The Missing Link

A Weekend Home

Hermione soon became sick of the glassy-eyed girls waiting outside their classroom whenever they had classes with the Slytherins. Time and time again she had restrained herself from docking points from the houses of all the stupid fangirls. She was going to raise that issue at the prefect meeting they were conducting tonight.

She realized that night that almost everyone was a fangirl. It seemed like it was only she, Ginny and Luna who weren't going all googly-eyes all over the newly-revealed Prince. (Ginny didn't like the idea of the royal family being used like a trophy, and she already had the Hero of the Wizarding World, so why would she want just a Prince? Luna had eyes only for Ron, who still seemed too dense to notice; and Hermione was still quite preoccupied with looking for Drake even after all these years)

"…get married, you know." Hermione overheard a conversation as she passed by a classroom. Who in their right mind would talk about marriage while they were still in school? She decided to eavesdrop, in order to be able to tell McGonagall a full report about this.

"So, will you marry me?" the male voice said.

"You know I have my plans, Your Majesty," the girl said, emphasizing the last two words. Oh, so it's Draco.

"Come on, Pansy, not you too," Draco groaned. "I'm still the Draco you know. Why won't you agree to marrying me?"

"First of all, Draco, we are too young," Pansy replied.

"They don't care," Draco insisted. "The king's dying. If I'm going to rule, I need someone to rule by my side. I want you to be my queen. If not, they'll marry me off to someone I don't know."

"Why not let Cassie rule?" Pansy asked.

"Really, Pansy? You think I'd agree to rule by my sister Cassiopeia?" Draco asked with a chuckle. "That's incest, considering I'd have to produce an heir with her. Besides she's still in Asia. She was when we went into hiding, and Her Majesty won't let her come back. She's doing charity work there."

Pansy sighed.

"Why won't you agree?" Draco asked. "They're rushing me into this and you're the only one I see fit to be Crown Princess."

"They may be rushing you, but you can't rush me as well," Pansy retorted. "You know my dreams, Draco. You know that I want to get out of here. You know I want to fly to Russia and train to be a professional dancer."

"But Pansy I…I love you. I want you to be my wife and queen," Draco pleaded.

"I know that," she replied honestly. "And you are my king. But if you really love me, you will let me be queen of my own kingdom. Can you really tie me down and force me into that palace forever? You know how I like to be free to do whatever I want to do."

At this, Draco was at a loss for words. Hermione peeked in slightly and saw the look in Draco's eyes.

"Poor Prince," Hermione whispered sarcastically. At that moment her Head Girl badge beeped. It was a sign that she was needed at the meeting.

"Who's there?" Draco called. Hermione began walking quickly. "Stop." She stopped abruptly and heard Draco's shoes clicking on the marble. On the count of three, then. One, two, three. And she ran for her life as fast as her legs could take her.

"…and that concludes our meeting for tonight," McGonagall finished after around an hour of reminding the prefects of what they already know. "You may all go do your rounds."

There was a loud shuffling of feet as the prefects began standing up and leaving the room. Hermione was distracted as the scene she witnessed an hour ago flew past her mind.