Disclaimer: I own nothing J.K. Rowling created with her brilliant mind. I only own the plot and characters I have created.
A Hope for Renewed Love
Chapter Three
After a pleasant Charms session with the Ravenclaws, Hermione, Ron, and Harry made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. Once again, Hermione didn't eat much. It went unnoticed by Harry and Ron as they continuously put more food into their mouths, but one person did notice.
Draco Malfoy watched the smart Gryffindor girl slowly push food around on her plate and occasionally take a bite of her sandwich. 'Why wasn't she eating?' Draco thought to himself. 'It's not like she has to worry about a figure. She's already skinny. Maybe she just doesn't feel good. Not that I should care. Whether or not she eats is not my concern. I just need to find out what happened over summer break.'
Once lunch was over with, the trio headed towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It was their other class with the Slytherins. However, the thing on everyone's mind was the new professor.
The students all piled into the classroom, and naturally Hermione and the boys sat in the front desk, closest to the teacher. The bell rang just as the mysterious professor walked out from a back room. All the students were surprised with who they saw.
The woman was somewhat tall, standing at 5'7". She had straight brown hair with caramel highlights that went well past her shoulders. She wasn't pale, but wasn't too tan, and she had a nice, lean, athletic body. The woman had vibrant green eyes, and a dazzling smile. The oddest part of her appearance however was the clothes she was wearing. The young woman had on muggle clothing instead of the traditional robe. She had on jeans, a sports tank top, and sneakers.
"Hey guys. My name is Olivia Greenspell. You may call me Professor Greenspell if you like, or so as to not make me feel old, you may all call me Livvi." Before she could continue, Blaise Zabini blurted out a question.
"Just how old are you?" The boy had a hint of lust in his voice.
"I'm twenty," Livvi replied as she rolled her eyes. "Now, like I was about to say before Mr. Zabini so rudely interrupted, I'd like to explain what we'll be doing for a good part of the next two weeks. As you can see, I'm dressed in comfortable clothing. You have all been given permission to do the same for this class only."
"But what are we going to be doing?" asked an impatient Pansy.
"Maybe if everyone would stop interrupting me, I'd be able to explain." She gave a student a look that clearly said 'say another word and you'll all be sorry.' "For the next two weeks, each one of you and a partner will be going through a stimulation in the room I came out of earlier. The room is dark and one person will be blindfolded. The partner will then do his or her best to catch the person off guard and sneak around the room. The stimulation is meant to teach you to not rely on just your eyesight. It will expand your other senses and teach you to trust your instinct."
Livvi had to pause as the students commented excitedly. She already saw pairs being formed and quickly started speaking again.
"I'm glad to hear you guys are looking forward to this. There are just two more things that need to be explained. Each pair will have a full class period to practice with each other in the stimulation room. After everyone has had a practice session, there will be a relatively small test on how well you all taught each other. The test will be in the stimulation room, as I'm sure you could have guessed, and you will test with the same pair you practiced with."
Again the students commented loudly about how great this was going to be and continued making pairs.
"The second thing I need to explain is the partner situation." A few of the students' faces fell at this. "I don't want the partners to be from the same house. So one Gryffindor will pair with one Slytherin. You may choose partners if you wish, just make sure they are from the opposite house. I would rather not have to choose partners, but I will if I must."
The room hadn't been so silent since class began. It remained silent until Draco broke the silence, and shocked the class.
"I'll take Hermione Granger." With that simple sentence, gasps were heard from Hermione and Pansy while shouts were heard from Harry and Ron.
"Like hell you'll be Hermione's partner. I'll take Malfoy, Professor," Harry replied with fire in his eyes. Livvi sat quietly, watching the scene play out in front of her.
"Mr. Malfoy, will you accept Mr. Potter as your partner?" Livvi asked although she could already predict the answer.
"No. I want Hermione Granger." Draco had been staring Hermione in the eyes since the time he had called her as a partner. It took all Hermione's self control not to break eye contact either. She had simply stared back, pure shock showing through her eyes. She hadn't said one word though, which in turn surprised Harry and Ron.
"Ms. Granger, will you accept Mr. Malfoy as your partner?" the professor asked her. Hermione looked at all the other Slytherins. She doubted any of them would be as good at this as Malfoy, and she definitely wanted to get something out of this whole experience. She finally tore her gaze away from the blond teenager, and turned her eyes towards the young teacher.
"Yes." It was this simple reply that earned more shouting from Harry and Ron, and yet another gasp from Pansy. Pansy was horrified that Hermione had accepted, but even more horrified that Draco had asked.
"It's settled then. Our first pair will be Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy. You two may begin the experiment for the class and go tomorrow. Now let's get the rest of you paired up." Livvi looked at the seventh year students with hope that they would finally just pair up. Harry was the second to break silence.
"I'll take Blaise Zabini." Blaise nodded his acceptance before Livvi opened her mouth to ask. Before anyone else could speak, Pansy piped up.
"I want Weasley." Ron looked horrified for a moment before providing the professor with his acceptance. The class slowly started pairing up more and more. Unfortunately, class was almost over by the time everyone had a partner.
"Ok class. Remember you should all dress in comfortable clothes, and be ready to work. Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy, I advise you both to get a good night of sleep. You'll need it." The bell rang signaling the end of class. The class started making their way out of the classroom. When the trio reached the hall, Harry and Ron turned left to head for Divination with the Ravenclaws, while Hermione turned left to go to Arithmancy with the Hufflepuffs.
Later that night, Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room doing homework with Harry and Ron. She heard them making up more Divination homework as she worked on her Arithmancy essay. When the boys finished, they convinced Hermione to finish her homework another night.
"So, the new DADA professor is awesome," Harry said.
"Awesome? She's hot!" Ron said with a smile on his face. Hermione rolled her eyes, but had expected it nonetheless. Ron's smile faded as he turned his attention to Hermione. "Speaking of DADA, why did you accept Malfoy's offer? Harry or I would have gladly taken the prat on." The two boys looked at Hermione, patiently waiting for her answer.
In all honesty, Hermione didn't know how to answer. 'Why did I accept it? It's not as if he's a friend. Hell, we don't even remotely like each other. It was almost as though I had no choice in the matter. I could practically hear him in my head, telling me to accept. After all, that's what I saw in his eyes. Of all people though, why would he choose me?'
The boys saw her struggling to answer, and waited patiently, but Ron's patience could only go so far.
"Bloody hell Hermione, are you going to answer or what?" he blurted out, bring Hermione out of her thoughts.
"I only accepted to make things easy for Professor Greenspell. It was clear that Malfoy would take no one else as his partner, so I just agreed. It won't be that bad. Besides, maybe he'll actually be a challenge. I do want to gain something out of this stimulation, and I think Malfoy could, dare I say, help me strengthen my senses." She held her breath as she waited for the boys to respond. It was Harry who spoke first.
"I swear to god Hermione, if he hurts you, I'll kill him."
"Why wait so long Harry?" Ron said. "Hermione if he so much as touches you, we'll beat the living crap out of him."
"You guys, I appreciate your concern, but he will have to touch me. It's part of the experience. The goal is for me to be able to sense him, but he might get me once or twice."
"Yeah, well if he leaves a bruise on your body, he's a dead little ferret." Ron threatened.
"Deal." Hermione replied smiling at her best friends. She tried to stifle a yawn, but Harry noticed.
"Hermione, you should get to bed now. After all, you and Malfoy are up tomorrow."
"I suppose you're right, Harry." She stood up and gave both boys a hug before heading up to her Head Girl room in the tower. The room had the same design as the room with the private common room. She immediately got into her pajamas and got into bed, but not before brushing and flossing her teeth. The minute her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.
Meanwhile, in his private dorm, Draco turned restlessly in his bed. He finally settled for just lying on his back with his arms behind his head. His thoughts were solely on Granger. He was surprised she had agreed to be his partner in class. Sure, he would have made sure that she was his partner, but he would have thought that Granger would have put up a fight.
Draco, Blaise and Pansy had been talking about their partners after dinner. Blaise had been equally surprised that Potter had called him out, but was excited nonetheless to have his turn at Wonder Boy. Pansy went on and on about how she was ready to take down Weasley. She seemed so determined so hurt him, that for a minute Blaise and Draco were unsure of whether or not they should warn Livvi.
Then the moment had come when Blaise and Pansy questioned Draco about "the Mudblood." He gave them one reply before heading to his common room for the night.
"It was my decision, and you'll be wise to never question my decisions." The two had been somewhat surprised at his answer, but respected it.
So here Draco was, once again thinking about what had troubled Hermione during summer. Finding no conclusion that would satisfy him, he rolled onto his stomach and drifted to sleep.
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