Trapped in a Dream

Hermione stormed off to Defence against the Dark Arts, the indignation of Snape's threats echoing in her ears, when a strange whispering sound echoed around her. She whipped her head around sharply to catch the speaker but couldn't see anything other than the shadows flickering from the torches on the walls. Was this how Harry had felt in their second year when he had heard the basilisk? She pushed the thought out of her mind and began to take another step when the whispering intensified to a shrill tone that forced Hermione to collapse to her knees, her hands covering her ears.

All sound came to an abrupt stop as she closed her eyes, and a cruel laughter cackled though the halls before everything became silent again. With a slight involuntary shiver, Hermione rose to her feet once more and cautiously looked around before slowly uncovering her ears and bolting down the corridor towards her classroom, the torches wavering in the gush of air.

The humorous laughter and ongoing chatter from several people led Hermione to the Dark Arts classroom, where she slipped in just before the bell rang, giving her time to find Harry and Ron, who had been looking for her ever since breakfast. She was nearly breathless, having run through half the castle, and had to recompose herself before walking down the rows of desks to where the two boys were talking in low tones.

When she was almost beside Ron's chair, Harry quickly cut off their conversation and discretely motioned towards her, causing Ron to stop in mid sentence and turn. He put on a forced grin and nodded to her. "Hey, 'Mione, feeling any better? We wanted to stay and make sure you were alright but Pomfrey kicked us out before we could say anything. We're really sorry 'bout this morning, please forgive, er, us." Ron gingerly took her hand in his, as if she would break any second, and smiled hopefully. "You really worried us with that fall ... is your nose suppose to look so swollen? I never really noticed it before."

"Why the hell should you care, Weasley?" Hermione's shrill voice filled the classroom as she pulled her hand from his sweaty grasp, causing the other students to glare, and gave him a look of utter disgust. She held her hand away from her, as if it had been infected with bubotuber pus, and shook it for dramatic effect. "What, now you're going to cry? Well go ahead, see if I care!"

Harry looked at Ron's petrified face, turning redder every second, and whispered, "Ron, just ignore her. It's probably just a side effect from whatever Madame Pomfrey gave her, she doesn't mean it."

"Oh, you stay out of this, Potter! No wonder your parents are dead, while Voldemort was in your house firing off death curses, your parents just stood by saying, 'Please, don't hurt us,' " Hermione imitated the Potters' voices in a mocking baby voice and her cruelty cut through Harry's heart like a knife as her glare turned vicious. "You bloody people make me sick!"

With her last words spat out, she turned away forcefully and took her place at the back of the room, away from all the scattered Slytherin faces who were staring at her with awe and disgust. The Gryffindors, unfortunately, had also heard her remarks and refused to meet her challenging eye as they began whispering to each other. The people in front and to the sides of her tried to move their desks further away from her so they could talk without her overhearing, but she got the main message.

Everyone wanted to know why she was acting so strangely.

The classroom door creaked loudly and a lankly white figure entered the room, wand out, cursing books back into bags as she made her way along. Professor Grace kept a fairly orderly class for the most part, enjoying the odd discussion between students from time to time, but she always expected her students to show her respect and to listen when she was speaking. The class had fallen silent at the first disappearance of Grim Ghouls and other Graveyard Goons and were anxiously watching the professor for her next move. She surveyed the class from the back of the room, ensuring no book was to be seen, and was about to start he lesson when a sharp snort caught her attention.

Startled, Professor Grace immediately turned towards the noise with her wand at the ready, her eyes widening at the sight of Hermione Granger stretched out with her feet on the desk and her head leant against the back wall. She made an act of extreme self control to put her wand away, and noisily coughed into her fist. The girl's leg twitched but other than that no sign of the teacher's cough having reached Hermione's brain was seen.

"Miss Granger! If you plan to sleep your way through my class leave immediately, I have no room, nor tolerance, to teach students who do not wish to be taught. As a prized student, from what the other professors have informed me, I would have expected better."

Hermione woke up the instant her name had been called, furious that someone would disturb her in the middle of a much needed nap, and looked to the cause of such annoyance. The greying blue eyes of the professor, whose hands were placed firmly on her hips, stared down at her in seemingly much the same manner. With a groan, Hermione lowered herself in the chair and muttered, "Oh, shut up, old hag. Maybe if we actually did something, other than play with harmless grindilows everyday and discuss how dangerous you seem to think they are, I might be interested long enough to stay awake."

"I beg your pardon!"

Professor Grace's eyes widened and her face grew darker, but Hermione either didn't seem to notice or didn't care. She smirked slightly and ignored Grace's eyes, as well as the rest of the class', who all seemed to be tuning everything else (other than the conversation) out, and snorted.

"Beg me all you want, I doubt it'll do you any good."

"Come to the front of the class this instant young lady," Professor Grace hissed in an undertone, "or I'll have you sent straight to the headmaster's office!" Everyone's eyes seemed glued to the scene as a tipsy Hermione made her way clumsily down the isle, following the teacher towards her desk. Professor Grace continued to keep her voice lowered to a hiss, giving everyone a dangerous glance so that they turned to each other, before continuing. "Explain your outburst now or you'll be back here in detention tonight to do so!"

The girl paused for a moment, sizing up each of the options mentally, and then broke out into a grim grin. She could feel the class desperately trying to conceal their glances as she stared up at the clock. "Detention sounds like an excellent idea! I'll meet you back here at what, say around seven?" She winked wickedly at Harry and Ron, both who had matching horrified faces, and skipped out of the room, the classroom door slamming behind her.

The professor stared in shock at the place where the girl had disappeared, along with the rest of the class.

***

When the bell rang to signify the classes' endings, Malfoy was the first person to reach the door, Crabbe and Goyle following behind with snorts of breath. When he stepped out, a brown bush of hair met his face with a tickling sensation and Hermione Granger toppled forwards in surprise, landing face first into the floor before she could react.

"God damn it, watch where you're going, mudblood! What is this, some kind of attack? Everywhere I turn you seem to be waiting for me; if I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to snog me." Malfoy's lips curled into a sneer at this remark and he took a step away before turning back around to instruct Crabbe and Goyle to follow him. To his shock, he saw Ron charging towards him like a massive bull, and let out a yelp as he tried to get out of the way.

"Get your slimy hands away from Hermione, you bastard!" Draco stumbled backwards as Ron tackled him to the floor, just narrowly missing the unconscious Hermione whom no one had yet to notice. Ron's rage seemed to have taken over, as the entire morning's events involving his girlfriend were forgotten, and he continued to defend her.

"That's enough, both of you!" Professor Grace strutted from the classroom, disturbed by the commotion, and pried a kicking Ron off the dazed and puzzled Draco, whose face was covered in blood.

"I fink you boke my nose!" Malfoy exclaimed, trying to crawl away backwards while clenching his face, blood staining his pale white face and hands.

"I said, that's enough!" Grace hollered, stepping between the two boys. "Mr Weasley, control yourself. Dear me, look at this mess, what has got into you lot today? First Miss Granger, now this ..."

Ron glared from the professor to Malfoy's face and pointed. "It was his fault, professor. He - he - pushed her on the ground and called her a you-know-what! Now look at her, she's," he looked over, suddenly seeming to notice Hermione's plight, and rushed over to her side, shaking her.

"Well really!" Professor Grace shook her head and crossed her arms. "That's no reason to go off fighting someone when I'm only a few feet away. 10 points from Gryffindor. Now, kindly escort Miss Granger here to the hospital wing. Mr Malfoy, you will have detention with Miss Granger tonight at seven sharp for your irrational and unacceptable conductivity in the corridors. Have someone take you up to Madame Pomfrey to have your nose looked after."