Hermione Granger and The Burning Egg

Chapter 8

By the time Hermione met with Ginny for their lunch date she was a bundle of nerves. Ginny had really come into her own after graduating from Hogwarts. She was beautiful and talented and whilst being constantly surrounded by fans, she seemed to adore the limelight. Hermione hated their attention as she was constantly mobbed everywhere she went.

They met in front of a simple café in Diagon Alley. Ginny looked stylish in a set of casual dress robes that she had pared with leather pants showing off her quidditch figure. Hermione was dressed far more conservatively in a light practical robe. She briefly hoped she didn't end up on the front of the daily prophet in the morning. It was just a simple lunch date, but they were always fabricating stories.

They sat down in a secluded booth in the corner and Ginny leaned back with her legs crossed looking every bit like royalty, confidence oozing out of every pore.

"I heard you had a run in with Marietta last night."

Ginny's eyes were assessing. Hermione always got the distinct impression that she saw far more than what was simply in front of her. For Ginny, she could almost believe divination was actually possible. Hermione tilted her head. "I did, didn't I?"

Ginny leaned forward with a chuckle. "You forgot?"

Hermione grinned. "I got a little distracted."

Ginny's eyes glinted as she grinned with mischievousness. "Oh, please do tell. What has got the golden girl all hot around the collar?"

Hermione looked around them and quickly cast a muffliato. "Draco Malfoy. I can't get him out of my head." She leaned back brushing her hand through her thick curls. "Ever since I saw him and Theo with Delphine, he's just seemed so different and tortured and while I know we all suffered during the war I just really wanted to know what had happened to make him change so much. Then it turned out that Luna and he are somehow friends which made me insanely jealous. After that we ended up working together on this case and he wasn't a complete arse."

Hermione paused gripping her bottom lip with her teeth. Ginny was smiling wildly with the same devilish look she gets every time she hears gossip, especially from Hermione. It wasn't until she started seeing people who weren't her brother that they'd really had girl talk. Ginny relished in it. Loved the drama and the intrigue. Especially considering she had precious little drama in her own life since she'd started dating Harry steadily after the end of the war.

Ginny shrugged. "Even if he was still a complete arsehat you would not be the first to fall for him. After you guys started fourth year and he was hit hard with the handsome stick there was a lot of chatter about him amongst the girls. We've all been there."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Ginny, you didn't..."

Ginny tilted her eyes down and then back up to Hermione's face. "Look. I was in a really bad place after you guys left to go hunt down the horcruxes. Harry had dumped me and then you all disappeared without me, and I just felt really angry. I had been left alone to deal with the shit show that was sixth year. Dean wouldn't speak to me, and half the time people were teasing me about Harry."

She sighed, sitting back and looking up at the ceiling as if to relive the memory. "Draco was really different that year. I mean the year before he was broody and short tempered but in sixth year, he was something else entirely. Where before he would suck up to Umbridge and enjoy what was happening to the rest of us. That year he didn't care. He did not give one shit about what anyone thought not even our teachers. Not even Snape!"

"Even then, he was like a king at school. Slytherin was dominating quidditch because at least a quarter of all the other houses hadn't even been allowed to go to school that year and we'd lost some of our best players. He was the best in every class because you weren't there. He acted like he was untouchable and sadly enough he was. While the rest of us were getting detentions left and right, he just did whatever he wanted which was essentially ignoring the existence of everyone else if he wasn't flying or studying."