THE PROPHECY || H. POTTER AU || PAUSED

eight | the return of hermes

Pandora had agreed to be on Hermione's side of whatever argument she was having with Harry Potter. She had thought that this would get Hermione off her back for a while - it did the opposite.

Hermione had been on Pandora's tail all week and into the weekend.  As Monday approached and Pandora headed toward Potions class, Hermione seemed to appear out of thin air and fall into step beside her.

"I haven't brought it up to Harry yet.  I think I'll wait till it's closer to Hogsmeade.  I have a plan." Hermione said all at once.

"That's nice, Hermione."

"And I also think we should talk about that chimera. Does that happen a lot? I tried to keep my mouth shut as long as I could, but the fate of our school and the students here depend on not getting eaten by one."

Pandora shrugged.  "I dunno what to tell you, Hermione.  I'm a demigod, and Zeus hates me, so more monsters will probably come after me.  It's me they want though, no one else should be in danger."

Hermione looked unconvinced.

"Why couldn't I see it well?  To me, it just looked like some sort of big, bear like creature.  It was a bit blurry once you were thrown into the mix."

"That's because of the Mist, Hermione.  Mortals can't usually see past the Mist, it's what helps keep our world hidden."

It was evident on Hermione's face that she did not like that answer.  If Pandora was in Hermione's shoes, she wouldn't either.  Imagine being in front of some mythical, legendary monster, but not being able to see it? 

Their conversation was cut short once they arrived to the Potions classroom.  Pandora took her typical seat beside Eros, who smiled at the sight of her.  From across the room, Pandora saw Harry and Ron staring at her. Ron turned away, though Harry kept staring.  He looked from Pandora to Eros then back to Pandora before he finally turned around.

Snape passed out their moonstone essays from the previous week.  There was a large red 'E' on the top of Pandora's paper.  Eros had a large 'P'.

"What's this mean?" Pandora asked as she showed Eros her paper.  His eyes widened.

"You got an E? That's the second best grade you could get! Where did you say you learned all this stuff again?"

Pandora shrugged.

Most things in this new world of hers was very difficult for her.  Even reading and writing - she was no different from other demigods in the sense that she had dyslexia and adhd.  It was hard for her to focus for long, and even when she could she easily grew frustrated while doing work.

But Potions class brought her an odd sense of peace.  Reading the directions was difficult sometimes, but she understood potions.  It came very natural to her and it was really the only thing she had been good at so far. 

Divination was a close second - despite not enjoying her partner, Pandora was good at Divination.  Trelawney liked her, and looked toward her whenever Umbridge was harassing her. 

Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson sat at the table behind Pandora.  Over her shoulder, she could see Malfoy attempting to get a look at her paper.  She held it closer to herself. 

In class today, Snape challenged the class with a Strengthening Solution.  Pandora focused hard on the board in the front of the room and began her potion.  She and Eros talked in quiet voices throughout the entire class.  Theodore glared at her the entire time. 

The bell was due to ring any moment.  Pandora bottled up her potion and left it on Snape's desk.  He gave her a bored look, but his eyebrows raised when he saw the color of her potion.  It was perfect so far.