Hermione tied the straps of her sparkly black halter top tighter. Her hair was up in a twist, silver hoops hanging from her ears. She was wearing more makeup than she had in weeks, if not months. Her tight black skirt forced her to take small steps as she hurried to collect her wand and apparate to The Leaky Cauldron. Hannah Abbott now ran the old pub that led to Diagon Alley and had graciously offered to host Harry's twenty-first birthday party.
The blonde Hufflepuff was already hanging decorations when Hermione arrived. Hermione rushed over, quickly helping prepare the space.
"Thank you so much for hosting, Hannah. It just makes it that much easier. Organizing a surprise party can be tough. Especially for someone as nosy as Harry," the witch chuckled.
"Of course! How are you? I heard you recently got a promotion."
"News travels, doesn't it? Yeah, I started on Wednesday. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm great! You know Neville and I have been dating for almost two years right? Well…" The witch held up her left hand. A gold band was on her finger, inlaid with a golden topaz halo surrounding a small, oval-cut diamond. "He proposed last weekend!"
"Congratulations, Hannah. That's amazing." Hermione grinned as widely as she could. However, the witch couldn't make the smile reach her eyes. She felt a bit winded. Everyone was getting paired up and settling down. Why had she rushed to do so? If she had waited, maybe.. No, it was no good going down that path.
The pair spent the next twenty minutes placing gold and red table cloths around the room, hanging banners, and enchanting sparklers to burn for hours. They transformed the dingy back room into a glowing hall of sparks, glitter, and shimmer. They organized a buffet made mostly by the cooks at the pub along one wall, and put standing tables around the rest of the room. They set off some of George's Everlasting Fireworks. Hermione used a few simple spells to turn a rug in the center into a shimmering dance floor, flowing from gold to bronze to copper and back again. Hannah set up a full drinks bar by the door, and soon Neville arrived, turning on some pumping music.
"Neville! Hannah told me about your engagement. Congrats! You two are perfect for eachother," Hermione wrapped Nev in a crushing hug. "I'm so happy for you both."
"Thanks. I bought the ring months ago.. Took so long to actually propose, though!" Neville responded, his grin transforming his still boyish face into that of a proud man.
People soon began trickling in. All their old classmates arrived. Pavarti and Dean were still away, but all their other Hogwarts roommates showed up (which, Hermione realized with a start, was only Seamus - and Neville who was already here). So did Dennis Creevy, Luna, Padma Patil, Ernie Macmillan, Terry Boot, Micheal Corner, Lisa Corner (nee Turpin), Katie Bell, Fred and Angelina, Ron with a platinum blonde haired witch on his arm, Lee Jordan, alicia Spinnet, Oliver Wood (whom Ginny had managed to contact), and multiple aurors and personnel who worked with Harry at the ministry.
"Quite a good turn out, huh?" a voice addressed Hermione. She turned to see the witch who had arrived with her ex-husband. "You arranged all this?"
"Yes, I suppose it is good. I did some, Ginny and Hannah did a lot, too.'' Hermione pressed her lips into a tight smile. "I'm sorry, I don't recall your name…?"
"Oh! We haven't met yet. I'm Claire, Ron's girlfriend.' the girl let out a giggle. She reminded Hermione of Lavender, with her over-bleached hair, thick makeup, and sickly sweet voice. "I know who you are, of course."
"Right. If you'll excuse me," before the girl could say more, Hermione turned and disappeared into the crowd. She knew it wasn't this girl's fault that she and Ron hadn't worked out, but it was still awful to hear about "Ron's girlfriend."
"He's coming, he's coming!" Someone yelled. Everyone turned to the dorr, going utterly silent. Even the music paused, the crackling of the fireplace, too.
The door opened and a bespectacled man stood there. "Surprise!" Everyone screamed, yells echoing throughout the tavern. The crowd swarmed Harry, wrapping him in hugs. Ginny entered beside him, winking with a grin at Hermione.
Hours later, Harry sat in the chair next to Hermione's. She was nursing some cocktail Luna had handed her - a very strong, very neon cocktail.
"You organized this?" Harry asked. Or, Hermione assumed that's what he asked. Between the pounding music and his slurring, she wasn't quite sure. The room was also spinning a bit.
"Um-hm. With Ginny and Hannah. Did you know Hannah and Nev are engaged?" She mumbled.
"I heard, yeah."
"And you are with Ginny. Daphne and Knott, Ron and Lav-Lav two-point-oh, everyone is paired up. When did my life take such a southwards turn?" Hermione slurred the words into her drink, gulping the orange concoction. "I did everything right, goddammit!"
" 'Mione?" another voice asked - a familiar one. Ginny maybe?
"Did you know about Ron's new chick, Harry?"
"Er, I'd heard some stuff," The wizard hedged. "Hermione, are you okay? Do you wanna maybe…"
"Har, she's not going to leave yet." the redhead standing nearby siad. Yup - definitely Ginny. "Hermione, Why don't you go clean up in the bathroom?"
Until she said that, the brunette hadn't realized tears had been rolling down her cheeks. Hermione shook her head. There was a reason she didn't get drunk. She stood to grab her coat and then she was in someone's arms, looking up at the wooden ceiling. "I'm fyyy-nnn." she mumbled, staggering out the door and along the London streets. She heard people calling her name, but she just kept going. It wasn't like she belonged with them anyway. They were all happy, living the dream life. They had people who loved them, who would care if they died.
Hermione didn't have that. Not really. Sure, her parents, but they didn't really know her. Harry was with Ginny - and he had James to worry about. After that, there wasn't really anyone. She was alone in this giant world. If only she could disappear, live underground far from anyone who knew her past and who she had been. Far from anyone who understood the torture she had endured. Or maybe what she needed was for people to really get what she'd been through, how hard it had been to keep going every day not knowing if she would live, only knowing that the people who had raised her wouldn't even recognize her if she ever saw them again. And then, she had lost the person who had made her feel at home - even if that sense of security was safe.
The darker Hermione's thoughts got, the faster she walked. She didn't pay attention to where she was going. She simply stumbled down the London streets wearing far too little clothing and very impractical heels. She reached a street corner she didn't recognize and decided that she was now utterly lost in every way possible.
But her feet. God! They really hurt. The witch grabbed the street pole next to her and began fighting with the strappy heels, attempting to undo the complex arrangement of buckles and wrench them off.
"Granger? Need a bit of help there?" Someone drawled.
Hermione turned to see a tall, far too handsome man standing with his hands in his pockets behind her. He was smirking, his gray eyes glittering with humor. His short, blonde hair was vaguely familiar but the witch was too drunk and upset to care. "I'm just fine. Go hit on someone else."
"I assure you, I'm not hitting on you. But I do think you may want some help." The man began to approach so Hermione gave sho one final yank - breaking the last strap - and threw the shoe. Even with her drunken aim, she managed to hit the guy in the face.
"Jesus, was that really necessary?" The man swooped her up and over his shoulder before she could register what was happening. He began walking down the street. Hermione kicked and screamed, attempting to wriggle free of her asilent's grasp.
"Let go of me, you creep! I said let go!" she cried, although she slurred teh words enough for them not to be very intimidating.
"If you would just stay still, Granger, we'll be there much sooner and I can put you down." The man grumbled, readjusting how she hung over his shoulder. She finally gave up her wriggling and noticed how good the man smelled. Like cedarwood and something floral and spicy.
"Where are we going anyway?" She mumbled, running her hands across the muscular back to get a better grip.
"My apartment, Granger."
"How do you know my name?"
"You really have no idea who I am, do you?"
"Mmm… You're not a god, because they aren't real. So you have to be a human. You are real, right?"
"Yes, I'm real." The man sighed, turning down a street. "You are going to be very shocked in the morning."
"Morning? No, I'd rather stay like this. The night is better. Darker. Darkness reveals the truth." She looked up at the sky. "I wish we could see the stars from London…"
"Tell me, Granger, What were you doing drunk, wandering the streets by my apartment?"
"I… I'm not telling you that!" She suddenly felt made this man think he was entitled to any information from her?
"If that's what you want… I'll just have to assume you were coming to visit me, then!" His laugh was insufferable, a cackle of absolute arrogance.
"You are - you are-" she decided to give up on being angry, her muddled brain moving too slowly. "You are strong… and warm. How far are we?"
"Almost there, Granger." His voice was lower now, softer. Almost like he was further away.
Bright sunlight woke Hermione up the next morning. She blinked at an unfamiliar living room. She saw a crammed bookshelf, a coffee table with another stack of books and some parchment. She realized she had, in fact, been here before.
She sat up and immediately regretted it, her head screaming in pain and nausea rising up her throat. She clamped a hand to her mouth and slowly pushed up onto her feet. She wobbled hurriedly down the hall to an open door she assumed was the toilet. She barely made it before she was retching, vomiting her guts up.
She finally sat up, leaning against the wall and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She let the night's events trickle back to ehr. Harry's party, dancing and music, Neville and Hannah, getting really drunk, leaving the Leaky in a huff, and then… ending up here. At.. "Oh my god," Hermione muttered, before vomiting again. And again.
Malfoys. She was at malfoys. She vaguely remembered seeing his face in a dark alley. Then waking up in foreign clothes. Girls clothes, at least. She retched again.
"You okay?" That slick voice said behind her.
She took a deep breath, trying to clear her emotions before saying, "Just fine, Malfoy."
"Do you remember last night at all?" The humor in his voice suggested she didn't really want to. "I'll take your lack of response as a no, then"
"Oh god… Please just, give me a break okay? I take back anything I said; it was a rough night." Hermione tried to stand and found her head pounding far too badly. The slimy git handed her a vile of hangover cure. Hating herself, the witch gulped it down and almost moaned in relief as the nausea and headache faded.
"Yeah, I gathered. You wanna talk or..?" Malfoy almost seemed serious.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm fine. I'll just leave now and we won't ever speak of whatever happened again." She stood and tried to shove past him, but was too strong for her.
"Oh I think not. You see, when you get covered in someone's snot and vomit, you tend to worry a bit. So, tell Daddy Draco here what made you drink your body weight in liquor."
"Daddy Draco?" Hermione sketched a brow, failing at hiding her amusement.
"Yes."
"Absolutely not."
"Fine - is Saint Slytheri better? Now will you explain why you were stumbling around London last night?" Malfoy walked to the kitchen and poured them each a glass of water. Hermione accepted it, then noticed his black eye.
"Only if you first tell me how you got that," She agreed, motioning to the swollen, purple sloth. His answering chuckle wasn't reassuring.
"I thought you didn't want to know what happened last night?" At her incredulous look, he smirked and said, "When I tried to be your knight in shining armor, you threw your shoe at me and I don't have any bruise salve on me. Now you go."
Hermione cringed. "Sporry, Malfoy. And did I not tell you everything that's wrong last night?"
"But and pieces," he responded. "Toast?"
Hermione nodded. "What exactly did I say? Dare I ask…"
Malfoy chuckled and sat down next to her. "Well, after assaulting me for trying to help you, I picked you up and you began some rather entertaining, philosophical rambles about darkness and truth." He smirked as she turned red and covered her face. "Don't be embarrassed, Granger. It was rather insightful. Anyway, then just as we reached my flat you vomited all over me, the entry mat, and passed out. I cleaned us up and put you on the couch. I gave you a sobering potion, but twenty minutes later it was all over you, so I don't think it helped much. We spent the night vomiting and cleaning. Well, I mostly did the cleaning."
Hermione groaned, sinking further into her chair. Why, why, why had she gotten so drunk?
"In between retching and sleeping, you complained a lot about "Lav-Lav two-point-oh" and being alone." Malfoy, somehow, didn't sound amused when he said this. He almost sounded…
"I don't want your pity, Malfoy."
"Believe me, I don't pity you. But.. I've been there. I kinda am there."
"Dealing with an ex-husband's sickening new girlfriend?" She asked skeptically.
The blonde chuckled. "No, alone."
There was an elongated pause where neither were quite sure what to say next. It wasn't an awkward silence, though. Rather, the pair simply sank into their own thoughts. Eventually Hermione muttered, "alone together."
"What?"
"Alone together. It's a song my parents used to play… it said something along the lines of, 'this is the road to the end and we're starting at the end/ let's be alone together.' This just made me remember it…" Hermione explained.
"It's called 'Alone Together'? Seriously? Isn't that an oxymoron?" the Slytherin's smirk returned.
"I suppose. But I think it's more about how upset, lonely people gravitate towards each other and support one another." the witch explained, twiddling a napkin between her fingers."Kinda like what we are doing here, I guess."
"You think you're supporting me here?" Malofy laughed. Hermione's face dropped and the blonde quickly amended, "I'm joking, I'm just teasing. Trying to lighten the mood. It's nice to admit to someone that this life isn't as golden as it appears. I mean obviously our lives have been rough but.."
"Just because we won the war, it didn't fix all the injustices or pain we feel?" Hermione suggested, though it was truly what she felt.
"Exactly! Even though that was years ago and we've all done so much since then… nothing's really changed. We're all still alone. Being alone together would help, if you get me."
"I do! And you're right - nothing has truly changed. Yes, Voldemort is gone but people are still cruel. Everyday I fight a new case about someone doing something horrible to an innocent person. Then I go to my 'friends' and they are all in their happy worlds and mine is just…" Hermione trailed off, realizing she was saying things she had kept secret since the war aloud- to Malfoy, no less. "Sorry, you don't need to hear all this."
"No, I want to!" Malfoy responded. Then, realizing how eager he sounded, he explained, "I feel similarly and I didn't realize anyone else got that. No one has ever spoken so directly to me about such things. I suppose it makes me feel… seen." His smile was weak.
Hermione tried to return the look, thinking that he had probably not shared feelings like these with his parents ever. "I've never spoken so directly about this either. Might be the hangover potion.. Or the aftereffects of vomiting my guts up all over you and your flat." That's when the witch realized how she must look - and smell. And the fact that someone must have changed her out of ehr outfit and into this T-shirt and pair of sweatpants. "Is Astoria here?"
"No, she's spent the night with whoever her date was with last night," Malfoy said, now standing to make eggs. He noticed the mildly horrified expression on the muggle-borns face and hurried to add, "I used a spell to change and clean you up. I assumed you didn't want to stay in soiled clothes and… I didn't see anything. I am a gentleman, afterall."
"Very gentlemanly, scooping up a drunk woman from the street and dragging her to your flat, Malfoy."
"Hey! That was me being helpful. Nex time, I'll leave you on the pavement for some other bloke to find."
They bantred back and forth over scrambled eggs, the witch doing a few simple charms to rid Malfoy of his black eye. When they had cleaned the dishes and were standing in the kitchen, Hermione realized she had probably overstayed her welcome. By a lot.
"I should get going… Head back to my place, get cleaned up. Thank you again, Malfoy, for cleaning me up and generally taking care of me." She said awkwardly.
"Anytime, Granger. I have a lot of playing-nurse and groveling to do to make up for the absolute git I was." His smirk was almost genuine. "Oh, your wand should be on the coffee table. And your clothes are still in the wash. They should be done soon, if you wait."
His half-invite surprised Hermione, along with his kind and remorseful words. She shouldn't be shocked, after the wonderful morning they'd had, but.. It was still bizarre to see the young, smug boy now grown into a kind man.
"I suppose I can stay a bit. Although, I smell like vomit, so you may not want me here any longer…" Hermione tried to be polite, although she did actually want to stay. The thought of going back to her empty apartment made her heart sink.
"I didn't want to say anything, but you do kinda stink," Though Malfoy was obviously teasing, she knew it was true and couldn;t stop her blush, She also suspected her hair was a rat's nest and her makeup was smeared everywhere. "You can shower here, if you need. Especially since you still look a bit pale. Apparating may not be the best idea."
"You're probably right. I am still a smidge dizzy. You don't mind, do you?" Hermione asked, feeling oddly nervous.
"Nah, make yourself at home." He said, then turned to the living room. "I'm just gonna do some work here. There are extra towels in the cupboard outside the loo."
Hermione nodded ehr thanks and locked the door to the bathroom, taking a deep breath to calm her crazy nerves. Unsure why her hands were shaking, she turned on the water and stripped bare. As she stepped under the hot, hot water she tried to make sense of the odd friendship springing up - and way showering in his shower, using his shampoo and conditioner (Apparently he had let Astoria have the en-suite) made her skin feel tight and her heart hammer.
When Hermione finally left at almost noon, she promised Malfoy that he wouldn't get so drunk next time she was upset - but only if he did so too. She disaperated into her flat and was immediately hit by someone practically knocking her door down, screaming her name.
She hurried to pull the door open, Harry and Astoria almost tumbling into her door. "Hi. Is everything okay?"
"Where have you been?" Harry cried, storming into her place. "After you stormed out last night, Ginny came by but said you weren't here. I checked again this morning and - nope. I decided to come one more time before sending out a ministry search party, and thank the gods I did, because you are here. Were you ignoring us? What happened?"
Hermione blinked at her best friend, not sure what to say. "I-I'm fine."
"Good, because I have quite a lot to say! Starting with did you spend the night at a guy's? Because then it was all of our lucky night. My date went SO well, and this morning when I popped into the flat, there was a bra on the coffee table, two plates in the sink,a dn someone in the shower - someone who Draco refused to identify."
Again, the brunette witch just blinked. "I think I'm still a bit hungover.." She muttered. "That's great, 'Stor. Harry - I'm perfectly fine, I wasn't ignoring you. I spent the night at an in because I was too drunk to apparate. And now, I need to sleep off this headache. Can we talk later?" She asked, trying to shut down all possible suspicions before they started. After all, spending the night at Malfoy's - drunk, no less - would certainly start rumors amongst her friends. And since he wasn't selling her out to Astoria, then she wouldn't. The witch bid her friends good-bye, then turned around and screamed into her pillow.
"Alone together, my arse… what have I done?"
A/N:AHHHHH! Do you think Astoria will figure it out? Please, please leave me reviews; they are so helpful! Also, I'm trying to publish every 2-5 days... so keep wathcing out for updates!