Chapter Five
Daphne's alarm for running club woke her up early the next morning. Aiofe groaned. Daphne was somehow still asleep, her breath fanning across Aiofe's face.
"Daphne." She gently shook the other girl's shoulder. "Are we going running this morning?"
Daphne's eyes slowly opened. "Ugh, I was having such a good dream. It involved Zabini and that coat closet on the fourth floor…"
"Ew! You were dreaming of shagging Blaise while I was in bed with you?!"
Daphne grinned, contentedly. "Mm-hmm. You'll have to sleep with me more often. You bring about the nicest dreams."
The two girls crawled out of Daphne's bed and got dressed quickly. They'd worked out the perfect little routine, where the other girls have usually vacated the dormitory by the time they've gotten back from running, and they get the showers all to themselves. Aiofe and Daphne usually skipped running on Monday and Friday mornings, when they had early Charms at nine, though.
After brushing their teeth, and Daphne laughing at the pillow print on Aiofe's face for several minutes because it vaguely looked like a dick, they met up with the rest of the group at the Entrance Hall. Draco seemed to be a new addition to the troupe, and Aiofe was very, very surprised to see Theo not only awake this early, but trailing behind Draco and apparently willing to exercise with them. Aiofe knew he often went out running in the evening sometimes, but she wouldn't have expected him to ever do it this early in the day.
Blaise took his usual spot next to Aiofe and Daphne, and Draco and Theo filled in behind them. The five of them discussed their Hogsmeade plans while they did a light jog to warm up. They were apparently deciding to make dinners in the Three Broomsticks a thing. Daphne told them that she should be able to make it, though not to hold her to it. Her and Luca were mostly planning on spending the daytime together, but she wasn't sure where she would end up. Aiofe told the group that she would be there. She didn't mention that she was hoping to spend the day with Hermione, as she hadn't even asked the girl. Blaise had another date, but he would be there. Draco was planning on spending at least part of the day with Cordelia.
"You might actually have to start taking girls for meals instead of just fucking them behind that portrait on the fourth floor if you want a date to the dance, Theo." Blaise told him over his shoulder.
"I haven't decided that I do want a date yet." Theo answered him. "Maybe I'll just go pickup all the lonely girls at the dance."
Draco chuckled. "Easy pickings."
"Like the lame gazelle that gets chomped on by the lion cause it fell behind the herd." Daphne added.
"Thank Merlin I found a date, then." Aiofe said. Not that she would mind getting chomped on by Theo… No! No! Intrusive thoughts!
The conversation died off as they picked up speed, Aiofe having to concentrate all her lung power on breathing, and she assumed the others were doing the same.
X
Hermione Granger happened to be in her first class of the day on Tuesdays, Advanced Arithmancy. Aiofe waved Theo on ahead of her and sat down in the currently empty seat next to the girl.
"Hey, Granger. Fancy some help finding a Halloween costume this weekend?"
Hermione looked up from the parchment she was scribbling on. "Sure, if you're offering, I would love some help."
Aiofe grinned at her. "Great! Meet at the Entrance Hall at eight? Is that too early? I like to go to Madam Puddifoot's and get coffee and a pastry before the village gets busy."
Hermione was an early riser, of course, so they settled on eight and she made her way back to her desk.
"That your newest pet adoption? First Daphne, now Granger?" Theo asked her as she sat down next to him.
"I didn't adopt Daphne, Daphne adopted me. And I asked Granger if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade together, she mentioned needing to find a costume still while we were hanging out last weekend."
He nodded and she turned back to their Arithmancy lecture.
"Hey, Malone." She looked over at him, knowing what was coming. "I think my dick might be allergic to you… every time you're around it just keeps swelling up..."
X
On Saturday morning Aiofe met Hermione at the entrance hall. The other girl was wearing jeans and a light jacket. Aiofe couldn't remember if she had ever seen Hermione outside of her school uniform before. She was quiet and seemed nervous, probably still not quite sure why Aiofe was trying so hard to make friends with her. Aiofe herself wasn't really sure.
"Morning, Granger! Hope you're in the mood for sugar!"
They made their way to Hogsmeade and Aiofe dragged the other girl immediately into Madam Puddifoot's. She was pleased to find out that Hermione liked pastries and coffee almost as much as Aiofe did, though she did put milk in her coffee… Nobody is perfect, I guess. Aiofe thought.
Aiofe worked on breaking the ice that seemed to have reformed since their last day spent together, while the two girls sat at a tiny table and ate their breakfast.
"What are you thinking of dressing as for Halloween?"
Hermione chewed on her canelé thoughtfully. "I don't really know yet… Any suggestions?"
"I talked to Daphne about it. Her suggestions were Medusa, one of the Greek goddesses Artemis or Aphrodite, or Cupid. We thought it would be fun for you to pick something people wouldn't expect from you. In line with that thinking, a sexy devil would also be fun." Aiofe grinned at her. She was almost surprised Hermione didn't immediately turn that suggestion down.
Hermione was looking at her with a shy, but mischievous smile. "Actually, I think a devil would be kind of fun…"
Aiofe gaped at her. "Actually?! I'm not gonna lie, Granger. I'm surprised."
"I mean, nothing indecent, of course! But the Slytherins aren't the only ones that can change."
"And being sexier is one of the things you want to change about yourself?" Aiofe asked her.
"Well, not specifically sexier… But more feminine, I guess? I've always been known as bookish and plain, and that was fine with me because I had more important things to worry about. But now I have the time to focus on my appearance."
It was about the most clinical way Aiofe had ever heard anyone say they wanted to look cute, but she got the point.
"So, is this a lifestyle change or just something for the dance?"
"Lifestyle." Hermione said firmly.
"Well, unfortunately, I don't know if you're going to find too much of use in Hogsmeade, but I'm planning on being in muggle London to shop at least once during Yule break, you're free to join me if you would like some pointers." She didn't specifically invite Hermione to her date with Daphne, as she was pretty sure Daphne would have a fit about anyone encroaching on their bestie day, so she would just have to visit London twice.
While Hermione seemed to still have some reservations, she seemed pleased with the idea. Aiofe thought to herself that Hermione really might just not know how to have girl friends. Spending her days with Potter and Weasley doing whatever they did together was probably drastically different than getting pastries in a tiny café or laying in the lawn listening to poetry with Aiofe and Daphne.
After coffee they made their way to Glad Rags, which was just about the only place in Hogsmeade to get clothes. It was good for getting school spirit items, though. The proprietor was a lovely older man whose tastes tended to run towards the flamboyant. Aiofe made the suggestion to him that he might start carrying some merchandise for the two new eighth year houses, as she herself would like at least an East sweatshirt, and he kindly offered to look into it. She wasn't sure if it would come to be or not.
Her and Hermione wondered the aisles and picked out a few things for the former Gryffindor girl to try on. Hermione was pretty close to the same clothing size as Aiofe and Daphne, and Aiofe offered up her own closet for Hermione to borrow whatever she would like.
Hermione made her way to the dressing room with a pile of sweaters, some cropped ones even, a couple of cute long-sleeved tops for the coming fall season, a couple shorter dresses, and even a high-waist skirt that Aiofe was surprised she managed to talk the other girl into. It was plaid print and shorter than anything she had ever seen the other girl try on. They'd also found a red, long-sleeved but slightly low-cut dress that would fall to about Hermione's mid-thigh and a pair of red sheer tights to be the beginning of her costume. Aiofe was pretty sure that the devil was a more muggle concept, and Hermione would probably have to end up making her own horns, but it was a good place to start.
"Who are you going to the dance with?" Hermione asked her from behind the fitting room curtain.
"Alexei Varchek asked me the other day in Potions. He did it right in front of Draco, too. Fucker is still teasing me about it…"
"He's probably just giving you a hard time because he can't get his own date." Hermione reassured her, though Aiofe was pretty sure he was teasing her because of the complete lack of social grace both her and Alexei showed in their conversation.
"He's going with Cordelia Gifford, actually."
Hermione groaned. "Even Malfoy has a date already?" Aiofe was tempted to mention that she'd thought Draco should ask Hermione, but didn't.
"Well, you have got a bit of a reputation for not being much interested in dates, Hermione. Maybe you just need to put yourself out there."
"How do I do that? I'm worried everyone will have already paired up before anyone realizes I'm even an option!" Hermione stepped out of the fitting room to show Aiofe her outfit. She'd put on one of the sweaters Aiofe had picked out and the skirt. Aiofe stared.
"Well, wearing things like that is a good place to start…"
Hermione spun around in the mirror. "You think it looks good?" She eyed her own legs critically. Hermione didn't seem to share the usual issues teenage girls had with the way their body looked as much as she seemed to worry that she just looked silly. She wasn't worried that her thighs were too big or anything, she was just worried that she couldn't pull off anything that wasn't just plain jeans and a t-shirt.
"Tell you what, I'm meeting up with the rest of my friends for dinner tonight, why don't you wear that outfit and see how you feel wearing it out?" An evil plan began to form in Aiofe's mind. One that involved Hermione Granger pressed up against Draco Malfoy in a booth with this short little skirt on. She hoped he didn't bring his date to dinner. All four Slytherins had seemed to be of the opinion that dinner was too formal for a first date, so she doubted he would.
"You don't think it's too much?" Instead of answering her Aiofe just gestured down at her own skirt.
Hermione smiled at her. "Okay, if you really think it looks good on me…"
"It looks smoking hot on you, I promise."
Hermione ended up liking three of the sweaters, one long-sleeved shirt, both dresses, and the skirt as well as her costume dress. Now laden down with bags, the two girls made their way to Honeydukes so that Aiofe could replenish her supply of sweets. As well as her usual chocolate frogs, she added some pepper imps to her purchase for Theo, to thank him for his reluctant assistance in setting up Daphne and Luca earlier in the week, and some cherry flavored lollipops that Granger recommended.
Aiofe and Hermione wandered around the village until it was time for them to head to the Three Broomsticks. Hermione was getting plenty of attention in her skirt, though she didn't seem to notice most of it. She had seen the girl catch a couple of sixth year boys checking her out, though, and Hermione hadn't seen upset about it, so she figured the other girl really was taking her new appearance seriously.
Aiofe gleefully led Hermione to the pub at six o'clock. As she had expected, Draco and Theo were both sat at the same table as last time, and no extra girls had been invited. She dragged Hermione by the hand and nearly laughed out loud at the look on Draco's face when she told him to budge up so they could sit down on his side of the table. He'd stood up and Aiofe crawled across the seat to sit on the inside of Theo, dragging Hermione down after her. It wasn't overly crowded yet, but if at least Blaise or Daphne showed up, Granger and Draco would definitely end up with at least some accidental brushing of body parts.
She could barely contain her smirk. Theo's eyes were bright and she could tell that he had caught on to her subterfuge. He also seemed interested in the cherry lollipop she was twisting around in her mouth. She gave him a wink.
"So boys, how was your free day?" Aiofe asked the table.
"It was alright." Theo answered. "I'm much more interested in your day, love."
"It was great, thanks for asking! Granger and I got my favorite for breakfast and then we did a little clothes shopping. Got Granger a new skirt."
"Oh, yes, I saw that. Very nice skirt, Granger." Hermione smiled and thanked Theo.
"Draco? Did you notice Hermione's skirt?" Aiofe asked him, barely able to contain a wicked grin.
Draco nodded and couldn't seem to stop himself from looking down at her legs next to him. "Looks great, Granger. Green is a good color on you."
Hermione seemed very pleased with their compliments so Aiofe let the conversation die before she realized that there was something they were all keeping from her. Aiofe didn't want her to think they were being untruthful about how she looked.
Theo slid out of the booth and stood up. "Drink, Aiofe? Granger?" Aiofe nodded and Hermione seemed reluctant to let him buy her a drink, but at his insisting she gave in.
"Whatever Aiofe is having." She told him.
"I'm having whatever it was that Draco got me last time."
"Dragon scale." Draco answered Theo's unspoken question.
Theo walked off to the bar and Aiofe attempted to start a conversation with the other two, knowing neither of them would do it themselves.
"So, what are you wearing to the Halloween dance, Draco?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Am I already supposed to know?"
"Hermione and I have both started on our costumes." She told him.
He glanced between the two girls. "Well, what are you dressing as?"
Hermione began to answer him but Aiofe cut her off. "It's a surprise. Trust me, you will be very surprised." She grinned.
"So I'm supposed to tell you all but you won't tell me?"
"Well, I just thought you might need some help or suggestions. But if not…"
"I'm open to suggestions, I guess." He reluctantly agreed. Aiofe could tell that he knew she was up to something, and he was piecing together that it might involve some unresolved feelings between himself and Granger. Aiofe couldn't yet tell if he was accepting of her intervention, however.
"What do you think, Hermione?"
Hermione turned in her seat to look at Draco fully. "Hmm… Did you ever watch the movie Atlantis when you were a kid, Aiofe?"
"Of course. That's the best Disney movie!"
"I think Draco would make a great Milo."
Aiofe could picture it. Draco in a tank top, cargo pants, and glasses. It was so far removed from his usual perfectly coiffed look. The girls at the dance would be rabid. "Draco, how do you feel about dressing like a character from a muggle children's movie?"
Hermione was watching him carefully for a reaction. Aiofe silently hoped he was going to pass her test.
"What's the character like?" He addressed Aiofe but Aiofe looked towards Hermione for an answer, once again pushing the two of them to converse. Aiofe quietly listened while Hermione explained Milo's backstory. It was clear that Hermione was quite fond of the character herself. Aiofe figured Granger probably identified with the nerdy character.
By the time Theo returned with their drinks, Hermione nearly had him convinced.
Aiofe finally added her two cents. "You'll look hot, Draco. You'd probably get a lot more ass if you didn't seem so uppity all the time, and everyone likes the sexy, rugged look."
Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "Because you get so much ass, Malone."
She shrugged. "I could if I wanted to, that's what's important."
"You think so?" He challenged her.
"Hey, Theo, if I tried to have casual, no-strings-attached sex with you, would you be interested?" She asked him just as he sat down.
He glanced around the table, confused as to the what the topic was that they were discussing, but nodded his head. "Uh huh."
"See?" She told Draco smugly.
He didn't look impressed. "Theo doesn't count. He's easy."
At that moment Aiofe thought of the perfect pickup line. "Oh, if I was trying to have sex with you, Theo, you wouldn't be easy at all. In fact, I think you would be quite hard."
Hermione nearly spit out her drink and Theo and Draco both cackled. Draco looked over at Hermione.
"Ignore them, they just say things like that. As far as I've seen they're both too chicken shit to actually try anything on each other, though."
Theo mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'oh, I'm the chicken shit one, huh?' and Aiofe decided to change the subject.
"Anyone heard from Blaise or Daphne?" Neither herself nor Granger had eaten in hours, so she pulled a pub menu towards herself and pushed another at Hermione.
"No, but there's still time. Daphne did say not to wait up for her, though."
She gave Theo a wide smile. "See what we did? Daphne is probably out somewhere having the best date of her life with Luca Caruso and it's all thanks to us."
Draco raised an eyebrow at Theo, who told him, "I had nothing to do with it."
"So cross Caruso off my list of potential dance partners, then." Granger sighed.
"Oh, right. Hermione needs a date for the dance, who should she attempt to seduce?" Aiofe gleefully told the two boys, though her eyes stuck to Draco.
Neither had many suggestions, naturally. Hermione wasn't as limited as the Slytherins had been. She could pretty much go with anyone. "Smith? Thomas? Or maybe do what pretty much all of us did and go for a seventh year. Honestly, it's getting a bit weird, we've all known each other for so long now."
"Someone in one of our Arithmancy or Runes classes maybe?" Hermione thought out loud.
"So you like smart guys?" Aiofe asked her. Theo seemed to be stifling laughter next to her. Draco looked like he'd swallowed a lemon.
"Too bad Draco already has a date, and Theo's a hoe." She told the other girl.
"I don't suppose Blaise is free?" Hermione asked them, though she was clearly only joking.
"Blaise is currently on a date, so I doubt it." Draco answered.
Hermione seemed to give up on her search for the time being, and offered to go place hers and Aiofe's orders. As soon as she walked away from the table Aiofe batted her eyelashes at Draco.
"Hey, Draco, will you get me another drink?" He gave her a dirty look but got up and followed Hermione anyways, as his own glass was also empty.
Theo turned to her. "You are ridiculous. What makes you feel the need to butt into their relationship, or lack of relationship, I guess?"
She grinned at him. "They clearly aren't going to do it themselves. Plus, how great would she be for him? Dating her would go a long way in the wizarding world to get people to see him as something other than a former Death Eater. He'd be at least seen as a reformed Death Eater. And if Hermione Granger thinks he should be forgiven, who the hell could argue with that? Plus she's gorgeous, smart, and she'll force him to be nicer to people."
"Well fuck, I didn't realize you were thinking that far ahead." He didn't seem to be able to decide whether to be impressed or creeped out.
"I'm not saying it will go anywhere… but it would be cool if it did."
She stuck her lollipop back in her mouth and crunched the last little bits of candy left. "Hey, Theo…" He'd been staring off into space, probably thinking about what she had said about Draco and Granger. "I finished off my lollipop and I need something to suck on, do you have any suggestions?"
He laughed and threw his arm around her shoulder. "You're just full of lines today, huh?"
She nodded smugly, pleased with herself. The smile slid off her face when Theo slipped his hand under the table and wrapped it around her mid-thigh.
"Okay, then, let's hear another one." His voice was lower than usual. She imagined this was probably what he sounded like right before he kissed someone. She racked her brain for an appropriate pickup line.
"My socks and panties always match…" She started. He glanced down at her sandals, blue toenail polish showing through the leather strips. "I'm not wearing any socks."
He closed his eyes and she knew he was taking that one into deep consideration. It was a lie, of course. She was wearing a skirt for Merlin's sake.
Before he could ask any follow-up questions, Draco and Hermione reappeared at the table. Aiofe would bet the two hadn't said a word to each other the whole time they were at the bar.
Draco was studying Theo's face, his normal smug Malfoy smirk in place. "What have you two been talking about?" He set Aiofe's drink down in front of her.
Theo narrowed his eyes at Draco. "Oh, we were just discussing how Aiofe should invite Granger to Daphne's birthday party next weekend."
"Oh!" Hermione said. "Well, sure, if I'm invited, I would love to come." If she wasn't invited, Aiofe would just blame it on Theo anyways, so Aiofe nodded and smiled at her.
"Of course you are. It will be in the East common room Saturday night. If you want to come get ready with us, you could borrow something to wear. I have this little green dress that would look great on you."
"That would be great!" Hermione smiled at her. Aiofe almost felt bad. Hermione was being so genuinely sweet to her and Aiofe had been dangling her in front of Draco's nose like a sexy little carrot on a stick all evening.
Not that bad, though. "Come over right after you shower so I can do your hair. Or you can just shower with us." She saw Draco's eye twitch out of the corner of her eye and Theo's hand tightened on her thigh. Boys and their weird fantasies. She thought to herself, as though she wasn't doing it on purpose to torture Draco.
Blaise finally joined them right after the girls got their food, and the five changed the topic of discussion to his date. He'd asked her to the Halloween dance, so now every one of them had a date except Theo and Hermione. Much as she liked the other girl, she'd go down kicking and screaming before letting the two of them go together, though.
Daphne never did end up joining them, and Aiofe expected a thrilling recount of her first date with Luca as soon as she got back to the dormitory.
The group walked back to the castle together and said goodbye to Hermione at the Entrance Hall. The other girl had said warm goodbyes to everyone, even Draco.