DISCLAIMER: Hello all, yes it's me again. I have not fallen off a cliff and died...not that I know of anyways. However, I still don't own Harry Potter...again, not that I know of anyways.
Chapter 12: What You Deserve
With the promise of the new school year, the students were, as usual, grumpy. This was just the start of their many long, exhausting days to come. Many were starting their fifth and seventh years, meaning that not only did they have the classes to look forward to, but the 'pleasurable' tests that would arrive at the end of the year.
Of course, with any class, you have those select few who are different. Yes, you have the ones that are joyously awaiting the start of the school year and cannot wait to run to the library.
Hermione Granger, for instance, used to be of this rare breed. That is until she had fallen back into this time. Sure, she was the same studious person that she was before, making sure she had all her books read before class and all her quills perfectly sharpened, but she didn't feel that extra zing that she used to about school.
Instead, she sat up flatly this morning and watched, along with Lauri, as Lily zoomed around the room making sure that she had all that she would need for the day.
"She's mental," Lauri yawned and collapsed back onto her bed.
Hermione chuckled and nodded her head in Lily's direction. "I used to be like that… all uppity and anxious for the school day to start…"
Lauri's head rose from her bed as she observed Hermione carefully. "I thought you were home schooled," she muttered, her eyes never leaving Hermione's face.
"I was," Hermione lied quickly, "what I meant was that I was ready hours before my mum was. I would practically bound into her room and wake her up to start the lessons."
"Oh," Lauri said though she still observed Hermione. However, her tiredness soon won out and she flopped back onto the bed.
Lily would have none of it, though, and instantly was at her side. "Up," she commanded.
Lauri groaned but obviously she learnt a thing or two about Lily and decided that it would be in her best option to do as Lily said, rising from the bed. "Yes, Lily dear," she could be heard muttering darkly as she trudged off towards the bathroom.
Hermione laughed and slowly climbed from her bed. She offered Lily a smile and went to her trunk to extract her school robes. She missed her solitary rooms and she missed Falco, but she would soon grow accustomed to the companionship.
Lily, as if on cue, looked at Hermione. "You never told us where you stayed until school started. Did you stay in here all by yourself?"
"Oh no," Hermione answered at once, "Aunt Minerva would not hear of me staying by myself up here so I had my own rooms. Falco was my companion during those times."
"Falco?" Lily questioned and Hermione could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to find some bit of information she had stored away. "As in Falco Aesalon?"
Hermione nodded. "The one and only. He was really sweet actually, and I think I'll miss him more than anything else… He was my consort before I met you guys."
Lily's eyes twinkled in merriment. "Well, who says that you can't talk to him again?"
Hermione stared at her and smiled. "Of course we could visit him, couldn't we?"
"I don't think he would like anything better," Lily said with a smile. "And I would really like to be introduced to him."
"Oh, you'll adore him Lily," Hermione said excitably as she brushed her hair. She studied herself in the mirror before saying, "Sirius made quite an impression on him."
Lily froze and Hermione saw this in the mirror. She turned around quickly and looked at her friend who was staring back at her in shock. "What?"
"Sirius was here?" Lily asked finally and Hermione answered, "Yes, why?"
Lily shrugged and turned away from Hermione so she could not see the smile forming at her lips. "No reason, no reason at all. You better get ready so we can go down."
Hermione was ready in less than fifteen minutes and together they traveled down to the Great Hall. The boys, apparently having been woke up by Remus, joined them.
"Good morning," McGonagall said as she made her way down the Gryffindor table passing out the schedules. She paused at Hermione and said, "Join me for tea tonight."
Hermione nodded and went back to eating her eggs, her schedule held in her free hand. It appeared that fate would not prove to be nice in this time since she noticed that they had double potions with the Slytherins first thing this morning.
"Don't worry," Sirius whispered in her ear as he glanced over at her shoulder at the schedule in her hands, "about the Slytherins. As long as we're in there with you, they won't try anything. Plus Slughorn's a big nutter."
"I know," Hermione grumbled, "I had the extreme pleasure of meeting him."
Sirius wore a serious face as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I am so sorry."
"Actually," Hermione said with a wry smile, "I think you should be apologizing to him."
Sirius grinned. "And why's that?"
Hermione grinned to herself as she speared a piece of sausage. "No reason."
Sirius chuckled and said, "Somehow I doubt that he came out the victor of that conversation. Let me guess, he offered you a position in the Slug Club."
Hermione nodded since she was chewing her sausage and she had always reprimanded Ron on his uncouth table manners whenever he did it. She noticed that Peter was watching her but ignored it as she turned her attention back to Sirius.
"So, whenever he waylaid you, for I am in no doubt that he did, he laid on his impeccable charm and insisted that you were the right material for his little group," Sirius said. "Then, I doubt that you would join his club and you probably became insulted with some of the insinuations that he threw at you to get you to join. How am I doing so far?"
Hermione smiled after she swallowed the bacon. "Actually," she drawled, "you are almost positively accurate on all accounts. Continue."
"So I'm guessing that by the end of his five minute speech you were particularly seething," he added and Hermione nodded. "What was there left to do but to throw it in his face?"
Hermione shook her head in laughter. "Oh Sirius, you do not know how close you are to the truth." She turned towards him. "Does he pester you so?"
"Used to," Sirius said proudly, shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth.
"Used to?"
"That is, until I started to avoid him."
Hermione practically cringed whenever Sirius talked with his mouth full of food but unlike Ron, you could understand him. Plus there was just something about him that made him look a little endearing when he done so….a little.
"Of course he follows Moony around too, though he is only after Remmie for his brains. He prefers purebloods for they are the 'right' breed in society."
Hermione noticed that Sirius' face seemed to darken considerably whenever he said this, even though she knew that he was among that 'breed' as he called it. But Sirius was different, Hermione reminded herself, he wasn't like the other purebloods.
Out of instinct, she reached out and laid a hand on his arm. She almost backed off when she saw him flinch a little but noticed that he relaxed his muscles soon after. "I'm sorry, Sirius," she whispered and he looked from his plate to her.
He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "It's okay, we can't help what family we're born into. Personally, I think they should give us a choice…"
"Oh Sirius," James said from a few seats down beside of Lily, "you know that if you would have been born into any other evil and diabolical family that you would have had the misfortune as to never had met me."
Sirius rolled his eyes and said, "Now that would have been a misfortune," sarcastically.
Everyone laughed at this, including James and the rest of the meal went along without much of them saying anything. All of them were anxious for class to begin, even the Marauders.
"Alrighty then," James said as he stood, "everyone ready to go?"
They all nodded and rose from their seats, slinging their bags over their shoulders. They led Hermione to a room that she recognized as Professor Slughorn's in the future. Surprisingly, Hermione missed the familiar scene of the dungeons for Potions.
"Hey," Sirius said from beside of her, obviously noticing her frown, "cheer up, Slughorn isn't that bad and besides, you have me in here."
Hermione chuckled a little and took a seat beside of him towards the middle. James and Lily sat at a table to the front of them while Lauri and Remus took the table beside of them. Peter, as Sirius explained, did not have the scores to take Potions this year and Hermione felt a little wave of relief at his words.
The rest of the class filed in sometime later. Hermione noticed that the same prejudices held in this time, meaning that Slytherins sat on one side while the Gryffindors occupied the other.
Horace Slughorn trudged his way into the class sometime later, a vain smile on his face. "Good morning class," he called, "I'm glad to see that the best of the best have made it into my NEWT Potions class."
His eyes roamed the room and rested on Hermione. "Ah, Miss Granger, how refreshing to see you out and about. I must say that I am rather looking forward to seeing your skill in the art of Potion making," he said cheerfully and Hermione's eyes narrowed on him.
"I see Mr. Black has appointed himself your partner." Hermione didn't like the gleam in his eye and she knew whatever was coming next would not be to her liking.
"That won't do," he said with a frown. "I must insist that we arrange all of you into partners that will allow you to develop in this class."
He picked up his grade book and turned towards them with a smile. "Everyone up, I will reseat you according to the partners that I deem will be most beneficial to you this year."
Hermione looked at Sirius while they were picking up their belongings. "I think this is punishment for turning him down," she said quietly. "We need to tread easy this year for I think he is planning something and his ultimate goal is to get us to join his club."
Sirius frowned and nodded. "I think you're right. He seems to cheerful to be doing this without any ulterior motives." He leaned closer. "Whoever your partner is, just don't do anything rash. Slughorn will be looking for any opportunity to get you in. He seems particularly keen on having you in his club."
Hermione nodded and stood by him while she waited for her name to be called. "Travers-Potter, Snape-Evans." Hermione felt bad for Lily as she watched her trudge towards the back where Severus Snape, the same grease ball as ever, was laying his stuff out.
"N. Black-Fern, B. Black- LeStrange, Goyle- S. Black, Crabbe- Lupin."
Hermione looked around as the crowd around her was disappearing and instantly knew her fate. She looked towards Sirius who was giving her a sympathetic look as the words rang out in the room, "Malfoy-Granger."
Hermione closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, before opening them back up and walking to where Malfoy had set up his stuff at the very back corner of the room away from any of her friends. He wore a smug smile on his face and she wanted nothing more than to draw her wand and wipe it off.
"Well, well," Lucius drawled, "the new Gryffindor is paired with me, a Slytherin. Whatever did you do to make Slughorn mad?"
Hermione glared. "What makes you think that I did anything to make him mad? If you'd take the time to look around, you'd see that there are a lot of Gryffindor-Slytherin pairings."
"Actually, the only ones that are paired like that are your little group of friends," he pointed out. "All the rest got to remain with their own house."
Hermione had noticed this but she had decided to ignore it and try to make the best out of a bad situation by ignoring him. She laid out her Potion supplies and waited for Slughorn to give them their instructions, completely obvious to Malfoy's prying eyes.
"Today class," Slughorn said after everyone was ready to begin, "will merely be a test as to your aptitude at brewing Potions. You may select any Potion to brew with your partner and points will be reward upon observing the affects of the Potion. The harder the potion, the higher the grade you will receive. You have the whole class period, begin."
She turned to Malfoy and looked at him expectantly, waiting to see what he would say. "I say we make Veritaserum," he said with his usual arrogant manner.
Hermione cocked a brow. So that was what he was playing at, he wanted to know the truth about her. Well, she thought snidely, he wasn't going to figure out.
She opened her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger and flipped to a familiar page. "Here," she said pointing to the potion, "let's make that."
Lucius observed her skeptically but nevertheless shrugged and began gathering the ingredients. He handed her the belladonna, knotgrass, and puffer-fish eyes while he took the monkshood, snake fangs, and aconite for himself to prepare.
Hermione combined the knotgrass and belladonna and let it simmer in the cauldron while she squeezed the juice out of the puffer-fish eyes. Lucius, meanwhile, was slowly stirring the monkshood and aconite in a small bowl. He picked up the snake fangs with his free hand and dropped it into the cauldron and smiled at the sizzle that resulted.
Hermione added the juice from the puffer-fish eyes to his concoction and then grabbed up some valerian roots and lionfish spine. She pounded these together into a fine powder which she slowly added into the mix that Lucius was holding out for her.
Lucius slowly poured the mix into the cauldron while Hermione stirred it counter-clock wise fifty times before going clockwise another fifty times. Lucius picked up the last and final ingredient, dragon blood, and added it into the mix.
The potion was now a deep mahogany color, the desired color and both Lucius and Hermione smiled at their success. They turned the heat down and waited for the potion to sit for fifteen minutes before it would be ready.
"Good job," Lucius said as he sat back on his seat, "it seems that you are adapt at Potion making and I guess it won't be so bad being paired up with you."
Hermione scrutinized him. She wondered if he knew of her heritage…wait, she was no longer a mudblood, but a half-blood, in this time anyway. "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself."
Lucius leaned back and smirked. "Alright, so you don't like me and I don't like the fact that you're a Gryffindor…"
"You're only prejudiced against my house?" Hermione questioned.
Lucius merely shrugged and continued to smirk at her. "Anyways, what I'm suggesting is a sort of truce during Potions. I help you, you help me, and we pass the class."
Hermione thought about his words. Would a truce work between them. True, she did want to pass Potions without any hitches and it seemed that she was doomed to keep Lucius as a partner. Maybe it would work…
"Alright Malfoy," she said suddenly, her eyes meeting his, "I'll agree to this little truce on a few conditions."
"Ah," he said with a small chuckle, "the Gryffindor is smart. I applaud you on the fact that you know better than to walk blindly into an agreement."
It was Hermione's turn to shrug as she straightened her back. "First, no references in the classroom as to who or who we are not friends with. Since I'm sure that you don't like my friends and I doubt very much that I will like yours, this seems like the most logical solution."
Lucius nodded. "I agree with you there. Alright, Miss Granger, your first condition is accepted."
"Second, as it will only be in Potions that we will be conversing, this truce will uphold to a degree outside the classroom. In this sense I'm meaning that neither of us throw barbs at one another or purposefully detain the other from otherwise serenity."
"My, my, big words my little Gryffindor," Lucius teased. "So, am I to understand that outside of the classroom you want us to be acquaintances, meaning that we are not friends but we are past the enemy stage. Am I correct?"
"You would be correct," Hermione stated impassively. "Do you accept?"
Lucius smirked. "I accept."
"Good," was all she said about that then, "I have one last condition."
Lucius laughed heartily. "Of course you do. Tell me, my dear, what is it?"
"That this class will allow us to be frank with one another. I do not wish to lie to you nor for you to lie to me. If we are to be acquaintances, let us at least be truthful ones."
Lucius' eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you saying?"
"I'm saying that while we are in here that we will be truthful to one another. No lies, no little fibs, nothing. You are merely Lucius and I am Hermione."
"Hmm, I wonder if you will be entirely truthful in certain situations," Lucius murmured but sat straight. "Well, I now know why you didn't want to make Veritaserum. What you really mean is, we'll be truthful…to an extent. Face it, my dear, we each have those few hidden secrets that we don't want to divulge. However, I agree to your condition."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest his analysis of her but at that moment, Slughorn appeared in front of their work table with an expectant grin on his face.
"Ah, Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy, I do hope you preformed to my standards."
"Why don't you try the potion out and tell us," Hermione said through gritted teeth and she could have sworn she saw Lucius smile at her.
Professor Slughorn nodded with a smile and ladled up a mouthful of the potion and put it to his lips. Oh he cannot be that stupid, Hermione thought to herself as he did indeed drank down the potion.
Immediately his face began to turn. Hermione along with Lucius watched with a wry smile as the potion started to take it affect on Slughorn. Many others in the class had also stopped and had turned to watch with eager eyes what was happening.
Slughorn's face immediately began to transform. His whole body seemed to begin to ooze together and his eyes grew large. From his large head appeared two long, thin slimy things that began to grow in length. He looked first to Lucius then to Hermione, realizing the mistake he had made.
Hermione tsked. "Really Professor, isn't it always taught when dealing with unknown potions to be cautious? You really shouldn't have drank it up without knowing first what you were dealing with."
She smiled mirthfully and a few cackles were heard among the students. "Well, it certainly seems that the potion itself did work, and excellently I might say. I doubt you'll give us anything less than an O for it since there seems to be no fault."
"I will bottle up the rest of the Cirisporis potion, sir, and leave it on your desk. I do say that your animal counterpart suits you much better than your human form."
And with that, Hermione stood from her seat and left a vial of the potion behind, cleaning up the rest of the potion. She smiled at everyone and joined up with Sirius to leave the classroom as the bell rang.
She caught Lucius' eye and they both smiled. Everyone ignored the large, oozing slug left behind on the classroom floor.
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Truly am. However, Speech, Flags, and FFA is now over with and all I have left is a few things for Band and T-Ball... almost free...almost... :D Went and saw my DREAM COLLEGE. IT IS AMAZING! For those of you who don't know yet, I'm attending Hollins University next year :D...
Thanks for reading! Much love,
Amaya
