A/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday. My insomnia has finally caught up with me and it's left me in a rather catatonic state (aka I'm pretty much a zombie right now).

Thank you, LauraFlowi, DeanCastielSam, and MadMabry, for your wonderful feedback yet again! It makes me smile.

Um, I think that's all I have to say right now.

Enjoy!


~Chapter 7~

Previously: "You've got a nice set of pipes. You should really try out for glee."

"Uh, why?"

"Because you're the only one who could knock Berry down a notch," she responded bluntly.

"And if I don't?" Hermione retorted defiantly.

"I'll just keep tormenting you til you do."

"Ugh, fine. I'll prepare something for tomorrow. Just don't tell anyone yet." Santana smirked triumphantly while looking the girl over before heading out of the auditorium, leaving behind a puzzled Hermione. "What the hell just happened?" She mused aloud, running a hand through her hair.

That night, while Will and Hermione were cooking dinner, the hazel-eyed man turned to focus on his niece.

"Mia, why didn't you tell me about those cuts all over your torso?" He asked her softly after a few moments.

"I didn't want you to worry," she replied with a sigh. "It's nothing I can't handle. They will heal soon enough especially with the help of some good ol' essence of dittany."

"Why won't you let me in?" He inquired dejectedly.

"I guess I have this idiotic notion in my head that if I don't talk about it, it doesn't exist," the brown-eyed girl murmured with a grimace.

"Sweetheart…"

"Don't, Will. I want to talk to you about everything I've been through, but I just can't yet. It's too hard," she choked out. Will looked at her sadly and wrapped his arms around her.

"Alright, I understand. Will you eventually tell me what your nightmares are about?" She nodded her head stiffly and backed away from his embrace before resuming her food preparations. As she began cutting up some vegetables, she tried her hardest to avoid the intense gaze of her uncle.

The next afternoon at glee, the group was waiting for Mr. Schue, who was running late as usual. When he finally walked in, a large grin was apparent on his face.

"Ok, guys, we have a real treat in store for us today. Someone is going to audition and hopefully become one of our new members!" The students began whispering excitedly about the new recruitment, unaware of Santana's victorious grin.

In the hallway, Hermione took a deep breath as she heard Will introduce her. She walked in and everyone instantly fell silent at how stunning she looked. She grabbed the microphone stand in the middle of the room.

"Alright, boys, hit it," she called out to the band as an electric guitar riff rang out.

"You got me down on the floor,
So what'd you bring me down here for?
You got me down on the floor,
So what'd you bring me down here for?"

After she finished the first verse, she grabbed the microphone and began dancing around it provocatively causing her audience to start catcalling and whistling.

"If I was a man, I'd make my move.
If I was a blade, I'd shave you smooth.
If I was a judge, I'd break the law.
And if I was from Paris,
If I was from Paris,
I would say,
'Oooh la la la la lala.'"

She moved in front of Rachel and winked at her causing the diva to blush and bury her face into Finn's shoulder.

"You got me up on your swing,
So when you gonna shake that thing?
You got me up on your swing,
So when you gonna shake that thing?

"If I was a man, I'd make my move.
If I was a blade, I'd shave you smooth.
If I was a judge, I'd break the law.
And if I was from Paris,
If I was from Paris,
I would say,
'Oooh la la la la la la.'"

As she sang out the last note, the class stared at her in awe before erupting in thunderous applause.

"Wow, Mia, that was great!" Mr. Schue praised her. "Talk about a complete contrast from everything I've ever heard you do." Hermione merely shrugged and waited for her peers to comment.

"Girl, that was hot!" Kurt squealed as everybody else joined in.

"Are the rumors true?" Rachel screamed out over her classmate's voices. "Are you gay?" The group collectively rolled their eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I am," the British teen replied nonchalantly. "Why? You interested?" She questioned seductively, earning several chuckles from her audience.

"Well, thank you, Berry, for that completely irrelevant topic," Santana spoke sarcastically as Rachel huffed and crossed her arms. "By the way, you all can thank me later since I was the one who convinced her to join with my impressive seduction ski—"

"Let's just get the voting over with!" The head cheerleader interrupted. "Those in favor of Hermione joining glee, raise your hand," Quinn suggested sensibly. Everyone, including a reluctant Rachel, did so.

"Alright, Mia, looks like you're in," Mr. Schue told her delightedly as the girl broke out in an enormous smile. "Ok, guys, why don't you go around and introduce yourselves, so Hermione can learn all of your names. Who wants to start?" Brittany raised her hand.

"I'm Brittany Pierce, I'm a Cheerio, and I think you're really hot," the blonde stated seriously, causing the British teen to blush.

"We've already met, but I'm Santana Lopez," the Latina spoke, throwing a sultry look at the wavy-haired brunette.

"The name's Puck. Let me know if Karofsky gives you a hard time again and I'll totally beat his ass," he told her flexing his muscles. Hermione couldn't help but laugh, but nodded her thanks nonetheless.

"I'm Rachel Berry, the lead female vocalist. That means that I get the majority of the solos. I'm sure you will love swaying in the back while I sing in front of you. If you need any help learning the proper form, I'd be more than happy to help you."

"Thank you, Rachel, for the verbosity of that introduction," the British girl told her with a roll of her eyes, triggering another round of laughter from her peers.

"I'm Finn Hudson. Sorry about Rachel. She's a controllist…"

"No, I'm controlling. Controllist isn't a word!"

"Point proven. Thank you, Finn. I'm Artie Abrams, singer, rapper, and pro-wheelchair dancer."

"You already know me, but I'm Kurt Hummel. Future fashion designer and Broadway star."

"You know me as well, girl, but I'm Mercedes Jones. I'm one hell of a sassy diva, but I have manners unlike Rachel over there."

"I'm Tina Cohen-Chang and your outfit rocks."

"I'm Mike Chang. No, we're not related. I don't think I can really sing, but I'm a pretty good dancer."

"Wicked. We'll have to have a dance-off at some point," she teased.

"Quinn Fabray. Head cheerleader. We met yesterday as well." Hermione smiled at her before addressing the room as a whole.

"It's very nice to meet all of you. As you all know, I'm Hermione Granger. I went to a boarding school outside of Scotland. When I wasn't at school, I was living in London. I think that's about it. Anything you have to say, Will?"

"Well, all I have to say is that I think this is going to be a great year!" He beamed, thrilled that his kids were being so accepting of his niece. "Now as all of you know, Nationals is in New York City this year. While we have enough members to compete, it'd be great to recruit a few more people." He paused and let the kids absorb this new information. "I think we should do a performance of Empire State of Mind in the quad during lunch tomorrow."

"But Mr. Schue, everyone hates us!" Finn yelled out as several of the other performers joined in.

"Guys! Guys!" The choir director shouted, trying to quiet down his students.

"Oi! Will you all shut up?" Hermione screamed in her former prefect tone. "I know I'm new here, but if you let them get to you, they're winning. I say we go out there, perform our asses off, and show them that nothing they do is going to stop us from doing what we love." The room fell silent and stared at her, unsure how they were supposed to respond.

"Hermione's right, guys," Quinn finally said, breaking the silence at last. "Let's just go out there and do this. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could all get slushied. Numerous times."

"Oh, shut it, Berry," Santana growled before glancing at the fidgeting British girl. "I mean, Quinn, Brittany, and I are some of the hottest pieces of ass at this school. And now we've got the sexy British chick. They'll love us. Can we get on with the choreography now? I'm bored."

"Um, thanks, Santana and Quinn. I don't know what's caused you guys to become so vocal about what's best for the glee club, but I like it," Will spoke up encouragingly.

"Yeah, thanks for the support, you two," Hermione informed them with a dazzling smile, causing both cheerleaders to sit up slightly straighter and return her smile before glaring at each other when the brown-eyed girl turned to talk to Kurt.


A/N, part II: Oops. I forgot to put the name of the song from the last chapter. In case you were wondering, it was "Hear You Me" by Jimmy Eat World.

The song in this chapter was "Paris (Ooh La La)" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.