I own nothing.
CHAPTER 20.
Hermione had been glad when her lessons started once again, affording her a distraction from her new found popularity.
Things seemed to improve. Apart from Ron, who was becoming a nuisance, waiting until she was alone, when the others where at quidditch practice, or in a diffrent lesson to her, he'd corner her, and hurl abuse at her, calling her every foul name in the book, and some the author had thought to disgusting to grace the books pages, which had left her on the verge of tears many times.
She had of course told both Harry and Ginny about this, but because neither of them saw him attaking her, they couldn't do much. They decided to go to Mcgonagall if things got any worse.
In a change that nobody saw coming, Hermone had been forced to move to sit in the back of each of her lessons, making it more difficult for people to stare at her, more difficult, but not, it turned out, impossible, as she learnt in her first charms class of the year, when seamus, who had been staring at the part Veela and not listening, managed to make the cup of water they where trying to freeze, explode, leaving him with some nasty burns, and Professor Flitwick without eyebrows.
Explosons where also now a common thing in potions, Sughorn it seemed, didn't have Snape's controll over the student body, and therefor, it was a perfectly common thing to see a panicked student running to the hospital wing from the direction of the dungeon at any given time.
Slughorn spent the most of his time fauning over Harry, who had aquired a new found brilliance in potions, something she was highly dubious about, It took her the best part of two months to descover the Half blood prince's book, and even after lots of nagging, from herself and Ginny, Harry refused to give it up.
Potions lessons for Hermione came to consist of her tryng to avoid the contents of whoevers couldren exploded first. She wasn't always so lucky though, having been forced to retreat to her dorm to change and sometime's shower after potions lessons on many occasions.
It had been the last lesson before lunch on a tuesday, and she and Harry were working together in potions, creating the draught of living death. Slughorn hadn't been so kind with other parings though, because on the desk in front of them were Zabini and Nott, neither of whom were particulaly good at potions, or with a particular intrest in what they were doing.
Everyone had been wating for it, but the epic scale of the explosion would have done seamus proud. Hermione barley managed to throw up a shield in time, protecting most of the students, but not herself, harry or the owners of the potion.
The four unprotected were blasted backwards, as the rest of the class watched in horror. Zabini and Nott both got nocked into empty desks, whilst harry was thrown into a near by wall. Hermione however hit shelves, filled with empty glass jars and bottles.
She hit the ground with a resounding crash, her eyes squeased shut as jars shattered all about her, cutting into her exposed skin, and ripping her robes.
"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" She could hear Harry's frantic shouting, the rest of the class had gone deathly silent, crowding around her, where she lay on the floor.
"Hermione?" Harry had come to kneel by her, sporting a large gash on the side of his head. Hermione stirred and groaned under her breath.
"Presvyataya Bogoroditsa, chto bol'no. Kto eto byla ideya partnerom ikh vmeste, mog ubit' kogo-nibud'. Krovavyy ad golova bolit ." She started ranting under her breath.
(holy mother of god that hurt. who's idea was it to partner them together, could have killed somebody. bloody hell my head hurts.)
"Hermione, are you all right?" harry demanded, whilst the class watched, dumfounded as she continued to rant in russian.
"Vsekh glupykh , oslinyy , opasnykh , idiotskiy , idiotskikh idey..."
(of all the stupid, asinine, dangerous, moronic, idiotic ideas.)
"ENGLISH HERMIONE!" Harry yelled, still kneeling over her.
"I'm fine Harry, just...seeing double." Hermione said, sitting up and placing a hand on her tender foarhead, which she now realised was red with blood. As she got to her feet a shower of broken glass fell to the floor, and she wobbled dangerously, falling sideways into Harry's chest.
"Ok, come on, hospital wing." Harry said gently, leading a pale hermione from the gaping, still silent dungeon.
When they left, a shoked voice spoke up, "Was that russian?"
Madam Pomfray had not been impressed when harry had arrived, virtually carrying Hermione into the hospital wing.
"Potions?" she asked tiredly. The dark looks she recieved where answer enough.
She ushered them both into empty beds, and then proceeded to run spells and fetch potions, all the while mumbling about 'don't know why they let that man teach...'
They had both been heled easily enough, with nothing more than mild concussions and many cuts and scrapes, along with the odd bruis where Hermione had hit a shelf. Their school uniforms however where ruined, and so they both needed to go and change before lunch.
They ran into a crowd in the entrance hall, amongst them was Ginny.
"What happened to you two?" she asked, looking at their ripped, bloodied robes.
"Glupo, morzh uzhasno uchitel', ne dolzhny nesti otvetstvennost' za detey , kto-to, vozmozhno, byl ubit..." Hermione started mumbling darkly again.
(stupid, walrus awful teacher, shouldn't be in charge of children, someone could have been killed.)
Draco Malfoy turned to Anthony Goldstein, and answered his earlier question.
"Yep, russian." He said, eye hermione curiously.
"Right, and in ENGLISH?" ginny asked, sounding exasparated, turning to harry, who explained.
Meanwhile, Malfoy called across the entrance hall, " I gde by meloch', kak vy nauchilis' govorit' takiye graficheskiy Rossii ?"
(and where would a little thing like you have learnt to speak such graphic russian?)
There was a charming smirk on his pale face, and the hall turned to watch with intrest. Hermione survayed him for a moment, and decided on a partiall truth.
"Ot moryaka , konechno .." She smirked at him.
(From a sailor of course.)
Draco's eyes widened, and Hermione threw her head back, laughing richly, a deep, throaty chuckle that captivated everyone listening. Ginny elbowed her in the side, raising a questioning eyebrow. Hermione leaned in, and whispered what she'd told draco to Ginny, in english.
The vivacious red head choked in shock, and them burst into a fit of hysterical giggles, shooting glances at Malfoy, who was still faintly cross eyed.
Turning, the two girls started up the marble staircase, the entire hall watching avidly, only for Hermione to call over her shoulder;
"Vy uznali Rossii ot moryaka , Drako ?" Making Malfoy blush scarlet, and open his mouth innafectually.
(Did you learn russian from a sailor, draco?)
Speaking of potions, Hermione also had to be on the look out, for once it had become apparent to those that were betting on her that she wasn't going to bow to any of them, - no pun intended-, thay had started with other, more creative methods.
Hermione would recieve charmed flowers, enchanted love notes, and the personal favorite, chocolates laced with love potion, which, having been bough from Fred and George, unfortunaley worked.
She had sent them a Howler -after one particulally close shave, where in Lavinder had eaten a chocolte before Hermione could stop her, and spent the rest of the day chasing after some fifth year ravenclaw boy, - asking them to please screan those they sold a love potion too, or at least warn her if they were coming to the Castle. That helped some.
This had made her official birthday, which happened in her third week back, slightly tricky. She got gifts from all of her friends, including books from harry, Sirius and Lupin. Clothes from Ginny, fleur and Tonks, including more underwear that had arrived during the morning post, so had been opened at breakfast. It was all extreemly lacy, and made of silks and satins, in deep reds, blacks and dark greens. Hermione had squeaked, blushed scarlet, and quickly shoved the lid back on the box, Much to Ginny's amusement.
A huge box of www products from the twins, and from Charlie, a beautiful charm bracelet, to which he had Started to add the charms, a silver dragon, a book, a miniture fire bird, like the one she had created the first time they had kissed, and a gold and silver stripped cat, for crookshanks. She loved it, and never took it off. Although she had had to endure many questions and squels over it from her dorm mates.
No, the thing that made her birthday complicated, was the vast number of dammed love potions, in chocolate, Perfume, everywhere. In the end, anything not sent by a personal friend, she had locked way in the bottom of her trunk.
There had also been some nasty situations in DADA with Snape. During one particular lesson, in their second week back, the class had devided into pairs, and where practicing non verbal shield charms, something Hermione could now do in her sleep.
The others, namely Pansy Parkinson, had decided to help Hermione practice, by shooting curses at her from across the classroom when she wasn't looking. Luckily, she had been partnered with Harry, who quickly cassed Protego loudly, Professor Snape didn't even comment, he mereley raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who had learnt to understand this as questioning her well being, they had these psudo conversations more and more frequantly it would seem, she just nodded infinitesimally to him, and carried on with her work, she thought she saw something akin to pride flash in his black eyes, but may have imagined it.
Hermione awoke in her bed early one morning in october, to a familiar gnawing pain in her stomach and back, a splitting headache. She groaned, not bothering to prolong the inevitable by trying t go back to sleep, but getting up straight away, and going into the bathroom.
Her dorm mates wouldn't be up for another hour or so, being that it was saturday, and so Hermione took the oppertunity to run herself a bath.
Just because she knew what to expect this month, didn't make it any less awefull, she thought as she vomited repeatedly into the porcalain toilet bowl. She grumbled as she dragged herself to the steaming water, and then whimpered as she got into the bath, her muscules relaxing instantaniously.
She stayed in the bath for as long as she could, washing her hair twice, and conditioning, charming the hair from her body, even magically painting her fingers and toe nails to kill the time. Eventually though, the water had gotten cold, and she sighed sadly, pulling herself from the bath.
Magically drying her hair and body, she stepped into a pair of knickers, stuffing a sanitry towell inside, and fidgating uncomfortably.
She pulled on her skin tight yoga pants, which were comfortable, and easy to move in...or to not move in! She also pulled on her black sports bra, because her breasts always seemed to swell this time of the month, making her regular bra's pinch.
Over the sport's bra, she pulled one of Charlie's old quidditch jurseys, which she had stolen from him whilst at Grimauld Place. It was baggy, falling off one shouler completley, and lose until it reached her curvy bum. She brought the shirt to her nose, inhaling deeply, it still smelled faintly of her dragon tamer.
Pulling her hair into a pony tail, she shuffled back to her room, her eyes squinting as the early morning light made her head ache. On her feet, she slipped some ankle socks, and her ratty old black and white converse.
Delving into her trunk, she pulled out an inormous slab of honeydukes chocolate, that she had had waiting for this occasion. Nibbling on the corner happily, she began to shuffle down to the common room, her back protesting with every step.
Harry and Ginny were waiting for her, and looks of understanding crossed their face as they saw the huge bar of chocolate she was carrying. Ginny looked sympathetic, and Harry somewhat scared, as he took a definate step behind Ginny.
"Morning." Ginny greeted softly, Hermione scowled and grumbled under her breath, hugging the chcoclate to her chest.
"C'mon, breakfast." Ginny wrapped an arm about Hermione's waist, and began towing her out of the common room, Harry following nervously behind them.
She recieved quite a few odd looks as they walked t the great hall, what with the over large t-shirt, and also over large chocolate. Hermione didn't speak as they sat down, just pulled a large mug of coffee towards her, and began to drink it in between mouth fulls of honeydukes finest hazel nut chocolate.
Harry and Ginny talked amongst themselves, leaving Hermione to her grumbling, that was, untill the owl post arrived.
They all stared in shock as half a dozen owls landed before Hermione, all carrying various chocolates and cakes, from Fleur, Molly, Tonks, Sirius, Remus and Charlie. Tears were pricking hermione's eyes as she read the notes sent by her friends, and her latest missive from her dragon tamer.
The rest of the griffyndor table was watching curiously, apart from Ron, who was scowling drakly.
"What's with the chocolate shop, Hermione?" Lavender asked curiously, eyeing the enormous slice of Mrs Weasley's chocolate cake that Hermione was now eating.
"From friends." Ginny suplied, Hermione just nodded, her mouth full.
"Blimey, some friends!" Neville said, looking incredulously at the latest arrival, three dozen chocolate frogg's from the twins.
Hermione just nodded tearfully, making Ginny chuckle, and wrap her friend in a hug. She leaned sidewys into the embrace sighing contetedly, and shoveling chocolate cake into her mouth, something Harry took a magcal picture of, per Ginny's mouthed instructions. It would no doubt find it's way to a certain dragon reserve in romania.
They had finished breakfast, and were going to stop by the hospital wing, to get Hermione some pain potion, when Mcglaggen decided to try his luck a second time. Hermione had just vanished her chocolates back to her dorm, where she would scoff them later, in private, when Cormac shouted from further down the table.
"Ohhhh good, I thought you were going to eat the lot!" Cormac said loudly, indicating the chocolate Hermione had just vanished. "Wouldn't want to damage that delicious body of yours."
His eyes ran slowly over her form as he spoke, tilting his head to the side, and bighting his bottom lip. Harry and Ginny visibly paled, turning to look at Hermione, who had gone very quiet.
Cormac however, noticed nothing, and powed onwards, the whole hall now watching the idiots downfall. Snape was actually grinning, which was as unnerving as it was funny.
"I mean, don't get me wrong, curves can be hot..." Hermione was growling quietly, and those around her were edging away.
Even the slytherin table had gone silent, watching Hermione get steadily angrier.
"...More to hold on to, if you catch my drift." He winked, and grinned lecharously at Hermione, who was now shaking with the effort not to kill the masoganystic pig.
"Stop talking." Ginny wanrned him, getting to her feet, and placing a soothing hand on Hermione's shoulder. Her eyes were now squeased shut, and her hands clenched into fists on the table before her, the headache having come back with a vengance.
"I'm only giving her sound advice, wouldn't want her looking like she did before."
Silence. Complete silence. Ginny's mouth had dropped open in dissbelief, and Harry had pulled out his wand.
Hermione's eyes had snapped open, and zeroed in on a smirking Mcglaggen. Slowly, she got to her feet, and the griffyndor table as one scrambled away from her, diving away from the table. Mcglaggen stayed where he was, smirking at her infuriatingly.
"Isn't anyone going to stop her?" Asked a fourth year ravenclaw, looking at the teachers, who once again seemed to be too distracted to notice Mcglaggen's plight.
"What did you say, Cormac?" Hermione purred, her voice death in desgize. A few people flinched.
"I said that it would be a shame to let yourself go, seeing as you're so deliscious looking now." He drawled, his eyes still not quite high enough to be looking at her face.
Hermione nodded to herself thoughfully, prowling down the isle, towards Mcglaggen, who watched her walk hungrily. The closer she got, the cockier he became.
She leaned down beside him, her face parallel with his ear, reaching a hand forward, she extended her index finger, the nail still blood red from her bath earlier.
The hall watched in fascination as Hermione's finger bypassed Mcglaggen completley, and came to hover above the now deserted table, her eyes had never left his face. The hall held it's collective breath, leaning forwards in their seats.
"Bare in mind, Mcglaggan," Hermione purred lethally, "That this is your finall warning. LEAVE. ME. ALONE." She enunciated every word, so the whole hall could hear, her finger then finally fell onto the oak table.
The whole table, from the double doors, all the way to the staff at the top of the hall, turned to dust. A centuries old, solid oak, thirty foot table, vaporised with the tip of one finger. Hermione hadn't even opened her mouth.
Hermione let the message sink in, Mcglaggen staring at the thirty foot long trail of ash and dust.
Then, with a click of her fingers, the dust became a table again.
Hermione looked at Mcglaggan in desgust, "Ya by ne postavit' vas obratno vmeste libo." She growled down at him, and even though he didn't understand, he flinched, which sattisfied Hermione immensly.
She could hear whispers of "What did she say?" and "What does that mean?" Echoing throuhout the hall, it was Malfoy that answered.
"She said, she wouldn't put him back together again." He translated, loud enough for the hall to hear, a smirk on his lipps, "A dicission I whole heartedly agree with!" He announced.
Hermione merely looked over at him, raising an eyebrow silently, making him flush slightly pink, before walking out of the hall, flanked by a bemeaused Harry, and a smug Ginny.
From the entrance hall, they could hear Mcglaggan shouting at the teachers to do something, that Hermione had just destroyed the griffyndor table. It was Professor snape who replied.
"What are you on about, idiot boy. The table looks fine to me!"
The first Hogsmeed trip of the year took place at the beggining of November, when most of the students started their Christmas shopping. On the decidedly chilly saturday morning, Hermione was awoken by an excited Ginny, who simply jumped on her bed, squealing, "Shopping."
Hermione , knowing better than to argue, dressed warmly, in a deep purple chashmere jumper dress that her mother had sent her to supliment her new winter wardrobe, with dark woolen tights, and warm boots. She had barley had time to grab her beaded bag, and jacket, when Ginny dragged her off to wake an unsuspecting Harry, then to breakfast.
Ginny dragged a sleepy Hermione up the stone steps to Harry's dorm, not even bothering to knock before bursting in.
She flung herself onto a still sleeping Harry, shouting, "Hogsmeed Potter, get your arse moving." The entire dormitory -bar ron, who wasn't there- groaned loudly, moaning cries of "Ginny!"
Harry let out a pathetic moan, and covered his head with his pillow, whilst whining something that sounded suspiciously like 'five more minutes'.
"Nice try Harry," Hermione said, going to sit on the bed by Harry, "She woke me up half an hour ago, by jumping on me and not stopping." Hermione said pointedly, smirking when Harry jumped from his bed.
"I'm up. I'm up." He mumbled, his hair sticking up at odd angles, and his eyes bleery from sleep.
Harry took nearly twenty minutes to get dressed, mainly because he kept trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of a sock. When he finally emerged from his room, Ginny was literally bouncing with excitement.
No matter how much better the male students had gotten, some of them even managing to speak in Hermione's presance now, nothing seemed to be able to prepare them for the sight of her in muggle clothes. She had learned this the hard way, having gone to see the gryffindor try outs with harry as captin, and having caused quite a comosion. One poor boy had managed to fall into the lake.
So she wasn't shocked, when their arrival at breakfast was greeted with many roaving eyes, and some lurid comments from the table clad in green and silver. Managing to make it through the crouded great hall to their table, and then eating without any trouble, Hermione decided things were going all too well, when she once again felt a hand on her shoulder.
Turning, she was surprised to see an awkward looking Severus Snape.
"Professor?" Hermione questioned.
"Mereley a warning to be on your look out today Miss Granger, first trip from school, stay close to your friends." He said curtly, the span on his heel, and vacated the hall.
Hermione exchanged slightly shocked glances with her comrades, "Is it me, or has he warmed a bit since becoming DADA teacher?" She asked flippantly. The others mereley laughed, going back to their food.
The hogsmeed trip had been fun, for Ginny anyway, who dragged Harry and Hermione into every single shop in the village, then persuaded Hermione to buy something she whould ordinarily have ignored from each. Ginny had managed to chose her an entire second wardrobe, Hermione was adored by the store owners in Hogsmeed, who had neve had a student spend so much in one shopping trip.
After two houres, and many pointless purchases, Hermione had finished all her christmas shopping, and managed to reign the young girl in, dragging her into the Three Broomsticks, with a very relieved looking Harry bringing up the rear.
Harry and Ginny went to find a table, as Hermione went to get drinks, weaving her way gracefully through the crowded bar, to a roasy faced Rosmerta.
"Three butterbeers, please Rosie." She asked politley, shuffling slightly away from the haggered looking warlock seated at the bar next to her, who seemed to be trying to sniff her hair.
"Here you go Hermione, love." Hermione was known to Rosmerta as the female third of the Golden Trio, and had been saquesterd into calling her 'Rosie' after helping to get rid of Umbridge in her fifth year. They had known eachother, however, since Hermione's fourth year, when they had bonded over a hatred of Reeta Skeeter.
It may have been her imagination, but she thought Rosmerta seemed a little out of it. She hadn't even mentioned the change in Hermione, something she had been sure the buxom bar maid would have raved over.
"Thank you." She said, paying, then grabbing the three drinks, and making her way back to her friends. The only problem with this being the fact hat her hands were full, and so she had no way to fend off any unwanted attention. By the time she reached the table, her bum had been pinched by no less than seven diffrent wizards, she grumbled.
"Men are piggs." She grouched to Ginny, who nodded vigerously, both girls then glared at Harry, the representaion of all that was evil seated at their table.
"Sorry?" Was his unsure reply, the women just shoock their heads tiredly, and sipped their drinks in silence.
After the pub, the three decided to visit honeydukes, Ginny having run out of chocolate, and Hermione needing to buy some to send to Lupin, and Sirius, before heading back the the castle. They had been paying in the warm, sweetly scented shop, wen they were accosted by a booming, "Harry ma' boy." Harry groaned theatrically, before turning and giving a fake smile.
"Hello Professor." He said, grimicing.
"As luck would have it," Slughorn dove strait in, not in the mood for plesantrys, "I had just been looking for you three." He said, wagging his stubby finger at them. "Im throwing a christmas party, a small gathering, the select few, on the last night of term, I'll see you all there." Then he waddled quickly away, not giving any of them time to create an excuse for their absence.
"Brilliant." Hermione said flatly, "Just how I wanted to start off my holidays." Harry and Ginny just laughed, patting her consolingly on the back, slightly mockingly, then begigning their return to the castle.
That was the day of Katie Bell's terrible accident, she had been walking ahead of the three on their way back to school, when she had collapsed, screaming, and Harry had run ahead to the school for help. He was also convinved hat the cursed necklace was all Malfoy's doing. The jury was still out in hermione's mind, waiting for further evidence.
The remainder of the term was uneventful. Unless you count Romilda Vaine, a pretty fifth year Griffyndor, trying to sneak harry a love potion. Something that had enraged Ginny to no end.
Hermione had been in a stall in one of the girl's batrooms after Anchient Runes one day, when she had heard the younger students discussing the best was to descise a love potion.
"You could pour it in his morning pumpkin juice." Suggested one high pitched, nasaly voice excitedly.
"How would she do that Marie-ann, she's not invisible?" Came the exasparated reply of another girl, she had a slight lisp, and so Hermione knew catagorically that it was Katie Hopckins, Romlda Vains second in comand, as it were.
"I don't know Katie, it was just a suggestion." The first voice, Marrie-ann, came again.
"None of that matters." Came Romilda's strong, sure soprano. "I all ready know how i'm giving them to him, I wan't him to invite me to Slughorn's party. It would be perfect." She sighed at the end, and Hermione had to suppress the urge to vomit.
"How?" The two friends parroted together.
"I'll put them in some chocolate cauldrens, and tell him I don't like them or something..." She trailed off at the end, obviously destracted, by something shiny probably, Hermione thought cuttingly.
"I'm not sure that will work, 'Milda." Katie spoke tentativley.
"Yeah," The first voice piped up, "Loads of people have tried that with his best friend, the Veela, and it hasn't worked so far." They had her intrest now.
Romilda had obviously waved these observations away, and she and her henchmen were now leaving the bathroom.
When Hermione vacated the stall, she hurried to the common room, to warn Harry not to eat any chocolates from strange girls, she chuckled to herself as she walked.