Author Note - Evening =) I'm kind of peeved that I have two reviews but sure, people are too embarrassed to review on a Neville/Hermione pairing. Yeah, I was creeped out at first too. But come on people! Share the Nev/mione love! 3 reviews!
Hermione groaned and took her hair down out of the ponytail she had it in.
That's what she'd been doing since breakfast...
Three hours ago.
She just couldn't decide what to do with herself for her outing in Hogsmeade.
Should she be casual or formal or... Or what?
She didn't have a clue and now her hair was static after being removed from her ponytail so many times.
Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up... Down.
With a spell, Hermione fixed her hair so it wasn't static any more before brushing it and changing into her jeans and hoodie.
She didn't care about her appearance any more, or what people thought of her Muggle clothes.
She was going to meet Neville for goodness sake!
Well, Neville and the unknown stranger.
That was going to be awkward.
She still hadn't got a reply back from the unknown stranger about changing times for their meeting at The Three Broomsticks so it turned out she was going to both...
At the same time.
Ginny opened Hermione's dorm door and stormed inside, looking furious as her skin flushed to the colour of her hair.
"You OK, Ginny?" Hermione frowned in concern.
OK, yeah, she didn't necessarily like Ginny but she was Ron's sister and Harry's girlfriend.
You were supposed to care for your friend's siblings and stuff.
"No," Ginny snapped, "Do I look OK?"
"No... That's why I'm asking," Hermione said slowly.
No need to bite my head off! She scowled internally, For Merlin's sake...
"Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione!" Ginny wailed, tears overflowing from her eyes and rushing down her face, "It's just... I-"
She broke down in a wave of sobs, leaving Hermione standing awkwardly as she thought of how she could comfort her.
"Umm... What's wrong?" Hermione asked lamely.
She wasn't good with crying girls... Or emotions.
With a loud dramatic sniff, Ginny controlled herself and looked up at Hermione with red, puffy eyes.
"Neville's seeing someone," She said softly, tears threatening to overflow again.
"Wait... What?" Hermione snorted.
Why does she care about Neville? Hermione raged internally, She's supposed to be with Harry!
"I know! It's terrible!" Ginny hiccoughed.
"But-"
"I didn't think he would date either," Ginny babbled on, hiccoughing throughout, "I mean, he's not exactly gorgeous but he-"
"WAIT!" Hermione gasped, cutting her off before she could get any further.
Ginny shut up immediately, staring at Hermione like a deer caught in the headlights.
"You are supposed to be with Harry," Hermione said slowly.
"Yes, I-" Ginny started but Hermione over spoke her again.
"Then why do you care. About. Neville?" Hermione demanded, her eyes boring into Ginny.
"He's my back-up boyfriend," Ginny shrugged.
"Back-up boyfriend...?"
"Yeah," Ginny nodded, " If Harry ever dumps me, which hopefully he won't, Neville will be there."
"Serious?"
"Very," Ginny smiled.
"You, Ginny Weasley..." Hermione sighed.
"Are a genius?" Ginny offered.
"Are a selfish bitch."
"Wait... What?"
Hermione was already away.
She grabbed her bag which contained her wand and money and strolled out the door as Ginny realized what she said, the bracelet from her admirer sitting heavily on her wrist.
"Hermione! Wait up!" Ginny snarled, sprinting after her as Hermione made her way down into the Gryffindor common room.
Hermione ignored her and kept walking, making her way out of the portrait door before Ginny caught up with her.
"You did not just call me a bitch!"
"Quite frankly, I did," Hermione smirked, starting to walk off again only to have Ginny blocking her way.
"Why? I haven't done anything!"
"Your practically making plans for cheating on Harry!"
Ginny threw her head back and laughed a cold, emotionless laugh.
"I knew it!" She cackled, clapping her hands together as if in delight, despite the fact that tears were starting to stream down her face again, "I was right!"
"What are you talking about?"
Hermione was starting to get freaked out.
The way Ginny was acting...
It was as if she'd been possessed again.
It was as if someone was inside her that didn't quite know how to control her emotions.
Anger. Sadness. Glee... Madness.
They were all flowing forward in a huge emotional wave that seemed to be trying to engulf Hermione.
Ginny laughed again before her face lost all emotion except seriousness.
She put her hand on her hip and flipped her ginger hair as tears glistened on her cheeks, staining threw the Muggle foundation that she so obviously wore.
Hermione had gave it to her last Christmas when she seemed a tiny bit more sane.
"You're in love with Harry," Ginny said smugly, as if she already knew the answer.
"What?"
"You are!" Ginny cried, "You're in love with him."
Ginny spun around to see if anyone was there to hear what she needed to shout.
Sadly, there was a small crowd gathering.
"HERMIONE GRANGER IS IN LOVE WITH THE BOY WHO LIVED!" Ginny screamed at them, making sure her voice echoed down the moving stairs, "HERMIONE GRANGER IS TRYING TO STEAL MY BOYFRIEND! HERMIONE GRANGER IS A BOYFRIEND THEIF! BETTER KEEP YOUR BOYFRIENDS HIDDEN, GIRLS! IT'LL BE YOURS NEXT! SHE WI-"
"Ginny, keep your voice down," Hermione hissed, grabbing her by the wrist as if to restrain her.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Ginny shrieked.
Ginny snatched her hand back as if she'd been stung.
"Ginny, I-"
"Don't even talk to me, Hermione," Ginny growled, her voice lowering again, "Go get your own boyfriend."
Without another word, Ginny spun on her heel and stalked away.
Goyle smirked from where he was standing beside the Gryffindor common room portrait.
After having cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, he'd been able to follow Ginny into her common room and Imperio her.
Well, he'd ended up standing in a growing crowd, listening to Ginny rage as he put false ideas into her head.
She wouldn't even remember it.
Goyle's Imperios were surprisingly good...
And he wasn't as stupid as everyone seemed to think.
Now, Hermione would turn away from Ginny as Ginny insisted she hadn't done anything wrong...
Everything was going to plan.
Soon, Hermione would be isolated from all her friends and have no one to turn to except her secret admirer.
Just like Draco wanted.
A short while later, Hermione was walking into Hogsmeade by herself with her bag hung over her shoulder.
The carriages had left without her and she hadn't been able to find Harry and Ron so she'd been forced to walk...
By herself.
She was accompanied by a small red squirrel though...
It stayed surprisingly close to her as she walked from the castle to Hogsmeade.
It usually stayed on the wall beside the dirt road Hermione was walking on, or it would jump through the trees.
Hermione chatted to it randomly.
She liked confiding in animals - mostly because they couldn't tell her she was crazy.
However, it disappeared as she entered Hogsmeade.
Hermione checked her watch and found that she had half an hour before she was due to meet Neville and her unknown admirer so she went to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop to buy some parchment, before nipping into Zonko's Joke Shop and Honeyduke's to buy Ron's birthday present.
Ron's birthday wasn't for a few weeks but Hermione liked to be prepared.
With five minutes to spare, Hermione headed to Madam Puddifoot's where she was supposed to meet Neville.
He was already there, sitting at a table beside the window, his back to the door.
He saw her coming down the high street and rose to meet her.
"Hermione!" He exclaimed, grinning in delight as she entered the shop and approached his table.
He obviously hadn't expected her to show.
"Hi, Neville," Hermione said, sitting down on a chair on the opposite side of the heart shaped table from Neville.
Neville sat down again too.
"Ummm, would you like something to drink or eat or...?" Neville trailed off and looked at her hopefully.
"A strawberry milkshake would be nice," Hermione shrugged, already feeling awkward.
Being with Neville was just...
Awkward.
There wasn't any other word to describe it.
"Oh, good. I'll go get you one," Neville smiled, getting up again and heading to the counter.
Hermione sighed and looked out the window.
A pigeon was looking at her...
It wasn't even looking close to her but directly at her.
It was slightly unnerving.
The pigeon flew off in a flutter of wings as another bird took its place - A pheasant.
Odd, Hermione mused, You never really see pheasants near towns...
The male pheasant settled itself down before swivelling its head around to stare at her.
What was it with birds looking at her?
"You all right, Hermione?"
Neville's concerned voice brought her back to the present.
"Oh, yeah... Yeah, fine. Thanks," Hermione smiled in reassurance, taking the tall glass from him and starting to suck at the straw.
There was an awkward silence in which all could be heard was the sound of Hermione sucking through straw.
Hermione kept her gaze lowered and on the glass as Neville looked across at her, a slight smile touching his lips.
"I'm really glad you came, Hermione," Neville said solemnly.
Hermione stayed silent as Neville continued talking.
"And I'm really glad your OK... After Draco attacked you... Well, I was worried about out," Neville trailed off.
"I appreciate that, Neville," Hermione said stiffly.
She had an idea where this was going...
"Good. Hermione, you had me scared," Neville admitted.
She froze as Neville reached over and placed his hand over hers.
She hadn't been expecting that!
"I- I didn't... I -" Hermione started to stammer.
Him being in contact with her was freaking her out.
People just didn't touch her without her permission!
"Hermione, I have to tell you something..." Neville said slowly, his hand starting to sweat over Hermione's, "And I think it's going to come as quite a shock..."
Hermione squirmed uneasily.
She couldn't move her hand and Neville's nervousness was making her nervous.
"I mean, it came as a shock to me when I first figured it out!" Neville was babbling, "But I have to tell you..."
Neville took a deep breath and sat up straight in his chair, taking his hand of Hermione's.
"Hermione, I think I'm t-" Neville started to say.
"I'll be right back!" Hermione cut him off, "Bathroom!"
Grabbing her bag and abandoning her milkshake, Hermione darted for the bathroom, leaving Neville looking confused.
Hermione reached the bathroom and sank down the wall inside.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God, Hermione was screaming inside.
Her stomach was heaving and she really needed to wash her hands.
After pulling herself back up, Hermione scrubbed her hands clean at the sink before splashing some cold water onto her face.
She wasn't good with boys...
Or germs...
Or people touching her...
Or emotions.
Wiping her hands and face clean with a towel, Hermione looked at her watch.
It was 11.48 am.
She hadn't even been able to stick twenty minutes with Neville!
With a sigh, Hermione slowly pulled open the toilet door.
Thankfully, Neville had chosen a table near the back of the shop, so seeing as he was facing away from the door, Hermione was able to sneak around to the door before pulling it open and sprinting down the high street in the opposite direction, towards the Three Broomsticks.
From one disaster to another... Hermione scowled to herself as she went inside.
As promised, when she went to the back table inside, a Butterbeer was waiting for her...
Along with another box and a note.
Hermione took a sip of her Butterbeer and tore off the note.
I noticed you were wearing the bracelet I bought you... I was hoping that meant you liked it. So I decided to get you the matching necklace. It's from a Muggle store, in case you are wondering. Tiffany, or something. I know you like Muggle things, despite the fact that you are technically a witch, seeing as you are wearing Muggle clothing. I'll be with you soon. I hope you like the necklace.
Again, it was unsigned, leaving Hermione quite freaked out.
How did this person know what clothes she was wearing?
It wasn't Ron, was it?
She hoped it wasn't Ron...
Shaking her head, Hermione opened the box.
As said in the note, a diamond encrusted necklace was sitting inside, perfectly matched to her bracelet.
Definitely Tiffany's quality.
Hermione gasped in amazement and held it up to the light.
"It's beautiful," She whispered to herself.
"I take it that means you like it?" A masculine voice murmured in her ear.
Hermione froze, the necklace still clutched in her hand.
She hadn't heard this person approach, which was not a good sign.
Her senses were usually quite sharp.
But maybe her meeting with Neville had just shocked her...
"Here, let me put it on you," The voice muttered, their warm breath tickling Hermione's neck.
He smells nice, Hermione noted to herself.
A pale, long fingered reached down to Hermione's clenched fist, loosened it and removed the necklace before fastening it around her neck.
His hands are soft too, Hermione noted again.
"Can I sit down?" The person behind her asked gently.
"... Yeah?" Hermione said uncertainly.
Now, she had no idea who this person was.
It obviously wasn't a Pureblood...
I mean, a Pureblood? Shopping in Tiffany's?
With a sigh, the person moved around to the other side of the table and sat down.
They were tall, thin and elegant, despite the fact that their features were covered by a hooded cape that covered most of their body, barely leaving their mouth uncovered by cloth.
They held a Fire Whiskey in their hand and took a quick sip of it before taking down their hood and smiling weakly at Hermione.
"Hello, Granger."
"DRACO?"