"You can do it, I believe in you," Susan said, looking at her encouragingly. She looked around to see if anyone was in sight and then pulled Hermione into a kiss that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Then she thrust the Clean Sweep into Hermione's hand and patted her on the shoulder, smiling. They were standing at the foot of the Quidditch stadium where the tryouts for the Ravenclaw team would begin in a few minutes. Hermione took a deep breath.
"Luna, Ginny and I will be cheering you on, show McFinley you're the best!" she said and Hermione nodded with a serious look on her face. She couldn't deny that she was surprised at how tense she had been since she had woken up this morning. However, it also felt great to have the thrill of excitement in the face of the upcoming competition. She gripped Susan's Clean Sweep tightly and walked through the empty changing rooms out onto the field where about 20 students from her house had already gathered.
"I'm pleased to say that we have several new applicants for the Quidditch team. Since half of our team graduated last year, there is no one firmly in the saddle except for my position," explained Eddie McFinley, the fifth grader who had taken over as captain. He was the Keeper of Ravenclaw and many considered him to be on par with Oliver Wood, the Keeper of Gryffindor.
"I would like to get an idea of the new applicants first. Please take a few laps around the field so I can watch you," he said, pointing one by one to the students who had never applied before. Hermione nodded and pushed herself off the ground at McFinley's whistle. Confidently, Hermione flew a lap, glancing around at the other competitors. Some were still busy taming the petulant school brooms. Hermione thanked Susan again in her mind for lending her the Clean Sweep, which obeyed her perfectly. When she reached the other side of the field, she flew around the goalposts in a quick zigzag and returned to the ground as McFinley blew his whistle again.
"Corner, Boot, Carmichael, I'm afraid you're out. Granger, Chang, you flew well. I'd like to see you two again individually," he said when they had all reached the ground and three of their classmates left the field crestfallen. Hermione beamed and let Cho Chang, a third-year student at Hogwarts, go first. Hermione watched her as she flew agilely around the goal rings and made some great arcs. The others whistled appreciatively as she flew a tight loop. Then it was Hermione's turn.
She went all out and wanted to show everything she had practised with Susan over the summer. She began by flying at full speed through one of the goal rings, which left only a few inches of space for her on all sides. But she whizzed through, hearing cheers from Susan, Ginny and Luna. She then showed off her agility and a few of the manoeuvres from the Quidditch book Susan and she had been working through. She had been in the air for five minutes when she heard McFinley's whistle.
"That was outstanding!" exclaimed Cho to her as she reached the ground.
"Really, Granger, do you have Quidditch players in your family?" asked McFinley, looking at her in amazement when Hermione told him she was of Muggle descent.
"The accuracy and manoeuvres were near perfect. Have you ever held a Quaffle before?" he asked and Hermione nodded with a smile.
"Ok, then you'll do the practice game as a Chaser, is that alright with you?" he asked and Hermione nodded eagerly.
"Chang, you flew well too, how about you?" he asked Cho.
"I can't throw very well, but I'd like to be a Seeker," she replied and McFinley nodded.
He divided the rest of the students running for the Chaser position into two teams that would compete one after the other. He swung on his broom to guard the three goal rings. She was teamed up with two fourth graders named Roger Davies and Carl Bradley. The two seemed to be friends because they were bumping fists first with each other and then with Hermione.
Hermione nodded at the two and pushed herself off the ground. The three of them agreed in the air that they would always take turns throwing a shot, in alphabetical order of their surnames. Hermione agreed and interjected that they should pass a lot beforehand to give McFinley little chance to tell who was going to throw.
"Very well, then, do your best!" said Roger, high-fiving first Bradley and then Hermione. McFinley tossed the quaffle to Davies and the three Chaser aspirants flew a little further away from the goalposts, in front of which McFinley was now hovering. Hermione was the first to receive the quaffle from Davies and immediately passed it to Bradley, who in turn passed it to Davies. The two then passed the quaffle to each other in quick succession and Bradley finally threw the quaffle from a considerable distance through the right-hand goal ring, which McFinley had just left to fly towards Davies.
Hermione cheered and high-fived them both in the air. Next up was Davies. Hermione passed the quaffle back and forth with him three times before flying towards McFinley with her arm extended for the throw. When she saw him getting ready to parry, she passed the quaffle at the last second to Davies, who effortlessly sank it into the middle ring vacated by McFinley.
The two high-fived as they flew past each other. Now it was Hermione's turn. She flew up to Bradley and called out to him to just drop the quaffle if he wanted to pass it to her to score. He nodded and grinned at her. Roger and Carl took turns passing to Hermione and she even managed to successfully get the pass behind the back to Roger, who just about caught the ball because he hadn't been expecting it. When they were still twenty yards from McFinley, Bradley dropped the quaffle as they had discussed and Hermione whizzed under it, whereupon she threw the caught quaffle through his guarded goal ring in front of the puzzled-looking McFinley.
"Great Hermione!" echoed down to her from the stands. She smiled at Susan, who cheered at the top of her lungs. The three Chasers quickly got a feel for their teammates and played increasingly daring passes to each other, succeeding more often than not.
On McFinley's whistle, they met on the ground, where the three bumped fists together in appreciation. Then it was the turn of the other Chaser team, but it quickly became clear that McFinley had already put the three best Chasers on the first team. The other three scored a few goals but often missed the quaffle and didn't communicate. After only a few minutes they were back on the ground.
"You three are the Chasers!" he said with a smile, pointing at Davies, Bradley and Hermione. The three cheered and hugged each other. To the others, McFinley offered to still fly for the other positions, for none had really been bad. And so one of the failed Chasers actually became one of the new Beaters. Cho Chang effortlessly beat out the rest of the aspirants for the Seeker position.
"You guys flew really strongly," McFinley said when only the future team was left on the lawn in front of him.
"Granger, that's not your broom, is it? Professor Flitwick mentioned that. I'll talk to him and see if we can possibly get a good broom for you," he said, turning to Hermione. She nodded and grinned widely at him.
She was still on adrenaline as she ran towards Susan, Ginny and Luna who pulled her into a group hug.
"You were awesome!" exclaimed Ginny.
"Thanks for your support!" said Hermione, beaming at them.
"I hope I can count on you guys too!" said Susan and the other three nodded. The Hufflepuff tryouts were scheduled for the afternoon. Hermione had specially rescheduled her private lesson with Professor Snape for the evening so she could stand by Susan.
"Granger! You really flew great!" shouted Roger Davies over to them and Hermione gave him her thumbs up.
"He's cute!" said Susan, winking at her. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to go with them up to the castle for lunch. Hermione could see the excitement building in Susan after lunch as well. She gave her a warm word of encouragement and a smack on the bottom, which made Susan blush slightly. Hermione grinned at her and wished her well. She joined Luna and Ginny at the top of the spectators' tower, Ginny holding her yellow and black striped Hufflepuff scarf over her head.
They cheered loudly as Susan pushed herself off the ground. She made a good figure and Hermione could see that she had conquered her nervousness for she was flying like she did in their practice sessions. Cedric Diggory was set as a Seeker by his status as Captain and Hermione could see Susan being placed in a Chaser team as she had been in her own tryout. Susan was by far the best Chaser. She had the best throw, which the Keeper aspirants could only counter a handful of times.
When the Chaser teams had landed and Diggory had said a few words to the others, Luna, Hermione and Ginny cheered as Susan thrust her arms in the air triumphantly. She too had made it into her house team. They met after the tryouts were over and included Susan in a group hug as well. Hermione was in high spirits when she knocked on the door of Professor Snape's office after dinner. Smiling, she greeted Professor Snape, who did not let her into his office, however, but led her to the Potions classroom.
"Filius has informed me that you have been accepted onto the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Congratulations on that," he said and Hermione thanked him. "I was pleased to hear that you would like to take further education in Potions. I'd like to take a different approach to Potions classes. Do you agree with that?" declared Snape and Hermione nodded eagerly at his question.
"Very well, then I would ask you to come with me," he said and walked towards the supply cupboard, which was accessed through a door behind the teacher's desk. It was a small chamber with shelves full of labelled vials and boxes. "Today we will first look at how we can still make a potion at full strength in situations where we do not have the full range of ingredients available. For many ingredients can be substituted with wild herbs and easier to find ingredients, but quantity is crucial," he explained, showing Hermione several ingredients in turn that had the same active substance, but in different concentrations. He talked her through several potion recipes from the first year where each ingredient was swapped out for an alternative.
"Can we brew a potion with alternative ingredients?" asked Hermione finally, and Professor Snape nodded. He let her choose the potion and then the ingredients, making sure she didn't make any mistakes. He corrected some of her calculations on the quantity of alternative ingredients. When Hermione had levitated all the ingredients to the table, she drew her wand to light the fire under the cauldron. It always felt unnatural for her to use the wand, but since she still depended on it for elemental spells, she had no choice. Hermione often caught herself thinking of the scene from Professor Snape's memory, where the red-haired girl had smiled at the youthful Severus Snape when he bent over the cauldron next to her to check if the interim result met his expectations. It had been a pleasant lesson, in which they had finally successfully brewed a shrinking potion.
"Can we try it?" asked Hermione, looking up at Professor Snape who was standing across the table from her, bent over the potion. He looked at her briefly and then nodded.
"I'll get a frog," he said, turning.
"Wait, I can use a Transfiguration Charm," Hermione replied, giggling as Professor Snape stopped in mid-motion and slowly turned back around as if he had been wound back in time.
"Now then, go on," he said and Hermione rummaged in her shoulder bag for a moment. Finally, she pulled out an old quill, the end of which was already very dishevelled and the keel of which had splintered once. She put it down in front of her and pointed at it with her finger. A moment later, the transformed frog croaked loudly and Hermione was just able to catch it with a levitation charm as it prepared to pounce.
"Ten points for Ravenclaw," Snape said and Hermione beamed at him. "Hold onto him tight," he said, waving his wand, whereupon a drop of potion floated through the air and headed towards the frog. The drop flew unerringly into the frog's mouth, which hiccupped once. Quickly, Professor Snape conjured up a glass of water and had Hermione place the frog in it. It took a few seconds, then the frog began its transformation into a tadpole.
"Excellent result," Snape said, holding the glass close to his face to examine the tadpole. "The potion is impeccable. Very good, Miss Granger," he praised her and Hermione smiled. She gave Professor Snape a final hand in pouring the potion into small vials and then cleaned the cauldron and the hearth. He thanked her and then dismissed her from the private lesson.
Hermione happily recapped the day as she climbed the stairs to the headmaster's tower. It was dark by now and she had arranged to meet Professor Dumbledore to receive the Mandrake Leaf from him, which she had to keep in her mouth for the next month. Dumbledore greeted her warmly and bade her take a seat for a moment.
"Congratulations on your acceptance to the Quidditch team, Hermione. In fact, it completely slipped my mind that you are also involved in sports. Filius has already told me about your financial situation, which of course doesn't allow you to buy a broom. However, since you showed outstanding talent last year and saved the lives of two students, it was overdue that you receive some form of support anyway. I think a broom would not be a bad way to enhance your physical balance as well. So you should be receiving private mail in the next few days," Dumbledore elaborated and Hermione beamed at him.
"Thank you, Professor!" she exclaimed, wiping a tear of joy from her eye.
"Don't mention it, as I said when we first met, we have resources at Hogwarts to support talented young witches and wizards," Dumbledore said, smiling at her over his half-moon spectacles. "But now to the real reason we are meeting," he said, levitating a small green leaf into Hermione's outstretched hand. "Minerva had trouble keeping the leaf in her mouth at the time, especially when she was asleep," he told her and Hermione put the leaf in her mouth. It tasted neutral but quickly became slimy when combined with her saliva. "I recommend you use a Sticking Charm," Dumbledore said, briefly explaining how she performed the Sticking Charm. A quick attempt with her robe later, which stuck firmly to her arm after she had performed the spell, she turned away briefly and put her index finger in her open mouth.
She placed the mandrake leaf against the roof of her mouth so that it lay flat against it. Then she cast the Sticking Charm on it through her finger and turned back to Dumbledore. She checked with her tongue to see if the leaf was sticking to the roof of her mouth.
"Thank you," she finally said when the leaf felt like part of her palate.
"You'll have to renew the spell every now and then, it won't last the whole month," Dumbledore advised her and Hermione nodded. Then, yawning, she said goodbye to her headmaster. As she entered the Ravenclaw common room, Luna approached her.
"Can you help me with my essay? I think it's good, but it's the first essay I'm handing in and I want it to meet Professor McGonagall's requirements," Luna asked and Hermione nodded with a smile. She settled into one of the comfortable wing armchairs near the fire and read through the essay on the transfiguration of inanimate objects. Hermione could only spot a few passages where Luna had made a mistake and crossed out the words. She showed her the correction charm and congratulated her on the essay, which in her eyes had turned out really well.
"Thank you so much, that's really nice of you," Luna said happily and hopped away towards her dormitory. Hermione too made her way to her own dormitory, where she ran herself a well-deserved bath. As she relaxed in the warm water, she couldn't believe her luck. She let her mind wander over her life before Hogwarts and realised how much it felt like someone else's. She felt like she had just hatched out of a cocoon last year. As so often, her thoughts also drifted to the mountain cottage in the French Alps and Susan's room. As if by magic, her hand found its destination and she decided to end the day on a literal climax.
Pleasant shivers flooded her body as she slowly massaged herself. Her thoughts also flew over the present day, she thought of the kiss Susan had given her at the Quidditch pitch. She thought of Roger Davies who had smiled at her. And she thought of Professor Snape, who had looked at her appreciatively when she had turned the feather into a frog nonverbally and wandless. Her thoughts lingered. She thought of her teacher's angular features, which nevertheless radiated warmth. Very different from the mask he put on when he was teaching or when he was out and about at school. She had the feeling that she was possibly one of the few for whom Professor Snape did not disguise himself. She thought back to the day last year when she had cried into his robe.
It seemed like decades ago to her. A tear had run down his cheek then, too. At that moment she had seen the real Severus Snape, she was sure of it. She thought of his well-tended hands, precisely preparing potion ingredients. Her body trembled as the first signs of orgasm set in while she pictured her Potions teacher's face. Imagined his lips. Lips that touched her lips. Her pelvis trembled violently. She held her breath for several seconds and drew in a soft moan as the feeling of tingling relief set in, bathing her body in soothing shivers.
She let her fingertips wander over her body as she enjoyed the last shivers that flooded her body. Hermione sighed happily and opened her eyes again. Her small bathroom was bathed in the light of the candle she had lit before running the water. She got out of the tub and created a sphere of heat to dry herself. As she climbed into her bed, she stayed awake for a few more minutes, thinking about what she had imagined in the bath. Again she thought of the red-haired girl, but this time it was herself smiling at Professor Snape. Hermione sighed and shooed the thoughts from her mind.
"That won't be possible," she said softly into the darkness, checking the fit of the mandrake leaf in her mouth once more with her tongue before she put herself into a trance to escape the thoughts. The next morning she was awoken by a persistent tapping on glass. She let her contact lenses float into her eyes and blinked a few times before she realised what was tapping on her window pane.
It was a huge great grey owl, staring at her with bright yellow eyes and screeching reproachfully. Hermione jumped out of bed and let the window slide open with a flick of her wrist, whereupon the large bird, with an even larger package tied to both of its legs, flew into her room and flopped down on her bed, exhausted. Hermione's eyes widened as she caught sight of what was clearly a broom-shaped parcel.
She quickly dug a match out of a drawer of her small desk and turned it into a mouse for the Owl. She tossed it to him and with one gulp the mouse had disappeared into the owl's beak. From the bird's feelings, she could receive gratitude and so she now approached the bed again to untie the package from the owl's legs.
As soon as its legs were free, the owl fluttered off and Hermione jerked back in surprise as she was grazed in the face by one of its wings. Shaking her head, she closed the window and thanked the Elder that she was the Daughter of the Raven, not the Daughter of the Owl.
She tore off the paper on the broomstick and gasped aloud when she recognised the lettering. 'Nimbus 2000' was emblazoned in gold letters on the top of the handle. In disbelief, she tore off the remaining wrapping paper and looked at the racing broom lying streamlined and elegant in front of her. She looked for the card that had fallen to the floor when she had removed the remaining paper. In curved blue ink, a short message was written on the card.
"Miss Granger, I have been told that this broom is a sufficient piece of sports equipment for the practice of Quidditch. I look forward to seeing you at your first match. F. F.," Hermione read quietly and grinned. Professor Flitwick must have persuaded Professor Dumbledore to get a Nimbus 2000 for her. She took a leap in the air and dressed at record speed to get to breakfast quickly.
If she hurried, she could get a spin on it before the first lesson. She effortlessly shrunk the broom with a charm and put it in her shoulder bag. When she got to breakfast, she saw Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape sitting at the teacher's table. Her face warmed slightly at the sight of the latter. She smiled at them both and hastily sat down at the still unoccupied Ravenclaw table to have a quick breakfast.
She tucked into another large piece of scrambled egg for Lancelot before rising and making her way to the Entrance Hall. When Professor Flitwick met her, she ran up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Professor!" she said, giggling at the blushing teacher.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he chirped delightedly, winking at her. Hermione laughed and watched as he literally skipped to the teacher's desk. She took the shrunken broom out of her bag on her way to the castle portal, growing it to its proper size with a wave of her wand, which she always used in the public areas of the castle.
She quickly climbed onto it and let out a cry of joy as she pushed herself off the ground and zoomed upwards at an incredible speed. This broom was no match for Susan's Clean Sweep. She accelerated and flew as fast as she could towards the Quidditch stadium while her body was flooded with adrenaline. After a few seconds, she realised she was holding her breath and forced herself to breathe.
She gasped as if she had just emerged from great depths to a surface of water. A wide grin came over her as she flew a sharp turn around the spectator tower shrouded in blue and bronze fabric. She braked sharply and laughed out loud as she felt the tremendous braking force of the broom. She could just barely hold onto it. She took a few deep breaths and then flew a leisurely lap around the lake, where Lancelot joined her.
She greeted him and offered him the seat on her broomstick while she moderated her speed. From her bag, she took out the large piece of scrambled egg, which she offered to her raven with the flat of her hand. She sensed his delight and a moment later he had devoured the egg and was blinking happily at her. Hermione smiled and flew another lap around the lake with him, darting around a tentacle of the giant squid that lived in the Black Lake, sticking out of the water.
She looked at the clock on the big clock tower and realised that she still had half an hour until class started. She made her way back to the castle doorway and realised that three figures she knew were just stepping outside. Two of them wore a black and yellow striped scarf over their school cloaks. Hermione waved at them and laughed aloud as she recognised the open mouths of the three as she came closer. Elegantly, she landed next to Luna, Ginny and Susan.
"That's a Nimbus!" exclaimed Susan incredulously, eyeing the broom Hermione was about to dismount from. "Where did you get that?" she asked incredulously.
"Promotion of talented witches and wizards!" said Hermione, beaming as she saw the appreciative looks from her friends. None seemed envious, except perhaps Susan a little, because the broom was better than her own.
"Then you've really earned it," Susan said and Hermione smiled at her. Susan was the only one besides the teachers who could really judge her abilities. Hermione held out the broom to her and offered her a test flight.
"It's the least I can do for you, after all, I owe it all to you that I'm on the Quidditch team," Hermione said.
"Don't be ridiculous, you're on the team because you're a bloody good flyer," Susan said but picked up the broom.
"You lent me your broom and trained with me. To me, you got the biggest share of it," Hermione said honestly. Susan blushed slightly and nodded.
"Then I'll just take a quick spin," she said, pushing herself off the ground. Like Hermione, she too let out a squeal of delight when she realised the speed of the broom. Hermione and the others giggled and watched Susan fly a lap around the lake.
"Susan sure does fly great," Ginny said and Hermione could see the admiration in the eyes that followed the flying Susan. She smiled and agreed with her. She promised Luna and Ginny that she would let them fly sometime too if they wanted to try it. Luna shook her head laughing, saying that it wouldn't end well, but Ginny's eyes lit up at Hermione's offer. She thanked her and waved at Susan to let her know it was time to return.
"This thing is awesome!" exclaimed Susan as she handed the broom back to Hermione. Hermione cast the shrinking charm and pointed the wand at the broom, which instantly shrank back to pocket size. She stowed it away and set off with Susan for Transfiguration class. When they arrived outside the classroom, they saw Harry Potter just stopping Ron from charging at Draco Malfoy.
"So just an ordinary day," Hermione thought, shaking her head.
And so the next few days of school passed eventfully. Hermione was busier than ever with Quidditch training, but she enjoyed the exercise. She had had her mandrake leaf in her mouth for a week now when she woke up on the morning of her birthday, well rested. Her birthday was one of the few days of the year when she stayed in bed as late as the rest of the students at Hogwarts. When she came into the Great Hall for breakfast, she was hugged tumultuously by Susan, who wished her a happy birthday and presented her with a package.
"Thank you so much, Susan," Hermione said, beaming as she unpacked the broom care kit. Ginny and Susan made her stay at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast and so Hermione enjoyed her eggs and toast while chatting boisterously with her friends. Hagrid also joined her at the table and presented her with a bag of homemade rock biscuits for her birthday. She thanked him with a smile and promised to visit him for tea with Lancelot soon. She looked up as she heard a familiar crowing above her and reached up so Lancelot could land on her forearm. She decided to give him a present too and allowed him to have as many scrambled eggs as he wanted.
She untied the parcel from his leg and opened it curiously, while the raven, under the Hufflepuff's curious eyes, instantly began to load scrambled eggs from the large tray onto Hermione's plate before gobbling them down with relish. Inside, at the very top, were two envelopes. She opened the one from her parents first. She smiled as she recognised her father's somewhat scrawly doctor's handwriting. Like last year, her parents had provided her with Muggle sweets that Hermione would be partitioning between now and Christmas.
Also in the parcel was an elegant wristwatch, which Hermione immediately put on and admired. It was a bronze-coloured analogue watch with a blue face, again emblazoned with bronze-coloured Roman numerals. Her parents had made sure that her watch reflected her Ravenclaw house colours. Hermione was very touched at this sign of recognition of her membership in magical society. The last thing she did was look at the second envelope and her eyes lit up when she read the sender.
The letter was from Amelie. Eagerly she tore open the letter and her eyes darted over the lines. Hermione had to suppress her joy, for Amelie had replied to her, writing that she and Philippe had booked the third bedroom in the cottage in winter, at the same time as she and her parents. Hermione felt the joy and also a little bit of arousal spreading through her.
She stroked Lancelot, who made his way back outside a short while later, along with the last of the owls. Hermione looked delightedly at the cloudless sky on the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, which once again made her look forward to a warm late summer day. She asked Susan if she wanted to practice a bit of Quidditch later and invited Ginny to try out her Nimbus.
They both agreed, beaming, and Hermione soon found herself high in the air at the height of the goal rings. Many other students besides them had recognised the sunny weather as a good occasion for a broom flight and so they split up so that each group got a goal ring. At one point Hermione almost collided with Harry, who was chasing a practice snitch through the stadium.
Ginny didn't do badly on the Nimbus and Hermione was sure they would be facing each other in the Quidditch stadium in years to come. Luna, meanwhile, sat under the big oak tree by the black lake and read the Quibbler, the magazine her father published. It was full of unexplored and sometimes harebrained claims and theories, but Hermione found Luna's enthusiasm cute.
However, she had also had to stop Luna from being the victim of bullying on several occasions. As Ginny had told her, some Slytherin girls had started calling her Looney Lovegood. Hermione had been accompanying Luna as often as she could ever since, silencing the nasty students with nonverbal silencing charms whenever they got close to Luna.
Just as Hermione was signalling Susan to land, Susan waved her over and flew slightly away from the others. Hermione flew over to her.
"I miss your lips," Susan said when Hermione had flown close enough to her. She bit her lower lip and Hermione could feel tingles spreading through her pelvis. "And your tongue. Do you know a place in the school where I could give you my second gift?" she asked and Hermione could see Susan's excitement and shuddered.
"Not straight away, but I'll see if I can think of something," she replied, feeling the blood rush to her head at the look on Susan's face. She too felt an incredible desire for physical closeness to Susan.
"But no girls' loo, please," Susan said and Hermione laughed. The two returned to the ground and Hermione considered where in the school they would be undisturbed on a Saturday. Glancing at the Ravenclaw tower on the way to the castle, Hermione had an idea. She whispered it into Susan's ear and Susan nodded, giggling. After lunch, Hermione went back to her personal dormitory and opened the window. She left her scarf hanging out the window and waited for a noise.
"I'm here," she suddenly heard a whisper about a yard away from her and could sense movement before the horizon. Hermione grinned and took a few steps back, whereupon a figure, still the colour of the blue sky for a short while before melting back into the background, came floating through the window.
"You're brilliant, Hermione!" said Susan quietly as she took the disillusionment charm off herself and her broom.
"Are you sure no one saw you?" asked Hermione excitedly, closing the window after taking the scarf back from the window sill.
"Yeah, I checked three times to make sure the coast was clear and flew as slow as I could. It was really freaky, watching myself adjust to the surroundings over and over again," Susan said, giggling.
"Now for your present," Susan said and Hermione's hair on the back of her neck rose as Susan looked at her with her best bedroom look. She pushed Hermione onto her bed, who willingly opened her legs. Susan's eyes widened and she grinned when she saw that Hermione was wearing nothing but her school cloak. She knelt over Hermione and kissed her passionately while massaging her breasts.
"I missed you," Hermione whispered in her ear and she noticed Susan trembling slightly at the words. Susan took off her robe and immediately covered every patch of bare skin she could reach with little kisses. She paid particular attention to her breasts, which elicited repeated sighs of pleasure from Hermione. She also began to fiddle with Susan's robe and so, a short time later, she too stood naked before her in all her beauty. Hermione pulled her to her on her bed and before Susan knew it, she was being pulled onto her face by Hermione. Susan moaned and threw her head back as Hermione's soft tongue touched her sensitive skin.
"Oh Merlin, that's not part of the deal," Susan said and moments later Hermione was sitting on Susan's face, moaning lustfully as Susan ran her tongue over her smooth skin with pleasure. Hermione closed her eyes and moved her pelvis back and forth. Beneath her, she could hear the muffled moans of Susan.
"Damn it, I don't want to wait," Hermione finally said, turning on Susan so that she could reach her too. She was overcome with a wave of arousal as she felt Susan's tongue while she did the same for Susan. She sank into Susan's sweet-tasting pussy and soon climaxed as Susan did the same and made muffled moans. Hermione was seized by a wave of her orgasm and pressed her pelvis into Susan's face, who climaxed trembling violently beneath her only a short time later. When Hermione could think clearly again, she turned around and lay on Susan's shoulder.
"I missed this even more," Hermione said, snuggling close to her best friend. The warmth of Susan's body gave her a feeling of security that she had actually missed the most since the beginning of the school year. Closely embraced, the two enjoyed their time together until it was time for dinner. Hermione disillusioned Susan after she had taken a searching look out of the window. Realising that the coast was clear, she gave the almost invisible Susan another kiss before she slowly flew out the window.
Hermione looked down at the castle grounds, where suddenly, out of nowhere, a strolling Susan appeared, carrying her broom over her shoulder. She closed the window with a grin and put herself into a trance for a moment, filing the memory of the beautiful afternoon safely away in her Pensieve. Ever since her little mishap, in which her inattentiveness had allowed Professor Snape to see more than she had wanted, she had always been careful not to repeat the embarrassing experience. When she got back to her bedroom, she put on her robe and went happily down for dinner.
The next day she caught up with her homework first, as she had given herself a break for her birthday. She was sitting in the library with Luna, writing the last lines of the Potions essay, when Ginny sat down with them. Wordlessly, because Madam Pince had just walked past their table, she put a small parchment roll down for Hermione. Hermione smiled and nodded her thanks.
It was an invitation to a private lesson with Professor Dumbledore. She looked at her watch and noticed that she was already expected in a quarter of an hour. Hastily, she wrote the last sentence on the parchment and waited a few seconds for the ink to dry. Then she waved goodbye to Luna and Ginny and hurried out of the library towards the entrance hall. After stepping out of the castle doorway onto the castle grounds, she called out to Lancelot, who came flying towards her only moments later. She greeted him briefly and then hurried up to the Headmaster's Tower with him on her shoulder.
"Caramel eclairs," she said a little out of breath to Dumbledore's gargoyle, who instantly jumped aside. She breathed a sigh of relief as she read the time on her new wristwatch. She was still on time. As usual, the door to Dumbledore's office swung open before she could raise her hand to knock and she entered.
"Good evening Professor," she said, smiling at Dumbledore who was already standing in his vacated office.
"Good evening Hermione, I wish you a happy belated birthday. I hope you had a restful weekend," Dumbledore said and Hermione beamingly thanked him for the congratulations and her new broom. Dumbledore inquired about whether the broom was what she wanted and she nodded enthusiastically. Dumbledore smiled broadly at her and made two chintz chairs appear to the two of them. A moment later Lancelot too was seated on his perch and the one-to-one lesson began. "I thought it might be more comfortable for you if we tried to explore your skills sitting down this time. I was surprised myself that the idea didn't occur to me sooner," he said sheepishly, scratching his head. Hermione chuckled and nodded. "Knowing you by now, have you continued to improve your skills over the holidays?" asked Dumbledore and Hermione nodded determinedly.
"I can now read a person's mind stream for extended periods of time without much effort. If you would like a demonstration, just carry on your part of the conversation in your mind. I will answer you," Hermione said proudly and confidently. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and nodded.
"Extraordinary, who knows about your abilities by now?" asked Dumbledore without moving his lips.
"Only you and Professor Snape know of my mental abilities, I have been careful not to tell anyone. You know what the Elder instructed me to do. I did, however, slip out a nonverbal wandless spell in front of my best friend Susan Bones, but I trust her."
"That's good. I will refrain from focusing on the morally negative aspects of your abilities in the future due to the new knowledge regarding your destiny. However, I will continue to insist that you do not abuse the thoughts of others," Dumbledore mused, piercing her with his blue eyes.
"I promise," Hermione said with a serious look and nodded resolutely at Dumbledore. He nodded too and they chatted some more about the Potions one-to-one with Professor Snape, Dumbledore formulating exclusively in his mind.
"Okay," Hermione finally replied when Dumbledore had asked her in his thoughts if she wanted to start exploring her third ability.
"Very well," he now replied again with the help of his voice and instructed her to establish the mental link with Lancelot.
Hermione made the connection briefly and Dumbledore cast the Revelio Charm, whereupon the three coloured lines of connection between Hermione and Lancelot appeared. She focused on the blue, indistinct line and, in her mental manifestation of abilities, grasped the third rope for the first time, which she had previously left untouched at Dumbledore's request.
For a few moments after grasping the rope, individual images of Dumbledore and herself in his office flashed in her mind. However, the objects, as well as herself, had a colour tinge that was strange to her. Before she could even think about it, her vision went black.
She felt as if she was being Apparated. She was pressed through a narrow tube of colour and suddenly she saw the office, Dumbledore and herself, but her field of vision was much wider and unfamiliar to her. Moreover, what she saw had a strange green tinge to it. Confused by her field of vision, she turned her head. She startled and gasped loudly when the connection broke.
"What happened?" asked a confused-looking Dumbledore.
"I think I saw through Lancelot's eyes," Hermione said, staring at her raven. The latter was crowing jauntily and bobbing up and down on his perch. Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up and he glanced at the raven.
"You've taken possession of him?" he asked, and Hermione quirked her mouth to the side thoughtfully.
"I'm not sure. I did move my head, but I was startled when I perceived Lancelot's body as my own. Then the connection broke."
"Was it exhausting?" asked Dumbledore, and Hermione shook her head. She was surprised herself, but it hadn't strained her at all.
"I'll try again. If I can get possession of Lancelot, I'll wave at you," Hermione said and Dumbledore giggled. Hermione looked at him smiling and had to giggle herself because her Headmaster had never shown such an expression before.
She concentrated and connected with Lancelot again. Her field of vision widened considerably again and she looked around. Now that she had her raven's vision again, she could even make out objects that were almost directly behind her. She realised she was controlling the movement of her head and waved at Dumbledore as they had agreed.
He waved back with a euphoric expression on his face. She moved her wings and fluttered a few times to fly in place a few inches above the bird perch. Then she flew over to the Hermione who was staring absently into space. It was a bit spooky to see herself sitting in an armchair with a blank stare.
The Hermione in front of her looked like an extremely realistic doll. She noticed the connection slowly fading and she was pulled back into her own body. She took one deep breath as she had to orient herself for a moment. The renewed change in her field of vision to her human vision made her feel dizzy for a moment and she was glad to be sitting in the chair.
"That was clear," Dumbledore said, summoning a glass of water for Hermione, which she accepted gratefully. She took a sip and then looked at Lancelot, who was now sitting on the arm of her chair through her actions during the mental link, blinking happily at her. She stroked him and could see pride and affection in his emotions. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realised that he seemed to have suffered no harm from their connection.
"So you can control him. This is nothing unheard of to begin with. Wizards have taken possession of animals before, but with the help of spells. Your case is slightly different. It also explains why the line of the Revelation Charm flows from you to your counterpart, unlike the other two connections," Dumbledore explained. "I'd like to try something," he said after a brief pause of thought. "I would like you to try to take possession of Fawkes."
Hermione looked at him in surprise and looked up at the majestic red bird enthroned on its perch beside the door. Fawkes emitted a high-pitched note that triggered a feeling of warmth in Hermione. From the bird's thoughts, she could tell that he agreed. Taking advantage of the connection already made, she tried to take possession of Dumbledore's phoenix.
After the sensation of being pulled through a tube, her field of vision expanded again. Then she felt the connection draining her magical energy with irrepressible force. Before she could actively break the link, she blacked out.
"Hermione! Hermione!" a distant voice reached her ears. It sounded like someone was speaking to her while she was underwater. The voice came closer and became clearer. It took her some strength to move her eyelids a few millimetres. Gradually her strength returned and she felt as if she had been run over by a truck. Physically she felt no pain, but she felt limp and drained.
"What happened?" asked Hermione to the worried-looking headmaster.
"That's what I was going to ask you. You practically collapsed immediately after you looked at Fawkes in focus."
"Oh," Hermione replied, looking up at Fawkes, who eyed her sharply. "I - I could feel the connection costing me vast amounts of magical energy, but I couldn't break it fast enough."
Dumbledore looked from her to his phoenix. Humming thoughtfully, he paced back and forth in front of Hermione a few times after making sure she was alright.
"Possibly - it's harder for you to take possession of creatures with more complex magical properties," he said, settling back into his chair. "Phoenixes have significantly more developed magical abilities than ravens. That, or your unique connection with Lancelot may make it easier for you to take possession of him," he mused aloud, stroking his long white beard.
"I think it best we continue the lesson on another date. I want you to have a good rest. If you need to, you can stay away from class until you've recovered," he said, offering to accompany Hermione to Ravenclaw Tower. After she stood up and Lancelot settled on her shoulder, she assured Dumbledore that she could make it to her bed on her own.
"Professor?" she said, already standing in the doorway. "That wasn't all. I sensed that taking possession of Lancelot wasn't all I could do."
"I figured as much, Hermione. The visualisation of the connection was not yet as pronounced as with your other abilities. We'll try to figure that out in the next lesson. Have a restful night," Dumbledore replied, smiling at her. Hermione walked briskly to the Ravenclaw tower and managed to stay awake just long enough to get ready for bed. When she awoke the next day, she wasn't fully recovered but felt well enough to attend class.
"You look tired, didn't you sleep well?" asked Susan as they walked together to the greenhouse after lunch.
"Yes I did," Hermione replied curtly. In fact, like most of her classmates, she had used the History of Magic lesson today to get an hour's sleep, but she still felt a little faint. The Herbology lesson was dragging by and Hermione, with Neville's help, was able to mix a good fertiliser for the Sopophorous beans they were to treat today.
The Transfiguration lesson was of little concern to Hermione, as she had honed her skills in private lessons with Professor McGonagall to the point where she would probably be able to pass the O.W.L. exam while half asleep. So, with wand and pronounced spell, it was easy for her to turn the stag beetle in front of her into a button. She repaid Neville for his help in herbology class by giving him tips. A little while later, he had turned the beetle into a button with six legs, hastily trying to crawl off the table.
Since, besides Hermione's perfect transformation, Neville was the student with the best progress in button transformation, Professor McGonagall had given him ten points for Gryffindor. He thanked Hermione warmly and she explained how he could use his progress in the next few lessons to better understand the basic principles of transfiguration before they went down to dinner.
"You damned imposter," Hermione thought a few days later when her Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher told another of his glorious tales. Hermione knew very well that they were not his experiences and deeds that he was rambling about. But she didn't know why he hadn't been exposed yet, because the actual adventurers must have realised that an impostor was making gold with their achievements.
Frowning, she looked at Lockhart and was suddenly pulled through a dark tunnel. After a brief darkness, she found herself in a cube-shaped room whose walls, floor and ceiling were hung with hundreds of small, moving paintings. When she recognised a grinning Gilderoy Lockhart, convinced of himself, in almost all of them, she realised that she must have entered his mind. Hastily, she ended the mental link.
Again she was sucked through the mental tunnel as if possessing Lancelot. She realised that she had used her new unexplored ability. When she arrived back in the classroom, she glanced around briefly to check if anyone had noticed anything. It was immediately obvious to her that Lockhart hadn't noticed anything, for his smirk had lost none of its arrogance. As Hermione thought about what exactly had happened, it occurred to her that no more than two seconds must have passed while she had briefly looked around Lockhart's mind.
Curious as she was, she couldn't resist revisiting his mind. It had not been difficult or strenuous for her and so a moment later she was sucked through the black tunnel into Lockhart's mind again. Once back in the room with the countless paintings, she examined some of them more closely. Each one seemed to show a different scene from Lockhart's life. She felt as if she was watching a silent film, but as she moved closer to one of the smaller paintings, the painting room was replaced by the scenery that could be seen in the painting.
She had entered his memory. Hermione recognised this mainly because countless people were simply walking through her as they traversed the busy Diagon Alley. Lockhart was sitting at a table at Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour with a balding wizard wearing a monocle. She stepped closer to them and just caught Lockhart whispering "Obliviate".
She could see that Lockhart, unnoticed by the outsiders, had pointed his wand under the table at his counterpart, who was unsuspectingly hit by the spell. Hermione's eyes widened and she realised why none of the wizards and witches who had lived Lockhart's supposed adventures had taken action against him.
She had read about the Memory Charm before, but it was not explained in any of the books Hermione had read so far. She also doubted that the spell was explained in a textbook, as it could quickly invite abuse. She herself had just witnessed such abuse. Annoyed, she withdrew from the memory and also broke the mental link a little later, no longer willing to look at the countless grinning Lockharts in the pictures. Back in the classroom, she noticed that Lockhart was just finishing the sentence he had started before Hermione had entered his mind a second time.
This time he had not noticed her intrusion either. Hermione spent the rest of the lesson thinking about what to do with the information she had learned about Lockhart. She finally decided to confront him. However, her motives were more selfish. She wanted to find out how the Memory Charm worked.
"Professor? I have a question," Hermione said when she had made sure that the last student had left the classroom. With a nonverbal charm, she let the lock on the door to the classroom quietly click shut.
"Yes, Miss Granger?" asked Lockhart with a cocky grin.
"I thought you might be able to teach me something about the Obliviate spell," Hermione said, looking coldly into the eyes of her professor, whose face seemed to lose all blood from one moment to the next.
"I - don't follow," he said, trying to maintain his smile as a film of sweat formed on his forehead. Hermione's gaze seemed to have made him understand that she had unmasked him and his hand went to his wand in a flash.
Hermione had expected this and disarmed him nonverbally with a casual wave of her hand. She caught the wand and glared at him. That he raised his wand against a second year without hesitation showed what a coward he was. Shocked, Lockhart looked from his empty hand to Hermione, who had made the wand disappear into her robe.
"You'll get it back when you apologise and answer my question," Hermione said and Lockhart gulped.
"How did you ...," he began, but Hermione cut him off.
"I know that you didn't do any of your deeds yourself. I also know that you use the Memory Charm on your victims so that they lose all memory of you and their own deeds. You then make tons of Galleons from stories that you did not live through. I wonder how Professor Dumbledore would react if someone reported to him that he had hired a criminal impostor," Hermione said, growing angrier with every word at the injustice Lockhart was inflicting on his victims. "If you so much as try to scream or escape, I will instantly put an Impediment Jinx on you and take you to Dumbledore myself," she said as Lockhart looked around the room frantically, seemingly looking for a way out. Hermione didn't even have to read his thoughts to see what he was up to. It was already written all over his face. He finally seemed to realise that his situation was hopeless.
"Well, however you found that out, it's true," he hissed. "I actually have some talent for the Memory Charm. Is there any way to make a deal?" he finally asked and Hermione glared at him. But then she decided to throw her original plan of taking him to Dumbledore overboard.
"If you tell me all about how to use the Memory Charm, I won't turn you in," she finally said after a pause, which she had deliberately taken to increase the pressure on Lockhart. He stared at her and frowned, but shrugged shortly afterwards.
"You promise not to tell anyone about this?" he asked, and Hermione couldn't suppress a snort.
"You're not making any demands here. But I'll think about it," she said. Lockhart sighed. He settled into his chair at the teacher's desk and began to explain to her how to use the Memory Charm. Hermione noted with amusement that for the first time this year Lockhart was doing his job as a teacher instead of telling stories and releasing pixies at his students.
"It's important to keep the spell going until you no longer get a resonance from the other person while you yourself are thinking of the memory to be erased. It is also important to be confident while doing it," he explained.
"Can you only erase whole memories?" asked Hermione, and Lockhart shook his head.
"You can also keep most of the memory and only erase individual pieces, like the place where the memory took place. Or people. The enchanted person can then still remember an experience, but not where or with whom," he explained.
After he was unable to give her any more information, Hermione used Legilimency to check whether he was telling the truth. Then she imperceptibly moved her finger for the Memory Charm and thought about the conversation that had just taken place, including Hermione's question. Lockhart seemed absent now and Hermione could feel the resonance Lockhart had spoken of.
As she continued to think about the beginning of the conversation, she noticed that the resonance was beginning to fade as he had explained. While still performing the final moves of the spell, she pulled Lockhart's wand from her robe and placed it on the teacher's desk in front of him. When his vision cleared, he looked at her with his cocky smile.
"Fire away, my dear. Do you have another question about my glorious year with the vampires? Or would you like to finally join the select circle of owners of one of my autograph cards?" he asked and Hermione checked again, using Legilimency, to make sure he wasn't playing oblivion.
"I'd love an autograph card," Hermione said, pretending to grin out of embarrassment. Instead, she was glad that the Memory Charm had worked.
"Nothing easier than that! Accio!" exclaimed Lockhart, waving his wand, which he had picked up from his desk with a surprised expression. A postcard with Lockhart's smiling face flew from his pocket into his hand and he dipped the quill on his desk into the inkwell to sign the card.
"Here you are, now hurry along to the next lesson, my dear!" he finally said, pressing the card into her hands. Hermione thanked him and tucked the card as deep into her shoulder bag as she could. She planned to burn the card in celebration of her first wandless flame charm.
Author's Note: Lots of new experiences at Hogwarts! I hope you liked it. If you did, I would be happy to read a few lines from you. Also thank you to all the people that already reviewed, it really means a lot!
See you next time!
Kasing