They thought Hermione was out to punish Rita Skeeter, the little green beetle with rings around its eyes in the shape of glasses. They thought the two despised each other. They thought the young witch was out to stop the journalist of sorts from writing deceptive articles for the Daily Prophet.
Well, she was. At first.
Hermione trapped the insect in a glass bottle that kept her alive, but immovable and impossible to transform. She would tease Rita, feed her only the bare minimum, and show everyone trustworthy about the capture.
But slowly, she grew an interest in Miss Skeeter, and occasionally, she let the beetle out of its bottle. Just for a minute or two.
It was phenomenal what could be accomplished in a minute or two.
At first, their interactions were of the intellectual kind. They sneered at the idiots of society, and appreciated each other's triumphs. They drank butterbeer, sometimes firewhiskey, getting to know each other. They did all sorts of things.
Then, they came to a kind of... agreement, shall we say.
The snogging started, and it became rather frequent. It became difficult for Hermione to hide her companion from the others, and Ron actually questioned the amount of in-room 'studying' his friend was doing. But the secret remained safe.
Hermione knew she was being played by the domineering witch, Miss Rita Skeeter. But somehow, she didn't seem to mind.
In fact, she rather enjoyed it.
