Yule Ball – Year 4
Beta-edited by:
"Those … those jerks." Hermione, not caring for her destination, ran away making sure to put as much distance between herself and her supposed best friends. The nerve of them! They say she's consorting with the enemy well to hell with them. How come every time there is something in her life that makes her the least bit happy her friends have to try their best to ruin it? First it was her pride, then her books, and now Krum!
Fist balled she stomped through the snow satisfied at the crunching sound it made beneath her feet. The evening had been perfect. She had the perfect dress, the perfect hairstyle, the perfect shoes, and more importantly the perfect date. Hermione had no idea that when she awoke this morning that she would find herself trotting through the snow under the cloudy night sky crying.
Furiously wiping away her tears she weaved through a patch of fallen tree trunks not caring that her black heels sunk into the ground or that the lower lavender ruffles of her dress snagged on said tree trunks. Since her evening was already ruined there was no reason that her dress shouldn't follow suit.
Walking further she chanced upon an iced over pond. Leaning next to it she pulled out her wand melting the surface just enough to see her reflection.
"Ha," she laughed humorlessly, "Look at you Hermione Jane Granger." She touched her face.
"Who are you? We never used to look like this," she released her hair from its binds, "It used to be a brillo pad, but you tamed it not for yourself, but for him. Oh and look here Granger at how thin your eyebrows are, you spelled them off for him, oh and let us not forget the best part," she laughed again bitterly, "The makeup. I did this to my face and how did he repay me?"
She waited for an answer she knew no one would give.
"By hating us! By forgetting that I, his only female friend since first year, am a woman! By saving me for a last resort! By holding me back! Because of you Ronald Weasley I don't even recognize myself anymore!" she punched her reflection with her right hand until it turned red from both the cold and pain.
Pulling her sore hand back she looked at her reflection again, "Who are you? Where do I belong? Here? Hogwarts? At home with Mum and Dad? With Krum? With Ron? Why is it," she began to cry, "So hard to be loved for whom I am? I don't want someone who befriends me one moment, but dismisses me the next. I want someone who finds my intellect endearing. I want someone to be my equal. I want someone to hold me when I cry. I want someone who I know whenever I look into their eyes that they love me, the old me, not this Barbie I have turned into for the sake of another!"
Pulling her knees to herself she cried harder. As she sat she thought about the events of her Fourth year. She should be more concerned about poor Harry being a Triwizard champion, but no she was too busy fretting over her love life to give a damn and she yelled at him as if he deserved it! It wasn't Harry she was mad at it was Ron. Sure Krum had the body of a Russian God with all the intelligence of a sack of nuts, but at least he gave her the time of day unlike Ron. It wasn't that Ron had changed over the years personality wise, it's just that she secretly hoped when she walked down the steps at the Yule Ball that he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off of her. She might have been Krum's escort, but she was Ron's through and through.
That was what she hatted most about him. How did he manage to move her heart so when they obviously had nothing in common? More importantly she was mad at herself for dreaming this up in her head. In said dream she saw Krum dancing with her then out of nowhere a pissed off Ron appears. He would say, "Hermione's mine let her go!"
And in Krum's thick accent he would say, "No she is mein!"
Then she would say, "Guys don't fight over little old me," with her hand gently caressing her brow.
That was when Ron would be all tough like and say, "Krum I challenge you to a duel to the death. Winner gets this beautiful, hot, sexy, completely perfect, the love of my life, oh so intelligent goddess Hermione Jane Granger."
They would duel epically. In the end Ron would triumph sparing Krum's life only because he knew it was what she would want then he would kiss her in front of the whole school …
"God, I had to be raving to think that up." She chastised herself. Honestly if Ron hadn't ever treated her as his girl before why would importing a custom dress all the way from France with designer shoes while trying to make him jealous with the most popular boy in school on Hogwarts most magical night of the year make him feel any different?
(Crunching noise)
Her eyes snapped up scanning the area, "Hello?" she called. Nervous she pulled out her wand casting a lumos charm, "Harry? Ron? Krum? Is that you?"
No answer.
"This is not funny guys," she spun quickly, "Ok Ok I get it. I yelled at you and you guys are trying to get even. Alright you win now cut it out."
(Crunching noise)
"Guys!"
The forest instantly became silent as if the wind itself feared this part of the wood. With shallow breaths she looked across the lake to the origin of the sound. Her eyes widened, her mouth parted, the grip on her wand limp as she spotted the source of the sound.
Not a few feet away stood a panther a black panther.
Merlin help me. Being a logical person she tried standing still. Hopefully the cat would simply leave her in peace. He stepped closer. So she tried conjuring a gazelle. Panther's ate that right? It stepped closer.
"B… B … Back away!" she stuttered.
It was now halfway across the pond looking directly at her. Its yellow eyes reflecting her tear stained ones.
"G… go kitty! Shoo!"
The panther's shoulders tensed. His tailbone shooting skyward while its forearms sank against the ice.
"It is preparing to pounce."
The cat's tail stiffened. Its mouth opened revealing four sharp carnivores not to mention the other sharp teeth. Hermione's eyes scanned each long tooth slowly.
"I … am … going … to … die." So she did the only thing she could do in this situation, run. As she ran she heard the creature's growl behind her. Not bothering to look back she haphazardly fired hexes praying to anyone that they hit the creature. Of course there was no such luck.
She heard its pitter patter on either side of her. The cat was fast. Daring to look back once she spotted it directly behind her. Thanks to her being a member of the Golden Trio she reacted instantly shooting the first hex off the top of her head, "Bleirtilstein!" The hex would have turned the creature into stone if it would have made contact.
The panther dodged jumping to her right clinging to a thick low hanging branch. She fired five more hexes at it. It dodged every single one. Feeling cornered she continued to run along the small path until it branched into two. Without thought she chose left. There the panther stood baring its teeth at her.
"How do you move so fast?" she yelled at it before taking the other path. It waited a few seconds to chase her again. Lungs burning the castle finally came back into view. She swore she would never venture into the Dark Forest again even if it was to battle the Dark Lord himself.
Nearing the lake she turned. All that greeted her were two yellow eyes receding into the darkness. Thinking it weird that the panther didn't follow yet not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth she ran to her bedroom. With any luck she wouldn't be caught after hours.
Said panther watched her enter the castle before standing behind a tree. Its hind legs enlarged enough so that it managed to stand up completely on them without any worries. From there the torso elongated followed by the limbs with the exception of the tail which sank into the body. The spinal cord of the panther became more pronounced seeming to crawl from the tip of the hips to the base of the neck.
The creature's fur receded revealing patches of dark blue to white skin. As it cracked its neck it turned human along with the now fully extended limbs. Looking down at its hand it watched as the long opal claws receded into human nails. The panther growled one last time before its head turned to normal including the rest of the body finishing the transformation.
Severus Snape ran his hand through his hair. He was sure he nearly died of heart attack when Fox told him that she spotted Hermione running into the Dark Forest. After his initial shock anger made his blood boil. Before he knew what was happening he was in his animagus form hunting the girl down. When he caught her his original plan was to chase her back to Hogwarts which he did, but only after he heard her little speech.
Oh how he wanted to go over there and tell her just how much he loved her with the bushy hair and bucked teeth. He wanted to tell her that ever since the day he saw her she had been special to him and for anyone who didn't see how wonderful she was back then he had a bag full of Avada Kedavras for them. Now if only she could end her infatuation with that damned Weasley. At least now she was seeing what a dung beetle he really is. Maybe she would get over him and when she graduated he would tell her how he felt provided that the Dark Lord was dead by then.
Because with the Dark lord dead it would finally be safe enough for him to tell her that he was born to love her. That he had been searching for her his whole life and now that he found her he was not willing to let her go so easily and that she would realize that they were soul mates too one day if only she became an animagus.
Till then he would be content with loneliness .
Please Review
Attn: This is a remake of my other story as stated with NO rape, Ron bashing, and no intercourse until she comes of legal age. I sincerely hope that you guys find this story more interesting and better written than the last :) And I would like to thank my wonderful beta again :)
