Author's Note: New story!! Yay! I kinda gave up on Love Sucks When You're a Vampire. Sorry people! But hey, this one is sooooo much better!! Hope you like!
Potion Love
Chapter 1: Dream and Duel
"…And in further news, I would like to congratulate Miss Hermione Granger for becoming Head Girl and for being the best student this school has ever seen!"
Applause nearly ripped the Great Hall in two. People were banging their fists on tables and whistling as Hermione stood up and blushed modestly as everyone, including Professor Snape and his house of Slytherins roared and cheered for her. Harry and Ron were whooping and banging the table the loudest and giving her admiring looks.
Ginny stood up and had to yell over the roaring for Hermione to hear her but what she said was truly spectacular.
"I'm your biggest fan! I'm going to make a new club! The Hermione Fan Club, and there, everyone will read amazing books that you have read and will study just as hard so we can be just like you!"
Then the most dashing boy in the school came up to her, took her hand and proceeded to get down on his knees and propose.
Hermione squealed and said yes, even though she knew this boy not.
The Great Hall became eerily quiet. Hermione looked up. They were not in the Great Hall at all but were, in fact, in what looked suspiciously like a dungeon for it was equipped with chains hanging from the ceiling that looked like they were meant for dangling people from their wrists, torches that held blue flames, and a metal bed that had wrist and ankle holders attached and looked like it had dried blood on it.
"Wh-what happened? Where am I?" Hermione made to take a step back but was stopped by the boy who was still holding onto her hand. "Where are we?" She repeated.
The boy at her feet chuckled darkly and raised his now hooded head and looked at her with his eyes in shadow.
"Where you should be you filthy little Mudblood." Came the scathing voice. She could see his lips curve into a very familiar smirk.
"Malfoy…." Hermione's voice came out in a scared whisper.
Malfoy chucked darkly again and raised the hood that was obscuring most of his face. His cold, beautiful features came into focus under the harsh blue light, his blue-grey eyes sparkling with hatred and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on. His grip on her wrist suddenly increased and she fell to her knees as he jerked her down. His hand that wasn't holding hers went to her neck and started applying pressure there too. Her other hand came up to try to break his hold upon her neck. He just laughed again. Then his features changed and the pale skin turned even paler and his blue eyes gleamed red, his beautiful features turning harsh and snake-like. His blonde hair receding until it was just ghost white skin that covered his head.
Hermione choked on a scream that tried to tear its way out of her throat as she stared into Lord Voldemort's face. He sneered at her.
"Time to wake up Hermione. It's time to go to breakfast."
Hermione awoke with a gasp and shot straight up in bed and banged her forehead against something hard.
"OUCH! Oh, I'm so sorry Lavender, I didn't mean to!" Hermione stammered out. When she had sat up, Lavender, who had been trying to wake Hermione up, had not gotten her head out of the way and the two girls had smashed into the other's head.
"Ow. It's ok, nothing a lil spell from my new Beauty Spelle book won't fix," Lavender said while rubbing the red mark on her forehead. She then proceeded towards Parvati's bed to wake her up.
Hermione said a few more apologies while she got dressed in her school robes and waited patiently for Lavender and Parvati to get ready and then left the Girl's Dormitory with both of them. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lavender finally asked Hermione the question that Hermione had been hoping wouldn't be brought up.
"So, Hermione, what kind of dream did you have last night to make you jump like that?" Lavender asked with an air of casualty. Parvati looked from Lavender and Hermione in curiosity for she had still been sleeping when Lavender had tried to wake Hermione up.
"Ugh, well, I, er-" But she was saved from telling the two gossipers her strange dream in the form of her best friends, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and his sister, Ginny Weasly.
"Hey Hermione. Ready to go?" Came Harry's soothing voice from behind. She turned and grinned at the boys in front of her. Ron, red haired, freckled, and tall, was rubbing his eyes tiredly but smiling gently down at Lavender as she hugged him around the middle and looked up into his blue eyes to tell him good morning. Harry, bespectacled, scarred, and taller-than-Hermione-but-shorter-than-Ron Potter stood hand-in-hand with Ginny who was taller than Hermione now and wore the same tired look upon her face as her brother.
"Yes!" Hermione breathed out in relief. Harry raised an eyebrow but Hermione gave him a look that told him she'd tell him later.
At the thought of food, Ron perked up a bit and dragged Lavender after him towards the portrait hole, who in turn dragged Parvati along and the three disappeared down the corridor.
Ginny sighed. "I'm too tired for this." And she proceeded to walk behind the other two in a slight daze, not really listening to what they were saying.
"So Hermione, what's up with you? Why were you so relieved to see us?" Harry asked curiously.
While Hermione told the story of Lavender waking her up and then her dream, Harry listening avidly. She felt that Harry would at least understand strange dreams like these considering all the ones he's had over the years so she didn't feel like a paranoid dimbo. And with Ginny almost completely out of it, she needn't have feared the story getting to Ron who would undoubtedly think her exactly what she didn't want to be.
"Hmm, I think," Harry finally spoke while they were walking down the second to last flight of stairs leading to the Great Hall. They would have arrived earlier had Peeves not been blocking a passageway with ink bottles at the ready to throw at any passerby, which, unfortunately, happened to be Neville who had to go all the way back up to the Boy's Dormitory to change. "I think that it was just a dream and nothing more. Cause I mean, if it had meant something, that's an oddity in and of itself considering you don't have a connection like I did with Voldemort. And don't you think that's a good thing? Think about it! Having a connection with Draco Malfoy!"
Hermione snorted, turning her head sharply to the left with her eyes closed, not watching where she was going and nearly walked into a suit of armor if Harry hadn't prodded her in the right direction.
"The ferret hasn't been near me at all yet. Which is like heaven you know! At least I don't have to hear-OUCH!"
Hermione fell to the ground. She made a sound of pain and rubbed her bottom, on which she had fallen to the hard, unforgiving marble floor. Her bag fell from her grip. Books, quills, and ink bottles went skidding across the floor, a few ink bottles smashing and a book or two fell a few steps down the stairs. She heard someone else make a similar sound of displeasure and in looking up, found herself face to face with the said ferret.
'Oh, shit.' She thought, her eyes widening in shock and apprehension.
Draco Malfoy was in the same position as Hermione, sprawled on the floor with his bag contents everywhere. He was rubbing his shoulder which she had apparently run into. His blonde hair was messed up and falling in his eyes, though Hermione secretly thought it looked better that way. But, looks aren't everything and Draco gave proof to the statement by opening his mouth.
"Damn it! What the hell? Who the hell-" He cut off as his cold blue eyes found Hermione's chocolate ones. Hatred twisted his face.
"Oh. It's you." He smirked. "You'd do better to watch where you're going Mudblood. You just never know when you might be up to your neck in trouble." He stood up. "And don't touch me again, these are new robes. I don't want filth like you soiling them." His smirk grew. And with a flick of his wand, his belongings zoomed back into the bag that had floated into his hand. When everything was back in the bag, he pulled it over his shoulder.
"Shove off Malfoy!" Harry shot back as he helped Hermione up. When she was steady on her own two feet, he drew his wand alongside Ginny who seemed to have forgotten how tired she had been just seconds ago. Both of them glared at Malfoy while Hermione just stared at him. Her face was devoid of emotion. Harry glanced at her and knew she was reliving her nightmare and the fact that Malfoy had said neck in that way made him think it might not have been a regular dream.
Malfoy snorted. "Don't want to be seen with you either Potter. But, I must ask, is the Weasley girl as good in bed as all the guys say?"
"Stupefy!"
"Protego!" Draco lazily flicked his wand and deflected Ginny's spell. Harry was holding her back with hatred written on his face himself.
Draco laughed. "She looks a bit tired Potter, I bet she's sick of pretending. Not giving her enough? She fed up with your lousy display in bed?" Draco laughed as Harry's face burned red and Ginny's face burned a color that was just a tad lighter than her flaming hair. She doubled her efforts in getting around Harry towards Malfoy, completely forgetting about the wand in her hand. All the while Hermione was watching Draco. But her face was oddly curious. As if she was thinking about something.
Draco was laughing loudly and had turned away when Hermione's voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"You don't need to worry about what he says Harry, he's just putting off his frustration because he's the one that's bad in bed."
Ginny and Harry stopped moving and looked at Hermione. Harry was giving her the 'what the hell are you doing?' look. Ginny, on the other hand, was finding it very hard to stop from laughing and her gaze was flicking from Hermione to the frozen Malfoy.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Daphne Greengrass. I heard her talking about how awful he is while in the loo." Hermione smirked. "And plus," She too flicked her wand so that her bag came back up, full again, to rest on her shoulder. "He can't get off even if he had the world's horniest slut on his lap."
The talk from the Great Hall could be heard from where the four were standing in the silence that followed Hermione's words. Malfoy and Ginny were shaking but for completely different reasons. Ginny had her fist in her mouth, trying not to make a sound. Harry was trying to keep a straight face but his lips kept twitching. But when Malfoy's grip on his wand tightened, Harry and Ginny aimed their wands at his back.
Malfoy slowly turned to face Hermione, taking no more notice of the other two as if they were part of the tapestry behind them. Still, Hermione's face remained calm and a little amused.
"What's the matter Draco? Didn't want your little secret to get out?" And she proceeded to smirk a Malfoy's trademark smirk: full of disdain and dark humor.
They could hear it, the snap of his patience. He and Hermione raised their wand just as Professor McGonagall, late to breakfast, came walking around the corner.
"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Granger!" Rang out her voice. "Lower your wands! What do you think you are doing?! You are both prefects!"
"Just telling him the awful truth Professor McGonagall." Hermione replied.
Professor McGonagall looked at her sharply. Hermione was acting very oddly. Harry was looking at her too and was surprised to find that her eyes were slightly wet and her hand was shaking. Malfoy's face was tinged a faint pink color, his eyes narrowed in absolute hatred. Neither lowered their wands.
Professor McGonagall noticed and started to get angry. "Both of you lower your wands immediately! There, now was that so hard?"
By the look on Draco's face, it seemed to be. They had both lowered their wands unwillingly and very slowly.
"Both of you will serve a month of detention for dueling in the school corridors." Hermione's gaze left Draco's narrowed one to glance at McGonagall for a second then returned to glaring full force at the blonde haired boy before her. "I will speak with Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore about your punishments. In the mean time, fifty points from both of your houses. The first day back hasn't even started and you lost points for your houses already."
Hermione looked slightly ashamed and finally looked away from Malfoy to stare at her shoes.
McGonagall then turned to Harry and Ginny. "Make sure that this doesn't happen today again you two." Harry and Ginny nodded, stone faced. "Now go on. You all have classes to go to soon." And watched as Draco turned on his heel and headed for the Great Hall, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny a safe distance behind him. After a few seconds, Professor McGonagall followed too.
When they entered the Great Hall at last, Malfoy was already seated at the Slytherin table, deep in discussion with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson. He glared at the three as they passed by, especially Hermione.
When they sat down at the Gryffindor table on the other side of Ron, Lavender, and Parvati, Harry flew into an interrogation.
"What the hell do you think you were playing at?" He nearly yelled.
"Harry, tone it down!" Ginny advised. And she shot a glance at the Head Table where McGonagall was already talking to Dumbledore and Snape.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ron asked. Lavender and Parvati, who were discussing the best spell for curly hair, stopped talking to look curiously around at Harry who was fixing Hermione with a glare as she put a piece of French toast on her plate.
"Well?" Harry asked of her, completely ignoring Ron.
Hermione chewed for a bit but when she saw Harry's face she swallowed and put down her fork and knife.
"It's perfectly simple Harry." She said.
"What is perfectly simple about-" Ginny nudged him with her elbow and he shot a glance at Lavender and Parvati then continued in a lower voice. "What is so simple about attacking the ferret like that?"
Ron's eyes widened as the pieces of the puzzle fell together in his mind. "You did what?!" He hissed.
Hermione glared at him and stabbed the bread before her.
"He had it coming to him." She said moodily.
"Well of course he had it coming Hermione, but what you did back there was not you at all! It was like you were being possessed!" Harry exclaimed.
Hermione flinched. "I don't know what happened Harry. I just-I can't-" She sighed and when she looked up, she looked close to tears again. "I just couldn't take his crap anymore. I don't know, that dream just…." And a single tear fell.
Harry immediately calmed down and wrapped her in a hug.
"I'm sorry Hermione. I know how cruel he is to you."
She nodded against his shoulder and gave him a quick squeeze before pulling away with a soft smile. "Thanks, but if you do that, people will think you're a womanizer for going out with Ginny and me." And she laughed at the look on Harry and Ron's face.
After a few minutes of idle chatter, McGonagall handed out their schedules for the week, giving Harry and Hermione stern looks.
Harry looked down at his schedule first and nearly choked on his pumpkin juice. Hermione and Ginny gave him a few hearty slaps on the back.
Still coughing, Harry pointed to the first class on Hermione's schedule. She turned pale.
"Shit…." She mumbled under her breath.
"What's wrong with Potions?" Lavender asked innocently, not getting why Hermione and Harry had such a horrible reaction. "We've had them with the Slytherins forever! I thought you'd be used to it by now?"
"It's just one of the Slytherins in particular, Lav," Ron said bracingly. "Just go on and I'll catch up." He gave her a winning smile, a peck on the lips, and she was gone.
The moment she was out of earshot, he rounded on Hermione.
"Don't go to class."
"But I have to! I can't miss the first lesson! This is our N.E.W.T. year." Hermione exclaimed.
"She's right Ron," Put in Ginny.
Hermione gave smug look.
"Besides," Ginny continued. She stood up and swung her bag over her shoulder and gave Harry a peck on the cheek. "If she doesn't show up in class, that'll mean Malfoy got to her and he'll know it." And she fast walked out of the Great Hall.
Ron frowned after her.
"You know she's right Ron." Hermione said as they followed Ginny out of the Great Hall and headed down the familiar route to the dungeons.
"But Hermione, I know he'll do something. I just know it!" Ron's voice echoed strangely through the stone corridor around them as the eternal cold crept up on them and made all three shiver slightly.
"Shut up!" Harry said loudly. For they had just come up to the Potions doorway where the rest of the class was waiting. Malfoy sneered at them from front of the line of Slytherins.
Hermione sighed and spoke in a quieter voice. "Ron, if you feel so overprotective, be so with Lavender. I can take care of myself."
Ron opened his mouth to retaliate but just then the Potions doors were pushed open by Severus Snape and Ron closed his mouth and didn't say another word on the subject.
But as they all filed in, Hermione couldn't help but notice how Draco was looking at her as she passed him. It looked different than the usual pompous sneer but rather as if he was sizing her up.
Hermione shook her head and pushed him out of her mind and returned to the life of Hogwarts she had missed so much during the summer.
AN: So, like? Dislike? Please press that lil button down there and review, cause I would really like some feedback. Please and thank you! And I realize that this chapter pretty much sucks eggs, but, the next few chapter are sooooo much better, promise!