All characters and subject matter taken from and used in the following are
from Harry Potter and therefore owned by J. K. Rowling.
A/N: Oh dear me! - it seems my brain has rather taken a holiday, never mind chapter 5 as promised and chapter six is on the way. Hmmmm it might be 2004 when it gets here but I'll try and make it sooner. Please read and review so I know how much you hate me for being slow and pointless. Also I'm trying something slightly new for me and have included things in italics, which are Hermione's thoughts. ENJOY:
"HERMIONE!" a loud cry came from outside her front door. She roused herself into half wakefulness and analysed whether the voice could be ignored, it was definitely male and irritated, panicked or angry, the other thing she considered was; that the volume it wasn't hurting her tired - "HERMIONE!" -head, or maybe it was,
"Who is it?" she asked waveringly and what in hell's name do you want she added in her head.
"It's Ron and Harry," came the slightly quieter reply although still to loud in her sleep-deprived head, "let us in."
What the F. she thought as she threw on her red silk dressing gown and slipped her feet, which at the moment seemed a little too far from her head, into what looked like the matching slippers and yet they didn't fit. Three minutes later she walked, with a clearer head and slippers the right way up on the right feet, into her living room, which in light of her mood had low and yet useful lighting. "Hermione?" a worry rose in her head as the voice sounded unsure, had she just done something that might have. OH! BLOODY HELL her head screamed why in the world didn't I think - aloud she said,
"What's wrong?" and summoned the strength for the freezing spell to give her five minutes to remove the obvious 'I'm not who I have been pretending to be' make up from her face and to remove the magical blonde and ginger highlights and to wet her hair so she didn't have to explain it's lack of curl. Having done that she checked she hadn't missed anything else, hid the cocktail dress from last night's exploits and resumed the position she had been in as Harry and Ron 'defrosted'.
"It's just you look so." started Ron and then did a double take, looked at her again and said, "Nothing, I think I imagined something." His voice tailed off in a pensive and confused manner. "So?" Hermione yawned the sleepy question at her friends - she had deliberately agreed the time for this assignment to optimise her recovery time but hadn't banked on these two waking her up for breakfast on the Saturday morning.
"We just wondered if you wanted to come down to breakfast and then go and visit Hagrid with us." Said Harry he was looking at her strangely as if he knew there was something that she wasn't telling them.
"Sure I'd love to," Hermione twittered inanely while thinking what she could say that might excuse her slightly if not very strange behaviour "just need to wake up, I know," she had just hit on a way to tidy and still keep them occupied, "you two go down and secure a good place for breakfast, get me a bit of everything I'm starving," hung over more like, "and I'll be down in ten minutes." "Sure thing" the boys said leaving her in peace.
She ran around the three rooms that the boys would later inspect to see if there really was something that she wasn't telling them and cleared out anything even the tiniest bit out of the ordinary. Five minutes after she should have been breakfasting with the boys she was still running around in her underwear sorting things out, she finished and dressed and took advantage of a secret passage which had been installed entirely for her benefit - it lead from her room to the entrance hall. She therefore walked into the great hall little more that seven minutes late and looking as if she had not intended anything else. As she looked through the many people breakfasting late on the Saturday morning she noticed that Severus was one of them, the dinner last night that had kept both of them up until the early hours of this morning had obviously had as much of an affect on him as it had on her. As she took note of the completely exhausted looking Professor Snape he looked up and signalled to her that she would have to, once again, cut breakfast short.
After a hurried explanation that Professor Snape had insisted she be there to help him demonstrate something to his year seven 'reprobates', his words, she had only used them for emphasis - or was she getting cynical, and Hagrid would have to be left until she had more time or at least until she had Snape off her back, Hermione bolted what would no doubt be breakfast and lunch and headed for the dungeons. As she went she mentally composed what she would report back to Severus about last night.
The cocktail party had been her real chance to meet the main people backing and opposing her in her current role of Harry-protection. Of course the people from her department of the Ministry of Magic weren't apparent but they were there, the Department of Mysteries always had someone anywhere the leader of the renegade death eaters (Lucius Malfoy, naturally) and the so-called leader of the good guys (Cornelius Fudge, but everyone knew it was really Dumbledore who ran things) met up and had a party. These gatherings were the Department of Mysteries' way of showing the public they didn't suspect anyone whilst still refreshing the monitoring charms on each and every person in power. Hermione's job that night had been relatively simple, stay with the three new recruits to the Department of Magical Games and Sports (all Hermione's age and two graduating from Slytherin at Hogwarts last year the other from Ravenclaw) for her assignment Hermione had chosen not to use her real name, so instead of Hermione Granger aged 16 years (the only thing wrong with that identity was her age - she simply wasn't young anymore) she became Catarina Hayes (nothing like her birth certificate and the girl simply didn't exist except at Gringotts and at parties like this) an attractive eighteen year old (real age, less likely to trip up and she can drink) and prospective employee of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Her appearance changed enough when she became herself anyway that make-up and a little bit of magical hairdressing had done wonders for a disguise.
She made her way down the final corridor to snap's dungeons she heard a now familiar sneaking sound behind her, 'Give him a break,' she ordered her self, 'he hasn't had your training and he hasn't come up with any actual information yet.' She continued to walk as if she hadn't noticed then as she rounded the final corner she stopped turned and composed her face so as not to laugh at the surprised look on Malfoy's face when he realised she knew he had been following her. He turned the corner and there was the face.
"Whoops Malfoy you seem to be stalking me again," Hermione said in her must innocent voice.
"Why Granger, I had no idea you visited Professor Snape so often, is it possible you aren't as intelligent as everyone thinks?" came the reply dripping with emphasised contempt. There are many things Hermione would tolerate, even Malfoy hitting near the mark with his suggestion that the M.O.M. had recruited her for the forces of good but one of the things that Hermione had always been proud of was in question here and she would now defend it and sod the consequences she thought. Assuming her most intimidating face she looked at Malfoy and said,
"As I believe I have mentioned before I know about more powerful magic than you could ever hope to and have no qualms about using it on jumped up Slytherins who insult my intelligence by suggesting I didn't know that you have been following me around the school and have even tried to enter my new rooms several times without success," surprisingly enough considering the strong protection spells keyed to voice recognition and your voice most certainly isn't one of the voices I have taught the spell. As Malfoy stood there thinking about this statement she turned and swept down the final straight and into Snape's classroom, cast a no-entry spell over her shoulder and called
"Professor I'm ready, and tired and hungry so can we please get on with this?"
Only then did she realise there was more than one person sitting in the classroom, "Oh. "
A/N: WOW bit late, never mind chapter six should be easy now and please enjoy this and tell me if you did (it would be nice to average more than one review a month, is that self-centered? Yes? Never mind.)
A/N: Oh dear me! - it seems my brain has rather taken a holiday, never mind chapter 5 as promised and chapter six is on the way. Hmmmm it might be 2004 when it gets here but I'll try and make it sooner. Please read and review so I know how much you hate me for being slow and pointless. Also I'm trying something slightly new for me and have included things in italics, which are Hermione's thoughts. ENJOY:
"HERMIONE!" a loud cry came from outside her front door. She roused herself into half wakefulness and analysed whether the voice could be ignored, it was definitely male and irritated, panicked or angry, the other thing she considered was; that the volume it wasn't hurting her tired - "HERMIONE!" -head, or maybe it was,
"Who is it?" she asked waveringly and what in hell's name do you want she added in her head.
"It's Ron and Harry," came the slightly quieter reply although still to loud in her sleep-deprived head, "let us in."
What the F. she thought as she threw on her red silk dressing gown and slipped her feet, which at the moment seemed a little too far from her head, into what looked like the matching slippers and yet they didn't fit. Three minutes later she walked, with a clearer head and slippers the right way up on the right feet, into her living room, which in light of her mood had low and yet useful lighting. "Hermione?" a worry rose in her head as the voice sounded unsure, had she just done something that might have. OH! BLOODY HELL her head screamed why in the world didn't I think - aloud she said,
"What's wrong?" and summoned the strength for the freezing spell to give her five minutes to remove the obvious 'I'm not who I have been pretending to be' make up from her face and to remove the magical blonde and ginger highlights and to wet her hair so she didn't have to explain it's lack of curl. Having done that she checked she hadn't missed anything else, hid the cocktail dress from last night's exploits and resumed the position she had been in as Harry and Ron 'defrosted'.
"It's just you look so." started Ron and then did a double take, looked at her again and said, "Nothing, I think I imagined something." His voice tailed off in a pensive and confused manner. "So?" Hermione yawned the sleepy question at her friends - she had deliberately agreed the time for this assignment to optimise her recovery time but hadn't banked on these two waking her up for breakfast on the Saturday morning.
"We just wondered if you wanted to come down to breakfast and then go and visit Hagrid with us." Said Harry he was looking at her strangely as if he knew there was something that she wasn't telling them.
"Sure I'd love to," Hermione twittered inanely while thinking what she could say that might excuse her slightly if not very strange behaviour "just need to wake up, I know," she had just hit on a way to tidy and still keep them occupied, "you two go down and secure a good place for breakfast, get me a bit of everything I'm starving," hung over more like, "and I'll be down in ten minutes." "Sure thing" the boys said leaving her in peace.
She ran around the three rooms that the boys would later inspect to see if there really was something that she wasn't telling them and cleared out anything even the tiniest bit out of the ordinary. Five minutes after she should have been breakfasting with the boys she was still running around in her underwear sorting things out, she finished and dressed and took advantage of a secret passage which had been installed entirely for her benefit - it lead from her room to the entrance hall. She therefore walked into the great hall little more that seven minutes late and looking as if she had not intended anything else. As she looked through the many people breakfasting late on the Saturday morning she noticed that Severus was one of them, the dinner last night that had kept both of them up until the early hours of this morning had obviously had as much of an affect on him as it had on her. As she took note of the completely exhausted looking Professor Snape he looked up and signalled to her that she would have to, once again, cut breakfast short.
After a hurried explanation that Professor Snape had insisted she be there to help him demonstrate something to his year seven 'reprobates', his words, she had only used them for emphasis - or was she getting cynical, and Hagrid would have to be left until she had more time or at least until she had Snape off her back, Hermione bolted what would no doubt be breakfast and lunch and headed for the dungeons. As she went she mentally composed what she would report back to Severus about last night.
The cocktail party had been her real chance to meet the main people backing and opposing her in her current role of Harry-protection. Of course the people from her department of the Ministry of Magic weren't apparent but they were there, the Department of Mysteries always had someone anywhere the leader of the renegade death eaters (Lucius Malfoy, naturally) and the so-called leader of the good guys (Cornelius Fudge, but everyone knew it was really Dumbledore who ran things) met up and had a party. These gatherings were the Department of Mysteries' way of showing the public they didn't suspect anyone whilst still refreshing the monitoring charms on each and every person in power. Hermione's job that night had been relatively simple, stay with the three new recruits to the Department of Magical Games and Sports (all Hermione's age and two graduating from Slytherin at Hogwarts last year the other from Ravenclaw) for her assignment Hermione had chosen not to use her real name, so instead of Hermione Granger aged 16 years (the only thing wrong with that identity was her age - she simply wasn't young anymore) she became Catarina Hayes (nothing like her birth certificate and the girl simply didn't exist except at Gringotts and at parties like this) an attractive eighteen year old (real age, less likely to trip up and she can drink) and prospective employee of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Her appearance changed enough when she became herself anyway that make-up and a little bit of magical hairdressing had done wonders for a disguise.
She made her way down the final corridor to snap's dungeons she heard a now familiar sneaking sound behind her, 'Give him a break,' she ordered her self, 'he hasn't had your training and he hasn't come up with any actual information yet.' She continued to walk as if she hadn't noticed then as she rounded the final corner she stopped turned and composed her face so as not to laugh at the surprised look on Malfoy's face when he realised she knew he had been following her. He turned the corner and there was the face.
"Whoops Malfoy you seem to be stalking me again," Hermione said in her must innocent voice.
"Why Granger, I had no idea you visited Professor Snape so often, is it possible you aren't as intelligent as everyone thinks?" came the reply dripping with emphasised contempt. There are many things Hermione would tolerate, even Malfoy hitting near the mark with his suggestion that the M.O.M. had recruited her for the forces of good but one of the things that Hermione had always been proud of was in question here and she would now defend it and sod the consequences she thought. Assuming her most intimidating face she looked at Malfoy and said,
"As I believe I have mentioned before I know about more powerful magic than you could ever hope to and have no qualms about using it on jumped up Slytherins who insult my intelligence by suggesting I didn't know that you have been following me around the school and have even tried to enter my new rooms several times without success," surprisingly enough considering the strong protection spells keyed to voice recognition and your voice most certainly isn't one of the voices I have taught the spell. As Malfoy stood there thinking about this statement she turned and swept down the final straight and into Snape's classroom, cast a no-entry spell over her shoulder and called
"Professor I'm ready, and tired and hungry so can we please get on with this?"
Only then did she realise there was more than one person sitting in the classroom, "Oh. "
A/N: WOW bit late, never mind chapter six should be easy now and please enjoy this and tell me if you did (it would be nice to average more than one review a month, is that self-centered? Yes? Never mind.)