The Adult World

Chapter 13: Denial


Hermione waited outside the doors of the greenhouse for Neville’s class to end. After taking a look at the beautiful, sun-drenched grounds, she decided to look down at her feet instead. She wasn’t in the mood to appreciate nature at the moment. In fact, she was quiet content kicking a small rock around the dirt path.

After getting bored torturing the tiny rock, she groaned and tapped her foot, glaring at her wristwatch. She eyed a small patch of grass next to the doors, and was about to settle herself down on it, when the doors opened, and the students filed out. She observed them while they walked in small groups, and talked amongst themselves. They were so young, care-free… it was as if they had their whole lives in front of them…

“Hermione?”

Broken out of her daze, she turned around and gave Neville a small smile. “Hi.”

He briefly looked her over, and shook his head. “I was worried about you.” He said, his eyes resting on the bump on her forehead. “After the announcement this morning… and then you weren’t at breakfast…” He sighed, and shook his head. “I was going to come see you right away… but Malfoy said that you were sleeping…and..”

Hermione held her hand up. “Please… Can we not discuss it now? I’ve been reliving it over and over in my mind. I even think I had a dream about it last night.” She said, wrapping her arms around herself and shuddering slightly.

Neville nodded, looking her over again with concern. “Come inside, there‘s always plenty of work to do.” He said, holding the door open, and gesturing inside.

As she walked by him, he reached out and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her body. He hugged her tight, resting his chin on the top of her head. Hermione buried her face in his chest, squeezing her eyes shut tightly, holding back the tears. She bit her lip and took a small, shaky breath. Neville held her for a few more moments, not saying a word.

Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he gently released her and held her at arms length. “Now lets see what kind of work I can find for you.” He said, his eyes twinkling as he smiled down at her.

Hermione laughed, and wiped the tears out of her eyes. “Alright. I’ll see if I can be of assistance.”

She followed him into the greenhouse, feeling a lot lighter then she did before he answered the door.

********

After sitting through the announcement at breakfast, Draco headed off faculty and students who wanted to check in on Hermione. He briefly explained that as far as he knew, she was still asleep, and they should let her stay that way. He quickly threw some food on a plate, and covered it with a napkin before making a hasty retreat.

As he walked toward the portrait of the old woman, he heard the sounds of arguing coming from Hermione’s classroom. He stopped in the middle of the hall and listened.

“No, no! We is needing to finish!”

“But what is we to do with it?”

Furrowing his brow, he walked toward the door. Peering around the corner, he observed two house-elves arguing with each other. He stepped into the room and watched them argue for a moment, then cleared his throat to announce his presence.

They both jumped with a high-pitched squeal, and turned toward Draco with wide eyes.

“We is sorry sir!” The one on the left said, bowing low, and shaking it’s head… he couldn’t tell if it was a male or a female…

“We will leave you now sir!” The one on the right said, holding up it’s hand, getting ready to snap it’s fingers.

“No wait.” Draco said, looking around the room. Everything was back in place, and there wasn’t a spot to be found. The broken furniture had been repaired, and he couldn’t see a single burn mark on anything in the room. His eyes landed on a spiral notebook that had pictures drawn on the cover, and a small pile of… something… next to it.

The elves stood in the same position they were when he had looked at them last. He rolled his eyes and waved his hand at them in irritation. “Relax. What were you arguing about?”

They fidgeted slightly, and looked at each other, clearly ashamed, before looking back at Draco. “We is sorry you are to be heard hearing us sir. It will not happen again.” Said the one on the right.

“The cauldron sir. We is deciding to get rid of it, or leave it for Professor Granger.” Said the one on the left.

“What cauldron? Draco asked, looking around the room again.

The elf on the right pointed to the pile next to the notebook. Draco took a step closer, and noticed that the pile contained dark, jagged pieces of heavy copper. The pieces were covered in black soot, and what appeared to be, splotches of blood. He grimaced, and leaned back away from it.

“Why would Granger want to keep that girl’s broken cauldron?”

The elves looked at each other again in confusion. “But the cauldron is belonging to Professor Granger.” Said the one on the left.

Draco looked back at the pile of copper again with a strange feeling in his stomach. “Are you sure?”

The elves nodded, “Yes, yes, we is very sure sir. Her initials is carved on the side! And we is used to cleaning the cauldron a lot for Professor Granger.”

Draco frowned at the pile of cauldron pieces. “No, get rid of it. I’ll see that she gets a replacement.” He said, juggling the plate of food in his hand.

Turning to leave, a nagging feeling came over him. He turned back and pointed at the notebook on the table. “Was that the girls'?” He asked the elves, who had already made the cauldron pieces disappear.

“Yes sir.” The one on the right said sadly.

Draco nodded, and picked the notebook off the table. “I think I’ll hold onto this.”

Walking out of the room, he headed back toward the portrait, clutching the food in one hand, and the notebook in the other.

********

Hermione leaned back in Neville’s chair, and propped her feet on his desk. She grimaced at her fingernails, and picked at the dirt that was caked underneath them. He hadn’t been joking when he said he was going to put her to work. She helped him loosen the dirt in over twenty pots and watched him set up for his next class. They worked in silence through the lunch hour, and Hermione was grateful not having any pressure to talk.

When his next class was due to arrive, he told her that she was welcome to relax in his office until it was over. She quickly agreed, not anxious to go back down into the dungeons again.

Rolling her shoulders, she read the titles of the books that he had lining the shelves. They were all about plants… every last one of them. She sighed and dropped her feet to the floor. Turning in the chair, she craned her neck to see the other side of the bookcase. The armrest of the chair caught on one of the drawers as she turned, and slide it open. Hermione turned back, and went to push the draw closed when something caught her eye…

********

“No! NO WAY!”

“Yes way, I swear.”

Their laughter echoed through the dark dungeons as Neville led, or rather, carried Hermione to her rooms. He hitched his arm tighter around her waist and stumbled down the hall with her.

“All of them!” She cried, laughing harder then before.

“I knew I was forgetting something when the lesson started… I’ve never forgotten since then.”

“Oh my God. That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!” She giggled. “You forgot the ear muffs!”

“Yeah, mandrakes really have a strong cry!” He said, shaking his head and chuckling. “Madame Pomfrey was not happy waking my entire class from a coma… and that was just my first year…”

Hermione burst out laughing again, shaking her head. They stumbled up to the old lady in the portrait. She glared at them with beady eyes. “Well!?” She screeched.

“Pppp… hehe… Pandemomiom…. Er…” She giggled again and rolled her eyes up to Neville. “It’s a really long word.”

They burst out into another fit of laughter, when the portrait slammed open. Draco stood on the other side, looking from Neville to Hermione. They looked back at him, then back at each other, and began laughing again.

Draco sighed heavily, and turned away from them, shaking his head. Walking back to the chair he had been reading in, he saw the notebook, and slipped it under the cushion of his chair. He sat down, and folded his hands together as he watched them stumble into the room.

“I’ve brought her back for you.” Neville said, as he unhooked his arm from her waist and allowed her to flop down on the sofa.

“Did you really think that letting her get drunk was the best answer in this situation?” Draco asked, grimacing at Hermione while she situated herself on the couch.

“Let her?” He laughed. “Oh no. I had nothing to do with that. I came back from my last class to find her half way through my best bottle of Firewhiskey. So I figured since she was already half way through, we might as well finish it off!”

“Yeah, I did it all by myself.” She said glaring at him. “You have a problem with that?”

Draco glared back at her. “Do you think that getting drunk will make you feel better?”

“Oh if that isn’t the black calling the kettle…” She waved her hand in frustration, the fun, giddy demeanor leaving her as anger set in. “Never mind… But I do remember a certain someone getting pissed after visiting his father! So don’t tell me how to deal with things, and I won’t tell you either!” She yelled, pointing her finger at him.

Neville raised his eyebrows and looked from one to the other. “Well, it looks like this is my cue to leave.” He said, leaning over and kissing Hermione on the forehead.

“Why don’t you take her with you? She’s just going to be a nuisance here.” Draco said, not breaking the death-stare between him and Hermione.

“Nuisance!” She cried, her voice getting higher in pitch as she got angrier. “I’ll show you a nuisance!”

“Whoa…It looks like you two have some things to work out.” He said as he made his way toward the door. “Nothing another romp won’t cure I’m sure.” He called over his shoulder.

Draco’s eyes widened, and he looked over at Neville, who shrugged while pulling the door open.

“What? That girl will tell you her life story after three shots of liquor.” He said with a chuckle. He winked at Draco, then left the room, shutting the portrait behind him.

Turning back to Hermione, he fixed his glare back on her. She glared back, the anger radiating off her form. “What, was it supposed to be a big secret? You fucked me and are now ashamed or something?”

“I never said that.” He said, getting up from his chair. “There are better ways of handling this! I thought you were better then this!”

Hermione pulled herself off the couch and into a wobbly, standing position. “So what if I’m not? Do I always have to be strong? Do I always have to be responsible? I’ve decided that I don’t want to deal with things right now! So leave me alone!”

Draco took two steps to her and grabbed her by her upper arms. “How can I leave you alone when you use me as another escape from reality.” He sneered, squeezing her arms harshly.

Hermione sneered back, determined not to show that he was hurting her. “I didn’t hear you complain.” She replied, the words dripping from her tongue like venom.

Clenching his jaw, he pushed her back down into the sofa and towered above her. “I won’t be used again.” He said, glaring down at her. “Get yourself together.”

Draco turned and stalked into his room, slamming the door behind him. Hermione sat on the couch glaring at the closed door. The anger coursed through her veins as she thought of all the reasons why she hated Draco Malfoy.

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