Friday, May 9th, 2003
Part two: The encounter.
"Hello ladies."
Blaise Zabini. Of course. And Malfoy, of course. The last was rolling his eyes, still standing a good few steps away from them though.
"Hello dickhead." Was Astoria smirking response.
"Good I see I you're in a good mood. Granger, happy to see you can speak now."
"Zabini, unhappy to see you can breathe." Droned Hermione. She was getting drunk and there was no way she would let him ruin the first good evening she'd had in months. Malfoy chuckled at her side. Had he just reacted to her half-joke, half-truth? She cocked an eyebrow at him. He rolled his eyes again.
"Good one Granger. Congratulations. Now, on to serious matters …" Answered Zabini.
"No. We were having a good time. Please do what you're the best at and fuck off." Ordered Astoria.
"Oh so you're angry with me too? Good. Let's sort it out. Draco come here."
"Why?" The blond frowned.
"Sounds fun." Zabini shrugged.
"No it doesn't." Malfoy countered and Hermione found herself agreeing with him aloud, as odd as it was:
"Actually for the first time in my life I agree with him."
"Oh, come on Granger! You steal employees from me but won't talk to me?"
"I didn't steal anyone."
"Right and I'm ugly."
"You deserved it and Hermione had no idea Tracey worked for you." Astoria jumped in.
"Like I'll believe that." He scoffed.
"Believe what you want. Now would you go?" Hermione saw the corner of Astoria's mouth twitch in amusement.
"Nope." Zabini gave before waving a hand towards the bar. "Aberforth? Would you bring us another round?"
"Come take it yourself." The last barked.
Both women chuckled. Even Malfoy was smirking. Zabini looked like Aberforth had slapped him. After a moment he stood, and growled: "I'll be back."
Malfoy rolled his eyes again. Then, when Zabini came back levitating a platter full of glasses, he sighed tiredly, as if he were giving up, and slumped on the chair facing his friend. Next to Hermione of course, square table. She scowled, her evening was ruined. When Zabini started bickering with Astoria, she sighed. An hour of fun. She'd had a single hour of fun in months. She downed her drink quickly, preparing herself to go home, not nearly drunk enough. She put her glass down on the table when Malfoy groaned in his. She found herself chuckling mockingly. She was more drunk than she'd thought apparently.
"You're in the same boat Granger. This could last hours." He scowled. She turned her gaze to Astoria and realised that their little bickering had turned out to be more flirting than arguing. Hence why Malfoy had groaned. Going home was the best option, but Malfoy stopped her in her tracks. He pushed a full glass her way.
"Make sure this hangover is worth it." He advised before downing his own glass and grabbing a new one. Hermione took care of hers in a matter of seconds. Now she was properly drunk. Her sight was blurry. She smiled. At least her thoughts weren't coherent enough for her to feel irritated by the situation.
Granger had downed a glass of firewhiskey just like that. Again. She hadn't winced, nor grimaced. Now she was watching the exchange with a smug smile. Drunk Granger was … oddly funny. Draco started to feel more than tipsy himself, he'd downed his own drink too, competition spirit and all. Blaise was all seductive looks and praise now. Soon, he'd take a drunk Greengrass to bed, again. Granger didn't seem to care at all, she watched the two love birds blankly, her left hand toying with her empty glass. Maybe a dead drunk Granger would be more fun to watch. He pushed another drink to her, making her come back to reality:
"Trying to make me puke everywhere ferret?" She asked, or more droned.
"Would be fun to watch, book-worm." He sneered back.
She snorted: "More fun than to watch those two snog."
Draco found himself unexpectedly chuckling for the second time at what she'd said.
"They don't even hear us any more." He said bitterly.
"Is that why you pouted all evening at commemoration?" She smirked. Surprise was a feeling he experienced a bit too much when it came to her. He decided to play Blaise's game. Making her angry sounded fun.
"And why did you pout at commemoration?"
"Err …" Well it hadn't worked. She watched her empty glass a second, then grabbed the full one he'd pushed her way. She took two gulps at it before putting it down and answering:
"Because my ex-husband is a stupid prat." She mumbled, frowning. That was unexpected. But what was more was that she seemed to only realise it.
"And it took you what? Only a decade to notice?" He asked.
"Twelve years to be exact." She grimaced.
"And they called you the brightest witch of our age …" He mocked half-heartedly. She looked so disappointed that he couldn't bring himself to be mean.
"I am. As much as you're just an annoying little ferret …" She sneered, turning to him fully. His answer could have been more sneering but she was still frowning and it was unsettling.
"Ferret? After all those years that's all you've got?" He tried. She blinked a few times and then shrugged:
"It works every time. Why would I try to find another nickname?" She had a point. It annoyed him. Plus, he was drunk and he didn't want to fight.
"Touché. Beaver." He still sighed. She smiled at him:
"That doesn't work since fourth year Malfoy."
"Eh? Why?" She smiled the more. What was wrong with her? She sighed then:
"Remember that hex? Densaugeo?"
"Oh. What about it?"
"Pomfrey fixed it and I let her shorten my teeth." She smiled again, she was showing her teeth, not completely nuts.
"Great. I fixed you, when I meant to hit the weasel." He grunted.
"Thanks ferret."
"Welcome miss bushy-hair." She chuckled and stood, he hadn't even noticed she'd finished her drink.
"Oh you're going Granger?" Blaise's face was slightly disappointed.
"Yes, tired of your face Zabini."
"When are you coming back?" Zabini asked, taking Astoria's interest with him.
"When you're not there." Hermione sneered.
"Easy to do Hermione, to make him disappear you only need to sleep with him." Winked Astoria.
"I could have predicted that."
"See? Even Granger is not that naive." Zabini hurried to jump in.
"I'm not naive but you lied to me. You could have just admitted it when I asked." Astoria scolded, her interest back to her bickering idiot.
"Err … right."
"I didn't hear."
"Wash your ears then."
Hermione sighed, this could last long. Plus, as they started bickering again, Malfoy turned a strangely grimacing face to her. Was his stare pleading? Apparently. He showed her the seat she'd just left and too tired to argue, and maybe too surprised to do anything else, she slumped back in her chair and cut the bickering:
"I think she's waiting for an apology Zabini."
"So smart book-worm." Was the answer she got.
"She's right you twat." Countered Astoria.
"All right, all right, I'm sorry I lied to you. Next time I'll bang you senseless and make sure you know I'll be gone in the morning." He smirked. Astoria was quick to answer:
"There won't be a next time."
"That's what you say now. Wait for me to work my charm on you." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively under Astoria's rolling eyes. Hermione intervened before they started flirting again.
"Zabini?"
"Granger?"
"You're pathetic."
"Means a lot coming from you." He snapped back. Well, she'd wished for the pity to go away. It was gone. Hermione took a deep breath, extended a hand to Malfoy, who obliged, smirking, and started drinking again. Zabini seemed pleased with himself and returned his attention to Astoria who was now lecturing him about tact.
"It's insufferable." Said Malfoy shaking his head before taking another gulp at his drink.
"What?"
"His constant flirting."
"What are you doing here then?"
"I have no idea."
"Great we're on the same page. Again."
He chuckled: "That's disturbing."
"At every level." She shook her head then, and added: "Come on I'll ask Aberforth to use his floo."
"Eh?" Apparently drunk Malfoy was a bit thick. What was floo powder for? She decided against mocking him more though, preferring to go home. She shrugged instead:
"If you want to stay and watch then help yourself. I'm going home." She then stood difficultly, apparently she was beyond drunk and the floor had decided to move under her feet. She startled as Malfoy stood too, and tried to steady her with a hand. He realised what he was doing quickly though, and let go of her grimacing.
"Thanks." She mumbled awkwardly. He frowned but didn't say a thing. As she walked unsteadily to the counter, he followed through.
"Aberforth? Would you mind us using your chimney to get back home?"
"No at all dear. Help yourself it's at the back."
Draco was really drunk. Blaise was oblivious to them, and the subject of his attention only had eyes for him as always. How he managed to get every woman under his spell with a few words Draco would probably never understand. How he had ended up following Granger in the back room of Hog's Head, he didn't know either.
She was mumbling under her breath incoherently, stumbling on her feet a bit. Draco was no better as he almost hit the door frame with his shoulder. He didn't even had any pepper up left. The next morning would be atrocious.
He steadied himself by grabbing the back of an armchair, while Granger stumbled the more to find the floo powder in the messy room. He couldn't help his drunken chuckle as she cursed upon hitting her foot against a table leg. She turned to him then, her frown irritated, and her eyes drunkenly glazed.
"Don't mock me you can't even walk." She sneered. He cocked an eyebrow at her challengingly and let go of the armchair. Then, and realising he was beyond drunk, he focused to take two steps to her. He smirked at her and having spotted the pot of floo powder behind her, grabbed it. Of course his hands were shaky and he let go of it just before he could mock her. She pinched her lips, hard. And then she burst out laughing at his face. And of course, alcohol seemed to have taken all his wit away. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms:
"You finished?"
"Not quite." She smirked. "You are very drunk."
"Because you're perfectly sober right now."
"Oh that I'm not!" She chuckled. He couldn't help but join her.
"Who would have thought, Granger beaver so drunk she can't stand properly." He mocked. She snorted:
"It's not even the worst. I can't walk and I'm spending a Friday evening with a ferret!"
"And I with a bossy know-it-all!"
"You must be desperate Malfoy, falling so low …"
"I must." She chuckled and he frowned, thinking. "I can't believe I'm spending the evening with you." He realised way to late the way he'd said it.
Upon her drunken state she wondered, he wasn't smiling any more, he seemed almost disgusted by the idea.
Hermione had forgotten who she was with for a moment. Reality slapped her right in the face: it was Draco Malfoy.
"I see." She spat, and crouched carefully to grab the pot on the dirty floor. She stumbled standing back up and he reached out to her.
"Don't." She barked but as she did, saw his torn face. But he didn't say anything and, too drunk to fight it, she let the hurt clench her throat. She turned her back on him hurriedly and threw a fist full of floo powder in the chimney. She climbed in with difficultly but still managed to call for her flat without looking at him.
She vaguely heard him call her name quietly before she was sucked up in the floo network.
She landed ungracefully on her side, wanting to cry.
She'd had a nice evening, even if Astoria had ended up flirting with Zabini, she had felt good. First because no one had tried to cajole her or spare her feelings, resulting in her not feeling as if the conversation was false, she'd been able to speak freely without feeling out of place. Second because she'd laughed her face out, and had been able to joke, and it had been so long.
But she'd fooled herself thinking she belonged with those people, obviously she didn't. Malfoy's disgust had only proved that they weren't joking, and that they despised her still.
And it hurt. She realised that she didn't despise Malfoy any longer, the past was the past. She'd thought, when he'd signed for her to listen to Judith, that he'd tried to help her. He hadn't been sneering or mean to her the time they'd spent drinking, he'd even agreed with her and joked playfully. Or so she'd thought. She'd stupidly thought that things were good between them somehow. She'd been wrong obviously. Alcohol had made her naive.
Now she was so drunk she couldn't walk. And she felt humiliated. And stupid. She crawled her way to the couch and started her night there.
Draco stumbled on the first step and almost hit the floor face first. How he'd managed to catch himself with both hands, he didn't remember. Growling and stumbling some more to stand back up he half-crawled his way up the flack of stairs.
Thank Salazar he only had another corridor to cross to get to his bed. He had no idea where his wand was, and to be honest, if he wasn't sick during what was left of the night he might be for the entire week-end. Why did he always have to follow Blaise? He always ended up dead drunk and lonely.
Though he'd had someone to talk to that night. Granger. Of course it had ended up badly. He had only himself to blame though, since he'd obviously hurt her feelings. Which he shouldn't care about but having spent the majority of his time with Blaise speaking about her, and also some time around her since the previous week, he realised he did. She'd been nothing but joking with him and he'd insulted her somehow. The look on her face had twisted his guts. She'd been nice offering to ask for Aberforth's floo powder. He'd been a prat.
"Pitiful." Spat a voice full of disdain.
"Shut the fuck up you're dead." Draco spat back at his father's portrait. He'd crawled his way to his office apparently. Too tired to even attempt to go anywhere else, he slumped on the armchair facing the window, and fell asleep there, feeling like an utter moron.