Sirmione
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Sirmione is a comune in the province of Brescia in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated on the edge of a peninsula on the shores of Lake Garda. It has been occupied since the Roman Age and constitutes an important touristic center.
Hermione first heard of it in the travel guide she was currently reading. The travel guide was advertised as being for couples, but after she and Ronald have broken up, she had nothing of the relationship but a measly tour guide she had kept after Ronald had taken all of their stuff from Hermione's apartment. She had had to move in with a friend afterwards to be able to pay rent. She had no problem with Luna, but suffice to say the atmosphere of a lover's nest and a flat shared with a slightly loony friend was incomparable. She missed the warmth of the apartment back when Ronald had occupied it with her.
With the passage of time, even their arguments seemed endearing and just like silly little squabbles. Like they weren't important, but the love they shared for each other was. She struggled to recall the initial feeling of freedom and liberation she had felt upon breaking up. No more stupid fights, no more stupid anything… for Ronald was gone, and he had brought so much irrationality and fire into the normally cool and collected Hermione's life that she wasn't sure she wanted him back. Hermione wondered whether her missing Ronald was a sign from the universe to get back together, to try again and harder to make their relationship work, or whether it was a test if she had grown strong enough.
Currently, she was sitting on the beach with Luna. Luna was self-tanning furiously by her side, saying something about Nargles that Hermione preferred not to pay attention to. Her naïve belief in the existence of creatures there was no proof for still had the power to irritate her like nothing else. She had very high expectations for herself and for her friends as well. But with the passage of time, she had realized that she had no right to hold her friends to such expectations. Other people owed her nothing, and she owed nothing other people either. It was a sad and uplifting realization at the same time.
She sighed deeply. The warm rays of the sun and the presence of her friend next to her cheered her up despite her self-destructive thoughts. For thinking of your past lover when you were on a vacation with your best friend was self-destructive. Did you want to ruin your vacation? Your friend's? Your heart, yourself? She, usually unaccustomed to the depth of feeling she was experiencing and has always experienced for Ronald, had to reign in her emotions as she had used to prior to Ronald's endless accusations of her being cold and unfeeling.
You're rid of him, she thought. Isn't this what you always wanted?
Yes, she thought smiling, feeling a wave of happiness wash over her. This is what I had wanted.
And now was the time to enjoy it.
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After a long, fun day on the beach, Luna and Hermione took a short nap. At 8 o' clock, they woke up, showered and washed their hair and put on their makeup. They helped each other choose outfits, and while some might have called what they were doing frivolous, they were not going to apologize for enjoying girly things. Hermione used to think that enjoying typically feminine things made one inferior. It was the usual opinion that girly things could only be silly and unimportant. However, what was fun was fun, and boys got up to ten times stupider things but somehow that was OK because those were boyish things. She tired of the world sometimes.
She liked dressing pretty and was a straight-A student all her life. Smarts and beauty weren't mutually exclusive. She also wasn't silly for liking pretty dresses and makeup.
In fact, looking good made her feel good on the inside. But the same could be said of every human being ever. In that aspect, she dressed for herself and not for outside attention. She just wanted to feel good and like a woman after Ronald had unceremoniously kicked her to the curb. It felt all the worse because she had wanted to break up for so long with him but she had never had the guts to, and because she had never been able to admit when she was wrong. She didn't like admitting that someone as analytical as her could have fallen for someone who was so completely incompatible with her. She should have seen it coming but she had been too obsessed with Ronald's cute freckles and flirty smile to really notice.
Ugh, she thought, frustrated with herself, she had to stop. She had to find someone else. She needed another man to focus on. She needed at least to kiss someone new so her obsessive mind would have someone else to endlessly analyze and dissect. She was simply not capable of stopping to think. She always needed a problem to solve, a person to analyze, a phenomenon to dissect. She would eventually drive herself crazy with all her thoughts, but it didn't need to be with Ronald. From what she had heard, he was already cozying up to Padma Patil. God knows why she would give him the time of day. He used to be so rude to her, but now that she was all grown up and gorgeous, obviously men were falling at her feet and Ronald too! Ugh, what a pest, she thought, men are so fickle, and all they care about is a woman's looks!
She scowled at the mirror at the thought. Then a malicious smile spread across her lips.
Good, she thought. Good.
She rushed out of the bathroom, burst into her shared room with Luna, tore the wardrobe door open and began to frantically rummage in it to find her favorite dress.
"What are you doing?" Luna asked concernedly.
Hermione's face was brighter and the look in her eyes more crazed than Luna had seen in a long time.
"What is it?" she asked again, impatient to get the answer.
"Tonight, we're going partying!" she cried, and she would drag Luna with her to the best clubs that Sirmione had to offer despite the latter's protests as she was in a committed relationship and did not want to step into a den of temptation. But a den of temptation was exactly what the doctor ordered.