~CHAPTER SEVEN~

Hermione's mouth fell open. Malfoy did tell her that he was going to find out where she had learned the spell, but she didn't think that he would search her room. How did he know the password?

"Miss Granger, did you give the password to anybody?" Snape wanted to know.

Hermione shook her head. "Even Ron and Harry don't know the password," she told him.

"Do you know anybody who would search for something in your room?" Snape asked.
She wasn't sure whether she should tell him about Malfoy.

"Well…" she hesitated.

"Who?" Snape hissed at her.

"Draco Malfoy wanted to know where I learned the Regreseur spell.
When I didn't tell him, he told me that he was going to figure it out himself," Hermione answered.

Snape just nodded and told her to change her password immediately.

"So what's your new password?" Victoria asked, sounding a bit friendlier then before.

"Uh…" Hermione had to think for a while; she wasn't very creative when it came to making up passwords. "Gryffindor," she finally said.

"Typical," Snape muttered as he walked away.

When she went inside her dorm and walked up the stairs again together with Crookshanks, she felt odd.
The thought that someone had been in her dorm, made her feel a bit paranoid. She opened the door to her common room, put her cat down, and ran down the stairs again. Crookshanks didn't seem to mind it though, and he walked into the room as if nothing had happened.

"What are you doing out?" Victoria wanted to know, when she saw the Head Girl stepping out of the portrait again.

"I…just…wanted to talk to you," Hermione said quickly, "to see if you're still mad at me."

"Of course I'm still mad, you tried to destroy me!" Victoria snapped at her.

"I didn't mean to, honestly. I just wanted to summon you but I used the wrong spell," After Hermione explained what had happened, the young girl wasn't mad anymore. Instead of going back in though, Hermione kept on talking with Victoria.

After a while Victoria's eyes suddenly narrowed. "I think there is someone coming," she whispered.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked.

Hermione turned around. "Professor Harper," she said in surprise. "I was just apologizing to Victoria for what happened."

The professor nodded slowly. "I see," she said slowly, "Do you know that you have been apologizing to her for almost two hours now?"

Hermione gulped, she had no idea that she had been standing there for so long; she was still afraid to go inside. "I'm sorry, I lost track of the time," Hermione said.

Harper nodded again, "It's ok, just go inside now." The Head Girl hesitated before she gave Victoria her password. The portrait opened and slowly Hermione walked inside. When it closed she sat down on the stairs, still afraid of going inside her dorm. A few hours later she finally fell asleep.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?"

Hermione opened her eyes. Her back was aching. She rubbed her eyes. It took her a while before she realized that she had fallen asleep on the stairs.

"I asked you a question,"
Hermione looked up. Professor Snape was standing in front of her.

"Professor!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe I just asked you the same question," he told her.

"This is my dormitory," she answered confused.

"No, these are the stairs to your dormitory," he hissed at her.

"I feel asleep," Hermione said quickly.

"On your stairs?" Snape asked sharply.

The Head Girl nodded. "What are you doing here?" she suddenly asked.

"You missed my class," he said calmly.

"But I have potions immediately after lunch," Hermione muttered. She looked at her watch.
Why is it three o'clock she wondered, and why is Snape in my dorm?

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter informed me that you were absent the entire day," Snape told her when he saw Hermione looking at him.

Hermione shook her head.  She couldn't believe that she had slept for so long. Suddenly she jumped up. "How did you get in here?" she asked sharply.

Snape rolled his eyes. "You changed your password yesterday after someone got into your dorm. I was standing next to you at that time," he explained. 
"Miss Granger, have you been in your dorm since yesterday?" Snape suddenly asked her. His question startled Hermione.

"I…uhm…" she started.

"I'll take that as a no," Snape interrupted her. Hermione looked down, she felt incredibly stupid.
"Come with me," Snape ordered. A confused Head Girl followed him.

Silently, she followed the Potions Master to Dumbledore's office.

"Miss Granger, Severus," The Headmaster greeted them. "What can I do for you?"

"Someone was in Miss Granger's dormitory yesterday, without her permission," Snape told Dumbledore.

 Dumbledore looked at Hermione. "Is this true, Miss Granger?" he wanted to know. She nodded.
"Do you know who it was?" Dumbledore asked Snape.

"The only thing we know that it's a blonde boy," Snape replied. "It's not Malfoy."
Hermione got confused, it wasn't? And how did Snape know that?

Dumbledore sighed. "Severus, did you use Veritaserum on the boy?" he asked sharply.

"Yes," Snape answered casually. "The reason why I brought Miss Granger here is that she is afraid to go back in her dormitory.
Last night she slept on the stairs," he continued.

Hermione closed her eyes. Did he really have to tell the Headmaster about this? It was bad enough that he found her on asleep on the stairs.

"Severus, would you leave me and Miss Granger alone for a minute?" Dumbledore asked. Snape nodded and left the room.
"Miss Granger, would you like to tell me what happened yesterday?" Professor Dumbledore asked her gently.

Hermione opened her eyes. "Well when I walked into my dorm I saw that someone had trashed it.
My bag was emptied and there were books all over the place," she told the Headmaster. "I heard a noise in my bedroom, but it turned out to be my cat."

"How did you know that it was a blonde boy?" Dumbledore asked.

"The girl in the portrait told me. He also knew the password," she answered.

Dumbledore nodded, "Did you give anyone the password?"

Hermione shook her head, "Not even Ron or Harry knows it."

"I understand," Dumbledore said after a while. There was a long silence. "Perhaps it would be best if we gave you another room.
One where you feel comfortable enough to sleep in your bed instead of on your stairs," Dumbledore finally said.

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, glad that she didn't have to sleep in her old dorm.
Professor Dumbledore walked towards the fireplace and rang a small golden bell.

Two minutes later a house elf appeared at his side.

"How can I help you, Professor Dumbledore, sir?" The house elf asked.

"Ripney, please escort Miss Granger towards the first spare dormitory, you know which one I'm talking about," Dumbledore told the house elf.

Ripney bowed. "Yes, Professor Dumbledore, sir," he said.

"Miss Granger, Ripney will lead you towards your new dormitory. You'll find that your possessions have already been moved there," Dumbledore explained.

She nodded. "Thank you, Professor," she said.

Ripney took her to her new dormitory. It was located near the dungeons. There was a portrait of a bride and groom guarding the entrance.

"Here is your new room, Miss," Ripney told her. The house elf bowed and left.

"Oh look Jonathan, we have a new guest," the bride said to her groom.

"I see that Maria," Jonathan spat at her. "What's your password?" he asked Hermione.

"Gryffindor," Hermione told them. She thought it would be a lot easier to remember her old password.

Maria and Jonathan both snorted when they heard her password. "Well it's your choice."

 The portrait opened and Hermione walked up the ivory stairs, which were just like the ones in her old dorm.
She could hear Maria telling Jonathan that Hermione was the girl that tried to destroy Victoria's portrait. She opened the door and looked into her common room. Suddenly she understood why the couple had snorted when they heard her password. The room was decorated completely in Slytherin colors.
Apart from that, the rooms were exactly the same. The couch was green, instead of red; instead of golden, the doors were silver.
When she walked into her bedroom she saw that all of her possessions, including Crookshanks, were already there.

That night, after dinner, she hurried to detention. It was dark in the dungeons. She knocked on the door of the classroom, waiting for a reply.
After a few minutes of waiting she knocked again. Still no reply. She knocked for the third time.

"Professor!" she said loudly. When she still didn't hear him reply, she tried to open the door. It was locked.
Hermione got out her wand, ready to open the door herself by using Alohamora. She pointed her wand at the doorknob but changed her mind.
"Maybe I shouldn't do this," she muttered to herself.

"Indeed you shouldn't," a voice behind her said.

Hermione jumped and turned around quickly. "Professor, you startled me!" she exclaimed.

Professor Harper smiled. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to warn you that Professor Snape is on his way before you opened his classroom using magic," she said.

Hermione sighed in relief. "Thank you, Professor," she said gratefully. The last thing she wanted was to get caught by Snape, no doubt that would get her more detention.

"I heard what happened in your room. Are you alright?" Harper asked.

"Yes I'm fine, thank you," Hermione said.

Professor Snape walked towards them. He opened the classroom without saying a word. Hermione followed him inside, and immediately walked over to the cauldrons that were piled up in a corner. Silently, she started to clean them. It didn't take her long to finish.

Hermione looked at her watch, it was only 7.30. Her Head Girl duties didn't start until 10.30. She wondered what she had to do next.
Slowly, she walked towards the desk where her teacher was grading papers.

"Sorry Professor, I'm finished cleaning the cauldrons. What do you want me to do next?" she asked.

He thought for a while. "I've got a few assignments from the first years. If you could correct them for me…" he finally said.

Hermione smiled, "Certainly." She sat down; Snape handed her a quill and a bottle of red ink. She didn't mind correcting papers at all.
The papers were about the uses of Asphodel root. In one of them a student was convinced that the Asphodel root was a little carrot that was used to liquidate bunnies. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at this answer.

"Miss Granger, please explain what is so funny," Professor Snape spat at her.

"I'm sorry, it's just that one of your students thinks that Asphodel root is used to liquidate bunnies," she said, trying hard not to laugh.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Stupid dunderhead," he muttered as he looked at the parchment. Hermione continued grading the papers, and soon she was done.

"Sir, I'm done grading the papers," Hermione said as she put the graded papers back on his desk.
She glanced at her watch; it was 8.30; two more hours till her duties.

Snape thought for a while, clearly he had run out of ideas. "Just wait here for a minute," he said after a while, walking into his office.

When he returned he had a little white book with him.

"You'll write an essay about this spell," he drawled, showing her a page in the book. After giving her parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink, Hermione started to work on her essay.

Much to her surprise, Hermione found out that she had to write an essay about the Regreseur spell.
It was used to erase paintings, and had been a 'forgotten' spell, which meant that most witches and wizards had never even heard of it.
While she was writing, she glanced at her watch.  She was determined to keep writing until her duties started.

A few minutes before 10.30, she finished it. After she handed in her essay, Snape tapped on the parchment, muttering, "Aniquilado," and the parchment destroyed itself.

It was an easy night for Hermione. It was almost 1.30 and she hadn't caught a student out of bed. She was walking back from the Astronomy Tower to her dorm, when she heard someone. As quiet as possible she walked towards the noise. For a moment she wondered if it was Snape walking; it wouldn't be the first time she would mistake a teacher for a student.

"Lumos," she muttered. She pointed her wand at the person. It was the Head Boy, Damien. He stopped walking immediately when he saw Hermione.
"Damien, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"I was just looking for you. I wanted to ask you something," he said casually.

"What?" Hermione asked confused. If he wanted to ask her something, why do it in the middle of the night?
She watched him as he brushed his hand through his hair. His blonde hair…