The Curse of Swan Lake

Chapter Two

It was the beginning of December. The Potions class had been reduced to seventeen people and all of us who were left were trying our best not to screw it up.
It was hard. Almost every class, Professor Snape picked someone to answer his questions and somehow, he managed to always pick the ones that had not prepared that well.

So far, I hadn't been picked, but I was sure it was only a matter of time.

A thin coating of snow covered the grounds, announcing the arrival of winter. The first-years were excited, but I was not. It meant that my nights outside were going to get a lot colder.
I couldn't stay inside my room. I had tried that several times at home and each time, a strong longing to be outside in the moonlight had filled me. I almost broke my window the first time I had stayed inside.

Once the lake froze, I'd have to find a better place to sleep. While I was on the water, I was safe. The kraken left me alone and I was far away from the shore from any predator. But in the winter, the lake was covered in a thick layer of ice. Even a horse would be able to walk on it.

I sighed and stared out of the window. The sky had already turned a pitch black, and it wasn't even past eight yet. The Gryffindor common room was full of students trying to finish some homework at the last minute. Several first-years were playing with toys from Fred and George's shop. The twins were no longer at Hogwarts, but they had left a legacy behind.

The moon was going to rise at nine tonight. It was a little difficult to sneak out in time when the moon rose earlier in the evenings, but so far I've managed.

"Hey, Mione?", asked Ron and looked up from his history essay. "Can I compare my essay with yours?"

I turned my head to look at him. Then I looked down at what he'd written.

Not even a quarter of a page. And three were required.

"No", I said flatly and stared back out of the window.

"Please, just this once? I could use some ideas."

"You may compare your essay with mine", I said annoyed, "when you've actually written one."
I was not in a good mood this evening. Loads of homework, sneaking out at night and waking up at dawn to get back into my dorm were all things straining my nerves. I needed some sleep. More than six hours, at least.

"Hermione, I really need your help", Ron started again, "I've already been working on this for ages-"

"You mean for twenty minutes", I interrupted him.

"Yeah, that's a long time. Please, it will only take a second-"

My head whipped around.
"You're so lazy, Ronald", I said icily. "I work for hours on my essays and you think you can just copy my work in five minutes, just because you don't want to put the required effort into it?"
My fingers tightened around my books and I quickly stood up, gathered my things and left the table.

Ron stared after me with a perplexed expression. I heard him say to Harry: "What did I say?"

A thumping sound told me Ginny had smacked her brother across his head with a book.

****

Fifty minutes later, I was outside in my winter cloak, shivering like mad. My broom was stowed away and only five minutes separated me from a body of a swan. It was eery, how accustomed I had gotten to it. The other night, I had even felt the urge to fly.

As if. The words 'Hermione Granger' and 'flying' were just two things no one could combine in a sentence. They were like two magnets repelling each other.