January 2002
The long narrow table in the kitchen was full. Hermione was eating a quick breakfast standing against the counter, listening to Anthony talk about how Astoria's vetting was going. It was taking twice as long as anyone in the past. Partly due to the fact that someone had taught her proper occlumency. Hermione didn't offer to assist and Arthur knew better than to ask.
"Do you think she's going to end up here?" Hermione asked.
Anthony shrugged. "It's secure enough until she proves herself. Not that she will be fixing to leave. I think she'll quite like the safety after all she has been through."
Hermione was afraid of that. It would be much harder to ignore her arrival once she was walking around Potter house instead of held up in whatever safehouse she was currently in.
"It would be good for Pansy too, I imagine. Did you tell her about Daphne?" asked Hermione.
"No need to throw something else at her," said Anthony, grabbing the last piece of ham off her plate and eating it in two bites.
"Fair." Hermione's stare was fixed forward.
A few boys made to leave and pushed open the door to the kitchens. Hermione saw Molly talking to Charlie in the hallway, and she quickly shoved her plate in Anthony's hands.
"Thanks," he said, eagerly taking over eating her breakfast.
Hermione hurried out of the kitchen. "Molly! Do you have a moment?"
"Yes, of course," Molly responded instantly. She gently pressed her hand against Hermione's cheek. "We keep missing each other. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."
They entered the dining room and closed the door for privacy. Hermione had been in the field for the past four weeks since the wedding. Hardly by accident, if she was being honest.
"I need to speak with him," said Hermione bluntly.
Molly looked at her with confusion. "Speak with who, dear?"
Hermione didn't answer. The next few seconds passed and she didn't have to. Molly sighed loudly, and it detonated something in Hermione that made her want to break something.
"If there is something that you need, I can ask for you," Molly said, pleadingly.
"There are things he and I need to discuss," Hermione said firmly.
Molly looked like her worst fear had come true. "It won't help anything, Hermione."
Hermione swore under her breath. It took everything she had to to shout. "I am done with the games. I don't care what he wants. Or his demands. He has made it quite clear his interests in me have absolved. I need answers from him, and he is going to give them to me."
Molly resisted."Challenging and upsetting him could have dire consequences for us all. We need him."
"Jesus fucking christ," Hermione swore, laughing manically before trying to regain her composure. "Molly. Do you hear yourself? Are we nothing but glorified servants to Malfoy?"
"I understand your frustration-"
"You really don't."
Molly started to shout, face getting flushed with anger of her own. "Malfoy is not the same person you knew. He is functioning far past what any sane person could handle, and he does it so that he's not replaced with someone else who won't help us. I can't do it. It is too dangerous."
"You're not his mother, Molly!" Hermione shouted. "He has one. In fact, as you know, she is residing just upstairs. Her mental health has improved tremendously. Do you know how I know that? Because I am the one who visits her. I am the one who keeps her company, and brews her potions and tries to heal her mind. From where he threw her away and left us to rot!"
"That is enough!" Molly snapped. They both were panting and Hermione took a step back to give them room to cool down. "I thought we had moved past this."
"Yes. well. From what I hear, he's moved far past. With a variety of people," Hermione said, the words like poison on her tongue that burned as it slipped down her throat.
In the years that had passed, so much changed completely while others hadn't at all. It was fine that he hated her. For what she did to Goyle and Theo she hated herself too. It was just so difficult to accept that she was as good as dead to him too. That everything that happened, everything between them, could be so meaningless.
It was another in a long line of useless attempts. The last one, she promised herself. If everything that happened was nothing, she was done trying to make it anything more. She walked around Molly and opened the door to leave.
"I have asked, Hermione." Molly said in little more than a whisper right before she exited the room. "I didn't think it would be any good to tell you. His answer is always the same."
"Alright! Gather around we haven't got all day!" Miller shouted.
It had been spitting rain all morning and the ground had turned into mud that stuck and made it even more difficult to move. Parvati and Hermione were still panting from their run. George had lapped them when they were barely halfway through and was snogging Pansy off to the side. Pansy's clothes and trainers made it look like she was planning on starting, but never had she attended training in the past.
The reason why appeared as Astoria walked up with Neville. Pansy pushed George back gently, walking straight to her side and they made their way towards the others who circled the ring.
"Who are you?" Miller barked at Astoria. "And what are you doing here, Parkinson? Shouldn't you be off making small children cry?"
"This is actually my lying around time. But I'll make an exception for you, Miller," Pansy shot back.
"And it's Weasley ," George added.
Astoria's polite smile was frozen on her face as her eyes blinked, watching the exchange. All attention was on her and regained her posture, looking at Miller.
"Hello everyone," Astoria said cheerily before clearing her throat. "I'm Astoria. Hufflepuff," she gestured to Zacharias Smith who waved back awkwardly. They were a few years apart, but no doubt he remembered her from his house. "I'm so humbled to be here. Ehm… I know some of you may be surprised. But I promise you, I'll do my best to prove myself."
Most of the members in attendance were well aware that Astoria had officially arrived at Potter house a week ago. It was, however, surprising to everyone that she would willingly partake in training. She mostly expected her and Pansy to just mosey around the house until the war was over.
Miller smirked. "Well, Astoria Hufflepuff -"
"Oh no! That's not my surname. I apologize, that was foolish of me. I shouldn't have assumed- I mean, I know you are a-a…" Astoria stuttered before hiding her lips slightly as she mouthed. " Muggle ."
Miller grinned fully. Poor Astoria.
" Okay ," he whispered back, and she smiled. "Center of the ring. If you don't mind being a volunteer?"
"Not at all," Astoria beamed.
Her blonde hair bobbed behind her as she strutted to his side. She flinched slightly as she crossed the threshold, looking down to see if she had tripped over something.
Neville made a step forward, but Pansy cut him off.
"There's no magic in the ring," Pansy warned her.
Miller pouted. It was one of his favorite games to play on new people. Hermione's first training was one of his proudest moments to date. Everyone still has a fit of laughs when they recall how she nearly broke her nose.
"I've felt that before," Astoria said with an understanding nod.
"Fantastic," Miller walked towards her and stood in front of her, his back to her chest. "We'll work on hand-to-hand combat today. The ground is slick and it'll be good practice."
Astoria peaked around him before taking a step to the side so she could see, her hand clasped formally in front of her.
"You're going first," Miller nodded for her to get back behind him. "When an attacker comes from the back, they have the advantage. But you can use their momentum against them."
Astoria stood, dumbfounded. Pansy mouthed at her, gesturing towards Miller's back. Astoria took a step forward and daintily pushed him. He didn't even budge. Neville pulled George down and demonstrated a headlock. Astoria took a deep breath before jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck.
A blink later, she was flipped over and plopped in the mud. Astoria sat there, eyes wide and unmoving. Staring dumbly at her hands covered in filth down to her leggings and jacket which were equally dirty.
She glared up, not making a move to get off her bum. "You threw me."
"Uh-huh."
"You flung a lady. Onto the ground."
"That I did."
Astoria clenched her jaw together and Hermione found herself amused as the others. Miller deserved a bit of Greengrass wrath after the hell he put their bodies through every morning.
"Apologize," Astoria said between clenched teeth.
"First time with dirt?" Miller teased.
"First time with a dim-witted oaf," Pansy defended, flinging a handful of mud that hit Miller unexpectedly on the side of the head.
George howled with laughter, throwing an arm over Pansy's shoulder.
"You're in for it, Weasley," Miller said, a devious smirk on his face.
George awkwardly tried to run away, losing his footing on the slick mud and then falling to the side when Miller crashed into his side. After that, chaos fully erupted.
Hermione squealed as one of the younger members threw a ball of mud that hit her in the side. Most of the mud was in the middle of the ring, so everyone was in a mad dash to get a handful while dodging and covering their faces. No one used magic, like there was some unspoken rule of mud fights that forbad it. Neville playfully tackled her to the ground, only for her to tangle their legs and roll him over to shove his face in the mud.
"Excellent technique, Granger!" Miller laughed over the chaos. He and George had each other in a headlock and were taking turns smashing handfuls of mud into each other's hair.
Hermione stumbled up, laughing so hard her face hurt. Her eyes caught Pansy and Astoria. Pansy was smiling, even with her nose scrunched, using Astoria as a human shield. Astoria laughed, ducking away and screeching before grabbing small handfuls and throwing it in any direction.
Astoria's smile wasn't poised and perfect. It showed more of her teeth than the one she usually put on. Her cheeks were flushed, and her silky blonde hair was filthy and sticking to her face. Even though she shivered, the joy and excitement was radiating from her.
"What is the meaning of this?!" McGonagall screeched.
Everyone seized. The few people still wrestling on the ground got up and tried to dust off the pounds of dirt sticking to their clothes. McGonagall raised a brow, looking down her nose at them in a way that intimidated them more than Satan himself.
" Sorry Professor ." Was murmured all around the ring in imperfect unison.
"You've got to teach me how you do that, Minerva," greeted Miller standing up and walking towards her.
"It takes years of training, Thomas," McGonagall said. She looked over all her former students covered in mud and smiled. "Well, was there a winner?"
"Slytherin, obviously," Pansy sassed, and all eyes fell to her. "Oh please, I fared much better than all of you."
Hermione laughed. Pansy was the only Slytherin and really did only get hit a few times. Most people must still be intimidated by her.
Miller excused everyone for the day and it was like Christmas. A few even surrounded Astoria, playfully thanking her and offering to help her walk. George and Neville got a few more shoves in before making their way to the house.
Hermione stepped outside the ring, cleaning her clothes and some of her hair with a wave of her hand. She could still feel a thin layer of dirt but a proper shower would fix that.
"Hey, step over here," Hermione nodded towards Miller, who was trying to kick around mud and even out the divots in the ground.
He walked over, crossing the boundary and Hermione casted a quick cleaning spell on him.
"Cheers," he said before walking and sitting on a rock.
"Coming inside?" Hermione asked.
"In a moment. Should probably get a workout in since training went all to pot."
Hermione shook her head, walking over to sit next to him. "Can't relax for one day?"
"Can't have people thinking I've gone soft," he said staring forward. He rested his forearms on his knees, breathing still slightly elevated. "Astoria. I've seen her around a bit. Didn't think she'd be one to fight."
"Me either," Hermione admitted with a smile. "Have you spoken to her at all?"
"Nah. A bit posh, isn't she?" Miller chuckled. "Well, not today. Today she seemed like a picnic short of a sandwich."
Hermione shoved her elbow into his side. "George likely told her to try not to be so formal. I don't think I've ever heard her speak like she wasn't giving a speech."
"Had some fight in her in the end. Not as much as others though," Miller said, bumping his knee against hers. Hermione thought to pull it back, but didn't.
"You weren't quite as nice to me my first day," Hermione jested.
"Nicer. You're just far more arrogant and proud," Miller replied.
Hermione couldn't deny it.
"I like my lessons learned the hard way, I'm afraid," Hermione muttered.
Miller's knee was bouncing. When he lifted his head up, he sighed, running his palms along the pants of his legs.
"Alright?" Hermione asked.
"Still a bit on edge, is all. Exercise helps," Miller said with a small smile. "Don't really want to move around too much with dirt in my trousers. Chafing's terrible."
Hermione laughed and he joined her. The rain had turned into a small mist, blurring the line of sight to the house. Everyone had already funneled inside or left for the day.
The halls were probably still crowded, so Hermione stalled a little longer. She'd grown to not enjoy being in the house when it was overcrowded. Especially with so many eyes on her. If she was alone, she'd transfigure and scurry around the grounds for a bit while it was so empty.
Minutes kept ticking away, the silence both questioning and comfortable.
"We should probably get cleaned up," said Hermione finally.
Miller stretched out a little. His leg and arm pressed against hers. A finger traced lightly along her leg, and for some reason, Hermione found herself pressing into the touch.
"We could clean up together… If you'd fancy it?" Miller asked, voice low and suggestive.
Miller's room was vastly different from her own. While similar in size, he looked far more lived in. Homey. Hermione supposed it was because while she moved around from post to post, he always stayed here.
Miller held her hand and let her into the on-suite. He was efficient, removing both their clothes and letting Hermione stand under the water under her hair was clear of dirt.
The first press of his lips against hers was warm. She opened her mouth to let his tongue slip in, and he groaned as she wrapped his arms around her. As they showered, they didn't do much more than kiss and touch each other. Kissing him was easy. Like a dance her body remembered the moves to. She never lost her place or had to gasp for breath. For a moment, she remembered she used to be so starved for air while kissing another.
Once they were on the bed, Hermione pulled him on top of her. His hands were skilled, caressing her adoringly like she was someone special. After a few minutes, he pulled back to rummage through his drawer. He put a condom up to his mouth, ripping the corner with his teeth before freeing the rubber and sliding over himself. Hermione caressed his thighs while she waited, and he moved one hand to hold onto hers.
When he pushed in, she gasped. The rubber felt like it was getting snagged, but after a few thrusts it started to slide with ease. It was feeling better as time went on. Hermione arched her back, hoping for attention on her breasts but Miller was focused on applying kisses to her neck. It felt nice, so Hermione settled down into the mattress to lay flat.
The weight and heat of him felt nice, but she wasn't getting any closer. She slid a hand between them and started to rub herself, granting herself permission to let her mind think of whatever it needed to finish. It didn't take long for Hermione to climax as she touched herself. She had always been lucky in that way. Once they were done, Miller cleaned himself up and got her water.
And it was fine.