I am bad, I know. I thought I had updated all this stuff, but I obviously
hadn't. Sorry. Anyhoo, I'll get these next chappies up for you, and then
attempt to finish this story, which is unfortunately, something I am very
bad at doing.
Hermione walked confidently down the halls. She had been Beauxbatons Head Girl for nearly three weeks and she felt (with Cole's help) more at home. In fact, she felt better here than she had anywhere else for years. Here, people didn't already have ideas about she was, so when she acted confident, and flirted with people (even though she was still in love with Draco) no one thought she was trying to be something she wasn't.
"Oi! Darlin'!" A guy shouted at her from down the hall.
"Fuck off Danny! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times. I won't sleep with you." Hermione yelled without looking back. Even though the hall was crowded, no one looked up at her outburst. This kinda thing happened every day at Beauxbatons.
"Actually, Sexy, I have a letter for you. From you're very own Draco Malfoy." Danny, a tall Moonspill boy with brown hair and green-blue eyes, waved a parchment at her.
"Give me that, you moron." Hermione said, reaching for it. He held it up high above her head. Hermione rose onto her tiptoes to reach for it, and he grabbed her around the waist.
"Nuh-uh-uh, little girl." Danny said tauntingly.
"Forget it Danny. Now give me my bloody letter."
"Kiss first."
"Over my dead body." Hermione sneered, with a passably good impression of Malfoy.
"Now that would be a shame - hey!" The letter was snatched out of Danny's raised hand, and Hermione stepped out of his embrace, and smiled as Cole stepped around Danny, and gave Hermione the letter.
"Aye up doll." Cole said in a fake English accent.
"Ta love." Hermione shot back, tucking the letter in her school bag.
"No problem. And you," Cole turned on Danny, "Leave her alone, yeah? She's Head Girl, and as I recall, she has told you many times that she is not interested. So if you're that desperate to chase a girl that's already caught, go sleep with Mary. Now bugger off." Danny frowned, but left anyway. Cole walked beside Hermione down the hallway. "So what does it say?" He asked, teasingly.
"I am not reading it to you!" Hermione exclaimed, laughing. "Its private you fool."
"Ooh! Biggie. Now tell."
"Don't be such a gossip." Hermione opened the door to their common room. She dumped her bag on the black plush couch and sat down next to it, slitting the parchment open with her fingernails. Cole came round behind her and leaned over her shoulder, but she hit him with the parchment. "Go. Away." Hermione said slowly.
"You are such a spoilsport!" Cole whined.
"And you're a whining baby." Cole got up and went to the couch opposite Hermione. She opened the letter and her eyes quickly scanned the page, which wasn't covered with Draco's neat writing, but by Julianna's spider scrawl.
Dear 'Mione. Guess what? There's this super-fit guy called Draco Malfoy here. He's pretty nice, if a bit cold. Harry Potter's a lot nicer. But that's not just it. Can you believe, they both have crushes on me, though I have to say Malfoy's better in bed than Potter. How're you getting on? Hogwarts is great, though I miss my friends. And its hard to do Crack here, apparently everyone looks down on it. Total madness if you ask me, but then you didn't. Talk to you later.
Love Juli.
Hermione's face paled, and she swallowed hard. She folded up the letter with trembling hands, a mantra of, 'he wouldn't do it, she's just a slut' going around her head. Hermione stood, and slowly picked up her bag. Cole looked up from the book he was reading, took one look at Hermione's face and stood up, walking over to her and standing in front of her. He grasped her shoulders, forcing her to be still.
"What happened?" He asked seriously. Hermione handed him the letter dumbly. He quickly scanned it, then pulled Hermione into a hug. "Little girl. Oh, ma petite amie."
Hermione clung to him like he was the only thing she could count on. "How could he?" She sobbed.
"My love, I don't know." Cole whispered into her hair.
"I need to go.I need to go have a shower. Thanks Cole. I'm fine." Hermione pulled away, wiped her eyes, and smiled weakly. Then she went upstairs.
After that Hermione was quiet. Danny took one look at her quiet sad eyes and stop bugging her. The entire school noticed that their normally perky, if a bit prudish, Head Girl was withdrawn.
A month into the term, another letter came. Cole was coming back from Potions when he heard. Instead of his planned detour to the library, Cole went straight to the suite. The common room was empty. He knocked lightly on her door, but when he received no answer he pushed it open. Hermione was lying face down on her bed, her entire body wracked with sobs. Cole went to the other side of the bed, climbed onto his and knelt by her prone form, and pulled her into his arms. She lay there, sobbing, her face swollen and red, and he cradled her in his arms, rocking her slightly as she clutched at handfuls of his sweater and cried like her heart would break.
When her sobbing died down, Cole asked softly, "what happened?"
Hermione opened her eyes, and said in an amazingly steady voice, "Voldemort killed my parents." Cole's eyes widened, and he hugged her tightly again. Hermione breathed in the comforting scent and relaxed against him. Cole was one of her best friends, and one of the main reasons she had survived at all at Beauxbatons.
"So now what?"
"Now I get on with my life." Hermione said, struggling to sit up. Cole sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Hermione leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"If you need anything to help you, come to me, okay? I have some stuff that'll make you feel better."
"I could do with some now." Hermione murmured.
"They're drugs, Hermione." Cole warned. Hermione pulled sharply away from him.
"I don't care anymore, okay? Everything I thought I could count on, apart from you, has let me down. I trust you, Cole, okay. Could these kill me?"
"No."
"Then I want some." Cole paused for a moment, making sure Hermione meant it, then nodded. He got off her bed and went through the adjoining bathroom into his room, then returned with a small packet.
"Acid. It'll make you feel better." Hermione nodded. She took the two pills Cole offered and chucked them back, tipping back her head and swallowing. She felt no different. "It isn't instant, love, but it'll work eventually."
It did. But after three days of Acid, it wasn't working any more. Cole supplied Hermione with all kinds of drugs, but was meticulously careful about how she took them. She went up and down the scale for the seriousness of the drugs, and was eventually back on liquid LSD, which made her high faster, and more efficiently.
"Bollocks." Hermione swore softly. She had returned to earth with a mental thud, and now, twenty minutes later, she was more than ready to go back up. She refused to face her dependence on drugs, but acted on it anyway. Cole was nowhere accessible, so Hermione decided to brave the Darkstar common room for the LSD.
She descended the stairs from the Head suite through the wall into the common room. A couple of girls looked up. "What do you want?" One of them asked, quite nastily.
"Liquid acid, if you have any." Hermione said boldly. Their jaws dropped.
"You're a druggie?" One of them asked incredulously.
"So? Everyone else in this school is."
"True. Hold on." One of the girls stood up and walked over to a chest of drawers against the wall. She dug through the contents. "LSD?" She said, looking over her shoulder. Hermione nodded and sank into a deep plush chair. "Kay. Got it. You want me to do it for you?" Hermione smiled weakly.
"Please."
"Right." The girl filled a syringe with the clear liquid. Hermione dutifully rolled up her white sleeve, revealing several silvery scar lines trailing from the crook of her arm. The girl raised her eyebrows but said nothing. She gently pressed the needle against Hermione's flesh until it slid in with a tiny jerk as the elasticity of the skin gave. The girl emptied the drug into Hermione's system and stood. She threw away the needle and Hermione rolled her sleeve down.
"Thanks."
"Don't worry about it." The girl said with an eerie smile. Hermione stood to go.
"What's your name?"
"Carrie." The girl said. Hermione nodded and climbed the stairs, feeling slightly drunk. She opened the wall and stepped through, and found Cole on the other side. He looked up as she came in and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You weren't here and I needed LSD. I went down and Carrie gave me some."
"Carrie! Carrie Thompson!" Cole leapt to his feet.
"Shit, I don't know. Probably. How many Carries are there?"
"Just one. How do you feel?" Cole grasped her shoulder, and Hermione swayed slightly.
"Kind of drunk." Hermione giggled. Cole's face was deadly serious.
"How much did she give you?" he asked.
"Nearly a full 25." Hermione said, screwing up her eyes to try to remember.
"Holy fuck." Cole shot away from her and disappeared into the Darkstar common room. Hermione rather drunkenly wandered over to a couch and sat down, staring at a crack in the wall with interest.
"I'm sure that wasn't there before." She murmured to herself, but her train of though was interrupted by a bang as Cole walked in and impulsively blasted a chair into a billion little bits. "Hey!"
"I'll hey you! Do you know what they gave you?" Cole yelled. Hermione shrank back. "Sorry Hermione. It was heroine."
"So?" Hermione asked.
"So? Fuck Hermione. We have to wean you off this stuff."
"Excuse me, since when did you run my life?" Hermione demanded, standing up.
"Look Hermione, this isn't about me running your life, which I don't. This is about a deadly, addictive drug which-"
"Which I enjoy. Why don't you let me take care of myself instead of treating me like a baby! I've felt better than I have in weeks! For once, just let me run my own life!" Hermione yelled. She burst into tears, and ran haphazardly into her room, slamming the door and conjuring a heavy bolt, which shot home with an audible thud. Cole slumped down on the couch and cradled his head in his hands.
"Bloody hell." He muttered.
Hermione walked confidently down the halls. She had been Beauxbatons Head Girl for nearly three weeks and she felt (with Cole's help) more at home. In fact, she felt better here than she had anywhere else for years. Here, people didn't already have ideas about she was, so when she acted confident, and flirted with people (even though she was still in love with Draco) no one thought she was trying to be something she wasn't.
"Oi! Darlin'!" A guy shouted at her from down the hall.
"Fuck off Danny! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times. I won't sleep with you." Hermione yelled without looking back. Even though the hall was crowded, no one looked up at her outburst. This kinda thing happened every day at Beauxbatons.
"Actually, Sexy, I have a letter for you. From you're very own Draco Malfoy." Danny, a tall Moonspill boy with brown hair and green-blue eyes, waved a parchment at her.
"Give me that, you moron." Hermione said, reaching for it. He held it up high above her head. Hermione rose onto her tiptoes to reach for it, and he grabbed her around the waist.
"Nuh-uh-uh, little girl." Danny said tauntingly.
"Forget it Danny. Now give me my bloody letter."
"Kiss first."
"Over my dead body." Hermione sneered, with a passably good impression of Malfoy.
"Now that would be a shame - hey!" The letter was snatched out of Danny's raised hand, and Hermione stepped out of his embrace, and smiled as Cole stepped around Danny, and gave Hermione the letter.
"Aye up doll." Cole said in a fake English accent.
"Ta love." Hermione shot back, tucking the letter in her school bag.
"No problem. And you," Cole turned on Danny, "Leave her alone, yeah? She's Head Girl, and as I recall, she has told you many times that she is not interested. So if you're that desperate to chase a girl that's already caught, go sleep with Mary. Now bugger off." Danny frowned, but left anyway. Cole walked beside Hermione down the hallway. "So what does it say?" He asked, teasingly.
"I am not reading it to you!" Hermione exclaimed, laughing. "Its private you fool."
"Ooh! Biggie. Now tell."
"Don't be such a gossip." Hermione opened the door to their common room. She dumped her bag on the black plush couch and sat down next to it, slitting the parchment open with her fingernails. Cole came round behind her and leaned over her shoulder, but she hit him with the parchment. "Go. Away." Hermione said slowly.
"You are such a spoilsport!" Cole whined.
"And you're a whining baby." Cole got up and went to the couch opposite Hermione. She opened the letter and her eyes quickly scanned the page, which wasn't covered with Draco's neat writing, but by Julianna's spider scrawl.
Dear 'Mione. Guess what? There's this super-fit guy called Draco Malfoy here. He's pretty nice, if a bit cold. Harry Potter's a lot nicer. But that's not just it. Can you believe, they both have crushes on me, though I have to say Malfoy's better in bed than Potter. How're you getting on? Hogwarts is great, though I miss my friends. And its hard to do Crack here, apparently everyone looks down on it. Total madness if you ask me, but then you didn't. Talk to you later.
Love Juli.
Hermione's face paled, and she swallowed hard. She folded up the letter with trembling hands, a mantra of, 'he wouldn't do it, she's just a slut' going around her head. Hermione stood, and slowly picked up her bag. Cole looked up from the book he was reading, took one look at Hermione's face and stood up, walking over to her and standing in front of her. He grasped her shoulders, forcing her to be still.
"What happened?" He asked seriously. Hermione handed him the letter dumbly. He quickly scanned it, then pulled Hermione into a hug. "Little girl. Oh, ma petite amie."
Hermione clung to him like he was the only thing she could count on. "How could he?" She sobbed.
"My love, I don't know." Cole whispered into her hair.
"I need to go.I need to go have a shower. Thanks Cole. I'm fine." Hermione pulled away, wiped her eyes, and smiled weakly. Then she went upstairs.
After that Hermione was quiet. Danny took one look at her quiet sad eyes and stop bugging her. The entire school noticed that their normally perky, if a bit prudish, Head Girl was withdrawn.
A month into the term, another letter came. Cole was coming back from Potions when he heard. Instead of his planned detour to the library, Cole went straight to the suite. The common room was empty. He knocked lightly on her door, but when he received no answer he pushed it open. Hermione was lying face down on her bed, her entire body wracked with sobs. Cole went to the other side of the bed, climbed onto his and knelt by her prone form, and pulled her into his arms. She lay there, sobbing, her face swollen and red, and he cradled her in his arms, rocking her slightly as she clutched at handfuls of his sweater and cried like her heart would break.
When her sobbing died down, Cole asked softly, "what happened?"
Hermione opened her eyes, and said in an amazingly steady voice, "Voldemort killed my parents." Cole's eyes widened, and he hugged her tightly again. Hermione breathed in the comforting scent and relaxed against him. Cole was one of her best friends, and one of the main reasons she had survived at all at Beauxbatons.
"So now what?"
"Now I get on with my life." Hermione said, struggling to sit up. Cole sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Hermione leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"If you need anything to help you, come to me, okay? I have some stuff that'll make you feel better."
"I could do with some now." Hermione murmured.
"They're drugs, Hermione." Cole warned. Hermione pulled sharply away from him.
"I don't care anymore, okay? Everything I thought I could count on, apart from you, has let me down. I trust you, Cole, okay. Could these kill me?"
"No."
"Then I want some." Cole paused for a moment, making sure Hermione meant it, then nodded. He got off her bed and went through the adjoining bathroom into his room, then returned with a small packet.
"Acid. It'll make you feel better." Hermione nodded. She took the two pills Cole offered and chucked them back, tipping back her head and swallowing. She felt no different. "It isn't instant, love, but it'll work eventually."
It did. But after three days of Acid, it wasn't working any more. Cole supplied Hermione with all kinds of drugs, but was meticulously careful about how she took them. She went up and down the scale for the seriousness of the drugs, and was eventually back on liquid LSD, which made her high faster, and more efficiently.
"Bollocks." Hermione swore softly. She had returned to earth with a mental thud, and now, twenty minutes later, she was more than ready to go back up. She refused to face her dependence on drugs, but acted on it anyway. Cole was nowhere accessible, so Hermione decided to brave the Darkstar common room for the LSD.
She descended the stairs from the Head suite through the wall into the common room. A couple of girls looked up. "What do you want?" One of them asked, quite nastily.
"Liquid acid, if you have any." Hermione said boldly. Their jaws dropped.
"You're a druggie?" One of them asked incredulously.
"So? Everyone else in this school is."
"True. Hold on." One of the girls stood up and walked over to a chest of drawers against the wall. She dug through the contents. "LSD?" She said, looking over her shoulder. Hermione nodded and sank into a deep plush chair. "Kay. Got it. You want me to do it for you?" Hermione smiled weakly.
"Please."
"Right." The girl filled a syringe with the clear liquid. Hermione dutifully rolled up her white sleeve, revealing several silvery scar lines trailing from the crook of her arm. The girl raised her eyebrows but said nothing. She gently pressed the needle against Hermione's flesh until it slid in with a tiny jerk as the elasticity of the skin gave. The girl emptied the drug into Hermione's system and stood. She threw away the needle and Hermione rolled her sleeve down.
"Thanks."
"Don't worry about it." The girl said with an eerie smile. Hermione stood to go.
"What's your name?"
"Carrie." The girl said. Hermione nodded and climbed the stairs, feeling slightly drunk. She opened the wall and stepped through, and found Cole on the other side. He looked up as she came in and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You weren't here and I needed LSD. I went down and Carrie gave me some."
"Carrie! Carrie Thompson!" Cole leapt to his feet.
"Shit, I don't know. Probably. How many Carries are there?"
"Just one. How do you feel?" Cole grasped her shoulder, and Hermione swayed slightly.
"Kind of drunk." Hermione giggled. Cole's face was deadly serious.
"How much did she give you?" he asked.
"Nearly a full 25." Hermione said, screwing up her eyes to try to remember.
"Holy fuck." Cole shot away from her and disappeared into the Darkstar common room. Hermione rather drunkenly wandered over to a couch and sat down, staring at a crack in the wall with interest.
"I'm sure that wasn't there before." She murmured to herself, but her train of though was interrupted by a bang as Cole walked in and impulsively blasted a chair into a billion little bits. "Hey!"
"I'll hey you! Do you know what they gave you?" Cole yelled. Hermione shrank back. "Sorry Hermione. It was heroine."
"So?" Hermione asked.
"So? Fuck Hermione. We have to wean you off this stuff."
"Excuse me, since when did you run my life?" Hermione demanded, standing up.
"Look Hermione, this isn't about me running your life, which I don't. This is about a deadly, addictive drug which-"
"Which I enjoy. Why don't you let me take care of myself instead of treating me like a baby! I've felt better than I have in weeks! For once, just let me run my own life!" Hermione yelled. She burst into tears, and ran haphazardly into her room, slamming the door and conjuring a heavy bolt, which shot home with an audible thud. Cole slumped down on the couch and cradled his head in his hands.
"Bloody hell." He muttered.