A meeting with the enemy
Hermione stared blankly outside, only half paying attention to what professor Caerulea was saying. Her mind kept drifting away, eventhough the new Dada professor was explaining a rather difficult spell.
The little voice in her head just didn't want to shut up. "Great, now I'm getting punishment, because I gave Ferret boy the treatment he deserved.Ok, I could've given him a slap in the face, but that wouldn't have given me the satisfaction I needed, and..."
"I think you deserve to be punished.You didn't need to put such a nasty spell on the boy." Now where did that voice come from? Hermione thought.
"Miss Granger?" Hermione shot back to reality.
"Yes, sir?" she replied.
"Can you repeat what I've just said?" professor Caerulea asked. Hermione looked around her and saw the whole class staring at her, the Slytherins were even glaring at her.
'Boy, news travels fast at Hogwarts.' Hermione thought, then she replied: "No, sir, I believe I can't."
"I was explaining how to prevent being killed by an Imperio curse. Do you think that this isn't something useful, Miss Granger?" the Dada professor asked a little angry.
"I'm sorry sir, my mind drifted away." Hermione said.
"Two points from Gryffindor for not paying attention." Caerulea said mildly. The new Dada professor may have looked angry, but inside he couldn't punish one of his best students and he could never be angry for long.
"A less dangerous subject then," he continued, "Dumbledore has given each teacher the order to indicate the two best students in his or her class. These students will represent their class at a demonstration for the ministers. The fifth year will demonstrate Defense against the Dark Arts. I've already chosen two students for this task. I think some drum roll is appropriate. Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, if you please...?"
Harry and Ron took their wands with a smile and started to beat them on their desk.
Caerulea continued: "And the winners are....Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy! Congratulations!" Hermione was speechless, what did she have to do? Knock Malfoy down...again?
The Dada professor didn't notice her abhorrence and told her : "Miss Granger, if you would be so kind to tell Mr. Malfoy what he has to do after class?"
Hermione swallowed hard and nodded. "I hope you can do this without bloodshed?" Harry whispered and Ron broke into silent giggles.
"Way to go Hermione," Ron said, still laughing, "I'm sure Malfoy thinks twice before he insults you again." Hermione couldn't laugh. Life couldn't get worse, she thought.
The bell rang way too fast for Hermione, she said goodbye to Harry and Ron and made her way to McGonagall's office. She knocked on the door and went inside.
"Ah, Miss Granger, just the person I was expecting." Hermione couldn't believe her eyes, it wasn't McGonagall who had spoken, but Snape.
"Get that look of your face, Miss Granger, it doesn't suit you." Snape sneered. "Professor McGonagall has left a few minutes earlier, and she's told me what your punishment will be. Tonight at 7.00 pm you will report at my office and you will scrub the dungeon floor, clean cauldrons and make an inventory of all the potion ingredients."
Before Hermione could object, Snape whispered: "And myself, I'm taking 40 points from Gryffindor for attacking a fellow student."
When he saw the expression on her face, he coldly added: "Yes, incredible isn't it, Miss Granger? For as far as I know you've lost 45 points from your house on the first schoolday, bringing your housepoints to, hmmm...I believe -5 points." The corners of his mouth curled up in an unpleasant smile.
"You're dismissed." he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Hermione had to hold herself from slapping that overgrown bat in the face and with a quick stride, she was back in the corridor. After she had calmed down, Hermione's nerves tortured her again: she had almost forgotten she had to pay a visit to Malfoy.
* * * * * * *
Hermione nervously opened the door to the infirmary and looked around.She saw Neville sitting on his bed, a small smile on his face when he saw her. Across him lay Bulstrode, apparently still unconscious.
When she took a few steps inside she saw madam Pomfrey cleaning someone's wounds. The medi-witch noticed her and she closed the curtains in front of the student.
"What can I do for you, Miss Granger?" she asked.
"Can I see Draco Malfoy, please?" Hemione asked silently.
"Oh no dear, I'm sorry, but he's in a bad condition and sleeping." Hermione didn't want to leave with this answer, so she tried again. "But professor Caerulea insisted that I gave him a message."
That seemed to be enough for madam Pomfrey to let her pass. "Very well then, but if he isn't awake in ten minutes, I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
"Thank you." Hermione said.
The medi-witch showed her where Malfoy lay, it was the student whose wounds she'd just cleaned. After giving Hermione a chair, Pomfrey went to Neville to chase him away.
Hermione had to swallow hard when she saw Malfoy. He lay on his belly and was only half covered so that Hermione could see the wounds on his back. Somehow, her spell had hit his back too.
They weren't small wounds, she had to admit that, but that wasn't what made her swallow. It's just that he looked so....well...masculin. Then she saw a book lying on his bedside table. Interested in what Malfoy was reading she bent over.
Then suddenly Malfoy turned around on his back and grabbed her by her robes.
His face was only an inch away, when he hissed: "Why did you do that?"
Hermione's brain raced like a snitch and thoughts like 'Now, there's a true Slytherin!' and 'How did he do that?' were running through her mind.
Malfoy's voice brought her back to reality. "Granger, I asked you a question!"
"I noticed, Malfoy!And to answer your question, you insulted me." she replied.
Throwing Hermione back in her chair, Malfoy observed her and angrily said: "If you ever even try to do that again, mudblood, then I'll make sure you never want to see your face in the mirror again."
Not wanting to show her fear, she said: "Is that a threat, Ferret boy?"
Quickly grabbing her by her robes again, Malfoy bit: "Don't play with me."
Being so close to his face, Hermione had to fight the urge to spit him in the face, instead she asked: "Since when did you become Snape's new victim?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.
"Well, it wasn't normal that he punished you, when your stupid mortar fell on the ground."
He narrowed his eyes and sneered: "Let me tell you a little story, Granger."
He pushed her back at her chair and said: " Let's just say that Slytherin doesn't come up to his expectations anymore, since the Dark Lord has risen. He suddenly thinks we're all a bunch of Death Eaters."
A question (Aren't you one of them?) was burning on Hermione's tongue, but she thought it would be wise not to mention it.
"So, are you going to tell me why you're here or do I have to draw my wand to get the message?" Malfoy's voice rang in her ears.
Hermione sighed in desperation. That boy...no...man....boy (What the hell was he?) kept getting on her nerves. "Professor Caerulea has chosen you and me to demonstrate Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said, "Because we're the best of our class."
Malfoy started to grin."Is that all?" he smirked, "That'll be fun, kicking some mudblood ass in front of the whole ministry!". He started to laugh out loud. That was the last straw for Hermione.
"I hope you go off, like you did this morning, in front of your daddy!" she yelled and she ran away, leaving a laughing Malfoy and madam Pomfrey,who shook her head in disapproval, behind.
Author's note: A quick remark : Yes,I'm from Belgium but I speak dutch. It's maybe weird for such a small country but we have three languages (dutch, french, german). Hey, don't worry about your french, sometimes it sounds like some students in my class are speaking Polish, when in fact, they're speaking french ;-)
Yours truly, Ravenklauw.
Hermione stared blankly outside, only half paying attention to what professor Caerulea was saying. Her mind kept drifting away, eventhough the new Dada professor was explaining a rather difficult spell.
The little voice in her head just didn't want to shut up. "Great, now I'm getting punishment, because I gave Ferret boy the treatment he deserved.Ok, I could've given him a slap in the face, but that wouldn't have given me the satisfaction I needed, and..."
"I think you deserve to be punished.You didn't need to put such a nasty spell on the boy." Now where did that voice come from? Hermione thought.
"Miss Granger?" Hermione shot back to reality.
"Yes, sir?" she replied.
"Can you repeat what I've just said?" professor Caerulea asked. Hermione looked around her and saw the whole class staring at her, the Slytherins were even glaring at her.
'Boy, news travels fast at Hogwarts.' Hermione thought, then she replied: "No, sir, I believe I can't."
"I was explaining how to prevent being killed by an Imperio curse. Do you think that this isn't something useful, Miss Granger?" the Dada professor asked a little angry.
"I'm sorry sir, my mind drifted away." Hermione said.
"Two points from Gryffindor for not paying attention." Caerulea said mildly. The new Dada professor may have looked angry, but inside he couldn't punish one of his best students and he could never be angry for long.
"A less dangerous subject then," he continued, "Dumbledore has given each teacher the order to indicate the two best students in his or her class. These students will represent their class at a demonstration for the ministers. The fifth year will demonstrate Defense against the Dark Arts. I've already chosen two students for this task. I think some drum roll is appropriate. Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, if you please...?"
Harry and Ron took their wands with a smile and started to beat them on their desk.
Caerulea continued: "And the winners are....Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy! Congratulations!" Hermione was speechless, what did she have to do? Knock Malfoy down...again?
The Dada professor didn't notice her abhorrence and told her : "Miss Granger, if you would be so kind to tell Mr. Malfoy what he has to do after class?"
Hermione swallowed hard and nodded. "I hope you can do this without bloodshed?" Harry whispered and Ron broke into silent giggles.
"Way to go Hermione," Ron said, still laughing, "I'm sure Malfoy thinks twice before he insults you again." Hermione couldn't laugh. Life couldn't get worse, she thought.
The bell rang way too fast for Hermione, she said goodbye to Harry and Ron and made her way to McGonagall's office. She knocked on the door and went inside.
"Ah, Miss Granger, just the person I was expecting." Hermione couldn't believe her eyes, it wasn't McGonagall who had spoken, but Snape.
"Get that look of your face, Miss Granger, it doesn't suit you." Snape sneered. "Professor McGonagall has left a few minutes earlier, and she's told me what your punishment will be. Tonight at 7.00 pm you will report at my office and you will scrub the dungeon floor, clean cauldrons and make an inventory of all the potion ingredients."
Before Hermione could object, Snape whispered: "And myself, I'm taking 40 points from Gryffindor for attacking a fellow student."
When he saw the expression on her face, he coldly added: "Yes, incredible isn't it, Miss Granger? For as far as I know you've lost 45 points from your house on the first schoolday, bringing your housepoints to, hmmm...I believe -5 points." The corners of his mouth curled up in an unpleasant smile.
"You're dismissed." he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Hermione had to hold herself from slapping that overgrown bat in the face and with a quick stride, she was back in the corridor. After she had calmed down, Hermione's nerves tortured her again: she had almost forgotten she had to pay a visit to Malfoy.
* * * * * * *
Hermione nervously opened the door to the infirmary and looked around.She saw Neville sitting on his bed, a small smile on his face when he saw her. Across him lay Bulstrode, apparently still unconscious.
When she took a few steps inside she saw madam Pomfrey cleaning someone's wounds. The medi-witch noticed her and she closed the curtains in front of the student.
"What can I do for you, Miss Granger?" she asked.
"Can I see Draco Malfoy, please?" Hemione asked silently.
"Oh no dear, I'm sorry, but he's in a bad condition and sleeping." Hermione didn't want to leave with this answer, so she tried again. "But professor Caerulea insisted that I gave him a message."
That seemed to be enough for madam Pomfrey to let her pass. "Very well then, but if he isn't awake in ten minutes, I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
"Thank you." Hermione said.
The medi-witch showed her where Malfoy lay, it was the student whose wounds she'd just cleaned. After giving Hermione a chair, Pomfrey went to Neville to chase him away.
Hermione had to swallow hard when she saw Malfoy. He lay on his belly and was only half covered so that Hermione could see the wounds on his back. Somehow, her spell had hit his back too.
They weren't small wounds, she had to admit that, but that wasn't what made her swallow. It's just that he looked so....well...masculin. Then she saw a book lying on his bedside table. Interested in what Malfoy was reading she bent over.
Then suddenly Malfoy turned around on his back and grabbed her by her robes.
His face was only an inch away, when he hissed: "Why did you do that?"
Hermione's brain raced like a snitch and thoughts like 'Now, there's a true Slytherin!' and 'How did he do that?' were running through her mind.
Malfoy's voice brought her back to reality. "Granger, I asked you a question!"
"I noticed, Malfoy!And to answer your question, you insulted me." she replied.
Throwing Hermione back in her chair, Malfoy observed her and angrily said: "If you ever even try to do that again, mudblood, then I'll make sure you never want to see your face in the mirror again."
Not wanting to show her fear, she said: "Is that a threat, Ferret boy?"
Quickly grabbing her by her robes again, Malfoy bit: "Don't play with me."
Being so close to his face, Hermione had to fight the urge to spit him in the face, instead she asked: "Since when did you become Snape's new victim?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.
"Well, it wasn't normal that he punished you, when your stupid mortar fell on the ground."
He narrowed his eyes and sneered: "Let me tell you a little story, Granger."
He pushed her back at her chair and said: " Let's just say that Slytherin doesn't come up to his expectations anymore, since the Dark Lord has risen. He suddenly thinks we're all a bunch of Death Eaters."
A question (Aren't you one of them?) was burning on Hermione's tongue, but she thought it would be wise not to mention it.
"So, are you going to tell me why you're here or do I have to draw my wand to get the message?" Malfoy's voice rang in her ears.
Hermione sighed in desperation. That boy...no...man....boy (What the hell was he?) kept getting on her nerves. "Professor Caerulea has chosen you and me to demonstrate Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said, "Because we're the best of our class."
Malfoy started to grin."Is that all?" he smirked, "That'll be fun, kicking some mudblood ass in front of the whole ministry!". He started to laugh out loud. That was the last straw for Hermione.
"I hope you go off, like you did this morning, in front of your daddy!" she yelled and she ran away, leaving a laughing Malfoy and madam Pomfrey,who shook her head in disapproval, behind.
Author's note: A quick remark : Yes,I'm from Belgium but I speak dutch. It's maybe weird for such a small country but we have three languages (dutch, french, german). Hey, don't worry about your french, sometimes it sounds like some students in my class are speaking Polish, when in fact, they're speaking french ;-)
Yours truly, Ravenklauw.