Chapter 2: Annoyed to Insanity
Hermione looked over at her body, covered in cuts and bruises, lying in the hospital bed. 'At least I'm alive,' she thought.
Then a sudden realization dawned over her. "The dream was real," Hermione whispered so quietly that Malfoy, who was only a foot away from Hermione, could barely hear her.
Malfoy looked between Hermione's body and Hermione's ghost (sort of). He quickly regained his composure.
"All right, Granger, what the hell is up? Madam Pomfrey walking through you and not noticing you? Not to mention two of you, really, one was bad enough," Malfoy questioned Hermione (not forgetting to insult her while during so).
"Well, seeing as you're the only one who can see or hear me, I might as well tell you what I know. I had a dream last night about Voldemort performing the Cruciatus curse on me until I 'woke up'. Since my body is all scraped up and there's two of me, means my dream was real," Hermione explained and then added on. "We need to go to the library."
"Excuse me?" Malfoy asked not believing what he was hearing. "What do you mean 'we'? You can go yourself and read the whole library for all I care."
Hermione shot him a glare and stated as if she were explaining this to a 3-year-old, "I. Can't. Touch. Anything. That includes books. You don't have to help research, just get the books and turn the pages."
"And why would I do that? What's in it for me?" Malfoy asked, smirking.
Hermione thought quickly and imitated Malfoy's smirk incredibly well, "If you've forgotten, you're the only one who can see or hear me."
Malfoy gave her a look that said,"So..."
Hermione continued, "Let's just say you won't be alone until you help me, and what you hear may irk you slightly. It doesn't even matter if you try to hit me or knock me out because no one can touch me."
Hermione smirked as she saw Malfoy dumbfounded. It was a quite amusing face, but, unfortunately, Malfoy was able to regain his composure quickly.
"I will never help a Mudblood," Malfoy stated coldly.
Hermione chuckled and said with utmost determination, "We'll see how true that is soon. I don't think you'll last a week with me bothering you."
Hearing Malfoy talking somewhat loudly, Madam Pomfrey came out to check on him. She saw him arguing with nobody, and Hermione Granger's curtains were open. No one was supposed to know about her. She rushed out there as fast as she could.
"Mr. Malfoy! What are you doing? Who are you arguing with? And why is Hermione Granger's curtain open?" Madam Pomfrey asked urgently.
Malfoy looked up and his eyes widened. He could only think of one thing to get out of this sticky situation. Malfoy closed his eyes and let his body collapse on the floor.
Madam Pomfrey ran over to him and tried to gently wake him up. "Come on, come on. Please wake up," she begged Malfoy who was 'unconscious'.
Malfoy finally 'woke up' after 5 minutes when he was tired of being shaken and pretended he couldn't remember anything. After he drank the potion and Madam Pomfrey left the room after Malfoy insisted he was fine and was just going to go to sleep for a while, the entire time Hermione was talking nonstop, making it hard for him to sleep.
As soon as Madam Pomfrey left, Malfoy yelled quietly at Hermione (so not to get Madam Pomfrey's attention), "What the hell is wrong with you, Mudblood?"
Hermione replied very pleased with herself at such progress, "Just giving you a taste of what you will experience until you decide to help me."
Malfoy glared at Hermione as if trying to make her head explode.
Hermione just grinned and thought happily, 'Wow, this is effective. I've only done this 5 minutes and Malfoy is almost ready to crack.'
Malfoy annoyed at Hermione, decided to actually go to sleep like he told Madam Pomfrey. However, the second he started to drift off to sleep, Hermione started yelling.
Malfoy's eyes shot wide open. Hermione was listing all the ingredients in a Polyjuice potion and the instructions. Malfoy glared at her and once she was in arms reach, he tried to punch her. His fist went right through her body. At this Hermione laughed.
"I will annoy you until you help me," Hermione stated, quite pleased at how her plan was working.
"You can't get to me that easily, Mudblood," Malfoy said determined not to show how much he was already annoyed with her.
He grabbed his wand and performed a Silencing Charm on her, or so he thought. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him.
"You think that a spell will hit me when nothing else touches me?" Hermione asked with her hands on her hips.
Malfoy glared at her once more and replied, "It was worth a shot. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go to sleep."
Hermione decided not to wake him up until after falling asleep because it made for greater annoyance (and anger) to wake someone up after just falling asleep than just keeping them awake. She looked around trying decide what to do. When she saw the curtains surrounding her bed, an idea hit her.
Hermione rushed over to her bed and walked through the curtains. She saw her body and was just happy Voldemort didn't have Harry, and that she was alive, if just barely. Hermione took a deep breathe and carried on with her plan. She laid down in her body for a moment, then sat up.
"I hope this works," Hermione whispered.
She closed her eyes and turned around. Hermione counted to three silently and opened her eyes. Her heart filled with disappointment. Hermione hoped that by laying in her body, her spirit would become one with her body again, but it didn't work.
'I guess I'll just have to bother Malfoy until he helps me,' Hermione thought. 'Actually, this could be fun. What other time could I bother my enemy with no consequences.'
At this thought, she perked up. If she really needed to, Hermione knew just what to think to make herself feel better, if only a little or she busied herself with a book, which she couldn't do.
Hermione got up and sat on the bed next to Malfoy's. She saw he was asleep. Right before waking him up she decided to study the face of the boy who almost killed Dumbledore. Harry had told her everything, including his own theory that Malfoy wouldn't have killed Dumbledore if Maligo didn't come in. Malfoy was still as arrogant as ever, but he did join the Order with many objections to the trio. Even though he was on their side, he acted like nothing had changed, especially with his house mates. Because of Malfoy's behavior towards the trio didn't change, they didn't change their dislike or emnity.
'That figures,' Hermione thought to herself. 'He even smirks in his sleep. TIme to wake up the Malfoy.'
"Malfoy! Malfoy! Wake up!" Hermione yelled. Then she said everything she knew about trolls, including a history and their position in the magical community now and at various time periods.
Malfoy woke up startled and furious.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Granger?! Let me sleep!" Malfoy yelled with complete hatred for the witch who wouldn't let him sleep (without sleep, Malfoy's become very grumpy).
Hermione smiled at him and told him yet again, "I will let you sleep, but only if you help me."
Malfoy glared at her, but didn't say anything because he saw Madam Pomfrey walked through the door after hearing him yelling.
Madam Pomfrey looked at him concerned and asked, "Are you all right?"
Malfoy replied, "I'm fine, just having trouble sleeping."
Madam Pomfrey asked, "Would you like a sleeping drought?"
Malfoy answered smirking in Hermione's direction,"Yes."
Madam Pomfrey gave Malfoy a sleeping drought and he fell immediately into a dreamless sleep. Hermione knew it would be hopeless to try to wake him up, so she decided to sleep herself. She would need to be well rested to annoy Malfoy all day tomorrow.
Malfoy woke first. He saw there the light streaming in through the window. 'What a weird dream,' Malfoy thought to himself. 'Why would I dream about Granger of all people?'
Deciding to shake off the horrible nightmare he had, Malfoy sat up not feeling sore at all. The disgusting potion was worth it. Malfoy stretched his arms and looked over to his left. He nearly fell out of his bed at the shock. Sleeping in the bed next to him was the bookworm herself, her hair even frizzier than before, if that was possible. She was sleeping peacefully, but he knew that things were going to be very unpleasant when she awoke. As quietly as possible, he got dressed in his robes, and tiptoed over to the medi-witch. She told him he was free to go, so he quietly left the Hospital Wing, and ran as fast as he could to the dungeons. Once he was safely in his common room, he went to go take a shower and change into clean robes.
Hermione's eyes fluttered open. She was on her side, facing to her right, where she saw an empty bed. 'No,' Hermione thought. 'He already left!' Frowning, she slowly got up, still a little sleepy. Once she fully woke up, she went through the closed door (which still freaked her out a little, afraid she would hit the door instead of going through). Hermione walked to the castle and tried to figure out where Malfoy would have gone, and how long he had been gone. She decided her best bet would be to go to the Great Hall, for he would have to eat eventually. She walked into the Great Hall and started for the Gryffindor table. 'No,' Hermione reprimanded herself. 'You have to go to the Slytherin table to annoy Malfoy so you can go eat with your friends.' She changed her direction and headed over to the Slytherin table. She didn't see Malfoy, so she decided to wait. Hermione stared at the doors to the Great Hall waiting for Malfoy to walk through them. After fifteen minutes of patient waiting, he walked through. He didn't see her yet, so he sat down with his cronies.
Hermione slid through the five people that separated her and Malfoy. His eyes widened in horror at the sight before him. Hermione smiled at this.
"You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" she asked still smiling.
Malfoy merely ignored her. He knew if he answered, he would get some strange looks.
Pansy Parkinson walked into the Great Hall. She saw her precious Drakey-poo and knew he missed her company, so went over to him quickly. She sat down right on top of Hermione, which Malfoy laughed at, but turned it into a coughing fit. Hermione quickly slid over to the left of her, disgusted that she was that close to Parkinson.
At this, Pansy asked in a voice dipped in sugar (at least she thought so), "Are you okay Drakey-poo?"
At hearing this, Hermione burst into a fit of laughter.
"Drakey-poo?" Hermione asked in disbelief at such a ridiculous name.
Malfoy glowered, then glared at Pansy and told her in a tone that would have made hell freeze over, "Never call me that again, Parkinson."
Clearly afraid, Pansy replied shamefully, "I'm sorry Draco, I forgot." She lowered her head.
Hermione couldn't believe this. "Imagine that," Hermione spoke loudly, "Pug-faced Parkinson can actually get uglier by sticking her fat lip out. She looks even more pug-like than usual!"
Malfoy started laughing loudly at this, mostly because it was true. He received several looks of confusion from other members at the Slytherin table. Most thinking he must've hit his head when he fell.
Potions was starting soon, and Malfoy wasn't going to be late. He grabbed his book bag and headed toward the dungeons with Hermione following behind yelling different levitating charms at him, and their techniques.
Malfoy walked faster, but Hermione always stayed in step, always persistent. Malfoy walked into the Potions room and sat at the table closest to the Professor's desk, after all, he was teacher's pet, in this class anyway. Hermione frowned when she saw Harry and Ron walk in together, talking about Quidditch, of course. She felt tears that wanted to come out. She blinked them back. She would not cry, even if her friends seemed to have gotten over the fact that she was unconscious in the Hospital Wing. She had to focus, to reunite her soul and body. While she was thinking about all this, Professor Maligio walked in and the room fell silent for he was worse than Professor Maligo, although he seemed to take a similar liking to Malfoy and similar distaste to Harry. However, Professor Maligo did not have the same grease problem as Snape, he was actually quite handsome, when his face wasn't scrunched up like he had been sucking on a lemon as it usually was.
Professor Maligo assigned the class to make a Draught of Living Death, individually. With a wave of his wand, the instructions appeared on the board. Malfoy immediately started. Hermione watched him, while turning around to look at the board.
"You're doing that wrong, you know," Hermione informed Malfoy.
"What, exactly?" Malfoy asked under his breath, as not to raise suspicions of his sanity.
"You're slicing the sopohorous beans, while you should be getting the juice out of them," Hermione told him living up to her know-it-all reputation.
Malfoy rolled his eyes, but ended up squishing the beans to get the juice. Later on, when he was stirring, Hermione interrupted him again.
"You're doing it wrong again," she told him.
"What am I doing wrong now?" Malfoy asked, forgetting to lower his voice, a couple of people looked at him oddly.
"You're stirring clockwise, instead of counterclockwise, which is why your steam is green instead of blue," Hermione informed him.
He again followed her directions, still agitated, that he was wrong and she was right.
"You forgot something," Hermione chimed in less than five minutes later.
"What?" Malfoy asked through gritted teeth, he was extremely annoyed at her correcting him every five seconds. Several students around him looked at the angry Malfoy wondering what was wrong with him.
"You forgot to add the lovage. If you look at your potion, you should see a black currant color, getting slightly lighter due to stirring, but yours is a forest green. If you add the lovage now, it will turn out fine," Hermione informed him smugly because he couldn't seem to do any of the potion correctly.
Grudgingly, Malfoy did what Hermione told him. When he finished (or so he thought), his potion was a very light shade of lilac that was transparent.
When he stopped stirring, Hermione asked, "Why did you stop?
Malfoy replied in quietly, "I'm done."
Hermione laughed and said, "Does that look like water?"
Confused, Malfoy replied slightly louder, "No... why?"
"Because," Hermione explained, "when the Draught of Living Death is finished, it is 'clear as water', so continue stirring."
Malfoy was really being pushed to the brink by Hermione's badgering and constant corrections. "Fine!" He yelled at her in frustration. He then started stirring roughly, sloshing potion everywhere.
When Malfoy yelled, everyone in the class, including Maligo, stared at him wondering what was wrong with the blonde Slytherin. The wonder increased when he was madly stirring the potion.
"Mister Malfoy," Maligo called, "Come with me into the hall."
When Professor Maligo addressed him, Malfoy realized that he had yelled at Hermione, when no one but him could see her. When he walked out, Hermione of course, followed.
Maligo looked at the Slytherin with concern and asked, "What's wrong, Draco?"
Malfoy knew he couldn't tell Maligo, so he lied(something he was very good at), "Nothing, Professor."
"Then why did you yell 'fine'?" The scrunched-face Professor asked Malfoy.
Malfoy was not expecting this question and made up a (not very good) lie quickly, "Because I was arguing with myself as to whether I should hand in my potion now, or to perfect it. I decided on perfecting it, and I didn't realize that I said anything aloud."
"I'm sure he'll believe that," Hermione sarcastically commented.
"Shut up, Granger!" Malfoy yelled.
Maligo stared at Malfoy worried and asked, "Draco, why did you yell at Granger when she isn't even here?"
Malfoy forgot again that no one but him could see her. However, he couldn't think of something to cover up this one.
Maligo suggested, "You should go to the Hospital Wing."
Malfoy went back in the classroom, gathered his things, then went to walk the halls, instead of going to the Hospital Wing.
"What's wrong Malfoy?" Hermione asked in fake concern.
"If I agree to help you, will you leave me alone?" Malfoy asked suddenly.
"Yes," Hermione answered simply.
"Fine," Malfoy told her. "I will help you."