Hermione stood blinking in front of the Fat Lady's portrait for a few minutes gazing down the corridor where her enemy had fled. Her forehead seemed to tingle as if his touch had left a trail of fire dancing upon her skin. Would one drunken night that neither of them could seem to remember really change anything between them? No, that can't be what is happening. She chastised herself. He just must be shaken by what happened and that is why he is acting completely out of character. Shaking her head, in a way reminiscent of Luna when she moaned about Nargles, Hermione tapped the portrait lightly in an effort to wake the Fat Lady.
The woman in pink opened one bleary eye and took in the ruffled appearance of the 8th year Gryffindor before her. Violet had left not long ago and they had been arguing the merits and downfall of allowing the 8th year students more freedom. She could not deny that they had all done marvelously in the war and deserved to finish an education so as to earn a place in any wizarding society, but if this freedom meant that their sleeping pattern was to become more erratic than ever she disagreed with it wholeheartedly.
"Noddlespurt." Hermione said as she tried to flatten her considerable amount of frizzy ringlets.
"You had more luck fighting You-Know-Who than you do of flattening that bird's nest darling." The Fat Lady smoothed her own glossy black hair as her portrait swung forward to permit her entry. Whispering a few muggle swear words, Hermione crossed the threshold hoping for a few hours in the enveloping folds of her blankets and the soft feather of her bed.
Apparently waking in the same bed of Draco Malfoy was not to be the end of her torment that day. The mutterings of the Fat Lady were replaced with a hushed yet frantic conversation in the Gryffindor common room. As the warm, red room came into her view she saw her dearest friends huddled together around a large segment of parchment.
"Well, she can't have gone far." The gangly redhead whispered to his two companions. "We would know if something was wrong with her. Wouldn't we?" he scratched his red ear nervously and his gaze flicked rapidly from his sister and best friend.
"Neither of you saw her leave? The party wasn't that big." Ginny's gaze, though hard as rock, softened slightly when directed towards Harry. Even when angry she could never get close to loathing him, her brother on the other side could easily become a training dummy for her famous Bat-Bogey spell if he didn't think of a useful idea.
"That party was the largest inter-house party Hogwarts had held since the Yule Ball and you know it Ginevra Weasley." Hermione spoke at a normal level, which when compared to the conspiratorial whispers of her friends, sounded monstrous in the empty common room. The trio jumped at the abrupt noise and spun to face her. Three incredulous faces looked her up and down. Harry noticed the rich material draped around her shoulders. Ginny noticed her ruffled curls. Ron on the other hand blushed beetroot and averted his eyes as he noticed that beneath the black robe she wore only a lacy pair of knickers and a matching bra.
With as much nonchalance as possible Hermione crossed the common room, with their eyes following her passage, and tried not to run to the foot of the stairs. Above anything she wanted to avoid the awkward conversation until she had fabricated a suitable cover story for her absence and attire. She knew that if she could just make it to the stairs and ascend towards the girl's dormitory then two thirds of her friends would not be able to follow. Ginny and Harry both worked out her motive and moved to block her path, Ron was still too stunned to react quickly.
After several long moments of prolonged silence and steely glares Ginny could take it no longer.
"Hermione Jean Granger! Where in the name of Merlin's saggy left buttock have you been?" If any one in the Gryffindor dormitory had slept past the cockerel they would now be awake. Hermione cringed slightly and wrapped the cloak firmly around herself at the shuffling of feet on the stairs above.
"Ginny, I'm rather chilly here and I do not necessarily want to tell you and Harry at the same time so please, let me go and change. You may follow me if you wish." Ginny stepped aside and allowed Hermione to go on ahead of her. When they had successfully reached the door to the 8th year's dormitory Hermione peeked around the door. Lavender lay curled under the covers but Hermione did not want to risk her overhearing their conversation. Holding a finger to her lips she beackoned ginny over towards her own russet bed. Once they were both seated on the feather matteress Hermione drew the curtains of the fourposter bed and cast a quiet muffliato in Lavender's direction.
Now that nothing could delay Hermione from addressing the problem at hand she turned to the eager red head. Hermione let the cloak fall onto her bed and roughly pulled a maroon jumper over her mussed hair and soft jeans over her bare legs.
"Ginny." Hermione started avoiding her friend's gaze by playing with the exquisite material in her hands. "Last night I slept with someone. I don't want to tell you who." She hurriedly stated as she say her friend's mouth open to speak. "You'd only tease me. I do want to ask your advice though." Ginny nodded encouragingly at this train of thought. "When I woke up this morning I had no memory of last night and neither did he. What should I do? Do you think we could have cast a spell so that we didn't remember it to avoid any awkwardness?" she was beginning to ramble and ginny decided to step in.
"Look Hermione, would you introduce him to us?" Hermione looked exasperatedly at her friend.
"What does that have to do with it?"
"Well, if not that might give you a clue as to why you can't remember. Maybe you should look in the library. Or talk to him?" Hermione was staring at some embroidery in the fabric that was turned away from Ginny.
"Okay. I am going to talk to him and maybe we can sort something out." As they cleared the air of her earlier spell and Hermione hopped on one foot while enclosing the other with a sock Hermione let out a tremulous "Merlin! Harry and Ron."
Ginny could see her friends discomfort with the situation and decided that she would stop them from hassling her. She descended the stairs first and as expected her brother and boy friend both stood at the bottom waiting for Hermione.
"I refuse you to ask her anything." They began to argue but her icy glare froze their words on their tongues. The quartet walked in silence to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione sat on the side of the Gryffindor table that allowed her the view of the rest of the Hall and Ginny sat next to her. It did not escape her notice, therefore, when her intelligent friend almost overfilled her goblet so that the pumpkin juice threatened to spill and stain the table. Hermione's gaze was distracted from her eggs and tomatoes all morning and although Ginny strived to discern exactly on whom it was focused, she could not decide whether Hermione was staring at the Ravenclaw or Slytherin table.
When Harry suggested that they make their way to lesson Ginny notice Hermione seem to rush to grab her bag.
"Hermione, didn't you say you had to talk to Professor Trelawney before your charms lesson?" Hermione's head whipped in her direction in confusion and then she seemed to understand what her best friend had just given her.
"Oh yes! Thank you Ginny I completely forgot. Harry, if I'mlate could you make my excuses to Professor Flitwick." Before she had even finished her sentence she turned and bolted into the main entrance.
Her head whipped from side to side, her frizzy mane hitting someone in the face in the process. Nowhere in the large crowd could she spot a platinum head when she swore that he had left only seconds before herself. She began to head in the direction of charms, almost sprinting up the marble steps. When she had taken only a few steps down the hallway on her way to charms a strong hand grasped the back of her cloak. Sweeping her wand from her pocket in one swift movement she made to jinx her attacker when a hand came down over her mouth and an arm held her close to a warm, muscular body. The swift footsteps so characteristic of Professor McGonagall carried on through the hallway and Hermione understood. Re-sheathing her wand she turned to the man who had dropped his had from her lips.
"You really must break the habit of grabbing my mouth, I do hope not to want to scream every time that we encounter each other." She leaned against the stone wall and crossed her arms. A smirk spread across his face and he nodded slowly as if considering her statement.
"Perhaps but if we just met in public and conversed I would risk being jinxed by the overprotective Weasel and the Boy-Who-Lived." Hermione smiled in return and stepped forward slightly.
"Do you remember anything?" her eyes widened as she tried to discern so sort of emotion in her features.
His eyes looked away from her as if her innocence burned him and she noticed how the little light cast long shadows of his eyelashes over his pale cheekbones. He really was rather perfect looking if you detached his looks from his horrendous personality.
"No." Steel grey met warm chocolate and the silver swirled as his heart broke. His only chance to ever spend time with the most brilliant witch of their age was gone; he would never be able to look back on the one time that their worlds collided. You don't deserve to have that memory. Any connection to you would only sully her.
