Bound.
Chapter Four: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
"Minerva."
Hermione spoke softly after opening the door. Although her voice sounded normal her eyes were wide with shock and embarrassment over her screaming fit. She had not expected to see Minerva outside her door when she answered it. Infact she had been expecting another corpse or maybe a living male this time. She wasn't sure how to feel over someone that was not one of her soulmates knocking on her door at that moment.
"Are you alright dear?"
Minerva asked, an eyebrow raised as she took in Hermione's harried state. Sighing deeply, Hermione gave up all pretense to being alright as she ran her hand through her untamed mop of brown hair.
"Yes, I'm just a little stressed. The... corpses have taken over my bedroom and although they technically aren't touching anything - they are just hovering over the bed - I don't feel right going in there so I'm having to sleep on my sofa. That is when I can sleep at all. There are four in there Minerva! Four! I don't know what the hell to do with one man let alone four of them!"
She ended up ranting, her hands and arms waving in the air as she did so. Meanwhile as Hermione ranted Ginny had made her way to the front door of the chambers to see what was going on. Ginny watched with a raised eyebrow as she heard the latter part of Hermione's rant before sharing a unique look with Minerva.
"Its good to see you again Minnie!"
Ginny said cheerfully, although both women were concerned for one Hermione Granger.
Whilst Hermione had survived the war it didn't mean she had dealt with all that had happened during it as well as the aftermath. When they were children it never felt quite like life and death. When Cedric died, although the Golden Trio had known the truth, for Hermione who hadn't been there it was easy to put her feelings over the matter into the 'not true reason' Cedric died. Then they were thrust into the war ever so suddenly when they went searching for Horcruxs. Unfortunately even then they didn't have any time to deal with what was happening to them, not really. When the war had finished with Voldemort dead, everyone had been ecstatic.
Everyone had gone back to what they had remaining of their families, they dealt with all they had been through and then rebuilded their lives again.
Hermione had done none of it. She had just been an ugly, know-it-all, bookworm. She hadn't had friends before Hogwarts, and although she loved Harry as well as Ron she knew their friendship had been more or less forced together through a series of events. Then she got thrust into this war and no matter what she learnt from books and her teachers nothing could prepare her for fighting against people who were at least double her age with a vast amount of experience in fighting. People that had no qualms in torturing or killing and all she had to protect herself was one short, slim piece of wood.
Everyone had expected the 'brightest witch of her generation' to do great things, amazing things, and so it was easy for Hermione to ignore everything that had happened, to bottle up all her emotions, hide her nightmares, and just be what everyone expected of her.
Ginny and Minerva however were not buying Hermione's charade and no matter how hard they tried neither of them - nor anyone else - could get Hermione to face it all. Minerva sincerely hoped that Hermione's soulmates could be able to do what she and Ginny could not.
"Well I know just what you need to relax."
Minerva told her with a grin, the twinkle in her eyes reminiscent to the same one Dumbledore used to have. For one brief mad moment Hermione hoped that Dumbledore wasn't going to be one of those men being resurrected. Before Hermione could say or do anything else Minerva had made her way through the doorway and hustled Hermione back into the living room, closing the door shut behind her.
It wasn't long before Hermione found just what Minerva had in mind - much to Ginny's whole hearted support - to relax her.
Unfortunately, it didn't take nearly as long as it should have done for the two women to convince Hermione into drinking her troubles away with an old, expensive brand of Firewhiskey. Even the Malfoys, the epitome of high society Purebloods, would have been jealous.
Since Hermione had never been the type to drink alcohol, especially something as strong as Firewhiskey, it took only two glasses for her to be drunk.
"I'm just so fustrated!"
Hermione confessed, throwing her head back against the back of the sofa in fustration. She sat with her legs spread out carelessly, her right arm draped over her right thigh casually, whilst her left arm rested over the arm rest with a tumbler filled with firewhiskey in her left hand balancing precariously in her grip.
"I want to better the world for everyone! I want the Purebloods to realise their traditions, rituals, and culture is important to the wizarding world. I want it to be taught in all schools, especially Hogwarts, as a compulsory subject. I also want to be able to create nurseries and primary schools for wizards and witches of all 'blood types', so we can all have a chance to know this world from the very start! I want future generations to know the traditions and such the Purebloods held so dear they followed a psychotic orphan boy to almost total destruction. I want to understand why House Elves are quite happy with what I can only see as enslavement. I want to be able to give every human based being whether witch, wizard, veela, werewolf, or vampire equal rights. I want to help!"
She ranted, only to sigh in exasperation once she had finished, rubbing her face with her hands whilst they were curled into fists.
"Is it exhausting?"
Ginny asked, trying to stifle a cheeky grin as she stared at her friend from her position on the rug infront of the fire where she sat crosslegged. Hermione frowned in confusion as she looked at Ginny.
"What do you mean?"
She asked, unable to figure out what Ginny was talking about. With a mischevious grin Ginny responded;
"I asked if its exhausting stifling that much passion. Hermione, you need to loosen up and have some fun! I know the world needs you to save it - we all do - but you're still young. You need to be out there dating, and sleeping with guys you'll hate in the morning. You need to taste a variety of cocktails, gamble in Las Vegas, and maybe - just maybe - end up being swept off your feet once you've kissed enough frogs! Work isn't everything you know."
Needless to say Hermione didn't take this all that well. Infact it was only Minerva topping up Hermione's dwindling glass of Firewhiskey that stopped Ginny from tasting her own Bat Bogey Hex.
"C'mon Hermione. There has to be someone you have found attractive!"
Ginny begged, softening her brown eyes into a very good imitation of the classic 'puppy eyes'. With another liberal mouthful of Firewhiskey poured down her throat, Minerva noticed that Hermione was finally letting her guard down.
Hermione bit her bottom lip in thought as she slouched deeper into the sofa.
"Well... there was one... no, it would have never happened and no one would have understood."
She eventually said, shaking her head stubbornly. Ginny and Minerva were both extremely intrigued so like a dog with a bone they refused to give up on it.
"Come on! You can tell us. We won't tell anyone."
Ginny insisted to which Minerva nodded her head with a mischievous smile that very few people had ever seen before.
"Okay but promise you won't laugh."
Hermione eventually gave in, to which both women nodded enthusiastically. It was rather endearing really how much both Ginny and Minerva - both adults, one more senior then the other - looking like young teenagers hearing about the latest crushes and talking about boys.
"It was Professor Snape. His voice... god, that voice could make any woman's knickers fall off if he just used it! And his fingers... so long, and he was so precise. So intelligent with unbreakable focus! If he just applied it to a woman... God, she would have been the luckiest woman alive. He was the first man I ever fantasied about..."
She gushed, much to the shock of both her best friend and mentor. It wasn't that Hermione had a huge crush on Severus Snape but the implied fact that Hermione had infact fantasied not only about him but others too.
"There were others Hermione?"
Minerva asked, unable to help herself. Everyone always assumed Hermione had never felt anything lustful for anyone. Especially when nothing ended up happening between Hermione and Ron after the kiss during the Final Battle at Hogwarts. Even that kiss, the only thing anyone had ever seen that could be considered close to lust, seemed nothing more then a process on Hermione's end. It was, unfortunately, something that her peers and elders - those that obviously were not her friends - teased her on endlessly. Fortunately Hermione was made of stronger stuff after the War and thus refused to let it seem that they got to her. She couldn't say it didn't affect her. It did. She however refused to let them think they had won.
"Yes. There was Charlie... He's so burly! And brave... He faces Dragons everyday! Those muscles... Its so hard not to look at them when he's around so I often end up going into another room or burying my head into a book so I don't give myself away. I can't help it if I blush every time I see a man I fancy... and I swear I'm not a loose woman! Just because I like a few men - some that are definitely not the good sort I can tell you - doesn't mean I'd ever do anything about it. Most are either down right evil - or appear so - and others are way out of my league."
Both Minerva and Ginny were about to tell her no one could be out of her league but Hermione waved her hand to cut them off. Hermione knew everyone saw her as nothing more but a bookworm and teacher's pet. Even her part in the War was simplified down to just being the book expert despite the fact she had done more then her share of fighting for the light. She wasn't some little woman sidekick that was there for book quotes and rogering famous Quidditch players as Rita Skeeter wished everyone to believe.
"For example, the ones that are out of my league is Severus, Charlie, and Bill. Oh, Bill! I knew he was handsome before he got scarred. However there was something more after... Is it awful that I find the fact he's a Werewolf a turn on? To have such primal power and instincts focused on you, one woman, as they scream at him to mate with you... it leaves me feeling all hot. Which brings me to Fenrir. I know he's one evil son of a bitch, and I won't go near him for anything, but anyone can tell - if they took the time mind you - that if he cleaned up a little and didn't have the reputation he does that he'd be sexy as hell with all that Alpha power too! I guess Lucius and Draco Malfoy seem like a good idea in comparison..."
She rambled, unable to stop once she got started. When she had finished she frowned into the bottle.
"You didn't put any Veritaserum in this did you?"
However before anyone could answer Hermione's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted. The alcohol ending up being far too much for her.