Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, or the fairy tales unfortunately.

Warning: None

A/N: Okay, so I was in a real mood to do a humour and I know I should finish my ones that I haven’t finished but meh, I felt like writing this one!

It Was An Accident

If you’ve never read a fairy tale, then you would not understand why a girl sometimes desires to be swept of her feet by her knight in shining armour. It is her greatest dream to be rescued from dangerous situations and be a damsel in distress. Her hero must be handsome, and maybe even be a prince; of course she doesn’t find that out until the end...

There is one girl, however, who never cared for such things. She would read every book her little hands could find, but the fairy tales she read were too unrealistic for her taste. Her practical mind scoffed at young ladies being stolen by dragons and being enchanted by ugly, old witches. She found it rather irritating that it was always the females being kidnapped, as though they were too weak to protect themselves. The whole idea was just ridiculous.

It seemed things had not changed…

“But Hermione, don’t you think it would be wonderful to be rescued by a handsome prince, just like Rapunzel?” A pretty red head said energetically, her expressive brown eyes alight with the fire of romance. “I’d love to have my very own knight in shining armour.”

Hermione scoffed as she placed a large and dusty book back on the rickety shelves. “No, I don’t. I think it would be highly inconvenient. Not to mention having that horrible, long hair and being kept in a tower all your life.”

“But it’s so romantic!” said the red head wistfully. “Just think, you wait all that time to be rescued and then suddenly a handsome prince astride a white stallion comes to save you. Then you kiss and live happily ever after.”

Hermione laughed slightly, “You’re too romantic Ginny. Now do stop prattling on about those silly fairy tales and help me find this book.”

Ginny sighed, “Okay, but you know, it’s such a lovely day, why waste it inside this musty old library?”

Hermione gave Ginny a very hard stare. She loved the library very much and practically viewed the place as sacred.

Ginny seemed to have noticed that she had offended her bookish friend and quickly stood up. “Well, I only seem to be in your way. I think I’ll go see what Luna is doing.”

Hermione watched as Ginny left the library and shook her head slightly. Though they were good friends, they did not have that much in common. Ginny was vivacious, sporty and liked by just about everybody, not to mention she was stunningly pretty. Hermione, on the other-hand, was bookish, a know-it-all, had bushy brown hair of no extraordinary colour and her figure was neither athletic, nor curvaceous. Her eyes were her only real asset, being an almost honey brown with a gentle depth to them.

Despite not having much to offer in the way of looks, Hermione never minded how people compared her to other girls. She was intelligent and had two great friends. Good looks were hardly anything to boast about when you were old and wrinkly.

With a slight shrug, Hermione continued to search the shelves. Her eyes fell on a very fat book with faded gold writing on its spine. Curious, Hermione pulled out the book and blew of the dust that blanketed the cover.

“The Happily Ever After Quests” She read aloud.

“Hermione!” A voice said loudly from behind her, making her jump practically out of her skin. The book fell with a clatter to the floor and Hermione turned around to face the intruder.

“Harry!” She exclaimed startled, “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

She hated how Ron and Harry always managed to give her frights. They were always sneaking up on her in the library (unintentionally, of course) and making her drop things. If only they would announce their presence in a not so startling way…

Harry gave an apologetic look but whatever he was about to say was cut off as a blinding flash of light surrounded them, followed by a loud humming noise.

“What’s going on?” She heard Harry mumble in shock.

Hermione looked around in panic and noticed the book she had dropped glowing with an almost unearthly light. It appeared that the book had opened from the fall and had somehow activated some special magic because of it.

“Oh no.” Hermione exclaimed horrified.

“What?” Harry said distracted. “What’s wrong?”

“I think we’re about to find out.” Hermione muttered before she felt her body being swallowed by the light in a painful feeling, much like when you disapparate. The world was dissolving around her and she briefly saw a glimpse of a rather startled student, before everything went a blinding white.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Hermione opened her eyes and rubbed her head slightly, pausing when she saw a girl wearing a red cape go skipping by. Quickly, Hermione scrambled off the ground and ran towards the girl. “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

The girl cocked her head to the side and smiled, “Why, you’re in the Eternal Wood, of course.”

Hermione frowned. She had never heard of this place before and it seemed Harry had vanished too.

“Um, have you seen a boy with messy, black hair and green eyes go walking by?”

The girl shook her head, “Nope. But I saw a wolf just before. I’m off to see my grandma, to give her some treats packed by Mama.”

“A wolf?” Hermione said startled. Was it possible that this was Little Red Riding Hood? If this was the case, the poor grandma was going to be in definite danger and probably eaten by now.

“May I walk with you until I find my friend?” Hermione asked. She didn’t think it was good to let the girl go in these woods by herself.

The girl nodded and Hermione was soon glancing warily about the forest. She felt her pocket and gasped when she realised her wand had gone; this place had obviously taken away her magic, for she knew she had her wand on her when she came into the book and there was no sign of it anywhere…

The girl, who told Hermione her name was Elise, chatted innocently about little things here and there, while clutching a basket of goodies in her little hands. Hermione responded to her absently, trying to ignore the feelings of worry creeping in her stomach; she had still seen not a glimpse of Harry.

“Here we are.” Elise said with a cheerful smile. “This is my grandma’s house. You can come in if you like?”

Hermione stared at the naïve girl, her mind practically fighting with conflicting thoughts. On one hand she was worried that the little girl might get eaten by a wolf, on the other hand, she needed to find Harry and get out of this place.

“Maybe just for a little while.” Hermione said giving in to the pleading expression in the little girl’s eyes. Elise instantly beamed and grabbed Hermione’s hand, pulling her towards the cosy cottage. A small sign that said ‘Grandma’s house’ was stuck in the rich dirt where little, pink flowers peeped up to add to the homely atmosphere. Hermione thought the place was quite picturesque, but she still couldn’t stop the niggling worry growing inside her. It was just too much of a coincidence that this girl should be wearing a red cape and had seen a wolf.

“I know Grandma will be pleased to meet you.” Elise exclaimed happily as she knocked on the door. When nobody answered she frowned.

“Maybe we should go?” Hermione said hopefully. “Your Grandma is obviously not home.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Elise said confidently. “She’s unwell, so she’s probably too sick to get out of bed.”

Hermione sighed as the girl opened the door and walked in, leaving her no choice but to follow. She glanced about suspiciously, praying inwardly that no wolf was going to appear. She couldn’t remember every detail about the fairy tale, but she was sure that the wolf dressed up as the Grandma…. now if only she could remember just how the wolf was stopped.

“Grandma!” Elise called as she walked through the house, placing her little basket of goodies on the little table. “GRANDMA!”

“I’m in here, dear.” A muffled voice said from behind a closed door. Elise opened the door and walked in, her eyes going wide as she stared at her grandma. Hermione walked in and felt her breath catch. She could already see by the large ears, long nose and hairy face that this was no little, old lady.

“Stay back!” Hermione ordered, pulling Elise behind her. The wolf stood up, the pink nightgown and cap clashing terribly with its matted fur. It growled slightly, showing very pointed teeth. Hermione couldn’t help but think of the stupid lines going through her head that she remembered in the fairy tale. Too bad for this wolf that she already figured out its plan, for she was no naïve, little girl.

“Why’d you have to spoil my fun?” The wolf snapped irritably. Hermione could only stare at the completely, ridiculous situation she was in. There was a wolf pretending to be an old lady, a little girl who was so naïve it was quite scary, and here she was, somehow having to be the hero in this mad situation.

“Do you honestly think anyone would fall for that trick?” Hermione asked scornfully, plucking up her Gryffindor courage. No magic or not, she was not going to let this wolf eat her, or the little girl.

The wolf grinned and walked towards her, failing miserably to look intimidating in the ridiculous outfit. “Well, it seems you are not as foolish to fall for my trick, but no matter. I’ll still eat you anyway!”

Elise squealed as the wolf lunged towards her, but Hermione quickly pushed her out of the way. She ran towards the bed, picking up the battered walked cane lying on the floor and started bashing the wolf with it. The wolf let out a bloodcurdling growl and tried to bite her leg, but she quickly dodged its attack, falling with a hard thump to the ground as she lost her balance.

“ELISE, GET OUT OF HERE!” Hermione bellowed at the fear-stricken girl, as she tried to kick the wolf away from her. Suddenly, someone smashed through the window, axe in hand, and hit the wolf square in the head. Hermione could only watch with wide eyes as blood splattered all over her. The wolf collapsed to the ground dead, and Hermione had barely enough time to sigh in relief before Elise hurtled into her, clutching her for dear life. Hermione placed her arms around the frightened girl and looked up to her hero, only to see familiar messy black hair and striking green eyes.

“Harry!” She exclaimed with relief. Harry put down the bloody axe and collapsed next to her, his breathing coming raggedly as if he was trying to catch his breath.

“So glad you’re okay.” Harry panted as he sat by her side, resting his head against the wall.

“How did you know where we were?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“I heard you shouting. I figured you were in trouble and there was this axe just sitting next to me, so I decided to grab it and just ran.”

“That was good timing.” Elise said shyly. “We could have been eaten otherwise.”

Harry was about to speak when they heard a muffled cry from the cupboard. Hermione frowned and looked at Harry.

“What was that?” Hermione asked warily. Harry stood up, picking up the axe again, and walked over to the cupboard. He took a deep breath and then pulled the handle, letting the door open. All three of them screamed as something fell out of the cupboard.

“GRANDMA!” Elise shouted. Hermione stared at the old woman now lying on the ground; her mouth gagged and ropes binding her whole body. She was glad that little bit had changed in the story; goodness knows she did not particularly feel like cutting open the wolf to get the grandma out.

Harry quickly untied the ropes and pulled out the gag, helping the little, old lady get to her feet.

“Goodness me, that’s the wolf who tried to impersonate me!” The grandma said with a surprised look at the dead wolf on the ground. Hermione nodded and stood next to Harry.

“He was going to eat your granddaughter, but don’t worry, we stopped him.”

“Oh, well, however can I thank you? You not only saved me, but also my dear Elise. Please, why don’t you take a biscuit for all your trouble?”

Harry raised his eyebrow at Hermione but took the biscuit with a polite thank you. Hermione followed suit.

“We really should be going.” Harry said with a pointed expression at Hermione. Hermione nodded and smiled down at Elise.

“You be good now, okay? No talking to strangers that you meet in the woods.”

“I won’t.” Elise said firmly.

“Thank you again, and take care.” The grandma said with a cherry smile. Hermione and Harry both waved, nodding their heads to the old woman and the young girl as they left the house. Once outside, Harry started laughing to himself until he was sniggering uncontrollably.

“What’s so funny?” Hermione asked with a frown. She had found nothing funny at all about being nearly eaten by a wolf, even if it was a gender-confused one.

Harry laughed again, his green eyes lighting up with amusement. “We save her from being eaten by a wolf and she gives us a biscuit.”

“Oh.” Hermione said, catching on. “You’re right, that is quite funny, but then what were you expecting? A golden egg?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I just found it funny that she thought it was a great reward.”

Hermione sighed at Harry and continued to walk back through the beaten path in the Eternal Woods. Somehow they were stuck in a world of fairy tales, but the question was how were they going to get back to their world?

“Harry,” Hermione began as she looked at her friend. “You do realise where we are, right?”

Harry frowned to himself, his green eyes clouding over as he pondered her words. “I think we’ve been somehow transported into some magical world that is not our own, only we don’t have magic.”

Hermione shook her head, “That’s not what I meant. Don’t you remember reading the story of ‘Little Red Riding Hood?’”

Harry ran a hand through his already messy hair and looked at her through his emerald green eyes. “Only vaguely. I never really got to read much in the way of books when I was younger. Uncle Vernon wouldn’t let me have a library card, and at school I was mostly being chased by Dudley and his friends so….” Harry trailed off and frowned at her. “Why?”

“Because that is the story that just happened. Of course a few minor details were changed with us being here, but you get the point. Somehow we are trapped in a world of muggle fairy tales.”

“So…what do we do then?” Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged and rubbed her eyelids. “I’m not sure, but if we stick together I should be able to get us through this until we figure out a way to get back. I just hope we don’t run into some of the more nasty fairy tales.”

Harry silently nodded, and together they walked deeper into the forest, completely unaware of what strange adventures lay ahead in the land of Eternal Enchantment.