The next time Hermione saw Severus was three days after the time she visited the house. It was sooner than she had thought but not in the manner in which she had hoped for. The reason for the encounter was the annual ball held in honour of a wizard named Mundungus Rickets. Hermione was reminded of the other Mundugus she had known in the future and a small sigh escaped her. As much as she was enjoying herself living in this simpler time, she was forced to wonder what was going to happen. She had no idea whether she would ever be able to get back to her time and she found she missed the companionship of Ron and Harry, not to mention some of the comforts she was used to – flushing toilets for one thing, showers for another. The old tin bath she had used was fine enough but it took ages, she missed the convenience of it all.
Dismissing her thoughts as slightly maudlin, she decided that she was going to make the best of the situation as she could. If that meant dancing with some handsome young lads and drinking all the punch, then so be it. Her attachment to Severus confused her and it was this she was thinking of as she sat on a chair regaining her breath. Before, when she had been at Hogwarts as a student, she had never had such feelings for him. Even if she had it would have been nothing more than a silly schoolgirl crush. Sure, she had defended his actions because she saw them as right. He had been vindictive to Harry, and at times, that had been a source of irritation to the three of them but there was nothing more to it than that. She had defended him because Harry was an insolent teenager at the time who was unable to see past it. It had been nothing more than that.
Now that she was here, in a different time with him though, she couldn't stop thinking about him. To the point where it was rather annoying, this was something she hadn't encountered before. Sure, she had been in love with Ron, before that had turned sour but it had never been as intense as this. He plagued her dreams, her thoughts, her goals. The mind of the Hermione she was now was rather different from her own… was it that, or was it the fact that she was now in a different time and was being forced to adapt to the rules here? Or was it because she had always denied that she felt this way and now there was an opportunity to explore the emotion, it was being released.
"Stop thinking Hermione, you're going to hurt yourself!" Lavender's voice interrupted her thought and she looked up, realising that she had been frowning.
"Was it that obvious?" she asked.
"I could hear you a mile away."
"Who have you danced with?" Hermione asked, wanting to change the subject so her friend wouldn't guess her thoughts.
"Several people, as many as you in fact. Draco was the best though, he always is."
"He certainly is," she nodded, "How did Ron feel about that?"
"Ron knows Draco's intentions to me are pure," Lavender replied with a little sigh, "I just wish Ron was able to dance as well as he does."
"No one is perfect," Hermione said. Ron had been particularly quiet over the last couple of days, "Does he miss Krum?" she asked.
Lavender nodded, "He still cannot understand why his idol had to run off home, I think he was more gutted about it than you."
"He did seem so when he spoke about it. He couldn't grasp why I wasn't more upset that I was." Hermione said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She cast her eyes around the room then and noticed something that set the blood thundering in her ears and a flush on her cheeks. Looking up, she saw Severus, the man she so desperately wanted to spend the rest of her days with, dancing in the arms of the French woman he was engaged to. She pressed her lips together but knew already that her thoughts were playing out over her face. Unable to tear her eyes from the display in front of her, she took to wringing her hands together.
Lavender turned her took at her; Hermione knew she should say something, do something even but was unable to think of anything constructive, "It's just dancing," she said. Hermione pressed her lips together, knowing that she had been caught but was powerless to stop herself, "Look, they're not even that close together."
It was only a small comfort but she would take what she could get. They weren't all that close together, certainly she had been closer when she had danced with Draco but that didn't mean anything, it still felt like an affront whenever she saw them together. There was no way that Fleur would be able to cater to his intellectual needs. She was a complete dullard and interested in only the frivolous of things. Perhaps she was being a little uncharitable when she thought that but it was close to the truth. She had no idea what they taught girls in Paris but it wasn't the same as they did here.
Then the blonde haired woman turned and caught Hermione's eyes. The smug look on her face was almost too much for her to bear. It was only the fact that Lavender was sat next to her that prevented her from walking over and saying something, propriety be damned. The look Lavender gave her however had her remain calm. Taking a deep breath, she schooled her expression into a passive one before looking back. When Fleur caught her eye again, she gave a little wave. Lavender laughed.
"She should be paying attention to what she's doing and not seeing how I react," Hermione said. "Come on, let's get some more punch before I decide to throw something at her." Lavender nodded and they both headed towards the punch bowl, not thinking any more of it.
Hermione dismissed the entire thing and spent the rest of the evening talking to people who appreciated her company. Mainly Draco, Neville and Luna. Harry was busy with Ginny and Lavender had to spend some of her time with Ron. The conversation turned again to weddings and how she was now 'back on the market.' Hermione couldn't help but feel like a piece of meat when they teased her but she took it good naturedly none the less.
Eventually, Draco was called to dance once more and the other two melted into the dancefloor as well. Left alone, Hermione watched the dancers, wondering what would become of her once more. Her thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched cough. Turning around, she noticed that it was none other than Fleur standing beside her, "May I help you?" she asked keeping her voice as polite as ever.
The bright blue eyes of her nemesis scanned her coolly, Hermione held her gaze, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of looking away first, "Does it upset you?" she said in her high pitched little voice. Hermione blinked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Does my being with Severus upset you?"
Hermione blinked, not too sure how to take being called out like that. Fleur would expect anger and indeed, the flush of indignation flooded her nose in a hot rush, however she forced it to the side, there was no need to give the woman the satisfaction of knowing how she felt. "No," she lied, "I care for him in the capacity of a friend, as I have always done, no more."
"See that it remains that way," she said. The expression on her face was a little more sullen, "I know about your visits to the house and what you're doing, I could easily spread rumours about your past indiscretions," she said. Hermione raised her eyebrow at that.
"Do you really?" she asked. "I wonder what your fiancé would say to that, you causing trouble between him and his friends," she added. Her face dropped at that and she turned away with a huff. Hermione shook her head, seemed as though Ms De La Cour was more than a little insecure about her relationship. She looked up across the room in time to see Ron and Lavender come bounding over.
"The carriage is here Hermione," Lavender said.
"We're going?" she asked. Ron nodded.
"Mum needs us all up in the morning for our trip," he said.
She almost asked what trip when she remembered seeing something on the kitchen table about an outing to the countryside. There was going to be a fair too she had read, which would make the week that more interesting. It was a little way out the city and although they were traveling via port-key, they were still needed there early to help with the setting up. Hermione was only too happy to leave. The last time she had looked, Fleur was trying to make a grand show of being all over her fiancé, who was resisting her rather heartily. Although it was amusing, it was also rather pathetic. Hermione left them to it and followed her friends to the awaiting carriage, eager for the excitement of the next day.