New chapter! Hope you guys like it :) Special thanks go to kvance, InsaniumArtisan, JessicaRavenGlade, bluebook1496, resina and 4littlemckay for your reviews, they are always appreciated :) I only own the OCs, the rest belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy!
Draco had left immediately. He had slammed Hermione's office door behind him and stormed off down the corridors without saying a word to her. She'd seen him the next morning, clearly nursing a hangover as bad as hers and being given the details of his detention by a sly, grinning Mr Filch, but he had not said a word to her.
She'd been surprised he'd even shown up for his next lesson, but he had been waiting outside the Room of Requirement for her.
He hadn't said a word all night.
He clearly hadn't slept, and in the quiet moments between spells she could see him scratching at his left arm. She knew the Dark Mark was burning there. She'd tried to talk about it, but every time she brought the subject up he just looked at her with frightened eyes and, eventually, he left.
It had been the same every night since.
Now, the snow was finally melting and the castle was easing into February. Wet, watery sunlight oozed through every window and, as Valentines' Day drew ever closer, Hermione found herself dogged by an increasingly persistent Charlie Jackson.
He was everywhere. Outside her office, outside her classrooms, hovering hopefully behind her seat in the Great Hall – Professor Sprout had told her that he'd even tried to volunteer to help out in the greenhouses. Luckily, the Herbology professor had refused, as Charlie's Herbology grades were abysmal, but nevertheless the only peace Hermione could find was tucked away in her office. She was spending far more time there than she ought to – she only saw Ginny at meals and in classes now – but it was better than being on the receiving end of another one of Charlie's heavy-handed attempts at flirting.
She was determined to find out who was sending Draco those letters. He was still barely speaking to her, but that had not put her off; she was Head Girl, after all, and had a duty of care to all her students. Especially Draco Malfoy.
She blushed, and looked over her notes again.
Letters not delivered by owl. Appear in room/bags. Delivered by hand/magic? If by hand, inexperienced magic user or deliberately untraceable? If magic, THERE'S A LEAD. Needs access to Slytherin dorms to deliver. Polyjuice Potion?
She sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair. The full moon beamed through her windows, and a distant howling echoed through the glass.
She would visit Professor Slughorn first thing tomorrow, and ask him if any ingredients had gone missing from the store cupboard. Of course, what she really needed to do was to get her hands on one of the cursed letters and test it. If she could get hold of an envelope she could test for a magical signature, see the types of curses used, and then, of course, it would only be a matter of time before…
There was a knock on her door. Ginny's face momentarily flashed on the wooden surface, and Hermione stuffed her notes into her desk drawer.
"Come in!"
Ginny bustled in through the door and said, in a voice that brooked no argument, "Hermione, you are coming into Hogsmeade with me tomorrow."
"What? But I –"
"No buts," said Ginny, her hands on her hips, "you've barely come out of your office since the New Year. You are coming into Hogsmeade with me tomorrow, and tonight you are sleeping in the girls' dorms like a normal person. Come on. Get your things."
Hermione looked up. Ginny's hands were still firmly planted on her hips, but Hermione could see the worry in her eyes. She sighed and straightened up, grabbing some clothes. Ginny steered her out into the corridor, Hermione locked the door with a flick of her wand and the pair of them headed for Gryffindor Tower.
The next day, Hermione awoke in Gryffindor Tower, slumped on her old bed. She was so deeply asleep that it took several repeated hits from Ginny's pillow to wake her up, but once she was finally wake – at eleven o'clock, no less, she couldn't remember having slept this late before – they both dressed, wolfed down some breakfast in the Great Hall and headed into the village.
The sky was a pearly blue, shot with wispy grey clouds, and as she and Ginny chatted on their way up to the village Hermione began to feel a little of the tension ease out of her shoulders. The two of them meandered up the high street, wondering if visiting Zonko's counted as being disloyal to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, when Charlie Jackson came barrelling out of the Three Broomsticks, a skinny blond girl clinging to his arm.
The second he saw Hermione, he froze. He shook his hand out of the blonde's grasp and she glared at both Hermione and Ginny as Charlie elbowed his way over to them.
"Hermione," he said, his face very red, "I didn't expect to see you here."
Hermione smiled at the blond girl behind him. "I can see that. Who's your friend?"
"Oh, she was just leaving," said Charlie, grinning down at Hermione.
The blonde folded her arms. "No, I wasn't."
Charlie glared at her, and the blond girl's bottom lip started to quiver. Hermione glanced over at Ginny, who was glaring daggers at the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
She made her decision.
"Well, we were just leaving. I have urgent business in the –"
"Oh come on, Hermione!" Charlie yelled, and several passers-by stopped and stared, "stop making excuses! You know I like you, and I want you to go out with me!"
The blonde burst into tears.
"No thank you, Charlie."
He glared at her, his fists clenched. "Why?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I don't owe you an explanation."
"Yes you do!"
A familiar voice cut across them. Hermione felt shivers run down her spine and Ginny's hand clutching at her arm.
"The lady said no, Jackson. You should listen to her, she's a smart girl."
Charlie Jackson turned scarlet and left. Hermione turned around, her heart pounding, and stared into the face of Ron Weasley. An awkward smile was plastered across his face, and his blue eyes were trained on Charlie's retreating back.
"Honestly, Hermione. I don't know why you turned him down."
She let out a snort of laughter.
"Can we go somewhere? I've…I've got some stuff I should probably tell you."
For a split second, she hesitated. She glanced at Ginny, but her expression was unreadable.
Hermione nodded.
They stood at the fence surrounding the Shrieking Shack. Someone had put up a plaque recording it as the place where Severus Snape had died, and dozens of bouquets were laid at its feet. They stood and stared at it, watching the sunlight gleam off the metal.
"I've met someone."
The words left Ron's mouth in a tangled rush, so fast it seemed as though they were tripping over each other in an effort to escape. Hermione glanced up at him; he had turned beetroot red.
She nodded. It didn't surprise her; it would only ever be a matter of time.
"Who is she?"
"Her name's Tamika. She's a receptionist at the Ministry. She was a couple of years above us, in Hufflepuff."
They stared at the shack. It creaked in the wind, and one of the tiles fell off the roof.
"I think I'm going to marry her."
Hermione stared at him. "What? Now?"
"No! No, not now! No, I could never afford it!"
He scuffed at the ground with the tip of his shoe, drawing circles in the dirt.
"We haven't even been dating that long, just a few weeks. But it's just…it's just obvious. It's something that I just know is going to happen, one day."
Hermione let out a long, low sigh.
"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
He nodded. "I wanted you to find out from me, before any of this crap gets put into the papers. I know it's pretty early and it hasn't been that long since we split, but…"
"It's OK," she said, smiling, "I get it. Sometimes you just know these things. It's what my parents have always said."
He smiled. "Mine too."
They turned away from the shack and began to head back towards the village. Ginny was waiting for them outside the post office, her eyes darting between them.
"We're still friends, right?"
She grinned at him. "You won't get rid of me that easily."