Title: Skipped Lesson; Fiery Temper; Scorched Bum
Author: Mitch
Rating: PG
Warnings: The usual; a mind swear word, and, of course, spanking.
[A/N]: This is a response to Hermione's fit of temper in PoA…
Professor McGonagall is less than pleased with our favourite know-it-all.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling. No copyright
infringement of any kind is intended. I am merely playing with her
characters. ;)

[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, U.S. edition.]]
But Hermione didn't turn up all lesson. …
She [Hermione] wasn't at lunch either. By the time they had finished
their apple pie, the after-effects of the Cheering Charms were wearing
off, and Harry and Ron had started to get slightly worried. …
They passed the security trolls, gave the Fat Lady the password
("Flibbertigibbet"), and scrambled through the portrait hole into the
common room.
Hermione was sitting at a table, fast asleep, her head resting on an
open Arithmancy book. They went to sit down on either side of her.
Harry prodded her away. …
"What? Oh no!" Hermione squeaked. "I forgot to go to Charms!"
[Excerpts from pages 294, and 295.]
[In Divination]
Hermione snorted.
Well, honestly…'the fates have informed her'…who sets the exam? She
does! What an amazing prediction!" she said, not troubling to keep her
voice low. …
"This is such a waste of time," Hermione hissed. "I could be
practicing something useful. I would be catching up on Cheering Charms

"Oh, for goodness' sake!" said Hermione loudly. "Not that ridiculous
Grim again!"
Professor Trelawney raised her enormous eyes to Hermione's face. …
She [Professor Trelawney] stood up, surveying Hermione with
unmistakable anger.
"I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this
class, my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the
noble art of Divination requires. Indeed, I don't remember ever
meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane." …
"Fine!" said Hermione suddenly, getting up and cramming Unfogging the
Future back into her bag. "Fine!" she repeated, swinging the bag over
her shoulder and almost knocking Ron off his chair. "I give up! I'm
leaving!"
And to the whole class's amazement, Hermione strode over to the
trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight.
[[Excerpts from pages 296, 297, 298, and 299. Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban, U. S. edition.]]

Hermione practically ran from the Divinations tower once she'd
cleared the ladder. She was fuming. How dare that woman say those
things to her! Hadn't she tried her hardest in the class? Hadn't she
read as much as she could possibly find about Divination; put all her
effort into learning as much as she could? Hopelessly mundane, indeed!
Humph! So intent on getting as far away from the Divination professor
as possible, Hermione failed to notice Professor McGonagall until
she'd hit the woman head on, falling backwards onto the floor, her
schoolbag tearing open, books and papers flying.

"Oomph!" Hermione exclaimed as she hit the floor, wincing at the force
of impact. "Damn!" She swore sotto voce, seeing who she'd run into and
noticing the contents of her bag scattered across the corridor.

"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall. I didn't see you…" Hermione said,
trying to pick up all her books and papers. She scowled when she saw
the state of her bag, pulling her wand from an inner-robes pocket and
quickly casting reparo on the ruined bag.

"I should think not, running about the corridors like that!"
Professor McGonagall scolded. "Aren't you supposed to be in class,
Miss Granger?" The esteemed Transfiguration professor, Gryffindor
House Head and Deputy Headmistress asked suspiciously as the
teenager's face reddened. She'd heard from Professor Flitwick at lunch
that the girl had missed Charms this afternoon, and it appeared she
was skipping another lesson.

"Yes, ma'am. Divination. But … really, I need to talk to you about
that…" Hermione bit her lower lip nervously. She knew she'd be in
trouble! Professor Flitwick had even told her, when she'd gone to
speak with him before Divination started, that he'd had to tell
Professor McGonagall she'd missed his lesson. And now her Head of
House had caught her running out of another lesson. How much worse
could this day get? she thought to herself.

"Very well; we'll continue this in my office. Come." Professor
McGonagall led the way to her office, which was, conveniently enough,
only down the hall. She held the door open for Hermione, urging the
teen to take a seat in front of her desk. "What is so urgent about
your Divination class that you felt the need to walk out of the class
and careen through the corridors at break-neck speeds to discuss with
me?"

Hermione winced at the professor's stern tone. It was very rare for
the student to be in trouble with her professors, so she was quite
unused to being on the receiving end of Professor McGonagall's anger.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but you didn't hear – she called my mind
`hopelessly mundane!'" She exclaimed indignantly.

Professor McGonagall frowned. Surely there was more to this situation
than met the eye. She scrutinized her student, taking in the ruffled
appearance, the bags under tired, slightly bloodshot eyes. And she
couldn't recall ever hearing this particular student speak so
disrespectfully. The professor gave an inward sigh; she'd warned
Hermione that it wasn't wise to take so many classes (although she had
pulled quite a few strings to get the girl the Time-turner she'd need
to do so). She had been adamant that Hermione come to her if she was
feeling too overwhelmed; that the higher-level of stress she would be
under would put her health at risk if she wasn't careful. Clearly, her
orders had gone ignored. Behind her, her fire flared and Professor
Trelawney's voice called out to her, interrupting her thoughts.

"Excuse me for a moment, Miss Granger," she said, approaching her
fireplace and erecting a silencing ward around it and herself.

"Yes, Sibyll?" She sighed, picking up on the fact that her fellow
professor was rather incensed. Her mood darkened as the Divination
professor began to describe to her the disrespect she'd had to endure
from Hermione before the girl had rudely fled the classroom.

"It took me nearly ten minutes to regain control after she so rudely
disrupted my lesson!" the eccentric professor exclaimed.

Professor McGonagall gave a short nod. "I will deal with it, Sibyll.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

With a `humph!', the other professor ended the call.

Professor McGonagall took down the silencing ward and seated herself
behind her desk, eyeing the fidgeting student in front of her.

"You were not completely honest with me, Miss Granger, and I do not
appreciate it." Professor McGonagall admonished severely. "You were
quite rude and discourteous to Professor Trelawney. Not only did you
unnecessarily attack and criticize her teaching, you interrupted the
learning of your fellow classmates. Do you have an explanation of your
behaviour?"

"The entire subject's rubbish!" Hermione said in frustration.
"There's no point to it!"

"Miss Granger, your opinion on the subject is quite irrelevant!
Sibyll Trelawney is a professor at this school, and as such she
deserves respect. If you no longer wish to be a student in her class,
you approach me after classes and request to drop the subject; you do
not shout at your professor and run out of the lesson in a fury!"
Professor McGonagall said harshly. "I am, frankly, astounded at your
behavior today, young lady!"

Hermione lowered her gaze, her fury evaporating under the
considerable anger of her professor. She felt suddenly ashamed. What
was wrong with her lately? She'd snapped at and fought with her
friends; she never could seem to control her temper. She was always
tired. She was even getting behind on her schoolwork!

"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall… I don't know what's wrong with me
lately." She said softly.

"I do." Hermione looked up, confused. The professor continued, "You
have taken too much upon yourself this year, and you have blatantly
disregarded the warnings I gave you at the beginning of the year. Were
you not to come to me if you were becoming overwhelmed with your
course-load?"

And Hermione realized another reason her professor was angry with
her. Professor McGonagall had warned her… and she was right, Hermione
hadn't listened. She had arrogantly assumed she'd be able to handle
it. It was becoming painfully obvious to her just how wrong she had been.

"I… I thought I'd be able to handle it," Hermione said in barely a
whisper, staring at her hands in her lap.

"I did not caution you to be careful for my health, Miss Granger; I
did it for yours. Your body needs rest, and sleep, and food, and
sunshine to stay healthy. How much sleep have you been getting lately?
How many meals have you skipped? When was the last time you were
outside? You placed your health and well-being greatly at risk by not
coming to me as I asked you to when you realized your course-load was
too much for you to bear." Professor McGonagall admonished. The
Gryffindor Head of House heaved a sigh. Of all the students she had
come through her office for punishment, this one perhaps disappointed
her the most. She, though she wouldn't ever admit it out loud, rather
saw herself in Miss Hermione Granger; she'd been the same sort of
student, over-eager to please, always trying to learn whatever she
could about the world around her.

"I'm really sorry, Professor," the teen said once again, breaking
Professor McGonagall's train of thought.

"I am sorry, too, Miss Granger, because I am going to have to punish
you for your behaviour. Skipping classes, even accidentally," she
added, seeing the girl about to protest, "is unacceptable. And the way
you treated Professor Trelawney is disgraceful. I expect better of
you, Miss Granger, and you had better hope I never hear of you
disrespecting another professor in that manner!" Professor McGonagall
stood and walked around to the other side of her desk. She ordered
Hermione to stand and once she girl's chair was vacated, she pulled it
out from the desk and sat down.

"Ten points will be taken from Gryffindor for skipping class and a
further forty for your behaviour in Divination, for a total of fifty.
For your behaviour in Divination and, more personally, for disobeying
the rules I set forth for you regarding the Tine-Turner and your own
health, you will receive a spanking." The professor informed in a
stern, no-nonsense tone of voice. "I would ask that you remove your
outer robe."

Her parents had of course signed the corporal punishment release form
before she even started her first year, and she'd been spanked by the
school before, but Hermione was in trouble so rarely it was always
like a new experience for her. She felt her heart-rate increase and
her cheeks flushed a light pink. She knew she deserved it, but she
absolutely hated it! Biting her lower lip, Hermione removed her outer
robe, folded it, and sat it on the corner of Professor McGonagall's desk.

"Over my knees, Miss Granger," came the next order, and Hermione's
blush, as well as her embarrassment, increased. She awkwardly bent
across the professor's knees and was shifted into a better position.

Professor McGonagall sighed softly and lifted Hermione's skirt,
tucking the hem into the waistband. She raised her hand and brought it
down sharply on the panty-clad bottom. Her student whimpered, knowing
it was only the first of many, and the professor began raining down
sharply stinging smacks onto the vulnerable backside before her.

Hermione squirmed on her teacher's lap, eyes stinging with tears as
the heat on her bottom grew. Professor McGonagall's hand fell in no
distinct pattern, though she was concentrating her swats to the
particularly tender sit-spots, determined to drive the lesson home.
When the backside in front of her was blushing a dark pink and she
could feel the heat rising even through the girl's panties, Professor
McGonagall paused. Hermione was crying softly, hot tears leaving their
tracks on her cheeks.

"Why are you receiving this spanking, Miss Granger?" the professor asked.

Hermione sniffled. "B-because I skipped class, and I was r-rude to
Professor Trelawney and r-ran out of class and I disobeyed y-you." Her
words came quickly, voice thick with tears.

"Exactly. We're almost done here, Hermione," she said gently. "I'm
going to use a ruler now, ten smacks." She informed her student, using
her wand to Conjure a long, thick ruler that she wasted no time in
bringing down firmly on Hermione's rear-end.

"Nooo –OWWww!" the child cried out, her hand flying back to cover her
bottom.

Professor McGonagall pinned Hermione's arm to the small of her back,
and landed the remaining nine wallops quickly, causing the girl to
wail loudly and fall limp over her lap, sobbing for all she was worth.

Professor McGonagall Vanished the ruler. She rubbed Hermione's back
softly. "Shh, child; there, there, it's all over now." She said
softly, righting the girl's skirt and turning her over so she was
sitting in her professor's lap, bottom cradled between her thighs.

"I-I'm s-s-so so-*hiccough*-sorry, Pro-professor," Hermione sobbed,
clinging to the older woman.

"I know, child. You're quite forgiven." Professor McGonagall
continued patting Hermione's back softly, murmuring gently to her
until her sobs ceased. She handed the girl a handkerchief which she
used to dry her eyes. She allowed Hermione to stand, following suit
herself. Her hand on Hermione's shoulder, she said, "If you wish to
drop Divination, you may, but I expect you to apologize to Professor
Trelawney."

"Yes, ma'am." Hermione sniffled.

"I also expect to see you in my office at the end of term, after
finals. You will be prepared to drop another elective class." The
professor ordered. "I will not let you have another year like this one."

"Yes, ma'am," she repeated, understanding that Professor McGonagall
really was only looking out for her in her best interests.

Professor McGonagall finally smiled. "Good girl. Run off and find
your friends; I'm sure they're looking for you. Enjoy your holidays,
and I don't want to see you in my office again!"

"No, Professor." Hermione returned her professor's smile. She walked
over to the office door and opened it, but paused. She turned around
to face her professor again. "Professor?... Thank you." Hermione
didn't wait for a response; she just left the office intent on heading
to the Gryffindor common room to find Harry and Ron.

Professor McGonagall watched the girl go, smile still on her face.
Professors weren't supposed to show any favoritism but, if she were
forced to admit, Hermione Granger, the `insufferable know-it-all',
held a special place in her heart, much like another fiery,
know-it-all Muggle-born Gryffindor girl she'd known many years ago.