Siriusly-a-princess: Um, I live somewhere in the middle of the bush (sorry, I can't pinpoint it on a map—I suck at geography) with someone who would rather freeze to death than 'waste' power & money on a heater. Or a hot water bottle.
CeliaEquus: I live in the middle of the bush. No heaters or hot water bottles. I think I only really get that cold because I use a desktop computer, which has the inconvenient placement in a room full of holes (literally) and people that constantly go in and out the door, refusing to remember to close it, and letting in a chilling breeze from the outside world.
Thankyou about the fingerless gloves! Now all I have to do is wait until I can go get some… Or I can cut the fingers off some of the ones I have now…
SarahEileenGrangerPrince: Yay! Someone actually tried the cipher! And all my gloves are big and bulky, covered in an unnecessary amount of fluff. Normally, I'm actually a fast, or at least normal, typist. Well, that's compared to my sister, who runs screaming at the sight of a keyboard (bad experience from trying to turn her into a master typist), and my dad, who uses only three fingers to type. So I might actually be the slowest typist in the world.
Teamswitzerland08: Well, here you are! Although it's only 4, maybe 5 pages long.
RECAP:
She sighed in distaste. "Time for me to get to class" She said reluctantly. She didn't know why she was, but for some unknown reason she really didn't want the Marauder to leave.
Sirius looked amused and stood up to leave. "What's so funny?" She demanded.
"For once, you don't sound like you'd walk through fire to get to Transfiguration" He explained, chuckling slightly.
Hermione huffed as he walked nonchalantly out the door. She sighed once he left, and wrenched herself from her bed. She made her way through the castle, letting her feet guide her to her class as her mind pondered why she was suddenly so partial to Sirius Black's presence
RECAP OVER
She had to do some homework on the constellations that made up Orion's Belt and it's relation to Canis Major, so naturally, she went to the library. She had gotten to the Hogwarts Library and sat down, ready to do some studying, before she remembered that she had a huge, alphabetized and ordered private library in the head's common room.
She let her feet wander their way to her common room, not paying attention to her surroundings, and consequentially not noticing her company.
Cornmac McLaggen stood, leaning against a wall in the corridor next to her new dormitory, leering at Hermione.
"I'll let you kiss me if you beg" He drawled.
Hermione whirled around, but before she could raise her wand, he had her against the wall. She let out a gasp of surprise.
He crushed her hands against the wall, holding her wrists at an angle that made her whimper in pain. Her eyes darted to where she knew her dorm lay, just around the corner. He waved his wand and fixed her legs in one place, as if he'd read her mind, making her incapable of kicking him where it hurt & escaping. He grabbed both her wrists with one hand and held them above her head, using his free hand to wave his wand and fix them there in invisible bonds.
She struggled, trying to free her arms and attempting to yell, but finding that no sound came out of her mouth.
He smiled cruelly and stroked her cheek. She shivered in disgust. "You like this, don't you?" He said, smirking.
She spat in his face.
He stopped smirking and slapped her. Her eyes stung with tears. "Bad move, mudblood" he snarled and slapped her again.
She stopped struggling to kick him and let her head bow forward, still trying to stop the tears from escaping.
He smiled again and moved his hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"You do look like a pretty little whore, for a mudblood" He said, and leaned forward, smashing his lips to hers.
She froze as his cold, unfeeling lips moved against hers. She noticed that she could move her legs and wrists, and kneed him in the crotch.
He swore and clutched himself, his knees buckling slightly.
She ran as fast as she could to her bedroom, saying the password as fast as she could to a concerned and surprised Godric, before she sagged against a wall.
The tears that she wouldn't let escape before came flowing down her face as she realized what had just happened to her.
Cornmac McLaggen had attempted to rape her. She had no doubt that he would have if she had not been able to free her legs. Why had she been able to free herself?
She didn't have time to ponder the question, as, just then, her bedroom door swung open.
This time, she didn't hesitate. She turned, had her wand out and cast the first spell that came to her lips, before she realised the person standing in her doorway, paralysed, was Sirius Black.
She saw who it was and instantly removed the spell.
"Did he hurt you?" He said, rushing forward and impulsively taking her in his arms.
She didn't resist, but instead relaxed in his arms. "No" she said.
He pulled away from her, to Hermione's displeasure, but didn't remove his hands from her shoulders. "Yes he did. You have a red mark on your cheek" He said, and she could see the worry shining in his eyes.
"He bent my wrists and slapped me when I spat in his face" She said quietly.
"I'll kill him" he said.
"No, Sirius. He's a filthy pig, but I don't want you to be a murderer" She said "or anyone else" as an afterthought.
"How did you know what he did?" She questioned as he wrapped his arms around her again.
"I saw you, just then, in the corridor. I assumed that he had you under a spell, since you had your hands above your head and weren't moving, and used a Finite Incantium" He said into her hair.
"He didn't really do much." She said. "It's more the thought of what he would have done".
"We're telling Dumbledore" He said, and Hermione didn't object.
"I don't suppose you'll keep your mouth shut to Harry & Ron?" She asked
"No."
"It's not that I don't want them to know, just that if they do, then they'll murder him" She said, a hint of laughter lacing her voice. "It's sweet that they care, but honestly, the big-brother act is a bit much"
"Then I'll be your knight-in-shining-armour" He joked, and Hermione looked up at him sharply. What did he mean by that?
Suddenly she was aware of exactly how close they were. And he was moving closer. Just as their lips were about to touch, the door swung open and they broke apart.
It was Ginny.
She raised her eyebrow at the position she had caught them in, but refrained from commenting when she noticed the red mark and tear tracks on Hermione's face.
"What happened?" She asked, concerned.
"Bring Harry, Ron & Dumbledore, please, Ginny" Sirius said.
She didn't reply, but left. Hermione looked uncomfortably at anything but Sirius, and they were both relieved when Ginny returned with Dumbledore, Ron, Harry, Draco & Remus in tow.
"What's Draco & Remus doing here?" Hermione asked.
"They heard me talking to Harry in the Great Hall and decided to come with me." She answered.
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but the look that his sister shot his made him shut it. Hermione took a deep breath.
"Harry, Ron, Draco, Ginny, Please, don't go after McLaggen." she addressed the four. They all looked surprised and worried, but they didn't say anything. Harry & Ron seemed particularly surprised that she thought that Draco would care.
"He assaulted me on my way to here" She said.
Immediately, an explosion of activity ensued. "I don't want any of you to kill him!" She yelled, and Harry & Ron stopped trying to squeeze through the portrait hole at once.
"Miss Granger, I don't doubt you, but I need to see a memory before I take any action." Dumbledore said calmly.
"Action? Like what?" Hermione asked.
"At the very least, he'll be put on probation for the rest of the year and, depending on the extent of the assault, detentions for a month." The old wizard replied.
Hermione nodded once and removed her necklace. She kneeled at a chest at the foot of her bed and pressed the crescent moon shape to an indent at the spot where a keyhole should have been.
She lifted her pensive from the chest and laid ignoring the curious looks at where she kept it.
An image of Sirius, looking at her with worry against the dark background of her bedroom swam to the surface of the pensive. He was nodding, and it was plain that it was deep into the night. She hastily stirred the pensive before anyone saw. The last thing she needed were questions about what Sirius was doing in her room in the middle of the night.
The rest of the occupants of the room gathered around her desk and the pensive.
She touched her wand to her temple and drew out the memory. She guided the silvery thread to the surface of the pensive. An image of Sirius, again, swam to the surface. This time, his arms were wrapped around Hermione and his face was impossibly close.
"Damn it!" She hissed at the magical device. "Behave!".
The image faded, but not before everyone in the room had a good look.
She ignored the surprised and disbelieving looks and leaned into the pensive, entering the memory.
I'm not happy with this.
I'm really not. I think I got the plot and events all right, but I just didn't write them well! It came out crummy and transparent. It's the same all through the story!
I know it's not right, and I should go back and correct it, but I don't know how to write it well!
On a different subject: I know this is short, but I'm going to update tomorrow again. Hopefully. If I don't forget.