The Debutante Ball
A fanfiction novel by sizzleberrylicious
Chapter Four
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"Granger.. Granger! Get up now, or you'll be late for class. Granger, if you do not get your ass out of that sofa now, I will personally-"
SMACK.
Draco jumped back, clutching his right cheek, aghast. A burning red hand mark began to take shape on his pale skin and it stung. Draco had been leaning over Hermione, trying to get her to wake up, and she had subconsciously struck him before mumbling something incoherent and turning over.
"HERMIONE LEAH GRANGER!" Draco shrieked, remembering to keep his distance from her incase she suddenly decided to cause more bodily harm. When Hermione made no move to get up, Draco cautiously approached the sleeping figure and picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her neck.
Hermione's eyes shot open and she let out a suprised yelp. "MALFOY!! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!!" she cried, struggling to get free. Draco rolled his eyes as he dumped her unceremoniously back onto the sofa. Hermione glared up at him. "You could've at least been a bit gentler, you know," she snapped, swinging her legs over the side of the sofa and standing up, dusting imaginary dust off her pleated school skirt. Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of the wall clock and let out a gasp, her eyes widening.
"DRACO AQUILLIS MALFOY, WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!! I'M GOING TO BE LATE FOR CLASS NOW AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU SCHEMING LITTLE FERRET!!!" she screamed as she charged past him and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She continued to rant, though her voice was muffled by the door and the only words Draco could make out were "lousy", "professor", and "beetle". Draco furrowed his brow at the last word, but immediately replaced it with his nonchalant facade when Hermione marched out of the bathroom, her voice filling his ears once more. "..AND DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT MAN-HANDLING ME LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!! I AM HERMIONE GRANGER, NOT SOME SILLY LITTLE WHORE YOU PICKED UP OFF THE STREETS, AND I DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT!!!"
"Granger, I DID try to wake you, but you-"
"BECAUSE REALLY, MALFOY, THE LEAST YOU COULD'VE DONE WAS TRY TO WAKE ME UP!!! BUT DID YOU?!!"
"YES, Granger, I DID, but-"
"NOOOO, YOU DIDN'T!!! SOMETIMES I JUST FEEL SO INFURIATED BY YOU, DO YOU KNOW THAT?!!"
"I believe so, Granger, but-"
"I BET YOU DIDN'T, BUT WHY WOULD I EXPECT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND ME?!!"
"Granger, you're bloody over reacting-"
"OVER REACTING?!! I AM OVER REACTING?!! WELL, MISTER I'M-SO-SMART-BECAUSE-YOU'RE-SO-STUPID-THAT-YOU'RE-OVER-REACTING, I WOULDN'T BE 'OVER REACTING' IF YOU HAD WOKEN ME UP, NOW WOULD I?!!"
"For the last time, Granger, I DID-"
"BUT I DON'T THINK YOU EVEN NOTICED THAT I WAS STILL SLEEPING, SINCE YOU WERE PROBABLY SO CAUGHT UP IN YOURSELF!!! AND WHAT IS THAT HAND PRINT DOING THERE?!! I SUPPOSE YOU SLAPPED YOURSELF FOR LOOKING SO DAMN GOOD, OR SOMETHING EQUALLY STUPID AND POINTLESS!!!"
"Granger, YOU'RE the one that-"
"MY LIFE, MY PERMANENT RECORD, AND MY FUTURE IS IN RUINS NOW, AND ALL BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR STUPID, SELFISH, PUREBLOOD NEEDS!!!!!"
"SILENCIO!"
Hermione's eyes widened in anger and she pursed her lips together when she realised that she couldn't talk. She glared at Draco, who was tutting at her while shaking his head.
"Really, Granger, just shut up and listen to me for once, alright? Well, I DID TRY TO WAKE YOU UP, but you ended up slapping me. So, I decided to pick you up, seeing as you're most likely to respond to it, which you did, and then you started ranting on and on and on about whatever you were ranting about!"
Hermione continued to glare at her, folding her arms across her chest, stubbornly. "I hate you," she mouthed.
Draco rolled his eyes as he muttered the counter-charm and grabbed his book bag off the armchair. "Let's get to class."
Hermione shouldered her book bag and hurried out of the Head Commons after Draco.
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Draco and Hermione burst into the Potions classroom, panting. They collapsed into each other from lack of oxygen, and tumbled down to the floor. They had jumped to a sprint once outside the portrait hole, eager to see who had better athelic abilities. Hermione had been determined to proove to Draco that he wasn't best at everything, and Draco had taken her up on their little race. Professor Snape cocked an eyebrow at their amusing entrance. "Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger, take your seats. And may I ask the reason for your tardiness?"
Draco slowly lifted himself off the ground and made to help Hermione up, but she simply swatted the offered hand away and jumped up, scowling. "Sorry, Professor," Draco said casually. "You see, Hermione and I were actually getting quite busy in the Commons and-" Draco was cut off by Hermione's elbow coming into sharp contact with his rib. He grimaced, clutching his side as he slowly limped over to an empty seat.
"What he means to say, Professor, is that we were actually.. having an argument, and we ran late," Hermione flushed. She looked around the classroom for a vacant seat, but couldn't find one. Then, she saw Draco innocently patting the seat next to him. Hermione grumbled to herself as she plonked down beside him and got out her books. This is my lucky day, isn't it?
"That is no valid reason for your tardiness, Miss Granger. Twenty points from Gryffindor for invalid reasoning," Snape leered, smirking to himself at deducting his rival House's points. Draco jumped to Hermione's rescue.
"But, Professor, that would mean that you'd have to deduct twenty points from Slytherin, too, seeing as her excuse is mine as well," Draco spoke up, quickly. Snape stared at him for several moments before muttering a barely audible, "Twenty points to Gryffindor for nothing."
Hermione turned to face Draco, impressed. "How'd you do that? Being the Slytherin Teacher's Pet must have it's benefits."
Draco smirked. "I'm Snape's godson."
Hermione hardly flinched. "Well, that's expected, I suppose. I wish I was Snape's godson.. Bloody hell! I did not just say that. I did not just say that. I did not just say that," Hermione squeezed her eyes tight and repeated the matra over and over again in her head. Draco grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"Don't worry, Hermione. You're not alone. Millions of other people want to be me, too."
Hermione smacked him upside his head, immediately drawing the attention of the rest of the class.
"Now, if Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy are done, I'd like to inform you of the potion we'll be making today. It's called the Skele-gro, and special precautions are to be taken in the making of this potion. It is 20 of your grade, which will count terribly in your N.E.W.T. examinations. The Skele-gro enables the drinker to regrow any broken bones, as well as increase in size if all bones are intact. This potion is commonly used by Madam Pomfrey, and the few of you who manage to create the perfect Skele-gro, your potions will be sent to her to be put to good use. Seeing as Mister Malfoy and Miss Granger wasted us much time already, you will be doing your work with the person seated next to you. Instructions are on the board, you may begin now," Snape said. With a swish of his wand, his spidery scrawl littered the blackboard, and students jumped up to retrieve the ingredients.
"You go and get the unicorn hair, crushed horned beetle, and fluxweed essence. I'll get the scalamander eye, powdered horn of Bicorn, and rat's tails," Hermione ordered before speeding off around the classroom, gathering the ingredients. Draco wasn't in as much of a hurry as she was, so he took his time to slowly make it around the class, grabbing whatever ingredients he needed to get, before making his way back to their cauldron.
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Hermione chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip, staring up at the enchanted ceiling. Fluffy cotton clouds were scattered over the bright blue sky, and the banana yellow sun was shining. Ginny turned to her friend, worried. "'Mione? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, Gin, I'm fine. I'm just.. thinking," Hermione said, not taking her eyes off the ceiling. Ginny stared at her for several moments before shrugging and turning her attention back to her jell-o.
Hermione glanced over at the Slytherin table, where Draco was busy sniggering amongst his peers. They had actually gotten an A for their potion, and nothing too dramatic had happened during class. Well, with the exception of Draco accidentally spilling a sample of their potion on Neville Longbottom. The poor Gryffindor, having all his bones intact, had grown at least five inches all around. He was as round as a balloon, and had trouble exiting the class for the doorway was too narrow! Thankfully for him, Hermione had shrunk him back to his original size, and Neville had spluttered his thanks all the way to the Great Hall, Hermione brushing it off the entire time.
Draco had turned rather pink when he tripped over Lavander's bookbag and went sprawling on the squeeky clean floors, his vial flying through the air and smashing on Neville's desk, sending the liquid splattering all over him. Neville's partner, Terry Boot, had been busy talking to Seamus Finnegan at the time and wasn't harmed.
"I never knew a Slytherin of all people could be so clumsy," Hermione mused.
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Disclaimer: Pfft. Read Chapter Three's.
Author's Note: This chapter is more humurous than the others! I dunno, I just felt really elated while I wrote this - my mom bought me this ubercool Guess tote and a faux rabbit's fur neck warmer thingy for New Year's.. Ahhhh. Love. This chapter is also a lot shorter than the rest, sadly, but Chapter Five is going to be a lot longer, so no worries. ."
Oh, and I'm posting up a new story later. It's actually a requested one from this reeeally old friend of mine. So, if you're reading this (and I'm sure you're not), Norie, I'm actually carrying out your wish! It's not a 100 original story plot, but it's hers. It'd be MUCH more fun to write than The Debutante Ball, that I'm sure. x
You know, I've actually got this reeally strange writing pattern for The Debutante Ball. I wrote Chapter Five and Six before I did Chapter Four, which is rather weird, come to think of it. Hm. Ttfn, 'sizzleberrylicious. Muaxx, sweets!! ♥