CHAPTER SEVEN: LESSON

It was unanimously decided to immediately start the fighting lessons due to the time element of learning that skill. The guns and knives could wait, thought Remus. Hermione agreed. Using one's body as a weapon was much harder than wielding one, and much tougher to learn. Hermione was already busy in the training room early the next morning, preparing. She couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous. She hadn't missed the many looks that had been sent her way last night. She saw the disbelief and doubt others had of her abilities in this area. Little did they know, though, of the years of training she'd acquired. Of the summers she had spent on the mats at the karate center near her home. Of the innumerable bruises she had glamoured not to show when visiting her friends at the Burrow. While she was thinking over her lesson for the day, she moved around the room, strategically placing extra mats on the floor along with strong cushioning spells. She wondered who would make up this first class. Greg and Vin would be there for sure. They had been waiting for this time ever since they had been placed in her group. Hermione chuckled to herself when she remembered the first time she had taken them to the training room after they had joined the Order; she had told them she would whip them in shape. "Whip?...us?" Vin had gulped, while his eyes darted back and forth between her and the door to the room. She imagined he had tried to figure out if he had a chance of escaping before she sent a hex his way. Her new boys, who Ron had labeled "Mione's Minions", had proven a bit of a challenge at first until she'd convinced them that not only was muggle dance aerobics fun but a great way to get in shape. And they had. From there, her boys had progressed to weight lifting and endurance exercises. Hermione was quite proud of the achievements they had reached under her careful instruction. She hoped she would be similarly successful with this training. Their lives could depend on it. Hermione looked around one more time to see if anything else needed to be done. Satisfied with her preparations, she plopped down on nearby mat and started doing stretching exercises.

Would Draco be here today? she wondered. And if he was, how should she act? What should she say? A nervousness having nothing to do with the lesson starting creeping over Hermione. Last night had changed something between them; she knew that. But she didn't know what the change was. An awkward silence had descended on them when they'd finally told each other good night, only to just stand there like neither wanted to be the first to leave; she believed they had both intuitively felt that there should be something more. But what? Hermione had been thankful when her uncle had stepped between them to give Draco a big fatherly hug good-bye. Now the question was, how to move forward from there? What do you say to someone who had once been your worst enemy? How do you act? Hermione wasn't dumb. She might be inexperienced in romantic relationships, but she knew enough to know last night had been more than enemies calling a truce. There had been a spark between them. Oh heck, who was she fooling, she had felt several sparks since she had seen Draco yesterday morning. Maybe it's because we're different people now, she mused as she reached skyward with both hands. That's probably all it is; and we're not children anymore, either. Yes. That sounded right. And so what if she'd felt a spark? Leaning over, she touched her hands to her toes. Sparks don't always ignite. But then she remembered the way he had pulled back from her last night after she'd told him she'd forgiven him. His initial hopeful look gave way to a gentler one. Even full of tears, his eyes had crinkled and softened. Of course she hadn't been able to leave things alone after seeing that; she'd had the audacity to gently wipe his eyes with her fingertips. And Draco had responded by grabbing the hand that had touched his face. He cradled her palm against his cheek and then surprised the heck out of her by nuzzling her hand with his nose. Hermione had been too stunned to pull back but instead had watched him as he comforted himself by her touch.

Shivering, she hugged herself as her body responded to the memory. Stop it, girl...you are being pathetic! Honestly...acting like you've never touched a boy! Deliberately ignoring the sensations coursing through her, Hermione breathed slowly in, then out. She could not let herself be distracted by whatever this was between her and Draco. She'd think about that later. Right now, she had a class to teach.

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"Well Granger, when do we get to see these mad fighting skills you've been hiding?" asked George, smirking as he sprawled out on one on the mats on the floor.

"Yeah, why don't you do a little show and tell of your talents? You could use wittle Ronnikins; I'll even hold him down for you if that would help," snickered Fred. As he was taller, Ron had no problem leaning over to thump Fred on the head for that comment.

Hermione looked around at those that had gathered. Besides the ever incorrigible Fred and George, her first group consisted of Vin, Greg, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Blaise, Luna and Draco, who was presently sitting atop the large red exercise ball that was kept in this room. Hermione couldn't help but be impressed at his display of balance; he looked as comfortable on that wiggly ball as he would on a sofa.

"Well, um….okay, you know why we're all here, so thank you for coming and welcome," Hermione said, suddenly feeling shy. "Like I said last night, we will be concentrating on Krav Maga, which is a wide combination of techniques taken from aikido, judo, boxing and wrestling, along with real-life fight training." Hermione began to anxiously fidget with the belt of her gi uniform. "As you can see, I have come dressed for the occasion." She offered a timid smile while inwardly wanting to smack herself for sounding like an airhead.

"G-girl, you should have told us we could wear pajamas to this class. You get to be comfortable while we don't? That's just not cricket!" Blaise teased while crossing his arms and pretending to be put out.

"Yeah, what's with the getup, 'Mione?" kidded Ginny. "And is that THE famous black belt we heard so much about last night? I would've thought at least it'd be a little fancier than that," she sniffed in a perfect imitation of Lavender Brown, who to the disgust of the entire Weasley family, was still in pursuit of Won-Won.

Dismayed, Hermione turned to look at Ron, who had not missed his sister's dig if his red ears were any indication, and beside him, Harry, who appeared to be trying hard not to laugh. Seeing his best friend's growing frustration, Harry smothered his chuckle and said, "Smart, guys. Irritate the one person here who can put you in St. Mungo's quicker than you can say 'Hogwarts'.

"I don't know, Mate, I can say ol' Hoggy pretty fast," said Fred, who clearly didn't take Harry's hint. "Whaddya think Georgie, should we make it fairer for Granger? How 'bout we say she could do it quicker than one could say 'Hogwarts, Honeydukes, Hogsmeade'. There…that's reasonable, don't you think?

"I think I'd like to see you try to say 'Hogwarts, Honeydukes, Hogsmeade' three times, very fast. Don't think you're capable, Mr. Quick Tongue," began George before Fred interrupted and said, "Oi! I'll have you know my tongue is very capable…why, just ask Angelina and she can tell you about the other night when I…

"Boys! We're getting off point here!" Clapping her hands to make them stop, Hermione huffed, clearly exasperated now. She was beginning to feel irritated that no was taking her or this class seriously.

"Sorry G-girl, but I've got to say…..I don't believe you can take us," drawled Blaise, as he casually leaned back against the wall. "Not trying to insult you, but all your previous experiences in fighting have been with muggles, right? I don't think you'll have the same success with wizards."

"And just what are you implying?" frowned Ginny as she glared at her boyfriend. Hermione grinned at her old friend. She was almost tempted to count the seconds to see how long it would take before Blaise cowed.

"No….no Gin, nothing like that," he said hastily when he realized he had a mad Weasley female before him. "I just meant what the doctor said last night. He made it sound like we have more going for us with that magic gene, that's all." Then turning to Hermione he said, "Truly G-girl, no disrespect. But I still think you'll find it very different fighting with your own kind."

Greg and Vin looked conflicted when Blaise finished. They believed and supported Hermione totally, but Blaise had made a rather good point.

"Well, let's find out, shall we?" Hermione calmly asked as she walked to the center of the room. "Okay, Blaise. Pretend you wanted to hurt me. You'd want to catch me unawares, correct? So…..let's do it right. I'll turn my back so I can't see you. And be sure to use a muffliato spell so I can't hear you, either." She waited for a moment while Blaise just stood there, clearly reluctant to do what she asked.

"Well, go on…give it a try," she insisted. Blaise still looked uncertain, but after seeing the others nod him on, he quickly and soundlessly came up behind Hermione and attempted to hold her down in a tight hug while pinning her arms to the sides of her body. Draco squirmed while watching this. It wasn't as if he didn't think Hermione was untrained, but he too thought Blaise had made a valid point. He just hoped Blaise would remember to be careful with her.

He needn't have worried. Draco was as astonished as everyone else when Hermione lowered her center of gravity closer to the ground, then viciously stomped on Blaise's bare foot while also twisting her core to more effectively elbow him in the gut. The pain from that made him lose his hold, and taking that opportunity, Hermione twirled around and kneed him in the groin, then soft-punched him in the throat, and finally grabbed one of his arms and quickly maneuvering behind him, pinned that arm to his back and gave it a twist for good measure. Even with his aching windpipe and manhood, he yelped in pain as Hermione then proceeded to kick behind his knees, making him fall to the ground. She then sat astride his back, now having both his arms pinned behind him.

Everyone but Blaise, who was keeping up a steady stream of moans and curses, was silent. Their faces all showed shock and on some, a bit of alarm. That Hermione had bested Blaise was one thing. They knew it was a probability, after all. But to dispatch him with such ease….even her best friends had not expected that. Blaise groaned loudly and rasped, "Bloody witch…..ugh…..get off me."

Hermione easily hopped off Blaise's back and said to the others, "I hope that clears up any lingering doubts anyone might still have of my ability to teach techniques of combat fighting….especially how to take on wizards." She looked around the room. Gone were the smirks and jokes and casual attitudes. Everyone was giving her their complete attention…and respect. Especially Draco. His eyes were steady on her, and they filled her with a feeling of warmth. He looked proud of her. And impressed. Hermione's cheeks flushed in happiness.

Looking back at Blaise, she pulled her wand from its place in her hair bun and said, "Nunc Sanabo." Slowly, Blaise got up, still rubbing his throat and growled, "Uhh….yeah….thanks, G-girl."

"Right then, shall we continue?" she chirped sweetly as if she was hosting a garden club party rather than teaching a class on warfare. "There is a theory the muggles have; it's a good one, I think, and it applies to the principle of what we call 'combined courage'. That is, if you take out the mouth," and here she giggled while pointing to Blaise, "meaning the biggest talker of whatever group that comes against you, the theory is you minimize the collective courage or strength of that group."

"You set me up for that, didn't you G-girl? How very Slytherin of you," he groused.

"I'd say you set yourself up, but I appreciate you giving me the chance to demonstrate it," Hermione good-naturedly shot back. "As I was saying, many times your enemy will run if their leader is incapacitated." She went on to show her class simple defensive moves that could help them if they were ever caught alone. Then Hermione decided to gauge everyone's reflex abilities and balance/coordination. She inwardly rejoiced when others saw how well Vin and Greg did with this part of the lesson. Several clapped the bashful boys on the back and admitted that of all the class, they were in the best shape, excluding Hermione, of course. Not used to being praised and in the spotlight, Vin and Greg decided to take the attention off themselves and surprised Hermione by pulling her up to balance her between their shoulders in an impulsive display of their new strengths. Laughing at her squeals, they gave her all the credit of their success, saying, "Hermione said she would dance us into shape, and she did!"

"Blimey, Granger, maybe I should take up Salsa dancing," kidded Fred. "Never knew assassins needed to learn to tango to be good at their jobs."

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Nunc Sanabo is Latin for Heal Now.