A/N: It has come to my attention (only because I ended up with three different possibilities for this chapter and no idea which one to post) that I am in desperate need of a Beta Reader. So anyone interested can email me, My email is on my profile. Anyway, enjoy.
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter (which I don't) I would definitely not be struggling through nursing school. I'd be living the dream. Since I am indeed struggling through nursing school and not living the dream, one has to come to the conclusion that I do not own Harry Potter.
Hermione was in the shower before either of her dorm mates woke up. She had never gone to sleep. After finally making her way back to the Gryffindor common room at around two thirty, she had sat down on her trunk with a weak lumos to light up her potions homework. When the first lights of dawn emerged, she'd put away her parchment and quill and trudged to the bathroom, eager to wash the stench of alcohol and Slytherin off her in case anyone could tell. She came out feeling refreshed and was immediately faced with Parvati who grinned at her smelling of alcohol, leaves and boy.
"You should know, Hermione, that no one really talks about these parties the morning after." She whispered and Hermione nodded silently. "But I had a blast and I'm glad you came too."
"Thanks, Parvati. It was nice to have some Lion company." The other girl grinned. "It was a crazy party." Parvati nodded. "Did you leave early with Padma?"
"Nah, I was having too much fun." She grinned even wider. "Theodore Nott and I arranged to meet in the greenhouse at three this afternoon." Hermione's eyes widened. "I ended up leaving around four with him, Blaise and…" She stifled a grin. "Millicent Bullstrode."
"Are you going to meet him?"
"I think so," Parvati walked into the bathroom, pulling off her socks. "I think he has a lot of issues; a lot deeper than he's willing to admit." Hermione lowered her head not wanting to admit that she though Draco had some deep rooted issues too. "It's going to be quite interesting to pull back his layers." Hermione blushed, not knowing why. Parvati closed the door and just like that, Ginny stirred, woke up and the day began like last night was nothing more than a dream.
It was no dream, as Hermione found out when she got to the Great Hall for breakfast that very morning. She sat down, as she always did next to Harry with Ron and Lavender Brown on the other side of the table. She was only just now feeling the after effects of all the alcohol she'd consumed and no one remarked at the fact that all she could stomach was a small glass of pumpkin juice. Parvati, sitting further away with Seamus Finnegan seemed to be having that same issue as she nibbled a small piece of toast. She was reminded of her escapades the night before when Blaise Zabini strolled into the Great Hall and instead of going over to the Slytherin table where he was accustomed to sitting, he went straight to Hermione at the Gryffindor table and sat down beside her. Hermione didn't even have the energy to groan or gasp or react in anyway like all the other students was doing. Smiling slightly, she turned to the boy who looked like death itself had crawled over.
"I see you're no better than I am." She whispered so low that no one could hear her. Blaise shook his head. She picked up a piece of toast from the huge buffet and held it out. He frowned at it until she insisted and accepted it, biting it straight from her hand. "It seems no one told you how the morning afters worked." She chided and he managed to grin. "This isn't the Slytherin table." Hermione continued wryly.
"Sorry if I'm ruining your street cred." He replied, not sounding sorry at all and she laughed. The entire Great Hall was completely silent but neither Blaise nor Hermione noticed it because they were wrapped up in their own world. They talked first about Snape's Potions homework and when Hermione said she'd finished it last night he asked her to help him with his and she said yes, still feeding him bits of toast. Then they managed to talk about Blaise's favorite subject: Transfiguration which was also Hermione's.
All the while, the school sat mystified at this bizarre interaction between two students of different houses none more mystified than a certain blonde who wasn't even eating as he watched Granger and Zabini make conversation across the room. He wouldn't have admitted it to Granger or anyone else but he envied the way Blaise was just able to march over to the Gryffindor's table and strike up a conversation with the brunette without Potty and Weasel hexing him into oblivion. Right now, Harry Potter was casting them curious glances but was mostly focused on the redhead next to him, Weasel's little sister and Weasley was too busy sucking Lavender Brown's face. He choked down a forkful of eggs but froze mid chew as Blaise's carefree laugh could be heard across the Great Hall. Hermione giggled too, quieter but anyone who was looking (and that was everyone) could see her shoulders shaking. They seemed to be finished eating and Hermione stepped away from the table, said goodbye to Potter, nodded to Weasley and left with Blaise.
As soon as the huge double door closed behind them, the Great Hall broke out in furious whispers. Everyone, even the Ravenclaws who never gossiped, seemed to be talking about what had happened. No one was close enough to catch what was said but everyone had ideas. Draco, who couldn't stand to hear any of it ducked out of his seat too and headed down the table to the front of the room with every intention of going down to the dungeons. He couldn't, however, ignore the twittering going on around him.
"Did you see that? Blaise Zabini and Hermione Granger." A mousy girl from Hufflepuff stated with a shocked look on her pinched up face. Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't think he had it in him to shag her, honestly, she's so plain." A Ravenclaw muttered to her friend and Padma Patil rolled her eyes too but said nothing.
"I'd never guessed Blaise would even look twice at a girl like her. When did they even meet?" This time, the whisper came from the Slytherin table and Draco bypassed them and walked down the center aisle.
"I heard she sneaked him into the Gryffindor common rooms last night." Daniella McKinnon muttered and Daphne Greengrass shook her head as she sipped her tea delicately.
"I think it's the other way around, Daniella." She confirmed with an awful Slytherin smirk. "Because I know I heard some first year saw her sneaking through the Gryffindor's portrait hole at three this morning." With that, Draco slipped out of the hall with every intention of finding Granger and Zabini.