Anyone But Me

Chapter Thirty-Five

Hermione woke up the next morning alone in his bed. She had surfaced enough from the veil of sleep to reach for him, thinking he had rolled away, but her hand only found empty air. A groan passed from her lips as she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes to survey her surroundings.

She was definitely alone. The bathroom door was cracked so there was no way he was hidden in there. She went to get up and a piece of parchment crinkled under her palm. She quickly picked it up and scanned the short note written in his elegant scrawl.

Good Morning Lost Girl,

I was needed elsewhere.

Do not be angry that I didn't wake you.

You looked much too peaceful to disturb.

Help yourself to whatever you may need.

-D

As her eyes lingered on his initial she fought with a smile that wanted to spring to her lips. Instead she set the explanation down, back in the spot she found it and got out of the too-comfortable bed. Every muscle in her upper legs and hips burned in protest at their use but she pushed through, figuring it would be much the same as the day after her first time. Uncomfortable but not anywhere near enough to stop her from doing her normal routine.

A hot shower would help...

Her gait was slow as she made her way over to the purse. Grateful that she thought to pack a change of clothes and her school bag. She would be able to leave and go directly down for breakfast before heading off to Ancient Runes. It sounded like a pretty good start to her day.

She pulled her uniform from the tricky concealment, along with a set of robes. A quick delve back in had her school bag in her arms. She hadn't thought to bring any of her shower things but the scent of the lotion that she carried in there should help offset the strange smell that was bound to linger on her if she used Draco's soap. Maybe a few spritzes of her emergency back-up perfume wouldn't hurt either.

After she grabbed everything she needed to get ready she stopped where she had set her school bag down and picked up the pocket watch she kept clasped to the shoulder strap by a short chain. It was an easy way to have the time anywhere she was in the castle. She flipped the compartment open, hoping she had enough time for a long soak under the water, and stared at the face in disbelief. She even had to double check that she had read it correctly...

Shit!

Double Shit!

All thoughts of a shower were abandoned as she quickly threw on the clothes in her arms and shoved the bottle of lotion and perfume haphazardly back into the bag. She wasn't just late! She had slept all the way through Ancient Ruins and break... Even if she used every shortcut she knew from the Map she was still going to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts...

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During the whole hike down to the classroom she had chastised herself for sleeping that late. She ended up needing to make a stop in the bathroom after a couple of wandering Slytherin Third Years made some rather unflattering remarks about being unkempt. A feeling of mortification ran through her when she looked at herself in the mirror. She took a moment to right the easiest of her issues- her robes- and then sighed in frustration... The mess of hair atop her head was in an absolute state of revolt and she knew any attempts at soothing the beast would just make it look worse, so she pulled the whole mess into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck.

The detour had eaten up more time that she didn't have and she was fifteen minutes late when she finally stood at the door to DADA. If Snape had followed his standard regime he would well within his lecture for the day. She didn't know which was worse... Interrupting him or waiting until everyone had started reading the assigned text towards the end of the period... On the one hand, he was bound to be foul to her because of her audacity. On the other, the consequences would be worse the longer that she dawdled...