Chapter 17

The gag was really unnecessary, seeing as Pansy had her (aside from her hair) petrified. But still, Pansy was going to do what Pansy was going to do apparently. However, once Hermione was free of these restraints, the witch set to become her sister-in-law (Harry hadn't officially asked, but he had the ring he was going to use to ask her on New Year's Day) was dead.

Hermione spent the outrageously long time she'd been getting ready ticking off all the ways she could end Pansy's existence (and painfully), and Luna's now that she thought of it. The little witch had been the one to get her to sit in the common room instead of safely away in her dorm as she normally would have done. And Ginny Weasley, Hermione had never even given the girl more than a passing glance, but now she was on Hermione's list as well. Damn them.

The Greengrass sisters had at one point shown up to get themselves ready. Though, it took one look at the hostage situation before the sixth-year prefect suggested they get ready in the Ravenclaw Tower instead. Blatantly ignoring the clear rule breaking happening in front of her, the sisters had merely snickered as they left, with Astoria even making a comment about how excited she was to see her with Theo and Draco.

It seemed everyone at Hogwarts had a death wish, mocking her was not a very Ravenclaw move. Not wise in the slightest.

"Oh, she's beautiful," Ginny breathed out, standing in front of her wearing a long sleeve floor length black dress, her normally auburn hair charmed black as night and pin straight. "Is she Aphrodite?"

"No, she's Athena," Luna explained, floating past, her feet not touching the ground. She was dressed as a fairy, complete with wings that allowed her to hover just an inch or two off the ground. "The Goddess of wisdom and war, as terrifying as she is beautiful. Only, I'm not sure if it's wise to give her the spear Theodore bought her, she might actually use it against him."

That's when Pansy appeared in front of her, holding a head piece that looked like a helmet. "No, don't give her the spear, she doesn't need a bloody weapon. Honestly, Theodore needs to cause less chaos, or I'll stab him with the damn thing myself." Pansy leaned back, taking in the work she'd done on Hermione's hair and makeup, holding her chin and tapping her finger, she looked in deep concentration. "There's just one thing missing, ah ha!" Pansy pulled her wand and flicked her wrist, Hermione felt like her skin had warmed up, before a gold hue filled the room.

"Oh, she's the golden girl, I like it," Ginny said, grinning from ear to ear. "Pans, what are you and Potter–" Pansy turned her own wand on herself and with a quick flick, the bathrobe she'd been wearing transfigured into a deep V neck dark red gown. The corset lace top hugged her torso, accentuating her pale and flawless skin. The open sleeves showed her slender arms, and when she smiled, the flash of her elongated teeth would have made Hermione roll her eyes if she could.

"Are you realistic vampires or the muggle interpretation?" Luna asked, perched somewhere out of Hermione's line of vision.

"A mix of both, Potter will be in the absurd cape, now, shall we?" A knock at the door paused the three witches who were able to move as Harry stuck his head inside, almost cautiously. Her own fucking brother was in on her abduction…

"I thought you said you were just going to tie her up, not petrify her," Harry commented, strolling into the room after deeming it safe. "She's going to be pissed once you release her, I hope you realize that." He stopped in front of Hermione, who still had the gag shoved in her mouth, and if she could have glared at her brother, she would have. "Bloody hell, yeah, I'd let Nott and Malfoy release her. She's going to go after whoever her closest target is, and seeing as they paid you to kidnap her, they might as well get the first wave."

They did, what!?

Hermione could feel her magic stirring to life as it tried to break her free of the spell she was under, but nothing seemed to be enough.

"Is she ready? Because her hair is starting to spark, and personally I'd rather be as far away from ground zero as possible. I might be a Gryffindor, but I'm not bloody stupid." Ginny was backing away; her apparent fear of Hermione's wrath fueling Hermione's need and want to release herself to be even greater. "Godric, Athena really was the right choice for her."

The Morticia Addams look alike scurried from the room, not that Hermione could blame her as she wiggled her fingers as she slowly chipped away at the spell holding her captive. Luna fluttered from the room, the short rainbow pastel tulle skirt swaying with the breeze as she'd created. Hermione thought she heard her mention going to find Neville and his girlfriend, but honestly, she didn't care too much what the girl was off to do. There were only three people she was interested in getting her hands on as soon as possible.

And one was walking out of the room with her brother of all people. "They'll be in once they're done putting the finishing touches on their costumes, we'll see you all at the ball." The current bane of Hermione's existence said, waving over her shoulder as she left. "Honestly, you'd think a witch would be more appreciative of all the hard work I put into turning her into such a stunning creature."

Hermione sat in the quiet room, her magic slowly chipping away, until her hands and wrists were freely able to move. Waving her hand, she was able to wandlessly release herself. Yanking the gag from her mouth she threw it aside, a quick glance around the room told her that Pansy had left her wand in the tower, a smart move.

Not able to do much else, Hermione conjured an odorless invisible powder that would cling to the irritating witch's skin, acting as a mood ring would. With her limited resources, it was the best revenge Hermione could do at the moment.

Leaving the Slytherin girl's dorm, Hermione cursed at being completely turned around. Of course, the snake pit would be a maze, the paranoia within this house was unparalleled. Nevertheless, Hermione set off on her quest to find the two boys who seemed to make it their life's goal to irritate her to the brink of her sanity.

Unfortunately for them, they'd underestimated the wrong witch.

As she wove through the narrow passageways, Hermione quickly realized that it was just a simple arithmancy pattern used for the maze, making it just all too easy for her to navigate. Counting and mentally tallying her results, Hermione smirked to herself when she found herself in the boys' hall. A few more twists and turns, and Hermione was positive she was standing in front of the seventh-year boys dorm room.

Not bothering to knock, Hermione swung the door open, one palm pointed at the two boys who stood looking like deer caught in headlights. Even with her magic tingling in her fingers, Hermione also paused taking in their appearances.

Well, fuck me…

"Apollo, I do think we've chosen the right witch to be our Athena," Theo said, the halo of grapes adorning his head looking utterly ridiculous, but somehow completely sexy at the same time.

"I think you're right, Dionysos." Draco muttered, before smirking in her direction. The blonde wizard was shirtless, and Hermione felt her resolve to enact her revenge disappear.

Damn them.