"We have had the time of our lives,

And now the page is turned…

The stories we will write

We have had the time of our lives

And I will not forget

The faces left behind"

-Time of Our Lives

Chapter 17: It All Started With A Sopophorous Bean

Nope, don't own Potter…Just the plot here.

The next morning both Harry and Hermione made their way into the Great Hall. Just by glancing at them one could tell they were thoroughly exhausted. Nobody would've been surprised either, given what had happened last year. Shockingly enough, however, Ron's absence wasn't the cause for Hermione's insomnia. It was only Harry's.

No, the bushy-haired girl had been left staring at the ceiling all night because of the younger Weasley instead. She was still incredibly concerned and even more so confused over the entire situation that revolved around a certain Slytherin who, for some reason, just loved to hate her…or at least had. Hermione was just so befuddled.

"Is something on your mind?" Harry asked his best friend as they took their seats in the Great Hall for breakfast. He could instantly tell that something wasn't settling right with her and had dared to ask just what it was.

Hermione sighed, "It's just," she turned to look at the Slytherin table over her shoulder. There, Draco could be found having another happy-go-lucky time with his friends whilst enjoying a meal. "I can't wrap my head around this. I mean, why would he-" Here, the Gryffindor stopped abruptly to prevent her overly-tired self from revealing the rest of what she was about to say. Hermione still hadn't told Harry about what she and Ginny discovered and definitely wasn't planning to any time soon, despite the fact that it was eating her up inside.

"Why would he show such sudden interest in Gin?" Harry supplied. "I've been wondering about that too. I mean, ever since dinner last night I couldn't get it out of my head."

Not wanting those emerald eyes filled with so much worry, Hermione lied to him once more, "I'm sure it's nothing. Draco probably had other things on his mind that caused him to draw up those looks. Whether or not they were purposefully directed at Ginny could've been accidental. I know for a fact that when most people get caught up in a train of thought they are no longer fully aware of their surroundings."

Harry couldn't help but to let out a small laugh, "You'd know that better than anybody," he then shook his head as if to clear his mind, "I suppose there's no need to stress over the matter any longer then, is there?" he made sure.

Inwardly cursing herself, Hermione forced a smile and falsely reassured her friend, "Of course not. It would be best to just forget about it, really."

Not long after Harry had agreed with Hermione, Ginny had walked into the Hall rather quickly giving her friends a look of apprehension.

"Ginny, what is it?" Hermione asked before the other girl had even made it all the way over to them.

"I need to talk to you," the youngest Weasley said briskly. She then pulled the older girl up and dragged her away before Harry could even begin to register what was happening. All he had heard was Hermione shout, "See you in Potions!" before she had been taken, leaving her bowl of oatmeal untouched.

…

"What's wrong?" Hermione immediately asked once she and Ginny had made it into the girl's bathroom on the second floor.

"Well," the red-head began, "After you left, I wasn't able to get much sleep," here, the girl raised a hand to silence Hermione, who was clearly about to apologize, "It's not your fault," she informed her before continuing, "From about midnight on I couldn't even force myself doze off. So, this morning I left the common room about an hour before I knew breakfast was to start and headed up to the owlery." Ginny then explained, "Mum and dad usually send all of us a letter on the first day back and since I couldn't very well sleep I decided against waiting for the post to arrive later in the morning." After Hermione expressed that she understood, she went on, "While I did get their letter, I also got this," Ginny retrieved a letter from her pocket and with shaky hands, gave it over to her friend.

Curious, Hermione hastily pulled the piece of parchment out from its envelope and read it aloud:

Weasley,

Meet me out at the Quidditch Pitch Wednesday night.

I have a favor to ask of you.

Both girls had strained their eyes when it came to reading the initials that signed the small note for they were smudged enough to the point where neither could tell whether or not the person's name began with a "C" or "D". The only thing they could be sure of was that whoever this was from, their last name started with the letter "M".

"You don't think it could be from Malfoy, do you?" Ginny asked, silently wishing that it wasn't.

"I can't be sure," Hermione answered honestly. "I mean, I could understand why he might be wanting to meet with you," she admitted, "But two things don't add up."

"What's that?" the other girl asked all too quickly.

"Well, it would be much too soon to even consider making any sort of move," the brunette said, rationally, "and even so, I can't imagine Draco needing a favor done. Let alone why he would ask you to do it, considering the circumstances," Hermione concluded. It all made sense in her head. I mean, if Malfoy truly wanted Ginny in a sense that didn't involve merely using her, then it was highly unlikely that he was the one who sent the letter she was holding.

"But who else do we know here at Hogwarts that has a last name beginning with an 'M'?"

Hermione shook her head, "I'll have to work on that one," she then looked up from the paper she had been analyzing for so long and told Ginny, "Just give me until tomorrow evening. By then I should have a list narrowed down and will be able to determine whether or not it's actually safe for you to meet this person."

Ginny agreed to it simply because she couldn't come up with another alternative. Hermione's plan appeared to be the most sensible thing to do at this point.

"Alright," the red-head responded aloud, "We best be getting to class then," she advised, pulling the small bag she used to hold books back over her shoulder. "It's bad enough we missed breakfast. The morning would only be worse if we were late to class as well."

"Yeah, a prefect receiving a detention at the start of term wouldn't be setting a great example, would it?" Hermione managed a real smile for the first time since she had left the dormitory that morning.

"Definitely not," Ginny smiled back, turning to leave the haunted room.

But before she was able to make it half-way out the door, Hermione had caught up and linked her arm through Ginny's. "Let's walk together," she suggested. "Transfiguration is on the way to Potions, anyhow."

More than happy to have someone by her side after spending so much time feeling isolated, Ginny made her way to class escorted by the prefect.

…

Barely making it on time to Potions, which was very much unlike Hermione Granger, she entered only to find the seat she usually occupied to be taken. Seated beside Harry was none other than Pansy herself. And now for the second time that morning Hermione became extremely worried. She wasn't sure if the Slytherin would ask Harry any of the same questions she had to her last night. Why else would Pansy willingly sit by a Gryffindor? It was the only logical answer she could come up with.

Unfortunately, before Hermione could do anything about her current situation, Professor Snape had made his appearance. Robes billowing behind the man as he had passed her, Hermione found the only seat left available was at the table beside Harry's. Who was the other student sitting there, you ask? Well, none other than Malfoy, of course.

Could the day have even possibly started off worse than it already had? Hermione thought sarcastically as she hesitantly sat down.

"What took you?" Harry hissed across the short distance between him and his friend.

The brunette was only able to manage an apologetic look to that for the Professor had then decided to begin class.

"Now," Snape began in a harsh tone, "As most of you are aware, this year I have allowed those who scored 'Exceeds Expectations' on their O.W.L's into my class. Why, you may ask?" the room remained silent. "Only a short few of those here today managed to retain six years worth of repeated information," he answered. "Therefore, the number of students required for this class was not met. That is why more than eighty-five percent of you stand here now. Be grateful," at this, he shot a dark look towards Harry, which wasn't much of a shocker to anybody there. It was done every year, without fail.

"Moving on…" Professor Snape then proceeded to lecture his students on exactly what kind of potion they would be brewing along with the steps on how to do so.

…

Half an hour later, Hermione found herself working on Draught of the Living Death with, much to her dismay, Draco as her partner.

"I thought we were trying to cut those up, not send them flying across the classroom," Malfoy snapped at Hermione as she had been unsuccessful in releasing the sopophorous bean juice into their cauldron.

"And I thought you were going to stop being such a prat," she muttered to herself quietly so that the Slytherin didn't hear. "Why don't you try, then?" she said louder, shoving the remaining beans in his direction.

"Fine," he retorted with less venom laced in his voice this time. Draco then grabbed the small, black, ingredient and took the blade Hermione previously held to it. Despite his determination to prove the girl wrong, all he managed to do was cause her to laugh as the sopophorous bean flew up and hit him square in the face.

"Think that's funny, do you?" the now red-faced Slytherin spat. All he received as his answer was more laughter from Granger so, without giving it much thought, he took one of the annoying beans and attempted to chuck it at her head. The shot, regretfully for him, missed as she had seen it coming and turned away. No, instead the thing flew passed Hermione and belted Potter.

"Hey!" the Gryffindor shouted in annoyance. Thinking Malfoy had hit him intentionally; Harry picked the bean back up and tossed it over in the other boy's area.

Ducking in order to avoid being tagged, the item pinned the back of Crabbe's head, not his.

"You'll pay for that, Potter!" the plump Slytherin informed him, taking the bean and flinging it forcefully back at the smaller teen.

Luckily for him, though, Vincent wasn't the most graceful person and had ended up missing his target by a long shot, nailing Seamus instead. And that's when all hell broke loose.

A "potions ingredient fight" had begun.

A/N:Hi Everyone!

So, this concludes Chapter 17.

Please, give me your thoughts and suggestions.

Reviews inspire me to update sooner, and

Thanks to those who have so far!

I truly appreciate it.