Hey! It's me again! I tried to write as fast as I could to thanks those who reviewed, followed, or favored this story! Special thanks to LittleMarauder29 and to 1questingdreamer, my firsts reviewers (I kind of sound cheesy I think... don't I?) and thanks for your suggestion 1questingdreamer, I'm using it ;)!
Enjoy and review!
Step 2: The Public Embarrassment
"Oh God, oh God," tought Hermione, panicked."Why did I let bloody Lavender touch my hair? And my face? Bloody hell, I'm an idiot... and I'm sure I look like a foul... Hermione Granger, what have you done!"
She wanted to go upstairs, in her bathroom, to undo the stupid ponytail, but if she did, she'll probably be late for class... "Oh, screw classes!" she screamed out loud, ready to undo her hair. She ran into Lavender, ready for Potions and pretty as a flower.
"Hermione, don't you dare touch what I've done to you!" she ordered.
"B-but I look silly," cried the girl.
"Now you don't! Plus, I sealed your ponytail so that it'll last for the day! You can't touch it!"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes I am!" she replied." And sorry, I have to get to class, I'm going to be late!"
Lavender ran through the stairs and disappeared. Hermione sighed. She knew that she couldn't be on time. She dashed through the school as fast as she could when-
"Hey Hermione! " said her best friend, Ginny." In a hurry?"
"Kind of."
"I just wanted to ask: what the hell have you done to your hair?"
"Ugh, it looks silly, doesn't it? Lavender insisted on doing them..."
"I think it suits you!"
"Really? You do?" asked Hermione, full of hope.
"Yeah!"answered Ginny." Umm... I don't mean to be rude, but we'll have to cut the conversation if you want to get in class on time.."
"Bloody hell! Bye Gin!" she screamed, scared to be the last one in class.
Hermione dashed through the school and succeeded arriving in class... three seconds before the bell.
She looked around the class and saw that everybody was looking at her, but she didn't know that the entire class was surprised to see that the school's bookworm was... kinda cute... Hermione furiously blushed, frustrated to be the target of all this attention. She wanted to become a tiny mouse that no one will see. She looked nervously at Lavender, who was making thumbs up signs while smiling. Hermione cursed her in her head, waaay too embarrassed to do it in front of everybody. She glanced at Ron and Harry, but she couldn't tell if they founded the situation funny or shocking. Hermione couldn't stand the glare of the class an chose to fix her feet...
Snape twirled to face her, his hair not even moving a bit, walked slowly in her direction and, once he stopped in front of her, looked at the class's clock before saying:
"Well, miss Granger, just on time, you're lucky. However, I considered that getting to class at the second when the bell rings is a lack of respect for the teacher."
Hermione held her breath while the odious teacher said, turning his back:"Less 18 points, for the Gryffindor. You should consider me as a generous being. I would have said 20, but, I give you two points for your hairdo, which you seem to consider being more important that class." A general laughter bursted in the class, even the Gryffindors couldn't stop chuckling.
"SILENCE!" screamed Snape while the laughter stopped. "Sit down, Beauty Queen."
Hermione walked to her place, at the sides of Harry. He whispered with a smirk:"Tell me, what in the world-"
"Don't you dare ask this question or I'll strangle you with my bare hands before twisting your neck." she answered as quietly as she could.
Harry grinned and decided to look at the black board. He knew his friend was to shy to do such a hairdo, but who in the world would have forced her to do so? He didn't know, but he was sure of something: Hermione looked bloody amazing like this, even if the change was just with her hair. He even regretted not approaching her in a different way... for a second, but then, he remembered that Hermione was his friend, nothing more.
"Well, since miss Granger retarded and disturbed the entire class, I'll have less time to explain your duty. I created teams to execute the following potion. I'm talking about a complicated one." said Snape, tormenting Hermione. "Last year, not even the half of my students succeeded to make it right. I'm talking about the Draught of Peace. Does someone knows what this potion is?"
Everybody looked away, praying that Snape will ignore them and take Miss-Know-It-All instead. Of course, Hermione knew the answer. But she also knew that Snape will not take her -never intentionally in a billion years. But she didn't want anybody to feel that she lost her confidence. So, she decided to face Snape, without putting her hand in the air. She challenged her teacher with a glare -a glare she believed meant "Ask me if you dare to!" but that looked like "Please, let me go to the infirmary: my eyes are hurting like hell, so I have no other choice but to squint them!"- to provoke him. Snape understood that Granger was suffering, but didn't really care, and not wanting to let Hermione answer his question, he said, ignoring her:
"Well, as I can see, none of you are courageous enough to respond to my question, so I shall answer it myself. The Draught of Peace is a potion wich relieves anxiety and agitation. It's that simple. You will have to follow the instructions cautiously, or a disaster might occur," he precised, staring at Neville.
"Like I said before, you're going to do the exercise in teams that I got to choose. Dumbledore insisted so that I mixed the houses together, an idea that despises me like you cannot believe... Here is the list of the teams. The definitive and last one, I will not change it because I'm getting tired to create teams that won't work anyway..."
The class started whispering, each student wondering with who he/she'll end up, scared of being with the dumbest one. Hermione remarked that nobody was paying attention to her -except a few Slytherins idiots. She sighed, relieved. She glanced at Nott knowing that they'll be together. He saw her and smiled, while Hermione started blushing-again.
"Why am I blushing so much? Am I a bloody tomato in the body of a human?" she tought.
"You may come one by one in alphabetical order and see with who you'll team up. Slytherins first, please!"
A general groan came from the Gryffindors while the green and silver students stood up, one by one. Some of them were happy, others were groaning, and one of them cried -apparently, the one teaming up with Neville.
Hermione was a bit stressed: what if she didn't end up with Nott? Well, being with Zabini wouldn't be bad either, even if he was the best friend of Malfoy. The girl started crossing fingers when she saw Theodore Nott looking at the list. He glanced at her and sadly shook his head.
"Bloody hell", tought the girl, panicked. Hermione felt her heart drop. If she couldn't work with Nott, she'll probably wouldn't get an Optimal. The horror. The nightmare. She started crying when she saw Zabini winking at a disgusted Parvati. Her chances of having a good grade had vanished.
"Hermione," whispered Harry," It's your turn... why are you crying? Oh, I know, you're not with your usual teammate! I think he's with Lavender."
"Oh bloody hell! First, she messes with my hair and then, she takes my coworker! " tought Hermione, furious."What will she do next? Steal my intelligence?"
She walked to see the list. She saw:
"Hermione Granger - Draco Malfoy"
No. She couldn't. Not that. Everyone, but not this foul.
"Well, you all saw your teams, so, team up." said the professor, inspecting each of his students.
A general brouhaha occurred, everybody finding their teammate. Hermione slowly walked to Malfoy's desk. The idiot saw her and smirked.
"Hello, Beauty Queen," he chuckled.
"Ugh, my life is a disaster,"thought Hermione.
Hi! (Again, I already said it, I know...) If you want to, leave comments and suggestions!
-Amiis
P.S. I think you observed that I frequently use the expression "Bloody hell". I'm kind of obsessed with it...
