Friday 6 November
Harry glanced at the potion, then at his best friend as they stood discussing their options in an empty corridor. Slowly, he slid a look at Parvati Patil. Smart as she was, this potion seemed ridiculously complicated. Nobody short of, short of...Granger could do it. Perhaps that was her plan. He already owed her after all. Perhaps the Slytherin wanted even more favours owed to hold over his head.
The parchment she'd given him gave detailed instructions and explained the purposes and uses and even cautionary warnings ("I'm sure you'd love to end up a cat or something, but this is only to turn into other humans. Make sure your pet Weasel knows this, and use small words to tell him"). Harry didn't show that part to Ron. In fact, he was still considering how he could even acquire some of the ingredients when the witch herself walked up. "Potter. I assume you've already requisitioned a stall in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to do this?"
"Who?" He asked in confusion. What was she doing here?
"A place to brew our illicite potion." She said slowly, as if he were were a child. Ron started to protest at the Slytherin including herself in their little project but Harry stopped him.
"Our potion?"
Exasperation flashed across her face and he could see her hand twitch towards her wand.
"Yes. Our potion. I was hoping you weren't so delusional as to assume you can make it without my help, but the fact that you are only says I certainly should be here."
And with that, she was in. Albeit barely. The other Slytherins had some flying thing they wanted to do, and had invited Hermione, but she hadn't felt like going. Instead, she'd slipped out of the common room in search of her least favourite Gryffindors. As she set up the lab and began to explain the process, Hermione considered her options further. Perhaps it would be a good idea for her to go undercover with them. It would eliminate any potential mistrust of the potion, that much was for sure, if they saw that it worked. But that was a month in the future and even though just a cat had been attacked, Hermione wasn't sure if she even had a month, depending on how serious this Heir was. And it wasn't as if Hermione would just sit back and let someone else 'save' her, if it came to that. No, this Heir would do things on her terms.
Saturday 7 November
Saturday dawned bright and early. In theory. It was actually dark and miserable for Hermione, who was hiding under her covers with her wand drawn shouting threats to her dorm-mates.
"I don't care what you say I'm not going to go watch a couple of idiots fly around on a broom all day!"
"It's not just that Hermione, Draco had something he wanted to show you so come on already!" One of them said. Possibly Millie, considering how nice she was behaving.
"If you don't come out I'll take all your special dark chocolate and give it to Theo." That was Daphne.
"You're too nice Daph. Hermione you have three seconds and then I take your blanket and charm it to the non-heated windows for the entire day"
"Pansy!" Hermione poked her head out reproachfully, and the girls laughed. Millie tossed a jumper and pants to the girl, then dragged her out of bed.
"I'm off to go looking for the kitchens, but go find Draco."
Nobody would explain. Not when Daphne hurried her out to the grounds with the rest of her house, not when she handed Hermione a fluffy green and silver scarf so her house affiliation was more obvious, and not when she directed Hermione to the quidditch stands.
They didn't really need to explain though. Seven people in Gryffindor Scarlet and seven in Slytherin green came marching out of the lockers, meeting formally on the lawn for the captains to shake hands. Already bored, Hermione pulled out a book and lost herself to theories and magics. The game was a slaughter, though at least Potter broke his arm whilst getting the 'thrice cursed snitch, again' Blaise muttered. If it seemed he took longer than usual to get off the ground and to hospital, nobody mentioned it.
After, Hermione, Daphne and Theo wandered onto the field to join the brave faced Slytherin team.
"This will be fun" Daphne whispered.
"If by fun you mean they're going to rip each other to pieces. Why're the boys here if the 'dorks have already won and the game is over? And what does Draco have to do with this?" Hermione asked quietly. But neither of her friends responded, instead jerking a chin towards the oncoming storm of scarlet.
"Flint! What're you still doing here? Trying to sabotage the field for next time?" The burly Gryffindor captain led the group, shaking his broom angrily at the cool and collected purebloods before him.
"We've come to make sure the rest of your team is relatively intact. After all if it takes blood and quite literal bone in order for your seeker to do his job…" Flint murmured smoothly.
"What?!"
"What?!" Two red headed twins hissed in tandem.
Hermione felt trepidation and looked back at her housemates.
"What about your new seeker then? Who is he, because he's still sparkly new and hasn't even sullied his robe to bother doing 'his job'."
Hermione stared in confusion. New seeker? She hadn't even noticed. Apparently the other team hadn't noticed who it was either while they brazenly used the system to win the game.
"I am." Draco, Draco, pushed through the crowd of green and silver, examine his nails leisurely. "Unlike some of us, Slytherin plays by the rules, and doesn't let first years try out and attain a year of training. Or, break rules and then get rewarded for it. But then, we always did have more decorum I suppose."
A nasty sort of sinking feeling settled in Hermione's stomach. Every scenario from here played out in a rather ugly manner. The opposition, meanwhile, was listening furiously, then dropping silent as Flint and the other players pulled brooms out from behind them.
"As a gift, Draco's father donated new brooms to the whole team. Nimbus 2001s, all of them. I'm afraid they rather...sweep the old Nimbus 2000 off the market. Surely you must have noticed." Daphne and Theo snickered politely behind their hands, and Hermione felt a tinge of guilt at the vicious pleasure she wrought from the cheating Gryffindors being upstaged. All of it disappeared at the sound of a new voice.
"Well, well at least nobody on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in! And even if your brooms are superior, we didn't even need them to win!" Patil and the younger Weasel boy had arrived to defend Potter, and no doubt provide all the witty retorts for him. Hermione cocked her head at the new arrivals and desperately sought to smooth her face into the bored mask her friends wore so easily.
"Jealous, Patil? I understand. It must be difficult to understand what it's like to have friends who can give worthwhile gifts to their friends, as rewards for . Tell me, have you ever received a Christmas gift from the Weasleys that is actually acceptable in polite society? Or are they incapable of even a small annual present?"
"Why you-"
"Nobody asked your opinion, you filthy little mud blood!" Ronald Weasley yelled, his face red with anger. Silence descended on the quidditch pitch, the sort of silence that follows a fallen bomb and the only hope is to pray your friends are alive. Draco and Theo turned in horror to Hermione, who has turned sort of rigid. With a dismissive glance, she appraised the red head.
"Why Weasel. Here I had believed your father, however stupidly, was the champion of the muggles. Such a betrayal. It'd be a shame if he were to...hear about it." Her parting poison gone, Hermione stalked away and then began to run as the tears flowed.
"Hermione? Hermione what's wrong?" Blaise grabbed the girl's shoulders and shook her gently, leading her to a couch by the fire. He'd been studying, albeit on banned curses, when Hermione had run through the portal and collapsed in a sobbing mess.
"Come on, tell Blaise what's wrong. You know I'll hex anyone who's been looking twice at you." As he spoke he began to rub her shoulders in a consolidating manner, fighting around the masses of hair. After five minutes or so, Theo, and Daphne came panting into the common room and charged after Hermione once they spotted her.
"Hermione don't you think for one moment that what he said represents any of us here." Daphne said fiercely, wrapping her friend in a hug.
"What happened?" Blaise asked.
"We were talking, fighting with the Gryffindor quidditch team, and the Weasel called me, he called me-"
"Blaise he called her mudblood." Theo cut in.
"He did what?!"
"Calm down! We dealt with him!" Daphne said viciously, looking between Blaise and Hermione.
"Ahem."
All four turned at the sound, and Draco shuffled his feet a little guiltily, having come in late.
"I, er, may have some good news. Those twin Weasels, the older ones- they were stunned. Never thought their brother would go that far."
"Well bully for them." Hermione sniffled "And they, they kind of apologised. For the rude behaviour. Everything actually. Said that we occasionally were rather brilliant, and they wanted to make peace."
So...I wanted the mudblood scene here in the second book, and I wanted a defining moment when someoe says it to her face. Kidlover, here are your twins as requested:) it was a perfect idea by the way. Please drop me a comment or something even if it's just to say you liked it. I was kind of harsh last time, and wanted to apologise for that. So I apologise.