Chapter Four
FLASHBACK:
"Good morning!" Hermione cried cheerfully to her friends as she approached the Gryffindor table for breakfast on their first day back at Hogwarts. Her bag was filled with new quills, parchment, and ink, ready for the upcoming year in which she and the rest of the seventh year will leave Hogwarts and venture forward.
The Great Hall was full of chattering voices, excited for being back. Hermione sat herself down beside Ron and across Harry and Ginny.
"Obviously not as good a morning as you're having, Hermione," Ron muffled as he stuffed three pieces of toast into his mouth. "I have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Snape. The idiot!"
"I know your pain, mate," Harry said grimly. "First class back and it's with Snape! How wrong can the world be?"
Hermione, meanwhile, had taken out her own schedule and looked it over.
"I have potions first," she said, "with Professor Slughorn. Then, I have Transfiguration, and Ancient Runes after." She then delicately placed her schedule into her bag and started on her breakfast.
An empty goblet appeared in front of her along with a plate of scrambled eggs, a muffin, and a piece of toast.
"Delicious. Ginny," Hermione called, "can you pass me the orange juice?"
Ginny instead poured the glass into her cup, also refilling hers.
"Refill mines too, please," Harry asked.
"What am I, your house elf?" Ginny joked, although she refilled his cup also.
"I'm still dreading the first class," muttered Ron. "Hey Harry, isn't the DADA job supposed to be jinxed or something?"
Harry nodded, "why?"
"Then isn't Snape supposed to be gone by now? I mean, he was the DADA teacher last year, but he's still here!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ron, that is a bunch of bullocks. It's superstition is all. None of that is true."
"And you think that the last five before him was just coincidence, then?" Ron asked hotly. "One murdered, one gone mad, one being sacked, one being an imposter, and one fed to the centaur?"
"Yes, I think it was coincidence. Bad luck on Dumbledore's part for picking those teachers."
"Hey, Lupin was the best DADA teacher I've ever had," Harry said, glaring at Hermione.
"I never said he wasn't," she said. "All I'm saying is that Dumbledore knew what he was getting into when he had those professors assigned. If he'd just chosen more carefully, then we would have a more permanent teacher."
Ginny took a bite of her muffin. "If Snape isn't gone by this year, then I'll have to start to agree with Hermione. But I really hope you're wrong. I'd hate another year with that old bat."
"And guess what Harry? We still have his class next!" Ron said sarcastically. "Aren't you ecstatic? I know I'm not."
"Oh, stop your whining. The lot of you," Hermione mumbled. "You're putting a damper on my first day of Seventh year experience."
"That's because you don't have Snape on your first day back. You have good ol' Slughorn," Ron said.
"So? He's just a teacher, like Snape."
"No. He's a teacher that's fond of you, 'Mione. You're one of his favorites, and you know it," Harry said, grinning a little.
Hermione blushed. "Says the boy who is his favorite." Out of the corner of her eye, she could sense Ron's ear had gotten red and he was smashing his scrambled eggs aggressively. Better to shut up now, she thought.
Dean Thomas tapped Ginny on the shoulder. "Hey Ginny, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Harry stiffened. Ron looked up startled. Hermione looked at Ginny and caught her eye, at which point she closed her eyes and breathed slowly before getting up and following Dean out of the Great Hall.
"Bugger. I thought they'd broken up." Ron hissed.
"They are broken up, Ronald," Hermione said, "which you should be quite aware of since you are the cause of their being separate."
"I have a right to be! I mean, he's older than her!" he spluttered.
"Oh, what an excuse!" she cried. "By one year! That's not a load of a difference, considering she knows as much spells as him!"
Hermione finished her plate, glancing at Harry once in a while, wondering why he was so quiet. Ron, however, was not the least bit quiet, muttering curses under his breath and stuffing Ginny's leftover into his mouth.
The bell rang. Hermione said her goodbyes to her friends as they bitterly made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room during which she made her way towards the dungeon.
A figure made its way beside Hermione, one that was taller than her by perhaps a foot. She looked at who was accompanying her.
"Hi Hermione," Neville said. "How was your break? Pleasant I hope?"
Hermione smiled. "It was Neville, thank you. How was yours?"
They turned into the classroom and seated themselves in the middle section of the class. "It was fine. Visited my parents in St. Mungo."
"Oh yeah? How are they?"
"They're better, I suppose. Gran says they are, at least," he said with sadness in his tone. "I'll be visiting them again this Christmas so I'm looking forward to that."
"Yeah, I'll bet," she said, giving him her most supportive smile. She had visited Neville and his parents during her fifth year, when she and a few of her friends went to visit Mr. Weasley in the hospital. They were not in the most terrific condition yet as they suffered from mental disorders.
Slughorn came out of the potion storage room and placed himself in front of the class.
"Welcome, students, to another year in this class! I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am! Lets see, who do I have?" He peered around the room. "Ah, Mr. Zabini, how are you, my good fellow? Mr. Macnimmir, how is your uncle these days? Mr. Longbottom, I trust your parents are all right? And Ms. Granger!
"Good, good. The people I was expecting!" He said, clapping his hands together. It seems he forgot to mention the other students in the class. "Well, I want all of you to stand up and head towards the back of the class. Why, you may ask? Well I will be placing you into pairs for the remainder of the year. As advanced students, I must take extra precautions into your education and safety as we will be dealing with dangerous potions if not careful."
Hermione took her bag and made her way to the end of the class, as instructed, with Neville at the lead. Suddenly, something collided with her shoulder, knocking her book bag off her shoulder.
"Whoops," someone said as that person passed by, not caring to step on a book that made its way out of the bag.
"Go to hell, Malfoy," she spat and bent over to clean up the mess. Neville helped.
"That's only a place for mudbloods, sorry," he sneered and walked away with Zabini by his side.
Growling, Hermione stood up on her feet, wand at the ready, and pointed directly at him. "spotattackim!"
Instantly, boils appeared on Malfoy's face. The only visible one Hermione was able to see, unfortunately, was the back of his neck, as he was still walking towards the back. She grinned. Hopefully that'll teach him a lesson.
Too far to hear anything, she saw Zabini spin him around to face him and jumped back in shock. Malfoy's face was covered with them. Apparently, the victim had no idea what was going on as he gave a questioning look at his friend.
"Nice job, Hermione," Neville whispered. Other students began to laugh. Malfoy was still clueless and began ranting on what they were laughing at.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Slughorn called out. "Ms. Granger and Mr. Zabini, your seat is here, in the front. Mr. Longbottom and Ms. Bones, behind Ms. Granger, please. Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Macnimmir, the table af-. Good heavens Mr. Malfoy, what happened to your face?"
Sniggering, Hermione made her way to the front of the table and sat down. She turned around to watch amusingly. Malfoy had touched his face, finally realizing the many bumps on them. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped. Students kept on laughing.
Suddenly, he grabbed Slughorn's robe and hastily asked, "what the hell is wrong with my face?"
Professor Slughorn tried to grope his student's hands off of his robe, while stuttering to answer, "it, uh, appears that, uh, you've got boils. Erm, kindly let go of me, Mr. Malfoy."
Malfoy didn't follow. Instead his head snapped towards Hermione. Hermione bit her lip back. Perhaps it wasn't all that wise to perform a hex right in front of a teacher. He pointed her hand towards her.
"It was that witch! She fucking did this to my face!" he shrieked.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy. I must ask you not to use such inappropriate language in my classroom. And I must ask you once more to let go of my robe!" he demanded.
Malfoy let go of his robe, but stomped in the direction of Hermione. Neville, however, tried blocking his path but found himself shoved and wounded on the floor.
"Mr. Malfoy, I demand you not to bring violence upon my classroom!" yelled Slughorn, attempting to help poor Neville up.
Hermione had gotten to her feet, the smile vanishing from her face as her friend was pushed down on her behalf. She walked towards Malfoy who apparently was also walking towards her. Wands at the ready, they were inches apart. Hermione threateningly pointed her wand towards his chest, daring him to make a move. Malfoy did the same.
The room had gone quiet, save the pleas of their potions Professor.
"You will pay, filthy mudblood," he spat.
Hermione glared back at him, "You should thank me, Malfoy. It's an improvement than before."
"Now that is enough!" Slughorn shouted, getting in between the two students. He hastily snatched the wands from their hands, which he had to tug quite hard to get a hold of Malfoy's. "I will return these properly to you two when you come back."
Neither student took their burning eyes off of each other's.
"Ms. Granger, please escort Mr. Malfoy to the Hospital Wing and return as soon as possible," he said. "Hurry!" But the students stood their grounds.
"I don't need help from the likes of her," Malfoy hissed causing her eyebrow to sink very low against her eyes.
"Like I want to, ferret!" she cried.
"Language!" shouted Slughorn. "You will be escorted by Ms. Granger. I do not want a student of mine to be fainting in the halls. Now, unless you two want detention with me visiting giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest, I suggest you move on!"
Hermione faced the potions teacher, noting he had a serious face that seemed to demand order.
"Well? Are you waiting for me to officially make your detention?" he shrilled, tapping his feet.
Hermione groaned inwardly. Through clenched teeth, she replied, "No professor. I'd be glad to take him," and then added, "the little prick."
Malfoy caught this, "what did you say?"
But Hermione just shot him a glare. "Let's go," she hissed, "asshole."
"You think I'm going anywhere with you?"
"We don't have a choice, idiot!" she yelled. And without further ado, she stepped by Slughorn, grabbed Malfoy's elbow, and dragged him outside. Malfoy put a good fight, but the rage of an angry woman is not to be messed with, for she stomped him hard on the feet, flinching him, making it easier to drag him out.
They were outside the classroom, out of earshot, when the bickering started again.
"Get your filthy hands off of me, fucking mudblood!" he cried, snatching his elbows out of her reach.
"My god, Malfoy. You're length of vocabulary has really expanded! Filthy and Mudblood, really," she said, rolling her eyes.
Malfoy walked fast towards the Hospital Wing, which was three floors up. Hermione had to jog just to keep up.
"Well when I'm describing something like yourself, it's not worth using the big important words," he shouted over his shoulder.
"Yeah? Well I can only think of one word for you, Malfoy," she cried, breaking a sweat.
They were out of the dungeons and into the Main Hall, turning a corner to head to the staircase.
"SCUM!" she shouted. "That's what you are and that's what you'll always be!"
Malfoy was perhaps five yards away, still running up the first staircase.
"What the hell are you following me for, hag?" he shouted.
"Just doing my job, Malfoy!"
"Stop following, stalker. It's not becoming!"
"Don't flatter yourself, prick. You're not something I'd waste my time on," she said, through a lot of huffing and puffing.
Hermione had finally caught up to him after a long distance sprint. She was nearly out of breath. They were neck and neck.
"Hey Malfoy," she said, glancing over her shoulder, "remind me to thank that marvelous person who made your face better, okay? See ya!"
And she sprinted faster to the Hospital Wing, only one floor above. She sprinted through used classrooms, through corridors, racing to beat Malfoy. Malfoy had also began sprinting when she caught up to him but it took him a while to get started and she was already far from him.
Legs moving feverishly, she ran. She couldn't even feel her legs, but her heart kept at a good pace. She could hear Malfoy behind her not too far. Good thing she was close to the Hospital Wing. Just a few more yards.
"Nice try, Granger," he said, with his smirk as he ran right next to her, "but you're not winning today."
Her hair flipped wildly behind her, "that's what you think."
Her determination was set even more so. She was so close to winning, although she became more worried once she started thinking if she could win against a Quidditch player. But no matter. Off the field, they were equal. No, she was better.
She looked over at her competition once more, and he looked at her. Both had smiles on their faces, both knowing they would win over the other.
Both hands reached out in front of them, hoping that they would touch the door to the Hospital Wing before the other does. Just inches-
The door opened, revealing Madam Pomfrey standing in the middle.
"What is the ruckus out h-," her sentence was never finished, for both Hermione and Malfoy had no time to absorb that the door was now not the target, but the healer herself. They tried to stop, but it didn't work for there weren't enough distances.
Therefore, Madam Pomfrey was knocked down on her back as Hermione and Malfoy toppled over her.
"Oh my Merlin, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione whispered in shock as she tried to help the nurse up as soon as she herself was on her feet, shaky. "Malfoy! Get off of her!" she hissed.
Malfoy groaned but stood up as wobbly as ever. He held on to a nearby bed stand and just stood there.
"Yeah, thanks for helping like a gentleman, git," she muttered.
"Well, I never!" Madam Pomfrey cried once she got to her feet. She dusted off her front side and faced Hermione with a terrorizing face. "What is going on here!?!"
"I'm sorry, Madam, I really didn't mean it!" she stuttered. "Are you okay? I mean, do you need me to get you anything?"
"Miss, I am not injured!" she shouted but her face relaxed. "But thank you for asking. Now, what is you are in a hurry for?"
"Um, that student there needs healing," she said quietly, pointing to the nauseous Malfoy.
Pomfrey walked over to Malfoy, who had seated himself on the bed. "Yes, let me take a look at you." She grabbed his face and tilted it in every direction. "It seems you were hit with a blotching spell. But do not fret. It can be fixed, although this one seemed like a rather powerful one, yes," she said, making Hermione smile in triumph. "Oh, and that bump on your forehead will heal also, no doubt from the fall. I'll be right back."
And she went out of sight. Hermione sat herself down on a nearby bed and started laughing like mad.
"What are you laughing at?" Malfoy demanded.
"You! And your face!" she cried, trying to get words out through her laughter.
"Shut up!"
But she didn't let it down. "You can't do anything, Malfoy. You're with no wand!"
"I have a fist. Want to see?" he asked threateningly.
Hermione's laugh was gone, only to be replaced by a menacing look. "Look here, Malfoy. Just because I don't have that pretty face of your current one on mine, and just because I won our little race, does not mean you can order me around."
"You did not win that race," he hissed.
"Are you mental?" Hermione cried. "I won that race fair and square. Those boils probably covered up your eye or something, because you've obviously gone blind."
"I did not go blind! I won!"
"You wish!"
"Learn some respect!"
"I don't respect scums, maggot!"
"Mudbloods are the maggots here, maggot!"
Hermione growled. Both had gotten to their feet and ready to strangle each other. "TWENTY POINTS OFF OF SLYTHERIN!"
"You can't do that!" he hissed.
"I just did, stupid."
"That is against the rules!"
"You're one to talk to. I can do whatever I want!" she cried.
"Stop this shouting!" Madam Pomprey shouted. She looked sternly at Hermione and ordered her to sit down, then ordered Malfoy to sit down. Then she walked in front of Malfoy to apply medicine on his face. "Now I will take off twenty points off of Gryffindor, Ms. Granger, for that inappropriate behavior!"
Hermione's mouth flew open. "What about him?" she asked hotly.
The Medi-witch turned around, in which Malfoy's hand shot out of view of Madam Pomprey's but in clear view for Hermione, and gave a rude hand gesture.
"You have already taken points off, Ms. Granger. And unless you want me to report to your Head of House as to your actions of deducting points for personal benefit, I suggest you keep your mouth shut," she said sternly at Hermione.
Hermione scrunched her face and plopped on the bed. She was damp with hair sticking to her face and neck. Remembering she had a scrunchie inside her robe, she hastily put her hair in a ponytail.
"There," she heard Madam Pomfrey say to Malfoy. "Now you must stay here for a good half hour before I can take it off and give you the additional cream. Do not touch it, understand? Okay, I will be back in half an hour," and then she turned to both students, "and if I hear anything that is regarded as utterly childish or not prefect behavior, I will not hesitate in deducting severe points off."
Once the healer was out of sight once more, she heard Malfoy crash onto his bed.
"You better not hope I didn't miss anything during potions, Malfoy," she cried with calmness.
"Shut up, Granger. It's not like I care, because I don't."
"You had better care or its your neck I'm going after," she said, now more threateningly. She stared at the ceiling.
"Whatever." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him position himself to his side facing opposite of her. "By the way," he cried, barely audible due to his position, "I won the race."
"Ha!" she mocked. "In your dreams!" She then turned herself opposite of him.
END FLASHBACK
END FLASHBACK
END FLASHBACK
Disclaimer: The Characters and World of Harry Potter is owned by the Master herself, J.K. Rowling! Woot Woot!
AN: IMPORTANT!
Thank you for the couple of you readers who have taken the time to review my story. I'm happy to hear from you and quite disappointed at the lack of it, sadly... THEREFORE, I will make a deal: If the most recently updated chapter receives 10 reviews, I will update as soon as possible AND will update again that Saturday as scheduled. So possibly two chapters per week, or even more if there are faster reviews!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! And don't forget to tune it for another chapter of 'Unfamiliar Territory'!
Deasy
