Resentment

Chapter 4: Weasley is our king

A/N: I own nothing except my mistakes.

Hermione couldn't shake the idea off of who that Half-Blood Prince was, and thus two weeks after their original conversation, she finally had time to go to the library on a chilly Friday, the early of November bringing in some unwanted cold and snow.

But no matter how much she had searched that day, she had found absolutely nothing about a Half-Blood Prince. In not any book was the name mentioned, and it annoyed her greatly.

Complaining to Ron and Harry the next day as they were walking to the Thee Broomsticks, Harry didn't seem all too disappointed in not finding out who it was.

The reason they went to the Thee Broomsticks was quite obvious, for they had heard Slughorn say to professor Flitwick he'd drink a butterbeer there, and Harry was more than eager to retrieve a memory from him, as he had explained.

"What if she looked over here and saw you snogging me? Would you expect her to leave?" Hermione said with a nervous laugh as Ron was complaining about Ginny kissing Dean. Honestly, Granger, you make me want to throw up.

Malfoy? Why are you listening in on my thoughts? Since a few days ago they had reached the second stage, where only dominant thoughts were passed on and any other thoughts were voluntarily. The change had been quite obvious, for she no longer heard Malfoy's complains about Pansy following him around, or Crabbe and Goyle having no brain cells. And no longer would he complain about her studying anymore, either, for it was simply not heard by him.

I wasn't listening in. Your mind just seems to be flooded by all these disgusting thoughts of kissing that Weasel.

In the meantime that she was lost in thoughts, Slughorn had appeared by their side, and Hermione was brutally brought back to reality as he spilled his drink all over her lap. "All hands on deck, Granger." Hermione smiled politely at her teacher, yet silently cursed him for getting her trousers all wet.

"Listen, my boy, in the old days I used to throw together the occasional supper party for the select student or two." Slughorn went on, and Hermione started cleaning the mess with a napkin she had picked up from the table.

She vaguely heard Slughorn asking Harry if he wanted to come, and Hermione swore she never heard Harry reply this polite to any teacher as he gratefully accepted his invitation. "You would be welcome too, Granger." Slughorn said as he turned to her, and Hermione quickly swallowed her drink down.

"I'd be delighted, sir." She replied with a polite smile, and watched as Ron looked as sour as one could look when Slughorn hadn't invited him, and even said his name wrong.

Hermione was expecting for Malfoy to make some comment on why he wasn't invited, for he had seemed to try to get into Slughorn's good books over the last two months of school. But to her surprise, it remained absolutely silent. And she wasn't sure if she should be grateful for that, or concerned.

Ron nodded to her mouth, and made a motion as to wipe his own. Getting the hint, she turned around in her chair in embarrassment, and wiped her mouth clean with her sleeve. And right before she was about to turn back around, a certain white-blonde haired boy caught her eye.

Making direct eye contact with him, she watched with curiosity as his face remained blank and he went straight for the exist of the Three Broomsticks.

This was the second time he was acting strange. What was Malfoy doing here without any of his friends? Hermione tried to focus on her thoughts, or better yet, on the connection between their minds that she could surely feel, but it was more difficult than she had expected to voluntarily get inside someone else's mind.

She hadn't really considered the possibility that she might needed to practice to get inside someone's head when it wasn't flowing free anymore.

After another new ordered butter beer, they at last left the Three Broomsticks, Hermione allowing herself to be supported by the two boys. She might not have been drunk, but she was feeling just slightly tipsy.

That was, until a deafening scream filled the air, and Hermione watched Katie Bell's body fly into the air before falling back down. That for sure immediately sobered her up. Watching as Hagrid came walking over and took the body in his arms, she waited for Harry to pick up the necklace by the wrappings as they all walked their way into the castle, this time with a slighted hurry.

The first teacher they saw was luckily Professor McGonagall, and they immediately went to tell her the news. Leanne explained why Katie had the package, and to whom she needed to deliver it. After that, Leanne was sent away and Professor McGonagall turned to the three of them with a sigh, wondering why they were always there when there was trouble.

"I think Miss Bell is lucky to be alive." Snape spoke lowly, as he had been called over by Professor McGonagall to inspect the necklace. "She was cursed, wasn't she?" Harry said, and Hermione turned to look at him.

"I know Katie, off the Quidditch pitch she wouldn't hurt a fly." Harry continued, naming reasons why she couldn't have willingly delivered that to Professor Dumbledore. "Yes, she was cursed." Professor McGonagall confirmed.

"It was Malfoy." Harry stated plainly, and Hermione's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at her best friend. True, Malfoy had been acting strange lately, but to accuse him of wanting to kill Professor Dumbledore, and possibly endangering another in the process? It seemed highly unlikely to her that Malfoy would do such a thing.

The following days dragged on rather slow, and Hermione was starting to grow rather annoyed at her failed attempts to read Malfoy's thoughts. The worst thing was that she had to be as discreet as she possibly could, as to not alarm Malfoy.

It's not like she was convinced that he could have done it, but the more she thought about it, the stranger it became. It indeed was weird that Malfoy had been right there in the Three Broomsticks before Katie had been cursed. Then again, it could be a mere coincidence.

Coming up with an idea, she opened her Ancient Runes book and allowed herself to lose her thoughts in her studying, until she reached the point where any other thoughts were merely subconsciously passing by.

Using this opportunity to think back to what she read in that book, she let the information that she read half a month ago pass her by as she was still studying the Runes.

CHAPTER 8: STAGE TWO

When having survived as long to experience stage two, one will notice how eerily quiet it suddenly may get.

Hermione focused more intently on her Runes as she tried to think where in the chapter they mentioned the trick to get inside another one's mind again. When having finally memorized the specific place – page hundred-fifty-nine, top corner, right page – she allowed her mind to divide in two again as she both studied the Runes and memorized what the page said.

For whatever reason one might have, it can come in useful to know how to get back inside someone else's mind. Because even though it might have become quieter, the connection is, and will always be, still there.

For the first time getting back inside someone's mind, to hear all about their minor thoughts, one is expected to make eye contact whilst performing this little trick:

retreat back to your own mind, try to think solely of the black colour, and wait for the weight you will feel in your mind.

Once you felt this, all you have to do is make eye contact with the one you share your connection with, and easy like that, you get access to their thoughts once more.

When having reopened this 'canal' as we like to call it, you can now at random open another one's mind to your will. And if you've heard enough, all you do is leave your thoughts be and distract yourself with some other activities.

And for the many who have been wondering this question: No, opening their mind up to you again will not allow all thoughts to freely flow through your mind. The stage has been magically set to the second stage, and the moment you no longer pay attention to the minor thoughts, it will reset itself to its current stage. This goes for any stage you might achieve.

Satisfied with what she remembered, she finished the chapter of Ancient Runes she was reading before taking one last gulp of her pumpkin juice. Looking up from her book, she scanned her eyes over the Slytherin table, but to her dismay, he wasn't present.

This struck her as odd, however, seeing as she didn't see him as the type to miss out on a meal. Especially not when it was lunch and they still had classes after this.

Shrugging it off, she put her book back into her bag when the ball rang, and walked with Ron and Harry off to Herbology, who were heatedly discussing whether it was okay for Ginny to snog or not.

Ginny, who had been walking right behind her for she had classes near them somewhere, had piped in and used Hermione and Krum as an example that Ron was the only one who hadn't kissed yet, and therefore was so grumpy about her kissing Dean.

This got Hermione thinking back to her first kiss, remembering how it was just a few days before they were leaving again, and he had asked her to join him for a walk. Krum had admit that he knew it wasn't going to work out between them, but still kissed her once before proposing to just be friends instead.

You've got to be joking me. You and Viktor Krum snogged? Are you sure you aren't fantasying now, Granger? The blush that had been creeping to her cheeks was fading away as soon as Malfoy's voice came into her mind, and she cursed her mind for allowing this to become a dominant thought. Shut it, Malfoy.

What brought her mood down even further, was that she noticed that Ron was suddenly acting a lot colder towards her upon learning this piece of information. Why that was, however, she did not know.

The only thing that brightened her mood was when Hermione managed to rid her mind of any thoughts, and purely focused on the colour black. Herbology was a class she shared with Slytherin, and after nearly an entire hour had passed, she finally noticed his head turned to where she sat and allowed herself to look at him.

At first he was looking at something behind her, but must having felt her burning stare, he turned to look at her with a questioning raised eyebrow. Feeling an upcoming headache, she allowed any minor thoughts to flood into her mind.

This class is such a waste of my time. What do I need it for anyway? I'll be gone by the end of the year. It worked. It actually worked. But what did he mean with this? Gone? Where was he planning to go to?

Why does that girl keep on staring at me? That filthy little Mudblood. Hermione restrained herself from saying something, remembering that she didn't want him to know that she was snooping in on his thoughts.

If this damned charm wasn't so complicated to master, I at least could tell her to bugger off. Maintaining eye contact for just two seconds longer for show, she finally let her eyes glide away, slightly disappointed that she didn't find any thoughts on what happened to Katie.

Yet, if he didn't have anything to do with it, he wouldn't even be thinking about it at all. So, perhaps all the effort would be for nothing. At least she had reopened the connection, in case it did seem necessary.

Even though she was used to hearing all of his thoughts, no matter how annoying some of them might have been, she did want to respect his privacy when the new stage finally offered them it.

Concentrating back on what Professor Sprout was saying, she felt the headache subsiding as Malfoy's complaints about wasting his time died out. Apparently one of the side effects of opening up a mind were some very annoying head aches. She could only hope those would go away over time.

That same evening they had the dinner party from Slughorn that she had been invited to, where she had a rather awkward situation when she had to explain to a room full of Purebloods what dentists were. Yes, maybe bringing that up wasn't the smartest idea.

"So, how was it then?" Hermione looked up from the Daily Prophet she was reading at breakfast, watching Ron in his Quidditch attire. "How was what?" She asked confused, not knowing what he was referring to.

"Your dinner party?" Ron asked, almost accusingly. Hermione shrugged, "Pretty boring, actually." Focusing her eyes back on the Daily Prophet she let a smirk glide over her lips, "Though I think Harry enjoyed dessert." She said as she remembered when Ginny walked in yesterday, and Harry seemed more than pleased to see her.

"Slughorn's having a Chrimstas do, you know." Hermione went on as the conversation fell quiet. "And we're meant to bring someone." Ron seemed rather annoyed at this, "I expect you'll be bringing McLaggen, then. He's in the Slug Club, isn't he?"

Hermione frowned, "Actually, I was going to ask you." Hermione said but Ron seemed unconvinced, "Really?"

Watching as Lavender came walking over, she aggravatingly turned to look away, and her eyes immediately fell on the blonde haired boy sitting opposite of her in the room. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows together in thought, wondering why he was sitting so alone. Everyone from Slytherin sat at least two feet away from where he sat, at both sides. And it seemed like he had purposely done this.

What was more, was that Malfoy looked beyond exhausted, and his food was laying forgotten on his plate. Even though she respected his privacy, she still couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was thinking about. And was wondering even more why it was not showing as a dominant thought, for he seemed to be really lost in his thoughts.

Not being able to withstand her curiosity, she allowed her mind to go blank and welcomed the heavy weight that was forming in her head. I don't understand. I have tried everything I could. Why is it not working?

Working? What was not working?

But nothing more was said about it, for he pushed his food around on his plate as he brought his eyes up to the people in the hall, carelessly looking at each one of them.

So this is why it wasn't being heard in her mind. He barely gave any attention to his thoughts, and thus allowed them to be minor. Whether he knew about what he was doing, however, was uncertain to her.

"You look dreadful, Ron." The heavy weight in her head was being lifted once more as Luna's airy voice caught her attention, and she watched as Ron was taking a cup of juice from Harry. "Is that why you put something in his cup?" She asked and Hermione immediately looked over at Harry, where she saw the vial of Felix Felicis he had won at the start of the semester.

"Liquid Luck." Hermione stated incredulously, not believing that Harry would use it for this occasion. "Don't drink it, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed as she saw that Ron was bringing the cup to his lips. But he wasn't listening, and with one big gulp he swallowed the contents down.

"You could be expelled for that." Hermione warned Harry, but he smiled stupidly at Ron. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said, leaving Hermione utterly confused.

"Come on, Harry. We've got a game to win." Ron said confidently, and Hermione watched as the two boys walk off.

Finishing her breakfast, she spared one look at Malfoy, who finally seemed to be taking a few bites of his food before walking out of the Great Hall with Luna to the Quidditch stands where they'd watch the long awaited Quidditch game.

As she watched the game, however, she noticed immediately that a certain grey eyed boy wasn't playing. "Isn't Draco supposed to be Seeker?" Hermione tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible at Luna, who dreamily stared at the players.

Yes, normally when she spoke to Malfoy, or even thought of him, she'd refer to him as Malfoy. But other than that, in more light conversations with her friends, she'd simply use his first name, not hating him enough to not use his first name at all like Ron or Harry.

"Yes, but people say he's sick and so he can't play. My speculations are that Nargles are behind this, though." Hermione tuned out before Luna could go further on her explanation about Nargles.

Even though she tried to follow the match as well as she possibly could, she still couldn't shake the thought of Malfoy not playing. Was he really sick? Yes, he didn't look all too well at breakfast, but she didn't see him as the type to not take the opportunity to show off at a game.

I've got more important things to do than a silly game. More important things? But before she went too deep into it, she concentrated fully on the match, not wanting to slip any thoughts she might have on it about things she heard when he didn't know she was inside his mind.

The match went pretty fast, and as much as she hated to admit: Slytherin was doing really good. But luckily for Gryffindor, Ron was doing better. Hermione clapped as she disapprovingly shook her head when he made a save, thinking it was an unfair match, but still being happy for Ron.

"Weasley! Weasley! Weasley!" The crowd around her chanted as he made a save for the umpteenth time. Hermione smiled, watching as he cheered when they won.

Happily embracing the warmth the castle brought her when the match was over, she was nearly pushed up the stairs by a group of Gryffindors that were more than eager to make it to the common room.

And when she entered the common room at last, she was greeted by an entire room filled with Gryffindors, all chanting "Weasley! Weasley! Weasley!" at Ron as he stood in the middle, smiling happily at the people admiring him.

"You really shouldn't have done it." Hermione said to Harry, who was standing with another group somewhere at the back near the entrance. "I know. I suppose I could've just used a Confundus charm." Harry said with a knowing smile and Hermione's mouth dropped slightly open.

"That was different. That was tryouts. This was an actual game." Hermione defended and Harry smirked, grabbing something out of his pocket, and showing an entirely full vial of Liquid Luck.

"You didn't put it in." Hermione said in astonishment, "Ron only thought you did." Harry nodded with a pleased smile on his face, and Hermione focused her eyes back on Ron, who at that precise moment got pulled off the table he was standing on by Lavender, who pulled him right into a kiss.

Hermione watched for a good few seconds as he happily made out with her, and she felt something break inside of her. She might not have loved Ron, but seeing him kiss with another girl.. it hurt more than she expected it to.

Retreating from the crowd, she hurriedly made over to the portrait and slipped out of it, the tears threatening to escape her eyes as she walked through the corridor, sitting on the stairs at the seventh floor, the stairs that originally led to Divination.

And only here, where the quietness surrounded her, did she allow her tears to fall.