A/N: I'm sorry this has taken a while to get up! I've decided that I'm going to go a MONTH without pop, soda… whatever you want to call it, so there may be future updates that are kind of… rude, 'cause of my caffeine withdrawal. In other words; Pop is the only form of caffeine that I intake (I don't drink coffee or anything) unless there is caffeine in juice or something. Wish me luck x_x I've just recently got the album "Gutterflower" by the Goo Goo Dolls, and I've decided to write a fic from the songs… and stuff, so when that's posted, be sure to take a gander. Mwhaha!
Snuffles' Stay
Chapter Thirteen
Ron and Harry were already in the Common Room when Ginny and Hermione decided to come down. It was 6:30 a.m. and they had over an hour until classes started. Harry stood up and fake-bowed to the two women, then turned to Ron and gave a muffled chuckle. "Ladies… Your seats await you!"
"No, Harry… I need to go to breakfast so I can run to the Library. I've decided to start an extra-credit Transfiguration assignment," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows to prove her point.
"I don't believe you," quipped Ron. He was rubbing something off of his robes with his right hand. He looked up, eyes locking with Hermione's. "You probably have… other ideas."
Hermione's eyes widened. "How could you, Ron? I would never lie to you!"
"You've done a good job at it so far, but we know, so you can finally stop."
"We know what, Ron?" Harry questioned. Ron elbowed him in the gut.
The bushy-brown haired girl shot Ron a look, and then to Harry she asked, "Tell me. Tell me what you think, and I will answer with either yes or no." Ron attempted to speak, but Hermione cut him off. "I was directing this commentary to Harry, Ron, not you."
Ron gaped like a fish, shot Hermione a look of death, and glanced, quizzically, at Harry. Harry blinked a few times to try and register his surroundings, but had trouble. Ron elbowed Harry again and whispered something into his ear.
Harry's eyes widened profusely. "She… what?" He looked at Hermione, questions written all over his face, wonder in his eyes. "Is that true, Hermione?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"Is what true?" Ginny protested, glancing at her friends and brother. "Tell me!"
"Bugger off, Ginny," Ron said shortly. Ginny blanched, turned on her heel, and walked out through the portrait entrance.
Ron diverted his attention to the two before him. "Go on. Tell him, Hermione."
"Tell him what Ron?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and she set her lips into a thin line.
"Oh, you know… What you did during the summer… who you got to know a little bit better." He shot her a glance while adding the latter of the two. "About… who you've taken a liking to. Oh, you know… the usual."
Hermione looked bewildered. Does he really know? she asked herself, trying to act and remain calm. He couldn't… not unless he was following me around or something. She shook herself, stared at Ron, and said rather slowly, "I don't know what you're on about."
"You know perfectly well what I'm on about, 'Mione, so don't lie to me. Don't lie to us… we're supposed to be your best friends." His eyes looked pleadingly at her.
"I really don't know what you two are on about," added Harry. "Could you please inform me on what she's lying about?"
"I'm not lying to you about anything," Hermione said shortly. "Maybe I haven't told you, but I haven't been lying. I would never lie to you, and you know that. Maybe you could have asked nicely, instead of assaulting me? But no, you feel compelled to ridicule me in front of all of these people." She stopped and looked at Ron with pain in her eyes. "You're so pig headed, Ron Weasley."
With her words being said, Hermione turned and walked back through the portrait, disregarding the quizzical stare from Harry and the angry look from Ron. Screw them; she didn't need them if they were going to act like asses. On her way to the Great Hall, she bumped into something… or someone.
She staggered backward, recovering herself from the jostling. Whoever she had bumped into was obviously now peeved, and had been able to keep firm ground.
Malfoy…
"Watch where you're going, Granger," was all he induced.
Hermione simply nodded and walked away, entering the Great Hall. She took her normal seat at the Gryffindor table and helped herself to a Breakfast Burrito, bacon, and a mug of Orange Juice. Today is going to be a long day, she decided. And having my five core classes with Ron and Harry will not make the day go by much faster.
She left before either of them entered the Great Hall.
The Library was as secluded as ever. Being Head Girl had it's privileges; she could enter the restricted section of the Library without consent, but she was not allowed to check any out, or bring anyone that did not have consent into the restricted section. Hermione entered the restricted section and skimmed past shelves upon shelves of books.
A book caught her attention. The brass spine-rings and bright gold paint stood out amongst the peeling, shriveled spines of the other books. She pulled it off of the shelf, examining it closely. Venenum. She could use that for her Potions class… maybe receive extra marks for completing a few brews from within.
She put the book back on the shelf. No use going through it yet, if I'm not sure what'll happen. Hermione sighed, gathered her things up around her, and walked out of the Restricted Section, and back through the Library. Class was to begin in two minutes.
She looked over her class schedule.
Monday:
9:00am - Transfiguration
10:30am - Charms
1:00pm - Advanced Astrology
2:30pm - Advanced Muggle Studies
Great, she thought. Transfiguration on a Monday Morning; first thing. She walked into the Transfiguration class and noticed the only open seat… next to Ronald Weasley.
With much reluctance, Hermione took her seat. Ron said nothing to her; instead, he decided that now was a good a time as ever to begin paying attention to what McGonagall had to say. Hermione didn't mind; she took out her Transfiguration book, and listened to McGonagall preach.
"There is a way to become Animagi without the pain of going through the Charm and total Transfiguration spells. This way, however, takes over a month to complete; you must brew a very advanced potion… If the potion is not brewed correctly, there can be dire consequences. Unless you wish to become equivalent that of a Boggart, you would be wise not to try this without supervision from an older, more advanced potion brewer, such as Professor Snape."
Hermione took notes in a frenzy, her Peacock-green colored quill dancing madly across a piece of parchment. Between scribbling down about the most common of animagi forms, Ron leaned over, putting his eyes in a dead lock on her face.
"'Mione… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you like that," he whispered. Hermione stopped taking her notes and turned to him.
"You're admitting that you were wrong?"
"Yes, I'm admitting that I was wrong."
Hermione nearly fell out of her chair. Ron… apologizing? Usually it would take months on end to force him to acknowledge his idiocy… and now, he was just coming out with it. What was wrong with him? "You're… admitting that you were wrong?"
"Do you need me to spell it out for you?" he said through gritted teeth. "Look… I shouldn't have spied on you last night…"
"You did what?"
McGonagall's voice brought them back to their surroundings. "Ms. Granger! Do not talk in class… You are Head Girl… you should have memorized the student handbook by now! Mr. Weasley, that goes for you, too!"
"'Mione…" Ron whispered to her again. "Listen… I just wanted to see what was wrong with you. You were so quiet during the day, and I was worried about you. But then I saw what was going on… and it made me mad… you should know why." He leaned back in his chair, pretending to take notes as McGonagall glanced over their way again.
"Ron, that gives you no reason to spy on me. I'm sorry for being a prat, but I'm still mad at you." She muttered all of this from the side of her mouth.
"Look. I said I'm sorry, and I meant it. We've been friends for over seven years and one stupid row is not going to make us not be friends." Ron looked at her again, eyes pleading. "Don't walk away from us 'cause of something stupid that I said. It's just the way I am."
"Oh Ron…" She sniffled, lunged, and wrapped her arms around his neck. McGonagall stopped in mid-sentence, and a few students murmured. "You're so stupid!"
"You tell me that nearly every day. I know."
McGonagall's voice ripped through the crowd of excited murmurs. "If you wouldn't mind Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, could we please continue our lesson? It may only be the beginning of the year, but it is still of the utmost importance. You have your N.E.W.Ts this year! Five points from Gryffindor!"
Hermione sulked back into her chair. It was the first day of classes, and she had already managed to get points taken away from Gryffindor. Damn him and his stupid way of apologizing, she thought. I'll get him back somehow… The rest of the class, the two took their notes in silence.
When class was over, and the three met out in the hall, Harry was in near shock. "What the bloody hell were you two going off about?" he asked simply, folding his arms across his chest with a Snape-like glare crossing his lips.
"Oh Harry," Hermione whispered. "I'll tell you tonight, alright?" She hugged him tightly, and the three left for their next class; Charms.
Charms was considerably less note-taking form, and more hands-on experience. Hermione was squealing with joy; she was, of course, the first to accomplish the task of disintegrating a Lethifold. Who would have known that reading her Charms textbook during the summer would have lead her to be the first person to do it on the first try? She grinned to herself.
It took Ron three tries to do it right, and Harry did it in two. Ron growled at his Lethifold, which kept scurrying in the cage, attempting to get out of the direct sunlight that shone through the glass windows. Lethifolds do -not- like light.
Professor Flitwick explained. "Lethifolds corrupt the darkest places they can. Sometimes, at night, when they get loose, they trap unsuspecting, sleeping prey… and they suffocate them as they sleep. When people finally realize that their partner or friend is missing, it is too late. The only spell that can totally ruin the Lethifold is the Lightness Charm."
Class ended almost as soon as it had started, it seemed. The trio walked their way into the Great Hall and took their normal seats at the end of the Gryffindor table for lunch. Harry picked up a steaming bowl of mashed potatoes and piled them on all three of their plates. "Fooooood!" he shouted, putting the bowl back down and digging into the potatoes.
"Harry, honestly! You're going to make yourself sick if you eat like that! You need much more nutrition," Hermione snapped, picking up a plate of steamed carrots and dishing them onto each of their plates. "You're going to eat them all, or I'm not going to tell you what I was going to tell you at breakfast," she added, seeing the look of disgust on Harry's face.
Ron spooned a thick stew onto each of their plates. Why did they serve each other? Hermione laughed, eating the stew and watching Ron dribble some down his front. "Have a hole in your lip, Ron? Honestly… Even Neville eats less sloppier than you do!"
At this, Ron's ears turned pink. He glared at Hermione for a second, before scooping up a spoon-full of stew and flipping it toward her. The stew hit Hermione in the chest.
"My new robes! Ronald Weasley! You're going to pay for that!"
Hermione scooped up a handful of mashed potatoes from her plate and threw them, as hard as she could, in Ron's direction. Ron leaned to the side, and the mashed potatoes whizzed past him, and landed, smack-dab in the face of a vicious looking Hufflepuff.
The Hufflepuff squealed, even though it appeared to be a boy. "Whoever did this is going to pay!" it squaked, clearing its face of the gooey mess. The Hufflepuff's friend shouted out 'FOOD FIGHT!' and the entire Great Hall was soon throwing around pieces of food.
Dumbledore, sitting up at the high table, seemed thoroughly amused. He watched the food being thrown through the hall, and even joined in. He scooped up a few pieces of Beef Casserole and threw it at Snape. Snape was none too happy; he glared at the Headmaster menacingly, who simply laughed. He then picked up a large biscuit and chucked it at the old man.
Dumbledore, excited as ever, sat still enough for the biscuit to hit him. He shouted, "Good aim, Severus!" over the tremendous amount of noise coming from the students.
The food fight was finished when the desserts appeared. Everyone calmed down, ate their dessert, and left as soon as they were finished. The Great Hall was as spotless as they had entered when they left; Dumbledore muttered a few incantations, and the mess cleaned itself up.
Hermione ran to Gryffindor tower, into Gryffindor Common Room, and leapt into her dormitory. She had twenty minutes until her next class, and she needed to change her robes. Ron is such an ass, she told herself. Going and ruining my new school robes… Hmph! What would he think if I ruined his?
Their next two classes passed quite well. Hermione was alone in her last two classes for the day, however; Harry and Ron were cooped up in A.P. Divination, and Muggle Literature, a new class, taught by a new professor.
"Wow, take a look at her," Ron had whispered to Harry, looking over their new professor. The lady was dressed in bright yellow robes, her auburn hair tied up at the nape of her neck. She resembled McGonagall, oddly enough, the way her lips set into a thin line, and with her hair put up the way it was. Her eyes shimmered a cloudy, murky brown colour. "New professor, new class… We can make up a few things… and get away with it! Poor girl… hasn't a clue…"
Harry laughed at his friend's antics. Yes, poor teacher, indeed.
The professor introduced herself as Professor Dimitrius, a graduate from Salem Academy in the United States. She had recently moved to England with her fiancée, looking for a job in teaching, after hearing all of the information about needing more professors in the growing country.
She was a relatively nice teacher; she wasn't as strict as McGonagall, but wasn't as lenient as Hagrid. She set her rules, and made it clear what she would not tolerate at once; a Hufflepuff boy blew a bubble from Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, which grew, and grew, until it took up part of the classroom. Professor Dimitrius was forced to deflate it, and gave the Hufflepuff detention.
The three now sat in Gryffindor Common room, talking amongst themselves. Harry sat in the armchair next to the fire, Ginny sitting at his feet and leaning against his legs. He ran his fingers through locks of her hair, gaze locked on the licking flames from the fireplace. Hermione and Ron were engrossed in a game of chess. They had thirty minutes until supper, and with time to waste, why not sit in the common room?
"I'm surprised that you're not in the Library, Hermione," Ginny said, turning her head slightly to talk to the other girl.
"Yes, well… My eyes are cramped from reading too much today, already. I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the day, and get back to reading tomorrow. I can do that, can't I?"
"I'm sorry, Hermione… I didn't mean to sound suggestive. I just would have thought that since you have access to the Restricted Section, you would want to be back there."
"Yes, well, I have all year, haven't I?"
After Dinner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione resumed their seating alongside the fireplace. Ginny had gone up to bed early; her head was hurting her a little bit from all of the ruckus. Ron turned to Hermione. "So… when are you going to tell us, eh?"
"When I feel like it," she said, simply.
"Come on, Hermione! You've told us that you'd tell us after Dinner… so spill the beans!"
"Fine! Come up to my dormitory after a few minutes… I'll tell you then. Use the Cloak." With that, she got up, and left to her Dormitory.
A/N: There you go! Another chapter done… You'll have to wait for another one to give you the results. ~cackle~ Well! Off I go…!
Chapter Thirteen
Ron and Harry were already in the Common Room when Ginny and Hermione decided to come down. It was 6:30 a.m. and they had over an hour until classes started. Harry stood up and fake-bowed to the two women, then turned to Ron and gave a muffled chuckle. "Ladies… Your seats await you!"
"No, Harry… I need to go to breakfast so I can run to the Library. I've decided to start an extra-credit Transfiguration assignment," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows to prove her point.
"I don't believe you," quipped Ron. He was rubbing something off of his robes with his right hand. He looked up, eyes locking with Hermione's. "You probably have… other ideas."
Hermione's eyes widened. "How could you, Ron? I would never lie to you!"
"You've done a good job at it so far, but we know, so you can finally stop."
"We know what, Ron?" Harry questioned. Ron elbowed him in the gut.
The bushy-brown haired girl shot Ron a look, and then to Harry she asked, "Tell me. Tell me what you think, and I will answer with either yes or no." Ron attempted to speak, but Hermione cut him off. "I was directing this commentary to Harry, Ron, not you."
Ron gaped like a fish, shot Hermione a look of death, and glanced, quizzically, at Harry. Harry blinked a few times to try and register his surroundings, but had trouble. Ron elbowed Harry again and whispered something into his ear.
Harry's eyes widened profusely. "She… what?" He looked at Hermione, questions written all over his face, wonder in his eyes. "Is that true, Hermione?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"Is what true?" Ginny protested, glancing at her friends and brother. "Tell me!"
"Bugger off, Ginny," Ron said shortly. Ginny blanched, turned on her heel, and walked out through the portrait entrance.
Ron diverted his attention to the two before him. "Go on. Tell him, Hermione."
"Tell him what Ron?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and she set her lips into a thin line.
"Oh, you know… What you did during the summer… who you got to know a little bit better." He shot her a glance while adding the latter of the two. "About… who you've taken a liking to. Oh, you know… the usual."
Hermione looked bewildered. Does he really know? she asked herself, trying to act and remain calm. He couldn't… not unless he was following me around or something. She shook herself, stared at Ron, and said rather slowly, "I don't know what you're on about."
"You know perfectly well what I'm on about, 'Mione, so don't lie to me. Don't lie to us… we're supposed to be your best friends." His eyes looked pleadingly at her.
"I really don't know what you two are on about," added Harry. "Could you please inform me on what she's lying about?"
"I'm not lying to you about anything," Hermione said shortly. "Maybe I haven't told you, but I haven't been lying. I would never lie to you, and you know that. Maybe you could have asked nicely, instead of assaulting me? But no, you feel compelled to ridicule me in front of all of these people." She stopped and looked at Ron with pain in her eyes. "You're so pig headed, Ron Weasley."
With her words being said, Hermione turned and walked back through the portrait, disregarding the quizzical stare from Harry and the angry look from Ron. Screw them; she didn't need them if they were going to act like asses. On her way to the Great Hall, she bumped into something… or someone.
She staggered backward, recovering herself from the jostling. Whoever she had bumped into was obviously now peeved, and had been able to keep firm ground.
Malfoy…
"Watch where you're going, Granger," was all he induced.
Hermione simply nodded and walked away, entering the Great Hall. She took her normal seat at the Gryffindor table and helped herself to a Breakfast Burrito, bacon, and a mug of Orange Juice. Today is going to be a long day, she decided. And having my five core classes with Ron and Harry will not make the day go by much faster.
She left before either of them entered the Great Hall.
The Library was as secluded as ever. Being Head Girl had it's privileges; she could enter the restricted section of the Library without consent, but she was not allowed to check any out, or bring anyone that did not have consent into the restricted section. Hermione entered the restricted section and skimmed past shelves upon shelves of books.
A book caught her attention. The brass spine-rings and bright gold paint stood out amongst the peeling, shriveled spines of the other books. She pulled it off of the shelf, examining it closely. Venenum. She could use that for her Potions class… maybe receive extra marks for completing a few brews from within.
She put the book back on the shelf. No use going through it yet, if I'm not sure what'll happen. Hermione sighed, gathered her things up around her, and walked out of the Restricted Section, and back through the Library. Class was to begin in two minutes.
She looked over her class schedule.
Monday:
9:00am - Transfiguration
10:30am - Charms
1:00pm - Advanced Astrology
2:30pm - Advanced Muggle Studies
Great, she thought. Transfiguration on a Monday Morning; first thing. She walked into the Transfiguration class and noticed the only open seat… next to Ronald Weasley.
With much reluctance, Hermione took her seat. Ron said nothing to her; instead, he decided that now was a good a time as ever to begin paying attention to what McGonagall had to say. Hermione didn't mind; she took out her Transfiguration book, and listened to McGonagall preach.
"There is a way to become Animagi without the pain of going through the Charm and total Transfiguration spells. This way, however, takes over a month to complete; you must brew a very advanced potion… If the potion is not brewed correctly, there can be dire consequences. Unless you wish to become equivalent that of a Boggart, you would be wise not to try this without supervision from an older, more advanced potion brewer, such as Professor Snape."
Hermione took notes in a frenzy, her Peacock-green colored quill dancing madly across a piece of parchment. Between scribbling down about the most common of animagi forms, Ron leaned over, putting his eyes in a dead lock on her face.
"'Mione… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you like that," he whispered. Hermione stopped taking her notes and turned to him.
"You're admitting that you were wrong?"
"Yes, I'm admitting that I was wrong."
Hermione nearly fell out of her chair. Ron… apologizing? Usually it would take months on end to force him to acknowledge his idiocy… and now, he was just coming out with it. What was wrong with him? "You're… admitting that you were wrong?"
"Do you need me to spell it out for you?" he said through gritted teeth. "Look… I shouldn't have spied on you last night…"
"You did what?"
McGonagall's voice brought them back to their surroundings. "Ms. Granger! Do not talk in class… You are Head Girl… you should have memorized the student handbook by now! Mr. Weasley, that goes for you, too!"
"'Mione…" Ron whispered to her again. "Listen… I just wanted to see what was wrong with you. You were so quiet during the day, and I was worried about you. But then I saw what was going on… and it made me mad… you should know why." He leaned back in his chair, pretending to take notes as McGonagall glanced over their way again.
"Ron, that gives you no reason to spy on me. I'm sorry for being a prat, but I'm still mad at you." She muttered all of this from the side of her mouth.
"Look. I said I'm sorry, and I meant it. We've been friends for over seven years and one stupid row is not going to make us not be friends." Ron looked at her again, eyes pleading. "Don't walk away from us 'cause of something stupid that I said. It's just the way I am."
"Oh Ron…" She sniffled, lunged, and wrapped her arms around his neck. McGonagall stopped in mid-sentence, and a few students murmured. "You're so stupid!"
"You tell me that nearly every day. I know."
McGonagall's voice ripped through the crowd of excited murmurs. "If you wouldn't mind Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, could we please continue our lesson? It may only be the beginning of the year, but it is still of the utmost importance. You have your N.E.W.Ts this year! Five points from Gryffindor!"
Hermione sulked back into her chair. It was the first day of classes, and she had already managed to get points taken away from Gryffindor. Damn him and his stupid way of apologizing, she thought. I'll get him back somehow… The rest of the class, the two took their notes in silence.
When class was over, and the three met out in the hall, Harry was in near shock. "What the bloody hell were you two going off about?" he asked simply, folding his arms across his chest with a Snape-like glare crossing his lips.
"Oh Harry," Hermione whispered. "I'll tell you tonight, alright?" She hugged him tightly, and the three left for their next class; Charms.
Charms was considerably less note-taking form, and more hands-on experience. Hermione was squealing with joy; she was, of course, the first to accomplish the task of disintegrating a Lethifold. Who would have known that reading her Charms textbook during the summer would have lead her to be the first person to do it on the first try? She grinned to herself.
It took Ron three tries to do it right, and Harry did it in two. Ron growled at his Lethifold, which kept scurrying in the cage, attempting to get out of the direct sunlight that shone through the glass windows. Lethifolds do -not- like light.
Professor Flitwick explained. "Lethifolds corrupt the darkest places they can. Sometimes, at night, when they get loose, they trap unsuspecting, sleeping prey… and they suffocate them as they sleep. When people finally realize that their partner or friend is missing, it is too late. The only spell that can totally ruin the Lethifold is the Lightness Charm."
Class ended almost as soon as it had started, it seemed. The trio walked their way into the Great Hall and took their normal seats at the end of the Gryffindor table for lunch. Harry picked up a steaming bowl of mashed potatoes and piled them on all three of their plates. "Fooooood!" he shouted, putting the bowl back down and digging into the potatoes.
"Harry, honestly! You're going to make yourself sick if you eat like that! You need much more nutrition," Hermione snapped, picking up a plate of steamed carrots and dishing them onto each of their plates. "You're going to eat them all, or I'm not going to tell you what I was going to tell you at breakfast," she added, seeing the look of disgust on Harry's face.
Ron spooned a thick stew onto each of their plates. Why did they serve each other? Hermione laughed, eating the stew and watching Ron dribble some down his front. "Have a hole in your lip, Ron? Honestly… Even Neville eats less sloppier than you do!"
At this, Ron's ears turned pink. He glared at Hermione for a second, before scooping up a spoon-full of stew and flipping it toward her. The stew hit Hermione in the chest.
"My new robes! Ronald Weasley! You're going to pay for that!"
Hermione scooped up a handful of mashed potatoes from her plate and threw them, as hard as she could, in Ron's direction. Ron leaned to the side, and the mashed potatoes whizzed past him, and landed, smack-dab in the face of a vicious looking Hufflepuff.
The Hufflepuff squealed, even though it appeared to be a boy. "Whoever did this is going to pay!" it squaked, clearing its face of the gooey mess. The Hufflepuff's friend shouted out 'FOOD FIGHT!' and the entire Great Hall was soon throwing around pieces of food.
Dumbledore, sitting up at the high table, seemed thoroughly amused. He watched the food being thrown through the hall, and even joined in. He scooped up a few pieces of Beef Casserole and threw it at Snape. Snape was none too happy; he glared at the Headmaster menacingly, who simply laughed. He then picked up a large biscuit and chucked it at the old man.
Dumbledore, excited as ever, sat still enough for the biscuit to hit him. He shouted, "Good aim, Severus!" over the tremendous amount of noise coming from the students.
The food fight was finished when the desserts appeared. Everyone calmed down, ate their dessert, and left as soon as they were finished. The Great Hall was as spotless as they had entered when they left; Dumbledore muttered a few incantations, and the mess cleaned itself up.
Hermione ran to Gryffindor tower, into Gryffindor Common Room, and leapt into her dormitory. She had twenty minutes until her next class, and she needed to change her robes. Ron is such an ass, she told herself. Going and ruining my new school robes… Hmph! What would he think if I ruined his?
Their next two classes passed quite well. Hermione was alone in her last two classes for the day, however; Harry and Ron were cooped up in A.P. Divination, and Muggle Literature, a new class, taught by a new professor.
"Wow, take a look at her," Ron had whispered to Harry, looking over their new professor. The lady was dressed in bright yellow robes, her auburn hair tied up at the nape of her neck. She resembled McGonagall, oddly enough, the way her lips set into a thin line, and with her hair put up the way it was. Her eyes shimmered a cloudy, murky brown colour. "New professor, new class… We can make up a few things… and get away with it! Poor girl… hasn't a clue…"
Harry laughed at his friend's antics. Yes, poor teacher, indeed.
The professor introduced herself as Professor Dimitrius, a graduate from Salem Academy in the United States. She had recently moved to England with her fiancée, looking for a job in teaching, after hearing all of the information about needing more professors in the growing country.
She was a relatively nice teacher; she wasn't as strict as McGonagall, but wasn't as lenient as Hagrid. She set her rules, and made it clear what she would not tolerate at once; a Hufflepuff boy blew a bubble from Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, which grew, and grew, until it took up part of the classroom. Professor Dimitrius was forced to deflate it, and gave the Hufflepuff detention.
The three now sat in Gryffindor Common room, talking amongst themselves. Harry sat in the armchair next to the fire, Ginny sitting at his feet and leaning against his legs. He ran his fingers through locks of her hair, gaze locked on the licking flames from the fireplace. Hermione and Ron were engrossed in a game of chess. They had thirty minutes until supper, and with time to waste, why not sit in the common room?
"I'm surprised that you're not in the Library, Hermione," Ginny said, turning her head slightly to talk to the other girl.
"Yes, well… My eyes are cramped from reading too much today, already. I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the day, and get back to reading tomorrow. I can do that, can't I?"
"I'm sorry, Hermione… I didn't mean to sound suggestive. I just would have thought that since you have access to the Restricted Section, you would want to be back there."
"Yes, well, I have all year, haven't I?"
After Dinner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione resumed their seating alongside the fireplace. Ginny had gone up to bed early; her head was hurting her a little bit from all of the ruckus. Ron turned to Hermione. "So… when are you going to tell us, eh?"
"When I feel like it," she said, simply.
"Come on, Hermione! You've told us that you'd tell us after Dinner… so spill the beans!"
"Fine! Come up to my dormitory after a few minutes… I'll tell you then. Use the Cloak." With that, she got up, and left to her Dormitory.
A/N: There you go! Another chapter done… You'll have to wait for another one to give you the results. ~cackle~ Well! Off I go…!