All That You Are

Hermione had caught up with Ron and Harry, who both looked worse for wear and found out that they had missed the feast because they had taken Arthur’s flying car here. Hermione’s eyes widened. 

“Are you both mad?! What if you were spotted?!”

Harry rolled his eyes at the same time as Ron. “It turned invisible. Blimey, you sound just like Snape.”

“Well, maybe because he has a point.”

“We had to get here didn’t we?!” Ron was flustered. 

“What happened, exactly.”

Harry adjusted his glasses, and she sighed pulling out her wand to repair them. Harry smiled and nodded his head at her, before continuing. “Listen, I think that something or somebody was trying to keep me from attending Hogwarts this year. Dobby–the house elf–was stealing my mail.”

“You didn’t get any of my letters?”

“No. I didn’t get Ron’s either. Anyways, he was stealing my mail and told me it was because he wanted me to think that none of you wanted me to come back to Hogwarts. Then, we couldn’t get through the barrier to get on the train, which is why we took the car in the first place. The bloody thing wound up running right into the Whomping Willow and we almost got killed then expelled.”

“That…that sounds like way too much of a coincidence. Although the two of you always seem to be involved in trouble it seems like.”

“The two of us. If I remember you were also a part of most of what happened last year.” Ron’s ears were turning pink. 

“Hmm. Valid point.”

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“Good morning, good morning everyone.” Hermione had shuffled in between Harry and Draco, making sure to be a buffer as they cast glares at one another over her head. 

“Good morning Professor Sprout.” The class replied, all at different tunes and times that made Hermione’s eye twitch. 

“Welcome to Greenhouse three. You will be learning about Mandrakes, while we repot them. Now, can anybody tell me about the properties of Mandrake root?”

Hermione’s hand shot in the ear and she ignored Draco’s comment as Professor Sprout turned towards her. “Swot.”

“Ms. Granger?” She dropped her arm, effectively elbowing Draco in the side as she did. He cast a glare at her from the corner of her eye.

“Mandrake’s otherwise referred to as Mandragora is used to return people who have been petrified to their original state. Mandrake’s cries are dangerous, and can be fatal to anybody who hears it.”

“Wonderful. Forty points to Ms. Granger–that’s ten points for each of you. Now, these are only seedlings which means that the cries aren’t going to kill you but they will knock you out for several hours. There are earmuffs here, everybody grab a pair.” Hermione waited patiently, wanting to avoid the scrambling and found that her and Theo had done the same thing. They approached carefully once everybody had returned to their seats and she noticed that there were only two pairs left–one black and the other pink. She grabbed the pink, handing Theo the black pair that he took from her, careful to avoid their hands touching. 

Returning to her seat, she noticed that again Draco was eyeing her curiously and she ignored him, attempting to move her hair out of the way so she could properly position the earmuffs. Harry grabbed a handful of her hair, holding it to the side as she positioned them, and she smiled at him. Draco was now glaring at Harry. Merlin, everybody here was giving her a headache. 

“Now, grab the Mandrake firmly, and pull it from the pot quickly.” Hermione noted that it looked like a disturbing baby, its face pinched together as it cried. “Then, you place it in the new pot and put some soil to keep it warm.” 

The class erupted in laughter when Neville fell over. “He fainted, Professor.” Ron said matter of factly, staring down at the now unconscious Neville sprawled out on the floor. 

“Very well. Just leave him there. On you go, remember ! Grasp and pull!”

Hermione cringed as she heard the faint sound of the Mandrakes screaming. She repotted her plant quickly, wanting one less screaming plant-child in the room. Rolling her eyes at Draco who was attempting to tickle the nose of his Mandrake, she glanced over at Harry who was also repotting his Mandrake quickly. 

Draco yelled and she bit her lip to keep from laughing as he tried to wrestle his finger from its mouth. 

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Hermione was perched at the Gryffindor table again, after being dragged there by Harry. A younger student, Colin had snapped a photo of Harry and Hermione was attempting to blink the bright light away when she noticed Ron’s bird come crashing down into the pudding. “Bloody hell, dumb bird.”

Before Ron’s fingers could even touch the envelope, she watched him pale–the envelope hovering above the table before it started to shriek. Hermione suddenly wished that she still had the earmuffs from their previous class. 

“RONALD WEASLEY!” He gulped and Hermione bit back a smile. “I AM DISGUSTED WITH YOUR BEHAVIOR! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR FATHER IS NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT  WORK?! IF YOU PUT A SINGLE TOE OUT OF LINE THIS YEAR, YOU WILL BE SENT STRAIGHT HOME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Hermione watched him nod as though his mother was right there yelling at him and able to see his response. The Slytherin table was howling with laughter and she cringed in embarrassment for the redhead in front of her. The Howler turned towards Ginny who was now also looking mortified and congratulated her on making Gryffindor before sticking it’s tongue out at Ron and ripping itself into shreds. 

Hermione stuffed a piece of muffin into her mouth to keep from laughing along with the table behind her. 

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Hermione was observing the many portraits of their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher as he burst into the room dramatically. He swept down the stairs and she could have sworn she heard the girls in the front row coo. She rolled her eyes, placing her books onto the table. He was handsome, sure but a tad bit dramatic for her tastes. Besides, they were supposed to be learning and based on the papers that he had handed them asking what they knew about him, she wasn’t so sure that there would be much to learn about this year. 

It was confirmed when he rattled on, attempting to dazzle them with horrid jokes and a smile that made her cringe some more. Honestly, what did the girls see in him? Rolling her eyes, she flipped open the book, deciding that she would just read in the damn class instead when he tapped on a cage getting her attention. 

“You might find yourself facing your worst fear in this room…no need to fear though, no harm will befall you when I am here. Although, I ask you not to scream…it might PROVOKE them!”* Hermione stared with a raised brow at the Pixies in the cage before them. 

Seamus rattled off behind her. “Cornish Pixies?”

“Freshly caught, so laugh if you want but these little buggers are rather tricky..” Hermione’s eyes widened in horror when she realized what he was going to do when his hand rested on the cage door. Flinging it open they all started to swarm the classroom. Two of them grabbed Neville by the ear, hoisting him up to the chandelier as they dangled him from it by his robes. 

She felt the sharp pain in her scalp as a Pixie yanked a lock of her hair. Harry lifted a book, attempting to bat the thing in the air. “Right, well. I will leave it to you three to round them up!”

Gilderoy scurried through the door that he came from and Hermione glared after him, before raising her wand. “Immobulus.” All of the pixies froze, and she glanced around the room to notice all of the other students had left–except for Neville who was now questioning why it was always him who had the horrid things happen to him. She turned towards Ron. 

“Go get one of the capable Professors to get Neville down. Harry and I will round up the Pixies.”

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Hermione was attempting to read in the courtyard when she noticed the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams having a standoff. Sighing, she rolled her eyes and made her way over there–knowing full well that Harry was going to somehow get himself into trouble, yet again. At her approach, she overheard Oliver reading from a piece of Parchment. 

“I, Professor Severus Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today as is necessary to train their new Seeker.” Hermione was now just as Curious as Oliver was. “You have a new Seeker?”

Marcus stepped to the side, a smug look plastered to his face and as he did Hermione noted the new brooms that they were all holding. She wasn’t a broom connoisseur–and honestly, if there was one thing she didn’t really know about, it was brooms, but she could tell that they were brand new. Even with limited knowledge of the death traps. She had heard Draco and Harry ramble on and on about Quidditch on different occasions for her to retain some knowledge. 

Draco stepped out, and the pieces clicked together. Harry seemed dumbstruck. “Malfoy?!”

“I’m not the only thing new this year.” He tipped his broom to the side and she watched the rest of the gathering crowd gasp. 

Ron surprisingly was the one who spoke up. “Are those Nimbus 2001s?!” 

Marcus again looked smug. “A gift from Draco’s father.”

Hermione muttered under her breath, resulting in a glare from Draco. “More like a bribe, I’m guessing.”

“Nobody asked the opinion of a filthy Mudblood.” Hermione glared at him, and to her surprise, Ron pulled his wand, pointing it at Draco. Before she could warn him not to cast any spell with his wand taped like that, he had already demanded that Draco eat slugs. She watched in horror as he was blasted backwards, falling against the ground before turning and vomiting slugs on the ground. The rest of the crowd snickered and she ran towards him with Harry, dragging him to his feet as he continuously threw up slug after slug. 

She glared at Draco as they passed, bumping him with her shoulder. He glanced at her, before looking away quickly, his cheeks pink. 

Hermione and Harry made their way past the large crowd that had gathered and made their way towards Hagrid’s hut while Ron left behind a trail of slugs. Once they were settled in Hagrid’s hut, and Ron had his bucket propped underneath him, she turned to stare out the window. 

Honestly, she couldn’t decide what hurt worse–the fact that Draco had called her a mudblood or the fact that it was him calling her that in the first place. She fought back tears, swiping her hands across her cheeks. It didn’t make sense. She hadn’t said anything about her past, nor did she even know who her parents were. Unless of course, Draco assumed that she came from non-magical parents simply because she had been at the Orphanage or because she had no recollection of who her parents were. 

“Nothin to do but wait, better out than in though. Who were you trying to curse anyways?”

Ron groaned into the bucket as she heard another slug hit the bottom. His response was more of a grunt. “Malfoy.”

“He called Hermione…” Harry stopped and she heard him shuffle. “I don’t really know what it means actually.”

Hermione lifted her chin, still staring out the window. “He called me a mudblood, Harry.”

“He did not!”

“What does it mean?”

“It means…” She swallowed. “It means that I have dirty blood. Somebody who is born from Muggle parents, it’s a foul name. Not something that is generally brought up in civilized conversation.” 

Harry was staring at her confused. “But you don’t even know who your parents are. How does he know if they were Muggle born?”

“I supposed it’s because I was at a Muggle Orphanage.”

“How does he know that?” Hermione shrugged, realizing that of course Harry wouldn’t know that she had spent her summer at Malfoy Manor or the fact that she lived with the same Professor he insisted hated him. That wasn’t information that she wanted to share and she realized that there were two different versions of her. The same person residing on different sides–Gryffindor and Slytherin. No wonder she wasn’t sorted into a house. She didn’t belong in either. 

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Sitting in the library, trying desperately to focus on anything other than her traitorous mind, she couldn’t seem to focus. She slumped down, resting her head against the table and tried to push the tears out of her eyes. Useless. She lifted her head, catching sight of blonde hair in her peripheral. 

“What do you want, Malfoy?” It came out less sharp than she wanted, and she cursed her crying and traitorous voice. 

Draco shuffled forward more, running a hand through his hair. His eyes were on anything but her face and for some reason that angered her more. 

“Spit it out. You had no problem saying what you did earlier.” Draco’s eyes snapped to hers and to her delight she saw pink spreading across his cheeks. 

“I-I shouldn’t have said what I did earlier.” 

She narrowed her eyes.  It wasn't an apology, merely an acknowledgment of what they both knew.  “No, you shouldn't have.  But we both knew that, is that what you came here to tell me?” 

He was studying her, eyes swirling, and she lifted her chin higher. “Do you have something going on with Theo?” 

She blanched; it wasn't the question that she was expecting. Not that she was expecting an apology from Draco Malfoy of all people. 

“I'm sorry, what?” 

Draco narrowed his eyes on her. “Are you…involved with Theo?” 

“No. Why would I-not that it's any of your business whom I would be involved with if I was involved with somebody. Besides…” She stood slipping her books into her bag. “I'm too busy hiding in the library crying over insults from somebody I thought was my friend. Or better yet I'm always helping Ron and Harry in whatever trouble they manage to find themselves in.” 

She slung her backpack over her shoulder, bumping into Draco as she made her way out of the library. His hand caught her wrist, and she didn't bother to turn around. “I'm sorry.” 

She didn't bother to turn around, calling her reply over her shoulder as she shrugged out of his grip. “Prove it.” 

Ron has somehow miraculously been near the exit of the library, looking a lot better than he did earlier in the day. “What was that about?” 

“Nothing, Ronald.” She was attempting to walk past him without having him ask for more explanations when she noticed Harry looking confused. 

“Harry?” 

“Did you hear that?” 

She glanced at Ron. “Hear what?” 

“That voice.” 

She glanced around the hallway, noting that they were the only ones there. “What voice?”  

Harry’s eyes widened and he took off down the hallway, Hermione turned, following after him. “I think it’s going to kill.”

“Kill! Harry, hold on.”

She almost ran into his back when he stopped suddenly, her eyes following where he was now staring. A whole line of spiders were scurrying across the windowsill. Ron let out a weird noise behind her and she cocked her head to the side. “Hmm, I’ve never seen spiders act like that before…that’s...strange.”

Hermione tipped her head at him, nodding lightly. Making to move around him, she hears the faint sound of water and her eyes flit down to glance at the puddle that was pooled around their feet. Faint drops of red were swirling in the water, and she glanced up, grabbing onto Harry’s cloak. 

There was writing on the wall, and Mrs. Norris was hanging upside down, frozen as though she had been left in the cold. She stepped closer, and her eyes widened. Written on the wall in blood was a warning. 

“The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware.”

Her eyes widened, tossing the words around as she tried to decipher them. Just then, Percy rounded the corner, leading a group of Ravenclaws. Hermione’s eyes widened and she stepped back, bumping into Ron who steadied her with a hand to her shoulder. Draco and other students started to gather around, and she shrugged out from under Ron’s hand, stepping to the side. Her eyes locked onto Draco whose eyes widened at the writing on the wall before turning towards her. 

A familiar voice shoving through the crowd had her yanking on Harry’s sleeve pulling him away from Mrs. Norris and closer to her just as Filch made his way through. His eyes widened, before zoning in on the pair of them. He grabbed a fistful of their cloaks, yanking them towards him. Hermione could feel his hands trembling and her nose wrinkled from his foul breath. 

“You–You killed her! You killed my Mrs. Norris!” He pulled Hermione closer, and she turned her head to the side, pinching her lips together as she tried not to gag. “I will kill you both!”

Dumbledore’s voice cut through the hall and Filch released her. She stumbled backwards, this time Snape was the one to steady her, his hand grasping her elbow. He released her, casting a sideways glance in her direction before flicking his eyes towards Filch and Dumbledore. 

“Everybody return to your common rooms. Now.” Hermione made a move to leave when Snape grasped her elbow again, shaking his head at her. “Everybody but you three.” She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest before glaring up at Dumbledore. “It seems. That you three are always finding trouble. Filch, she isn’t dead. It seems that she is petrified. Take her to Madam Pomfrey, she will know what to do.” He motioned towards the three of them, and Hermione followed after, Snape walking behind her as if she was going to bolt down the hallway in the opposite direction. 

They followed him into Lockhart’s classroom, and Hermione perched herself on a stool, glaring at the table. She was tired and wanted to be in bed. 

“Perhaps…the students were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Although suspicious, I don’t remember seeing Mr. Potter at dinner tonight.”

Dumbledore was staring at Harry and Hermione sat up straighter, picking at her nails. She fought the urge to roll her eyes when Lockhart spoke. “I’m sorry, Severus. That was because of me. I had Harry helping me answer some of my fan mail, it serves as a wonderful detention.”

“Indeed, one could see why.” She fought back the smirk that was forming at Snape’s sarcastic reply.

“Ron and I were coming out of the library when we bumped into Harry in the hallway. Malfoy called me a nasty word earlier and I was upset. Ron was looking for me and we happened to bump into Harry when he caught me leaving the library.” Snape’s fingers twitched and she didn’t look at him. 

“It seems that they are innocent until proven otherwise.” Dumbledore’s eyes were twinkling and Hermione shook her head the whole way down the hallway when they were finally excused. 

“It’s just…” Hermione bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s rather strange that you were hearing a voice and then we found Mrs. Norris petrified, don’t you think?”

“Should I have told him about the voice?” Harry’s voice was small, and she shook her head, turning to walk away from them to her dorm. 

“No, Harry. Hearing voices isn’t something that is normal even in the Wizarding Community.”

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Hermione grimaced as she watched Ron change his Goblet into a horrid disfigurement. She had been tossing and turning all night, reading through whatever she could all day and still couldn’t find anything about the Chamber of Secrets. A thought came to her and she raised her hand, waiting impatiently for McGonagall to call on her. 

“Professor? Could you tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?” Hermione heard Draco inhale sharply behind her and she resisted the urge to turn and look at him. 

McGonagall seemed to survey the room for a moment before sighing. 

“Hogwarts, as many of you know, was founded over a thousand years ago by four of the greatest witches and wizards. Three of the founders existed harmoniously together: Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor. The fourth however, Salazar Slytherin, had a different idea of how he wanted the school to be.” 

Ron grumbled. “No surprise there.” Hermione kicked him underneath the table and he scowled at her. 

“Salazar believed that only Purebloods should be allowed to attend the school, that they should be more selective of the magical families that were allowed to attend. The other founders didn’t agree and that made Salazar angry enough to leave. It is said that he had a secret chamber built in the castle. Before he left, he had sealed it and declared that only the True Heir of Slytherin would be able to open it, unleashing something that would wreak havoc on the school and those found to be unworthy.” 

“Muggleborns.” Hermoine could feel Draco’s eyes burning into her back. 

“The castle has been searched and no chamber has ever been found. It is a myth.”

“What’s said to be in the Chamber?”

McGonagall pursed her lips before flitting her eyes over the class. “It is said that it is something that only the Heir can control. A monster.”

Hermione shivered and tried to ignore the eyes that were burning into her back.

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“Do you think that Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin?” Hermione glared at Harry. 

“Sh. Keep your voice down.” They were in the middle of the library, books strewn out across the table and she was glancing around them worried that somebody had heard.

“Sorry, sorry. But look at his family, Hermione. His ancestors have been in Slytherin for…centuries!”

Harry didn’t know how true that statement was and she remembered the large book of family members from the library at Malfoy Manor. She swallowed. It was a fair point, although she couldn’t seem to wrap her brain around Draco opening the Chamber and releasing something into the school that would put her in danger. 

But, after the previous events she wondered if she even knew him at all. 

“Maybe Crabbe and Goyle know something.” Ron was glaring across the stacks at the group of Slytherins that had now formed at a table. They were laughing and Hermione gave Pansy a small smile when the girl dipped her head in silent acknowledgment. 

“There might be a way that we can find out…but, it will probably break at least sixty school rules. Along with being very, very dangerous.” Harry and Ron leaned in and she smirked, glancing back towards Crabbe and Goyle. “Have either of you heard about Polyjuice Potion?”

They shook their heads and Hermione stood, grabbing a book from the shelf closest to the Slytherins. She knew exactly where it was. When she turned back around, Theo was staring at her, his brows drawn together. Draco was glaring at Theo. She nodded, and shuffled back through the rows to Harry and Ron who were staring intently at her.

“The Polyjuice Potion allows somebody to transform themselves into another temporarily. It’s rather tricky to make and takes a month.”

“A month!!” Harry and Ron both yelled loud enough that she reached over and wacked them both on the head with the Potions book she was holding. 

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“He’s got himself a rogue Bludger!” Hermione’s eyes snapped up to the field, noticing Harry dodging a rather aggressive Bludger. She stood, eyes flickering over the field as she watched Harry, Draco and the bludger disappear into the trench around the pit. After a moment, Draco flies onto the field, tumbling from his broom and landing roughly on the ground.

Hermione held her breath, heart beating against her chest before her eyes snapped to Harry as he shot out from the trenches. The Bludger came around, smacking Harry in the arm as he reached out, and Hermione watched him cradle his arm to his chest. Then, he careened towards the ground, landing roughly. 

Hermione darts onto the field town between going towards Draco or Harry and raises her wand at the Bludger. “Finite Incantatem!” The Bludger exploded, falling to pieces on the field. Everybody was surrounding Harry and she turned towards Draco, who was now being surrounded by his fellow Slytherin’s. Her eyes met Pansy’s and she nodded once, mouthing. He’s okay. She exhaled, turning towards Harry. He was staring at his arm, which was now flopping around rather strangely like a noodle and Hermione tried to fight the urge to vomit. 

Managing to get him to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey shoved the growing crows out of the way. “Alright, you need to drink these. All of it. Growing bones back, goodness. He should’ve been brought straight here!” Harry spits the drink out, grimacing. “Did you expect Pumpkin Juice?”

Her eyes flitted to Draco who was moaning in the bed across from Harry. Pansy rolled her eyes, stroking his hair and Hermione smirked. Ever the dramatic Draco was. 

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“What do you mean that the Chamber has been opened before?” She stirred the potion, not taking her eyes off of it. They had set up in the girls bathroom which was always unoccupied because of Moaning Myrtle. 

“Obviously. Lucius must have opened it the first time and taught his horrid son how to do it.” Hermione rolled her eyes. Honestly, she was starting to wonder if Ron had feelings for Draco. Obsessive, 

“Bloody Hell.”

“Aren’t we going to get caught brewing this bloody Potion in the middle of the day in the girls bathroom? Isn’t somebody going to …I don’t know…come in here.” 

“No. Nobody is going to come in here because of Moaning Myrtle.” As if she had summoned her, Myrtle floated into the room, her usual array of dramatic tears following after her. Hermione rolled her eyes and motioned towards the ghost. “Moaning Myrtle.”

“I’M MOANING MYRTLE.” Hermione winced. “Who would want to talk about crying, moping, ugly Moaning Myrtle.”

The boys shared a glance and Hermione shrugged her shoulders turning towards the Potion.