The Founding of Pigwarts III – Chaos Is Served
Chapter 36: Blue Owl Day
Hermione wasn't sure at all how she had managed to end up standing in front of a mirror – not Lola, thank Merlin for that – dressed in the costume of a blue-and-bronze owl. It had started with Daphne doing her a favour, and even though she had never asked her to dress up as an owl in return, she and Ginny had nevertheless been able to almost convince her that it was a good idea.
It was evening now, and all the lessons were over, most of which Hermione had missed, awful as it was. They were currently in Daphne's polka-dotted and duck-decorated room, in front of her mirror, which now and then made joyful little exclamations of how lovely her feathers looked and how well her beak brought out her eyes. Daphne told her not to mind it – she could be covered in slime and still the mirror would compliment her; Hermione had found it surprisingly easy not to ask her how she knew that. Both chaos-makers had solemnly sworn that they would stop teasing her about Terry should she go through with it, and were now coming up with new reasons why she should go through with it.
"You don't want to spoil everyone's fun, do you?" Ginny said, for some reason thinking that it was a convincing argument.
"If this fun is laughing at me, I actually do," Hermione replied, arranging her feathers.
"But it's not just you," Ginny explained, "it's not just about you."
"Is someone else going to dress up as a giant owl?" Hermione wondered, raising her brow.
"I could be a giant duck..." Daphne murmured.
"No, you won't," Ginny declared, "but yes, there will be others. It's going to be the House Animal Appreciation Day—"
"—the Haa Day—" Daphne interjected.
"—and all the Heads of Houses—"
"—the Hohs—"
"—will attend it dressed up as their House animals," Ginny finished.
"All the Heads of Houses?" Hermione inquired with some suspicion, "you mean you will be a giant bee, and Harry will be a giant phoenix, and..."
"Yup," Ginny nodded, grinning.
"And do they know they are going to do this?"
"I know about it. I shall tell Harry, and Daphne, you will—"
"Take care of Draco. Yeah. Got it."
"But you haven't spoken to them yet?" Hermione asked, her suspicions staying put.
"We decided to tell you first," Ginny winked, "You always say we have to come to you first whenever we get an idea how to liven up the days of Pigwarts. So here we are, running it past you first, before telling to anyone else."
"That's oddly considerate of you," Hermione frowned, her suspicions now climbing on top of each other to get a better view from a higher position.
"Not really," Ginny shrugged, stared back to her friend with a most innocent expression, but then relented and confessed, "Oh, all right, we've already told everybody. They all agree provided you do it, too."
"So it's all up to me whether you get your Haa day or not?"
"We are all at your mercy."
Despite herself, those words made Hermione grin.
"Speaking of mercy," Ginny said, "have you taken pity on poor Terry and admitted that you like him back? Really, he's a nice guy, if he's not sleeping in his porridge. I'm sure you can wean him from that bad habit."
"Or if you can't fight it, you can join it," Daphne added, "I've heard that oatmeal does wonders to one's skin, makes you look decades younger. Which you don't really need, because you aren't decades old yet. But I'm sure it does you all other kinds of good."
"Makes your feathers soft and shiny," the mirror commented.
Hermione sighed, "I do this and you will not say one more word about Terry, unless it concerns the school?"
"We didn't really blabber much about him before you kissed him," Ginny said.
"He kissed me," Hermione vehemently insisted, "he kissed me."
"You can't say you didn't like it," Ginny smirked, "it looked like one hell of a hot kiss to me."
"Appearances deceive."
"Oh come on, Mione. If you don't admit you like Terry, at least admit you liked the kiss. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just us anyway. It's not like we're going to tell anyone."
"Except half the school," Hermione muttered darkly.
"We're on your side, Hermione," Ginny said, patting her wing, "we support you, no matter who you like, be it Terry or Daemon or someone else."
"But you'll still tease me about Terry even though you know I don't love him."
"Hey, what are friends for?" the redhead grinned.
"I'll do this," Hermione said slowly, feeling like she was signing her own if not death then at least humiliation warrant, "you will stop teasing me about Terry. And Daemon! And everybody else I don't love!"
Ginny and Daphne exchanged a look at that, as if they weren't quite ready to meet such harsh demands, but Hermione wasn't going to back down, either, and she made it very clear to them with her intense, slightly dark look.
"Oh, very well," Ginny finally relented, "but that's a great deal you're getting, don't forget this."
"I doubt I will," Hermione muttered, staring at her reflection in the mirror. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, no matter how cliché that sounded.
***
The next day happened to be a Tuesday, although that might have been expected, since the day before it had been a Monday, and Hermione was quite glad of it because she had only two lessons to give on Tuesdays. Not that she had all that many more lessons on other days since Arithmancy was, after all, an optional subject, and not a very easy one, and she now had only half of her initial teaching load as she was no longer giving Muggle Studies. But she tried to look on the bright side – you had to when you were dressed up as an owl and required to wear that costume all day, and come down to have breakfast in the Great Hall, because those were the conditions.
But at least, she encouraged herself, at least there would be no more teasing about Terry, and no more teasing about Daemon, and no more teasing about anyone but... and there would be the other Heads of Houses, dressed up in similar silly costumes. She was actually quite looking forward to see theirs. Hers, from an objective point of view, which she herself was unable to give, was actually quite pretty, and surprisingly comfortable – she had managed to pace her room in it for several minutes without slipping on her tail or getting her claws entangled. The head piece could be pushed off as easily as a hood, and the whole costume had been charmed to weigh no more than an ordinary robe.
All things considered, there were several bright sides to it, and it was of some consolation that things could be a lot worse. Which, of course, as she later realized, didn't mean things couldn't get a lot worse.
Hermione could have taken a short cut to the Great Hall, as she knew several of them. But she didn't see the point in it, since she was required to reveal herself sooner or later. However, she did leave her room for breakfast a lot later than she was used to, hoping that she wouldn't be the first Head of House to reach it. Given this, it was no surprise that the corridors from her room to the Great Hall were relatively empty, although she still met a couple of students, all of whom stopped short at the sight of her and stared, their mouths open. She didn't let that bother herself much, but simply nodded to them in greeting, sometimes wishing good morning as well. It wasn't as if they knew it was her inside that costume, in any case.
She stopped before reaching the Entrance Hall, though, and took a deep breath. She briefly considered taking a few more, but shook the thought off. It was mere nervousness, nothing more. If she was going to do it, she had better do it now, plunge into the water before she noticed the icebergs drifting in it. And the sharks. Polar sharks. So without further delay, she left the corridor, walked towards the open doors, and then right through them into the Great Hall.
To her great relief, most of the other Professors were already there, and she was not the only Head of House in the room.
To her great aggravation, none of them were dressed up as their House animals.
Of all the times it had to be this that her reflexes failed her. As it was, she had already reached the Professors' table before she realized what had happened. The journey from doorway to the table had been relatively painless thanks to her shock, but now that it started to clear away, she felt each and every pair of staring eyes at her, including those of her colleagues. And the path from the table back to the door suddenly felt endless.
So quite against her better judgement, Hermione plopped down into an empty chair, and glared at her plate through owl-eyes. For a long moment, no one around her said anything. And then...
"And you said it would be weird if I came dressed up as a duck!" Daphne wailed.
Startled into attention, Hermione narrowed her eyes at the girl, then searched the table for her accomplice, finding the smug redhead sitting right next to herself.
"Ginny!" she hissed, unable to stop herself, "you said it was going to be the Haa day!"
"I don't know about you," Ginny replied, her eyes bright in merriment, "but I'm having lots of fun."
"Oh, ha-ha-ha," Hermione muttered, "I get it. Very funny."
Someone tapped her shoulder, and as she turned around, she came beak to face with the slightly worried expression of Ron.
"Hermione, is that you?"
"No, it's not me," she snapped quite acidly, "it's someone stupid enough to fall into a trap set by those two."
"We told you we would oversneak you," Ginny announced proudly. "And this, dear Mione, is just the beginning."
Hermione glared at her for a while longer, even after Ginny had looked away. Then, quite suddenly, she stood up again and turned round to face the Great Hall, meeting with many gazes still directed at her.
"Dear students!" she shouted, "If I could ask your attention for one moment. This is your Professor Hermione Granger speaking, dressed up as an owl, which, as you probably know, is the animal of the Granger House. The reason I am today wearing such odd attire is that in approximately two weeks' time it's going to be the House Animal Appreciation Day, an Official Holiday of Pigwarts. You won't get a day off, I'm afraid to inform you, but you're all expected and very welcomed to come to your lessons that day dressed up as the animal of your own House, or if you mind that, then as your favourite animal. To encourage you and share in the fun, all Heads of Houses will be dressed up, as well, not just me. And for those with the best costumes, a worthy award will be given. I hope you will all have lots of fun celebrating the Haa day together. Thank you for listening!"
That said, she sat back down, relishing the look of shock on Ginny's face.
"This is indeed the beginning, dear Gin," she told her, "because obviously you still have a long way to go."
***
Hermione's good mood lasted beyond the breakfast table. After the initial surprise had passed Ginny had given her the evil eye for a while, but apparently she didn't much mind the way things had turned out, and was quite willing to have a real Haa day. Daphne was beaming a lot more than usual, mentally designing her duck costume. Harry had a few chosen words to say about having to dress up as a phoenix, words like "Not a chance in bloody hell!", Ron had patted his shoulder, laughed at him, and advised him to do as was told. Draco had taken his breakfast elsewhere, as he usually did those days, so Hermione had no idea what he might think of it. But that was, sadly, Daphne's problem.
Her morning class went rather well. Some students still giggled over her appearance, but most were trying to find out more about that worthy award she had mentioned in her speech. Hermione smiled mysteriously behind her beak and said nothing, but paid good attention to the guesses her students made, hoping they would give her some idea of what the award should be. So far the guesses ranged from lots of House points (possible, but a little boring) to lots of money (no way) to not having to take a test for the rest of the year (definitely no way).
After the lesson, she grabbed a book on Advanced Arithmancy from her office and went to read it in the Professors' Lounge, secretly hoping for some company since she was feeling quite sociable. This feeling went poof the moment she caught sight of the only companion the room had to offer, and she might have walked right back out of it, had he not noticed and greeted her.
"Hey, Terry," she now said, entering the Lounge. He said nothing for a while, and she considered doing the same, because talking to him had so far ended with an irresistible urge of hers to hit him repeatedly on the head with something heavy. But she also realized they had to talk, and she would rather get it over with sooner than later.
"Look, Terry," she began, but that was as far as she got.
"You are a big blue owl," he remarked, shaking his head, "this is unexpected."
"Yeah," Hermione said slowly, not at all sure where he was going with it. But he didn't seem to be going anywhere – he just sat by the window and looked at her, in his bored but nevertheless attentive gaze which tricked people into believing that he didn't give a damn about them, while in truth he was very much observing them. She had no idea why he was giving that look to her, though, but his silence made her more than a little uneasy.
"I didn't quite expect it either," she said, since a longer reply seemed to be expected from her.
"Ginevra and Daphne, I presume?"
"Yeah, it's a funny story, actually..."
"I thought you didn't play by their rules."
"Well, I," Hermione began, then realized that she didn't know what to say, realized that she didn't quite understand what he was saying, realized that the urge to club him on the head with something heavy had returned. "What do you mean by that?"
"From what I saw you doing at Halloween, I figured you are above her foolishness."
"Foolishness," she repeated, her tone chilling.
"Don't get me wrong, Hermione, but this isn't proper behaviour, this isn't proper teaching," he said, his gaze adding I thought you would know it.
And Hermione, who had been thinking along the same lines more than once, was suddenly very-very angry that someone dared to say this, to call her, and worse yet – her friends, fools who couldn't behave properly.
"I'll have you know that Ginny and Daphne are wonderful Professors," she announced sharply, "the students really like them, and just the other day I heard two of them discussing the Goblin rebellions in the 17th century, their causes and effects. They were actually discussing it, in an almost heated way. In the way that I have not once heard Ron or Harry or actually any Gryffindor discuss it before in our learning days. And they weren't even the top of class students, but average ones."
"I'm not saying they don't—"
"And Daphne tells her students that their future is what they make of it. That's the most viable approach to Divination I've ever heard of!"
"Hermione, I'm not saying they are bad teachers," Terry said, raising his voice in slight desperation. "I'm just saying they are... overenthusiastic about certain things."
"Fools, you mean?" she demanded, "and if I dress up as my House animal in the spirit of the coming Haa day, I'm a fool, too?"
"I didn't say that!"
"Then what did you say?"
"I just... nothing," he gave up, and sighed, "nothing at all. Be a big blue bird if that makes you happy."
"I will," Hermione snapped, turned around, and threw the door open, revealing Vinny standing in the hallway.
"And what are you doing? Eavesdropping?" she asked in an extra-nasty tone.
"I didn't want to interr—"
"You're not!" she shouted, and stomped off down the hallway.
Vinny watched her leave, then entered the Lounge and gave Professor Boot a blank look.
"I didn't say anything!" Terry growled, suddenly feeling quite foolish himself.
"Good," Vinny stated in his normal voice, "because Draco would not like it if you upset her. I wouldn't like it."
Getting a very vivid flash of memory of Dean once being on the wrong side of Vincent's fist, Terry left the room soon afterwards.
***
Millicent was in a fairly good mood, and not just because she'd generously given Mia von Trap two months of detention, although giving detention and deducting points always made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. It wasn't also just because of this and the fact that Neville and Ronnie were now openly fighting over her, although that meant lots of future entertainment for her. No, these weren't the only reasons Millicent was in a fairly good mood, there were at least two more.
One, she had a plan now. No, not a plan, a Plan. Perhaps even the Plan, but that would be revealed later. For now, she had a Plan how to prove to everyone that the Vampire Kids were indeed the Vampire Kids. And it was a Plan that would yield her a solid proof, that is, make everyone who had ever doubted her drop their eyes and be very-very embarrassed about it. Yes, she had a Plan.
Two, she had been teaching her class Euphoria Elixir and some of them had managed not to muck it up. Amazing! Some of her students actually had potential. And brains. Was it then really that awful that the rest of the class had neither? It wasn't, at least under the effects of those well-made potions. Kalisha Ferdinand and Lenore Corbeau, both such promising girls, both of them presenting cauldrons filled with exquisite potion. Millicent didn't know how to praise them enough, and therefore didn't praise them at all. But they clearly deserved the highest grade for their work, not that she gave it to them because she didn't want them to think too highly of themselves. But she'd given them a look that wasn't wholly a glare, and since they were so smart girls, they clearly understood what that meant.
Millicent was in a fairly good mood. At one point during her lesson – about the time she was passing the cauldrons of Kalisha and Lenore – she had almost started to hum under her breath. Yes, they were good girls, promising girls, pretty girls, and she hadn't picked any favourites yet, had she? Well, a teacher should have favourites, and she had just found hers.
Millicent was in a fairly good mood even after her lesson ended and she had put that excellent potion into crystal vials and stored them in that secret storing place where she stored all her potions. Then she was planning to go to lunch and was about to leave her office, when someone knocked on the door.
"What?" she snapped in the snappiest voice she could manage.
"It's Hermione," the door replied, "Can I come in?"
"If you dare," Millicent replied rather darkly, but her good mood prevailed – at least it wasn't a student. Everything was better than a student at her door. Well, anything but several students at her door.
The door opened and a big blue owl entered the room.
"Oh, the Haa day," Milla remarked, smirking.
"I'm glad you find this amusing," Hermione said, and she was indeed glad that Millicent found it amusing, because she needed something from her, and an amused Millicent was hopefully more willing to give it.
"I would be more so if you made owl sounds."
"Hoo! Hoo!"
"Not bad," Millicent said, smirking on, "what do you want? I assume you didn't come here to amuse me just because you've already done this for everyone else?"
"Hoo," Hermione replied, hesitating a moment. But there was no point in delaying her request, because it would... well, waste time. "Have you got any Veritaserum?"
"I might," Milla spoke carefully, giving her now a contemplating look, but there was only so much to contemplate about a big blue owl. "Why do you need it?"
"It's... private."
"Not if you want the potion."
"I just want... someone... to tell me the truth."
"And I thought you wanted it to water flowers," Milla rolled her eyes, "I want the whole story, Granger."
"Why?"
"Why? Mostly because you don't want to tell me, and I'm not giving you the potion for free."
"I could give you something else for it?" Hermione tried to bargain.
"Like what?"
"Erm... Ron's baby pictures?"
Millicent considered this for quite some time.
"Nah," she said at last, shaking her head, "I want that story you don't want to tell me."
Hermione glared from under her owl mask, "Ginny and Daphne are up to something and I want to know what it is."
"The real story, Granger."
"That's the truth!"
"No, it's a truth," Millicent corrected.
"Oh, fine, fine! After that stupid Quidditch game that I won, I got really drunk and woke up in Terry's bed and he won't tell me how I got there!"
"Now, was that so hard?" Milla asked, grinning.
"Are you giving me the potion or not?" Hermione demanded.
Millicent extended her left hand, palm up, and touched her wand to it, muttering something. There was a soft popping noise and a little glass vial appeared there – she gave it a quick look and then handed it to Hermione without further ado or questionings.
"If this is not..." Hermione began, suspicious.
"It is," Milla stated, "now run along and find out whether or not you spent a night of drunken passion with Terry."
Hermione didn't move, "You are not going to tell this to everyone, are you?"
"To everyone? I hardly think so. You are not the centre of the world, Granger. At least," she added, with a sly look, "not the centre of my world."
Hermione didn't know if she referred to Terry or to someone else, and she didn't particularly care, either. What worried her a lot more was that even if Millicent acted as she had spoken and didn't tell it to everyone, she might still tell it to someone. But there was little she could do about it. For now, she had the potion and she had the plan, and hopefully it would all end with one big relief for her. If it didn't – she would then worry further. And hex Terry really bad.
***
That evening, when the lessons were over, a group of Professors gathered in the Lounge, as was their habit, to relax after a tiring day in each other's company, share things worth sharing and do things worth doing. This particular evening Susan had brought biscuits that tasted like sand, Vinny carried a bucket of Bundimun fungus that winked at people, Luna tried to lure a cucumber spirit out of the cucumber, Ginny was outwardly drawing but secretly designing a wedding dress for a giant, and Daphne was arranging her hair into a duck's nest.
"It has lovely eyes," Susan currently said, giving the fungus back to Vinny.
"This is a good biscuit," Vinny replied, "did you make it yourself?"
"Oh no, these aren't for eating. I had my students Transfigure sandstone into biscuits today, most of them still taste like sand. But they look real, don't they?"
"Does my nest look real?" Daphne asked, "I mean, if you were a duck, would you land on my head?"
"I certainly would not," Ginny replied.
"Come out, come out, I know you are in there," Luna called, tapping the vegetable with the tip of her wand.
Yes, it was a most usual evening in the Lounge. Until Susan chanced a look out of the window and realized there was something that caught her attention even more than Vinny's slime, Luna's cucumber, Ginny's drawings, and Daphne's hairdo. She stared at it for a while to make sure it wasn't a trick played by the evening light, or something like that. Then she stared at it some more because it was worth staring at. Only when someone called her name did she glance away from the sight.
"Susan? What are you looking at?" Ginny asked, straining her neck to see as well without having to get up, but she was sitting too far from the window to see it.
"There's Terry," Susan replied, turning back to the scene below.
Ginny and Daphne exchanged a glance at that. Perhaps Susan really was still taken with Terry, and poor Viktor Krum would have his heart broken.
"What is he doing?" Luna asked in her usual dreamy tones.
"He's... being chased by a bird."
"A duck?" Daphne asked with hope.
"An owl."
"Is it Frieda?" Ginny inquired, "she dropped a parcel upon his head once, and I think she dropped something quite else in his porridge, so it doesn't surprise me if it's personal."
"It's not Frieda," Susan said, "it's a big blue owl hitting him with a broom."
There was a moment of silence, followed by a moment of noise and movement and a little pushing, as everyone rushed to the windows and fought for a better spot. Then there was silence again, as they all stared at the sight worth staring at.
"She seems really angry with him," Vinny broke it first.
"She's angry with him because he kissed her," Luna explained.
"Is he a very bad kisser?" Ginny asked from Susan.
"I never ran after him dressed up as an owl and hitting him with my broom, if that's what you're asking."
"Did you dress up as something else?" Daphne inquired.
"He isn't that bad a kisser."
"He misunderstood her," Luna spoke, "she didn't want to kiss him after the game, and she didn't like it when he did."
"Does this mean they broke up?" Ginny wondered.
"If he hurt her, he'll pay for it," Vinny promised.
"I think he's already paying," Susan remarked.
"This is a very good broom she has," Ginny said, a bit worried, "it's a pity if Terry's hard head breaks it. She could just hex him and be done with it."
"She probably doesn't want to be done with it," Daphne commented slyly.
"Draco can get her another broom if she breaks it," Vinny said, "he owns half the company that produces those brooms."
"He does? I guess he wouldn't mind giving me one – ouch, that must have hurt," Ginny spoke without much sympathy.
"Should we help?" Luna asked.
"Which one of them?" Daphne wondered, but Ginny had already pushed open a window and shouted out,
"Hermione! Do you need any help?"
The big blue owl looked up, but it was impossible to tell what impression such audience – staring Susan and Vinny, waving Luna and Daphne, and a grinning Ginny – made on her, although it allowed Terry to escape the range of the broom and draw his wand.
"Hermione, look out!" Susan cried the warning which came too late, not because Terry had already cast a curse, but because Daphne and Vinny had – Hermione turned round just in time to see Terry fall down rigid and develop large green spots all over his body from which erupted little purple flowers.
"Mine was a Stunner," Vinny explained just in case.
"Flower power?" Ginny raised a brow at Daphne.
"It's works," the duck-nest-haired girl shrugged. "Takes a while to get rid of. And it's pretty!"
Ginny had to admit that an unconscious Terry covered in flowers was perhaps indeed prettier than an unconscious Terry not covered in flowers, and in this appearance he could be mistaken for a mound, which might save him some embarrassment first and cause a lot more later.
"Fred and George have a technique called Flour Power," she remarked absently, observing the big blue owl observe the new flower-covered mound. "It means that when in doubt, add flour. They also have a nasty hex of throwing flour into your face, not that they'd ever dare use it on me."
When Hermione entered the room some moments later via the window, as it was appropriate for an owl, Daphne helped her in while Ginny had returned to her drawings and tried to radiate such nonchalant lack of any curiosity that it would throw her friend so off balance that she would spill all and more. Vinny actually had the tact not to ask anything, Luna appeared as she already knew everything, Daphne took the opportunity to search the skies for any ducks, so it was Susan, on whom fell the responsibility to start a conversation.
She started it by offering Hermione a sand biscuit, but either she took one Transfigured by a capable student or she liked her biscuits sandy, because the expected exclamation of "Yuck! What's this?" didn't come, and Susan felt like she had to say something more. She shot a hopeful glance to Daphne who was still – ostensibly, at least – looking for ducks, and almost resorted to the desperate remark of "Nice weather, isn't it?" when it was Luna who came to her rescue.
"Did you have a fight with Terry?" she asked.
Ginny suppressed her own sarcastic remark, and waited for Hermione to answer.
"Fight," she repeated as if she had no clue what they were talking about, or what she herself spoke, "fight. Yes."
"Did you break up?" Susan inquired now when no one could blame her for touching the subject first.
"Break up. No."
"Are you sure?" Susan asked, referring to the fact that if Terry woke up all covered in flowers he might perhaps disagree.
"Yes, I'm sure," Hermione snapped, coming out of her daze and making a move to get out of the room, to which Ginny quickly reacted with throwing herself in front of the door. Glancing over her shoulder Hermione saw that Daphne had now closed the window and was guarding that exit pretty much in the same way. She sighed, shook her head, sighed again, and then went to sit on the sofa between Susan and Vincent.
"Are you all right?" the latter asked her with serious concern.
"Yes. Yes, I think so. Yes."
"Now, now, Hermione," Ginny cooed from the door, "tell Auntie Susan everything. She's our resident Terry-expert."
Susan shot her a glare but then turned to Hermione, helpfulness herself,
"He can be quite a prat sometimes."
"Hah!" Hermione agreed, narrowing her eyes, "he said he wanted to teach me a lesson. How dare he!"
"Perhaps he thought you're always open to learn something new?" Ginny couldn't repress the comment this time, receiving a look for it which said that very soon something shall be spilt, and if it's not Hermione's secrets, it might just be Ginny's blood. Susan, however, had deemed this as good time as there could be for her, the resident Terry-expert, to share some of her own wisdom.
"He isn't like this all the time, it comes in fits like some sort of disease. He can be so decent and funny sometimes that you'd never suspect him of being anything else... but then one day he decides that it's his moral obligation to tell you that you have done wrong, but instead of simply telling it – that I could perhaps bear – he wants to teach you a lesson you shall never forget, and that usual means he'll purposely lead you into an embarrassing situation so that you could realize yourself how infinitely stupid you have been. He means well, but the way he shows it... gaah!"
Susan's ranting seemed like the encouragement Hermione had been waiting for, and in the end it wasn't Ginny's blood that got spilt.
"So he wants to teach me a lesson, okay, I get it!" the blue owl exclaimed in the tone which deemed it very far from okay. "I understand that it might be a bad idea to get drunk and traipse through the Forbidden Forest, and waking up in Terry's bed, naked, is enough of a warning for me to never try it again, but I can't understand how he thinks that keeping the knowledge of what happened that night from me is the very thing I need!"
Ginny blinked. She didn't know what she had expected, but this wasn't it.
"So you two are seriously together now?" Daphne asked, sounding slightly threatening, which was odd.
"No," Hermione muttered, avoiding everyone's gaze.
"So you did break up?" Ginny inquired.
"No."
"What the hell are you then?" the redhead demanded.
"I did not break up with Terry," Hermione growled, "because I've never been together with Terry. He kissed me after the match. I didn't want him to kiss me, but he still did, but that's it. That's all there is to it."
"What about waking up in his bed?" Ginny reminded.
"Nothing happened between us... but he thought keeping that information from me was for my own good!"
"Perhaps he thought that you trusted him to be a gentleman and not take advantage of you?" Luna said.
"I trusted him to be a gentleman and tell me he had not taken advantage of me!"
"How did you get him to tell you this now?" Susan wanted to know.
"I had him drink Veritaserum," Hermione replied, a wicked smirk appearing on her face for a moment, and then quickly disappearing, as she let out a short mirthless laugh, "There is one lesson I did learn here. When you give someone Veritaserum so that they would tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you have to prepare yourself for their telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Terry told me quite a lot, and I'd be much happier not knowing some of it."
"What did he tell you?" several voices hissed at once, the promise of vengeance so clear in their tones that Hermione started to regret her latest confession. She didn't care much for Terry, but she didn't want Ginny, Daphne, Susan, Vinny, and possibly also Luna to gang up on him either.
"Nothing much. Nothing too terrible. And he got his due punishment."
"Honestly," Hermione added, when now looks told what voices had spoken before, "I don't want you to go and hex him. Whatever happened between him and me, happened between him and me. I already gave him what he deserves, and you have helped with your spells. But no more. You have to promise me you won't do him any harm!"
Some more, some less reluctantly, they all finally gave that promise, Ginny berating Daphne that she hadn't hexed him with something nastier than the flowers. Hermione went on refusing to tell them what horrible truth Terry had spoken to her, and soon after that went away.
Trying to figure out a way to revenge Terry without doing him any harm, Ginny returned to her designs of giant wedding dress, absently taking and eating one of the sand biscuits. Yuck. Berating herself for not using a nastier hex and making a mental note to do so in the future, Daphne went back to the mirror to fix her duck nest. Luna continued working on the cucumber, and on another she took from her bag, thinking it more comfortable for the spirits to face the world together. Susan made herself a solemn promise never to get drunk and go traipsing through the Forbidden Forest, lest the same happen to her.
Vinny picked up his bucket of Bundimun and was the first of them to leave. Unlike Ginny, he knew a very good way to revenge Terry without breaking his promise, and was not afraid to use it.
End Note: (devilish grin)
And so the hidden traits of Terry have been revealed and punished, and shall be punished some more, but I think I'll leave his coming ordeals to your own imagination. Time to give spotlight to other characters. As to Vinny's revenge, Hermione never made him promise not to tell anybody of the whole incident, and I'm sure Vinny can find someone who shall carry it out with no words of encouragement from him. It's still a bit dishonest, I gather, but Terry deserves it.
I'd also like to thank everyone who gave me their opinion on whether I should write the whole year. I'm rather tempted to do that, although I haven't decided yet.
As to the next chapter, I told someone in my review reply that it's the earliest that might contain the reconciliation of Hermione and Draco. Well, I'm evil and all, so it won't. The next chapter will be about the students, and from their viewpoints. And after that, I may be as evil as to write about Daphne and Dean, so it's going to be a few more chapters before the reunion you're all so waiting for. Because, I'm evil and all.