Hermione Reparo

Yay, 2 chapters in one day! I have most of this fic already written and will post accordingly to the reviews I get (meaning, no reviews and I'll probably chicken out from ever posting the rest!).

Hope you enjoy reading. This was the first chapter that came to mind when I started thinking about writing fanfiction.

Please let me know what you think.

KS

Chapter 2: Piertotem Locomotor

Hermione had to wait another month to be intimate again with Ronald. It was in Gryffindor’s common room when the rest of the students were at Hogsmeade following their victory against Slytherin in the quidditch game that day. Hermione was starting to feel quite frustrated because her boyfriend didn’t seem to be feeling the same way as her since they last shared a bed. Shouldn’t an 18-year-old boy have just that in mind? She thought to herself. She had almost had to throw herself at Ron that day to make him understand that she wanted to be alone with him for a reason. The way he was acting made her feel so self-conscious. Ever since they had gotten back to school it was like she was the only one who needed this. Didn’t he want her as well? It was as if the only passion he carried was for that bloody sport. She was beginning to resent quidditch for that very reason.

They had spent some time in the common room and when the last students had left they had started fooling around on the couch in front of the fireplace. However, it was quick lived and before long they were finished and Ron was putting back on his trousers while Hermione was buttoning her blouse.

“So, ummm, looks like we still have the time to meet up with the others at Hogsmeade”, Ron suggested hopefully.

 “Um, ok I guess…wouldn’t you want to stay for a bit?” Hermione suggested.

“Um, I, um, I mean, if you want me to I guess we can – but it is the first victory of the season, I mean, everyone is there and…” Ron was having trouble finding his words. One thing was very clear to Hermione though, he just wanted to leave.

“Go Ron,” she said with a sigh “sure go on ahead.” Hermione said, trying not to show just how upset she was that the prospect of a party with his friends for a bloody quidditch game was more important to him then taking the time to make love to his girlfriend, and maybe even try to make her enjoy herself as much as he did. Wow, she wondered to herself, where were these feelings coming from?

“You coming with?” he asked hopefully, looking at her with his puppy dog eyes.

“I might stay back for a bit, I have a couple of Head girl things to look into.” Hermione answered. Yes, of course Professor McGonagall had made her Head Girl. It wasn’t true that she had any work to do in that regard but she knew it was what Ronald needed to hear to be able to go without feeling guilty of leaving her behind.

“Alright then” he said and leaned in for a quick peck on her cheek “ See you in a bit, ‘Mione”. He flashed her one of his sweetest smile and then he was gone, leaving a very hollow-feeling Hermione alone in the common room.

With a lack of anything better to do – her homework was of course all finished and she had gone through all her Head Girl tasks for the first semester by her second week back at school – Hermione stepped out of the Gryffindor common room and started wondering around the castle. Before long she was in the owlery looking out at the lake. She had found her own owl upon arrival and Tristan was happy to perch himself on her outstretched arm. She had received him as a gift from the Ministry at the ceremony following the battle a few months prior. Arthur had explained to her that it was it was one of the techniques used by certain departments to secure future employees, especially such bright witches such as herself. She had accepted, and was quite happy to have him around – despite not having anyone to write to – at the present moment having left Crookshanks at the Burrow that year. The year during which she had left searching for Horcruxes, her old cat had gotten used to living there and now didn’t seem to want to leave anymore. Hermione did suspect that Molly was feeding him way too much but felt that his company did her good so she hadn’t insisted on taking him back with her to Hogwarts. Instead, she had Tristan, a beautiful white owl with darker black-flecked wings, a bit like Hedwig, Harry noted sadly upon seeing him the first time. The bird was big a quite fast which was a very appreciated change from the Weasleys old owl Errol. Tristan started nibbling her fingers fondly as she fed him some treats from her pocket.

“Piertotem locomotor!” Hermione heard a voice say from the far-end of the owlery. That part of the building had been almost completely destroyed during the battle. Intrigued, she approached the source of the voice slowly with Tristan on her shoulder.

“Move those bricks, and help fix these walls!”, a deep voice ordered. She recognised that voice but just couldn’t put a name on it. She didn’t have to wait long for her answer as she happened upon one of the strangest scenes she had seen in a while. There, in the middle of a pile of rubble was Draco Malfoy, covered in dust, shirt rolled up to his elbows, messy hair in front of his eyes, handing one of the fallen bricks to what seemed to be a stone gargoyle statue, like the ones at the entry of the owlery. There were two others who seemed to be stacking back up the fallen stones, fixing the walls. Hermione remained unnoticed for a couple of minutes watching the peculiar scene, not knowing what to make of it. All of a sudden Tristan ruffled his feathers and hooted, the noise causing Draco to look up. His silver eyes locked with her hazel ones and Hermione saw a flash of confusion, then anger.

“Granger, what are you doing here?” he demanded, with his usual cold and dry tone.

“Malfoy, I, um, I came because of the noise”, she said her voice full of hesitation, and then more affirmative, as a statement she added “You’re fixing Hogwarts”.

“Actually,” he replied in his usual pompous tone, “I’m currently trying to fix the owlery, Granger. Not quite the same thing.” he said matter-of-factly. “Is there anything you wanted?” He said, his patience visibly seeping out of him.

“No, nothing”, she said and started to turn and leave when she changed her mind, curiosity having the best of her and said “Why?”

He looked back up at her as he handed another large rock to one of the gargoyles, his hair falling back in front of his eyes and she prepared herself for a typically cruel Malfoy comment. Then, he simply said:

“Well, someone’s got to do it, can’t really do nothing, now can I?” And like that, Malfoy’s cold and careless front started showing cracks, giving her a glimpse of the actual person behind it all, a person completely unknown to her. He had feelings and it would seem that they resembled remorse. Then, as if he realized to whom he had just opened up to, he felt compelled to add:

“- Clearly I am one of the only ones who can do a decent bit of magic around here so it better be me.”

Ah, there he was, the Malfoy she knew. She figured she had started overanalysing – nothing quite new to her – and with that she turned back around and went to set Tristan back on his perch and left in a hurry.

Later that day though, she thought about how odd it was to happen upon Malfoy like that. He was actually doing something for someone else’s benefit. As an afterthought, she reminded herself that the war seemed to have changed more than a few of them, and that was just the beginning.

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