Hermione stirred slightly as her eyes came into focus. When she eventually came round, she found McGonagall and Lily staring worriedly at her.
"Are you alright?" McGonagall asked, looking concerned. Hermione nodded and sat up, clutching her cheek.
"Ow, man, he's strong! That really hurt" she complained. McGonagall's face darkened.
"Murky shouldn't have done that. I've never known him to use physical violence before"
"It's my fault really. I shouldn't have let his comment get to me. Also, I think I've humiliated him in front of the entire school" Lily's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Everybody hates him now. You should've seen the look on Professor Dumbledore's face! It was scary, I've never seen him look so angry before!" she shuddered slightly on remembering. Hermione smiled grimly. She knew exactly what Lily meant, she'd seen a scary side to Dumbledore when she was thirteen and the Dementors had made Harry pass out and fall off his broom.
"Do you think I should-?"
"No! You are not to apologize to him!" McGonagall snapped, reading Hermione's mind.
"What did he say to you anyway, Hermione?" Lily questioned, looking curious. Hermione sighed, feeling embarrassed.
"I just told him that I think he should try to control his House because none of the Slytherins show me any respect. He asked me if I was suggesting that and I told him yes. After that, he told me that he'd never tell his students to be respectful to a mudblood like me" Lily and McGonagall both gasped and clapped their hands to their mouths.
"That's it!" McGonagall fumed "I am going to make sure that Murky is fired. Honestly, using a comment like that against another teacher! That's terrible!" and with that said, McGonagall stormed from the Hospital Wing.
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As soon as Hermione entered her class with the Gryffindor seventh years that afternoon, questions of concern immediately rose. Hermione smiled slightly, putting up a hand to silence them, which they did almost instantly.
"I am fine, thank you very much for your concern"
"Murky should be fired!" Frank Longbottom shouted out, looking furious.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore is talking with him now. We'll find out what's happening with him later" Hermione told them. Sirius smiled genuinely at her.
"Hermione that bruise looks nasty" Alice informed her, looking worried.
"I'll be fine. Now stop being fussy, alright? I feel like my mother's here" At that comment, everyone laughed.
The class went by quite smoothly. Needless to say, the Gryffindors greatly respected her for standing up to their evil Potions Professor as she did. As everyone filed out of the class, Hermione didn't fail to notice that Sirius was staying behind, waiting patiently by a desk.
She looked up and locked eyes with him and immediately felt something that made her jump in surprise. She'd felt something rather strange, something that she normally felt only around Harry. Hermione quickly dismissed it as her being tired.
"Yes, Sirius is there anything I can help you with?" she questioned tiredly.
"Well, Hermione, I was wondering, have you ever considered becoming a student here at Hogwarts?" Hermione stared at him in amazement, it was true, she'd never thought of her becoming a student in this time, only a teacher. The idea of her being a student again hadn't even crossed her mind.
"No, not really" she answered truthfully "May I ask why?" Sirius shrugged.
"I just wondered because all of the Gryffindors greatly respect you, but we can't really spend time with you because you're teaching most of the time" Hermione nodded in agreement.
"I just don't want to be taught by Murky" she told him darkly. Sirius nodded and grinned.
"My friends and I will make his life a living hell if he's still teaching here. If he is fired though, will you consider becoming a student?"
Hermione shrugged.
"Truth is Sirius; I've always wanted to be a teacher. Heck, I've only been a teacher for about two days and now you're requesting that I become a student! That's not going to look good on my record now, is it?"
Sirius let out a bark-like laugh, which made Hermione's heart do a double-flip. She shook her head slightly, knowing that she was being ridiculous.
"I'll see you later Hermione" he told her with a kind smile, before exiting the classroom. As soon as he was gone, she slumped down into her chair, wondering why these strange feelings were playing up all of a sudden. She had Harry, her boyfriend, only he was supposed to make her feel this way, not Sirius! She'd only been in the past a mere three days and already she'd developed a crush on the oh-so-handsome Sirius Black. This wasn't supposed to happen! Hermione put her head in her hands; worrying until eventually she fell asleep.
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"Hermione?" Hermione whirled around to see McGonagall standing and looking curious "We've someone in Albus' office who claims to know you, would you please follow me?" Hermione nodded and immediately, her mind became a whirl. It simply had to be someone from the future! Was it Harry or Ron? She sure hoped so! Or maybe it was Sirius or Lupin? It would be wonderful to see a familiar face, other than McGonagall and Dumbledore.
As she opened the door, she saw Dumbledore's smile as he nodded to the person who was sitting down. Hermione's jaw dropped.
"You!" she shrieked, pointing madly at the blonde-haired boy, who was sneering at her.
"Oh, nice to see you too, Granger" Malfoy drawled.
"Malfoy, what on earth are you doing here?"
"I've come to take you back" he stated simply "Seeing as Potter threatened to kill me if I didn't. He felt that I was responsible" Hermione laughed.
"Oh, so you're scared of Harry now, are you? I thought as much!" Malfoy scowled angrily at her.
"Shut up Granger! I've come to take you back and that's all there is to it!"
"Oh really?" Hermione queried, crossing her arms over her chest, an annoyed look on her face "And what makes you think I'll go with you? I mean, you're the person that got me into all this mess"
Malfoy seemed to be getting more irritated by the minute as he ran a hand through his hair to stop himself from shouting at the stubborn female.
"Listen Granger, I'm sorry" he told her, his voice dripping with sarcasm "I admit I was in the wrong and I shouldn't have you a mudblood, I forget how annoyed you get when I call you that" Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously at him.
"I'm not going. I'd rather Harry or Ron take me back. I don't want you taking me back. I don't trust you at all Malfoy. So, if you don't mind, you can go back and tell Harry that I refused" Malfoy clenched his fists and shut his eyes, taking deep breaths to keep himself calm.
"Granger, we have five minutes left before the portal closes. It's taken Snape ages to conjure it and you're just going to be stubborn and not go?! It could take days, months, even years, before he can conjure another one! This one was just a sheer fluke from all of his Potions!" Malfoy told her, his voice rising. Hermione smirked.
"Well, you'll just have to go back on your own then Malfoy because-"
"Like hell I'm going back on my own. Either I go and you come with me or I'm staying! I, not only have to face the wrath of Potty and the Weasel, but also Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore! Do you honestly think I'm going to go back empty-handed?!" Hermione watched Malfoy in horror.
"You are not staying Malfoy! Go back!"
"NO!" Dumbledore and McGonagall watched between the two in amusement, they were both sending each other death glares and it would've been hard to say who would've won if there was a prize for the best death glare.
"Fine" Hermione grumbled in response "Fine, stay then"
"Don't mind if I do" Malfoy told her with a smirk.
"You'll have to be a student then, Mr. Malfoy" Hermione suddenly looked horrified.
"I have to teach him?" she cried. Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes, Miss Granger"
Malfoy's ears suddenly perked up.
"You're a teacher?!" He questioned incredulously, to which, Hermione nodded.
"I teach Defense against the Dark Arts" Malfoy grinned.
"Love to see you teach Granger. Don't tell me that you've taken tips from Lupin, right?" Hermione blushed bright red at this comment and glared angrily at Malfoy.
"Shut it Malfoy!"
"Well" Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together "What House are you in Mr. Malfoy and we'll place you there"
"Slytherin" Malfoy told him, looking proud. McGonagall groaned. Hermione shot her an amused look.
"He's a Slytherin through and through" Hermione told her.
"Great"
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Hermione walked down to her class and jumped about a foot in the air on seeing someone already standing there.
"Hi Hermione" Sirius was standing there, looking incredibly gorgeous. Hermione shook her head.
Stop it! He's Harry's godfather! You shouldn't be having these thoughts about HIM!
"Are you alright Sirius?" Hermione questioned. Sirius shook his head.
"I was hoping if maybe you could tutor me on that Patronus spell you mentioned. I wouldn't mind learning it" Hermione blanched.
"Really?" Sirius nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, James, Remus, Peter, Lily and I wouldn't mind learning it, it sounds like a good idea to learn it, in case we ever bumped into a Dementor"
"Well, where would you want to be to learn it?" she asked.
"In the Gryffindor common room. Some people said that they wouldn't mind watching and learning" Hermione raised an eyebrow; she'd learnt how to produce a Patronus by Harry in her fifth year and she recalled how difficult she'd found it.
"A Patronus is an extremely difficult spell Sirius; you won't get it straight away"
"I know that" Sirius said quickly "But we still want to learn. What night are you free?"
"Tomorrow night if you wish" Hermione sighed.
"Very well"
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The next morning, Hermione was thrilled to discover that Murky had indeed been fired, but to her horror, she had to teach the Slytherins, but Dumbledore had requested that the Gryffindors, who were due to have Potions, should join in her class also. He'd informed that the more Defense against the Dark Arts spells they knew, the better. So, sighing worriedly, she entered the classroom to find something completely unexpected.
James Potter was standing up and facing Draco Malfoy, both of them glaring daggers at each other.
"You should know whose boss around here Malfoy" James told him dangerously.
"Oh, and who would that be? You and your best mates, Puh-lease Potter! That is so pathetic" James blinked stupidly a few times, before questioning.
"How do you know my name?"
"Mione told me" Malfoy said with a smirk. Hermione immediately dropped the books she was holding and stared at Malfoy in shock. He'd just called her Mione! Only Harry and Ron were allowed to call her that!
"Mione?" Sirius questioned, looking to Hermione in confusion. Hermione burned bright red from anger as she stormed over to Malfoy.
"Malfoy, sit down and James, you sit down too! Now!" she snapped. James quickly complied, while Malfoy's gaze lingered on her for a few extra seconds in amusement, before settling himself down.
Hermione quickly walked back over to her books and shakily picked them up. How dare he call her Mione! The nerve of it!
"Hey Mione, nice arse" Malfoy drawled, making some of the guys in the class snigger. Hermione was losing patience rapidly. Just because Malfoy knew her, it didn't give him the right to totally humiliate her!
She stood back up and slammed them onto the desk, making everyone immediately shut up. Malfoy simply continued to smirk at her. Hermione grinned, knowing that what she was about to say next would anger him greatly.
"Draco, wipe that smirk off your face!" she told him. Malfoy's smirk was immediately replaced by anger. He stood up rather abruptly, his hand plunged into his pocket to pull out his wand, but Hermione was too quick for him. She had her wand aimed between his eyes, before he'd even put his hand in his pocket.
"Give me one good reason" she whispered dangerously "And I will" Malfoy glared daggers at her, not really knowing what to do in front of an entire class, which contained of Potter's mother, father, godfather and also Snape.
He grudgingly sat down; while the class exchanged confused and worried looks wondering what was going on between the new guy and Hermione.
"Hey, Mione-"
"That's it Malfoy, just get out of my class!" she shrieked. Malfoy grinned evilly, stood up, walked over to her and said.
"It's a shame you ended up with Harry, I mean, even if you are a mudblood, you're about the only one with brains from our school" he told her.
"Yes, well, considering you were and still are Harry's worst enemy, I'm sure he'd love it if you tried making the move on his girl" she told him sweetly "Now, please get out of my class"
Malfoy shot her one last amused look, before exiting the classroom.
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James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily waited patiently for Hermione as she roughly shoved the last of her work load into a drawer in her desk.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Lily asked timidly. Hermione nodded.
"I'm fine, I just absolutely hate Malfoy. I don't get him anymore. He used to love to humiliate me and call me mudblood whenever he got the chance to at our school, but now, he's finding it hilarious that he can get away with it here!" They all looked sympathetic.
"Add that to him being Harry's worst enemy and you can guess what its like"
"So-are you and Harry still an item then or not?" Remus asked "It's just you told us that you weren't, yet you told him that you were" Hermione ran a hand through her hair, feeling frustrated.
"No. No we're not. But I can't let Malfoy know that. It's-It'll be torture if he found that out. Especially now that he knows that flirting with me is a lot worse than his insults. If he found out about that, then it wouldn't stop" They all looked to each other, feeling sorry for Hermione.
"Anyway" she said, forcing a smile "The Patronus charm. You lot want to learn it, don't you?" Lily looked confused, but Hermione didn't seem to notice.
"Listen, I'll meet you guys in an hour in my classroom. It's more practical than the Gryffindor common room" They all nodded in understanding, yet Lily still remained confused as to what was going on.
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An hour later, Hermione looked up to see Sirius standing there, smiling at her. She furrowed her brows in question, then realized what was going on. It was a setup! The others hadn't wanted to learn the Patronus charm at all; they'd just said it so that Sirius could make his move on her.
She shook her head slightly in amusement, then felt fear well up in her heart. She still felt strange whenever she was near Sirius. Was it a good thing that they were alone in a classroom with no one else for company?
"Hey Hermione, are you okay?" Sirius asked. Hermione nodded, taking a deep breath, before perching herself on the desk. She didn't fail to notice Sirius eyeing her up.
"Sirius, did you really want to learn the Patronus charm or are you just simply interested in trying to get your teacher in bed?" she questioned. Sirius blushed bright red at this question, but stared at her defiantly.
"Fine, I'll admit it. No, I didn't want to learn the Patronus charm at all. In fact Hermione, I find you quite attractive and I wouldn't mind getting to know you, nothing more than that, I mean, I know that you've only just broken it off with your boyfriend" he added hastily.
Hermione smiled and nodded, indicating for Sirius to take a seat.
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"Everything. Tell me everything about you" Sirius told her. He marveled at everything she'd told him, Hermione noted, it was definitely different from being with Harry, that was for sure.
"What about you Sirius?" Hermione asked "Tell me about yourself"
Sirius grinned.
"Well, you know that James, Remus, Peter and I are pranksters. We have a lot of fun with that. Then there's my family" His face darkened.
"I ran away from home when I was sixteen, you see, my family have a thing with all this pureblood rubbish and-"
"Ah, yes, I understand" Hermione murmured grimly.
"But, you see Hermione; I know I sound rather forward when I say this, but . . . I really like you" Sirius told her, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. Hermione was touched at his honesty.
Without warning, Sirius stood up and pressed his lips against hers. It was surprising to say the least, seeing as Sirius hadn't intended on doing something like this at all. It had just happened, as if he was in some sort of trance. Hermione instantly forgot that she was kissing Sirius and thought of Harry and it was only till she opened her eyes and realized who was kissing, that she pushed him roughly away, looking horrified at what she'd done. She quickly gathered up her books and ran off before Sirius could say a word, leaving him left behind, feeling bewildered by what had happened.
Okay, what on earth just happened there? He thought to himself, before heading back to the Gryffindor common room to tell his friends about what had just happened, especially Hermione's strange behaviour.