The Subjugation of Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all the characters are property of J.K. Rowling and whomever else has a finger in the huge franchise. I do not. I make no money nor do I claim any ownership of the people, places, and things (unless I make them up as we go). It is only to have some fun do I write this story, in hopes of some entertainment.

Warning: Some hilarity ensues.

The common room was a buzz of activity as Hermione and Ginny entered, yet even over the din and through all the other students, the girls saw Harry and Ron look up from their game of wizard\'s chess. Hermione turned, meaning to flee but Ginny grabbed her shoulders and pushed her toward the boys. Ron smiled wide in greeting and waved them over. Hermione looked to Harry and felt hollow inside at his look of confusion and hurt. He was never good at hiding his emotions. He wore his heart on his sleeve. Hermione ran her fingers through her hair nervously as Ginny led her over to them.

\"Who\'s winning?\" Ginny asked, breaking the silence amongst them. Ron snorted at the question, an expression of \'shouldn\'t it be obvious?\' playing across his face. Playfully Harry slapped his shoulder with an amused grin that quickly disappeared.

\"Why\'d you run out of the meeting like that Hermione?\" Harry asked. He was staring at his feet, not able to look up into Hermione\'s eyes. With his hands deep in his pockets, he looked like a lost little boy.

Hermione didn\'t know what to say. How could she tell him anything when all the answers eluded her as well? \"Harry,\" she began in a small voice that was barely audible over the noise of the common room. She looked up at him and shook her head sadly, unable to come up with a plausible excuse for her behaviour.

\"Now come on Harry,\" Ginny piped up. \"You shouldn\'t ask such personal questions. Do you really want to know about Hermione\'s, um, female problems?\"

\"Ginny!\" Hermione, Harry and Ron all gasped in unison, each with red faces.

The youngest Weasley laughed. \"Like I said, do you really want to know?\" The red head grabbed Hermione\'s hand and pulled her toward the stairs to the girl\'s dormitory. Hermione went unresisting and allowed herself to be dragged up the stairs, casting one last apologetic look at the boys.

\"Ginny Weasley,\" Hermione protested as they reached the door to her room that she shared with Lavender and Parvati. \"Couldn\'t you have come up with a less embarrassing excuse?\"

Ginny looked to her friend with a smirk. \"I suppose I could have told them what you were really doing in the halls when I found you.\"

The horrified expression on Hermione\'s face brought a laugh to Ginny\'s lips. \"No, I suppose you came up with a perfectly acceptable story. At least they won\'t ask for details.\"

\"I should hope not,\" Ginny replied with a laugh. Hermione shook her head and chuckled with her.

They entered the room and found it empty. Lavender and Parvati were still downstairs chng ang animatedly with their other housemates, giving Hermione and Ginny some privacy. Hermione flopped down on her bed and sighed heavily. \"Why do I have to grow up Ginny?\" Hermione asked peevishly. \"Life was so much simpler before.\"

\"Before Malfoy or before Hogwarts?\" Ginny asked as she sat at the foot of Hermione\'s bed, tucking her legs under her. She reached up and gathered her hair into a ponytail and tied it off with a blue ribbon from her pocket. She fell forward onto her stomach and looked up at her friend in interest.

Hermione bit her lower lip in thought as she considered the question. \"Well, certainly my life was a lot simpler before Hogwarts. I mean I was only ten. But that isn\'t it. Once I got here, I had to contend with learning magic and being thought of as a little bossy know it all, and it was true. I did flaunt the knowledge I had. I hid behind it. I wanted so much to fit in, but after Ron made fun of me I knew that wasn\'t possible.\"

\"Ron made fun of you?\" Ginny asked angrily. \"I\'ll kill him.\"

Hermione laughed. \"He did, but don\'t go killing him on my account. Maybe maim him a little though.\" The girls shared a chuckle and Hermione rolled over onto her stomach and rested her chin on her hands. \"He was right though. I didn\'t make it easy for anyone to like me. I\'m surprised they came for me when the troll was on the loose.\"

\"I\'ve only heard a little about that,\" Ginny confessed. \"I think Mum was a little scared that it would traumatize my innocent little mind.\"

\"Trust me Ginny. It was very scary. I thought I was going to die. Harry and Ron really saved my life. Honest and truly. And it\'s been one exciting adventure after another. Yet, none of that is very confusing. I couldn\'t very well let Harry and Ron go off alone.\"

\"Well of course not, they wouldn\'t stand a chance without someone with a brain.\"

Smiling, Hermione waved off Ginny\'s comment. \"They are quite head strong, but they are my best friends. Or were.\"

Ginny crawled up the bed and put her hand on Hermione\'s shoulder. She looked down to catch her eye and smiled reassuringly. \"They still are your friends Hermione. They miss you too. I know it\'s hard to see, but that\'s only because you all keep thinking that the other is still angry or upset.\"

Shaking her head in wonder, Hermione stared at the girl beside her. \"How can you be so smart?\" she asked with a laugh.

\"I have six older brothers. I\'ve learned from their mistakes. Look Hermione, this thing with Malfoy is what confuses me.\"

\"It confuses me too,\" Hermione said sadly.

The door to the room swung open and Lavender and Parvati bustled in giggling. When the two girls saw Hermione and Ginny their laughter stopped for a moment as the surprise that they weren\'t alone took hold. Then they burst out laughing even harder.

\"What is so funny?\" Hermione asked, her lips twitching into a smile at the other girl\'s uncontained mirth.

Lavender doubled up in laughter and fell onto her bed. She buried her face in her pillow and thumped her feet into the mattress. Parvati closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to try to stave off the continuing laughter. \"I’m sorry,\" she gasped. Lavender snorted into her pillow and set off Par gig giggling again. The black haired girl slapped the blonde on the arm and tried to look stern, but failed miserably as another fit of giggles over took her.

Lavender rolled onto her back and propped herself on her elbows facing a flabbergasted Hermione and Ginny. \"It was just the look on Harry and Ron\'s faces when they tried to tell us why you ran out of the DA meeting.\" The room filled with the sounds of laughter as each girl tried to imagine the reactions of the boys.

Parvati began to change into her pyjamas, soft cotton pants and top set in a deep red and as she fastened the last button, the pretty girl turned to Hermione and asked, \"So why did you run out of the DA meeting like that?\"

Jumping onto Hermione\'s bed, bouncing the other two girls around, Lavender towered over them and arched her brow. \"Yeah, why did you leave so suddenly? I was having fun.\"

Ginny grabbed a pillow and swatted Lavender in the rear. The blonde witch let a t a shriek of indignation and plopped down on the bed. \"Maybe she realized that she had a date,\" Ginny teased and then giggled at Hermione\'s shocked expression.

\"So you know then,\" Parvati countered. \"Will you tell us? Hermione is so closed lipped that I feared she had become mute.\"

\"Oh thank you very much,\" Hermione exclaimed. \"Most times, everyone wants me to be quiet, so when I am you just assume I\'ve come down with some affliction.\"

\"Well you have to admit, you\'re not the most quiet person around,\" Lavender commented with a giggle. \"Come Hermione, tell us who your secret flame is. You know all about whom I fancy.\"

Trying to suppress a laugh, Hermione chortled. \"That changes almost daily, Lavender. It would be impossible to keep track of that. I would need spreadsheets and graphs and an astrological chart.\"

\"Well you are taking Arithmancy,\" Lavender replied testily, her arms crossing over her chest. She got off the bed, strode over to her dresser to retrieve a brush and began to brush her long hair. \"That should help.\"

The other girls laughed at the pouting Lavender. \"Come down from the pedestal dear,\" Parvati said in a mock royal tone. \"Before you trip and fall.\"

Lavender stuck her tongue out at her friend, but couldn\'t help the smile that crossed her lips. \"Bitch,\" she muttered cheekily and ducked the pillow that was thrown at her. \"You should let me read your tea leaves Hermione. Professor Trelawney says I\'m quite good at it.\"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione shook her head. \"I don\'t think so Lavender. That\'s just a bunch of codswallop.\"

\"You don\'t have to believe Hermione,\" Lavender pressed. \"It’s just something fun to do to pass the time. We could interpret a dream for you too.\" She pulled out a nightgown and laid it on her bed as she began to take off her clothes, getting ready to settle in for the night.

\"Yeah!\" Parvati exclaimed. \"This could even be extra credit for us. You wouldn‘t deny us our school work would you?\"

Hermione sighed as Lavender and Parvati scurried over to their trunks and pulled out several books and other props and tools. Lavender produced a large mug with a pink unicorn stencilled onto it. A shooting star wove around the cup. Parvati dropped some leaves into it and filled it with water. \"Tepidus,\" Lavender chimed, her wand tapping the mug lightly. \"Okay Hermione, drink.\"

Putting the mug to her lips, Hermione took a small sip and winced in pain at the scalding liquid. \"It\'s too hot,\" she complained.

\"While we wait for your tea to cool Hermione, why don\'t you tell us who your boyfriend is?\"

\"I don\'t have a boyfriend,\" Hermione insisted which caused her roommates to glower at her. \"I\'m telling the truth!\"

\"Oh come off it Hermione,\" Lavender whined. \"We know you\'re seeing someone. We just want to know.\"

Instead of answering, Hermione took another sip of the tea. The liquid burned her tongue and she fanned her mouth, sucking in air to try to stave the burning. The girls stared at her in shock as she tilted the mug of tea back and chugged the drink. \"Here,\" she gasped, shoving the mug into Parvati\'s hands. \"Read my soggy future.\"

The two girls looked into the mug excitedly and flipped through \"Unfogging the Future\" for the definitions of the images they saw at the bottom of Hermione\'s mug. Ginny looked over their shoulder and offered her thoughts as well.

\"Ginny,\" Hermione said tiredly. \"Don\'t tell me you believe in that too?\"

Ginny looked up from the mug and smiled wanly. \"It\'s fun Hermione. It\'s like the astrological signs. There is some merit to it.\" Hermione just rolled her eyes at that statement.

\"Oh. Oh. OH!\" Lavender exclaimed excitedly. \"Look at this. Good news Hermione. According to your tea leaves, you have found your soul mate.\" Lavender smiled serenely, her eyes far away and dreamy.

\"What?\" Hermione shouted. \"That can\'t be.\" Ginny looked up and gave Hermione a sympathetic look. If Draco Malfoy was Hermione\'s soul mate, she needed all the sympathy she could get.

Parvati held up her hand for quiet. \"Wait Lavender. I\'m reading something else. According to this Hermione, you have lost that which is irreplaceable.\"

Hermione\'s eyes bugged out and she gaped at the black haired girl. Did that mean that her friendship with Harry was truly over? Would they never be friends again? \"I dt lit like either reading. And really, how can there be two such opposing interpretations anyway? It\'s like they give two completely opposite views on each symbol so that you can\'t really be wrong. So I stand by my previous statement, codswallop.\"

Hermione fell back onto her bed and looked up into the canopy of her four poster. The very idea of Draco Malfoy being her soul mate was repulsive. She shuddered at the thought. But what if it was true? He made her go weak at the knees. He elicited such pleasure from her. The way she was acting, Hermione was afraid to believe that maybe she was the opposite side of Draco\'s coin. The Yin to his Yang.

But what of the other reading? What if she had lost something that was irreplaceable? Harry. His friendship was more important to her than anything she had ever had. She couldn\'t imagine life without him in it in some way. Had she destroyed such a wonderful and rewarding relationship? A tear welled up in her eye at the thought.

Ginny climbed up onto the bed and hugged her close. \"Buck up, Hermione. You don\'t believe in that anyway, right. So no tears.\"

\"Well it didn\'t really tell me anything,\" Hermione reasoned. \"But even so, the idea that I\'ve lost something like my friendship with Harry is frightening.\"

Lavender looked up and frowned in concern. \"Why do you think you\'ve lost your friendship with Harry? Him and Ron seem really eager to talk to you. That to me says they still want to be friends.\"

Hermione sat up and looked into the other girl\'s wide eyes. \"Are you sure? They really want to talk to me?\"

Parvati laughed. \"Of course. You\'re the Gryffindor Trio after all. My word, half the school thinks you three are involved together.\"

Hermione shook her head in wonder. \"How can anyone think that Harry, Ron and I are involved in THAT way? Who could have started a rumour like that.\"

Lavender turned back to her vanity quickly, a blush rising on her cheeks. It wasn\'t missed by Hermione and she put her hands on her hips and glowered at the blonde girl. Lavender, looking guiltily at her from her mirror was caught by Hermione . \"Looks like someone\'s in trouble,\" the mirror sang out. Lavender gaped at the reflected glass, causing the other three girls to break out in laughter.

Hermione recovered with another scowl towards Lavender. \"How could you spread something like that Lavender?\"

\"I honestly thought it was true. You three are usually inseparable. Always, snuggling on the sofa in the common room, or coming in late together. I\'ve woken up at night as you come in and sometimes you\'re very flushed and excited. What else could it be?\"

\"You need to work on your detective skills Lavender,\" Hermione reasoned.

\"Oh, can\'t you see it Hermione?\" Parvati said in Lavender\'s defence. \"The way you three look at each other, or talk to each other. Remember at the beginning of the year, you were on Harry\'s lap one minute and then on Ron’s the next. You seem just so comfortable being intimate like that.\"

\"Exactly,\" Lavender sniffed.

\"I\'ve thought it too, Hermione, and I\'ve seen you three together at home, so I should know better,\" Ginny chimed in. \"You seem to be the only one to be able to get Harry and Ron to listen and settle down.\"

\"Not always,\" Hermione said quietly.

\"Most of the time.\"

\"I\'ve decided to give up on Ron,\" Lavender announced. \"I\'ve realized that he and I don\'t mix well. He\'s quite a good kisser, but he seems to only want sex. I\'m not ready for that.

\"A boy who wants sex,\" Parvati exclaimed sarcastically. \"Who would have ever thought?\" The girls all laughed making Lavender scowl, albeit unsuccessfully as she broke out into a grin also.

\"Okay,\" Lavender reasoned. \"He\'s just too excitable then. He\'s always looking to fight. I don\'t know how you manage to put up with him Hermione.\"

Smiling, Hermione thought wistfully of her friend. \"It\'s not easy sometimes. We\'ve had our problems.\"

\"I\'ll say,\" Ginny chimed in. \"when you two have a row, you certainly know how to make it a good one.\"

Hermione fell back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. \"I\'m never worried when Ron and I have a disagreement. I know Harry will be there to make us work it out. Just like I will be there to make them work out any problems they are having. I always wondered if Ron would try to get Harry and I to work out our problems if there was an argument. He did try, and I guess it will sort itself out, but why is it taking so long?\"

\"Like I said, they do want to patch things up,\" Lavender exclaimed and Hermione smiled lightly. The thought of having her two best friends by her side again was comforting. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

A shrill shriek broke the silence in the room. Hermione bolted upright in bed and looked towards the racket. \"Lavender!\" Hermione shouted. \"Calm down. That’s just Myrtle. Myrtle, what are you doing here?\"

\"Myrtle?\" Parvati echoed, her face a mask of concentration. \"Do you mean Moaning Myrtle? The ghost that haunts the second floor loo?\"

Myrtle glided over in front of Parvati and glowered at her. \"The very same,\" she pouted shrilly. \"The lonely, pathetic ghost that everyone makes fun of and throws things through.\" The last statement was directed at Ginny and the red haired witch blushed in guilt.

Hermione stepped over to Ginny and squeezed her hand reassuringly. \"No one is going to tease or make fun of you here Myrtle. And no one will throw anything at you either.\"

\"Oh, I know that,\" the ghost beamed. \"Not with you here. You and Harry are my friends. Friends don\'t do that to one another.\"

\"What are you doing here, in our dorm room?\" Parvati asked with an unsteady quaver to her voice. She was scared the ghost would begin one of her famous shrill moans and the whole school would hear it.

The ghost faced Hermione again and looked guiltily at the girl. \"I needed to tell Hermione I was sorry for disappearing the night that she and Draco Malfoy and…\"

\"Myrtle! NO!\" Hermione yelled out, too late.

The ghost opened her mouth in shock at what she just let slip and shimmered in shame. \"Oh my goodness,\" she exclaimed. \"I\'m so sorry. Hermione please forgive me. I didn\'t mean to let it slip that you and Draco Malfoy met in the loo for your tryst.\"

Hermione slapped her forehead in frustration. Ginny doubled up in laughter. Lavender and Parvati exchanged looks of astonishment. \"You and Draco Malfoy?\" Parvati choked out.

\"I didn\'t see that coming,\" Lavender said in wonder. \"How did that happen? When did it happen? How was it?\"

\"Lavender!\" Hermione hissed. \"Ginny will you stop laughing. This isn\'t funny.\"

Ginny wiped her eyes and tried valiantly to stop her giggles. \"It\'s a little funny.\"

Hermione plopped down on her bed once again and threw her arm across her eyes. \"What am I going to do now?\"

\"I would say it\'s time to come clean,\" Ginny stated with authority.

\"Haven\'t you bathed Hermione?\" Myrtle asked in shock, her nose wrinkling at the thought.

Hermione sighed heavily. \"Nothing can ever be easy, can it?\"

Reviews:

spaz141 - you keep hope alive. that\'s always important. you can\'t expect it to be easy can you? thanks for the approval.

dragonlady sakura - thanks for the kind words. i\'m trying to keep things interesting and twisted. this chapter marks approximately the midway point of this story and things should be heading to a big finish.

Ashes - i find it funny how many people think draco is hot. hasn\'t he proven how nasty and cruel he can be? there will be a few more surprises along the way and don\'t you worry, i may take a bit of time to come out with a chapter, but the only way i\'m stopping the story is if something apocalyptic happens.

Apollonia - so you can picture yourself as hermione in this story? being humiliated and degraded like this? hmmm. how very interesting.

Classic Cowboy - those are some interesting points you have there. what will happen if draco gets bored? you\'re right though. i get bored of a toy as soon as a new one comes along. let\'s hope that draco doesn\'t find a new one any time soon.

Anon - i\'m glad you\'re enjoying the story. just que question though. how did you come to the conclusion that pansy is draco\'s girlfriend? have you been reading my other story \"To Be Or To Be Nott\"? (shameless plug) there\'s more of pansy and draco there if you haven\'t. check it out.

Your Friendly Lurker - i can understand your hp/hg preferences but where does d/g come from? isn\'t that the same as d/hg? it matters very little what rowling may or may not have dismissed in interviews. she (as far as i know) hasn\'t dismissed a ss/hg pairing, but who really expects that to happen in canon? yet sooooo many people like that ship. it\'s a shame that you are so sn yon your ship that you may not continue to read. if you don\'t continue along with the story thanks for reviewing and sharing your thoughts. i appreciate the effort.

traydr vic - hey, you read the hp/hg chapter. you know there is great sex between them, but where will the heart lead our beautiful heroine? as hollow as the relationship with draco seems to be, you should remember that they are only 16. do they know any better? keep reading to find out.

ddrinki4 - draco is the root of all evil. hehe. at least hermione\'s evil. it\'s nice to know i\'m doing a fair job. thanks for reviewing

Queen Sabreen - i\'ve already posted a chapter 13? uh oh. where\'d it go? was it good? i wouldn\'t mind to know. :-)