Temptation
Pour Deux
by
Annie
Adrienne
Chapter
8
Last
Day of the Term
“Ninety-nine
percent?!” Hermione squealed, jumping out of her seat, the chair clattering
to the floor. Ron turned to
stare
at her, amazed.
“Good
God, Hermione, you’ve done it again!”
“Professor
Snape! What did I miss on this? I studied for months!” she fumed,
storming up to his desk and dropping
the
test. Snape smirked at her, flipping through to pages with a raised eyebrow.
“Here,
Miss Granger. You spelled what was supposed to be expediosar, expedisoan.”
He handed the paper back
to
her. She huffed.
“My
quill slipped! You can’t count me off for that! Perfect OWL’s… they’ll
be ruined! It’s bloody unfair!”
The
rest of the class was full staring at her now, mouths agape. Never in their
six years at Hogwarts had they heard
Hermione
directly admonish a teacher… even get snappy with one. But she was livid
now, her face deathly pale.
Snape
seemed as surprised as the rest of them… and then he started to laugh.
“Finally
growing a bit of a backbone, eh Miss Granger? Well, that’ll come in handy
sometime soon, I daresay- you
can
have your point. And congratulations.”
He
took the paper and marked something on the top, going back to the other
stack of papers on his desk. For a
moment,
the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins sat, stunned into silence. Ron
dropped the pencil that had been
dangling
from his fingers, which seemed to break the silence, students bursting
out into frenzied accounts of her
triumph.
Harry grinned widely at her.
“That
was amazing, Herm!”
“Bloody
well amazing! I see you’ve been taking some of your gall from Ginny, these
days-” Hermione blushed,
sitting
back down in her seat with a satisfied smile. The boys went back to searching
their own tests as she lay her
head
down on the desk. She felt something flick the back of her neck, and she
spun around, annoyed. Draco was
smiling
at her- not smirking, but smiling for the first time she could remember.
Sure to keep glaring at him, she
reached
down and picked up the wad of paper he’d thrown at her. Carefully hiding
it in her lap, she scanned the
message
he’d scrawled.
Hermione-
Pack
your things tonight. We leave tomorrow morning, so be sure to say goodbye
to
Potter
and Weasley(s). We don’t want them to worry. Come to meet with Snape at
2
AM in the potions dungeon to finish up on your glamour.
Good
work on the OWL’s. You beat me again.
-Draco
She
tucked the note back into her bag, feeling a familiar chill run down her
spine. Tomorrow. Tomorrow morning
she’d
be in the jaws of the beast, and even earlier she’d make her full transformation
into a sparkling tooth.
Watching
Ron and Harry shooting spitballs at Pavrati and Lavender, she couldn’t
help but smile. They’d be safe.
She’d
make sure they’d be safe this summer. And, that was part of the reason
she was going ahead with this foolish
plan-
right? She was still Hermione Granger, best friend to Harry Potter and
honorary member of the Weasley family.
Still
muggle-born, still mudblood.
But
she couldn’t help but marvel at the changes she’d undergone over the past
few weeks. Not only in looks-
yes,
she did have darker hair and paler skin, though everyone except Ginny had
only noticed her hair- but more in
personality.
Standing up to Snape was an obvious example, but things went much deeper
than that for Hermione.
Even
the obligatory hours a day she spent in the library were different- she
was reading up on the dark arts in the
restricted
section, using the permanent pass she’d been given as a prefect. She was
just beginning to learn things that
were
common knowledge to Draco and the other Slytherins- about history, spells,
curses, hexes… they’d been given
a
cursory knowledge of battle magics, of course, in Defense Against the Dark
Arts, but nothing like what she’d need
to
know according to Snape.
Snape
had been such a blessing. She didn’t know what she’d have done without
him- his constant prodding, his
potions,
and his alibi. He’d already contacted Lucius about her, thanking him for
letting her stay over the summer.
He
was a fairly good actor, Snape, or more appropriately a liar. For a moment
there it almost seemed as if he really
did
care for her well being.
She
was shook out of her reverie by a bell, the last one of the term, prompting
cheers from all of the kids in the
classroom.
She forced a smile to her face.
What
she had been dreading most was now upon her.
*****
Draco
walked quickly down the hallway towards the Slytherin tower, unable to
hide the spring in his step. Finally,
for
the first time in his life, he felt, he’d be doing something right- as
ironic as it was, something good for another
person.
He didn’t want Hermione to die, and he strongly believed that anyone left
on Dumbledore’s side of the
unavoidable
battle stood no chance. Even with Potter. And Hermione was worth saving
for much more than her
beauty-
she could do wonderful things for Voldemort. Crabbe and Goyle were trailing
him, a few steps behind as
usual,
but were quickly overtaken by Millicent and Pansy, who’d stayed behind
to give their end-of-year presents
to
Snape.
“Draco,
who’s this new girlfriend my father’s told me about?” Pansy asked plainly,
falling into step with him. She’d
long
since given up any pretense of politeness- all of the Slytherins knew each
other too well for that. He sighed,
preparing
for more lies- she’d have found out sooner or later, but Pansy was the
last thing he needed right now.
“Her
name is Hermione-”
“What?”
she exploded, stopping short. He stopped as well, turning to face her.
“Not
Granger, Pansy, I thought you’d know me better than that.” He said, with
a dry smile. She put a hand to her
heart,
breathing a deep sigh of relief.
“I
should have known, but still-”
“Her
name is Hermione Snape-LeFay, and she goes by Hermia. She’s from Durmstrang-
Professor Snape’s niece.
He
had enough sense not to send her here, she’s brilliant in battle magics
and such.”
Pansy’s
eyes lit up at that. She held a high respect for her Head of House, as
almost all of the Slytherins did.
“Well,
it sounds like we’ll get along just fine then!” she said brightly, already
having forgotten whatever tinges of
jealousy
she might have felt. “It’ll be wonderful to have some new female company,
won’t it Millicent?”
The
larger girl nodded, with a small smile. She never spoke much, but Draco
knew she had a kind, almost mothering
heart
inside that- hefty- frame. Pansy was more the organizer of their small
group, but it was only because she always
needed
someone to boss around. Voldemort already had his eye on her, according
to Lucius.
“I’m
sure you’ll love her- I can only hope my mother’s the same. Now come on
girls, Vince, Greg- we’ve got a bit
of
a celebration to set up.”
Sorry
for such the long wait on this chapter! I've been traveling but I'm finally
home again. look for the story to pick
up
the pace soon, I'm really more of an action person anyhow. And for those
confused, Hermione will be altering her
appearance
(with help from Snape) enough so that Pansy and the others won't recognzie
her.
Thanks for
the constant reviews, guys- they mean so much to me!
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