Hermione stood there nibbling her lip as she waited for Madam Pomfrey to return with what she needed. She had been daft the night before, too caught up in what was happening for her own good. Neither had thought to cast a Conception Charm, which could lead to dire consequences. Which she wasn't willing to chance even though she was due for her period in a week. Her ovulation peek should have come and gone the week before but…
It was not worth the risk.
So she had swallowed any embarrassment and asked the Healer for a potion on her way to breakfast the next morning. After waking late in Draco's arms she had been in a rush all morning. She'd had to sneak back into her dorm, take a shower, make herself presentable, gather her books for the day and make it to the Infirmary. All in the time that she usually allotted for just the shower. She still needed to actually get the potion (and the three month supply of Conception Control) that she had asked for, grab a quick breakfast and check her Ancient Runes translations one more time before her first class started.
As she waited impatiently for the older witch she thought back to how she had been woken by soft kisses along her shoulder and an erection poking at her bum. When she had asked the time he had not gotten the romp he had been expecting. Instead she had jumped up with a rushed, "So sorry. Have to get ready!". She quickly found all of her clothes, dressed and then raced from the room. The whole time he had been grumbling about how she could take one morning off.
Went to show he might not know her as well as he thought he did…
She had never missed a class unless otherwise incapacitated, like when she had been petrified in Second Year. (There wasn't much she could do about being a living statue…) And she had no plans to start now. No matter how tempting he was when teasing her with his need for a morning session. An education was much more important than satisfying their uncontrollable hormones.
"Ah yes! Here you go Miss Granger." The woman said, interrupting her thoughts. She handed her the small vial of dark beige liquid before continuing. "Bottoms up. You should not feel any ill effects, if you do you should come back immediately so I can check you over."
"I can do that." Hermione assured her, taking the potion and quickly gulping it down. There was a bitter aftertaste but no unusual feelings to be worried about.
She gave the empty vial back to Pomfrey, who set it aside before grabbing another three vials from her pocket. She handed them over while explaining that she needed to take the first dose exactly 24 hours from now and should take the rest at the same time each month. It seemed simple enough and much easier than an unplanned pregnancy. Especially one with a boy from one of the most notorious Blood Purist families…
"Thank you Madam Pomfrey. I appreciate it." Hermione told her, truly grateful for the time the Healer had taken to help her. The woman was a Gods' send to the students of Hogwarts. She treated them without asking unneeded questions and never pried for information. All that she wanted to do was make sure they were all in top physical and mental health during their time there. Sometimes they made it tough on her but she took every injury and sickness in stride. Sending them off to Mungo's with no hesitation if it was too much for her capable hands.
"Anytime Dear. Now go get some food into that stomach. You look famished." The older witch told her with a gentle pat on the side of her arm. She gave Hermione a cheerful smile before she turned and went about her business inside of her office.
Carefully, she slid the vials into her bag, making sure they were safely in the cushioned pocket that she kept her quills and left. She didn't have time to dilly dally, she needed to hurry if she wanted anything to eat until lunch.
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She sighed as she slipped onto the bench next to Ginny. The soreness at the inside of her legs was starting to get annoying. While she didn't regret her choice this was not something she had been expecting and walking seemed to make it even worse. She quickly loaded her plate with eggs and toast, the closest things to her and started in. As she went to reach into her bag with her free hand, hoping for those couple of minutes to check over her homework, the girl next to her cleared her throat.
Hermione slowly let her eyes drag over to the redhead. She knew she would want to know what happened the night before so she shoved a big bite of toast into her mouth as she pulled out the book she needed. Placing it on the table in front of her in a futile attempt to ignore her friend.
Ginny slid the book from her reach and leaned in so that no one would be able to overhear them over the chatter from other students who were finishing up. "Nuh-uh! You have to tell me..."
"Don't have the time. Class soon!" She mumbled around the food in her mouth, something she never did. The girl knew she was pretty big on table manners, the act should have been an evident display of just how big of a rush she was in.
"I know when your classes start Hermione Granger and you can spare your best friend in the whole world five minutes of your time!" Ginny said with a tone that was such a reminder of Mrs. Weasley it was honestly kind of scary.
Hermione swallowed down the retort about sounding like her mother along with her bite. She didn't want to upset her this early in the day. She sighed again and turned towards her friend before whispering in her ear. "Okay, okay! But you have to stay quiet. No one wants to hear you screeching, alright?"
A smirk crossed the other witch's lips but she made the miming motions for zipping them and throwing the key of her shoulder.
Hermione returned the smirk before shaking her head and sighing again. She knew the girl's reaction was going to be overdramatized and she honestly did not want to deal with it. Early mornings might have been the bane of her existence but rushed mornings with people getting in her way were even worse. Her eyes flicked up to Ginny's before she quickly rushed out with it. "I had sex."
Her friend's eyes almost popped out of her head as she tried to keep the excitement at the pronouncement under control. She grabbed on to her arm so tightly the only reason she didn't leave bruises was from the multiple layers of the school uniform. Ginny leaned in and hissed in her ear. "With the Mystery Slytherin?"
"Uhh... Yeah." She snorted at the absurd question. Who else would it have been?
"Girl, you must be doin' it wrong. No one should be this cranky after spending the night with their lover." Was the prodding response she received.
She eyed the girl for a moment before conceding. "I have no caffeine in my system yet, Gin. I am sorry for being a moody wench. Forgive me?"
"Of course... So does that mean Lover Boy finally got your panties to untwist? Because those suckers have been wound up tighter than a garden gnome kicked from his burrow."
Yet another sigh left her lungs as she decided to ignore the jibe and reached for the coffee, completely foregoing her normal morning tea. She needed something a bit stronger this morning... She gulped the hot liquid down, not caring that she scorched her throat before taking a bite of eggs. Getting a second bite to her mouth in anticipation of Ginny asking anything else. She only had a couple more minutes.
The Fates decided to throw yet another obstacle in her path as Ron slid down to join them from where he had been seated a few feet away, inhaling most of the food on his plate much faster than he could possibly breath. He wiped the crumbs from his sweater before turning to them and asking. "Whatcha whisperin' about?"
Ginny glared over at him knowing he had just broken the moment for her to get any other information. "Nothing for your ears Ronald. That was why we were whispering!"
Ron huffed at his sister's rebuff and started stammering about how people couldn't just be nice. The short sibling squabble gave Hermione enough time to chug down the rest of her cup and grab another piece of toast. It was the perfect opportunity to slip away. She just needed to get her book from where it rested without getting spotted…
Very slowly she inched her fingers over until she had the bindings under her grip and gave it a quick yank before Ginny could register what happened and stop her. She pushed the book into her bag and stood up. A rapid "See you!" was on her lips for niceties sake when Ron interrupted the royal chewing out he was being given by clearing his throat.
He stood up as well and reached over the table, grabbing her wrist before she could hurry away. "'Hey wait!"
She wrenched it away from his grasp and took a step back, snapping. "Don't touch me!"
"Okay! Look... I was wonderin' if we could walk to Apparition lessons together on Saturday." He mumbled, his skin turning that bright shade of tomato it was so fond of when he was angry or embarrassed.
"Are you planning on apologizing?" She asked, her eyebrow raised in challenge.
"Uhhh... Well..." He squirmed under her unyielding stare looking rather uncomfortable. He had to know by now that he was the one that had done wrong here. Why couldn't he just apologize for his nasty words and time spent ignoring her?
"It is a simple yes or no question Ronald. Are. You. Going. To. Apologize?" She asked again, punctuating each word. Letting him know clearly what her terms for such an arrangement were.
"Yes." He agreed, looking down at the table instead of in her eye.
"Fine. We need to figure out how to be civil for Harry's sake anyway. Have a good day, Ginny." She threw out to the girl. Who had sat there quietly and watched the whole conversation as if it was a tennis match, her jaw hanging slightly open at the venom in Hermione's tone and the surprising meekness in Ron's. Neither were traits that were shown by their owners very often.
She knew that she would have to deal with even more questions later but at that moment she didn't care. They were all going to be late at this point! She quickly rushed from the Great Hall, the trailing sounds of Ginny badgering Ron with questions about what he had done, gave her an odd burst of satisfaction. The added boost from the caffeine that had finally kicked in probably didn't hurt matters.
Maybe the day wasn't going to be so bad after all...