The next day, when Hermione woke, her face and neck ached from her
collision with the table. She crawled out of bed and saw that her face was
adorned with several bruises, most likely from the force at which she'd hit
her plate. She cursed herself for falling, and didn't want to go to her
classes. Unfortunately, it was the first day, and she couldn't miss.
She brushed her hair and teeth, dressed quickly, and hurried to the Great Hall for breakfast. She saw that most people were finished, so she shoved two pieces of French toast and a glass of pumpkin juice down her throat. She couldn't be late.
Her first class was Arithmancy. Professor Vector introduced herself and gave a comprehensive overview of what they would be covering over the course of the term, which took the entire class period.
Hermione sat by herself, and saw Draco sitting with Pansy Parkinson, who was shooting daggers at her. Hermione cast her gaze away from Pansy and toward Draco, trying to catch his eye. It worked, and he shot her a confused look, staring at her bruises. She dismissed his stare with a hard look, returning her attention to Professor Vector.
Class soon ended, and Hermione loitered around her seat, somewhat waiting for Draco, hoping that Pansy would leave relatively quickly. Hermione wanted to arrange a meeting time between herself and Draco. She put her books in her bag slowly, trying to catch his eye so he would stay.
He caught her questioning stare and shook his head 'no,' surreptitiously gesturing to Pansy, who was waiting for him outside the door. He mimed a writing action, and Hermione nodded. She'd send him an owl when she returned to Gryffindor later that afternoon.
---
She met up with Harry and Ron later in the morning, after she'd gotten out of Divination, when they were in Transfiguration, which was Harry and Ron's first class of each day.
She greeted them with a genuinely happy look upon her face. She was surprised that she was happy to see them. Maybe it was the fact that she could openly talk to them, vs. the clandestine meetings between her and Draco. Then she remembered what they'd done (or, rather, what they hadn't done) the night before, and her smile disappeared.
Harry and Ron finally noticed something she did, and they exchanged perplexed looks.
"What's up?" Harry asked her, showing his confusion.
"I'll tell you later. I don't want to get into it now," she replied shortly.
Without speaking, they sat down in their old places: Harry and Ron, Hermione and Neville. Momentarily, Professor McGonagall came in and began the class. There were no introductions or anything resembling a syllabus. She expected them to know what was going on. They'd been in her class before; they should.
She was telling them that they would begin animal transfigurations, and Hermione's eyes widened. She was very excited. Inanimate objects were fun, but she needed more of a challenge, like she had told Harry and Ron. She looked around the classroom and saw that the rest of the class was as excited as she was.
The Gryffindors were paired with the Ravenclaws in Transfiguration, which was new. They'd never been paired with anyone but the Slytherins in all of their classes. It was nice to have some variety.
Hermione felt eyes on her, and she turned to find the source to be at least half of the Ravenclaws. She glared at them and quickly turned away. Apparently the news hadn't gotten around, which was highly unusual. She raised her eyebrows and then turned back to face Professor McGonagall.
Class went quickly, and Hermione, Harry and Ron booked it out of the classroom. They were hungry, and speed-walked to the Great Hall. Their walk was silent, as was the meal. Hermione was trying to think of what she would say to Harry and Ron when she talked to them about the previous night.
She had a stoic look on her face, staring down at her plate. All she saw were the faces of Harry and Ron. They seemed to be smirking at her. She narrowed her eyes and continued eating, becoming extremely angry. Unfortunately, she couldn't act on it until after classes finished today. She wrinkled her nose and wiped the residue of pumpkin soup from the corners of her mouth. She grimaced, shoving her plate and bowl toward the center of the table, and left.
Their last class of the day was Potions. Hermione was sort of looking forward to it. She wanted to see Draco, but more importantly, try to win over Professor Snape. That had been the only thing she was unable to do last year. She wasn't even sure how she'd begin to do that. He seemed to hate her no matter how she behaved or performed in his class. The next time she met with Draco, she'd have to find out what to do. She made a mental note to ask.
Again, she sat with Neville, who had only just found out about her collision with her dish. He asked her about it, meaning no ill will, and she snapped back, "Leave me alone. That's all I've heard today, and I'm royally sick of it."
Neville shrunk away, taken aback. Hermione had been nothing but kind to him, and now she was snapping at him? He was befuddled. Maybe she was just in a bad mood.
He tried another tack. "Are you okay, then?" he asked timidly.
"Yes. Just perfect," she said in a tone so sharp that it could cut diamonds. She turned away from him and focused her attention on Professor Snape, who had already begun his start-of-term lecture.
"As you know, you are expected to perform at the highest possible standards in this class. Any less is unacceptable. As such, no time shall be wasted. Each moment of class is a precious commodity, and to even come close to succeeding in this class, you must realise it. As it is, I find it ludicrous that I must repeat this to you at the beginning of each term. You should be old and intelligent enough to understand this, but obviously you are not."
He finished his speech with a note of superiority in his voice and the familiar cruel glint in his eyes. He was back; in full force, no less.
Hermione sat at her desk, half-listening. Perhaps. perhaps behaving according to his strict rules would please him. No. she'd tried that already. What else could she do? Her intelligence hadn't impressed him; no, that only seemed to make him resent her even more. Maybe if she acted more like a Slytherin. Perhaps that would work. She could do it. She'd been covertly acting like one for long enough. It might just be worth her while.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a cold voice.
"Are you still with us, Miss Granger?"
Without thinking, she shot back, "Well, sure, now that you so kindly brought me back." She rolled her eyes and continued in the same sarcastic tone, "Thanks for that. You're the greatest."
With that, she cast her eyes back at the paper on her desk and began concentrating again on her thoughts of how to get on his good side. Realising what she'd just done, she thought, crestfallen, that she'd probably just screwed herself over.
'Nice job,' she reprimanded herself.
"Are you listening to me, Miss Granger?"
"Nope. You'll have to repeat yourself," she said, shocked at what was coming out of her mouth. It was like she was possessed by a demon.
Snape's eyes widened, flashing with pure rage.
"Sine when do you feel that you are authorised to speak to me, much less any professor, like that?" he spat angrily.
She fished for an answer and couldn't find one. She raised her eyebrows, shook her head and shrugged her shoulders defiantly.
"I see that you're speechless, as well you should be. As such, you are receiving double detention. If this happens again, I will see to it myself that you are expelled. You are skating on thin ice with hot blades, Miss Granger. I heartily recommend that you watch your step." His cold voice cut to the bones of everyone in the chilly dungeon. Neville, sitting beside Hermione, was quivering in his seat. He refused to look at anything but his fingers, which he was drumming anxiously on the desk.
Snape glared at him. "Stop that insufferable racket, Longbottom."
Neville complied immediately, sharp frightened tears stinging his eyes.
"Miss Granger, fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your attitude, and you'd better be on your best behaviour. You'll find that you will be sent back to the Muggle world in an instant if you aren't."
His cold eyes burned through Hermione's insolent stare. Secretly, he had a newfound respect for her. She was no longer a soft little girl who meekly followed instructions. She was coming into her own, and beginning to be able to stand up for herself. He liked that. Gryffindors were usually spineless children who blindly obeyed every rule. This Granger girl was not one of them. In fact, she was acting more like a Slytherin than a Gryffindor. Much more like a Slytherin. A wicked grin crossed his face, and he reconvened his class.
---
At the end of class, everyone avoided Hermione like she was a leper. Harry and Ron wouldn't even look at her. The Slytherins, however, began giving her dubious appreciative looks. Draco looked like he might actually be proud of her. Even Pansy Parkinson shot her a small smile. This bridge between the Gryffindors and Slytherins was unprecedented. Some of the Gryffindors were slow in leaving, but when they saw the exchanges between Hermione and the Slytherins, they left as quickly as they could.
Before she got all the way out the door, Snape called her to the back of the classroom.
She was a bit nervous. What would he do? She'd acted quite poorly in class today, and she didn't need anyone else to tell her that.
"Miss Granger," he began, the icy tone leaving his voice. "While your behaviour in class today was far below exemplary, it was a refreshing change to your usual sombre attitude. It's time you began sticking up for yourself."
He saw the shock in her eyes and continued with, "This does not mean that I want you to act this way each class period. In fact, I expect you to act with every bit of courtesy that you possess. You are still a student and I am still your teacher. However, your outburst today showed me that you are becoming more of an adult than a child. Keep that up."
He turned from her, robes swirling, and walked back to his table. Hermione stood, speechless, staring after him.
Snape began placing his supplies back in their correct places on their shelves when he felt eyes upon him. He turned around to see Hermione staring at him with a glazed look in her eyes.
"Are you still here, Miss Granger?" he snapped.
She looked up at him. "What do you think? I'm standing here, aren't I?"
He gave her a pained look.
"Just because I showed a sliver of appreciation for your cheek, I don't want to hear it every minute of every day. Like I said, you are skating on thin ice with hot blades. You need to know when to use your sharp tongue and when to hold back," he said sharply, dismissing her with a glance toward the door.
She left feeling like she was walking on air.
'Holy cricket!' she thought. 'He actually respect me. Just what I've been striving for!' She was proud of herself. She'd done it all on her own, without even asking Draco. This really made her day; no, her week!
She smiled a genuine smile while she was walking down the hall. No one could stop her now.
---
Ron and Harry left the Potions dungeon talking quietly to each other. Neither could believe what Hermione had done.
"It's so unlike her!" Ron said, confused. "I wonder what motivated her to do it?"
"I don't know," Harry replied slowly. "She always wanted Professor Snape to respect her, but I doubt this was the way to go about it."
Ron shook his head. "Well, he has a sharp tongue, too." he trailed off.
Harry pondered this for a moment. "I still don't know. I don't think he'd enjoy anyone sassing back to him. Even if it is Snape."
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. How about asking her? She's coming up behind us."
Sure enough, when Harry turned around, he saw Hermione walking their way with her head down. She looked upset.
"Hey 'Mione," Harry said gently. "How are you?"
"How do you think I am?" she snapped. "I just had a professor chastise me for something other than my intellect."
"So?" Ron countered. "We get that all the time."
Hermione glared at him. "The thing about this issue is that I couldn't care less about smarting off to him. In fact, I'm proud of myself for doing it. I hate being quiet Hermione who never objects to anything. I hate being the 'typical' Gryffindor. I have my own life and my own opinions. If people don't share them, that's fine, but I'm still going to make myself heard."
Both Harry's and Ron's eyes were widening with every word she spoke. Was this really Hermione?
"But.but." Ron sputtered, staring at her in disbelief.
"But what?" she shot back. "'But Hermione isn't like this!' 'What's wrong with Hermione?' Let me tell you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with me! I already said how tired I was of being boring, uptight Hermione. I have the right to change my personality to fit my changing needs, don't I?" Her eyes dared them to challenge her.
They didn't. Instead, they backed away slowly, as if they were frightened of her. They were, a little bit. What had happened to the Hermione they knew?
---
The Gryffindors ignored Hermione at dinner. It was nothing new anymore. They would sneak questioning glances at her frequently, but would turn back quickly, embarrassed, if she caught them staring at her. She didn't care. In fact, she liked the attention. It was nice to be recognised for something other than her academic success. Sure, they would probably still hate her, but she didn't give a flying crap. She didn't want them to like her. She didn't like them, or their constant jabber about being the best because they were Gryffindors. She rolled her eyes. They would soon find out how wrong they were.
---
After dinner, she tried to beat everyone else back to the common room, but it didn't work. She climbed through the portrait hole and all eyes were on her. It felt like they were trying to reproach her for her actions in class. She wasn't swayed by this. She shot them dirty looks as she passed them on her way to the dormitories. She hoped Lavender and Parvati weren't there yet.
She was in luck. They hadn't yet arrived. She flopped down on her bed and cracked open her books. Even though she was the new, "bad" Hermione, she still had homework, and she wouldn't quit doing it.
She realised, however, in the midst of doing her Transfiguration homework, that she still had to confront Ron and Harry about what they hadn't done the other night. Her eyes narrowed and looked away from her books. They focused on photo that rested on her nightstand. It was of her, Harry and Ron, all looking happy. The picture had been taken right before the end of last term. It was before Ron had shared his feelings for her, before the real anger and bitterness had set in. She thought on the photo momentarily, her face softening for a second. Maybe they weren't all bad.
'Snap out of it,' she scolded herself. 'You've gone too far to go back. Besides, you don't want to be a little priss like they are, do you?'
She didn't.
Suddenly she heard footsteps coming up the stairs to her dormitory. The voices that accompanied them were giggling loudly.
Defeated, she thought, 'Here come Lav and Par. I don't want to deal with them now.'
Too late. They entered the dormitory, saw Hermione, and stopped laughing. They tried to look away from her, but their eyes wouldn't let them. They were intrigued by her. Here she was, doing her homework, acting like nothing was different, but just a few hours ago she'd been a fireball. When did this switch happen? They looked at each other, Parvati motioning for Lavender to ask what was up with Hermione. Lavender in turn bit her lip and shook her head, hoping that if she waited long enough, Parvati would ask.
Neither of them had to wait long. When Hermione felt their eyes boring holes into the back of her head, she whipped around to face them angrily.
"I suppose you're going to ask me why I did it, too?" she snapped. She saw two sets of frightened eyes staring back at her. 'Good,' she thought, irritated. "Well?" she demanded. She wasn't going to let them go.
Lavender hit Parvati, hard, to tell her to answer Hermione. She took the hint and said, "Well, yeah.I guess.it's just."
".not like me?" Hermione sneered.
"Well.yeah." Lavender stammered.
"Yeah. Right. Like I told the dynamic duo downstairs, I'm plain sick of being good, quiet, obedient Hermione, as I'm sure you've guessed," she paused, shooting them dirty looks. She continued, "So I'm changing. Either you like it or you deal with it. We'll be living together, so I suggest you at least deal with it."
She turned back to her books and was about to resume studying when Parvati said irritably, "What if we don't want to deal with it?"
Hermione turned around again, giving Parvati the coldest stare she'd ever mustered.
"What if you don't want to deal with it? I'll tell you what to do if you don't want to deal with it. A little wisdom from me to you: kiss my ass!"
With that, she stood and walked out in search of Harry and Ron. She had a fish to fry with them.
---
She found them lounging in the common room talking to Oliver Wood and Ron's brother Percy. She didn't care what they were talking about, or who was in the room. She was furious now. They deserved her wrath.
They saw her coming toward them, and, upon seeing the look on her face and the pace at which she was walking, abruptly stopped talking and stared at her. This caused Oliver and Percy to see what was the reason for which they stopped talking. They saw Hermione, flamingly angry. Oliver and Percy quickly excused themselves. She probably didn't want to talk to them anyway. They moved across the room to where they wouldn't be involved but could still hear what was going on.
"Hi, 'Mione," Ron said, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"Don't 'hi' me, buster," she growled. "I have a bone to pick with the two of you."
They looked at her, confused. What had they done?
"What did we do?" ventured Harry
"It's more like what didn't you do!" she sputtered. "You remember that first night before classes?"
They nodded. Where was this going?
"I'm sure you recall what happened that night, then, too."
They nodded again, looking at her with confused eyes.
"My problem is that you didn't do a damned thing! You didn't even see me! Your brother was the only one who saw. With that response time, I bet a Slytherin saw me first." She paused, her stare burning holes in them. Continuing, she said, "You're supposed to be my two best friends. You didn't notice me at all during that meal. You really hurt my feelings. How could you do that?" She was visibly upset.
They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finally Ron spoke.
"I'm sorry. We were too caught up in everything else."
"That's a crap excuse! I'm your friend! You shouldn't be too caught up to spend time with me! Maybe this friendship isn't as important to you as it was to me." She ignored the hurt looks on their faces. She didn't want to feel guilty. She hardened her heart and set her mouth in a thin line.
She glared at them and they shrank back. They were upset with her, sure, but more so with themselves. If they had known it meant so much to her, they would have apologised and tried to make it up to her. It didn't look like that was an option now.
She whirled around, leaving them staring after her. Could they do anything to fix this?
---
She left the room, head held high, words still ringing in her ears. 'Maybe this friendship isn't as important to you as it is to me' struck a real chord with her. Her 'friendship' with Draco was incredibly important to her, but was it as important to him as it was to her? Did she want to know? She wasn't sure. If it wasn't, then she'd really be all alone. She hoped that it was, for her sake. She didn't want to ask. She didn't want her heart broken like it had been so many times before.
---
Harry and Ron stared after her, stunned. She'd never, ever flown off the handle at them before. Why? They knew she was upset with them, but.why all of the violent anger? What was the point?
They looked at each other, completely speechless. Their eyes showed their confusion. They'd probably lost their chances. She was probably lost to them forever now.
They turned back to the common room and saw nearly everyone looking at them. The others were probably intrigued by what Hermione had done too. So unlike her.
'But then, so many things are unlike her now,' Ron thought. 'Perhaps she really isn't the Hermione we thought she was. Maybe she's hated us ever since that first day.' He thought back to the first night and cringed. They had been so cruel to her then, and expected her to forgive them right away. She had, maybe; at least outwardly. If she was acting out like this, maybe it had been festering for a long time. He sighed. He felt awful, knowing that this could partially be his fault. 'But,' he reasoned with himself, 'if it was my fault, then it was Harry's, too, because he was involved as well.' Again he sighed.
Harry had similar feelings. He felt awful about what they'd done. They didn't deserve her as a friend. She deserved someone who cared. 'Not us,' he thought sorrowfully. He'd really gotten attached to her, grown accustomed to her face. They both had.
But there was nothing they could do about it anymore. The damage had been done, and all they could do was survey the wreckage.
---
Sorry it's taken so long to do this! This semester has been a bitch, and I've been trying to do all of my schoolwork, have a life, and then squeeze this in between the rest of it. Oh, and if you were wondering about the Hermione/Sev thing, it's coming. My characters have just run away from me and are frolicking in the glee of not being controlled by me anymore. I hope to get them back on track and behaving again. I'll be busy these next few weeks but working hard to get at least one more chapter up before I go home for the summer. Then I'll have unlimited time. --Lauren
She brushed her hair and teeth, dressed quickly, and hurried to the Great Hall for breakfast. She saw that most people were finished, so she shoved two pieces of French toast and a glass of pumpkin juice down her throat. She couldn't be late.
Her first class was Arithmancy. Professor Vector introduced herself and gave a comprehensive overview of what they would be covering over the course of the term, which took the entire class period.
Hermione sat by herself, and saw Draco sitting with Pansy Parkinson, who was shooting daggers at her. Hermione cast her gaze away from Pansy and toward Draco, trying to catch his eye. It worked, and he shot her a confused look, staring at her bruises. She dismissed his stare with a hard look, returning her attention to Professor Vector.
Class soon ended, and Hermione loitered around her seat, somewhat waiting for Draco, hoping that Pansy would leave relatively quickly. Hermione wanted to arrange a meeting time between herself and Draco. She put her books in her bag slowly, trying to catch his eye so he would stay.
He caught her questioning stare and shook his head 'no,' surreptitiously gesturing to Pansy, who was waiting for him outside the door. He mimed a writing action, and Hermione nodded. She'd send him an owl when she returned to Gryffindor later that afternoon.
---
She met up with Harry and Ron later in the morning, after she'd gotten out of Divination, when they were in Transfiguration, which was Harry and Ron's first class of each day.
She greeted them with a genuinely happy look upon her face. She was surprised that she was happy to see them. Maybe it was the fact that she could openly talk to them, vs. the clandestine meetings between her and Draco. Then she remembered what they'd done (or, rather, what they hadn't done) the night before, and her smile disappeared.
Harry and Ron finally noticed something she did, and they exchanged perplexed looks.
"What's up?" Harry asked her, showing his confusion.
"I'll tell you later. I don't want to get into it now," she replied shortly.
Without speaking, they sat down in their old places: Harry and Ron, Hermione and Neville. Momentarily, Professor McGonagall came in and began the class. There were no introductions or anything resembling a syllabus. She expected them to know what was going on. They'd been in her class before; they should.
She was telling them that they would begin animal transfigurations, and Hermione's eyes widened. She was very excited. Inanimate objects were fun, but she needed more of a challenge, like she had told Harry and Ron. She looked around the classroom and saw that the rest of the class was as excited as she was.
The Gryffindors were paired with the Ravenclaws in Transfiguration, which was new. They'd never been paired with anyone but the Slytherins in all of their classes. It was nice to have some variety.
Hermione felt eyes on her, and she turned to find the source to be at least half of the Ravenclaws. She glared at them and quickly turned away. Apparently the news hadn't gotten around, which was highly unusual. She raised her eyebrows and then turned back to face Professor McGonagall.
Class went quickly, and Hermione, Harry and Ron booked it out of the classroom. They were hungry, and speed-walked to the Great Hall. Their walk was silent, as was the meal. Hermione was trying to think of what she would say to Harry and Ron when she talked to them about the previous night.
She had a stoic look on her face, staring down at her plate. All she saw were the faces of Harry and Ron. They seemed to be smirking at her. She narrowed her eyes and continued eating, becoming extremely angry. Unfortunately, she couldn't act on it until after classes finished today. She wrinkled her nose and wiped the residue of pumpkin soup from the corners of her mouth. She grimaced, shoving her plate and bowl toward the center of the table, and left.
Their last class of the day was Potions. Hermione was sort of looking forward to it. She wanted to see Draco, but more importantly, try to win over Professor Snape. That had been the only thing she was unable to do last year. She wasn't even sure how she'd begin to do that. He seemed to hate her no matter how she behaved or performed in his class. The next time she met with Draco, she'd have to find out what to do. She made a mental note to ask.
Again, she sat with Neville, who had only just found out about her collision with her dish. He asked her about it, meaning no ill will, and she snapped back, "Leave me alone. That's all I've heard today, and I'm royally sick of it."
Neville shrunk away, taken aback. Hermione had been nothing but kind to him, and now she was snapping at him? He was befuddled. Maybe she was just in a bad mood.
He tried another tack. "Are you okay, then?" he asked timidly.
"Yes. Just perfect," she said in a tone so sharp that it could cut diamonds. She turned away from him and focused her attention on Professor Snape, who had already begun his start-of-term lecture.
"As you know, you are expected to perform at the highest possible standards in this class. Any less is unacceptable. As such, no time shall be wasted. Each moment of class is a precious commodity, and to even come close to succeeding in this class, you must realise it. As it is, I find it ludicrous that I must repeat this to you at the beginning of each term. You should be old and intelligent enough to understand this, but obviously you are not."
He finished his speech with a note of superiority in his voice and the familiar cruel glint in his eyes. He was back; in full force, no less.
Hermione sat at her desk, half-listening. Perhaps. perhaps behaving according to his strict rules would please him. No. she'd tried that already. What else could she do? Her intelligence hadn't impressed him; no, that only seemed to make him resent her even more. Maybe if she acted more like a Slytherin. Perhaps that would work. She could do it. She'd been covertly acting like one for long enough. It might just be worth her while.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a cold voice.
"Are you still with us, Miss Granger?"
Without thinking, she shot back, "Well, sure, now that you so kindly brought me back." She rolled her eyes and continued in the same sarcastic tone, "Thanks for that. You're the greatest."
With that, she cast her eyes back at the paper on her desk and began concentrating again on her thoughts of how to get on his good side. Realising what she'd just done, she thought, crestfallen, that she'd probably just screwed herself over.
'Nice job,' she reprimanded herself.
"Are you listening to me, Miss Granger?"
"Nope. You'll have to repeat yourself," she said, shocked at what was coming out of her mouth. It was like she was possessed by a demon.
Snape's eyes widened, flashing with pure rage.
"Sine when do you feel that you are authorised to speak to me, much less any professor, like that?" he spat angrily.
She fished for an answer and couldn't find one. She raised her eyebrows, shook her head and shrugged her shoulders defiantly.
"I see that you're speechless, as well you should be. As such, you are receiving double detention. If this happens again, I will see to it myself that you are expelled. You are skating on thin ice with hot blades, Miss Granger. I heartily recommend that you watch your step." His cold voice cut to the bones of everyone in the chilly dungeon. Neville, sitting beside Hermione, was quivering in his seat. He refused to look at anything but his fingers, which he was drumming anxiously on the desk.
Snape glared at him. "Stop that insufferable racket, Longbottom."
Neville complied immediately, sharp frightened tears stinging his eyes.
"Miss Granger, fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your attitude, and you'd better be on your best behaviour. You'll find that you will be sent back to the Muggle world in an instant if you aren't."
His cold eyes burned through Hermione's insolent stare. Secretly, he had a newfound respect for her. She was no longer a soft little girl who meekly followed instructions. She was coming into her own, and beginning to be able to stand up for herself. He liked that. Gryffindors were usually spineless children who blindly obeyed every rule. This Granger girl was not one of them. In fact, she was acting more like a Slytherin than a Gryffindor. Much more like a Slytherin. A wicked grin crossed his face, and he reconvened his class.
---
At the end of class, everyone avoided Hermione like she was a leper. Harry and Ron wouldn't even look at her. The Slytherins, however, began giving her dubious appreciative looks. Draco looked like he might actually be proud of her. Even Pansy Parkinson shot her a small smile. This bridge between the Gryffindors and Slytherins was unprecedented. Some of the Gryffindors were slow in leaving, but when they saw the exchanges between Hermione and the Slytherins, they left as quickly as they could.
Before she got all the way out the door, Snape called her to the back of the classroom.
She was a bit nervous. What would he do? She'd acted quite poorly in class today, and she didn't need anyone else to tell her that.
"Miss Granger," he began, the icy tone leaving his voice. "While your behaviour in class today was far below exemplary, it was a refreshing change to your usual sombre attitude. It's time you began sticking up for yourself."
He saw the shock in her eyes and continued with, "This does not mean that I want you to act this way each class period. In fact, I expect you to act with every bit of courtesy that you possess. You are still a student and I am still your teacher. However, your outburst today showed me that you are becoming more of an adult than a child. Keep that up."
He turned from her, robes swirling, and walked back to his table. Hermione stood, speechless, staring after him.
Snape began placing his supplies back in their correct places on their shelves when he felt eyes upon him. He turned around to see Hermione staring at him with a glazed look in her eyes.
"Are you still here, Miss Granger?" he snapped.
She looked up at him. "What do you think? I'm standing here, aren't I?"
He gave her a pained look.
"Just because I showed a sliver of appreciation for your cheek, I don't want to hear it every minute of every day. Like I said, you are skating on thin ice with hot blades. You need to know when to use your sharp tongue and when to hold back," he said sharply, dismissing her with a glance toward the door.
She left feeling like she was walking on air.
'Holy cricket!' she thought. 'He actually respect me. Just what I've been striving for!' She was proud of herself. She'd done it all on her own, without even asking Draco. This really made her day; no, her week!
She smiled a genuine smile while she was walking down the hall. No one could stop her now.
---
Ron and Harry left the Potions dungeon talking quietly to each other. Neither could believe what Hermione had done.
"It's so unlike her!" Ron said, confused. "I wonder what motivated her to do it?"
"I don't know," Harry replied slowly. "She always wanted Professor Snape to respect her, but I doubt this was the way to go about it."
Ron shook his head. "Well, he has a sharp tongue, too." he trailed off.
Harry pondered this for a moment. "I still don't know. I don't think he'd enjoy anyone sassing back to him. Even if it is Snape."
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. How about asking her? She's coming up behind us."
Sure enough, when Harry turned around, he saw Hermione walking their way with her head down. She looked upset.
"Hey 'Mione," Harry said gently. "How are you?"
"How do you think I am?" she snapped. "I just had a professor chastise me for something other than my intellect."
"So?" Ron countered. "We get that all the time."
Hermione glared at him. "The thing about this issue is that I couldn't care less about smarting off to him. In fact, I'm proud of myself for doing it. I hate being quiet Hermione who never objects to anything. I hate being the 'typical' Gryffindor. I have my own life and my own opinions. If people don't share them, that's fine, but I'm still going to make myself heard."
Both Harry's and Ron's eyes were widening with every word she spoke. Was this really Hermione?
"But.but." Ron sputtered, staring at her in disbelief.
"But what?" she shot back. "'But Hermione isn't like this!' 'What's wrong with Hermione?' Let me tell you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with me! I already said how tired I was of being boring, uptight Hermione. I have the right to change my personality to fit my changing needs, don't I?" Her eyes dared them to challenge her.
They didn't. Instead, they backed away slowly, as if they were frightened of her. They were, a little bit. What had happened to the Hermione they knew?
---
The Gryffindors ignored Hermione at dinner. It was nothing new anymore. They would sneak questioning glances at her frequently, but would turn back quickly, embarrassed, if she caught them staring at her. She didn't care. In fact, she liked the attention. It was nice to be recognised for something other than her academic success. Sure, they would probably still hate her, but she didn't give a flying crap. She didn't want them to like her. She didn't like them, or their constant jabber about being the best because they were Gryffindors. She rolled her eyes. They would soon find out how wrong they were.
---
After dinner, she tried to beat everyone else back to the common room, but it didn't work. She climbed through the portrait hole and all eyes were on her. It felt like they were trying to reproach her for her actions in class. She wasn't swayed by this. She shot them dirty looks as she passed them on her way to the dormitories. She hoped Lavender and Parvati weren't there yet.
She was in luck. They hadn't yet arrived. She flopped down on her bed and cracked open her books. Even though she was the new, "bad" Hermione, she still had homework, and she wouldn't quit doing it.
She realised, however, in the midst of doing her Transfiguration homework, that she still had to confront Ron and Harry about what they hadn't done the other night. Her eyes narrowed and looked away from her books. They focused on photo that rested on her nightstand. It was of her, Harry and Ron, all looking happy. The picture had been taken right before the end of last term. It was before Ron had shared his feelings for her, before the real anger and bitterness had set in. She thought on the photo momentarily, her face softening for a second. Maybe they weren't all bad.
'Snap out of it,' she scolded herself. 'You've gone too far to go back. Besides, you don't want to be a little priss like they are, do you?'
She didn't.
Suddenly she heard footsteps coming up the stairs to her dormitory. The voices that accompanied them were giggling loudly.
Defeated, she thought, 'Here come Lav and Par. I don't want to deal with them now.'
Too late. They entered the dormitory, saw Hermione, and stopped laughing. They tried to look away from her, but their eyes wouldn't let them. They were intrigued by her. Here she was, doing her homework, acting like nothing was different, but just a few hours ago she'd been a fireball. When did this switch happen? They looked at each other, Parvati motioning for Lavender to ask what was up with Hermione. Lavender in turn bit her lip and shook her head, hoping that if she waited long enough, Parvati would ask.
Neither of them had to wait long. When Hermione felt their eyes boring holes into the back of her head, she whipped around to face them angrily.
"I suppose you're going to ask me why I did it, too?" she snapped. She saw two sets of frightened eyes staring back at her. 'Good,' she thought, irritated. "Well?" she demanded. She wasn't going to let them go.
Lavender hit Parvati, hard, to tell her to answer Hermione. She took the hint and said, "Well, yeah.I guess.it's just."
".not like me?" Hermione sneered.
"Well.yeah." Lavender stammered.
"Yeah. Right. Like I told the dynamic duo downstairs, I'm plain sick of being good, quiet, obedient Hermione, as I'm sure you've guessed," she paused, shooting them dirty looks. She continued, "So I'm changing. Either you like it or you deal with it. We'll be living together, so I suggest you at least deal with it."
She turned back to her books and was about to resume studying when Parvati said irritably, "What if we don't want to deal with it?"
Hermione turned around again, giving Parvati the coldest stare she'd ever mustered.
"What if you don't want to deal with it? I'll tell you what to do if you don't want to deal with it. A little wisdom from me to you: kiss my ass!"
With that, she stood and walked out in search of Harry and Ron. She had a fish to fry with them.
---
She found them lounging in the common room talking to Oliver Wood and Ron's brother Percy. She didn't care what they were talking about, or who was in the room. She was furious now. They deserved her wrath.
They saw her coming toward them, and, upon seeing the look on her face and the pace at which she was walking, abruptly stopped talking and stared at her. This caused Oliver and Percy to see what was the reason for which they stopped talking. They saw Hermione, flamingly angry. Oliver and Percy quickly excused themselves. She probably didn't want to talk to them anyway. They moved across the room to where they wouldn't be involved but could still hear what was going on.
"Hi, 'Mione," Ron said, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"Don't 'hi' me, buster," she growled. "I have a bone to pick with the two of you."
They looked at her, confused. What had they done?
"What did we do?" ventured Harry
"It's more like what didn't you do!" she sputtered. "You remember that first night before classes?"
They nodded. Where was this going?
"I'm sure you recall what happened that night, then, too."
They nodded again, looking at her with confused eyes.
"My problem is that you didn't do a damned thing! You didn't even see me! Your brother was the only one who saw. With that response time, I bet a Slytherin saw me first." She paused, her stare burning holes in them. Continuing, she said, "You're supposed to be my two best friends. You didn't notice me at all during that meal. You really hurt my feelings. How could you do that?" She was visibly upset.
They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finally Ron spoke.
"I'm sorry. We were too caught up in everything else."
"That's a crap excuse! I'm your friend! You shouldn't be too caught up to spend time with me! Maybe this friendship isn't as important to you as it was to me." She ignored the hurt looks on their faces. She didn't want to feel guilty. She hardened her heart and set her mouth in a thin line.
She glared at them and they shrank back. They were upset with her, sure, but more so with themselves. If they had known it meant so much to her, they would have apologised and tried to make it up to her. It didn't look like that was an option now.
She whirled around, leaving them staring after her. Could they do anything to fix this?
---
She left the room, head held high, words still ringing in her ears. 'Maybe this friendship isn't as important to you as it is to me' struck a real chord with her. Her 'friendship' with Draco was incredibly important to her, but was it as important to him as it was to her? Did she want to know? She wasn't sure. If it wasn't, then she'd really be all alone. She hoped that it was, for her sake. She didn't want to ask. She didn't want her heart broken like it had been so many times before.
---
Harry and Ron stared after her, stunned. She'd never, ever flown off the handle at them before. Why? They knew she was upset with them, but.why all of the violent anger? What was the point?
They looked at each other, completely speechless. Their eyes showed their confusion. They'd probably lost their chances. She was probably lost to them forever now.
They turned back to the common room and saw nearly everyone looking at them. The others were probably intrigued by what Hermione had done too. So unlike her.
'But then, so many things are unlike her now,' Ron thought. 'Perhaps she really isn't the Hermione we thought she was. Maybe she's hated us ever since that first day.' He thought back to the first night and cringed. They had been so cruel to her then, and expected her to forgive them right away. She had, maybe; at least outwardly. If she was acting out like this, maybe it had been festering for a long time. He sighed. He felt awful, knowing that this could partially be his fault. 'But,' he reasoned with himself, 'if it was my fault, then it was Harry's, too, because he was involved as well.' Again he sighed.
Harry had similar feelings. He felt awful about what they'd done. They didn't deserve her as a friend. She deserved someone who cared. 'Not us,' he thought sorrowfully. He'd really gotten attached to her, grown accustomed to her face. They both had.
But there was nothing they could do about it anymore. The damage had been done, and all they could do was survey the wreckage.
---
Sorry it's taken so long to do this! This semester has been a bitch, and I've been trying to do all of my schoolwork, have a life, and then squeeze this in between the rest of it. Oh, and if you were wondering about the Hermione/Sev thing, it's coming. My characters have just run away from me and are frolicking in the glee of not being controlled by me anymore. I hope to get them back on track and behaving again. I'll be busy these next few weeks but working hard to get at least one more chapter up before I go home for the summer. Then I'll have unlimited time. --Lauren