This Subdued Fire

The Dance. Whoo. Not much more to say. :) Oh. The first part of this chapter is lemony fresh ;)

Thanks all.

Disclaimer: I don\'t own either in part or in whole any of the characters that appear in the Harry Potter canon. So don\'t sue me, a\'ight?
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The Lion and the Serpent

Friday morning brought more of the same as Thursday. The small quibbles of gossip continued wending their way throughout the school. More articles appeared in \"Witch Weekly\" and the \"Daily Prophet.\" Hermione and Draco bore the attention with as good a grace as they could muster up - if by good grace one means scowling at anyone who so much as breathed in their direction.

They were sitting with their respective Houses when a late piece of mail came soaring into the Great Hall. It was a large package, held aloft by three large barn owls. The students and staff eyed the box eagerly, wondering who it was for. The barn owls stopped when they reached Hermione. She reached up and plucked the box from their talons before they could drop it into her excellent breakfast.

She could see nearly every eye in the Great Hall was on her. Hermione smirked at everyone\'s nosiness and tucked the large parcel as best she could under her seat. She returned to her breakfast and promptly felt a plucking at the back of her consciousness.

(Granger.)

Hermione laughed a little. (Malfoy,) she mentally drawled.

(What\'s in the box?)

(None of yours. That\'s what.)

(Cow.)

(It\'s my dress for the dance and I want to surprise you. Tomorrow night is soon enough.) Draco heard her amusement ringing in his head like effervescence.

(It\'s not a tent or something like ?) H?) He asked suspiciously.

(No. I think you\'ll like it. Now, no more questions.)

(Fine.) A pause. (Hey, Granger?)

(Hmm?)

(Ever made it with a ferret?)

(Oh my God.) Hermione laughed. (No. And I\'m not going to start.)

(Come on. You know ferrets die if they don\'t mate, so technically, you\'d be saving a life.)

(That was the worst come on I\'ve ever heard.) She replied drily. (And besides, what would you have me do? Shag you on one of the tables for the whole school to see?)

(Mmm.) Draco purred. (Yes, please.)

(Ha. Not bloody likely, Malfoy. That\'s a fantasy you\'ll have to do without.)

(You\'re no fun.) Draco looked up at her and pouted. Hermione merely raised an eyebrow.

(Oh?) She broke off mental contact with him and he could see her lips moving but over the din of the students talking and eating, he couldn\'t hear what she said.

He could make out a few toasty orange wisps headed his way and they smacked into him with a thud. Suddenly, all the blood rushed from his head to his cock and a mottled flush settled on the tops of his cheekbones. Draco\'s eyes widened as he realized what she\'d done.

(You bitch. You cast a Gratification Charm on me!)

(Just having a bit of fun.) Hermione smirked at him in an annoyingly superior way.

(Granger! I\'ll come all over the bloody breakfast table in about thirty seconds! End the charm!) Draco was exerting every ounce of control he had not to gross out the entire school. He began fidgeting in his seat.

Nott looked over at his housemate. \"Oi, Malfoy. You got ants in your pants or sommat?\"

The most Draco could dredge up was a sickly looking smile. He glared at Hermione, who sat across the room eating her kippers in a leisurely fashion. (You are the damndest woman.)

(Thank you, darling.) Hermione winked at him.

He could see her lips moving and some of the urgency that gripped him began to ebb away. However, not all of it left Draco and he could ferousrousal as a low hum in his bloodstream. (You\'re going to pay for that.)

(Looking forward to it.) She winked and left the Great Hall, belongings in hand.
************

In Advanced Charms, Professor Flitwick was nearly hopping with anticipation over the dance tomorrow night. He had a hand in helping the decorations committee come up with their scheme and he was anxious to decorate the Hall. Hermione could sympathize. That morning in the prefects\' meeting, the committee had been just as vague as last week. She was really excited to see what they\'d come up with.

Before too long, the class was done and Hermione found herself being carried along with the wave of students. Instead of taking the turn to head to the Great Hall, she headed up the flights of stairs to Gryffindor Tower, to examine her dress for the dance. Entering the common room, she took the short staircase to her room two steps at a time.

Opening up the brown paper, the shiny red box bore an expensive designer\'s logo. She\'d enlisted the help of her Tantes Renee and Josette. Next to her own mother, they were the most fashionable women Hermione knew. She sent her Tantes a detailed list of measurements and asked them to pick someone to make a dress for her. She\'d had few requirements about what the dress was to include, but when her Tantes forwarded the sketches, Hermione knew right away which one she was going to pick.

She lifted the lid of the box and eased the gown from the protective layers of tissue. The execution was even better than the illustration. The silk charmeuse felt cool and smooth in her hands. Taking the dress and holding it against her form, Hermione let out a self-satisfied hum. If this didn\'t knock Malfoy\'s socks off, she didn\'t know what would.

Hermione put the dress back in its enormous container. She turned her attention to another, smaller box that had arrived a week ago. Examining the contents of that box, Hermione was sure that she would make quite an impression tomorrow night. She stowed both boxes and warded the fireplace in case Draco\'s curiousity overwhelmed him and he decided to see her outfit before time. Leaving the bedroom, she warded the door and sat in the common room to study a bit before Magical Theory and Ethics.

The day passed uneventfully. Much as Hermione was loathe to admit, Ethics class was a deadly dull affair. She knew better than anyone that the theory of ethical behaviour was all well and good, but in the right (or wrong) situation, those lofty beliefs quickly became defenestrated. Still, she took notes and asked all the right questions. The threat of NEWTs loomed ever closer. The time swept by and soon the three-hour classtime was up. The bells rang and the students fairly leapt from their chairs to escape.

It was now seven in the evening and Hermione was starving. She went down to the Great Hall to get something before they closed up for the night. She found Ron and Harry already there. Ginny and Lavender were mysteriously missing.

\" \'lo, gentlemen,\" she greeted them.

\" \'lo, Herm.\" \"Allo, Herm.\"

\"Where\'s Gin and Lav?\" She queried as she sat down.

\"Off practising hairdos for the dance tomorrow,\" groused Ron.

\"Ah. I should\'ve guessed.\" Hermione began to fill her plate with all kinds of goodies.

Harry spoke. \"Why aren\'t you up there with them?\"

\"Because they\'d drive me nuts within ten minutes,\" she replied around a mouth of chicken florentine.

\"No kidding.\" Harry and Hermione exchanged looks of understanding. \"So what was hat hat big box you got this morning?\"

\"My dress for tomorrow night.\"

Both boys\' eyes went round. \"How huge is your dress to have come in that enormous box?!\" Ron exclaimed.

\"It\'s not that big, but it was necessary to pack it like that so it didn\'t get crushed.\"

\"Can we take a look at it?\" Harry asked, curious \" \"Nope. It\'s a surprise.\ \" \"Damnit. You always were the deep one. Keeping secrets all the time. If I ever need a Secret-Keeper, I\'ll make sure to look you up,\" the redheaded boy rejoined.

\"You do that. Your rice is getting cold,\" Hermione smirked a little at her friend.

Ron gave her a hearty raspberry and tucked into his dinner. There was silence among the three as each gave themselves over to the house elves\' mastery of epicurian delights. Across the rooracoraco watched Hermione blithely eat. He was willing to bet good money that she\'d forgotten about his promise to get her back for her little stunt this morning. She didn\'t notice his lips moving surreptitiously or the faint wisps of magic headed her way. But Hermione certainly felt them.

The familiar grip tightened its fevered vise along her veins. A heavy, languorous feeling overcame Hermione and she felt her lids slip low. Either that chicken florentine was really good or -

(Dammit, Malfoy! You put that wretched charm on me!) She locked eyes with him across the half-filled room.

(Just having a bit of fun, Granger.) A little snarky smile played across his mouth.

Hermione felt even more aroused, looking at those pouty little lips moving in suppressed amusement. (Oh Lord...Come on, I can\'t...I can\'t do this in front of everyone.)

(But I\'d quite enjoy seeing you come in front of the entire school,) he replied evilly (Y (You bastard.) He could see a flush rising from her neck to her cheek and her breathing had speeded up ever so slightly.

(You, on the other hand, look absolutely delicious.) Malfoy forked up a bit of the noodles in the creamy sauce and sucked one between his lips.

(Merlin\'s bones! Don\'t do that to me!) He could see that her normally cinnamon-gold eyes had darkened to the hue of a brown-eyed susan.

(Do what?) Draco reached a hand up and rubbed his neck and Hermione swore she could feel those fingers whispering along her own neck. A shudder went through her as she recalled past experiences.

(Do *that*.)

(Really?) He picked up a shiny red appled from the bowl that rested in the center of the table and bit into it with gusto.

(Malfoy...end it, end it *now*.)

(I don\'t think so.) He smirked at her unmercifully.

Draco could see the skin on her cheeks become rose red and her eyes slipped closed. Hermione bit her lip so hard, trying to stifle the cries that appeared there and she twitched, rather oddly - squirming on the old wood of the bench. A few students had noticed and were watching her intently.

Harry turned \'round and looked at his friend. If he didn\'t know any better...He\'d seen that look on her face before, albeit in a less intense manner than now. He and Hermione had shared a few pleasurable moments before she\'d broken it off with him and gone her own way. Never he he thought to see this er fer face, her expression tight. But it couldn\'t be. They were sitting, eating supper. Nothing about supper could evoke such a response. Then she was sick - and that was bad.

\"Hermione?\" Harry laid a hand on her arm and that was it. She was off like a shot. No words or sounds escaped her lips. Only the softest and most guttural of cries seeped through and in the din of the Great Hall, they were lost. Suddenly her bowtight posture relaxed and she slumped a bit, resting her elbows on the table.

\"Are you alright, Herm?\" Harry asked.

The most she could manage was a faint noise of assent and a nod. Her breathing slowed over time and she looked up. Hermione\'s eyes caught Draco\'s. His light eyes had darkened to the grey of a storm cloud. She shook off the last vestiges of the strong arousal, forcing it down to a deep thrum. \"I\\"I\'m fine, Harry.\" Her voice sounded preternaturally strong in the aftermath. \"Excuse me.\"

Harry nodded and she got up, flicking her head at Malfoy, in a gesture which indicated that he should follow her. Draco got up and joined her swift progress out of the Great Hall. That set tongues to wagging, as they were wont to do. By now though, the gossip had mellowed from the scurrilous to the merely curious.

From the High Table the professors watched, amused. A few of them could see the tendrils of magic that flowed between their Head Boy and Girl. It encouraged them. Despite his association with a Muggle-born, Draco still held a fair amount of sway within his house - especially among the younger ones. The four houses were going to have to band together if Voldemort and his followers were to be defeated. If the others of Slytherin House could be ed ted to turn the tide, then at least they had a fighting chance. Perhaps those as yet unturned could be persuaded.

One at the High Table wasn\'t thinking those thoughts. He was remembering. The look on her face was so much like the one he\'d inadvertently seen, perhaps a bit more guarded. She was, after all, in a public place. The thoughts twisted his brain just as surely as if *her* hands were doing the work herself. Another deep slice of pain drifted through his skin. Yet he barely noticed. He had become ennervated to most pain over the past twenty years. These tiny shocks were nothing, nothing at all.
**********

Out in the hallway, Hermione pulled Draco into a deserted alcove. The little nook was one that all the students knew about, being rated number one for undisturbed snog sessions. She pressed him against one stone wall, feeling the living rocks of Hogwarts conforming slightly under her warm hands.

\"What do you think you\'re on about, Malfoy?\" She asked menacingly.

Draco smiled thinly. \"Just a little tit-for-tat.\"

\"Really?\" Hermione raised a brow.

\"Really, Granger.\" He slid his hands along the undersides of her arms and over her ribcage.

\"Ah. Marvelous.\" Hermione stepped away from him. A few whispered words and the very stones of the wall became fluid and moved themselves around Draco\'s body. They shifted his arms up to shoulder level and held him there. The other rocks moved to part his legs and he was held in a perfect star formation, as if he were about to make snow angels (so to speak) on the wall.

Draco watched the display with trepidation and not a little excitement. \"How did you do that?\"

\"It\'s elemental, my dear Malfoy.\" A wolfish grin. \"I\'m surprised you haven\'t discovered your own element.\"

\"It\'s water, I\'ll have you know,\" he replied indignantly.

\"Hence your affinity for the bath.\"

He couldn\'t argue. She was quite right. Over the summers when he couldn\'t fly, Draco could most often be found in the swimming pool. And during bathtimes he would often sit in the water until his fingers and toes were prunes. \"Fine then....well, now that you\'ve got me here, what are you going to do with me?\"

\"Absoly nly nothing.\"

Malfoy was completely nonplussed. \"What?\"

\"*Expelliarmus*,\" Hermione intoned calmly. Malfoy\'s wand flew out of his trouser pocket and into her hand. She tucked it into her own pocket and charmed it closed.

\"I don\'t need a wand, as you\'re well aware.\"

\"Yes...but however are you going to get of tof there?\"

\"I haven\'t the faintest but when I do....\" Draco trailed off and he gave her a mean look.

\"I\'m quivering,\" Hermione rejoined tartly.

\"You should be.\"

\"I\'ll see you later.\" Hermione turned and walked out of the alcove, leaving Draco pinned to the wall.

\"Oh come on! You can\'t just leave me here!\"

The only thing Draco heard was a soft chuckle in reply.

\"I hate you! Come on, Hermione! Let me out of here!\"

Not a sound. Not even retreating footsteps.

\"Fuck,\" he swore softly. Draco tugged at the stone. It tightened a bit on him and he stilled. \"Damnit. Why are you doing what she wants?\"

The stones hummed in response to his question. \"Oh, that\'s no answer.\"

Now the stones wouldn\'t even talk to him. \"Bugger. I can\'t believe she did this.\"

A minute went by, then ten. Nearly fifteen minutes passed and Draco had given up all hope that she\'d come back when her head popped around the corner.

\"It\'s about damn time, Granger.\"

\"Ah. You\'re happy to see me, then.\"

\"Get me down from here.\"

\"Oh, I\'m not done with you, yet,\" she said silkily. Draco looked at her in the dim torchlight. Her eyes were still dark with arousal.

\"Hermione. I do believe you\'re getting off on me all bound up here. You dirty bitch.\"

\"And you love it,\" she shot back.

Draco couldn\'t deny it - especially since he could feis cis cock stirring at her dark demeanor. Who knew Hermione would have such a gift for the more kinky things in life? He mentally ticked off the times she\'d bound him during sex. As the list grew a bit high, he stopped counting. Yep, definitely an affinity for kink. That line of thought grew stronger as she took off her school robes. She had on a dark red singlet with a glittery gold Gryffindor lion rampant on the front and a pair of dark red jeans slung relatively low.

(So, the kitten wants to play?) He thought in her direction.

(Of course.) She bared her teeth in a facsimile of a smile.

(Do your worst.) Draco replied gamely. He wasn\'t going to let a slip of a Gryffindor get the best of him. When she revealed her choice of garments she\'d thrown down the gauntlet. This wasn\'t about physical mastery but about mental mastery.

The two of them had always been in direct competition with one another since the day she first opened her mouth in double Potions. And even though her smarts were so very very attractive to him, he was still galled that he forever seemed to be chasing her in that respect. So, let the battle of wits begin.

She leaned back against the wall, that wild mane of hair framing her kittenish face. Hermione could feel the waves of magic all around as Draco mentally worked through nearly every incantation he knew to free himself. But it was to no avail. He itched to wipe the smug smile from her face as she stood propped on the wall, arms crossed arrogantly.

\"Alright you witch. How do I get down?\"

\"Not telling. Figure it out.\" She moved away from the opposite wall and stepped into Draco\'s space. \"How about I give you a bit of incentive?\"

Hermione leaned up and gave him a teasing kiss. It was just enough make him renew his efforts but not enough to make him cloudy headed. She always was a master of the kiss, he thought. \"Damn you.\"

She gave a low laugh. \"That\'s not very nice.\"

\"*You\'re* not very nice,\" he groused.

\"But I can be.\" That light was back in her eyes as she stepped close to Draco once more. Draco knew he was sunk as she moved in.

Hermione planted both hands on either side of his head and gave him a lingering kiss that rocked him down to his silk socks. Her little pointed tongue swept along the seam of his slightly opened lips, demanding entrance. He complied and sighed as she slipped it in. Draco revelled in the sense of total abandonment. He couldn\'t move a muscle, knowing that the stones, on her command, wouldn\'t hesitate to tighten unmercifully around his bound limbs.

Her hands ran down his front, flicking aside the voluminous robes and working open the buttons that held his shirt together. She smirked at the mother of pearl fastenings, the silk of his tie. Not even the Hogwarts standard, which Hermione admitted, was pretty good, was good enough for the pampered Prince of Slytherin.

\"You are definitely kinky.\"

\"So says the man who likes to play with snakes. Don\'t think I\'ve forgotten that little escapade.\"

That had the effect of shutting Draco up. He frankly had forgotten all about that. It seemed a lifetime and a half ago that he\'d been up to such perversity. Just then there was a snap of her fingers and he found himself divested of all clothing except his boxers. Hermione laughed. They were silverish with a martini-glass print across them. How very Draco, she thought.

But as her eyes traveled the length of his bound body, her laughter stilled. Even after all these months, the sight of him never failed to fire her senses. Draco could see the faint flush of arousal burn brighter in her face, the slight flaring of her delicate nose. She had the charming habit of breathing rather heavily, almost gasping through her nostrils. The faint preternatural spark of gold in the pupils of her eyes nearly frightened him.

Hermione ran her warm palms over the slightly cool skin of his chest. Her head tipped to the side as she studied him. Months of playing with the magnificent creature under her fingers had given her an appreciation for him and she knew just where to touch him to send him off into warm, liquid feeling. Still, it was cold there, literally hanging about in the alcove. The stones seemed to sense his dislike of the temperature and they heated themselves accordingly.

Damn. Now there was absolutely no hope. She had intensified her efforts and slipped her tongue over the sensitive flesh of his neck. Hermione brought her mouth around to dip in the hollow of his throat, the deep beats speeding up at the touch of her lips on it. She dipped her head lower, making no pretense about where she was headed. That delectable cupid\'s bow slipped around one of his nipples and bit gently, eliciting a groan. He could feel her lips smile and it caused him to smile in return.

He didn\'t know how long he\'d been suspended there at her mercy - nor did he care. Time always ceased to have meaning when they were together. Her slender fingers tugged at the waist of his amusing underwear and they came off in her hands as if ripped, but were in fact whole. It was a new spin on the old magician\'s trick of yanking the tablecloth.

Draco was very impressed.

Her hands slipped back onto his skin and he found his penis being gripped lightly in her capable hands. A frisson of delight raced along his nerve endings. The stones wer ever so obliging and slid Draco down until he was level with her face. She kissed him, not seeming to have to come up for air and her hands worked him in an Archimedian screw pattern. She took one hand off and reached down to cup his sac, gently tugging. All the while, Hermione slid her tongue in and out and around his mouth like there was no tomorrow.

She could feel the first salty drops on her fingers and spread them around the head and shaft. Draco was beginning to stir slightly, but he mostly held still, knowing that the massive rocks could crush him if he made a wrong move. Hermione kept her thoughts carefully sealed off from him and she knew that all he had to do was ask the stones to release him and they would. But knowing the Malfoy Pride (with a capital P), the thought wouldn\'t even enter his mind.

Draco stiffened, his fists clenching even as the nerves were beginning to go dead from lack of movement. Hermione slid her hand further behind him and pressed a bit on that spot and that was all it took. As he came all over her hand, his mind screamed a single thought: \"Please!\" And the stones released him without a moment\'s hesitation.

He fell into her waiting arms, legs trembling from being held so long and from the orgasm she\'d just treated him to. Hermione petted Draco, feeling self-satisfied at his thundering heartbeat and apparent weakness. She could tell the minute he came back to himself. His breathing tensed and his muscles tightened. He pushed himself away from her and began to dress.

\"I guess you won.\"

\"Ah, but the stones released you.\"

\"At the very last minute,\" he said ruefully.

\"Do you remember what you were thinking when you fell out of their grasp?\"

\"All I remember is thinking \'please.\' And then I was stumbling into your arms.\"

\"*Scourgify*\" Hermione cleaned her hand and scrubbed Draco up a bit, too. \"That\'s the secret. You just have to ask - not be so bloody prideful.\"

\"So that was the lesson you want to teach me? Did you feel I was being arrogant back there in the Great Hall?\" He stood with his arms crossed defensively.

\"Yes, I did,\" she replied forthrightly. \"When I saw you about to blow your top earlier I ended the spell, but you felt the need to take it one step further, to prove your mastery over me.\" Hermione took a step to stand beneath Draco\'s elegant nose. \"Let\'s get one thing straight. I may love you and you may love me, but you are not my master and I am not your mistress.\"

He unfolded his arms and stroked a feather-light hand over her cheek. \"You really have no idea, do you? There\'s always a dominant and a submissive. No real relationship is ever truly equal.\"

\"How sad that you think that.\"

\"It\'s not sad, it\'s true. You felt the need to prove your dominance over me with this little stunt.\" Hermione opened her mouth to argue. Draco shut it with a swift kiss. \"I\'m not angry, Hermione. But do not confuse one agenda for another one.\"

Hermione said nothing further. She was saddened that Draco truly did feel that way. It made her determined to show him that not everyone thought in terms of pride and mastery. But she was disturbed at his words. Did she really wish to prove herself the dominant person? Did she really want to exert her mastery over him? Hermione took his hand and together they exited the alcove, each lost in their own thoughts.
**************

The late May morning dawned hazy and warm. Hermione awoke in the depths of the castle. Draco was curled around her and the torches burned low in the dungeon chamber. She could feel the castle itself humming with undisguised pleasure and anticipation. It was the day of the dance. She threw back the covers and stepped barefooted onto the floor. The stones beneath her feet had come alive. Each step was like walking across rippling water.

It came as very little surprise to her. Hermione had long known that under her astrological sign her element was earth. Were not stone and rock the very bones of the earth? After the first clash with Voldemort at her parents\' home, where with one phrase she turned the solid earth to shifting liquid, Hermione had done what she did best. She studied. It was common knowledge that all witches and wizards had control over natural forces. But some drew their powers more deeply than others.

Some were simply more gifted than others. And others, likeco, co, Harry, and herself were more than amply supplied with gifts. In most cases, it was hereditary. Most witches and wizards belonged to one branch or another of the Great Family, even the Muggle-borns like herself. Magi were blessed with control over the very elements that comprised the world. Some found their affinity with earth, some had control over the waters. Others (like Harry, she suspected) were talented with fire. And still others could harness the wind and air.

Still, there were others who could use all four elements with equal dexterity. They had a special gift, what the old philosophers called quintessence - the fifth element. Some referred to it as the ethereal, the spirit. They had the power to influence moods and emotions and harness energy itself. All humans carried within them a bit of the quintessential, thus our ability to influence others\' moods by our own moods. A quintessential magus had the power to make a person feel exactly what they were feeling at any given time under a given set of circumstances - usually under a period or situation of high running emotions.

It was the reason that the world seemed to break when *she* breaks down and the reason why the world was ebullient when *she* was filled with joy. Hermione recognized the enormous responsibility that had been thrust upon her shoulders. It was, she realized, the reason it seemed that Draco was so cold hearted. He had to be, or risk doing something wildly destructive.

Hermione was slightly resentful but also amazingly honoured that she was the one who was picked to bear this particular gift. Done dressing, she went back over to where Draco slept so peacefully in the satin covered bed. She brushed a piece of hair back from his brow and smiled at the sweet picture he presented. Hermione bestowed a light kiss on his forehead and left the dungeon chamber.

There was a jauntiness in her step. Every fiber in her body felt keyed up, as if it were tuning itself, readying for something as yet unknown. She made it back to Gryffindor Tower and ensconced herself in her room. Laid across the golden duvet was a shining invitation. The seal was a gold leafed lion rampant. Smiling at the care it took to produce the fine missive, Hermione broke it open and was delighted to see tiny crimson and gold sparkles of light shoot up from the ruby veined parchment. The particles fizzed until they took the shape of a lion, prancing playfully in the air before rearing up and releasing a roar. The light dispersed, falling in delicate cinnamon scented wisps.

The message was short and simple. The script wended its way fluidly across the paper. It read, \'By virtue of your outstanding performance and the sucessful completion of seven years of instruction, it is our pleasure and our honour to extend this invitation to you, Hermione Valentina Granger, to attend the Seventh-Year Dance.\' Under the line of writing were the names of Dumbledore and McGonagall, in their capacities of Headmaster and Headmistress.

The invitation committee had outdone themselves. It made Hermione curious to see what the decorations for the event were. But first things first. She took a leisurely bath, Calliope Cantata wasn\'t due to arrive until four pm to begin her set up. The Weird Sisters and M*stery worked on their own schedules, the closest times they could give her were five pm and six, respectively.

She lounged in the water for an hour and got out, attending to other bits of her toilette and dressed. Slipping on a pair of plastic flip-flops, she scurried down to the kitches to check on the refreshments. The committee had things well in hand and so Hermione left to grab a bit of late breakfast and read the Saturday edition of the Quibbler. Ron was there, Harry nowhere to be found.

\"Oi, Ron.\"

\"Oi, Herm.\" He ruffled a corner of the newspaper he was reading in greeting.

\"Where\'s Harry?\" she asked as she sat down.

\"Off being a poncing idiot and trying on his dress robes.\"

\"What? Is he afraid they won\'t fit?\"

\"I swear, he\'s been eating like a pregnant sow lately. It wouldn\'t surprise me in the least if he couldn\'t get into them.\"

\"Oooh. You\'ve been keeping up with his eating habits...sure you haven\'t picked the wrong horse, Ronny old boy?\" Hermione spread a bit of jam on her scone.

Ron folded down a section of his paper. \"You\'ve been spending entirely too much time with Malfoy, you know that? Starting to pick up his bad habits.\"

\"I was only teasing.\"

\"I know.\" He stuffed a bit of kipper in her mouth. \"Here. Tease that.\"

\"You pig,\" Hermione replied around the food in her mouth.

\"Cow.\"

\"I get that a lot...\"

\"It fits.\"

She smacked him one on the arm. \"Ow. That hurt.\"

\"It was supposed to.\"

\"Violent little thing, aren\'t you?\"

She gave him a thorough raspberry and began to dig into her brunLateLate packages soared into the Great Hall, depositing themselves with their owners. More dress robes and the like. The fourth-years on down eyed the boxes with not just a little envy. Especially the girls. They\'d missed the Yule Ball of Hermione\'s fourth year. And now they were being excluded from the festivities once again. Somehow, though, a few them had managed to get themss ass asked out by a fifth-year or, somehow, a sixth-year.

\"Bill and Charlie are coming up. I think Bill just wants to show off Fleur. Charlie\'s got some mystery date hidden away. Being rather close-mouthed about the whole affair, he is. Fred and George thought they might pop in for a bit, having missed their shindig. Mum\'s stiackeacked off about them being high school dropouts,\" Ron told Hermione.

\"If I were your mum, I\'d be angry, too. But it all worked out for the best.\"

\"Yeah, but she\'s going about moaning about how she just *knew* that Fred and George would come to a bad end. It\'s not like they\'ve ended up in a Knockturn Alley gutter, giving sexual favors for a hit of Dreamless Sleep.\" Ron caught himself and flushed bright red. \"Sorry about that, Herm.\"

Hermione shrugged it off and gave a dark chuckle. \"I could always brew my own, so there was never any danger of me becoming a drug-addled whore. I was just drug-addled.\"

\"I dunno how you can joke about that.\"

\"What else am I supposed to do? I was a fool, it\'s over. Let\'s have a bit of a giggle and go on with our lives.\" She took a bite of toast.

\"You\'re so calm.\" Ron pulled a face. \"If it were me I\'d still be all bunged up about it.\"

\"Sometimes I still am, Ronnie, old boy.\" They had nothing further to say and finished their breakfasts in silence.
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