For Mary, via GGE 2018. Enjoy, darling!
to our ruin and back again
The Disney version of Cinderella depends on a single factor: Cinderella's unwavering kindness in the face of adversity. Rarely, however, does real life imitate the storybooks. Sometimes, Cinderella fights back and we learn there was a reason she was named after ashes.
A Realists Guide To Fiction, 2018
...
Hermione Granger knows what hatred tastes like.
Hatred is the taste of blood in her mouth after biting down to choke down the murderous words she wants to scream; hatred is the white-hot rage that burns her skin with every movement; hatred is the plans she has tucked nearly in the center of her mind.
"Sweep the kitchen too, Miss Granger," her stepmother says in her mockingly sweet voice, outfit ridiculously pink and mouth set in an imitation of a smile. "Oh, and the backyard while you're at it. I wouldn't want you to have to have to sweep twice, wouldn't I?"
Hermione ducks her head and nods, but inside, she plots.
…
It's almost amusing, the kinds of things you hear when you're a nobody to the rest of society.
Hermione does the dishes and the laundry, grows crops in the garden and cleans the house, all while keeping an ear on the town gossip. Her vile stepmother and vicious stepsisters miss the kind of things that slip through the cracks of their vain mindsets and land into her arms.
There is a rebellion in the midst of them. King Malfoy and his wife cannot oppose the vicious Lord Voldemort for very long. The kingdom will fall, and Prince Draco Malfoy will be left crownless, a golden boy ruined into becoming a relic of time.
Hermione tilts her head and lets the sun's last rays warm her skin. Her parents called her a genius before they died and she was left as a ward of her stepmother, and she is destined to make them proud.
Well, it's time to put her genius mind to work. Revolutions are built on blood and in a world this cruel, there is a lot to spill.
…
Her best case scenario plan goes like this: she dazzles the boy. There is his marriage ball soon, where he can marry any suitable girl (despite what her stepmother says, her parents were wealthy and kind, and she's acceptable) and she smiles prettily, charms and bats her eyelashes.
It's an almost religious obsession—to ruin her stepmother, to be more than she is now, to have more than this provincial life.
Sometimes, even the ugly duckling can become the most vicious type of swan.
…
Her sisters and stepmother fall for her plot quickly.
"Please, let me go to the ball," she pleads, letting her voice crack on the syllables. The smiles she gets back are mocking and it takes all her self-control to not break character. "I promise I'll behave."
Her stepmother snorts. "Absolutely not. You'd disgrace us all with your behaviour and appearance. You may spend today all in your room, thinking about how insolent you are to even ask."
Hermione lets a tear spill, but inside, she celebrates. The puzzle pieces of her success are lined up and a single move can make them crumble to her wishes.
…
It's easy to sneak out when she's supposed to be locked away, being quiet and thinking about her wretched behaviour.
The seamstress' apprentice owes her a favour and Hermione intends to collect.
"Are you sure you're going to be safe, 'Mione?" Harry asks and Hermione smiles, as soft and genuine as she can. Harry Potter is a sweet boy with a young, beautiful red-headed wife and a child on the way. She refuses to let him see the darkness that lurks inside of her and taint his soft world.
"Of course," Hermione says and kisses his cheek. He wraps his arm around her and for a minute, she feels peace, but it all melts away when he stands up and shows her the dress he's made.
"You're going to dazzle." Harry grins, and Hermione feels pity for him, this talented boy who won't get out of this town.
"Thank you," she says back, and she means it.
…
The night of the ball is illuminated by a full moon, the stars twinkling like a promise. Hermione breathes, inhaling deeply, and the air smells of possibilities.
It all is going on schedule—chores are done, stepsisters and stepmother long gone, ride showing up on time—until she sees the prince and almost stumbles in her shock.
He's more god than boy, cheekbones so sharp they seem dangerous and a haughty smirk that screams of fallen angels turned dark.
Fate breaks down to mere child's play when their eyes meet and he sweeps her into his arms for the next dance.
"Who are you?" he says, voice so low it's almost a hiss, and she smiles, teeth gleaming in the lights of the ballroom.
"Who will you become?" she counters, allowing herself to be dipped. The room watches them with envious eyes and hushed whispers, and she knows this is how Icarus felt right before he burned.
"Explain." His hands are hot on her skin and the world seems to disappear.
"There will be a revolution. Your kingdom will fall if you are not ready, Prince Draco. I do not pretend to understand royalty, but I do understand wars." Hermione leans closer and feels his breath hitch. "With me by your side, you will win."
Draco watches her with interest. "How so?"
"My price for my secrets is high, but my shoes worth more."
Draco frowns in confusion, forehead creasing and she is gone before he finishes his questions, no more than a chill on the skin or a phantom in the dark.
Only a single shoe is left behind, silver and shining.
...
Epilogue
"Are you sure about this, Draco?" Narcissa Malfoy stares into her son's eyes and tries to convey every hint of her desperation in her words.
Lucius is not a man who begs, but their kingdom's laws allow his son to choose his own bride. Still, he must try, even if his efforts are in vain. "Draco, at a time like this, a wife whose marriage with you will mean a political arrangement is important. Please, understand my words. You get what you always wanted, our kingdom remains strong—"
Draco is no fool, but that night remains in his mind on endless replay and that's why he speaks with certainty, "I know who I want to marry."
His fingers tighten on the heel of the abandoned shoe. He may not know the girl's name, but he remembers the way she felt in his arms, that legacy her words promised and he dreams of signing a scroll promising their destinies become entwined.
He will find her again and together, they will rule.
...
Written for:
Bath Bomb Challenge: Fairytale Fantasy—Fairytale!AU
Stockers Challenge: Ravenclaw Collection—Royalty!AU
365 Challenge: Royalty!AU
QLFC: Cinderella!AU
Insane House Challenge: Dramione
Ancient Runes Assignment: Write about someone having perfect clarity of thought.
Resolutions: Write a gift fic for a Gryffindor
Character Appreciation: Plot—Starting a new life
Shannon's showcase: Run
Book Club: Gone by Michael Grant, Astrid Ellison—(Character) Hermione Granger, (word) genius, (word) religious
Showtime: Good For You - (dialogue) "You get what you always wanted."
Days of the month: Peculiar People Day - Write about someone who's considered strange
Count your buttons: (object) scroll, (word) pretty
Restriction of the month: No characters older than 20 years old, (word) smile
Liza's Loves: To Riverdale and Back Again
Newt Year: Wine Glass – (character) Lucius Malfoy
Yule Ball: Walking about the Rose Gardens - Write about listening to someone else's secret.