(no subject)
Title: Miles Well
Author: iamhollywood
Rating: G
Summary: In which Hermione finds out that she may not be as smart as she had originally thought
She hated him. With all of her heart and soul. She hated his beak of a nose, his brown eyes that just seemed to stare off into space, his two front teeth that stuck out over his bottom lip as if they couldn’t help, but make themselves known to the world at large. She hated his lank, brown hair and the way he answered questions in class as if he were bored. Most all of she hated that he, without any visible strain, had gotten a better grade than her on the Arithmancy test.
“Nott.”
The boy turned to her, confused at the voice addressing him when she’d never spoken a word to him before. “Granger,” he said coolly.
“How did you do it,” she said, her anger more than apparent.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about Granger. Perhaps you’ll do me the honor of enlightening me?”
“The Arithmancy test; you got a perfect score didn’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, still perplexed as to why a girl he had never spoken to would now be bringing up the subject of their Arithmancy test.
“How, Nott? How did you get a better score?”
“You mean, how did I get a better score than you,” he said, obviously smug in his ability to best the so-called ‘brightest witch of her generation.’
She did nothing to acknowledge his slight. Instead, she simply stared at him in the same manner she did when Harry and Ron were avoiding her questions.
After realizing that this was all he was going to get out of the girl he sighed and asked, “May I see your test.”
She wordlessly handed it over to him, her displeasure obvious to him.
He looked it over, smirking here and there, and then finally handed it back to her. “Well, I believe your problem-“
“My problem,” Hermione yelled indignantly.
“Your problem,” he continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “is that you rely on book knowledge. You go by what the book says and, while that will certainly help you to pass the test, it will not give you a master’s knowledge of the subject. You know Arithmancy Granger, but I have mastered the subject.”
“Mastered it?”
“Mastered it,” he said flatly, allowing no room for argument.
“Please Nott, the only thing in your life you’ve ever mastered is-“
“Save it Granger. Whatever it is you’re about to say I’ve most likely it heard before, so please spare me. I really don’t have time to stand in the hallway and squabble with you over a ridiculous Arithmancy test. Good day,” he said with a note of finality and began walking to his next class.
Just as she turned to leave as well, she heard him call out to her.
“And Granger.”
“What is it Nott,” she said between clenched teeth.
“You’re too pretty to be intimidating. Might want to try another tact,” Nott said with a smirk before turning to leave again.
Title: Your Turn In the Hot Seat
Author: iamhollywood
Rating: G
Summary: Theo and Hermione play a board game in the library
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”
Hermione rolled her eyes and continued to pick the card up. She supposed that she should have felt bad. This was exactly the sort of mean-spirited trick Ron would play to get back at people. The same sort of mean spirited trick for which, she normally lectured him.
“Hermione I can see the smile in your eyes, so I already know the answer is yes. This isn’t very fair, though. You’re playing a muggle game with a pure blooded wizard who has never once been in the muggle world. The game requires me to answer a question based around some aspect of Muggle culture, which is of so little consequence that the game itself is called Trivial Pursuit.”
The game was actually the Star Wars edition of Trivial Pursuit. So she should have felt doubly bad, but as it was just the two of them in the library and Ron was nowhere to be found, she didn’t feel bad at all. In fact the feeling she got whenever he got an answer wrong was absolutely delicious
“This is because I received a better grade than you isn’t it?”
“Not at all, I simply thought you might like an introduction to muggle culture. We can stop if you like,” she asked politely. She would rather die than stop right now. Her self-esteem was slowly rising out of the pit of despair it had been in for the last week. Ron had even gone so far as to question whether or not she really was as smart as they’d always thought her to be when he found out Nott had bested her in their Arithmancy class.
“No, no, wouldn’t want to hurt your ego. Give me another question please.”
“Well, let’s see then. The question is, which of the four bounty hunters assigned to capture Han Solo came the closest,” she asked, barely able to contain the joy she felt.
“Can you remind me again who Han Solo is?”
“Harrison Ford’s character.”
Theodore looked at her blankly.
“He was a smuggler in the movie who is paid to take Luke Skywalker and Obi- What?! Why are you laughing?!” This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to simply fail in answering the questions, which would then cause her ego to soar and her mind to simply forget about that nasty Arithmancy test she had sitting inside her locked trunk.
Theodore tried to politely stop, but found he couldn’t even wipe the tears away, much less stop laughing.
“Just what is so funny Nott,” Hermione asked, her hands on her hips in her unconscious impersonation of the world’s youngest old woman.
“I’m sorry Hermione, but the names are rather silly. Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Boba Fett. One would think the writer couldn’t come up with any normal names.”
“Like what? Rufus Scrimgeour? Demelza Robbins,” Hermione said sarcastically.
“Hermione Granger,” Theodore said with a smirk.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at that, though even she realized her name wasn’t the most common one, wizarding world or not. “I think I’ve got you figured out Nott. You don’t know the answer to the question, do you?”
“Of course I don’t know the answer. I’ve never read the script or seen the play,” he said, an unhappy sneer upon his face
“Movie, actually.”
“That is exactly what I’m talking about Granger. I don’t even have an idea of what a movie is, much less what Star Wars might be. You deliberately chose a Muggle game in which I would have no chance in winning just so you could say you one-upped me in something vaguely academic.”
“Oh come off it Nott, you just couldn’t rise to meet my challenge,” Hermione said, enjoying the argument.
“Granger, it’s rather hard to meet the challenge when you don’t even know the rules.”
“Admit it, I win,” she said with a rather proud smile. Inside she didn't feel quite as confident. Gone was the delicious feeling of victory, now there was only the certainty of the undoing of her revenge.
Theodore opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, opened it again and held it for a moment before finally sighing. “You’ve been hanging around Weasley and Potter far too much for your own good. They’ve stolen your brain.”
While there had been moments where Hermione had seriously wondered whether or not Harry and Ron might be having a detrimental effect on her intelligence, there was no way she would ever let Mr. Theodore Nott know that. "You're ridiculous Nott. They've no more an effect on my intelligence than you...than you have on my affections." She immediately bit her tongue after saying that and waited for an angry retort. It was one thing to avenge her grade by playing a rather childish trick on the person, insulting anyone, much less Theodore Nott, was a much lower thing in her mind.
Instead of taking obvious offense Nott simply smiled at her. "Really? How can you prove that?"
Now it was Hermione's turn to be silent. Nott was obviously playing at something, but what she didn't know. "How can I prove what?"
"Well you said that Potter and Weasley have no effect on intelligence, nor do I have any on your affections. You have no proof of either of those, do you?"
"Of course I haven't. I just know." The words sounded stupid coming out of her mouth, common and without any logic to back them up.
"You just know? Oh I'm sure that would hold up wonderfully before the Wizengamot. If only Potter had had that sort of logic when Voldemort made his most recent appearance, then I am sure Potter would have had the entire Ministry at his disposal wouldn't he," Nott said sarcastically, but with no trace of meanness.
"Well, how would I be able to prove these things to you then?"
"We could have you spend less time around Potter and Weasley and see if your grades do not go up as a result, but then I realize the likelihood of that happening is most likely the same as me wearing a rubber duck for a hat. You said I have no effect on your affections. Logically this isn't fair as you have spent more than five years in the company of Potter and Weasley. Five years in which their company could have led to an obvious lowering of your intelligence. I, on the other hand, have only spent two hours in your presence. Two hours compared to five years is almost nothing."
"So what are you saying Nott? That you'd like to spend more time in my company to see if you have an effect on me," Hermione said nervously. Nott wasn't at all attractive to her, but she did enjoy his company, or at least the last two hours of it.
"If you'd allow it," Nott said, no longer sounding as sure of himself as he had earlier.
Hermione pondered it for a moment. It would be the perfect example of interhouse unity if a Gryffindor and a Slytherin became friends. An example that others might emulate over time. "Alright then, there's a group of us going to Hogsmeade tomorrow. Would you be interested in meeting me at the entrance and joining our group?"
Nott smiled briefly before saying, "Certainly."
Author: iamhollywood
Rating: G
Summary: In which Hermione finds out that she may not be as smart as she had originally thought
She hated him. With all of her heart and soul. She hated his beak of a nose, his brown eyes that just seemed to stare off into space, his two front teeth that stuck out over his bottom lip as if they couldn’t help, but make themselves known to the world at large. She hated his lank, brown hair and the way he answered questions in class as if he were bored. Most all of she hated that he, without any visible strain, had gotten a better grade than her on the Arithmancy test.
“Nott.”
The boy turned to her, confused at the voice addressing him when she’d never spoken a word to him before. “Granger,” he said coolly.
“How did you do it,” she said, her anger more than apparent.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about Granger. Perhaps you’ll do me the honor of enlightening me?”
“The Arithmancy test; you got a perfect score didn’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, still perplexed as to why a girl he had never spoken to would now be bringing up the subject of their Arithmancy test.
“How, Nott? How did you get a better score?”
“You mean, how did I get a better score than you,” he said, obviously smug in his ability to best the so-called ‘brightest witch of her generation.’
She did nothing to acknowledge his slight. Instead, she simply stared at him in the same manner she did when Harry and Ron were avoiding her questions.
After realizing that this was all he was going to get out of the girl he sighed and asked, “May I see your test.”
She wordlessly handed it over to him, her displeasure obvious to him.
He looked it over, smirking here and there, and then finally handed it back to her. “Well, I believe your problem-“
“My problem,” Hermione yelled indignantly.
“Your problem,” he continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “is that you rely on book knowledge. You go by what the book says and, while that will certainly help you to pass the test, it will not give you a master’s knowledge of the subject. You know Arithmancy Granger, but I have mastered the subject.”
“Mastered it?”
“Mastered it,” he said flatly, allowing no room for argument.
“Please Nott, the only thing in your life you’ve ever mastered is-“
“Save it Granger. Whatever it is you’re about to say I’ve most likely it heard before, so please spare me. I really don’t have time to stand in the hallway and squabble with you over a ridiculous Arithmancy test. Good day,” he said with a note of finality and began walking to his next class.
Just as she turned to leave as well, she heard him call out to her.
“And Granger.”
“What is it Nott,” she said between clenched teeth.
“You’re too pretty to be intimidating. Might want to try another tact,” Nott said with a smirk before turning to leave again.
Title: Your Turn In the Hot Seat
Author: iamhollywood
Rating: G
Summary: Theo and Hermione play a board game in the library
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”
Hermione rolled her eyes and continued to pick the card up. She supposed that she should have felt bad. This was exactly the sort of mean-spirited trick Ron would play to get back at people. The same sort of mean spirited trick for which, she normally lectured him.
“Hermione I can see the smile in your eyes, so I already know the answer is yes. This isn’t very fair, though. You’re playing a muggle game with a pure blooded wizard who has never once been in the muggle world. The game requires me to answer a question based around some aspect of Muggle culture, which is of so little consequence that the game itself is called Trivial Pursuit.”
The game was actually the Star Wars edition of Trivial Pursuit. So she should have felt doubly bad, but as it was just the two of them in the library and Ron was nowhere to be found, she didn’t feel bad at all. In fact the feeling she got whenever he got an answer wrong was absolutely delicious
“This is because I received a better grade than you isn’t it?”
“Not at all, I simply thought you might like an introduction to muggle culture. We can stop if you like,” she asked politely. She would rather die than stop right now. Her self-esteem was slowly rising out of the pit of despair it had been in for the last week. Ron had even gone so far as to question whether or not she really was as smart as they’d always thought her to be when he found out Nott had bested her in their Arithmancy class.
“No, no, wouldn’t want to hurt your ego. Give me another question please.”
“Well, let’s see then. The question is, which of the four bounty hunters assigned to capture Han Solo came the closest,” she asked, barely able to contain the joy she felt.
“Can you remind me again who Han Solo is?”
“Harrison Ford’s character.”
Theodore looked at her blankly.
“He was a smuggler in the movie who is paid to take Luke Skywalker and Obi- What?! Why are you laughing?!” This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to simply fail in answering the questions, which would then cause her ego to soar and her mind to simply forget about that nasty Arithmancy test she had sitting inside her locked trunk.
Theodore tried to politely stop, but found he couldn’t even wipe the tears away, much less stop laughing.
“Just what is so funny Nott,” Hermione asked, her hands on her hips in her unconscious impersonation of the world’s youngest old woman.
“I’m sorry Hermione, but the names are rather silly. Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Boba Fett. One would think the writer couldn’t come up with any normal names.”
“Like what? Rufus Scrimgeour? Demelza Robbins,” Hermione said sarcastically.
“Hermione Granger,” Theodore said with a smirk.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at that, though even she realized her name wasn’t the most common one, wizarding world or not. “I think I’ve got you figured out Nott. You don’t know the answer to the question, do you?”
“Of course I don’t know the answer. I’ve never read the script or seen the play,” he said, an unhappy sneer upon his face
“Movie, actually.”
“That is exactly what I’m talking about Granger. I don’t even have an idea of what a movie is, much less what Star Wars might be. You deliberately chose a Muggle game in which I would have no chance in winning just so you could say you one-upped me in something vaguely academic.”
“Oh come off it Nott, you just couldn’t rise to meet my challenge,” Hermione said, enjoying the argument.
“Granger, it’s rather hard to meet the challenge when you don’t even know the rules.”
“Admit it, I win,” she said with a rather proud smile. Inside she didn't feel quite as confident. Gone was the delicious feeling of victory, now there was only the certainty of the undoing of her revenge.
Theodore opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, opened it again and held it for a moment before finally sighing. “You’ve been hanging around Weasley and Potter far too much for your own good. They’ve stolen your brain.”
While there had been moments where Hermione had seriously wondered whether or not Harry and Ron might be having a detrimental effect on her intelligence, there was no way she would ever let Mr. Theodore Nott know that. "You're ridiculous Nott. They've no more an effect on my intelligence than you...than you have on my affections." She immediately bit her tongue after saying that and waited for an angry retort. It was one thing to avenge her grade by playing a rather childish trick on the person, insulting anyone, much less Theodore Nott, was a much lower thing in her mind.
Instead of taking obvious offense Nott simply smiled at her. "Really? How can you prove that?"
Now it was Hermione's turn to be silent. Nott was obviously playing at something, but what she didn't know. "How can I prove what?"
"Well you said that Potter and Weasley have no effect on intelligence, nor do I have any on your affections. You have no proof of either of those, do you?"
"Of course I haven't. I just know." The words sounded stupid coming out of her mouth, common and without any logic to back them up.
"You just know? Oh I'm sure that would hold up wonderfully before the Wizengamot. If only Potter had had that sort of logic when Voldemort made his most recent appearance, then I am sure Potter would have had the entire Ministry at his disposal wouldn't he," Nott said sarcastically, but with no trace of meanness.
"Well, how would I be able to prove these things to you then?"
"We could have you spend less time around Potter and Weasley and see if your grades do not go up as a result, but then I realize the likelihood of that happening is most likely the same as me wearing a rubber duck for a hat. You said I have no effect on your affections. Logically this isn't fair as you have spent more than five years in the company of Potter and Weasley. Five years in which their company could have led to an obvious lowering of your intelligence. I, on the other hand, have only spent two hours in your presence. Two hours compared to five years is almost nothing."
"So what are you saying Nott? That you'd like to spend more time in my company to see if you have an effect on me," Hermione said nervously. Nott wasn't at all attractive to her, but she did enjoy his company, or at least the last two hours of it.
"If you'd allow it," Nott said, no longer sounding as sure of himself as he had earlier.
Hermione pondered it for a moment. It would be the perfect example of interhouse unity if a Gryffindor and a Slytherin became friends. An example that others might emulate over time. "Alright then, there's a group of us going to Hogsmeade tomorrow. Would you be interested in meeting me at the entrance and joining our group?"
Nott smiled briefly before saying, "Certainly."