Chapter 9

Isabel walked down the hall which led to the house's drawing room, rubbing her hands together in the cold. It was long past Hogwarts curfew, so she took quite a while to sneak out. In fact, she almost ran into Filch on her way out of school, but it was a good thing that she saw him before he saw her. If he had his cat with him, though, she probably would have already been caught, and she thanked her lucky stars that Mrs. Norris was off somewhere else. After some time of walking, she finally got to the house she meant to head for. Pushing open the door to the drawing room, she entered to find that there was afire ready in the fireplace.

"You are late," Wormtail told her angrily. "The Master has been waiting for more than an hour for you."

Isabel rolled her eyes and scowled. "Excuse me for being only just eleven years old, then," she said tartly. "If you had provided a means of transportation for me, such as a portkey, I would have gotten here earlier. But no. You made me, an eleven-year-old Flauncet who cannot yet apparate or disapparate, walk from Hogwarts to this far-flung secluded area." She folded her arms across her chest and stared at him, looking very annoyed. "I mean, really. Not only are you ugly and stupid, but so inconsiderate to boot!"

Wormtail glared at her furiously. "I am decades older than you are, missy," he said with as much dignity as he had. "You'd better learn to speak with more respect than that."

"You are so pathetic, Wormy," she retorted knowingly. "You said it, you're decades older than me. Yet why is it that I have far more intelligence than you do? I mean, we all know that I'm a genius witch with an IQ of 157, but even if I weren't that smart I'd still surpass your intelligence." She smirked at him smugly. "Many people said you were the most asinine of you four Marauders back at Hogwarts, but I really never thought you'd be this bad off."

Wormtail's round face swelled in anger and he looked enraged enough to kill. "Wormy, you say?" he whispered furiously under his breath. "Asinine, whatever that may mean, you say? Why you little—!"

"Wormtail! What are you doing?"

Wormtail turned his head to the left, his wand still pointed to Isabel, who had turned her back to him. Standing there, black robes flowing around him, was Voldemort. "Master," Wormtail murmured in his squeaky voice, dropping his hand. "The long awaited for spy has at last arrived. And with much impudence too, if I may add. She was just complaining and saying we should have provided a portkey for her so that she would have gotten here earlier."

"And do you not agree, my lord?" Isabel asked innocently, turning around so that Voldemort could see her. "I mean, I am just eleven. I think he should have been more sensitive, seeing as he only asked me to do his job for him since it is 'more convenient' for me, being a student in Hogwarts and all."

Voldemort looked from Isabel's innocent face to Wormtail's furious one. "I think the girl has a point, Wormtail," he sneered, much to Wormtail's chagrin. "Indeed, it is not her fault that she had to walk all the way from Hogwarts to here. Really stupid of you. And one more thing is all the while you were telling me that the spy is a he. No wonder I couldn't picture which Flauncet you were talking about, since all of Maxima's children are female!" He raised one hand and brought it down heavily on Wormtail's cheek, causing the latter to fall backward unsteadily. "Fool of a Pettigrew, you truly are." Turning on his heels, he walked to where Isabel stood waiting. "Of course, all Pettigrews are stupid."

She stepped back and bowed her lowest bow. "I have brought a report on Dumbledore's recent plans, Master," she said in a sure voice that never shook.

"Good, good," Voldemort hissed, raising his right hand and tilting her chin up with it. "But you must be exhausted from your trip. You had better sit down for a moment." Letting go of her chin, he waved his wand around and summoned the two armchairs sitting in a corner. "Sit down. You are Isabel, are you not?"

Isabel sat herself comfortably on the chair. "Yes, my Lord," she replied. "I am the youngest of us three girls. Unfortunately, both my sisters have been married off and living in different countries, so they cannot be with us as of now. But they did tell me to tell you that, were you to wish, they are in your command."

Voldemort was impressed. Not many children her age would be able to speak to him the way she did, confident and straight off. "For and eleven-year-old you are incredibly clever," he commented, twirling his wand between his fingers, as had been his habit since the times when he was still referred to as Tom Riddle. "Tell me, Isabel, what did you find out about Dumbledore's plans?"

Isabel looked mildly abashed. "Well, Dumbledore has sent Aurors to get the Northern Goblins to their side. From what I heard, Mad-Eye Moody was one of them."

"Ah, Alastor." Voldemort whispered. "He looks like a Goblin himself, if you ask me. I wonder if he's a relative. So they want to get the Goblins of the North with them? Goblins are awfully obstinate." He smirked at the thought of Mad-Eye persuading the Goblins to their side and failing then being thrown over a cliff. "Well, what else?"

"The Headmaster thought the same thing, my Lord, and as a precaution he is planning to get the Giants as well, in case the Goblins refuse them. He says he will send a fairy to persuade them."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "A Fairy? But fairies hardly ever side with humans. Oh, of course. Nothing's impossible for old Wulfric." He chuckled evilly at this.

Isabel looked at Voldemort uncomfortably, aware of how gleeful he was. She didn't know how to admit that Dumbledore had discovered that someone was listening to them planning. "But, my Lord…" she started nervously.

Voldemort stopped smiling as soon as he heard the word "but." From the tone she used, he could tell that something had gone wrong. "What is it?" he asked, eyebrows knitted together.

Isabel swallowed hard. "Please forgive me, my Lord, but Dumbledore found out that somebody was listening in on his conversation with the other Professors."

"What?" he asked, rising angrily from his seat. "He found out that you were eavesdropping?" Knowing that someone else knew his plans would probably make Dumbledore change his course of action. And just when Voldemort learned of them, too.

"Well," Isabel muttered. "He does not yet know that I am the spy, but he does know that there is a spy in the school who knows what his scheme is."

Voldemort massaged his temples slowly in an attempt to calm down. "Very well. What was it that you did, anyway?"

Isabel looked a little less nervous. "I put an Espier Wire on the half-giant teacher's shoulder," she said. "It would have been alright, but Dumbledore, old and withered as he is, still saw it. My Lord, none of the other teachers, not even the ones standing right behind the half-breed could have seen it." She paused, seeing the grave look that the Dark Lord had. "I'm sorry. I…"

"Never mind that," he said dismissively. "It is expected that an eleven-year-old should goof up, anyway, even geniuses." He sat down again on his armchair. "Besides, I still have some belief left in you. I'm impressed that you know how to properly use a rare item such as the Espier Wire. I admit, the old coot can spot things others never can in their whole lifetimes." He raised his eyes to look at her, and she returned the gaze unflinchingly. "Very well, you are forgiven. I am giving you one more chance to find out if Dumbledore had made any change of plans. If you fail me once more, you will stop serving as my spy."

Isabel nodded determinedly. She was going to serve the Dark Lord well, if it's the last thing she does.

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Hermione, Ron and Harry walked together down the corridor to the Great Hall for lunch. Monday morning had been bad. Harry and Ron screwed up their Transfiguration activity. Hermione was feeling bad for getting a lower grade than Neville Longbottom for the Herbology check-up quiz, despite the fact that she was genuinely happy that Neville could actually excel in something. Then, during Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid accidentally sat on all three of them, squashing their bags and breaking one of Harry's ink bottles, causing his whole bag to turn dark and sticky.

"I do hope our bad luck does not continue until lunch time," Hermione reflected aloud for her friends to hear. "I think I've had enough for the week."

Ron immediately livened up. "Of course it shouldn't!" he said energetically. "Lunch is a time to enjoy a hot meal for an empty and sad stomach. It bloody hell won't do for bad luck to hang around us during any meals on any day."

"Can't you think of anything but food, Ron?" Harry asked, throwing Ron a look of disbelief. "I mean, we're having a History quiz later in the afternoon. Aren't you at least worried about that?"

"Of course I am, mate." Ron replied loudly. For someone who had been complaining about having no energy, he seemed very alive and perky. "I get worried about other things, too, you know. It's just that I really truly value the full meals that I get here in Hogwarts. You know us Weasleys; we barely make enough money to keep out house upright and standing."

"You're not going to go on about you being poor and crap like that again, are you?" Hermione asked cautiously. There had been many times when Ron spoke bitterly of his being poor, and it usually ended in a quarrel between the three of them. "I though you said you already accepted the fact that you are—well, not so financially advantaged?"

Ron looked a little guilty, the tips of his ears turning a light pink. "You mean me?" he asked in an innocent tone. "Of course not. Getting pouty and all is just too childish for a seventeen-year-old me. I've moved on, in case you haven't noticed." Before either Harry or Hermione could answer, he pulled them by the sleeves of their robes and whispered, "And there are Justin and Ernie."

Like Draco had predicted. The news about the two Hufflepuff boys was the subject of every conversation that Sunday morning. Indeed, Padma and Pansy, as well as Millie, spread the news to their dormmates the moment they stepped into their dorms. The dormmates, in turn, told their friends and Housemates about it. Justin and Ernie were not spared of anything. As soon as they both stepped down from their dormitories that morning, every eye in the Hufflepuff common room had turned to them, and at once they knew that their secret was out. Now they both stood in a corridor near the Great hall, heads bent together in conversation.

Hermione gently pushed the backs of Ron and Harry towards the Great Hall. "You two go on ahead," she whispered. "I'll get in after a while."

"But, Hermione," Ron protested. "It's not good to skip lunch."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't say I was skipping lunch. I just have to do something."

"What?" Harry asked disapprovingly. "Comfort the two lovers? Herm, it's not any of your business who dates who. I don't think they'd appreciate your intrusion much."

"Who's intruding?" she asked innocently. "Nobody's intruding. I'm just going to try and see how things are going for them. As Head Girl I serve many purposes, and one of them is being sort of a peer counselor. We have to establish good relationships with people from other Houses, and I feel it is my duty to initiate it. If the Head Girl herself does not even try bonding with the other students, who would? It is time we took action by—"

"Okay, okay. We get it," Ron interjected. "Don't get yourself worked up over a couple of gay dudes. So, we'll go on ahead into the Great Hall and save you a seat."

Harry still looked disapproving, but he went with Ron, anyway. "I swear, Hermione, this is none of your business, but go ahead if you want. We'll wait for you there."

Hermione waved them off, smiling. "Don't forget to save me some of that Apple Pie that is supposed to be served today," she called to them quietly. Seeing both of them give her a thumbs-up, a sign that they would do so, she turned her back to them and walked to the couple in the next corridor.

Justin was the first to see her advance toward them, and he reluctantly waved a hand in greeting. "Hello, Hermione," he said shyly, thinking that she was going to tease them about their secret relationship getting out in the open.

"Hi, Hermione," Ernie said, as well, putting his hands in his robe pocket and looking down at the floor to hide his blush.

"Hey, Justin, Ernie," she greeted simply. "Why are you looking down at the floor? In case it's about your situation, I do not in the least bit care if you two are going out. I mean, who am I to judge you? So, if you're shy about this whole thing, I want you to know that you have my support."

Both boys looked up at Hermione's words. "Really?" Justin asked, and she nodded.

"You're the first person to not tease us, you know," Ernie added. "No wonder you're friends with Harry. You can be a pretty swell friend."

Hermione blinked, slightly offended to think that Ernie had only just realized how good a friend she could be. "Well, thank you, Ernie," she replied. "It's nice to know that you noticed."

Ernie seemed to have realized how his words had sounded, and he apologized to her. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean it that way," he said. His face was so serious and sincere that she couldn't help but smile. "Anyway, I think we have to get to lunch now. Thanks again."

"So, you two are alright, now? You could always talk to me."

Justin answered gratefully for them both. "As a matter-of-fact, yes. But we really should go now."

Hermione nodded. "Okay. See you in the Great Hall, then." She had already turned around when she heard Ernie call out her name. Turning back around, she was surprised to see Ernie right in front of her. She was even more surprised when Ernie leaned and gave her a peck on the cheek… or, for accuracy's sake, right beside the lips.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione," he said before turning and following Justin who was already down the hall.

Hermione brought up a hand to the part that Ernie had kissed, still sort of not believing what had happened. I bet he's the gay one between them, she thought to herself. Yes, gay people like kissing other girls on the cheek.

She hadn't noticed that someone was watching her. Draco was hiding in one corner of the corridor, absolutely seething with anger at what he had just witnessed. One minute he had been laughing silently at Justin and Ernie, the next he was incensed at Hermione for allowing Ernie to kiss her. Okay, so it wasn't his business who kisses Hermione, but, really, the Head Girl she should not be flirting with other people's lovers. Or so that's what he forced himself to think.

"God, Granger," he said, slipping out of the shadows towards her. "Coquetry really is in your nature, isn't it? There was that you and Weasley thing before, then Viktor Krum, then you developed that crush on Potter two years ago. Now you're going after homosexuals. Have you no shame at all?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What are you ranting on about?" she asked. She hadn't done anything at all to anger Malfoy, yet there he was, blue-gray eyes flaring. "And what's this about me having a thing with Ron and Viktor and a crush on Harry?" She was fairly sure that she was discreet about her crush, but how had Malfoy known it? Was he really that observant or did he just say that because he wanted to?

"I meant that kiss with Macmillian," Draco said exasperatedly. "I saw what you two did. You kissed him. And on the lips, if you don't mind me adding." He crossed his arms across his chest, still giving Hermione a look of mixed disapproval and anger.

"You've gone bonkers, Malfoy," Hermione replied after a moment of speechless silence. "I was not flirting with anybody, nor was I kissing anyone. It was Ernie who did it. It wasn't even on the lips. It was right here." She pointed a finger to the spot that Ernie had smacked. "We never touched lips and we never will." Fixing her bag strap on her shoulder, she turned her back to him to head for the Great Hall. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to lunch."

Draco watched her walk away from him before following. "But I saw you," he insisted. "You kissed on the lips."

Hermione turned around and rolled her eyes at him, sighing exasperatedly. "Why don't you drop it?" she asked, more than a little irritated at his sudden and false accusation. "I told you, you've got it wrong. It was a friendly peck on the cheek. What business is it to you, anyway? As far as I know, you don't give a damn what's happening to me—" She paused, faking a look of understanding. "Oh… are you jealous? You are, aren't you?" She had meant it as a joke, but she saw that Draco was slowly growing uneasy. Though she wanted to keep smiling, she found it hard to do so, and she waited for him to start talking.

The moment Hermione joked about him being jealous, Draco went silent. Am I… really? he asked himself. There had been times when he felt anger for Harry and Ron just because Hermione was spending time with them or laughing with them about something. And there were those times when he was alone in the common room with her when he felt a sort of attraction to her and satisfaction that she was there with him and not with the Gryffindors. And he had really been angry when he saw Ernie "kissing Hermione on the lips." Was he jealous? Remembering that Hermione was standing in front of him, he shook his head and lifted it to face her.

"You wish, Mudblood," he forced himself to say. "As if a Malfoy would get jealous of a fellow Pureblood over a Mudblood like you. You're the one who's gone bonkers." Keeping a straight face, he walked past her and went for the Great Hall. "All I'm saying is that, as Head Girl, you shouldn't be flirting with someone who already has a lover."

Hermione looked indignantly at him as she walked the same corridor he was walking. "I am telling you, I was not flirting with Ernie. Besides, it's not like I wanted to be kissed by someone who's gay. I could have avoided him, but I just didn't think he would do that. Even if he was straight, I wouldn't, but now I guess I should start watching out for anyone who might want to kiss me." She had to run to catch up to Draco, who was only about fifteen feet from the door. She caught up with him just as the distance between him and the doors became five feet shorter.

Suddenly, she felt something gripping her wrist, and she found herself hitting the wall, the impact thankfully a little lessened by the bag on her back. Opening her eyes, she found Draco in front of her, his face only inches from hers. He was pinning her wrists to the wall and her body with his.

"I bet you didn't expect that," he said, wearing a serious expression as he looked into her eyes.

Hermione stared back at him. She could feel the closeness of their bodies and the rapid beating of her heart, but she couldn't help retorting. "Of course, I didn't, she said coolly. "You think I'd expect you to suddenly make that move on me? I'm not stupid, Malfoy, in case you haven't noticed in the six years we've become schoolmates."

"Proves you could get careless at time, as well, Granger," he replied, still not letting her go. "I thought you would start watching out now? You really should learn to be alert at all times. Constant vigilance, like Moody always says."

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and out came Millie Brackhart and one of her nerdy girlfriends. They both turned their heads to the right and met the sight of Hermione and Draco "hugging" as they stared back. Millie's eyes widened, which was a bad thing because Millie's eyes rarely widened. It could only mean on thing when she does that; what she witnessed must be very very inconceivable. The thing is, the more controversial the happening, the faster the news about it will spread.

Hermione knew that very well. "Millie," she whispered cautiously. "This is so not what it looks like. Please—"

"I am sorry!" Millie apologized. "I didn't think you two would be doing that here. We'll leave now!" She pulled Bernadette, her friend who had remained stunned and speechless, by the hand and together they ran to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Brackhart!" Draco called after her, but they were gone. "Stupid Hufflepuffs," he whispered, turning to face Hermione. He noticed that he was still pinning Hermione to the wall and she was looking at him with the most peculiar expression. He hastily let go of her wrists and backed away, looking at her as if she had been doing something horrible and unspeakable. "Granger, what do you think you're doing to me?" he asked.

Hermione huffed indignantly. "Me? What did I do? You were the one assaulting me!" She looked at him a little angrily, knowing that he was already thinking up excuses that would make it look like what Millie had witnessed was all her idea. "Don't you be starting any rumors, Malfoy. Not anything about me forcing myself on you or anything stupid and untrue as that."

Draco snickered. "Are you kidding me?" he said haughtily. "If I were to spread any rumors around, it would be something to my benefit. You think telling the whole school that Hermione Granger forced herself on me fits under that category? Dream on. Males should overpower females, not the other way around."

"Oh, I smell a thick smoke of gender stereotyping and discrimination here," she replied with a bitter laugh. "You boys really do think you have the right to be dominant, do you?"

Draco shrugged indifferently. "Yes, actually," he said straightening his robes. "You sissies should just stand back and adore us like we're gods. Now, I believe lunch ends in less than thirty minutes. I would enter the Great Hall now and I would appreciate it if you didn't do anything to stop me."

Hermione stared open-mouthed at him as he opened the great oak doors. "Who's stopping you?" she said. "You'd think from his words that I was the one who delayed him." Straightening her robes, as well, she followed him into the Great Hall and headed for the Gryffindor House table where Harry and Ron were waiting for her patiently. Or so she thought.

"Where were you?" Ron asked as she placed her bag down on the floor and sat between him and Harry. "Justin and Ernie went in ages ago! Harry and I were ready to go out and organize a search party for you!" Turning his head to Draco, who he had seen enter only seconds before Hermione did, he scowled. "Malfoy didn't do anything to you, did he? He's got that smug look on his annoying ratty face."

Hermione shook her head as Harry passed her the breadbasket, which she waved off. She tried her best to look like nothing had rattled her, and she hoped she looked convincing enough. "Nothing happened. Nothing that I couldn't handle, anyway. Just… well, it's nothing."

Harry glanced suspiciously at Hermione. She was acting evasively, and Hermione did that only when she either has something to say but still wasn't sure of it, or when there was something really important that she was hiding from them. Right now he was willing to bet that it was the latter case. "But it was Malfoy wasn't it?" he asked anyway. He saw her stiffen for a moment.

"Well, yes, sort of," she replied quietly, pushing her peas around her plate with her fork. "But, really, I can handle myself. He just did that usual Pureblood-Mudblood thing. Nothing I couldn't handle, like I said earlier."

Ron huffed. "Huh… he never gets tired of that, does he? He's been going on about it for seven years already. Doesn't he have anything better to do? I mean, really, what's the point? Everyone knows that Hermione's muggle-born, and they don't care, do they? Hermione can kick Malfoy's ass anytime she wants to."

Hermione smiled appreciatively, though she highly doubted that she could really kick Malfoy's ass easily enough. "Thank you for that nice comment, Ron," she said, thankful that she had such a great and faithful friend. "I don't know how you do it, but you really light up my day." Scooping some peas into her spoon, she put the food into her mouth and began chewing on it, aware that Harry was still looking at her strangely.

"Glad to know that I can be of some help to the Great Granger," Ron joked, leaning back on his seat as he had only just finished his food.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to Ron, still chewing on some peas. "What is it with people calling me the Great Granger?" she asked. At first, hearing the others calling her great was totally flattering, but now it only served as something to annoy her. "I mean, really, it's not like I'm perfect or anything. Even when Malfoy mocks me he calls me by that name or title or whatever you call it. I'm just as normal as you guys, after all."

"Ron and I were just talking about this the other day," Harry told her. "You see, Hermione, you may not be perfect, like you said earlier, but you are the greatest witch to come across Hogwarts in years."

"I'm not really sure about that, Harry," she said back. "But if I really am what you say I am, I also want to be known as Hermione Granger, a muggle-born trying to be her best as a witch in this world. I do not want to be labeled as The Great Granger or something stupid like that." She reached for her goblet of apple cider and put it to her lips, taking a sip out of it.

Harry grunted. "Now you know how I feel," he replied bitterly to Hermione. "Now you know how it feels like whenever people call me The-Boy-Who-Lived. Didn't I tell you that the attention was sickening? Yes, at first it's all cool, but when you hear it too much already, it's just so annoying. But you had always insisted that it was 'probably nice being famous' or that I am 'having a blast encountering people who would love to do nothing else but stare at my scar in awe.' It doesn't feel too nice now, does it, Hermione?" He took his goblet and wiped the moisture off the side of it.

Hermione took another sip of her apple cider guiltily. True, she had told Harry loads of times that it was probably very flattering to have all the people around you adore you and follow you around. She never thought that Harry also felt bad about his fame, though he had insisted years ago that it could get irritating. Now she knew, and she felt sorry for Harry and herself. And for Ron, too. Heaven knows it was disturbing to be known only as 'Harry Potter's Weasley sidekick' or 'Fred and George's younger brother.' I guess we all have our share of being labeled many names.

"Are you on a diet?" Ron asked suddenly, shaking her out of her thoughts.

Hermione raised her eyebrow. "What?"

Ron pointed to her plate. "You only ate the peas and the pie."

"And what does that have to do with the conversation we were having?"

"Oh…" Ron looked up at the enchanted ceiling, pretending to enjoy the sun and sky depicted there like it's the real thing. "Well… if you won't be eating your fried chicken…"

Harry rolled her eyes and shook his head, pushing Hermione's plate toward Ron. "Take it, Ron. God, you always have a large appetite, don't you?"

Hermione smiled as Ron shyly took the chicken leg. "But that was my chicken, Harry," she joked. "What right did you have to give it away?" Nevertheless, she watched in amusement as Ron ate the chicken as slowly as he could. "Now, what were we talking about again? Since the Apple pie wasn't served, anyway."

Ron waved his hand around. "Nothing. You were not talking about anything in particular. Can we not talk about something real serious during mealtime? It totally ruins my appetite."

"Sure," Harry said sarcastically, laughing as Ron took one more bite off the chicken. "You're appetite is totally ruined. The fact that you're not eating anything proves just how obvious it is."

"Haha, Harry," Ron retorted. "Stop making fun of me."

Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oh, you two shut up. You do realize that we should get going to class. We're having a graded recitation and a quiz in History of Magic, remember? I think we should go to the classroom now."

"Hermione," Ron said as he placed the chicken bone on his plate. "We've got ten more minutes." He showed her his wristwatch for proof. "You always rush things."

Hermione peered closer into his watch. "And your watch isn't working at all," she informed him, pointing to his watch. Sure enough, the seconds' hand wasn't moving.

Harry scratched his head and sighed. "I've been telling you for weeks to change their batteries."

"What are we standing here for?" Hermione asked. "We'd better go now if we want to get to class on time. Goodness knows Professor Binns is our only teacher who comes to class early."

Ron shrugged and Harry sighed. "Alright," Ron said quietly. "Let's go torture ourselves in Binns' class." He muttered, "The Lord of the Boring," under his breath before walking with Harry and Hermione outside the Great Hall. "I'm ready for another lovely class about the History or Snores and Snorts."

"Better wish Binns isn't lurking anywhere behind you, Ron," Harry whispered playfully into his ear. Hermione almost laughed as Ron warily threw a glance behind him.

"Ron, you know Professor Binns rarely shows himself in public," she said. "Of course, I meant outside the classroom walls. There is little chance of you bumping into him in the hallways." She watched in amusement as a ghost appeared from the floor and walked through Ron, making him shiver. "Of course," Hermione added. "That doesn't necessarily prove true for the other ghosts in Hogwarts."

Ron glared at Hermione as he rubbed his arms and proceeded to dust himself off, as if doing so would undo what had happened. "I noticed, Hermione," he said. "Way to state the obvious. Do you know what it feels like to have a ghost walk through your body?" He shivered again as he recalled the feeling of having a ghost pass through him. "It's like having freezing water doused over you, only colder. And much more hair-raising and… and…"

"Spine-tingling?" Harry offered. "Goose-pimpling?"

"Exactly!" Ron said.

Hermione nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I know. There's a ghost in the girls' bathroom, remember? Moaning Myrtle has walked through me so many times already." She watched in horror as two of the staircases began moving to the other direction, one of them containing four surprised third years. "Let's hope that doesn't happen to us," she told Harry and Ron, pointing to the unfortunate students.

The three of them rushed up the staircase to avoid the same fate as the third years. Climbing another set of stairs, they landed on the floor of their History classroom just five minutes before the start of class. They cautiously entered the room, looking around for any sign of their teacher. None. They were thankfully safe.

The rest of the Gryffindors were already there, but there were still some Hufflepuffs, with whom they were having the class, that have not yet arrived.

As the three of them walked over to their usual table at the middle of the room, Hermione noticed that Hannah Abbott and another Hufflepuff girl were eyeing them, or more particularly, her. The instant they saw that they had been spotted, they lowered their heads, but she felt their eyes on her again once her back was turned.

What? she though to herself. Why the heck are they looking at me? She had a hunch, of course, which was none other than the scene with Draco. Crossing her fingers, she wished fervently that that wasn't it and that she was only being too paranoid. She almost wished it was only about their previous activity in class, that she had gotten the lowest score in some subject, or that she was not the top of her year anymore.

Scratch that. She still wanted to be top of her year.

She waited patiently on her chair, eager for them to stop staring at her. Just when she got fed up and was about to explode and tell them to go look at something else, Professor Binns appeared through a wall in the room. With his arrival came the other missing Hufflepuffs, and they apologized and hurried to their seats, but Hermione felt them stare at her as well.

Oh god… let it be about something else! She felt harry nudge her at the side and she turned to face him.

"Something's wrong with the Hufflepuffs," he whispered to her, looking over his shoulder at the same time. "Their eyes have been glued to you since we came in. you didn't do anything to them, did you?"

Hermione inwardly cursed Harry. Curse him for being so damn observant, she thought. "Do you really think I did anything to them?" she asked him innocently. "The only Hufflepuffs I've gone near to were Justin and Ernie, and I'm pretty confident that I didn't do anything to offend them in any way."

Harry shrugged. "I was just asking."

As that moment, Professor Binns began to speak, and all of them were transported to a world where everything was dull and uninteresting.

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She sat on the dark floor, thinking of everything that has been happening in the outside world. Nothing much had changed, really, but the minor changes were actually to her advantage and not to the other's.

"Well, at least life isn't boring these days," Dark-Hermione, who had decided to call herself Artemis and Light-Hermione Athena, said into the still air. "Of course, what's the point in speaking aloud at all when nobody's there to listen, anyway?" She threw her hands up in the air and lay her back on the invisible ground. "Still, it's better than a deafening silence."

She replayed the recent happenings in her mind. "Let's see," she muttered again. "Hermione—well, I, I mean—oh, I forgot… I'm Artemis now. Anyway, Hermione seems to be taking a strange sort of liking for Malfoy. Well, not liking, per se, but… attraction… fascination. Ha! Yes, I very much prefer Malfoy to Harry, anyway. Who'd want someone who's a goody-goody and everyone's favorite? There's no fun in a guy like that. On a naughty one, though, there could be much fun. I'm pretty sure Malfoy is much more fun in bed than Harry will ever be."

She laughed to herself. "Oh, if only that little pristine, untarnished, white angel could hear what her other half is saying. She'd go ballistic!" She sat up from the floor and looked down on it. Doing so had always given her a bird's eye view of what was happening outside, as if she was another body altogether watching herself from above.

Hermione, the one who had the ability to interact with other people, was sitting on what looked like her chair in the Arithmancy classroom. She was twirling her hair with her fingers and looking in the direction opposite her. Artemis followed her line of sight and found Draco with his back to them, supposedly taking down notes on what the teacher was saying.

"Well, I must say," Artemis muttered. "Even with his back turned, he still looks damn good." As she made the comment, she was reminded of something that made her smile. "Why, I didn't notice this before, but Hermione has finally learned how to cuss and swear!" She clapped her hands together in delight. "Constantly looking at Malfoy and swearing on an irregular basis, those are the symptoms."

She lay back down and closed her eye, trying to concentrate on finding her nicer half. She had long ago found out that their minds were linked and that, if they concentrated hard enough, they would be able to see and hear where the other was and what she was doing. Though… she highly doubted that Athena had already found that out. For a few vexatious moments, she found nothing, but soon she saw a vision of Athena sitting glumly on the floor, drawing shapes in it with her finger. The nicer girl looked very helpless, as if she did not know what to do, and Artemis didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Stupid girl," she thought, opening her eyes. "She's not even doing anything to put up a challenge! At this rate, Hermione's brain and soul will be easily corrupted by moi." Flipping her hair, she laughed darkly and smirked. "That would be utterly boring, she has to do something at some point in time."

She remained quiet for a while, bored out of her head with nothing interesting to do. Finally, she threw up her hands in frustration. "Fuck, she has to do something soon before I start slitting my wrist out of boredom!" Breathing in deeply to calm herself, she decided to just watch and observe the happenings in the Arithmancy classroom.

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A/N: This was a boring chapter, as far as I'm concerned. I couldn't think of anything better to write. People, bear with me. It's trouble enough to be thinking of college 24/7.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10 is just going to be all about Draco and Hermione. People are talking about them, people talk to them, they get mad at each other… you know. Chapter 11 is the good part… hihihi! Can't wait to post that one!