Thanks to everyone who commented on my first chapter! It really made me smile to know that you enjoyed it! Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!
Chapter two
Dumbledore rose from his chair, gaining immediate silence in the great hall, "Welcome back to Hogwarts! Fear not my children I will not keep you long as I am sure that you are all hungry, but alas, there are some issues I wish to discuss with you all first..." at this he glanced around the room, frowning slightly.
"I must warn you all to be most vigilant whilst roaming around this great castle as there are many passageways that have not been used in centuries and are therefore completely unsafe. Also I must remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is still exactly that. Forbidden. For those who even attempt to venture into its woods will be severely punished, either by me or whatever you might happen to come upon whilst in there... Finally, Hogsmeade is now out of bounds for all those who are not in their seventh year and with permission from either me or another member of staff; this is because as you all know, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters have returned and will take every chance to harm any innocent soul. So the safest place for you all is Hogwarts." At this there were many worried glances exchanged between students, Dumbledore smiled sadly at this hoping this warning would put enough fear in them to keep them safe.
"...And now onto happier news! I would like to introduce you all to our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Rowse Hebert!" Again the shabby man got to his feet and bowed slightly at the audience of applauding students. "Also I would like to now introduce you all to your new head boy, Michael Corner of Ravenclaw and Head Girl, Hermione Granger of Gryffindor!" At this Hermione looked up, shocked. She had just assumed that she had not got the placement since she did not get a letter in the holidays; she looked around at Michael and found that he looked as stunned as she did, both of them standing up when signalled by the headmaster to come to the front. She looked back at Harry and Ron, finding them and the entire Gryffindor table clapping and shouting loudly as she made her way to the staff table. Dumbledore smiled at them, happily giving them their designated badges and maps; when they looked confused he explained that the maps were to help them find the quarters which had been assigned to them, as they were not located near their house common-rooms.
Once they had both returned to their tables, Dumbledore finished his speech and with a slightly odd twirl of his wand and a loud crack every plate in the hall filled with all different types of food. The atmosphere seem to relax a bit as students and professors alike began to chat and eat, enjoying the company of those around them.
"I knew you would get it Herms! Congratulations!" Harry patted her on the back, smiling brightly as Ron cuddled her. "There wasn't a doubt in my little mind"
"'Little' being the main part" Ginny giggled as she sat next to Harry.
"HEY. No fair, I'm not dumb...just uninterested in smart stuff!"
The chatter continued as Hermione gazed over the staff table looking for the new professor, there was something about him that she felt was unusual, something she could quite put her finger on. Shaking her head at her paranoia, she looked next to him and found she had locked eyes with none other that the devil himself, Severus Snape. Hermione squirmed in her seat, he always seemed to be able make her feel so bloody uncomfortable, but she refused to lose this battle of the stares. Squinting her eyes she scowled at him, earning a small smirk from her professor which shocked her into blushing, but before she could digest what had just gone on a hand grabbed her shoulder. "HERMS! Are you with us?!" Ron's concerned voice brought her out of her trance,
"I'm fine Ron, just day dreaming..."
"Well we were just talking about Dumbledore, he looks like he's aged about 40 years over the summer. Do you think he's alright?" Harry nodded in confirmation as Hermione glanced over at her most respected headmaster. It was true, he did look slightly worn down; almost as if he had lost a little bit of hope that went in company with the lost twinkle in his eyes.
"I wonder why." She sighed: he always made her feel so at ease. So safe, yet now it looked like he doubted even himself; this scared her and once again she found herself moving her line of sight to Snape. He was now eating and trying his best to ignore the babblings of Sybill Trelawney, the Divination professor. Hermione couldn't deny it, she respected him a lot, he seemed to be a column that helped hold this castle together...he was a total bastard, don't get her wrong, there were many times where she would have gladly slapped him round the face or given a flame to the accelerant of grease that seemed to engulf his hair. Though, even through this she respected him, even missed his presence during the summer for some strange reason. However she just put this down to the fact that she couldn't seem to motivate herself to do as much work as she usually did.
"Hermione hon. we're going up to bed, you coming?" Harry held out a hand to her, smiling at her ability to just zone off. "Oh. Yeah sure!" she said, accompanying them up to the Gryffindor common before bidding them goodnight and following the map onto a corridor where she found a large oak door with a lion engraved on the centre of the door. Well this is a little bit obvious she mused, without thinking she placed her hand on the door knob only to find herself screaming in pain. "WHAT THE HELL?!...ooooo shit, I forgot to ask for the password" Suddenly a snigger was heard behind her.
"Language Miss Granger. Language. And only today was the headmaster clucking about you intelligence...the door is charmed you buffoon." Snape tutted as he strolled over to her, however before she could speak he held up a hand, "I do not want to hear it, I would gladly give you a detention, although that little piece of comedy has me satisfied. I have come here to tell you your password since you ran off like that before the headmaster could tell you." He smirked, twirling his wand.
A silent pause past between them leaving Hermione irritated. "Well what is it then sir?"
"Candyfloss" he replied, making a face as though he had smelled something particularly nasty, "and I must advise that you change it...never know who might just...let it slip. Oh, and Miss Granger, I am not a messenger boy, if I have to run after you again I'll make sure to have a nice couple of rotten Gwyindypuff-mud-encrusted cauldrons for you to clean at the ready." And with this he turned and walked away leaving one very annoyed and insulted Hermione. Well, he thought, at least I won't have to say that idiotic name again; Merlin knows my IQ just went down 50 points.
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The morning came way too early for Hermione's liking; she grumbled as she rolled over, attacking her alarm clock and throwing it at her bathroom door. She had had the same nightmare last night ending in the same stupid way. This time she could still remember their screams echoing through her head; she only then appreciated having her own room, that's all she needed, for everyone to think she had finally lost it. She got up, dragging herself to the shower, twisting the knobs until the water was as hot as it could go, wishing only to wash away the memories of that awful dream. The water burned her skin, but she liked it. She felt clean.
Clambering out of the shower after 30 minutes of torturing her skin she clothed herself and went to meet the boys down in the great hall for breakfast.
"Hermione!" Ron smiled; however on seeing her appearance he frowned, nudging Harry next to him. Harry looked up. "Hermione? Are you ok?" Upon hearing the concern in their voices she forced a smile and sat down next to them.
"I'm fine guys, I just have a bit of a headache this morning."
"I don't believe you" countered Harry "don't talk to us like we haven't been sleeping in the same house for the last six weeks Herms. You had a bad night again didn't you." This wasn't a question, it was a statement, he knew her well enough to know when something was up and he knew how to push the right buttons. "You know we all went through the same experience. You need to talk to someone about it; you can't cope with it all on your own Hermione, this is just too big."
"Well, then who have you spoken to Harry?" she said, slightly irritated.
"Remus and Arthur, both of us have. You're the only one who hasn't said one little thing about that stupid day: stop bottling it up otherwise you're going to end up doing something really stupid."
"ME? I WASNT THE ONE WHO GOT US INTO THAT SITUATION HARRY, I DIDNT WANT TO GO. I SAID I DIDNT WANT TO GO" she screamed, tears swelling in her eyes as she stood up and stormed out of the hall. Harry sat there motionless; she blamed him for it all, and his stomach began to tighten as a gentle hand laid itself on his shoulder.
"Boys, why don't we go up to my office?" their head of house said warmly. They both followed in complete silence until they reached McGonagall's office.
"Professor? I think we should get Hermione here as well" mumbled Ron. "It's just she's not doing so well since the attack..."
"I know Mr. Weasley. I have asked someone to fetch Miss Granger and she will be here shortly; however before she does I feel I should apologize. I realize that you all have had quite a stressful summer and it was organized that you would be given counseling after the attack by Professor Lupin...I was sure it would help. However it seems that it is not enough."
"It did help Professor, it's just Hermione didn't really open up to him," Ron replied sadly
She raised her eyebrows at this; it surprised her that her star pupil would have so much trouble with talking to one of her favorite teachers about such an issue. With this information digested she looked up at the faces of two very upset young men, and that's definately what they were: they had grown so much since their first year at Hogwarts, Ron more than Harry height-wise, yet Harry made up for this with his athletic build.
"Ok, you may leave now. I will talk to Miss Granger alone as it seems more fitting for her situation."
With this Harry and Ron left to return to the Gryffindor common room, dragging their feet as they went.
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Hermione ran as fast as she could - all she could think of was to get to her room as quickly as possible, she couldn't believe she had said that to Harry...she really hadn't meant it. Finding her door she literally screamed her password before shutting it quickly behind her, finding the first breakable object on her desk and throwing it as hard as she could in a resounding, satisfying smash. But as she moved to find another desirably glass object to smash, she slipped and fell onto the vase she had just chucked. Landing with a heavy thud she gasped; all the frustrations quickly leaving her, she felt her tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. Picking herself up she grabbed her wand and cleared up the mess on her floor. Looking at the floor she noticed droplets of blood following up to where she stood; looking at her hands she turned them over to see pieces of glass had sunken into her skin leaving quite horrific wounds. Slowly picking out the shards she decided not to heal the wounds, liking the way that the throbbing pain seemed to take up all of her thoughts, making her feel more at peace.
She lay on the bed simply staring at the ceiling of her beautiful room and focusing on her pain until she heard a knock at the door. After staring at it for a few seconds in confusion she stood and slowly made her way to the door.
"Ah! Miss Granger! I've been told to escort you to the Deputy Headmistress's office! Although I can't imagine it could be anything bad since you are the head girl!" Standing in front of her was the DADA teacher with a huge grin plastered on his face, it made her feel sick, here she was in the middle of a breakdown and this guy thinks he can just literally knock on her door and speak to her like he has known her for years? Even with these thoughts in mind she stretched to a weak smile, deciding it would be in both their interests if she kept her mouth shut and her palms closed, there was no need to start by being badgered by this guy.
"If you would like to follow me Miss Granger, Oh and congratulations on the wonderful news of your head girl success, I must say I have heard some absolutely wonderful things about you... most intelligent witches of her time they say...absolutely brilliant..." he babbled on like this all the way to Professor McGonagall's office, making Hermione grit her teeth so hard that it was starting to feel like they were bending under the pressure. She didn't think she could remember a time in which she was so relieved to see Professor McGonagall's office door. She looked at Professor Hebert expectantly, almost mentally pushing him down the corridor away from her as she knocked on the door.
"Ah! There you are Miss Granger!" Her head of house grabbed her into a bear hug: Hermione was shocked by this but none the less an almost automatic response brought her arms round the deputy headmistress, taking in the warm comforting feeling. Upon realising that Professor Hebert was still standing there McGonagall straightened and put on an almost brisk and cold demeanour. "Thank you Professor, I apologise if I kept you from something important this early in the morning. May I suggest breakfast? I know the house elves would be more than happy to oblige."
Almost shocked by her complete change in personality, Hebert, decided that this was one woman he dare not cross. "That sounds like a wonderful idea! ...thank you Minerva!" And with this he was gone, in a manner which Hermione could only describe as an elephant running from a mouse.
"Now Hermione, please sit. We have a few things to discuss, don't we." Sitting herself down in her chair behind the beautifully decorated oak desk, she looked up at Hermione, gesturing at her to take a seat.
"I'm sorry about my outburst earlier Professor. I'm just still trying to get myself on my feet."
McGonagall nodded understanding. "But Hermione dear, that's the thing. There hasn't been even an outburst from you since the attack. You need to talk about it, only then can you get over it."
Hermione dug her nails into the palms of her hands, hoping that the pain would keep her from doing something completely stupid.
"I'll be fine Professor."
"It had to be done Hermione. You had to do it."
"Professor..."
"It wasn't your fault Hermione! If you didn't he would have killed you and your friends! Please talk to me!"
"Please...I really don't wa-"
"HERMIONE!" this time she had rounded the table and had hold of her student's arms. "Listen to me. You HAD to do it. If you hadn't killed him he would have tortured and killed all of you, and that's only if he was in a generous mood..."
Hermione dropped from her arms to kneel on the floor, sobbing. "You didn't see everyone's face when I did it. I know what they were thinking...murderer. I just...when he mentioned my parents...I just blew up! I thought I would be arrested. But, but no one did anything! They just took the body away like it was a dead animal or something."
Suddenly green flames erupted in McGonagall's fireplace and out stepped out Severus Snape. Upon viewing the scene in front of him he sneered: "God. Teenagers and their emotions, could it get anymore –"
"SAY ONE MORE WORD SEVERUS AND I'LL FLY THOSE VOCAL CORDS OF YOURS TO THE AMAZON!" Minerva threatened, pointing her wand at her colleague.
Snape stared at them for a minute, Hermione's head turned away sniffing quietly. "Minerva, the headmaster want to see you now, I suggest you release Miss Granger as she still has to carry out her Head Girl duties before her first lesson..."
"Severus. I can't just leave the girl..."
"I shall take her to Poppy to give her a calming draught. But the Headmaster insists on your presence."
With a huff McGonagall helped Hermione to her feet. "Hermione dear, you have opened up a little this morning; I think this was a good start. Why don't we do this again maybe at the weekend sometime, yes?" Hermione nodded, keeping her head down. McGonagall moved over to Snape and grabbed his wrist whilst facing towards the fire that he had just exited from. "Upset her even more Severus, and I'll make sure you're teaching long into you hundreds," she whispered, staring into his eyes. He understood and nodded.
With one last look at Hermione she left, leaving her alone with someone she probably would have agreed to swap with Lord Voldemort himself.
