Pure Happiness
Chapter 10-
Vengeance is Sweet
In the middle of the night, Hermione crept down into the common room quietly, still in her night clothes and clutching a thick wad of parchment. She walked over to the small desk in the corner, grabbed a small candle, and hoarsely whispered a quick spell to light it. Once the room was gently lit, she tiptoed back upstairs into the boy's dormitories and searched for Harry. Once she found him, she prodded him awake.
"'S' matter?" he croaked. Hermione clamped her hand over his mouth.
"Harry, do be quiet, it's only me!" Harry snatched his glasses off his bedside table and put them on. Instantly his face showed relief.
"Cor, Hermione… it's only you," he murmured. "What do you want this late at night?" Hermione sat on his bed and hissed as quietly as she could that she wanted his invisibility cloak. "What for?" Harry inquired.
"I want to go down into the library to study," she said earnestly. "I've got to study for the upcoming event. I don't want to be unprepared!" Harry groaned, but got up and fished for the silky cloak out of his trunk. As he handed it to Hermione, she squealed and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks so much, Harry, I don't know what I could have done without you!" She turned around and raced out of the dormitory.
As Harry crawled back in bed, he heard a voice across from him. "Oh, Harry! You're so wonderful, Harry! Oh, my!" After a few snickers, Harry rolled over and said,
"Oh, shut up, Dean."
Once downstairs, Hermione blew the candle out and escaped through the portrait hall as quietly as she could. However, as soon as the portrait gently clicked back into its proper place, a loud snore turned abruptly into a strangled sort of yell. Terrified, Hermione frantically put on the cloak.
"Who's there?" demanded the old man in the portrait. "Show yourself! No one is allowed out into the hallways this late at night!" Hermione quietly snuck away, feeling a tad guilty about breaking the rules. She was normally so much better behaved. Quickly, she shook the feeling away. She had a job to do.
She entered the dusty old library as quietly as she could. Walking over to the wooden study tables, she was a bit startled when she saw an already lit lantern sitting on one of them. She cautiously set her notes down that table and grabbed a quill with a small inkpot. After finding and opening a thick volume about healing potions, she started to scratch away on her parchment, eager to jot down as much information as she could without getting caught.
However, she stopped abruptly when she heard footsteps behind her. She slammed her book shut as fast as she could, and grabbed all her notes. Thank Merlin she had remembered to keep the invisibility cloak on. She crept into a small corner by the wall, and waited to see what was coming.
When the dark figure came into her view, she positively seethed with anger. The person sat down and dropped a bunch of books onto the countertop. When he brought out his own parchment and started writing, Hermione ripped the cloak off and raced over to him.
"Draco Malfoy!" she yelled. Draco jumped about a foot into the air. When he looked up, he saw a very red Hermione Granger.
"Damn it, Granger. Don't you ever scare me like that again!" he wheezed.
"Oh, do shut up Malfoy. What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she whispered violently. He smirked at her, and she clenched her hands in fists of rage.
"I could ask you the same thing, Mudblood!" Hermione laughed in a defeated sort of way. Sighing, she asked him a question that quite surprised him.
"Is that all, Malfoy? Is that really all you've got? Because honestly, it's not very good material for insults. It's old, Ferret. Old. You've used that same cheeky expression every time you see me, and look now! It has no effect on me whatsoever," she shot at him. "You're washed up, Malfoy. Do you notice now how the school doesn't cringe with fear every single bloody time you walk in the hallways? No. They don't. And it's because you've insulted just about everyone there is so many times that they don't take you seriously anymore. Even Harry doesn't bother hardly as much. So good night, Mr. Malfoy. And I really, honestly hope the bed bugs do bite you tonight."
With that, Hermione turned around swiftly, and left Draco in the library with his very confused thoughts.
The next morning at breakfast, Hermione turned up with little purple bags under her eyes, but she was cheerful nonetheless. She was so delightful to be around that particular morning, that Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown even offered her to sit with them and discuss the upcoming Divination lesson. Hermione politely declined, pointing out that she was no longer a student in that particular class.
That morning's first lesson went by quickly. Hermione was attentive as ever in her least favourite class, Herbology, but still was earnest to learn as much as she could. Afterwards at lunch, Hermione was as fun and easygoing as at breakfast, but her great mood plummeted down at an alarming speed at their next class- Double Potions with the Slytherins.
Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked in, ignoring the taunting Slytherins pointing and guffawing at the Gryffindors as usual. They sat at a table somewhat near the front, and brought out their parchment and quills. The rest of the class slowly filed in, chatting merrily and laughing gaily. That is, until Draco Malfoy and his friends strolled in. They were in such bad moods that everyone quieted down and sat in their seats quickly.
Draco looked a mess. He hadn't bothered to plaster his hair down with gel that morning, and his eyes looked so sunk into his head that it seemed he hadn't slept all night. He growled angrily whenever a student was in his way, and simply pushed them roughly to the side. He slammed his book bag roughly down on one of the back tables, with Crabbe and Goyle on either side. Professor Snape hadn't arrived yet, and the students were sure that he'd do nothing to calm Draco out of his foul mood.
The only students who hadn't quieted down were Hermione, Ron, and Harry. Harry was talking animatedly to Ron and Hermione, and every now and then, Hermione would let out a peal of infectious laughter. Draco sat in the back, glaring at their backs so fiercely that if possible, he would have bore holes into them with his eyes. Finally, after his splitting headache reached an ultimate high, he viciously stood up and raced to the front of the classroom.
"If you bloody heroes wouldn't effing mind, I'd appreciate it immensely if you'd shut the goddamn hell up!" said Draco in a dangerous voice. Harry and Ron looked up at Draco, looking a bit timid. Hermione, however, looked at the boys beside her, and said in a sweet and innocent tone,
"What's wrong, boys? Did you hear somebody? Is Professor Snape coming in?" Draco snarled at her and thrust his arm forward to strike her. However, Hermione had caught his fist in her hand. Slowly, she stood up and said in a low voice, "You know, Draco, you're really starting to piss me off."
Several students gasped. They'd never seen Hermione- or Draco, rather- like this. It was so bad, so wrong, so… entertaining. Hermione stared Draco down, her cinnamon eyes dancing. Draco narrowed his eyes at her, breathing heavily and loudly. This went on for a good minute, until Hermione took her other hand and smacked Draco as hard as she could possibly muster on his cheek.
"Stay the hell away from me and my friends, you despicable excuse for a wizard." She sat down promptly in her seat while Draco howled with pain. She looked nonchalant and acted as if nothing had happened. As Draco was whimpering and walking back to his seat, Professor Snape walked in, looking very annoyed.
"Settle down, settle down! Mr. Malfoy, go back to your seat at once," he said. "Now, please take out your cauldrons. We're going to be studying healing potions today, and I want all of you to pay attention!"
Hermione couldn't have been happier.
A/N: OOH! If I may say so, that was an excellent chapter. I really wanted to write more, but I felt that the chapter would be best if left there.
Special thanks to youngwriter56 and ILUVRONWEASELY! You both made me feel oh-so-special. And I'm glad that youngwriter thinks that I made Draco especially evil!