Timeline Harry Potter - after Order of the Phoenix. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after Chosen.
Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.
A/N When I wrote this chapter, I knew that it was very out of character for Hermione, but she's just had a big change to deal with in her life, so she had to react to it some way. And I have to admit, I wanted to write this, 'cause it was fun! If it's really awful, or you take exception to it, just review and let me know (constructively!).
She had spent much of her time in the library the past few days, ever since Dumbledore had called her out of Transfiguration. Mainly it was to avoid Harry and Ron, whom, Dumbledore had suggested, it would be better not to inform of Hermione's ... role just yet. She agreed; she didn't feel ready to tell them, and was in truth slightly scared of how they would react.
All the time spent in the library was also partly to try and come to terms with the revelation. The incident with Malfoy in the corridor was clear to her now, but she was reluctant to try out any more of her power. Reluctant, and, again, scared.
Looking down at the book on the desk infront of her, Hermione sighed. She should just get it over with. "Come on, Hermione," she muttered under her breath. "Don't be such an idiot." Then, quickly, so she wouldn't lose her courage, she flipped the book open to a certain page headed "The Legend of the Vampire Slayer" and began to read.
* * *
A short while later, Hermione left the library, under the watchful glare of Madam Pince. It was rather late at night, but it was a Friday, and also Seamus' birthday, so the Gryffindor common room was not going to be the quietest of places.
Hermione, however, was no longer bothered about this. She felt numb inside. "The life expectancy of the Vampire Slayer is notoriously short and always has been ..." Hermione didn't quite feel she was ready to die fighting the forces of evil just yet. She hadn't even sat her NEWTs for God's sake.
When she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who eyed her wearily and said "It's quite a party they're having in there ... I hope you're not going to add to the noise", she gave the password ("Vampire", by some cruel coincidence) and entered.
It was obviously later than she had thought - no wonder Madam Pince had been giving her such filthy looks - because the common room was almost empty apart from -
"Awright, 'Mione!" yelled Dean from an armchair, as he passed the bottle of Old Ogden's Firewhisky to Seamus. She rolled her eyes. As a prefect, she knew she should report them, or at least tell them off. Recently, she couldn't be bothered, much to the delight of some of the younger Gryffindors and the confusion of some of the older students.
"D'you want to try a drop, Hermioneeeeeeeeeeeee?" One of the armchairs in front of her revolved slowly, revealing Ron, draped over the cushions like a boneless amphibian, with the bottle clutched askew in one hand.
Hermione's eyebrows shot up in spite of herself. "Ron!" she admonished.
"Oh c'mon Hem - Hern - Hermy - join in the partaaaaaaaaaay." She turned round this time, not daring to believe that Harry could be quite so stupid as to join in. Harry, glasses askance, had Neville - Oh dear God thought Hermione - hooked under the arms and was hoisting his unconcious form onto the large sofa. Harry grimaced. "Nevvy don't hold 'is drink so well." Behind her Ron, Dean and Seamus sniggered.
"Ah, c'mon, 'Mione, you only live once," Ron said, before she could stomp upstairs to the girls' dormitory. She stopped ... life expectancy ... notoriously short ... She turned round. Ron was holding the bottle in an unsteady hand towards her, and without really believing what she was doing, she took it and gulped down a mouthful of the amber liquid. It was like a fire in her belly, a hot burning sensation that made her feel properly real for the first time in days.
Dropping down beside Harry on the couch next to Ron, she took another mouthful and passed him the bottle, as it did another round of their small circle.
* * *
"How zis? 'Dearest Parvati, I fink your gorg ... grov ... goeorge ... really pretty, so do you wanna ...'?" Dean looked at Hermione, who giggled and shook her head. He frowned, then scrunched up the piece of parchment on which he was now proposing unspeakable things to Parvati Patil and chucked it on the pile of illegible scribbles already littering the floor. He, Seamus and Ron, bent their heads towards a fresh piece of parchment. Hermione dropped onto the armchair beside Harry, who was vaguely patting Neville's head, and took yet another gulp of the Firewhisky before passing it back.
"List'n to this," she said, picking a ball of parchment from underneath her. " 'Parvati, Roses are red, violets are blue, Padma is sexy, so so are you'. Oh yes, how could Parvati possibly resist that. Give it up, boys!" Harry laughed and took the parchment from her hand. He screwed it into a ball again and chucked it lazily at the bin. And missed by several yards. Tutting, Hermione pulled out her wand and muttered " 'ccio parment". Unsurprisingly nothing happened, so she grabbed another discarded piece of parchment and launched it at the bin. It made a high arch in the air and fell neatly into the basket.
"Wow, 'Mione, how d'you do that?" Harry murmured thickly.
"S'easy," she said, trying to tap the side of her nose and missing completely. " 'Scoz ... is coz ..." She leaned forward towards Harry, bumping her head against his by accident. " 'Scoz ma Slerr, Harry. Ma Vam'r Slerr."
"Woss that?" he replied curiously. But Hermione had passed out on his shoulder. He looked towards the other three, who had now joined 'Nevvy' and 'Hermy' in the land of nod. Two seconds later, Harry was with them, the smell and taste of Firewhisky fresh in his mouth.