RP: Working on Social Skills

[shh_hermione]

Date: November 30, 2004
Characters: Hermione, Cormac, Anyone else
Location: Socks
Status: Public
Summary: Hermione has lunch and works on her social skills
Completion: Complete

Comments

[shh_cormac]

Cormac wasn't very fond of Socks, truth be told. He'd always found House Elves to be a bit...demented. However, the former Hogwart's Elves were not in the same category as the Elves of his childhood, and they really made the best roast beef sandwiches, which sounded really good, so he decided to brave the restuarant for once

[shh_hermione]

It was really odd how Muggle bookstores sold so many things that weren't actually books. She had a list of items she'd noted in the last store and several of them just didn't make a lot of sense to her. She frowned at the paper and wondered how sweets went with reading, unless they were attempting to capitalize on the idea that people had to snack while eating, which made little sense to her.

The sound of approaching footsteps distracted her from her analysis. She unconsciously tightened her grip on her wand, glad that her back was at least to the wall, and glanced up from beneath lowered lashes when she heard her name. McLaggen. Well, he certainly seemed to be all over the place these days.

She looked up and tilted her head to study him, taking note of the circles beneath his eyes, the slight slouch to his shoulders, and the hesitant look on his face. Hmm. Interesting. She nodded once and smiled slightly. "Hello, Cormac."

[shh_cormac]

Corma grinned. Good, she'd remembered him. That made things easier. "It's good to see you out and about," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to say hello at the Gryffindor reunion the other night." Mostly because he'd sensed he wasn't wanted, and as soon as he'd finished his meal, had quietly disappeared. "There were so many people around," he said in explanation.

He shifted uneasily, feeling a bit awkward standing by her table. "So, um, how've you been?" he asked, wondering what was proper conversation with a girl he hadn't seen in eight years, and at their last encounter had suffered a rather nasty hex for a simple kiss.

[shh_hermione]

"There's no need for an apology. I didn't stay very long, anyway. I might have left by the time you arrived, in fact," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm not particularly fond of crowds, and, as you said, there were a lot of people around."

She watched him shift awkwardly and nodded towards one of the empty chairs. "Sit, if you'd like. The chair's empty and your nervous fidgeting is distracting from our attempt at polite conversation," she said with just a faint hint of amusement.

"I'm still alive, so I suppose that means I've been good." She arched a brow. "And how have you been?"

[shh_cormac]

The elf arrived with the food before Cormac could reply, so he waited until it had left before responding. "There's really a potion for something like this?" he asked, wondering to himself it would help with his reading too. He took a bite of his sandwich, and dipped a chip in tomato sauce.

"I'd like to try it, if it's possible. Um, do you think you could help me brew it though? I just barely passed my Potions' NEWT, and never did very well in that class." He suddenly realized that was rather rude, assuming she'd be willing to drop everything to help him out. "Or you could give me the ingredient list, and directions, and I can ask Romilda to help me out. She's gone back to study for her Potion's OWL, so can probably brew it if it's simple enough."

[shh_hermione]

"Well, I don't know if there is for certain, but I'd think there had to be something that would help." She had no intention of giving him false hope, but she knew that Snape would be able to create one if it didn't already exist. Of course, she'd not mention who actually made it.

"Oh, I'll brew it for you," she offered. "If I can't find anything, I have a friend who knows more about Potions than I do, so it might not even be any more trouble than asking for a favor."

When he mentioned Romilda, she frowned slightly, trying to place the name. She was suddenly taken back to sixth year and Ron being sick because of that girl. People change, Hermione, she told herself but she certainly had no intention of placing a potentially complicated potion in the hands of someone who had put her best friend into the hospital. "If my friend makes it, it would be probably be quite complicated. Don't worry about it. If we can confirm that you are, indeed, suffering from ADHD, I'll do some research and see what I can find. I don't mind. I like being

[shh_cormac]

He took a long drink of his butterbeer, washing down the lump of emotion that had gathered in this throat, and smiled at her in genuine appreciation. He wasn't good with words, or with emotional conversations, but he wanted to make sure she knew what this meant to him.

"Thanks," he said simply. "No one's ever taken the time to talk to me like this, and truthfully, I never gave any thought to the possibility that there might have been something wrong with me all these years. It's...comforting to know there may be a solution."

He took another bite of his sandwich, and when he'd swallowed asked, "So, enough about me, what have you been up to since you've been back? That's how this conversation thing works, right? Mutual exchange of information?" He grinned boyishly at her, and winked.

[shh_hermione]

"You're welcome." She took a drink of water and realized just how odd this lunch had become. She'd intended to have food and take some notes and, instead, finds herself possibly diagnosing a disorder in a man she'd once hexed for groping her arse. Things had definitely changed. "I'll find a Muggle medical text or psychology book and see what I can find in way of diagnosing. I think I recall some sort of checklist. But I can look and owl you so we can go through it together to decide if a potion is, indeed, necessary, if you'd like