Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

19 - Flooded

"No, no, Miss Granger, it's fine. Thank-you for telling me. I will check with Madam Pomfrey about the dosage and strength of your potion. In the mean time, try hard in lessons and come and see me if you require assistance with your homework in future."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry I'm not doing well enough."

"Don't be sorry," McGonagall said firmly. "Work out where things are going wrong and fix it. You are not stupid, Hermione. I believe you have the strength to do this."

And with that parting comment, Hermione left.

***

At lunch, Hermione went to the library. There were more books on the school subjects than there were drops of water in the Great Lake, so she was bound to find extra guides to her studies. She found at least three more textbooks on each of her OWL subjects, and tried to take them all out - however, Madam Pince objected strongly to Hermione taking 42 books out at once.

"Please Miss, I really need these for my studies," Hermione begged, holding her piles of reading material aloft with Wingardium Leviosa. Madam Pince huffed, and flicked the books back onto their shelves with her own wand.

"The rules clearly state that students, Head Girl or otherwise, can have no more than five books out at once. You already have three books out at this present time, and are massively violating the limits."

Seeing that she was going to get nowhere, Hermione left and resorted to looking back through her own basic copies of her books. They were informative, but contained nowhere near the depth or complexity that she needed to help get her grades back to normal. Still her mind wandered, and it wasn't before long that the piece of parchment that was supposed to contain her Arithmancy essay was filled with doodles. Hermione sighed, and went to the Great Hall instead.

"But we can definitely go to the Lake if we say it's for a "social experiment", can't we?" Ginny was stating sarcastically, gesticulating mindlessly. "I'm sure that'll slide with Clark."

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, sitting down and shrugging her bag of books off.

"Dean says that Clark will let us try to feed the giant squid students if we say it's  social experiment." Luna said, carving a chip with her wand.

"Come on, we don't even know if it eats people," Dean said, waving his hands emphatically, "And besides, it's an important part of Muggle Studies, I'm sure. Professor Gladheart will agree with me." Seamus rolled his eyes.

"What will I agree with?" came a voice from behind Dean. He jumped and turned around, seeing Professor Gladheart had overheard the last part of the conversation.

"Oh, nothing, really sir." Dean said quickly, looking embarrassed. "We were discussing... Muggle rights?"

"Ah yes! What area of them?" The professor looked delighted, and gazed around at the group with clear happiness.

"Um, equality in... law?" Dean offered.

"What a fascinating aspect of the Muggle world! Yes, there are a great many books and studies on this. You must come and see me in my office if you're interested, Mr Thomas, I'd be happy to talk about it with you anytime." With that, he walked off and the group exploded into giggles.

"You lot were exactly no help at all there!" Dean said, flicking crumbs at Ginny. They caught in her hair, and she shook her head violently to get them out.

"What did you want help with? You seemed to be coping just fine," Ginny smiled innocently.

"Well, this isn't over! I will persuade you to help me with my plotting." Dean said dramatically, getting his bag so he could leave.

"I'm sure Professor Gladheart will sponsor you in your efforts to feed the squid. You can have such thrilling conversations with him!" Seamus said, laughing. Dean grimaced, and left them.

"Anyway, where were you, Hermione? You missed the start of lunch." Ginny asked.

"I had to see McGonagall about some extra work." Hermione said, regretting her words a little bit. They weren't a complete lie, but it made her seem like a much better student than the one she currently was.

"Ah, no problem. We're going to the pitch in a minute for a practise. Want to come?" Ginny offered. Hermione accepted, and after she'd eaten they went down to the Quidditch field. Hermione went up into the stands to watch as the others got their brooms.

She sat back in the wooden seats and watched them soaring over the grass, barely looking down as they chased the clouds. She wondered what it would be like to fly. Since their first introductions to flying in their first year, Hermione had had no inclination to do anything more than watch; heights terrified her. She could cope with the stands, or even leaning out of the tower windows, but the idea of putting all her trust into a broomstick was too much for her.

Hermione called out to the others as they did tricks on their brooms: upside down, loop-the-loops - Seamus even tried a handstand, but he had to slide back into his seat before he dropped to the floor below.

"How are you, Granger?" Hermione heard, and she saw Malfoy coming to sit with her.

"Um, OK. You?" she said, smiling as he shuffled into place.

"That doesn't sound convincing. How are you really?" he asked.

"I'm fine, honest. You don't have to worry about me all the time."

"But I do. Come on, I can tell something's up really. Maybe I can help." Malfoy implored, turning his head so Hermione had to look at him. She sighed.

"The nightmares were coming back. I've been taking this potion to help me sleep, so I don't need to come to the Tower, but I still don't feel right. Something feels wrong all the same. And..." she hesitated. "My grades are slipping, and McGonagall had to come and speak to me about them because they've got so bad. I'm really worried that something's gone so horribly wrong I can't recover. What if I'm not really clever? What happens if I'm so stupid I can't do my NEWTs? What will happen then?"

"OK, you need to breathe. You're overthinking this. You are not stupid, Granger. Ever since first year I was jealous that I never got top marks in anything because you always beat everyone hands down. So what if you're a little rusty? I bet you just need to try those relaxation techniques you taught us at Support Group, and maybe not worry about your work so much, and you'll be fine."

"But what about the sleeping potion?" Hermione asked him. "How do I cope without it if I can't go to the Tower?"

"No-one said we can't go to the Tower." Malfoy said, smiling mischievously.

"But it's against the--"

"It never stopped us before. Come on, Granger, didn't Potter and Weasley teach you anything? Life's about more than following the rules. Try not taking the Potion tonight, and come to the Tower if you get the dreams again. I'll be there."

"Oh but Malfoy, you can't stay there all night just so you can wait for me on the off-chance I have the dream. That's daft. Go to bed, and don't worry so much about me." Hermione said with a grateful smile.

"I'll bring blankets and cushions so I can sleep if you don't need to come in the end. Is that OK with you?"

"You're mad. But thank you." Hermione said, turning back to watch the Quidditch players just as Ginny threw the Quaffle at Dean's head.