Ultimatums

Chapter 8

Hermione was sitting at her desk, days from her return to Hogwarts, when her father came in. He'd noticed she no longer spoke with Remus, and it was only noticeable because he was the only Marauder she spoke to before.

"Mia? Could you turn your attention from whatever you're writing and on to me, please?" he spoke harsher than he meant, but this was a topic his daughter would not take kindly to anyway so he thought it did not matter.

She placed down her quill and looked over at her father who was sitting on her bed, twiddling his thumbs. "I was just finishing. What is it you'd like to speak about?"

Fleamont sighed "I would like you to stop being friends with Regulus Black and that Avery boy. And I would like you to resit the Sorting"

Hermione blinked.

Taking advantage of the silence, Fleamont continued "Slytherin house holds people that are changing you. You are now rude to your house guests, you isolate yourself and your mother and I do not tolerate that behaviour. We would like you to cut off contact with those friends of yours"

The young Potter finally refound her voice and said a simple "No", which shocked Fleamont greatly. This was a skill Hermione had picked up from Narcissa. Instead of holding her emotions on her sleeve for all to see, Hermione concealed them and kept her face utterly blank. What Fleamont didn't know, was that Hermione's emotions were swirling inside her like a van Gogh painting

"No?"

"No. Do you realise you are acting in the way Lady Black does, Father? You demand I drop my friends the way she demands Sirius does James. You demand I switch house to not purge the Potter record, while she demands the same of him. You commend him for disregarding such wishes, but I assume you won't commend me?" she said calmly, weighing out her argument.

Fleamont stood and stared down at Hermione imposingly "Of course I won't. I asked you nicely, Hermione, but if you insist on being difficult, I will have to change my approach. You are forbidden to write, floo, see these people and you are forbidden to remain in Slytherin house. I forbid it as your head of house and if-"

But he was cut off by Hermione's screams of "No, no, no, no!" It was odd to see such a quick change in emotion and approach. But then something oddly spectacular happened.

As Hermione screamed, the ends of her hair started to fly, and turn a lighter shade of auburn, compared to her warm brown. They whipped around her, her breathing increased into a pant and her whole body started to tremble. Colours swirled around the room like a light show. Hermione let out a final shriek of "no", and a blast of power burst from her body, the energy smashing the windows and knocking her father and her furniture down.

After the blast, her hair fell as limply as it normally would, and her trembling body fell to the floor. Fleamont stared at his daughter, who was lying on the floor, and couldn't move from the shock. He'd never seen such a burst of energy from a young child, let alone be able to identify the cause.

"Monty? Lunch!" his wife called, and it jogged his ability to move.

Mr Potter scrambled to his feet and swept Hermione up into his arms and wrapped her under the blankets on her bed. "Lollie!"

The little house elf appeared, and when Lord Potter frantically explained why he needed his wife, she apparated away quickly. Fleamont sat down next to Hermione on her bed and stroked her cheek softly, waiting for the crash at the door that would come in 50 seconds.

"Fleamont! What happened?" Euphemia gasped, rushing into the room, the four boys following at her heels.

She knelt down and started to run diagnostic spells as her husband explained