Hello everyone, here's the updated and edited chapter 9, chapter 10 should be coming soon but I'm not 100% when that will be. I received a review from a guest about the time between updates and asking if this story is on hiatus because of my other story currently going. This story is NOT on hiatus and it won't be in the foreseeable future. I am alternating chapters, so as I have recently updated my other story, Death is only the Beginning, I have already started working on the next chapter of this story. Unfortunately, ideas are coming slowly and I only have about half a page done, when normally I would have about 3, so, I will be doing my best to get chapter 11 out to you as soon as I can. I can't promise when it will be up but hopefully you'll find it worth the wait.
The Girl who Lived
Chapter 9
Hermione gripped her wand tightly and grit her teeth as she closed her eyes; trying to focus on her magic, tap into the calming flow of magic in her body, and bring that calm to the surface. She slowly felt the tension falling away and she opened her eyes; watching as Draco swallowed hard around the sudden lump in his throat.
Suddenly, Hermione's wand was a blur as spell after spell shot at Draco; the spells leaving her wand so fast that, to Draco, it looked like the colours were bleeding into one another. The speed that the spells were coming weren't his only problem, they were so powerful, his shields were no use. Even his strongest was broken in a single spell, to at the most, forcing him to roll to the side to avoid the spells.
Even as he rolled to his knees to try to counter attack, more spells were being thrown at him. His eyes widened as he started to realize that this would not end well for him. He hastily erected a shield to try and give himself enough time to recover and move again. Luck was on his side as his shield held long enough for Draco to move and send a quick stunning spell in Hermione's direction. Draco was surprised to see it hit her, making her stumble back slightly, his eyes widening as she raised her wand and started casting again. He watched as Severus called the duel to a halt and Hermione's wand slowly fell. Draco approached her cautiously, standing next to his Head of House for protection as he noticed Hermione still had a cold look in her eyes which snapped to Severus as he spoke.
"Hermione how are you still conscious? You're strong, but you shouldn't be able to take a stunning spell like that and just stumble a little bit."
When Hermione didn't answer and turned back to Draco, Severus understood why she wouldn't answer and turned to Draco. Severus watched as Draco looked up at him and understood, fear blossoming in his chest as he nodded and walked back to the center of the room. Draco squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and turned back to Hermione.
He raised his wand again, readying himself to shield and dodge as fast as he could, even with Hermione's wand not raised. Draco knew that right now, Hermione in all probability did not need her wand to cast the most powerful spells she knew. Draco did not know if he was more in awe, envious, or fearfulas he faced the angry, yet calm, witch in front of him.
He nodded to Severus, indicating he was ready. Severus gave a smile and spoke only a single word.
"Begin."
Severus watched Hermione, the cold fury rolling off her in waves; the single word a trigger to absolute chaos as Hermione's wand snapped up. Before Draco could react, he was slammed against the wall, and knocked unconscious.
As though a switch was flipped, Hermione gasped and dropped to her knees, her breaths coming in heavy gasps. Severus knew she was fighting to keep from breaking into tears.
Quickly walking over to Draco, Severus cast a medical diagnosis spell to make sure the boy wasn't seriously hurt before waking him and walking over to Hermione. He knelt beside her Severus and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Hermione jump and crawl away from him, her eyes wide with fear.
"No! Stay away, please just stay away!"
Severus stood and pulled off his outer robe, leaving him in a pair of black dress pants and a matching black short-sleeved silk dress shirt; his wand holstered on his wrist. Gripping the holster Severus placed it on top of his outer robe and turned back to Hermione, his arms held out to his sides as he slowly walked toward her.
"I'm not going to hurt you Hermione. I am here to help. You know this."
Hermione watched him approach, trying to back up further, regardless of being pressed up against the wall. Severus placed his left hand on her right shoulder softly and watched as Hermione flinched away from it; trying to shuffle away from him. He placed his right hand on her left shoulder to keep her in place as he looked into her eyes.
"Hermione, look at me. You need to calm down. Remember the purpose of the duel you just fought."
Severus watched as Hermione continued to shiver and rock back and forth softly. Severus pulled away with a sigh; he had told Minerva that Hermione was not ready for this, but she had refused to listen, as always. He closed his eyes in an attempt to keep his own anger under control as he walked a few paces away from Hermione so he could draw his wand without causing her to panic. He pulled it from his holster and summoned his Patronus with a flicked of his wand, watching as the silver form of his Raven appeared. Severus spoke as it landed on his shoulder.
"Go to Minerva with the message: Hermione is in need of her help."
Severus nodded to Draco as he left the room. As soon as he was gone, Severus walked back over to Hermione and sat on the floor in front of her; doing his best to calm her until Minerva arrived and could take over.
A soft knock on the door drew his attention. Severus stood before walking over to the door; he opened it and stepped aside, allowing Minerva to enter the room. He smiled as he watched Minerva walk over to Hermione and sit next to her. The older witch pulled Hermione into her arms as Severus pulled his outer robe on. Severus noticed Hermione cling to Minerva as though her life depended on the her.
Pressing the holster back into place on his forearm Severus nodded to Minerva and stepped out of the room, leaving Hermione to her. As soon as Severus exited, Minerva turned to Hermione and looked down at her.
"What happened Hermione? What did they say to you?"
Still shaking Hermione looked up at Minerva and shook her head slightly as she let her head fall onto Minerva's shoulder.
"It wasn't what they said. It's what I saw."
*****Flashback*****
Hermione gritted her teeth as she looked at Minerva; tears threatening to fall from her eyes. The words of the older witch ripping through her, as though they were knives; tearing jagged chunks from her soul with their power.
"You're worthless Hermione! I never should have brought you here! You're a disgrace to this school! Your father will be so disappointed in you!"
Severus raised his eyebrow as the image of Minerva continued to berate Hermione but, as he watched, he noticed a change in the girl. He waved the wand in his hand to cancel the image, expecting Hermione to calm down and relax. Severus' eyes widened as he noticed that she remained angry and, if anything, only got worse as a scream of rage loosed from her lips. Severus nodded to Draco, seeing the regret in the boy's eyes; Severus simply smiled at him.
"You offered to be the punching bag for this, Draco. It is too late to back out now."
*****End Flashback******
Sighing Minerva shook her head. She had talked with Hermione about what had happened earlier in the year with the girl from Slytherin and, along with Albus' help, had decided Hermione needed to learn to control her anger. This would help keep Hermione's fear of seriously hurting, or even killing, someone if she lost control in check.
Regardless of the warnings that it would be difficult and emotionally draining Hermione, had dove into the training, eager to be rid of the thoughts haunting her. Hermione felt herself calming quickly as she drew on the training and meditation techniques Minerva had taught her the weeks before. Shaking her head softly Hermione pulled away from Minerva and smiled up at her, shocking Minerva as Hermione stood.
"I think I'm making progress Minerva. It was much easier for me to calm down, but I still needed your help. There has to be something that can make it easier to block the anger from taking over. I just wish I could control myself and not be afraid of hurting anyone anymore."
Minerva looked up at Hermione sadly, knowing that she was doing her best and how much her failures were not only terrifying her, but demoralizing her. Minerva stood and pulled Hermione back into her arms, wrapping them tightly around the younger witch.
"You are making progress Hermione dear. I am very proud of you; it takes most several times longer to make the progress you have made in just a week. You can do this. Severus knows it, I know it, and you know it too."
Hermione pulled away and smiled up at Minerva. She nodded before sighing and picking up her wand from where she had dropped it and slid it back into the holster on her forearm. Turning to Minerva, Hermione ran her fingers through her hair and sighed again.
"I think it's time I get back to the Tower, I'm exhausted."
Minerva nodded and led Hermione up to Gryffindor Tower, the two discussing the next step for Hermione's studies. Hermione was quiet, responding only when Minerva asked her a question; her thoughts on their next step. She needed to control herself. The power gained from her anger was immense. It could be the difference between life and death if she needed it and could not get angry.
Minerva had taught her several meditative techniques to try to tap into it without losing her temper, as well as techniques to attempt to control her temper. Hermione didn't notice where they were, so wrapped up in her thoughts, until they were at the portrait hole to the Common Room. Hermione smiled up at Minerva and hugged her quickly.
"Thank you for coming to help Minerva, I really appreciate it."
"It's not a problem, my dear. I'll tell your teacher next time to skip this part. It will do no good until we can be sure you can control your emotions and tap into your power on your own."
Hermione nodded, turning to the painting, speaking the password, and giving Minerva a final wave goodbye before she entered the Common Room. Sighing softly, she walked over to the stairs, running her hand along the wall and smiling as she felt the warmth of the castle's magic coming from the stone. Having talked with her friends, Hermione was shocked to find that everyone else didn't feel the warmth, but she hadn't been able to talk to anyone or find anything in the library to help her figure out what she was feeling. Stepping into her Dorm Room, Hermione smiled as she ran her fingers over the scarlet curtains concealing her bed, she loved the feeling of the fabric, soft and warm under her fingers. Walking over to her trunk Hermione pulled out her sleepwear and pulled the curtains open, and sitting on her bed, she slid into her bed and pulled the curtains closed again. Hermione sighed as she pulled her wand from her holster and cast a few charms to make sure the curtains wouldn't be opened by anyone other than herself and her friends. Shaking her head, Hermione leaned back against the wall and let her mind wander, it seemed Lavender hadn't really changed. As soon as they returned from Christmas break, her attitude, which had changed since her detentions at the start of the year, had come back with a vengeance. The first day back Lavender slipped her wand point in between Hermione's curtains and cast the Aguamenti charm, covering her in water and making her scream in surprise.
When Hermione pulled her curtains open the first thing she saw was Lavender rolling on the floor laughing and Hermione's first instinct was to send her on another trip across the room but she didn't get a chance, Lavender stood and walked to the door, still laughing, the only time she spoke was when she was about to leave and turned to look over her shoulder.
"I guess I was right about you from the start, you're nothing special."
It took the combined efforts of the other 3 girls to stop Hermione from going after her, not that they didn't think Lavender wouldn't have deserved what happened but they were worried about what would happen to Hermione if she went after Lavender as angry as she was. It appeared that Lavender was expecting them to go to Minerva but it was to Lavender's surprise when she opened the door to the Dorm having not been approached by Minerva, only to be hit with several curses. Hermione stood up and pulled Lavender back in, Hermione would have used the other girl's hair but she currently didn't have any so she settled for using her ankles. Parvati levitated Lavender in the middle of the room so they could get a look at the state she was in, her head was completely bald, except for the long beard she was sporting, her skin had turned a bright orange and her nails a florescent green color. Hermione could tell from the look on Lavender's face that she thought all 4 girls had attacked her but it was a second later that Lavender realized, it was only Hermione and Parvati in the room.
"Now Lavender, let's have a little chat, just you and me. Seeing as how Professor McGonagall didn't help straighten you out after the little incident at the start of the year, I'm hoping this will help to remind you that I won't let you walk all over me. These spells will be removed in a week, and I seriously doubt any of the staff members will help you after they learn why you're walking around looking like an orange with bad taste in hairstyles and nail polish. But just in case you're thinking of get back at me for this, just remember that I thought of this in about 10 minutes, next time I'll prepare for weeks."
With that said Parvati, still holding Lavender under the Levitation charm, led the girl out the door and after using the Full Body Bind, pushed her softly down the stairs so she would fall out the door to the stairs, making enough noise so everyone that was in the Common Room would see her.
Hermione hadn't had any more trouble with Lavender yet, but Hermione was sure that Lavender was going to try something else, the humiliation Lavender had to put up with after she had to walk around the school like that was immense, and she could see the way Lavender looking at her and knew it was coming. Pulling her robes off and sliding on the plain oversized T-Shirt and black shorts she decided to sleep in, Hermione sat in the center of the bed, crossed her legs and closed her eyes, taking deep even breaths, settling into her nightly meditation. Her first reaction to the techniques Minerva had pointed out was that they would be no help, separating herself from her emotions seemed like it would cut her off from the power Hermione was trying to control. It wasn't until the 5th week Hermione tried meditating that she began noticing any difference in herself, she had been in charms when Pansy Parkinson made a comment about her mother, and her response was simply a low powered stinging her instead of the blasting curse she wanted to cast. She was angry but it wasn't as intense as before and there had been no increase in her spells power. She spent an hour meditating, practicing the relaxation techniques she learned in one of the books Minerva had given her. Opening her eyes and pulling herself out of her meditation, Hermione smiled she wasn't working on Occlumency but it was still gratifying to feel the control she has on her emotions increase. Pulling the covers over her body Hermione smiled at the feeling of contentment washing over her before falling asleep.
Hermione sighed as she massaged her temple as she lay down in her bed, classes just finished for the day, it was hard to believe that when she woke up she had thought today would be a good day. After getting ready for the day and grabbing her bag with her books inside Hermione sat down to wait for her friends so they could head down to breakfast together. After Harry, Neville and Parvati had joined her the group made their way down to the Great Hall, Hermione surprising the others by not adding much to their conversation, simply walking down the halls, her left hand always in contact with the stone wall, a small smile on her lips, almost radiating happiness and calm.
The four friends had just walked into the hallway leading to the Grand Staircase when the strap of Hermione's bag broke. Weathering the jokes about her friends only being surprised it hadn't happened sooner before telling them she'd join them soon, Hermione pulled the strap up and frowned, there were no frayed edges that would normally happen when the stitching gave, it looked like it was cut with a razor. Suddenly, Hermione felt on edge, and slid her wand into her hand as she heard footsteps behind her, knowing it was probably just some other students coming down for breakfast but unable shake the feeling she was in danger.
Her instincts were proven correct as she heard a spell cast from behind her, vaguely noting it as one of the spells that she had learned from her duelling sessions with Severus and Draco, the lung splitting curse, Hermione rolled to the side, pulling her bag with her, looking at scorch mark that was now where she was standing she quickly popped her head out, noting the 6 people standing in the hallway, Hermione pulled back behind the wall and quickly put names to the faces she saw. One was the Slytherin she had knocked over in hall earlier in the year, Kathy Thompson, the others were all in her year, Pansy Parkinson being present wasn't a big surprise, she had been almost as big a problem as Lavender had been. Draco's presence with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him wasn't a surprise either. The only surprise was Lavender standing in front with her wand raised at the mark on the floor where she had been standing seconds before.
"Come on out Mudblood, let's see how you do when you don't catch your betters by surprise this time."
Hermione felt her power swell as she slowly stepped out into the hallway, and quickly stunned Kathy with a quick stunning spell before knocking Crabbe and Goyle out of the equation with a full body bind and rope binding jinx. Draco fell next to another stunning spell before Hermione turned to face Lavender and Pansy.
"Well, that's 4 of my so called "betters" taken care of when you had the advantage of surprise. Tell me Lavender, are you that eager to look like a carrot again that you thought you'd try this again? I can't say I'm surprised, you haven't shown much intelligence thus far, although I'm mildly impressed you managed to cast that curse, but it does explain the snake contingent behind you. You've got to be just about on empty after casting that."
The only response Hermione received was a growl and a skin removing curse from Lavender and a curse to make her chest cavity explode from Pansy. Grinning Hermione simply stepped to the side and yawned as the curses passed her. With a scream of rage both girls attacked Hermione, their spells vicious and meant to kill or at the very least severely injure. Hermione simply dodged or used a shield charm to avoid the spells thrown at her. After a few moments Hermione smiled as she disarmed both girls, their wands flying from their hands to land at her feet, where she stepped on both, breaking them with a snap that seemed to echo through the hallway. Watching the two Hermione finally spoke again, grinning viciously at them.
"Oops, sorry girls, I didn't mean to break your wands. But whatever shall I do with you two now, wands broken and at my mercy. This must be rather embarrassing for two purebloods like yourselves to be beaten by a lowly muggleborn."
With a soft flick of her wand, Hermione had both girls stuck to the wall and unable to move. A few seconds later Lavender had orange skin once again with massive pimples spelling out the word traitor across her forehead. Pansy wasn't much better, her skin alternating between crimson and gold stripes and her hair once black as night a vivid pink colour.
"This is your last warning. Do not attack me like this again, or you will regret it."
Walking away, dragging her bag with the strap still broken Hermione made her way down the stairs to the entrance hall, doing her best to fight the elated smile on her face as she realized that regardless of her anger she had remained in control, her magic had given the same swelling sensation as it had the other times her anger had overwhelmed her but she remained in control and focused. Hermione sat down still focusing on the feeling of the power swelling inside her chest, untainted by her emotions. It was a few moments after she had sat down that she realized she was sitting next to Susan at the Hufflepuff table instead of the Gryffindor table. Blushing softly Hermione stood up and quickly moved to join her friends at the Gryffindor table, speaking quietly but quickly to her friends, explaining what happened in the hallway as she filled her plate with scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast, eager eat after her encounter with the group of Slytherins and Lavender. As she went to cut a piece of her sausage Hermione noticed her hands shaking softly and she knew it wasn't the excitement of having succeeded in her attempts at control. Doing her best to ignore it Hermione continued to eat, grateful that if her friends noticed her hands shaking they didn't say anything about it. Standing up once she and her friends had finished eating Hermione was eager to get to Herbology and forget about the skirmish in the corridors but as she was settling into her usual place at a table with Neville, Parvati, Susan and Harry an older student that she recognized as the sixth year Gryffindor female prefect, Amelia Feyheart, walk into the greenhouse and gave a quiet groan, knowing that the prefect was here for her. After a quick whispered discussion with Pomona, Amelia walked over to their table and asked for Hermione to follow her. Nodding, Hermione picked up her newly repaired bag and walked in silence with Amelia up to the entrance for the headmaster's tower. Hermione watched as Amelia knocked on the door and was given permission to enter, doing her best to keep her face neutral at the very least Hermione followed Amelia into the office and wasn't surprised to see the group that attacked her sitting in the office already. Watching as Amelia made sure she was no longer needed, Hermione took in the looks of the rest of the people in the office, in addition to her attackers and Albus, Minerva and Severus were also there. Sitting down in a chair that was separated from the others Hermione waited until Albus looked at her, his face showing none of the usual joviality that was normally present in his expressions.
"Well Miss Granger, it seems as though there's been some trouble for you this morning. These six were found in the hallway shortly before breakfast ended in various states of distress and claiming quite enthusiastically that you had simply attacked them for no reason. I assume you have a different version of events, so please tell us your story."
Before Hermione could even begin the group of six began protesting quite loudly and as enthusiastically as Albus had referred to before. It took a silencing charm from Albus to restore order and give Hermione, who had been waiting quietly and patiently for a chance to speak, the chance to say anything at all. As Hermione spoke, making sure to include every detail she could remember in her version of events, she noticed that the group was attempting to protest regardless of the silencing charm still in effect around them. When she was finished Hermione simply sat in her chair waiting for Albus, Minerva and Severus to make their decision, keeping an eye on the group next to her, noting that Lavender and Pansy were still under the effects of her spells with a small smile. When the teachers turned around, the grim faces of all 3 made her stomach drop.
"Well, seeing as how even Professor Snape, however reluctantly, agrees that the stories from the Slytherins and Miss Brown are obviously fabricated, we are inclined to believe Miss Granger's version of events. That being said, Miss Granger, your actions while understandable were excessive in regards to Miss Brown and Miss Parkinson. 100 points will be taken from Gryffindor for your actions this morning, which includes attacking students who didn't even have their wands out. You will also be serving detention for your actions."
Nodding softly Hermione grimaced slightly, she would not be popular once this news got out, remaining in her seat to wait for the details of her detention Hermione chanced a look at Minerva and saw that she looked furious as well as disappointed but Hermione wasn't able to tell if it was directed solely at her or the full group.
"As for you six, 25 points will be taken from Slytherin each for Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle's as well as Miss Thompson's inclusion in an attack that was ment to harm at the very least. Miss Parkinson your actions will cost Slytherin 100 points and you will be in detention as well. Miss Brown, for the viciousness of your attack you will lose 150 points for Gryffindor and you will serve a week of detentions. I urge all of you to put this behind you, if there is a repeat of this none of you will enjoy the consequences. Miss Parkinson, Miss Granger and Miss Brown you will receive the details of your detentions later, you're all dismissed except for you Miss Granger there is more I wish to discuss with you."
Nodding at Albus, Hermione watched as Severus led the six Slytherins and Lavender out of the office, Minerva moving to sit in one of the chairs next to Hermione. As soon as the door closed Albus and Minerva sighed and looked at Hermione. Hermione saw none of the quick exchange of looks between Albus and Minerva as she was busy staring at her hands, trying hold in her tears, so it was a surprise when Minerva's hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Hermione, what's wrong? You know we're rather proud of you for your restraint despite your punishment. So why are you crying dear?"
Hermione's answer was one that neither Albus or Minerva was ready for and made them both smile softly yet sadly.
"I know you're happy I restrained myself but I know that I disappointed you both with how I acted, and I was actually happy that I managed to keep my emotions under control after Lavender called me a Mudblood. I'm sorry Minerva."
Silence was the prevalent sound in the office as Minerva and Albus stared at Hermione, their minds racing at what Hermione just said. Another look to one another and a nod had Albus standing and moving to his personal office, leaving Hermione and Minerva in the Heads office alone.
"Hermione you have no idea how proud we are of you for your restraint but we need to talk, when you got angry at Lavender you were able to remain in control? Your anger didn't take over?"
At Hermione's softly spoken no, Minerva shocked Hermione by pulling her into a tight hug,
"Hermione I'm so proud of you, you've made so much progress."
The only response Hermione was capable of giving was to hug Minerva back, shocked that Minerva wasn't more angry at her for not walking away from the confrontation. Several hours later saw Hermione at lunch, massaging her forehead and trying to sink into the floor, feeling the eyes of every Gryffindor in the hall on her and none of the muttering she could hear was positive. Sighing again, Hermione pushed her lunch around on her plate not wanting to eat, despite the the normally comforting presence of her 4 friends. Standing up and grabbing her bag Hermione made her way out of the hall, leaving her plate of food untouched as she tried to ignore the comments from the rest of Gryffindor about not losing them anymore points today. Walking up to the library Hermione did her best to take her mind off what had happened, walking to her usual table and setting her bag onto the table top when she saw Quirrel stuttering as he whispered, seemingly to himself as he looked through one of the books. Hermione pulled out the Herbology notes she had gotten from Neville at lunch while watching Quirrel in the corner of her eye. Watching as he put the book back on the shelf Hermione made sure to wait for Quirrel to leave the library before standing and pulling the book from the shelf. Frowning at the book in her hands Hermione uttered a single question.
"Why is he looking up alchemical artifacts?"