Hermione went with Harry back to the Gryffindor common room one evening. The teachers had never said which common room you had to be in by nine, and Hermione fully planned to exploit this loophole and spend the night on a couch if necessary.
Not that she really expected to. She did still have Harry's cloak, after all.
The Gryffindors were surprised to see her there as usual, but they gradually relaxed and welcomed her as the Weasley Twins descended upon her, demanding to know what all mischief she had been up to and pulling her into a discussion on the logistics of enchanting Peeves to look different. Hermione happily argued with them, ignoring Ginny paling and retreating to her dorm room at the sight of her. Ginny's worries weren't why she had come; the young girl could deal with her anxiety herself.
After the argument, the twins left to go find a book in their dormitory to prove their point, and Harry, Neville, and Ron retreated to a set of squashed couches and plush chairs in front of a crackling fire. Hermione dropped onto the short couch next to Harry, who looked surprised, while Neville and Ron sat across on a larger one. Conversation gradually turned from the feasibility of enchanting poltergeists (and what sort of prank the twins must be planning) to exams.
Hermione listened as she glanced around. The Gryffindors on the other couches seemed almost to act like a pride of lions, piled all over each other, making Hermione wonder at the casual affection. She was almost jealous at the easy, open camaraderie and friendship; to those in Slytherin, public touch was a very deliberate thing that marked a claim or bond. Hermione was only really able to hug her coven or her friends in private.
Resolving to take advantage of the opportunity while it presented itself, Hermione shifted to lean on Harry, sitting somewhat sideways on the furniture with her back pressed against his side and arm, throwing her legs over the side of the sofa in an ultra-casual move, one that would have evoked shocked and horrified expressions in Slytherin.
Here, where Gryffindors frequently abused the furniture and hung all over it, no one blinked twice, and neither Ron nor Neville seemed to notice anything, to Hermione's satisfaction, though Harry sucked in his breath sharply in surprise.
Harry seemed tense at first when she shifted and leaned up against him, before gradually relaxing over time, and she noticed the surprised expression on his face slowly melt into a soft one. Her heart panged, and Hermione wondered just how much casual physical affection Harry got, if any; she somehow doubted his cruel relatives were a hugging bunch.
Hermione pretended not to be watching, but when a soft, affectionate smile started to linger on Harry's lips as everyone chatted. she felt her heart warm and glow.
Ron and Neville were discussing what electives they wanted to take. Ron was dismayed to learn he couldn't drop Potions, but after some grumbling, he finally shut up and listened to what Neville had to say.
"I want to take Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures," Neville admitted. "I'm not sure, but if my marks this year are good enough, maybe Muggle Studies?" He gave them a pained smile. "I don't know anything about the muggle world. Not really."
"What about you, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination," she said promptly.
"Four?" Ron said. "You can't fit four into your schedule."
"They didn't say that on the form," Hermione said sweetly, and Ron scowled. "Ancient Runes and Arithmancy are incredibly helpful for more advanced magic, especially if you want to study Alchemy or Magical Theory."
"Is Arithmancy like maths in muggle school?" Harry asked, curious, and Hermione beamed up at him.
"It's close," Hermione said. "They combine magic with it to make prediction trees. From what I grasp of it, it's a lot of statistics and equations, but once you get the hang of it, it's incredibly powerful."
Harry looked thoughtful. "I was fairly good at maths."
"I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures and Divination," Ron said. "I'm not taking any harder classes if I don't have to," he said pointedly, and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What about you, Harry?" she asked.
"I haven't decided yet, really," Harry mused. "Not Muggle Studies – I know how to get along with muggles, so long as I'm not related to them. I'm not sure about the others."
"You've got time," Hermione assured him. "The slips aren't due until after Easter."
Conversation gradually turned from academics to the drama happening at the school, as conversation so often did nowadays, and Hermione listened carefully, mentally taking notes.
"I'm just so sick of it," Ron said, huffing. "No Quidditch or anything. I get wanting to be safe, but I just want it taken care of and done by now."
"What would you do?" Hermione prompted. "If you defeated Slytherin's monster? What would you do about it?"
Ron perked up.
"Well, first I'd make sure everyone knew it was me," he said. "Wouldn't want Lockhart trying to take credit for it, y'know? I'd probably want to get my photo taken with it, to go in the paper when they announce I defeated the monster."
"That's smart," Hermione said. She looked around at her friends, gently guiding the conversation. "Is that what you would do too, Neville?"
"I'd want to claim the monster," Neville said, his eyes alight with imagination. "Right of Conquest says that the hero who defeats a foe lays claim to the fallen. Whatever the monster is at this point, you could probably sell it for a lot."
"Like the wild dragons," Ron said, nodding. "Charlie says when one gets loose and starts attacking muggles, the random wizards who bring them down usually get full outfits of dragonhide made." He made a face. "Lucky, them. Dragonhide costs a fortune."
"If they defeat a dragon alone, they've kind of earned it," Harry said, laughing. "I can't imagine ever willingly going up against a dragon."
"What would you do, Harry?" Hermione urged, looking up at Harry, and Harry stopped laughing and looked uncomfortable.
"Honestly, I probably wouldn't go after the monster, Hermione," Harry admitted. "I've got enough fame, and I don't want any more of it." He glanced over at Ron and Neville, before grinning. "I'd be the sidekick, I guess – help out and make sure the hero has a clear path to take care of the monster."
Ron looked surprised and pleased, before grinning widely, and Neville was laughing.
"Ron's going to try and take on the monster, now," Neville warned. "Just you wait."
"I am not," Ron objected, though his face was red. "I'm just saying if I got the chance…"
"Do you think you'd have a chance, Ickle Ronnekins?"
The twins had returned, Fred rustling Ron's hair into a mess.
"If I ran into it, I would!" Ron protested. "Just the same as everyone else!"
"Everyone else has been Petrified, Ron-Ron," George said, plopping next to him on the sofa. "Including teachers."
"How exactly would you prevail where others have failed?" Fred challenged, grinning. "Shout it to death?"
Ron's face started turning purple with indignation, and Hermione hastily intervened.
"Maybe he'd kill it with a sword," she said quickly. "Gryffindor's sword is said to be enchanted to come to any true Gryffindor in need."
Distracted, Ron turned to Hermione, his anger fading.
"Wait, it is?" he asked.
"I read about it in a book on the founders," Hermione told him. "Apparently, Godric Gryffindor enchanted his sword to always be able to help a Gryffindor in dire need." She paused. "Though, his sword was a court sword, actually, meant for symbolic knightings and the like. I'm not sure how useful it'd actually be in a fight."
Ron wasn't paying attention, though.
"A sword!" he breathed. "Can you imagine how cool that would look, posing over a dead monster with an awesome sword?"
"It would certainly be striking," Neville admitted. "Though, you would have to kill Slytherin's monster with a sword." He laughed. "And I don't think any of us have any training with a sword."
"And I hardly think Professor McGonagall is going to just let people start carrying swords around," Harry said, grinning. "Talk about worrying about people having duels in the halls—!"
"She would have to, though, you know," Hermione remarked thoughtfully. "Hogwarts rarely changes the rules; they just build new rules on top of them. Students used to be expected to have weapons to defend themselves from muggles, back before wands were reliable."
"Are you serious?" Fred was grinning widely. "We're allowed swords in school?"
"I think it was put in place in 1150," Hermione said. "Muggle attacks were a threat, before Hogwarts was enchanted to be hidden from the muggles. You were allowed to kill a muggle in self-defense."
"I am so finding a sword and wearing it everywhere," George breathed, eyes lost in fantasy. "Can you imagine Snape's reaction when we walk into Potions wearing swords? And finding he can't dock us points because it's in the rules?"
"Where are you going to get swords?" Ron challenged, and the twins grinned.
"You say that like there's not suits of armor all over the castle, Ronnikins," Fred said.
"I'm sure Hogwarts itself would be happy to help us protect ourselves," George added, grinning. "After all, the Great Bat of the Dungeons is a dangerous foe."
"Professor Snape is not a foe!" Hermione objected hotly. "You just don't like him because you're in Gryffindor!"
The conversation quickly devolved into a dissection of how mean Snape was to Gryffindors (which Hermione couldn't deny), how much Snape favored Slytherin over every other house (which was 100% true), and how he had greasy hair and looked like a bat with his overdramatic billowing robes (a description Hermione strenuously objected to). By the end of the argument, she was red-faced and flustered while everyone else laughing.
"Oh, sure," she muttered. "Gang up on the Slytherin. I see how it is."
Her friends kept laughing, and Hermione started to grin back at them, before joining in and laughing as well.
The ambience of Gryffindor house was just so different than that of Slytherin. It was warm, fun, and welcoming, and Hermione wondered if in another world, she could have been happy here.