17 : get well soon!

Hermione

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The searing pain that shot through her body in waves did not abate for the next hour. Hermione was lying on the floor next to the toilet, and her robes were soaked from a puddle, but she didn't have the strength to get up.

She had realised that she had not extracted a hair from Millicent Bulstrode, but from her cat. She had managed to grab with difficulty the manual that was balanced on the bowl to read the contraindications:

"Do not use this potion for animal transformations, the subject will then have animal attributes that can injure and remain indefinitely."

Hermione remembered laughing when she first read this sentence. Who could possibly want to turn into an animal?

She wasn't laughing at all now. She was sobbing, even, because her arched back was hurting like hell. She didn't know how long it had been since she had drunk the potion when she heard a noise behind her cabin.

"Harry? Ron?" she asked in a small voice.

She was relieved to see that she could still speak, and that she wasn't meowing. She tried painfully to get up, without success. Suddenly the source of the noise came into the cabin: it was Moaning Myrtle. She crossed the wall of the cabin and widened her eyes when she saw her:

"What the..."

"Myrtle?" asked Hermione, still struggling to see clearly with the slits that served as her eyes.

"Oh. My. God." laughed Mimi. "You turned... into a cat?"

"As you can see, yes. Can you help me stand up?"

"No, you idiot." replied Myrtle who automatically lost her smile. "I'm a ghost, I can't touch you. Did you want to remind me of what I was so you could make fun of me?"

"No, Myrtle, I didn't." replied Hermione, frankly annoyed. "I'm just a little indisposed, as you can see!"

Hermione really didn't like Moaning Myrtle. She spent all her time complaining and it was a real annoyance, especially when she needed help. Fortunately, she managed to pull herself up and sit on the toilet.

"You've got hair everywhere." commented the ghost.

Hermione ran a hand -or rather a paw- over her face and felt fur. She didn't want to go outside to face the reality of what she looked like.

Then she heard the door open, and Ron and Harry's voices echoing around her:

"Hermione, come out! We've got a lot to tell you!"

"Go away!" said Hermione.

She felt the tears welling up and sobbed against a fold of her dress. She didn't want them to see her like this, but she knew she had no choice. If they had come back, then the potion must have lost its effect, and yet she was still a cat.

"What's going on?" asked Ron in a worried voice. "You must have returned to your normal self by now!"

Moaning Myrtle stepped out of the booth.

"Oooooh. Wait till you see this." she said. "It's awful!"

Bloody Myrtle. She would never defend her again. Hermione hid her hairy face behind a piece of her dress and opened the door with a sob.

"What's the matter?" asked Ron, bewildered. "Have you still got Millicent's nose, or something?"

Hermione finally revealed herself and Ron took a step back when he saw her. Harry widened his eyes and grimaced in horror.

"That... that wasn't Millicent's... ha... hair, that was a... a... cat hair." Hermione sobbed. "And the potion is contraindicated for an... animal transformations!"

"Ouch." said Ron.

Hermione dared to glance at the mirror behind them, and then saw her face: she was covered in black and brown fur, her eyes were yellow and she had whiskers on her cheeks. She let out a muffled scream.

"Everyone will laugh at you, you'll see, it will be atrocious!" said Moaning Myrtle in a cheerful tone.

"It's all right, Hermione," Harry said at once. "We'll get you to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks many questions..."

Hermione refused, and after many minutes of negotiation, she finally made her way to the hospital wing. Ron hid her face with his robe and Harry led her through the corridors.

"We're here." Ron whispered.

They pushed open the door to the school hospital and Hermione heard Madam Pomfrey's voice:

"Yes? What's this for?"

"Erm..." began Harry.

Hermione shook off her dress and the nurse gave a little backward movement.

"Alright... Miss Granger, if you'll follow me..."

Hermione waved a quick goodbye to the boys and followed the nurse, who settled her into a bed in the corner of the room. She closed the curtains around them and Hermione shyly took her place on the bed.

"Can you explain this to me?"

"It was... a student who attacked me in the back." Hermione lied. "He cast a spell on me that I didn't hear, and I've been like this ever since."

"You didn't see the student?" asked Madam Pomfrey, a little skeptically.

"No..."

"Hm. I see."

She examined Hermione for about twenty minutes, who lay there with her eyes closed.

"Are you in pain anywhere?"

"Yes, my back. It's bowed and sore. And my eyes hurt..."

"It's the light." explained the nurse. "Cats prefer the dark."

She then dimmed the lights around Hermione's bed and her eyes immediately got used to the darkness.

"You will take these six drugs every day for a month, four times a day with a meal." the nurse indicated as she placed the potions and pills on Hermione's small bedside table. "And you must stay in the hospital wing."

"For a month?!" groaned Hermione.

"You want to walk around the Castle like that?" the nurse asked sharply.

"No, but... Classes..."

"You're in no condition, Miss Granger. The student who did this to you from behind... He must be extremely skilled to perform a transformation like this."

She gave her a sharp look, the kind of look that made it clear she knew she was lying. Hermione said nothing in reply and stopped protesting.

Hermione stayed in the hospital wing all day. Occasionally, Madam Pomfrey would come and bring her tea or food and watch her drink the nasty potions she had to take. Her back was less painful and she had almost got used to her strange vision.

In the evening Ron and Harry visited her before going to dinner. Hermione heard their footsteps and the door open distinctly, despite being so far away in the hospital wing. She suspected that her ears had much better hearing than humans.

"Hi Hermione!" called out Harry.

"How are you feeling?" asked Ron.

They sat on either side of his bed.

"A bit better, my back doesn't hurt as much. Do I still look the same?"

Ron's pursed lips told him yes without needing to answer.

"Great." grumbled Hermione. "Apparently it's going to take a month for me to get back to my normal form..."

"Like the time it takes to make the potion." remarked Harry.

"Maybe it's a punishment for all the people who try to deviate from the rules in the book." said Ron.

Hermione grumbled. She supposed that this was the punishment she deserved for breaking the school rules.

Ron and Harry eventually whispered to her about what Malfoy had said in the Common Room. Towards the end, Madam Pomfrey interrupted them by ordering them to go and have dinner and let her rest. Hermione took a piece of parchment and a quill and hurriedly scribbled down some book titles and stuffed them into Ron's hand:

"Bring that to me tomorrow, please! I couldn't stay here without something to read, I'll go mad otherwise!"

Ron nodded with a mocking smile and they left. Hermione was bored barely ten minutes after they had left. She had no books, no homework, no one to talk to, and on top of that she hated silence. The hospital wing was the place of silence.

Madam Pomfrey remained locked in her small office and there were no patients in the hospital wing, apart from a few beds with drawn curtains which Hermione assumed were where the petrified people had been placed.

Hermione was testing her supersonic ear to detect if dinner was over by trying to hear the footsteps above her when the hospital wing door opened. She heard the footsteps approaching her and Professor McGonagall's voice sounded through the curtain:

"Miss Granger? Do you give me permission to open the curtain?"

"Er, yes." she replied in a small voice.

McGonagall pulled back the curtain and looked at Hermione's face without showing any sign of surprise. Then she sighed and sat down in the chair that Harry had occupied a few hours earlier:

"Quite a transformation. I have to say that no seventh year could pull off that kind of feat. I know, because I happen to be the one who teaches the subject to the entire Hogwarts student body, and I don't know a single student who could pull off a human semi-shape-shift like that," McGonagall said dryly. "Even I'd have a hard time doing that in a crowded hallway. Unless it was Dumbledore you suspect of putting a spell on you?"

Hermione's cheeks flushed a little and she stammered a few words. To her surprise, Professor McGonagall smiled a little:

"Relax, Miss Granger. I'm not here to interrogate you. Although I'm pretty sure Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley must be involved in this story as well."

Hermione didn't know what to say. McGonagall had a knack for confusing her, more so than anyone else at Hogwarts. Suddenly, the teacher twirled her wand in the air and two cups of tea appeared, which Hermione grabbed. Inside was cinnamon tea.

"Here." said McGonagall quietly. "Drink some tea, it will do you a world of good."

Hermione took a sip and watched her teacher over the cup.

"Right, Miss Granger." she continued. "As you know, Gryffindors House is particularly dear to me. That's why I pay so much attention to each and every student who resides there. And that is why I came to you, in the summer of 1991, to inform you that you were a witch."

"You already knew I would be in Gryffindor at that time?" exclaimed Hermione, shocked.

"No one can really know where a student will be placed until after the Sorting. And I've been wrong a few times before." McGonagall explained with a smile. "But on this one, there was a very good chance you'd get into my House, or Ravenclaw's."

"When you explained the Houses to me, I thought I'd be sorted into Ravenclaw." Hermione confessed.

"Of course, your strong taste in reading, and the fact that you're the brightest student of your generation proves it."

Hermione blushed intensely at the compliment, and didn't manage to thank the teacher until she spoke again:

"But I could see right away your courage and your willingness to prove yourself. You are as talented as you are brave, Miss Granger, and both are excellent qualities. And the fact that you've befriended Mr. Potter shows it. You don't mind breaking the rules if it's for a good cause."

Hermione took another sip of tea for the opportunity to smile into her cup.

"I think I have a little idea what caused you to make that transfiguration." McGonagall continued mysteriously, pointing at Hermione's face. "But I won't say anything. I have great confidence in you, and I think Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley should be glad to have you by their side. You are undoubtedly the one who has saved their lives on many occasions. That is why I will not tell your parents about this unfortunate incident. If you have decided not to, I don't want to sabotage your intentions by worrying them for nothing. I hope this shows the admiration I have for you."

"Thank you, Professor."

"I only hope that your intentions will always remain the same over time, and that the positive influence you have on Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley will not fade."

McGonagall then stood up suddenly. She put the cup of tea in her hands back on Hermione's bedside table, which she had not touched. She pretended to walk away, then added with the same small smile she had had since the beginning of the conversation:

"I'm offering twenty points to Gryffindor. For a second year, it's quite an achievement that you managed to brew a Polyjuice potion."

And she walked out of the hospital wing, barely giving Hermione time to grasp what she had just said.

Draco

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Pansy returned the day before school started and as soon as she arrived in the dormitory, Draco felt a wave of relief mixed with joy at seeing her again. She was still wearing the headband her father had ordered her to wear whenever she was home, which she removed as soon as she entered and threw on Draco's bed with a disgusted expression.

"Happy New Year!" she said by way of greeting when she saw the two boys lying in their beds.

She set her suitcase on the floor and opened it to pull out some clothes that were more comfortable than the outfit she was currently wearing, a laced up dress with black tights.

"You've taken up residence here, I see." Theo commented as he came into the dormitory as well.

"Is that a problem for you, Nott?" she asked, her head buried in her suitcase.

"No, not at all. Glad to know there are four of us sleeping here."

"Are you saying that because you're jealous that I'm sleeping in Draco's bed and not with you?"

Theo burst out laughing and looked at Pansy defiantly.

"My bed is always open."

"Alright, that's enough both of you." Draco cut in curtly, not liking it when their habits were talked about like that. "Come on, let's go eat, I'm starving."

They waited until Pansy had changed before heading into the Great Hall. It was sausages and mash tonight, a dish Draco didn't particularly like, but he forced himself to eat mashed potatoes to get something in his stomach before bed.

"What did you do, over the holidays?" asked Pansy.

"A lot of Quidditch." replied Blaise.

Draco only had one practice with the Slytherin team before the Christmas break, and he hadn't liked the bitter looks on his teammates' faces throughout the session. So he'd repeated the practices with Blaise, who hadn't complained once, so he could improve his level before official practices resumed in January.

"What about Christmas?" asked Theo.

"It sucked." muttered Draco. "I left just as Hagrid started his third Christmas Carol."

Pansy burst out laughing.

"And how was it for you?" asked Blaise.

Pansy sighed, and Theo looked down at his plate, looking suddenly glum.

"Horrible. We didn't even celebrate Christmas together, the two of us." she said, pointing at her and Theo. "My father refused to let me go to Theo's house, and we spent Christmas Eve together at the table eating some filthy dish the elf had prepared badly."

"What about your presents?"

"My father told me that I had the key to the Gringotts safe and that I could use it as I pleased, to buy whatever I liked." said Pansy.

An outsider might have thought she was lucky to have access to so much money, but Draco knew Pansy well enough to know that the key to the safe didn't make her happy at all. She would have liked her father to buy her something for her, to show that he knew her, and that he wanted to please her. But that had never happened.

"Did you get ours?" asked Blaise.

Pansy's face lit up:

"Yes! Thank you!"

Draco smiled. They'd chipped in to buy him some expensive earrings on Diagon Alley.

"What about you, Theo?"

"A little less horrible than Pansy, I suppose. My father wasn't around, so I spent the evening alone with my elf at home."

Draco and Blaise didn't answer anything, and Draco thought that he had a pretty good Christmas at Hogwarts, after all.

"Any news from the Slytherin heir?" asked Pansy, probably to change the subject.

"No, nothing over the holidays." said Draco.

"Really? Yet I thought I heard that Granger had been petrified?" said Pansy.

Blaise rolled his eyes as he cut his sausage:

"Pans'! How is it possible that you heard rumors when you weren't even here?"

"I have my contacts, Zabini." replied Pansy with a wink. "And the Hogwarts Express was particularly loud today."

Draco glanced over at the Gryffindors' table. Sure enough, Potter and Weasley were not accompanied by the Mudblood. Draco wondered where she could be.

"She's not petrified." Theo informed him. "I went to the Library on my way back, and saw that she had borrowed some books over the holidays."

Blaise and Draco arched an eyebrow and Theo grinned:

"What? Did you really think I wasn't going to check that the competition was still alive?"

Hermione

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Dear Hermione,

Happy New Year!

We hope you had a good Christmas holiday and that you managed to enjoy yourself despite the amount of work you have.

Did you get any presents from Harry and Ron? And from your teachers?

It was a quiet evening here. We cooked turkey and invited Danny's parents. Thomas didn't come, just Danny and Leonie. It wasn't much fun without you, but at least your dad got a new coat from your grandma that looks great on him.

I'm sending you some of those cinnamon biscuits you like so much. I hope the owl doesn't eat them before it brings them to you.

Love to you,

Mum.

Hermione smiled as she saw the three little biscuits at the bottom of the envelope. She nibbled on one absent-mindedly and noticed that there was another card in the small pile that Madam Pomfrey had brought her that morning.

"To Miss Granger,

Wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor

Gilderoy Lockhart,

Order of Merlin Third Class,

Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League,

And five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."

Hermione felt her heart beat abnormally in her chest. She knew that she was probably blushing under the little tufts of fur that were still scattered on her cheeks, but since she was alone, she didn't care. She hid the golden envelope under her pillow so that the boys wouldn't see it on her bedside table the next time they visited and promised herself to show it to Lavender and Parvati when she could finally leave the hospital.

Well after Harry and Ron's daily visit, Hermione took her last medicine of the day. She unintentionally fell asleep (the purple potion was knocking her out), and was woken by the sound of the curtain opening.

"I've already taken the potion..." she said, yawning at the nurse without opening her eyes.

"Hi, Hermione."

Hermione woke up with a start, and saw with amazement Neville Longbottom standing beside her bed.

"Neville?!"

"I got back today from the Christmas holidays and I heard you weren't feeling well."

Hermione realised that she hadn't had time to hide her face when she woke up. She looked Neville in the eye, almost expecting him to recoil in horror at the sight of her whiskers. The boy did not. He took care not to look at her so as not to embarrass her and sat down in the visitors' chair.

"I brought you some chocolates."

He handed her a golden box.

"Oh... Thanks, Neville."

"No problem." the boy replied with a shy smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Not great. Bored."

"That's what I thought."

He then pulled a large stack of books out of his bag and placed them on the edge of the bed. Hermione almost jumped onto her pillow.

"Homework?" she asked hungrily.

"I hardly did anything over the holidays, and I thought... since we missed a few Saturdays of study..."

"Oh, thank you Neville! Thank you!" she exclaimed, hastily opening the first Transfiguration textbook.

"I'm going to pretend I don't notice that you're more thrilled about the homework than the chocolates." Neville laughed.

"Oh no, don't tell Ron, he'd laugh at me. So, what subject did you need help with?"

As Neville explained his difficulties in understanding the last chapter of Potions, Hermione looked at the boy, and realised that he was the only person who hadn't asked her what was on her face since Christmas.

Draco

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On the first day of school, Granger was still not seated at the Gryffindors' table. Draco noticed it absentmindedly, casually, completely against his will. He'd just taken a quick glance at the table and realized she was missing. By chance.

He wondered vaguely what was wrong with her. If she wasn't petrified, what was she doing in the hospital wing?

Blaise unfolded the day's paper beside him and the sound interrupted Draco's questioning as he dipped his spoon into his porridge.

"My stepfather is dead." Blaise announced in a sullen voice as he read the paper.

Pansy, Theo, Crabbe and Goyle looked up at him, a little surprised.

"What?"

"There. It's written in the death announcements in the paper. Allan Zabini." pointed to Blaise.

Draco saw the small square on the paper:

Allan Zabini, husband of Agate Celeste Zabini, died today. The circumstances of his death are still unknown, but it is believed to be a suicide based on the evidence the Aurors have so far.

We send our sincere condolences to his wife and stepson.

Blaise picked up the paper again and continued to read as if he had just shown them who had won first prize in the best Christmas pudding competition. He didn't look at all saddened by his father-in-law's death.

"Erm..." began Theo, still astonished. "Are you all right, Blaise?"

He looked up from the paper slowly:

"Hmm? Yes, why?"

"Well I don't know... Your stepfather..."

Pansy and Draco both had the same reflex: to immerse themselves in the fascinating contemplation of their bowls of porridge so as not to take part in the conversation.

"I don't care." said Blaise in a quiet voice.

"But... isn't that strange, though?" insisted Theo. "What do you think?"

"I think the Daily Prophet and the Aurors who are on the case are deep idiots who don't realise how clever my mother is." Blaise said with a smile.

"Do you really think it was your mother who killed him?" whispered Nott, outraged.

"Of course I do," Blaise replied without the slightest hesitation.

Draco knew it too. Probably the entire Slytherin table knew it too. It was a taboo subject, no one dared to utter the slightest insult to Blaise's mother when he was around, everyone knew about this rule. Crabbe had suffered the brunt of it on the Hogwarts Express trip. But Theo didn't seem to understand how he could remain so calm knowing that:

"But you don't mind? Knowing that your mother is killing innocent people?"

Blaise lowered the newspaper so that he was looking at Theo. This time he was no longer smiling, his face was frozen in an icy expression that petrified Theo like Filch's poor cat.

"Cheeky. To talk about my mother when we know what your father is doing, Nott."

The mood around the table turned as cold as Blaise's eyes. Theo received the sentence like a punch and wobbled on the bench for a few seconds, as if dazed, before shrivelling up.

Blaise was the person who defended his friends the most, but he also had a certain talent for embarrassing an entire room. He went back to reading his newspaper and everyone continued to eat without daring to say a word.

Hermione

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The month Hermione spent in the hospital wing felt like six. The routine that Madam Pomfrey had established stretched the days and made Hermione bitterly regret making the bloody potion. The only events in her day that she looked forward to were the visits from Harry, Ron and Neville, and the teas she shared with Madam Pomfrey at tea time.

Once the nurse had stopped being cold after Hermione's arrival, she had turned out to be quite cordial. Hermione enjoyed those afternoon teas with her where she would tell her about her studies and the cases of healing magic she had encountered in her life.

This branch of medicine was fascinating to Hermione, she had even done some research on her own to find out how to get into medical school after Hogwarts.

Fortunately, Hermione now had something to occupy her during the long, lonely hours she spent in bed. Harry and Ron brought her the day's homework and lessons every night, and Lavender had been kind enough to bring her the textbooks she had left in the room, which Madam Pomfrey brought to her the next day on her bedside table.

The table was now overflowing with scrolls and books, but Hermione was delighted: she could plunge into her work and make the hours fly by more quickly.

In the first week of February, Madam Pomfrey handed her a mirror so that Hermione could see the progress of Potions on her face. She was particularly pleased to see that she only had two whiskers left, and that her eyes had returned to a roughly brown shade.

"You can go out after your breakfast medication tomorrow morning." the nurse announced.

Hermione woke up well before the usual time, eager to leave the hospital. She couldn't stand the silence any longer, she wanted to hear the voices that were constantly buzzing around the Castle. As soon as Madam Pomfrey brought her pumpkin juice and medicine, Hermione gulped it down and hurried out of bed.

She dressed for the first time in weeks and left the hospital wing, thanking the nurse. She went straight back to the Gryffindors' Common Room and found Harry and Ron.

"Ah, out at last!" exclaimed Ron as he saw her coming through the portrait. "And no more tail, I see!"

"No, gone! So what did I miss?"

Harry then handed her a black-covered journal and explained how they had found it, in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They spent the rest of the day theorising about what it might be, but as it was empty, their investigation was over fairly quickly.

Hermione was pleased to see that her place as first student had not changed on the grades ranking. She was still at the top, closely followed by Theodore Nott. Despite her absence from class, she had managed to keep up and secure her place.

When she arrived at her dormitory in the evening for the first time in far too long, Lavender and Parvati exclaimed when they saw her arrive:

"Hermione!"

"Finally! We came to see you in the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey refused to let us visit you. What happened to you?"

"I took a spell on my back, but I'm better now." she said, using the same lie she'd given to everyone who'd asked her why she wasn't there. "And thank you for bringing my books, it helped a lot."

"No problem!" said Parvati.

"So, did I miss any stuff?"

"Not much. Nathan Conley is dating another Ravenclaw, someone named Hazel." announced Lavender with a disappointed pout.

Hermione smiled when she heard this, Lavender was indeed the only person who could answer this question with school gossip. That was a change from Ron and Harry.

"I don't know who that is." Hermione admitted.

"A blond guy, in Ravenclaw. He's bloody handsome, Hazel's lucky." commented Parvati.

Hermione noticed at this point that both girls were bent over some papers spread out on Lavender's bed that looked like they had been dipped in a glitter bowl.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at the parchments.

Both girls started giggling, something they did regularly.

"We're making our Valentine's Day cards." they replied with enigmatic smiles.

"Are you? To whom?"

"To Professor Lockhart!" laughed Parvati as she poured another impressive amount of glitter onto her card.

"What? Really?" exclaimed Hermione.

"All the Gryffindor girls did it!" added Lavender as if to justify herself. "We thought it was funny, so we thought we'd join in. Do you want to do it too?"

Hermione started to say 'no', but she looked at Lavender's card and thought to herself that it wasn't such a bad idea. It was funny, and it was typically the kind of slightly silly thing she had missed a lot when she was lying alone in the hospital wing.

"Okay!" threw Hermione as she approached the bed.

Parvati made room for her and Lavender passed her a pink coloured scroll. Hermione realized she had no idea what to write.

"Show me yours."

Lavender handed her her card, which was so ornate that she could hardly make out the text.

Dear Professor Lockhart,

I'm sending you this card to wish you a happy Valentine's Day.

Your smile is as bright as it was on the first day when I first saw you walk into your classroom. You were wearing a blue dress that showed off your eyes.

Sincerely yours,

Lavender Brown.

The text was surrounded by glitter and drawings of hearts and little angels. Hermione giggled, and Lavender took it back with a smile.

"Did you see that? I put my heart into it, I hope he likes it."

"I don't doubt it." said Hermione.

Parvati, on the other hand, hadn't written yet, for now she had just drawn on her card and written the teacher's name in the best handwriting she could. Hermione lay down on her stomach and began to write:

Dear Professor Lockhart,

I wanted to thank you for teaching us this beautiful subject that you know so well. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us and for passing on your knowledge through your many books. I have read them all and I am a great fan of your work.

I am sending you this Valentine's Day card to thank you and hope to give you the same smile I get when I walk into your classroom.

Sincerely yours,

Hermione Granger, Gryffindor.

Hermione passed it to the two girls and Parvati pouted a little disappointedly:

"You're too serious, Hermione! All you talk about is classes!"

"That's normal, he's a teacher." she replied with a frown. "What do you think I should have talked about?"

"About his smile! Or his outfits, he always has nice colours on him."

"Makes a change from Snape's robes." commented Lavender, wrinkling her nose. "Right, now for the fun part, Hermione!"

She handed her an impressive number of inks of all colours and glitter. Hermione had fun spreading a little of everything around so that it made a rainbow.

In the end, her scroll looked like nothing, but at least she hadn't stopped laughing all night.