Courting Magic - chapter 4
Early Release! Thanks for all the reviews, faves, and follows (it went over a hundred! *happy dances until she trips on foot*) again. They make my day brighter ^.^
You'll probably notice I changed time spans. There is a reason for that. Not that I would explain it to you as that would be telling.
She sat next to the windowsill, looking down into the courtyard from the room she had been assigned back in first year overlooked. Hermione sighed, pressing her face against the stone gazing out as raindrops hit the pane of glass to run down one by one.
Optimism wasn't the key ingredient to finding her mate it seemed, and quite honestly she was a bit low on it. Perhaps her mate was in Hogsmeade after all. She had found a book detailing a Veela and how they would always find their mate. She wasn't sure about that 'always' though when she first picked it up in the library and started reading. Upon further inspection though it was mostly true. The Veela would find her mate in everyday places she went to; work, school, or hung out almost as a general rule. The catch was that not all the mates returned the affections causing the Veela to die seven days after being rejected by heartbreak if the mate didn't have a change in heart.
Now that was depressing. She blew softly on the glass pane and reached out with a finger to draw a heart before going on to slash it into ribbons. The way hers would end up if her mate rejected her. Well, actually probably just stop beating rather than getting all morbid.
This bit of information had completely rewired her way of looking at the situation. She had months so there really was no point in telling her mate about the Veela part and asking for them to essentially be together forever before she was completely sure they loved her. If not then she could die of heartbreak. Which she really didn't look forward to. Maybe it'll be a secret admirer or someone who already loves her. It would make this a lot easier. Still, she had a problem.
It had been two weeks since McGonagall told her the news and she hadn't come across her mate.
After going to Care of Magical Creatures last week and effectively cancelling all classmates in the course she had felt even more elated then when she had left Potions earlier that day. From that time on she continued to do her trick until she had ruled out everybody in her classes plus the occasional people she brushed by in the hall. Her Veela side seemed to keep track of who was ticked off the list as well which was anice bonus. Though it would growl in disaproval when she went to sit with her friends. That part of her seemed even more anxious to find her mate than her entire self sometimes.
She had gone to the library that weekend not only to research more into the Veela side of things but to learn more, which she did.
McGonagall had said it in more simple words, 'wanting to defend your mate whether they are right or wrong'. In reality it was a bit more complicated than just that. Once she found her mate whether she told him of the circumstances or not she would develop the drive to for one; get rid of any competition, stick up for him when someone said the smallest thing against him, and, of course, become territorial of her mate. Might as well throw a dragon in there to add to her growing list of non-normal activites she would begin to experience.
Out of all the things she had read though, she was mostly concerned about how once finding her mate, and not telling them immediately that she was a Veela her energy levels would decrease even further. Which meant while she was trying to make the guy love her she would continuously have to be touchy feely the whole time before announcing it to him. That, or just eat a lot of food and she already ate quite a bit now.
If that time came. In the short span of two weeks she had gone completely all out in her search. She had knocked the Houses Slytherin and Gryfindor off her list for good. There was only around fifty in Hufflepuff she still needed to check and a mere dozen from Ravenclaw. Sixty two students left. She should be happy about this but it made her gut twist hard. What if none of them were her mate? Then what was she suppose to do?
Go to Hogsmeade and look there would have to be her first option but if that ended up being fruitless then she would be back at square one. There was also the slim chance that her mate was on the other side of the world if she couldn't find him around here.
The door to the room opened slowly. "Hermione?" Ginny's voice filtered in as her friend softly closed the heavy piece of wood back behind her before advancing to her friend. "Why don't you come down and hang with us for the rest of the day? George and Fred sent a letter earlier saying how they were going to sneak in for a surprise visit."
She turned around at hearing her friend so close and Ginny gave a small gasp. Hermione's eyes were red and puffy from crying an hour earlier still, and there were thin trails of tears that stained her cheeks. To top it off she looked rather pale. She had already seen her reflection in the window so she couldn't say this reaction from her friend shocked her too much. "Oh, Fred and George huh? I can check them too then, like a metal detector." Her throat was scratchy as she spoke and it came through in her words.
"A what?" Ginny asked confused by the muggle world refrence and yet at the same time looking at her with despair written all over her face. Maybe she looked more horrible to her than she had previously thought.
"Nevermind." Hermione muttered with a sigh and started turning back to her window that was crying for her now that she couldn't anymore.
"Umm excuse me," Ginny poked her hard in the shoulder. "That wasn't a request earlier that was an order. You'll find you're mate. I know you will. So stop being glum and have fun with your friends okay? We need to celebrate how fast you're going through the school somehow."
Hermione brightened at the aspect of it being a sort of celebration. Anything to stop this downpour that soured her mood. "Will there be cake?' she asked, hopeful. It would give her a sugar rush and she had become addicted to it lately. Keeping little chocolates in her school bag to pop in her mouth during class when she could get away with it.
"Anything for the Veela." Ginny replied with a grin.
"Ginny!" Hermione shout-whispered. "I told you not to call me that, even in the dorms. I don't want any chance of this getting out." Even McGonagall had agreed with that. It wasn't something she needed, the whole school talking about her new development behind her back, teasing her or just being a nuisance.
"Calm down there." Hermione took a breath as Ginny instructed. "Now, come on. It's just going to be Harry, Ron, and the twins down there everybody else is wandering the castle at this time of day even if it is raining."
She blew out the air she had sucked in a second later. "You checked?" She wanted to know for sure. Needed to.
"I touched everyone where skin wasn't visible." Ginny said with a smile. Hermione gave her a stop-with-the-innuendos look causing her friend to laugh. "Move it." Ginny grabbed her arm, pulling her from the spot and they went down to the commons. Hermione hurrying to brush the traces of tears from her face as they walked with the sleeve of her robe and disentangle stray strands of hair.
"There she is!" Fred's voice seemed to echo around the large room. "Ginny told us all what happened in letters and gave us updates."
"So, out of this sixty two batch left. Who are you hoping it will be, and who do you not want it to be?" George said from his seat on the table.
"I.. don't really know. I haven't thought about it." Hermione said as she walked towards the group and sat down on a cushioned chair. She had been more worried about finding her mate recently rather than worrying about who it was.
"It'll probably be the last person you expect."
"Or a toad." Fred added.
Ginny scowled from her seat next to Harry. "Stop being ridiculous. Don't listen to them Hermione."
"It could be someone I don't expect though." She mused before leaning slightly forward. "Okay, hands out you two." The Weasly twins each extended a hand and she rested a palm in both. After waiting a few seconds she shook her head and slumped back in her seat with a sigh. "I should go and check the last few instead of sitting here. Maybe I'll come back bouncing with energy even." It was a happy thought and she rather liked that than the depressing ones currently filling her mind.
"Then we could have a real celebration." Geroge said. "Invite everyone back to the dorm without telling them what it's about and just go wild!" Hermione laughed at that. It was refreshing to have these two around again they always kept everything interesting plus they did throw the best parties.
"Don't you still have classes today?" Fred asked.
Hermione nodded. "McGonagall saw me this morning at breakfast and pulled me aside to tell me to go get some more sleep and that eating pounds of food simply wasn't going to cut it today. So, she cut me from her class for today."
"She was a wreck this morning."
"Thank you Ronald. That makes me feel sooo much better." She made sure to drag out the two letter word while glaring playfully at him.
"What about you three then?" George leaned forward looking from Harry, Ron, to Ginny. "You have her class to right?"
"I convinced McGonagall to let me stay with Hermione to make sure she went to her other classes and if she wasn't in condition to go that I would tell her other Professors about it and attend that class by myself." Ginny said with a smile.
Harry had a very differrent answer though. "Me and Ron used some gum taffies to get out of class." He had a little smirk on his face while he told the twins.
"Nice!" Fred patted him on the back.
Hermione smiled softly at the twins before looking over at their sister. "I'm going to go get my stuff for Potions. Want to come Ginny or you staying here with the ditchers?"
"Owch!" Fred exclaimed with a laugh.
Ginny giggled but got up, "I think I'll go to class. I don't have homework I need to catch up on." she gave Harry a meaningful glance to which he smiled awkwardly.
After getting their things and telling the boys bye as they left the commons they headed for the dungeons.
Ginny sat quitely to her left not making a single sound throughout class while they finished up a potion from last class. Her friend had been careful-and quite-during class ever since Professor Snape had scolded her almost two week ago for talking.
The whole process of the current potion had gone on for three whole class sessions. Hermione was putting her finished potion into a vial when the room rang with a loud boom. Everyone turned to look at the direction of the explosion and saw the poor unfortunate soul of a Hufflepuff covered in soot start to get yelled at.
"What are you doing? It says to chop the Drakolean skin not twist it. Your potion is all wrong, and it shouldn't have blown up! Tell me what you added to this exactly, the Frivoli Cuptar does not have any explosive properties in it." The Hufflepuff opened his mouth to start listing ingredients only to cough soot onto the Professor's robes. Hermione couldn't stop the giggle from coming out until a second after the sound had passed her lips. Professor Snape turned to look at her coldly, "You can stay after class Miss Granger and help Gilligan clean this mess up." He turned his attention to the rest of the class. "I expect the rest of you to have your potion finished and on my desk in the next two minutes."
The class jumped into motion with getting the last element of their potions done or vialing them to set on his desk before hurrying out the door. "Sorry," Ginny hissed to Hermione after coming back from the front desk having put her own vial on it. "I'm in enough trouble as it is with him and I need to take this time to study for Charms. See you tonight." The red haired girl was out of there before Hermione could even say wait much less Quidditch-as Madam Hooch favored during first year.
She bit her lip then started cleaning down her own desk before going over to help the Hufflepuff with his mess. Atleast there wasn't another class coming in anytime soon. She wouldn't feel the need to rush through it. That would probably have unsatisfactory results.
"Don't use your wands." The Professor said when the Hufflepuff was about to do a cleaning spell. "You screwed up the potion from the beginning Gilligan and you will clean it up no matter how much time it takes."
The Hufflepuff gawked at him. "I have class in thirty minutes Professor-"
"Then you better get working." Professor Snape snapped sounding irritated at the student for having talked back.
Hermione remained silent throughout this whole exchange instead opting to grab a cloth and bucket of water to start scrubbing at the desk. The layer of soot was quite impressive for a non-explosive potion, an inch think atleast. Seamus would have been proud of the Hufflepuff, and probably would have asked to challenge him if he still took the class. Hermione smiled a bit at the private thought.
"You may leave, Gilligan." Snape ordered two seconds after this action, and fifteen minutes after having spoken with the Hufflepuff about finishing the task.
Gilligan didn't bother to question the sudden change just put his soot covered cloth in a bucket and went running out into the daylight as if a banshee was on his heels.
Hermione frowned and looked over at the Professor just as he started to turn back to his work. "Professor, can I-"
"No spells, Miss Granger."
With a sigh she turned back to the task at hand. Really? Just because she had smiled she had to do this by herself now? What a joke.
Once she cleared up a foot of space on the desk she hopped onto it setting the bucket on a seat nearby. Leaning over with the cloth she scrubbed at the wood to collected the soot and then put it in the bucket to rinse what she could off. Hermione repeated this action countless times until her eyelids fluttered. She pinched her arm quickly to keep herself awake since she only had one small spot left to go.
This was completely counter-productive she should be out there looking for her mate but she was stuck in here and her muscles were turning sluggish on her for not going to lunch. Dropping the cloth into the bucket for the last time with a small splash she really felt like just stretching out on the clean desk and going to sleep. Not the most comfortable place but it was cleaner than the other desks after the scrubbing she had given it.
Instead she picked up the bucket and slipped off of the desk going over to the sinks she dumped the soot filled water in and watched it swirl down into the drain. Setting the bucket down she went back to get the one the Hufflepuff had left and emptied it as well putting it next to the one she had used off to the side of the sinks where she had orginally found it.
"It's done Professor." Hermione said looking over at him to see Snape was still at his desk going over a stack of papers. She guessed it was the essays that had been turned in at the beginning of class about another herb and it's properties.
"You still have a potions vial for me." he said without looking up from his desk.
Oh, that was right. She had forgotten to put it on his desk earlier. She turned and got the vial and walked up the five stairs of the raised platform to get to his desk. The simple task left her about ready to collapse. She leaned against the desk to stop from falling over and stretched her hand out to him. He reached out to take it from her asking something but she didn't hear it as her heart had started to pound in her ears telling her she was about to passout like she had on Sunday while watching the Quidditch match in the thundering storm.
She felt a brush against her fingers and the feeling passed instantly. The urge to crawl in bed for a quick ten minute nap before her next class like usual wasn't there anymore. Her whole body felt alive as if zapped by a power cord. At first she couldn't move when the feeling coursed through her but a voice drew her back to the present.
"Miss Granger?"
Hermione blinked up at her Potions Professor somehow managing to hide the shock from her face. "Y-yes?"
"If you're sick you should go to the infirmary." As he talked she found her eyes drawn to his lips that seemed to be in a permanent scowl all the time. Oh, she just wanted to lean forward and capture them in hers, push her tongue past them and into his mouth-No! Yes, whispered her Veela side coaxing her on. She dug her fingers into the table to stop herself from moving toward him, her mate, and doing something drastic.
"I'm fine. Just been having a little sickness all week, it comes and goes." she chattered quickly, "I just remembered I was suppose to tutor a first year. Bye S-Professor!" She spoke in a rush before spinning around, racing toward her desk to get her things and get out, OUT! Of that room. She ran down the hall hearing the door bang shut behind her. Her feet pounded up the stairs and she was thankful that no one was over on this side of the castle at this time so she could made it to the surface quickly. Upon leaving the staircase she leaned against the nearest wall breathing heavily. She was surprised at how fast she had moved up here, after trudging around the castle for the last two weeks but then again...
Severus Snape was her mate! And she had almost kissed him back there! Which in any other case she was sure would have her suspended but since she was a Veela it would simply be like, 'Surprise! I'm a Veela and you're my mate! Yeah, I'm shocked as well. So anyway can I snog you now?'
It made perfect sense now as to why none of the male students had been her mate after all that searching. He hadn't been a student! Looking in the wrong place that's what had happened but... how was she supposed to break this news to her Potions Professor?
Okay, slow down Hermione Jean Granger. You don't want to tell him yet because then the seven day rule comes into effect and you're going to need a lot more time then seven days to get Severus to fall in love with you. Wait. How was she supposed to get him to fall in love with her? With another student it was very simple to go up to them and ask them out, go on dates, gradually form a relationship form. She knew Severus was a good teacher and stuck to the rules and one of those rules was not dating students. Even though she was of age.
Why did her life always have to get so complicated?
Sighing she smiled a moment later not able to suppress it any longer. She didn't have to search any more! Hermione launched herself from the wall and went running down the hall to her next class.
Her day seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye. Soon she found herself back up in her room having gone tearing up the stairs past the rather startled students below in the commons barely a minute ago. The door swung open swiftly then closed after she had already entered and she soon felt arms wrap around her as Ginny started babbling,
"Oh my god! You found him didn't you? Today! I told you you would didn't I?" Ginny bounced around while still holding onto Hermione causing the Quarter-Veela to begin laughing. "I heard the Patil twins talking about how you were showing off again in class and knew you must be feeling better than usual. Then with the way you came streaming in here like that I just knew you had done it! Now," Ginny got ahold of Hermione's shoulders in the midst of her spinning and sat her down on the bed. "who is it?" The girl's face was bright and eagerly waiting for a name to pass Hermione's lips.
She just looked up at Ginny for a second. "Promise me you won't tell anyone, and I mean anyone about what I am about to say." Ginny's bouncing on the heels of her feet came to a slow stop. "Not Ron, Harry, your family, nobody." This definitely wasn't something she needed to get out. More so even than the fact that she was a Veela.
"I promise." Ginny sat down on the Veela's bed next to Hermione, "But how come? What's wrong with this Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff guy?"
"Um, well, one it's not a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff." Hermione began to have second thoughts about telling even Ginny about who it was. She hadn't expected this turn of events. "He's a Slytherin."
"What? But I thought you checked all of them. Oh, is the reason you don't want me to tell the others because he's in fifth year? What's the limit on the year they can be anyways?" Ginny questioned as an afterthought gazing out toward the window.
It would have been a good one for her to look up had she not already found her mate. "No it's nothing like that." Hermione said quickly, "It's probably seventeen to sixth year." It seemed an accurate guess to her. The main issue was the opposite of that matter anyways. She realized then that she didn't even know exactly how old her mate was. Just another thing she would need to find out. Would he answer her question if she asked? She wasn't entirely sure about that.
"So who did you double pat?"
"Pat?" She was confused by Ginny's question for a moment as she was pulled from her thoughts. "Oh, it's... my mate," Hermione found herself having a hard time getting the words out. "He, my mate is Sss-" she fought herself on what to call him like she had back in the classroom. Atleast she hadn't given in to calling him something other than Professor that would have been embarrassing. Her tongue finally worked and settled on what she hadn't let out before. "Severus."