Our Second Chance (Dramione)

Chapter 19 So Much Has Changed

  Hermione took notes very carefully, and still listened at the same time. She froze for a minute as Slughorn announced a pop quiz. The questions were quite easy for her to answer, but both Ron and Harry looked like they were in immense pain. She was about to answer the last two questions when suddenly a paper bird magically flew over to her desk, and landed on top of her parchment. She placed her quill back in the ink jar and opened the note.

  'Laugh and the whole world laughs with you'

  She already knew who the note was from. She turned around and gave him a disgusted glare; which he gave a sneer in return. She crumbled the note and got back to what was far more important. Her school work. The annoying blonde ferret was not going to bother her anymore. This was her last year of Hogwarts, and the one thing she wanted to focus on was the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests that were coming up at the end of the year. She was going to study her brains out even if it killed her.

                                       ***

  Hermione sat at the Great Hall table; catching up on some History of Magic reading, and enjoying a small sandwich as well. Harry was enjoying some soup before the next class started. "Hermione, are you taking Ancient Runes this year?", Harry asked as he looked at his time table.

  "No, I'm taking Care for Magical Creatures." She raised an eyebrow after she answered and realized that a pattern was starting to form. "This is the third time you've asked about my classes. If you were trying to match up your classes with mine so that you can copy my homework then you might want to think again!" She picked up her books as she slid out from the bench and was about to head for her next class when suddenly she was stopped by Slughorn.

"Oh, hello Miss Granger." Slughorn held his potions book in his hands, and was probably about to grab a quick meal before he had to teach some younger students. "I was just coming over here to tell you and Harry about my dinner parties. First one is the 5th of September. Look for my owl." Hermione looked over at Harry to see that he had heard it.

"We will, sir", they said in sync.

"Good", Slughorn caught a glimpse of Ron and gave him a smile. "Hello, Wallamby", he said before walking away. Harry couldn't help but laugh at how Slughorn still didn't care to make Ron a part of the Slug Club.

"Alright, let's move on", Ron said annoyed, but soon Hermione joined in laughing. "Oh poor Ron", she thought to herself.

                                         ***

She sat in the library and answered the questions to her homework. It was her main focus right now. "When is the most necessary time to drink a Wolfsbane potion?", she didn't even need the book to answer the question. When she did the paper assigned to her in her third year, she learned that the Wolfsbane potion needed to be drunk a week before full moon.

"What is the most important ingredient in the polyjuice potion?", she quickly searched through the potions book that she grabbed from the Restricted section, and saw that the answer was a Bicorn Horn (powdered).

She completed her potions homework and moved onto her Care for Magical Creatures homework when suddenly a noise came from the bookshelf beside her. Pansy and Blaise were having a rather loud conversation while people around them were trying to study.

The loudness didn't seem to stop as their conversation continued, and when Hermione heard Pansy shout, she stood up and walked over to the two Slytherins. "If you two don't keep it down, then I'll be forced to take away points." She was annoyed and dead serious. The only thing Pansy gave her was a disgusted glare.

"A Mudblood as Head Girl? There's a first." Her annoying laugh ran through her ears as Blaise simply stood there. After all she did to save this world, this is what she gets in return.

"20 points from Slytherin", said Hermione before storming off, grabbing her books and heading down to the first floor where Herbology awaits.

All the seventh year students talked quietly as they waited for Professor Sprout, however, Hermione had a slight idea of what they were going to learn about today. Black slick vines dangled throughout the class, while some other plants were up near the front of the class. "Welcome to greenhouse 9, seventh years. Today we will be learning about different types of plants to start off the year. Can anyone tell me what this is?", Professor Sprout said as she pointed to the black vines, and as usual, Hermione's hand was the first in the air. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

  "That is Devil's Snare. If a person encounters Devil's Snare then the vines will reach out like tentacles and wrap around their body; eventually strangling them. The key in Devil's Snare is to relax or it will only kill them faster. In contrast to that, the plant is known for sulking in the sunlight."

  "Well done, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor." She moved along to the next plant. "Now who can tell me what this plant is?" Once again Hermione's hand was the first in the air. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

  "That right there is Flitterbloom. It is often mistaken for Devil's Snare. There really is no way to spot the difference between the two, except Flitterbloom isn't deadly."

  "Perfect! One last plant", Professor Sprout looked over at the Slytherins and shockingly saw Pansy's hand in the air. "Yes, Miss Parkinson?"

  "That's a Venomous Tentacula." Hermione knew that Pansy could only give the name of the plant, considering the fact that she never paid any attention in any of the classes. She was surprised to hear that she actually wanted to answer.

  "Yes, Miss Parkinson." Pansy had an annoyed glare aimed at Miss Sprout, probably hoping to get points to Slytherin. When she didn't, Pansy moved her glare over to Hermione and gave her an even deadlier one, which she simply just moved over to Harry to avoid. Suddenly a shout was heard from across the room. Neville Longbottom dangled in the air as the Devil's Snare seemed to snatch him and started to strangle him.

  Everyone panicked as he struggled to break free. "Relax!", several students shouted; which didn't seem to help. He struggled more against the vines, but Hermione quickly pulled out her and aimed it at the dangerous plant to save her friend. "Lumos Solem." He fell to the ground as the plant retracted and several Gryffindors came to see if he was alright. It was just something Gryffindors did.

  "Thank you, Miss Granger. Helping a student in a time of need. We could not have had a better Head Girl. Ten points to Gryffindor." She smiled at her second accomplishment. Maybe this year will finally be a good year, but she turned slightly to see a very angry Draco Malfoy. Then again, maybe this year won't.