Hello again! I'm rather glad I got this chapter out so soon after the last one, but let's just say I had a whole bunch of great people who kept me motivated. I want to take a moment to do something that I feel I have done entirely too little of, and that is to say Thank You. When I started out writing these stories, I was convinced that no one would even look at them but decided to give it a shot. Since then, obviously, my confidence in my writing has improved immensely and I know exactly why that is, it's because of all of you. That's right, ever single person who Reviews, Subscribes, Favorites or even reads these stories of mine never fails to bring a smile to my face. And yet I have been lacking in showing my gratitude to all of you, so, this is to everyone, even if you're reading my story for the first time and think "Oh god, this is the worst thing I've ever read, I'm never reading anything by this person ever again." I still want to thank you, because you've given my story a chance, and trust me, I watch my story stats like a hawk, every view, every visitor gives me hope that there are people out there enjoying my stories. So once again Thank you, each and every one of you. Now that I've done that, go on and read, I hope you enjoy it.
The Girl who lived
Chapter 6
Hermione's eyes opened slowly the next morning, in her groggy state it took her a while to realize where she was. Feeling something clenched in her hand, Hermione raised it to her eyes to see the note from the previous night clenched in her hand, bringing her mind back to the present. The voices outside her curtains also bringing her back to where she was, Hermione sighed as she heard her own name being spoken.
"I can't believe Hermione Granger is in our dorm. I always wanted to meet her."
That voice made her smile softly as she reached out and grabbed her wand from her clothes next to her bed, waving it and sighing, she had thought about the note so much last night, she ended up sleeping in, she was normally awake at 6:30 but it was now 7. Sighing softly Hermione leaned up, the next voice she heard made her stop and shake her head.
"Who cares, she's nobody, and her whole story is probably just one big lie. Everyone says she's really powerful but I doubt if she could do anything with her wand yet."
Hermione closed her eyes, they obviously thought she was still asleep, the further proof of this was given when her curtains were pulled open from the outside. Her instincts taking over, she quickly cast a Banishing Charm on the person standing on the other side. Hermione watched as the girl was thrown against the bed on the opposite side of the room. Feeling glad that Minerva had taught her some tricks if she came up against some people attacking her. Standing up, Hermione looked at the girl she had just sent flying across the room, her eyebrow raised.
"So much for not being able to do anything with my wand yet, is there some reason you decided to invade my privacy?"
Hermione watched as the girl stood taking the opportunity to look her over, her uniform was a little wrinkled thanks to her flight across the room, her dirty blonde hair that was well combed before was now half over her left shoulder and half behind her right, with a few strands sticking up from the top of her head. Her brown eyes were cold as she looked back at Hermione, but it didn't bother her in the slightest, Hermione couldn't bring herself to feel afraid of this girl, whose name she didn't even know. Instead of giving Hermione an answer, the girl stuck her nose in the air and walked out of the room. Hermione watched her go, both her eyebrows raised this time, turning around when she heard a giggle from the other occupant of the room as the girl left. Looking over the other girl, Hermione found herself smiling at her, she radiated happiness and Hermione could practically feel the friendliness coming from her, Hermione could only hope she was as nice as she seemed.
"I'm sorry about her, she's arrogant but no one knows why. I suppose we'll see if her arrogance is well deserved or not. Oh, I'm sorry I've been rambling and forgot to introduce myself, I'm Parvati Patil."
Hermione took the hand that the girl offered and shook it, smiling as she took in the girl's black hair, which was pulled back into a plait, her dark skin and deep brown eyes. Turning around to sit on the end of her bed near her trunk, Hermione opened the trunk and pulled out a fresh uniform as she looked at Parvati.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself last night but I had a few things on my mind that I needed to think about, even though it seems I don't need to introduce myself."
Hermione laughed as she pulled on her uniform, listening to Parvati as she talked while Hermione dressed, telling her about the girl who she had thrown across the room, which consisted of her name being Lavender Brown, and other things that came to her mind. Hermione looked at the crumpled up note on her bed and frowned at it before grabbing it, stuffing it into her robe's pocket before turning to Parvati.
"Well let's go down to breakfast and see what Lavender's been telling the other girls about me while I haven't been around."
Parvati laughed but wasted no time in agreeing with Hermione as they walked down the staircase to the common room. Hermione smiled as she saw Harry and Neville waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, quickly introducing Parvati to her friends before the four walked down to the great hall for breakfast. Hermione was glad that Harry and Neville knew their way around, watching the hallways Hermione was sure she saw them changing as the group walked through them. Hermione wasn't surprised to see the staircases moving but noted she was too preoccupied to notice them last night. As they walked down the staircase leading to the entrance hall, Hermione placed her hand on the stone railing, expecting it to be cold but was surprised to find it warm, as though the sun had been warming it through the night. Removing her hand from the stone, Hermione continued making her way into the Great Hall. Hermione sighed as soon as she entered the Great Hall, coming towards her was Minerva with Lavender trailing behind her, a vindictive smirk on her face. Stopping in front of Hermione, Minerva gave her a look of disappointment before she spoke.
"Miss Granger, follow me please. We need to discuss what happened in your dorm this morning."
Nodding at Minerva, Hermione stepped aside to let Minerva pass but before Minerva could move she was stopped by Parvati.
"Professor, I was in the dorm room as well. Would you like me to come with you?"
Minerva turned and gave Parvati an appraising glance before nodding and leading the way out into the Entrance Hall. Hermione was expecting to be led up to Minerva's office but was surprised as she was led to a room close to the Great Hall's entrance. Stepping inside Hermione took a quick look around and found the room decorated very sparsely, two plush crimson chairs sitting in front of a fireplace with a small round-topped table between the two chairs were the only furniture in the room, even the walls were void of decoration. Minerva moved to stand in front of the fireplace, her back facing the three students behind her.
"Well Miss Granger, as I've already heard Miss Brown's version of events, which consist of you attacking her for daring to awake you before you were ready to be woken, please tell me of what happened from your view."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Lavender's version of events and proceeded to tell Minerva what had happened with Parvati filling in the details she missed. The silence that filled the room when Hermione and Parvati finished was so absolute it was unnerving. What felt like an eternity later, Minerva sighed and turned to face Lavender.
"Well Miss Brown, I do believe you shall be serving a detention with Mr Filch tonight. Hopefully that will teach you to respect other student's privacy. If you wish to wake another person, next time you may want to try calling out their name to see if they're awake already before you tear the curtains from their bed. And please, refrain from spreading these lies to the other students. I will find out and it will only be worse if you do."
The fury at being given detention couldn't have been clearer as Lavender stood and stormed out of the room without another word. Minerva sighed at Lavender's reaction and shook her head softly before addressing Hermione and Parvati.
"You can go Miss Patil, I would like to have a few more words with Miss Granger. Make sure Miss Brown isn't spreading more of her lies to the rest of the students, if she is please inform me later."
Parvati hesitated for a second before walking out of the room as well, Minerva walked over to the door, closing it before turning to Hermione with a sigh, frowning at her as she sat in one of the chairs, gesturing for Hermione to take the other. Minerva relaxed into the chair, her finger tips pressed against one another in front of her face.
"Hermione, I know it wasn't your fault but you need to be more careful with your magic. You have made great strides in your control but there is still a chance that your control may slip. If it does you may end up harming someone you mean to protect, do you understand?"
Hermione nodded as she sat, staring at her hands. Several moments passed before she raised her eyes to meet Minerva's.
"Minerva, I need to tell you something. When Lavender opened the curtain, for a split second I was furious at her for doing that, it's part of the reason I reacted the way I did. The only difference was, my first reaction was to use something more extreme."
Hermione watched Minerva closely, taking in the deep frown on her face. Hermione could almost see Minerva's mind working as she watched her. Minerva finally stood and walked toward the door.
"I'm not sure what this means Hermione, but I will do what I can to figure out why your instinct was to react violently. I am however very proud you were able to keep your instinct under control. Come, we should have something to eat before we both have to go to classes."
Minerva smiled softly at Hermione before opening the door and leading the way out. Hermione smiled as she joined Harry, Neville and Parvati at the Gryffindor table. Just as Hermione started dishing herself some food for breakfast the first owls started flying to the tables. Not expecting any mail, Hermione just continued listening to the conversation as she ate. When the parchment landed in front of her Hermione jumped in surprise, her hand shaking as she reached for it and raising it to read what was written on it.
Hermione,
In case you missed the note I left you last night I wanted to send you this note to let you know that not everyone who acts like your enemy truly is and not all who act as your friend will be there for you when you need them. I'm sure McGonagall has already done her best to teach you this but not everything is as it seems, keep your mind open and question everything. I will contact you again soon.
Hermione's head flew up and her eyes quickly scanned the crowd sitting at the tables looking for the eyes she felt on her since she started reading the note. Frowning, Hermione finally looked back at the note and read it once more before folding it up and sliding it into her robe pocket before returning to her breakfast and her friends.
"What was that about Hermione?"
Hermione looked at Neville and shook her head, sighing deeply as she did.
"I'm not sure to be honest. It wasn't even signed, I'm going to have Professor McGonagall look at it after classes today. Just to make sure there's nothing I need to watch my back for. Once I'm sure there's nothing harmful about it I'll show you guys, maybe you can help me make sense of it."
Harry and Neville laughed at that and Hermione just raised her eye brows as she turned to look at Parvati. Parvati just shook her head and kept eating as Hermione waited for Harry and Neville's laughter to die down. Hermione stared at them as they finally stopped her arms crossed in front of her stomach.
"And just what is so funny about me asking you three for help?"
The only thing that stopped Harry and Neville from laughing again was the look on Hermione's face. With smiles on their faces they looked at each other before Harry spoke.
"Hermione, we've barely known you for a full day and we know that if there's a puzzle that you can't figure out, it's not meant to be solved."
Hermione shook her head with a smile on her face as this time Parvati joined Harry and Neville in laughing. As Hermione was about to respond, she saw that Minerva was walking down the benches handing out timetables. Any more conversation was put on hold as Hermione took the timetable offered to her and ran her eyes over the column for Mondays. Hermione smiled as she saw Charms was up first. Minerva had told her about their teacher Filius Flitwick and Hermione was eager to meet him. Smiling at her friends Hermione finished her breakfast as they discussed Charms. Hermione was excited to hear that Harry's mother was friends with Filius and tried to get every detail she could out of him about their Professor. Harry however, was tight lipped about everything, using it to tease Hermione as Neville and Parvati laughed at Harry's antics. Hermione couldn't help laughing as the four friends stood and made their way up to the charms classroom.
Hermione led the way into the room, unsurprised to find Filius at his desk already with a good portion of the students already at their seats. Hermione led the way to a group of seats open that were right in front of Filius' desk. Hermione was surprised when Filius smiled at her and spoke, his voice high almost a squeak as he smiled at Hermione.
"I heard about your performance in your dorm this morning Miss Granger, I expect nothing but the best from you."
Hermione's eyes widened but any questions she had were put aside as the bell rang just before the last stragglers joined the class and took their seats. Hermione was wondering what they would be learning as she and the others pulled their books from their bags and waited. Filius started the class by calling the names of the students so he could finally match faces to their names as he put it. Once he was finished, Filius drew his wand from his sleeve and raised it slightly before speaking.
"We'll be diving right in today, I'll be teaching you the basics to help you learn your first charms today but first an example of what you can do with these simple charms."
Before anyone could even wonder what he was going to do, Filius flicked his wand at Harry's face and everyone watched as Harry's glasses flew off his face and laughed as Filius made Harry run around the room chasing his glasses. Filius finally let Harry get his glasses back after a while, by setting them down on the table in front of where he was sitting, making Harry walk across the room without them once more. Harry dove and snatched them from where they sat in case their Professor decided to make them fly once more. Harry, to everyone's surprise looked at Filius with a smile as he spoke.
"I'll be sure to tell mom and dad about that one, they'll get a laugh out of it for sure."
Everyone was still laughing as Harry walked around the bench to take his seat again. The rest of the lesson was less entertaining but with the promise of making things fly around the room everyone worked without complaint until the bell rang. As Hermione was standing to join her friends she heard Filius speak once more.
"Miss Granger, could I have a moment of your time please?"
Hermione frowned and turned to see Filius smiling at her, making all thoughts of her being in trouble disappear from her mind as she nodded and walked to the front of his desk after telling her friends she'd see them in Potions. As the last student left, Filius flicked his wand and the door closed, leaving them alone with Filius although still smiling giving her an appraising look, much like the one Minerva had given Parvati before breakfast.
"Don't be afraid dear, I just wanted to see if what Minerva thinks is true. I want you to try performing the Levitating charm. I'm sure you will be able to handle it after this morning."
Waving his wand once more, a feather appeared behind him from beneath the desk and floated down to rest in front of Hermione. Hermione didn't move, her eyes focused on the feather in front of her for a few seconds before speaking, her voice just barely above a whisper.
"I don't think it's a good idea Professor. I'm not ready."
Hermione didn't need to look up at him to see the shock written on Filius' face. Hermione kept her eyes locked on the feather, until she heard laughter. Looking up, Hermione saw Filius shaking slightly before he finally let loose a roar of laughter as Hermione stood there staring at her Professor. Taking his glasses off, Filius wiped his eyes and replaced them back on his nose.
"I'm sorry dear, I don't mean to laugh but it seems that Minerva was right about you, humble regardless of the power you have. Miss Granger, I would not have asked you to do this if I didn't think you would succeed."
Hermione stared at Filius, shock on her face as she nodded softly. Pulling her wand from the holster on her arm Hermione regarded the feather in front of her, fear running through her. Could she really do this? Somehow she doubted that she could but regardless Hermione held her wand in front of her, hesitating for a moment to give herself a moment to remember the incantation and wand movements that she had just been taught before casting the charm. Hermione's eyes widened as she watched the feather instantly rise, holding at eye level before Hermione's wand arm fell, the feather coming to rest back down on the desk in front of her. Hermione's eyes met Filius' and she smiled at the look on her professor's face.
"I knew you could do it Miss Granger. I think we should move forward with the lessons faster than the rest of your class. Please see me after classes today, I have some exercises I'd like you to try. I've taken enough of your time, here, give this to Professor Snape it will explain why you are late for his class."
Nodding, Hermione took the note from Filius and smiled at him before making her way to the dungeons for Potions. When Hermione arrived she seated herself next to Parvati, shaking her head at the other girl before telling Parvati that she would answer all her questions after class. Hermione was surprised to see that their professor wasn't in class yet, but simply shrugged her shoulders as she waited with Parvati. The wait was a short one as the door to the class at the front of the room banged open, making them jump as their professor walked to the head of the class, his black robes billowing behind him before stopping in front of his desk. His voice was low but they all caught every word of his speech.
"This class is one of the few you will take in this school that does not require a wand to do. It is an art that requires skills some of you may not have, as talented as you are in the areas of wand waving and incantations. There will be a select few of you who I can teach great things too, we will see who will be able to produce potions that won't poison those who drink it."
Hermione felt a chill crawl down her spine as she listened intently to their professor's speech, a more intense chill followed as his eyes met Hermione's and with a sneer in his voice spoke again, this time directly to her.
"Miss Granger, I see our newest celebrity is here. I've heard Professor McGonagall has a high opinion of you Miss Granger. We will see if her faith in you is earned."
With a wave of his wand the procedure and ingredients they needed for making the potion appeared on the board. With a scraping of chairs the class got up and made their way to the student cupboard to get the ingredients that weren't included in their basic potions kit. Hermione asked Parvati to get the ingredients they needed while she went to ask the Professor a few questions. Parvati gave her a look of confusion but nodded as Hermione walked up to the desk at the front of the class that Severus was standing in front of. Hermione noticed that he was watching her approach with a smirk, his expression making her falter for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea but decided to go ahead with her questions anyway. Stopping in front of him Hermione spoke before she lost her nerve.
"Professor, I have a few questions about the procedures used to brew this potion, I was wondering if you had some time after class to help me understand them better."
To say that the expression on Severus' face was one of surprise would be an understatement, his sneer was removed instantly and his eyebrows shot up into his hairline. Hermione was worried as he just stared at her for a few seconds before finally answering her.
"I think I have some time before lunch Miss Granger, it looks like Minerva was correct about your desire for knowledge, be careful Miss Granger, some people will not take kindly to a muggleborn witch trying to outdo them. You may find yourself making enemies without intending to."
Hermione nodded as she uttered her thanks before moving back to her table with Parvati and started preparing the cauldron and ingredients as best as she could without some of the key ingredients from the student cupboard. The lesson went quickly for Hermione and Parvati who were focused on following the instructions to brew the Boil Reduction Potion. When the bell rang, Severus instructed them all to fill a flask with their potions and place them on his desk, after handing in their potions Harry, Neville and Parvati were surprised when Hermione stayed at her desk. After everyone had left Hermione walked up to the desk at the front of the class, Hermione was surprised to find Severus smiling at her, not the usual smirk he had on his face when looking at his students.
"I was impressed by your questions today Miss Granger. Not everyone realizes that there is a reason why we do things the way we do, that if a certain ingredient is not cut a certain way the potion will not be as effective or will result in a different potion than you want."
Hermione nodded, and Severus continued the two of them spent a half hour talking about different preparation methods for ingredients and even how different cauldrons could have an effect on the potion. Severus called for a house elf soon after to bring them some food, the conversation continuing about different brewing methods, some well beyond the first year curriculum. As she left, Hermione turned and thanked Severus for explaining things a little better for her. She was surprised once again as she saw him smile again.
"You should thank your friend, Mr. Potter for this Miss Granger, or rather his mother. I was one of the people that supported the Dark Lord in the war until his mother, who was an old friend of mine, helped me realize how wrong I was. Be careful Miss Granger, you have a lot of talent, I'd hate to see it wasted."
Hermione stopped and turned to look at him for a moment before thanking him again and walking out, Hermione ran her way up the stairs and outside for Herbology to finish off the day. Hermione smiled as she ran up the stairs, looking forward to seeing Harry and the others as she ran all the way out to the Greenhouses. Harry, Neville, Parvati and Susan were all waiting for her outside the Greenhouse before they all went inside for their first lesson, using the time before the bell rang to ask Hermione why she stayed behind after Potion's class. They were surprised to hear about the different reasons behind preparation of ingredients and spent the time taking notes from Hermione. A few moments before the bell rang to start class their Professor, a shorter witch with greying hair and dirt covering her hands, robes and face, walked into the Greenhouse, to a table nearing the back of the Greenhouse. As the bell rang she smiled at them all before beginning her lesson.
"Hello everyone, I am Professor Sprout. Today, we will be learning a few things to help you manage the plants in the Greenhouses, so books away and wands out if you would."
Everyone murmured in interest as they put their books away and pulled their wands from their holsters, no one expected to be doing spellwork in Herbology but they quickly found out why it was needed. Pomona demonstrated for them the Severing charm, using it on a stick she had brought with her, her demeanour changed as soon as she finished the demonstration of the charm.
"I am teaching you this spell so that you can free yourself if you're ever wrapped up by some of the more….sentient plants in these Greenhouses, however this spell can be deadly if misapplied. If I catch any of you fooling around with this spell you will be in very serious trouble."
Hermione looked over at Susan and Parvati who were both looking at her and each other, the seriousness of the spell firmly embedded in their minds. They spent the first half of the lesson working on the theory behind the spell before attempting the spell themselves after another warning from Pomona. Hermione eyed the plant pot they would be practicing on in front of them with fear, Minerva's warning from this morning still fresh in her mind. The pot was not the subject of her worry, Pomona had told them they had a permanent mending charm placed on them to repair the damage they caused, Hermione bit her lower lip as she looked around the class where others were attempting to cast the spell. Her worry was plain on her face an she jumped slightly when Susan placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong Hermione? You look positively terrified."
With a quick look around to make sure everyone was preoccupied with attempting the spell themselves Hermione told Susan about the warning from Minerva, making Susan and Parvati, who was listening as well, nod in understanding. Susan took a quick look around the class again before smiling at Hermione who looked more confused than ever at her friend's smile.
"Here I think I have an idea. Stand at this end of the table, that way if the spell goes through the pot it'll just hit the Greenhouse wall, they have the same charm as the pot so it's no harm done there."
Hermione's face brightened and she wondered why she hadn't thought to do this herself before moving to this side of the table facing the Greenhouse wall. Taking a moment to go over what they had been just taught to help calm herself down, Hermione flicked her wand at the pot whispering the incantation for the charm. Hermione's eyes widened as the spell cut the pot in half before travelling through it to hit the wall, before looking over at Susan.
"Looks like I was right to be worried."
The sound of glass breaking brought Pomona over to them, that wasn't surprising to Hermione, what was however was the smile on their teacher's face.
"I'm glad to see you took the time to make sure your spell wouldn't hurt anyone if that happened Miss Granger, I think that deserves 10 points to Gryffindor for ensuring the safety of the other students."
Hermione frowned as she looked at Pomona before looking over to Susan, who was staring back at Hermione with a smile on her face. Hermione turned back to Pomona before speaking.
"Professor, I can't take all the credit, Susan helped with figuring out how to do it so no one would get hurt if the spell went through the pot."
Pomona smiled wider as she awarded another 10 points to Hufflepuff for the same reason as Hermione before moving away to help the rest of the class. For Hermione, the rest of the lesson was spent helping Susan and Parvati to perfect their casting of the charm and when the bell rang, there were only a few who couldn't manage to split the pot in half. Hermione walked back up to the castle for Dinner with her friends, her mind back on what Filius had in mind for her after Dinner. As she sat at the Gryffindor table Hermione could feel the eyes of others in the hall staring at her, making her look around the hall. Sighing as she saw most of the hall staring at her Hermione did her best to focus on her food and her friends but now and then she couldn't help looking around the hall at various tables where others were still staring at her. Pushing her plate away from her with a sigh Hermione stood and told her friends that she had some things she wanted to look over before meeting Filius. Looking at her watch as she walked out of the Great Hall, Hermione sighed again, she still had an hour before she was supposed to meet Filius.
Deciding against going to the Gryffindor Common Room, Hermione made her way to the Library, finding a table near the door she sat and pulled her charms text from her bag. Hermione spent the next hour going over the theories behind several of the charms but refrained from casting anything after the Severing Charm in the Greenhouse. Hermione found herself interrupted several times by the Librarian as she watched Hermione working, hovering over her and looking down her vulture like nose, making sure Hermione wasn't defacing or ruining the books. With a last look over her notes Hermione pulled her Charms book into her bag before making her way to Filius' classroom, keeping her notes in her hand so she could read them over again as she walked. Nearing the room, Hermione found herself being cut off by one of the 4th year Slytherins, making her drop her notes and softly bump into the older girl. Standing up an apology on her lips, Hermione was stunned into silence at the look of hatred on the girls face.
"Watch where you're going Mudblood!"
Hermione's shock disappeared at the Slytherin's words, quickly replaced by irrepressible rage that had her drawing her wand and with a quick flick, the girl was flying down the corridor as the Banishing Charm she cast on Lavender impacted the girl. Hermione felt herself walking towards the prone girl, who had hit the wall rather hard from the strength of the charm, watching the girl as she approached Hermione felt a thrill of excitement at the fear in the other girl's eyes as Hermione approached. Stopping a few steps away from the girl, Hermione felt her lips curl into a cruel smile as she spoke.
"Take care who you talk to like that, girl. Next time I may not be so kind."
Hermione turned and walked away from the girl, picking up her bag and notes and continuing on her way to Filius' classroom. As she reached the door, the anger that had flowed through her abruptly vanished and Hermione pressed her back against the wall, trembling. Where had that anger come from? She had never been violent like that before. With a trembling hand, Hermione pushed the door to the classroom open and collapsed against the door after pushing it closed once again, not realizing that Filius was calling her name as she pulled her knees up to her chest, fear unlike anything she had ever felt running through her. Hermione jumped and tried to push herself further against the wall when Filius placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
"Miss Granger, what is wrong? What has you so frightened?"
Hermione's only response was to shake her head vigorously and to move further away from him. A frown creased its way along Filius' mouth as he flicked his wand and a silver raven flew out, coming to rest on his shoulder, Hermione saw him whisper to it before it disappeared. Filius was surprised to see even her thirst for knowledge wouldn't bring her out of her fear and simply sat with his back against the desk closest to the door, attempting to bring her out of her silence with conversation about the charms he was going to have her work on. A knock at the door made Hermione jump and move further away from it as Filius moved to open it, a very confused Minerva stepping into the room after him.
"What's the matter Filius? Your message said it was urgent."
His only response was to wave his hand at Hermione, who looked only slightly less terrified of Minerva. Minerva's eyes widened, she had never seen Hermione acting like this before, kneeling down Minerva placed her hand softly on Hermione's shoulder and was surprised to feel Hermione shudder at her touch. Pulling her hand away Minerva stood and looked down at Hermione, deep in thought. Giving a soft sigh Minerva cast a silent Stunning Spell on Hermione before picking her up and with a nod to Filius brought Hermione to her Rooms. The halls were empty for the journey, something Minerva was thankful for as she pulled the door to her Rooms open. Laying Hermione on the couch, Minerva woke her with a flick of her wand and watched as Hermione shot up and curled up on the couch, much as she had been in Filius' classroom. Minerva sat in the chair farthest away from Hermione, not wanting to scare her any more than she already was, and took a moment to look her over. The trembling Minerva had noticed back in the classroom had lessened but the look of fear in her eyes was still overwhelming, Minerva hoped she would respond to her this time.
"Hermione, what's wrong? Why are you so terrified?"
Hermione didn't respond right away and when she did, her voice was so quiet and timid Minerva had trouble believing that it was the same girl she knew.
"It…it happened again, Minerva. I…I almost…lost control again."
Minerva's eyes widened as she nodded for Hermione to continue, sitting silently as she listened to Hermione, Minerva felt her eyes widen even further as Hermione explained the fury running through her during her encounter with the older Slytherin. When Hermione finished speaking, Minerva took a moment to calm herself down, it would do no good to help Hermione if she was worried as well, Minerva stood and sat herself down next to Hermione, noting that Hermione had calmed enough that she no longer moved away from Minerva as she did or when she placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder again.
"Hermione, I understand why you would be afraid of something like that but, you were terrified, even more than that. What made you feel that level of fear?"
Once again Hermione's answer didn't come straight away, and when it did, it was mumbled so low, that even Minerva couldn't hear what she had said and had to ask Hermione to repeat herself. Hermione gave her a look that was once again filled with fear as she spoke.
"I…almost killed her Minerva."
Minerva had expected many things but what Hermione said, wasn't on the list. She froze as she regarded Hermione, her hand still on Hermione's shoulder as Minerva considered her answer.
"You are afraid of your magic and what you could do with it, aren't you? The anger that you felt almost drove you to kill and you're afraid of it happening again."
The only response was a vigorous nod as Hermione seemed to fall further into her fear. Minerva was frowning, but not because of Hermione's response, she was frowning because Minerva had no idea why this was happening to her let alone how to help Hermione. Giving Hermione's shoulder a squeeze to draw her from her thoughts, Minerva smiled softly at Hermione for a moment.
"I'm not sure how to help you Hermione, but I have a feeling Albus will. I will return shortly with him alright?"
Minerva was surprised when Hermione's reaction was to grip the hand on her shoulder tightly with one of her own as she spoke in a terrified whisper.
"Please, don't leave me alone."
Feeling her heart breaking at the fear Hermione was feeling, Minerva simply nodded before flicking her wand as Filius had done earlier. Hermione was surprised to see a silver Cat instead of a Raven fly from her wand, still gripping Minerva's hand Hermione watched as Minerva whispered to the Cat before it ran through the wall. Hermione sat in silence for a few moments as they waited, but Minerva could see the questions running through Hermione's mind and, with a smile, did her best to try and draw them out of her.
"I know you have questions Hermione, you may be scared but, that's no reason to stop being who you are."
Hermione met Minerva's eyes and there was silence for a few more moments before Hermione finally spoke.
"What was that spell you just used?"
Minerva laughed, not surprised to find out she had been right about Hermione's curiosity. The two spent the next several minutes discussing the messenger Patronus she had used. Conversation continued, however hesitant it might have been from Hermione, until a soft knock on the door broke the flow of conversation and Hermione withdrew back into herself instantly. Heaving a sigh, Minerva stood and opened the door to let Albus in. Minerva quickly informed Albus of the development, and with a seriousness that was uncommon for him, Albus approached Hermione, making sure to sit across the Oak table from her.
"Hello Hermione, Minerva has told me about what's frightened you, but I get the sense that there's more to it than that. Your mind is one of the most logical I've ever seen, I don't see you being scared of the knowledge that you can be driven to kill from anger. What are you hiding Hermione?"
Hermione stared at Albus, her eyes locked with his as she considered what she should do. She knew she should tell Albus what she had felt, he could able to help her, he may know why she felt such intense anger, even hatred. But she was still nervous, steeling herself Hermione finally spoke.
"It wasn't my anger Albus. It felt like there was something else, forcing me to feel that anger and to act, to speak the way I did to her. I almost couldn't control it."
Minerva's jaw dropped and her eyes immediately went to Albus, her shock increasing as she saw the look on his face. Minerva had never seen the look of total shock and confusion on his face before, this was the person Minerva though would always have the answer, no matter the question. Finding herself unable to form words for one of the very few times in her life, Minerva simply walked over to the couch and took her earlier seat next to Hermione, not protesting as the girl moved closer, simply placing a comforting arm around her shoulder. The silence in the room was unbroken aside from the sound of breathing, until Albus finally sighed and raised his eyes from the table, to look at the two across from him.
"I have a theory about why this happened to you Hermione. It is far from concrete and it will take some time for me to prove that it is correct. However I think it would be a good idea for us to continue the Occlumency lessons we started this summer. I will contact you when I have a schedule set up for our lessons. That should prevent any more of these events from happening, at the very least it will help you keep control, as you did today. A very admirable feat I might add."
Hermione looked at Albus, and saw the smile he wore. Feeling more calm than she had since she attacked the other girl, Hermione smiled tentatively back at him. He had some ideas on how to help her, she could control it with his help. Nodding at him, Hermione stood on her own and informed Albus and Minerva she was tired and wanted to get some sleep. They let her go after she promised to resume her Occlumency practice so it would help when Albus started helping to improve her skills, Minerva insisted on accompanying her however. Hermione would be thankful for Minerva's presence when they reached the Common Room. Hermione had just stepped through the portrait hole and was on her way over to Harry, Neville and Parvati to tell them she was heading up to bed when someone stepped in front of her.
"So, it looks like you just attack anyone that even dares bump into you huh Granger? We all just heard you attacked a Slytherin 4th year for daring to bump into you, first me, then a Slytherin. I guess we'll all need to…."
What Lavender was guessing everyone would need, no one would ever know. Apparently Lavender was so focused on Hermione, she hadn't noticed Minerva's presence in the Common Room. But Minerva made her presence known to Lavender quite quickly, with a voice that made even Hermione jump.
"MISS BROWN!"
Hermione would've smiled at Lavender's reaction but she was also startled by Minerva's yell. Turning around, even Hermione flinched at the sight of Minerva standing there, her arms crossed over her chest, a look of pure fury on her face as she looked at Lavender.
"I do believe I told you this morning what would happen if I found out about you harassing Miss Granger again Miss Brown. That will be 20 points from Gryffindor for this incident as well as another month of detention this time with me. I hope this will teach you that there are more efficient things to do with your time than spreading lies. You had best get moving, Mr Filch is expecting you for your detention."
This time Hermione did smile at how pale Lavender's face got after Minerva spoke. In the wisest move Hermione had seen her make, Lavender simply nodded before walking out of the Common Room. Turning to face Minerva, Hermione quickly thanked her before informing her friends she would be heading to bed. As she climbed into bed, Hermione smiled to herself as the thought that Minerva had been right about Hogwarts being a 2nd home had been right.
Their first day set the pace for the following months. Hermione had extra lessons with Filius as well as with Albus and her control improved quickly, impressing not just Filius and Albus but the rest of the Professors as well. The letters from her secret friend were erratic in their consistency but by the time Halloween arrived she had received 5 other letters from the mystery friend. Hermione had shown the letters not just to Minerva, but to Filius and Albus as well and they were all sure that there was no malicious intent in them. Lavender had been civil to Hermione after their first day but Hermione found herself wonder how long it would last. The rest of Gryffindor was happy to show Hermione that Lavender's attitude was rare, the twins she met at the Sorting became two of her favourite people to be around, their pranks and generally jovial attitude hiding an intelligence all their own. They introduced her to their younger brother Ron, who turned out to be the same boy who had said he was told they would have to wrestle a troll for their sorting, was a different matter. While Hermione didn't dislike him, she found herself barely tolerating him, refusing to let his lackluster study methods bring her own marks down, or her friends. The other houses weren't much of a mystery either, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were mostly friendly to her, although a few Ravenclaws were less than polite toward her, leaving Hermione confused until one of their classmates in Ravenclaw told her they believed Lavender's comments. The Slytherin's attitude was exactly what Hermione expected it to be, especially after Hermione's actions with the 4th year girl on her first day, but what she wasn't expecting was the attitude of Draco and his friends, who took every opportunity to insult not only Hermione but all of her friends.
As she woke on Halloween morning, Hermione found herself with a feeling of dread that she couldn't find the source of. In the Great Hall, the hallways between classes and even in class, Hermione found herself constantly looking over her shoulder, her concentration was suffering as well. As Hermione walked into their last class of the day, double Charms, she found herself rubbing her arms, a frown on her face as she placed her elbows on the desk and tried to concentrate on Filius' demonstration. They had progressed quickly through the Levitation Charm and had started on the Mending Charm, which was giving most of the class trouble. Filius had the class split into pairs, those that had been able to cast the charm were helping those that weren't. Hermione smiled when she had been paired with Susan, but frowned as she heard from right behind them, Ron's reaction to Parvati's attempt to help him. Hermione tried her best to focus on helping Susan, knowing full well that Parvati could take care of herself but found his voice drilling into her head. Hermione finally snapped as they were walking to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast. Walking ahead of them were Ron and two other boys from their year, Hermione couldn't recall their names, despite them sharing the dorm room with Harry and Neville.
"Merlin, that Patil girl is bloody annoying! Did you hear her in there? I wouldn't have been surprised if she had told me that I couldn't do the charm because my hair was the wrong colour. She just thinks she's better than the rest of us because she's so close to Granger. She's just another worthless wannabe clutching on to her fame."
By this time, Hermione had told her friends about what happened their first day with the Slytherin girl. Harry was watching her closely, doing his best to hold her back but when Hermione heard Ron call Parvati worthless, Harry found himself clutching air as Hermione moved forward to catch up to the group and, pointing her wand at Ron's back as she called his name to make him turn around before knocking him on his ass. The other two boys with Ron moved out-of-the-way when they saw Hermione moving forward toward Ron. Hermione stood over Ron, her face blank but her eyes alight with anger as Ron held his hands up in surrender.
"You're wrong Weasley, it's you that's worthless. Parvati has much more talent and skill than you could ever dream to have, not that that's much of a surprise with how much effort you put into learning new spells or anything else for that matter. It's hard to believe that you and the twins are even related."
Hermione calmed quickly as she turned and walked back to her friends to find Parvati gone. Hermione quickly turned to look at Ron as he picked himself up slowly, having the sense to look ashamed of himself as he did so. His look did even more to bring Hermione back to her level-headed self as she turned back to her friends.
"Where did Parvati go?"
The group looked around quickly and were just as surprised as Hermione to find Parvati gone. Hermione groaned internally as she saw Lavender step forward, but that quickly turned to shock when Hermione heard her speak.
"Parvati ran off towards the bathroom Hermione. She looked like she was crying."
Hermione looked at Lavender and decided quickly that she wasn't lying, bringing her surprise to even greater heights. Nodding her thanks, Hermione quickly made her way to the girl's bathroom on the same floor as their charms class, Susan following her quickly. As she walked, Hermione felt the dread inside her welling up again, even worse than before, something wasn't right and she knew it. Hermione pushed the door open and she and Susan heard the sobs and sniffling right away. Walking to the stalls that lined both walls of the bathroom, Hermione knocked on the wooden door before speaking.
"Parvati? It's us, Hermione and Susan, please open up."
"No, please, just leave me alone."
Hermione looked over at Susan and nodded softly at the look of determination on Susan's face. Smiling softly Hermione could see once again why the girl was sorted into Hufflepuff, the loyalty she showed was inspiring and Hermione found herself grateful and happy that she had made friends with Susan for what felt like the millionth time.
"We're not leaving Parvati, open the door, please. We just want to help."
The silence was only broken by Parvati's crying until Hermione and Susan heard the door's lock being pulled back and the door opening. Hermione felt her anger flare again as she saw Parvati, her cheeks stained with tears that were dripping on to her uniform and the floor until Hermione pulled the other girl into a tight hug, soon joined by Susan. Hermione pulled Parvati over to the sinks, wiping the tears from Parvati's cheeks while Susan kept her held in a tight hug. As the two calmed Parvati down, the tale of Hermione knocking Ron on his ass helping quite a bit, Hermione found herself asking the question that had burned to be asked since Hermione noticed Parvati had disappeared.
"Parvati, you don't seem like the type to be this emotional especially because of the words of one thick-headed boy. Why did it hurt you this much?"
Hermione regretted asking as soon as she had finished speaking, Parvati sobbed deeply again and was silent for a long while. Susan didn't say anything, she just rubbed Parvati's back soothingly as she looked up at Hermione. Placing her hand on Parvati's shoulder, Hermione didn't speak again, letting Parvati calm down again. Parvati smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but her words were lost to the scream that came from her instead. Turning quickly Hermione felt the blood drain from her face as she heard Susan join Parvati in screaming in fear. Hermione and Susan had been so focused on helping Parvati, they hadn't noticed the smell that was flooding their noses. Standing in front of them, its grey skin covered by a vest that looked patched together with different types of fabrics and a bit of cloth held together at the waist by what looked like moss and vines, was a troll. Its smell almost making Hermione puke was bad enough, but the moment it raised its club, Hermione knew the smell was the least of their worries at the moment.
Pulling Susan and Parvati with her, Hermione ran as fast as she could only just making it out from under the massive club the troll swung at them. Leaving the two stunned girls near the door, Hermione turned and ran away from them, getting the trolls attention any way she could, noting that even with her overpowered Severing Charms, she was only making small cuts in the troll's skin, but she achieved the goal of pulling the troll's attention away from Susan and Parvati. Hermione rolled out-of-the-way of another swing of the troll's club, which left a gaping hole in the floor where she had just been standing. What happened next Hermione couldn't explain, diving away from the troll to gain some distance, she turned, her wand aimed at the troll's chest and screamed a spell she had never even heard of before.
"Reducto!"
Hermione felt her knees go weak as she watched a light blue beam shot from her wand, and impacted the troll's chest. Feeling her eyes widen, Hermione watched as the troll's chest exploded outward, covering her as well as the walls, floor and ceiling of the bathroom in the troll's grey blood. Hermione stood there, horror flooding through her as she stared at the troll's open chest, noting the lack of any organs in the troll's chest Hermione quickly figured out that the spell had made the creature's internal organs explode with such force they blew out of his chest. It was this that finally pushed Hermione over the edge, turning away from the carnage in front of her she heaved, vomit pouring from her mouth as she placed her hands against the wall, making sure that the spots were free of blood. So distracted with her thoughts and trying to keep herself from throwing up again, Hermione hadn't noticed Severus, Minerva or Septima enter the room.
Finally standing straight again, Hermione walked straight past the group of Professors, much to their protests, and walked over to Susan and Parvati who were still sitting on the floor near the door, her only concern was for her friends safety. Quickly checking over both girls Hermione sighed as she noted the only thing wrong was shock and fear, nothing serious. Standing again and turning to face the trio of Professors, Hermione did her best to stop the laughter at the look of fury on Minerva's face, along with how pale she, Severus and Septima were, but it was just too much. Knowing she must look insane, covered in a troll's blood, still holding her wand and laughing, Hermione calmed herself as fast as she could. Still smiling Hermione finally spoke, noting that Minerva looked even angrier with her.
"I'm sorry Professors, but the look on your faces was just priceless."
Hermione noted all three Professors either smiled or had the corners of their mouths twitch upwards. Quickly telling the trio of Professors what they were doing in the bathroom Hermione noted her own growing weariness as she did her best to answer the questions asked of her. Hermione was grateful when they were sent back to their Common Rooms after Minerva had cleaned Hermione's uniform of the blood. It took a few moments to bring Susan and Parvati around but Hermione pulled them to their feet with a great amount of effort and help from Septima, Hermione smiling her thanks at the older woman, and helped them out of the bathroom. Susan and Parvati were still shaking slightly when they finally parted ways but Hermione and Parvati smiled as they watched her go. Hermione's smile widened as she saw the ethereal badger appear next to her friend as she walked away. Pulling herself through the portrait hole, Hermione groaned aloud as she saw Ron walking toward them, she wasn't in the mood to deal with anything else aside from a hot meal and her bed. Hermione watched as Ron stopped in front of Parvati and was surprised at what happened next.
"I just wanted to say sorry Parvati, I know you were only trying to help me but I was just so frustrated at my performance I couldn't stop myself. I don't blame you if you don't forgive me but I at least wanted to apologize."
Hermione turned to Parvati to see her reaction and smiled as she put her hand softly on his shoulder and told Ron he was an ass for saying what he did before walking to the food that had been brought up and sat down to eat. Hermione looked at Ron before walking away from him and sitting between Parvati and Neville and eating a quick meal before heading up to her room. As Hermione lay in her bed she reflected on the events of the day and noted that the next time she woke up feeling the way she had this morning, she would simply go back to bed.
The next day Hermione woke and groaned heartily as she stretched before pulling herself out of bed and into the bathroom the three girls shared, having a quick shower to wake herself up. Walking over to her bed to pull out a fresh uniform, Hermione noticed a scroll resting on her bed. Frowning, Hermione picked up the scroll to find it blank, no indication of who sent it which left no doubt about who sent it. Tossing it quickly on to her bed, Hermione pulled on her uniform and stuffed the scroll into her robe pocket before grabbing her books and making her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Sitting down between Harry and Neville, Hermione pulled the scroll from her pocket and unrolled it, reading it while she ate a piece of toast, a frown slowly appearing on her face as she read further and further into the letter.
Hermione,
I have decided that it's time for us to meet face to face. There is much we have to discuss but secrecy is still essential for me. You will see why when we meet. I will be waiting for you in the classroom just to your left as you enter the Transfiguration corridor on the first floor at 10 o'clock tonight. I won't be surprised to see you with company when you arrive.
Hermione passed the scroll to Harry, noticing the look he was giving her, and watched as it was passed between her friends one by one as she ate her breakfast. Finally she rolled up the scroll as Neville passed it back to her, all of them were frowning as they looked at each other, Harry was the first to voice what they were all thinking.
"You shouldn't go alone Hermione, it could be a trap. Something someone's planning to get you expelled, showing that note to Professor McGonagall wouldn't be a bad idea either."
Hermione stared at her now empty plate as she considered showing the note to Minerva. Somehow Hermione didn't feel any rush to show this letter to Minerva, despite how much Hermione trusted her, something was telling her to go ahead with this without her council. After the incident with the troll just yesterday, Hermione felt that if her instincts were telling her to keep this between her friends it was a good idea to do so. Shaking her head at Harry, Hermione stood and grabbed her bag as she prepared to leave for their first class.
"I think we should keep this between us Harry, I don't want Professor McGonagall to try to talk me out of this. Something is telling me I'm going to need this mysterious ally in the future."
Hermione found it hard to concentrate again that day but for a different reason this time. The day seemed to drag on, made further unpleasant by the double class of Potions where Draco, who seemed to be in a foul mood, made it his mission to make her as miserable as possible, much more than he had for the last two months. Hermione sighed softly as she heard Severus chastise Draco for his words to her, even though it didn't seem to have much effect on his mood or attitude as he gave Hermione his trademark sneer before leaving at the end of class. For the first time in her time at Hogwarts, Hermione was glad that classes were over as she threw herself down in one of the armchairs next to the only window in the Common Room. Hermione found herself here often, staring out at the grounds and the forest, thoughts running unchecked through her mind as she lost herself to the beauty of the sun setting behind the trees of the forest. Today was the one day where she couldn't have lost herself in that sight even if she tried or wanted to, her eyes constantly going to the clock on the wall as she suppressed a groan at how slowly time was moving. Finally at a quarter to 10 Hermione stood and took in the empty Common Room with a frown, normally there were still quite a few people in the Common room at this time but she was alone with only Harry and Parvati keeping her company. Both Harry and Parvati stood and made to follow her out of the Common Room, but were shocked when Hermione placed her hands against both of their shoulders.
"No, I want to go alone. Here, take the note that this person sent me this morning, if it is a trap I don't want this to suddenly disappear, Parvati knows where the other letters are in case they're needed as well."
Not giving either of them a chance to dispute her choice, Hermione shoved the scroll into Harry's hands and turned, leaving the Common Room quickly but once outside, moving more carefully through the dark hallways, making her way to the first floor and the Transfiguration corridor. Held up only once by Filch as he passed by while she hid in a classroom, Hermione let out a sigh of relief as she pushed open the door to the classroom, noting the pile of desks stacked up in the far corner from the door. Hermione frowned as she looked around after stepping inside, the room was empty, and Hermione was starting to wonder if she was late or if her friend had been caught when she heard something that made her blood freeze in her veins.
"Well, well, well, what have we here? Miss Granger, out of your Common Room after hours, who would've thought it of the Girl who Lived?"
Turning around Hermione felt herself going even colder, standing in the door was Severus, a smirk on his lips as he stood, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at her, his black eyes as cold as ever.
"Professor I can explain."
Hermione never got to give her explanation as she noticed someone standing behind Severus, the words dying on her lips as she saw the person walking out behind him, even in the dark there was no mistaking who it was. Her confusion was so complete that she forgot about being caught out of her Common Room after hours, was this who she was supposed to meet? All of her thoughts lead to her uttering a single word.
"Malfoy?!"
Dun, dun, dun. What's going to happen? I don't know ;) guess you'll have to read next chapter to find out. I hope no one minds me replacing Quirrel with Vector, I consider her to be a highly under utilized character considering how useful Arithmancy can be in the cannon universe, so you'll probably be seeing more of her.