Yowsers! Over 60 REVIEWS! I am ASTOUNDED and THRILLED BEYOND BELIEF! A HUGE thank you goes out to the following people who left very encouraging and warm comments on Chapter 11: Eowyn Organa, astraeos, HPLover1994, waterfaerie15, Darkmoonfang, goblin monkey, Lara Potter, madammarauder, Rozie, sailorstarryeyes, MIDNIGHT-PIXIE, Sing-my-heart-out, kitotterkat, A tragic Romance, Rachel, suckr4romance, LadySimone123, Elemental Water Mistress, the-insufferable-know-it-all, MysteryALASKA, unknownspeices, FairyKisses, aurora-sakura, Kitty Weasley KW, The Gray Witch, Ronsreallove, N.C. PysChick, aishteru, Tria Marie Val, RandomSmirf13, WhiteRoseDancer, MAGSTER, xhorseriderx4, AngelicOne, Lumos2000, hermione2, sheltielover, skysongcry, Aqb Dk, siktophat, NintademiBrooke, Endless Potential, True Slytherin Witch, Hufflepuff Queen, dreamchubb, NicciBubbles, xthedramaqueenx, xPussyWillowKittenx, dancerrdw, eckles, quidditchgirl13, and last, but certainly not least, Lucy!
I would like to dedicate this chapter to skysongcry, the 500th reviewer! You rock!
I know some of you have raised concerns about Hermione's actions concerning Draco- and I definitely agree with your opinions. It isn't right to "cheat" on one's boyfriend / girlfriend for ANY reason, nor is it right to fantasize, talk about Draco's lips, etc. Hermione IS being quite foolish and frankly, a bit stupid. However, it will eventually CATCH UP TO HER. I PROMISE. By no means through this story am I saying that the kind of things Hermione's doing and thinking are justified and moral. She is making serious mistakes, and she will soon feel the repercussions from them. There is NO way she will get off the hook. There are consequences for every action.
As usual, read, review and ENJOY this chapter! I will dedicate the next chapter to the 600th reviewer!
Note: My "Quick Edit" function isn't working on so if anything looks strange in this chapter, it's because I didn't get a chance to preview it.
I quickly took the Silencing Charm off the area by waving my wand behind my back before saying a single word to my boyfriend, clad in (my cheeks became rosy as I noticed this) only a pair of blue plaid pajama bottoms.
"Ron!" I said with great surprise, jumping to my feet. "What are YOU doing down here? And why do you sound so...disturbed?"
"I couldn't sleep." He flashed me his infamous lopsided grin. "And I am unhappy because you three girls are clearly having a pajama party and didn't invite me!"
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes I really wondered about Ron's intelligence.
"Do you notice me wearing any pajamas?" I raised an eyebrow.
I shivered as his eyes lazily raked over my body.
"Nope," he said breezily. "However, you always have to be different, Hermione. That's one of the things I love most about you."
My heart literally melted at those words. Parvati and Ginny, on the other hand, were doing crude imitations of someone with a bad case of the stomach flu. Hmmph. Whose side were they on?
"We'll leave you two lovebirds to it, then." Ginny winked. "Don't stay up too late and please refrain from shagging in the Common Room."
"Good night to you too," I grumbled.
"So..." Ron said huskily.
"So..." I mimicked him.
"I'm all alone with my girlfriend in the middle of the night in the Common Room. Whatever shall we do?"
"Go to bed."
"Together?" The redhead bloke pretended to be shocked. "Hermione, I do wonder sometimes where your mind is..."
"Right now my mind is in the Land of Sleep," I mumbled. "But my body is not. Thus, I am having difficulty comprehending anything you say and should also not be held responsible for any words that issue from my overly large mouth." What a load of dragon dung. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and not in the least bit fatigued. I was just experiencing a tad bit of discomfort of being around my boyfriend when less than an hour ago I had engaged in lip-lock with a bloke who was certainly NOT Ronald Weasley.
"Well, before you go to bed, can I at least get a kiss good night?"
"Er- NO!" I said a bit loudly and coughed rather dramatically. "Er- I think I'm coming down with the sniffles." In truth, however, I was coming down with a serious case of "guilt-itis." WHY, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, DID I LET DRACO MALFOY KISS ME? That would've been bad enough, normally, but I HAD A BOYFRIEND AT THE TIME (11:30)! ONE WHO LOVED ME VERY MUCH (and still does!) OH MERLIN, MERLIN, MERLIN...WHAT IN GODRIC'S NAME WAS I THINKING? I COULDN'T KISS RON...NOT AFTER MY LIPS HAD BEEN DEVOURED BY ANOTHER MAN!
"You were perfectly fine earlier this evening," Ron said suspiciously. "Do you not WANT TO KISS ME?"
"I do, really!" I squeaked. "It's just that..."
"Ahem." Oh, of course. She ALWAYS came at the exact, perfect moment.
"Problems, Ronald?" Cassandra asked breathily, sauntering towards us in her scandalizingly skimpy red nightgown.
"Er- no," he stammered, the tips of his ears turning a dark red.
"What are YOU doing down here?" I said a bit harsher than I meant to. After all, it would only turn Ron against me more if I was rude to his new "friend."
"I do believe that I have every right to be down here," she smiled coldly. I looked at Ron, expecting a reaction at her blatant unkindness towards his GIRLFRIEND. However, he was ogling her-or to be more precise, her ample chest.
"Of course you do." My voice simply oozed with sweetness. "I was just wondering WHY you're down here."
"I couldn't sleep." That perked Ron up right away.
"Really? Neither could I! We have something in common." In about five seconds, you'll have even more in common when I place a most lovely Bat-Bogey Hex on the two of you.
"Perhaps I could help you sleep, Ronald," Cassandra purred, running a hand down his left arm.
"Excuse me," I hissed, my cover forgotten. "Just how are you going to help him sleep?"
"Oh, I know MANY ways," she said suggestively, staring at him straight in the eye.
"Now, if you think for one second that you are going to do anything of the sexual nature with MY boyfriend, you have another one coming," I snapped furiously, stomping right up to her and pointing my finger in her made-up face.
"Your girlfriend is highly excitable, Ronald," the Ice Princess tinkled, fixing me with a look of pity. "Perhaps you should see about getting a Tranquilizing Potion for her from Professor Snape. It's really not healthy..."
"In a few seconds, you are going to be not healthy, after I use a nifty little spell on you that I learned last summer. It gives you a most TERRIBLE case of the runs."
Her laughter this time was forced.
"You wouldn't dare," she said in a low voice.
"Oh, I wouldn't?"
"No, for then I would be forced to inform that old hag McGonagall of your actions and you would end up with yet another pleasant week of detention."
"Oh, you really think she'd believe your word over mine?" I smirked, muttering the incantation under my breath and watching with no small glee as she began shifting with discomfort.
"Er, Ron," she began in a strained voice. "I'm afraid I'll have to bid you goodnight now. I'm not feeling too well."
"Hermione, what did you do?" Ron groaned, watching her scamper up the steps as fast as her long legs could carry her.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," I fibbed. "It must've been those red beets...I'm not feeling so hot myself..." I made my exit.
"You're always hot in my books," the object of my affections called after me.
"Is she EVER going to be done in the bathroom?" Parvati sighed, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor at 6:45 the next morning.
" 'Fraid not," I said airily. "Cass-Ass has a terrible case of the trots."
"And how would you know, seeing as you avoid any conversation with her?"
I leaned over and said very quietly, "I gave it to her."
"This is an OUTRAGE!" Cassandra shrieked at lunchtime, black hair flailing. "An absolute outrage!"
"No, what is an outrage is the fact that she was able to find a counter-spell and stop her horrible diarrhea two hours ago," I confided to Ginny, who nodded her head in agreement.
"I will not stand for this!" She rose to her feet to face Professor McGonagall.
"Then by all means, Miss Valet, please sit down," Professor McGonagall sighed with frustration. "As I have said at least ten times, you have a total of seventeen evenings of detention."
"But WHY!" The-b-with-an-itch-of-witch screeched.
"As I have also said at least a dozen times, you were caught with Mr. Malfoy in a broom closet on the seventh floor around 11:30 last night."
"Why would I, by my own will, jump into a broom closet with HIM?" Cassandra sniffed angrily.
"I do not even try to understand the way your mind works, Miss Valet." Professor McGonagall shook her head. "After the things you said last night..."
"What things DID I SAY?" She stared at my favorite teacher blankly.
Professor McGonagall shook her head.
"That is quite enough of your shenanigans, Miss Valet." she said sternly. "Unless you wish to be even further punished. Detention tonight at 8'o clock in my office. Do try to be on time. I grow quite irate when my students are late for detentions. And when I am irate, I generally..."
"I am NOT going to detention tonight." Cassandra stomped her prissy little foot firmly. "And that's final. I did NOTHING of the sort that I am being of accused of!"
"If she's being accused of being a b-with-an-itch, than she is certainly doing everything of the sort," Parfvati snickered.
"You did everything of the sort so it's no use denying it, Miss Valet," Professor McGonagall snapped. "I saw you with my own two eyes!"
"Professor..." the beautiful witch began, in the blink of an eye adopting her "sweet voice," "You may be wondering why I was not in class this morning."
"Yes, I was about to move on to that. Do continue."
"Well, you see, Hermione Granger used a spell on me last night that gave me a dreadful case of the runs. I simply couldn't leave the loo for more than a few seconds until around 11:00 this morning, when I finally located the counter-spell."
"Most creative." Ooh, FEISTY Professor McGonagall! "Miss Granger," she asked dryly. "Did you curse Miss Valet last night?"
"Certainly not, Professor!" I said, pretending to be aghast. "Why ever would I do that to a fellow house-mate?"
"I thought as much," McGonagall smiled.
"B-but Professor! She DID! You must.." A rather odd expression fell over Cassandra's porcelain face and she grinned wickedly. "You must check her wand!"
"Very well, then. Miss Granger, may I please see your wand?" Her tired brown eyes clearly said, "humor me."
"Of course!" I chirped, handing her Ginny's wand (we had switched quickly under the table a few seconds previously when I had a inkling of where the discussion was leading).
"Prior Incantato," the old Professor said lazily. Smoke in the shape of a headful of curly hair issued from Ginny's wand. "See? The last spell Miss Granger did was a simple beauty spell!"
"But that was this morning!" Cassandra cried. "She did this last night!" She sprang to her feet and exited the Great Hall angrily, the male population watching her swinging hips the whole way. "You will be hearing from my father about this!" She called back.
"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall said quietly as she passed by me on her way to the Head Table.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Next time, do make sure that you hide the book that has a counter-spell so she won't be able to find it for a long, long time."
"Certainly."
Cassandra was still fuming in Charms to the only one that would listen- Ron.
"It's ridiculous," she growled, unfortunately using a quick "Impedimenta" to slow down the extremely heavy book I had "accidentally" sent her way when my Levitating charm "went wrong." Even though we had already begun our curriculum for the year, Professor Flitwick thought it would be a good idea to take a break and first review all the charms we had learned in the past six years before learning NEWT-level ones.
"I agree." Ron nodded his head excitedly. "I mean, you won't be able to try out for Quidditch! That's bloody terrible!"
"I know!" She moaned, hitting Harry in the back with a "Rictusempra" when Ron wasn't looking. "You said I stood fair chance of getting the open Chaser position!"
"A bloody good chance."
"Even though I haven't played Chaser in ages- as you know, I was Beauxbaton's star Seeker- I'm sure I could refine my skills in a matter of time..."
"This is sickening," I mumbled to Parvati, whose flawless face was currently arranged in a look of disgust.
"I'd say." She aggressively levitated a nearby cushion and dropped it on her head.
"Ouuch!" Came her enraged voice.
"That was pathetic," I informed my fellow seventh-year. "You chose an object that scarcely weighs anything. How was that supposed to hurt her?"
"Annoy, not hurt," the Indian beauty sighed. "Do you really want to see Ron pulling a Florence Nightingale as she lies on a hospital bed?"
"Er- not really." I was secretly impressed by the slightly-ditzy-at-time-witch's knowledge of mid-eighteenth century British history.
"Ronald, it HURTS..." Cassandra whined.
"I'll give her something to really complain about." I clenched my fists and resisted the strong urge to remove her breasts using a particularly nasty spell I had found in one of the ancient books in the Black library. I whispered my desire to my companion who found the idea very, very, VERY tempting.
"Sometimes you have to say, 'what the hell,'" I smirked.
"What happened to MY chest!" A blood-curdling scream ricocheted through the Charms classroom, drawing the attention of all of my classmates-and Professor Flitwick.
"It seems to have disappeared," Ron gasped most intelligently.
"Colette and Clarice do NOT just get up and walk away!" The now- boob-less witch hissed.
Parvati and I just stared at each other, and unison snorted, "She named them?"
"Well, with boobs that big I reckon they each are like another person," Lavender suggested.
"What am I going to DO?" Cassandra wailed. "I can't go around like THIS!"
"C'est la vie, cher !" I drawled. (Translation : That's life, dearie!)