saving granger; a theomione

Chapter 10

Hermione woke with a pounding headache. She put her hand to her forehead, which she soon realized had been a giant mistake. Her body was unbearably sore, and she nearly passed out from that minuscule movement alone. The room was empty, aside from Crookshanks, who lay well stretched out on Ginny's bed. Glancing to her left, she took notice of a tiny vile of potion as well as a goblet of water on the nightstand beside her. Carefully, she reached over to pick them both up. Under the water she noticed, there was a note. She lifted it gingerly, doing her best to avoid sudden movement in the interest of keeping the pain to a minimum. The script was one entirely unfamiliar to her. 

Granger,
     I do recall Madam Pomfrey mentioning you would be in some degree of agony this morning, and if I were a betting man I would gamble that recalling last night's events would see you develop a splitting headache regardless. I hope these reach you by the time you awake.          

Your friend, 

DLM

Memories of the Hospital Wing and tears and a stolen kiss wasted no time in resurfacing as she gaped at the signature. Entirely humiliated, Hermione put her face in her hands. Sneaking around the Hogwarts grounds and divulging personal secrets to Death Eaters was certainly not considered becoming of a war heroine. But, she pondered, the Malfoy that she had seen last night was not at all what she thought she knew him to be. 

The persistent throb in the base of her skull pulled her out of her quiet considerations. She quickly tipped back the potion and the glass of water praying the H2O would bring her some form of salvation. How did he get all of this into Gryffindor Tower? A moment's deliberation brought her to the conclusion she absolutely did not want to know. 

For fifteen minutes she lay, waiting for what she assumed was some form of anesthetic to kick in. Once her physical suffering had been noticeably reduced, Hermione pulled herself out of bed and stretched in order to wake her body. Slowly still, she trudged over to the bathroom with her terrycloth robe and fluffy towel in hand. The witch hardly bothered to glance at herself in the mirror, positive she did not wish to see firsthand if she looked as dreadful as she felt. 

Stepping into the hot shower, she desperately attempted to forget her rapidly growing list of current predicaments. Malfoy and her had kissed last night, she'd promised to confront Ron, and according to her Malfoy, Theodore Nott may potentially have a crush on her. Worst of all, she was devoid of ideas as to how to handle any of the situations.

__________

Ginny sat tall at the Gryffindor table surrounded by her housemates, projecting all of the confidence that was expected of a girl currently in a relationship with the most famous man in the Wizarding World. In fact, it was exactly said famous man she was chattering about to her group of girl friends who never failed to eat up the gossip on her relationship with Harry.  "He is such a sweetheart," she lifted her wrist to flash a golden charm bracelet with a single snitch charm dangling from it, "he gifted this to me before we left for school again." 

The girls cooed over the delicate jewelry, commenting on how lucky Ginny was and how Harry was such a great man. It was abundantly clear to anyone watching closely enough however, that Ginny's smile did not reach the eyes. The truth that she didn't believe she was truly in love with the Boy-Who-Lived rested heavy on her shoulders. Her late night rendezvous with other handsome men rested even heavier.

Her roommate Lycia leaned over to whisper excitedly in her ear, effectively pulling her out of her silent guilt fest. "Gin, don't look now but I believe Blaise Zabini is eyeing you from the Slytherin table."

Her nose wrinkled at the mention of Zabini's name. Ginny could hardly stand the way that the witches at Hogwarts ate up his haughty antics. Certainly, being sinfully handsome was some help, but that most definitely did not change the fact that he was a man with more arrogance than sense. "I've got no interest in a player," she remarked, "I'd go for Malfoy before Zabini or Nott." The roll of her eyes revealed her general distaste.