(And here it is.the magical Chapter 6!)
"What are you wearing?" asked Ginny, once they arrived in her room. Hermione opened her trunk and began rummaging through her trunk. She pulled out a black miniskirt and a sweater. Ginny laughed. "Herm, it's not a costume party."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione crossly. She was not having a good day. Between her cat seducing Harry, a disturbing conversation about seeing Viktor naked, and having to save Ron from dying, she was a bit disgruntled. "What do you think I'd be going as in this, a baked potato?"
"I'm just saying that you don't wear clothes like that," soothed Ginny. She joined Hermione in her trunk. "Not to say you don't look gorgeous in these clothes.it's just that they're not you." She looked awkwardly at her friend. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"No, I don't think I do," answered Hermione as she narrowed her eyes. She folded up the skirt and sat on her spare bed. "Enlighten me."
"Well," stumbled Ginny. "It's just that you're Hermione-you like libraries and Hogwarts, A History. You're quiet.you don't like being the center of attention.It's just not like you to be showing off your body in clothes like these."
Hermione was fuming. It was only her dream of converting Ginny to the Goddess that restrained her from cursing the redhead.
One...I hate her! screamed Hermione as she began counting to ten. Two.I WANT TO HIT HER..THREE.WHY THE HELL IS SHE STARING AT ME LIKE THAT..4...WHO THE HELL DOES SHE THINK SHE IS, TELLING ME WHAT I LIKE AND WHAT I DON'T.FIVE.
Hermione lost it at five. "Who do you think you are," she shouted at Ginny. "Telling me what I like and what I don't like. Just because I do my homework and get good grades doesn't mean I don't do fun things also!"
"God, Hermione," said Ginny quietly. "I didn't know you felt like that. I'm sorry, I just didn't--"
"Of course you didn't!" interrupted Hermione. "No one thinks I do other things! I saw your expression when I was talking about Viktor. You don't think he and I would willingly touch each other, do you?" Ginny was silent. "DO YOU?" Hermione huffed and rolled down her turtleneck. She pointed to a red mark on her neck. "WHAT'S THAT, GINNY? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?"
"Hermione, is that a hickey?" exclaimed Ginny. She gaped in awe at her infuriated friend. ""Mione, I never thought you had it in you," she added tearfully.
Hermione rolled down her shirt again and calmed down. "I didn't mean to yell, Gin," she apologized. "It's just that all of my friends just can't accept the fact that I'm a different person than they always thought."
Ginny shrugged and found some of her own clothes to wear to the party. She threw on a pair of jeans and a blue shirt with a low neckline. "We don't need to impress anyone at the party, Herm." She ran a brush through her long red hair. "Just look natural," she added while applying Crimson Dawn lipstick to her mouth.
Hermione was about to comment on the hypocrisy of the situation. ."Whatever," she responded. Similar to Ginny, she found a pair of jeans in her trunk and added a black tank top. Adding jewelry to her ensemble, she was pleased with her reflection.
"Hermione, not to be rude or anything," began Ginny. Hermione looked up from braiding her hair. "But.your scar is rather prominent in what you're wearing."
"She's right , dear," said Ginny's mirror as Hermione pondered what to do about her scar. "You might want to charm it, luv."
To charm it into matching her skin tone was against everything Hermione stood for. By doing that, she was embarrassed of Diana, the woman to whom she owed everything too. But if Katie Bell or any of the guests at the party recognized it, her plan would be over before it could truly begin.
"Merginary," Hermione chanted, pointing her wand to the triangular mark. She nodded at the mirror. "Thank you."
"Not a problem," answered the mirror as it went back to reflecting.
"You know," said Hermione. "We have a half hour before we have to leave for the party. Why don't you go downstairs and I'll finish unpacking?"
"Sounds fine," answered Ginny as she got up from her bed. She paused at the door and turned to look at her friend. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" she questioned.
Hermione laughed and waved a hand. "It's just putting my robes in the closet. I'll be done in fifteen minutes," she predicted.
"Okay." Ginny left Hermione to her unpacking and went outside to join the boys.
"Something is very wrong with Hermione," declared Ron. Harry shrugged.
"Why, because she didn't want your arm around her? No offense mate, but I'd do the same thing if you were to start putting your moves on me." He took another swing of his lemonade.
"Yeah, but the whole fiasco about seeing Viktor naked.that wasn't very Hermione-y like of her." Ron, having recovered from another near-death experience was pondering why Hermione had not been responding to his flirtations.
"No," agreed Harry. "You're right about that."
"You heard her scream at Ginny just now." Ron cocked his head to the house. "She was really letting her have it. Have you ever known Hermione to yell at anyone like that?"
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Besides me," added Ron hastily.
"No," said Harry simply. "It's probably stress," he added a moment later.
"Stress? From what?"
"You know Hermione," shrugged Harry. "She has to be perfect in everything. She's probably spent her summer reading The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six. She's probably taken every single practice N.E.W.T. that she could find."
"True, but she's always been like that," argued Ron. "You don't think anything happened to her in Bulgaria, do you?"
"What do you mean, 'something horrible'," asked Harry ominously.
"Something horrible happened to who?" asked Ginny, bounding out of the house with another pitcher of lemonade. She quickly refilled everyone's glasses, starting with her own.
"Hermione," answered Ron. "We think she's so grumpy and stressed because something happened to her in Bulgaria."
"Maybe not Bulgaria," said Harry suddenly. "You heard what she was saying to Dementia.." A slight blush and smile came to his face at the mention of her name.
Ginny scowled. She'd been spending the past two weeks flirting shamelessly with Harry, and now this Israeli tart waltzes into their lives and already the boy is infatuated. "What was she saying to Dementia?"
"Well, maybe Hermione went to visit Dementia in Israel and she was on a bus and a suicide bomber or a Death Eater or something came on board and tried to kill everyone but she managed to save everyone with her knowledge of magic," said Harry intelligently.
"I'm beginning to see why Hermione is the brains of this group," she commented to a nearby shrub. Harry and Ron ignored this and stared at each other in shock.
"That must be it," breathed Ron. "She's suffering from some kind of post- traumatic shock."
"I guess so," agreed Harry thoughtfully. He took another gulp of his lemonade.
"But what if.oh my God, what if it was something that happened in Bulgaria!" gasped Ron. "What if.that prat Viktor drugged her, dragged her off to his secret lair and had his .wicked way with her!"
"Had his wicked way with her?" quoted Ginny dumbly.
"Oh god, we're so insensitive!" cried Harry to Ron. "Here we are, you flirting with her, me gaping at her friends."
Ginny smiled to herself at the plural of Hermione's friends.
"We even invited her to a party tonight!" exclaimed Ron. "What if it was at a Bulgarian Welcome party that Viktor slipped her something in her non- alcoholic wine in order to make her more susceptible to him?"
"Non-alcoholic wine?" repeated Ginny.
"Of course Ginny." Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Hermione wouldn't touch alcohol. It's a drug, you know," he informed her.
"This from the boy who chugged an entire bottle of Madame Rosmerta's Hard Butterbeer last night," said Ginny again to the shrub.
"We have to protect her!" shouted Harry, pounding his hand on the table. Had Ginny not restrained the lemonade pitcher, it would have spilled over the edge.
"That's right!" emphasized Ron. "NOBODY messes with the trio. Especially the 33% of it that's female and I'm in love with."
Harry and Ron nodded to each other in a very masculine way. Ginny sighed.
"I wonder who the godfather will be," said Ron absently as he poured himself more of the lemony beverage.
"Probably me," answered Harry tactlessly.
"What'd you mean?" asked Ron threateningly.
"Well, face it Ron. I'm more dependable," explained Harry. "Hermione and you are constantly bickering and you don't know the first thing about children, nevertheless anything about religion. Add to that the fact that you're romantically interested in her.No, Ron. It would never work," declared Harry.
"Oh," said Ron.
"So now she's pregnant?" asked Ginny.
"I hope so," said Harry. "It'd be nice to have a little Gryffindor running around Hogwarts."
"They have completely lost their minds," Ginny informed the shrub. "Utterly nutters."
"We have to be very careful with Hermione now," Ron commented to Harry. "She's very vulnerable and she's probably scared."
"We have to assure her that we're here for her. She's going to need us during this school year," predicted Harry.
(In Ginny's Room) "Eye of newt, testicles of a guinea pig." muttered Hermione. "Horn of an albino rhinocerous." She gathered all of her ingredients in a bag. "Tonight I begin Phase Two: Operation Seduction.
Author's Note: oooa cliffhanger! Don't you all just love me? I'll update again tomorrow, or possibly Friday. But before the week is out, mon lieblings!
"What are you wearing?" asked Ginny, once they arrived in her room. Hermione opened her trunk and began rummaging through her trunk. She pulled out a black miniskirt and a sweater. Ginny laughed. "Herm, it's not a costume party."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione crossly. She was not having a good day. Between her cat seducing Harry, a disturbing conversation about seeing Viktor naked, and having to save Ron from dying, she was a bit disgruntled. "What do you think I'd be going as in this, a baked potato?"
"I'm just saying that you don't wear clothes like that," soothed Ginny. She joined Hermione in her trunk. "Not to say you don't look gorgeous in these clothes.it's just that they're not you." She looked awkwardly at her friend. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"No, I don't think I do," answered Hermione as she narrowed her eyes. She folded up the skirt and sat on her spare bed. "Enlighten me."
"Well," stumbled Ginny. "It's just that you're Hermione-you like libraries and Hogwarts, A History. You're quiet.you don't like being the center of attention.It's just not like you to be showing off your body in clothes like these."
Hermione was fuming. It was only her dream of converting Ginny to the Goddess that restrained her from cursing the redhead.
One...I hate her! screamed Hermione as she began counting to ten. Two.I WANT TO HIT HER..THREE.WHY THE HELL IS SHE STARING AT ME LIKE THAT..4...WHO THE HELL DOES SHE THINK SHE IS, TELLING ME WHAT I LIKE AND WHAT I DON'T.FIVE.
Hermione lost it at five. "Who do you think you are," she shouted at Ginny. "Telling me what I like and what I don't like. Just because I do my homework and get good grades doesn't mean I don't do fun things also!"
"God, Hermione," said Ginny quietly. "I didn't know you felt like that. I'm sorry, I just didn't--"
"Of course you didn't!" interrupted Hermione. "No one thinks I do other things! I saw your expression when I was talking about Viktor. You don't think he and I would willingly touch each other, do you?" Ginny was silent. "DO YOU?" Hermione huffed and rolled down her turtleneck. She pointed to a red mark on her neck. "WHAT'S THAT, GINNY? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?"
"Hermione, is that a hickey?" exclaimed Ginny. She gaped in awe at her infuriated friend. ""Mione, I never thought you had it in you," she added tearfully.
Hermione rolled down her shirt again and calmed down. "I didn't mean to yell, Gin," she apologized. "It's just that all of my friends just can't accept the fact that I'm a different person than they always thought."
Ginny shrugged and found some of her own clothes to wear to the party. She threw on a pair of jeans and a blue shirt with a low neckline. "We don't need to impress anyone at the party, Herm." She ran a brush through her long red hair. "Just look natural," she added while applying Crimson Dawn lipstick to her mouth.
Hermione was about to comment on the hypocrisy of the situation. ."Whatever," she responded. Similar to Ginny, she found a pair of jeans in her trunk and added a black tank top. Adding jewelry to her ensemble, she was pleased with her reflection.
"Hermione, not to be rude or anything," began Ginny. Hermione looked up from braiding her hair. "But.your scar is rather prominent in what you're wearing."
"She's right , dear," said Ginny's mirror as Hermione pondered what to do about her scar. "You might want to charm it, luv."
To charm it into matching her skin tone was against everything Hermione stood for. By doing that, she was embarrassed of Diana, the woman to whom she owed everything too. But if Katie Bell or any of the guests at the party recognized it, her plan would be over before it could truly begin.
"Merginary," Hermione chanted, pointing her wand to the triangular mark. She nodded at the mirror. "Thank you."
"Not a problem," answered the mirror as it went back to reflecting.
"You know," said Hermione. "We have a half hour before we have to leave for the party. Why don't you go downstairs and I'll finish unpacking?"
"Sounds fine," answered Ginny as she got up from her bed. She paused at the door and turned to look at her friend. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" she questioned.
Hermione laughed and waved a hand. "It's just putting my robes in the closet. I'll be done in fifteen minutes," she predicted.
"Okay." Ginny left Hermione to her unpacking and went outside to join the boys.
"Something is very wrong with Hermione," declared Ron. Harry shrugged.
"Why, because she didn't want your arm around her? No offense mate, but I'd do the same thing if you were to start putting your moves on me." He took another swing of his lemonade.
"Yeah, but the whole fiasco about seeing Viktor naked.that wasn't very Hermione-y like of her." Ron, having recovered from another near-death experience was pondering why Hermione had not been responding to his flirtations.
"No," agreed Harry. "You're right about that."
"You heard her scream at Ginny just now." Ron cocked his head to the house. "She was really letting her have it. Have you ever known Hermione to yell at anyone like that?"
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Besides me," added Ron hastily.
"No," said Harry simply. "It's probably stress," he added a moment later.
"Stress? From what?"
"You know Hermione," shrugged Harry. "She has to be perfect in everything. She's probably spent her summer reading The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six. She's probably taken every single practice N.E.W.T. that she could find."
"True, but she's always been like that," argued Ron. "You don't think anything happened to her in Bulgaria, do you?"
"What do you mean, 'something horrible'," asked Harry ominously.
"Something horrible happened to who?" asked Ginny, bounding out of the house with another pitcher of lemonade. She quickly refilled everyone's glasses, starting with her own.
"Hermione," answered Ron. "We think she's so grumpy and stressed because something happened to her in Bulgaria."
"Maybe not Bulgaria," said Harry suddenly. "You heard what she was saying to Dementia.." A slight blush and smile came to his face at the mention of her name.
Ginny scowled. She'd been spending the past two weeks flirting shamelessly with Harry, and now this Israeli tart waltzes into their lives and already the boy is infatuated. "What was she saying to Dementia?"
"Well, maybe Hermione went to visit Dementia in Israel and she was on a bus and a suicide bomber or a Death Eater or something came on board and tried to kill everyone but she managed to save everyone with her knowledge of magic," said Harry intelligently.
"I'm beginning to see why Hermione is the brains of this group," she commented to a nearby shrub. Harry and Ron ignored this and stared at each other in shock.
"That must be it," breathed Ron. "She's suffering from some kind of post- traumatic shock."
"I guess so," agreed Harry thoughtfully. He took another gulp of his lemonade.
"But what if.oh my God, what if it was something that happened in Bulgaria!" gasped Ron. "What if.that prat Viktor drugged her, dragged her off to his secret lair and had his .wicked way with her!"
"Had his wicked way with her?" quoted Ginny dumbly.
"Oh god, we're so insensitive!" cried Harry to Ron. "Here we are, you flirting with her, me gaping at her friends."
Ginny smiled to herself at the plural of Hermione's friends.
"We even invited her to a party tonight!" exclaimed Ron. "What if it was at a Bulgarian Welcome party that Viktor slipped her something in her non- alcoholic wine in order to make her more susceptible to him?"
"Non-alcoholic wine?" repeated Ginny.
"Of course Ginny." Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Hermione wouldn't touch alcohol. It's a drug, you know," he informed her.
"This from the boy who chugged an entire bottle of Madame Rosmerta's Hard Butterbeer last night," said Ginny again to the shrub.
"We have to protect her!" shouted Harry, pounding his hand on the table. Had Ginny not restrained the lemonade pitcher, it would have spilled over the edge.
"That's right!" emphasized Ron. "NOBODY messes with the trio. Especially the 33% of it that's female and I'm in love with."
Harry and Ron nodded to each other in a very masculine way. Ginny sighed.
"I wonder who the godfather will be," said Ron absently as he poured himself more of the lemony beverage.
"Probably me," answered Harry tactlessly.
"What'd you mean?" asked Ron threateningly.
"Well, face it Ron. I'm more dependable," explained Harry. "Hermione and you are constantly bickering and you don't know the first thing about children, nevertheless anything about religion. Add to that the fact that you're romantically interested in her.No, Ron. It would never work," declared Harry.
"Oh," said Ron.
"So now she's pregnant?" asked Ginny.
"I hope so," said Harry. "It'd be nice to have a little Gryffindor running around Hogwarts."
"They have completely lost their minds," Ginny informed the shrub. "Utterly nutters."
"We have to be very careful with Hermione now," Ron commented to Harry. "She's very vulnerable and she's probably scared."
"We have to assure her that we're here for her. She's going to need us during this school year," predicted Harry.
(In Ginny's Room) "Eye of newt, testicles of a guinea pig." muttered Hermione. "Horn of an albino rhinocerous." She gathered all of her ingredients in a bag. "Tonight I begin Phase Two: Operation Seduction.
Author's Note: oooa cliffhanger! Don't you all just love me? I'll update again tomorrow, or possibly Friday. But before the week is out, mon lieblings!