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Chapter 4: Mystery Kisser
"So?" Hermione was confused. "What's so odd about being a wolf? It's a perfectly normal animal, really."
"What's odd is that I should have been a snake or something." Malfoy explained irately. "For one thing it's my house's animal and for another my grandfather was an animagus and his animal form was a snake."
"Well, while there have been studies that that kind of thing can be genetic, the common thought at present in the magical community is that animagi's forms are based purely on they themselves. That means that you're an animagus and a wolf because it's a part of your soul, not because you inherited the trait from your grandfather." Hermione stated smartly.
"What, did you get that right out of a bloody book?" Malfoy asked snidely.
"As a matter of fact I read it in an article. But I should send them an owl that I've proved the theory wrong," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"How's that?" Malfoy was only half interested.
"Well, it can't be based on your soul Malfoy, you haven't got one."
The next five minutes was devoted to childish yelling and name-calling back and forth between Hermione and Malfoy until they both realized they sounded like idiots and sub-sided.
After waiting in silence for several moments, Jule began the lesson.
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An hour later, Hermione irritably threw one of the cushions on the couch across the room. "Why can't I do it?" She asked angrily. For the past hour both she and Malfoy had struggled to change into their animal forms. The most they had managed was to each sprout a bit of fur, gold for Hermione and grey for Malfoy. "It's not supposed to be this hard!"
"You're blocking it, both of you," Jule said calmly, seated cross-legged on the floor in front of her struggling students. "It's only hard because you're fighting it. Once you get into it, you'll be able to change anytime without thinking about it, but until then you're going to keep having trouble. Maybe you just need to relax a little. After all, you and ferret-boy are probably making each other a little tense just by being in the same room."
"Maybe," Hermione breathed, still upset.
"I don't know about her, maybe she's tense, but I feel perfectly fine," Malfoy spoke sullenly. "And all I can do is grow a bit of stupid hair."
"Look, maybe the two of you just don't know yourselves as well as you think you do. Insecure animagi tend to have problems shifting. Until you get more comfortable with yourselves you're stuck."
"Whatever, I'm getting a headache. I'm going to bed," Malfoy stated, still sullen.
He stormed off to his room and slammed the door behind himself.
"Do you really think that's it?" Hermione asked quietly as she crossed the room to retrieve the pillow she had thrown. "Do you really think I'm insecure?"
"May, I really have no idea," Jule answered seriously. "I've never had any problems with changing, and I've had my bad days too. Of course, my gift's a little different than yours is. I was born able to change, you just have the potential. Until you learn to unlock it, I'm afraid that your insecurities might get in the way. I'd do some serious soul-searching if I was you." Snapping out of her serious state, Jule brightened up. "But who cares about that? Let's have some fun!"
"Jule, its Wednesday. We have classes tomorrow!" Hermione scolded, but she smiled in spite of herself.
"I know that, but come on May, live life on the wild-side for once! I'll bet you've never skipped a single class!"
"I have so, I skipped Potions once!" Hermione said indignantly, still smiling.
"Ah, but I'll bet you had a good reason for it," Jule shot back.
Blushing, Hermione nodded. "Malfoy and Harry were fighting and Malfoy accidentally hit me with a curse that made my front teeth grow. Snape didn't dismiss me, so I just left and went to the hospital wing."
"See? I'm sure that wasn't fun at all!"
"No, but some good did come out of it," Hermione said slyly.
"What might that be?"
"My front teeth were naturally a bit large. When Madame Pomfrey was shrinking them, I let her go a little extra and make them better." She smiled brightly, showing off her perfect teeth. "My parents were furious I'd meddled with them. They're both dentists."
The two girls laughed before setting off out of the Head's common room.
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"So where are we going?" Hermione asked Jule curiously. They had gone back to Gryffindor Tower, and Jule was presently rummaging through her trunk for something suitable to wear.
Hermione looked around the room from her position on Jule's bed. This had once been her bed, given to Jule since Hermione had moved out of the tower. This room brought back memories, not all of them good. Hermione had never been close with any of the other girls, Harry and Ron had been her only real friends, so she had often felt excluded from the late-night conversations amongst the other Gryffindor girls in her year.
"There's a club I've heard about from some of the other girls," Jule answered, still tossing clothing about her impatiently. "It's on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Some of the older students like to sneak out there sometimes to have a good time. Honestly, if you can fly it's so easy to get out of this place! They only patrol the halls, never the skies."
Hermione, who was supposed to be on patrol duty tonight, said nothing. She wanted to have fun for once, and to hell with the rules.
"Aha, there you are, you little minx!" Jule shouted in triumph, lifting her prize for Hermione to see. "This is for you," she said proudly. "Go to the bathroom and put it on, I don't care what you have to say, just go!" She commanded loudly, gesturing towards the door to her right.
Hermione obeyed and, taking the black piece of cloth, hurried towards the bathroom. Quickly changing, she surveyed herself in the mirror and had to gasp. She looked half-way decent! The dress was black and clingy and rather sheer around the stomach from just below her belly-button to barely an inch below the bottom of her breasts. The dress was short and low-cut, so that the tops of her breast were revealed as were her legs up to her mid-thigh. The material appeared to be velvet and felt delicious against her skin.
Exiting the bathroom, Hermione held her hands over her exposed stomach self-consciously and faced Jule. "What do you think?" She asked nervously.
"May, you look great!" Jule yelled excitedly. "Now, we have to do something about your hair and make-up."
With that she forced Hermione into a chair and, pulling out her wand, kneeled in front of her. Closing her eyes, Hermione listened as Jule muttered several incantations and saw several flashes of light through her eye-lids. "There you go, take a look," Jule said, turning Hermione towards a mirror.
Hermione opened her eyes slowly, slightly dreading looking at herself. Then she stopped. She didn't look a thing like herself! Jule had straitened and blackened her hair, although it had several streaks of bright red running through it. Her lips were the same red as her hair as was her eye-shadow and eye-liner. Her tanned skin had been magically bleached somehow until she was as pale as Jule, and her cheeks had been warmed by a little bit of blush. "You have got to teach me some of these spells," she said, staring intently at herself and for once not feeling the urge to stick out her tongue.
"No problem," Jule said, sighing in satisfaction. "Here, put these on then tell me how I look." She handed Hermione a pair of very high plat-formed black shoes before looking into the mirror and muttering spells at herself. Hermione slipped on the shoes then looked at Jule.
"Wow, you look great," Hermione said warmly, and meant it. While Hermione had been in the bathroom Jule had changed as well. Her skirt, which was also black, was even shorter than Hermione's, so that when she turned around Hermione thought that she could glimpse a pair of pink frilly panties. She hadn't even bothered with a sheer top covering her stomach, instead she wore what looked a bit like a bright pink sports bra, except that the straps were thin and made of lace, and the top was trimmed with black lace. Her flat stomach was decorated with a pink, dangling belly-button ring.
"That's cool," Hermione said, pointing at the piercing and rubbing her single-piercing ears longingly, thinking of how her parents would freak if she ever even thought of piercing anything else.
"That's nothing, you should see my nipples," Jule said casually, causing Hermione to shoot her an odd look.
Her make-up was all black, except for her lipstick which was the same pink as her top. Her hair was long, black and curly with pink tips. "Like pink, eh?" Hermione asked, raising one eye-brow.
"Pink is my favorite color," Jule sang, setting the two girls off in a fit of giggles. (A/N: This doesn't make a whole lotta sense unless you've heard the Aerosmith song. Download it, you filthy buggars!) "Alright," Jule calmed herself down. "Now for the interesting part. Do you have a broom?" Hermione just shook her head. "I didn't think so. Don't like to fly, huh?"
"It's not that," Hermione sighed. "I love flying. I used to be afraid, and everybody thinks I still am, but really, a quality broom is just too expensive. As it is, I might make my parents go bankrupt thanks to books. I can't ask for a broom too!"
"I understand," Jule said sympathetically. "My parents are completely useless when it comes to money. I had to work all summer long to get my broom, but at least Gringotts gives me school loans." She drifted off into a gloomy silence. Brightening, she changed the subject. "Oh well, I guess you'll just have to share my broom. Don't worry; it should support the both of us."
"OK," Hermione shrugged.
Jule rummaged through her trunk once again before pulling out a tiny broom. "I shrink it for storage purposes," she explained to Hermione's curious look. Casting another spell, she returned the broom to its usual size. It was a Nimbus 2000, not the newest or the best broom, but still a good one.
"Harry used to have one of those," Hermione said. "Till he fell off it and it crashed into the Whomping Willow. Now he has a Firebolt."
"I know, he told me during one of our, er, encounters." Jule had the grace to blush.
Shrugging, Hermione gestured towards the open window. "Let's get going," she said, suddenly impatient to be off. Jule jumped on the broom and Hermione clambered on behind her.
"Let's blow this Popsicle stand!" Jule yelled, before zooming off out the window with a laugh. Hermione shrieked before clutching at Jule's bare stomach.
"If you were a guy, this might almost be wrong," she yelled in Jule ear over the roar of the wind. Jule just laughed more.
Hermione loved the feeling of flying. It had terrified her as a young girl, but after a while she had given up being afraid. Being afraid was no way to live, and once the fear melted away there was only the rushing exhilaration and the roar of the cold wind as it rushed past her. It was interesting to have such a short skirt on while flying; the cool air felt great against her bare legs.
The flight was over sooner than Hermione would have wished. They set down lightly in front of a large building that was painted all in black. It appeared to be two stories high with no windows. It looked more like a warehouse than a nightclub, really, except for the line of witches and wizards awaiting admittance and the large, muscle-clad bouncer who blocked them.
Casually dismounting, Jule walked up to the bouncer with Hermione trailing behind nervously. "Hey there," Jule said flirtatiously, standing so that her breasts were thrust out towards the bouncer. "You don't think we could get in without waiting in line, do you?" She asked coyly, running one finger up and down his arm. The bouncer smiled faintly before stepping aside and gesturing the two girls in. "Thanks ever so," Jule said, blowing a kiss at him. She led the way inside and handed her broom over to the broom- and cloak-check girl.
Hermione wordlessly followed Jule as she made her way into the crowded club, drinking in her surroundings. The room was high-ceilinged with a small, private loft at the top. The only lighting was created by flashing strobe-lights and the occasional laser. A small stage was set up in one corner where a band was playing loud, throbbing music. Most of the witches and wizards moved to the throbbing base-line, but a few sat at a bar in another corner and nodded their heads. Hermione didn't want to think about what the people in the loft were doing.
"This place is cool," she yelled to Jule, who didn't seem to hear her. Jule made her way over to the bar and sat next to a wizard who looked to be in his early twenties.
"Hey," she said, smiling in a friendly manner. "Wanna buy me and my friend here some drinks?" Hermione sat down next to her.
"Let me think about it," he replied, flirtatious. "What's in it for me?"
"Your choice," Jule responded just as, just as flirtatious as he was.
"I'd love to if your friend there would dance with me," he smiled at Hermione. She observed blankly that he had bad teeth.
"I'm sure she'd love to," Jule said, turning to Hermione. "How 'bout it May?" She asked with a slight inflection in her voice that clearly told Hermione, 'do it or you're buying the drinks.'
"Um, love to," Hermione said. "After that drink of course."
"Excellent!" Jule exclaimed happily. "Barkeep, two whiskey sours." The bartender, also a man, delivered the drinks in record time.
"On my tab, Phil," their new friend said at once.
"Of course, Jack," the bartender said indifferently.
Hermione sipped her drink and looked over at her soon-to-be dance partner. "So," she said awkwardly. "Jack, is it?"
He nodded. "And your friend called you May, right?" He asked, smiling.
Hermione, realizing the stupidity of revealing her name to a stranger nodded. "Yup," she said casually.
"How about that dance now?" Jack asked once Hermione had finished her drink. "Um, sure," she nodded.
Jack took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. It was sweltering here. Hermione could feel the press of other bodies all around her, but the music and her drink helped her forget all about it as she moved with the heavy base. She barely even registered when Jack put his hands on her hips and moved close behind her, she was so engrossed in the moment. Hermione thought she understood a little bit why Jule was such a slut. It was easy to lose yourself in the moment if you just let it happen. Hermione didn't even object when she felt Jack press his whole body against her and she felt something hard press against her ass. She did say something when he started kissing her neck though. His breath was hot and rancid on her skin, and his lips felt slimy and disgusting. Hermione quickly pushed him away.
"Dancing's one thing, Jack," she said curtly. "But kissing's another."
Jack shot her a nasty look. "If you don't want the attention, then you shouldn't dress like that," he said snottily. Hermione gave him the finger before heading back towards Jule.
Jule was busy kissing Phil, the bartender. They weren't exactly snogging, but there was a lot of giggling going on. "Can I get another drink please?" She asked him.
"Certainly!" He cried boisterously. "All drinks are on the house for you and lovely Leela here!"
Hermione shot Jule a look with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and accepting a shot from Phil. "Thanks," she said, downing it. It burned like fire. Gasping, Hermione accepted another. After three shots she felt like dancing some more.
Making her way out onto the floor, Hermione once again became one with the crowd. Losing herself in the music and anonymity, Hermione moved like no one was looked, swinging her hips suggestively and not caring who saw. She felt someone pressing against her back, like Jack had before, but knew that it wasn't him this time. This person was taller and more muscular, and his breath felt cool against her skin, unlike Jacks. She ground her hips into the stranger's and took pleasure in the slight groan she heard. Closing her eyes, she turned around and kissed him, not caring that she didn't know him, wanting to feel the way Jule must when she kissed strangers.
This stranger kissed well, better than Victor Krum had, that was for sure. His breath was minty and cool, and his tongue danced around her mouth, making Hermione's tongue fight back. The two dueled in silence, still moving with the music. Hermione smiled slightly as she felt something pressing against her thigh. After a long time, Hermione drew back to gaze at her mystery kisser.
Her eyes shot open in shock. "Malfoy!" She gasped.
A/N: Mwahahahaha! Review!
Le Preview:
"What do I mean? You just hogged our room for the last three hours so you and Jule," she sneered and practically spat the name, "Could have a nice little lesbian date, didn't you?"