So this is for Erin (hope you enjoy London instead of coming to prom with us.) I hope she likes it :)
The first time it had been almost an accident. Every table in the library was fill and no-on was brave enough to ask to share the Head Girl's table; no-one except Pansy Parkinson. Busy writing an essay for Professor McGonagall (there had not been time to find a replacement Transfiguration Professor), Hermione didn't notice the other girl until she heard a small cough,
"Um…Granger?"
Hermione looked up, startled to find none other than Pansy Parkinson stood in front of her,
"Yes, Parkinson?"
"Would you mind if I sat? The rest of the tables are full."
Hermione gave a glance around the library, checking to make sure the tables were actually full and this wasn't some kind of Slytherin prank. Seeing that the other girl was telling the truth, Hermione nodded and waved her hand at the chair opposite, moving it backwards with a small bit of wandless magic. Pansy slid into the seat with a muttered thank you, unwilling to show that she was impressed with Granger's causal use of wandless magic.
Hermione turned back to her essay; she wanted to get it finished before lunch. She saw Pansy getting out her own essay, Potions if she was correct, and begin writing. The two worked in silence for the remainder of their study period until Pansy began to gather her things,
"It's lunch time, Granger. Shouldn't you be going?"
Hermione glanced at her watch, surprised it was already lunch,
"Yes. Thank you for reminding me, Pansy."
The other girl looked as if she was going to say something but instead she just shrugged and walked off.
And so it began. Every week, without fail, Pansy would request to join Hermione's table, and eventually, Hermione stopped checking to see if the library was full. After two months of working in silence together, Pansy broke it with a whispered question,
"Granger…what are the three ways to identify an animagus? I can't remember."
Hermione looked up from her Runes homework, pondering the question,
"The first is that they will have markings or characteristics similar to their human forms. Like McGonagall, her animagus has markings around it's eyes, like her glasses. Secondly, the animal will be larger than a regular animal of that species. A man I used to know was a dog animagus and he was easily twice the size of a regular dog. And thirdly, although this is difficult to observe, is that, whilst human, you take on some aspects of your animagus form like more sensitive hearing or taste. Unless you've spoken to an animagus or know exactly what you're looking for, it's almost impossible to spot."
Hermione stopped, waiting for Pansy to finish writing in case she had any follow up questions. Pansy laid her quill down, glancing at Hermione again,
"Could you give me a specific example of that last one? I'm not sure I understand what you mean…"
Hermione thought for a moment,
"Well, that man who was a dog animagus? He could only tolerate chocolate in small amounts after he became an animagus because it's toxic to dogs. Now something like that is obviously not noticeable unless you know that he ate a lot of chocolate prior to becoming an animagus."
"Thanks, Granger. Hopefully I'll get an O on this essay now."
Hermione smiled,
"You're welcome, Pansy."
Again, Hermione saw a curious expression flit across the other girl's face but she didn't say anything so Hermione ignored it.
The next time they spoke, it was Hermione asking for help,
"Pansy, do you know why the Blood Replenishing Potion has to be stirred for exactly 81 seconds before it's left to simmer? I can't find an explanation anywhere."
Pansy set her quill down, this would take an extensive explanation,
"I wouldn't expect you to know tha-"
"Why? Because I'm a Mudblood?"
Pansy flinched,
"No. Well, yes. But only because Muggleborns don't have a need to perform old blood rituals."
Hermione didn't miss the emphasis Pansy put on the word Muggleborn and she instantly felt guilty,
"Sorry, please continue."
Pansy nodded, graciously not commenting,
"Ages ago, before the Ministry and Hogwarts were formed, the Sacred Twenty-Eight came into being. At the time, there were only twelve and more were added later. Anyway, many rituals took place to establish new Heads and Heirs of the Houses. Originally, the rituals called for a step that involved 'nine counts of nine', as nine was the most powerful magical number, but obviously everyone counted at different speeds which made it hard to get the ritual correct. Eventually someone, a Potter if I'm not mistaken, decided to simplify it down to 81 seconds. Usually, the number of seconds doesn't matter too much in Potions but because blood is an exceptionally powerful substance, this potion needs 81 seconds for maximum potency."
Hermione was writing everything down at a furious pace; she would have to research this later. Looking up, she could see Pansy smirking at her,
"Don't look at me like that, I enjoy learning new things. Do you know where I can research stuff like that?"
Pansy's brow furrowed,
"You mean Pureblood customs and traditions?"
Hermione nodded, already excited about the wealth of new knowledge she would have,
"There are some books in the library but they aren't the greatest. I've got a book that I learnt from as a child, I can owl for it if you want?"
"Yes please. If it's not too much trouble, that is."
Pansy shook her head,
"I had it memorised by the time I was ten, it's of no use to me anymore."
"Thanks, Pansy."
"You're welcome…Granger."
Hermione smiled, returning to her difficult Potions homework.
The next time they studied together, Hermione was made aware of Pansy's presence when a book landed heavily next to her elbow; Hermione glanced at the title,
The Sacred Twenty-Eight and Their Customs
Hermione's eyes lit up hungrily. She couldn't wait to start reading it. Looking up, she saw Pansy staring at her, eyebrow raised in amusement,
"You know, Granger, I'm sure it wouldn't kill you to leave that homework for tonight if you wanted to start that book now…"
Hermione smiled at Pansy's gentle jesting. It was nice getting along with her rather than arguing or cold indifference,
"Can I ask you any questions I might have?"
Pansy nodded,
"You can although I might not be able to answer some of them. A lot of things pertain to Family Secrets so I'm not at liberty to speak about them."
Hermione nodded. Opening the book, she saw there were little marks next to some of the chapters,
"What do all these marks mean?"
Pansy leaned over, unsure of what she was talking about,
"Oh! I'd forgotten I'd done that. Those chapters include customs and things that have fallen out of practise or been forgotten. It's still a good idea to read them though."
Hermione hummed in agreement. Silence descended over them as Hermione became absorbed in the book. Pansy pulled out s new novel she was reading and settled comfortably in her chair. The silence between them was broken only by the occasional scratching of Hermione's quill as she noted something down.
When lunch arrived, Pansy packed her book away, glancing across the table at the Gryffindor girl who still seemed engrossed in the book. Tapping her nails just in front of the girl's hand, Pansy gained her attention,
"It's lunch time. You might want to get going."
Hermione smiled gratefully, she was prone to forgetting meals when she was working,
"Thanks…Parkinson."
Pansy smiled, clearly Hermione had reached that part of the book:
When addressing members of another House, the correct title and surname are to be used (i.e. Lord Malfoy) or if there is no title, just the surname. Only the member of the House with higher standing may give leave to use the familiarity of their given names (i.e. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black has higher standing over The Most Ancient House of Greengrass)
"No problem, Granger."
Pansy left without another word.
And so it went on for a month. Hermione would read the book and ask questions, Pansy would answer them, sometimes with little anecdotes. Such as the Yule Ball when they were nine and Draco had addressed Daphne Greengrass incorrectly, causing a small feud between the two of them for a few years.
One week in early December, Hermione was sat reading a different book, the Slytherin's book sat in front of her. Picking up her book, Pansy sat down, glancing at the cover of Hermione's book,
"Complete collection of fairy tales, what's that?"
Hermione marked the page in her book before looking up at Pansy,
"They're like the muggle versions of the Tales of Beedle the Bard, I guess. Except they're written by different people rather than just one."
Pansy wrinkled her nose,
"What are they like? Surely without magic they must be quite boring."
Hermione chuckled, absent-mindedly playing with her bookmark,
"Ah, but these stories are full of magic!"
Pansy's eyebrows shot up,
"What? But Muggles aren't supposed to know about magic!"
Hermione laughed again,
"They don't, not really. They don't think it's real, it's just pop culture."
Pansy nodded, although she still seemed confused,
"Tell you what, as a thank you for letting me borrow your book, you can read this once I've finished it."
Pansy smiled gratefully at Hermione as she got an essay out of her bag,
"Thanks, Granger."
"You're welcome, Parkinson."
Both sporting small smiles, they returned to their respective activities.
Their last 'study session' before Christmas break, Hermione broke the silence by asking what Pansy was doing for Christmas,
"What are your plans for the holidays, Parkinson?"
Pansy sighed,
"Staying here. The Manor was seized when my parents were arrested so I'm staying here right through 'til summer when I can use my trust fund to buy a place to live. What are you doing?"
Hermione was somewhat shocked at the blasé tone Pansy used to describe her parents arrest,
"Don't you care that your parents were arrested?"
Pansy scoffed,
"They deserve it for following the Dark Lord."
Hermione was confused,
"But just before the battel you…you-"
Pansy sighed heavily,
"I was under orders. You don't understand what it's like for those whose families followed the Dark Lord, especially in Slytherin. You conform or you die. Safety was only for those belonging to neutral Houses. My father threatened to kill me if I didn't aid the cause!"
Hermione blinked in shock; she'd had no idea it was like that,
"He can't do that! He'd get caught and sent to prison!"
Pansy smiled ruefully at Hermione,
"He could've done if he wanted to, Granger. I am not Heiress to the House of Parkinson, well I wasn't then, and he would know if I hadn't supported the Dark Lord. He'd have killed me in the battle so he wouldn't be under suspicion…Enough of that. What are you doing for Yule?"
Hermione sighed, averting her eyes from Pansy's,
"The same as you. I'm here until summer and then finding my own place."
"What about your parents?"
Hermione's breath hitched as she tried to control her emotions,
"They don't know who I am. Before we went on the run, I obliviated them and gave them false memories to keep them safe. They now think they are Mr and Mrs Wilkins and they moved to Australia, hopefully they're still there. They don't know they have a daughter."
Pansy stared at the girl sat across from her. She had sacrificed her parents in the belief that they would win the war and she could go and find them. That was a huge risk,
"Why didn't you find them over the summer?"
Hermione hummed, considering the question,
"I was busy. I know how bad that sounds but I had to help put Hogwarts back together and I had Death Eater trials to testify at. Plus, what if I can't find them? Or what if I can and they hate me?"
Pansy shook her head, she could tell the other girl was worrying over nothing,
"I'm sure they won't. You should go next summer, I wouldn't leave it too late if I were you."
Hermione smiled gratefully, it was nice talking to someone other than Harry and Ron,
"Thanks, Parkinson."
"You're welcome, Granger. But I thought you would be spending the holidays with Potter and the Weasel?"
Hermione grimaced, something that did not go unnoticed by her companion,
"What?"
Hermione shrugged,
"We're not exactly speaking at the moment,"
Pansy raised an eyebrow; discord amongst the Golden Trio?
"What happened?"
Hermione gave a long-suffering sigh,
"I broke up with Ronald and he, his entire family, and Harry, have taken personal offence. His family wasn't too surprising, although George and Bill still talk to me, but I expected more from Harry."
Pansy was not too shocked that Hermione had broken up with the Weasel, they were very ill-matched.
"When did you break it off with him?"
"Early July. He was adamant that I came to work in the DMLE with them because 'you fought Voldemort and Death Eaters Hermione, why do you need NEWTs?'. I didn't want to be an AUror, I never have. I don't know what I want to do anymore but I want the security of NEWTs. We got into a huge fight and I ended it."
Pansy nodded. She was unsurprised that the Weasel would pressure Hermione into following his own dreams,
"What about Potter? He doesn't seem the Auror type…"
Hermione smiled sadly,
He's not, not really. He's still doing what's expected of him rather than what he wants. Halfway through the training he'll realise he doesn't want that and quit, probably travel the world like he's always wanted to, come back after a couple of years and most likely become a Professor."
Pansy nodded, that definitely seemed more like Potter.
"Well, he's an idiot for not speaking to you. You were a better friend to him than the Weasel ever was."
Hermione smiled, grasping Pansy's and in her own,
"Thank you, Parkinson."
"You're welcome…Hermione."
Hermione smiled widely but said nothing.
The next time they spoke was actually by chance. As the only retaking seventh years staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, McGonagall had granted them leave to do what they wished throughout the holidays. December 23rd found both girls in the kitchens just after midnight,
"I just don't understand why he thought you would just blindly follow him!"
The girls were sat in pyjamas eating the variety of snacks the House Elves had left for them,
"Me either! He's known me for seven years, why on earth did he believe I would go into work, as an Auror of all things, without and NEWTs? Better yet, why did Harry think that?"
Pansy shrugged, picking up another cauldron cake.
The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than their library meet-ups; they would talk at a normal volume and could wear regular clothes, or pyjamas, rather than the stifling school uniform,
"I got a letter from Gringotts today, my betrothal to Draco has been officially annulled."
Hermione almost choked on her fugde,
"You were engaged to Malfoy?!"
Pansy chuckled,
"Betrothed. It was a contract set up by our fathers. I never wanted it, neither did he really. Engaged makes it sound like we had a choice."
Hermione frowned,
I mean, I know Malfoy isn't the…pleasantest of people but he's from a well to-do family and he seems like he'd at least make a respectable husband. And he's not bad to look at, either."
Pansy glanced at Hermione mischievously,
"Did you, Hermione Granger, just call Draco Malfoy attractive?"
Hermione giggled,
"Well, I may or may not have had a crush on him in first year."
If anyone asked later, Pansy would deny that she'd squealed,
"I can't believe that! Seriously?"
Hermione nodded, blushing,
"Before he became a complete prat."
She composed herself before staring pointedly at Pansy,
"So? Why didn't you want to marry him? Even if there was no love he would've at least been cordial to you."
Pansy averted her eyes, her posture stiffening,
"There was an heir clause in the contract. I would've had to produce and heir within two years of marriage…"
"Ah, so you don't want children then?"
Pansy shifted uncomfortably,
"I just don't want children…with men."
Oh.
"Fair enough."
Pansy looked somewhat shocked,
"You mean you don't care?"
"That you like girls? No, why should I?"
Pansy shrugged,
"Muggleborns tend to be less accepting than others when it comes to this, I'm not sure why."
Hermione thought for a moment,
"Homophobia is rather more widespread in the Muggle world. But I don't care."
Pansy stared at Hermione. She had never admitted it out loud before and Hermione had been so overwhelmingly positive. Pansy flung herself across the distance between herself and Hermione and wrapped her arms around the other girl's neck,
"Thank you, Hermione."
It was whispered, but Hermione heard it easily as Pansy's breath ghosted past her ear. Hermione returned the hug,
"You're most welcome, Pansy."
Pansy retreated to her previous seat, smiling softly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"We should do something like this on New Year's Eve, our own celebration."
Pansy nodded thoughtfully. Hermione's idea had merit. The rest of their friends would be returning January 3rd so it might be nice to celebrate privately,
"That sounds good. Shall we meet here at about 11 then?"
Hermione nodded. That would be an appropriate time to meet.
New Year's Eve arrived and with it brought a nervous Hermione. She had bought Pansy a gift. It wasn't much, just a book of fairy tales similar to her own. She had also had the foresight to bring fireworks with her. They were mostly of the muggle variety but she had a few Weasley specials left over.
"Hey, what's all that you've got there?"
Hermione looked over to see Pansy standing in the doorway, a bag in her hand,
"I brought fireworks. I figured we could go up to the Astronomy Tower and set them off at midnight?"
Pansy smiled gleefully, she loved fireworks,
"That sounds great! I, um, I got you a present."
Pansy handed Hermione the bag, looking somewhat nervous.
"I did some research on Muggle stories and I thought you might like these…"
Pansy watched earnestly as Hermione opened her gift,
"Pansy…these are fantastic! Where did you get them?"
Hermione ran her hand over the spines of the books in awe. Pansy had gifted her with first edition copies of The Lord of the Rings trilogy,
"Believe it or not, they were actually in Parkinson Manor, Merlin knows why. When it was seized, the Aurors told me I would have to sort through and find everything I wanted. So I went yesterday to do that and came across those."
Hermione leaned over, catching the unsuspecting Slytherin in a hug,
"Thank you so much! I love this series."
Pansy blushed, she hadn't expected Hermione to be so…forward.
"I got you something as well. Here."
Pansy took the gift with a smile, unwrapping it carefully,
"Oh wow! Thank you. When you said I could borrow yours I didn't think you would get me my own copy. Thank you; I can't wait to start reading it!"
Hermione smiled, happy that her present had been well-received.
"It'll be cold up on the Tower so you might want to summon a scarf or something, just in case."
Hermione summoned her own scarf silently, waiting for Pansy to do the same. As Pansy's scarf came fluttering into the kitchens, Hermione happily plucked it out of the air and wrapped it around her neck, her eyes challenging Pansy,
"Slytherin looks good on you, Granger."
Hermione faltered for a moment at Pansy's devious smirk, and cheekily wrapped her own Gryffindor scarf around the other girl's neck,
"You don't look so bad in red, Parkinson."
There was no mistaking the light, flirty tone in Hermione's voice,
"Why, thank you, Miss Granger. Would you care to accompany me tonight?"
Pansy held her arm out with a wink,
"I would love to, Miss Parkinson."
Hermione tucked her hand into Pansy's arm and kissed her on the cheek, causing both girls to blush. Hermione cleared her throat softly,
"Well…let's, um, let's go then?"
Pansy just nodded, too flustered to speak.
Once in the Astronomy Tower, Hermione began lining the fireworks around the edge of the platform, waving her wand over each of them,
"What are you doing?"
Hermione paused briefly,
"I'm setting them on a timer so they go off at different times from 11:55 to 12:05 so we don't have to get up and do it ourselves."
"What's the problem with doing it ourselves?"
Hermione glanced over her shoulder,
"Well, I was hoping we'd be preoccupied at midnight."
Pansy shivered at the suggestive tone in Hermione's voice. She had been thinking about kissing Hermione at midnight but she wasn't sure how she would react but this seemed almost like an invitation. Hermione sat down next to her with a heavy sigh,
"What's wrong?"
Hermione glanced over at her friend,
"I don't really know. I mean, I guess I just thought I would be spending this New Year's with Harry and the Weasleys."
Pansy sighed,
"They're still not replying to your letters?"
Hermione shook her head slowly,
"Nope. Just after we broke up I owled Ginny but she sent it back unopened. When I tried Harry I just didn't get a reply at all."
Pansy shifted so she was facing Hermione,
"What are you going to do? Go and see them?"
Hermione shook her head,
"No. I've tried to talk to them. It's on them now. If they want to talk they can come to me."
Pansy grinned. She had hoped Hermione would say something like that. She couldn't spend her whole life waiting for Potter and the Weasel.
"That's good. You shouldn't have to wait for them to get over themselves."
Hermione nodded, grasping Pansy's hand in her own, entwining their fingers,
"I'd like to thank you, actually."
Pansy looked up from their hands; Hermione's was so warm in her own,
"Why's that?"
"Without becoming friends with you, I would probably still be pining over them."
Pansy glanced up at the sky briefly as their fireworks began to go off. Looking back at Hermione, Pansy was drawn in by her eyes reflecting the crimson fireworks,
"Is that all we are?" she whispered, barely audible, "just friends?"
Hermione shook her head, squeezing Pansy's hand in her own,
"We could be more, if you wanted…"
Pansy looked at Hermione, her gaze briefly dropping to the other girl's lips before returning to her eyes,
"I'd like that."
Pansy leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to Hermione's lips before pulling back. Hermione pouted at her, her eyes sparkling,
"Where's your Gryffindor courage, Granger?"
Hermione laughed and lunged forward, capturing Pansy in a passionate kiss. Pansy's hands tangled themselves in soft brown curls as she got lost in the feeling of Hermione. Pulling away, Pansy saw Hermione smirking at her,
"How's that for courage?"
Giggling, Pansy kissed Hermione's nose,
"You look so beautiful."
Hermione blushed at Pansy's honest tone,
"You're beautiful, too."
Pansy smiled, pressing a kiss to Hermione's cheek. The Gryffindor shifted so she was sat next to Pansy, resting her head on the taller girl's shoulder.
Watching the remaining few fireworks, Hermione played with Pansy's fingers absent-mindedly,
"Where do we go from here?"
Hermione's question somewhat surprised Pansy. Threading their fingers together, the Slytherin kissed the top of Hermione's head,
"Well…I was thinking I could take yout out on a date and we just see where this goes?"
Hermione nodded,
"When would we go? All our friends come back in two days and I don't really want to go to Hogsmeade surrounded by everyone."
Pansy nodded,
"I agree. I'd rather go somewhere more private, maybe we can go somewhere next weekend? I know a good place to go."
"That sounds great. What should I wear?"
Pansy hummed in thought,
"It's smart casual so not jeans. You can wear wizard or Muggle but if you go Muggle I'd recommend a dress."
Hermione's mind was already racing with ideas of what to wear,
"Okay, I think I know what I'm going to wear."
Pansy smirked, although Hermione couldn't see it,
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"It's a surprise. But I will tell you that it's green."
Pansy felt herself blush. She hadn't been lying when she told Hermione that green suited her.
"I look forward to it."
Pansy draped her arm over Hermione's shoulders, content to just sit and stargaze with the other girl.
Five months later and Hermione and her girlfriend were sat in the Great Hall, waiting for the end of year announcements from McGonagall. They were sat side by side at the Gryffindor table because, although the remaining Slytherins had accepted their relationship, they were still rather stiff and closed off around Hermione,
"I know we talked about apparating back to London but I'm really glad we're taking the Express one last time."
Pansy glanced at her girlfriend,
"Yeah, I think it's going to be nice to just sit with all our friends, after all, we'll never do it again."
Hermione nodded. Some of her best memories were of journeys on the Hogwarts Express, like the time she and Luna had braided each other's hair in her second year because Harry and Ron weren't on the train, and when Seamus had burnt off his, and Dean's, eyebrows during a game of Exploding Snap on the way home from fifth year. And this time, she would get to travel with her girlfriend as well.
They had been official for almost four months now and she couldn't be happier, as cliché as that sounded. Neither had thought it a good idea to celebrate Valentine's Day after being together for little more than a month but Pansy had put together a romantic dinner for March 1st, two months after their first kiss, when she officially asked Hermione to be her girlfriend. That remained one of Hermione's favourite nights as that night had also been their first time together.
Hermione glanced up and down the table, thinking how much she would miss everything, when her eyes landed on Ginny. She had not spoken to the girl in almost a year, despite sharing a common room, but she found herself feeling indifferent. She also wasn't bothered by the fact that Harry and Ron hadn't reached out to her. She knew she probably should've been; they had been friends for seven years, but she was so happy with Pansy that she just couldn't bring herself to care. She was jolted out of her thoughts by Pansy gently nudging her shoulder,
"What?"
Pansy nodded her head towards the teacher's table,
"McGonagall's about to speak."
Hermione's eyes flicked towards the Headmistress, seeing that she had indeed finished eating. Her eyes dropped to her girlfriend, studying the lone Slytherin at their table. Hermione still found it hard to believe that she had a girlfriend as wonderful as Pansy, she was so lucky. She kissed Pansy's cheek gently, waiting for her to turn around,
"You know, I'm so glad you asked to sit at my table that day."
Pansy smiled softly at her girlfriend,
"Me too, 'Mione."
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