Chapter 10: She Wades in Insecurity

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Now here is that long chapter I promised you guys...LoL. I can't believe I actually got 90 reviews, I'm so excited right now!

"Damn, I'm good!" Harry exclaimed, speeding past Hermione on his Firebolt. He was practicing for his Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Hermione had set the Snitch loose in the pouring rain, and Harry had caught it in a matter of seconds.

"Oh, don't get conceited now Harry!" Hermione yelled after him, holding an umbrella above her head on the field. She stared upwards, wondering where Harry had gone, when she felt a ruffling breeze pass her. She turned around to see a blur of color spiraling upwards, a blur that very much resembled her raven-haired best friend.

"Harry! Get down here this instant! You've been practicing in the rain for over an hour!" Hermione screamed at his moving figure. Almost immediately, Harry flew down to greet her and flew around her in dizzying circles. Hermione scolded his immature behaviour before beginning to walk inside. Harry followed her, laughing the whole way.

When Harry and Hermione had cleaned themselves off, they walked down the many flights of stairs to get to the Great Hall for dinner. Ron was already waiting at the table for them impatiently.

"Oi! Where have you two been all this time?" Ron asked, obviously annoyed.

"I was just watching Harry practice for the match next week, relax Ron," Hermione said innocently, helping herself to some rice pilaf. Ron glared at her incredilously, but after a moment shook his head and sighed in deafeat. All of sudden, a great clapping noise was heard. Every student in the Great Hall looked up to see Dumbledore standing, clapping his hands incessantly to get everyone's attention.

"Quiet, quiet please everyone. I have a very important announcement to make. The Head Boy and Girl, and the Prefects, have organized an upcoming event for the year. On Friday of next week, Christmas Eve, there will be a ball." At this, cheers and the buzzing of excitement ran through the Great Hall. Dumbledore smiled, and yet again clapped his hands to get their attention. "As I was saying, this ball will be held for fourth years and up, but if someone is invited as a date, it need not matter if you are a third year. The Hogsmeade trip is scheduled for Wednesday evening for fourth years and above, so if you plan on asking someone below fourth year, I suggest you do so before that trip. As for attire, you will be purchasing your clothing at one of the many shops in Hogsmeade, and it does not necessarily have to be robes. As their are many muggle-borns in this school, you will be permitted to wear robes or muggle-clothing. It is your decision completely. I look forward to your presence at our Christmas Feast and Ball." At Dumbledore's parting statement, cheers and loud applause erupted from the amazingly large room, and it's size magnified the sound, making it almost deafening. Hermione smiled to herself, as did mostly everybody. It was going to be incredible.


It was Tuesday, the day before the big trip to Hogsmeade. Hermione had been asked to go with four seventh years, two sixth years, and many fourth years. With all seriousness she was absolutely astounded that that many people had been interested in her. But she only had her eye on one person, and he was watching her from his seat at the back of the room during their Care of Magical Creatures class. Their current teacher was Professor Pereptua Glasstommer, because Hagrid had decided that Gamekeeper was much more to his liking. Professor Glasstommer was a middle-aged woman with a shock of blue hair that reached her shoulders. Her eyes were a stunning blue and she had a loud voice, that was most of the time used to scold Seamus Finnigan, who harboured a secret crush on the woman. Today, they were having a specially planned class on banshees. It was nine o'clock at night and the whole class was walking towards the Forbidden Forest. Professor Glasstommer stopped near Hagrid's hut, and the class shuffled in the darkness uncomfortably.

"Alright everyone, as you know, Banshees are usually omens of death. They can be heard weeping or wailing when a death or disaster is about to occur. A Banshee may look like a lovely young maiden, or she may appear as an ugly, old hag with red eyes from weeping. Sometimes Banshees are seen combing their long hair, but beware; if one of these hairs are to fall on you, it is a very bad omen indeed. The earliest reference to a Banshee was in 1437 when a Banshee foretold the death of James I of Scotland. The word Banshee is an anglicized form of the Gaelic 'bean sidhe', or 'ban sith', which simply means 'woman fairy'. Now, is everyone ready to go in?" The teacher asked excitedly, clapping her hands together. The whold class groaned, but nodded. Professor Glasstommer didn't notice their artificial enthusiasm as they followed her into the dark depths of the Forbidden Forest.

While walking through the forest with only wand light to guide them, someone wailed. Not an ordinary type of wail, a stifled, loud wail that was coming from the back of the group. Parvati, who had been clutching Ron's arm like her life depended on it, screamed in fear.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT WAS THAT?!" She screamed in fear. At her proclomation, everyone started whispering, fear edging around the already cramped atmosphere. Professor Glasstommer had stopped the group in place, trying to silence the students without much success, when someone started laughing. A Sytherin. Draco Malfoy to be exact.

"Draco Malfoy! HEAD BOY! 20 points from Slytherin! HOW DARE YOU! I don't want anymore of that behaviour or it's back to school and detention with me for a month!" The Slytherins groaned in annoyance, but trudged on behind her anyway.

It seemed like they had all been walking for hours when they came to a clearing in the woods. There were huge willow trees in the area, while dead pines surrounded the clearing. It seemed like a beating heart in a decaying body. Moonlight filtered through the clearing, the lavender and green clothing of the trees sank toward the gorund, where green grass carpeted it. Hermione was among the first to notice a solitary being sitting on a protruding tree branch.

The figure was tall and pale, and a woman. A beautiful woman, who looked around 18, and she had black hair passed her waist. Her eyes were red and her gaze followed the large group of teenagers coming toward her. Some of the students gasped or recoiled, but Hermione was entranced. While everyone else fluttered about in quiet conversation about the ethereal being, which stood so mysteriously across from them, she kept on walking toward it. The girl cocked her head to one side and stuck her head toward the moon, gliding toward Hermione in the middle of the clearing.

"Hermione! Be careful!" Squealed Lavender Brown from behind Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione glanced backwards to see everyone gaping in awe. Harry was fighting the urge to follow her and drag her away from the creature, but fought his natural instinct when he saw the teacher smiling in delight. Hermione was getting closer and closer to the creature when it stopped gliding. Hermione stopped walking. They were now roughly three feet apart. The Banshee cocked its' head to one side and studied Hermione, gliding once again around her body, looking her up and down as if memorizing her appearance.

"Hermione Granger," the Banshee purred, its voice like hot ice, dragging the syllables dangerously. Hermione gulped.

"You do not know who you are, or who anyone else is, for you are afraid of being alone. That they will push you away." The Banshee was now standing behind her, whispering in her ear. The Banshee cackled mirthlessly. Hermione closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

"What do you want from me?" Hermione whispered.

"When was the last time that you truthfully smiled?" The Banshee whispered. A pause. "You cannot remember, can you? I smell it...the stench of your sadness could be detected even before you entered this forest...Yet no one sees it," she hissed. There were murmers from the group, but the Banshee silenced them with one deathly glare. It was deathly quiet for a moment, when a loud humming was heard. The class whipped their heads in the other direction to see two more Banshees gliding toward them, one brushing their hair innocently. The other had a long, drawn out face and looked ready to kill. She was horridly ugly.

"Okay, class, everyone step closer and observe what is in front of you. I want two rolls of parchment on this for Thursday's clss," the professor said in awe. She waa astounded at what had just occured in front of her. The hesitant steps of the class alerted Hermione and she turned around to see the rest of the class walking toward her. She looked at the ground as she felt Harry's arm around her shoulder. She looked at him and smiled. She still felt cold, even when Ron hugged her reassuringly.

"I wonder what that beast was on about you being sad. You're perfectly fine to me," Ron said with a huge smile. Hermione attempted to smile back at Ron , but all that showed was a twisted grimace. Ron frowned but dismissed it. While the rest of the class was observing the Banshees, Hermione took her first chance to slip away from the group. She walked to the Willow tree and sat under its protective arms, where she felt oddly protected. She shivered in the cold of the December night. Her breath was seen in the dim light of the night. She couldn't hide from one person though, and a head of blonde hair walked after her.

"They don't know what they're talking about," Draco said to her, scowling at Ron and Harry. Hermione shuddered again in the cold.

"It's not their fault. They just don't know what happened," Hermione replied in their defense.

"It IS their fault. They are supposed to be your best friends, and they have no bloody idea about what happens to you when you're at home." Draco sat down next to her and played with some grass he had ripped out of the ground.

Hermione had nothing to say to that. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. They were supposed to be her greatest friends, and yet the only person who figured it out was her worst enemy. Not my enemy anymore, Hermione thought with a smile. When she felt warmth suddenly spread through her, she looked over to see that Draco had placed his cloak over her small body. She smiled up at him, pulling it around her closely. Draco ran a slender, graceful finger over her cheek. Hermione closed her eyes in content as she felt comforted and warm. The feeling lingered even as Draco got up and walked back over to the group, but she did not follow him. She heard a sort of humming again, and she turned around to see the Banshee from before who had been brushing her hair, gliding back toward the forest. Hermione recognized the tune and stood up to talk to her.

"Wait!" She called. The Banshee stopped in middair, and very slowly turned around to face Hermione.

"What were you humming?" Hermione asked breathlessly. It was so...beautiful. The Banshee studied Hermione for a few seconds before gliding toward her and stopping when her cheek was touching Hermione's. She slowly whispered something into Hermione's ear.

"Don't go back." With that, the Banshee pulled away and began to brush her hair again. When about a minute had passed, the Banshee began to hum again, and glided back into the forest.

Hermione looked down to see, on her cloak, a long, black hair.
So? Didja like it? I hope it wasn't too short, I wanted the shopping and stuff to be its own chapter. You see, I didn't think I was actually going to get 90 reviews...LoL. THANK YOU!

A/N: I'm sorry, I won't be able to update until around July 30th, because I'm going on vacation and I won't have a computer. I'M SORRY EVERYONE!
A/N2: The information about Banshees was acquired from the book "Guide to the Fairy Ring" by Anna Franklin. Some of it is quoted, so thanks to Anna Franklin!
A/N3: What do you think if we try for 110 reviews? I KNOW YOU GUYS CAN DO IT!
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