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P atreo n . com (slash) erebormarkus (Remove spaces)
Hermione Granger was proud of her intellect.
However, that same trait led her to make questionable choices that most witches wouldn't dare to make. If the logic behind the decision was sound, Hermione would choose to do it no matter the moral consequences.
That was Hermione's way of thinking since childhood, but there was a point where the direction of her thoughts switched. Well, two points, really.
When Harry jumped on the troll to save her during their first year, Hermione put him on a shortlist of people that she truly trusted and cherished. Even now, that list only contained her parents and Harry. Getting put on that list meant that Hermione went out of her way to ensure her actions wouldn't harm Harry. She even chose to proactively report the Firebolt that Harry received on the minuscule chance that it was a trap. It made Harry angry at Hermione, but that was a price she would pay to keep him safe.
The second point where Hermione started to think differently was after Harry cast the patronus to save Sirius Black. Ever since Harry saved her from the troll, Hermione's only goal was to keep him safe and happy. Now that goal had changed to make Harry a wizard that would be revered by everyone.
That wasn't an option before. Sure, Harry was kind and heroic, which deserved Hermione's friendship, but that didn't mean he was a powerful wizard. In fact, Hermione thought that Harry was quite average since his schoolwork was mediocre at best. All of that was thrown out when he cast a spell that wizards decades older would have failed at, and that was without considering the power behind the spell to repeal hundreds of dementors.
The historical records that Hermione had scoured hinted at the rare few who had that type of power, and most of them had gone on to reshape the world in their image. Ever since then, Hermione looked at Harry far differently.
He was still her dearest friend, but he was now also the key in which the magical world could be changed for the better. From the moment Hermione stepped into this world, the wonder and excitement of magic had been quickly smothered in favor of disappointment and disgust.
All of this magic had gone to waste in the hands of the lazy, bigoted, and useless purebloods who held onto their diminishing power zealously. Not only did they make the magical world disappointing for Hermione, but they also seemed to have no real threat as competition to their influence in the short term.
Her Harry would change that. Hermione had no desire to patiently wait for the system to change organically. What she desired was a change in the status-quo in her lifetime, and if that required a little bit of force? Then so be it.
But before all of those grand plans, Hermione had to get rid of Harry's love of being average. With a bit of effort, Hermione was sure that Harry would have been able to keep up with her in schoolwork. At the beginning of their fourth year, she even tried to convince him to drop Divination and take up Ancient Runes to no avail.
What made Hermione furious was the reason Harry gave her. He didn't want to ditch Ron and drop such an easy class.
Sometimes she wondered if Harry was a pureblood himself with how much he took magic for granted. But that was unfair of her. Hermione noticed how tightly Harry grabbed onto Ron and herself, as if taking his attention away from them would make them disappear. It was sweet that he was such a good friend, but the attachment to Ron was detrimental to Hermione's plans.
She set out to change that.
A simple potion that exaggerated Ron's jealousy towards Harry would do the trick. Hermione made it slow-acting so it would seem more natural, and Harry getting picked for the Triwizard tournament appeared to be the trigger. Ron foolishly stuck to believing that Harry was lying about entering the tournament and was on the outs with Harry.
Hermione loved it.
She also loved that Harry was entered into the tournament. Sure, Hermione would have to teach the person who entered her closest friend into a dangerous event a harsh lesson, but this was the perfect opportunity to make Harry realize his own power. He was competing with students who were older and thus had more knowledge, and Hermione knew of Harry's selective competitiveness. She just had to transfer his attitude in quidditch to this tournament.
Though, with the way he was devouring these books, Hermione didn't think she would have much of a problem.
"I still can't believe that they brought in real dragons! What on earth are they thinking?"
Harry glanced at Hermione before focusing on the spell he was reading. Forming giant manacles out of stone might be helpful in the first task… if he was able to learn something this advanced.
Hermione huffed and continued her rant, "Not only that, but the staff are turning a blind eye to Malfoy's ridiculous badge! By not saying anything, the students are going to take it as a silent approval!"
Harry rolled his eyes, "Is that really a surprise, Hermione? Ever since we started Hogwarts, we've been taking care of ourselves with little help from the teachers."
Hermione crossed her arms and glared at the book Harry was reading. She supported that he was actively trying to learn new magic, but that book only contained spells that were defensive in nature. That was perfectly fine, if there wasn't a fire-breathing monster looking to cook Harry alive in a few days.
Hermione got up and went straight to the book that would be far more effective. Plus, the spells in this book were stunningly difficult to cast. Hermione tried her hand at it and failed miserably. However, the book did say that only magicals of age would be able to have a moderate amount of success. Not only would the book be genuinely helpful for Harry, but Hermione would also be able to make Harry push himself.
First, that pesky little note about the recommended age needed to disappear. Hermione lifted her wand and reluctantly vanished the page with a shuddering breath. She despised people who desecrated books, but Hermione had no choice but to be a hypocrite. She knew if Harry saw that page with the recommended age, he would immediately use that as an excuse to give up and try to find easier spells.
Hermione had justified that uncharacteristic action, but she didn't know it would be the gateway for far more horrifying acts in the distant future.
Harry was too forgiving.
Hermione had neglected to give Ron the usual potions, mainly because she didn't think it was necessary anymore, and that had been a mistake. She should have known that a simple apology from the lazy redhead would be enough for Harry to welcome him back.
She was back in the library looking over the various books that she noted for having potential. It was a shame that Harry was off doing nothing productive with Ron again. Hermione had already decided to have a little talk with the Weasley about the issues he was causing. She didn't want to deprive Harry of his first friend, but if things didn't change, she really would have no choice.
Hermione shook her head in disappointment. It would have been much easier if Harry hadn't been such a pushover for his friend. She conveniently ignored that this also benefited her quite often.
On the bright side, the first task was spectacular! Harry didn't cast any offensive spells to 'Avoid injuring the poor dragon.' Still, the stone manacles restraining the monster and a flame-freezing charm worked perfectly. Hermione remembered rolling her eyes at Harry's excuse for not hurting the dragon, but at least he looked at ease while casting fairly difficult magic. She was glad he didn't follow Professor Moody's ridiculous suggestion of using the firebolt. Hermione didn't know how a piece of wood could possibly stand up against a dragon.
"Excuse me, you are Herm-own-ninny?"
Hermione was broken from her musing to see Victor Krum standing in front of her. She frowned in distaste when she realized how badly he butchered her name. Still, Hermione didn't want to spend too much time on him, so she ignored it.
"Yes. What do you need, Mr. Krum?"
"I am vanting you to go to the ball with me. You agree?"
Hermione tilted her head and wondered why he would invite her. Perhaps Krum wanted to her help him against Harry? Hermione doubted it, but she honestly couldn't think of another reason. She was sure he noticed how uninterested she was in being his fan, so Krum surely had known that his fame did nothing for her. Hermione shrugged it off and decided that going to the ball with the Bulgarian wouldn't hurt. She could treat it as a curiosity while ensuring he had nothing planned against Harry.
"Yes, I agree. I'll see you then, Mr. Krum."
Hermione went right back to her reading and vaguely noticed that Krum had stood in the same place for a few minutes before finally leaving. She briefly thought that Krum might actually be attracted to her but threw that thought away. Even if it was true, it made no sense for Hermione to have her first romance with a much older boy who lived in another country. That seemed like a massive waste of time.
The days following up to the ball were worse than usual. Not only did Hermione have to endure Harry mooning over Cho Chang like a besotted fool, but she also had to experience Ron's poorly worded invitation to the ball. She would have never accepted it purely because of the end goal of separating him from Harry, but the sheer disbelief that Ron had on his face when Hermione said she already had a date couldn't be forgiven easily. Hermione didn't care too much about her appearance as long as she looked presentable, but she would make it a goal to doll up for the ball out of pure spite.
Hermione noticed Harry awkwardly trying to bridge the growing gap between his friends. It was also noticed that he leaned more toward her side. That was an unexpected boon. Harry would usually pretend that a fight wasn't happening and willed it away with feigned obliviousness. The fact that he was taking sides, especially Hermione's side, was good news.
On the day of the ball, Hermione looked at herself critically in the mirror. With the help of Lavender, Hermione had to admit that she was surprisingly pretty. A liberal amount of Sleekeazy's hair potion, a dab of make-up, and a form-fitting dress did wonders for her looks. Hermione didn't usually consider herself physically attractive, but doing so right now would be illogical.
Ron Weasley's face when he saw her made all of the effort worth it to Hermione. More importantly, Hermione noticed the stunned look Harry had on his face. She noticed that he didn't moon over Chang and instead found his eyes constantly on her. Hermione instantly recognized it as attraction, which she didn't expect.
While dancing with Krum, Hermione's mind was filled with musings of what to do with this new discovery. She wasn't too interested in relationships, and while that might change in the future, that meant Hermione had to pretend to be oblivious to Harry's looks for now.
This did, however, give her new possibilities.
The new school year was churning out many unpleasant surprises. Not only did a ministry stooge have a teaching position, but a certain asian girl was also getting far too chummy with Harry.
Hermione's eyes twitched when she noticed Cho Chang hovering in the background as the club wrapped up its meeting. Chang had made it annoyingly obvious that she was interested in Harry. Hermione wouldn't have minded in most situations, but that girl had her boyfriend killed and her reaction was to go after the boy that was there during the murder.
Hermione saw issues with that.
"I'll be right back, Harry."
Hermione walked towards Chang with Harry staring after her. She knew what the black-haired wizard wanted. Hermione had already decided that deepening the relationship was the natural step with Harry. Even though she wasn't ready for the next level quite yet, Hermione would still take action to stake her claim.
Chang stiffened as Hermione got closer and looked as if she was about to face a rival. Hermione scoffed at that in her mind. As if someone like Chang had any right to look at her like that.
"Cho!" Hermione greeted with an obviously fake smile.
"Hermione."
"You don't have to help clean up every time," Hermione continued as if she didn't notice the glare from Chang, "Harry will have me for help."
"That doesn't mean he wouldn't like others helping."
Hermione had to credit Lavender for having the patience to have conversations like this. Roundabout sentences with nothing directly mentioned. She didn't like it.
With a roll of her eyes, Hermione gave up the pathetic effort she was making to sound… not like herself.
"Look, stay away from Harry. He doesn't need an emotional wreck trying to latch onto him while Voldemort is out there."
Chang flinched at the dark lord's name but stiffened her shoulders. "You have no right to talk to me like that!" Cho shot back, "And you know what? I think I want to hear that from Harry himself!"
Hermione tilted her head curiously as she watched Chang storm to Harry and say something to him. Judging by Harry's expression, Hermione assumed that he didn't mind what he heard. This was still an easily fixable situation, so Hermione focused on what went wrong. Maybe she shouldn't have been so blunt with her warnings. When she went over the short interaction, Hermione decided that she needed to learn how to speak differently depending on the situation.
As she blankly watched Harry receive a kiss on the cheek from Chang, Hermione wished that Ron was still close enough to Harry to stick around and be an obstacle. Those potions worked just a little too well in making Ron distance himself from Harry this year. The redhead still talked to Harry in passing, but Hermione could confidently say that Ron no longer had a 'best friend' label. It was what she wanted, but even Hermione had to admit Ron's brashness would work wonders in dissuading Chang.
Hermione had her arms crossed as the asian girl gave her a triumphant look before leaving the room. She idly wondered whether it was a problem that there was no jealousy when Harry received that kiss on the cheek. From what Hermione knew, it was expected to feel some emotions when a girl was getting close to a boy you liked. After a few moments, Hermione decided she didn't feel threatened because Chang simply wasn't a real threat. She was confident that Harry would drop Chang when she made her interest known.
"Er… Hermione? You ready to go?"
Hermione glanced at Harry and briefly considered asking what Chang wanted simply to see his reaction. She eventually decided to pretend that she didn't care and replied with a smile, "Of course, Harry. You want to go down to the library?"
Hermione had to hide a smile when a disappointed look flashed on Harry's face.
As predicted, Chang wasn't hard to get rid of. Hermione didn't even need to do anything to make it happen. It turned out that Chang was a weepy mess and made Harry's first kiss a disaster. Hermione briefly debated cursing Chang for daring to kiss her Harry, but she realized that this could be something positive. Hermione would be able to show Harry what a real kiss felt like.
Before all that, she had to deal with this situation.
Hermione had tricked Umbridge into following her into the forbidden forest to search for some 'secret weapon.' Honestly, Hermione was once again disappointed by the employees of the Ministry of Magic. Even a child in the muggle world would have realized something was wrong in this situation. Nonetheless, this worked out for Hermione.
"Just a little further, Professor."
Hermione ignored the pompous bragging along with the insults to her blood that Umbridge spat out and focused on getting to the destination. She had initially intended to lead Umbridge to the centaurs, but Hermione kept remembering the scar of Harry's hand. It wouldn't have mattered if the scars were on anybody else, but not Harry.
The centaurs were discarded as an option.
Hermione knew it was likely that Umbridge would have left unscathed if she was taken to them. That wouldn't do after the pain she had caused Harry. Hermione remembered what Harry had experienced in their second year and decided that death by Acromantula would be a fitting end to this monster of a witch.
"I can't hope to get past this tree. Professor Dumbledore warned that only teachers of Hogwarts are allowed to."
Complete bullshit that even a first-year would find suspicious, but considering Umbridge's intellect, Hermione didn't bother trying harder.
"Move aside!"
Hermione restrained herself from drawing her wand when she was pushed aside. Umbridge confidently strode forward and looked around for anything that looked like a weapon.
"Well? Where is it?"
"You need to walk a little further, Professor. Just a little to your right."
Hermione eyed the giant spider hanging down from the tree that Umbridge was walking to. There was a chance that the pink-loving witch would look up to see the monster, but Hermione would just stun her and be done with it. However, She preferred that Umbridge be aware of the death that was hanging above her. The terror and helplessness would be part of the punishment for the pain she caused Harry.
"Did you just bring me out here to waste my time?! I'm warning you, Granger, I'll have you expelled if you are!"
Hermione ignored the ranting and watched as the Acromantula slowly descended. With a smile, Hermione said, "I don't think you will."
"Wha— AAAHHHHHHHH."
Umbridge was cut off as she was pulled up into the spider's web and quickly wrapped in silk. The screams turned into muffled wailing as Umbridge's mouth was covered and continued until the Acromantula's bite put her to sleep.
When she left the forest, Hermione had a happy smile on her face.
Sometimes Hermione wondered if fate wanted Ron and Harry together. After all of her work to keep them apart, Dumbledore left Ron something in his will. Of course, Harry took that as a sign that the redhead had to come with them to hunt for the Horcruxes. Hermione was just glad that neither of them seemed too happy with that decision.
"WE'VE BEEN GOING IN CIRCLES! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT WE HAVE TO DO?"
Hermione stood a few feet away from the screaming match that randomly started. Once again, she mentally patted herself on the back at her success.
That necklace was dangerous, and while Hermione hated to wear it, there was no other way to make Ron do the same. She did make sure that Ron was exposed the most to the locket's effects.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE THEN? LEAVE!"
And there was Harry with his short temper. Hermione was proud to feel the magical aura that billowed out from Harry's body. That resulted from Hermione's efforts in the past few years after making Harry learn powerful magic.
"FINE!"
Hermione quirked a brow when Ron turned to her.
"What about you?"
Hermione scoffed and simply said, "Leave the locket."
Ron's face grew an ugly red as he flung the locket to the ground and stormed out of the camp. Hermione muttered, "Good riddance," before looking at Harry.
He had a disappointed look on his face as he stared at the silver locket. He blankly said, "When did Ron become like that? He always had a problem with jealousy, but he was a good mate in the end. Now it seems like he's someone completely different."
Hermione slowly walked to Harry before wrapping her arms around him in a soft hug. She smiled when he returned the hug and buried his face into her hair. Hermione was glad that she started to tame it after Harry's reaction to her at the yule ball.
"People change, Harry. Ron might have been a good friend when we were younger, but friendship doesn't always last."
Hermione didn't mention that she was the reason it fell apart. It was still something she regretted, but Ron was too much of a bad influence on her Harry.
Harry tightened his grip on her waist before he asked, "Does that include you too?"
Hermione was about to just deny it before pausing. This was a perfect time to change their relationship.
She pulled away to look Harry in the eyes and smiled when he looked down at her lips. With a determined tone, Hermione replied, "Never."
Harry's eyes bulged when he felt soft lips on his own. He floundered in panic before following Hermione's lead and kissed her back. This was much better than the salty wetness that Cho put on him after the DA meeting.
He would have loved to continue this, but a rapidly hardening problem in his trousers made Harry pull away with a blush. Judging Hermione's amused expression, she knew precisely why he pulled away.
"Er… why'd you do that?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "That's the first thing you say? I like you, Harry. I liked you for a long time, and I was tired of being just friends."
"Oh."
"Yes, Oh," Hermione said with a giggle.
"I like you too."
Hermione rolled her eyes again and pulled Harry into another kiss. This time there was a lot more tongue involved as Harry and Hermione explored each other's mouths like the teenagers they were.