'And he visited nothing else in this room you say?' McGonagall said briskly.
'Nothing professor. Other than the cabinet, the only other thing he paid any attention to were a few books. He went back to them a few times, I think he was reading instructions or something,'
The professor merely nodded but didn't offer any of her own thoughts on the matter. Hermione went to stand and felt the echo of her earlier injury along her hip. She winced under her breath but knew McGonagall had heard.
For some reason she hadn't told the professor the full truth about what had happened with the pixies. She relayed how they had dragged her up into the air and dropped her, explaining the ongoing pain and small limp she walked with, but omitted to mention that it had happened while Draco was still in the room. Hermione felt a odd sort of gratitude for him healing her, not that he knew it was her of course, and she didn't think it was wise to tell McGonagall this. For one thing, it would mean admitting she had almost blown her cover on the first day and for another she still couldn't quite believe the ease at which Malfoy had killed her assailants. He could have done anything: stun them, stupefy, immobilise them, but killing them? It was hardly necessary and she sensed from his parting words to them that his motivations were more about his hatred of the creatures than any sort of protectiveness he had felt for the animal he'd believed Hermione to be.
McGonagall looked down at Hermione's leg and raised her brow.
'It's nothing,' she volunteered without being asked. 'Just a bit of bruising, which'll remind me to be more careful next time.'
'Do you have enough potion left of shall I arrange for Professor Slughorn to brew another batch?'
'No I have enough and anyway I think I should be able get into the room before him next time, now I know what I need to ask for,'
McGonagall said nothing but the door to her office opened of its own accord behind Hermione and she knew then that the meeting was over.
She didn't think it was worth going to ask Madam Pompfrey to check her over, not least because she couldn't really think of any plausible excuse that explained the size of the bruise. She found it was becoming more bearable to walk with as time wore on and just hoped by the match and bonfire that night it had managed to fade a little more. Draco's minor healing charm had done most of the work, she was just left with the lingering ache which might take a little longer to heal naturally but was barely a concern for her compared to what it could have been without his help.
She headed slowly back up to the common room to wrap up in some warmer clothes before meeting Harry and Ron to go down to watch the match together.
The common room was bustling with energy and she had to take care to not let anyone bump into her on the way up to the dorm. The ache in her side was dull but still present and she knew it would probably intensify tenfold if anyone knocked into her. The fire was crackling and she looked over to see Harry and Ginny sat close, their heads ducked towards each other as if they were whispering. She saw Ron across the room in an armchair, his long legs trailing over the edge of the arm. He and Dean seemed to be in a similarly intense conversation and none of her friends even noticed her pass them on her way towards the stairs.
Lavender and Parvati were sitting cross legged on the former's bed, both facing the same direction whilst Parvati tugged Lavender's hair back into a long tight braid identical to her own.
'Oh Hermione!' Parvati exclaimed as Hermione passed them on the way to sit on her own bunk, 'You'll be able to tell us for sure!'
Lavender shook her head a little and Hermione saw a blush creep into her cheeks.
'Tell you what?' she asked cautiously.
Lavender hushed Parvati, willing her to drop it but she was already spilling the question out with curiosity, 'Do you think I'm going mad, or does Ron Weasley fancy Lavender?'
At that, Lavender hid her face behind her hands with embarrassment, 'Drop it Parvati!'
'What makes you think he does?' Hermione tried to ask lightly, hoping the question wouldn't cause offence.
To her relief Lavender's hands flew out from her face and she wildly gestured as if to say 'exactly' before she turned to smile triumphantly at Parvati who was just tying a golden bow at the base of her finished braid.
'I see him, he's not subtle, he's been looking at Seamus as if he's offended him lately,'
'Are you and Seamus dating?' Hermione asked, looking back at Lavender who was pulling the braid in front of her shoulder to straighten and play with the bow.
'Not dating, but I think that's kind of where it's going, you know? He hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend or anything like that, but he's like wanting to spend evenings together and he seems to spend more time with me than he does Dean these days, which I think says it all,' Lavender looked oddly pleased, Hermione mused to herself it must feel particularly good for one's confidence to have two boys taking an interest simultaneously.
Hermione couldn't really relate to that feeling. 'For what it's worth,' she said, carefully bringing her feet up to rest in front of her on the bed whilst she pulled on some warmer socks, 'I think he very well might do.' It was Parvati's turn to look triumphant.
'Told you!'
Lavender's face stayed quite relaxed but Hermione noticed the corners of her mouth turn up, ever so slightly, as she probably tried to disguise her delight at this new information.
Hermione wanted to clarify her position though, 'He hasn't said a word by the way, this is just me agreeing with Pavarti that he's been acting a bit odd lately. Ginny's noticed it too,'
She turned her back so they wouldn't see the grimace on her face as she struggled to pull her socks over her knees.
They were already speaking in fast, excited whispers so Hermione doubted they would have noticed anyway, but in the event they did she would prefer to not have to invent an excuse for why she was moving so rigidly and stiffly as her moved onto the next task of pulling her boots on.
Down at the match she found herself wedged between Ginny and Ron, Harry on Ron's other side.
Slytherin started strongly, scoring three consecutive goals within the first few minutes and raising raucous cheers from their supporters across the stands. Hermione could see their usual banners of green, silver and adorned with Serpents waving in the distance.
Ravenclaw were on the back foot for most of the match, scoring goals sporadically whereas Slytherin seemed to be bolstered by their performance to punish any mistakes the Ravenclaw keeper made and their goals came hard and fast.
Harry and Ron groaned each time Zambini managed yet another goal and she could hear them muttering to each other, probably discussing tactics for their own match against Slytherin which was scheduled for the last week before Christmas.
As the sky started darkening and the game wore on, Hermione looked over at the scoreboard. It read 'Slytherin 180 - Ravenclaw 50'
It was starting to look as though Slytherin had the game in the bag and so when Ravenclaw turned the tide all within the space of a few minutes she was not the only spectator to be completely taken aback.
Every student in the Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff stands cheered joyously as one of the Ravenclaw beaters managed to hit a bludger squarely into Goyle who, in his haste to right himself on his broom veered too far left and knocked into an oblivious Crabbe.
While the two started arguing with each other, they both completely missed the blue blur of Cho Chang when she sped up between them at lightning speed, the flit of gold just ahead and her hand outreach with desperate fingers.
Hermione looked towards Slytherin's newest seeker, Theodore Nott, who was at the other far end of the pitch equally oblivious to the fact he was miles in the wrong direction of the snitch. She found herself wondering briefly again about Malfoy and his decision to not even bother trying out this year, even though it was probably never in doubt the position was his, had he wanted it.
Cho called out above their heads, overjoyed. In her hand the snitch's tiny golden wings were already settling down and it calmly surrendered to her grasp.
Hooch's whistle blew out loudly across the pitch as the scoreboard flashed with blue fireworks, changing to read 'Final result Slytherin 180 - Ravenclaw 200'
Harry was cheering loudly for Cho and she caught his eye to wave on her way back to celebrate with the rest of her team. Ginny didn't look happy about that.
The bonfire that followed the game was simply spectacular.
A huge pile of burning wood rose up in the centre of the lawn, billowing waves of smoke up into the sky. The fire loomed magnificently over the crowds of students and teachers who sat in circles around its base. Hermione watched the charmed flames and saw outlines of conjured golden dragons flying through the fire, their fiery breaths making it look as though they were keeping the flames alive and burning continuously bright as the night wore on. Along the top of the lawn stood the teacher's table, looking much the same as it usually did in the castle with the only notable difference being it now lay beneath a dark canopy which hovered above their heads without any need for ropes or weights to keep it in place, simply hovering magically in the air and sheltering the teachers from the cold night wind.
Closer to the fire, groups of students were huddled together on blankets with small tables at their centre. To everyone's delight they found their tables overflowing with trays of ginger and treacle cake, apple pies, pastries and marshmallows, which were already atop sticks for roasting, as well as huge refillable jugs of hot chocolate to fend off the encroaching September chilly night.
Their large group of Gryffindors had found a long blanket to settle down on and it was on the outer edges so the warmth from the fire didn't become too overwhelming. As they tucked into the food before them, Hermione glanced over now and again to Harry and Ginny who sat opposite her and who both had, on separate occasions, given her a sheepish glance before going back to a conversation that Hermione would happily bet on knowing the topic of.
Ron was talking her ear off about the match and she was grateful Dean and Neville were close by and eagerly listening in to offer the occasional grunt of 'hmm yeah' or 'completely what a tool!' remarks as Ron berated Slytherin's usual dodgy tactics they had employed to try and win the game. Hermione's attention was elsewhere.
She had glanced around once or twice but had yet to find Malfoy's pale hair anywhere in the crowd. She had spotted Pansy a few blankets away, who seemed to be back on speaking terms with some of her house as she chatted happily with Daphne Greengrass and her younger sister Astoria. Since the whole school was down here she guessed she had probably just missed him in the sea of students.
'How's your gran Neville?' Hermione managed to get out in one of the rare moments Ron paused for breath.
'Much better yeah, she's happy to be back at home,' he replied happily.
'Good mate, glad to hear it.' Dean chimed in.
'There's this potion I've read about that can help people with weak hearts, it looks really complicated but I think it might be worth me and her giving it a go,' Neville frowned, 'Only problem is, a lot of the plants I need for it are highland loch plants but Professor Sprout says they're really difficult to find,'
From the glassy eyed look on Dean and Ron's faces she gathered she was the only one who continued to listen while Neville turned the conversation to plants.
'It's called Coontail, it only grows completely underwater. Apparently you can find it floating at the bottom of the black lake but it's a bit dangerous to go looking for, Sprout says it tends to attract wildlife which means it's, uh, probably a hunting ground for the grindylows down there as well,'
Hermione's brow furrowed trying to come up with an answer for him, not quite seeing a way to obtain any if that was the case but equally wanting to be helpful.
'Someone must have worked out a way to get some by now surely?' she asked
'I read about it in that book Moody gave me in fourth year..'
Hermione shuddered involuntarily, remembering who exactly Neville was really referring to and what else he had gone on to do that year.
Dean had got up to go speak with Seamus and Ron had turned his attention to Lavender, leaving only Hermione and Neville still on their side of the table. She caught the slight glare Seamus chucked Ron's way as he stretched his legs out on the blanket and leaned back while he chatted to Lavender, looking completely at ease. Lavender was giggling at something Ron had said, which prompted Seamus' face to morph into more of a scowl than a glare now. Hermione noticed the hand of his that she could see was balled tightly into a fist.
She realised with a start Neville was still talking and that she had zoned out for at least the last few minutes, uncharacteristically distracted by the melodramas of her housemates.
'-sometimes it's called hornwort but it basically means the same thing. This Edwards guy I've been reading about managed to grow some in his own aquarium but when he sent samples of it for testing in healing potions they found it didn't work as well so basically needs to be the freshwater stuff.' He shrugged, seemingly unaware he had been talking to himself.
Hermione smiled apologetically, 'Sorry Neville, how much of this hornwort stuff did you say you would need?'
'Only five leaves for the potion, but I'm not the best at potions so probably double that at least in case the first attempt goes uh -' he trailed off.
'Leave it with me, I'll ask Slughorn, he's been happy to take on some private lessons with me to help with my exams, I wonder if he has any in his private stores I could ask for,' she offered.
Neville beamed at her.
Hermione didn't really have any intention of asking Slughorn. He'd already done her a few favours lately and she didn't really want to pester him again so soon. She did however have another way of getting the plant to Neville, not that she could honestly tell him how she had gotten it.
A while later, she looked over to see Ron and Harry clearing their table of what little food and drink remained on it. Harry took a small orange packet of something out of his pocket and offered one to Ron.
'Oh for Merlin's sake!' Ginny scoffed.
'Don't worry Ginny.. I won't hurt your little brother,' Harry winked back at her, Hermione noticed the flush that instantly spread to Ginny's neck and cheeks as she rolled her eyes at him in response.
'Little? I'm a year older than her you tosser!' Ron laughed accepting the sweet and putting the box down on the table. Hermione could faintly read the label in the warm glow of the fire: ''McAllister's Body-Building Sours''. She inwardly groaned seeing where this was going.
'One sickle?' Ron challenged as he and Harry took one of the small orange sweets and started to chew.
'You're on!'
Everyone else in their group had stopped their conversations and had turned to look eagerly at Harry and Ron as they took their places kneeling opposite each other across the now-empty table.
Hermione watched as both boy's limbs began to bulk out in a comical fashion. Their heads remained the same size but slowly their torso and arms beefed up to ridiculous proportions. She watched Ginny's eyes widen as the material stretched around Harry's waist revealing an abnormally large pair of protruding abs.
Hermione shared a look of dismay with Neville as Ron's enormous growing biceps and thighs forced them to back a little further away from him to give him more space.
He had Harry both laughed appraisingly at each other, and leant their muscled arms to rest on the table, the other behind their backs, and grasped each other's hands.
She noticed Lavender eying Ron hungrily and Seamus' eyes turn dark, he was the only one of their group who wasn't chuckling at the sight of Harry and Ron's uncharacteristically muscular bodies.
Dean leant forward and held his hand up to them both, 'On my count then, one...two...three!'
Their arms began to ripple with the force of their fabricated strength as they wrestled. Neville was laughing next to her and she noticed a table of Hufflepuff's to their left had moved over to get a look.
Their eyes locked on each other and Hermione noticed both of their expressions were equal amounts jovial with an undercurrent of genuine competitiveness. They clearly both wanted to win and based on what she'd seen so far that evening, both were also using the opportunity to impress.
Lavender and Ginny did not take their eyes off the scene and, as she took in the faces of some of the Hufflepuff girls who had come over, they clearly weren't the only interested ones.
Harry's brow was starting to perspire with the effort of holding Ron back and after only a minute Harry's hand went plunging down to hit the table which, to everyone's shock, cracked a little down the middle, its legs buckling with the strain of trying to stay upright.
Ron tensed his arms in a celebratory pose, he curled his hand into a fist and kissed it.
'Boys...' Hermione muttered, moving to sit back down and find a position she could be comfortable in on the blanket. The ache in her side had lessened even more and she was starting to think she would simply sleep the rest of the pain off that night.
She leaned back on her arms to look up at the sky. The night was cool and clear and, aside from the smoke from the ongoing bonfire, was the perfect conditions to watch the stars above them. Neville joined her and she pointed out to him the constellations of Capricornus and Indus she could make out in the west. Firenze had told them in their last lesson Wednesday night that both should be visible over the weekend.
'I read in that in Greek mythology, Capricornus sometimes symbolises Amalthea,' sensing rather than needing to look at the confused look on Neville's face she elaborated, ' Amalthea is the goat Zeus fed on after he was saved from being eaten by his father, Cronos the titan.'
'Oh,' Neville replied, seeming genuinely interested. Hermione felt a little guilt at not listening to him properly when he had been speaking about the plants he'd read up on earlier. She told him some of the other stories she vaguely remembered about both constellations but their attention was soon grabbed by a loud bang over at the table.'
Ernie Macmillan pounded his fist on the table in frustration, Hermione noticed he too had tried one of Harry's sweets. One of the table's legs had completely given out under the the weight of a second arm wrestling match and she could gather from Ron beating his fists against his hulking chest that he had won again. Ernie chucked a sickle down on the table and stalked off.
'Barbaric isn't it?' Hermione muttered to Neville. He didn't reply but shared a knowing smile with her that made it clear he had no plans to participate.
'Me next.' Seamus moved to the front facing Ron. She sensed Parvati looking over and Hermione deliberately avoided eye contact.
Lavender looked like she was ready to pass out with either nerves or excitement, Hermione couldn't decide which, and was slowly making her way closer and close to the table and the inevitable confrontation.
From the quiet hush that settled over the group as Seamus took the box and tipped a sweet into his mouth, it was clear that by now at least half of her housemates were either aware of or had actively participated in spreading the rumours about the love triangle. Hermione looked anxiously over at Ginny and Harry, the latter looked like he wanted to step in and stop this before it escalated but couldn't think of a reason that would let him do so.
Seamus was wearing a tight checked shirt that started to strain at the seams as the effects of the charmed sweets took hold. He nodded at Ron who stared back with an expression as tense as the atmosphere around them.
Dean raised his hands and Hermione felt the group around her hold it's breath as one.
'Three.. Two...One..' Dean announced quickly backing away from the table as the boys started their match.
Hermione noticed neither had pledged a bet before they started. On reflection, she supposed it was implicit what the stakes were, given who was watching them in their small audience that seemed to have again grown in size. Lavender's hands clasped tightly around her braid which was starting to come loose as she ran her fingers over it again and again. They were both shaking in their effort to be the victor of this one.
Ron's elbow began to grind into the remaining wood of their table and she could see a small dent beginning to materialize in the wood. Seamus' knuckles on the hand he had held in a fist behind his back had turned white.
The match was easily the longest of the three, every time she thought she saw one of their grips start to slip they seemed to pull more strength out of nowhere to push each other back.
Out of nowhere, Seamus seemed to muster his last bit of strength and pushed Ron's hand back to within a few inches of the table. The crowd hissed in anticipation and Ron turned a dark shade of cherry red.
Emboldened by either the risk of embarrassment or his hatred that Seamus had nearly had him beat, Ron let out a loud roar, his arm seeming to pulsate with the last bit of energy the charm could give him. He rose as tall as he could whilst still kneeling and manoeuvred Seamus' arm back down and through the now shattered table to the floor.
There was a moment of silence whilst everyone comprehended what had just happened, then to her shock Seamus rose to stand and shoved Ron to the floor, standing over him and looking down with a scowl.
'Alright you two,' Harry moved to stand between them though Ginny tugged on his sleeve to keep him out of it.
The initial look of surprise on Ron's face, first at winning then at being ungraciously pushed back to the floor, had gone now. His brow furrowed and he glared up at Seamus as he made his way back onto his feet.
'Something to say?' he taunted, kicking one half of the broke table aside and walking over to Seamus, who held his ground as the two boys faced off.
'I've got nothing to say to you anymore, Weasley!' Seamus spat angrily, giving Ron a second shove as he did, this time though Ron managed to hold his balance and shoved Seamus right back.
He clearly hadn't expected Ron to react so quickly and went flying backwards with the force of the push, colliding straight with Hermione and the two fell to the ground.
Seamus landed on top of her. The force of their landing added with the lingering muscle he was carrying because of the sweets meant Hermione's hip and leg throbbed hotly with fresh pain and she cried out in agony.
Tears in her eyes, she tried in vain to push his weight off her, letting out a soft whimper as she felt him accidentally push down on her hip to help him stand. She screamed out shouting at him to get off causing Dean and Neville to quickly come to her rescue, pulling Seamus away and off of her. Both of their arms stayed held on his preventing him from lashing back at Ron who was now looking in horror as Harry ran to Hermione's side.
'Ahh-ow!' she cried as Harry put an arm around her waist to hoist her up.
'Sorry, here put your arm round me. Hey Ginny-' he yelled for help but Ginny was already on Hermione's other side and together they managed to get her to her feet though she couldn't help the tears that had started to leak down her cheeks as she fought to hold back the pain.
'Sorry Hermione... it was an accident...'
She shot him a fiery look through blurred vision, 'No it wasn't!'
She swayed with the effort of standing, and gave Ginny a look she hoped would be interpreted as 'let's go'.
Seamus had calmed down and was shrinking back to his normal size as the effects of the sours wore off. He had brushed off Dean and Neville's hold and was now storming off to the other end of the bonfire. Hermione briefly saw Lavender look between him and Ron, as if it was the biggest decision of her life.
'I'm heading back up now, want me to help you?' Neville offered.
'But it's still early,' protested Ginny
'I'm up first thing, greenhouses need fumigating and sprout asked me if I wanted to help. You wanna come back with me Hermione?'
She looked around to see almost the entire school was still gathered around the bonfire and weighed up staying and having to deal with the awkward aftermath of Ron and Seamus' little squabble against the promised warmth of her blankets, and perhaps another long soak in the prefects bathroom.
'Love to, Neville,' she said throwing another haughty look in Ron's direction.
The little bubble of a crush that had been developing for her friend had been sufficiently popped in the space of one evening and she found now she just wanted to be away from him.
Letting go of Harry and Ginny and giving them her hurried thanks, she shuffled over to Neville who gingerly replaced the same hold around her waist and helped her back to the castle and the promise of a much more peaceful night.
She felt Ron's eyes on them as they left but decided he didn't deserve the effort of a glance back from her right then, so she kept her eyes straight ahead.
As they arrived back in the warmth of the castle, she finally allowed Neville to loosen his hand on her waist after they had made their way up the stairs to the Fat Lady's portrait. They had walked quietly up to the tower, him either not knowing what to say or simply realising from her steely composure that Hermione really was not in the mood to talk.
'Tapeworm' Neville said.
'Not from tomorrow,' the Fat Lady's melodic voice chimed, 'Dilligrout. Some poor little girl earlier looked beside herself when she thought she'd got it wrong,'
They stumbled into the common room, Neville let Hermione go first and in her own time.
'Thank you Neville, I really- ah,' she gasped as she went to rest on the bannister up to the girls dormitories.
'You alright making your way up?' he sighed, wishing he could help her up the final flight but knowing he would only trigger the alarm since boys weren't allowed up to the girl's floor of their tower.
She inhaled and tried to steady herself as she edged up the first step slowly, putting as much weight as she could on her good side.
'I'll be fine Neville, thank you again..'
'You sure you don't want to go to the infirmary?'
'No, Madame Promfrey looked like she was enjoying a rare night away from the ward earlier. I don't want her getting called back on my account.' She winced as the pain in her side tugged again. 'I'll be fine, which is more than Ron will be able to say if he tries anything like that spectacle again.'
'Idiots,' Neville agreed.
'Thanks Neville, I'll see you tomorrow,'
'Night Hermione,' he replied, a tone of worry still present in his voice.
When Hermione got to the top floor and her room, there were two things that made her blood run cold.
First, the door was ajar.
She had been the last girl out of their room earlier, she knew she had been and also knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had left the door firmly closed. Everyone else in their house was still down at the bonfire and nobody had been back yet. She reached into her long boots and pulled her wand out from where it had been tucked inside.
Second, and more worryingly, through the gap in the doorway she could see her bunk and her usual rigid neatness of her bedcovers had been ravaged. Her blankets trailed down to the floor, completely askey, and the drawers of her bedside table were each gaping open, as though they had been completely tipped out.
She saw her books scattered on the floor and the bar of chocolate she had put back in her drawer the night before was peaking out at an odd angle.
Her wand raised she quietly edged into the room, pushing the door back but not seeing anybody as the full room came into view.
Hermione hobbled over to her things and quickly inspected them, not quite processing what she was seeing, her tight grip on her wand began to loosen as she realised whoever had been here had clearly left without what they were looking for; as far as she could make out nothing was missing.
She made to straighten her bedcovers, the effort of laying them back straight again causing her to cry out quietly, her hand moving to grab onto her side while she used the other to settle herself on the bed and take a quick breather.
Closing her eyes, she doubled over as she sat on the edge of her bed, feeling the fresh sting of more tears make their way down her cheeks. She mentally berated herself for being so weak and for not taking Neville's suggestion and going to the infirmary. She was quickly losing faith that the rest of her pain could be slept off and had already made herself a mental promise to make a trip to see Madam Pompfrey her first job in the morning.
The quiet creak of the door moving back into place caught her attention and her eyes shot up as a figure made its way out from behind the door where the shadows had previously obscured them from her view.
Her grip on her wand tightened again as she recognised his pale features and cold eyes.
Draco clicked the door closed behind him. His own wand was raised and pointed straight at her face, Hermione's tears glinting in the light of it.
A/N: Won't leave it too long until the next update. It's a chapter I've been excited to get out for a while as we finally get to see some of the tension between Hermione and Draco come to a head and let's just say it'll be an intense one.
Thanks again for reading!