Contingent | D.M. + H.G.

Chapter 8: Insolence

A/N: Betawork done by firstlovelatespring and LeilahMoon.

Also, I wrote a Dramione hockey AU called 'Chills.' It's on my profile if you happen to be interested in taking a look!

xoxo, carmen

-

By the time her next Defence class rolled around, Hermione was completely, totally, and mentally exhausted.

She loved her coursework, she really did, but thinking about starting to prepare for end of term exams drained her. It was only two weeks until Halloween, and she had started making study plans and guides and preparing to buckle down and surrender all of her weekends, succumbing fully to her books.

Hermione was certain the stress was manifesting on her face. It showed in the slight red tinge to her eyes and the shadows underneath them, alluding to late nights and early mornings. She sighed.

Snape strode briskly into the classroom, dramatic as usual. His robes flared out behind him as he flicked his wand to spell the chalk to begin writing a list of rules. He spoke, sounding as if he'd rather be doing ballet with a herd of Acromantulas than delivering the rowdy group of sixth years their coursework.

"Settle down. We will be practicing duelling today." Titters broke out across the now-excited classroom. "Now, I understand that not everyone is going to be well versed in the art, save for evidently Mr. Potter and company." Harry got the full force of Snape's evil eye at that. Hermione saw him straighten his shoulders and caught the flash of defiance that streaked across his face. "But that is why we are here. We will be studying technique in a controlled classroom setting to analyze the problems and complications that arise." His beady eyes flitted across the room, searching for his first victims. "Finnigan and Zabini, you're up. I should think the rules are obvious. But since, for some of you, they are not," he gestured behind him to the board, "here they are. Read them."

Snape took great pleasure in pairing off the Slytherins and Gryffindors. Hermione had rarely seen him look anything besides stoic, but the very slight uptick of the corner of his mouth at the grumbles of his students gave him away, even if it lasted only for a moment.

Seamus and Blaise duelled, and it was over quickly. After that, Harry and Crabbe went up against each other. Harry bested Crabbe within three spells, to no one's surprise. Harry looked pleased with himself, even though everyone knew that besting Vincent Crabbe was nothing to write home about.

Snape called up the next pair. "Mr. Malfoy and..." his eyes moved through the room, searching for his next victim. "Miss Granger."

This made her uneasy, although it did make sense when you considered their class standings: her in first and Malfoy in second. It stood to reason that they both had considerable experience with duelling - whether you bought into the rumours about him or just looked at his upbringing - but it didn't mean that she was looking forward to this. Dread, twinged with the telltale signs of the early rush of adrenaline, sunk into her blood.

The both rose from their seats rather reluctantly and stood in the middle of the classroom where the desks had been pushed to the side of the room to create space.

"Don't worry, Malfoy. I'll take it easy on you." She twirled her wand casually between her fingers as she took her stance.

His lips twisted into his typical, cocky smirk. "By all means, Granger, let your guard down. It'll be fun to beat you."

She rolled her eyes at his weak attempt at a double entendre. They bowed, and so it commenced.

Hermione threw up her shield before they had even bowed. It was the first rule of Defence - if you were really in a duel, your opponent wouldn't wait for a bloody timer to start to try to land one on you. And she was right - Malfoy had wordlessly sent a jinx her way before she'd straightened up.