The Adult World

Chapter 7: A proposition

Hermione knew that the house elves were getting irritated with her. Not only did her classroom require daily scrubbing… literally top to bottom, now she was making odd requests. She had to explain what she planned on doing several times before they conceded. She wistfully remembered Dobby, and knew that if he were still there, that it wouldn’t have taken any time to get the job done.

However, when they did finally agree to help her, she was impressed by their enthusiasm. They made sure to have the things she requested ready for her, so when the time was right, they would be in place. When Monday finally came, Hermione anxiously awaited her final class. The weekend had been enough time for her to make the plan, and she hoped that the execution would go well.

Finally it was time for the last, and worst class to appear. Leaning against the door, she watched as the students dropped their books on the table and flopped into their seats. They immediately began talking to one another, and passing notes around the room. When the last student was in and seated, she stepped in and slammed the door behind her. The students jumped and turned to look at her, not one of them catching the spell she mumbled under her breath.

With a confident smile, she made her way to the front of the room. Once she reached her desk, she turned with flourish and stood silently, staring at each one of them. The students watched her, and when she didn’t begin speaking, turned to whisper to each other with confused expressions on their faces. It was then that they noticed something was wrong. A few students grabbed their throats, and others appeared to be trying to yell. They made frantic movements, and looked around the room in horror.

Hermione cleared her throat, and all frantic movement stopped.

“Now that I have your attention, we can begin.” She leaned back against her desk and gave them a small smile. “We are coming close to Christmas break, and I don’t feel that this class has made any improvement since the beginning of the year. I don’t know what Professor Stubs taught you before I got here, but at this point I don’t care. You should be able to complete the simple potions that I assign daily without difficulty. It’s a shame that students younger then you are able to make potions adequately, and you are still blowing things up.” The students looked at each other sheepishly. Hermione stood and began pacing slowly in the front of the room.

“I’m also getting tired of trying to get your attention, and talking over your conversations. As you’ve probably already noticed, I’ve performed a silencing spell on all of you. It will lift the minute you step foot out of the classroom. I should have made it last the rest of the day, but I think I’ve gotten the point across. From now on I will not tolerate anyone speaking when I am speaking, having conversations that have nothing to do with what is written on the board, and all notes passed with be confiscated and read to the entire class. Do I make myself clear?” She smiled at their bewildered expressions. “You may nod your heads.”

Every student nodded their head, and Hermione felt a surge of pride rush through her veins. She smiled broader and walked over to the chalk board.

“So now we are left starting with the basics. I can’t keep trying to grade potions that may be harmful if ingested, and frankly, I don’t want to be your guinea pig.” Turning the board around, she used her wand as a pointer, and gestured to the instructions. “This is going to be an individual process. I am going to be critiquing you on your measuring, chopping, and brewing times. This is going to take the whole hour, and I want you all focused on your work. Once you are finished, raise your hand and I will come over to you. I will hand you a card for you to put your name on, and will assess your work. Any comments or criticism I have will be written on that card. After I am finished assessing your work, you will be handed a copy of the card and an envelope with your mid-term potions assignment. I expect you to take the criticism I provide to heart, and improve in the areas I suggest. The midterm is also an individual project and will take three days of brewing to complete. I will not tell you what potion you have, so after it is finished, I want five feet written on the potions’ effects and your conclusion as to what the potion is. Turn the paper, and a sample of the potion in to me by next Friday. Also, don’t bother copying each other, every envelope is different. If you need assistance, my door is always open, and there are also a few seventh year students who can help you. Now you may begin the assignment on the board.”

She watched with a grin as they read over the ingredients and instructions, and shot each other questioning looks. Walking back around toward her desk, she tapped the corner and an array of vegetables appeared. The house elves had really out-done themselves, and she would have to remember to thank them later.

Numerous hands flew into the air, and a few students bounced in their seats as they attempted to get her attention. Hermione’s eyes ran over them and she shook her head. “No questions. The assignment is clear. Begin working now.”

********

Draco leaned against the door as the last of the students filed out of his class. He noticed a group of students hanging around outside Hermione’s class, and wondered what was going on. He hadn’t heard any noise come from the rambunctious class all period, and thought that maybe she had finally strangled them all. However, what peeked his interest the most, was the way every student acted when the left the room. They sighed heavily, placed their hands on their throats, and immediately began babbling at each other. Catching bits of the conversation only raised his curiosity even more.

“I can’t believe she did that!”

“Should be against the rules!

“No my throat really does hurt!”

“Craziest assignment I’ve ever heard of…”

A few students noticed him hanging around listening to what they were saying, and grabbed their friends to leave the dungeons.

“Heard he’s just as crazy as she is…”

He smirked at the last comment, and walked into Hermione’s class. He watched as she went from cauldron, to cauldron, and made notes in a little book. The room actually smelled nice for once, and caused his stomach to growl.

Sensing a presence behind her, Hermione turned and smiled once she saw who was leaning against the door frame.

“Everything was perfect today. The idea you had was excellent, and worked wonderfully. I never thought I could get them to listen to me, and actually produce something I could recognize, but they did! I was just about to come thank you.” She said, beaming at him.

“Well, I don’t know to which idea you are referring to, but every one I have is wonderful, so you’re welcome.” He replied with an amused smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes and gestured to the cauldrons. “I’m talking about the soup idea. You said that I should just have them make soup… so I did. It was a great way for me to see what they were doing wrong, without having to worry about what was going to get blown up. And I was more assertive, and took over the class… well, with the help of a silencing charm.” She said with a devilish grin.

“You hexed them? Welcome to the dark side Professor Granger. Nice of you to finally join us.” Shaking his head, he sauntered into the room and drug a seat out. Sitting down, his expression turned serious. “Now since I helped you, I am in need of a little favor.”

With a worried look, she pulled a chair out across from him and sat down. Shaking off the worried expression, she narrowed her eyes and gave him a skeptical look. “What kind of favor?”

He grinned a little and leaned forward on the desk. “Well, I needed you to cover a few classes for me next week, but if you have something else in mind…”

Now completely flustered, her cheeks burned bright. “Don’t be a pig Malfoy. What classes do you need covered?”

Draco noticed the blush on her cheeks, and chose to ignore it for the moment. “Next week is the boggart lesson for the fourth years. I need someone to teach the class for me on Monday and Wednesday. I can take over Friday for a recap and to make the assignment for winter break.”

“Why do you need those classes covered? I know you’re capable of handling a boggart.”

He was quiet for a moment, and studied his hands that were folded on the table top. “What are you afraid of the most Hermione?” He said so quietly, not meeting her eyes, that she had to lean forward to hear what he asked.

The use of her name left her sitting in shock for moment. She leaned back in her chair and thought about if for a moment. “You mean what would a boggart show me.”

“Yes.” He said, still looking down at his hands.

“Well…” She sighed deeply, and shifted in her chair, mirroring his posture. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to revel the things that haunted her dreams. “I know it’s completely irrational, but after what happened to me during the war, I would probably say your Aunt… Bellatrix Lestrange. I still dream about the night that she used the unforgivable on me, and even though I know she’s dead, I still shudder at the thought of her coming back for me.”

Draco looked up and met her eyes. His eyes expressed a deep haunted look, that was full of regret and sorrow. She knew that she was seeing a side of him that he never let out, and gasped at the intensity of his stare. Reaching out, he place his hands on top of hers. “I still dream of that night too. There were so many things that…” He trailed off and broke the gaze. With a quick squeeze to her hands, he sat back and folded his arms across his chest. She could practically see the walls going back up, and he looked back at her with his usual cool expression.

“I taught the class the first year that I was teaching here. What came out of that chest was not something that fourth years should be seeing. The things I saw in the war, along with six months in Azkaban, made my fears more… colorful. I received so many howlers that term, that I decided to ask Stubs to teach it for me the following year. I will understand if you don’t want to do it… I can always ask someone else.”

Hermione gave him a sad smile. “No, I’ll do it.” She thought about it for a moment more, then smiled broadly. “That means that you’ll be covering the third years for me! Since you teach the fourth years while I teach the thirds...”

Draco groaned, “Maybe I will ask someone else. I don’t want to be stuck in a room with them for two classes… I really might be tempted to do something that would send me back to Azkaban.”

She laughed and shook her head, “They’re fine now. Just threaten to silence them. It worked wonders for me. Besides, you won’t have to cover any assignments, just help them with their mid-term potion.”

Draco stood up and sighed. “Alright, it’s a deal then.” He said as he stuck his hand out.

Hermione shook his hand and stood up next to him. “Deal.”

Holding her hand for a moment longer then was expected, his features softened and he held her gaze. “Thank you.” He practically whispered, before turning and leaving the room.

She stood and looked out the empty doorway, wondering what was going on between the two of them. Rubbing her hands together, she thought about what he had told her, and wondered what the boggart had turned into for him.

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A/N: So what do you think? I have gone back and put the italics in, and also corrected a mistake that I hadn't noticed before. I posted this story on
http://colouredgrey.contraveritas.com/ and got a review that said that I was using 'Headmaster' instead of 'Headmistress' for McGonagall. To be honest, I hadn't even thought about it, so I went back and edited the previous chapters to be more "politically correct". I didn't realize how many times I had used the word 'headmaster'! Sheesh! Anyway... for some reason the word 'headmistress' sounds dirty to me. I don't know, could be that I have a dirty mind. But it really does sound like what you would call a head prostitute. lol.