The rest of the week passed peacefully, much to Hermione's pleasure. On Sunday afternoon, her and Harry stood at the Hogsmeade platform waiting for the Express to arrive. Hermione nervously fingered her necklace.
"They'll be here soon," he said soothingly.
She smiled, but she continued to toy with her necklace. It had become a habit of hers. She found that it calmed her down. She rejected the idea that it calmed her because it was Harry's gift.
"See, look!" he shouted, but it was hard to hear over the deafening noise of the train. Even from her vantage point, she could see the flaming red hair and hoarse shout of Ron.
"Hey, you love birds!"
She grimaced at the action of her other best friend, but where would she be without him?
* * *
The next morning, Hermione sat between Harry and Ron reading The Quibbler. She had sworn Harry to never tell Ron about the Witch Weekly incident under the pain of telling Ron of Harry's like of romance movies. He caught her eye and snorted into his pumpkin juice. She narrowed her eyes in warning and he returned to his breakfast, the hint of a smile on his face. She would get him later.
Ron swore as he looked at a change in the schedule for the new term. "Double N.E.W.T. Level Potions with the Slytherins. I wish that we were still with the Ravenclaws."
"They weren't complete gits," Harry joked.
"It won't be that bad," Hermione said. "There'll only be a few of us in there at any rate and we can ignore anything they say."
"None of them better say anything. Especially Malfoy," Harry growled. He started to tremble with anger. "I keep remembering how he called you a Mudblood and…." He trailed off attempting to regain his composure. Hermione laid a hand on his arm which made him relax. Eyes filled with gratitude, his quickened breathing returned to normal. Ron didn't notice any of this, still mortified over Slughorn's modification to his class.
"Lost his marbles, he has," he grumbled.
The bell rang and a stampede of students rushed out of the doors of the Great Hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joked all the way to class and once there, sat in their usual order, Harry with Hermione and Ron next to them at another table.
Hermione had been right about the small number of people in the class. The only other Gryffindor was Neville. Ron waved him over and he sat down next to Ron.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you three. I thought I'd be in here by myself."
"Glad to see you," Ron said lightly. "The more Gryffindors, the better."
Hermione was tempted to start one of her lectures on House unity, but the entrance of the rest of the class made her silent. Malfoy with his "friends", Crabbe and Goyle, sauntered in, Pansy draped on Draco's arm, and Millicent Bullstrode bringing up the rear. She had to squeeze to fit in.
Ron's snort at Millicent's entry was barely audible, but she heard it anyway and she glowered at him. He met her glower with his own, making her turn away with a sneer a few seconds later. Harry congratulated Ron with a pound on the back.
Boys, thought Hermione with a roll of her eyes.
"Why, Potter, I didn't think you'd be able to make this far into the term seeing as you're so-distracted," Draco said significantly. The Slytherins chuckled, although they had no idea what he was talking about. Harry reached for his wand.
Hermione shook her head. "Not here, Harry," she whispered.
He withdrew his hand from his robes and gave Hermione's hand a slight squeeze under the table. He busied himself with preparing the materials for the day's lesson that was written on the board. She glimpsed at Malfoy. The other Slytherins were too busy jeering Harry on his lack of reaction to notice his stunned look. He moved to his seat at the front of the class, silently beckoning his housemates. They turned their backs on the Gryffindors, but not before she saw the puzzled look on Malfoy's face.
Professor Slughorn waddled into the classroom ten minutes later. "So sorry, had to get the room ready for the Slug Club meeting tonight!" he blustered. "I trust you'll be attending Ms. Granger. You did miss last month's!"
"I'm so sorry, Professor. I have so much to do tonight and I don't think I'll be able to," she tried to say in a morose tone, but came out as joyful instead.
Ron coughed to hide his laugh and Harry rubbed his face to disguise his grin. Neville turned red with suppressed laughter. When Harry and Hermione had come back to school, they had avoided the Club in all ways possible. Hermione had used her tried-and-true excuse of schoolwork to deter him and as for Harry-Slughorn was too afraid to ask.
Slughorn started slowly, "Be sure to drop by if you have time. I do love hearing your views!" He cleared his throat. "Now, for today's lesson. On the board, you see a recipe for Verbatim Potion, which allows a person to say anything flawlessly that they have heard before. The catch is that not all of the ingredients on the board are needed. It is you and your tablemate's jobs to find out what is needed and brew the potion by the end of the week. Whoever's the best gets a special surprise at the end! Now, if you need any help at all, I'll be in my office. I have to contact some friends of mine to inquire about some promised items." He gave them a hearty wave and walked away, closing the door behind him.
"Wait, so that's it?" Ron whined. "No help, no way to get started, no nothing?"
"It is an N.E.W.T. level class, Ron," Hermione reminded.
"Cheer up. We've got the rest of the week," Harry said comfortingly. Neville nodded in agreement and promised to do the best he could in his weakest subject. Ron grinned.
"Let's do it, Neville! We'll get that prize for sure!" His eyes glittered with upcoming competition.
"I think we made a monster," Harry whispered to Hermione as they watched Ron furiously take notes from his Potions book and consult Neville on ideas.
"At least he'll want to do the work," she whispered back. Her mind was swimming with the task ahead. This was already a pass-or-fail grade.
The group at the front of the room was mystified by Draco's odd behavior. He hadn't even turned around to make fun of Weasley when he had complained about the project. They shared looks of concern and looked at Draco. He looked simply confused. Once he saw that they were staring at him, he snapped and they went back to work.
Pansy glanced at Millicent and shared a knowing look.
It was time to do something about the Muggle-born upstart.
* * *
Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat in the library pouring over books for the project on Wednesday. They had been there for three hours and even Hermione's vision was going blurry.
"Bollocks to this," Ron growled. He closed his book with a slam, causing Harry to jerk out of his almost doze state and gawk at him with bleary eyes. Hermione lazily looked up from her book and stared at him from across the table. "I am going to sleep. It is eleven, I'm tired, and I have to suffer through that hard Charms test tomorrow. Good night." He got and asked Harry, "You coming, mate?"
Harry looked from Ron to Hermione several times. "Are you staying here?" he asked her.
"It couldn't hurt to take more notes. You go on to bed; I'll be up in a bit," she said, barely holding back a yawn.
"No, I'm staying here. Thanks for the offer, Ron, but I'll see you in the morning."
Ron waved at the both of them and walked out of the library door. Hermione watched amused as Harry shook his head to wake himself up, his hair in all directions when he was done.
"Your hair is hopeless," she chuckled.
He smiled and returned to his book.
Hermione leafed through the pages, looking for anything that could enhance the effects of the potion. After an hour, she gave up and closed the book softly. Harry looked up from his book with difficulty.
"Goin' to bed?" he mumbled.
She nodded and they both of them gratefully left the library. She leaned into Harry as they walked and he held her around the waist.
"I don't even think I'm going to be able to get up in the morning," she mumbled.
He agreed in an incoherent growl.
She reached for her book sack to reach for a Chocolate Frog to keep her conscious until they reached the common room. All she felt was air. "Oh no," she moaned.
"Wha' is it?"
"I left my bag. I've got to go back for it." She moved from under Harry's arm and began the trek back to the library.
"You want me to come with you?" he asked sounding a little more awake.
"No, I've got it. Just wait here for me, okay? I'll be right back."
He looked apprehensive, but answered, "All right."
She turned away from him and walked back. It's a good thing that we hadn't gone too far, she thought. The library was being closed for the night when Hermione got there. She hurried to the closing doors and shouted, "Madame Pince!"
The woman in question stopped the doors with her wand and asked irritably, "What is it that you need?"
"I left my bag at the table I was sitting in and I need to come in to get it. Is it all right if I come in?"
Madame Pince frowned and simply summoned the bag to her with an "Accio!" She handed it to her and slammed the doors in her face.
Hermione walked off in a foul mood. Why couldn't she grow tired gracefully? She had not gone far when the sound of footsteps echoed behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Millicent following her at a leisurely pace. This is was strange; there wasn't a reason for her to be out so late.
She kept her steps even, but she was on guard. Something didn't feel right. The passageway ahead was lit by low candles and out of this gloom stepped Pansy. Her black eyes were dangerous.
"Why out so late, Mudblood?" she asked viciously.
"That's really none of your concern," she replied curtly. "Could you please let me through?" Hermione tried to step past Pansy, but she sidestepped her and blocked her path.
"You didn't answer my question. Shouldn't be up in your safe, cozy common room with your beloved Scarhead?" She gave a sarcastic laugh.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "You will not talk about Harry like that."
"What are you going to do? Take me and Millicent on by yourself?"
Pansy drew her wand and the sound of moving cloth made Hermione guess that Millicent had drawn hers too. She shifted her bag to reach for hers.
"I'm twice the witch you two would ever be, but I don't want to fight. Let me pass, Pansy." Slowly, she moved into a dueling position.
"Oh, I don't think you'll need to do that," Pansy whispered.
Hermione felt the wind rush out of her as Millicent grabbed her neck from behind and lifted her off the ground. She kicked and flailed with her arms, but Millicent only tightened her grip. Pansy strolled to Hermione and tapped her wand against Hermione's nose.
"What makes you think that you can talk to a real witch in that way? What makes you think you can talk to a real wizard the way you to talk to Draco? You've been a thorn in his and my side long enough. Me and Millicent, here, are going to show you how real witches handle things." She grinned and asked in a flippant voice, "Right, Millicent?"
Millicent chuckled darkly.
Hermione was scared. Not only was she unable to do anything, the lack of air was making it impossible to think of a nonverbal she could against the two. Her vision was blurry again, not from the lack of sleep, but from the lack of air. She could barely see something zooming away from one of the dark corners. She couldn't even call out for help.
"I'm going to start out lightly," Pansy informed her. "Crucio!"
Pain beyond her bounds filled her. She cried out, but there was no sound. She was being choked physically and mentally.
HARRY! she thought desperately.
The pain left suddenly with a wave of Pansy's wand. "You think that was hurt? Wait until I start thinking really nasty thoughts about you. But first, we should get rid of that voice. Wouldn't want anyone to spoil the fun before it got started." She flicked her wand and Hermione's voice was no more. "Now that that's done, where were we? Oh yes…." She cast another, the pain ten times as powerful. Pansy lifted the curse, only to cast it again after a few seconds peace. Then another and another.
Hermione was losing consciousness. How had Harry survived this? Her rapidly deteriorating vision caught Pansy preparing to send the pain through her once again, when a roar echoed in the hall.
"DON'T YOU DARE!"
Harry came charging down the hall, wand raised. A huge amount of magical power coming from him caused the candles to burst into flame. It created a terrifying picture with the candles erupting as Harry ran past them. He bellowed, "EXPELIARMUS!"
The wand rocketed from Pansy's hand and clattered against the wall down the hall. Her face turned a deathly pale of white and she tried to run. Harry swished his wand, making her freeze in mid-step.
Harry pointed his wand at Millicent and hissed, "If you want to be able to eat anything solid for a year, I suggest you put her down."
Millicent dropped Hermione to the floor. She landed on her side with a thud and Hermione felt something in her abdomen snap. Pain flooded throughout her body again.
Harry rushed to her side, not bothering to free Pansy from her immobilized state. "Hermione, are you all right?" Worry and anger were mixed in his voice. "Can you hear me?"
She wanted to tell him that that everything would be okay, but all she could manage was a whimper.
"I've got to get you to the hospital wing fast. I don't know how to move you, I thought I heard something break when Millicent…" He looked up and gave a feral growl in Millicent's direction. "Don't you move!" He returned his attention to Hermione. "Please, stay awake. If you don't, I'm not sure how long you'll stay alive." He cupped her face. He opened his mouth to say something, but sudden lights and shouting filled the corridor. Over the din, Hermione could faintly hear McGonagall on a rampage.
She was very sleepy. She needed to rest. Her eyes closed and Harry began to shout as well, calling for Madame Pomfrey. She didn't need her; it was going to be all right now. She lost consciousness peacefully.
Harry had come for her.
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