Through the Looking Glass ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 11 ~ On the Way to Breakfast

Hermione woke up at six o'clock sharp, as she was conditioned to do. She took a shower, making sure not to get her hair wet, dried off and applied lotion to her body. At least this Hermione had lotion. It wasn't flavored, but it would do.

Then she walked naked into the bedroom and went through the underthings drawer, frowning at the sea of white cotton knickers. They weren't even bikini cut, but big and sensible granny knickers.

"Grindewald's goodies," she thought as she finally chose a pair and a bra, carrying them over to the bed, picking up her wand and transfiguring them into something a bit more savory, turning the knickers to a white thong, and adding some lace to the bra.

"Much better," Hermione said to herself, putting them on. Then she shifted through the wardrobe, sighing at the dull, wordless t-shirts there. She chose a blue one. At least the jeans were well-worn and comfortable. She pulled them on and retrieved a pair of white socks, put them on as well and her trainers. She selected a black robe, frowning at the Gryffindor insignia on the breast.

She walked over to the dresser, looked in the mirror and studied her undone face. How did Miss Goody-Two-Shoes walk around like this? Make-up was definitely in order. She tied her healing pouch on to a loop in her jeans, then fastened her robes. She grabbed her books, and tucked her wand into her pocket, end out for fast access. Hopefully someone would be in the Common Room who she could get some make-up from.

When she walked down the stairs, she was surprised to see the Common Room nearly empty. In her world, everyone had to be at breakfast by seven. It wasn't that way here, and the Gryffindors slept in as long as possible, some even skipping breakfast. Only one person was down here.

Lavender Brown.

She was seated cross-legged on the floor, on a rug before the fireplace, eyes closed, arms out to the sides and slightly bent, the tips of her index and middle fingers touching. She was making a strange wailing noise.

Hermione walked up behind her, staring at her for a moment as she did her morning Universal Meditation, an activity designed to "open up her mind to hear the whispers of the universe." Professor Sybill Trelawney went through the same ritual each day, not that it helped her much.

Hermione fought the urge to kick Lavender over. What a wuss.

"Hey!" Hermione said loudly, making Lavender jump and look up at her strangely for a moment, before a smile crossed her face.

"Hi, other Hermione," the blonde said, rising.

"Yeah, hi," Hermione greeted her nominally, studying her face. Lavender wore make-up and was about her complexion. "Listen, do you have any make-up you can spare?"

"Sure, I do," Lavender said, delighted.

She'd been after the real Hermione to wear makeup since their fourth year, but the witch would never do it.

"Just let me run and get it . . . unless you want to come up?" she said to Hermione, who shook her head.

"I'll just wait here," Hermione replied. If she went up there, no doubt the twit would want to apply her make-up and chat her ears off.

Lavender returned with an armful of foundations, liners, lipsticks, mascaras, tweezers and more. She dumped them into Hermione's arms.

"Damn, did you give me everything you had?" the witch asked her.

"No. That's just extra. They aren't even open. I have loads of make-up. I kind of run my own little beauty parlor. You should come on our next girl's night. We make each other up, have cookies, talk about . . . boys . . ."

Here, Lavender giggled madly.

"Boys, eh? Nah, I'll pass, but thanks for the makeup," Hermione said, going back up the stairs and to her room. In five minutes, she was her attractive self again, letting out a satisfied sigh at the witch who looked back at her from the mirror.

"Welcome back, beautiful," she said, once again leaving her room and entering the Common Room. A few tousle-haired Gryffindors were in there now, but not one ready for breakfast. Even Lavender had been in her night gown with a housecoat over it.

In her world, Filch would have had an orgasm at all the students who would miss the seven o'clock breakfast bell. The dungeons would have been full of howls as he laid cane (and other things) to all those naked bottoms.

She passed through the Common Room, fending off greetings and exiting into the castle proper. It felt a bit odd walking along through the empty castle. She was used to having all her housemates with her since they left at the same time for protection. But what did she have to protect herself from here?

She got her answer when she walked down the marble staircase to the Entrance Hall. On her left emerged none other than Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle from the dungeon corridor. Everyone stopped, staring at each other, then Draco's gray eyes slowly drifted up the stairwell and scanned the landing to see if anyone else from Gryffindor house was around.

No. There wasn't a single one. His eyes narrowed as they rested on Hermione, who was looking at him with interest. There was a little nasty aura coming off the Pureblood that was rather attractive. By the proud way he stood, it was easy to see he thought a lot of himself.

"Your watchdogs Potter and Weasley aren't with you this morning, eh Granger?" he asked her, a bit of happy malice in his voice.

"Obviously not. You don't see them do you?" she responded a bit haughtily. "Besides, I know how to get from point A to point B without an escort."

She eyed Crabbe and Boyle, curled her lip and added, "What's your excuse?"

Draco looked at bit surprised at her answer.

"I don't need an excuse, you filthy Mudblood!" he spat at her with his usual malevolence.

"Well, you're nothing but an inbred Bloodbum," she responded coolly, shifting her body slightly so she faced the three scowling wizards full on.

"A WHAT?" Draco cried, incensed.

"A filthy Bloodbum, a wizard with two magical Pureblood parents," she explained. "You're a product of magical incest, and should talk to your betters with more respect. I'm Muggle-Born, you know, much higher on the magical scale than you are since both my parents are Muggles. That makes me the most powerful kind of witch there is."

Draco, Goyle and Crabbe looked at Hermione as if she'd gone stark, raving nutters. What the hell was she talking about?

"That's insane! You're insane! No one believes that!" he hissed at her, thrown completely for a loop. What made it worse was that Hermione was looking at him as if he were less than dirt, as if she really believed he was garbage.

It was . . . disconcerting.

"I don't care who believes what around here, Malfoy. What matters is what I believe, and I believe you and your entire Bloodbum family are trash," she said, grasping the handle of her wand.

Draco turned bright crimson at this declaration.

"How, how dare you!" he screamed at her, drawing his wand to hex her.

"Stupefy!" he cried as Hermione whirled, then struck him, Crabbe and Boyle in quick succession, blasting them back.

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!"

Then, she cast two binding spells on Goyle and Crabbe, tying them up so tightly, they were gasping. Then she walked toward Draco, who was scrambling for his wand. He just managed to grab it, then turned to find Hermione's wand at his throat.

She was looking at him curiously.

"I like you this way, Draco. You have attitude, and you're a really nasty piece of work, I can tell," she said to him, a bit of purr in her voice, as Draco looked at her with round eyes. "You're sneaky, ill-tempered, probably hex people when their backs are turned. Yeah, I can see you're just like that. A refreshing change from the bleeding-heart Draco I know. You're pretty shaggable this way . . . as a bad boy. I'd almost be tempted, but let's face it, you're a Pureblood without any power . . . so it would be a waste of my time.

She chucked her wand under his chin for emphasis.

"Now, listen to me, and listen good. I am not a victim. If you come after me again, I will hurt you . . . and badly. I don't care about detentions or points being taken. I will cut you into ribbons. I know the spells to do it and I don't care who sees me. Now, if you want to stay pretty, I suggest you leave me the fuck alone. I don't know how the other Hermione dealt with you, but I'm not the one to fuck with," she said to him softly.

Draco still stared at her, wondering if he were caught in some kind of sensate nightmare. He looked so confused, Hermione couldn't resist what she did next.

She shifted her wand to the side of his throat, leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth, her lips moving against his softly and sensually. The stunned wizard could do nothing but accept it, then, fall under her spell.

Hermione pulled back and licked her lips a little. Draco's gray eyes were still confused, but had a little heat in them as he stared back at the witch, now noticing the hair and make-up and how attractive she looked. Something was different about Granger . . . and it wasn't a bad thing at all.

"Tasty," she said to him softly. "Now, I'm going to lower my wand and go to breakfast. Don't let that kiss fool you. I'll leave nothing but a pile of ash if you fuck with me again, Draco Malfoy. First and last warning," she said, lowering her wand, turning and walking through the doors of the Great Hall, Draco staring after her, unable to comprehend just what the hell happened here.

Crabbe and Goyle lay bound, also looking confused. Granger had kissed Draco, and he wasn't throwing up. He was just standing there, looking after her. Finally, he turned to them and said.

"I don't know who the hell that is, but it's definitely not Granger."

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Draco watched as Hermione ate her breakfast, more Gryffindors and other students drifting in. Harry and Ron sat down on either side of her and greeted her, but . . . she scowled at them, not looking at all happy to see them. And it seemed every single Gryffindor was just . . . staring at her. It was all so odd.

From the dais, Snape was watching the witch interact, or not interact rather with her housemates. She looked quite aggravated as they piled around her. Not that they were right on top of her, but she had all of their attention. She scowled down at her food.

Albus and Minerva were also watching the witch, noting she didn't look happy.

"I'm afraid Miss Granger isn't getting into the Gryffindor spirit," Albus said to Minerva.

"Give it some time, Albus," the witch replied. "They'll rub off on her. Everyone responds to kindness."

If Hermione could have heard that, she would have puked. Right now, she felt like hexing everyone around her. Then she remembered she could leave breakfast, and she did so, everyone asking her where she was going.

"To get some peace," she snapped back at them, hoisting her backpack on her shoulder and stalking away angrily. Draco watched her, shaking his head.

"I've got to tell someone about this," he said to himself, looking up at the Headmaster.

Dumbledore needed to know this Hermione Granger was an imposter.

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Draco stared at Dumbledore with his mouth open. He had just been told the truth about this Hermione.

"She's a what?" he gasped at the wizard.

"She's a Slytherin from an alternate universe where Muggle-Borns are the favored of society. She came here because of a magical accident involving the Mirror of Erised," the wizard explained.

A Slytherin Granger? That was insane. But, it fit this witch. She certainly didn't act like those idiot Gryffindors.

Draco thought about that kiss and what she said about shagging him. Apparently, she wasn't virginal either.

"Why is she in Gryffindor if she's a Slytherin?" Draco asked Dumbledore, immediately setting out on his own agenda.

"Several reasons. The first being that there's bad blood between our Hermione and the Slytherins. Second, she's a Muggle-Born and there are no Muggle-Borns in Slytherin. And there are other reasons, such as she is familiar with her housemates in Gryffindor," the wizard told him. "And let's not forget, she doesn't have any respect for Purebloods."

Draco didn't care about that. This Hermione was hot. He wanted a chance at her.

"But, if she's Slytherin, she's going to hate Gryffindor, Headmaster," Draco said.

Albus shrugged.

"We all have to deal with unfortunate situations, Draco," the Headmaster told him. "Until Miss Granger can return to her own world, she will reside in Gryffindor."

Draco frowned.

"I don't think she's going to last there, Headmaster," he told him.

"She has to, Draco," Albus replied. "She has no choice."

Draco left Albus' office, deep in thought. He had a lot of pull in Slytherin house because of his bloodline and his father's wealth. He was the cream of Slytherin, and knew how to pull his housemates' strings. But before he talked to them about anything, he'd need to talk to Snape first, and find out how he'd feel about having a witch traditionally considered Gryffindor in Slytherin House.

Hopefully, the Potions Master would see reason.

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A/N: Thanks for reading.