Foreword: I'm a complete jerk. That's what I am. I've made you all wait for FAR too long. I really didn't intend for that to happen, but it did… I would've uploaded this chapter last night, but I was worn out. I had to watch a bunch of my little cousins. Now, to any of you who babysit, or have kids of your own, I admire what you do. Seriously. You must have incredible will, or a big reserve of energy. I was pooped after a few hours! Well, I'm quite happy that so many of you reviewed the last chapter. Ah yes though… With the chapters increasing in number, I'm beginning to feel sort of pretentious, you catch my meaning? I don't know… But then again, I'm always the harshest critic I've ever encountered, so that may be a factor. Anyway, this picks up right where the last one left off… er… almost where it left off.

Disclaimer: Ah yes… Well, funny story. I was setting about to acquire the rights to Harry Potter, but I only managed to get a door slammed in my face. Talk about rude! But I must persevere! Anyway, enough with the dramatic crap… You'll get enough in the story. I don't own anything unoriginal. Anything else, you can guess that I do own.

An Ounce of Intimidation

Hermione smiled viciously, as she stared at the glass jar she had transported the beetle to. "Why hello there! Having quite a nice day, are we?" For added effect, the normally sensitive girl shook the jar with a malicious gleam in her infuriated, brown eyes.

"Um… Hermione…" Harry scratched at his scalp nervously, and slowly said, "Uh… I don't mean to be rude, but… You're talking to a bug." The young man stepped closer to Hermione, and placed one hand around her wrist, with the other hand traveling to her forehead. "You're not running a fever, are you?"

Hermione jerked away from him, and tersely said, "Harry. Off. Now." She sneered at the jar, and said, "I am not sick in the least."

The young man instantly let go and backed up, flinging his hands into the air, as a sign that he meant no harm. "Perhaps we should let the beetle go… I thought you were firmly against animal cruelty, Hermione." Harry slowly reached for the jar, attempting to take it from her.

The girl ripped it away from his grasp, her curly hair fluttering in the blustery wind. "How can you say something like that?!" She fumed, as she jammed an accusatory finger into Harry Potter's sternum with more than a little force, "Do you know what this is?!"

Wincing at the assault on his sternum, he replied, "Uhh… Yeah." Harry glanced around a bit, nervous at the intense death-glare she was giving him. "I-It's just a beetle, Hermione… nothing uncommon about that." He scooted closer ever so slightly and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're feeling up to par?"

"This," Hermione said, shaking the jar once more, "is Rita Skeeter!"

"Okay, that's it." Harry physically wrapped his arms around Hermione, and lifted her off the ground. "I'm convinced that you're sick. Hermione… That's just a bug. We're going to the Hospital Ward. I… I want to make sure that you're alright." His voice quite painfully betrayed his emotions. Harry was worried. Seriously worried.

Flailing about, Hermione huffed, "Harry James Potter, put me down this instant!" She felt her heel connect with something solid, and felt her feet planting on the ground seconds later, accompanied by a groaning from behind her.

On the ground, clutching at his shin, Harry Potter rolled on the damp grass, trying his best to muffle his own pathetic cries of pain. "Y-You kicked me! Argh… I didn't know you could kick that hard, Hermione! Geez, what do you do all day? Kick iron footballs?"

"Hardly," Hermione retorted snappishly. "I told you that I'm not sick, and I'm not!" The girl grinned evilly at the frightened beetle inside the jar, and said, "I do admit, however, that in my excitement, I forgot to tell you exactly what I meant."

Still in pain, Harry frowned, "That's going to leave quite the bruise, I'll have you know!"

"Oh, stop being such a baby!" Hermione cried, throwing her free arm up in frustration. "If you didn't want to be kicked, you should've thought of the consequences before you picked me up, Harry… I'm terribly sorry that I did kick you, but it was a reflex." She knelt down next to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing it.

The young man deeply breathed in, filling his lungs with fresh air. There was a certain crispness to it, and he detected the slight fragrance of daisies. He would know, after all. Dealing with all of Aunt Petunia's flowers for years had given him a bit of knowledge about flowers. He sniffed once more, and opened his eyes. It was coming from… To pinpoint the location, Harry breathed in a final time, before setting his eyes on Hermione. For some reason, it was coming from her.

"What?" she said, perplexed at the stare he was giving her. Though his smile was only half of one, the bliss on Harry's face more than made up for it. It, as always, sent a warm feeling, like a cozy sweater on a cool day, through her body, when she saw him smile. For a moment, she also began to smile.

Then she remembered the jar in her hand.

And Rita Skeeter.

"There's no time for this silliness, Harry!" Hermione jumped to her feet, and glared at the jar. "This beetle is Rita Skeeter. She's an Animagus! I have no doubt about it, Harry. None at all."

Harry's sea-green eyes instantly hardened, and he fixed a stare on the jar. "I see…" He moved closer, and looked intensely at the insect. "I think she needs to learn some manners, Hermione. What do you think?"

An idea came to her. She had to make sure that this bug was Rita Skeeter. Otherwise, they would be simply torturing a helpless insect. "If you are Rita Skeeter, fly to the top of the jar twice." Hermione watched carefully, noting that the bug did absolutely nothing.

Harry raised an eyebrow, and shrugged. "I… guess it's not Rita," he said, semi-disappointed.

"Nonsense, Harry. She'd fake it, to try and fool us." Hermione waved him off and the pair began to head towards Hogwarts. "Oh, Harry, Defense Against The Dark Arts is such a bothersome subject for me… I just can't for the life of me, seem to grasp the concepts behind the Unforgivable Curses!" There was a strange element to Hermione's voice, almost as though she was blatantly acting, to add a vicious effect to her actions.

Harry, being a typical male, didn't pick up on this. "What are you talking about, Hermione?! You do brilliantly in that class. And I know for a fact that you know all about the Unforgivable Curses…"

"Silly me, I must have forgotten them in all my amorous encounters with you, Harry." Hermione shrugged, attempting to hide the devious smile coming to her lips. "Perhaps we should just have Professor Moody re-demonstrate each use of the spells. This time, he wouldn't need a spider. After all, we have a perfectly good beetle right here."

Feeling motion in the jar, two light thuds rang out quietly. Hermione pretended not to notice, though Harry did. "Hm? What was that, Harry? It couldn't have been movement… After all, it's just a simple bug, right?"

Frantically, the tiny beetle began to smash itself into the top of the jar as quickly as it could, apparently understanding that Alastor Moody could and would use the Unforgiveable Curses on it.

"You were right, Hermione… it is Rita Skeeter!" Harry swore under his breath, "She came after me. She came after you… She even came after Sirius! That is inexcusable."

"Perhaps she would like to meet him." Hermione couldn't suppress the evil laughter that had risen to her throat. It was not musical in the least. It was downright scary. Hermione was a very extreme person. Sometimes, she seemed to radiate confidence and kindness, wearing the sun in her hair, while other times, she seemed to make even Voldemort seem like nothing more than a petulant child.

Harry nodded with a grim smile in place. "I'm sure Rita wouldn't mind missing a wing or two…"

The beetle was now shaking visibly, obviously from fear of her helplessness. She was facing death. Rita Skeeter was never one to believe in such abstract and ridiculous notions such as the notion of Karma, but at the moment, the idea of it was starting to seem pretty realistic.

"Listen up, Rita." Hermione brought the jar up to both hers and Harry's faces, and stared at the beetle right in its beady little eyes. "Obviously, we could report to the Ministry of Magic that you're an unregistered Animagus, as I'm sure that something like this in your profession is quite illegal. But then again, who would think twice about a squashed bug? If you mysteriously went missing, and the only evidence was a smashed insect, I'm sure no one would make the connection… Now, you had best listen as carefully as you can. Leave us alone. Leave Harry and me out of your articles. In fact, stop libeling people through your pathetic excuse for writing… or else we'll make sure that you do." To add emphasis, Hermione gravely said, "Permanently."

The Boy-Who-Lived had never been comfortable lying, and it was just the same in this case, though he understood the importance of it. This was for a cause greater than himself… He was doing it to keep his friends' reputations as untarnished as could be managed. "Sirius is a murderer, after all… What's one more notch to his wand?"

"Precisely. Do you understand? Fly up twice if you do." Hermione watched expectantly as the beetle shakily fluttered up towards the lid of the jar twice, before settling back on the bottom.

The bookworm drew her wand, and pointed it at Rita Skeeter, the beetle, and clearly said, "Implacabilis Venatio." A celestial-looking arrow of silvery sparks passed through the glass, and through the beetle.

"That was just a bit of insurance… With that spell, I can track your location. No matter where you are, we can find you." Tucking a few loose strands of curly hair behind her ear, Hermione replaced her wand into her pocket, and slowly loosened the top of the jar. "Now, if I let you free, I don't expect to read another article of yours spewing lies."

"I expect you to write a thorough apology, to everyone who you've dragged through the mud, especially Hermione," Harry folded his arms and calmly said, as his closest friend was unscrewing the cap.

As soon as she was free, Rita Skeeter, in insect form, bolted away as fast as her tiny beetle wings could carry her.

The pair entered through the great oaken doors of Hogwarts, and silently walked through a stone corridor together. After such a debacle, neither were quite up to talking yet… at least not for a few more steps.

"Hermione… That spell you cast… I can't believe you'd know something like that! It's brilliant, but…" Harry trailed off for a moment, as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt for a moment, before nervously continuing. "You'd think something of that caliber would be illegal."

Thankfully, for Harry, Hermione's laughter shifted back to its merry self, as she released a pleasantly musical bout of laughter, her chest heaving heartily. "Oh Harry, you're too much sometimes… That wasn't a real spell. It was all for show." Again, she was interrupted by her own chuckling. "You really thought it was real? I must have overdone it…" Clearing her throat, the curly-haired girl calmed down, "But honestly… I doubt that I could cast such a spell, if one even existed… Only extremely powerful wizards, like Dumbledore, could do something like that."

"I- but… What…? The arrow! Sparks passed through…" Unable to vocalize his thoughts correctly, Harry simply settled for the ever-graceful, "Huh?!"

"Those were nothing more than Ghostly Glimmers, Harry… It's quite a useful spell, despite its simplicity…" The pair was now rounding the corner, and moving towards the staircase. They heard a shuffle of feet, and saw an extremely tired Weasley making his way down the stone stairs of Hogwarts, no doubt on his way to devour as much food as he could.

"Ugh, bugger of a morning, eh?" Ron stifled a yawn and blinked tiredly. "Did I miss anythin' excitin' while I was asleep?

"No, Ronald… It's been quite a boring day."

Author's Notes: So there you have it. Rita Skeeter will NOT be having a pleasant time, I can assure you… Anyway, if you have a bit of free time, please leave me a review. I would enjoy it very much. I like to get feedback, because it lets me know what I need to keep doing, and what I need to change! Having said that, I bid you goodnight. I hope to update later today, however… If time permits, that is.

By the way, the "spell" that Hermione uses is simply Latin for "Unrelenting Hunt".