The Second Hogwarts War

Chapter Three

Hermione had awoke to a headache and a sleeping blonde haired boy on the opposite couch. Her feet were sore, but not as horrible as the night before. The paste Draco had made last night's effects obviously weren't permanent, but it did do it's job. She slowly picked herself up off of the couch to test her feet. Achy, but not terribly so.

Draco stirred as she placed her full weight on them.

"Good to see you on your feet instead of on the floor, Granger." He chuckled a sleepy laugh. Hermione smiled and started walking warily towards the door. "Where are you going?" He blinked away sleep and stood up.

"I need to get back to the common room and shower and change." She was almost to the wall she was sure they had come through last night.

"You can't go." Hermione spun and gave Draco a look. "Oh, I, no! No! I meant, they haven't announced that we can leave the dorms yet. There's a perfectly good shower upstairs. I can help you to it and then call for a house elf. See if they're allowed to go through the castle still. See if one could retrieve your belongings." She thought a moment, and then agreed.

Hermione's feet proved still too unstable for the stairs. Therefore, Draco took her once again into his arms and carried her up to the second floor. While in his warm embrace, Hermione noticed that even after a night of drinking Draco still smelled like fresh linen and peppermint. She drew her head closer to his chest. His heartbeat picked up pace when she did this.

On the second floor, Draco gingerly let Hermione down. Her arms were still around his neck when he went to straighten. He gave her a look.

"Sorry," she started adamantly, "I needed to catch my balance." She removed her arms from his neck and steadied herself instead with the banister.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" An awkward pause followed his words. "Well, the shower is to your right. I will get you a towel." His confident walk down the stairs made a tremble leap out from no where in Hermione. She sheepishly made her way to the door and pushed it open. The space was filled with opal encrusted facilities. Pale tile lined the floor and walls and a dark blue rug lay in the center.

Thinking it best to be off her feet as much as possible, Hermione passed the sink on the right and the shower on the left, respectively. On the back wall was three steps that led to a large basin of a tub. She started the water and added some soap. She stripped off her pants and shirt and had just undone her bra when a knock came to the door. Shortly after, Draco entered with a lavish green towel.

"I spoke to a house elf. You should have some clothes when you get out of the show-" He dropped his eyes quickly as Hermione struggled to put her bra back on. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry! I thought you hadn't started yet because I didn't hear the shower going!" He covered his eyes and put the towel on the sink ledge."I will leave, I am so sorry. I saw nothing, well I saw something, but not naked you! I mean, I-I, I'm sorry, I'm leaving!" He turned and almost ran head long into the door on his way out. Hermione was red in the face, but for some reason couldn't stifle her giggling.

When the bath had been drained and Hermione had dried as much as possible, she wrapped the towel around herself and made her way to the door. Draco had left folded clothes outside the bathroom with a note on top of her shoes that read "Sorry." She giggled again and brought the clothes back into the bathroom to change.

Downstairs Draco was sitting on the couch he woke up on, staring at the fireplace. When Hermione entered the room he got up and offered her a seat. There were three people other than them in the common room now. All three were huddled by the desk swirling bourbon smoke in glasses and looking passive. The sight of the liquid made Hermione slightly queasy. When the Slytherin's noticed her presence, they looked upset. As though she was intruding on a private conversation.