Hey everybody, I hope you all had a nice Christmas and I want to wish you a happy new year!
~Tikina~

Disclaimer: 
If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

OR you've already read it, but that's a completely different story.

~CHAPTER FOUR~

"Professor Harper, I'm so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed. "I thought you were a student." To Hermione's relief professor Harper smiled "It's ok." Together they walked to a hallway that wasn't as dark as the one near the library. Professor Harper asked Hermione if she had caught any students out of bed. "Yes, two hufflepuffs. They were in the Astronomy tower together." Hermione answered.

Harper chuckled "That tower sure is popular. I also caught two students there. Both from Gryffindor." "Really? Who?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Miss Lavender Brown and Mr. Neville Longbottom." After hearing this Hermione couldn't help but laugh. She had never imagined those two together.

Hermione glanced at her watch, it was 12.30. She had one more hour of Head girl duties to do, she realized when she started to yawn.

Finally it was 1.30, Hermione got to her dorm, hoping that the girl was in her portrait. To her relief, she was. But the girl wasn't alone. She had a visitor, a young boy who looked like the girl. He was wearing a white suite. "Victoria, someone wants to enter." The young boy told the girl. Victoria looked up. "Hello, this is my little brother Nigel." She told Hermione. "His portrait is in front of the Head boys' room."

"Really? How nice." Hermione said, just to be polite. "Dentist." She added quickly.

"What?" Nigel asked her. Victoria poked her little brother, "That's the password you dummy." The siblings were arguing while the portrait opened. Hermione was relieved to be an only child.

The next morning Hermione didn't go to the great hall for breakfast. Although she had slept an hour extra she was still tired. She had to hurry to Transfiguration, when she entered the classroom professor McGonagall was about to start. "Miss Granger, why are you so late?" She wanted to know. "I'm sorry, I overslept." Hermione excused herself. "10 points from Gryffindor. Now, please take your seat." McGonagall said. Without saying a word Hermione sat down next to Harry, who looked worried at her.

When the class was over Harry approached Hermione. Ron was already on his way to the quidditch field. "Herm, can I talk with you for a minute?" He asked her. "Sure." Hermione said, wondering what Harry needed to talk about. "You don't have classes until after lunch, right?" Harry asked carefully. Hermione nodded. "Is it ok if I talk with you in your dorm?" Harry asked. "Ok." Hermione said slowly.

The two friends walked in silence towards the Head girl's dorm. They sat down. "Uhm…I wanted to talk with you." Harry began. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, of course. What would be wrong?" Hermione asked confused, not knowing what her friend meant. "You're just not yourself lately. Getting late for class, the detentions. Even I never got 3 weeks of detention from Snape. Did something happen?"

Hermione started to explain why she had gotten the detentions. Harry was furious. "He can't do that!" He exclaimed. Hermione snorted "Apparently he can." She said. "And I did deserve to get that last week. I mean, I was eavesdropping after all."

"What were they talking about?" Harry wanted to know. After Hermione had told him that Harper explained to Snape that she used the ingredients for a PMS-potion, Harry laughed so hard that he almost fell off the big red couch.

"So, everything is alright then? Harry asked one more time, to be sure. "Yes, I'm alright." Hermione assured him. "You can go practice quidditch now, with Ron." She added, grinning. Harry smiled at her.

After Harry left, Hermione started to work on her Transfiguration homework. She had to write an essay about the dangers of transforming animals. Suddenly Hermione's stomach growled. Hermione looked at her watch, she saw that it was almost time for lunch.

"Hey Herm." Ron greeted her. Hermione sat down between Ron and Ginny. "We're going to visit Hagrid tomorrow, are you coming with us?" Ron asked Hermione while she was drinking her coffee. Hermione nodded. "He said he had something to show us." Harry told his best friends. Ron and Hermione groaned. Whenever Hagrid had something to show them, it was usually some horrible monster.

The rest of the lunch Harry, Ron and Ginny talked about quidditch. The Head girl sighed, wishing that her friends could talk about something else for once.

The rest of day went by pretty fast. Before she knew it, Hermione was on her way to the dungeons for her detention. She knocked on the door, after hearing a cold voice ordering her to enter she walked into the classroom. "Miss Granger, you know what to do." Snape told her, pointing at the filthy cauldrons. "Yes sir." She said.

Hermione started scrubbing the cauldrons. When she had done half of the cauldrons, the Head girl noticed that she was getting pretty fast at cleaning them.

It didn't take her long to finish the remaining cauldrons. After she had finished, Hermione walked over towards the professor's desk. "Professor, I'm done cleaning the cauldrons."

Snape looked displeased, "Already?" He snarled at her. "Are you sure that you cleaned them well enough?" He got up and started to inspect the cauldrons, which were as clean as possible. "Don't think that your detention is over, Miss Granger." Snape softly said.

There was a knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply Madam Pomfrey walked into the classroom. "Poppy, what can I do for you?" Snape asked. "Severus, I'm all out of my Dreamless sleeping potion. Can you please make some for me tonight?" Madam Pomfrey asked, not noticing Hermione. "Certainly, just give me an hour and a half." Snape told his colleague. "Thank you." Madam Pomfrey said, smiling.

Immediately after Madam Pomfrey had left, Snape set up a cauldron. The ingredients were put on his desk. "Miss Granger, start chopping that Asphodel root." He yelled at Hermione, who was still standing next to the desk. "Professor, do you have a knife that I can use?" Annoyed by this interruption the potions master walked over towards his desk and got two small silver knifes out of one of the drawers. Without saying a word he threw one of the knifes on the desk. Hermione picked the knife up and started to cut the Asphodel root. In the meanwhile Snape was cutting Porcupine quills.

Hermione was amazed by the fact how fast Snape had cut the quills, but then again he WAS the potions master. He was now watching Hermione cut the Asphodel root, with his arms crossed. "Are you almost done?" He snapped at her. The Head girl focused on the Asphodel root again, she was almost done. As quickly as possible, she handed over the ingredients.

The Asphodel root was the last ingredient that had to be added to the potion.

"Keep stirring the potion clockwise for the next three minutes." Snape instructed Hermione "I'll be right back." He disappeared into his office. A few minutes later he returned with four little purple bottles.

He handed them over to Hermione, who immediately started to fill them with the potion.

"Bring them to Madam Pomfrey. Then clean this mess here." He gestured at the desk where he and Hermione had worked. "I want it to be spotless. Without the use of magic."

As carefully as possible, Hermione picked up the bottles and took them to the infirmary.

On her way there she ran into Harry and Ron. "Hey Herm, are you coming with us we're going to…." But Ron was interrupted by Hermione "Sorry can't, I still have detention." And she immediately walked towards the dungeons. She was afraid to get more detention if it would take her long to return.

Hermione had almost reached the dungeons when she saw Damien. "Hi Hermione." He greeted her. "Hello." She said, still walking. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Damien asked her. Hermione sighed "Actually, no. I have got to go back to detention." She said, impatiently. "Oh, sorry to keep you waiting." Damien said, rather irritated.

As quickly as possible Hermione continued walking. The classroom was empty. Hermione started to clean the desk. She had tried to scrub off the stains that the Asphodel root had left, but it wouldn't come off. Carefully she looked if professor Snape was approaching the classroom. When she saw that the coast was clear, she got out her wand.  "Evanesco." The stains disappeared. Hermione was pleased that she had managed to get the desk spotless. "Perfect." She told herself.

The sound of someone applauding behind her startled the Head girl. Hermione turned around. Professor Snape was now standing in front of her smirking widely. He had been in his office. "Congratulations Miss Granger. You've just managed to get yourself another week of detention. I do believe this is a record."

"Can I please explain it?" Hermione pleaded, hoping that he would understand. Surely he would know about the stains that Asphodel roots can leave behind.

"Miss Granger, I do not allow magic during detention. You used magic, therefore you get more detention. There is nothing to explain." Snape softly said. "Your next detention will be this Mondays. Now go." Without replying, Hermione left the dungeons.

On Saturday, Harry, Hermione and Ron were visiting Hagrid. They were wondering what he wanted to show them this time. "I just hope that it's not an illegal pet." Ron said as they approached Hagrid's house. Harry and Hermione muttered in agreement.

Harry knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" Hagrid called from the inside. He muttered something that the three Gryffindors couldn't understand. A few seconds later Hagrid opened the door, with a big smile on his face. "Hello, how are you guys doing?" He asked them. The three friends were about to answer when they saw someone sitting inside Hagrid's house.

There was a girl, about their age sitting in a large chair. She had bright blue eyes and her brown hair was braided. The jeans that she wore were light blue, with grass stains. On the pink sweater that she was wearing were also grass stains.

Fang was sitting in her lap, the girl was feeding him small sandwiches. That was probably the reason why he hadn't barked when they knocked on the door. Although she had to be their age, they had never seen the girl before.

"Hello." Harry greeted the girl. She laughed sheepishly at him and waved at the three Gryffindors. Ron and Hermione waved back. "Would you like some tea?" Hagrid asked the three friends. They all nodded. After Hagrid had poured tea for all of them he sat down next to the girl.

"So what did you wanted to show us?" Harry asked.

"I wanted you to meet someone." Hagrid said proudly. He was obviously talking about the girl. "This is Barbara Ann, but I always call her Barbie." When she heard her name Barbie's smile widened. "Barbie, meet Harry, Hermione and Ron." He told her.

"Hello." Barbie said, in a rather childish voice. "Do you go to Hogwarts too?" Hermione asked, "I don't remember seeing you."

The girl shook her head. She turned towards Hagrid "Can I go play outside with Fang?" she asked. "Can I? Can I?" Immediately after Hagrid nodded she left with Fang.

"So what do you think of her?" Hagrid asked smiling. "She's…….nice." Harry said. "Yeah, very…..friendly." Ron said quickly. Hermione nodded in agreement. Although Barbie had been very nice to them, there was something weird about her. She acted as if she was a small child.  "Is she related to you?" Hermione asked carefully. Hagrid had never mentioned his family much. "Can you tell?" He asked her eagerly. "Yeah a bit." Hermione lied. "So is she a cousin?" Ron wanted to know.

"A cousin? Of course not!" Hagrid exclaimed "She's my daughter."

Franflutewitch: You'll get the answers to those questions, don't worry. But it's gonna take a while before I get there. J

Bertie_Bott: I'm not saying anything………………………………only that it's gonna be HG/SS eventually.

Saerelle: Thanks for noticing the heart-error, I've corrected it.