Back to School…
Disclaimer: I know I forgot to put it on my other story… but obviously I don't own Harry Potter or anything related, except the plot in this story.
(A/N Hi. Ok I hope you like this story; I'll try to make it not too much of a cliché… Suggestions are helpful and reviews appreciated. Thanks!)
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. SLAM. Hermione woke up to the sound of the alarm clock and involuntarily hit it. What a way to start the day. She pulled herself out of bed and stumbled over to her trunk to get her robes. Groggily, she put them on and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
It was the first week back at Hogwarts for her 7th year. Voldemort had been defeated by Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione during the summer and the Deatheaters were locked away in Azkaban. Their new Headmaster, or in this case Headmistress, was Professor McGonagall. They also had a new Potions Master after Snape ran off with Voldemort and was put in Azkaban. Her name was Lucille Jennings and was surprisingly young; only 27. The male population thought she was the best thing that happened to Hogwarts. Professor Jennings and the Headmistress strode into breakfast talking amiably. After all, Lucille was McGonagall's granddaughter.
Hermione sat down next to Ginny and Ron. As usual, the boys were focused on eating and Ginny looked extremely bored. "'Morning Hermione," She said happily.
"Good morning Gin," Hermione said as she took a delicious-looking cinnamon roll of the platter and put it on her plate. "Are you signed up for any exciting classes this year?"
"No not really. What about you, which are you taking?" Hermione proceeded to tell her every class she was taking and what it involved. Ginny was not particularly enthralled by the conversation. "Wait, that's too many classes, how will that work?"
"Well, I've decided to check out the books and teach myself a couple of the courses. Won't that be exciting?"
"Yeah, if you enjoy having no time to do anything else for the rest of the year…" Ginny said and trailed off. Hermione just ate her cinnamon roll and sipped her hot chocolate that had magically appeared in her cup.
After breakfast, they all headed to their fist class. "Oh well this should be fun, double potions with the Slytherins," Hermione thought grudgingly. The only thing that made Potions bearable was that there was no more Snape to be unfair to the Gryffindors.
Hermione walked into the classroom and sat next to Draco Malfoy. Professor Jennings believed in seating charts, so she was stuck with the arrogant Slytherin.
"Hello class," Professor Jennings said and the students silenced. "Today we will be making a very powerful potion. It is called Unsichtbar, which causes the drinker to become invisible to everyone around them for two hours. The ingredients and directions are on the board."
"Get them, Mudblood," Draco said as Jennings concluded.
"Mr. Malfoy, fifteen points from Slytherin and detention for a week. Now get back to your potion," she said. Draco was in shock, never had he been given detention in potions, this was outrageous!
Hermione smiled. "I think you should go get them, Malfoy." Draco grumbled to himself and got the ingredients. He put his hand in the jar of dragon tongues and pulled one out, almost gagging. Next, he picked up the body of a decapitated rat. He put them on a tray before retrieving a spoonful of ogre saliva and putting it in a cup. Draco collected the vials of parsley, pepper, sawdust, unicorn blood, and pollen. Finally, he grabbed the last item, four human eyeballs, and quickly deposited them on the tray. The blonde Slytherin stalked back to Hermione.
"Here you go, Mudblood," he spat.
"Mister Malfoy," the Professor drawled, "that will be another twenty points from your house. You might want to consider what you say before you lose all your house points." All the Slytherins glared at him.
"You know Malfoy, the same insult for seven years is pathetic. Can't you think of something new?" Hermione asked while preparing the cauldron. Draco ignored her.
They were brewing their potions and it was time to put the pollen in. Neville was walking back to his partner with the top off and tripped over the tile of the dungeon floor. It looked like it was in slow motion; it flew right onto Malfoy's face and sent him into a fit of sneezes. Apparently he was allergic to pollen. Hermione found this very funny, as did the rest of the Gryffindors. The Slytherins weren't amused.
"Miss Granger, please escort Mister Malfoy to the hospital wing and see if they can fix his," the professor paused, "problem." The class laughed, including some of the Slytherins. "Mister Zabini, please refrain from disturbing the class. That will be five points from your house." The Gryffindors loved this. After six years of the Slytherins being favored by Snape, they were finally getting what they deserved. They stored their potions and let the boil for the next two days and continued them. There were no particular incidents that followed; they had learned that this teacher wasn't going to let the Slytherins get away with things like they were used to.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione were in a particularly good mood for the rest of the week. They hoped the favoring would continue, and it did.
About a month later, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all sitting in the Common Room working on homework. Harry seemed fidgety and nobody knew why. He suddenly got up, dragging Ginny with him. She looked confused. Harry led her to the Room of Requirement and they stepped inside. It was a small, cozy room with a cackling fireplace in the middle. There was a squishy couch in front of it. They sat down awkwardly.
"Ginny, I can't stand it anymore. I still love you. Now that Voldemort is gone, I would really like it if you were my girlfriend, if you still wanted me that is," Harry said, trailing off.
Ginny sighed. "Harry, I'm really sorry, but…" Harry looked heartbroken. "Actually, I was just kidding. I would really like to be your girlfriend, and I've missed you," she said laughing. Harry seemed extremely relieved. "I think we should go back and finish our homework; I have an essay to write that could take me all night."
They interlocked fingers and went back. Their friends were surprised, but happy. Harry wanted it to be a complete surprise so nobody knew about him asking Ginny out. Soon it was dinner time. They headed down to the Great Hall and waited for the food to appear on the platters. Headmistress McGonagall stood up and asked for silence.
"As many of you know, we will be having a Halloween feast in a week. But what you don't know is that at the end of November, we will be having an Autumn Masquerade Ball. It will be for fourth years and above. Everyone will be required to have a mask. We have planned a trip to Hogsmeade in three weeks for you to get your ball attire. I am expecting good behavior," she said, looking at the Slytherins.
The girls were talking amongst themselves. They were excited for it. The boys? Not so much. Hermione groaned; there would be talk of nothing else for the next month…
(A/N Like it? Hate it? Suggestions? Please review! Until next time…0.Black.Roses.0)