A/N: Hello, my loves! I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, but exams and my family holding me hostage prevented me from updating when I wanted to. I'm on break now, so I should be able to get another chapter up tomorrow or the day after. Thanks again for all of the feedback!
Mummification: Thank you for all of the thought you put into your review! I really love writing the Hermione/Santana scenes and there are plenty more in the future, ha.
LauraFlowi: Thank you! I'm trying to choose a wide array of songs throughout the story and I hope you continue to enjoy the selections :)
Enjoy!
~Chapter 22~
Previously: "Saying I'm fat there, Rach?"
"What! No! I'm just saying your chest is a lot bigger than mine. You have a very lovely body, in fact. If I were into girls, I'd totally try to 'tap that'," Rachel rambled, turning a light shade of pink.
"Relax, love," laughed Hermione. "I'm just kidding. My friend should be bringing me a shirt though." As soon as she said that, a knock sounded from the other side of the door. "Speak of the devil," smirked the British girl as she walked over to the door. "Hey, Sammy, thank you for the shirt. Now get back to the library, we have a paper to write!"
"Yes, Herms," the blonde boy groaned with a playful roll of his eyes. Hermione closed the door and quickly whipped off her shirt before throwing on the t-shirt Sam had brought her. As she looked herself over in the mirror, she turned to face the diva.
"Hey, Rach, would you like to come with me to the Lima Bean after school? I wanted to meet up with Kurt and Blaine and see how Kurt's first day went."
"I'd love to!" The other girl squealed as she threw her arms around the wavy-haired brunette.
Several days later, Hermione walked into the choir room and murmured a warm greeting to her uncle before settling down in between Santana and Brittany. Before she could speak to either girl, Rachel began talking to Will.
"Mr. Schuester, I have selected the perfect moving ballad for me and Finn to sing to launch our performance at Sectionals," she notified him with a large smile as the group groaned.
"Me first. Two things: first our competition at Sectionals are your classic stool choirs. Great voices, but they don't move. Now, if we're gonna beat them, we're need to do what they can't—dance. Which is why I've decided to feature Brittany and Mike Chang's sweet moves in our performance," the choir director informed the two dancers with an exuberant grin as everyone clapped happily.
"Wait, they're gonna dance in front of me while I sing my solo?"
"You're not getting a solo for this competition, Rachel."
"Finally! So what song do I get to sing?" Mercedes questioned enthusiastically.
"I was thinking that the winners of our duets competitions would get the leads." Hermione turned around and saw Quinn's horrified expression and begrudgingly raised her hand. "Yes, Mia?"
"Will, as honored as I am for this opportunity, I'm going to have to turn you down." The entire group, including the head cheerleader, gasped. "But if it's alright with you, I'd like to pick my replacement."
"Hmm, alright, Mia, I have no problem with that. Who is it?"
"Well, you don't know him, but I can go fetch him really quickly if you'd like."
"Ok, go get him." Hermione nodded and hurried out of the room and into the boys' locker room looking for a familiar head of blonde hair.
"Sam! I need you to do me a huge favor."
"Well, it's the least I can do. What did you need?" The football player responded with a kind smile.
"For you to join glee and sing a duet with Quinn at Sectionals," she rushed out.
"Wait. Quinn as in head cheerleader Quinn Fabray?" He asked cautiously, a goofy grin appearing on his face.
"Yes, that Quinn," she grumbled. "Will you do it?"
"Sure," Sam answered with a smile.
"Ok, excellent, let's go," the older girl ordered, dragging the boy out of the locker room and down the hall. She hastily pulled him into the choir room. "Guys, this is Sam Evans. Sam, meet the rest of the New Directions."
"Well, you're cute, but can you sing?" Mercedes inquired warily.
"Yes, he can. He has a great voice and it would sound amazing with Quinn's," the brunette growled, threatening someone to challenge her.
"Ok, ok, Mia, calm down. Welcome to the New Directions, Sam Evans!" The blonde boy smiled and sat down next to Hermione.
"Look, I'm all for pumping up the team and making everyone feel special, but that's for practice. You don't take the star quarterback out before the big game," Finn said, breaking the silence.
"Easy to say when you're the star quarterback," muttered Tina with a roll of her eyes.
"This isn't just about me. This is about the team."
"You are such a hypocrite," Santana spat.
"Like you even know what that means," retorted Rachel.
"It means that your boyfriend is full of crap, hobbit."
"You know what, I am sick of your attitude and—" the diva snarled while standing up to glare at the Latina before being interrupted.
"Sit down, Rachel, she's not worth it," Finn whispered, trying to calm down his girlfriend before the raven-haired cheerleader attacked.
"Oh really? 'Cause that's not what—"
"Santana! Hallway now!" Hermione finally screamed. The Latina glared at her, but willingly let herself be led out into the hallway. "I don't know what your problem is, Lopez, but you are not intentionally going to ruin that relationship."
"Fine," the cheerleader finally relented. "She just gets under my skin…"
"I know she does, but you gotta learn when to stop trying to bring other people down, love."
"Yeah, yeah," the Cheerio sighed as she tightened her pony-tail. "We better get back in there before they think we're doing the nasty."
"Would that really be a bad thing?" The wavy-haired brunette questioned seductively before re-entering the choir room. A few seconds later, Santana followed the British girl and sat down with a dazed expression on her face.
"Well, this has sure been an interesting class…" Mr. Schue murmured to himself before addressing his students. "Ok, guys, this is our plan for Sectionals. We have plans for two of our songs and we'll discuss what we'll do for our third number tomorrow, alright?" Hermione walked out of the choir room, shoulders slumped, and headed to her next class, unaware of several pairs of eyes following her.
The next day in rehearsal, Will couldn't help but sigh in annoyance at the selfishness of his students. He finally voiced his opinions when Rachel walked in with duct tape over her mouth.
"Rachel, what are you doing?" the hazel-eyed man asked exasperatedly.
"I'm not doing anything. You silenced my talents. I'm merely protesting. My talents are wasted in this club. My star shines too bright and I think you're threatened by it." The glee teacher angrily threw down his papers and whipped around.
"Take that off! I'm tired of this, Rachel! You have a terrible attitude. You're a lousy sport. And it is not ok anymore!"
"Well, I'm upset! I'm furious about this!" The diva yelled back, stomping her foot furiously.
"I'm sorry you're disappointed, but you know, you could also make the choice to be happy that we're a part of a glee club that is bursting at the seams with talent. There is an awful lot of 'me' talk going around. 'What's in it for me?' 'What solo am I gonna sing?' Look at what Hermione did yesterday. Yes, she may be my niece, but no one can deny that what she did was admirable. You should all have that attitude." He paused and smiled at the British girl. "When we go to Sectionals, we're going to be good sports. We'll cheer on the Hipsters, we'll cheer on Kurt and the Warblers. And if they win, we will congratulate them because that's who we are."
"Mr. Schue?" Mercedes questioned softly.
"Yes?"
"For our third song, do you think we could give Hermione a solo?" The curly-haired man smiled again.
"That's up to you guys. All in favor?" The majority of the glee club raised their hands. "Looks like you're our opening act, Mia. Any idea what you'd like to sing?" The brown-eyed girl grinned slightly and nodded. "Ok, great! Why don't you go to the auditorium and start practicing? I doubt you'll need any help." Rachel huffed and stormed out of the room.
"Ok, Will. And guys, thanks for this chance. It really means a lot to me. I won't let you down," she promised before grabbing her things and hurrying after the younger girl. "Rach, I'm sorry, ok?" Hermione called out miserably. "I don't want to lose your friendship over this. Please let me make it up to you." The shorter brunette turned around with her arms crossed before her look softened.
"I'm sorry," the diva finally murmured. "I don't take not getting my way well. Just ask my dads." Rachel paused and met the taller girl's eyes. "I never thanked you for stopping Santana from what she was going to say the other day. I really didn't want to have that discussion occur in glee."
"It wasn't her place to say. I take it Finn told you what happened between the two of them last year?" The diva nodded with a frown. "You don't have to worry about him running off or anything, you know. He loves you more than anything."
"You think so?"
"I know so. I've never had someone look at me the way he looks at you," Hermione told her with a sad smile.
"You'll find someone, Hermione. Anyone would be crazy not to fall for you. Who knows, she could be—"
"Hey, hobbit, you're not bothering her, are you?" A raspy voice called out from down the hallway.
"Of course she's not, Santana," the British girl informed the Latina with a roll of her eyes.
"I better get back to glee. I'm sure they're completely lost without me," Rachel stated dramatically before hugging Hermione and returning to the choir room.
"I don't see how you can actually enjoy her company," scoffed Santana as she pulled out a nail file.
"She's not so bad once you get to know her. I was a lot like her before I—" the wavy-haired brunette trailed off with a blush.
"Before what?" The raven-haired cheerleader questioned with a wicked smirk.
"Before I got shagged," the taller girl finished quietly.
"Somehow I knew you were going to say that," the Latina snickered.
"Well, before you begin teasing me relentlessly, I should get to the auditorium and figure out what the bloody hell I'm supposed to perform."
"You know anything that you do will be amazing," Santana murmured sincerely before returning to her normal self. "I mean, you kick ass at everything you do. This won't be any different."
"Thank you, I think," chuckled the British girl as she wrapped an arm around the Latina and began moving towards the auditorium.
"You better not make us lose, Hermy!" The Cheerio called out teasingly, drawing out the nickname.
"Oi. Don't forget that you're singing a solo too, Lopez!" Hermione yelled back before entering her destination. Once she made her way onto the stage, she sat at the piano and began playing. Several minutes later, a familiar voice halted her performance.
"Hey, Hermione, I've been looking for you!"
"Kurt! How are the Warblers treating you?" Hermione inquired before standing up and throwing her arms around him.
"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I've been offered the chance to audition for a solo!" The blue-eyed boy informed her with a smile as she sat back down at the piano.
"That's great! I was just given one myself actually," the British girl laughed uncertainly.
"My, my, my, are you nervous, my dear Hermione?" Kurt questioned playfully before sitting down next to her.
"Um, maybe a little. I'll be fine…hopefully. Enough about me though! What did you have in mind for your audition piece?"
"Well, I've settled on Celine Dion's classic My Heart Will Go On..."
"Oh, no, no, no, no. The Warblers are very much in love with modern pop music. If you want to wow them, you're going to have to do something they can easily get into," the wavy-haired brunette mused out loud.
"Hmm, ok, well, did you have any suggestions?" The younger boy asked excitedly.
"How 'bout This Love by Maroon 5? They're huge Maroon 5 fans," the British teen informed him with a chuckle.
"Well, that is an excellent song, but do you think I can pull it off?" He murmured with a frown.
"Of course I do! You have so much talent. You know that. You said you wanted to challenge yourself, right?" Kurt nodded with a small grin. "This is your chance, love!"
"Ok, ok, I'll do it!" Hermione beamed and began to help him prepare for his audition.
The next afternoon, she was eagerly waiting to hear from Kurt. All of a sudden, she felt her phone buzz and couldn't help but laugh quietly when she read Blaine's text.
"You told him about our weakness, didn't you? ;)"
"Maybe… Does that mean he got it?"
"Well…yes! He did a great job. We were all very impressed!"
"Yes!" Hermione squealed aloud causing the rest of her Spanish class to look at her inquisitively. "Sorry, Will, won't happen again," she said to him, turning a light shade of pink.
"Be sure that it doesn't, Mia," the curly-haired man chuckled before going back to his lesson wondering why on earth his niece was doing a happy-dance in the middle of his class.
A/N, part II: Next chapter is Sectionals!