Garden Party
It had been two days without contact from Harry or Ron, and Hermione was starting to get worried, but she didn’t have much time to worry about them with her first formal outing since being on the run coming up. The public, obviously having no knowledge of the magical world, believed she had been away at her posh private boarding school that she’d been going to since she was a child. The name, which had never been revealed, was kept a secret for the safety of the princess.
Her stylist Laila had her in a fitting for her outing later that day. Hermione, having only some decision-making power when it came to formal outfits, chose a navy blue blazer with a white blouse and a black skirt. Once the alterations to the garments were made, Hermione was delivered the clothing to wear.
Genevieve was in a pastel purple dress, meeting up with Hermione outside her room. “You ready for this?” she asked Hermione who had a nervous look on her face.
“Yes, my dear sister, I just haven’t done this in a while.” Hermione flattened out her dress and smiled a smile that anyone else would think was genuine, except Genevieve.
“That smile says something different, but don’t worry, we’re just going to a garden party with other nobles. It’ll be fine, you know, we’ve been through much worse. Remember the polo disaster of the summer of 1995?”
Hermione started to chuckle a bit. “I do remember cousin Daniel getting sloshed and dancing on the tables. The tabloids had a field day with that.”
Genevieve put her hand out, and Hermione grabbed it, the pair walked towards the guards, both of whom were wizards, and they were taken to the car. Hermione turned to her sister and smiled genuinely, sparking some happiness within Genevieve.
Once they arrived at their destination, heads immediately turned, shocked to see the heir to the throne’s presence at the party. Hermione took a deep breath, grabbing her sister’s hand again and squeezing it while taking a deep breath.
“I helped take down the darkest wizard of all time, a little party is nothing.” She said to herself quietly, looking to Genevieve for support, which she gave in the form of a slight nod and a smile.
The royal announcer then recited, “Announcing Princesses Hermione and Genevieve of Denmark!”
The girls walked in and in an instant people tried to converse with them, especially Hermione, wanting to get in good with the future queen. “Enough!” Hermione commanded, causing everyone to stop.
“I would love to talk to you all, but I cannot do that if you are all talking at the same time and crowding around myself as well as my sister. Give us space, and we will approach you. Do not force yourself into our space, seeing as that shall not bode well for you. Thank you.” The crowd immediately dispersed.
Once the nobles had left them alone, Genevieve started to laugh, “Wow, I have not heard you speak like that in a very long time. You sounded very ‘royal’.”
Hermione smirked as they sat down, being immediately brought their food which had been checked through a spell and a taster to make sure there was no poison or spells on their food. The girls enjoyed their sandwiches, and once they had finished, they conversed with each other, asking who they were going to talk to, essentially making a game plan so that the nobles were satisfied.
Hermione walked over to a woman in her early 20s with long wavy brown hair, who curtsied when she arrived. Hermione waved her off saying, “Willow, you know I don’t like it when you do that.”
Willow responded with a smile, “How’s my favorite cousin doing after a year at your secret boarding school?”
Hermione chuckled, “It was… eventful to say the least.”
“That’s fun! Did you finally get a girlfriend or are you still pining after that French blonde you told me about way back when?” Willow responded, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Hermione started to blush and shook her head, “No girlfriend, and as for the blonde, we’re just friends. Mom likes her though. She came over a couple of days ago.”
Willow’s mouth dropped, “She came to the palace? Alone?”
Hermione took a deep breath, “No, two other friends came too. So sorry, but nothing scandalous happened,” she laughed.
“Well, I think there’s hope. I want to meet her one of these days.” Willow nudged Hermione, raising her eyebrows.
Hermione thought back to the veela’s smiling face when they were dancing in the ballroom, “Maybe, but only because you’re my favorite cousin.”
They talked for a while, Hermione’s mind wandering back to the blonde girl who she may have had a crush on in the past, but she definitely didn’t feel anything for her anymore. Sure, she was gorgeous and had the prettiest accent, but that didn’t mean anything. It’s just her veela powers. It’s not like she thought about the way she smiles at her or the way they would look together.
A snap in front of her face brought her back to reality. “Hermione, you there? Princess Hermione?” She saw Willow in front of her face with a goofy grin. “Thinking about the blonde girl, huh?”
Hermione, doing her best to save face, looked down and collected herself before looking up and shrugging, “Nope. Just heir stuff.”
Willow, however, could see right through Hermione, “Yeah because you haven’t had a detailed plan of how to prepare since you were nine. But I’ll let you keep lying to yourself, for now.”
Hermione awkwardly chuckled, then said her goodbyes to her cousin, and walked away. She met with a few more noble people before finally going up to Genevieve and asking to leave. “I think I’m ready to go now. This has been a lot.”
Genevieve, seeing how tired and how anxious her sister looked, motion to the guards that were with them to walk them back to the car that was waiting for them, answering any questions people may have about them leaving.
The next day in the mail, Hermione saw a magazine article with a picture of her on it looking distraught with the headline, “Is the Heir Not Up to The Job? Turn to page 6 to find out more.” Hermione was so angry that she didn’t even need to use her wand to burn the magazine. She then saw her owl pop in and drop a letter, in handwriting, she would recognize anywhere from helping them write essays. It was a letter from Harry and Ron.