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A/N: Thank you so much for you review) It took a while to post this, but it's here now and I hope you'll enjoy it)
Chapter Four: Poisonous Pansy
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't even remember her own name as he continued kissing the tips of her fingers. The look he contained reminded her of Ginny and her vivacious personality that shone through the windows to her soul, like sun through the clouds when the storm has passed. Why was this man so different from every other guy she knew?
He smirked, "Don't worry 'bout it love," That brilliant smile dazzled her yet again and snapped her back to reality. "now let's get to Potions, shall we?" He gestured for her to leave first.
Hermione didn't really know what to do or say to him, so she moved her feet, first the right and then the left. If she was falling for this ladies man, she would be doomed.
As they entered the gloomy room, she threw her bookbag down on the floor and sat down on the only desk available; the one in the front of the classroom, just infront of Professor Snape's desk. There was no one sitting beside her because Ron and Harry had already teamed up in the back, but she couldn't care less who she got as a partner, as long as they did their job during the potion making.
Hermione took out her Potions book and placed it infront of her, starting to browse through the first pages. Secretly she wanted Blaise to come and sit by her, but he had already teamed up with Theodore Nott and it wouldn't look so good if he volounterly wanted to sit next to a mudblood. She pretended to be glancing around the classroom as she turned to see what Blaise was doing, but the black beauty already knew what she was doing the minute he caught her gaze. An evil smirk spread across his face, all too similar to the one of Draco Malfoy's. Maybe evil smirks were some sort of necessity to make it in Slytherin, it certainly seemed like it to Hermione. He winked at her before he turned to Nott and continued their casual conversation about Quidditch.
'What am I getting myself into...?' Hermione thought to herself as she turned around with a little smile.
"Hello Hermione," Hermione sighed at the sight; Parvati was smiling down at her. "Is this seat taken?" She sat down even before she could answer her.
"I guess not." Hermione muttered and plastered on a smile.
Parvati got all big-eyed and started babbling, "Oh my God, you know that little hag in Ravenclaw who's trying to take my Daniel? Well, here's the thing..." Her mouth kept moving but Hermione couldn't really hear all the un-intersting details of every relationship at this school, or what ever it might be that she was ranting on about.
"Mhm, sure," Hermione muttered, nodding as if agreeing to her gossip. "You're right."
Parvati stopped talking for a good five seconds before her mouth opened again, "Anyways, you'll never believe what I just heard about you out in the hallway, Hermione." Her small eyes seemed to widen unnaturally in excitement as Hermione turned to her.
"What could I possibly have done to cause any sorts of rumour?" Hermione said, remaining calm on the outside, but quickly guided her attention towards Parvati while her insides turned in anxciety for what she could've heard.
"Someone said they spotted you down in the Slytherin Dungeon this morning," Her searching eyes looked for any sign of un-ease. "wearing a small amount of clothes and looking quite exhausted. Exhausted and pleased, to be exact." Parvati said as-a-matter-of-factly, an expectant grin upon her lips.
Hermione snorted, "Yeah, I do that all the time. It's all so much fun down there, they all love me and my friends. Oh, especially the one with a scar on his forehead. He's their favourite, they tend to take turns in worshipping his bloody arse." She said sarcasticly, struggling to keep a grin off her face. If only Parvati had known the pleasures she had experienced. She would crumble in jealousy because she had wanted the raven haired Slytherin for as long as Hermione could remember knowing her, and she had always had a good eye for Ginny too, whether she wanted to acknowledge the fact or not. Parvati was one of the few in Gryffindor who didn't think that all Slytherins lacked a heart and that they all were expecting a future filled with plotting dark and evil plans about killing all the muggles walking this earth.
Hermione had this odd feeling about them though, she knew they were somewhat dark at mind and far more educated than most of the other students within the remaining houses, but she didn't know the full extent of their knowledge and experience within the field of Dark Arts. They had all been raised to use their powers, evolving from day one. Hermione herself didn't learn magic before the age of 11, which bothered her slightly as she now realized how much she must've missed.
"I know, 'Mione, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." Parvati said and put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her trance. Hermione knocked down the ink on her desk, startling Parvati and enraging the blonde Slytherin sitting on the desk to her right. She had black ink all over the tips of her flowing silver hair.
Hermione became aware that she was gaping at the girl and quickly snapped her jaw shut, muttering a spell to wash of the ink and clean up the mess on the floor. She raised her eyes to level the blonde girl's raging blue ones, and found that she was smiling at her, or at least attempting to even though her eyes showed something entirely else but forgivness. This definatly was a surprise to Hermione, but seeing that she had been exposed to one too many surprises lately, she just smiled back. It was so simple to just smile at her and turn away with her dignity still there.
"Oh Kathy," A slithering whisper snuck up her spine and froze her brain. "Surely you won't forgive the useless mudblood that easily. Yes, she is quite clever," Pansy Parkinson's lips were lingering mere inches from Hermione's ears, just breathing her down and down. Her husky low voice penetrated Hermione's mind in seconds, and Hermione had never felt someone intrude her personal space in such a way before. "And she has shown her remarkable skills in duell before, but would you not like to see her squirm?" Pansy almost made it sound delicious to squirm as she ran her long glassy nails over Hermione's skin. "Every single inch," Pansy narrowed her eyes as her voice became a gentle but threatening whisper, "of your trembling body would drain all of it's polluted powers," A hungry look clouded her eyes as she moved infront of her, still as close as ever. "and leave you like an empty shell, locked in mortality's simple," She felt her nail scratch over her throat. "muggle," She would penetrate her skin. "fate. No more spells, no more powers and last but not least," Pansy was so close that her nose brushed the skin on her cheek. "No more Blaise Zabini." The whisper was so low that Hermione couldn't really make out the sentence at once.
Someone had risen from their chair and grabbed Pansy, "What the fuck do you think you're doin', Pans?" Hermione let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding as Pansy drew away. Her words became clear to her, but how could she know? She had blocked that memory out the minute she felt her trying to dig in her brain.
"I'm putting her in her rightful place, Blaise. You do know where her rightful place is, don't you, dear?" Hermione couldn't see her, but she knew that those dark green eyes had to be spitting daggers at her knight in shining armour.
She heard Blaise snort, "Well, I sure as hell know you've got no idea where that is," An un-mistakable gasp escaped from Pansy, as well as her herd of Slytherin girls. "And if you don't mind, I think miss Granger would like for you to leave so she can apologize to Kathy, not Pansy, for this little incident." Blaise lay a supporting hand on Hermione's shoulder as he released Pansy, and without even thinking, Hermione started reaching up to take it.
When their fingertips made contact, she realized what an extremely dangerous act it was, and swiftly pulled her hand away. She looked up and had the unfortunate luck of meeting Pansy's stare straight on. How one girl could hold a venomous stare like that was unknown to her, but she did her best to keep eye-contact. It would be accepting defeat if she just let her win the fight.
After a few seconds, Blaise moved away from her and towards Pansy who was now standing between her and this Kathy girl.
He was now right infront of Pansy and his arms were loosely draped over her shoulders, "Oh, don't be angry, Pans, you can't punish the little bookworm for every little mishap she has, that would be considered torturing after a couple of years," Hermione didn't know why she felt so offended when Blaise made this little comment, she couldn't possibly expect him to start being real nice to her infront of everyone just because they were fucking. After all, it was her that wanted them to be a secret in the first place. "Go annoy Potter instead, he's far more easier to agitate. Anyway, don't want our dear Severus to see you bugging one of his favourites do you?"
"Sit, or be gone, class has begun," The cool sneer of Severus Snape sounded in the classroom and everyone got back in their seats. "There will be no books today, as I will be guiding you through the task as we go. Those who can't keep up," He shifted his gaze, deliberatly staring right at Neville Longbottom. "Will recieve no grade nor evaluation, hence a poorer grade at the end of this term. Now..." The boredom in his voice was inevitable, it sounded like he wanted to do so much more than just teach them to brew a couple of simple potions. Hermione could only imagine the powers Severus Snape had stored behind those black eyes, though she had to admit that she didn't want to see it all. She'd seen a bit while he fought a couple of death eaters, former buddies no doubt, and it had been violently beautiful. Yes, he seemed like a Dark Lord himself as he took control over every element in his surroundings, attacking the Death Eaters without even as much as a little help from his wand nor friends. She really wanted to be able to channel her magic through her bare hands and eyes like him and be just as powerful. She could've sworn an oath on that Snape could've taken Voldemort down on his own, but his former Lord probably held some sort of power over him since Harry Potter was needed to do the job.
Parvati brushed some dust of her robe as she finished stirring the potion, "Well, I guess it's good, right 'Mione?" She cautiously glanced into the cauldron.
"Yes, it's got the correct shade of green and the consistency is thin," Hermione looked up searching for the Professor, waiting to see him sitting behind his desk. "Pro-" She almost pushed over the ink again as she saw Professor Snape standing over their cauldron, examining it carefully with his eyes. "Oh, uhm, we're done."
Snape lifted his eye-brow and leveled his eyes with Hermione's, making her shrink into her little shell, "Congratulations, Miss Granger," It was a snarl, but a complimenting snarl. "And Miss Patil, you are the first to complete the task. You may leave after you've poured part of this potion into a vial and, if you haven't figured it out yet, left it for me to examine." He gave Hermione a little sarcastic smile and turned around, seemingly soaring up to his desk, his long black robes washing the dust of the floor as he moved.
Parvati nudged Hermione and they started packing their bags and emptying the cauldron, leaving the moment a couple of Slytherins finished and among them was Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode. Hermione was swift out the door, she had never moved so fast while walking before in her entire life.
As the lesson had ended, Hermione felt like a burden had been lifted of her shoulders and gave her thanks to Merlin that she had been able to escape the classroom without confronting either Pansy nor Kathy. The Kathy girl seemed to have been affected by Pansy's poisonous words, but was unlikely to act upon her probably macabre imagination. Pansy on the other hand, well, she didn't want to run into her for a while.
Harry and Ron didn't even try to approach her after class, it wasn't as if she desired their company at the time, but it seemed odd. They always did, but maybe they had been the last to finish. Harry had a descent amount of knowledge when it came to potions, but the two of them together was catasrophe.
Parvati had run off to see her boyfriend Daniel in the Great Hall for lunch, and Hermione had taken an easy decision on going up to the tower to get some rest before her weary eyes would shut themselves and leave her sleepwalking through the castle like a nutcase.
"Hermione darling," A soft purr soothed her ears as she climbed through the portrait of the fat lady. "I trust you slept well this morning?"
The fiery redhead was simply glowing as she grinned at Hermione, "Yes, and you didn't find it fitting to wake me up," It was impossible to keep her face stern. "You're a little devil, you know that?"
Ginny chuckled, "Oh, you have seen nothing yet. So, how was your morning? Filled with carnal pleasures and flushed lips?" The little spark in her eyes made her seem all the more mischevious as she wrapped her arm casually around her waist, pulling her closer.
"Take a wild guess, red," Hermione leaned even closer still, putting her hand on the redheads hip. "There are many things in this world that I know a whole lot about, and some things that I know nothing about; and an example to that would be that I never knew how much you could enjoy the company of a man and a woman at the same time, or even the company of a man by himself. You know my history with men has been dreadful, or horrifying is perhaps a more suited word," Ginny nodded agreeingly. "I tend to pity myself sometimes when I think about it. But, over to more pleasant facts, it was better than I could ever have imagined, and I have to say that I owe you a big apology for the other night," Hermione sighed and smiled at Ginny's facial expression, which showed utter confusion. "I overreacted, even though I know who you are, what you desire and what you need; It's easy to be seduced."
Ginny took a while, but soon she was gaping at her. "Seriously? I'm forgiven just like that?"
"Not entirely, red," Hermione lifted her eye-brow and paused before continuing her explanation. She had to make it clear to Ginny that she didn't accept her nasty habit. "I don't like the fact that you've been having sex with people while I've been your girlfriend, that's distasteful Ginny. But the three of us the other night was amazing," Ginny watched her girlfriend with wonder. "and I think it was because of this undeniable chemistry we had and even more undeniable fact that our bodies were made for each other. I was ravished by the two of you, you treated me like a queen and I couldn't help but to enjoy myself. I felt more last night than I have ever felt for two people in my entire life. This might sound all silly, but I want to experience this again," Hermione wasn't used to telling Ginny exactly what was on her mind, because that usually led to some sort of fight, but in this case, there would be no fight. "Would you stop seeing others and cheat on me with the same person I will be cheating on you with?" Hermione bit her lip and the corner of her mouth twisted into a little smile as she thought of what she had asked Ginny of. She almost felt embarrassed as she stared into Ginny's playful green eyes, the shock on her face slowly retracting and a sly smirk gracing her beautiful features.
"I thought you'd never ask..." Ginny whispered with a plush voice, sending shivers down Hermione's back.
----
"Blaise," Draco said, lighting his cigarette. "I've got this feeling that there's something you're not telling me. Are you hiding anything?" The icy blue eyes almost seemed concerned as they directed themselves at him.
"No, Dray," Blaise shook his head and the tint of concern in those blue eyes were gone within half a second. "Just tired, that's all."
The emotionless face stared at him, standing completely still with his cigarette a couple of inches from his white lips, "You're an open book most of the time, mate," He smirked, inhaling and exhaling. "But now you're becoming this bloody mysterious guy with presumably dirty secrets to hide," He was narrowing his eyes, taking a good look at him like he hadn't seen him properly before. "Good for you, Blaise. If you weren't getting laid before this, I bet you'll be soon." Draco winked at him and laughed a silent laugh, muttering to himself as he inhaled the lethal smoke once more.
Blaise would've blushed if he hadn't learned how to control every bit of his brain and body from the age of 5. He had never been able to keep anything from Draco on earlier occasions, he had always seen him straight through and whenever there was a secret hidden, Draco knew how to make it a secret to tell.
There was something different about Draco too, his mood had been hitting the bottom the last few weeks before school and now he was actually smiling. "Good to be back at Hogwarts, huh?" Blaise asked casually, leaning against the wall with his hands stuffed in his back pockets.
"Yeah," Draco was watching the quiet lake with a serene sense of peace about him. "I've missed this..."