The Similarities of Love and Hate

By Jinxd n Cursed

Disclaimer: Not mine, check the bank account.

Chapter Nine

Some Things Never Change

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Hermione always woke up early in the morning. Through the stone walls, she could not see that it was still dark outside, but it was. She liked waking early and she always had. As a child, her parents had questioned whether or not it was normal to allow a six year old to awake earlier than her parents but nothing—even being allowed to stay up later—had quelled her penchant for rising before the birds. At five in the morning—her usual hour to awake—the castle was quiet. Students and professors alike were sleeping. A few house elves tended the fires in the dormitories, as well as the common rooms but they did so noiselessly. The rest of the elves bustled about the kitchen, preparing breakfast for eight hundred hungry students and professors. Hermione could not hear that, though. All she could hear was the sound of silence.

She got out of bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. As the warm water sluiced over her skin, she felt her muscles relaxing. Finally in her second trimester of pregnancy, she no longer suffered from morning sickness and could enjoy the warmth of her early morning showers. Having not taken her potion yet, the bump of her pregnant belly was obvious. Thin white lines appeared where the skin had stretched to accommodate the life that was growing inside her. Her little baby boy.

As she dried herself off and began to rub lotion into her legs, she started to think of names. Mark? No that was the name of the stupid boy she had met in kindergarten. Brian? That wasn't quite right either. Fred? George? If she picked one of those names, she was sentencing the poor child to living in the shadow of Fred and George Weasley. Albert sounded to old-fashioned. Andrew was too overused, as was Michael. Her mind wandered to her Uncle Alexander who was an English history scholar. He'd come into a fairly large inheritance so he had a massive library and as a child, Hermione had sat in his lap, poring over texts on Anglo-Saxon history.

Alexander! That was the perfect name. Alexander Granger. It had a nice ring to it. She thought of middle names and decided to throw a bone to Harry. Alexander Harry Granger. It was perfect.

She walked out of the bathroom in a good mood, feeling like she had accomplished something. As she walked back to her room in her bathrobe, however, that changed. From the direction of Malfoy's room, she heard muffled voice. Some emitted a long, low moan, followed by a masculine, feral growl. Absolutely disgusted, Hermione walked closer to her door. As she was about to enter her own room, the door to Draco's room swung open. Pansy Parkinson stepped out giggling and wearing just a bra with her pants.

"Bye Drakie. That was wonderful," she said.

Hermione spotted the girl's missing shirt thrown across the back of the couch, right next to a bright red thong. Angrily—but quietly enough that Pansy did not hear—Hermione stalked off into her room.

Grabbing the blue bottle off her desk, she gulped down her potion and watched the bump of Alexander shrink. Roughly, she seized her clothes from her wardrobe: panties, socks, a bra that was quickly growing too small, a long brown skirt, a light blue jumper, and her black school robe.

"The nerve of them!" she fumed, shedding her bathrobe and putting on her bra and panties. "They keep carrying on like… like… hormonal teenagers!"

She yanked her socks on so hard a hole appeared in one of the toes. Using her wand, she mended the hole.

"I can't believe she comes in here to… to… to have sexual intercourse with Draco Malfoy! She's just a little Slytherin whore! She's slutty, trampy, and good for nothing but a quick shag. Plus she's slept with half the school. There has to be rules against that sort of thing." She yanked her jumper over her head forcibly and didn't even bother to pull her hair out where it was tucked into the sweater.

"I'm going to hex her. Yes. I'm going to. I'll give her a permanent leg-locker curse. That should be fun. Can't walk, can't pee, can't shag because she can't open her legs! No more Malfoy for her!"

She stopped suddenly in the middle of zipping up her skirt. What was she getting so worked up over? Yes, Malfoy and Pansy were shagging and it was disgusting and annoying but why did she really care. The anger, however irrational she knew it was, would not subside.

"Stupid, stupid pregnancy hormones. They make rational women act like crazed loons…"

She walked out into the common area and began gathering her books and things. Still in a huff, she gathered several essays and books up to take to her room and place back on the shelf. As it was Friday, she had no real classes so she meant to spend all day in the library, working on all her independent work and getting ahead in every class.

Looking at her bookshelves, she saw several of her books were due back at the library that day and she gathered them together, placing them in her bag with several rolls of parchment and some quills. As she went to leave, she realized it was still only six o'clock in the morning and breakfast wasn't served until half-past. With a sigh, she sat down on the sofa and opened one of the few novels she had with her: a wizarding romance novel she had picked up at Flourish and Blotts sickle sale.

She read the book with very faint interest. The romantic heroine was some dithering idiot of a witch who could cast every single glamour there was most effectively but could barely apparate without spliching herself. The romantic hero reminded her so much of Gilderoy Lockhart, she wanted to throw-up. Despite all her misgivings about the bad characters and the even worse plot, she still found herself crying when the two were separated.

"Damn hormones," she said through her tears. "I'm such a bleeding crybaby."

"What are you blubbering about, Granger?" a voice said from behind her.

"Malfoy!" she exclaimed, her earlier anger returning. She leaped off the couch and marched towards him with such ferocity that the blonde (who had been on his way to the bathroom) had no time to react. She slapped him hard across the face, throwing all of her weight into it and unleashing the torrent of emotions running through her. As nice as it would have been, however, she did not do a second time.

"Ouch!" Malfoy exclaimed, rubbing his bruised cheek. "What in the bloody hell was that for? All I did was ask you why you were crying."

"Pansy," she hissed.

"What about her?" he questioned.

She moved away. "If you don't know, then I'm not going to tell you."

"Merlin, Granger. Why do you have to act like such a girl?" he asked.

"I am a bloody girl you stupid prat!" she shouted. For some reason unknown to her, tears were coming to her eyes. "I have feelings too, you know!"

She stormed into her room, covering her face to hide the tears.

"Bloody witch," Malfoy muttered, shaking his head. "She's going crazy. The hormones must have addled her brain."

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Geez that was fun to write. I love writing crazy, hormone possessed Hermione. As always, reviews are loved. Feedback tells me, as a writer, what you want me to do.