Hermione woke the next morning with a weight off of her chest; she could finally quit lying to her friends… though she really wished that her mother could be in on this. She didn't want to drag a muggle into her own magical issue, no more people need to know.

She dressed, showered, tamed her hair (now that she could control heat waves, she had a much easier time in the mornings), put on her heavy undergarments, robes, and left. She felt good this morning, until she saw Dumbledore heading into the common room.

Dumbledore had only entered Gryffindor Common Room twice that she could remember; both when Harry or another student were in dire trouble. Something must have happened… He was heading towards her, with a grim face on.

"Miss Granger, I need to speak to you in private." It must have been Draco… had he incinerated someone? She inwardly slapped herself, this was not the time to be joking. Something serious was up.

Once they were inside the privacy of the girl's dormitory, he silenced and secured the place, and said, "There is a reporter here, from the Daily Prophet. Minister Fudge is here to present you an award, and the reporter is going to interview you for the paper. I just wanted to warn you- do not lose control of your powers." She let out a deep breath, she had been expecting to hear bad news. "I need to be going, and you will probably run into them in twenty minutes, in the Great Hall. Be careful."

Hermione didn't understand what the big deal was, Draco was the one with all the control issues. But, she did as he said, and sure enough, they were there in the Great Hall.

"Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione's first thought was, 'is she some kind of joke?' The reporter looked like Nightmare Barbie.

"I am from the Daily Prophet, I am here with Minister Fudge to present you this award," The reporter pointed to it, as she did, the pin in her hair blinded Hermione, "for your academic achievements. You have been number one in your class since you started here, and we believe that this deserves recognition." She smiled, hints of her red lipstick stained her teeth.

"Thank you, very much." Hermione took the award, and stood back with Fudge for a photograph. No one in the Great Hall seemed very impressed; this sort of thing happened once every few years to the upper-year students. No surprise that it would be Hermione Granger.

"I want to get a word with you… But not here." The reporter grabbed Hermione's hand, and click-click-click went her heels down the hallway. The poor girl was pulled into Flitwick's classroom, and shoved into a chair. "Now, I want to get to know the Real Hermione," She flashed another messy smile, "Every year these interviews are so boring; I want to spice it up."

"So, you are friends with Harry Potter, the "Chosen One?" Hermione knew that they would drag Harry into this.

"Yes," coolly as she could muster. The reporter seemed to get the drift.

"Do you have any crushes here at the school?" Hermione knew that this would be next, somehow.
"Yes," Hermione decided to play mind games with her now.

"Ooh, are they handsome?"

"Yes."

"Do you think that they like you?"

"I am not sure. He is in a different house."

"Oh, well, who is he?"

Hermione shrugged, and shook her head at the reporter. The reporter sighed.

"I guess that I will just have to stick to the script." She balled up the paper the Quick Quotes Quill had been using, and pulled a new one out of her bag.

"Hermione, what is it like knowing that you could get into any Magical University in Europe, Asia, and America, with your top grades at Hogwarts?"

"Almost overwhelming, there are so many to choose from." Hermione made that one up on the spot.

"And what are your study habits like, I mean, you must work all the time to keep that #1 spot up there every semester."

"I do study a lot, but I keep up with my friends and such."

"Lets switch to world news, is that alright?" Hermione was obviously frustrating the annoying girl. She loved every minute of it.

"Sure."

"Do you follow Quiddich any? I know that you dated the famed Viktor Krum for awhile, and he just won the World Cup last summer for Bulgaria's national team. Do you keep up with him?"

"No, and I never dated him. We were close friends back when he was here for the TriWizard tournament. I haven't spoken with him in over a year."

"Well, onto more recent news. Two of this generations Elementals were discovered this past week, which is a big deal, as they only come around once every few hundred years. Normally one or two of the others will come from Hogwarts, but the Fire and Air Elementals are still hidden some where." Hermione nervously folded her legs, "What do you think about this? Do you think that it is possible that one of your schoolmates is part of the next generation?"

"It is possible, I haven't thought about it much." Hermione glanced down at the quick quotes quill, and was horrified when it jotted down what she said, then in parenthesis, 'In a nervous tone.' The reporter seemed to notice the same thing, and she said, "Is something the matter, dear?"

"Oh, well, between you and me, after Harry had such a terrible time with Rita Skeeter, reporters from the Daily Prophet make me nervous," The reporter seemed to have bought it. "I'm sorry, you seem perfectly lovely, though."

"Oh, dear, don't worry about me. I will make you come off in the tiny article as dandy as a peach. We can keep all of that between you and me? Get rid of that last 5 lines." The quill erased exactly as it was told, but Hermione still felt that the reporter could go straight to the Daily Prophet and tell…

When she expressed her fears to Harry and Ron that evening, and later on to Dumbledore and Draco, they all said the same as she had thought; if the reporter told, they would immediately know because of the contract.

……

The next day, she met up with Dumbledore and Draco, again, in the designated room (which will not be said here, for security purposes) they got off to an early start. She was surprised to find out that the spacious rooms had one for herself and Draco, mimics of their dormitories. To her utmost dislike, there were no locks on the doors, and they shared a bathroom. This was going to get ugly, fast. She understood the reason though, there couldn't be two Hermione's in her bed for two nights every weekend. So, Dumbledore built the mini dorms so that that couldn't be a problem.

Anyways, before the narrator got off topic, they got off to an early start in training, after a light fruity breakfast.

Dumbledore had come up with some of his own exercises, and these seemed much more rigorous than the ones in the ancient manuals that Hermione had been using.

She could feel her powers growing, and could control large masses of air now, with out knocking down Draco or Dumbledore.

"Draco, will you be staying here at Hogwarts over the Holidays?"

He thought for a moment, and said, "Yes, I will be. We need to get as much practice in as possible, right professor?"

"Yes, Draco. Though, I don't want to keep you away from your parents."

"I wont miss them, don't worry." The tone in the boy's voice slightly bothered Hermione, but she let it go.

"I hope that you will at least send them presents?"

"No. Not after what Pansy and my father did. I will never forgive them."

Before Hermione could ask, Dumbledore shook his head behind Draco's back. She understood that it was private, but the curious girl inside her was dying to know.