Look at Me | Hermione Granger x Female OC (Book 1)

24 - Unfortunate Interruption

It was March 11, 1995.

Ellie sat on her bed in her deserted dorm, her roommates having left for their routinely Saturday Hogsmeade visit earlier that morning. The morning sun battered down on her, serving as a dreadful reminder of the sleepless night the Hufflepuff had endured. Her homework was sprawled in front of her, her quill now dry from the aimless staring. Though she had stayed up until sunrise to finish her work, a fourth of the long assignments still remained.

The Hufflepuff still wore her white button down from yesterday, her yellow tie loosely sitting at her collar. Dark circles were just starting to form underneath her eyes, her hair frizzy and tangled. The only thing that kept her awake was the nearly empty mug of coffee beside her, its temperature already cold.

The door suddenly opened, causing Ellie to snap her head in that direction. It closed quietly, the lock clicking in place as Ellie raised a puzzled eyebrow. She continued to stare at the door in confusion, tilting her head at the empty space. She tried to brush off the thought, assuming that her lack of sleep had influenced her mind to play tricks on her.

Hermione appeared right in front of the Hufflepuff, materializing from thin air as she shed the cloak from her body.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ellie groaned as she flopped backwards into her pillow. "You're not real."

"Darling, it's me. I was just using Harry's Invisibility Cloak, that's all," Hermione reassured as she folded the fabric and set it to the side.

"Thank goodness," Ellie sighed in relief. "For a moment there, I thought I was hallucinating."

Hermione's smile disappeared from her face as she moved closer to Ellie, finally getting a better look at her girlfriend. She cupped Ellie's cheeks worriedly, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Ellie, darling. You don't look so well," Hermione frowned. "And you're still in your uniform. Have you even gotten any sleep?"

"Honestly, no," Ellie admitted as she tried to rub her eyes to stay awake. "I've been trying to finish all these assignments from last week. Snape said if they're late, I'd have detention."

"Last week?" Hermione repeated loudly. "How come you haven't done them? What have you been doing? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's hard, Hermione. And there's a sneaky little thing called procrastination," Ellie huffed. "I'd rather take the detention now."

Hermione sighed loudly before coming to a conclusion, an idea formulating in her brain.

"How much do you have left? What needs to be done?" Hermione questioned as she sorted through Ellie's assignment.

"Just the last of Tuesday's and Thursday's Potions work. I absolutely loathe that class," Ellie replied.

"Okay," Hermione inhaled deeply. "Why don't you get some rest, my love? I'll do the rest of your work, but only if you rest. I don't like seeing you like that."

"Hermione Granger? Is that you?" Ellie teased. "Doesn't seem like you to cheat."

"It's not cheating," Hermione retorted. "It's called helping. Now, go to sleep before I change my mind. I'll wake you up when I'm done."

Ellie chuckled before she rolled over in her bed, falling asleep instantly at the relief. Hermione started to work on her girlfriend's Potions assignments, going through the strenuous questions with ease. Though she finished earlier than expected, the Gryffindor rummaged through Ellie's bag, removing the academic contents. She proceeded to proofread Ellie's work, correcting the inaccuracies as she progressed.

After forty minutes, Hermione finally completed the assignments, cracking her knuckles with a loud exhale. She set the finished work and the quill aside, just next to Ellie's bag. She dove down to Ellie's resting face and placed a gentle kiss on the coffee-tainted lips.