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The day passed by without any further occurrences and it was already 2 p.m.. Potions with Slytherin was the only class that remained. Hermione found herself actually looking forward to the lesson, as she was very satisfied with the essay they had had for homework. There was something else too, but she couldn't quite figure it out.

The lesson was rather uneventful as Neville Longbottom, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle had not managed to get into Potions N.E.W.T.s. Hermione was, as usual, the one who was done first. Snape cast a brief glance at her potion, only to see that it was indeed correct.

"For Wednesday I want you to continue working on the assignment I gave you last week. Miss Granger, stay behind. Class dismissed," The Potions professor finished off and watched everyone but a certain student leave the classroom.

"Professor?," Hermione asked carefully, while fidgeting on her hair.

"You will have detention tonight with Professor McGonagall in her office at 7 p.m. However, I expect you to be in my office at 9 p.m. to leave a bloodsample. This includes all evenings. We have to make sure that you don't fall back into the trap, now, haven't we?," Snape said mockingly. He eyed her closely to see her reaction. It was obvious that something was bothering her.

"Yes, Sir. Umm, look, there's this ball on Saturday... and...well," Hermione didn't quite know what to say.

"I am very well aware of that. As the ball is compulsory, your detention will be cancelled," he said in a bored voice. "Now, if that's all, I'd rather be left in peace,".

"There will be alcohol. I don't trust myself with it. If I am to leave a blood sample that night, well, I'm not sure it would be negative. I was wondering if I could be excused from the ball, Sir," Hermione said.

"Miss Granger, am I correct in believing that you would rather have detention with me than attend the ball?," Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Sir," Hermione replied and looked at the floor.

"Very well then. You are dismissed," he said expressionlessly and watched her leave the room. He felt compassion for the girl. Her childhood had been nothing like a normal child's, at least not in the Wizarding world. He found himself wondering how she felt about her life. If she was satisfied or perhaps she was disappointed in herself. It was obvious that she was mature beyond her years, excluding her lack of confidence. After all, it was not uncommon that the brightest students were also the ones dug too deep into the world of destruction. Their thirst for knowledge also included trying out other things, such as drugs. He just hoped that Hermione hadn't dug too deep.

Snape's left arm ached and he groaned slightly. He felt the battle approaching. He knew it wouldn't be long until they all had to face the most powerful wizard of all times. He was also aware that they were anything but ready. There were so many people out there that had no idea what was about to happen. They had no idea of how cruel the Dark Lord really was.

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Hermione was exhausted when she returned to the Gryffindor tower that night. Her head of house had been really disappointed in her and scolded her for about half an hour. The remainder of the detention had consisted of cleaning all the desks in the Trasfigurations classroom. Her meeting with Snape after the detention had been pretty much the same as they day before, except that it was a bit formal between the today.

As the fatigue had overcome her, Hermione did not notice that her dormitory was full of boys, until one of them addressed her.

"'Mione! Do you want to join us? We're playing this game, it's awesome!," Ron mumbled.

"How did you guys get in here?," she asked curiously and joined the circle on the floor.

Around ten boys and girls, all Gryffindors, were sitting in a circle on the floor. In the middle there were a large bottle of firewhiskey as well as wands, which were connected to some kind of box. All the lights were turned out and the room was pitch dark except for a few candles floating in the air. There was some rock music playing quietly in the background and everyone was rather quiet, as they did not want to get caught.

"Well, we found a secret passage," Seamus grinned. "Anyway, do you wanna play? It's called 'I've never...' and it's like a person says, for example, 'I've never had a drink' and those who have had a drink take a sip of the firewhiskey. And to ensure that nobody's lying, our wands are conntected in a truth spell,".

"Fine, I'll play," she decided. Hermione had in fact played this game many times before during summer. She handed her wand to Seamus, who whispered some words and connected her wand to the spell.

"Okay, I'll go first," Lavender declared loudly. It was obvious that she'd already had a lot to drink. "I've never...had a drink during a Hogsmeade weekend," she took a large sip of the whiskey and then handed it over to Dean, who had his hand raised. He then passed the bottle to Ron, who looked at Hermione with eyes wide open. Apparently he had not expected that she would raise her hand. After everyone but Neville had drunk of the fire whiskey, Harry declared it was his turn.

"I've never smoked a cigarette," he whispered and took a sip of the whiskey.

This time, only five hands were raised, including Hermione's.

Hermione was getting rather bored, the whiskey was too weak and the statements were silly.

"I've never smoked weed," Parvati said and looked around the room. She gaped as she noticed Hermione reluctantly raising her hand. Seamus and Dean also raised their hands.

Hermione hadn't wanted to raise her hand, but the spell had forced her to. She cursed silently as she took a large sip of the whiskey before handing it to Seamus.

Ron looked at her weirdly, one eye brow raised. He seemed surprised, yet curious.

Hermione felt the familiar sense of alcohol running through her body and she truly cherished the feeling. However, she felt slightly disappointed in herself, for not being able to stay away from alcohol for more than a week. Oh, how she hoped that Snape wouldn't find traces of alcohol in her blood tomorrow.

"I've never had sex," Ginny said and grimaced as she drank of the whiskey. Almost everyone in the room raised their hands, including Neville.

"I've never been out partying all night," Hermione said softly and took a large sip of the whiskey. She really had to learn how to stop drinking. Ginny, Parvati and Dean drank of the fire whiskey.

"Guys, this is boaring," the former head girl complained. "I'm going to bed," she announced. "Would you mind moving to the boy's dormitory?," she asked.

Dean rose and mumbled something. He walked over to Hermione and embraced her before kissing her lips roughly.

Hermione pushed him away and glared at him. Ron stood up and looked as though he was ready to slap Dean in the face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?," she snapped at him.

"Well, seeing as you've done almost everything, this wouldn't be anything for you, now would it, 'Mione?," Dean sneered in a most unusual way.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I did those things because I wanted to and I certainly don't wish to kiss you, Dean," Hermione said cooly before exiting the room.

She kept walking until she reached a dead end, which happened to be the Astronomy tower. It was one of the few places in Hogwarts that she didn't really fancy, hence she turned to walk back to the Gryffindor tower. If only she were able to walk straight.

"Miss Granger," a dark voice said as he approached her.

Hermione turned around to meet the eyes of Professor Snape.

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