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CHAPTER 21.
The closer it got to christmas, there level of excitment in the school rose. The castle was deccorated lavishly, with dozens of christmas trees, garlands and real life twinkling fairys.
The elves had also seen fit to place bunches of magical mistle toe about the place, it would plant itself obstinatley over the head of a student, and not leave untill it recieved a kiss. This caused riots in the hallways, with half the students running to the mistle toe, and the other half running away.
Harry, Hermione and Ginny had put their knowledge of the school's secret passagways to excellent use, avoiding the masses, they were however, ocassnally cought out. Like the day they had been walking into the great hall for dinner, and had gotten stuch in the doorway.
All three of them.
"Seriously?" Harry whined, and Hermione and Ginny exchanged looks.
"Not good enough for you, are we Harry?" Ginny raised an eyebrow, Harry paled.
"C'mon Gin, not like that." he backtracked, but both girls had burst into laughter, Harry just shook his head.
They had drawn quite a crowd now, and the three of them looked at eachother, Hermione and Ginny shrugged, ans swooped in to kiss harry on each cheek, making his ears turn pink, and raising a chorus of giggles from the onlookers.
In turn, he kissed them each on the cheek, Hermione watched delightedly as both harry and Ginny blushed when they kissed, and then they tried to leave, Harry was succesfull, and turned expectantly to hermione and Ginny, but but no doing.
The girls looked at eachother, silence had fallen over those watching, aticipation thick in he air.
"Idiots." ginny said, as she kissed hermione on the cheek, and both girls were let free. You could see dissapointment hit every male face, like some sort of bizarred omino effect. The two girls just shook their heads, and went to eat.
Hermione's last lesson before the end of term was DADA, where they were working on patronus charms, something most of the class could do, thanks to the DA last year.
"A patronus is a deep reflection of one's soul, the animal it creates, mirrors the castors traits. The strength and courage of a lion, Ingelligence of an Otter or a Snake, the strength of Stag or a Panther." Snape told the class. That was facinating, Hermione thought, so she'd gone from intellegent, to what ever a dragon ment, heavy, scally, bad breath?
Hermione was reminded of some reading she did in her third year, when the dementor's had been stationed at the school;
"This ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings. The Patronus Charm is difficult, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a full, corporeal Patronus, a guardian which generally takes the shape of the animal with whom they share the deepest affinity. You may suspect, but you will never truly know what form your Patronus will take until you succeed in conjuring it."
—Miranda Goshawk
"I need an example, Miss Granger." Came professor Snapes voice from the front of the class, calling her back from her musings, "Would you kindly demonstrate for us the patronus charm?"
She heared Pansy Parkinson from across the classroom, "Whats her reflection, a slug?" This was met by snickers.
UH OH, alarm bells where going off in Hermione's head, though she couldn't quite grasp why.
Nodding she stood from her desk, pulling out her wand, and producing Dracarys before the class, she was large, and excuisitly beautiful, casting an impressive figure before the awed studants. Dracarys circled Hermione a few times, before she flew about the room a few times, and vanished.
Everyone stared, that shut Parkinson up, she thought smugly.
The class' silence was broken by Dean Thomas, "I thought your patronus was an otter?" he accused, obviously remebering the many DA sessions last year.
"It was." Hermione mumbled, looking at professor Snape, who was staring at her, an unfathomable look in his eye. Please stop this, she mentally begged him.
"Then why'd it change?" yelled Seamus.
"Lots of things can make it change," Hermione hedged, blushing slightly, "Shock, stress, powerfull emotion." Here Lavender and Parvati both screamed.
"Its because of your dragon tamer, isn't it?" squealed lavender, excitedly jumping up and down in her seat.
"Well..." Hermione began, not sure what to say.
"What's his patronus?" Asked a slytherin girl Hermione had never spoken to.
"His is a dragon too." Hermione admitted, a small smile on her lips.
"Thats soooooo romantic." Parvati sighed, many girls seemed to agree, for there was a collective 'awwwwww'.
Hermione looked desperatley at Harry, who was crying with silent mirth, she scowled at him, "Thanks." she muttered annoyed.
Hermione looked back to professor Snape, who was still looking at her, frozen. He had such a sad look in his eyes, almost agonizing, it made her want to lock him away from the world. They stayed looking at eachother for a long moment, concerned green boaring into tortured black, before he looked away.
Hermione found herself wondering what on earth had just happened.
Nobody noticed the livid red head at the back of the room, seething silently.
Later that evening, in the common room, Hermione and her patronus where the hot topic, something she was sure to mention in the letter she was currently penning to Charlie.
"I heared about DADA." said Ginny, plopping herself down in the seat closest to the fire.
"The whole school heared about DADA." Hermione grumbled.
Ginny considered for a moment before saying, "You're not wrong."
Hermione and Charlie had continued to correspond, writing every week, sometimes more, keeping eachother informed of every little thing happening in their day to day lives.
It was the night of slughorns dreaded party, the last day before the christmas hollidays started, and three days before she would be on the school train again, going to see Charlie.
She was leaving the owlery, having just posted another missive to her dragon tamer, when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, as if she were being watched. Looking about, she saw no one, uncomfortably she pulled her wash bag further up her shoulder, before continuing on her journey to the prefects bathroom.
She passed no one on the way to the fourth floor bathroom, most prople either already at diner, or getting ready for Slughorn's bash themselves.
She arrived at the portrate of a mermaid, who was preening, and playing with her hair, she uttered the password, "Sudsy."
Slipping inside, and starting the heavy brass tapps, filing the swimming pool sized bath slowly, she dumped her bagg on to the tiled floor and stretched the aching musculed in her back. She wasn't sure how she would make it through this blasted party without falling asleep.
She pulled off her school robe, leaving her in her uniform, tucking it, and her wand, into her large wash bag. She was bending to remove her shoes, when she was hit hard from behind, and then she crumpled into blackness.