Author's note: Hey everyone! Thanks for 7 follows already! Holy crap. Well, enjoy this chapter! It's longer, this time.
Hermione woke up the next day, still in her old clothes. That was, until she noticed a note stuck onto the dresser.
Professor Dumbledore explained it all to me. I hope you like your clothes! -Madam Rosmerta
Hermione smiled and opened her drawer. She slipped out of her clothes, looked in the dresser, and almost had a coronary. There was the normal Hogwarts uniform, but a bit altered. Madam Rosmerta had bought her mid-thigh length skirts instead of knee skirts, and wedges instead of flats. Well, she had flats, but they were every color but black. She went a bit overboard- about twenty-five pairs of shoes and too many clothes to count. Hermione was fumbling through the drawers, and she turned bright red at the underwear drawer. There wasn't a single article of clothing that wasn't lacy. She even saw various bikinis in there. Hermione opened the bottom drawer, expecting the worst. She gasped when she saw it- a dress, in it's see through wrapping. But the part that shocked her was that it looked like liquid, like the invisibility cloak. It was silver, but that's all Hermione could see without opening the wrapping. She decided to check that out later.
Hermione nervously put on her mid-length skirt and her black wedges. She did a full turn in the mirror- The skirt only went an inch or two past her rear. Hermione blushed pink. Madam Rosmerta had also gotten her makeup, and Hermione was going to leave it alone until a sudden thought struck her.
New school, new look, a snide voice said inside of her head. Hermione considered. Well, it won't affect her studies. She applied some black eye-liner and black eye shadow- A little more than she had ever dared. She then, patted some blush on her cheeks and put on some light pink lip gloss. She looked at herself in the mirror, and was very surprised- She looked... hot, actually. Her hair wasn't bushy anymore, but instead grew into a nice curly/wavy.
Hermione stepped out of her dorm and walked quickly to the Great Hall. She was a bit late, considering that she was usually down at seven- It was seven thirty. Hermione tried to step in the Great Hall without getting noticed- That was a total fail. The clacking of her wedges seemed to echo across the hall as the heads of many people turned. Luckily, none of the teachers were here to see the show- They were setting up for their classes. Hermione turned pink a bit as she walked over to the end of the Gryffindor table, alone. She was now seriously regretting putting on all of that makeup. She should have just worn the dark blue flats, no teachers would have been able to tell the difference. Hermione tried to ignore all of staring and started to pile eggs on her plate.
"Hey there," a voice behind her said. Hermione looked over her shoulder and nearly choked on her eggs. There, was a guy with dirty-blonde hair, green eyes, shirt unbuttoned one and Gryffindor tie slung over his neck. He took a seat next to Hermione without her saying anything- She didn't really complain. He was really good looking, and could compete with Sirius. Hermione noticed that many girls were giving her nasty looks.
"The name's Chase Madison," he said with a cocky grin. Hermione smiled slightly.
"Hermione Alden," she responded, picking up a slice of toast.
"You're eating," he said with an air of surprise.
"Brilliant observation, Sherlock," Hermione muttered.
"No- It's just that- A lot of the girls here don't eat... To lose weight," he said, still a bit confused. Hermione snorted.
"Please. Not eating doesn't necessarily mean that you're losing weight. Your body goes into survival mode, which means that it burns as little calories as it possibly can. If a girl doesn't eat for three days, she barely loses a pound," Hermione said smartly. "If you want to lose weight, eat healthier foods in smaller portions." Chase was silent for a while.
"Wow," he said.
"It's not that shocking, or that interesting, really," Hermione passed, placing her eggs on her toast.
"No- It's just that, a lot of girls here don't know how to talk without giggling every five seconds. And, I dunno- I expect someone like you to be like one of them," he said in that same tone of interest and confusion.
"I don't think that guys want a bony, skinny girl. I think their dream girl would be curvy," Hermione said, "And that's what I'm aiming for."
Chase was silent again, scratching the back of his head.
"You see, usually, my pick-up lines apply to the giggly, dim-witted ones, so I'm all out," he said awkwardly. Hermione laughed- At least he was honest. As she laughed, she caught hold of Sirius, Remus, and James all the way at the end table. Remus was eating, but James and Sirius were both glaring at Chase with such hatred it probably burned through his soul.
"What's their problem?" Hermione muttered, glancing towards James and Sirius. Chase squinted in the direction she was looking, and he snorted.
"Oh. Don't mind them," he said, taking a sip of Hermione's pumpkin juice. Hermione was about to interrupt him, but he kept on going.
"Been enemies since first year. Used to tease me 'cause of my big teeth- Believe it or not, I was a bit fat back then. Then, forth year comes around, and suddenly, I'm competition with Black."
"You guys see which one can get more girls?" Hermione said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"No," Chase said. "But that's what Black thinks it's about. I personally think it's about getting the hottest girl."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, that makes it so much better."
Chase raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I've only been going out with two girls my entire time at Hogwarts. Ask anyone, they'll tell you. That's how many girls he gets in a day."
"And girls still like him?"
"Each girl he gets with insist that he said that, 'She was the one', and then a week later, she'd be off crying in a loo somewhere."
Hermione remained silent as she poured herself a new glass of pumpkin juice.
"You're quiet," Chase noted.
"Why can't I be?"
"Well, the girls here-"
"Would you please stop!" Hermione exclaimed so loudly that one or two heads turned her way. "Stop going on and on about 'other girls'! I'm not like them, okay? For future reference, the very last thing that girls want to hear from a guy is that they're exactly like every other one they've ever met," Hermione snapped, standing up and exiting the hall.
"Wait- Hermione!" Chase called after her, but Hermione ignored him, chin in the air. Hermione felt many pairs of eyes on her back.
rushed to her dorm and gathered her stuff as quickly as possible. Then, without looking, she walked straight out into the common room, and WHAM. She ran straight into somebody. Hermione tumbled to the ground, bag landing with a thud next to her.
"I'm so, so sorry," Hermione said, standing up and brushing her hair out of her face. Standing up to meet here was a beautiful girl with dark red hair, and quite familiar green eyes.
"No problem," seventeen year old Lily Evans said. "Hey- Are you new here?"
"Yeah. Two thirds of the people I've talked to are complete jerks."
Lily snorted. "Can I take a wild guess? One of them has got to be Potter."
Hermione cocked her head. "James? No, actually. Black was being quite rude."
Lily's eyes widened a bit. "Him, rude to a girl? A rarity. What happened?"
"Well, I just got here last night during dinner-"
"That explains it. I was in the library. Sorry. Continue," she said, smiling apologetically. It was fine- Hermione was liking this girl already.
"And after I talked to Professor Dumbledore, I sort of start to sob in one of the armchairs. Instead of trying to comfort me awkwardly like any other normal human being, he starts to hit on me and he asks me out! I mean, what the hell?"
Lily nods her head. "That's like him."
"I told him no-"
"WHAT?" Lily said so loudly and suddenly that Hermione's heart jumped. "Sorry- I mean- What? No one says no to Black. No one."
"Well, he pouted like a child, said, "Fine!" and stormed up the stairs. I called him a drama queen-"
Lily snorted. "Very true. Next?"
"And then he called me a bitch," Hermione said, ending in a hiss. Lily gasped as her eyes narrowed.
"Him and Potter. If I could just slap them both- I'm Head Girl, though, and I don't want to do anything that'll change that."
Hermione nodded. "What do we have first?"
"Well, here's the thing. Our year has always been particularly large, so I don't expect us to be in the same classes."
Hermione groaned. "The first person that treats me like a normal human being, and I can't even be in the same class as her."
Lily smiled. "There're be other people. See you at lunch?"
Hermione blinked, surprised at the fact she had managed to get a friend so quickly. "Yeah. That'd be great."
"Both of my other friends moved, like you. I thought I'd be lost, but here you are. See you then," Lily said, smiling as she turned away. Hermione went after her, and they headed in opposite directions.
When Hermione arrived to Transfiguration, she was the first one there. A quite young Professor McGonagall sat there in a desk. She actually looked pretty, in a motherly way- She could be no more than thirty-five years old. She wasn't any less stern, however- She turned to Hermione and her eyes did a little double-take. She recovered quickly and cleared her throat.
"Hello. New student?" she asked. Hermione nodded.
"Hermione Alden, I suppose?" she asked. Hermione nodded again, not feeling the need to say anything. Professor McGonagall looked over a sheet.
"Here we sit in Alphabetical order. You sit next to Sirius Black, starting from the back left corner."
Hermione did an inward groan, and probably made a face. "Thank you, Professor," she managed to croak.
"Professor McGonagall," she introduced, giving her a small smile. Hermione bowed her head awkwardly before heading to the table in the very back. Why could the table not be in the front?
She sat down in the right hand seat and quickly took out her books and began to review it. Professor McGonagall payed her no attention, and instead began to tell the incoming students their seating arrangements.
"Don't complain, last year was a complete disaster," Professor McGonagall would fuss when a student complained. "I couldn't get a single student's attention when you decided your own seats. Now sit down where I tell you to sit."
Soon, everyone had filed in, Sirius and James being the last. Shirts unbuttoned two buttons, ties slung around their necks- Nearly every girl in the room batted their eyelashes at Sirius- Only a few went for James, but they knew he was a hopeless case for Lily Evans.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and Professor McGonagall looked like she was having a tough time doing the opposite.
"Dress appropriately, considering you are both sitting next to girls."
"Well, that's the point, is it not?" Sirius said in that same, deep voice he used on her the night before. The girls giggled.
"Who's the lucky lady?" Sirius said, eyeing all of them but Hermione.
"Potter, you go sit next to Stanley." A girl with way too much makeup and fake orange hair batted her eyelashes at him- James tried to hide a face of disgust, not thrilled at the fact he would have to sit next to someone the exact opposite of Lily.
"Black, that leaves you with Hermione Alden, in the back," Professor McGonagall said sternly. Most people looked at each other, like they were expecting a show. They got one, but something unexpected.
Sirius sneered and made a face of absolute repulsion.
"Oh please, Professor, give me another seat," Sirius sneered. "I certainly don't want to sit next to Alden."
Many people gasped. Sirius Black, rude to a girl? Many girls looked thrilled, and so did many guys, happy at the chance to snatch Hermione up. Hermione remained silent and stared at her notes.
"Black, sit down at once or it's a detention," Professor McGonagall snapped.
"No," Sirius said stubbornly.
"Oh, just shut up and sit down!" Hermione said loudly. "You're giving me a migraine. I wasn't thrilled about the seating arrangements, either, yet you are the one that's acting like a girl."
"Shut up!" Sirius barked angrily as the class laughed.
"Black, that's a detention right there! Tonight, my office, eight o'clock," Professor McGonagall snapped. Sirius scowled before heading off to sit next to Hermione grudgingly.
"Now, class, this is the last year of Hogwarts for all of you," Professor McGonagall said before the awkwardness could begin. "Also the year of your N.E.W.T.S. Please turn to page fifteen of your textbooks, and read until page twenty-five. We can start class from then on."
It was silent except for the rustling of bags and the flipping of pages. Hermione had already read it, of course. She just re-read it.
Soon, people began to look up and around to see who else has finished. Hermione began to levitate a crumbled piece of parchment up and down in the air. Suddenly, there was a small buzz as the ball turned into ashes, landing in a pile on Hermione's desk. Hermione glanced at Sirius, who was smirking at her. She rolled her eyes as she vanished the dust.
"Okay, I see that you are all done reading," Professor McGonagall said suddenly. "Will someone please tell me the definition of conjuring?"
Hermione's hand was up before anyone else's, like usual.
"Alden?" Professor McGonagall said.
"Conjuration is the art of bringing things into being; hence the opposite of vanishment," Hermione said smoothly. Professor McGonagall's eyebrows went up a bit, as if she was surprised. Hermione could see why; she looked like one of those giggly girls.
"Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall said shortly.
The rest of the class mainly consisted of Hermione answering the asked questions correctly, taking notes silently, and Sirius looking at her sideways. As soon as the bell rang, Hermione quickly placed everything in her bag and got out of there, fast.
"Hmm," Hermione mumbled under her breath as she read her schedule. Potions was next, with Professor Slughorn. She shoved the schedule into her bag as she headed toward the dungeons. Hermione arrived in the dimly lit dungeon, and she was the first there. In the back at his desk, was a very plump man that Hermione knew from a different life. Professor Slughorn- Looking younger. There wasn't much of difference, except for the fact his mustache was brown instead of white.
"Ah! The new girl!" he boomed. "Yes, yes. Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, I'm not sure what it was like in that old school of yours, but here, we have partners for Potions."
Hermione blinked. "Um, no. In my, er, old school, you could say, everyone had their own cauldrons."
"Oh, I'd prefer it that way, of course, but whatever the Headmaster says, I'll do," he said, waving a hand. He then began to flip through his drawer and look for something.
"Let's see, I have the partner papers somewhere... You have a new partner every week or so, so you don't get sick of that one person... Some people just aren't as kind as others, am I right? Here it is!" he exclaimed. He read down the list.
"You must be Hermione Alden. Right. You are paired with Peter Pettigrew and Severus Snape. You made the class an uneven number, so I'll just stick you in this group. Off you go, then. In the corner there," he said.
At the mention of Wormtail's name, Hermione did this barely audible gag. She cleared her throat just in time to hear the last part.
"Thank you," she muttered and headed to the back.
First, the very man that betrayed her best friend's parents. She wanted to rip him apart. And then Snape, the professor that taunted her and always told her she wasn't good enough.
Everyone started to file into the classroom. Hermione kept her eyes on the ground and tried to avoid eye contact with the two people sitting next to her.
"Hi," a voice said to her left. Hermione lifted her head up and flinched. It was Peter Pettigrew- Large nose, watery eyes, a bit plump. He had a large smile on his face which Hermione barely managed to return.
Remember, Hermione told herself, He's not evil yet. Just don't.
"Hello," she said, but her voice died out. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Er. Hi. I'm Hermione Alden," she introduced.
"Peter Pettigrew," he said, looking at her. "I thought I'd be stuck with Snivellus all week. Thank god."
"Shut up, the only reason you use that name is because Black and Potter do," a voice snapped to the right of Hermione. She turned and tried to keep a straight face. Snape, with the same hooked nose and greasy hair sat there in his robes. The only difference was that this Snape had no wrinkles and a few pimples along his hairline on account of his oily hair.
"Er, hello," Hermione managed to say. On one side, she had a traitor. On the other, she had a double agent. Snape just turned his head to the side and probably smirked.
"So," Peter said. Hermione turned her head. "What school did you use to go to?"
"Beauxbatons," Hermione said in a heartbeat.
"That's what I thought," he said, turning a color of red that did not suit him. Hermione forced herself not to gag and instead smiled a bit before looking up at Professor Slughorn.
"Okay, class! Today we are going to make The Draught of Living Death, just as a review from last year. Send one person at a time to the ingredients closet to get the sopophorus beans and the sloth brain. Carry on."
"I'll go get those," Hermione said at once to remove all awkward conversation. She got up and walked rather quickly to the closet. She opened it at once, and since she's never really been in the closet, it took her a while to find everything. When she finally found the sloth brain (She had brought her own beans), she reached up for it, but she was only inches away.
"Move, Alden," a voice said harshly from behind her. Hermione didn't have to turn around to know it was Sirius.
"I need to get this first," she said patiently. She looked around for a step ladder. She found one lying right next to her feet. Hermione wondered why she didn't notice it before, but none the less, she bent down to pick it up. In her effort, she was shoved to the side.
"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed, landing on the ground.
"It's your loss that you're not tall enough," Sirius snapped, and he easily snatched the jar from off of the shelf. Hermione scowled at him as he left the closet.
When Hermione finally got the brain, she headed back to the table. She could feel both Peter and Snape staring at her as she placed the jar on the table and looked in Peter's open textbook. She wondered how Peter got in this advanced class, but she decided to save that for later.
"Did you two add the wormwood and asphodel?" Hermione asked lightly.
"Yeah, and we stirred two times, er, clockwise," Peter said, squinting at the book.
"I did," Snape snapped.
"Sheesh, sorry," Peter muttered, turning a faint pink.
"Okay, and..." Hermione trailed off, taking her bag of beans out of her bag. She unscrewed the sloth brain and quickly scooped out a tablespoon of the stuff and dropped it into the cauldron.
She laid the beans out on the cutting board and took out her silver knife. She had already did this potion at home loads of times for practice. She at first didn't like cutting the beans, so she eventually gave up and just used The Half-Blood Prince's way. Who was right next to her. She realized that he didn't have his book out. She really didn't want to cut those beans, though. They were quite old, making them even more difficult to cut.
Right when Snape looked away, Hermione quickly grabbed the knife and squished the little bean with her silver knife. She scooped the liquid up and plopped it into the cauldron.
"Why'd ya do that?" Peter (calling him Wormtail in her head was just a little weird) asked.
"Do what?" Hermione fretted.
"Why'd you crush the bean?" Peter asked again. This time, Snape turned his head quickly to listen to the conversation.
"Because. Er. I dunno, the beans are hard to cut, and I just... Decided to crush... it," Hermione said, turning a bit pink and refusing to look Snape in the eye. He looked around, as if expecting his book to be open.
"Well, we'd better stir it," Hermione said lightly, changing the subject. She grabbed her stirrer, and this time, she followed the directions in the book and stirred it counter-clockwise, a light-pink hue.
When Hermione was sure both of them weren't looking, she gave the Draught a quick clockwise stir after her seventh counter. It turned nearly clear- Like foggy water. Snape looked back at the potion, and he did a double take.
"What-" he said, then cleared his throat. "How'd you do that?"
"Oh, nothing," Hermione said lightly, stirring as slowly as possible, waiting for him to turn away again. Peter was currently trying to grab a hold of Sirius' attention, so Hermione knew he would be distracted for a while. She wasn't the one to cheat, but it wasn't cheating. She technically hadn't even read that book yet. She was just taking some chances.
Snape, however, kept his eyes on her the entire seven stirs. Hermione didn't know what would happen to the potion, if she didn't give it another clockwise whirl, so she just closed her eyes and stirred it clockwise.
"What are you doing?" Snape said, a bit of triumph in his voice.
"I'm just... Trying a different way," Hermione, turning a bit pink. "Look, this is how I've always done it. It's not my fault you guys stir Potions so inaccurately," Hermione said smartly, remembering she was supposed to be from Beauxbatons. "Besides, I have no idea what happens if I don't keep on giving it a clockwise stir after every seventh counter."
Snape was silent for a bit. "It doesn't do anything. If you try to do it again, or in other words, skip on clockwise, it explodes."
Hermione stared at him in shock, then she realized that it made perfect sense for him to know. She then also realized that she was supposed to act all shocked and surprised.
"Well, we're done. What do we do now?" Hermione asked five minutes later. The potion was perfectly clear. Peter turned around and looked astounded.
"We're done?" he asked. "We're done. Good," he said awkwardly. Snape snorted.
"What do we do?" Hermione muttered. "Everyone's still working."
"We wait," he said simply.
"I'm gonna go see if Sirius' done," Peter announced, scrambling off to the front of the class. Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled out a book out, The Multi-Universe Theory. It was a muggle book, but it was still very interesting.
She was just beginning a new chapter, but she kept on feeling Snape staring at her, looking away, and then looking back. After about five minutes of this on and off staring, she finally gave up. She sighed, bookmarked her page with a picture of her, Harry, and Ron in the common room, and looked at Snape. (Her wand, her clothes, and that picture in her back pocket was the only thing she had brought with her.)
"Yes?" she asked.
"Nothing," he muttered, and turned away. Hermione continued to read on.
"Move, Alden," Sirius said from behind her, pushing her out of her stool and onto the floor.
"Hey! Hermione exclaimed.
"I need to talk to Peter," he snapped.
"You do?" Peter asked. "But you never come over here to talk to-"
Sirius elbowed Peter in the side.
"Ow!" he whined.
"Shut up and talk," Sirius demanded.
"Need a hand?"
Hermione turned her head, her heart probably skipping a beat. It was Remus Lupin, the first time he had personally talked to her. And he had his hand extended towards her.
"Thanks," Hermione said, taking it as Remus pulled her up.
"Sorry about him," Remus muttered. "He's not usually like this."
"You're not him, why are you apologizing?" Hermione inquired, but was smiling.
"Well, if he isn't, who is?"
"Moony, stop socializing," another said from behind her. Hermione knew the voice so well she almost turned around to hug what she thought was Harry. She reminded herself that that was impossible.
"Why?" Remus said.
"Just because," he snapped. James came into view, but only for a second as he grabbed Remus by the forearm and pulled him towards Sirius. Remus did this Help-me-I'm-so-sorry face at Hermione, and she covered her mouth to hide a giggle.
"What are you still doing here, Alden?" Sirius snapped. Hermione blinked and stopped giggling. She was about to walk away, until she noticed Sirius kneading her book with his elbow, using it as an armrest. Hermione narrowed her eyes. It was her seat, after all. Hermione slowly bent down and grabbed her wand from her bag, right next to Sirius' leg. Just as she was about to stand up, a wrist clamped down on her wrist. She jumped.
"Thinking of hexing me, Alden?" Sirius snarled. He held her wrist so that Hermione's wand was still pointed at his face. She looked from Sirius to her wand.
"Condolesco," she said smartly. Suddenly, Sirius instantly let go of her wrist and gripped his head.
"FUCK!" he yelled, shutting his eyes and running his hands through his hair. "What the fuck is this?"
Sirius slid off his seat in pain, consistently cursing out loud and under his breath.
"Thank you," Hermione said pleasantly, sitting back in her seat. She smoothed her book back out. "You can leave now."
"Don't tell me what to- FUCK!" Sirius said again. Hermione giggled.
"Shut up," he moaned.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Hermione said. She waved her wand, clearing the hex- It was a hex causing a head splitting migraine. Sirius removed his hands from his head and started to pant.
"Now, get out of my face," Hermione snapped. Sirius glared at her, James doing the same. Peter and Remus had this look of astonishment and amazement on their faces.
"You'd better watch out, Alden," Sirius hissed before heading off with his table with James.
"Bye, Remus," Hermione said pleasantly before opening her book once again.
That's it for now! I'm currently in Taiwan, so in New York, it's 12 AM, but here, it's 12 PM. I need to go eat lunch. Toodles!
