Chapter 5: Options, Opinions and Getting Whipped
Hermione slowly surfaced from a very pleasant sleep. For once she wasn't so pleased to be waking up. Her head was pounding, her memory was a blur and she desperately needed to pee. First though, Hermione wanted to know where she was. She rolled over, eyes blinking blearily and almost screamed in shock as she came face to face with the peacefully sleeping Draco Malfoy.
Hermione put a hand to her chest, willing it to slow down. She breathed out slowly and noticed that her warm breath caused a small smile to form on the sleeping Slytherin's face. Still in slight shock, Hermione looked down and sighed in relief that she was still fully clothed except for her shoes. Hermione pushed herself up and checked her watch. It was nearing midday.
Hermione sighed and winced as this new development grated on her headache. Not wanting to leave Draco's comfortable bed, or even better his company, Hermione picked herself up with a sigh and began to look for a bathroom, carefully stepping over and avoiding the sleeping bodies that littered the ground.
Once she had visited the bathroom and smoothed the wrinkles in her dress to the best of her ability (having left her wand in her dorm room to prevent its loss during the party) and picked up her shoes from the floor at the end of Draco's bed, Hermione began to search for Ginny. Once she was assured that she wasn't anywhere in the boys dorm and not wanting to face any Slytherin's wrath by walking into the girls dorm, Hermione looked in the common room.
Hermione found Ginny peacefully asleep on the sofa next to Blaise, both looking suitably ruffled. Hermione knelt down and began to shake Ginny to wake her. Ginny mumbled angrily but blearily opened her eyes.
"Hermione?" She croaked.
"Good morning. We need to go."
"Okay." Sleep addled, Ginny happily did what she was told, sitting up, pulling the blanket around her, shivering slightly. As Ginny moved to the edge of the sofa to look for her clothes, she unknowingly pulled the blanket off of a snoring Blaise.
Hermione gasped, standing upright, her hand flying to cover her eyes. "Uh, Gin." She pointed in the general direction of Blaise and Ginny flew in action.
"Its okay 'Mione, you can look now." Hermione peeped through her fingers and saw that Blaise was suitably wrapped in the blanket and Ginny was dressed, her shoes in hand. Hermione smiled.
"Let's go then, you don't happen to know any good excuses as to why we weren't in our beds this morning, do you?"
"Nope." Ginny regretfully shook her head. "The only thing I have is my wand." Ginny held up a matching green purse to her dress, opening it to pull out her wand.
"That will come on useful. May I borrow it?" Hermione asked and took the wand from Ginny. Summoning her concentration and ignoring her pounding head, Hermione transfigured their dresses into Hogwarts robes. "Hmm, the badge isn't quite right, but no-one will notice, especially not Harry or Ron. They won't last for long either, the spell isn't very strong." Ginny visibly paled at Hermione's words.
"Let's get out of here." Ginny said her voice quite as she moved to the exit, avoiding Hermione's gaze.
"Ginny what did you do?" Hermione asked, concerned.
"I'll tell you later, but I don't think you are going to like it." Ginny excited the room and Hermione followed suitably confused.
The two girls sat invisibly outside the Great Hall, waiting for Harry and Ron to walk past for lunch. As soon as they did the girls hurried up to their dormitories, Hermione almost bursting with impatience to hear Ginny's story.
Once the two of them were dressed in more comfortable clothes and snacking on Honeydukes chocolates that Hermione had left over from her birthday, Ginny confessed.
"I slept with Blaise." Ginny blushed a colour to rival her hair. "I can't believe I cheated on Harry. That just isn't me."
"Was he good?" Hermione asked, one eyebrow raised. Ginny spluttered and choked.
"Hermione!"
"What? That's a fundamental part of the decision to have to make. Plus I'm curious."
"Well, yes! So good. That really isn't the point, though."
"No." Hermione agreed. "The point is you cheated."
"And on Harry as well." Ginny moaned.
"It doesn't matter who it is, you cheated."
"I was drunk."
"Excuses." Hermione argued. "There is no way of getting out of this. You remember what happened and to me that says that you had enough sense in your head to know what you were doing." Hermione watched her friend. "Do you think it was worth it?" Ginny looked up her eyes wide, tears swimming in them.
"Yes." She whispered. Hermione smiled.
"I think you need to talk to Blaise. See what he thinks. Don't forget, this is a Slytherin we are talking about, it might mean something very different to him. It might mean nothing." Hermione warned her friend.
"Okay, I'll talk to Blaise." Ginny nodded, blinking hard, wiping the escaped tear from her cheek. "So tell me, how was your evening with Draco?"
"Not as exciting as yours."
"But still good?"
"Definitely." Hermione giggled, enjoying her friends company as they descended into gossip.
That night, Hermione lay in bed, her mind whirring as she thought about her day. She had spent the majority of the day in Gryffindor tower with Ginny, ignoring the boys and Hermione realised she had reached a crossroads. She had three options.
One: she could go back to ignoring Draco and continue her safe and predictable life with Ron in order to avoid cheating. Not dream-cheating, real life cheating. Suffice to say, this option didn't look so appealing now that Hermione knew what lay on the other side of the fence. Hermione smiled as she remembered the party and wondered briefly what sex with Draco was like. She blushed as she remembered her dream. Her subconscious thought it would be good.
Option two: she could dump Ron, and date Draco. A much more appealing option but Hermione couldn't help think about what would happen if they then split up. Would Harry still talk to her? Would Ginny be sympathetic? And how would Ron react? Hermione squeezed her eyes shut. There were too many variables in that situation.
Her last option, option three: stay as she is. Hermione liked this idea. She could continue to date Ron, not mess up her friendship with Harry and learn more about what life would be like with Draco and if she would like it.
Hermione decided on the latter option. Before she made any rash decisions, she needed to know more. Hermione sighed and slowly drifted off to sleep, her mind troubled and her morals questioned.
Ginny lay in her own dormitory, just as confused. Having spent the day with Hermione, she hadn't had a chance to talk to Blaise. She knew it was too late in the day to find him in the corridors, so she vowed to wait until morning. Sleep was not as forthcoming, however so Ginny sat up and padded down the stairs in her slippers. Annoyed that she couldn't go and find Blaise, Ginny walked up into the boy's dorm instead. When she got there she walked over to Harry's bed and crawled under the covers next to him.
Harry blearily opened his eyes and smiled sleepily when he saw Ginny lying next to him. Without a word, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, burying his face in her bright hair as sleep claimed the pair.
Draco sat scowling in the common room with Blaise. Blaise had been boasting for the last half an hour and Draco was sick of it.
"I'm telling you man, you're pussy whipped." Blaise grinned, standing up and stretching. "I mean you went to sleep next to her fully clothed and didn't even try anything. It is the only logical solution. Draco Malfoy is whipped." Draco swotted at Blaise's chest as he walked by.
"I don't know what you are so gleeful about anyway." Draco said, a sly grin lighting up his features.
"What do you mean?" Blaise growled, wary.
"I mean, you seemed particularly regretful when you woke up naked and alone this morning. What was her name, Little Red?" Draco grinned. "You gave a nickname to a one-night stand. That isn't like you Blaise. If I didn't know any better," Draco stood up pushing past his friend, chuckling, "I'd say you were the one who was pussy whipped." Draco walked into the dormitory an angry Blaise following.
"Me? Never." Blaise shouted. "Never." He repeated forcefully. "Never." Draco shut the door in Blaise's face. Blaise banged his head on the door stoically repeating never with every bang. "Blaise Zabini does not do whipped." Blaise whispered, resting his head on the door doing his best to ignore the nagging thoughts at the back of his conscious that whispered the truth.