Demons by ~* Midnight *~
"Ron.. please! Wait..." Hermione cried. He looked back at
her with an intense hate.
"You've made your point Hermione. Isn't that enough? Do you
have to attack my family too?" he growled angrily.
Hermione felt her hot tears. "No Ron, I'm sorry! Just wait
and..."
"Wait and what?!" Ron cut her off. "I don't know what's gotten into
you Hermione, but I want nothing to do with it!"
Ron stomped away and Hermione stood there in shock of herself.
Malfoy's laugh echoed in her head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
::GASP::
Hermione sat up and placed her hand on her chest. Her heart
thumped in the quiet darkness of the Gryffindor common room. She
shivered and slowly fell back onto her bed. Five nights filled
of nightmares. Hermione shifted under her bed covers and decided to
stay awake the rest of the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Finish your homework Harry?" Ron asked during breakfast.
"As much as I could. I had to study for our history exam. Who knew
the elf protest of 1980 could be so much fun?" he joked.
"Heh. Hey, where's Hermione?" Ron asked a bit worried.
"I don't know. She spent hours studying advanced potions so I
guess she's still a bit worn out." he replied.
Ron was about to answer when Hermione came down the steps into
the Great Hall. Her eyes were tired and red and she yawned groggily
as she took a seat by Ron.
"What rock did you crawl out from?" Ron asked kiddingly.
"Haha." Hermione said sarcastically. "I'm just so tired; I
couldn't sleep at all last night. See I had this bad dream and..."
Hermione said before drifting off.
"Well, so much for conversation. Help me carry her to class Harry?"
Ron said.
They laughed and helped Hermione to Herbiology.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione barely managed through the seemingly endless day. She was
in her last class; potions. Today they were learning to make a hard
White Spirits potion. It was supposed to make a person more sincere
but somewhat stupider. 'The perfect potion for Malfoy' she thought.
For this project they worked in 3's. So Hermione, Ron, and Harry
were together.
"Done peeling the frog's skin Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yup. Let me just get the rat's fur..." Harry said as he left to
get the supplies up front; thus leaving Ron and Hermione to talk.
"So Ron..." Hermione said uneasily. "HaveIdoneanythingreally
meantoyouthatwouldmakeyouhateme?" she said in a hurry.
"Say that again?" he asked confusedly.
"Nevermind." she sighed.
Harry returned to add the final ingredient to the cauldron.
"Alright, enough for today." Snape said grumpily. "Take a vile
from the back and fill it up with some potion. Attach your group's
names onto it and pass them up front."
Malfoy saw this as a great oppurtunity to create some problems. As Ron
handed it to Parvati, Malfoy "accidentally" bumped his hand and
the potion fell and splashed on the ground. Harry had already poured out
the rest of the potion.
"Malfoy, I oughtta..." Ron growled at him.
"Oops, sorry weasel. It was an accident after all..." Malfoy smirked.
Snape found out about the "accident" from Hermione and said that Malfoy
had to make a potion that night for the spilled one. Malfoy was quite angry,
but he had a plan. 'Let's see how Hermione will like a Black Spirits potion'
he thought wickedly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day in Snape's class, the students had to test their potions.
Malfoy approached Hermione.
"Here's your potion, mudblood." Malfoy said.
Hermione shot him a mean look, but Ron came along. "What's the matter now
Malfoy?" he asked irritedly.
Malfoy backed away mockingly. "Better protect that girlfriend of yours
Weasel." Malfoy said before walking away. Ron went red with anger and
embarassment; so did Hermione.
"Okay class. First up is Potter's group. Who'll be testing the potion
Malfoy made up?" Snape asked.
Harry was about to stand up when Malfoy stood and said, "I think Granger
should be the one to try it. She's the brain so she should be able to decide
if it's okay." he said. Snape agreed wholeheartedly (if he had a heart).
Ron was going to protest, but Hermione stood and snapped open the top of
the vile. The steam poured out and made her nose crinkle. She took a deep
breath and swallowed the liquid. Her mind was swimming all about and her
vision blurred. "Oooh..." Hermione said before passing out.
"Malfoy what've you done to her?!" Harry demanded.
"It's a normal side effect. Take her to the nurse Weasley." Snape smirked.
Ron glared at Malfoy and helped Hermione to the office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours later, Hermione awoke; now in the Gryffindor common room. She got up
slowly from the armchair and walked around.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ron said as he hugged her.
She shoved him away and looked at him shrewdly. "Fine until you arrived.
Do you mind telling me what I'm doing here with an idiot like you?" she
said meanly.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked bewildered.
Hermione laughed and left the room towards the Great Hall.
Malfoy hurried to her and stood in front of Hermione. She looked at him
for a while before saying hello. Malfoy smirked when he saw the demons
working inside her.
Ron came bounding down the steps and placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.
She turned around and delivered a swift slap to his face. The Great Hall
went silent and Harry observed curiously.
"Don't touch me Weasley." Hermione sneered.
Ron rubbed his face and glowered at her now. "Can you just tell me what in
the world I did to deserve this?" he inquired.
Hermione felt anger build up in her for no reason. She had no control over
herself now and couldn't stop what she was going to say. "The fact that you
are poor, stupid, and hopeless as a person is one thing, but to have your
whole family be just as worthless as yourself is just plain bad. You give
Hogwarts a bad name."
The students gasped at the harsh words and the Slytherins laughed amongst
themselves. Ron looked into Hermione's eyes that instant and she could
see the pain the flooded him inside. The potion's effect waved off her
then and she realized what she told him. He started to walk away.
"Ron... please! Wait..." Hermione cried.
"You've made your point Hermione. Isn't that enough? Do you have to
attack my family too?" Ron growled angrily.
Those tears she feared those last night crept down her face. "No Ron, I'm
sorry! Just wait and..."
"Wait and what?!" Ron interrupted. Malfoy broke into laughter and before
Ron could finish, Hermione bolted up to the Gryffindor common room and
to her bed. She curled up cried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was quiet and Hermione didn't show up for any of her classes.
Ron refused to talk about the day before and talked as though it hadn't
happened with Harry. Harry was worried that their friendship was really
falling apart. They walked together to potions.
"I have an announcment. I've studied the vile in which Granger drank from
and it seems Malfoy had "accidently" made a Black Spirits potion. It's the
opposite of the White Spirits and causes one to be braver and smarter at the
expense of their sincerity. Of course, it was all a simple mistake so..."
Ron burst out angrily; not only at Snape and Malfoy, but at himself. "Mis-
take nothing! He did it intentionally just because HE ruined OUR project
and SHE told Snape! Why you cheap son of a..." Ron started to say.
"20 points from Gryffindor" Snape announced. "Take your seat Weasley."
Ron instead glared at Snape and Malfoy and headed out the door. 'Oh God
Hermione...' he thought to himself. Ron hurried up the steps, said the
password, and went straight to Hermione. He found her sitting by the window
looking outside sadly.
"Hermione..." Ron said.
She looked up with her beautiful piercing eyes. "Ron?" she managed to
squeak out.
Ron looked down at the rug. "Malfoy made a Black Spirits potion. You
couldn't help it could you Hermione?" Ron asked.
Hermione looked at how ashamed he was. She bit her lip. "No, I tried to
tell you..."
"I know" he said. "I'm sorry. I just need to know one thing. Do you really
truly feel that way towards me? I mean, am I really that dumb and hopeless?"
he asked sadly.
Hermione stood up. "No! You're not in anyway any of those things. You make
me laugh, you're clever, a great friend... Ron you're fine!" she said as she
threw her arms around his neck.
He looked down at her and into her eyes. Hermione didn't see the pain any-
more. Instead she saw his relief and joy that she felt. Ron gathered his
courage and said, "prove it."
Hermione smiled and gave him what might've been the sweetest kiss. And
what they had, no demons could destroy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ron.. please! Wait..." Hermione cried. He looked back at
her with an intense hate.
"You've made your point Hermione. Isn't that enough? Do you
have to attack my family too?" he growled angrily.
Hermione felt her hot tears. "No Ron, I'm sorry! Just wait
and..."
"Wait and what?!" Ron cut her off. "I don't know what's gotten into
you Hermione, but I want nothing to do with it!"
Ron stomped away and Hermione stood there in shock of herself.
Malfoy's laugh echoed in her head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
::GASP::
Hermione sat up and placed her hand on her chest. Her heart
thumped in the quiet darkness of the Gryffindor common room. She
shivered and slowly fell back onto her bed. Five nights filled
of nightmares. Hermione shifted under her bed covers and decided to
stay awake the rest of the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Finish your homework Harry?" Ron asked during breakfast.
"As much as I could. I had to study for our history exam. Who knew
the elf protest of 1980 could be so much fun?" he joked.
"Heh. Hey, where's Hermione?" Ron asked a bit worried.
"I don't know. She spent hours studying advanced potions so I
guess she's still a bit worn out." he replied.
Ron was about to answer when Hermione came down the steps into
the Great Hall. Her eyes were tired and red and she yawned groggily
as she took a seat by Ron.
"What rock did you crawl out from?" Ron asked kiddingly.
"Haha." Hermione said sarcastically. "I'm just so tired; I
couldn't sleep at all last night. See I had this bad dream and..."
Hermione said before drifting off.
"Well, so much for conversation. Help me carry her to class Harry?"
Ron said.
They laughed and helped Hermione to Herbiology.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione barely managed through the seemingly endless day. She was
in her last class; potions. Today they were learning to make a hard
White Spirits potion. It was supposed to make a person more sincere
but somewhat stupider. 'The perfect potion for Malfoy' she thought.
For this project they worked in 3's. So Hermione, Ron, and Harry
were together.
"Done peeling the frog's skin Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yup. Let me just get the rat's fur..." Harry said as he left to
get the supplies up front; thus leaving Ron and Hermione to talk.
"So Ron..." Hermione said uneasily. "HaveIdoneanythingreally
meantoyouthatwouldmakeyouhateme?" she said in a hurry.
"Say that again?" he asked confusedly.
"Nevermind." she sighed.
Harry returned to add the final ingredient to the cauldron.
"Alright, enough for today." Snape said grumpily. "Take a vile
from the back and fill it up with some potion. Attach your group's
names onto it and pass them up front."
Malfoy saw this as a great oppurtunity to create some problems. As Ron
handed it to Parvati, Malfoy "accidentally" bumped his hand and
the potion fell and splashed on the ground. Harry had already poured out
the rest of the potion.
"Malfoy, I oughtta..." Ron growled at him.
"Oops, sorry weasel. It was an accident after all..." Malfoy smirked.
Snape found out about the "accident" from Hermione and said that Malfoy
had to make a potion that night for the spilled one. Malfoy was quite angry,
but he had a plan. 'Let's see how Hermione will like a Black Spirits potion'
he thought wickedly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day in Snape's class, the students had to test their potions.
Malfoy approached Hermione.
"Here's your potion, mudblood." Malfoy said.
Hermione shot him a mean look, but Ron came along. "What's the matter now
Malfoy?" he asked irritedly.
Malfoy backed away mockingly. "Better protect that girlfriend of yours
Weasel." Malfoy said before walking away. Ron went red with anger and
embarassment; so did Hermione.
"Okay class. First up is Potter's group. Who'll be testing the potion
Malfoy made up?" Snape asked.
Harry was about to stand up when Malfoy stood and said, "I think Granger
should be the one to try it. She's the brain so she should be able to decide
if it's okay." he said. Snape agreed wholeheartedly (if he had a heart).
Ron was going to protest, but Hermione stood and snapped open the top of
the vile. The steam poured out and made her nose crinkle. She took a deep
breath and swallowed the liquid. Her mind was swimming all about and her
vision blurred. "Oooh..." Hermione said before passing out.
"Malfoy what've you done to her?!" Harry demanded.
"It's a normal side effect. Take her to the nurse Weasley." Snape smirked.
Ron glared at Malfoy and helped Hermione to the office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours later, Hermione awoke; now in the Gryffindor common room. She got up
slowly from the armchair and walked around.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ron said as he hugged her.
She shoved him away and looked at him shrewdly. "Fine until you arrived.
Do you mind telling me what I'm doing here with an idiot like you?" she
said meanly.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked bewildered.
Hermione laughed and left the room towards the Great Hall.
Malfoy hurried to her and stood in front of Hermione. She looked at him
for a while before saying hello. Malfoy smirked when he saw the demons
working inside her.
Ron came bounding down the steps and placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.
She turned around and delivered a swift slap to his face. The Great Hall
went silent and Harry observed curiously.
"Don't touch me Weasley." Hermione sneered.
Ron rubbed his face and glowered at her now. "Can you just tell me what in
the world I did to deserve this?" he inquired.
Hermione felt anger build up in her for no reason. She had no control over
herself now and couldn't stop what she was going to say. "The fact that you
are poor, stupid, and hopeless as a person is one thing, but to have your
whole family be just as worthless as yourself is just plain bad. You give
Hogwarts a bad name."
The students gasped at the harsh words and the Slytherins laughed amongst
themselves. Ron looked into Hermione's eyes that instant and she could
see the pain the flooded him inside. The potion's effect waved off her
then and she realized what she told him. He started to walk away.
"Ron... please! Wait..." Hermione cried.
"You've made your point Hermione. Isn't that enough? Do you have to
attack my family too?" Ron growled angrily.
Those tears she feared those last night crept down her face. "No Ron, I'm
sorry! Just wait and..."
"Wait and what?!" Ron interrupted. Malfoy broke into laughter and before
Ron could finish, Hermione bolted up to the Gryffindor common room and
to her bed. She curled up cried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was quiet and Hermione didn't show up for any of her classes.
Ron refused to talk about the day before and talked as though it hadn't
happened with Harry. Harry was worried that their friendship was really
falling apart. They walked together to potions.
"I have an announcment. I've studied the vile in which Granger drank from
and it seems Malfoy had "accidently" made a Black Spirits potion. It's the
opposite of the White Spirits and causes one to be braver and smarter at the
expense of their sincerity. Of course, it was all a simple mistake so..."
Ron burst out angrily; not only at Snape and Malfoy, but at himself. "Mis-
take nothing! He did it intentionally just because HE ruined OUR project
and SHE told Snape! Why you cheap son of a..." Ron started to say.
"20 points from Gryffindor" Snape announced. "Take your seat Weasley."
Ron instead glared at Snape and Malfoy and headed out the door. 'Oh God
Hermione...' he thought to himself. Ron hurried up the steps, said the
password, and went straight to Hermione. He found her sitting by the window
looking outside sadly.
"Hermione..." Ron said.
She looked up with her beautiful piercing eyes. "Ron?" she managed to
squeak out.
Ron looked down at the rug. "Malfoy made a Black Spirits potion. You
couldn't help it could you Hermione?" Ron asked.
Hermione looked at how ashamed he was. She bit her lip. "No, I tried to
tell you..."
"I know" he said. "I'm sorry. I just need to know one thing. Do you really
truly feel that way towards me? I mean, am I really that dumb and hopeless?"
he asked sadly.
Hermione stood up. "No! You're not in anyway any of those things. You make
me laugh, you're clever, a great friend... Ron you're fine!" she said as she
threw her arms around his neck.
He looked down at her and into her eyes. Hermione didn't see the pain any-
more. Instead she saw his relief and joy that she felt. Ron gathered his
courage and said, "prove it."
Hermione smiled and gave him what might've been the sweetest kiss. And
what they had, no demons could destroy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~