Chapter Seventeen

Hermione sat with Ginny in her living room on the sofa.

She had just finished telling Ginny a very watered down version of the previous night's events.

She downplayed Nott's appearance at her front door ("Zabini sent a note I didn't see so Nott came to see if I was available to help")

Malfoy's near death experience ("The potion he took really upset his stomach")

And she left out the part where he was poisoned and instead made it sound like it was a potion experiment gone wrong ("Really, as one of the best in our year at potions he should know you can't add Doxy eggs to a cauldron without letting it cool first!")

She told Ginny that they were researching potions for Narcissa, figuring that since Narcissa did help save Harry's life Ginny would be more sympathetic to her ("She's been having trouble sleeping, night terrors, like Harry used to get. They need some help with developing a better potion for her than Dreamless Sleep.")

She alluded to their involvement investing in the potions store being tied to these potion experiments.

She knew Ginny would already be torn keeping this from Harry, it wasn't in their nature to keep secrets from one another but with this version of things it was more likely Ginny would manage to keep it to herself for longer.

"-So after I spilled the potion on my shirt, Zabini offered me a fresh one and then I went home. I was so tired I completely forgot to change before heading to bed and when I woke up I didn't even remember that I had changed my shirt at all." She finished.

Ginny looked like she couldn't decide if she was impressed with Hermione or wanted to strangle her. "You went to a Death Eaters house in the middle of the night because.. Because one of his friends randomly appeared on your doorstep and told you his friend's tummy hurt?"

"They did send me a note before they showed up." Hermione pointed out.

"Ah, yes. How did they get your address again?" Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow, Hermione suddenly became very interested in the lace edging on one of the couch pillows. "My point being, Hermione, that for being considered the brightest witch in a century you are really, really dumb."

Ginny took Hermione's hand in hers. "Look, I know you want to help them. And from what you said it sounds like the right thing to do so I'm not going to stop you. I know you well enough to know that once you decide to champion a good cause there's no use arguing, but Hermione, you really need to start thinking with your head and not your heart or you're going to end up in real trouble. And if you don't tell anyone what's going on, we won't even be able to help because we won't know you're in trouble until it's too late. We are your friends Hermione and we're here to support you, not judge you." She said gently.

Hermione gave Ginny a pointed look.

"Okay. You're right, maybe not Ron. Ron's a tosser for sure. You don't have to tell him but you at least need to tell Harry and me."

Hermione gave Ginny another look.

"Fine. You're right again, Harry can't keep a secret from me or Ron to save his life. We both already know what he got you for your birthday next month. He's an utter blabber box. At least keep ME in the know with whatever wayward passion project you've picked up. If you go missing I need to know who to come after to avenge you, you know?" She gave Hermione a grin.

"I know, I just wasn't sure if I was even going to be helping them until yesterday, this is all a rather new development." She said with a sign dropping her head back into the couch cushions.

"Well for a new development you certainly work fast. Less than 24 hours into teaming up with Malfoy and you're already wearing his clothes to bed." Ginny said with a wicked smile.

Hermione threw a pillow at her face but she ducked.

"Since we already established that Blaise Zabini is more your type though you really ought to be trying to get into his pants."

Hermione threw another pillow.

Ginny ended up spending most of the evening with Hermione and despite everything it did make Hermione feel better. Ginny was magical at taking your mind off things that troubled you, she laughed easily and frequently and there was never a dull moment of conversation with her. The tightness in Hermione's chest over the revelations of the last evening eased ever so slightly knowing that Ginny was there for her.

Ginny checked her watch. "Harry's almost off work, I should get going." She said getting up and grabbing her discarded coat.

"Hey Ginny, before you go-" Hermione made a spur of the moment decision and hoped she wouldn't regret it later "Do you remember Astoria Greengrass?"

Ginny frowned, thinking. "She was a Slytherin one year behind me in school, never really had much to do with her personally since she wasn't really into sports. The rumour at school was that she was supposed to marry Malfoy once they graduated and have a bunch of pureblood babies. His little stint in Azkaban probably put a damper on those wedding bells. I heard she died aboard, must be a couple years ago now. Why?"

"I just- I had heard the rumours at school too but Malfoy isn't married. She died abroad?" Hermione prompted.

"Yeah, apparently there was some concern about the way she died. Keep in mind this is third hand information, I heard about it from Lavender who was dating Denis Bunkly in the Auror department at the time. I asked Harry about it but he wouldn't say anything since it was ongoing but I don't think he was very happy with how the department handled the investigation." She said then frowned "Now that you mention it I'm not sure they ever managed to close that investigation, I think it's in the cold cases."

"Oh, that's sad." Hermione said, genuinely sorry for the dead woman and the lack of justice.

"One crusade at a time Hermione." Ginny said gently "You can't fix every wrong in the world all by yourself all at once. Besides, it sounds like you've got your hands full with this whole potion research project with our three favourite Slytherins."

Hermione gave her a nod and a reassuring smile and Ginny scooped her up into a massive hug.

"You are a good person Hermione Granger." She gave a squeeze. "I'm still coming to kidnap you for dinner on Friday. Lavender, Pavarti and Katie are all going to be there and you've missed the last two girls nights we've had." She warned holding Hermione at arms length and giving her a playfully stern look.

"Fine" Hermione agreed with a sigh.

"And I get to pick your outfit" Ginny added

"Don't push it Gin, last time I agreed to that, the Prophet had an absolute conniption. That picture was blasted on page six for almost a week." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, because you were too hot not to put in the paper." Ginny grinned.

"Because that dress you made me wear was practically see through." Hermione said indignantly. That evening had taught her to be careful about making bets with the youngest Weasley.

"I'll settle for doing your hair and makeup." Ginny acquiesced. "But I get veto power over your outfit, Lavender has a reservation at the Black Cat and I'm not having you showing up looking like a school dance chaperone"

Feeling like somehow she'd come to regret it, Hermione cautiously agreed to her friend's terms. Ginny gave her one last squeeze and went to the fireplace.

"And when you're done with that shirt you should lend it to me. I would love to see Harry's face if he saw me wearing that around the house."She said with a mischievous wink. Hermione rolled her eyes.

A/N: Well it's been a busy week but we've survived relatively unscathed. Happy Saturday!