A/N: Sorry about the short chapters, everyone. It's been so long since I've really written, so I'm trying to get back into the groove. The chapters look so much longer in MS Word… Anyway. I am pleased to say though this one is twice as long as the others. /grins/ I've been at it all day.

This one is a bit weird though, because I had the chapters after it written first. The result being this one was done a bit on the fly. We will see where it takes us, I guess.

Dedication: To all my reviewers.

Music you should listen to: Realize and The Little Things by Colbie Caillat. /shrugs/ It makes me think of Hr/G.

The Beast Within, Chapter 4:

Strength

By Melissa

Despite begging off her friends concerns, Hermione had been feeling different lately. Sights were clearer, sounds were crisper, smells more powerful. She felt, and was, physically stronger despite not playing a day of sports in her life or taking it up recently.

Besides the physical attributes, she also felt stronger in her heart and soul. Like the meekness had been swept under a rug. Granted, she had changed a lot since first year, but she felt she had changed more in just a few weeks than in the past five years.

Ginny had been very sweet, being concerned about her. As far as Hermione could see, there was nothing to be concerned about. She liked the way she felt. It was….empowering.

Whenever she was near the youngest Weasley, Hermione found herself watching the young girl again, much in the way she had in the library. Taking in every aspect of her appearance. The different color strands of red that made up her gorgeous hair. The freckles, both dark and light that dotted her features. The smell of the soap and powder she used.

When she wasn't physically around the girl, Hermione would often daydream about her. It made classes more interesting, that is for certain. She had also been finding herself with an unnatural amount of energy during the nighttime. In the dead of night, Hermione would often sneak into Ginny's dorm room and watch her sleep for hours on end. Nothing else, just observing the slow rising and falling of her chest and she breathed. And the slight expressions on her face, depending on what type of dreams she was having. It never really registered just how clearly Hermione could see Ginny even though there was practically no light whatsoever.

The other reason Hermione watched Ginny while she slept was to make sure she was safe. Lately, whenever she would sleep and dream, the older girl would have nightmares about Ginny dying. Usually they were beyond horrible, the young redhead being torn apart by some ferocious animal. Blood, there was just so much blood. She had had similar dreams about Harry and Ron as well, but by far the majority involved Ginny. They were only dreams, she rationalized, but Hermione still couldn't shake the urge to make sure her friend was okay.

When the dawn began to break, Hermione would go back to her room before starting her daily routine.

At the breakfast table, Hermione stared at Ginny, rather unabashedly. Ginny looked up from her porridge because she felt someone's eyes on her. She smiled at her friend.

"How did you sleep?" she asked the older girl.

Hermione blinked, the words bringing her out of a sort of trance. "Truthfully, I didn't sleep all that much."

"Oh? Couldn't get to sleep? Or did you have a nightmare?"

'You could say that,' Hermione thought as she nodded.

Ginny smirked slightly, noticing her friend hadn't indicated one or the other. "Which is it?"

"It doesn't really matter," Hermione waved her hand dismissively.

"You need your rest, 'Mione. You should go to bed early tonight, catch up on it," her friend suggested. "If you want, I'll keep you company until you fall asleep. Sometimes it helps when you know someone is watching over you."

While this was a purely innocent gesture, it made Hermione swallow hard.

Ginny looked at her watch. "Damn, time for class all ready." She got up from the table. "See you after?"

"Sure," Hermione answered, somewhat numbly.

The day's classes were fairly benign. The last one of the day had just ended and both were looking for some much needed downtime. Hermione had managed to put out of her mind the nervousness she felt having Ginny watch her while she slept. They were chatting amicably about their days, turned a corner and ended up walking past Draco Malfoy and his cronies.

Draco sneered. "Oh look, if it isn't a Blood Traitor and a Mudblood." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at his remark.

"Sod off," Ginny cursed at him. She was in no mood to deal with Malfoy.

Hermione stopped in her tracks, turned and smiled at Draco, if you could even call it that. The gesture certainly wasn't a pleasant one. Usually the girl would have just ignored him, but she decided not to let this one go.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"What's the matter, Mudblood? Are you losing your hearing now too?"

Ginny blinked and Hermione was no longer by her side. Instead, she had Draco by his robes and had slammed him against the stone wall.

"No, I am not losing my hearing." She drawled, mocking Draco. "I just wanted to see if you had the spine to actually say it again." Hermione's bared her teeth, blazing white. Her canines were looking a little bit more pointed than usual.

Draco was in shock. He struggled against Hermione's grip, but she held him fast.

"L-Let me go." His voice had been sucked dry of its usual bravado, and had cracked slightly.

"Or you'll do what exactly?" Hermione slammed him against the wall again for effect.

She turned her head and stared at Crabbe and Goyle. They stood stock still, frozen in surprise and more than a bit of fear.

Ginny was in shock. Not only was she witnessing the impossible, she was also thoroughly enjoying it. It's about time that blonde haired idiot got a taste of his own medicine. She would have given up Honeydukes for a year to have Harry and Ron here to see this.

Draco fumbled for his wand but Hermione was one step ahead of him. She took it from his robes and flung it down the hallway. It clattered far away from them.

Hermione cocked her head to the side and studied her 'prey.' "You're a pathetic excuse for a wizard, Malfoy, nay, a human being. Truly a waste of space. You hide behind your father's name and have your minions do your bidding. Why don't you grow a pair and put your wand where your mouth is?"

Crabbe shook off his shock and charged at Hermione, meaning to grab her. She lashed out with her booted foot and caught him just below his kneecap. He howled and pain and fell, sitting on the floor. Hermione's wand appeared in the hand not holding Draco and had it digging into the fallen boy's neck.

A small crowd had been gathering, initially not knowing what was happening, and soon discovering that Gryffindor's resident bookworm was manhandling one of Sytherin's most notorious and his goons.

Ginny walked up to Hermione and put her hand on her arm. She was surprised on the amount of muscle she felt. Her forearm was like a rock. Hermione didn't talk her eyes off a very frightened looking Malfoy.

"Hermione…let them go," Ginny said quietly. The crowd was getting bigger, and that no doubt would draw teachers as well.

The brown haired girl wasn't too keen on that idea. She was having fun. Adrenaline and lack of sleep was helping fuel her. The last thing Malfoy had ever expected was for her to respond like this.

Ginny tried again. "Hermione, they're not worth detention, or getting expelled."

That did the trick. She snarled and threw Draco to the floor several feet away. An impossibly pale looking Malfoy scrambled to his feet and backed away. Apparently her brain still responded to the thought of getting thrown out of Hogwarts. She gave Crabbe a violent poke with her wand, causing him to fall backwards, still clutching his injured knee. Goyle had plastered himself to the wall, hoping to anyone that Hermione would not turn her attentions on him.

Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and the crowd that gathered parted before them like the Red Sea.

Ginny needed a place they could hide for a while, so everyone could cool down. They rounded a corner and were confronted with a doorway. The Room of Requirement had shown up. The redhead grabbed the door handle and flung it open before pushing Hermione inside. She then slammed it shut, fairly safe in the assumption that no one would find them.

She turned on Hermione wildly. "Sweet mother of Godric Gryffindor, Hermione!!"

"What?" Hermione asked, almost innocently. She was examining the tip of her wand, as though touching Crabbe had infected it somehow.

Ginny shook her head and began pacing.

"I wasn't just going to stand there and allow him to call us those….things." Satisfied that the wand was not ruined, the brown haired girl returned it to her robes.

"Wands and stones, Hermione! They are just words! He said them to get a reaction, which you gladly gave to him."

"Perhaps. But I'll bet you knuts to donuts he wasn't expecting that kind of reaction."

Ginny had to give her that one, but she wasn't going to back down. "If Snape had been there he would be calling for your expulsion!"

"But he wasn't, was he?" Hermione sighed slightly. "Ginny, nothing is going to happen. It will be a cold day in all the circles of hell before Malfoy and the two morons will admit a girl did anything to them. Especially a mudblood." She spat this last word.

Ginny walked over to her friend and placed a hand on either side of her face, forcing her to look her in the eyes.

"You. Are. Not. A. Mudblood." Ginny said, enunciating each syllable. "You have more power and talent than most purebloods I know. Don't call yourself that, ever again."

Hermione searched her friend's eyes, and saw no pity there, only conviction. She then became aware of how warm Ginny's hands felt against her face.

'Kiss her.' A small voice in each of their heads said.

Ginny removed her hands from Hermione's face and turned away from her. If she hadn't, she might have just done what that little voice had suggested.

Hermione blinked rapidly. The loss of contact left her face feeling cold.

"I'm sorry, Gin," the older girl said quietly. She hadn't meant to upset her friend. "I am just so tired. I don't know what came over me."

She stepped forward and laced her arms around Ginny's waist and hugged her from behind.

Ginny leaned backwards into the embrace. They stayed that way for an indeterminable amount of time, being one another's anchor.

"Do you think things have died down out there?" Hermione broke the silence of the room eventually.

"I doubt it, but we can't stay in here forever," Ginny replied. She could stay in Hermione's arms forever, if it were up to her.

"Well, it is the Room of Requirement. If we were required to, we probably could stay here forever."

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, but if we didn't show ourselves eventually Ron and Harry would have a heart attack, probably thinking we were kidnapped by Death Eaters or something."

Hermione laughed at this. And Ginny thought that is was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.

The younger of the two disengaged herself from the embrace, even though every fiber of her being screamed not to. The girls grabbed their bags. Ginny opened the door and looked out into the corridor. No one was around so the two left the room and walked swiftly towards their tower.

Later

"I just heard the most outrageous, wild rumor," Ron said as he sat down in the common room near Ginny, who had several books open in front of her. "Some Hufflepuffs told me that Hermione was about to pummel Draco senseless today, and that she kneecapped Crabbe. I tell you, the way things get distorted around here is amazing. I mean, Hermione?? Let's be real."

Ginny barked out a laugh, but it wasn't humorous. "It's a shame it isn't a rumor."

"What?" Ron said. His little sister now had his undivided attention.

"I was with her. She slammed him against the wall a couple of times after he called her a Mudblood and yours truly a Blood Traitor. She kicked Crabbe in the knee and held her wand to his throat. It was really funny at first, but after a few minutes it looked like she was seriously going to hurt them."

The corner of Ron's mouth twitched up at the thought of Draco getting beaten up. "What stopped her?"

"I did. I didn't want her to get expelled. While I do enjoy Malfoy and his idiots coming to bodily harm, it wasn't worth throwing away all that Hermione has worked so hard for."

Ron's eyes were as big as saucers. "You're really serious, aren't you?"

Ginny looked at him with a sad expression. "Something is very wrong with Hermione, Ron. She denies it, and makes excuses, but I know something isn't right."

"Is that why you have half the library open in front of you?"

"Yes. I was hoping for some kind of answer but all I have is more questions." She picked up one of the books. "Polyjuice potion, Imperius curse, possession, vampirism, time travel, alternate universes, and about a dozen other possibilities could explain why she is acting the way she is." Ginny looked close to tears.

Ron placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Gin. We'll figure it out."

"I hope so," she replied.

To Be Continued….

A/N: Yes? No? Maybe so? Give me your thoughts. I crave them.

Quote: "Always tell the person you love that you love them because you never know when it will be your last chance."