5.
THE OTHERS
The rest of November passed by Hermione in a blur. She was trying to balance her studies, researching a plan to fix the Room of Hidden Things and Draco Malfoy all at once. If somebody had told her a year ago that this would be her life after the war, she would have thought they were nutters.
The panic attack incident had put her and Malfoy in a position where they found they had more in common than they imagined. He also suffered from anxiety often and Hermione was confident that he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder nightmares. He had to separate himself from his home to be able to cope with normal day-to-day activities. After the Malfoy Manor had been turned into the home of Lord Voldemort and several of his followers, living there was constant torture on his psyche. Malfoy described to her how every room, without exception, now held horrifying memories, even his own bedroom. During the war, he tried to take long walks around the property, hiding away whenever there wasn't anything else going on.
One night, after a particularly difficult session collecting frozen Ashwinder eggs, Malfoy explained to Hermione how, under the false pretence of looking into anything suspicious, he left for Muggle London whenever he could. He'd leave in the morning and walk around all day, observing and taking in muggle life like a foreigner. In a place where nobody knew him, he was easily able to blend in amongst the crowds inside of trendy cafés and crowded flea markets. He tried to keep a distance and focus only on observing, but a couple of times people had approached him for conversation. In passing, a girl had commented on the nice weather and complimented his hair, and a man had complained about the price of a simple vegetable juice, hoping for agreement. Malfoy had even helped an older woman with her grocery bags when she asked.
His mother had made it clear how they were being closely watched by Harry Potter supporters and Voldemort's cronies at all times, but Malfoy still went out. He thought that was what it felt to escape Azkaban and experience a sliver of freedom. During trials, he'd been able to confirm it.
"You can't imagine how relieved I was when they didn't send me to rot in Azkaban," he told Hermione. "But then they sent me back home."
The agony in his voice brought tears to her eyes. They were again sitting beside each other on the staircase that led to the dungeons, over a conjured blanket and a warming charm around them. They weren't overtly affectionate, but their friendship had bloomed steadily in between a snog here and there.
"Flu network disconnected, anti-apparition wards," he said meekly. "I was trapped for weeks before they finalised my permits for Hogwarts. I guess I had it coming. I was glad I could leave, but I wouldn't have chosen to come back here."
"Would you have gone back to live in Muggle London?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Maybe," he answered honestly.
"Without magic?"
"I can restrain myself when I need to," he said rolling his eyes. "Yes, I think there'd be some frustration, especially when I know there are things I can do in seconds without needing some crazy machine, but I think I'd manage."
"With muggles?" she insisted and Malfoy gave her a strange look and scoffed indignantly.
"Well, it's not a disease, is it?" he said. "I'm just a bloke there, a nobody. Not only does everyone recognise me here, but my reputation is in shambles."
"You can improve it," she said with conviction. "You've already done it…with me."
Malfoy raised his hand and gently caressed the soft skin of her cheek with a knuckle. She saw something in his eyes she'd never seen before: tenderness.
"You're an exception, Granger," he said in a smooth tone. "Most people won't accept me as quickly as you did. You might just be the only one."
"That's not true," Hermione argued. "You've talked to Ginny and she was nothing but nice to you."
"She told me to take a picture when she caught me staring at you during lunch last week," Malfoy said and Hermione snorted. "That's hardly a civil conversation."
"I haven't told her yet about us, but she obviously suspects something's up," she said.
"That's another thing," he said, shaking his head. "The hiding."
"We've talked in public, in class and the library," she said stubbornly. "What we have is hardly a platonic friendship, right?"
"Not platonic, no," he said, putting his hands on her waist and caressing her skin below the hem of her untucked shirt. "I don't want platonic. But with anybody else, you wouldn't have to hide like this."
Malfoy kissed one side of her neck and continued up behind her ear. He always knew what to do to make her turn to mush. She had half a mind to leave the conversation hanging.
"It's a good thing I don't want anybody else," she whispered. "But I do want this for myself right now."
He hummed as he took her earlobe in his mouth and lightly sucked on it. "I could say the same thing," he drawled against her ear before he returned his ministrations to her neck.
"Yeah? No one else?" she asked weakly. It was an insecurity that had been in the back of her mind for a few weeks now. As good as he made her feel when they were alone like this, she'd put an end to it if he was fooling around with other girls. Specifically, a particular Slytherin girl. When he nodded against her skin and moved his hands around her waist to pull her closer, she continued, "You might have to let Astoria Greengrass know, then."
He abruptly stopped kissing her and raised his head to look into her eyes. The blush she was already sporting from his lips on her neck glowed even more scarlet.
"What?" he asked perplexed. "Astoria?"
"I mean, she's been trying to get your attention for a while," Hermione rushed to say avoiding his gaze. "You must have noticed."
"I have, but we simply just get along well," he answered and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Whatever she wants from me beyond maybe a friendship, I can't give her."
"Right," Hermione agreed. "As I said, make sure to let her know that."
"Is this jealousy I'm detecting, Miss Granger?" he asked with a hint of a smile on his face and squeezed her sides. "Or possessiveness?"
She shrugged, embarrassed. She hadn't seen any real indication that he liked Astoria. He'd only ever been polite to her when she asked for his help during Potions class. Even though it was clear she didn't really need any help. But apparently even Ginny had noticed how he looked at Hermione, so her little moment of insecurity had just been squashed.
Hermione licked her lips and looked up at Malfoy. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving his hands more access to her skin, and wordlessly leaned in for a kiss. She found it was the best way to show him how she felt.
· - ·
Professor Slughorn announced that there'd be another meeting during the last week of the month and, surprisingly, both Ginny and Hermione were looking forward to it. They'd become more acquainted with Rolf Scamander, who had begun joining them and Luna at Gryffindor's table during lunch. Every Monday and Wednesday he'd sit with Luna and they'd discuss Care of Magical Creatures class. However lately, he was there most days and was a joy to have around. Rolf was the complete opposite of Luna, lively and talkative, but not in an annoying way. Being a Ravenclaw, he was very knowledgeable about many topics, which Hermione greatly appreciated, and he especially knew about magical creatures.
She asked Rolf about Ashwinders one day, recalling Malfoy had learned about them in Newton Scamander's book, and he was able to offer her a tentative timing of the egg combustion and snake cycle. With that information, she drew up a chart with all possible timelines, which Malfoy and she started testing. By next Slug Club dinner, they'd be able to make a serious attempt at freezing the whole room with the time they had.
A few nights before the dinner, Hermione and Malfoy knew they wouldn't be able to go in, but they met up anyway and settled on their private spot at the top of the staircase to go over their plan. However, it was quickly forgotten when Malfoy started kissing her neck again.
"You drive me mad with that smart mouth, Granger," he said against her.
She suddenly felt very hot all over and gave in to her hormones like she'd never done before. She cursed herself for still wearing her tie and jumper because she barely had time to leave her books in her dorm before running to meet Malfoy after classes. Soon, they were laying horizontal on the blanket, her straddling him on top, and snogging feverishly. His hands travelled deliciously from her thighs underneath her skirt to the top of her stockings below her knees and back up while she buried her hands in his soft hair. It wasn't long until her hips moved on their own accord and ground against him. Malfoy pulled at her skirt, which had been tucked under her at the front, so that the next time Hermione moved her hips, she could feel him hard in between her legs. She let out a low moan knowing she was affecting him that way and he brought his hands up to her waist to still her movements.
"Fuck, if you keep that up, I—" he croaked, pulling back from her lips when she resisted him and kept moving.
"You what?" she asked breathlessly before attacking his Adam's apple with her mouth.
But he didn't have a chance to answer, because they heard a door slam shut below and purposefully-loud steps coming up the staircase from the dungeons. Malfoy and Hermione stood up and scrambled to compose themselves.
She leaned over the stone railing to see who was coming up and chuckled when she saw him.
"Hey, lovebirds!" Theo called. "Are you presentable?"
"Hi," Hermione said breathlessly as he ran up the last steps.
"Well, hello," Theo drawled grinning before his eyes found Malfoy, who'd just vanished the blanket from the floor. "Sorry mate, but Professor Gournie is looking for us. She wants to go over our last assignment before class tomorrow."
Theo's eyes roamed over his friend and he snorted, shaking his head. Hermione noticed Malfoy's hair in disarray and smiled, satisfied with herself. While she'd only had to fix her tie, which was a bit askew, his was untied, his shirt was almost completely untucked, his hair was a mess and the front of his trousers and his frustrated expression betrayed him.
"You might want to take a few minutes in the bathroom to finish that off," Theo said and pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. "Or, you know, have a cold shower."
Malfoy gave him a scowling look and Hermione chuckled, then he looked at her and his expression softened. He moved towards her, circled her waist with an arm and bent down to her ear.
"You'll pay for that," he whispered and pulled back with a seductive smirk.
"Oof, I'm getting hot and bothered," Theo muttered dramatically, fanning himself.
Hermione figured he'd already told his friend about them. She laughed with Theo and Malfoy let her go with a small smile. "See you tomorrow," he said before starting down the staircase.
"How did you find us?" she asked Theo and he shrugged.
"I see him sneak out all the time," he explained. "He's not as subtle as he thinks, but I cover for him."
"You're a great wingman, Theo," she told him honestly.
"Don't I know it," he responded with a wink.
· - ·
Later the next day, Hermione was reading in one of the more comfortable armchairs in Gryffindor's common room when Ginny came in from Quidditch practise with her broomstick.
"Hey, Ginny," Hermione greeted putting down her book. "How was it today?"
"It's getting annoyingly cold, but I still love it," Ginny responded. She rested her broom on the wall so she could take a seat next to Hermione, who watched her pull a broom cleaning kit from underneath the side table. The kit was similar to the one she, Hermione, had gifted Harry years ago for his birthday.
"Zabini told me you were great last game," Hermione commented offhandedly.
"Ah, yeah?" Ginny said, reaching for her broomstick. "So you've warmed up to those guys, haven't you?"
"Well," Hermione began, a pink blush adorning her face. "Yeah, they're okay."
"Just okay, huh?" Ginny asked, eyeing her friend sideways and whispering conspiratorially, "I'd go as far as to say that Malfoy likes you."
"What?!" Hermione squealed. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.
"When he thinks no-one's watching in class or at lunch or dinner, he can't take his eyes off you," Ginny said with a mischievous smile. "And you…boy, it's Cho Chang starry-eyed level."
Hermione felt mortified. When Theo said Malfoy wasn't as subtle as he thought, she didn't think she'd been that obvious herself, even though she knew her friend already suspected something. She didn't mind Ginny knowing, because she had a feeling she wouldn't have a problem with it, but everyone else was a different story.
"I'm not Cho Chang level of starry-eyed," she argued.
"Oh no," Ginny said with a giggle. "In this case, you'd be Harry."
Harry's enamoured face and stuttering speech whenever he saw Cho Chang came to Hermione's mind and she couldn't help but laugh out loud along with Ginny.
"You didn't deny it," Ginny said once they'd sobered up.
"I…can't," Hermione admitted. "It's just very, very new."
Ginny put down the broom handle polish she was using, turned to Hermione with a gentle smile and said, "I'm happy for you, 'Mione."
"Thanks," Hermione said bashfully.
"So about that tarot card reading…" Ginny said after a few seconds when she went back to working on her broomstick.
"Oh, shut up!" Hermione said with a chuckle.
"At least he's not going around with Crabbe and Goyle anymore, eh?" Ginny whispered. "I'm even more excited for the Slug Club dinner now, with everybody."
Hearing the redhead mention Malfoy's old cronies and the dinner made her think of the mission they'd planned. They'd calculated how they'd have to do it right before the scheduled meeting and maybe arrive a bit late. They'd discussed more how not to appear there together than their actual plan of action. They already had very limited time to execute the freezing spell and there was no real way to practice, so Malfoy suggested they just go for it because, in the worst-case scenario, they'd just have to try again next month. Hermione was worried they'd run out of months, but realistically there was so much the both of them alone could do. Unless…
It came to her like an epiphany. Suddenly, she was bolting upright from her armchair, the book in her lap falling to the floor with a thud.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"I have to tell—" Hermione began, then thought better of it. "I have to go do something, I'll be right back."
She ran from the common room, out into the corridor, around three corners and along another corridor to the familiar, almost hidden, door to the spiral staircase that led down to the dungeons. She'd never gone down through there, but there was no way of getting lost. There was a door one floor below she knew led to Slughorn's office and the steps continued a long way down to the only other exit.
Hermione pushed the door at the bottom of the stairs open and found herself in the corridor to the Potions classroom. The opposite side consisted of a bare wall she now knew held another secret passage to the Slytherin common room. She waited there for a few moments hoping for any student to come in or out, but without success.
She needed the password, but how would she get it? She thought for a moment to see if she could try to figure it out. Their second year, she recalled Harry and Ron said the password was "Pure-blood", but she considered that it would have changed since then and it probably wouldn't be as vile. What could it be? She knew McGonagall had stuck to a theme since Dumbledore liked sweets and she—wait a moment, she thought. The password to the Headmaster's office was changed to his name when he died!
"Severus Snape," she spoke aloud to the wall.
For a moment nothing happened until a black door appeared in front of her. Hermione turned the silver metal doorknob and entered the Slytherin common room. The first thing she noticed was the size of it. Knowing she was in the dungeons, she'd never imagined such an open room. It wasn't as bright, warm and cosy as Gryffindor's and, in accordance with the House's colours, various shades of green and silver were prominent. She could see into the lake from the tall windows on the wall, which in the dark of night seemed more than eerie to her.
She didn't have time to check on more details because not even two seconds upon entering the room, she heard Roman Higgs' surprised voice calling her name. Then she saw Malfoy, who was walking towards her with an astonished expression. He clutched the top of her arms and pushed her through the door and into the corridor again.
"Are you barking mad, woman?" Malfoy asked after the door closed behind them and melted back into the stone wall. "What are you doing down here? How did you get in?"
"I had an idea!" Hermione whisper-yelled, aligning her arms to his to grab him over his elbows.
"You can't just come in here as you please, Granger," he continued. "You'd only find trouble."
"I needed to find you, listen," she said, ignoring him. "We have to tell the others; we just need more people!"
"The others?" he asked confused.
Right then, the door to the Slytherin common room opened again and Theo, Zabini, Roman and, to Hermione's surprise, Pansy Parkinson, spilt out into the corridor. Malfoy and Hermione immediately let go of each other and faced the rest. Zabini leaned on the stone wall and put his hands in his pockets, Theo and Roman stayed aside, but the black-haired girl walked up to the pair.
"What is going on?" Pansy asked frowning deeply and turning to Malfoy she asked, "Did you tell her the password?"
"Are you daft? Of course not!" Malfoy said and looked at Hermione. "How did you do it?"
All four Slytherins looked at her with a mixture of expressions in each face, while Parkinson showed anger, the others seemed either confused, impressed or just mildly interested. Hermione shrugged.
"It's quite easy to figure out, isn't it?" she said, shrugging like it was the simplest thing she'd ever done. "It's a nice tribute."
Theo laughed heartily. "There's our swot we know and love," he said.
"Love?" Parkinson scoffed. "Well, now it'll need to be changed, so thanks for that."
"Come off it, Pansy," Malfoy said. "She's not going to come barging in again. The password is safe."
"How would you know?" Parkinson questioned suspiciously. "And by the way, I'm still a Prefect and what I say goes. Leave!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. She figured if prefects could, Parkinson would be docking more than a few points from Gryffindor just to try to piss her off, but Hermione earned them in each class, so they'd be made up tenfold by the end of the week. She only found the Slytherin Prefect ridiculous, because she'd seen her slacking on her duties this year when she couldn't follow Malfoy about—because he'd resigned—even to terrorise the younger kids. Funny how Hermione's presence had suddenly reminded Parkinson she had a job to do.
"No," Hermione said mutinously.
"Hermione Granger…Gryffindor Princess, Saviour of the Happily-Submissive Elves, Queen of the Second Wizarding War," Parkinson said with venom in her voice and walking closer. "What exactly did you come all the way here for?"
"Cut it out, Pansy," Malfoy intervened and Parkinson rounded on him.
"Me? Why are you defending her, huh? Am I mad or have you not been going around together?" Parkinson's face was starting to get very red.
"I said, cut it out," Malfoy insisted, raising his voice menacingly.
"Don't," Hermione said calmly.
She raised her arm between Parkinson and Malfoy to prevent him from stepping closer to his old friend and he backed down. Parkinson looked shocked, seemingly enraged to see him taking orders from someone else, but least of all, Hermione.
"What kind of territory do you think I'm encroaching on exactly?" Hermione asked with the suspicion that she already knew the answer. Even though she wasn't going to get an honest answer from Parkinson, she was still going to call her out on it. "I just came to talk to Malfoy and we're not doing anything wrong, so why do you care?"
"I know what you're doing, Granger," Parkinson said vaguely. "I don't care about you and Draco, but this is our territory, so keep out of it, you filthy little—"
"Okay, enough!" Theo put himself in between Parkinson and Malfoy when it looked like the blond was about to step right to the girl's face, his own swollen with fury. "You made it clear she's not welcomed and she's not going to come down again. Let's leave it at that, shall we?"
"For now," Parkinson said looking at Malfoy, who gritted his teeth, and she turned back to walk through the ajar door and left them in the corridor.
"Blimey," Roman muttered and Theo sighed.
"She's been looking for a confrontation for a while, seeing how she has no friends to pester with her out-of-fashion ideas," he said to Malfoy. "Why do you give her the satisfaction?"
Malfoy shook his head in response, trying to compose himself.
"Are you okay, Miss Hermione?" Roman asked and she smiled at him.
"I am," she said. "You should go back in, it's almost curfew."
He complied obediently but looked at the rest wistfully as he closed the door. Zabini looked on at the rest with appraisal, probably still wondering what was happening.
"Care to explain yourself?" Theo asked Hermione in a fake scornful voice.
"We should tell them," Hermione said to Malfoy, knowing he'd understand what she was referring to. "The whole Slug Club can help us out. We are running out of time and I don't know if we can do it alone. I think we'll have a better chance with everyone."
"Sounds interesting," Theo said with a smirk and raising his eyebrows.
"What is it?" Zabini finally spoke.
Malfoy sighed deeply, rubbing his hands across his face. He looked down at Hermione and she was watching him with a pleading expression, willing him to concede.
"We shouldn't involve more people," he said meekly. "It could be dangerous."
"It's more dangerous to do it alone," she pressed.
"We can try this one time," Malfoy insisted.
"Yes, and we have more chances, but we both know we won't make it in time."
"You don't know that."
"Malfoy, please, be realistic. Why are you so stubborn? It can still be a secret."
"I don't care about that, but it was my fault. I have to fix it."
"Blaise, I don't know about you, mate," Theo said in a loud whisper. "But I think we're invisible!"
Malfoy turned to gaze at his friends and Theo startled dramatically. The blond sighed once more and looked down for a few moments while everyone else stayed silent to let him think.
"Okay," he finally said before fixing his eyes on Hermione. "You're infuriating, but you're right. As usual."
She beamed.
"Great!" Theo exclaimed, also grinning. "Now, tell us."
"Tomorrow's Friday and we all have Charms before lunch, so we can round them up and come up with a plan before dinner on Saturday," Hermione said to Malfoy.
"What? Tomorrow?" Theo protested, his happy face falling.
Hermione faked an annoyed sigh, channelling her best impression of him and said, "I guess you can let them know now, but I'm going back to my dorm," before walking back down the corridor and through the door and up the staircase that led to the seventh floor.
· - ·
On Friday before lunch, Rolf met his fellow Slug Club members along with Luna in an empty classroom on the third floor. There, Hermione nervously recounted what had happened during the Battle of Hogwarts in the Room of Hidden Things and explained the state it was in. She told them how she and Malfoy had also found that the Room of Requirement was inoperable most times and, crediting Rolf and his grandfather, she also explained how they'd come up with a timetable of when they'd be able to go inside and hopefully fix the disaster caused by the magical fires.
They all listened intently during her speech, with Malfoy sitting on the professor's table right behind her, and the rest in front of her as though she was teaching them a class. When she finished, Vicky Frobisher raised her hand.
"Um, why are we doing this for Malfoy?" she said ogling the other Slytherins. "No offence."
"Some taken," Theo said with raised eyebrows and Malfoy cleared his throat.
"We assumed you all would want to help," he said scowling at Hermione's back. "But we won't force you if you'd like to leave."
"Personal feelings aside," Hermione began, glancing back at Malfoy for a second, "the Room of Requirement in all its forms was an important part of my life at Hogwarts and the same goes for other people here. I think it's only fair that we fix it for other students to enjoy after we leave."
"I agree," Ginny said nodding.
"I'm in," Zabini said right after.
"Me too," Astoria Greengrass said.
After everyone had agreed to participate, there was only one person left to confirm.
"Vicky?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"If you're out, we'll have to Obliviate you, just saying," Theo threatened teasingly.
"We won't be doing that," Hermione said loudly. The severe look on her face wiped the smile right off his. "So?"
"I'm in," Vicky said shrugging. "At least it could be kind of fun."
"Excellent," Malfoy murmured.
"Excellent," Hermione parroted. "We have to do it before the Slug Club dinner meeting. Here's the plan."
She explained to them the spell they'd be using and they all practised about with whatever they could find in the classroom. Hermione was impressed with how quickly they'd all taken to her plan and smiled widely at Malfoy after everybody else had left to grab a late lunch.
"That went well," she said as she approached him where he'd taken his place back on the table. She stood between his legs and rested her hands just above his knees.
"I wouldn't celebrate just yet," he said, moving his head to the side and his hands to her waist. "But we can do a preview."
"You're not hungry? We have double Potions next."
"Oh, I'm hungry, all right."
He bent his head and kissed her lower lip while she giggled against his mouth. He pulled her closer and the bell rang over their heads signalling the end of the lunch hour. Malfoy groaned.
"Are we never going to be able to finish anything without being interrupted?" he said, gently pushing her back and getting to his feet.
Together, they walked down the stairs to the left of the marble staircase and down even further to the dungeons towards Potions class.
"What are you doing after?" Hermione asked him quietly, mindful of other students watching them who might be listening.
"I'm meeting McGonagall," he said. "I see her twice a week to check on my progress."
"You do?" Hermione asked surprised.
"She didn't enjoy it at first, but she doesn't despise me as much anymore and I trust her now." He shrugged.
Learning Professor McGonagall, albeit begrudgingly, had taken to ensure that Malfoy stayed on track warmed her heart. Knowing she had a wonderful ally gave Hermione hope for the future on his behalf. As pessimistic as he often was about it, he still embraced any opportunity he could to better himself and, upon seeing that every day, Hermione let herself feel more and more for him.
· - ·
The next day the group, led by Hermione and Malfoy, gathered on the seventh floor and met in front of the tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet. When they were about to summon the door of the Room of Hidden Things, Roman Higgs came running down the corridor.
"Yes!" he said, pumping a fist into the air and grinning. "I found you!"
"Higgs, what the bloody hell are you doing?" Malfoy asked him.
"I came to join you guys, of course," Roman responded smiling.
"Absolutely not!" Hermione exclaimed. "And how did you find out?"
"I overheard Draco telling them," Roman said pointing to Theo and Zabini. "I've been practising the spell."
"No kids allowed…kid," Theo declared.
"I'm not a kid!" Roman protested.
"You're a first-year," Greengrass said with a grimace.
"So?" he asked, pointing at Hermione. "She fought a troll her first year, and a three-headed dog, and Devil's Snare, and a giant set of Wizard's Chess, and—"
"That wasn't all just me," Hermione argued, blushing.
"Well, I wouldn't be going in alone, would I?" Roman said, motioning to the group.
"How are you in Slytherin?" Theo asked, sounding genuinely curious.
They argued for a few minutes until Rolf reminded them that they were on a tight schedule, so in the end, Roman got to stay. Zabini expertly cast an anti-intruder jinx to prevent other people from wandering into the corridor and they were finally ready.
Upon entering the room, the startled gazes of everyone who hadn't seen the gigantic room in such a state of ruin until then meant they didn't start casting spells right away like they'd planned. Hermione knew almost immediately that they were late. The air already felt quite hot and Malfoy called for everyone's attention.
"All right, quick! Theo, Blaise, Astoria, you're with me," he called. "Roman, you too. Stay close."
The young boy shot Malfoy a look between determination and awe. Hermione was glad to see him stepping up as a leader. Before they separated and tackled different sides of the room, Malfoy walked up to her.
Before he could say anything, she spoke nervously, "We might not—"
"I know," he cut her off and continued in a smooth low voice, "Don't worry about it. Be careful, yeah? Don't do anything stupid."
She nodded and he walked away to guide his group.
"Let's start," she said to the rest loudly, trying to hide her wobbly voice.
Soon, a cacophony of voices saying "Glacius!" invaded the room. Because it had been so packed, the mountains of ashes made it hard to see the other group at first, and after a few minutes, such a distance separated them that as much as she tried to look for them, she could only distinguish a few movements here and there until she lost them completely.
Although they kept advancing with more success than she and Malfoy had ever found before, Hermione knew they hadn't covered enough ground to even reach the halfway point. The heat was starting to feel more intense each minute, the only reprieve being the cold jets casting from their wands. Slowly, Hermione began to realise how they might have gone about this the wrong way.
The eggs at the back of the room ignite first, she thought. At one point, she started to feel short of breath and Rolf caught up to her.
"Hermione, we're already having a hard time," he said. "Don't you think—"
"Keep going," she said over him. "Just a bit more."
Only a few minutes had passed when they heard Theo, his voice magically amplified from somewhere behind them, yelling for them to back off over their own loud spell-casting. They all stopped as they started seeing thick smoke billowing up a few yards away. All except Hermione turned to run back towards the door as the first little red dots of flaming hot Ashwinder eggs appeared in their periphery. Ginny grabbed her arm forcefully pulling her away.
"Let's go," she said. Hermione resisted, but Ginny pulled even stronger. "Come on!"
Hermione finally conceded and they ran after the others. When they arrived near the door, they saw Malfoy had been quick to Accio all the remaining frozen eggs, which made up at least five times what they'd produced before. This was the only highlight of their failed mission.
The exertion from running as fast as they could left most of them breathless, panting on the floor or bending down and grabbing their knees in exhaustion. Hermione and Malfoy exchanged worried looks. He seemed disappointed, but she was distraught. It had been her idea to involve so many people. She tried to plan as much as she could, but, stupidly, hadn't factored in external elements, like Roman showing up unexpectedly, or the fact that the eggs near the back might be the ones to ignite first, so they'd be able to cover so much ground before they inevitably started a new magical fire. She couldn't blame anybody but herself and Malfoy only had to see her face to know what was going through her mind. He walked towards her and she ached for a hug or comforting touch, but he didn't dare to do it considering the many eyes around them.
"Hey, it's okay," he said as softly as he could. "We'll do it again in about a month, it'll be fine."
She only nodded in response looking forlorn.
"Now that we've all seen what we're facing, we'll be more prepared next time, I suppose," Greengrass suggested optimistically. "Let's go get ready for dinner."
The group started to disperse to their respective common rooms, the Ravenclaws down the stairs to the West Tower, the Slytherins towards the staircase to the dungeons…but before the Gryffindors could walk too far, a quiet voice reached Hermione.
"Hey, Granger," Zabini said behind her. Vicky, Ginny and she turned to face him and noticed Roman and Greengrass walking ahead, commenting on what had transpired, while Theo and Malfoy stopped to listen to their friend. "We'll do better, okay? Don't beat yourself up, it's unbecoming."
"Thanks, Zabini," she said nodding and feeling grateful. His stoic expression reminded her to exercise the Gryffindor strength she knew she possessed.
"It's Blaise," he said with a hint of a smile in his eyes.
"Woah," Theo muttered and turned to Malfoy teasingly. "Are you the only one not in a first name basis with her?"
Malfoy elbowed him in the ribs and Hermione rolled her eyes, already feeling better.
"See you in a bit, everybody," Ginny called before they disappeared down the corridor.
That night, Professor Slughorn smiled smugly all through dinner, surely crediting himself for having united an unlikely group of students who seemed to have hit it off before the first course was even on their plates. They'd changed seats randomly, except for Hermione and Malfoy, who still found themselves sitting side by side, sneaking glances at each other while their friends got along better than anyone could have ever imagined.
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A/N. What do we think about their first proper attempt?
You know who's the best? AurorEowyn and Girl of Chaos are, duh! :3