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Paper Faces on Parade
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Draco/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
11
Views:
20,478
Reviews:
36
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Draco/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
11
Views:
20,478
Reviews:
36
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Section 2
Section 2:
Rita walked in the door, dropped her crocodile-skin handbag on the table and kicked off her spike heels with a sigh of satisfaction. Things had been so busy around the paper lately that she had had to sleep at her desk for the past two nights in a row, only popping home for fifteen minutes at a time to change robes and charm her hair into order. Three owls stood on her windowsill, pecking at the glass, but she ignored them as she headed to the kitchen. Drink first, correspondence later. She didn’t much care that the owls were out there in the rain. They could wait, for now. She really, really needed a drink.
Long days, she could handle. Busy weeks, she could handle. Even crowded months were not too much for her. But the past six months had been constant, non-stop, endless excitement and she had had about as much of it as she could take. She was pleased, of course, that Harry Potter had defeated You-Know-Who, and she had been delighted to partake in the media circus that followed it, with all the parades and interviews with heroes and coverage of the Death Eater trials. But honestly, she wasn’t *quite* as young as she used to be, and the long nights were starting to take their toll.
Tonight, though, would be quiet. She had more than earned an evening off, and her editor had told her that she wouldn’t be contacted unless it was an absolute emergency. She planned to wash her hair, change into some comfortable flannel pajamas and curl up on the living room couch with the romance novel she’d been absolutely dying to read and a tall glass filled with a strong drink. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she heard a voice coming from the living room through the floo connection. She had blocked her floo to everyone but a handful of people and none of those who had access were people she was in any position to ignore. Scowling in the direction of the living room, she bolted down the shot she had poured herself and headed toward the fireplace.
The scowl dropped off her face when she caught sight of Hermione Granger in the emerald green flames. Hermione Granger, despite the inauspicious beginning of their acquaintance, was possibly the best friend Rita Skeeter would ever have. It had started back in the girl’s fifth year when she got Rita the interview with Harry Potter on Voldemort’s return. After her forced sabbatical, Rita’s career had been in the toilet and she had been seriously considering hiring a hit man to poison that Granger girl’s food when the owl came to her to meet the teenagers at the Three Broomsticks.
The story she wrote after that meeting signaled the take-off of Rita’s career. Though the article had originally been printed in The Quibbler, it had been reprinted in every wizarding paper in Europe and translated into a dozen different languages. The career she had had at the time of the Triwizarding Tournament that had been destroyed by a schoolgirl’s cunning was *nothing* compared to the readership she had after that. If she had never seen Hermione Granger after that, she might have considered their relationship to have come to a truce. With her career back on track and better than ever, she no longer had any grudge against Granger, and she didn’t believe that the girl held any lasting grudge against her.
And then a year later, Hermione owled her again. Once more, Harry had a story that he needed to tell, and once more, Hermione needed the story to be written by someone who would take it down exactly as it was told. From that point, an odd sort of symbiosis developed. Throughout the war, there were plenty of times when Hermione needed to get her side or Harry’s side of a story out to the public, and Hermione always knew that despite Rita’s somewhat unorthodox treatment of other story subjects, Rita would never screw her over. There was too much at stake. Repeated, exclusive stories from Hermione Granger and Harry Potter were far too valuable to give up just for the sake of making any of the stories a hint more sensational, even when The Boy Who Lived and The Girl Who Helped finally stopped denying their feelings for each other and became engaged.
Calling the relationship between Rita and Hermione a friendship might be too strong of a term. Hermione would never approve of some of the methods Rita used to obtain and exploit her stories, and Rita would never fully understand the idealism of the Gryffindor girl. But the two women had an unequivocal respect for one another that only grew stronger through the years. They may never exchange Christmas presents with each other, but Hermione Granger was the one source Rita trusted absolutely, and Rita Skeeter was the exclusive reporter Hermione used whenever she had a news story to spread. That was the reason why Hermione had unrestricted access to Rita’s floo; access she had never used… until now.
“H-Hermione?” Rita stammered, her habitual aplomb cracking under her shock at the sight of the woman in her fireplace.
Hermione managed a weak smile. “Hi, Rita. I have an exclusive for you.”
“Right now?” Rita was confused. There was *nothing* going on in the wizarding world at the moment. Death Eater trials were temporarily on hold while the Wizengamot was in recess. There were no parades, celebrations, or citations scheduled to be presented in the next few days. Hermione’s marriage to Harry wasn’t to take place for several more months. Rita had no doubt that the story, once she got it, would be big news, but at that moment, she couldn’t fathom what the big news would be.
“Al-alright,” Rita stated, trying to recover her poise. “Do you want to meet tomorrow to discuss it?”
Hermione shook her head. “It has to be tonight,” she replied. “I was hoping I could come over? I won’t stay long.”
“Come over?” Rita repeated, dazedly. “Here?”
“Yes,” Hermione confirmed. “Um, *now*, if that’s possible.”
“Okay,” Rita answered distractedly, her mind not really processing what she was hearing through her shock. “But how will you get he—” She was cut off by the sound of a loud pop and the sight of Hermione Granger standing in front of her with a carrier case full of cat in one hand and a paper bag in the other. Rita shook her head to clear it. She should have known that Hermione would be able to get aroher her anti-apparition wards. There wasn’t much of anywhere Hermione Granger couldn’t get, if she really tried. She didn’t have Harry Potter’s sheer power, but she knew a way around every spell, charm, or hex known to man. Bypassing apparition wards was something of a specialty of hers.
“I brought you a present,” Hermione said, holding out the paper bag. “Sort of a combination going away present and an apology for barging in on you like this with no advance warning.”
Mechanically, Rita took the bag, opening it to reveal two bottles of nail polish in her signature shade of red along with a bottle of firewhiskey. “Going away present?” she asked as Hermione’s statement finally registered. “But I’m not going anywhere, am I?”
“No,” Hermione agreed, “you’re not. I am.”
Rita’s eyes widened at this revelation as her mind started racing through the implications. Instinctively, her eyes dropped to Hermione’s left hand and her eyes widened even further, to an almost comical extent, when she saw that the trademark diamond and ruby engagement ring was no longer there. Hermione’s eyes followed Rita’s gaze and she gave a weary half-smile as she saw the pieces come together.
“Maybe I should have a seat?” Hermione suggested.
Rita nodded. “You’d better do that. And I’d better get a quill.”
NOTES FROM INTERVIEW WITH HERMIONE GRANGER, OCTOBER 28, 2000
RS: Alright, Hermione, I’m ready. You can begin at any time.
HG: Okay.
pauspause while the interviewee takes a few deep breaths)
HG: I know that there’s still a certain amount of fear in the magical world that there are Death Eaters, or Death Eater imitators, who will make moves to take over in Voldemort’s place, either by staging an attack or arranging for the kidnapping of persons of influence. I arranged this interview so that when people realize I am gone, they will know that I left of my own free will.
RS: So you’re planning to leave England?
HG: That’s correct. I’m leaving immediately after this interview.
RS: Where are you going?
HG: I’m sorry, but I can’t share that information.
RS: Why are you leaving?
HG: Because I do not wish to stay.
RS: Does this have anything to do with your fiancé, Harry Potter?
HG: Harry is no longer my fiancé. I have given him back his ring, for both of our sakes.
RS: Would you care to explain?
HG: I don’t think we were really ready to get engaged, but everyone seemed to expect it of us, and we sort of allowed ourselves to go with the flow. It was a mistake. I realized that tonight, and called off our engagement.
RS: Is that why you’re leaving town?
HG: Not really, no. I’ve been considering leaving England for quite some time now. The celebrity I’ve received since the war is flattering, but it’s getting in the way of letting me lead the life that I want to lead. Starting over somewhere new has always sounded appealing. Now that I am no longer bound to Harry, I have one less reason to stay, and that was enough to tip the scales in favor of leaving.
RS: What about the friends you’ll be leaving behind?
HG: Ah yes, my friends. Well, since they’ve always been so honest with me, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it that I’m being honest with them. I don’t feel I can stay here anymore. If they truly care about my happiness, then they’ll understand.
RS: Will you be coming back?
HG: What for?
RS: Off the record, now. Are you alright?
HG: I will be. I’ll admit, this hurt. A lot. But I was telling the truth when I said I’d been thinking about leaving for a long time. Maybe this is for the best.
RS: Who was he with?
HG: Cho Chang.
RS: Oh dear.
HG: Yes, quite.
RS: And your friends?
HG: Apparently, Ron knew about it all along and has been covering for him. I’m not certain about the rest, but if Ron knew, then Luna definitely knew and Ginny probably knew as well, and if Ginny knew, then Neville knew, etc, etc.
RS: Do you still love him?
HG: What does that matter now?
*******
Rita walked in the door, dropped her crocodile-skin handbag on the table and kicked off her spike heels with a sigh of satisfaction. Things had been so busy around the paper lately that she had had to sleep at her desk for the past two nights in a row, only popping home for fifteen minutes at a time to change robes and charm her hair into order. Three owls stood on her windowsill, pecking at the glass, but she ignored them as she headed to the kitchen. Drink first, correspondence later. She didn’t much care that the owls were out there in the rain. They could wait, for now. She really, really needed a drink.
Long days, she could handle. Busy weeks, she could handle. Even crowded months were not too much for her. But the past six months had been constant, non-stop, endless excitement and she had had about as much of it as she could take. She was pleased, of course, that Harry Potter had defeated You-Know-Who, and she had been delighted to partake in the media circus that followed it, with all the parades and interviews with heroes and coverage of the Death Eater trials. But honestly, she wasn’t *quite* as young as she used to be, and the long nights were starting to take their toll.
Tonight, though, would be quiet. She had more than earned an evening off, and her editor had told her that she wouldn’t be contacted unless it was an absolute emergency. She planned to wash her hair, change into some comfortable flannel pajamas and curl up on the living room couch with the romance novel she’d been absolutely dying to read and a tall glass filled with a strong drink. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she heard a voice coming from the living room through the floo connection. She had blocked her floo to everyone but a handful of people and none of those who had access were people she was in any position to ignore. Scowling in the direction of the living room, she bolted down the shot she had poured herself and headed toward the fireplace.
The scowl dropped off her face when she caught sight of Hermione Granger in the emerald green flames. Hermione Granger, despite the inauspicious beginning of their acquaintance, was possibly the best friend Rita Skeeter would ever have. It had started back in the girl’s fifth year when she got Rita the interview with Harry Potter on Voldemort’s return. After her forced sabbatical, Rita’s career had been in the toilet and she had been seriously considering hiring a hit man to poison that Granger girl’s food when the owl came to her to meet the teenagers at the Three Broomsticks.
The story she wrote after that meeting signaled the take-off of Rita’s career. Though the article had originally been printed in The Quibbler, it had been reprinted in every wizarding paper in Europe and translated into a dozen different languages. The career she had had at the time of the Triwizarding Tournament that had been destroyed by a schoolgirl’s cunning was *nothing* compared to the readership she had after that. If she had never seen Hermione Granger after that, she might have considered their relationship to have come to a truce. With her career back on track and better than ever, she no longer had any grudge against Granger, and she didn’t believe that the girl held any lasting grudge against her.
And then a year later, Hermione owled her again. Once more, Harry had a story that he needed to tell, and once more, Hermione needed the story to be written by someone who would take it down exactly as it was told. From that point, an odd sort of symbiosis developed. Throughout the war, there were plenty of times when Hermione needed to get her side or Harry’s side of a story out to the public, and Hermione always knew that despite Rita’s somewhat unorthodox treatment of other story subjects, Rita would never screw her over. There was too much at stake. Repeated, exclusive stories from Hermione Granger and Harry Potter were far too valuable to give up just for the sake of making any of the stories a hint more sensational, even when The Boy Who Lived and The Girl Who Helped finally stopped denying their feelings for each other and became engaged.
Calling the relationship between Rita and Hermione a friendship might be too strong of a term. Hermione would never approve of some of the methods Rita used to obtain and exploit her stories, and Rita would never fully understand the idealism of the Gryffindor girl. But the two women had an unequivocal respect for one another that only grew stronger through the years. They may never exchange Christmas presents with each other, but Hermione Granger was the one source Rita trusted absolutely, and Rita Skeeter was the exclusive reporter Hermione used whenever she had a news story to spread. That was the reason why Hermione had unrestricted access to Rita’s floo; access she had never used… until now.
“H-Hermione?” Rita stammered, her habitual aplomb cracking under her shock at the sight of the woman in her fireplace.
Hermione managed a weak smile. “Hi, Rita. I have an exclusive for you.”
“Right now?” Rita was confused. There was *nothing* going on in the wizarding world at the moment. Death Eater trials were temporarily on hold while the Wizengamot was in recess. There were no parades, celebrations, or citations scheduled to be presented in the next few days. Hermione’s marriage to Harry wasn’t to take place for several more months. Rita had no doubt that the story, once she got it, would be big news, but at that moment, she couldn’t fathom what the big news would be.
“Al-alright,” Rita stated, trying to recover her poise. “Do you want to meet tomorrow to discuss it?”
Hermione shook her head. “It has to be tonight,” she replied. “I was hoping I could come over? I won’t stay long.”
“Come over?” Rita repeated, dazedly. “Here?”
“Yes,” Hermione confirmed. “Um, *now*, if that’s possible.”
“Okay,” Rita answered distractedly, her mind not really processing what she was hearing through her shock. “But how will you get he—” She was cut off by the sound of a loud pop and the sight of Hermione Granger standing in front of her with a carrier case full of cat in one hand and a paper bag in the other. Rita shook her head to clear it. She should have known that Hermione would be able to get aroher her anti-apparition wards. There wasn’t much of anywhere Hermione Granger couldn’t get, if she really tried. She didn’t have Harry Potter’s sheer power, but she knew a way around every spell, charm, or hex known to man. Bypassing apparition wards was something of a specialty of hers.
“I brought you a present,” Hermione said, holding out the paper bag. “Sort of a combination going away present and an apology for barging in on you like this with no advance warning.”
Mechanically, Rita took the bag, opening it to reveal two bottles of nail polish in her signature shade of red along with a bottle of firewhiskey. “Going away present?” she asked as Hermione’s statement finally registered. “But I’m not going anywhere, am I?”
“No,” Hermione agreed, “you’re not. I am.”
Rita’s eyes widened at this revelation as her mind started racing through the implications. Instinctively, her eyes dropped to Hermione’s left hand and her eyes widened even further, to an almost comical extent, when she saw that the trademark diamond and ruby engagement ring was no longer there. Hermione’s eyes followed Rita’s gaze and she gave a weary half-smile as she saw the pieces come together.
“Maybe I should have a seat?” Hermione suggested.
Rita nodded. “You’d better do that. And I’d better get a quill.”
NOTES FROM INTERVIEW WITH HERMIONE GRANGER, OCTOBER 28, 2000
RS: Alright, Hermione, I’m ready. You can begin at any time.
HG: Okay.
pauspause while the interviewee takes a few deep breaths)
HG: I know that there’s still a certain amount of fear in the magical world that there are Death Eaters, or Death Eater imitators, who will make moves to take over in Voldemort’s place, either by staging an attack or arranging for the kidnapping of persons of influence. I arranged this interview so that when people realize I am gone, they will know that I left of my own free will.
RS: So you’re planning to leave England?
HG: That’s correct. I’m leaving immediately after this interview.
RS: Where are you going?
HG: I’m sorry, but I can’t share that information.
RS: Why are you leaving?
HG: Because I do not wish to stay.
RS: Does this have anything to do with your fiancé, Harry Potter?
HG: Harry is no longer my fiancé. I have given him back his ring, for both of our sakes.
RS: Would you care to explain?
HG: I don’t think we were really ready to get engaged, but everyone seemed to expect it of us, and we sort of allowed ourselves to go with the flow. It was a mistake. I realized that tonight, and called off our engagement.
RS: Is that why you’re leaving town?
HG: Not really, no. I’ve been considering leaving England for quite some time now. The celebrity I’ve received since the war is flattering, but it’s getting in the way of letting me lead the life that I want to lead. Starting over somewhere new has always sounded appealing. Now that I am no longer bound to Harry, I have one less reason to stay, and that was enough to tip the scales in favor of leaving.
RS: What about the friends you’ll be leaving behind?
HG: Ah yes, my friends. Well, since they’ve always been so honest with me, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it that I’m being honest with them. I don’t feel I can stay here anymore. If they truly care about my happiness, then they’ll understand.
RS: Will you be coming back?
HG: What for?
RS: Off the record, now. Are you alright?
HG: I will be. I’ll admit, this hurt. A lot. But I was telling the truth when I said I’d been thinking about leaving for a long time. Maybe this is for the best.
RS: Who was he with?
HG: Cho Chang.
RS: Oh dear.
HG: Yes, quite.
RS: And your friends?
HG: Apparently, Ron knew about it all along and has been covering for him. I’m not certain about the rest, but if Ron knew, then Luna definitely knew and Ginny probably knew as well, and if Ginny knew, then Neville knew, etc, etc.
RS: Do you still love him?
HG: What does that matter now?
*******