Only Ones Who Know

Truth or Drink

Hermione woke up drenched in sweat. Her clothes were damp and stuck to her skin. She looked out the window. It was pitch black outside. She had slept through the whole day and part of the night. She should've looked into the side effects.

She rolled over and checked the clock on her nightstand. 4:00 am. Draco would have been long asleep by now. Hermione stripped her bed and went to the showers to get ready for what was going to be a rather long day. She was nervous about going to class after missing a whole day.

"Pass your assignments to the person to your right to be corrected." Deloris Umbridge instructed.

Hermione was sitting on the far left desk which meant she would have to correct Draco's as he sat at the far right of the row. He floated it over to her so he wouldn't have to get up. She was excited to see how well he did. She already predicted her 100% as she listened to the answers to the questions. Draco hadn't gotten a single one wrong. She felt proud of him even though it was a rather easy assignment.

"Return the assignments and turn them in on my desk." The professor spoke in a voice that seemed to irritate everyone as soon as she opened her mouth.

Hermione received her assignment and to her horror, a large - 1 was scribed on the top of her page. Her heart sank. Draco did better than her? They were the most simple questions about what you should do if you encounter a Cornish Pixie and Hermione got one wrong. Hermione looked over at Draco who was very much pleased with himself.

"I would like to acknowledge our top students this month." Umbridge perked up. Hermione relaxed. She had been on top since the beginning of the year. Hopefully, one mark would cost her place. "Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and Hermione Granger. Congratulations. I aspire every single one of you to work as hard as them."

Third? Hermione's heart sank. How could she bump down two places in a month? And how was Draco, let alone Zabini, in front of her? She clenched her jaw.

She thought about her grade for the rest of the day. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten less than perfect on an assignment. She also avoided Draco. She wouldn't allow him to see her feeling shame over something as stupid as one markdown. She worked extra hard in the rest of her classes. Rechecking her work twice. Three times. Four times. As many times it took to make sure every single problem was correct and then some. When classes were dismissed, she asked multiple professors for extra credit. Most of them refused, explaining that if her grade was any higher, she would ruin the learning curve for everyone else.

After dinner, she went straight to the library to study. She had stacks of books surrounding her, blocking her off from the rest of the world. She transported herself into every single book she read. The worst part about the O.W.Ls is that she had no idea what was going to be on the test, so she had to study everything. Her brain felt as if it would explode from all of the information. And from the stress, Hermione began to cry.

Nobody understood that she had never been naturally intelligent. Clever, yes, but when it came to remembering facts, she would have to read them a million times to engrave them into her brain. That's how she became so bright. From a very young age, she dedicated herself to learning. The reward of a perfect score was like a drug. She would work her ass off day and night just to see another 100% at the top of a test.

The towering books overwhelmed her. She was frustrated with herself because she couldn't focus. She sent the books back to their shelves and cleaned her slate. Due to her anxiety, the pressure, she got out of her chair and kicked it over just before storming out of the library paying no mind to the other students who had been watching her.

When she got to her room, she was extremely flustered. She shot her wand at an empty glass on her nightstand.

"Aguamenti."