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Control	By : SelenaSnape Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 4174 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Control
- 2-Hell
- 3-Hallway
- 4-Pond
- 5-Steam
- 1
- 2
- 3
I am eternally grateful to April, my wonderful beta and friend, Paolo and Veena, whose plot contributions appear in this chapter, and to everyone who's read chapter 1 and is still reading this fic!!!!^_^ PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'd love to hear from you. =D Even flames are welcome. ^_^
Control
by Selena Snape
Chapter 2
She wished she could tell Harry and Ron about it.
In the past, they had been able to tell each other everything. Even when Harry and Ron had heard her fret about their lessons, something they didn't understand coming from her, they told her there wasneedneed for her to worry and that she was the brightest witch they had ever met , not to mention the most studious. They had always tried to make her feel better.
She missed those days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ron, I was only being fair. Especially as the new Quidditch captain, you know I can't show any biases and I have to act in the best interests of the team, and the house. Ron—"
"You're just not good enough.' Is that it? We won't win the Cup with you on the team.' Don't hesitate from saying it, Harry. I've been hearing this sort of thing all my life."
"That's not fair, Ron."
"NOTHING in this world is fair! Sure, your parents got blown up and all, but your life has just been great since then! You're famous. You're rich. People write and talk about you everyday. You even became Triwizard Champion because You-Know-Who wanted you to."
"I never asked for any of those things. Do you think it's easy for people to write about you, to think about you, to think they know you when they don't, for them to judge you? Do you think it's easy to be hunted down? It's not. I'd give up my so-called "great life" to have my parents back!"
"Well, then, you can have mine! They like you a lot, anyway. Probably more than me. They probably wished they had you for a son instead. Plus, my brothers all like you. They sometimes talk to you more than they do me. Then, there's Ginny." In a sarcastic voice, he added, "She just loooooves you."
"That's nonsense. They're your family. They love you. I I do too. You're my friend."
"WERE my friend. I support you. I help you out. Heck, I stick my neck out for you. When it comes for you to do the same for me, you pull out this crap about "justice' and "doing the right thing'. You choose a second year over your closest pal as Quidditch Keeper.
Maybe all you want is a house elf, someone who'll just wait on you hand and foot. Well, I have a life of my own too, Harry, and I'm not gonna let myself be just your sidekick anymore." Ron turned around and headed towards the hole in the wall behind the Fat Lady.
Finally finding her voice, Hermione stood in front of the exiting Ron and said, "Ron, you know that what you've told Harry isn't true. I—"
As if just becoming aware of her presence in the common room, Ron's statement switched from anger to sadness and something else Hermione could not put a finger on.
"Yes, you."
The, he left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There had been tension before and a time in their fourth year when her two best friends were not on speaking terms, but never in all of those times of conflict had there been such finality. But, after that scene in the common room, there was no question that the inseparable Gryffindor Three had broken up.
Ron and Harry never spoke and, for reasons she did not know or understand, they didn't speak to her either. Or maybe she did know and understand.
They had been closer to each other more than they ever had been to her. Spending those nights in the library in their fourth year not only led to a kind of crush for her green-eyed friend Harry, but also to the realization that, though they were friends, he would never be with her and for her what he was like with and for Ron. He seemed bored at times, or restless, or just plain sad in her company.
It had crossed her mind that maybe the Gryffindor Three was actually composed of best friends Harry and Ron and the stowaway Hermione. That was how it had started in the first place. The two were already bonded when she got included in the group by virtue of a troll attack in the girl's toilet. Perhaps, without Harry, Ron no longer found it necessary to put up with the know-it-all Granger and Harry, without Ron, has avoided her nagging. Maybe they just didn't think she was that important anymore.
For all the good it did her, she tried to keep in touch with both of them, hoping she could help them reconcile. But they have new sets of friends now. She wasn't in either's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This, their sixth year in Hogwarts, was the first year in which she was completely alone. It wasn't like the time when they were all new to the wizarding school. Then, cliques hadn't formed yet and Hermione could hang out with Lavender and Parvati while Ron talked to Seamus.
Hermione's people skills were lacking and she had never been as aware of the fact as she was at the moment. She was bossy and impatient and more than a little arrogant. Now, she has no one to talk to.
She could have kept herself busy by trying keep in contact with her parents - to whom years in the magical world have made her distant - or by getting a hobby, but she had decided to pour her soul into her work. THAT only made the defeat sting so much more painfully.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Your test results have been most horrendous," Snape drawled before taking a bunch of scrolls from his desk drawer and dropping the pile with a loud crash on his table.
"Mr. Finnigan, Mr. Potter, distribute the scrolls to their owners. Quickly."
As the two students did as they were told and passed out the tests from desk to desk, a low buzz filled the room as students reacted to marks they had received. To Hermione's right, Neville's face paled to a ghostly white when he looked at his paper; red, angry marks filled up most of the page. Hermione herself hardly had time to look over her test when the Potions teacher began to speak and, as they usually did, everyone in the room stopped whatever they were doing and fell silent at the sound of his voice.
"You are obviously not studying for my subject. Did you think I would so much as pause before relieving you of the unhappy burden of preparing for my lessons by failing you on your sixth year? Think again."
He walked forward a few steps until he was standing in the aisle between the two front desks. With a much softer tone, Snape said, "There are exceptions, however."
Hermione expected him to look to his left, where she was sitting. Instead, he turned to his right. With a smile, he said, "Mr. Malfoy, would you to to explain to the class the answer to number six since you seem to have been the only one to get it correctly?"
The only one to get it? Blood pounded on the sides of Hermione's head. Her eyes darted to the test paper in front of her. The score read ninety-eight percent. She thought, "That's normally good enough to top the exam, wasn't it?" Maybe she had heard the words incorrectly. Perhaps the Professor had said Malfoy was "one of the people to get it".
The blonde boy was already reading his answer to the essay question, his head bowed over his desk. Meanwhile, Hermione was beginning to feel sick. Her forehead was moist and her hands were clammy as her eyes hurriedly scanned the contents of her scroll. Her eyes stopped. The whole of her being was riveted to that one spot in her scroll. After an eternal and still moment, she looked up only to meet his eyes gazing at her.
His look confirmed what she had found. He didn't shout. He didn't gloat. He didn't laugh. He didn't even bring any attention to himself. He just looked at her in a way that left no doubt in her mind that he knew. He knew that she knew. He had beaten her.
No one else seemed to notice the silent exchange. No one else seemed to be aware that Hermione's perfect record has been tarnished. She had gotten the answer to a measly two-point essay question incorrect. Malfoy didn't.
In her mind, she knew he had gotten a perfect score and topped an exam. In her mind, all the work she had ever done might as well have dissipated. All was lost.
And no one seemed to care. No one noticed.
In truth, nobody else realized the magnitude of Professor Snape's words. Beating Granger in a test was simply not a possibility in anyone's frame of mind. In effect, no one else knew; no one else heard. But she did and so did he. That was enough.
God, she hated him.
She almost hated herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hermione, Professor McGonagall wants to see you in her classroom right away."
At Hermione's silence, Hannah Abbott added, "I was just passing by. I don't know why she called for you." Like most students, the Hufflepuff was not comfortable around the mythic Hermione Granger.
The Gryffindor did nothing to remedy the lack of warmth of the situation. She merely nodded, almost imperceptibly, and straightened her robes along with the shiny prefect badge attached to it. Her shoes made an annoying tapping rhythm as she walked.
Despite all that has been passing through her mind- the loss of her best friends, the loneliness of this year and what had recently transpired in Potions class - one thought rose above all. Unconsciously, her hand reached up to the right side of her neck and rubbed a spot there. She had checked it in the mirror this morning and there was nothing. But why, then, did she feel as if she had been bitten, right at that place?
Slowly, she shook her head and dismissed the issue. It was probably something caused by an insect in the greenhouse during Herbology yesterday. Perhaps the insect bite had healed quickly before she had a chance to observe it that morning.
Hermione Granger resumed her walk in the dark halls of Hogwarts.
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