Important: There is going to be a flashback to "the night before" at the end of every chapter, and, by the end, hopefully, you will all understand what unfolded that night. The message is going to appear at the beginning of each too, since I'm sure this will be a little confusing for everyone (sorry). I'll stop chattering on now and get to the good (snort) stuff.

The Phoenix and Turtle

By Taelyn

Chapter: 7: Head Girl

Es verdad que las esperanzas

Deben regarse con rocío?

Pablo Neruda

Hermione stared at the line.

It was nothing more than that. Two points connected, she remembered her Mathematics teacher explaining. Nothing more than a tiny blue line.

So how could such an infinitesimal, insignificant line so suddenly change her life? She reached down to feel her stomach, already showing the signs of . . .what?

Her wand fell to the floor as she sank to her knees. Her palms slick and glistening with sweat, she pushed her hair back from her eyes. Could she really be . . .

'Pregnant.'

The word resounded in her head as she sat straight up in bed with a gasp.

Not only had her dream become more real than ever, but she had never before actually found out the results of the pregnancy test in them. Until now. And it quite suddenly turned into a nightmare.

Shuddering, she kicked back the comforter as the room surrounding her came jarringly into perspective. 'The same room where only a few mornings ago my life ended,' she thought, scolding herself afterwards for being so melodramatic.

But the feelings of dread wouldn't go away. If she and Malfoy had . . .

Then she could very possibly be carrying a half-Satan child within her.

Of course, she convinced herself, there was no way that she would ever . . .

Especially with . . . .

The nausea that rolled up through her stomach could have been caused as much by her thoughts of Malfoy as by morning sickness, and she dutifully persuaded herself that it was the former.

But instead of lying back down and going to sleep or perhaps even getting up to make early rounds of the hallways, she sat in her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head tucked into the small hole between them. Her lovely world of pillows and feathers and crimson sheets could not be invaded by anything but the nursery rhymes that her mother had once sung to her and a few glimpses of white-blond hair that she hurriedly pushed away: they were not to be allowed there, in her little bubble. Not at least until sunrise.

"Perhaps you shouldn't eat so quickly Ron?"

The words were hardly heard over the din in the Great Hall that morning.

Ron looked up, his mouth nearly overflowing with food—miraculously, he had heard Hermione's comment, and he was about to speak when, catching a sharp glimpse from his sister, he sat back and chewed, swallowed, until Ginny thought he was fit to speak.

"It's game day, Hermione, need enough energy to safe keep those posts from the Slytherins, don't I?" he asked, and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

Ron had long gotten over his nausea and queasiness before games and had become one of the many who played Quidditch who thought it necessary to fill up on food to the point of overflowing. Harry, who was now being watched by scouts from several professional teams, had taken to making shapes with his meals rather than eating them.

Ginny just rolled her eyes. She had never needed to starve herself or do the opposite: her skills as a Chaser had been discovered after Harry had returned to the team as its Seeker, and Ginny had never felt the need to perform any rituals before games.

She obviously didn't need to: Ginny was quite an amazing Quidditch player.

Ron suddenly snorted and Hermione looked up to see why. He was gazing over at the Slytherin table, where quite a few of the students who usually sat there were missing.

"They're probably getting in a little more practice time before the game," she told him, adding quickly as his face fell "Because they know that they could never beat Gryffindor."

"They're all pricks, I say" said Ginny, hoping to cheer up her brother.

"Bloody right they are," he mumbled at his eggs. They didn't answer him back and he sighed dejectedly, looking over at Harry who seemed to have turned a little paler than he had been only moments ago.

"I still don't understand why you two are so anxious about this game. It's only Slytherin" she said, peeling a banana.

"One of the chasers just got the Nimbus 3000, which is an excellent broom and . . . . " Harry trailed off, watching his girlfriend as if entranced.

Ginny didn't even have time to blush before Ron snatched the banana out of her mouth.

"No. This is not . . ." he stuttered, waving the banana at her, " . . . not for you." He handed her his grapefruit.

"Merlin, Ron, have a sense of humour," she said as she rolled her eyes, but she took the grapefruit anyway as Ron turned to stare menacingly at Harry.

"Umm, did you know that I found the beast that you were talking about a few mornings ago in that book I was reading?" Hermione said, trying for a change in topic as she didn't like the way Ron was turning red around the neck and Harry was at the point of whiteness he had become so pale.

Ginny, catching on quickly, turned to question her.

"What did it say that the monster did?" she asked, still eying the two boys sitting across from her.

"Just because she's your bird doesn't mean that she isn't my--" Ron began angrily, not catching the immediate change on Ginny's face at his words.

"I am nobody's bird," she snapped, "Now listen to Hermione or we will be a few people short of a Quidditch team come this afternoon."

Not exactly knowing what exactly Ginny's threat entailed and obviously already over whatever was wrong between them, Harry and Ron turned their eyes to Hermione.

"JR Sturzenbeurg wrote that this creature was always accepted as a fairy tale if only because no real evidence had ever been found of its existence. Of course, in 1745 there was---"

Before Hermione could go any further, all four suddenly realized that the Hall had become very suddenly quiet, and that Professor McGonagall had very suddenly stood up.

"It has been brought to my attention that I need to speak with several students immediately. Could Mr and Miss Weasely, Miss Granger, Mr Potter and Miss Zabini please accompany me to my office." she stated curtly, no hint of a question in her tone.

Ginny, Harry and Hermione exchanged looks, and Ron looked up, puzzled.

"Wha mph?" he asked, pumpkin juice nearly spilling out of his mouth as Hermione winced.

With a flip of her hair, Blaise got up from her table and walked gracefully to the doors, where she stood, staring malevolently over at a bright red Christopher Hessian. Hermione suddenly had no question in her mind as to how the head of Gryffindor had learned of the goings on the dungeon, and, with one quick glance at her livid face, she knew that Ginny also understood exactly why they were parading through the Great Hall to "speak" to McGonagall.

As the four Gryffindors hurried over to the door, Blaise turned around to confront Ginny .

"If I'm in trouble for what you've done," she said, her voice a deadly whisper, "then you'll pay."

"I'm shaking in my robes" the red-haired witch snapped, a disdainful smirk on her face.

Before Blaise could say anything more, Professor McGonagall joined them and started walking quickly to her office.

It was in one of her red, high backed chairs that they found Malfoy, still bundled in his cloak and scarf, his eyelashes dripping from the remnants of snowflakes.

Ron smirked as he saw that Malfoy was still holding his broomstick and shivering. He immediately stopped when he saw Snape standing in the corner, his usual grimace deepened.

The Transfigurations professor sat down, a weary look in her eyes as she clasped her hands and looked at each one of them individually before beginning.

"It has come to my attention that there was an argument between the six of you," she began tersely. "Would one of you care to explain?"

Draco started and Harry sighed, ready for the ferret to plead innocence. Instead, he pleaded on the behalf of someone else.

"Blaise didn't do anything," he began, "she was just standing by."

Professor McGonagall studied him for a moment then turned towards the others.

"Is this true?" She asked.

They shrugged and all nodded their heads—except for Ginny who crossed her arms and refused to answer.

The professor looked at Blaise.

"I hope that next time you will alert an administrator instead of just watching," she stated. "You may go."

Blaise smiled at Draco before getting up from her chair and slipping through the doors out of the office.

Then Hermione spoke.

"Ron wasn't even near the fight—he had nothing to do with it, professor," she began and Ron looked over at her and smiled.

"I thought that Mr Weasley would somehow know of the cause of this . . . argument." It was Snape that had suddenly addressed this to McGonagall.

Harry looked up at him venomously. "Ron had nothing to do with it," he almost hissed.

Snape looked down at Harry, his cool features now twisted into a sneer, but McGonagall, instead of addressing either of them, looked at Malfoy questioningly.

"It's true," he conceded. There were too many witnesses that would say otherwise, and he was already in enough trouble as it was.

"Mr Weasley, you may go then," she said, dismissing him.

With one thankful look back at Hermione and Harry, Ron nearly dashed out of the door.

Then the professor turned to face the four remaining students, and they gulped collectively.

"I have been informed that physical blows were traded between the four of you and I am extremely disappointed," she began.

Harry looked quizzically over at Ginny and Hermione and quickly interrupted his professor.

"But what did Ginny and Hermione do?" he asked.

"Miss Granger, as I was told, hit Mr Malfoy, and Miss Weasley slapped you, Mr Potter," she snapped impatiently.

"But I'm not pressing charges," Harry said quickly. "That is, I mean---"

"I understand what you mean, but that makes no difference," she answered him, a glint of humour momentarily sparking in her eye.

Ginny looked down at her hands folded in her lap, tingeing red like her brother did.

"I do, however," the professor continued, "commend her for stopping the all out brawl that you two boys had been in," she conceded, flashing a quick glance at the red-head, who looked up hopefully. "You all will, however, still be punished," she finished and Ginny slumped back into her chair.

"Since none of you seem to have any signs of the fight visible and only one person has come forward," she looked at them sternly, "and each of you were quite cooperative, I will deduct 15 points each from your houses and all four of you will have to spend tomorrow afternoon in detention. Miss Granger and Miss Weasley will be with me, and Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy will be helping Professor Snape."

Hermione looked up to see Harry stare vindictively at the Potions professor, whose sneer seemed to taunt the student that he was now in control of for an afternoon.

"You will report during lunch and after your last classes of the day, no exceptions," McGonagall continued. "You may go to whatever your class is now, but I would like an extra word with Miss Granger before she leaves."

Hermione shuddered. She had been expecting this. Her badge would be taken away, she would be expelled, her wand broken---her mind raced as she watched as Malfoy swept out of the room and Ginny and Harry looked back at her, giving her encouraging smiles. She couldn't bring herself to smile back.

As the door closed behind Snape, who had also left, Hermione turned around to face her professor, deathly pale. Her heart was suddenly racing and she felt quite light-headed, realizing that she had been taking quite deep breaths to steady herself.

"Calm down, girl" McGonagall scolded her. "I'm not going to take your badge away from you."

Hermione sighed and relaxed a little further back into her chair.

"I'm really sorry," she said quietly, "I understand that I shouldn't have--"

"Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall interrupted, "as disappointed as I am in you actions, I must inform you that it is not what you did but what you didn't do that raises alarm."

"Oh," Hermione said, understanding now.

"I am speaking to you to remind you of your duties as Head Girl, this including serving as keeper of the peace."

Hermione looked down, her cheeks burning, her eyes beginning to tear.

"I know that you are attached to your friends, but if you cannot perform you duties . . " she trailed off and peered at the young girl in front of her. "This is a warning Miss Granger. I am sure that we will have no further problems."

"I really am sorry," Hermione whispered, trying to speak past the ball of emotions that seemed to have built up in her throat.

"I am finished, Miss Granger, you may go."

Holding back her tears and not daring to meet the eyes of the Head of her house and the professor that she looked up to the most, Hermione summoned enough strength to get up out of the chair and walk to the door.

Ginny was waiting outside. She gave Hermione a sympathetic look and linked arms with her as they walked through the hall together.

"It was Christopher, that bastard," Ginny began venomously. "Harry and I already were thinking of hexing his socks to turn into snakes.

Hermione laughed through the tears running down her cheeks and looked up at the comforting face of her friend.

"I was thinking more along the lines of tarantulas."

She looked up at him, into his eyes and she saw that there was something more to them. The shallow grey that she had always known was gone--she saw past it. She saw everything she had ever known--she saw the world spinning slowly in his eyes.

"I . . . . I . . ." but her mouth suddenly wouldn't let her speak, she felt her stomach twist into a knot and suddenly it was much harder to breath. 'So this is what it feels like,' some corner of her brain that had not yet drowned in his eyes thought.

There was no tension, no childish reticence or hesitancy in their movements. It was as if they each knew the other's thoughts, movements. Hermione closed her eyes and stopped breathing for a moment when she felt his hand on her chin, felt him tilt her face ever so slightly upward. Her intake of breath was short, almost desperate and the only inkling of her conscious self left wondered how a moment could last so long, how the wind could blow so softly along the back of her neck, how still existence could seem as you waited . .

And suddenly, his lips touched hers and she would have smiled at the perfection of it all if she had still had control over her body. For though it was her arms that suddenly found themselves wrapped around him--fumbling into the folds of his cloak to get closer to him--and it was her hands that finally clasped his neck, curled fingers playing with the surprisingly soft hair there, she didn't remember asking them there.

Hermione Granger stood in the middle of the hall, not knowing of anything but his lips, his tongue, his mouth--him. She had never felt--never known . . . .

And she suddenly knew something, something perhaps that her deadened mind should have never thought, never have whispered to her with an unexpected persistence.

She stepped back, away. Her eyes flew open and she almost imperceptibly shook her head as she looked at him, finally seeing him.

"Oh."

Author's Note: First off, the quote at the beginning of the chapter is part of Pablo Neruda's Book of Questions, and a penny to anyone who can translate it. Also, I hope that all the changes in format are okay and sorry on the fact that the revisions, etc took so long. I hope you like it all so far (fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed) so review to tell me whether you do or not (or, as my mummy says, my eyes will get stuck this way and that's no good for any of us.) To anyone who's looking for a much better story to read, try Arbitrary's Temporary Insanity or Fluff's The Bachelor, which are both hilarious and amazing. I also like Miss Augurey's Unexpected Side Effects of Floo Powder even though it's just been started.

PS: I'm done with the pesky "important" note at the beginning of each chapter. If you don't understand it still, well, then maybe you shouldn't have gotten this far into the story.