Snakes And Lions Chapter 7: Yes? or No?

[mystiemerys]

Hermione awoke the next morning with a throbbing pain in her arm. It took her a moment before she remembered what had happened last night between herself and Ron. She groaned and opened her eyes only to stare straight into bright-violet-blue ones directly above her. Hermione jumped in surprise, her forehead connecting with Sheridan's. The two cried out at the contact and Sheridan toppled off the bed with a loud thud.

“Sheridan, what are you doing here?” Hermione groaned, clutching her head. The older woman merely stood and grasped Hermione's arm as her fully formed bruises were displayed. Noticing Hermione flinch, Sheridan pulled the younger witch's nightgown sleeve up further. Seeing the other bruises that had formed on the girl's arm, her eyes flashed in pure anger.

“Where is ze red 'ead bastard?!” Sheridan snarled, more demanding than questioning. Hermione’s eyes were wide with shock.

'It had only happened last night! Other then Neville who else could have know?' She gasped, the dots quickly connecting.

“Neville told you didn’t he?” She whispered, though she knew the answer already.

“Zat does not matter! What 'appended?!” Sheridan shrieked, making the brunette flinch. Taking a shaky breath, Hermione gestured for the older woman to sit down before recounting everything that had happened the previous night up to the point where Ron had gotten violent and Neville had come to her aid. Near the end of the tale, Sheridan looked ready to leap out of her seat and go chase down Ronald. She would have too if not for Hermione's insistent pleas for her not to. After much pleading and begging, Sheridan finally agreed she would not murder the red headed boy. Satisfied, Hermione got up and headed straight towards her bathroom leavening the fuming french woman on her bed.

After a quick shower, Hermione got dressed and made sure to wear a loose, long sleeved shirt to cover her bruises. She tied her hair into a loose ponytail, brushed her teeth, grabbed her book bag and finally left her room: prepared for the day ahead. Sheridan silently followed the brunette, still seething with restrained anger.

-Great Hall-

Hermione made her way into the Great Hall with Sheridan right behind her. Hermione didn't need the comfort, but she wanted to make sure Sheridan didn't go hunting down Ron despite her promise not to. Hermione had seen Sheridan this angry before and knew there was a risk that her promise might get blown out the window the second the french witch laid eyes on Ron. The Great Hall was slowly emptying of people as Hermione and Sheridan made their way to the still fully laden breakfast table. Unfortunately this made Ron's presence even more noticeable since he'd stayed behind for more food. Hermione could feel the fury radiating from Sheridan increase as the french witch caught sight of the redhead. If he noticed the danger he was in whilst he stuffed his face with the last slice of toast, Ron gave no sign. Movement caught Hermione's eye and she noticed Pansy and the other Slytherins were leaving the hall. Hermione locked gazes with Pansy, both sharing a fleeting smile though yearned to do more. However they were unable to do anything else for fear they'd be exposed.

“I should rip 'is eyes out and feed zem to Kakouen! I should ripped 'is arms off and beat 'im wiz zem and zen I should rip ze pig's tongue out!” Sheridan growled harshly, startling the younger witch. Given half a chance, Hermione knew that Sheridan would cheerfully act out her threats against the redhead - something which scared Hermione. To even suggest to do something like that to anyone, deserving or not, was bad enough. But even scarier was that a small part of Hermione's mind wanted to agree with the french witch since it was Ron who'd both betrayed her and broken her heart. Taking a deep breath, Hermione shook her head and led the way over to the Ravenclaw table where Luna still sat, almost completely alone reading her Quibbler sideways like she was looking at a pin-up. Hermione and Sheridan took seats across from her, but the blonde witch continued to idly punch tiny patterns in her egg on toast as she read, unaware of their presence. 'All the better...' Hermione thought to herself. Her hands were already full with keeping Sheridan from taking vengeance on her behalf against Ron, who was now slumped slightly on the table after effectively licking clean his plate, without dealing with Luna's confusing comments.

A little into her breakfast, Hermione felt a soft nudge on her knee from under the table. Looking at Sheridan, Hermione wondered if the older woman had another proposal for getting back at Ron that she wanted to run by her, but Sheridan was focused on her bagel and the Daily Prophet.

“Good Morning Hermione.” Came Luna's voice, breaking the silence. Hermione jumped slightly, the blonde had been so quiet Hermione had nearly forgotten they were actually at her house's table. Luna gave her a tiny grin, the egg she'd been ‘designing’ on now looked somewhat like an Archaic Ritual Circle, except the lines were drawn in salt and pepper and pumpkin juice had been poured in a ring around it all. “I was trying to summon the Bohemian Breakfast Gremlins, they show up to ruin your breakfast food and leave before you catch them. So if you do it before they do, they stop because they're confused and you have enough time to catch them.” Luna explained, seeing Hermione eye the plate of mangled eggs. Hermione always was skeptical about the things that Luna believed in, but this sounded outright made-up and she couldn't help but raise one eyebrow at the Ravenclaw. “Well I have to be going now, Hermione.” Luna smiled as she got up with her copy of the Quibbler. “Also, there aren't any Breakfast Gremlins, breakfast is over too fast. They prefer dinner, so don't worry about them showing up and ruining your morning meal.” Luna giggled as she left.

“Zat one, she is not quite right in ze 'ead. Oui? ” Sheridan mumbled, slightly amused as Luna drifted away. Hermione couldn't help but giggle as she nodded her head in agreement.

Across the way to the Gryffindor table she noticed Neville's gaze on hers. Their eyes met for a split second before his eyes flicked back to the plant he was in the process of hand feeding. When he dared looked up again he was met with Hermione's warm and thankful smile. She couldn’t really stay angry at the boy, after all he was just looking out for her like a true friend. He returned the smile hesitantly and returned to his plant feeding. Hermione turned her attention back towards Sheridan to find the woman listening intently in the direction of Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore. Hagrid smiled widely and laughed almost excited about something, which for some reason made Hermione nervous as the giant turned and called the french woman over. At the mention of her name, several girls and boys who were nearby (including Ron) glanced up and blushed when their eyes found the woman at the Ravenclaw table today.

“I am beginning to 'ate all zis attention…” Sheridan sighed, “Uncle 'Agrid… 'ow does 'e do it?” She took a breath and kissed Hermione on both cheeks before bidding her farewell just as the tables magically cleared away the last of breakfast. Since the way was clear Sheridan hopped up and decided to walk the length of the table instead, giving Hermione a clear view of her rather lovely feet. Now that the witch thought about it, the older woman had always seemed to wander around barefoot.

-Later that Evening-

“Now then, I would like you to pair up, and let us see just what sort of properties your partner holds. Remember, you must use your inner eyes!” Professor Trelawney instructed during the evenings Divination - Signs and Omens, one of the advanced classes that both Hermione and Pansy shared. Though Hermione hated the class and thought it all nonsense, she was determined to learn everything she could, and that included the classes she hated. Though it wounded her pride, Hermione had gone to the professor at the start of term and asked to rejoin the class. Trelawney had smiled and, predictably, stated that she had seen Hermione coming back. Hermione listened intently as Trelawney instructed each of them on what they should be looking in their palm reading of their partners, reaching in her bag and pulling out the required text book and chapter, she didn't notice who her partner was until brown eyes met blue again.

“Pansy...” Hermione breathed, slightly startled by the other girl. Hermione glanced at Ron warily as he threw a dirty look at her from across the room. Lavender, who was his partner, quickly captured the boy's attention.

“Be my partner Hermione?” Pansy asked, ignoring the curious stares of the Gryffindors and Slytherins present. Hermione nodded, filling Pansy with relief as the two sat down and worked silently for several minutes, neither knowing really what to say. All the while, several sets of eyes kept focused on the two. As Hermione was writing down some notes, she noticed something rather odd. The a piece of empty parchment beside her suddenly began scribbling letters. She’d looked toward her partner questioningly, but the other girl her head down as if doing her work.

'How are you?' The letters spelled out. The words faded as Hermione read them. The hand writing had been rather girlish and bubbly, something  about it Hermione found very sweet. Dipping her quill into an ink pot, she took the parchment and wrote back.

'You have very girly hand writing, did you know? It’s kind of cute though. And I’m fine thank you.' Hermione watched in amazement as the ink faded out slowly once she was done.

'Have you eaten today?' Came the reply and this time when Hermione looked up the other girl was looking at her with a hint of worry. Pansy hadn’t stayed long enough after Hermione had entered the Great Hall, and she knew the girl was barely eating to begin with. Not bothering with the parchment Hermione nodded slowly.

''You’re a terrible liar Hermione... Oh if paper could bite, though then again, who can says it cant? Potter’s hands are the proof of that.'

'Please Pansy, I don’t want to talk about that, okay?' Hermione looked up again to see the other girl reluctantly nod. The two stared at each other for a moment, the sound of writing filled the silence between the two.

'I've been meaning to ask, what was that at breakfast the other day? Are you friends again with the Patil girl?' Pansy started again, looking down and writing on her parchment. She had decided to take a the conversation in another direction, one less painful.

'I wouldn't say friends, but I did forgive her.' was the curt reply.

'Why? You're too kind Hermione.'

'Ronald is nothing but a jerk! He’s already gotten away with cheating on me and now he’s broken up with Padma for Lavender because he’s got bored of her. She doesn’t deserve that. She’s as much as a victim as I am.' Hermione wrote pushing a few stray strands of hair from her face.

'You're too forgiving Hermione.' Pansy replied, sighing heavily beside her.

'I realize I never property apologized for the other night, I'm sorry Pansy.' Hermione wrote quickly, seemingly looking as if she were taking quick notes for all the world could see. 'I didn’t mean to upset you and it was terribly rude of me. You’ve been kind to me and I should, I perhaps I should have been more open minded.'

There was another pause as Pansy silently regarded the words before her. 'It’s alright Hermione water under the bridge. I’ll fully forgive you if you’ll still go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow.' Hermione read the response and smiled nodding her head more to herself then to Pansy.

'Like a date?' Hermione replied mischievously. There was a long pause and Hermione and thought maybe to write it off as a joke. Fearful she didn’t bother looking up at the other girl.

'Only if you want it to be... Not that I'd mind taking you out like that.' was Pansy's reply.

'You're weird, were both girls.' was Hermione’s reply, blushing slightly. The thought of Ginny and Luna being together popped into her mind - people accepted them right? Cho and Daphne too - no one bothered them right? Beside she and Pansy had already kissed once, and almost again when they were in the Forbidden Forest the other night. That wasn't even counting the kiss goodnight just last night. Would it be weird to go on a date?

'It's only weird if you let it. Little Weasley and Lovegood are dating, aren't they?' The question came, surprising Hermione that Pansy had known that. Ginny and Luna were quiet about their relationship; Ginny didn’t like the attention, or wasn’t ready for a large amount of people to know. Either way only Harry, Ron, Hermione and a few other Gryffindors knew at the time and Luna would never have said anything.  'Don’t look so surprised, I caught them one night after curfew, in this very room at Trelawney’s desk doing things they shouldn’t have.' Pansy continued. Hermione’s head jerked up towards Pansy as the girl wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her before breaking into a silent giggle. 'Besides, we still need to have that ‘talk’ don’t we?' Pansy wrote quickly. Hermione bit the inside of her cheek and nodded.

“Now then, if you would please turn to face your partner, read their hands and write down your observations.” Professor Trelawney's voice broke through the haze of incense. There was an audible groan from the Slytherins who had been reluctantly paired up with Gryffindors as they did as instructed. Pansy couldn’t help but notice that Zabini and Potter had been paired up, both looking slightly uncomfortable at each other's touch, whilst Malfoy had been paired up with Longbottom. The blonde boy glared in Potter's direction, boring a hole through the back of Zabini’s head, though Harry gave no sign of noticing. Pansy felt the soft touch of Hermione’s hand under her own, bringing her back to what they were doing. She looked at the witch, surprised to see her eyebrows were knitted together - as if trying to grasp something she didn't quite understand.

“What do you see Hermione?” Pansy asked quietly. Hermione looked up at her with a confused grimace.

“I’m not entirely sure I know the answer to that.” She answered rather lamely, her head dropping a little. Pansy smiled before grasping Hermione's hand to read in turn. She couldn’t help but noticed how perfectly Hermione’s hand fit into hers. Pansy swallowed, fighting the blush that threatened to stain her cheeks, and trailed her finger over the brunette's palm.

“Ok so, you see this line here?” Pansy started, watching as Hermione nodded. “Well that's your life, and it means you're going to live a very long time.” Pansy whispered the last line softly. Hermione couldn't help but find herself drawn to how beautiful Pansy sounded talking like this. “This one here.” Pansy continued, circling her finger around Hermione's ring finger. “This dotted one here is your state of mind or your 'Spiritual Center'.”

“Spiritual Center?” Hermione repeated, simultaneously skimming her eyes over the chapter and not seeing it mentioned. Pansy chuckled lightly.

“It wont be in the book Hermione, it never stays in one place because your Spiritual Center isn’t peaceful yet. See?” Hermione nodded in response though she still didn't understand. Again the girls reversed their positions.

“So then,” Hermione started, running her fingers over her Pansy's palm, “what about these?” She circled two small points near her thumb.

“Those... are love.” Pansy stated simply, watching Hermione for the slightest reaction. “Each one tells how many times you're going to fall in love, and the final one is the one your destined to be with. I have two, see?” She circled them with her own finger. There was a pause and Hermione found her self idly playing with Pansy’s fingers.

“So have you been, you know... in love?” Hermione whispered almost fearfully.

“Yes, I thought once that I loved Draco, but I didn’t, beside he has his eyes on a certain 'chosen one'.” Pansy chuckled with barely suppressed laughter as Hermione’s eyes snapped open in shock. “How about you Granger, lets see now.” Pansy continued, her voice a little louder then she intended. A few people looked up in curiosity before returning to the task at hand. Taking Hermione's hand again, Pansy continued her earlier reading. “There's three here.” She whispered softly after a moment “Can I ask who they are?”

“One was Krum, but that didn’t last to long being as he was away too often. With all his fan girls we agreed it was better to be friends, you know, before something happened. The second was Ronald, and everyone knows how that one ended.” She shrugged, rolling her eyes. “As for the third... I can't say. I like someone but I don’t know if it's love, it’s only happened recently. Though its a strong feeling I’m not sure I quite understand it.” She finished, enjoying the feeling of Pansy playing with her fingers.

“I like someone too, but I don’t know what to do about it.” Pansy shrugged. “We've just become friends, but I like her more than that. I’d like to go out with her so it's complicated.” Pansy swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous. Had she said too much? Not enough? Hermione regarded her silently for a moment.

“You know what you should do?” Hermione stated calmly, feeling oddly bold. When Pansy shook her head, she continued. “You should ask her out anyway. If she says yes, then you can date and become better friends at the same time. If she say no, then she’s not very bright and what can you really do? See?” Hermione hastily turned back to her papers. Pansy watched her for a moment before doing the same. Lost in thought, Pansy's eyes flashed again to her fellow Slytherins. Potter and Blaise seemed to have relaxed visibly with each other. As she watched, Blaise whispered something to the other boy. Pansy couldn’t be certain but she thought she might have seen Potter blushing? A commotion snapped her attention away as Malfoy knocked Longbottom out of his chair, shouting about how the other boy had the nerve to touch any part of him. Pansy and Daphne exchanged an irritated look at the blithering prat. Pansy smiled slightly before turning to Hermione once more.

“Alright then. You're right Hermione. I will.” Pansy whispered. Hermione smiled slightly in response.

'Go out with me Hermione?' Pansy wrote quickly on her parchment. The words slowly faded from the enchanted parchment as Hermione read them.

'I suppose so...' Hermione's reply was quicker than Pansy had anticipated. Pansy stared at the other girl, a large grin slowly spreading onto her face - so wide it almost hurt. From the corner of her eye she saw Hermione's grin rivaled her own. The brunette's eyes were dancing with suppressed happiness.

“Now then, if you all would kindly review…” Trelawney's voice snapped the girls back into the moment. Pansy broke her gaze from Hermione, a blush coloring her cheeks.

'I know that grin Parkinson.' A new hand had written on the enchanted parchment. Pansy looked up to see Daphne eyeing her across the way. Pansy rolled her eyes and winked at the other Slytherin, who broke into a wide grin of her own.

“Remember; broaden your horizons with your inner eye! Class dismissed.” Trelawney finished, bowing slightly to scattered applause from the more impressionable students in the room.

“Inner eye…” Hermione scoffed, rising to her feet.

“A load of rubbish right?” Pansy grinned, remembering how the girl hated the class. She began placing her books back into her bag as Hermione nodded with a smile on her face.

“Definitely.” Hermione sighed, throwing her bag over her shoulder with an annoyed look.

“Parkinson! Hurry up! I don't want to stand here listening to you talking to the Mudblood...” Malfoy hissed, his arms folded across his chest. He seemed to be in a permanently foul mood these days. Pansy's eyes flashed dangerously at the boy as she saw how quickly Hermione's face fell at the word. Of course Malfoy would find a way to ruin a good moment.

“You better hurry Parkinson, otherwise your twitchy little ferret might find himself bouncing in the air.” Hermione retorted angrily, glaring at the boy. Turning back to look at Pansy, Hermione's gaze softened as she mouthed a silent ‘See you later’ to the girl. Pushing past the fuming Slytherin boy and joining Harry as he roared with laughter alongside a dazed Luna and a giggling Ginny, Hermione made her way towards Gryffindor tower.

-Gryffindor tower-

“I bloody well hate Snape and his blasted homework!” Ginny hissed, surprising Hermione and Luna by the sudden outburst. The redhead had been laying on the floor of Hermione’s private room where they'd all agreed to meet and work on Snape's assignments; Defense Against the Dark Arts for the two younger girls, Advanced Potions for the brunette. Now the youngest Weasley leaned back and flopped on the floor with a dull thud. “It’s almost as evil as the greasy haired git himself!” Ginny sighed, throwing her arms over her eyes in a overly dramatic fashion. Hermione laughed at the melodramatics of the redhead.

“You're nearly done Ginny.” Came Luna's dreamy voice. She was currently sitting in one of the armchairs, regarding her girlfriend fondly. Like Hermione she'd finished her assignments early and decided to hang out. She’d been reading a article in the Quibbler about Wrackspurts.

“Some girlfriend you are, Luna.” Ginny mumbled. “You're supposed to pity me and give me the answers and in exchange I give you...” Ginny trailed off suggestively. Seeing how it didn't have an effect on the blonde, she gave Luna her best puppy dog pout. Either the Ravenclaw didn’t buy it or the subtlety had literally gone over her head. Undeterred, Ginny turned to her best friend, who unfortunately could never say 'No' to the girl's pleading look.

“Alright Ginny, let me get my notes.” Hermione sighed as Ginny gave a little victory smirk. As the brunette reach into her bag, being dressed in comfortable loose clothing her sleeves slid up slightly, giving Ginny a tiny glimpse of Hermione's arm. Ginny tilted her head for a better look before her eyes widened in shock and anger.

“What the bloody devil happened to your arm!?” She screeched, scampering over her books and nearly cornering the older girl. Hermione looked up in shock, mentally cursing herself for not seeing Madame Pomfrey for some bruising cream, or fixing the damn things herself, after her run-in with Ron.

“Nothing... I fell.” She stated with a shrug, hoping the young witch would buy it. Ginny was too smart for that, and now even Luna was sitting up looking quite surprised and concerned.

“Bruises don’t take the form of fingers if you’ve fallen Hermione. What the hell happened?” Ginny’s eyes blazed as she ran through every painful curse and hex she would use on the one responsible. Hermione caved again, it was looking like all the Weasley's had tempers to match their hair.

“Ron…” She whispered meekly. “We had a bit of a row, I suppose. He doesn't like me talking to Pansy.” Luna had her wand out; blocking the door and soundproofing the room before Ginny could even register what had been said.

“What happened! Exactly?! What's this about Parkinson?!” Ginny roared, suddenly looking like her intimidating mother. Hermione felt a small pang of fear as she regarded her best friend.

“I like Pansy!” She blurted, slapping a hand against her mouth a moment too late. Ginny's pupils shrank so fast it looked to have hurt.

“You... wait... what?” Ginny mumbled, losing her ability to form a simple sentence. There was no point it taking it back now. Hermione could never lie to Ginny, well she could though the redhead would always catch her out eventually.

“I-I said I like Pansy… w-we‘re kind of dating as of… this evening.” Hermione mumbled, feeling herself on the verge of tears under her friends stare. Ginny nodded slowly, still not believing it.

“Parkinson?” She asked slowly, more surprised by the who more than the gender.

“Who else do we know named Pansy, Gin?” Hermione whispered, she flicked her gaze over to Luna who smiled and nodded. The blonde had known for a while now as she carted messages for the pair of them at times. She looked back to find Ginny eyeing her curiously. Hermione held her breath as Ginny nodded a second time.

“What does that have to do with your arm?” Ginny asked, finally able to breathe again. Hermione relaxed; Ginny hadn’t tried to murder her yet which was always a great sign. She made the motion of sitting on her bed and patted a spot beside her for Ginny while Luna took the other side. Hermione retold for the second time what had happened the previous night. When she finished she carefully glanced up to see Ginny standing, arms trembling at her side with clenched fists.

“That... bloody wanker! I’m going to murder him!” Ginny snarled, pacing back and forth restlessly. Several times she’d stopped and looked ready to charge out of the room had Luna not immediately blocked the door each time. Hermione had long ago stopped pleading her not to do anything, not that it would have done any good since the girl was as stubborn as the rest of her family. After about an hour Ginny's anger had simmered down so that she was only mildly upset. The room seemed thick as the silence lingered.

“Parkinson?” Ginny asked again with disbelief for the third time, as if she'd heard wrong. Hermione nodded.

“She’s actually very kind once you get to know her Gin.” Luna spoke, surprising the redhead who spun around to look at her girlfriend. Ginny's mouth dropped open in surprise.

“You knew?” Ginny asked, Luna nodded. “You could have bloody well told me! Or at least hinted!” Ginny snapped, her face turning red once more from the embarrassment that her girlfriend had kept it from her.

“I did, in the library I more then hinted. I can't help it if you don't pick up on my hints, Ginny love.” Luna smiled, dispelling Ginny’s anger as if by magic. There was just something about Luna that always seemed to tame Ginny. The redhead turned to her brunette friend with an eyebrow arched.

“What?” Hermione asked seeing a familiar look in younger girls eyes. She'd long learned that there was only two setting on the Weasleys emotions and since the younger girl hadn’t killed the brunette that meant she was more then willing to accept this, even if it were going to take some time. This was Hermione Jean Granger, the brightest witch in all of Hogwarts and her year. Ginny knew better than anyone that Hermione was capable of making her own choices.

The three girls spent the rest of the night chatting lightly, giggling and teasing Hermione about her love for the Slytherin girl, prodding for tales about how such a love blossomed. Ginny’s mouth dropped once again when Hermione had shyly revealed that she'd already kissed Pansy. Soon after, she found herself telling the two about the mirror Pansy had gifted her and after much begging from both the younger girls she decided she’d use it.

Feeling like a giddy school girl she calmed herself, took hold of her mirror and took a breath.
“I seek to see Pansy Parkinson.” She stated clearly, and the mirror flashed to reveled the swaying of Pansy’s Dorm. There was a girlish giggle on the other side and Hermione furrowed her brows.

“Daphne you cow! Give me the damn mirror!” Hermione could hear Pansy’s voice hiss. She smiled and beside her Ginny snickered. Suddenly Daphne's face came into view.

“I’m sorry Granger, your girlfriend can't come to the mirror right now, would you like to leave a message?” Daphne stated in a sweet voice, causing Hermione to blush while the other girls shrieked with laughter. There was a scuffle and Daphne disappeared from view, though the watchers could hear her voice as the image on the surface of the mirror jolted back and forth. “You bit me! Cho, she bit me!” Ginny laughed even louder. Hermione pushed the redhead lightly, making her fall off the end of the bed just as she heard Cho’s voice.

“Then give her the mirror.” Cho chided her own girlfriend. Daphne obeyed, it seemed, and soon Pansy's flushed face came into view.

“Hermione…” Pansy breathed heavily, obviously trying to catch her breath as she smiled. Hermione couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine at how her name sounded coming from the other girl. “Sorry about that, some of my housemates are just too nosey.” Pansy continued, emphasizing the last word as she glanced off-mirror. Hermione grinned at how flushed and winded Pansy looked.

“Pansy Parkinson, biting people? What if the school were to find out somehow?” Hermione giggled as Pansy looked at her with mock terror.

“Oh no I’ll be outed out as a biter!” Pansy laughed, brushing her hair back with her fingers. “I see Loony Lovegood is there, is Weaselette there too?”  Hermione frowned at the nicknames.

“Yes Ginny and Luna are here Pansy, and...” Hermione bit her lip, trying to think of the best way to do this. “They know.” Hermione decided with the frank approach. Pansy blinked and nodded, not the expected reaction. “So… please, call them by their names?” Another look of mock terror flashed over Pansy's face before she giggled and nodded agreement.

“Only when alone, I have a reputation to keep and I expect the same for Wea- Ginny.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Parkinson!” Ginny peeked her head up from over the bed, a grin on her face. “I hear you two have a date tomorrow?” Her words caused Hermione and Pansy to blush simultaneously. “Mind if we make it a double? Date I mean, just want to make sure you're right for my bestfriend.” The redhead sounded innocent enough as she asked and both older girls didn't see a problem with it, so they agreed. Tomorrow, the four of them would find a private booth at the Hog's Head before traipsing through the village.

After a good fifteen minutes of Ginny learning the better side of Pansy, Ginny pulled the Ravenclaw girl up and bid the two goodnight - saying how she was going go walk Luna to her dorm before it got too late. On the other side Hermione could hear Daphne saying the same along the lines of giving the two of them some privacy. Hermione wished good night to all the girls who were leaving who responded in kind.

“I missed you...“ Pansy said softly, once she was positive that they were alone. Hermione blushed with a shy grin.

“I missed you too Pansy.” She replied. “We’re really going to do it tomorrow aren’t we? A real date?”

“Yes, we are aren’t we.” Pansy nodded slowly. "You know... we could have that talk now...?” Pansy started, trailing off slightly. Hermione bit the inside of her cheek.

“I think that given the circumstances that conversation now seems rather pointless. I wanted to know why you were being nice and well I think I’ve found that out.” Hermione smiled as she answered. “But what I do want to know is, why did you curse me that night?”

“I would of thought that to be obvious by now Hermione. You weren’t eating, you’re still not eating and I would do it again if you meant you got something in your stomach. I’m worried about you Hermione. You have to promise me you’ll start eating again.” Pansy pleaded, her eyes showing the depths of her pain and worry.

“I promise Pansy.” Hermione whispered with a smile. The two stayed up making small talk with one another before finally bidding each other good night. The mirror faded back to show Hermione’s reflection and the brunette smiled once more. Laying down she closed her eyes and willed morning to come a lot sooner...