Hermione was squirming in her seat; every now and then sneaking a glance at the worn sheet of parchment under the desk. Ginny was two points ahead, for fuck's sake. However that little devil got the words out of him. She was related to the mischievous twins after all. Her own blank table mocked her next to the red crosses. At least these were the only key words that she got from him. Maybe, Hermione thought, she should change tactics and act a little more like the red-head.
Constructing the tables for one another, proof-reading them and exchanging words between them had given Hermione the feeling that this was a fair game, when she now realized it was not. With Ginny adding as many sexually connotated phrases as possible, the uptight bookworm was seeing her disadvantage all the clearer now. But she had to do something about this. So far
they were even - Snape was the match point. And she would not be losing to Ginny, if she could not help it. Not with what was at stake. The drunken vow had been a terrible mistake she regretted deeply. Losing was not an option.
Again she checked the paper. The five times five chart had already yellowed from its frequent perusal. They had been at it for a week now. None of the previous games had taken them this long. While Hermione had expected this to drag far longer and hoped that they would not finish until she graduated, Ginny had enthusiastically thrown herself into the task of getting Severus Snape to say things such as 'dripping wet' and 'rock hard' during her lessons with him. Unfortunately Ginnys words were even in a row.
Now Hermione felt pressured to score the next point in their not do innocent game of teachers bingo. The word she had marked as most likely to be outspoken was 'cream', and this was where she wanted to start at now.
They were preparing for an altered version of Calming Draught which held the pleasant side-effect of warming one's body and was commonly used to treat shock. For once however, Hermione did not mind the content of her lesson. The potion was extremely volatile during a certain stage of brewing and would take on any colour that was added to it during that stage. At the same time, depending on the added ingredient it would vary from a mild bubbling and boiling to exploding within seconds.
The vial with actual cream in hand Hermione was hoping for the best when she let a single droplet fall into her cauldron. Mesmerized she watched the greenish liquid turn a murky shade of white, swelling inside the kettle and bubbling to the rim. The lid shut it with a loud clang, snapping Hermione out of her hypnotic stare, only to fix on the burning black gaze of her Proffessor in an even more panicked manner. The rest of the lesson had been in a haze. She heard him subtracting a generous amount of points, proclaiming an inhumane detention and that was it. If there were any ridicules on his part she did not hear them anymore.
The creamy colour of her botched potion seemed to habe faded into her brain, dulling her senses and thoughts. With a sinking feeling Hermione mechanically went through her schedule. It was only an hour before the first detention in the evening that she came to her senses once more.
Staring at her reflection in the charmed mirror the superficial piece of glass was ranting on and on about her displeasing looks. '... honestly, if we weren't at the girls dormitory, I'd doubt you're a woman at all'
Hermione was used to ignoring the scathing remarks of the nasty piece, but its rude remark had lit a spark inside her and she could almost see the light appearing above her head much like in a comic strip. "That's it", she exclaimed, startling the mirror into silence. With a frown she looked at her watch before an expression of grim determination crossed her face. "So, Mirror. Now is your chance. What do I have to do to look like a woman?" ...
