Disclaimer : Unfortunately I am still not JKR ...
AN : Wondering... if I am horrible writer... Please Review...
Chapter 3: Hermione's plan of action
Where Hermione plan's on revenge and Ginny is dragged in between
Dinner at Hogwarts was always a boisterous affair, and today it was nothing different
Hermione was eating food with her usual perfection only the expression on her face seemed different; it looked like she was imagining somebody instead of the meat on her plate
Ginny seemed to be fidgeting while eating her food, fidgeting while drinking water, fidgeting on her seat... well fidgeting in general
There was something there which seem to give a bad signal,
A signal which screamed 'Run when you have time', at least Ginny seem to project that
So Harry being the neighborhood hero, decided to help the damsel or damsels... in distress (at least he thought it was distress)
"So anything interesting you have to share with me?" he asked more to Ginny "The fidgeting damsel" than Hermione "The damsel who didn't look in distress but seem to plan some distress"
Ginny literally bounced from her seat at Harry's sound and then seem to fidget even more if that was possible
"Nothing Harry just the usual, did you complete your charms essay" asked Hermione nonchalantly, totally changing the topic
Harry was confused to say the least and not to forget successfully distracted "We had charms essay? When did Flitwick give us homework?"
"When you and Ron were playing duck fight with your fake wands, that was two days back which in other words also means the essay is due for tomorrow and charms is our first class Immediately after breakfast" she said this all while arranging her second course, it looked like she was discussing about the weather forecast
Harry gave her a blank look wondering why he had wasted his time earlier in doing his divination homework than this, than he remembered that was because he was not aware of the said essay
Poor Ron was screwed enough, with this rate he would be going at it till early morning he thought
He inspected his almost finished dinner and decided that he had filled enough for surviving till the breakfast and quickly made his way to the entrance door
He was about to walk out when he remembered something and walked down again to Hermione who answered him before he could open his mouth "Essay on animating in-animate things" and with that Harry ran off in the general direction of Gryffindor tower.
Ginny was totally still for the moment contemplating the scene which took in front of her totally forgetting her dinner, she was just getting back to her fidgeting when Hermione nudged her,
Looking at the elder girl she noticed she was moving two seats down towards the gossiping duo
"Well ladies what do you say for some girl talk tonight, I was totally done with my work so was wondering that maybe we can catch on the news" asked Hermione in such a fake excited voice that Ginny herself felt like nodding her head in acceptance of the said excitement if she wasn't wary of her devil-in-friend's mask
Apparently her wariness didn't extend to the duo as they squealed with unbridled happiness at the mere name of 'Girl Talk'
Ginny sighed knowing that there was nothing now one could do to save Draco Malfoy from the wrath of Hermione Granger
Well she thought why should she care any way, May as well help and enjoy the ride to Draco Malfoy's doom.
Draco Malfoy maybe coward occasionally (after all he was not some Stupid Brave Stupid Gryffindor) but it was not in his nature to back out of something or regret doing something
Some people said that was because he was way too arrogant to do that (It mainly included Stupid Gryffindors and maybe some stupid Gryffindor like Ravenclaws & Hufflepuffs)
While some people said it was his insane curiosity that made him do that in the first place (mainly his mother and some of his annoyingly close friends)
Curiosity you may ask?...
Yes according to one Blaise Zabini, he (Draco Malfoy... yours handsomely) was Curious to see how much can Granger's hair puff up when he is annoying her
According to one Theodore Nott, he (yup again me...) was curious to see if Granger can actually shoot hexes through her eyes as it turns bright when he annoys her
According to Narcissa Malfoy, he (well you-know-who?) was curious to see that whether Granger is still the only person he knows who is able to keep at par with his insult marathon
And according to Pansy Parkinson, he (not going to bother) has some hidden Sexual Tension towards Granger
One can only guess Draco's reaction to these 'point-of-view', so it wasn't surprising to know that Draco was not in mood to discuss about his recent run-in with the resident bush-head to his supposed close friends, but he couldn't help but share the unsettling look on one Hermione Granger across the entrance hall
It would have been normal to see Hermione Granger this deliriously happy while talking to Pothead or Weasel or maybe even the she-weasel but not towards the gossiping banshees named Lavender Brown & Parvati Patil
"Well she must have finally given in to firewhiskey the Weasley twins had stolen, one can't blame her though she has stood beside that two nutcases for four years now" was the response which came from Blaise who was sitting to Draco's right
"Or maybe she is planning to pounce on Draco" came from a very amused Theo who was sitting in front of him
Draco who was busy analyzing Granger's behavior was suddenly brought back to the Slytherin table with Theo's comment
"Nott!"
"I meant in regards of revenge for something you must have done" Theo added quickly as he smirked amused at Draco, while Blaise and Pansy where silently laughing behind their spoons,
Some friends they are...
Knowing that his friends were having fun at his cost he gave them a disgruntled "Sod Off!" and walked towards his dormitories, he didn't know what Granger's behavior meant and he was definitely not curious to know either (no matter what his friends said or believed) right now he needed some beauty sleep, no matter what Draco Malfoy had to always look Immaculate and not to forget when he was refreshed from a good night's sleep he was best at his bitchy behavior (Pansy's words) after all he had to keep up with his image while facing everyone tomorrow (including his annoying friends)
Hermione looked around her dormitory;
It was perfectly set up... just like she had planned
It had taken her small detour to library to complete the Look for their 'Girl Talk', Ginny was seating on Hermione's bed cross legged in her baggy pajamas, Parvati had gone down to the kitchen to bring them some hot chocolate and something to nibble on during their Girl time, while Lavender was getting ready for their 'Girl Talk' (apparently it also included parchment and sparkling quill)
Yes it was set and soon enough the two girls settled in the dormitory filled with excitement which seemed to bubble out from them like the potions cauldron in Snape's classes
"So did you hear that Anthony Goldstein swings the other way" this came from Lavender Brown as soon as Parvati had handed them their hot chocolates
Let's say that by the time Lavender completed her sentence three glasses of hot chocolate stopped on their journey to the destined lips
"Are you serious?" that came from Parvati who seemed to be the first to come out of their temporary stupor
"Yes ! Surprising isn't it, especially after that massive break up with Marlene just last week, apparently Anthony was pinning for Marlene's twin brother Marcus" continued Lavender
Hermione & Ginny stared at each other, both of them surprisingly entertained with the news presented before them
Hermione had an epiphany
Maybe she should be a part of this 'Girl talks' more than often, they may not gain some superior knowledge or education but it was definitely educating in other aspects and to top it all it was also highly entertaining
Ginny asked Lavender how she came to know about this piece of news
"Oh ! Clara Lewis from Hufflepuff told me and Cho (Hermione cringed), which she had heard when Hannah who was telling Susan that she had heard it from Jessica who happens to be Marlene's roommate..." and so went on the blabbering story of the Gossip mill of Hogwarts soon followed with corresponding stories of the other people who were part (some fortunate and most other unfortunate) of this grapevine
It was almost Half past 12 when Hermione finally realized that she was here on a mission,
She couldn't help but be amused at the amount of creativity people perceived when talking about someone Else's business, and what better way to make something out of nothing (for her mission) so deciding to play her cards she started her act
"Say Lavender or Parvati do you guys know anything about Veelas ?"
That brought about immediate reaction from all the involved parties
Lavender & Parvati who had been about to start a new gossip topic looked at her with blank expression
While Ginny who seemed to have been drifting between waking and sleeping was suddenly wide awake looking like a deer caught in headlight
"Sorry, Veelas?" asked Parvati who again seemed to be the first one to come out of the stupor
"Yup I was just curious, so the books" she said nodding behind at the small tower of books she had retrieved from Library as accessories for her act
Both Lavender & Parvati looked behind her and then back at her with perfect synchronization (which impressed Hermione)
"And what say, got you so curious about veelas, planning for some extra credit?" came a hopeful question from Lavender already digging for some gossip
There was this obvious glint in their eyes which was a total give away of their curiosity
Ginny meanwhile had turn in to a spectator in the tennis court (i.e. if she knew what a tennis court was) from the deer she was a while back
"Actually it was a rather weird talk I heard in the library that got me curious" answered Hermione with a perfectly acted troubled expression on her face.
As expected, the words "talk" & "heard" had both Lavender and Parvati, straighten out & lean in all at the same time
BINGO ! Thought Hermione
While Ginny's eyes slowly started widening as everything slowly dawned on her
"What did you hear and from whom?" this came from an almost breathless Parvati
"Well you see I was going about my business of finding advanced transfiguration copy for the essay Professor McGonagall gave us yesterday, and then I was so involved in the passage which talked..."
"Hermione who did you hear talking?" cut Lavender after losing her patience with Hermione's adventure of homework
Hermione who didn't appreciate being cut off while talking, scrunched up her face,
OK... so she wanted to delay the revelation a bit by being dramatic and then maybe she just got a bit carried away with her explanation but she had really found an interesting passage in the transfiguration book which she had read not today but three days back, but nevertheless the point was, she didn't like being disrupted in her talks
Deciding that she can disregard their impatience this time she went on for her dramatic news introduction
"Ok Ok ! well as I was saying while I was reading through this passage, I heard someone murmuring behind me" this seem to get the attention of the duo as they leaned more in their seats hanging onto Hermione's every word
"and then I wondered who would be here sitting in the library at this time when most everyone usually goes relax in their common rooms after the hectic school hour, so I got up to ask whoever it was to tone down their voice if anything" said Hermione and then took a dramatic pause for breathing
This time even Ginny seemed to be leaning in a bit, her eyes even wider than before
"And then to my surprise I find the most absurd scene playing in front of me" this time she paused to produce few giggles for effect, she had to just imagine Malfoy's face tomorrow for that
"I saw him talking to an owl as if answering the letter he was holding in his hand, and so being the curious person I am I tried to listen what he was talking and that's when I heard it" she paused
Parvati was gripping Lavender painfully but the later seemed to be oblivious as she asked "what did you hear" or rather whispered while Parvati nodded
"He was talking about how just telling him about being a Veela can help him find his mate, and that he has to do that soon seeing in merely two years he will turn seventeen... also adding something about mating" she said this with a contemplative look as if trying to remember the words
By this time both Lavender and Parvati were sporting wide eyes and poor Ginny looked like she was struggling some were between shocked and amused
"Veela... oh Merlin... we have a Veela at Hogwarts! Where, how ... who is it?" came from Lavender while Parvati continued to watch Hermione opened mouth
"Oh didn't I say that... though I am still not sure if he was serious about the veela thing..." she said but was soon enough cut off again
This time by Parvati "Just tell us who is he?"
Hermione looked up innocently at the duo and then at Ginny who was sure that she saw That Look! Again
And then she went for the kill
"Draco Malfoy of 'course"