Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. If it were we would be celebrating a very different epilogue, you know. Everything you can recognize from Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. The legends about vampires and their explanations are taken from "The Twilight Companion" by Lois H. Gresh
A/N: Here is chapter 3, I hope you will enjoy. I hope I'm not getting too similar to Twilight, but if I am, it will have to stay this way for a couple chapters, then I should be able to move away from it, at least some.
The Cold Ones
Chapter Three: Strange Things
After dinner, I follow the other Gryffindors up many flights of stairs, to Gryffindor Tower. There, a portrait of a fat lady guards the entrance, and without a password you can't enter.
"It's the same for the other houses, you know. The Common Room is password protected" Parvati tells me.
"Hungarian Horntail" Dean says. He's a prefect, thus he knows the password already. I guess his position helps him find scoops for the Hogwarts Chronicles, too.
In the common room, we sit on the couches for some time, chatting before heading to bed. To tell the truth, I'd like to keep reading the book I had started on the train, but Lavender and the others are making an effort to make me feel welcomed and the least I can do is respect this by staying in their company.
Of course, most of the common room is interested in me, sneaking a glance now and then. I feel a bit self-conscious about it, actually.
"Oh my" Lavender rolls her eyes. "They are acting like children with a new shiny toy"
Then she stands up, and motions for me to follow her. So does Parvati.
"Come Hermione, we are going to show you to your room" the blonde tells me. "Every one of us has a whole room for herself, they aren't huge of course, but they are nice" she explains as I follow her up the stairs.
"And we don't have to worry about boys coming here to spy on us, because the stairs change into a slide if one of them tries to climb up to our rooms" Parvati giggles. I have to admit that the scene of a boy trying to climb up the stairs and being sent crashing down back to the common room because the steps changed to a slide is a bit funny.
As predicted, my trunk is already in my room, which is between Parvati's and Lavender's. I wouldn't have thought that the tower was big enough to accommodate all these rooms, both on the boys and the girls sides, but it's probably magic at work that allows it. The castle is a thousand years old but the magic embedded in it is still working perfectly, some times you just have to marvel at that.
"Well, we will leave you to it now, you must be knackered. It's been a long day for all of us, but for you, with the added stress of being new to the school…you must be tired" Lavender tells me. "Good night, Hermione"
"Good night" I call after both of them. Once they are gone, I sit on my bed. Very comfortable, I can already tell you that.
So now I'm at Hogwarts. Tomorrow lessons will start, but believe it or not, that's not my first concern right now. Every time I close my eyes I can see his green ones.
"Great" I groan. It's going to be a very long year, I just know it.
--
Next morning I meet with Parvati and Lav in the common room, and we head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Professor McGonagall comes to us and delivers our schedules.
I have Transfiguration first, then Potions and Charms. Last lesson of the day, after lunch, is Herbology.
I am not really hungry right now, so I just munch on my toast and have a glass of orange juice, and then I wait for my friends to finish. After all, I don't know the layout of the castle yet, so I wouldn't be able to get to the classroom on my own.
--
Transfiguration has always been one of my favourite subjects, but the way Professor McGonagall teaches…wow, I can't explain it, but it's fascinating. Makes everything seem easier.
"So Potions is in the dungeons?" I ask.
"Yeah" Lavender says. "We don't have it though, we didn't get high enough grades in our O.W.L.s but we are better off this way. Professor Snape is a pain in the arse" Lavender says. "And he always favours his own house, Slytherin. Be careful with him, he has a knack for taking points from Gryffindors for absolutely nothing"
They had to explain to me about the house points system last night. It's a sort of competition, but if one of the teachers is favouring a house over the other three, especially over Gryffindor, it's not really fair, is it? Anyway, my first worry now is how to get to the classroom.
"I can walk you there" Seamus says. "I barely scraped thru in fifth year, and Snape wasn't excited about it but there was nothing he could do. He set a minimum grade to access the N.E.W.T. Potions course, and I got it, so I have every right to be in the class" he winks at me.
I think Dean might not be the only one who likes to flirt with girls he barely knows.
--
Finally, after lunch, it's time to head to Herbology.
"It's in the greenhouses" Dean tells me. As he, Seamus and I leave the castle, he points toward nearby buildings. They are full of plants, so it's obvious that there is where Herbology is taking place. I didn't notice them last night though, I was probably too nervous and it was too dark.
"Professor Sprout" Seamus says, motioning toward me.
"Oh, yes, Miss Granger" she smiles. I take a look around, and spot him, alone at one of the small tables in the greenhouse. "You can take that place, it's the only one I've got" she tells me. "That place" means I'll have to share the table with him.
He doesn't say a word, inching away from me and covering half his face with his hands, effectively sheltering his nose. I wonder if I stink somehow. Maybe some of the potion from before spilled on my robes?
I don't smell anything funny on me though. Whatever, I've got a lesson to follow.
I try to concentrate on Professor Sprout's lecture about Devil's Snare but I feel his gaze on me, so now and then I look toward him, meeting his eyes.
Finally, as the lesson comes to a end, he rushes out of the room.
What the hell is his problem?
Still confused, and a bit hurt I hate to admit, over his behaviour, I walk back to the castle, not really listening to Seamus and Dean banter with each other. I have to go ask our Head of House, Professor McGonagall something.
Imagine my surprise when, finding her office door open, I spot him inside, asking her to change his lesson plan, and dropping Herbology.
"I'm sorry that can't be arranged, Mr. Potter. The other courses are all full"
"I see" he growls, standing up and roughly grabbing his bag. He walks past me muttering to himself how he just has to resist.
Am I that disgusting to share a table with during a lesson?
--
After dinner I decide to write to my parents to let them know how I am. I'm sure they are worried about how I'm doing in a new school.
Mum, Dad,
I wanted to let you know that I arrived at school perfectly fine
and I'm settling in quite nicely. Today was the first day of lessons
and I already can see what all the fuss over Hogwarts teachers being
so good was. The Transfiguration Professor is something else, really!
I've never met a better teacher. And I can see she's already taken a
liking to me. After all, I was the first one to get the spell right today,
and it was no easy spell either. The Potions Professor is really grumpy,
and I can see why most of the students hate him. His attitude is awful,
but he clearly knows what he's doing. I can learn a lot from him.
Thinking of Seamus, Dean, and the girls, I smile.
Everyone is being vey kind to me,
Well, not everyone, right? I sigh thinking of how Harry Potter has been giving me the cold shoulder since we met. I hate to admit that it hurts. But I choose not to tell my parents about that.
so yes, I'm enjoying it here for now. I hope I'll be able to write again soon.
Love, Hermione
Folding the parchment, I leave my room to go send it with Phoebe. I knock on Lavender's door.
"Come in" she says.
"It's me, Hermione" I say opening the door. "I was wondering if you could show me where the owlery is"
"Of course" she smiles. "I have to send a letter too, so I was going there anyway"
We fetch Parvati, who is eager to accompany us, and set out for a walk through the castle and the grounds. We finally reach the Owlery, and I spot Phoebe.
"Hey, girl" I call affectionately as my owl flies down to me. "Bring this to my parents, will you?" I say, tying the letter to her leg. She hoots softly, and then takes off into the black night.
--
A couple days have passed, and I've decided that I need to talk with him about what the hell his problem is. However, he's nowhere to be seen. His "brothers" are there at Gryffindor table at every meal, and they even hang around the common room, although secluded together in a corner, but he's not there.
He doesn't even come to the following Herbology lesson, and I start to wonder what has happened to him. Is he sick somehow? Not that his behaviour should have me all worried about him, mind you, but I can't help it.
I am somewhat worried, I don't even know why since he was so rude with me, but I am. So, not seeing him makes me feel even worse than when he didn't say a single word to me.
To add to my sadness, and a general gloomy atmosphere settling at Hogwarts now that the rainy season seems to have started, the Daily Prophet reports a Death Eater attack in Manchester. The worrying part is that while usually Death Eaters kill without making much of a mess of their victims, this time the bodies are severely mutilated, and there's blood everywhere.
Just looking at the photo makes me feel sick, I can't understand how Aurors can stand to see that first hand.
Anyway, according to the newspaper, the slaughter means that the Death Eaters had at least one vampire with them. Which is bothersome, because if Voldemort manages to get the alliance of the vampires, or the werewolves for that matter, it's going to be much more difficult to stop him.
As I'm reading the newspaper, Neville, another friend of Seamus and Dean, calls out to me. I look up at him, and motion to the newspaper to let him know that I'm reading now.
He shrugs, and turns to Seamus. "She's always on her own" I hear him mutter. I don't care about that.
--
It has been a week since I saw him last, and when I enter Herbology I'm soaked to the bones because outside it's not raining, it's absolutely pouring, and I didn't think about using a shielding charm to keep the water away.
"Hey, Sunshine" Seamus teases me, referring to the fact that I come from southern France where it's supposed to always be sunny. "How do you like this rain?"
I roll my eyes at him, drying myself with a spell, and then I look up. I didn't expect him to be there, but he is.
I feel strange seeing him again. I'm angry at him, but I am glad he's back. I want to tell him to fuck off for how rude he was to me, but I also want to talk with him like with my new friends.
Mustering all my nerve, I sit down near him, and I'm shocked to hear his voice for the first time. A velvety, really enticing and somewhat sexy voice, to tell the truth.
"Hi. I'm sorry, I didn't have the chance to introduce myself last time. I'm Harry Potter. You're Hermione, right?"
"Yes" I squeak, and hate myself for it. Seriously, Granger, get a grip!
Professor Sprout hands us a couple plants, and then she starts to explain how to care for them. We have to prepare a special nourishment and put it in the dirt that is in the pots the plants are in.
"These are a mini species of the Devil's Snare, which only grows in South America in nature, but we managed to reproduce its habitat in greenhouse three. Now, these are considerably smaller than normal Devil's Snare, especially now that the plants are considered newborns" the Professor lectures us, "but they are highly venomous, so be careful when you put the nourishment into the pots not them let it scrape you"
We set to work, and while we do, I speak again. "You've missed several classes" I almost accuse him.
"Ah, yeah. Bit of a personal problem" he fends off my question.
"It's done" I say, putting some water on the nourishment powder with a final swish of my wand. It has to be damp when we put it in the pot, this allows the ingredients to mix together in a cream-like substance that we will have to smear on the dirt.
"May I take a look?" he says, and checks the cream is the right consistency and colour, comparing it to the book.
"It's good" he says.
"I knew that" I rebut, and he smirks at me. "So, do you like the rain?" he suddenly says, smiling. I almost scoff at him.
"What's the matter?"
"You're making small talk with me?"
"Yeah, I guess so" he replies, seemingly concerned about my reaction.
"Well, I hate rain. I hate wet and cold things" I tell him. He chuckles.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing" he says. "It's…done" he says, finishing his own bowl of nourishment. After all, we have two plants to feed. "May I check?" I mimic him from before.
"By all means" he grins at me and I feel butterflies in my stomach. Merlin, he shouldn't be allowed to grin like that, mixed with his handsome face and the mesmerizing green eyes it is a killer combination!
"It's good" I whisper, and he smirks. "I knew that"
I give him a small smile as I realize he's teasing me.
"So, if you hate rain how come you accepted the transfer?" he asks me.
"Well, it's complicated…" I start, as we proceed to smear the cream-like nourishment into the dirt.
"I'll make an effort to understand, try me" he encourages me, and I tell him how we were from England and then moved to France. The lesson ends, but we keep chatting as we walk outside the greenhouse.
"So basically you accepted the transfer because you felt a need to come back to where you were born and learn to live in the English Wizarding society as well as in the French one" he says once I finish telling him why I accepted the transfer. "You probably felt like you were still an outsider there, even if you've been living there for almost ten years. Am I right?"
"Well…" I start. Thinking of it, he is right to an extent. "Not exactly, but…I guess part of me has always wanted to come back to England, yes" I admit.
"Sorry, I'm just trying to understand you" he apologizes for the interrogation-like chat we were having. "It's difficult for me to read you"
I then notice that his eyes are different. "You've got a golden streak in your eyes" I say, in a surprised voice. He immediately closes them.
"Yeah, it happens at times" he lamely starts, before he suddenly runs away. What the hell is wrong with him?
********
I swear Hagrid is mad. What the hell is he thinking bringing a dragon to the school?
"Today ye'r going to learn how to care for a dragon" he starts. "Ye'll start learning how to feed them, so you'll enter one by one into the fence and levitate the meat to it"
What? He wants us to enter the fence with a dragon? He's fried his brain!
"Mr. Longbottom, care to start?" he calls to Neville. He shakily nods, and walks toward the cage.
"Remember, keep eye contact with it, or it will think you're afraid and chase after you"
He enters the fence, and keeps eye contact with the beast. I can see he is shaking, and timidly raises his wand to levitate the raw meat to it.
"Neville! It is smelling you, quick, levitate the meat!" I hear Seamus call to him behind me.
Then, before I can really understand what's happening, all hell breaks loose. As if in slow motion I see Neville turn toward us, the dragon roar with hunger and start to move toward him, and Hagrid stepping inside the fence to calm the beast. It starts pulling on its chains and roaring, then he suddenly stands up and swings his long, spiked tail, shattering the fence.
I look, shocked, at it approaching me, and before I know it Harry's put himself between me and the tail, wrapping an arm around me and pushing it away with his hand. He then looks at me, exhaling a long breath, while I, still shocked by what has happened, look at him.
Then, without even a word, he walks away from me and the class.
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