Ok, now before you read this I just want to give you guys some insight.
Hermione doesn't want Pansy to know that Crookshanks can talk, just yet.
They will not get together in the next chapter magically and say they love each other and live happily ever after. They tolerate each other as they both have soft spots for they kitties.
My beta reader is too good for me, lol. Thanks Vexon-Fusion for fixing this little baby up.
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Unexpected
Chapter 2
Light danced through the curtains of the Head Girls' quarters and onto its sleeping patrons. Crookshanks stirred, blinking through the hazy mist of the sun. Feeling rather bored, he stood up and arched his back, stretching and yawning. In one short leap from his master's bed, he landed with a soft 'poof' onto the twisted blankets of Pansy's bed. Padding over towards the two black sleeping lumps, the orange cat carefully dodged the bent legs and clenched fingers of the raven haired girl and gently jumped upon the girl's chest. He curled in a ball next to Clarith who had watched the entire scene with one eye cracked open.
Upon feeling the sudden warmth leave her chest, Hermione sat up and let out a monstrous yawn. Mocha eyes looked across the room to find orange and black lumps on her roommates' chest—something that caused the girl to panic.
"Shit," She mumbled, standing up and swaying as the sleep began to leave her body. With quiet determination, she snuck over to the other bed where Pansy laid with the most angelic face she had ever seen. Hermione silently cursed her luck. With her lips slightly parted and her raven locks curling around her face, how could anyone not agree she was the perfection of femininity?
A soft sigh escaped Pansy's lips causing Hermione to jump back and land on a rather pointy brush.
"Shit!" Hermione swore and bit her lip as she looked down at her now red foot. Grey eyes cracked open, spotting a cursing and angry Hermione.
"What the fuck are you doing Granger?" Pansy growled and tried to sit up, but was pushed down by the giant orange and black lumps.
"Well…err… You see, Crookshanks decided to… umm… sleep with you. And I was trying to get him off…" The Gryffindor stumbled over each word as she tried to piece together her version of 'perving on you while you slept'.
"Well I'm awake now, so can you piss off before I throw you and your scumbag of a cat out!" Pansy spat, glaring at the now frowning Head.
"Fine," Hermione pursed her lips together and grabbed her robes, stepping into the bubble probably to go for a shower.
Crookshanks stood up abruptly; leaving Pansy's chest with his fur huffed in anger. Clarith, seeing Crookshanks leave, shot Pansy a nasty glare and jumped off the bed to follow him.
"Oh fuck, not you two, too," Pansy muttered, pulling the blankets off her and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She stumbled across the room and sat on the ground next to the incensed cats.
"Come on, I didn't mean it…" The Slytherin pleaded, offering her hands out in a beckoning gesture. Low growls and flashes of pearly white fangs were given in reply.
"Clarith? Come on," She crawled closer to her only true friend. The black cat merely turned her head to the side and nuzzled into Crookshank's fur. Pansy stood up and gave them one last glare before reaching down to pick up her scattered robes. With a heaving sigh, she made her way into the bubble and down to the bathroom. In a giant pool of crimson water stood a very naked Hermione washing her hair, causing the dark haired girl's eyes to widen with shock.
"Oh," Hermione turned around to see a… blushing Pansy? Pushing those thoughts out of her head, the brown haired girl turned away and walked into the pool until she the water was up to her neck.
"Why is it red?" Pansy asked, placing her robes on the racks provided. Sensing the calm tone of voice, Hermione looked over her shoulder and pointed to the faucets.
"Cherry flavour and I'm getting out now anyway." She walked into the shallower water, exposing pale shoulders. Pansy took the hint turned around, finding a nice spot on the wall to stare at.
"I don't really mind you know, it's not like we aren't both female." The gryffindor walked over towards the racks and picked up a fluffy white towel.
Pansy turned around, walking over to the faucets and ignoring the urges to chase after and shag that curvy body till she couldn't breathe. The raven haired girl browsed the flavours before picking out a light brown tag that read 'Caramel'. Turning the faucet Pansy looked over to see a swirling brown enter the pool and consume all of the leftover cherry. Her gaze floating upwards, Pansy saw Hermione walk back into the bubble fully clothed, giving her a nod of… acknowledgment?
"Stupid Granger," She whispered to no one in particular and slipped her black singlet off. Pulling down her silky green shorts and feel them slide down her silky smooth legs. Once undressed, the young woman dove into the deep end of the bath; rising to the top, she began to float in the water breathing deeply as the scent of divine caramel met her nose.
Hermione exited the bubble and walked over to her bed, retrieving her wand so that she could use the straightening spell. After a few eyelash-lengthening charms, the Gryffindor let out a yawn and proceeded down to their common room. She swung her bag over her shoulder and slipped out of the portrait hole, heading towards the Great Hall.
"'Mione!" Harry called from across the hall, beckoning the girl over towards him. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed a platinum blonde head sitting next to 'the boy who survived'.
"Malfoy?" Hermione asked as she neared the two figures. The blonde head turned and grinned at the sighing witch. Hermione felt her head for any heat as her new headache made friends with her mind.
"Morning Darling," Draco purred, winking at the flushed girl.
"Morning… Draco," Hermione muttered as she took a seat opposite the two grinning boys.
"You're up early, 'Mione." Harry pointed out, munching on a piece of buttered toast.
"Yeah well… Pan-Parkinson and I had a talk and I didn't feel like hanging around." Hermione muttered picking up her cup of herbal tea.
"I know Pansy can be a pain sometimes, but she is really caring if you get to know her." Draco said wiping the little dribble of butter that had escaped Harry's lips.
"I hope so," Hermione sighed again. Allowing her gaze to wander, she noticed that they were indeed alone in the hall. The doors of the Great Hall opened, causing Draco to jump up and begin his rehearsed lines of insults. When he realized who it was Draco let out a chuckle and waved them over.
"Morning beautiful," He cooed at the scowling Head.
"Morning." Pansy muttered, sitting on the other side of Draco. She picked up a glass of pumpkin juice and began to sip it, conspicuously allowing her grey eyes to wander to the brown haired girl who was currently drinking her tea.
"You girls smell absolutely brilliant, may I say!" Harry chirped and breathed in the cherry-caramel aroma that had formed around the table. Hermione blushed, letting a small smile creep onto her lips. If possible, Pansy scowled even deeper.
"So… what are the Head's Quarters like?" Draco asked while picking through his bacon and eggs.
"They're wonderful," Hermione's eyes shot over to the doors of the Great Hall as they opened again. Both Slytherin's jumped up yet again, only to find two fat blobs of orange and black trotting into the hall.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up to watch as he leapt gracefully onto the top of the table with Clarith.
"Clarith, what are you doing?" Pansy's voice softened considerably, causing Harry to splutter his pumpkin juice. Hermione and Malfoy simply smiled.
The black cat padded towards Hermione and hopped into her lap under her robes. The brilliant witch sighed and gave Clarith a couple pats before looking up to find Crookshanks doing the same to Pansy.
"Hah! What the hells with the cat thing, Pansy?" Draco grinned at the black haired Slytherin.
"They get lonely, I suppose," Pansy stroked the fat lump sitting on her lap. Hermione smiled and looked down at her lap where Clarith… winked? She blinked and rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling that this was going to be a very long school year.
"I think it's cute, it's like they've turned into those lonely old ladies with all those cats." Harry ducked as two pieces of toast came flying at him.
"Aww… my schnookie has got butter on his cute wittle noseypoo!" Draco cooed, leaning forward to wipe the little splash off his boyfriend's nose with a green handkerchief. The girl's rolled their eyes before standing and bidding the boys farewell.
"Dumbledore wanted to see us," Pansy said, striding forward inwardly smiling at the feeling of Crookshanks settling and wrapping around her waist. The brown haired girl nodded and followed her roommate to the gargoyle statue, whispering the password 'lemon drops'. The raven haired witch rolled her eyes at the originality of the password, noticing out of the corner of her eye Hermione doing exactly the same thing.
"Ah ladies, thank you for joining me here." Dumbledore sat behind his desk, smiling as the two girls entered, receiving a smile from Hermione and a blank stare from Pansy.
"I called you here to inform you of your new patrols. Tonight I expect you two to patrol the forbidden forest. Not inside, just along the wall of trees. Now that you know, I have business to attend… and I'm sure you have classes," Dumbledore quickly stood from his chair and ushered the two Heads out of his office.
"What the fuck," Pansy muttered and shook her head.
"That was… odd." Her companion frowned as the headmaster's words replayed in her head.
"He's gone off his fucking rocker, if you ask me," The pale girl began walking forward, Hermione in tow, smiling as Clarith popped out of her robes and let out a quiet roar. Pansy turning and sent a warm gaze at her pet, brushing her knuckles lightly against the cat's head. The black cat purred happily in response.
The rest of the day went by like a blur; Hermione kept Clarith quiet for the most part. At least she kept quiet until potions, when she jumped out from the brown haired witch's robes to take a snag out of Snape's robes and then fled back to the safety of the Gryffindor's arms.
After dinner, Hermione found herself waiting on the lounge in her quarters, skimming through a book. The crackling of the fire and the soft purring on her chest was so relaxing that she began to feel her eyelids droop. As they began to droop the second time, the witch sighed softly, drifting off into a light slumber.
Out in the hall, Pansy whispered the password watching as the phoenix ruffled its feathers before swinging open. She crept into the common room immediately noticing the two lumps on the lounge. A small smile formed on her ruby lips as the raven haired girl crept over to where her roommate was sleeping and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, giving her a rough shake. The Slytherin stood back and smirked as Hermione woke up with a jolt.
"Ready for our rounds?" Hermione mumbled sleepily, blinking away the remnants of her short nap from the corners of her eyes. Pansy nodded and pulled Crookshanks out of her robes. Seeing Hermione, he leapt away from pale hands to snuggle with his warm master.
"I guess they're coming with us," Hermione stated, pushing a stray lock behind her ear. She felt considerably more awake now.
"So where do we start?" They began to walk through the halls, nodding towards the patrolling prefects.
"Not sure, I guess we'll start near the lake and work our way back." Hermione replied, stroking the purring orange lump.
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"Cranky old fool," Pansy growled as they trudged through the deep grass surrounding the forest.
Hermione followed the tempestuous witch, listening to her constant swearing and cursing with an amused smile. Dark eyebrows would knot together in frustration when coming across a particularly angry pixie, hexing it just a second later—but not without letting loose yet another wonderful and colourful string of curses. The brown haired girl could not stop herself from finding this side of Pansy to be incredibly cute.
When they finished the patrol, the two girls began the slow trudge back up to their Quarters, slightly shocked to notice they'd been out for nearly three hours. All the prefects' patrols had ended by this time. Hermione placed Crookshanks down feeling him become restless in her arms and Clarith jumped down after him, the two cats trotting in front of the Head's. The four walking down the hall were quite a sight to see.
The two girls mumbled the password to the portrait, following their orange and black fur lumps into the common room where Crookshanks stopped suddenly and began to growl. Clarith, noticing Crookshanks' newly found hostility, suddenly perked up. Pansy and Hermione watched the two cats curious, before looking up. They both froze as they saw, standing before their fire, two rather hungry looking dementors.
Both whipped out their wands and screamed a rather loud 'Expecto Patronum'. The bright streams of light poured out of their wands and straight into Crookshanks and Clarith.
Without warning, the cats grew rapidly to about the size of large Griffins. On their backs appeared shining plates of armour and their forms became surrounded with a ghostly glow. Their owners gasped as the new warriors leapt at the dementors, ripping them to shreds.
"What the hell…" Pansy whispered, stepping towards Clarith. Clarith lowered her head and loudly purred at her master's slow stroke on the left side of her chin.
"Crookshanks?" Hermione's mocha eyes were bugging out of her head as her 'cat' began to pad towards her, grinning and showing his fangs. The shocked witch reached out hesitantly, stroking his fur and receiving what would be called a purr reaction as well. Hermione looked over at the smiling Pansy.
"This is… cool," The dark haired girl said, pulling herself up onto the back of her large pet. Clarith began to saunter around the room, leaping from side to side causing Pansy to squeal in delight. Hermione grinned and felt a nudge from Crookshanks. Taking the hint, she pulled herself up and began to test him out.
"We should go out onto the grounds!" The Gryffindor yelled over to her roommate, who had decided that gravity was make-believe.
"Race you!" Pansy said, with a crazy grin. Hermione met this with a grin of her own but then frowned as she realized the problem with this.
The brown haired girl bent over, whispering into the orange cat's ear, "Crookshanks, can you get smaller?"
"Yes, of course," He replied. Hermione nodded and slid off his back, watching him get shrink back down to his original size.
Pansy watched Hermione and Crookshanks exit the portrait hole. Once they were gone, the Slytherin sighed, drifting off into thought. She wondered how the normally prissy and stuck-up know-it-all could put up with all the insults, the put downs, the smirking, and scowling. How could she put up with the whole lot?
Grey eyes widened as one thought stood out above all others: The great Pansy Parkinson has gone soft… on a stupid Mudblood no less. The dark haired witch shook her head, scolding herself for thinking that as she had promised not to say that word anymore; it was beneath her and very cruel. Beneath her and cruel… that's it, she'd gone soft; gone so bloody soft that Pansy began to fear what would Draco say.
But Draco wouldn't say anything, not now; he'd gone softer than butter with that stupid Potter boy. She sighed again, biting at her lower lip irately before slipping off Clarith and allowing the cat to shrink to her original size, following her out of the portrait hole.
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Hermione felt the wind surge through her hair as she held onto Crookshanks for dear life. They were running along the outskirts of the forbidden forest, trailing not too far behind were Pansy and Clarith, who had decided that leaps and bounds were faster. The raven haired witch and cat were catching up quickly, covering tens of metres in each bound.
Pansy's heart beat faster and faster, the wind blowing her hair back and out of her face. She clutched the long fur of Clarith, the large cat darting from side to side and then leaping onto a large tree, just to rebound back off and become parallel with the large orange cat.
The girls forgot all concept of time, finally coming to rest after Crookshanks and Clarith stubbornly refused to travel through the lake.
"I cant believe this, I mean… Here I am, sitting with… Hermione Granger and two bloody monsters that used to be cats." Pansy was still catching her breath from the intense, but fun ride, and decided to lie on the soft grass at the edge of the lake.
"Strange huh,"
"What is?"
"You and me,"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… I mean this must be the longest we haven't started yelling at each other."
"Well this is the longest you haven't gotten on my nerves." Pansy spat and sat up.
"Shut up Pansy," Hermione said rubbing her temples feeling that headache come back. Pansy began to chuckle and laid back, sinking into the comfortable glass and closing her eyes.
"We are an unusual pair, aren't we?" Pansy said, taking in the cherry scent that still stuck with her like glue.
"We are indeed," Hermione whispered, lying next to Pansy. Looking to her left, the brown haired witch smiled as Crookshanks and Clarith curled up together asleep.
"I guess we can sleep out here," The grey eyed girl said, pulling her cloak tighter around herself.
"I guess," Hermione looked up at the stars which looked as if they were staring right back at her.
She turned her head and watched as the Slytherin witch's chest rose and fell in time with the girl's breathing. A small smile crept on her face as she thought of the two of them; enemies for so long, and then suddenly… friends? Were they friends… maybe… She had to give Dumbledore some credit, if it weren't for him picking them both as Head's, this would have never happened. This, whatever this is.
"Are you still awake, Granger?"
"…Hermione."
"What?"
"You can call me Hermione, you know, I call you Pansy."
"I never said you could."
"You never said I couldn't, either."
"Heh," The dark haired girl turned her head and produced a smile for her companion. Hermione certainly had some spunk in her, not much, but it was there. As if reading her thoughts, the brilliant witch smiled back and then stuck her tongue out. Pansy gave her a wink and closed her eyes again, breathing in the twisting caramel-cherry aroma. It was intoxicating. Suddenly a soft substance covered the pale girl's body and she sensed Hermione moving closer.
"I transfigured a blanket," Hermione said, rolling on her side to watch Pansy again.
"Know-it-all," Pansy cracked an eye open.
"Stuck-up-prude." Hermione countered, grinning as the other girl let out a snort.
"Exhibitionist," The dark haired girl whispered, moving closer towards Hermione—for warmth of course as it was a cold night anyway.
"Goodnight Pansy," Hermione muttered, closing her eyes for the last time.
"Night, Granger." Pansy watched the Head Girl poke her tongue out again.
"Hermione," She quickly added, watching that tongue recede back into its safe home. Small smiles crept onto both their faces, before smoothly drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
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