Choices

Chapter 7: Dilemma


Hermione made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast that morning with her thoughts swirling and tumbling. On one hand she wanted to continue Operation D.L.M. because she still thought that Lucius was jerk, even if he was now a supporter of the Light. On the other, he wasn't a horrible teacher, in fact, he was a really good teacher. He reminded Hermione of McGonagall a little, tough but fair. He had also proved himself to be human by laughing at a joke that a student had made last class while they were practicing disarming charms. And, if Hermione were to be completely honest with herself, the man was very easy on the eyes.

It had been four days since the blond man had reappeared at meal times, and he and Hermione had spent every meal since then "making faces" at each other. Which of course meant that Hermione would either glare or stare at him and he would either smirk or just quirk an eyebrow at her. The point, though, was that he was looking at her, which was Hermione's goal.

Hermione sat down at the table between Harry and Elkara. Ginny was on the other side of Elkara and the girls were holding hands under the table.

"So, what's new?" Hermione asked, pretending to not notice the two girls holding hands.

Elkara smiled brilliantly at her and answered, "Ginny's agreed to be my girlfriend."

Ginny nodded, also smiling. Hermione was happy for her friends. She knew that they would make each other very happy. She couldn't help but wonder when she'd find her own partner that would make her happy like that. Her thoughts were interrupted by the owls delivering the morning mail. She paid for her Daily Prophet and
skimmed it. looking for any news of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. As usual there was nothing.

"Hermione, can I borrow that for a moment?" Harry asked quietly.

"Sure, Harry," she answered, and handed over the paper.

The raven-haired young man rolled the paper and whacked Ron across the back of the head with it. Hermione was shocked, she'd never seen Harry get violent with any of his friends before.

Ron started and yelled, "What the hell was that for?!"

Harry looked at his friend and said, "You were staring again. She's going to notice it, and it's going to make you seem creepy."

Ron blushed, muttered a 'thanks' to Harry and focused his gaze on his plate.

Hermione was confused. "What was that all about Harry? Who is 'she'?"

"Ron has a crush on a Ravenclaw, and has had to make a lot of effort not to stare at her like a lovestruck fool." Ron glared at the back of Harry's head at this. "We're trying to figure out the best way for him to go talk to her without making a fool out of himself."

Hermione processed this information and was about to say something when Elkara said, "Why doesn't he ask her to study with him? Ravenclaws are all about learning and stuff, right? It's what I'd do if I were interested one."

Hermione and Ginny nodded their agreement, and Ron looked like Christmas had come early. Hermione felt eyes on her and turned toward the Head Table to find Lucius Malfoy staring in her direction. She did the only thing she could think of. She looked him right in the eyes, picked up her spoon, and licked the cream off it in the most seductive way she could manage. She then turned her attention back to her friends acting like nothing had happened.

"What?" she asked, when she realized the boys were staring at her.

"Bloody hell, Hermione, where did you learn that?" Ron asked, his eyes wide.

"Learn what?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You just violated that poor spoon!" the red head exclaimed, trying to be quiet about it.

Hermione, Elkara, and Ginny started laughing. Ginny answered, "Ronald, if you knew half the things that girl can do with her tongue I think you'd be red for a month."

Elkara and Harry laughed, while Ron and Hermione looked scandalized at the implications of Ginny's words.

"Come on, it's time to go to class. Ginny, we're meeting you in the library during our free period, right?" Hermione said as she stood and grabbed her book bag from under the table.

The red head nodded and the friends separated. Harry, Ron, Elkara, and Hermione heading for DADA, and Ginny heading for Arithmancy.

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"Quills and parchment out, wands and books away," Professor Malfoy said as he swept into the classroom.

Half the girls in the room sighed at the sound of their professor's voice. Elkara had been one of the girls that sighed, Hermione looked at her with a mixture of shock and disgust evident in her expression. Elkara mouthed 'I'll explain later'. Hermione gave her a look that clearly said 'you'd better have a damn good explanation'.

"The first half of today's lesson you'll learn about the Reveille Charm. The last half of the lesson will be spent practicing. Now who can tell me what the word reveille means and it's origin?" Professor Malfoy spoke as he walked to the front of the room and positioned himself almost directly in front of Elkara and Hermione.


Hermione, Elkara, and four other students raised their hands.

"Yes, Miss Abbott," he called on the one Hufflepuff girl that had managed to make it into seventh year DADA.

"Reveille is French, it means 'awake'" she answered, not sounding very sure of herself.

"Please stand up, Miss Abbott, and speak a little louder," Malfoy said.

One of the things that Hermione was beginning to admire about him was that he spent a good deal of time trying to boost Hannah's confidence.

The blonde girl stood up, shaking slightly, and said quite clearly,"Reveille is French, it means 'awake'."

The professor graced her with a rare smile, saying, "Very good, Miss Abbott. Five points to Hufflepuff."

Hannah blushed and sat back down, looking about ready to faint.

"Can anyone tell me what the Reveille Charm does and the dangers of using it multiple times?" the elder Malfoy asked.

This time only Hermione and Elkara raised their hands.

"Yes, Miss Shidu."

Elkara straightened her shoulders and said, "The Reveille Charm, as the name implies, wakes you up. It gives you more energy and allows you to focus. It's very useful in situations where you can't sleep, such as a battle or running for your life. If used repeatedly without sleeping in between applications it can cause you to collapse, go mad, or die."

"Five points to Gryffindor. Miss Granger, can you tell me the proper wand movement and incantation?"

"Yes, Sir," she stood and faced the class. "You point your wand at your face and make sharp up and down movement while saying reveille." She demonstrated the movement while she was speaking.

"Another five to Gryffindor. Miss Granger, have you considered teaching?" he asked as he turned that oh-so-rare smile on her.

Hermione shook her head and sat back down. Wow, two smiles in one class period. He must be in a really good mood today.

"Okay, so learning about the charm didn't take as long as I thought it would. Does everyone know the proper incantation of the charm?" Lucius asked.

The class nodded, and as one said, "Reveille."

"Very good. Now let's practice."

The desks were moved to the sides of the room and they spent the rest of the class period practicing the charm. Lucius walked around monitoring progress and correcting mistakes when he saw them. He would never tell anyone, but he was fiercely proud of his seventh year students. The wizarding world was in the middle of a war and these children were doing everything they could to prepare themselves for it. By the end of the lesson nearly every student had mastered the charm, and the few that hadn't were very close.

Lucius clapped his hands loudly to signal that the lesson was drawing to an end. The seventh year students moved the desks back to their spots and sat down, waiting for their professor to tell them the homework assignment and dismiss them.

"You all worked very well today. There is no homework. Get out of my classroom before I change my mind." he said by way of dismissing his class, almost as an

afterthought he added, "Miss Granger, may I speak with you a moment?"

She waved her friends out the door and said, "Yes, Professor."

"Miss Granger, have you ever seriously considered being a teacher? You'd be great at it," he said, walking toward her.

Hermione shook her head. "No, sir. I haven't. I want to be a healer."

He nodded his head. "You'd be great at that, too."

He was now standing mere inches from her. She took a step back, and he stepped forward.

"Is there anything else, Professor? I really need to get to my next lesson," she said, trying to keep the nervousness from her voice.

Why am I so nervous? He's not really that close, and he doesn't look angry or anything.

Suddenly he grabbed her and brought his mouth down to hers in a searing kiss, and as quickly as it had started it was over. Hermione stood there gaping like a fish for a moment, shocked at what had just happened.

Lucius walked away from her and, trying not to laugh at her expression, said, "You'd better get to your next lesson, Miss Granger."

Hermione snapped out her shock and fled the classroom.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Lucius started laughing and said, "The game is on, little girl, I hope you can keep up."

On the other side of the door, Hermione whispered furiously, "You bet your ass I can. I just need a little help."

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A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews!
Should I pair Harry with Hannah Abbott or someone else? If someone else, who?