Jewels of a Pristine Mind
"Oh, hello Harry, you can always manage to find me"
"Well you are my friend Hermione, where is Ron?'
"Probably looking for you, Seeker…"
"Ha! Yeah, Seeker, today was good, very good"
"Beating Ravenclaw is not so bad now…"
"Nope"
"Cho still looks at you"
"I know"
"Who looks at Harry?"
"Ron! Where have you been?"
"Actually I was looking for… Never mind, I'm here now."
"Mmm… Whatever" responded Hermione, she had broken it off with Ron after school started again, said she needed space for herself, the questions is, she didn't know how much. She loved Ron, but somehow she was in need of something different.
"What're you thinking? Of late you are so pensive…"
"Well Harry, maybe I can go up to Dumbledore's office and use that pensive of his"
"You think it's still there?"
"My suspicions are McGonagall has not moved anything from the original state of the office, for Dumbledore's memory sake, you know…"
"You know Herm, sometimes I think Dumbledore is still alive, away and sick of all this… He's some place far away, in a beach, his beard braded"
Hermione laughed heartily at the image of what Harry just described, Harry joined in with a smile, but still looked gloomy. Ron had run off somewhere they didn't know, she particularly didn't care, but was a little stung that he didn't tell them… tell her. They both were taking a stroll in the halls, it was a fine Saturday, but soon it would rain.
"What do you think Ron is doing?"
"Shagging with McGonagall, as far as you know!"
"Malfoy! You fucking asshole!"
"There is that possibility" Hermione thought to herself without paying attention at the quarrel that was forming between Malfoy and Harry, and all the fans of them both forming around in awe.
She was going through this faze, thought it was depression or her careless eating habits, but no. She glanced over the clock that stated all the points the Houses were gaining, to her astonishment, Hufflepuff was second to Gryffindor.
"Life is full of surprises, first Ron shagging with McGonagall and now this" She admonished herself by being so cynically perverse, but this new mindset was proving to be her only entertainment.
Voldemort was dead, there was nothing to fear, nothing to solve and nothing to protect, her memories past were bittersweet, but she extremely wanted to know what the fuck was wrong with her.
"Bloody asshole!"
"Well maybe you should take my…"
"What! Ignore him? We're not in 1st year you know!"
"Right"
"Right? What happened to the scolding?"
"Well, you're a big boy, the boy who lived! Ha!"
"And now you have a sense of humor?"
"Oh fuck you Harry!"
"Believe it or not, that, has not happened yet"
"A sad fact, same here"
"Ron still hasn't laid a hand on you?"
"His hand yes, his dick no!"
Harry was so astonished at her blunt response, he had never heard her say the word "dick" before, and he guessed things were going to change after the war. He felt this strange peace; the fear of something dreadful to come was there no more.
He was estranged somehow, now the fights or disagreements with Draco Malfoy were fewer, it seems they had nothing to say to each other and just kept it up as an act. The Gryffindor-Slytherin charade had lost its spark, Hogwarts was his home, but now it was time to branch out. Probably move in Grimmauld place and remodel the place. Put some scarlet and gold wherever he had a chance.
It was a fine day, not exactly blue skies, but the air was full of hope and new beginnings. Hermione and Harry kept walking, in friendly silence, they stopped were a plaque had been installed for all that fell during the war. The list was long, Hermione held his hand for a moment; it kept him from thinking too much.
They kept walking, up the stairs, not thinking were it lead, just going, a stroll to remember in the future when they would finally leave this place.
"Remember Harry, that day when we walked on and on?"
"Yes, I remember"
"Isn't it wonderful how it's so fresh in out minds?"
"What walk?"
"It's nothing Ron… Harry and I just went everywhere one day, in Hogwarts."
"I see, can't wait to go again…"
Hermione's freshly washed face hit the pillow, she didn't pay attention to what the other girls in the room were saying, she was thinking of her walk with Harry, final exams, and the great new charm she found to take the frizz off her hair this past week. She felt more confident now; when she finally graduated and found a job she would look professional, at least with her hair.
She woke up the next morning, before all the rest off her roommates of course. She liked the bathroom to herself, no giggling please when she was brushing her teeth. It was Friday and she painfully regretted not eating her dinner in full last night, her stomach was talking to her from all the hunger.
She got to the dinning hall where just a few students were eating early. Almost all were reading or finishing their homework. To her surprise she saw Malfoy reading a DADA book with interest, savoring his oatmeal slowly. Ever since the war ended his stupid little smirk had vanished from his face. It quite suited him not to have that ridiculous facial expression, in her opinion at least.
'Hello Herm, what's up this morning?'
'Ginny, good morning, had a good sleep?'
'Yes, yes… but I have to tell you something Ron told me the other day you missed lunch with us'
'What? Ron?'
'Well he was quite excited about it, but I guess it's because he's a boy…'
'Please tell me!'
'He was in this extra help session for Potions class, and then he dropped his quill with which he was taking notes. And in the back of the class Malfoy with that Parkinson bitch were seated together. Well… He saw that under the table Malfoy had one hand up her skirt…hahaha'
'Oh Merlin!' At that same time when Ginny finished her anecdote Hermione turned her head to see Malfoy, he suddenly looked up and she blushed scarlet and turned her face. She was sure he was smiling, but after a while she glanced back to the table and Malfoy was gone.
'You blushed! Hahahaha! Oh Merlin! This is just too much, you should have seen Ron, he was looking for Parkinson at lunch that day when he told me, probably has the hots for her'
Hermione was totally disgusted by that idea of Ron trying to find ways to spy on that bitch, she just wished very deeply and immediately reprimanding herself, that Ron had done something similar to her in Potions.
'Maybe Ginny should not speak so loud at early breakfast; I could make out almost everything you guys said'
'Malfoy!'
'Shh, we're in the library.'
'What do you want?'
'You are so boring Granger, that's why Ron is acting like an asshole, following Pansy all over the place. It's good that she's stupid and doesn't notice or else…'
'What? Ron?'
'I believe you said that same line at lunch when the female weasel was telling you about my extra hand session'
'I can't believe you were accepted back into this school…'
'Get over yourself Granger; you're smart, but just as stuck-up as me'
He left the library without another word, Hermione as speechless as ever and with mixed feelings. First embarrassment, then resentment and then anger; her homework time was ruined, so she decided to go outside and breath some air, but it didn't change a thing. She hated Ron and Malfoy. She began this auto evaluation of her 'boring scale'. Just as she was in the middle of it, she stopped and decided to drop it; Malfoy was an even greater asshole that Ron would ever be. Harry was right, this is not 1st year any more, ignoring stuff doesn't work anymore.
She went up the school again; there was no escaping homework time, so she found an empty classroom and began to work. Curfew time rolled over and she stayed in the classroom, there was a fire roaring up in mid air, to give light and warm the room. She learned that charm recently as well.
Soon she fell over her potions paper; she needed to rest her eyes. She felt somebody play with her hair, scratching her scalp, she didn't want to open her eyes, and it felt so good.
'Damn Miss Granger you moan suggestively'
Hermione opened her eyes and just said,
'What? You? Hells no!'