What a Vacation Can Do

The sun had yet to rise over the horizon, turning the clouds that were high in the sky a bright pink. The sky was a dark blue rather than the normal blackness of the night and birds were just starting to wake up and sing in the trees outside. Hermione’s alarm went off and she quickly slammed her hand down on it before rubbing her eyes and sitting up. With her legs hanging off her bed, she quickly stretched, then stood up and approached the window where she drew the curtains and glanced around at the streets below. The streets weren’t crowded, only a few people would drive by in their cars on their way to work.

Hermione groaned in envy of them, wishing she could be doing them same rather than getting a plane and having to sit there for the 22 hour flight back to London, where she would endure hell from none other than Pansy Parkinson.

Sighing, she headed for the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it, then starting up the shower. She quickly undressed and then jumped into the warm steaming water, allowing it to smack her in the face as she closed her eyes and inhaled the steam from the shower. As she showered, she couldn’t help but think about how bad this week was going to be, especially since she would have to endure Pansy.

She hated Pansy Parkinson more than anybody she could think of. Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. There was always Voldemort, but everybody hated Voldemort, so she didn’t really count him. Besides, he was on a much bigger scale then Pansy. Voldemort had wanted nothing more than to hurt and destroy people who he thought weren’t as good as he was. He had killed hundreds and damaged people’s lives beyond repair. Like Harry’s for example. Harry would never know his parents because Voldemort had killed him, and you can’t bring back the dead. And Ron. Ron would never see Fred again.

Or Neville Longbottom. Sure, Neville still got to go see his parents, but it wasn’t really the same. Sometimes, Hermione felt worse for him then she did for Harry. Neville’s parents might still be alive, but the fact that they were completely insane and didn’t even recognize their own son when he went to visit him, must of drove him insane. Hermione sometimes thought, although it was a rather awful thing to think, that he would have been better off with his parents not being alive. His heart would only break once rather than every time he went to visit them. She could almost compare to him with her parents not remembering her, but it still didn’t feel the same. At least her parents were crazy.

But after excluding Voldemort, there was nobody worse than Pansy. She wanted nothing more to belittle everybody who wasn’t a Slytherin or didn’t agree with her. She had made fun of Hermione on several occasions, making fun of her hair and her over sized front teeth (that were luckily fixed), embarrassing her to where her whole face would turn the color of Ron’s hair and she would just have to walk away. If Hermione was any worse of a person, she would have thrown comments right back at Pansy. She did look like a pug in more ways than one, and Hermione believed her to be the Slytherin slut.

Yes, there was nobody worse than Pansy Parkinson. “Stupid pug faced, gossip throwing, drama causing, Slytherin.” Hermione found herself cursing under her breath. “Always hanging all over Malfoy and…-“

She froze in the middle of rinsing the condition out of her hair. Draco Malfoy.

If there was ever a time when she was wrong, it was now. Pansy Parkinson didn’t even compare to how much she hated Draco Malfoy.

Everywhere she turned, it felt like Malfoy was always right there, waiting for her so he could tease her and constantly test her patience. It was a miracle she hadn’t lost her patience with him and attacked him when they were in Hogwarts.

She smiled suddenly and gave a little laugh as she turned the water off and climbed out of the shower after wrapping her towel around her.

She had lost her patience with him to some extent in her third year. He was such an annoying prat and she was so tired of him thinking he was unstoppable, that when they ran into him as he made fun of Hagrid, she had slapped him across the face with all her might. The look Ron and Harry exchanged before glancing back at her and the fact that Malfoy had fled the scene yelling curses and threats was enough of an award for her.

But still, he had made fun of her and brought her down so many times that that didn’t even feel like it mattered. He had called her mudblood more times than she could count, had constantly picked on her for the smallest things, made fun of Harry and Ron which only made her hatred for him grow, and not to mention what had happened at Malfoy Manor close to a year ago. The way he acted was strange, now that she really thought about it. He hadn’t wanted to say that the snatchers had actually caught her, Harry, and Ron at first, making her think that maybe… just maybe, he really did have a good heart. It made her think that maybe he didn’t want to be in this war as much as any of them wanted to be in it. They were all too young to be fighting a war anyway, even if they were the only ones who could stop it.

But even thinking about it now, she still became enraged at the thought of that dreaded night in Malfoy Manor. After Harry and Ron had been taken down to the dungeon and she was kept to be tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, her mind had been made up. Draco Malfoy didn’t care about them. He only cared about himself. Because, if he cared about them, he would have stepped in and stopped the torture from taking place. Instead, he kept his back to them and didn’t say anything. If he said something, he surely would have been the next to get tortured. And why would Draco Malfoy, most selfish human being on the planet, want to risk his own pain for somebody else?

Hermione yanked the doors of her closet open with more strength then was necessary, and had to close her eyes and take a deep breath to calm herself down. She hated thinking about the war because it always seemed to make her so angry. She wanted to forget it. To remove it from her brain and store it far, far away to where it would never come back to her. But that wasn’t possible. The war had been a huge part of her life, and something as big as that, can’t just get removed from your memories. The only thing you can do is push it farther back into your brain and hope you’ll only remember it once in a while.

And that was what Hermione did. Because that part of her life was over.

She sighed as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, biting the side of her lip, and staring at the outfits she had hanging in her closet. She was going to be going back to London and the first person who would see her would be the one person she hated and had made fun of her hair, teeth, and just how she looked in general.

Hermione smirked, only for it to turn into a very excited smile, as she quickly ran through her closet and picked out the nicest and most un-Hermioneish clothes she could find. She grabbed all the outfits she would need, and using her wand, she packed them all away, and then glanced over at her clock. It was four in the morning. Her plane took off for London at nine. That gave her five hours before her plane would leave and it also gave her plenty of time to become the Hermione that Pansy Parkinson would never expect to see.

The war had changed everybody, so why shouldn’t she show it? Besides… there was no point in looking like the same Hermione she was in Hogwarts, because she wasn’t the same Hermione.

The war was over.

That part of her life was over.


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Walking through muggle London was like walking through a dream or a time that shehad forgotten about and just realized was there. Everything was so familiar and yet… it wasn’t.

The last time Hermione had walked these streets, the atmosphere was enough to send chills down your spine. It was like the sun wasn’t shinning, even though you could feel the rays of heat as they hit your skin. You were surrounded by death, torture, and sadness. Even if you couldn’t feel it, you could sense it. But that was months ago.

Now, you couldn’t help but notice how happy everybody seemed to be. Everything had changed, nad Hermione couldn’t help but smile. They had fought the war so they could do exactly what she was doing now… walk the street knowing somebody wasn’t be tormented or bothered by Deatheaters ever second. It made all her pain, starvation, torture, stress, past nerves, and all the sleepless nights worth while.

She continued to walked the street with a skin in her step. There wasn’t many people considering it was ten at night, and only made it that much easier to slip down the deserted street un-noticed. She stopped walking when she reached an old beat up building and looked up at the sign. Above her hung the sigh of the pub that was all too familiar to her.

The Leaky Cauldron.

She sighed a content sigh before walking inside. The pub looked exactly like she remembered it, only like the street outside, you could tell the atmosphere was lighter. It was obvious there were no dark wizards inside the pub, and it felt great to know she was finally safe from everything. She approached the bartender, Tom, and smiled at him when they made eye contact. “Hello Tom.”

“Ms. Hermione Granger.” Tom said, smiling back at her. “I haven’t seen you in months.”

“I’ve been away.” She answered simply. “I made reservations for a room a couple of nights ago. Do I still have them?”

“Of course.” Tom turned behind him and opened up a small cabinet. He looked through all the keys within and finally pulled one from the top shelf and turned to give it to Hermione. “Best room in The Leaky Cauldron.”

“Great.” Hermione opened up her purse to get out her money. “How much?”

“No charge.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly-“

“Ms. Granger… please.” Tom said with a small smile. “It’s the least I could do after everything you, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Weasley have done.”

“But-“

“I am expecting no money from you Ms. Granger. Now your room is up the stairs, all the way down the hall, last door on the right. Brilliant view of Diagon Alley.”

Hermione smiled back. “Thank you.” She decided she would agree with him for now, only when it was time for her to leave, she would leave the money in the room for them to find later.

She lugged her bags over her shoulders as she climbed the stairs, then entered her room. It was the nicest room she had seen in The Leaky Cauldron, although it still had the same touches that the other rooms had. She smiled at how familiar it was to her, and then started to get settled in. She laid out her outfit for the next day, and then jumped into the shower before falling asleep to the bustle of the streets below.

She needed her rest. She had a very important day tomorrow.


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She woke up the next morning with a smile on her face, despite what she knew was ahead of her for that day. She climbed out of her bed and walked into her bedroom with her wand in her hand. She licked her lips as she looked at herself in the mirror and ran a hand through her hair. It had turned even bushier during the night and with a quick tap of her wand, it had disappeared and turned tame, forming into the shape of her face.

She pulled on one of her curls and watched as it bounched back like she had never touched it in the first place, then reached inside her make-up bag and pulled out everything she needed. Within a few minutes, she didn’t even recognize herself. She smiled confidintally before walking out of the bathroom to get changed. She roamed through her bag before finally deciding on a outfit and putting it on.

Walking back over towards her mirror, she looked at herself and sighed. She was wearing a black skirt, stopping just before her knees, with blue flowers lining the bottom. It was a size smaller then she liked, causing it to hug her every curse. A spaghetti strap tank top, the same blue as the flowers lining her skirt, was covered by a light black, button up, long sleeve sweater, designed for the spring time and perfect for the weather outside. When she buttoned it halfway up, it stuck to her stomach, making her chest pop out farther then she normally liked it.

Her eyes seemed to stick out more than anything else considering they were lined with mascara and eyeliner as her hair ran down her back and over her shoulders in long curls. She turned sideways to get an all around look at herself before deciding that she was as un-Hermioneish as she could become.

She grabbed her messenger bag that held all her reporter supplies, then headed out the door. She walked down Diagon Alley’s streets for sever minutes until she turned a corner and saw it. Sitting between two dull and beat up buildings was the most obnoxious building Hermione had ever seen (besides Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes). The building was a bright teal with purple window frames, and the fact that the sign had a giant flower that seemed to move like it was blowing in the breeze, only helped it to get noticed more often then not.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her camera as she approached the building. She quickly took a shot and then held her camera in her hand as she walked towards the front door. She sighed as she looked up at the sign, closed her eyes, counted to three, then walked inside.

To say that was surprised would be an understatement. She had expected to walk inside and get the chills straight away, an eerie feeling of being surrounded by something that somebody she hated had created and the fact that the owner was a Slytherin would have helped to create that. But the inside was the exact opposite of that. The atmosphere was what surprised her the most. It was… happy. People were walking around with smiles on their faces and the room seemed to give you kind of a homey feeling. She could spend hours in this place and not want to go, simply because she was so comfortable here.

No wonder this place was so popular.

She pulled out her notebook and quickly started taking notes as she walked around. Every time she saw something interesting, she would snap a quick picture.

As she took a picture of a bright orange dress, she heard somebody clear their throat. She turned and smiled at the girl who stood before her. “Can I help you?” The girl asked Hermione kindly. “I saw you taking pictures.”

“Oh, sorry. I should have come to you first. My name is Hermione Granger. I’m from The Magic Down Under. I have an interview with Pansy Parkinson today.”

Hermione held out her hand and the girl shook it with a smile. “I was told you were coming. My name’s Amanda. I work for Pansy. DO you like the place so far?”

“Yes, actually, I do.” The girl smiled at Hermione’s answer.

“Great! If you just want to follow me, I’ll show you to Pansy’s office.”

Hermione followed her as she led her towards the back corner of the shop and then up a spiral staircase. They continued to walk through more and more rows of clothing until Amanda led them through a curtain and into the backroom. “You’ve been the talk of the store for the last couple of the days.” Amanda said with a smile, turning and looking at Hermione quickly as they continued to walk. Hermione just smiled back and nodded, thinking that if Pansy was indeed talking about her, it couldn’t be anything good.

Amanda suddenly came to a halt when they reached a closed door and knocked a couple of times. Hermione could hear scurrying from behind the door and within a couple of seconds, the door opened and before them stood a smiling Pansy. Pansy looked at Amanda first and then her eyes finally landed on Hermione. They locked eyes and Hermione help but notice that Pansy didn’t look like Pansy. Her eyes were filled with what Hermione could only call happiness and her smile was a friendly smile, not a sneer that was about to throw insults into Hermione’s face.

As they both stared at each other, Hermione noticed that Pansy’s smile faltered for a split second, before it came back even brighter. “Granger?” She asked before Amanda could say anything. “Hermione Granger?”

“Hello Parkinson.” Hermione said in an unsure tone. Pansy sounded happy, almost excited, to see Hermione. Almost like they were best friends at one time that had been separated somehow and now finally being reuinited.

“You… look different.” Pansy said, looking Hermione up and down. “Did the war change you as well?”

“I guess you could say that.” Hermione answered quietly. There was no way this was Pansy Parkinson. Somebody must have knocked out the real Pansy, taken a strand of her hair, and used it in a polyjuice potion. Either that, or the world was coming to an end. She didn’t hope for the latter.

“Well… why don’t you come inside my office.” Pansy opened the door more, thanked Amanda, and then led Hermione inside. “You can sit if you want.” Pansy said, pointing to one of the chairs in front of her desk, before walking around her desk and taking a seat in her chair. Hermione took a seat and then pulled out her notepad and pen before looking back up at Pansy. Pansy was staring at Hermione with an expression she couldn’t quite read.

“I guess we’ll start with questions about how you got started in the clothing business.” Hermione clicked her pen and put her notebook on her lap after she crossed her legs, then looked up at Pansy. Pansy, however, was still staring at Hermione. Her smile was no longer as bright as it was before, although it was still visible. Her expression was confused. “Parkinson?”

Pansy suddenly looked away and cleared her throat, laughing slightly. “I’m sorry.” She said looking back up at Hermione. “It’s just weird looking at you?”

“Weird?” Hermione asked, getting somewhat offended.

Pansy looked sorry as soon as Hermione spoke. “I didn’t mean it like that.” She said quickly. “It’s just I’ve spent the past couple of days preparing myself for the same old Hermione Granger, bookworm, teacher’s pet, and all around goody goody two shoes Gryffindor. But looking at you now… you seem… different.” Hermione stared back at Pansy, not knowing what to say.

Finally deciding that Pansy wasn’t going to be nasty and she shouldn’t be either, Hermione finally smiled back. “Thank you.” She said quietly. “You look different to if I don’t say so myself.”

Pansy smiled brightly. “Thank you. I guess I owe it all to this shop, and the war of course. If it wasn’t for the war opening my eyes I probably never would have been able to open this place.”

“How did you get this place, anyway? It’s lovely and from what I have seen, so is the clothing. The atmosphere is amazing as well.”

Pansy laughed slightly. “A very good friend of mine gave me a loan.”

Hermione nodded, taking notes as she continued to ask Pansy questions. Not once did she ever consider to think any further into what Pansy had said. Never once did she put the pieces together to figure out which one of Pansy’s friends would be able to give her a big enough loan so she could buy the shop.

After about an hour and a half of interviewing, Pansy finally sighed and leaned back in her chair as Hermione started packing up her stuff. “So, Granger-“

“Hermione… please.”

Pansy smiled. “Hermione. How long are you planning on staying?”

Hermione sighed. “Well, my boss wanted me to take a vacation, but I’m not so sure if I’m going to.”

“Why?”

“Well, I have no place to stay and I don’t really want to stay in The Leaky Cauldron for the two weeks I’m supposed to be here. I’ll probably just end up going back home to Australia. I can’t really stay anyway. I have my cat at home and he needs to be taken care of.”

“I’m in the same position you’re in, in a way.” Pansy said. “I would love a two week vacation, but I can’t with the shop. I mean, I can have my assistant manager run it, but he has another job and this is only his second priority. Amanda could probably run it, but she would need some help just a couple hours a day. She can’t run the whole thing on her own.” Pansy sighed and bit her lip, studying her desk, lost in thoughts. They both sat in silence for a couple seconds before Pansy finally jumped a couple feet in the air and looked at Hermione with a bright smile.

“What?” Hermione asked.

“Your boss wants you to take a vacation but you can’t because you have no place to stay and you need somebody to watch your cat, right?”

“Yeah….”

“And I want to take a vacation but I can’t because of my shop. So… why don’t we just switch lives for those two weeks?!” Pansy yelled suddenly really excited.

“Switch lives?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah! I’ll go to your house and stay there for the two weeks, taking care of your cat while your away and you can stay here in London at my place. All you have to do is come and double check on things for me for a couple hours each day. It’s like a free vacation!”

“I don’t know…-“

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!” Hermione looked at Pansy and couldn’t help but think that maybe she was right. She would have a free home to stay in for the next two weeks. She could have plenty of time to herself and she would be able to catch back up with the world she left several months ago. And poor Pansy. She must be so stressed with work and practically doing all this by herself. Not only would she be doing herself a favor, but she would be doing Pansy a favor as well. “Well…?”

Hermione sighed before smiling and nodding at Pansy. Pansy suddenly jumped up from her seat and crossed her desk, catching Hermione off guard by enveloping her in a hug. Hermione hugged her back, thinking nothing could go wrong.

If only she knew how wrong she actually was.