AN- Ok, here we go with Chapter 10. Extra late, and mostly filler stuff. Ducks tomatoes
Hermione sat next to Seamus and Neville at the match, but she wasn't very focused on the game. Hermione didn't much like Quidditch, but she went to the matches anyways. Ron and Harry would be so disappointed if she didn't.
The crowd around her leapt to it's feet and cheered. Hermione glanced up and saw Ron holding the Quaffle, looking for a chaser to pass it to. He heaved it toward Ginny, but it fell a bit short of her, and a Ravenclaw chaser intercepted it. Jack Sloper sent a bludger careening in that direction, but it missed by a good margin.
Hermione turned back to her work, an analysis of adrenaline affects magical power. She had a theory that adrenaline might be directly linked to the strength of a spell. Perhaps the chemical affected the magical in a different way than it did muggles. After all, there was supposed to be a certain amount of pain you could feel before you go into shock. Shock, in muggles, was caused by adrenaline thickening the blood temporarily. But wizards seemed not to have that convenient affect. So Hermione theorized that that was what made wizards and witches different from muggles, at least in part.
She was distracted by screams and cheers erupting around her. Harry, it seemed, had caught the snitch, and won the game. Hermione allowed herself to be swept up in the torrent of Gryffindors charging toward the Boy-Who- Lived, intent on throwing another party.
The party lasted until almost 1 in the morning, but Hermione had managed to escape by 11, with the excuse that she needed to get up early and study. She smiled back on her friends as she walked up the stairs. They were playing some silly game, trying to bounce a ball off their feet. "It works much better with an actual Hacky-Sack," Hermione called back to them, and transfigured her quill into one for them to use. Harry, with a brilliant smile, caught the toy and stuffed the ball in his pocket.
Once she woke up the next morning, Hermione dressed speedily, and headed downstairs to the common room. When she got there, she found Harry and Ron enthusiastically discussing yesterday's Quidditch match against Ravenclaw.
"So I was flying against Cho, right," she heard Harry saying, "when all the sudden, I see the snitch. But it's way closer to her, so I pull off this awesome move, and I'm heading in the opposite direction. She tries to follow, and I swoop underneath her and around, and I grab it like this!" Harry tossed a small, gold, ball into the air, then launched himself toward over the chair, caught it and thumped onto the carpet.
Hermione couldn't suppress a giggle. Harry emerged, red-faced, from the pillows, and asked her, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing," Hermione replied, red-faced. "But we'd better get down to Potions, because Professor Snape doesn't put up with tardiness."
"Nasty ol' bat, he is," was Ron's opinion on the Professor and his policies.
"Ron," Hermione reproached, "he's still a Hogwarts teacher..."
"Aw, give it up 'Mione!" Ron exclaimed emphatically. "He's never gonna like you, no matter how much you suck up to 'im!"
"Well, he's still a teacher," Hermione insisted, and hurried them out.
Severus Snape stalked down to his dungeons in a fowl mood. It was time for his 7th year Gryffindors and Slytherins, his least favorite class. Joy. When he got there, he assigned a potion, then went back to his desk to grade some papers.
Every few moments while marking he would glance up and make sure the class was under control. At one point, when he watched them, he saw Draco Malfoy walking up to Potter. Severus craned his neck to see what the boy was up to...
"Hey Potter," said Malfoy, dropping into a stool next to the other.
"What do you want?" asked Harry tersely, focusing on his task at hand, namely chopping earthworms into 3 cm lengths.
"Oh, not much," Draco replied casually, "Just wondered how that report went after I'd left."
Unnerved by the civility with which he was now being presented with, Harry fumbled for words, "Erm, well, I didn't find anything, or whatever."
Draco raised an eyebrow lazily, and responded, "Alright then, thanks for the update. I assume we don't have to do the report now that they've returned?"
"I don't think so," Harry affirmed, "But I'll check with Dumbledore."
"Alright then," and with that, Draco headed back to his own table, thoroughly pleased with himself. He had gotten the gold dust on Potter, and had made his nemesis completely confused...
Snape's mind jolted. Draco and Potter's conversation had triggered a memory! Not total recall, but Severus came to the remembered that he and Hermione had gone to the future, and SLAM! It was as though a huge steel door had swung shut, and he couldn't remember any more, which, naturally, frustrated him to no end. And, as was typical for him, he took out his anger on the students, assigning them a 2 foot essay to be handed in in a scant 3 days.
Later that night, Draco Malfoy was allegedly his essay. But in actuality, he was spying on Potter again.
IHarry sat next to Hermione in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was sprawled on the floor. They were all working on Snape's essay, and Harry said, "Malfoy was acting really weird today."
"Aw, he's just a nasty ferret," was Ron's reply.
"No, it was odd, he was being, I dunno, decent."
"Well, Harry," said Hermione, "Maybe he's trying to turn over a new leaf. If he's willing to make an effort at being a better person, then you should respond in kind."
"But 'Mione," exclaimed Ron. "He's Malfoy!"
"An excellent observation Ron, maybe you will make it as an Auror," was the promptly dispatched response. Harry smiled at his friends, and turned back to his essay./I
Draco was jerked back to reality by his father's hand yanking him to his feet. "Father?"
"Obviously. Hurry up, you useless fool. You're invited to tonight's meeting, and I can't remain long or Dumbledore will detect me!"
"But, but how did you get here?" asked Draco, scrambling up.
"Idiot! You are Head Boy, are you not? You have your own fireplace, do you not? I just used some of my ministry connections to have your fireplace connected. Hurry up, you useless boy! We've only a 5 minute window!"
Draco yanked rumpled black robes from his closet and threw them over his school clothes. He took the proffered mask from his father, and, with only a moment of hesitation, followed his parent into the Floo.
AN2- Short. Rather boring. But the plot takes a major step in the next chapter, which I swear to you will be out 15th.
Hermione sat next to Seamus and Neville at the match, but she wasn't very focused on the game. Hermione didn't much like Quidditch, but she went to the matches anyways. Ron and Harry would be so disappointed if she didn't.
The crowd around her leapt to it's feet and cheered. Hermione glanced up and saw Ron holding the Quaffle, looking for a chaser to pass it to. He heaved it toward Ginny, but it fell a bit short of her, and a Ravenclaw chaser intercepted it. Jack Sloper sent a bludger careening in that direction, but it missed by a good margin.
Hermione turned back to her work, an analysis of adrenaline affects magical power. She had a theory that adrenaline might be directly linked to the strength of a spell. Perhaps the chemical affected the magical in a different way than it did muggles. After all, there was supposed to be a certain amount of pain you could feel before you go into shock. Shock, in muggles, was caused by adrenaline thickening the blood temporarily. But wizards seemed not to have that convenient affect. So Hermione theorized that that was what made wizards and witches different from muggles, at least in part.
She was distracted by screams and cheers erupting around her. Harry, it seemed, had caught the snitch, and won the game. Hermione allowed herself to be swept up in the torrent of Gryffindors charging toward the Boy-Who- Lived, intent on throwing another party.
The party lasted until almost 1 in the morning, but Hermione had managed to escape by 11, with the excuse that she needed to get up early and study. She smiled back on her friends as she walked up the stairs. They were playing some silly game, trying to bounce a ball off their feet. "It works much better with an actual Hacky-Sack," Hermione called back to them, and transfigured her quill into one for them to use. Harry, with a brilliant smile, caught the toy and stuffed the ball in his pocket.
Once she woke up the next morning, Hermione dressed speedily, and headed downstairs to the common room. When she got there, she found Harry and Ron enthusiastically discussing yesterday's Quidditch match against Ravenclaw.
"So I was flying against Cho, right," she heard Harry saying, "when all the sudden, I see the snitch. But it's way closer to her, so I pull off this awesome move, and I'm heading in the opposite direction. She tries to follow, and I swoop underneath her and around, and I grab it like this!" Harry tossed a small, gold, ball into the air, then launched himself toward over the chair, caught it and thumped onto the carpet.
Hermione couldn't suppress a giggle. Harry emerged, red-faced, from the pillows, and asked her, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing," Hermione replied, red-faced. "But we'd better get down to Potions, because Professor Snape doesn't put up with tardiness."
"Nasty ol' bat, he is," was Ron's opinion on the Professor and his policies.
"Ron," Hermione reproached, "he's still a Hogwarts teacher..."
"Aw, give it up 'Mione!" Ron exclaimed emphatically. "He's never gonna like you, no matter how much you suck up to 'im!"
"Well, he's still a teacher," Hermione insisted, and hurried them out.
Severus Snape stalked down to his dungeons in a fowl mood. It was time for his 7th year Gryffindors and Slytherins, his least favorite class. Joy. When he got there, he assigned a potion, then went back to his desk to grade some papers.
Every few moments while marking he would glance up and make sure the class was under control. At one point, when he watched them, he saw Draco Malfoy walking up to Potter. Severus craned his neck to see what the boy was up to...
"Hey Potter," said Malfoy, dropping into a stool next to the other.
"What do you want?" asked Harry tersely, focusing on his task at hand, namely chopping earthworms into 3 cm lengths.
"Oh, not much," Draco replied casually, "Just wondered how that report went after I'd left."
Unnerved by the civility with which he was now being presented with, Harry fumbled for words, "Erm, well, I didn't find anything, or whatever."
Draco raised an eyebrow lazily, and responded, "Alright then, thanks for the update. I assume we don't have to do the report now that they've returned?"
"I don't think so," Harry affirmed, "But I'll check with Dumbledore."
"Alright then," and with that, Draco headed back to his own table, thoroughly pleased with himself. He had gotten the gold dust on Potter, and had made his nemesis completely confused...
Snape's mind jolted. Draco and Potter's conversation had triggered a memory! Not total recall, but Severus came to the remembered that he and Hermione had gone to the future, and SLAM! It was as though a huge steel door had swung shut, and he couldn't remember any more, which, naturally, frustrated him to no end. And, as was typical for him, he took out his anger on the students, assigning them a 2 foot essay to be handed in in a scant 3 days.
Later that night, Draco Malfoy was allegedly his essay. But in actuality, he was spying on Potter again.
IHarry sat next to Hermione in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was sprawled on the floor. They were all working on Snape's essay, and Harry said, "Malfoy was acting really weird today."
"Aw, he's just a nasty ferret," was Ron's reply.
"No, it was odd, he was being, I dunno, decent."
"Well, Harry," said Hermione, "Maybe he's trying to turn over a new leaf. If he's willing to make an effort at being a better person, then you should respond in kind."
"But 'Mione," exclaimed Ron. "He's Malfoy!"
"An excellent observation Ron, maybe you will make it as an Auror," was the promptly dispatched response. Harry smiled at his friends, and turned back to his essay./I
Draco was jerked back to reality by his father's hand yanking him to his feet. "Father?"
"Obviously. Hurry up, you useless fool. You're invited to tonight's meeting, and I can't remain long or Dumbledore will detect me!"
"But, but how did you get here?" asked Draco, scrambling up.
"Idiot! You are Head Boy, are you not? You have your own fireplace, do you not? I just used some of my ministry connections to have your fireplace connected. Hurry up, you useless boy! We've only a 5 minute window!"
Draco yanked rumpled black robes from his closet and threw them over his school clothes. He took the proffered mask from his father, and, with only a moment of hesitation, followed his parent into the Floo.
AN2- Short. Rather boring. But the plot takes a major step in the next chapter, which I swear to you will be out 15th.