moments, Dr. Granger set her pen down and yawned, stretched her arms high above her head, slung a white coat over her shoulders and left the frame of the mirror, though the view of the office remained. Hermione tapped her wand to the mirror again and whispered Finite, watching as the clouds rolled back into view.

"Anyone you'd like to check up on, Harry? Ron?" she offered.

Harry chuckled, but shook his head. "I think everyone I care about is where I can see them. Give it a few years and I might want to check up on Dudley, though. I swear he puts on an extra two stone every time I see him."

"Can you show us Charlie?" Ron asked, hopeful. "I haven't seen him in ages."

Hermione nodded and lifted the mirror and her wand up again. "Show me Charles Weasley," she asked of it, scooting over in her seat so Ron could sit beside her.

The clouds rolled away again to show the rugged, muscular figure of Dragon Keeper, Charlie Weasley. His skin was streaked with sweat and dirt as he muttered incantations and waved his wand over the gate of a large enclosure. There was a flash of flames in the foreground, and the gate he was working on rattled violently as a large, shimmering green tail slammed into it. Charlie remained unfazed, going about his job as though nothing untoward was happening.

"Wicked," Ron breathed with a grin as he returned to his original seat.

"I do admire your brother," Hermione commented before she tapped her wand to the glass and whispered another Finite. "He appears to be brilliant at what he does, and in such a dangerous and exciting field, too."

"He is pretty cool," Harry agreed, grinning. "Still have a hard time believing dragons are real sometimes."

"Even after the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Hermione teased.

"You grew up thinking they were fairy tale make-believe just the same as I did!"

She laughed. "True. I remember being terrified of Maleficent in 'Sleeping Beauty' when she transformed into the dragon. I had nightmares for weeks after."

A scream and a shrill chastisement of, "What the bloody hell was that for, you utter arse?" sounded from the Slytherin tables, and everyone in the hall rounded to see Theodore Nott clutching his face, moaning loudly as he quickly approached the grand doors with a frantic Daphne Greengrass trotting along worriedly at his side.

"Wonder what happened there," Ron mumbled before diving straight back into his meal.

"Back to the subject of nightmare dragons, you've got an admirer, Hermione," Harry told her in a low whisper, his eyes looking over her shoulder to the Slytherin table again. "Malfoy hasn't stopped staring at you since your package arrived."

"Really?" Hermione turned discreetly in her seat in time to see Malfoy quickly look away and start stabbing violently at his plate. "I wonder why."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me to pretend to understand the inner workings of Malfoy's mind."

Hermione laughed and replaced the mirror in its box. "I think even a few minutes in his head would be enough to drive even the best of us to insanity."

"Probably," Harry agreed with a laugh. "Aren't you going to eat? You never touched your toast."

"I think I'll go put my mirror away first so I don't get food over it. Keep my seat for me?"

Harry nodded and drew Ron into conversation again as Hermione picked up her box and stood. She quickly smoothed down the front of her robes with her free hand and departed the hall. She barely made it five steps out the door before she was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Name it," said an impatient voice from behind her.

She whirled around, coming face-to-face with a sour-looking Draco Malfoy.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Your price, Granger," he specified, jutting his chin towards the box in her hands. "Name it."

She held the box tight to her chest. "What for?"

He rolled his eyes. "What do you bloody well think I mean? The mirror, Granger! What will it take?"

"What on earth do you mean, what will it take? I'm not giving it to you!"

"I'm not suggesting that you would," Draco replied smoothly. "I'm merely offering you the opportunity to name what you would take in exchange."

"There is no price, Malfoy," she ground out, impatient. "I won it fairly."

His eyes narrowed. "You won it because the Ministry can't take their heads out of the arses long enough to realise there are bigger and more relevant problems in this world than those of two years ago."

Hermione paused and eyed him suspiciously. "What exactly are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that I should have won that stupid charms competition, Granger! Your charm was created for a world that doesn't even exist anymore!" Draco snapped. "You won because the Ministry is still caught up in the hysteria of a war that never happened. The priorities of this Ministry are beyond fucked, Granger, and we both know it."

"My charm was created with the safety of the Wizarding world in mind, Malfoy," she spat. "Regardless of whether or not we are war-torn, it does not detract from the fact that the world we live in is still incredibly dangerous. Now, I'm not sure what your entry entailed, likely some sort of non-verbal hair bleaching charm, but the fact of the matter is that I won, and you didn't."

His eyes narrowed again, and he took one long stride towards her until their bodies were scant inches apart. He placed one hand on the box and leaned forward. "I will have this mirror, Granger," he whispered against her ear. "One way or another, it's only a matter of time."

Hermione took two steps back and shot him a challenging look. "I would very much like to see you try, Malfoy."

A slow, dangerous smirk crept over his lips and a flash of something indiscernible went through his stormy grey eyes. "Game on then, Granger," he said, shooting her a wink before backing slowly out of her path and returning to the Great Hall.

"You know he doesn't need more invitation than that, Hermione," Harry warned as he came up alongside her, his left side invisible from where the cloak was still slung over his shoulder.

She looked at him in confusion. "When did you get there?" she asked.

"I came out when I saw Malfoy following you," he explained. "You know he'll take what you just said as a challenge, don't you?"

"A challenge that I will win. He's Draco Malfoy, Harry," she stated primly. "It's not in his nature where I'm concerned to trick or steal something from me when he could have me hand the mirror over willingly, acknowledging to his face his supposed superiority over me in doing so."

"He'd be an idiot to believe you'd do that," Harry asserted.

"Obviously," Hermione scoffed. "I'm sure he knows that, too. But since he knows I won't bow to his whims, he's going to try to steal it, and he's going to be overconfident and sloppy in doing so. And when he slips up, I'm going to have a few surprises waiting for him."

"What sort of surprises?" Harry asked, wary.

She flashed a wicked grin. "Good ones, of course."

Harry gave a small smile and shook his head. "I hope you know what you're doing, Hermione."

"It'll be fine, Harry," she reassured him. "Besides, Malfoy and I have become… well, 'friends' isn't quite the right word, but he comes by to visit Blaise quite a bit, and we've talked a few times."

Harry laughed. "'Talked a few times'. Clever code for 'he likes to charm my knee-high socks off, and does a fair smashing job at it, too'."

Hermione sighed and fought the deep blush that was threatening to take over her features. "He likes to argue."

Harry grinned. "You love it, I know you do. Besides, with you I'm sure arguing and flirting are one and the same."

"I'm going to have to stop getting into fights with you, Harry, lest you start equating it with some bizarre sort of foreplay," Hermione said with a teasing smile. "Either way, Malfoy's different now, much calmer and far happier without his father's influence. I'd like to think I know him somewhat. I should be able to use that to my advantage."

Harry regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not supposed to be the one in Slytherin?"

"Asks the boy who was very nearly put in there himself," Hermione retorted.

Harry chuckled. "Touché. But really, Hermione, you ought to be careful dealing with someone like him. I know he's different and, dare I say it, actually sort of alright now. And I doubt he'd actually hurt you on purpose, but still."

Hermione barely stifled an unladylike snort. "Someone like him is about as threatening as a day-old kitten. You really shouldn't worry about him, or me, Harry," she reassured him. "Have I ever given you reason to doubt me?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Never. I actually think I trust you more than anyone."

"Then trust me now," she implored him. "Besides, I think you'll be suitably impressed with what I have planned for him should he try anything."

"Do you now?" Harry asked with a grin of his own. "Open to suggestions?"

Hermione laughed and linked an arm with Harry's as they walked back into the Hall. "For you, Harry? Anything."

AN: The remainder of the story will be told from Draco's POV. Please read and review!