Hermione had planned on getting a head start on ritual researching the next morning before Herbology. Alas, her dorm mates ambushed her as soon as they noticed she was awake.
"You never came back last night!" Tracey said. "Hermione, we waited up for you for ages!"
"I stayed out for a couple hours reading," Hermione said, folding her arms. "What's it to you?"
"We wanted to talk to you, Hermione," Daphne said. She moved closer, her eyes darting around. "Do you… do you still have contact with your friend in America?"
Hermione's gaze fell to the mascara tube in Daphne's hand, and she felt her lips tug up into a smirk.
"I might…"
The girls squealed as Hermione pulled out a folder she'd prepared over the summer – complete with the new images carefully selected from Avon catalogs, as well as the order codes she'd copied onto parchment.
"What is this?" Tracey breathed, looking at one of the pictures. "It's so pretty…"
"The glitter powder?" Hermione asked, glancing over her shoulder. "It's… ah, it's to make you sparkle like a fairy. It looks enchanting, under low lights. You know, for evening events and whatnot."
The girls passed around the pages, gossiping about what they wanted to get while Hermione washed her face and got ready for the day. When she emerged from the bathroom, she noticed that Pansy was holding one of the pages in her hands, but Hermione carefully didn't say a word.
"You can keep these, if you keep them out of sight, and just get them all back to me by the end of the day, okay?" Hermione said. "You can give me your codes then, too."
The girls quickly agreed.
Classes on Tuesday were significantly better than Monday's had been; they started with Herbology, where they were repotting Mandrakes. Hermione was surprised they were allowed to do something so risky, but the mandrakes' young age meant their cries weren't fatal just yet, and it ended up being a good exercise for the class. She and Millie worked quickly and efficiently, ruthlessly squashing the grotesque little babies into their new pots without mercy, while Tracey and Daphne kept flinching and dropping theirs around on their table.
Charms class was with the Hufflepuffs, and it was incredibly easy; Professor Flitwick just wanted them to all review their charms from the previous year to make sure no one had forgotten anything. He wanted to correct any bad habits they'd picked up before moving on to something new. It was sensible, though a bit boring – Hermione had no difficulty performing each charm asked perfectly.
The Slytherins had a free period later that afternoon, to make up for the late night they'd have staying up for Astronomy, so they headed back to their dorm to put their books away. Hermione put down her class things and picked up her Transfiguration book and Occlumency book, considering on heading to the library, when she noticed Tracey standing in front of the door, blocking her way.
"It's the end of classes, Hermione," Tracey warned. She brandished a catalog image. "That's close enough to the end of the day. And you said we could do this now."
Amused, Hermione sat back down, taking careful notes as she marked down each girl's order. Tracey wanted a few things to replace what she'd used, and Millie had marked down for a stronger concealer potion, to help cover her spots.
Daphne had returned with a long, pre-written list – far more than would be reasonable, if she was getting things just herself. As Daphne stumbled over her words, trying to pass it off like she was trying to prepare for winter when her summer tan would fade by getting multiple shades of foundation, it was obvious to Hermione that she was buying makeup for someone else too.
"Just tell me who it's for, Daphne," Hermione said finally. "If you tell me the truth, I won't get mad at you for it."
Daphne froze, considering, then bit her lip.
"My mother," she admitted. "She asked about it when she saw me using it over the summer."
Hermione considered. "…she gave you money for everything?"
Daphne's eyes lit up. "Yes!"
"Then it's fine," Hermione conceded.
The total amount Daphne's mother wanted, in addition to Daphne, was staggering, and Hermione found herself agreeing to try and get more 'forbidden tutorials' on how to apply everything for Daphne to send on to her mother.
After Daphne's turn finally ended, Pansy started to approach, and Hermione straightened up and raised an eyebrow.
"Pansy," she said.
"Granger." Pansy scowled. "Alright, look, I want…"
"I don't give a damn what you want, Pansy," Hermione said conversationally. "Did you really think I was going to continue to help you after everything you did to me last year?"
Pansy looked struck, then livid.
"You have to," she said, nastily. "This is all forbidden stuff. If you don't keep me happy, I can tell on you."
"You could," Hermione agreed reasonably. "That'd get me in trouble, as well as Tracey, Millie, Daphne, and Daphne's mother."
Immediately, the other Slytherin girls looked up and scowled at Pansy as one. Pansy shrank back, before glaring at Hermione.
"I only wanted-" Pansy started.
"Don't you dare," Tracey snapped. "Hermione doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to."
Pansy's eyes darted to Millie, who ignored her, then to Daphne, who sniffed, put her nose up, and looked pointedly away.
"But…" Pansy objected. "Without… without anything, I'll look… everyone else will look so much better than me…"
"Don't worry, Pansy," Millie chimed in. "I'm sure you can win boys over with your winning personality."
Pansy flushed a mottled red as Tracey snickered. Hermione did her best to hold a haughty, poised expression, and Pansy finally broke and looked away. Slowly, very slowly, she sank to her knees by the foot of Hermione's bed and looked down.
"Fine," she said. Her voice was quieter, more submissive. She wasn't quite begging, but Hermione could recognize how badly Pansy must want makeup in order to come this close to prostrating herself before her. Though it made sense – if Pansy had a fatal flaw, it was her vanity. "What do you want, Granger? I'll pay double."
Hermione laughed. It wasn't anything like her usual happy giggle, but a much higher, crueler sound.
"Oh, Pansy," she said condescendingly. She reached out and cupped Pansy's cheek, causing Pansy's skin to redden in embarrassment. "I don't want anything from you. I don't need your money – I do this as a favor to everyone, using my connections to bolster us all."
She nodded around the room to the other girls, who were nodding back at her. Hermione turned back to Pansy, who looked starkly panicked.
"Then- how do I-?"
"You will need to give me something, Pansy," Hermione told her softly, caressing Pansy's cheek with her thumb, remembering the way Draco's gesture had made her shiver the night before. Sure enough, Pansy shivered under her. She abruptly took Pansy's face firmly in her hands and turned it sharply so Pansy's dark eyes met Hermione's golden brown. Pansy's breath caught in her throat, a frightened little gasp, and Hermione felt dark satisfaction curl inside of her.
"You will need to give me something, Pansy," Hermione told her. "Something I want that I don't even know I want, as a gesture of your good faith. And only then, only if your gift is found satisfactory to me… then, Pansy. Then we will talk."