So Much Love, Too Much Hate
Act One, Scene Four
After collecting their timetables the next morning and finding out that their first lesson of the day was double Defence Against the Dark Arks, with the Slytherins, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way reluctantly to the third floor, yawning along the way. None of them actually wanted to see a load of girls swarm and giggle over the new teacher, nor to hear the snide remarks of their nemesis, Draco Malfoy.
Although Hermione had cleverly put the boys to sleep the previous night by singing them a soothing lullaby, she was still quite angry with them for waking her up in the first place. Well that wasn't actually true; she was angry with Ron, seeing as he was the one sitting up and boasting about the defeat of Voldemort. She hadn't actually said a word about it to Harry all morning, let alone shouted at him, whereas Ron, on the other hand, had received the full power of her wrath. She didn't have the heart to do it to Harry.
By the time they got to their lesson, all three of them were yawning endlessly. They took their usual seats at the back of the classroom, pulled out their books and wands, as they were unsure of the teaching approach that Professor Ross would take, and waited impatiently. Well, Hermione waited impatiently while Ron and Harry talked over her about Quidditch tryouts. Not only was Hermione tired and grumpy, but also the teacher was four minutes late.
"Where the hell is he?" she whispered harshly to Harry, who sat on her right. It was bad manners for any teacher to turn up late on his or her first day. Plus, it created such a bad reputation.
"No need to get so impatient, Granger," came a snide voice from her far right. She turned to see Draco sitting next to Blaise Zabini, who was grinning for some reason. Hermione decided to ignore them. Besides, Draco had no right being mean to her after this summer.
At six minutes past nine, Professor Ross burst through the office door at the back of the room, holding a large cage with a white sheet over it. Hermione sighed and hoped that this wouldn't be like the lesson in her second year when Professor Lockhart had released a load of Cornish Pixies onto the class, and had then left Hermione, Harry and Ron to sort them out. It seemed she wasn't the only one to remember this experience; she heard a few members of the class whisperering in hushed tones, things like, "Oh Merlin, I hope its not the pixies again" … "Gosh, what do you think he's got under there?" … "I dunno, but it better not be Pixies."
Due to the fact that the whole female population of students seemed to have fallen head-over-wands for the new professor (Bunch of idiotic, shallow cows …), the first two and a half rows of desks were occupied by all the girls in the class. And that included those from Slytherin. That included Pansy Parkinson! Hermione had actually seen Lavender and Pansy fighting for the centre desk in the front row, (Pansy had won, obviously) while the boys and Hermione had chosen to occupy the two back rows.
"Good morning, my first class, and welcome to your last year at Hogwarts." Some of the girls moaned quietly, obviously upset that they would only get one year with Professor Ross. Hermione rolled her eyes, wishing that he would just get on with the bloody lesson. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry glance at her and smile. She didn't dare face him just yet, Harry was sure to distract her and she wanted to concentrate on her lesson. Harry was sure to drag her thoughts to the kiss …
"I would like to ask you all a question before we start, as I do not know much about Hogwarts School." The other girls sighed and Hermione nearly tutted in annoyance.
Just get on with the flipping lesson.
"Could someone tell me who your favourite Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was?"
Every female hand shot into the air, including Hermione's.
"The lady at the back?" He said as he pointed to her. HA! She thought to all the stupid girls that sighed again and looked dejected. Even with no make-up on, and hidden behind all the students of the class, she was still picked first to answer a question.
"I think I speak for the whole class, sir, when I say that our favourite teacher for this lesson was Professor Lupin, who took charge of our third year." Professor Ross smiled as the rest of the class nodded in agreement, took a white file from his desk and flicked through it.
"Ah, Professor Lupin … Red Kaps and Boggarts … a Werewolf …" The whole class held their breath as he said this. If he said a bad word against Professor Lupin they would charge him straight out of the school. Well … at least the boys and Hermione would; the rest of the girls seemed too hung on his looks to really care.
"Very well," he said with as smile as he looked up to face the class. "If you prefer his approach then I shall try my best to follow in his footsteps. Now, what I have here in this cage is a Ruby Grubner. Can anyone tell me what that is?"
Hermione bit her lip in frustration as the whole class turned to face her. She had definitely heard that name before. She clenched her fists as she tried to remember where she had read about Ruby Grubners and what they were.
"Hermione, are you OK?" Harry asked her gently. She looked at him briefly and nodded. She would not allow this to be the first time that she didn't know an answer to something.
Then suddenly the answer shot straight into her head and her arm flew into the air with such force that she nearly hit Ron in the face, and nearly fell off her own chair.
Professor Ross smiled as he pointed to her. "Yes, to the lady at the back again?"
"A Ruby Grubner is one of the rarest dark creatures known to wizards. They are usually found in the sewers of very hot countries; for example, the Caribbean, Australia or South Africa. Ruby Grubners apparently look like small, red pixies and they appear in people's households after sneaking in through pipes or toilets to attack them with their deadly saliva and claws. If touched by their saliva or scratched by their long, sharp claws, a witch, wizard or Muggle could end up with a fatal wound that will spout blue gunk and cause the infected torso to swell to five times its natural size." Hermione smiled with satisfaction and so did Professor Ross, while the other girls glared at her in jealousy.
"Fantastic! Simply fantastic. I wasn't actually expecting anyone to know that. What is your name, miss?"
"Hermione Granger, sir."
"Ah, Miss Granger!" He replied suddenly. "I have heard so many praises about you. Smartest witch in your year apparently. Well, your reputation precedes you. Thirty points to Gryffindor."
"Well done, Hermione," Harry whispered as he put his hand on her right arm. Hermione turned to face him and smiled. He looked so handsome when his smile touched the corners of his eyes.
"Well, well, if it isn't the pathetic lovers." Hermione, Harry and Ron all turned to the right expecting to see a familiar face glaring at them.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry whispered harshly. But he got a slight shock, as did Hermione, when they all turned to see Blaise Zabini glaring at them. As Hermione glanced past him, she could see Draco sitting quietly and staring at Harry's hand, which was still resting upon her forearm. Hermione self-consciously removed her arm from beneath Harry's.
"Blind as well as stupid are you, Potter? You might want to change your glasses."
"And you might want to change your attitude, Zabini. Of all the people to imitate, 'Mad Malfoy' is not the best choice. You might just end up like his idiotic father and his 'Dark Lord'.
Hermione couldn't help but giggle a little. She noticed that Ron was snickering too. She saw Draco straighten and glare at Harry. The crack about his father must have knocked him out of his little trance, but before he had a chance to retaliate, Parvati, who was tilting her head to get a better view of Professor Ross's arse as he bent over to pick up his dropped quill, had broken into song.
"Ladies, read my mind, this professor's all mine,
You touch him and you'll find, were heading for war.
This teacher is perfect, I'm so gonna work it,
This feller is worth it, so I might break the law."
Pansy laughed at Parvati and turned to face Professor Ross with a sigh.
"You're call's late, big mistake,
You gotta hang about outside for as long as I take,
To take my time, make him mine … he's so not into you.
I'm a gift-wrapped kitty-cat, I only turn into a tiger when he wants to fuck and …
That's too bad for you, I know your feelin' blue."
Hermione rolled her eyes. Oh please. Pansy Parkinson … a kitty-cat? Harry and Ron were obviously trying to hold in fits of laughter. Hermione didn't at all find it funny.
Parvati glared at Pansy, before continuing.
"Sir, come take my hand, understand that you can,
You're my man and I need you tonight."
Pansy glared right back and stuck her middle finger up at Pavati before she continued.
"Sir, make my dreams, Honey, hard as it seems,
Lovin' me is as easy as pie."
They both then glanced at their admirer, who was completely oblivious to the girls' blatant means of getting his attention, and sang the next part in unison.
"I'll be your love machine, feed me your fantasy,
Then give me a kiss … or three, and I'm fine.
Then I'll need a squeeze a day, while in a negligee
What will the students say, next time?"
Ron and Harry were almost beside themselves with laughter. Ron was barely sitting on his chair. As Hermione glanced around the room, she could see that all of the boys in fact were holding their stomachs and snickering. Could these idiotic girls not see what the boys thought of them?
While Pansy and Pavarti glared at each other with their hands on their wands, Lavender, who was using her wand to draw sparkly pink heart shapes in the air, decided to join in.
"I've been going crazy while you sleep,
Searching for a classroom so the two of us can speak.
Mr. Oh-so-handsome, make your pole …
Stand up oh-so-tall so you can drive it though my hole."
Well, that set the boys off completely. The room erupted with silent laughter. Even Hermione had to fight back a smile, while she scolded the two boys on either side of her and told them to be quiet. The girls however, seemed quite disgusted. Chantelle Grandi, a skinny Slytherin with white blonde hair, poked Lavender hard in the arm, before joining in.
"You're call's late, big mistake,
You gotta hang about outside for as long as I take,
To take my time, make him mine … he's so not into you.
I'm a gift-wrapped kitty-cat, I only turn into a tiger when he wants to fuck and …
That's too bad for you, I know your feelin' blue."
Another Slytherin girl decided to join in the musical. Hermione put her head in her hands and sighed. Why were girls so shallow, superficial and just plain stupid?
"Sir, take my hand, understand that you can,
You're my man and I need you tonight.
Sir, make my dreams, Honey, hard as it seems,
Lovin' me is as easy as pie."
Then, all the girls sung in unison while giving each other the utmost evil looks. Some of the Slytherin girls were swearing at the Gryffindors, while the Gryffindor girls were shaking their fists, indicating that the Slytherin girls were 'wankers'. Hermione sat amongst the idiotic girls and the laughing boys and sighed.
"I'll be your love machine, feed me your fantasy,
Then give me a kiss … or three, and I'm fine.
Then I'll need a squeeze a day, while in a negligee
What will the students say, next time?"
Hermione stood up. She had had quite enough of this immaturity.
"Sir … you were going to tell us how to defend ourselves against Ruby Grubners?"
Professor Ross looked up. He had been tending to the creature in the cage. He smiled at her and nodded. "Yes, of course. Ok, settle, students, and we shall proceed."
Act One, Scene Five"Class dismissed!"
Draco listened intently as Hermione told Harry and Ron that she had a free period, while they complained about having to go to Divination. That meant Hermione would go to the library to look up more information on Ruby Grubner's. He knew what she was like. Draco had admired her for quite a long time.
He told Blaise that he needed to have a word with Professor Ross. Blaise had stared at him suspiciously but then eventually left for Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.
When he had left, Draco began to walk slowly towards the greenhouses. He couldn't care less if he was late and he couldn't care more about Hermione. He just wanted a few minutes alone to think about her.
His mind had been stuck on her beautiful body since she had saved his life during the battle during the summer. He had disobeyed his master and was put under the Cruciatus curse by Bellatrix for almost three whole minutes. It may not have seemed like a lot to anyone else, but when a person endures such an immense amount of pain, it feels more like three years.
It was then, thank Merlin, that the whole group of students that had called themselves, 'Dumbledore's Army' in the fifth year arrived.
All of them began throwing spells at the death eaters, but it was Hermione who had hit Bellatrix from behind with a Stupefy spell. Draco could barely move, as he was in so much pain, but he managed to pull his stupid mask off, allowing Hermione to see who he was. And without hesitation or even a gasp of surprise, she had helped him up and dragged him away from the war.
The battle had taken place within the Hogwarts grounds, and Hermione had managed to drag Draco around to the other side of the grand castle, where he was completely safe out of sight of his fellow Death Eaters.
She sat him down against the wall and pulled a small, metal flask out of her back pocket.
"It's water," she whispered breathlessly as she handed it to him. Draco wasn't sure whether or not to believe her at first, but he soon told himself not to be so completely stupid. Bellatrix was well known for torturing people to insanity, like the Longbottoms. Hermione had just saved him from what he thought of as a fate worse than death.
"Thank you," he said weakly as he drank from the flask. Hermione then pulled a bar of chocolate from her jacket pocket and gave him the whole thing. Draco took it gratefully as she stood up, glancing around the dark grounds. She then looked at him once again.
"Stay here until you feel strong enough to move, Draco. I'm not going to tell you that you have to help us, or anything; that's your prerogative. I will however tell you that after what I saw, I think you should go somewhere safe. We … will deal with Bellatrix.
And with that, she had gone … leaving Draco to his unhappy and very confused thoughts.
As Draco wandered though the hallways, not really caring whether he was going in the right direction or not, he began to wonder how he could make Hermione see his true feelings, when she was so set on thinking that he was an evil little bastard. He couldn't really blame her, on reflection; especially after all of the times he had called her a Mudblood.
He turned into a dimly lit corridor on the third floor which had only one window and only two doors; one at the start of it and one towards the end. Feeling quite confused, Draco took a deep breath and began to sing quietly.
"I'm obsessive when just one thought of her comes up,
I'm aggressive just one thought of closing up,
She's got me stressing, incessantly pressing the issue
Hermione, every moment gone you know I miss you.
I'm the question and she's of course the answer
Just hold me close Hermione; I'm your tiny dancer
She's got me shaken up, never mistaken
But I can't control myself, she's got me calling out for help."
Draco walked slowly though the hall. His thoughts were so wrapped around Hermione, that he didn't notice the first door he passed, open just a crack.
"S.O.S. please someone help me. It's not healthy … for me to feel this way,
Y.O.U. are making this hard, I can't take it, girl it don't feel right.
S.O.S please someone help me. It's not healthy … for me to feel this way,
Y.O.U are making this hard, you got me tossin' and turnin', can't sleep at night."
He carried on towards the end of the corridor, complexly oblivious to the fact that two people were quietly following him, listening intently to his song.
This time please someone come and rescue me,
'Cause she's on my mind, she's got me losing it.
I'm lost, she got me lookin' for the rest of me,
Love is testing me but I'm still losing it."
Draco sighed heavily as he reached the end of the corridor. He would make Hermione see not only how much he was thankful for her saving him, and not telling the other two annoying musketeers that she permanently hung around with, but he would also show her just how much he loved her. He knew that Harry liked her too and that he was up against some serious competition, but he did enjoy taking on a challenge every now and then.
Act One, Scene SixGinny looked at Cho Chang with a shocked expression. She had had a feeling that Draco had a crush on someone; he was a boy of course, it was inevitable, but she would never have imagined that it was Hermione Granger.
"Oh Gin, I'm sorry," Cho said quietly. Only three people knew about Ginny's crush on Draco; Cho, her best friend Thea and Hermione.
Cho was still at the school, on a teacher-training course. She had graduated last year but wanted to continue as a teacher at Hogwarts. She now had to go through two years of training, during the second of which she got to be a substitute teacher if one of the Professors fell ill. There was apparently only one other student to stay on this year (a Hufflepuff), and Neville had been exceptionally happy when Cho had explained this all to him. He told everyone he knew after that he would stay on to be a Herbology teacher.
Cho knew about Ginny's crush because she had overheard Ginny discussing ways to get Draco to notice her with Thea, after a Slug-Club meeting. She had promised not to say a word and had decided to help.
"It's OK. I'm sure he will give up once he realises that she's not interested in him," Ginny said quietly. She wasn't too sure if she believed this. Draco was definitely someone who always found a way to get what he wanted.
Cho had gone silent. When Ginny turned to look at her, she was scowling at the floor.
"Gosh, that prissy cow gets in everyone's way!"
Ginny tried to hold back a smile. Cho had hated Hermione ever since her sixth year, when she had gone on a date with Harry for Valentines Day and he had left her to go and meet Hermione. She always told everyone that Hermione was the reason she and Harry had stopped dating … and talking.
"Don't worry, Gin," she said sharply, "we'll make sure Draco forgets all about Little Miss Perfect."
Ginny didn't dislike Hermione as much as Cho, but she was finding her quite annoying lately. They had had an argument just before the Battle, when Hermione had scorned her for putting on lipstick! At the time, Ginny hadn't known that everyone was planning to move out and get ready for war; she had just returned from seeing a friend. But Hermione, Little Miss Know-it-all, had obviously though that Ginny was being superficial by putting make-up on.
That was the last day they had spoken, really. Even after the war, Ginny had avoided her in case she tried to tell her that her dress sense wasn't appropriate or some shit like that.
"That girl is so annoying," Cho said as she began to imitate Hermione by holding her hand high in the air. "Please sir, ask me to answer the question or I might just piss myself."
Ginny laughed as the two of them made their way to the Library. They were not only going to plan how to get Draco to notice Ginny, but also how to get Harry away from Miss Prissy and back in love with Cho.
End of Chapter Two
AN:
Links to the songs within the chapter.
(Disclaimer: I forgot to put this in my first chapter: None of the songs belong to me, neither do the characters.)
CHAPTER ONE
The Greatest Love of All – By Whitney Houston. ( Glorious food – From the musical 'Oliver Twist'. ( Awake – From the musical 'Mary Poppins'. ( TWO
Love Machine – By Girls Aloud. ( – By Rhianna. ( remember, theses video links do not belong to me, I take absolutely no credit for them, and they are only for reference towards the songs. Just in case you would like to hear what the songs sound like, if you do not already know, or if you would like to sing my adapted lyrics along with the music. (That's what I love to do )
