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C H A P T E R N I N E | mimblewimble
curse. tongue-ties victim.
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THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT opens to them in just a few moments. While Pansy and Blaise enter, cooing at the splendor of the room before them, Draco seems a bit more hesitant. His cheekbone has swollen and darkened to a painful reddish-purple.
"Is everything all right?" Hermione studies his drawn face as he glances at her. She notices that his hair is mostly dry from Seamus's outburst and his eyes are bloodshot.
"If I said no, would it make any difference?" He breathes out a laugh, numbly staring at her for a moment longer before heading into the room.
Hermione runs after him with the doors shutting quietly behind her. In the enormous hearth, flames dance wildly; the wood cracks and spits. Meanwhile, Blaise plops down in one of two twin chairs in front of the fire. He extracts a bottle of what appears to be fire whiskey from the inner pocket of his coat. Pansy settles in the chair beside him, taking the bottle when he offers it a moment later. Draco lays back on the couch, tossing one of his arms over his eyes.
She sits on the floor in front of the sofa, resting her back against the edges of the cushions with Draco behind her. His warmth radiates toward her. All she wants to do is lay her head back, to feel his body on hers in any form, no matter how small or platonic. They're not alone and the last thing they need is Blaise knowing they've had relations; it's bad enough that Pansy knows now. She is thankful when Blaise turns his attention to Pansy.
"So, who is this guy you're discussing with Granger? Do we know him?"
"Yes," she says, quickly but her next response is slower. "You're going to hate me if I tell you, I just know it."
"We could never hate you, Pans," Draco says, still covering his eyes with his arm.
Hermione nods to Pansy when she looks toward them.
"It's Ronald Weasley."
Blaise is drinking from the bottle, nearly choking as he hears Pansy's admittance. His wide eyes stare at her.
"You're bloody joking, Parkinson. I don't believe that one bit."
"What is so unbelievable exactly?"
Realizing he's placed himself in imminent danger, Blaise turns the conversation to Hermione.
"If you're going to be a regular fixture to our little group, I need to know that I can trust you. I'm sure we all need to know we can trust you. Tell us your deepest, darkest secret. Something that would be useful in case you ever plan to betray us."
Obviously, her pregnancy is her most crucial secret and she certainly doesn't want to admit to that. Especially for a silly game. Earlier in the night, he even doubted that she'd ever even slept with anyone. That might be juicy. It involves some sort of illusion of mystery and scandal. So she admits to not being a virgin, hoping the simple truth will satiate him. It doesn't.
"I refuse to accept that. It's not good enough. How about you tell us who is the other participant was? Or, is? Now I'm willing to bet it was Weasley." He lifts the bottle with his other hand, pressing it to his lips again. He takes a swig of the amber liquid as he waits for the response.
"Definitely not. He and I were not that compatible."
She realizes that in some respect, she has admitted to being compatible with Draco. Does he think this, too?
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LUST | dramione
Hayran Kurgu❝If you're treated like a monster for long enough you eventually become one.❞ ╷〢╷〢╷ After her best friends head off to become Aurors instead of joining her for their final year at Hogwarts, Hermione Granger finds herself desperate for human connecti...
