A/N: Apologies about the lack of updating after the chapter, until then enjoy.


Chapter 11: Evening

Hermione fastened a silver hoop into her ear and took a hard look at herself in the mirror. The girl who looked back had on obnoxiously large accessories, dark shadowy makeup, ironed out hair, and a little red dress that was far too revealing.

"What am I doing?" she whispered.

"Hermione?" she heard someone say along with a knock.

Hermione got off her stool and went to answer her dormitory door. Luckily for her she got the entire room to herself since Lavender and Parvati were having a girls night down in Hogsmeade. However, no girls in the room didn't guarantee no interruptions.

"It's Ginny."

Hermione opened the door but froze when she saw who was beside Ginny. She scowled at the sight of him and brushed some of hair behind her ear, feeling a bit awkward when it got tangled up in her earring.

"Well, what do you two want?" she grumbled.

"I just wanted to see you before you went off on your date with Cormac," Ginny answered then jutted her thumb out at Ron. "I don't know what he's here for though."

"I need some notes for Transfiguration," Ron said nonchalantly, trying his best to look unaffected by Hermione's appearance for the night.

"Do you two want to come in?" Hermione didn't sound welcoming at all.

"No, I have to go sort things out with Dean tonight," Ginny sighed and left them both. "You look great though. Try not to kill each other," she waved before disappearing into the crowd of Gryffindors back in the common room.

Ron and Hermione locked eyes for a few seconds before she stepped aside to allow him in. He entered and sat on her bed, his shoulders hunched over and his fingers interlocked together with his arms resting on his knees. Hermione wordlessly went through piles and piles of her notes at the side of her bed while Ron got a real look at the new Hermione. He never noticed how soft-looking her legs were, or how shiny her hair was, or how curvaceous she had become over the years. Hermione finished rustling through her pieces of parchment and handed over the notes to him.

"Here," she said quietly.

"Thanks."

Hermione went back to her dresser and messed with her hair although it was completely in place. She needed something to do to keep her hands busy, doing nothing would only double the awkward tension between them after all. Ron got up and made his way to the door. With a deep sigh he turned around and looked at her reflection.

"You're really going to go through with this?" he asked. "With Cormac?"

"So what if I am?" she turned to face him.

"Come on Hermione, I've listened to you go on and on about what a creep that guy is for years, and now you're going out with him for drinks looking like...like that?" Ron gestured at her dress and tried not to stare.

"It's just drinks, why do you care so much?" she crossed her arms under her chest.

"I don't care! I'm just wondering what's gotten into you lately...why aren't we talking anymore, Hermione?" he leaned against the doorframe. "Why do we always get into these stupid little arguments?" Ron shook his head.

"I don't know," Hermione said quietly. "Because we're stupid," she giggled, making Ron grin. "Because we're best friends."

"Yeah, yeah we are," he stood up straight again. "I don't want you to keep Cormac waiting," Ron did his best to sound sincere, although the thought of those two together made him sick to his stomach.

"Oh, Cormac, right," Hermione mumbled, taking one final look at herself in the mirror.

"You don't need to do that anymore." Hermione looked back at Ron. "You look nice," he smiled at her.

Like Ginny, Ron disappeared into the crowd of busy Gryffindors running around the common room. Hermione brushed her hair over her shoulder with a tinge of pinkness in her cheeks. She already knew that this simple talk with Ron was going to be the best part of the evening.

"It's just drinks," she said reassuringly to her reflection. "How bad can it possibly be?"


Hermione rested her head on her hand and stirred her finger lazily on the table as Cormac went on and on about himself. Her drink was half way gone and Cormac had gone through almost three pints of Butterbeer already. The worst part was the the night was still young in Hogsmeade.

"Hermione, Hermione," Cormac waved his hand in her face to get her attention. "You alright? You look like you're somewhere else."

"Oh, do I? Sorry..." she gave him a weak grin before taking a sip of her drink.
"Where are my manners?" Cormac leaned forward with a wide grin. Suddenly Hermione's mind flooded with memories of Gildiroy Lockheart. "Here I've been blathering on and on about myself, tell me about yourself, Hermione."

"What do you want to know?"

"If you don't mind me being too forward, what was it like growing up in a Muggle family?"

Hermione flinched at the sound of his question, but not out of offense. No one, not even Harry or Ron had ever bothered to ask her about her life before Hogwarts. Suddenly, Cormac was looking like a different person to her. She spoke about her life growing up as the daughter of dentists, her family vacations, and her non-magical school experience. Without warning, Hermione found herself pouring her heart out to a boy she hardly knew. Aside from family and school work, she started to divulge in the loneliness she suffered all her life until Hogwarts. She was known as the "weird girl" in all her classes, the "bookworm", the "bucktoothed weirdo", the "freak". Never in her life before Hogwarts did she think that she would have friends and people who cared about her well-being, that she would be praised for her academic achievements instead of mocked, or that she would truly be able to be comfortable in her own skin. Hogwarts indeed was a blessing.

Before she got on to the loneliness she still felt from time to time when she got into pointless squabbles with certain company, she caught herself revealing too much for a first official encounter.

"I'm sorry," she smiled at her drink shyly, "You must think I'm boring."

"On the contrary my dear," Cormac smiled warmly and put his hand over hers across the length of the table. "I've never met a witch more interesting than yourself."

Hermione looked up at him, then at the view outside the window behind his head. She saw a flash of ginger hair bobbing through a crowd outside the bar. Her eyes darted back to Cormac who was looking at his hand over hers.

"Let's...let's get out of here," Hermione said, giving his hand a squeeze. A wild grin spread across her face.

Without giving him a chance to comply, Hermione got up and dragged him by the hand outside the back of the bar, around where the trash got thrown out. Cormac smirked at her and took the lead, pressing her up against a wall. He rested his forehead against her own and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"You've become very beautiful over the years, Hermione," he whispered.

Cormac bridged the gap between their faces with half-lidded eyes and pressed his lips against her own. After a second or two of hesitation, Hermione found herself kissing him back. To her surprise, she felt warmth rather than the repulsion. Her arms flung themselves around his neck and her fingers ran through his curly locks. He reduced the space between them even further and placed a hand on her shoulder, delicately pulling down her dress strap. Before she could protest, Cormac's lips trailed down to her neck and his pelvis pinned her completely against the grimy brick wall. She tilted her head and tried to pry him off, but he ignored her efforts and continued to suck on her collarbone much to her displeasure. The warmth was gone.

"Cormac..." she mumbled. "Cormac...Cormac!" she gasped loudly when he began to pull down the other remaining strap with one hand while the other trailed up towards her breast. "That's enough...please, take me back to the castle."

Without a word, Cormac took his weight off her and wiped her lipstick off his mouth with his sleeve. Hermione fixed her dress and did her best not to look disgusted from what just happened. Cormac caught the look of displeasure on her face and took his jacket off. He put it around her shoulders as a gesture for an apology before taking her hand in his. She gave his hand a squeeze and a signal for forgiveness. Together they walked back to the castle in a comfortable silence.

While they passed through the village, a certain redhead standing in the cold with his hands full of sweets caught sight of the couple leaving town. He exhaled deeply and headed back inside the candy shop, planning to eat away the loneliness for the rest of the night.


A/N: I'm truly sorry that I took so long to update, school took up a lot of my time and since it's summer I don't have an excuse to not be updating regularly. I assure you that I have about eight more chapters typed up that need to be edited, meaning that I will be updating more regularly. Again, very sorry for the long wait. Hopefully you're all still interested in the story. More to come soon, I promise, along with some editing of the earlier chapters.