AN:I decided to continue the story because I woke up with this chapter in my head.

For those who read With Scars on Our Hearts, I lied to you. The new chapter wont be up until tomorrow because of computer malfunction. Sorry.

Enjoy.

Once a week Hermione made dinner for her friends. She invited all of the people closest to her. The guests varied from week to week. Sometimes she had a full house and sometimes it was just an intimate dinner with the trio and Ginny.

This week Dean, Seamus, Neville, Luna and George had decided to join the trio and Ginny. Hermione had made Chicken Alfredo and a salad. She also had a cheesecake waiting for dessert but she didn't tell the boys that or they would be scarfing food down so fast they would choke.

Everyone was seated at the table except for Hermione and Luna. They were bringing food in. George was telling everyone a story that was making them laugh so hard they gasped for air.

"And then I said, But Percy green is such a good color for you and I swear to Godric he reached out to choke me. Bill had to pertify him."

"That is-" Ginny snorted making everyone laugh more. She calmed down enough to ask, "How did I never hear that story?"

George shrugged and snickered into his wine glass.

"Do I even want to know?" Hermione called as she sat down.

"Not even a little bit," George winked at her.

The group settled in and started piling their plates with food. Not much conversation was made as they started eating.

"Hermione, this is wonderful," Neville told her.

"Yes, top notch Granger," George grinned.

"Hermione , you are such a good cook," Luna told her.

"Oh, thanks, it was nothing," Hermione waved them off.

Ginny put her fork down and hit herself on the forehead, "I am a dunce. I forgot to ask. How was the Quidditch Gala?" Ginny asked

Hermione shrugged as she dug into her salad. "Not much to say," she told her friend.

Ginny nodded, she knew Hermione hated Quidditch.

Ron glowered at Hermione and then said, "You guys will never guys what Hermione did?"

Hermione dropped her fork noisily and sent Ron a warning look.

"What?" Harry asked, not really paying attention.

"Marcus Flint." Ron answered.

It seemed to take everyone at the table a moment to catch up.

"What?" Dean, Seamus, Neville and George asked together.

Harry wiped his face off and gave Ron an ugly look, "I was trying to eat, you are aware of that, aren't you?" he snapped.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked Ron.

"I mean, Hermione shagged Marcus Flint at the Quidditch Gala. Dragged him off to a broom closet."

"What?" Dean, Seamus, Neville and George asked together, again.

Harry slammed his napkin down and pushed his plate away, "Well, I have been put off my supper now."

Ginny laughed, "Hermione wouldn't do that," she said. "Shag in a public place? Shag Marcus Flint, of all people."

"Go ahead, ask her," He gestured to Hermione with his fork.

Hermione looked up at her friends and saw that the men were avoiding her eyes whereas Luna and Ginny were both looking right at her.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked with raised eyebrows.

Hermione sighed and took a sip of her wine. "It's true." she muttered. "I had quite a bit to drink and Ron was ignoring me-"

"So, it's my fault?" Ron demanded. "It's my fault that you dragged a Slytherin off to a broom closet to have your way with him."

"Ron!" Harry barked as he spat his wine back in the glass. "Please don't...never say..." Harry out his hand to his head. "Hermione doesn't have sex. That is the world I live in."

"I live in the same world," George said. "But in my world Ginny doesnt have sex either." he narrowed his eyes at Harry, "Don't contradict me. "

"Wouldn't dream of it," Harry mumbled.

"Ronald Weasley," Hermione snapped. "I am a grown woman and I can do whatever I please and with whomever I please." She paused and then said, "And bringing this up at dinner in front of our friends was rude and embarrassing for me."

"You know what should have been embarrassing?" Ron shouted. "When I found you limping around with your dress half unzipped and bite marks all over your neck."

"Well, I am never going to be able to look Hermione is the eye again," Harry sighed. He looked at the other boys, "What about the rest of you?"

"I have tuned the whole conversation out," Neville said as he continued to eat. "I am not even listening."

"My dress was zipped up," Hermione argued.

"Not all the way, no." Ron said. "And next time you decide to shag a bloke in public make sure you are wearing a dress that doesnt advertise the fact that you are no longer wearing knickers."

"Merlin," Harry out his face in his hands.

"Should have tuned them out like me," Neville said between bites. "I am currently making a list in my head of poisonous plant life indigenous to the Mediterranean."

"Lucky you," Dean mumbled.

"Whether or not I wear knickers in none of your concern," Hermione said coolly to Ron.

George coughed, "Would it be rude to just dissapparate?"

"Enough Ron," Ginny scolded. "Hermione can shag whomever she pleases. Even if it is a git with bad teeth who cheats at Quidditch."

"He doesn't have bad teeth anymore," Hermione told Ginny. "he is actually quite handsome now."

"Really?" Ginny asked, her eyebrow quirked. "Interesting."

"Very rugged," Hermione remarked. "Nice hands."

"That's it," Harry pushed his chair back, "I am going to the loo. When I return we will pretend this conversation never happened, yes?" He looked around.

"That's fine Harry," Hermione told him.

Harry stormed out of the room and Hermione heard a door slam down the hall.

The room was so quiet you could hear Neville mumbling about plants as he ate.

George laughed, "I don't know about the rest of you but I am more uncomfortable than Umbridge at a centaur family reunion."

Everyone laughed. The tension seem to be dissipating.

"I am glad you had fun at the Quidditch Gala, Hermione," Luna commented airily.

"Thank you Luna," Hermione sighed.

More silence.

"Eat up everyone, " Hermione said. "I have cheesecake."

"How was the Quidditch Gala?" Draco Malfoy asked as he poured himself another brandy.

Adrian Pucey smirked, "Better for some than others."

"Ade," Marcus warned his friend. Adrian just laughed and sipped his drink.

"What?" Terrence Higgs asked.

"Nothing," Marcus grunted. He shifted in his seat. He was actively trying not to think of Hermione because the last thing he needed was to get stiff while having a drink with his friends.

"Marcus hooked up," Adrian told them.

Blaise Zabini raised a dark eyebrow, "During the Gala?"

Adrian nodded and grinned.

"Good on you mate," Graham Montague tipped his glass to Marcus.

Marcus nodded at him. Not thinking about Hermione. Not at all.

"The best part isn't that he hooked up at the Gala but who he hooked up with," Adrian spoke gleefully.

"Who?" Theodore Nott asked.

"You lot won't believe it," Adrian rubbed his hands together and shook his head.

Blaise looked at Marcus, "Who was the bird? Someone we went to school with?"

"Oh yes," Adrian answered before Marcus could.

"Were you there watching like a pervert, Pucey?" Draco sniggered. "You seem to know a lot about it."

"I was not there but, I kind of wish I was," Adrian waggled his eyebrows causing everyone but Marcus to laugh. "I heard it was intense. But that's just the kind of bird she is, I suppose."

"The suspense is killing me," Terrence said. "Who was she?"

"It was a girl, right?" Theo joked.

"Of course," Adrian said. "We don't all swing back and forth like Blaise."

The dark skinned young man looked at Adrian, "That's absurd."

Adrian snorted, "We're not here to talk about your sex life, Zabini. We're here to talk about Marcus's sex life." Adrian nodded at Draco, "Might want to sit down before we reveal her identity, Malfoy. Don't want you to hurt yourself when you pass out."

Draco raised a pale eyebrow, "I am sitting, Pucey," he remarked.

"Good, then without further ado-" Adrian nodded at Marcus, "Go on."

Marcus just shook his head and stood up, "I don't kiss and tell."

Adrian rolled his eyes, "You told me plenty when we got back here last night and you did a whole lot more than kissing, my friend."

Marcus went to the kitchen to pour another drink. The taste of the firewhiskey was bringing back memories of last night. When he returned Adrian gave him a look that said he wasn't going to let this go. Marcus just shook his head.

"Are you embarrassed or something?" Terrence asked. "Was the bird hideous?"

"Not hideous," Adrian said. "Delectable. Hottest girl in the room bar none."

"I didn't realize you liked her so much Ade," Marcus said. It made him a little uncomfortable. He didn't want to have to compete with Adrian for her attention because he wasn't sure that was a battle he could win.

"Don't worry. You have staked your claim. I won't infringe." Adrian told him.

"WHO WAS THE BIRD?" Theo shouted.

"No need to shout mate," Adrian made a face. "I was about to tell you since Mark is too shy." He paused for dramatic effect and then said "Hermione bleeding Granger." He banged his hand on the coffee table for emphasis.

Draco gasped and choked on his drink. Blaise and Theo had to slap him on the back several times to get him breathing properly again. Draco 's head snapped up, his grey eyes dark and colder than usual, "Hermione Granger?" he asked. "As in Hermione Granger? One third of the Golden trio? Bushy hair? In love with a Weasel?"

"She and the Weasel split years ago," Blaise said.

"I know that," Draco growled at his friend.

"I thought she was engaged to Krum," Theo mused.

Adrian shook his head, "They spit a while ago."

"Who was she there with?" Montague asked.

"The Weasel," Adrian laughed. "But Weasley was feeling up Nathaniel Taylor's sister all night and Granger got pissed. That's when Mark made his move." He slapped Marcus on the shoulder, "sly dog."

"Did the Weasel know?" Theo asked, mirth in his hazel eyes.

"I would wager he did," Adrian said. "We saw him and Granger as we were leaving and the Weasel shot us some nasty looks. If he wasn't so pathetic I might have been afraid."

Everyone except Marcus and Draco laughed.

Draco cleared his throat, "So, you shagged a mudblood? Why should any of us care?"

The air seemed to be sucked out of the room with that word. The silence was loud and the tension was thick. Since the war that word was rarely heard anymore. Even their pureblood supremacist parents rarely said it anymore. The boys never let it slip from their mouths even when they were completely pissed.

Marcus felt himself go rigid with anger. It took all of his restraint not to deck the blonde right then. It wasn't the first time Marcus heard Draco call Hermione that. In fact the first time Marcus became aware of Hermione was after Draco called her that word when Marcus was in his seventh year (his first attempt at his seventh year). It didn't bother him then. He thought it was funny but right now it made his blood boil

Before Marcus could say or do anything Blaise spoke, "Don't Drake. Just don't-"

" It's not like she is even that attractive. Knowing Granger she is probably frigid anyway." Draco smirked. he stood up, "You can discuss dirty sex with a dirty mudblood while I am in the loo but the conversation better be over when I return."

The room was silent. Adrian cleared his throat "What is his malfunction?"

Blaise and Theo exchanged a look. Blaise lowered his voice, "He always been half in love with her," he explained.

"Malfoy fancies Granger?" Marcus scoffed. "He hated her."

"He wanted her from the moment she punched him in the face in our third year," Theo said. "But he knew his dad would have shit fit and it made him hate her even more that he couldn't have her. Then she started fancying the Weasel which added fuel to his fire."

"Essentially you bagged his dream girl and he is going to have a tantrum," Blaise smirked.

The door opened and Draco stalked in. "Let's get out of here and head to a bar," Draco said. "I am feeling cagey."

"There's a new bar in Diagon Alley," Terrence suggested.

"Let's go," Draco said.

The group finished their drinks and left Marcus and Adrian's apartment. No one mentioned Granger.

After the dinner party at Hermione's the group decided to grab a drink at Lee's new bar, The pitch. They were joined by Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, Katie Bell, Oliver Wood and the Patil twins. George was entertaining the group as per usual.

"And then I said, But Percy green is such a good color for you and I swear to Godric he reached out to choke me. Bill had to pertify him."

Ginny nearly doubled over in laughter as she stuttered, "it's even funnier the second time."

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friends antics. She loved this. The fact that they could congregate without mentions of war and death. The world was healing and it was nice to be able to enjoy themselves again. It was even nicer to see George smiling and laughing again.

No one had mentioned Marcus Flint or the Quidditch Gala again and Hermione was grateful for that. Though Ron was in a sour mood still and that made Hermione angry. He was the one who had put her personal life out there for everyone to hear about and he was the one who had been judgmental and made an ass out of himself. Who was he to be angry? Hermione shook her head, she wasn't going to worry about him right now.

Hermione finished her wine and was about to ask Lee for another when a slightly inebriated Ginny Weasley announced, "Hermione, your boyfriend is here."

Hermione's head snapped up just in time to see Marcus Flint and his Slytherin cohorts enter the bar.

Just when Hermione thought things couldn't get more awkward. They did.

"My mum is getting married next week in Vienna," Blaise told them as they approached the bar Terrence had suggested.

"Do you wear different robes to the weeding than you do the funeral?" Adrian teased.

"I usually don't attend the funeral, "Blaise said with a sigh.

Everyone laughed except for Marcus who watching Malfoy

The group had walked to the bar rather than apparate because they had already had some drinks and they were worried about splinching themselves. Malfoy had been sullen the whole way over and kept shooting nasty glares at Marcus.

"Got something to say Malfoy?" Marcus finally asked when they reached the door.

"Nothing you want to hear," Malfoy shot back.

"Don't start you two," Theo asked. "You're killing my buzz."

"I concur," Blaise said.

"Sorry," Marcus told them.

Adrian opened the door and the boys filed in. The bar was small but it was nice. It was decorated in Gryffindor colors which made sense because Terrence told them Lee Jordan owned the place.

There was group of people around the bar but otherwise the establishment was empty. Adrian nodded to a pool table and the boys started in that direction. But the boys stopped their movement when a voice rang out grabbing their attention.

"Hermione, your boyfriend is here."

Marcus looked to the bar and saw Hermione Granger sitting on a bar stool watching him with a wide eyed expression. She was blushing and biting her lower lip.

"This just got interesting," Adrian chuckled.

Marcus sighed.

Shit.