Disclaimer: Nothing that came from the books is mine.
The incident in Transfiguration, it turned out, was only the first of many. Hermione knew she drove me wild, made my heart race and my head spin until I wanted to laugh and cry and fall to pieces. I couldn't hold back the way she could, pretending the thing that had grown between us was some silly little high-school crush.
I cornered her after class, knees still shaking from the strangest orgasm of my life.
"What the hell were you thinking?" I hissed in her ear, pinning her against the wall.
She smirked at me, the picture of innocence. Sometimes I think that girl should have ended up in Slytherin. "Are you all right, Ginny? You seemed terribly distracted in class just now."
"Don't play dumb, Hermione! How could you do that to me?"
"How could I do what?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, growing more confident as she made me angrier. "You know what you did! Stop fucking with me!" People were starting to stare. Her hand met my shoulder, casually pushing me away, and she spoke louder, so that everyone could hear.
"Look, Gin, I'm sorry Dean distracted you in class today, but you have no right to bite my head off. I have to go to the Library to study tonight. If you want you can come with me and I'll help you catch up on anything you had trouble with today."
I heard a few sniggers as the crowd around us started to disperse. Class would be starting soon. I shot her a glare that would make anyone else wither. She just smiled sweetly and leaned in.
"You don't have to pretend to be mad at me. I know you liked it." Her lips brushed my cheek in a quick kiss no one saw, and she rushed off towards her next class.
I wasn't pretending to be mad. I was furious. And the thing that made me angriest of all was the awareness blossoming at her last sentence.
She was right. I was so insanely turned on I was sorely tempted to skip my next lesson and hope to God the dormitory was empty. Unfortunately, I had Potions next. Snape would have my head. I stalked off toward the dungeons, hoping I'd make it in time.
I was the last student to arrive, but everyone was still getting settled, and by some miracle, I managed to throw myself into the seat Luna always saved for me before the Greasy Bat stormed through the door. He barked out the usual threats while instructions appeared on the board. We were brewing a fairly simple pain relief potion today, and I was glad we weren't working with anything particularly volatile.
"You seem distracted." Luna mused, as I chopped the gurdyroots with an unusual amount of hostility.
"Mmm." I hoped she would drop it. She didn't.
"Is everything alright with Dean?"
"Fantastic." I don't think I sounded particularly convincing through gritted teeth.
"Clearly." Her pale fingers caught the hand holding my knife just in time to stop me from slicing into my left hand. I sighed as she weighed out the proper portion and started dropping the pieces in the cauldron, a few at a time. The penetrating gaze she had fixed on me was most un-Luna-like.
"Actually, Hermione's been getting on my nerves."
"Oh?"
"Nothing interesting. Just being her usual pushy self."
Luna waited for a moment before speaking, clearly hoping I would say more. "How does Hermione feel about your relationship with Dean?"
I almost dropped the glass jar I was holding. "What? Fine I guess. I mean, why would it matter to her who I date?"
"Oh, I don't know." She smiled dreamily. "Maybe she's jealous."
I almost choked. I could feel the redness in my cheeks, and glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to us before asking "What's that supposed to mean? Why would she be jealous of Dean?"
Luna had an annoying habit of picking up on things I'd rather went unnoticed. She shrugged. "I know the two of you are very close. A new boyfriend tends to monopolize your time. Maybe she feels a little left out."
"How can she feel left out?" I was having a hard time concealing my frustration. "She's always spending time with Ron and Harry. What does she care if I spend some of my time with someone else?"
"She isn't dating Ron and Harry. When you're spending time with her, I doubt those two are on her mind the way Dean is on yours."
I groaned. Sometimes I felt like girls were impossible to understand, even though I was one. Maybe it was a side effect of growing up with so many brothers. "Thanks, Luna. I guess I can be a little insensitive sometimes."
She nodded. "I find I have to think much harder than most about how I should interact with others. People are so terribly complicated."
"Yeah."
"Ginny?"
"Hmm?"
"Is there something else bothering you? Anything you want to talk about?"
I wished I could tell her everything that was really going on. For someone whose head was always in the clouds, Luna was decidedly insightful. "No," I said, "nothing I want to talk about here, at least."
Luna did most of the work on the potion, and I was grateful she was such a good friend. As distracted as I was, I would have definitely ended up in detention without her covering for me.
I sat with Dean at dinner and pointedly ignored Hermione. She stopped trying to make conversation with me before anyone noticed. At the end of the meal, she announced her trip to the library and invited me to join her. I declined as icily as I could without drawing unwanted attention.
"Are you mad at her or something?" Dean asked. I hated when he talked with his mouth full. I shook my head.
"She just gets on my nerves sometimes, always pestering me about my work."
"Oh. Some of the guys are going to go flying out on the grounds after dinner. Do you want to come watch?"
I hated him for inviting me to watch them like an idiot instead of flying with them, but I knew I was expected to sit on the grass and talk to the other girls instead. "No. I have an essay due tomorrow. Maybe later after you've showered and everything we can hang out in the common room for a while."
I smiled suggestively, hoping he caught my not-so-subtle hint that I wouldn't let him touch me if he came in smelling like a troll again. Men are fucking dense.
He just grinned back at me, then leaned over and stuffed his slimy tongue in my mouth before strutting out of the room.
I wondered if Hermione would be studying late tonight. Maybe she would catch us making out in the common room.
I hated myself for thinking things like that.
