When she entered the Great Hall her eyes automatically swung to the Slytherin table. She quickly ran over the different faces until she came upon the one she had been searching for... He was shaking his head at Crabbe and Goyle as they laughed raucously over something they found amusing. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips at his display of exasperation.

Caught up in her own little world, she didn't register the hiss that came from behind her before it was too late. What felt like a wall hit her shoulder with enough force that she was certain she was going to have a bruise, accompanied by a condescending taunt. "Get out of the way scum."

She knew who it was before even turning... The voice of the girl that used to berate her right along with Draco rang in her ears. Now that she knew what true fear was, the childish jibes didn't hold as much sway anymore. Instead death and pain were the forerunners that liked to play out in her subconscious over and over. She rolled her eyes and moved so she was facing the owner. "Still the same old tired insults, Parkinson."

"Do not think I have forgotten your little stunt the other day, worm." Pansy said, glaring at her as Hermione halted her progression to join her friends.

"Ohh... Another zinger. Such a good one, implying just how dirty I am twice in a row! Keep em' coming! I'm sure one of them will stick eventually..."

The girl's eyes widen at the brazenness of her insult. "I cannot wait for the day that I can spit on your lifeless carcass. You inexcusable waste..."

"I would be very careful with the next words to come out of your mouth, witch." Ginny's voice rang out. A well of gratitude swelled up inside of Hermione for the girl... Pansy was more likely to back down if she had reinforcements.

"Of Magic." The dark haired beauty sneered. Her unfortunate resemblance to a wrinkly pug making an appearance as her face distorted in anger.

Ginny reached for her wand, hidden in her robes, but Hermione grabbed her wrist to stop her. A quick shake of her head was enough to get the redhead's hand to reappear empty.

"Really Pansy? Waste of Magic, worm, scum, a dirty vile Mudblood... It's all the same. Don't you get it? I am all of those things. And. Proud. Of. It. So keep calling me exactly what I am, like it is supposed to hurt me. As for the day you dance over my rotting corpse... If it ever comes to pass... I hope you find the solace you seek because there is something deeply wrong with you. It is not normal to fantasize about the dead bodies of your classmates the way you do." She said defiantly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nott stand and start to make his way over to them while the rest of their group sat transfixed, watching the proceedings with blatant curiosity. She quickly rushed out, wanting to be far away before he made it over. "Come on Ginny... She isn't worth the detentions. Besides... I'm sure she has much better things to do with her time than waste it talking to Blood Traitors and Mudbloods."

Both of the girls stood there in shock at her unexpected outburst. She gave a quick roll of her eyes and turned away, heading towards the Gryffindor table. It took a second but Ginny hurried after her and asked in hushed tones over her shoulder. "Where did the stellar badass come from?"

"Oh you know... Sick of hearing the same crap every single day... The least they could do is get creative with the insults every once and a while. You know?" She said as a light blush crept into her cheeks from the girl's encouragement.

"I like this Hermione. You need to find more time with your Mystery Guy if he is going to bring out this side of you!" Her friend joked with her as they made their way down the aisle. An unusual pep in the redhead's step.

"Shhhh!" She hissed at the girl, sending a glare her way as she sat down a few feet from Harry, Ron and Neville. Who were all exchanging nervous glances, which meant they had seen the whole display take place.

Wonderful…

Her suspicions were confirmed when Harry leaned forward and questioned. "What was that all about?"

"Parkinson being Parkinson." Was her curt reply before spooning a serving of shepherd's pie onto her plate.

"You okay?" He asked with genuine concern.

"She is more than okay. She rocked it! Told the witch how high her levels of psychosis run." Ginny cut in with a wink.

Hermione shrugged before taking a bite of the food in front of her, allowing the girl to regale them all with an over-exaggerated tale of her heroism. From the way she talked it up, people would think she had given the other witch the tonguelashing of the century. Something she wasn't entirely sure she wanted... Pansy was already chomping at the bit to rip her throat out. This was bound to only stroke the wounded ego and cause her to lash out even harder the next time.

"Wow Hermione..." Neville mumbled in awe from the other side of the table.

She shrugged again, not wanting the admiration that was found in her friends' faces. She had once again let her anger get the better of her. If her words had been an intentional act maybe she would have felt differently, but they had been rash and careless... "It was stupid. I shouldn't have let her get to me like that..."

"Are you kidding me right now? The only thing that would have made that any better was if you hexed her!" Ginny argued.

She shook her head and took another bite, choosing to stay quiet as the group that surrounded her continued to gossip about the things that she or Ginny should have added.

By the time she was done eating all that she could do was sit there and concentrate on the daggers she could feel being cast in her direction. So it came as a surprise when Harry, Ron and Ginny all stood and headed out. She looked around, confused for a moment before her gaze settled on Neville, who gave her a smile and slid down the short distance on the bench so he was sitting directly across from her.

"They went to go see if they could talk an extra Quidditch practice out of McGonagall." He explained.

"Ohhh... Makes sense. Harry mentioned something about that last night at dinner." She replied, returning the boy's smile.

"Yeah... Hey, did you hear about..." An in depth description on how he and Madame Sprout were trying to figure out a better pesticide to keep Devil's Snare in check without added spells followed. She tried her hardest to stay engaged in the conversation but quickly found her mind wandering again. Neville noticed and cleared his throat. "Are you okay Hermione? You've seemed pretty distracted tonight."

"Hmmmm? Oh... I'm fine." She said non-committedly, the last thing she wanted to do was weigh down the boy with her worries of retaliation.

He looked at her as if he was unsure of how she would take what was on his mind. Eventually he must have come to the conclusion to say it anyway because he leaned forward. "You know you are not any of those nasty things they call you right?"

Her smile widened and she nodded. "Of course not, but if the confusion of me agreeing gets them to stop for a moment... It's worth it. We all know we are much more than the labels they try to put on us. Besides... I would rather be a Mudblood or Blood Traitor than a Purist."

"Agreed." He said glaring over her shoulder at the table across the room. The concern and normal oafish look gone from his face. The courageous Gryffindor in him making a rare appearance, he echoed her earlier sentiment as he continued. "Just... Be careful, okay? None of them are worth getting into trouble over."

Hermione leaned forward and patted the top of the hand he had resting on the table. Her lips turned up into a joking smile. "Don't worry. I am not going to cost Gryffindor any more points today."

"That... That isn't what I am worried about..." He hedged as his face screwed up with his distaste at her implication.

"Speaking of not losing more points... I really need to check in with Professor Babbling to see if there is any way I can do extra translations instead of more detentions... Thank you for reminding me, Neville!" She told him as she stood and slung her bag back over her shoulder. "Oh and thank you for worrying about me. It is very sweet but I am good... See you later!"

"S..s..see you later." He got out, slipping back into the nervous stutter from his younger years as a blush spread across his face at her praise.

She gave him another fleeting smile before hurrying away. She really did have to check in with her Ancient Rune Professor. Having Sunday taken up by Snape threw a huge wrench in how she had her assignments staggered. Now every free moment she could scrounge up would have to be dedicated to keeping herself on track for the next couple of weeks. Like she had told Neville, she was hoping for an added assignment because any other consequence would be spreading her painfully thin at this point…

-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-

A dark shadow was cast against the table where her Arithmancy charts were scattered. She had given up on the complicated problem only moments before and leaned forward on her elbows to huff in frustration. Without even looking up she started to organize the mess in front of her. Figuring it was Pince to kick her out in time for curfew.

The unexpected sound of an unfamiliar male clearing their throat from above caused her to freeze in mid-shuffle. She glanced up from the pile of papers in her hands to look into the face of Theodore Nott. Her eyes widened and she hastened her efforts to get her things in order. Even though he tended to be like Zabini and usually showed indifference towards her, his appearance there after the spat earlier in the day couldn't bode well for her.

He leaned forward, slyly placing the palm of his hand on her closed copy of "Numerology and Grammatica". A calculated move, no doubt. He knew she would have to choose between staying and hearing whatever he had to say or leaving the book... Before she could cement her decision to just get a new copy, he smirked down at her and said. "I know what you are up to."

"Uhhh..." She brilliantly replied, unsure of what he was referencing. Her eyes scanned the stacks behind him to make sure this wasn't some kind of diversion for Pansy.

"I am not going to let you get away with it either..." The classic Slytherin smirk, that must be taught at some kind of Pureblood Primary School with the way they all had it perfected, slid from his face and turned into a menacing scowl.

She shook her head as her confusion deepened. "I have no clue what you are talking about, Nott... Nor do I care to find out. I would like my book back though..."

"Ha. Fucking. Ha. Who knew we had a comedienne in our mists?" He rolled his dark blue eyes at her attempt at nonchalance.

A huffed sigh was her only response as she stared up at him. She refused to play a guessing game on whatever grand scheme his mind had come up with. So she waited…

After only a few moments under her unrelenting stare he leaned down close enough that she could feel the heat of breath on her skin and whispered in her ear. "I know your deepest darkest secret Granger..."

She instinctively pulled away from his proximity and locked gazes with him again. "We have already established that you think you know something. Can we get on with what exactly that is?"

The way his taunting demeanor instantly changed into one of seriousness made a chill run down her spine. He leaned in again, so close he barely had to whisper for her to hear his next words…

"Yes please! Let's get on with discussing how you are messing around with Draco..."

-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-

Eeek!

I know! But this was the only spot that made sense for a chapter break without it turning into a crazy long one... Plus you know I love your guys' input!

How do you think Mr. Theo is going to use said information? Do you think he knows everything?! You know the drill... Let me know down below!

Hope you all are having an awesome day.

As Always…

Much love,

SlytherclawLuv