Chapter 4
"No!" Hermione whispered in horror.
Malfoy didn't look to pleased either, he was staring at Snape with his mouth hanging open.
"Something wrong, Miss Granger?" Snape asked with pretend politeness.
Hermione was looking around at her fellow Griffindors for help, but they were in too much shock to do anything other than give her looks of the utmost sympathy.
Malfoy broke the shocked silence. "Excuse me, Professor, but did you just say that I had to work with the mud- I mean, Granger?!" He asked Snape, hoping that he had simply misheard the Potions Professor.
Snape smiled, creeping out everyone in the room. Harry squinted, removed his glasses and cleaned them, put them back on and squinted again. Did Snape just smile, or were his glasses playing tricks on him?
"Yes, Mr Malfoy, that is indeed what I said!" Snape replied simply.
Malfoy went back to goggling at Snape like a goldfish.
"No!" cried Hermione defiantly, making everyone jump.
Snape's black eyes flashed with anger and malice. "And why not, Miss Granger?!" he demanded.
"With all due respect, Sir, I would rather clean all of the toilets in Kings Cross Station with my tongue, than work with that SPOILED, SELFISH BRAT!!" She replied screaming the last three words at Malfoy.
Malfoy flinched, recovered, then yelled back at her. "Don't yell at me!! Yell at him!" He shouted, pointing at Snape. "Like I want to work with a Know-it-all, foul, mudblood like you!!!"
"Oooh you are such an insufferable little FERRETT!!!!" Hermione screamed.
The whole class had riveted it's attention on Hermione and Malfoy, looking back and forth between them like they were watching a tennis match as the two hurled insults at each other, their fists balled at their sides and both of them, mostly Hermione, shaking with anger.
Snape was enjoying the show, but he had to make a start on teaching, so he reluctantly cut in.
"As much as I would love to allow you to go on, I really must insist that you take your seats and prepare to make the potion!" Snape said with a sigh.
Hermione and Malfoy glared at each other for a few more seconds before grudgingly taking their seats.
Malfoy sat mostly in the middle, almost pushing Hermione off onto the floor.
"OH!" Hermione gasped in frustration, pushing Malfoy over with her hips so that he almost fell of the seat. "Move OVER!!!"
"Watch it Mudblood!" Malfoy snapped, fighting to regain his balance.
Finally, they came to an unspoken agreement on the seating plans and sat as far apart from each other as the bench would allow.
"SILENCE!" Snape shouted. He then flicked his wand at the board and the instructions appeared on the board. "You may begin!"
The class began making the potion.
For the most part, it went without a hitch. The only disturbances were the Sytherins tormenting the Griffindors, trying to make them mess up the potion.
Pansy Parkinson deliberately spilled a jar of stinksap on Ron's head and Snape had to bring out a potion that removed the frightful stuff from the now smelly Griffindor, but he took his time doing it.
Crabbe had unsuccessfully tried to immerse Harry's head in the potion filled cauldron as he was leaning over to see if it was boiling, but Harry had managed to get his wand out and hex Crabbe some bat ears.
Neville wasn't having much more luck than Harry and Ron. Goyle kept growling at him and threatening to pour the nasty potion down Neville's throat.
Meanwhile, Hermione and Malfoy were waging a quiet war with one another.
"You're cutting those wrong!" Malfoy said, pointing at the slugs Hermione was cutting up.
It took all the willpower Hermione possessed not to shove the slugs down his spoiled little throat. She continued chopping the slugs, ignoring Malfoy.
"Did you hear me, Mudblood? You are mutilating the slugs!" Malfoy said forcibly.
"I don't care!" snapped Hermione. "It doesn't make any difference to the potion how they are chopped!"
"Yes, it does!" Malfoy spat.
"Fine!" Hermione hissed, pushing the slimy slugs at him. "You cut them!"
Malfoy pushed the slugs back at her. "No way, I'm not touching them! You cut them!"
"Then stop complaining about how I am cutting them!" She spat.
Malfoy sneered at her. She ignored him.
Soon, all the ingredients were in and they had to wait and let it boil for 15 minutes.
They sat in a stony silence for 5 minutes staring around the room.
"Why were you being so civil last night?!" Hermione demanded, out of the blue.
Malfoy snapped his attention to her, glaring at her reproachfully. "What are you talking about?" he snapped.
"You came and fetched me on the train for the prefects meeting, then you brought me the list of passwords, and rescued me from the angry Griffindors at the portrait!" she reminded him.
"I was just being a prefect, nothing more! All the prefects are supposed to work as a team to keep order in the corridors and common rooms." Malfoy sniffed. "I was merely restoring the order that you obviously couldn't!"
Hermione glared and shook her head in disbelief. "Oooh, you are so full of yourself!" she hissed at him.
Finally, the potion was ready. Malfoy fetched a glass bottle and Hermione filled it with the potion. Malfoy carried it to Snape's desk while Hermione used a cleaning spell on the cauldron and put away all the ingredients.
As she was walking back to her desk, disaster struck.
Malfoy was on his way back from Snape's desk, and bumped into Hermione, literally, and she was knocked back onto Neville and Goyle's table. The potion in their cauldron didn't look like it was supposed to from the quick glance Hermione got of it as it soared through the air right towards her.
She winced as it splashed all over her robes and watched in horror as her robes and uniform seemed to vanish, little by little from her shoulders down.
She let out a scream and Snape looked up. Seeing what was about to occur, he made his way quickly over to the now apparently naked Hermione, who was covering herself with her arms.
Ron gaped, Pansy shrieked with laughter and a few other Slytherin boys cat called and whistled. Malfoy stared wide-eyed at the scene, too shocked to say or do anything. Harry made to take his cloak off , but Snape arrived at Hermione's side before he could move towards her.
Hermione looked up at Snape, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Goyle was laughing so hard, he could barely stand and Neville looked mortified.
Hastily, Snape pulled off his own cloak and pulled it around Hermione. Then he turned to Malfoy.
"What happened, Mr Malfoy?" he demanded angrily.
Malfoy tore his eyes away from the blushing and tearful Hermione to look at Snape.
"I…I.." was all he could muster to say. The shocking sight of a suddenly naked hermione had surprised the ability to talk out of him.
Snape rounded on Harry. "What happened, Potter!" He demanded.
"Malfoy bumped into Hermione, and she bumped into Neville's table and the cauldron tipped, spilling the potion all over her, Sir!" Harry replied truthfully.
Snape turned and peered into what little potion remained in Neville's cauldron.
"This isn't the potion I asked you to make! What is this?!" Snape snapped.
Neville trembled against the wall. "I..I don't know, Sir!!" he squeaked. "I followed the instructions on the board!"
"Trust you, Longbottom, to mess the potion up!" Snape hissed.
Snape spun around to face Harry and Malfoy. "Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, kindly escort Miss Granger to the Griffindor common room where she can change into something, and bring her previous uniform and robes back to me so that I can restore them!"
Harry nodded and quickly went to Hermione and put an arm around her shaking shoulders. Malfoy walked ahead and opened the door for them, then proceeded to follow them.
They could hear Snape roaring at Neville as the exited the dungeons.
Harry felt sorry for Neville, it wasn't all his fault after all, Goyle had been just as much to blame as well as Malfoy! Harry glanced sharply at Malfoy, who was walking silently on the other side of Hermione, staring straight ahead.
Hermione was crying from sheer embarrassment and she clutched Snape's cloak tighter around herself as she walked.
Harry gave her shoulders a comforting squeeze. "You alright, Mione?" he asked gently.
Malfoy turned his head to look at her after Harry had asked.
Hermione nodded and sniffed. "It was just so embarrassing, that's all."
Malfoy cleared his throat. "For what it's worth, Granger, you have nothing to be embarrassed about." He said gruffly, blushing at his own words.
Hermione, if it was possible, blushed even more and walked closer to Harry.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Harry demanded. "It was your fault y'know!"
"It was an accident, Potter!" Malfoy spat. "She wasn't looking where she was going and got in my path!"
Harry bit his tongue. Now was not the time to argue about it with Malfoy, Hermione was distressed and had started to cry again. They arrived at the portrait and Harry said the password. The portrait swung open to grant them access and they entered the Griffindor common room.
"We'll wait here while you change, Mione, then you can bring down your old robes." Harry said comfortingly.
Hermione nodded and went up the staircase that lead to the girl's dormitory.
She took off Snape's robe and laid it on her bed, then she undressed feeling weird as she removed the invisible clothing that she could feel, but couldn't see. Then she got dressed in her spare uniform and robes. After this, she went into the bathroom to wash her face and reapply her make-up.
Meanwhile, down in the common room, Harry and Malfoy sat in the armchairs that sat on either side of the fireplace, glaring at each other.
Harry got bored first and turned to look into the fire. "So, why weren't you laughing along with the other Slytherins?" he asked suddenly and suspiciously.
A look that Harry couldn't decipher flickered across Malfoy's face, before it went back to the blank expression he normally sported.
"I didn't find it funny." Malfoy replied simply. "She may be an annoying know-it-all mudblood, but she didn't deserve that."
Harry's eyebrows nearly shot up into his messy hair. "You don't think she deserved that? You didn't find it funny?" he asked in shock. "Alright, who are you and what have you done with Malfoy?" he quipped.
"Funny, Potter." Malfoy said sarcastically. "Contrary to popular belief, I do not have a heart made entirely of stone! I do feel the emotion known as pity now and then!"
"Yeah, but why are you being so nice to her all of a sudden?" Harry asked suspiciously.
Malfoy threw his arms up and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Is it a crime to be civil now?!" Potter was getting too nosy!
"No," Harry replied "It's just weird coming from you."
They returned to sitting in silence, staring at the fire until Hermione came back down carrying an invisible bundle.
The two boys stood up and Malfoy took the invisible bundle from Hermione and turned to leave, disappearing out of the portrait hole.