Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my plot and my OC's! :] Oh, and I own my trademark smiley face. (This one! :]..)
A/N: SUMMER! :] Always a fun time. Now who's ready for feuding? Because it all begins here! This sets the mini plot for the fight I'm planning. Oh Merlin, I've said too much. Just read on! :]
Commencing with chapter 25!
Life as a Snape: Chapter 25
'Urgh, can you keep quiet Mione? My head is killing me…' Harry mutters, clutching his head.
'Well that's what you get for partying for the past twenty four hours.' Ron muses, helping his friend off the couch. 'Come on, let's go eat. Food will make you feel better.' He says.
'Food will just make you feel better Ron…' Harry mutters again, but accepts his friend's help.
This lightens up my already sky high mood. 'It's amazing what food can do.' I say, laughing at the two of them. 'Food fixed your friendship.'
'It did not! I apologized for being such an arse!' Ron exclaimed, a look of fake shock on his face.
'Guys, please stop, my headache is only getting worse. Let's just go to the Great Hall.' Harry murmurs, dragging Ron with him out of the portrait hole with me right behind them.
The excited chatter echoed throughout the hall, making Harry cringe over. 'Ergh, people need to shut up.' He groans.
'How about we just bring you a plate of food Harry?' Ron suggests, putting his hand on Harry's back, helping him stand up straight. 'It would be better for your hangover.' He jokes.
'It's… not… a… hangover…' Harry corrects him. 'I'm… just… tired.'
'Whatever you say. Come on Hermione, let's go eat. We'll bring Harry his breakfast later.' Ron says, grabbing my hand, taking me with him. Harry turns and goes in the other direction back in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.
'So Ron, why didn't you just apologize earlier? It would have made everything that much easier.' I ask him as we are taking our seats at the table.
'I… I don't know. I suppose it was just my pride or ego…' he trails off, turning his attention towards the entrance of the Great Hall. His entire face goes from guilty Ron to disgusted Ron. 'Speaking of swollen ego and pride, look who just walked in the room.' He says spitefully.
My attention turns to the entrance where Ron is staring, and feel my heart soar. Walking in, Draco and my twin brothers make their way over to the Slytherin table. My smile grows bigger as I see them laugh together.
'Mione… Mione? HERMIONE!' Ron says, trying three different times to get my attention away from my brothers.
'Huh?' I say intelligently, turning back to Ron.
'Nothing, you were just ogling at ferret boy Malfoy and those dumb arse twins.' Ron scoffs off, sending my anger through the room.
'What?' I scream at him, standing up in fury, glaring daggers at Ron's terrified looking eyes. 'Repeat it again, and I promise you, you will be at the bottom of the lake for the rest of your life!' I scream at him. Then, with one snap, my hand flies across his face, making a deafening crack across the hall, followed by my break from the room.
'Come to the library. We need to start studying, now.' I command my brothers, just wanting to be in the company of someone that I don't want to beat up right now.
'Ok ok! Can Draco come? He's asking about you. Oh, and so is Theo, and Blaise, and Pansy, and Astoria.' Malik says, giving in. Hearing my irritated voice must have made him.
'Yes, sure. I just don't want to be near any Gryffindor's right now.' I say, heading straight for the library. I suppose we need to start researching for what could be in the last task. It's surely to be the hardest of the three tasks anyway.
'Ok, on our way. We'll be there in five.' Malik says, pulling out, with Arsenio right behind him.
I sit down in the monsters section of the library and moodily pick up a book about monsters and wait for my brothers to show up. As I scan the words on the page, it gets me thinking. What do they exactly have in mind for this task? It has to be something even more dangerous than the first two tasks. I scan down the list of the top seven most dangerous creatures in London. I know they could get their monsters from anywhere, but might as well start with something familiar. Number one, yonggary. W-what are those? I'm going to have to look those up. Number two, dragons. Good, already fought one of those. Number three, dementors. Really? Dementors? Interesting… Number four, werewolves. Well, I can believe that. Number five, vampires. Oh, haven't had that as a DADA professor yet. Number six, boggarts. Really? I thought they would be less of a threat… Number seven, trolls. Really? Trolls? Pfft. Been there, done that. But, I guess I will ask for their opinion.
But before I get the chance to read any further, I feel someone tap on my shoulder. 'What?' I scream, grabbing two hand fulls of my own hair while whipping around to the person behind me, and feel my frustration die away. 'Oh, I'm sorry.' I say to my startled but amused twin brothers.
'Stressed much?' Arsenio muses, taking a seat across from me while grabbing a book on monsters as well.
'No, I'm just ticked off is all.' I say, scrolling through the list of monsters. 'Hey, can you guys sit down? I've got some questions.' They all sit, waiting for my questions. 'Ok, well, my first question is, trolls. Do you think that there are going to be any of them in this next task?' I ask them, wanting their opinion.
'Trolls?' Malik squeaks, sounding terrified.
'Trolls? Really Mione?' Arsenio scoffs it off, laughing. 'Mione, Malik fighting a troll is like a dude fighting a boat the size of the Titanic. There's no way.' Arsenio backs himself up while successfully making everyone else laugh, including myself.
'Wait, what?' Astoria asks, not fully realizing the joke.
'Wow, do all purebloods not know about this?' I ask in disbelief. Astoria shakes her head. 'The Titanic was the biggest boat to ever set sail in its time. It was considered unsinkable, but it veered off course and crashed into an iceberg, causing it to sink in less than two hours.' I recite to them.
'Oh, ok. Well, that's tragic, but it makes the joke funnier.' Astoria says, laughing with the rest of us. 'And don't underestimate the size of a fully grown troll. My Father works with industry that tames trolls. One fully grown Norwegian mountain troll knocked a dozen men over the side of a mountain and into the bottom of a lake with one swing of his pinky toe!' Astoria adds on a more serious note.
'Ok, enough about trolls, please?' Malik asks in an unnatural high pitched voice. 'What were your other questions?' he ponders, regaining his normal low pitched voice.
'Yeah, do any of you guys know what a yonggary is?' I ask them. My heart sank when my eyes were met with their confused and lost looks.
'A yonggary?' Blaise asks sounding totally baffled.
'That sounds like some tricked out yogurt.' Arsenio jokes again, but only this time, he gets no response. Everyone's focus is centered on me.
'Is it in that book you're looking at?' Draco asks, standing up from his seat to sit next to me so he can look over my shoulder.
'Yeah, it's in the list of top seven most deadly monsters in London; actually, it was at the top of the list.' I say. Malik squeaks again, lifting his knees up to chest, and then circling them in his arms. He looks absolutely terrified. I look away from my horrified brother and turn to the chapter focusing on yonggarys. 'It says here that the yonggary is a type of cat.'
'Cat? It's a cat? And it beat out a dementor, and a dragon, and werewolf? Are you joking? That's hilarious!' Theo bursts out and doubles over laughing. 'It's a cat!'
'Yeah, but it's a cat that take your life away with one direct look into its eye so shut up and listen to me!' I burst out at Theo irrationally. He gets the point and backs off immediately. He turns his head and looks away from me. 'Hey, Theo, I'm sorry. It's just been a frustrating morning. I'm sorry.' I say sincerely. I walk over to him and put my hand on his shoulder.
He looks up and makes eye contact with me and smiles brightly. 'It's alright Mione! I know how stressed out you can be sometimes. I understand. You're just looking out for your brother. I would be just as stressed if you were in trouble.' He says, slinging a shoulder around me, just like he used to. I laugh and sit down next to him, and open my book open to the yonggary page.
'What happened to Ester?' I whispered into Theo's ear, noticing that everyone else turned to talk to someone else, all except for Draco who was wearing that same old cold, expressionless look on his face.
Theo's body suddenly turned rigid. 'Oh, Ester… well… I, um, Mione? Can I please just tell you later?' he says in a quiet voice.
His childlike voice takes me by surprise. 'Oh, of course Theo! Anything! I'll meet you after we are done here, is that alright? I'll take a walk with you ok?' I suggest.
'Thanks Mione…' Theo says, his voice only lightening a little. 'Now, you said something about a yonggary?' he prompts me, wanting me to start talking again.
'Oh, right!' I say, opening the book once more and turning back to the page on yonggary. 'Ok, as I was saying before, a yonggary is a species of cat. But it says here that they are one of the most dangerous predators to ever stalk the forests of London.' I recite, then pause to let everyone absorb the information.
'Oh wonderful. So Harry and I are going to be thrown into some arena with a yonggary? What makes them so special?' Malik speaks up, his voice rung clear with disbelief.
'Well, they have one row of forty six sharp teeth, with two very large and very sharp canine teeth in front. They also have long pointed claws, four at the end of each paw. They have short black fur that helps them blend in with the night. See? Here's one right here, in the textbook!' I say, flipping the textbook around to show everyone else.
The picture shows a powerful looking black cat that resembled a saber tooth tiger, with its muscles rippling on its back and powerful forearms. Hissing at us, the picture in its textbook opens its powerful jaw to reveal a row of dozens of finely sharpened teeth. 'Well, it was nice knowing you Malik.' Blaise says, slapping his mate on the back.
'What else is there to know about it Mione?' Pansy asks excitedly.
'Well, it says here that they are vicious and ill-tempered, and extremely territorial. They hunt at night in packs of five or six. They can also-'
'Ok ok, from what it sounds like, they are like normal cats. But what makes them so dangerous?' Blaise asks sounding genuinely concerned and curious at the same time.
'They can eject poison into victims that they bite, and they can tear a human I half with the flick of their claw. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is their eyes.' I say being yet again cut off by someone.
'Their eyes? Is that like the basilisk?' Blaise asks yet again. 'Can they take people's lives?'
'I was getting there. It depends on the mood of the cat. At their normal mood, their eyes are black, once again to help them while hunting. But when they are cornered, their eyes will turn bright red, and if you look straight into the red eyes, you will turn evil for the time being. It will give it the opportunity it needs to get away. ' I respond, answering Blaise's halfway.
'Evil? What do you mean by that?' Malik asks, beating Blaise to another question.
'Evil, I guess meaning that it controls your mind, and force you to think evilly or something. And to answer your question, Blaise, yes, it can take people's lives, but only as a last resort, when it is threatened.' I answer him, my voice devoid of everything except seriousness.
'So, what else? Can you just name the list?' Arsenio asks.
'Yonggary, dragon, dementor, troll, vampire, werewolf, and boggart, in no particular order.' I answer.
'Oh, crap, I'm late for potions! Come on Astoria, we have to go!' Pansy says standing up and grabbing Astoria's wrist. 'Bye guys! I'll talk to you later!' She says, and with that, she and Astoria bolt out of the library. That leaves just me, Theo, Draco, Blaise, and my twin brothers.
'Actually, I have to go too, I'm late for charms. I have to go as well. Goodbye, I'll talk to you mates later.' Blaise says, getting up and leaving as well. But, as Blaise leaves, I notice something, rather someone that I really didn't notice before, something having to do with Draco.
Sitting on the opposite side of the sitting area, where I used to be sitting, Draco sits on the couch, ignoring the both of us. He sat glaring at the floor beneath him. Then, out of nowhere, he just gets up and leaves, without saying a word.
'Wait, Draco…' I say, making a move to stand up to follow him out, but something keeps me back. I stand up and look at Theo, who is still sitting on the ground with his head turned away from me. 'Oh, nevermind.' I say, noting that I won't be able to catch up to him. 'Come on Theo, you promised me a walk.' I say, offering my hand.
He takes it with that same innocent smile again. 'Ok, come on Hermione. Let's go near the lake. I'll tell you there.' He says.
Together, he takes my hand and we walk out of library and head straight for the lake. But on the way there, Theo begins to talk. 'I guess you wanna know what happened between me and Ester huh?' he asks, laughing hollowly.
'Well, yes. I would like to know, but if you don't want to tell me I am perfectly fine with that.' I say, respecting his pain.
'No, I will tell you. Besides, people say that it's better to talk it out with people rather than keep it bottled up inside.' Theo begins, but I cut him off before he continues any further.
'You haven't told anybody?' I ask him in disbelief. I guess Theo is one of the more quiet Slytherins.
'No, but I'm about to.' Theo says. He takes a deep breath and calms himself down before he begins. 'Well, after the Yule Ball, Ester made me promise that I would come and visit her every weekend and every break we had, so I did, minus the one I spent with you and your brothers. Anyway, I would go over there, and we do regular things, like muggle things, such as go to amusement parks and stuff. I would go there every weekend, and I started to like her more and more. So, one weekend, I finally gathered up the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend.' He says, pausing. The tears begin to form in his sad eyes. He turns and looks away. I take his hand and take him under the willow tree we normally hang out under. I place my hand on his shoulder and let him know that he can continue.
'Theo, shh… take a deep breath. You know you have my permission to stop any time.' I say gently, hugging his arm close to me. But for a moment, the only thing I could hear was the rustling of a nearby bush.
'She said yes, she would be my girlfriend. After that, s-she kissed me. I thought I was on cloud nine. I was positively in love. I showered her in gifts and love, and I thought that she felt the same way…' he trails off again. He breaks down in tears once more, letting his head fall into his hands, sobs racking his whole body.
I felt my heart snap at the sight of Theo like this. He's normally the one that strives to make everyone smile. He's the one with the smile that's always plastered on his face. 'Shh… Theo! Theo, look at me, please.' I plead with him. I bring my hand under his chin and lift his head up to face me. I felt the tears leak out of my own eyes. 'Theo, you don't have to tell me, especially if it upsets you this much. I can't stand to see you cry like this.' I say, but he shakes off my offer.
'No, I will continue.' He says, taking several deep breaths before he finishes. 'After, about a month of us dating, I came over one weekend, and… and…' he stutters, the sobs choking his voice. 'I saw her kissing another guy.' He tells me, before he breaks down once more, the tears slowly making their way down his face. His dejected eyes leak with tears with depression and grief. 'S-she s-said that I w-was m-merely a d-distraction f-from her real boyfriend, that I w-was merely j-just a play t-thing.' He confesses.
'Theo, I had no idea… I'm, I'm so sorry…' I trail off, feeling my heart further shatter into a million pieces. 'Theo, I had no idea…' I sob. The rustling got louder.
'H-hey now Mione, shh… there's no need to get upset over this…' Theo says, calming himself down. 'Shh Mione, the only thing worse than what I've been through is seeing you cry like this. Shh…' he says gently. He takes me into his arms and hugs me. I hug him back, feeling my emotions calm down.
'Are you sure that you're fine Theo?' I ask him, looking up at him.
He hesitates for a while before answering. 'No, but I will be. I mean, sure I lost someone I love, but there was nothing I could have done. If she doesn't want me around, then I'm no one to tell her otherwise. But, it hurts like nothing else, but I'll survive.' He says, letting that Theo smile reappear on his face. 'You know what I've always wanted?' he asks me, smiling brightly down at me.
I wipe my nose on my sleeve and look up at him. 'What?' I ask him, trying to regain control over my own emotions. I'm envious that he can gather himself up so quickly.
'I've always wanted eyes on my feet.' He says, somehow managing to lighten the mood with those seven words.
'Theo, it never ceases to amaze me how you do that, break the tension like that. And about those eyes, you would get hurt every time you took a step and a black eye every time you kicked something.' I laugh, glad that he could cheer me up.
'Yeah, but I would always be able to see where I'm going.' Theo counters smartly, laughing as well. 'And besides, I would have better aim when kicking things. I would have the best aim on a football team.' He says laughing.
'You play football?' I ask him, impressed. 'I didn't know you played muggle sports.'
'Well, I play the real version of football, not the American version. But, whatever. I used to play as a kid, my parents signed me up for it. That was a very interesting experience.' Theo laughs. 'I don't anymore, but sometimes, when I'm alone at home, I dig out that old ball and kick it around.' Theo adds.
Theo just sits there, with his arm around me. 'You know Mione, your laugh lifted my spirits. Thank you.' He says, turning to face me.
'Well thank yourself, you are the one that made me laugh!' I laugh at Theo. He cracks a smile, then stands up. 'Come on, I bet your dear friends are looking for you. Come on.' He says, offering his hand. I take it and stand up.
THEO'S POV
Wow, it's amazing what Hermione's laugh can do for a person. It's like an angel laugh, it even has that heavenly ring to it. She's an amazing person, always looking out for her friends. It's just too bad that she's into Draco.
We walk together back down to the castle. I see her hand hanging loosely by her side. I wonder what would happen if I tried to grab it… I jerk my hand towards her, and try to grab it, but it's hopeless. I don't want to go down the same road again. 'Hermione?' I ask her, sounding uneasy.
'Yeah Theo?' she asks in that same angelic voice.
'I, um, I have to get to class in five minutes, I'll see you later I suppose.' I stutter, turning away in embarrassment once more. Come on, why can't you keep your cool when you are around her?
'Oh, ok Theo. I'll see you later.' She says, but she doesn't leave. She quickly looks around her shoulder, I guess to make sure that no one is watching. Then, before I even realize what she's doing, she swiftly kisses on the cheek, then walks away. My hand somehow finds its way to my cheek, which is still burning hot from where she kissed me. The biggest smile spreads across my face, and if I could fly, I would be in the stratosphere. With the same smile on my face, I begin to walk down the hallway, but someone stops me in my path.
'Nott, I'm gonna kill you.' a voice said deathly quiet.
HERMIONE'S POV
I walk back down to the Gryffindor common room feeling worse than I did before. Why did I do that to him! I can't lead him on like this… I think miserably to myself. I have to go and find him. I say. I turn back around and head back in the direction where I went. I head straight back to the back entrance of the castle and head and stopped. Theo never did tell me where he was going… I decide to head down the corridor, when I finally hear something. I hear the sound of something being hit echoing throughout the hallway. My head jerks towards the sound and my feet bolt towards the sound.
I round the corner and my eyes are met with horror, Draco was kneeled on top of someone's throat punching him repeatedly in the face.
'Draco! Get off him!' I yell, running over to Draco and yanking him harshly off of the kid he was murdering. It was just then I realized that Draco was punching Theo! 'Draco! Why the hell were you punching Theo?' I scream, very disappointed that he would punch one of his best friends.
What shocked me was how far he even went to punch his best friend. Theo was bleeding badly out of a cut above his right eye, and that same eye was beginning to swell. His nose was bleeding badly as well. But what shocked me even more; Draco didn't have a scratch on him, which means that Theo didn't throw a punch back.
'Because he's stealing you away from me!' He yelled back at me. It seemed as if every aspect of him was radiating anger, his eyes, his expression, the clenching of his fists, the constricting of every muscle in his body, his furious breaths, everything.
'He is not stealing me away from anybody.' I state, punctuating every word. I help Theo off his back and help him stand up next to me. How dare he! Theo was hurting! I couldn't pretend like something wasn't happening!
'Then explain why he took you on a walk, why the two of you were making out under that tree, and why you just kissed him on the cheek a moment ago!' Draco says angrily. He stands a couple meters away from me, but it's enough distance to tell that he isn't happy. But to tell you the truth, I wasn't the most gleeful person alive at the moment either. At the moment, I too was furious.
'First off, we were not making out under that tree! We were talking! ´ I shout, punctuating the word talking with more force. 'Second, friends can't hang out together?'
'Oh yeah, then why did you kiss hi-'
'Draco! Stop!' Theo says, stepping in between us. 'Draco, I took her on a walk because I was going to talk to her about something private-'
'Private, what, like a love life with her?' Draco shouts, enraged. He strides forward to hit Theo once more, but I pull Theo backwards to protect him from any more damage.
'Yes, a love life, but not with her. I needed to-'
'You just needed to pull her away so you could then begin a love life with her! Oh, you insignificant little bastard! 'Draco yells, cutting himself off by pulling out his wand, and pointing it straight at Theo.
I step in front of Theo to protect him. I shove him behind me. I'm about to say something to Draco, but Theo beats me to it. 'Draco stop! My girlfriend was using me and I wanted to talk to someone about it!' Theo confesses, yelling from behind me. He steps out from behind me and says in a piano tone, 'I just wanted to tell someone about it, and Hermione is the only person I know that really wouldn't make fun of me. I mean, I guess I could have gone to Pansy or Astoria, but Pansy is too busy gawking at Blaise and Astoria is too busy mooning over Arsenio! So, I came to her instead.' He says in a quiet voice.
Draco's face softens considerably, but before he gets the chance get the chance to say anything, someone else beats him to it.
'Hermione?'
Inwardly groaning, I turn around to face an even more furious Ron, whose face was as red as his fiery hair. 'H-hi Ron. Whatcha' doing?' I ask, trying my best to sound innocent.
'W-what are you doing?' He screams at me, shoving Theo away from me. He grabs my wrist and pulls me away from both of them. Everything from earlier that morning floods back to me, and the anger surges back through my veins.
'Why? Jealous?' I sneer at him, but it all goes horribly wrong. I didn't think this through enough. Ron doesn't know why I'm so mad, he doesn't even know why I slapped him in the first place. Bloody hell, what is wrong with me and not thinking through things anymore?
'What's wrong with you today Mione?' Ron asks gentler. 'You slapped me in the Great Hall, and now you talking to Nott and Malfoy?'
'Hey, us? Talking to that? As if Weaslbee, why would we, esteem purebloods be talking to the lowest of the low?' Theo spats at Ron, glaring at him.
Draco catches on. 'There's no point in us talking to that filthy mudblood anyway! Now come on Theo, we have to go get scanned for lung cancer. I think I have it now from breathing in contaminated air.' Draco sneers, then he and Theo stride away together, snickering the whole way.
'Oh, they were insulting Harry, so I decided to try and fight them back, but it wasn't working.' I lie smoothly.
'Yeah, but that's not what I heard, down the hallway.' Ron says, still eyeing me.
My confidence falters. 'Oh, th-that must have been something else….' I trail off, hoping he doesn't catch anything.
He nods in understanding, but something tells me that he didn't buy it. 'Ok Hermione. Come on, can you come to lunch with me, I mean… depends, is it going to hurt?' he jokes.
'It won't hurt, I'm sorry, by the way.' I apologize, but I can tell that Ron is still suspicious. I know him well enough to know that he doesn't understand why I slapped him and to know that he doesn't fully believe my excuse because he heard everything he needed to know with his own two ears.
Ron escorts me to the Great Hall, but his eyes are focused on anywhere but me. My guess is he is still looking out for the Slytherins. Anyway, he leads us to our table and to our seats, where Harry and Ginny were already sitting.
'Hermione! Nice of you to show!' Ginny laughs. 'I'm surprised Ron could pull you out of that library.' She adds on, smiling at me.
'W-what? W-why would he have a h-hard time p-pulling me out?' I ask, shocked beyond words that Ginny found out. Crap, there's no hiding anything from her!
She gave me a weird look. 'Well, everyone in the school knows that you and that library are practically inseparable.' She said, making my heart stop at the word knows and beat again when she said you and that library. Good, she doesn't know.
But something in my gut tells me that she's going to figure it out, one way or another.
'Mione?' Harry speaks up, swallowing another bite of his apple, which was now just a core. I turn to face him, waiting for him to ask his question. But he doesn't say anything. Instead, he leans over and whispers, 'Were you there with Draco and the others? I saw them head down there this morning.' He asks, hoping that he is quiet enough so that just I can hear him.
'W-what? Why would I be there with Malfoy?' I say rather loudly, trying desperately to keep my over on.
'You were there with Malfoy! I knew I wasn't wrong!' Ron bursts out, towering over me. It's a good thing that we were early for lunch, or we would be attracting a lot of attention to ourselves.
'Wait, I am so lost, what are you talking about? You were in the library with Malfoy? Why Mione?' Ginny asks, not raising her voice, but that tone of shock and surprise were definitely in there.
'No, I wasn't… can we talk about this later?' I ask meekly, just hoping to get away from the situation.
'No, I'm grabbing an apple, and we are heading down to the common room right now!' Harry says defiantly. He grabs a large red apple of the top of the fruit bowl and then grabs my wrist. Ron takes the other. 'Come on.' He says. Why is Harry going along with this? He knows perfectly well that I'm friends with Draco and the rest, Merlin, he is too! Why is he going along with Ron and Ginny? Is it to prevent another fight?
'Harry! Why are you doing this?' I whisper harshly into his ear.
'Because, do you want to be fighting with Ron and Ginny?' Harry asks me back, reasoning with me. That shuts me up, knowing that the feuds could go on forever. I stay silent, for the fear of me saying something else that would dig me further into the hole that I dug for myself.
They continue to drag me down the hallway until we reach the Gryffindor common room. Ron moodily said the pass word to the Fat Lady, who swung open eyeing Ron with distaste.
They drag me over to the deserted couch and threw me down on it. 'Now, spill it Mione.' Ron demands, looming over me. 'Why were you hanging out with Malfoy?'
'I- uh, I don't k-know w-what you're talking about.' I stutter, lost for words. What am I supposed to say? Say something else, and I'm down the drain! But, I'm going to have to tell them sooner or later... but when? 'I wasn't anywhere near Malfoy today Ron!' I say more confidently even though I don't feel that way.
'Hermione, I was there. I saw you talking next to him, along with most of the other Slytherins.' Ginny says, siding with her own brother. How could she! I'm her best friend!
'Listen, I really can't tell you guys.' I whisper, closing my eyes. This time last year, I would be enjoying my year, punching Draco when he was still my enemy, figuring out the mystery behind the map with my two best friends, and all it took to rip that apart was one little secret. 'I'm sorry, I just can't tell you.'
'Why not Hermione.' Ron asked, but it sounded more like a command than a question. It sounded as if the longer this conversation went on, the angrier Ron got. Ginny on the other hand, looked frustrated, but didn't let it show as much as Ron did. 'Tell me!' He screamed, letting his frustration reach an all-time high.
'I can't tell you!' I say, trying my best to keep calm. But before I can go on a tirade on why they shouldn't cross me, someone walks through the portrait hole, stopping in my track.
'Miss. Granger?'
I turn around to face a very serious looking headmaster. 'Y-yes sir?' I ask nervously.
'I need you to come with me, to my office.' Dumbledore says, motioning me towards the portrait hole. 'Come on, someone is here to see you.' He says, answering my unasked question. I guess he knows me well enough to always answer my unasked question, am I in trouble?
'Ok, I'm coming sir.' I say, walking away from the feuding ones.
'Where are you going, and who is here to see you?' Ron persists on asking me questions. 'Why do you keep disappearing?' he asks, noticing that I've been gone a lot. Over the past couple of weeks since Christmas, Ivory has been coming to visit me twice every week. But every time she seems to come, I'm hanging out with Ron, Ginny, and Harry.
Wait a minute, Harry doesn't know about this! Merlin, what happened to my life? Just this time last year, I could tell anything to these three! Oh Merlin…
'Hermione? Where are you going? Ron's right, you seem to be disappearing a lot more often this year. Can't you tell us?' Harry asks more gently than Ron, but I could tell just by his facial expression that he was surprised that I kept a secret from him.
'I, I just can't. I'm sorry.' I say, turning away from him and the other two. But I can tell just from the atmosphere that I just left, was that they were all very, very disappointed with me.
'Ok, just this one last combo Hermione, you need this to pass the water final I'm going to give you.' Ivory says to me.
'What! There's a final? What do I have to know? When is it?' I say panic stricken, while letting all the water I was bending fall back to the lake.
But Ivory doesn't react the way I thought, instead, she just begins to laugh. 'No Hermione, it's not like what you think. And first off, Dumbledore told me that you are at the top of your class, so I thought that I would give more, preparation. And this isn't' some written final. I just want to repeat the moves and techniques I showed you. And here is the only question I'm really going to ask for a spoken answer. What style of material arts is water bending based on?' she asks me.
'Oh, that's easy, Tai Chi.' I answer easily.
Ivory beams at me. 'See? You'll be fine Hermione. And besides, I've been teaching you everything. And every move that I showed you, you performed it back perfectly. You'll be fine.' She reassures me, but she can probably sense my uneasiness. 'Do you want me to run through the final?' she asks me, with that same all-knowing smile. I nod eagerly. 'Ok! Just a moment, I need to teach you one more move.' She says, and then she pauses. 'Oh, before I forget, I told your other instructors about your school habits. They too will come during school year, and they will also give you a final at the end.' She says.
'Ok. Now, what's that new move you wanted to me try?' I ask her, getting in ready position. 'What's it called?'
'This is actually really basic; it's just a kick with your left heel. Here, let me show you.' She says. She then raises her left leg, bending water with that leg. She then jumps up, and freezes the water, sending it flying towards a tree nearby. She then lands gracefully back down on the ground. 'Well, part of the technique isn't freezing the water; you can really do anything, even slice through wood.' She says.
'Oh, ok, let me try it.' I say, getting ready. I raise my left leg, exactly as she did, and bend the water beneath my feet. I jump upward and fling my leg, turning my whole body to gain momentum. Once I think I have enough momentum, I shoot the water towards the tree with the ice shards wedged inside. I froze the water, turning it into sharp ice shards, and fling it towards the tree. I land graceful back down on my feet, and turn back to my master, scanning her face for approval.
Her face is beaming at me. 'That's it Hermione! See? I told you there was nothing to worry about!' She praises me, with a smile on her face. Then she turned to the setting sun, which just disappeared over the mountain, leaving behind an array of vibrant colors of sunset orange, deep red, and deep purple. 'It's getting really late. I think I also made you late for dinner. I'll meet you later this week.' She says.
We walk back together to the castle. I water bend some water out of the lake, and I begin to play with it, freezing and unfreezing it. 'You know Ivory; I'm really enjoying being a water bender. You've been doing this all your life?' I ask her.
'Yeah, I have. I mean, ever since my parents were taken away from me, I've had to fend for myself. I mean, sure I lived with relatives, but I was taught to fend for myself. So, they found me a water bending master, and I just have been water bending ever since.' She says, letting me in on more of her childhood.
I drop the water and let it fall to the ground. 'Wow, well, I'm just now getting to know my real family, but I had a pretty nice childhood, despite the fact that I was ripped away from my family. But, my muggle parents gave me everything. I had the best education, and the best dental care.' I tell her as we walk into the main hallway, to the entrance of the Great Hall, where everyone was already seated and eating. 'Well, I guess I'll see you later then.' I say, waving goodbye to my water bending master.
As she walks away, I walk in the other direction, towards the Gryffindor table. I see my seat is open, so I go and sit next to Harry, Ron, and Ginny. But, I felt the cold shoulder almost immediately. 'Um, hey guys.' I say, filling my plate nervously.
'Harry, when is Quidditch ever going to start up this year?' Ron asks, completely ignoring me.
'Next year. I don't think they allow Quidditch during the tri-wizard tournament.' Ginny answers for him. What? Ginny is ignoring me too! I didn't think she would care! She, she's Ginny! 'Ginny? Guys? Are you ok?' I ask them.
'I'm fine. I just want to know why you are keeping secrets from us.' Harry says indifferently, eating his own food.
'I'm, I'm not keeping secrets from you guys!' I say, not understanding why they don't believe me. What have I done to make me so, untrustworthy?
'Well, for one thing, you are keeping a major secret from them.' Malik says, butting into my mind. I didn't even realize that my mind was open. I guess that's something else I'm going to have to work on.
'Actually, you are keeping two major secrets.' Arsenio jokes.
'One, you are keeping the fact that you are a Snape, daughter of the infamous Severus Snape.' Malik begins the list.
'And two, you've got supernatural powers, one of three of the supernatural triplets!' Arsenio adds on, not making me feel any better.
'Thanks guys, that makes me feel so much better.' I say sarcastically.
'Ah, no problem Mione.' Arsenio says mirthfully.
'But, seriously, why are you so upset?' Malik asks, sounding concerned.
'Mione? Hello?' Ginny says, rapidly waving her hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my conversation with my brothers.
'W-what?' I say intelligently, but just wanting to go back to my brothers. 'I'll have to tell you later.' I say to them, shortly after, I pull out. 'Sorry, I was, uh, thinking to myself.' I say.
'Yeah, you seem to be doing that a lot lately.' Ron scoffs, while shoving food down his throat.
'Why, just why? Why are you keeping secrets from us? We are your best friends!' Harry says, getting upset. Why is he getting upset! He knows more than Ron and Ginny do! 'Harry, I don't understand why you are so mad! You know more than Ron and Ginny do, so shut up before you make things worse!' I scream at him, listening to my voice echo across the silenced Great Hall.
'Mione! What are you doing! The whole hall is listening! You have to stop! This is getting out of hand!' Malik weasels into my mind, trying to calm me down.
'You have to stop! We are getting overwhelming waves of anger from you! You have to stop before you do something we all regret!' Arsenio pitches in, but I throw them back out.
'You three, come with me, now.' I say, my voice getting deadly quiet. I tightly grip Harry's wrist and Ron's wrist, and forcefully drag them out of the Great Hall, whose eyes were trained on the fighting foursome.
I throw their wrists down forcefully and storm ahead of them. 'Hurry up! This isn't finished yet!' I scream behind me. Sure, there were people staring but who cares about them? 'Eyes to yourself!' I spat at them, glaring them down. I hear the three behind me talking to themselves, but I'm too ticked off at them.
Why don't they just understand that I can't tell them! They are supposed to be understanding, not agitating! I'm sure they've kept secrets from me before! I don't understand why they are making such a big deal! Why can't they understand that?
I shout the password to the Fat Lady who moodily lets me in with a scowl on her face. I whip around and shoot my hands for their wrists, constricting their wrists and drag them over to the couch. 'Anything else you want to ask me?' I ask them.
'Umm… yeah. Why are your eyes, not brown?' Ron squeaks, his hand shaking as he points to my face.
That's strikes me out of tirade. What? My eyes, they're violet! Oh no no no no! This isn't good! 'I, um, have to go.' I murmur, making a bolt for the door, but someone catches my wrist.
'No, Hermione, you have to stay, and tell us why the hell you've been acting so strange!' Ginny says, letting go of all of her calm demeanor. Her bright green eyes staring accusingly at me, almost daring me to say something other than the truth.
'I, I can't.' I say weakly, weighing the pros and cons in my head. I mean, they have already noticed too much, I keep this up from them much longer… Overwhelmed, I rip my arm away from her grip and run up the staircase, and away from them, lost in confusion.
A/N: OMG, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated! There just isn't enough time between swim practice, piano, flute, and marching band! But whatever. Oh! And if I owe you a secret, remind me. =/ I have to do those soon huh?
And for people who want in, review and tell me! I'll tell you, almost anything. =) See you later!
And, you people are lucky! I gave you one more fight than planned! And stick with me, you'll love the next chapter, I promise!