Title: Dance Fever and Some Bad Dreams
Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: Quickly, I would just like to clarify for all those who really analyze this fic. I am aware Padma and Parvati are not in the same common room in the book but they are in this fic. So stop reviewing stuff like that. This story is slightly AU-y. Also I made a lil booboo with the Cho thing. But there's no turning back now. Thanx! Oh and I wanna thank all my oh so tolerant readers! Enjoy!
Chapter 20: Her Turn
"I can only imagine what cuties we'll have in all our classes!" chatted Parvati as she and Padma entered the dorm. Her twin placed a couple more books in her bag, muttering, "I hate potions with a fiery passion."
Parvati nodded and grabbed her Potions books while adding, "The man just did not get enough loving when he was a child."
"None at all." Padma sighed, "You ready, Herm?" I gave what I hopped was a legitimate smile and walked out the door doing my best to hide my frustration from the twins.
As I walked down the stairs, with the twins voices lingering vaguely in the back of my head, I began to go over Draco's weird behavior. Why did he feel the need to protect me all of the sudden? Damn...why do men always find the need to express their masculinity?
But I knew he wasn't acting like he was because he wanted to impress anyone. Truth was in his eyes—and they were incapable of lying.
"Oh no..." I heard from behind me. I turned and noticed that Padma and Parvati had stopped walking and were standing defensively.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked.
Padma and Parvati exchanged annoyed glances and Padma stepped forward, "Hermione, we may be a little dumb"
"Hey!" cried Parvati.
"sometimes." Padma added as Parvati crossed her arms with a sour look on her face, "But we know you, Hermsie. And we know that when you make that weird biting-your-lip-scowling-mean-frustrated look that something really bad is up."
Parvati nodded and continued right when her sister stopped, "And don't try to lie, Hermione. I hear it's bad for your complexion." Padma and Parvati stood with their arms crossed with clearly no intention to move until I confessed.
"I...well...I am with someone," I barely got the words out before,
"I knew it!" Padma shrieked
"We totally knew!" Parvati cried with joy, "We are so good!"
"So tell us about this guy!" Padma begged. I shook my head with a small grin on my lips.
"Alright then, you keep your little secret man to yourself. But tell us...is he like totally sexy?" Parvati prodded.
My thoughts quickly ran through all the times Padma and Parvati woke me up at 4:35 in the morning to watch Draco drink his coffee in the Great Hall. I laughed, "I think you might find him fitting to your standards, I'm sure."
Padma and Parvati giggle and begin to lead me to Potions once again asking all sorts of seemingly meaningless questions such as, "Does he read as much as you?"
"Is he taller than you?"
"He's not Ron, is he?"
"Hermsie, you're still a virgin, right?"
Most of which I just laughed at and walked on. As we neared the Potions dungeon I heard Snape's voice ringing through the halls. Class had started... I put my finger to my lips and gestured for Padma and Parvati to stay quiet.
Sneaking into Potions had, in the past year or so, become an art to the twins and me involving stealth, precision, and agility. We stopped outside of the door and I poked my head inside to see Snape's back to the students as he wrote on the board with a squeaking piece of chalk.
I waved to the twins as we soundlessly made our way into empty seats. But a Slytherin caught sight of me slipping in and was about to call out to Snape when all the sudden he let out a yelp of pain.
Snape spun around and glared at the Slytherin boy, "What's your problem?"
Draco, who was seated right next the boy wrapped an arm around him and sneered, "You know these first years, they'll do anything to get a little attention."
The boy cowered under the eyes of Snape and nodded trying not to wince at Draco's firm grip.
I smiled to myself and opened my notebook; silently making a mental note to give Draco an extra heated…something after class.
"Now, as I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted," Snape glared at the boy, "this potion had been used for some of the more powerful wizards when they wished to obtain information from the minds of others without using any of the unforgivable curses. I warn you the heat can be become quite overwhelmingly thick in the air, making it harder to breathe. So I expect that some of the weaker students..." his eyes flashed in Harry's direction, "...may find they cannot take it and will have to leave the room. Now get your materials out and begin."
The first part of class, where we simply applied the first of the ingredients, was fairly easy. Yet as the students continued to add the multiple materials the room became increasingly hotter. By the middle of the class the class had started to narrow down as students rushed out of the classroom with beads of sweat clinging to their brows and looking an oddly pale green color.
But still I hung on stirred for five strokes, adding wolf hairs, dragon scales, and blood of a black cat.
Let Potion sit for three minutes and 27 seconds
I used my time to wipe my brow and look around the room. My partner had long since left the room and from the looks of it, so had many of the other students. Harry, Ron, a handful of Slytherins, and Draco were still working with surprising focus.
But it was Draco who shocked me most. It was not so much his focus that caught me off guard, but his oddly calm face as he was making it. All the others in the class seemed half frustrated or tired and about to fall over. Yet Draco looked as if he were simply making himself of cereal.
Potions was something Draco had always been gifted at, no matter how much Harry and Ron protested. There was something about the fluidness of his motions in reaching for ingredients. He never second guessed himself or flinched before adding an important material. I watched him add this and that, never losing focus, always smooth and graceful.
Not even the sweat that was dampening his hair could distract him. But then all the sudden he chanced to look up right into my eyes. He lost focus and grinned at me.
I blushed and stared back down at my potion. I looked at my watch counting down the seconds.
Five, four, three, two...
Granger...
My head shot up looking for who had called or rather whispered my name.
No one. I snapped back to my potion and quickly added the next ingredient. And began to
stir the potion counter clock wise.
Granger...
My eyes shot up and scanned the room trying to blink the sweat from my eyes. It was when I began to look back down into the swiveling mixture, that I felt something... something sifting...through my thoughts...
I dropped the spoon for the potion and grabbed my head as a throbbing pain coursed through my temples. The pain kept growing and my eyes seemed to be clouding over with darkness. I could hear faint voices in the back of my mind like, "Hermione, What are you doing?"
"Are you ok?"
But the pain soon became enough to drown out the voices as I felt my legs unable to hold my dead weight. And then I felt my back slap a cold surface and my head hit what felt like pure metal.
"Hermione!" someone cried in the darkness. But it was too late. I felt fear lap me up and drain me of energy...and then I heard it... a cold, icy, voice of death rattle,
Hello, Miss Granger. I don't think we've met before...
Alrighty this chappy is shorter than the rest but I trust I will be leaving you all annoyingly on the edge of your seats. But I decided I wouldn't make you guys wait too long for my next chappy. I hope you liked it. Please review and be nice! LOVE YOU ALL XOXOX!
Muse's note: Ite I'm JUST as pissed off as the rest of you…Good god of ALL the cliffhangers….I'll whack her a few times for you:P
