A Meeting Between Friends {Hermione}

[MINERVA McGONAGALL]

The sound of a quill scratching over parchment furiously could be heard throughout the office of one Professor Minerva McGonagall. Currently, the witch was completing some forms for the Ministry of Magic. Or she was at least attempting too. A small cracking noise could be heard as her quill snapped again from being forced against the parchment with too much pressure. Minerva let out a string of curse words that would hardly ever be heard coming from her mouth. “Reparo,” she ground out, pointing her wand at the quill. This was about the tenth time she had fixed it in the past half hour. Really, she was getting nowhere with these forms, as her mind was preoccupied with thinking about other things. Or people rather. Actually, just one person in particular: the vile pink toad.

Minerva had been tailed by the plump woman always dressed in pink for the entire morning, and had finally told Umbridge that she was sorry, but if she could please excuse her, she had work that needed attended too. And before the toad had time to protest, Minerva had disappeared into her office and shut the door in her face. She had been in her office for just over two hours already and the annoyance from this morning had still not left her. “Who does that woman think she is?” Minerva asked herself loudly, her Scottish lilt making its presence even more pronounced in her angry voice. “Following me around all day. It’s preposterous!”

By this point, Minerva had broken her quill for the eleventh time and sighed in frustration. She said the spell to repair it once more and had just began writing again, this time finally with less pressure, when she heard a loud knock on her door. Minerva squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the headache the was pounding in her head. Figuring it was most likely Dolores Umbridge, back to harass her once more, Minerva debated on whether or not to even respond. Deciding that she must, in case it was something important. "Come in!” she barked. She really didn’t mean to sound so rude, but she was not in a good mood and suspected that it was only the toad anyway. Anyone else would be a welcome visitor.

[HERMIONE GRANGER]

Hermione was in the Library doing work, but for once, she could not find herself the strength to concentrate. It was impossible to do her work with other matters on her mind, especially if it involved Harry and Ron. She was also doing her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework, which was not going as well as Hermione had originally thought. Hermione usually loved doing her homework, but the knowledge she gained from the book Umbridge gave her was old and could not be put to use because Umbridge would not allow them to practice the magic. She was concerned about that. It bothered Hermione that they could not practice defensive spells, that they could only learn from books. Oddly enough, Hermione loved learning from books and people thought it unusual that she would complain about not doing the practical portion of the class. But Hermione had had enough. She had the idea that Umbridge was up to something. Why had she not visited before the current year to make sure Hogwarts was up to standard? Why now? It irked Hermione's mind and she could not understand why Umbridge was around so suddenly. It was abnormal and Hermione was spending some of her extra time trying to look into Umbridge's past, where she came from and why she was at Hogwarts. She tapped the writing end of her quill on her parchment repeatedly, leaving several dots on the page. Sighing, Hermione closed her text and put her belongings in her bag. She was not going to be able to focus on her work unless she did something else first. She needed to get her thoughts out to someone before she exploded with anger and frustration.

Hermione put her Hogwarts messenger bag over her head and onto the opposing shoulder, the way it was supposed to be worn and carried. She gently tugged any hair stuck under the strap and freed it so she would not be in pain. Smoothing out her Gryffindor skirt, Hermione began to walk to the door. She gave a small wave to Madam Pince, who was currently stacking books on her return cart, and without hesitation, Hermione exited the Library. She began to take a journey to a place other than the Common Room - Hermione knew if she ran into Ron and he was not doing work, she would ring his neck and not be able to control her anger. Ron probably wouldn't be doing anything wrong, but Hermione just got irritated so easily some times. She was on her way down the corridor when she got an idea. Hermione would go and visit Professor McGonagall. Hermione went up the staircase to the next floor, hearing her own feet tap dully on each marble stair. Hermione passed by people walking both up and down the stairs, murmuring a small greeting before passing on to their destinations. She walked down the corridors, the portraits of various people watching her as she walked by, a grimace on her face. "Cheer up, love." Hermione heard a portrait say to her when she passed it. She looked back, her curly and slightly frizzy hair trailing behind her. She merely shrugged at the portrait and continued on. Finally reaching the door, Hermione was surprised to hear what Professor McGonagall was saying behind the closed wooden door. Hermione leaned close to hear exactly what was being said.

Hermione listened while Professor McGonagall ranted about a fellow staff member, as Hermione presumed. She'd seen Professor McGonagall earlier, with Delores Umbridge walking behind her, nearly peering over her shoulder at every moment. Double Transfiguration that morning had been almost unbearable for Hermione due to Umbridge's constant interruptions. But Hermione had not known how much Professor McGonagall resented Umbridge, how much she truly despised the woman. It made Hermione's eyes widen at the sound of her voice, the fury weaving through each word. Hermione debated knocking, because she did not want to interrupt Professor McGonagall in her spare time unless it was important. The reason Hermione was there was important, though, and she had figured that McGonagall would not mind speaking to her about it, giving her advice. So she knocked on the door bravely and prepared for the worst. Hermione nearly winced at the response she was given by Professor McGonagall, but continued on in anyway. She held on to the doorknob for a moment, inhaling and exhaling to prepare herself for the worst. Entering, she paused with the door ajar, slipping in but still partially behind the door. "Sorry to bother you, Professor, but I was wondering if I could speak with you about something important." asked Hermione weakly, becoming timid after Professor McGonogall's booming voice had scared her.

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[MINERVA McGONAGALL]

The door opened, and Minerva cringed, expecting to hear the voice of the Toad, come to bother her once more. Opening her eyes at the same time as her visitor started speaking, she felt two emotions coursing through her at once. The first being relief that it wasn’t Umbridge. However, it was quickly replaced with guilt for snapping at the young student now partially hidden behind the door. There stood Hermione Granger, almost looking afraid to have been snapped at by her professor. Minerva didn’t blame her. She wouldn’t have wanted to be in the young girl’s place a few seconds ago either. She felt awful for having frightened probably her brightest (and favorite) student in all of her career at Hogwarts.

“Miss Granger, do come in,” she offered, all the roughness having disappeared from her voice. It seemed as if the entrance of this young witch had had a calming effect on her. Wordlessly, Minerva transfigured an unused side table into a comfortable looking chair across from her for Hermione to sit in. “I’m sorry to have snapped at you,” she apologized, “I have just been so… stressed as of late.” Stressed was definitely an understatement, but Minerva didn’t want to burden her young student with her own annoyances.

She was very happy that Miss Granger had come to visit her. Since she had been on Order business lately, her place as Transfiguration professor had been replaced with Eric Avery, and Minerva had missed teaching quite a lot. She especially missed teaching Hermione, and other students like her who enjoyed learning. Because she was no longer teaching the class, Minerva had not spoken with Hermione at length in a very long time. “What did you wish to speak with me about?” she questioned, once Hermione had taken a seat.