A/N: Hello, my darlings! I know I'm a few days late with this update, but alas, I got caught up in the complexities of life. Once again, thank you for all of your lovely feedback! I really, really appreciate it.

For the song in this chapter, lines "like this" are sung by Hermione, lines "like this" are sung by the female members of New Directions, and lines "like this" are sung by Mercedes.

Enjoy! :)

~Chapter 17~

Previously: [Kurt:] "I understand and I appreciate that, but you can't always protect everybody. One of these days, you are going to have to let me stand up to Karofsky on my own."

"I know, but that doesn't mean I won't kick his ass if he lays a hand on you."

"Fine," he laughed. "If he touches me in any way you deem unsuitable, I will do nothing to stop you from attacking."

"Thank you," the British girl replied with a smirk.

"The boys beat us the last time we competed against them. We've got to bring the noise hard this time," Mercedes addressed the group a few days later as they worked on their costumes.

"To be fair, they didn't officially beat us. We got busted for vitamin D possession before the vote," Quinn pointed out as Hermione snorted.

"Wow, guys, you are such badasses."

"Oh hush," the blonde teased. "What was the worst thing you did at school?"

"Um, well, there was that time when I got detention for being out in the Forbidden Forest way past curfew. I was eleven. Um, there was also that time I stole a bunch of ingredients from the chemistry teacher when I was twelve and got away with it. When I was thirteen, I helped rescue an escaped convict who was actually innocent. My fourth year at school, there were several articles written about how I was this incredible whore. Ooh, when I was fifteen, I led the formation of an underground organization to basically overthrow this awful teacher. I mean, that's not all that happened at my old school. That's just the gist of it," she finished with a shrug before looking at her friends who just gazed at her in shock.

"Holy shit. You are the badass," Tina murmured in awe.

"I am so turned on by you right now," Brittany told her with a wink, earning a glare from her fellow Cheerios.

"Guys, it's really not that big of a deal," Hermione chuckled. "We need to get back to these costumes though." They shook their heads at the indifference she was showing to her actions at her old school and resumed working.

"Wait, something's definitely wrong. Why isn't Rachel talking?" Tina questioned.

"Yeah, she should totally bossing us around right now," taunted the blonde dancer, earning a few snickers from the others.

"The idea of the assignment is to do the opposite of what we normally do. I'm just trying to stick to the lesson plan which is proving nearly impossible since you're gluing those sequins on backwards!" Rachel shrieked causing the girls to roll their eyes as Hermione stood up and moved to sit next to the diva.

"Rachel, calm down. I do appreciate your artistic insight and you are simply beautiful to watch. You're just so bloody talented, but every now and then, you need to try and let others attempt to shine just as brightly as you do," she told her genuinely, earning a full-blown grin from the short brunette.

"That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me!" She squealed, throwing her arms around the British girl, almost knocking her off of her chair in the process.

"Damn, no wonder she got all the ladies back in England," Puck muttered to Artie as he pushed him over to Brittany.

"Spies!" Rachel yelled accusingly, pulling away from the taller girl.

"Relax, Artie here just wants to talk to Brittany," the football player replied with a roll of his eyes. As the boy in the wheelchair asked the ditzy blonde out, Rachel turned back towards Hermione.

"Do you want my solo for the mash-up?"

"Are—are you serious?" The older girl spluttered, eyes wide.

"Yeah, you deserve it," smiled the diva.

"Thanks," she answered sheepishly. "I really don't know what to say."

"Say that you'll take it," encouraged Rachel with a playful grin.

The next day, the female members of New Directions were preparing for their big performance in Mr. Schue's office. Once the music started, they gave Hermione a reassuring look before strutting out.

"Start me up,
Start me up."

"Tommy used to work on the docks.
Union's been on strike.
He's down on his luck...it's tough, so tough."

Hermione sang as she danced up to the front of the room before moving to dance up against the guitar player. As the group began singing all together, the British girl joined the rest of the girls on the risers.

"We've got to hold on ready or not.
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.
Start me up.
We're half way there.
Oh, livin' on a prayer."

"Start me up,
Kick on the starter, give it all you got, you got, you got.
I can't compete with the riders in the other heat.
I make a grown man cry.
I make a grown man give it a shot."

Mercedes belted out from in front of the group as the girls began dancing suggestively around their microphone stands.

"Start me up,
We're half way there.
Oh, livin' on a prayer,
Livin' on a prayer."

Hermione sang out as Brittany and Tina held the microphone stand above her head before they all began dancing by the band.

"We've got to hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got
We're half way there
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Livin' on a prayer
Start me up."

The group finished, their backs facing the boys, to thunderous applause.

"That was great, ladies!" Mr. Schue praised happily. "Looks like you've got some serious competition, guys." He was going to continue when Becky ran in with a note from Coach Sylvester telling him to go to the auditorium.

"You were great, Hermione!" Rachel told her, honesty shining in her eyes.

"Thanks, Rachel. And thank you for giving me your solo," she replied with a dazzling smile. The other girl beamed and threw her arms around her before going over to Finn.

"You're quite the charmer, aren't you?" Came the familiar voice of the fiery Latina.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the older girl rushed out.

"Puck told me about your past sexcapades," she murmured huskily into the taller girl's ear.

"I'm not like that anymore," Hermione answered with a sigh, moving away from the cheerleader.

"Well, that's a bummer," the raven-haired girl answered with a wink, looking her up and down. "By the way, you really do look amazing in leather."

"Hey you," Quinn spoke with a smile, walking up to the two and linking her arm with Hermione's. "Santana," she growled. The brown-eyed Cheerio scoffed and stalked off.

"I never got to tell you how fabulous you look today," the British girl muttered before kissing the hazel-eyed girl on the cheek. She felt her phone buzz and pulled it out. "Shit. I've gotta go, love. Somebody needs me."

"Ok, be careful. Text me when you can," the blonde spoke softly before kissing her gently on the lips, unaware that someone was watching their interaction. Hermione smiled and hurried out the door. She ran to the boys' locker room only to find Kurt rocking back and forth, tears streaming down his face.

"Honey, what happened?" She inquired gently, wrapping her arms around the distraught boy.

"K-Karaofsky…kissed me after I stood up to him," he choked out.

"I'll kill him," the British girl growled out while standing up.

"No, don't. Just don't leave me alone right now. Please?" The brown-haired boy begged, pulling her back down.

"Ok," she sighed, embracing her friend yet again. After a few moments, she broke the silence. "Do you want to go meet Blaine for coffee and then we can talk about what we should do?" She offered. The blue-eyed boy nodded and let Hermione help him up. They met up with the lead Warbler and decided that the three of them would confront the football player at school the next day.

"Just let us do the talking, ok?" Blaine told Kurt as they walked up a set of stairs. He nodded his head and pointed, fear shining in his eyes.

"There he is."

"We've got your back," the British girl muttered, squeezing his shoulder gently.

"Excuse me," the Warbler said calmly.

"Hey, homos. This your boyfriend, Lady Face?" Karofsky mocked menacingly.

"We would like to talk to you about something," Hermione interrupted, stepping in between the guys.

"I gotta go to class," he spat, shoving past the singers.

"Kurt told us what you did," Blaine called out to his retreating form.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"You kissed me," Kurt said, speaking at last.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"It seems like you might be a little confused and that's totally normal. This is a very hard thing to come to terms with. And you should just know that you're not alone," the British girl informed him, reverting back to her know-it-all voice.

"Do not mess with me," Karofsky snarled as he charged at Hermione and roughly shoved her into the nearby fence.

"You have got to stop this!" Kurt shrieked as he and Blaine shoved him off the teenage girl. The jock rolled his eyes and stormed off.

"Well, he's not coming out any time soon," Blaine stated, sarcastically. Hermione nodded in agreement and looked at Kurt who sat down on a step.

"I'll leave you two alone to talk. Call me if you need me, alright?" Her male companions nodded and waved to her as she walked off. She turned to look at them one last time and couldn't help but smile. Those two were going to be good for each other, she just knew it.

A/N, part II: Song was a mash-up of the Rolling Stone's "Start Me Up" and Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer". I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm looking forward to the next couple of chapters, so I might upload another one later today for shits and giggles.