Chapter Six
Hermione laid on the floor of Malfoy Manor, awaiting her inevitable death. Bellatrix Lestrange had already been torturing her for Merlin knows how long, and the young witch was doing all that she could do to keep her sanity. Piece by piece, she felt parts of her fade into oblivion. Her heart was barely beating, and her breath was shallow. She could feel wetness on her face, probably from tears, but felt disconnected from them, like they weren't hers.
Her arm ached where Bellatrix had dragged her dagger, but everything was too blurry for the young witch to take notice of what was actually there. Hermione's eyes darted all around the room, silently pleading for any kind of help. Her eyes landed in the corner, and for the first time, her eyes came to focus on Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy.
'Please. Help me. I can't…' She mouthed in their direction.
Nott's eyes were filled with terror, but Malfoy had that signature smirk of his on.
Suddenly, twelve-year-old Malfoy from second year was in her face, taunting her.
"Filthy little mudblood!" He spat at her.
Hermione's eyes flew open. She sat up, still disoriented. Beads of sweat were sprinkled across her hairline and her cheeks felt flush. A small bit of relief swept over her as she realized she was in her bed. That nightmare was nothing compared to the others. She let out a deep sigh.
The muggle bedside clock that she insisted on bringing to Hogwarts every year let her know that it was almost four in the morning.
Great.
Hermione wiped the sleep from her eyes. She knew that the likelihood of going back to bed was slim, so she began to gather her things for a bath. A nice long bath in the secluded eighth years' bathroom sounded like exactly what she needed in this early morning. Hermione shuddered at the coldness that greeted her as her feet touched the floor outside of her bedroom. She trudged back to retrieve her slippers, mentally slapping herself for forgetting them in the first place.
The young witch welcomed the seclusion of the bathroom as she stepped in and began to undress. With a flick of her wand, the tub began to fill with warm sudsy water, and the scent of flowers filled the air. Hermione walked over to the edge of the tub and dipped a toe in. It was nice and hot, and the warmth of the water felt good as she completely submerged herself in it.
For several minutes, Hermione just sat there, enjoying herself without a care in the world. She could feel the water massaging away the stress she carried around with her like dead weight. The tension in her muscles and joints began to fade away. It felt like what Hermione thought heaven would be like. Soft, cushioned, like a cloud. She found herself in such a state of bliss, she even began to lightly hum, which was something she didn't do often anymore.
After her fingers and toes began to wrinkle, Hermione decided it was time to get out. She quickly dried herself off and put on her weekend attire. It was a Hogsmeade weekend for the entire school, and Hermione hadn't had a chance to go to the village this far. Today felt like a good day to go. She was in a good mood after the leisurely bath she had just had.
Hermione snuck back into her room, careful to be as quiet as possible so she didn't wake the others. Her clock told her that it was just before six in the morning, meaning she had about another hour to kill before she would head down for breakfast. She found her favorite book, Hogwarts: A History, and curled up to read for a little while.
Sometime later, Hermione awoke to the sunlight that was filtering into her room. She didn't realize she had dozed off, but she wasn't upset about it either. It was just past eight o'clock, and she decided she would head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. At this hour, especially on a Saturday, the Hall probably wouldn't be very crowded. Hermione really hoped so, if for no other reason than to avoid Ginny Weasley.
Following their last encounter, Hermione did everything she could to dodge the red-head. Not that she was scared of her or anything - there's a reason she was the brightest witch of her age, after all - but she just didn't want to have to deal with extra stress in addition to what she already had. It was absolutely humiliating, to say the least, that everything unfolded the way it did in front of everyone, at dinnertime.
The truth was, Hermione really missed her best girl friend. She missed all of her friends, as a matter of fact. So many times she has longed for their company, but to no avail. Sure, there was still Neville and Luna, and even Theo. But it just wasn't the same for her. Of all the people here at Hogwarts, she wanted the most to reconcile with the youngest Weasley. She could remember so many times she and Ginny stayed up long past curfew, just talking about everything. She remembered all of the pillow fights, the laughter, all of the crying on both of their parts over boys… Now more than anything, she wanted to be close to Ginny.
But Ginny would have none of that.
A sad sigh escaped Hermione's lips as she sat down at Gryffindor table. This morning's breakfast offered her one of her favorite breakfast dishes: pancakes. As she prepared herself a short stack, complete with various fruits and some syrup, Luna Lovegood plopped down in the seat across from her.
"Good morning, Hermione." The Ravenclaw greeted her, with a big smile.
"Hello Luna."
"Heading to the village today? It's a rather nice day out."
"I was thinking about it," Hermione told her.
"Mind if I join you? I was going to go with a friend, but he thinks I'm too weird. Of course he didn't tell me, I heard him telling someone else."
The muggle-born felt a little guilt over all the times she thought the Ravenclaw had gone mad.
"Sure." She offered a small smile.
Both of the witches ate their breakfast, while making small talk. It was usual for how people regarded Hermione these days. All they ever asked was how was she doing, how were her classes, has she heard from Harry. It was an endless cycle for her, but somehow she felt comfortable with Luna. She supposed the other witch had that effect on others.
Once their plates were cleared, they headed for the door to begin the trek to Hogsmeade.
"Hermione, do you think I'm weird?" Luna piped up, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Of course not," she lied as she banished the idea from her mind. "I'd say a little eccentric for others, but not weird."
An uncomfortable silence fell between the two, causing Hermione to wonder what the other witch was thinking.
"I know people think I'm odd, and it's okay to think so. I know I'm different from others. They just don't understand me."
Hermione gazed up at Luna. She had no idea that Luna fretted so much about what others thought of her. It seemed out of character for her, but then Hermione supposed she never even thought about if Luna knew what people said about her.
"Luna, if you care about what others think, why not just be normal?" Hermione cringed at her choice of words.
"What is normal, exactly?" Luna asked her softly.
Unsure of what to say next, Hermione welcomed the silence that dominated the remainder of their walk down to Hogsmeade. The familiarity of the village offered some comfort for the young Gryffindor. It felt good to be away from the castle, even if for just a few hours. She questioned why she hadn't made her way to the village at any point earlier. The streets were lined with a variety of shops, all busy with students enjoying their weekend break. The air was refreshing and the warmth of the sun on her skin felt so good.
"Honeydukes?" Luna asked.
Hermione nodded and the two witches headed towards the sweets shop. A sugar quill sounded nice, and Hermione thought there was no harm in restocking her stash of snacks in her room. She did spend an awful amount of time up late at night.
"How are your classes going so far, Hermione?" Asked Luna as she opened the door for them to enter into Honeydukes.
Smiling and nodding her head in thanks, Hermione said, "fine, thanks. Oh! Which reminds me, do you mind if we stop by Tomes and Scrolls? Theo and I have a Potions assignment we have to complete the week before Yule break - three exactly, which is pretty ridiculous considering the time limit we have to turn them in and- oh, right, back to the point, there are two potions I haven't considered brewing until now and I would like to be prepared and get a head start on our first potion which is- why are you smiling at me like that?"
Shaking her head, Luna's smile turned into a full grin. "That was the most I have ever gotten you to talk and it's quite refreshing is all."
Ducking her head to hide the slow embarrassment showing on her face, she cleared her throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Oh, please don't stop on my account. It's nice to hear the happiness in your voice, even if you're going on about classes and potions. What potions have you and- Theo, was it?"
Hermione packed a few sugar quills into a bag and grabbed another for acid pops and fizzing whizbees. She turned to Luna and gave her a small smile. "Yes, Theo Nott. Slytherin, another returnee."
"Hm. I don't think I've seen or met him." queried Luna as she tilted her head to the side. "Have you been friends with him long?"
Shaking her head and then nodding, Hermione gave an exasperated sigh. "Honestly? I don't know?" She laughed, quickly covering it with a cough. "I met him during fourth year, before all of the excitement of the Triwizard Tournament."
The other witch nodded thoughtfully. They had gathered a wide variety of sweets and headed to pay for them.
"I think I would like to meet this Theo," Luna told Hermione. "Especially if he elicits this kind of enthusiasm from you."
The brown-haired witch blushed at Luna's insinuation of there being something brewing between she and Theo, other than potions.
"It's not like that, honestly." Hermione gave a small smile. "He was a lot like Harry to me. A brother I've never had."
Nodding, Luna smiled as well. "Shall we continue to Tomes and Scrolls and maybe grab a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks?"
For all the gossip and how everyone felt about Luna, Hermione believed she was beginning to find a friend in the Ravenclaw. There was a sort of ease between the two, and Hermione found herself being able to let her guard down around her. Something about her companion made her feel comfortable, and it was rather refreshing.
The two witches made their way down the alley to Tomes and Scrolls. Hermione was getting more and more giddy as she grew nearer, anticipating all of the exciting new books she would find in there. She opened the door and allowed Luna to enter into the store first, following closely behind her.
"Looking for anything in particular, ladies?" A shop assistant greeted them.
"Yes, actually," Hermione politely told him. "Can you please direct us to the potions section?"
Under normal circumstances, Hermione would have been able to direct herself to any given part of the store. However, so much of the layout had changed since the War, and she was unsure of which direction to take.
"Ah," he jested with her as he guided her through the various shelves of books, "Brewing a love potion perhaps?"
She smiled at him, "Just a bit of research, actually."
"Right. Well here we are. All of the potions books we carry are here in this section."
"Thank you."
Hermione perused the books as she pulled a few from the shelf to further inspect. Luna, who had been quiet since entering the bookstore, waved to a group of people who were just a few steps away. Catching the movement in the corner of her eye, Hermione looked up to see who she was waving at. Neville Longbottom was at the end of the row, standing there - much to Hermione's shock - with Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott.
Please don't come over here, please don't come over here, she thought to herself as she quickly turned to look as if she didn't see them, running her finger over the potions tomes in front of her.
"Neville! Draco!" Luna called to them.
Great. This was one moment where Hermione wasn't particularly pleased with Luna's presence. The three wizards made their way over to where she and Luna were, Hermione still pretending to not notice their presence.
"Hello Luna, Hermione." Neville greeted them.
Internally sighing, Hermione turned and nodded at him, as Luna stood next to her with a brilliant smile on her face.
"Hello Neville! Hello Draco!" She cheered to them.
Malfoy's eyebrows shot up at her continued use of his given name. Hermione thought it odd as well.
Turning to Theo, still with a smile on her face, Luna extended her hand out to him. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Luna Lovegood."
Theo graciously took the witch's hand in his own, and in true Pureblood fashion - and for dramatics, Hermione suspected - kissed the back of it. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Theo Nott."
"Oh, so you're the famous Theo." She winked at Hermione.
Narrowing her eyes at the witch, Hermione turned to the three wizards in front of her. "I-"
"Telling her all our secrets, are you?" Theo winked at her as well, unable to stop the grin from crossing his face.
At this point, Hermione wanted to throttle Theo for making it seem like… that and hex Luna for winking at her in a flirtatious way.. Did she not just tell the Ravenclaw their relationship was nothing of the sort? That she and Theo were more like brother and sister? She turned to Neville, noticing the shocked expression on his face, scrunched in disgust, his right hand twitching. Honestly, it was as if Luna announced she was on her way to complete her second horcrux with the way his eyes were bulging out of his head. Malfoy though, Malfoy looked like he has swallowed something horrible and instead of swallowing, he kept it in his mouth. His eyes were narrowed, his hands in tight fists on his side and it seemed like he wasn't breathing.
Hermione thought of asking him if he was alright, but decided against it, unless she wanted to send Neville to his grave with the way he was still looking between her and Theo. besides, they weren't friends, but they also weren't enemies. She really needed to stop dissecting her and Malfoy's relationship. It was honestly borderline creepy and she was anything but.
Quickly, she snapped her head to Theo, who was now full blown smirking, not at her-no, but at Malfoy. She was going to speak to him about that. Folding her arms over her chest she huffed.
"Theo, don't be an arse." Muttered Hermione under her breath, rolling her eyes dramatically.
Theo chucked his head back and let out a deep laugh. She was so going to murder him later, after they completed their potion assignment, of course. Just because he wasn't going to make it to the age of twenty-five, didn't mean she wasn't as well. She needed to get an O in all her N.E. to begin her journey at the ministry.
She let out a grateful breath when Luna spoke up, changing the subject - and atmosphere - all together.
"What an odd group you are," Luna acknowledged to the three men before her. "What brings all of you here?"
"Actually, Malfoy and I are partners for potions." Neville told her.
She didn't know why, but her eyes went back to Malfoy and it amazed her how quickly he recovered from the pissed off look he had, to the cool indifference he now wore. How could he just change his mood in a span of a second? It had her interests piqued and she desperately wanted to ask him questions about his mood swings and how he hid it so well.
Not friends, remember. She rolled her eyes at the thought.
"Right," Malfoy continued. "We came to find additional materials for our assignment. Theo here decided to tag along."
"Ah. Hermione came to find more texts for potions as well. Pity her partner didn't think to join her."
"That would be me. I didn't know she was looking for more books." Theo looked to Hermione, confused.
Luna grinned at Hermione, with a teasing remark just about to escape her lips. Hermione quickly cut her off.
"We were just preparing to leave."
"Yes," Luna nodded. "We're heading to The Three Broomsticks to grab a drink before heading back to the castle."
The brown-haired witch shot her friend a dirty look at the revelation of their afternoon plans.
"We were headed there as well," Neville told them. "Perhaps you both would like to join us?"
There was a mix of emotions on everyone's face at the invitation. Luna looked thoughtful, Malfoy's face was full of carelessness, and Theo was smiling, way too happily. Hermione didn't really want to spend the afternoon with this lot, and she was about to decline, but she met Luna's eyes, which were filled with hope. She rolled her own at the witch.
"Sure." Hermione muttered.
The students all gathered their new materials and paid for them before exiting back onto the streets of Hogsmeade. The former comfort that beheld Hermione was long gone, and in its place was a complicated tension. She wasn't sure about hanging around with this particular group. It was just too odd that they were all together. Let's hope this doesn't last too long, she told herself as she trailed just behind the rest of the crowd.