A/N: Hey everyone thanks for the reviews!

Anyone have an idea of what to do when you are EXTREMELY burnt? I was out on the middle of a lake all day yesterday and now I hurt so bad (I even had sunscreen on!). I look like a lobster! I have aloe jell and aloe lotion. Any other ideas of what to do?

Thanks,

Severus Addicted

Chapter Thirteen: Of Mischief and Fireworks

Hermione squealed in surprise as she was suddenly pulled away from the crowd of party goers. Turning to look at her captor, she glared at the twins. "Yes?"

Fred smiled mischievously, "I need you to do us a favor."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at them curiously, "I am not sure if I like where this is going."

George waved away her worries as if they didn't matter, "You are officially a mini McGonagall-"

"Therefore you can get inside her safe-" Fred said.

George interrupted, "And get out our box of fireworks-"

"She confiscated in the beginning of the year." Fred gave her an innocent smile and batted his eyes.

Hermione rolled her's at his attempt, "I don't know guys. That could get me in trouble."

George shook his head, "Not if you're careful, little kitten."

Glancing over at her mother who was conversing with Madam Pomfrey, Hermione bit her lip. After a few seconds to think it over she looked back up at them and asked, "What's in it for me?"

Fred smiled as if they already won her over, "We can get you into the forbidden part of the library anytime you want."

Hermione sucked in a small breath. She really could use getting into that part of the library to research whatever it was that killed Myrtil. Looking at her mum once more, she closed her eyes and nervously nodded her head.

Fred and George clapped in excitement.

"I knew you would do it!" George exclaimed joyfully.

Hermione bit her lip in worry. The forbidden part of the library better be worth the risk she was going to take!

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, "Wait! Why can't either of you break into the safe?"

"I had a feeling you would ask that, little kitten," Fred said softly.

Hermione waited patiently for them to continue.

George took over, "Because we do not know the code."

"Well, how do you expect me to know the code than?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"We have already tried spells to open the safe up but it never budges-" Fred replied.

George continued, "So, we figured she would probably have the code written down-"

"On a piece of parchment in your house," Fred said as he took a bite of his cake in his hand.

Hermione sighed, "What if it's not written down?"

George shrugged, "You will figure out a way."

"You are, after all, the brightest witch of your age!" Fred exclaimed.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "And if I do this you promise to get me into the forbidden part of the library?"

They both nodded and said in unison, "We promise!"

Slowly, she nodded her head, "I will see what I can do."

"Oh! The fireworks do not need fire to make them go off," Fred told her carefully.

Hermione looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

George shrugged, "We got tired of looking for a match when we wanted to do fireworks-

"So we invented these fireworks where you throw the stick-" Fred continued.

"And when the stick hits the ground-"

"The fireworks set off! Isn't that brilliant?" Fred asked proudly.

Hermione looked at them like that was the worst idea she had ever heard.

"Hermione, come here please," Minerva called over to her. She looked at the three with narrowed eyes. She definitely did not want the twins rubbing off on her!

Hermione bit her lip nervously and made her way over to her mum, "Yes?"

Minerva led her over to the table with all the gifts, "Everyone wants you to open your gifts now." She glanced back over at the twins who wore a mischievous grin and grew concerned.

After all the gifts were opened Hermione received a new jumper with her initials stitched on (obviously made by Molly Weasley), a book on understanding Animagus (from Filius), rock cakes (from Hagrid), a stuffed cat (from a mysterious person because it came with no name), and burn relief cream (from Poppy which made Hermione blush horrendously and everyone else chuckle).

By the time all the gifts were opened and Hermione gave out her hugs of thanks it was time to clean up the party.

Harry nudged her in the side with a smirk, "I bet that stuffed cat is from Snape."

Ron laughed at that, "Can you see Snape going into a kid's toy store and picking out a stuffed animal?"

Even Hermione had to smile at the image that popped into her head, "I think it's sweet."

The party was cleaned up just in time for some of the students to file into the Great Hall for lunch.

The Golden Trio quickly made their escape to not be sucked into doing anything else.

Once they were far enough away from the Great Hall, Hermione turned to the boys and said, "I may have a way to get into the forbidden part of the library."

Harry and Ron turned to her intrigued.

"How are you planning on doing that? I almost got skinned by Filch when I did it last year!" Harry said with wide eyes, "Are you going to need my invisibility cloak?"

"I may need it. Fred and George told me that if I could get their fireworks out of mum's safe in her office then they will get me a way into the forbidden part of the library," Hermione said slightly nervously.

Ron blanched at the thought, "If she catches you she'll kill you!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "She won't kill her! But I am sure you would prefer to be killed then what she would do to you!"

Hermione gulped and bit her lip, "I know it's tricky and I could get into a lot of trouble but I have to do it!"

Harry shook his head, "No you don't. I can give you my invisibility cloak and you can go in without their help."

Hermione shook her head, "It's not as easy as it was last year, Harry! Since Filch found that lantern you dropped in there he put a new security system on the gate. It's not a simple key either. I have no idea how to open it! I need Fred and George."

Ron shrugged his shoulders, "Well, good luck then! Every time I have ever heard someone say that they need my brothers it never ends well."

Hermione sighed, "I know, I know. . ."

Harry patted her shoulder, "Do you want me to come with you when you do it?"

"No because what if I do get caught? I don't want to drag you down with me!"

"That's very considerate of you," Ron answered.

Harry and Hermione threw him a glare.

"When are you planning on hacking her safe?" Harry asked her as they started walking again.

Hermione sighed, "I want to get it over as soon as possible so I am going to do it when she is busy today. I know she is meeting with Madam Pomfrey today at six for tea. I have detention with Professor Flitwick tonight at seven."

"Okay so do it as soon as she leaves, get it done quickly and then go to detention," Harry told her as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione nodded, "Yeah that sounds like my best bet."

Ron ran over to set up the chess set, "Harry wanna play a round with me?"

Harry agreed and left Hermione to her worries.

Hermione flopped on the red couch and pulled out her new book about Animagus.

A half an hour passed and Hermione was ripped out of her reading by a tap to her shoulder. Looking up, she lightly flinched when she noticed it was her mother.

Seeing the flinch, Minerva grew concerned, "Are you okay, dear?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah I'm sorry. I was just spooked out of my reading is all."

Minerva accepted the excuse and helped her daughter to her feet, "I need to speak to you at home."

Hermione suddenly felt sick. 'How does she know my plans already? Am I in trouble?'

Hermione looked up to see her mother had already walked over to the portrait hole and was waiting for her. Grabbing all of her courage, Hermione quickly caught up to her.

When she reached her mum's side and they exited the common room, Hermione asked in a small voice, "Am I in trouble, mum?"

Minerva glanced at her and kept her pace, "Oh I don't know. Are you?"

Hermione bit her lip and stayed silent.

Minerva didn't like Hermione's silence and she grew to believe Hermione really had done something wrong. She really hoped it had nothing to do with the twins!

Hermione struggled to keep the silence as the ugly guilt crept into her tummy, "What do you need to talk to me about?"

They reached the door and Minerva said the password. Entering into the house, Minerva went to the kitchen table and sat down. Pointing to the seat beside her Minerva waited for Hermione to sit before asking, "Why do you seem so guilty of something, Hermione Jean?"

Hermione bit her lip and shrugged her shoulders.

Minerva lightly tapped Hermione's mouth with the back of her hand, "Stop biting your lip! That's an awful habit that needs broken."

Hermione quickly stopped biting her lip and lowered her gaze to the tabletop, "I'm sorry."

Taking a deep breath, Minerva asked once again, "What's going on?"

Hermione felt like she was on the verge of panic. She lowered her gaze to the table top once more and whispered, "I just feel guilty."

Minerva pursed her lips. She knew she had to keep a gentle voice with her daughter if she wanted to know anything, "What do you feel guilty about, Hermione?"

Unknowingly, Hermione bit her lip as she quickly tried to come up with a lie. She never was good at lying!

Minerva tapped her mouth again causing Hermione to quickly release her lip. Minerva stayed silent as she waited for Hermione to gain the courage to talk to her.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione said, "I feel guilty because I t-told Harry and Ron that I t-thought it is stupid that I have to spend an hour every night with a professor a-and that I don't deserve this p-punishment." Technically it wasn't a lie!

Hermione cringed as she waited for the loud lecture.

Minerva surprised her by keeping an even tone and saying, "You feel bad about that?"

Slowly, Hermione nodded her head. Inside she was praying her mum would believe her!

Minerva sighed, "Well, at least if you feel bad for saying that to your friends then deep down you really do know that you deserve this punishment."

Hermione mentally left out a sigh of relief. She fell for it!

Keeping her gaze locked on the table top, Hermione asked, "Are you mad?"

Minerva shook her head, "No."

This broke Hermione's hold and she finally looked up at her mum, "You're not?"

Minerva gave her a small smile, "No, dear. Give yourself a break, Hermione. They are your friends! You're supposed to rant and rave to your friends about your punishments. It's normal. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Hermione stopped herself from biting her lip again. If only her mum knew the truth about why she felt so guilty!

The guilt monster in her tummy simply grew because she lied to her mum.

Hermione forced a smile back and stayed silent. If she opened her mouth to say anything she might be sick!

Minerva patted her hand comfortingly then brought up the real topic about why she brought her daughter home, "I saw you speaking with the twins earlier."

Hermione paled, "Yeah?"

Luckily, Minerva didn't notice the change of color on her daughter's face, "They were not trying to talk you into any mischief were they?"

Hermione quickly shook her head, "No, ma'am."

Feeding another lie to the guilt monster made her tummy clench.

Minerva nodded her head, "Alright. I do not want you being talked into doing anything bad, young lady. I trust you."

That just made her tummy feel one thousand times worse!

Hermione slowly nodded her head, "Okay. . ."

Minerva picked up her hand and placed a single kiss to it, "Alright. Let's change the subject now, shall we?"

Hermione quickly nodded her head.

Smiling, Minerva said in a cheerful tone, "I saw you were reading your new book earlier. How is it?"

The change of subject to books made Hermione very thankful. "It's amazing! When can I be an Animagus?"

Minerva shook her head with a smile playing at her lips, "Not until you are old enough to be registered."

Hermione sighed, "Why can't I become one before?"

Minerva gave her a look that told she should know better, "It's against the law."

Looking defeated, Hermione said in a small voice, "Fine."

Minerva chuckled, "What kind of Animagus do you think you will be?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know."

"What do you want to be?" Minerva asked.

Smiling, she answered, "I want to be cat!"

Pride filled Minerva as she smiled at her daughter's response, "You would definitely fill your new nickname!"

Hermione giggled and nodded her head.

Hours passed by with them laying in front of the fireplace reading in silence.

Minerva looked up at the grandfather clock and stood from her rocking chair, "I need to meet with Poppy for tea. Will you be okay here alone?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Receiving a glare from her mother, Hermione replied, "Of course I will be fine!"

Shaking her head in disapproval, Minerva warned her, "Watch your tone, young lady. Do not forget to meet with Uncle Filius tonight at seven."

Hermione nodded her head as if she heard this multiple times already, "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Minerva pursed her lips, "I can make time now to give you a spanking, young lady."

Hermione quickly shook her head, "No that's not necessary. I'm sorry!"

"Behave. I will see you tonight," With that said, Minerva left the house and closed the door behind her.

Hermione left out a sigh, "Time to go do Operation Fireworks."

Finding the code was surprisingly not as hard as she imagined it to be. Her mum obviously wasn't hiding the code that hard because it was in her sock drawer in her bedroom.

Sneaking through her stuff to find the code made Hermione feel even worse about what she was doing.

She pushed her uneasy feelings aside. She quickly made her way to her mum's office and closed the door securely behind her.

Feeling like a badass ninja, Hermione crouched down behind the mahogany desk and opened all the drawers. In the last drawer was a big, metal box with a dial on it. Pulling the piece of parchment out of her pocket, Hermione dialed the code and cringed when it made a loud noise as it popped open.

Peeking around the corner of the desk to make sure no one arrived when she wasn't looking. The coast was clear.

Turning her attention back to the metal box, Hermione reached in and pulled out the bundle of fireworks.

Standing from her crouched place, Hermione quickly moved away from the desk. She didn't notice her mother's chair was pulled out until it was too late. Stumbling over the leg she fell flat on her butt. She watched in horror as the fireworks hit the ground.

Loud explosions quickly followed.

Dropping to the ground, Hermione covered her head until the fireworks finally stopped going off.

Groaning, Hermione gathered herself up off the floor and stared at the horrible mess around her.

Her mother's office was covered in black soot! Hermione panicked as she noticed multiple parchments and books singed from the fire.

Tears overcame her as she tried spell after spell to clean the mess up. Her spells seemed to only make the mess worse.

Hermione was thrown back into reality as she heard footsteps running towards the office. She turned to look at the door just as it was thrown open to reveal Professor Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey and her mother.

Minerva took in the sight of her office and her daughter and found herself speechless.

Hermione bit her lip as she stared at her irate mother.

Walking over to Hermione, Minerva looked her over, "Are you alright?"

Hermione stared at the floor and nodded her head.

Minerva looked over at her best friend and waved for her to come over, "Please check her over." Then she joined Albus in restoring her office.

Hermione's shoulders shook as she tried to hold back her tears.

Poppy gave her a small hug and whispered in her ear, "Dearie, let it out. It's okay."

Hermione shook her head even as her tears flowed down her face.

Giving her another hug, Poppy asked, "What happened?"

This question caught both the Headmaster's and Minerva's attention.

Minerva walked over to her daughter and Poppy. She was livid but she somehow found herself able to keep her temper in control. "Yes, Hermione Jean, what happened?"

Hermione swallowed uncomfortably and shifted her weight on her other foot, "I um. . . I'm s-sorry, mum."

Minerva thinned her lips and put her hands on her hips, "Hermione Jean Granger-McGonagall what happened?"

Hermione took in a shaky breath as she glanced between her Headmaster and Madam Pomfrey. She bit her lip and lowered her head in shame.

Poppy got the clue and took Albus' arm, "Well, everything is cleaned up here. I will come see you later, Min." As she passed her best friend she whispered in her ear, "Don't be too hard on her, Min."

Albus' eyes twinkled like crazy as he left the room with Poppy.

Once they were alone, Hermione whispered, "F-Fred and George asked me t-to get their fireworks back."

Minerva closed her eyes to calm herself down, "And you agreed?"

Hermione bit her lip as she slowly nodded her head.

"Why?" Minerva asked in an icy tone.

Hermione shuddered. She has never been this much trouble in her whole life!

Minerva's patience was growing thin, "Tell me why, Hermione Jean. Now!"

Gulping, Hermione looked at the floor and whispered, "T-they promised they would get me into the f-forbidden part of the library. . ."

It felt as if someone just threw gasoline on her fire! Minerva was even more livid then before! "Excuse me?!"

Hermione bit her lip.

"Why, in Merlin's name, would you need to go into the forbidden part of the library, young lady?" Minerva yelled.

More tears streamed down her cheeks, "I-I'm sorry!"

Minerva shook her head, "Tell me, Hermione Jean!"

Hermione hiccupped and she wrung her hands nervously, "I c-can't!"

Closing her eyes, Minerva forced herself to take a deep breath, "You can tell me and you will!"

Tears streamed down her face as she yelled through her hiccups, "BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT KILLED MOANING MYRTIL!"

This came as a surprise to Minerva. She definitely was not expecting that answer. "Why on Earth do you want to know that?"

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut as she said, "Because it wasn't Hagrid's spider."

Minerva was so confused, "Hermione I want you to drop this investigation right away. Whatever you are trying to do might only get you in danger. I know where this is going and I do not approve of it! You will keep away of anything dealing with the Chamber of Secrets! I know you saw what was written on the wall and if that is why you are looking into this you must stop."

Hermione found that unfair, "But we need to find out who it is!"

Minerva gently grabbed her arms to keep her still, "No we don't. You are a child, Hermione Jean! A child that has found herself in a lot of trouble! If I find out that you continue this investigation you will be in more trouble then you are tonight! Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Hiccuping, Hermione managed out, "Yes, ma'am. I-I'm really s-sorry!"

Minerva gave a firm nod of her head, "You will be."

Holding onto her hand, Minerva flicked her wand to make the room sound-proof and locked the door. Guiding her over to her chair, Minerva sat down and stood Hermione between her knees. Putting her finger under her daughter's chin, Minerva said in a gentle tone, "Hermione Jean Granger-McGonagall." This caused Hermione to finally meet her gaze. "I am very disappointed in your actions tonight. Not only did you blow my office up but you lied to me, you went through my things to find a pass code, you plotted, and you put yourself in danger!"

Hermione winced as she listened to all of her mistakes in one night. Tears continued to trickle down her cheeks as she whispered, "I'm sorry!"

Minerva's heart ached but she knew she had to fulfill the punishment.

Opening up her desk drawer she pulled out a ruler.

Seeing the object, more tears exploded from her eyes and she tried to pull away from her mother's hold, "Please, mum, I'm sorry!"

Minerva closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Hermione, don't make this harder than it already is. Now, lay across my lap. You will get ten." Originally she was going to dual out more than ten but the girl was already heartbroken and apologizing. Also, to be honest, Minerva just wanted to get the punishment over as fast as Hermione did!

Sniffling, Hermione hiccupped and laid herself across her mother's bony legs. Closing her eyes, Hermione braced herself for the first smack.

Taking a deep breath, Minerva began the punishment. She didn't put as much force behind the smacks as she usually does but she wouldn't let herself admit that. By the fifth smack Minerva had tears of her own rolling down her face. She hated punishing her little girl but she also didn't want to see her ever get hurt.

When it was finally over, Hermione turned herself around on her mother's lap and hid her face on her shoulder. Shuddering and hiccupping, Hermione repeatedly apologized as tears continued to stream down her face.

Minerva rubbed her back and continued to whisper encouraging words, "Shh, sweetie, it's okay. Mommy forgives you."

Hermione sniffled and chanced a glance at her mum's face. Seeing tears on her face as well just made Hermione cry harder, "I-I'm sorry I made you upset! I'm s-sorry I s-scared you!"

Minerva pulled her closer and held her tight, "I never want to see anything bad happen to you. I love you so much!" Placing a kiss on her forehead, Minerva transformed her wooden chair into a comfy rocking chair and began rocking her back and forth.

"I love you too," Hermione murmured as she left her heavy eyelids drift closed.

Placing another kiss to her forehead, Minerva wiped away her own tears and held her daughter tight. Tonight's incident with fireworks was too close of a call for her daughter to get severely hurt and it terrified her. Holding on to her reminded her that she was safe and sound.

Flicking her wand, Minerva sent a patronus to Filius informing him that Hermione would not be coming to detention tonight.

Then, she closed her eyes and began humming a lullaby that her mother use to sing to her.

After some time they both drifted off to sleep.

Poppy found them in this position two hours later. Smiling, she put the wooden ruler back in Minerva's desk and then put a feather-light charm on them and floated them down the hallway to their home.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!

~Severus Addicted