Chapter Text

He was late to Potions but it didn't matter, some third year had tried to blow himself up so they all got out of class for a bit, but they had to wait in the corridor until the professor returned. 

Greg didn't mind so much, he and his friends ended up migrating away from the rest of the class. Malfoy was complaining about the wait, impatiently tapping his fingers in the crook of his crossed arms. Pansy tried to comfort him but nothing she said seemed to sooth his rotten temper.

“Cool it, Malfoy” Zabini said leaning himself against the wall. “We finally get out of classwork and you cry about it.”

“I have better things to do than waste time here standing around in the Dungeons.” Malfoy said 

“We all do, mate. Just write to your Father and he'll fix the problem like he always does.” Nott added smiling at the furious blond.

“Fuck off, Nott.” He hissed.

“Whatever, sneak off if you don’t want to wait.” Nott said back.

“It’s nearly dinner” Greg said, finally joining the conversation. “You could get there early and fill up your plate with all the best stuff.” That earned him a few chuckles.

“Yeah” Crabbe Said “What are we waiting around for?”

“There won’t be any food yet, the house elves don’t serve up dinner until Dumbledore says so.” Parkinson scoffed. Crabbe sagged back against the wall, seeing no reason to skip class now, like Zabini said it’s not like they were doing any classwork anyway. Goyle looked to each of his friends as the conversation drifted to how much longer they'd have to wait around for. He had begun to zone out when something caught his eye. Granger, sitting on the floor with a book in her lap. One of the books from that stupid heavy bag. His knee was sore from the battering it took up in the air. He’d been hit by bludgers softer than that bag of hers. Granted bludgers didn’t have sharp corners...

She seemed to tire of reading and looked to her friends beside her and then slowly around the room. Suddenly she was turned to face him and before he could figure out what to do she was smiling at him. Startled, he remained still, staring. Her smile was beginning to slip when he realised he should smile back. She really was a bizarre girl just sitting on the dungeon floor reading, she must really like reading. Why? he couldn’t really understand, that book looked way too thick. He’d much prefer Quidditch or just flying in general. Lots of people liked flying… Well, he thought lots of people did. Except her it seemed. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know what anyone else besides his close friends liked to do. He supposed there were lots of people he knew nothing about. She finally looked away and his shoulders sagged in relief and his strained 'smile’ dropped.

Thank Merlin he thought, leaning his back against the wall beside Zabini. The Italian boy gave him an odd look, then looked passed Greg and nodded his head towards the end of the corridor. Slughorn had returned, shuffling down the stone corridor in a huff.

“Goodness, everyone I apologise for the delay. We had a bit of an incident. I assure you, the boy has learnt his lesson.” He chuckled  “The lack of eyebrows will be a reminder for a good week or two. Ah but it is no laughing matter” He said holding his chubby fist up to his mouth, coughing back a grin. “We work with very volatile ingredients in these lessons and so safety should be our main priority, Always.” Slughorn ushered in the students and waved his wand at the blackboard. His spiraling script filled the board. “Now I’d like you all to write this down”

‘ Safety in a Potions Class’. The class groaned.

1. Know your ingredients and their properties
2. Always follow the textbook
3. Keep your sleeves out of the cauldron at all times
4. Never… something something something-

Greg zoned out, the board filled out completely, he counted 7 rules in total to remember.

He could hear Pansy’s voice whining about something behind him. She was almost always complaining or gossiping. Gossiping is Pansy’s hobby… no, her passion. He turned slightly to look behind at her. Her head tilted, hands moving all around as she spoke, and her face squished up into a frown likely because of something or someone she didn’t like. The other girls at her table were nodding along until they noticed him. Suddenly three sets of irritated eyes locked onto him. He looked away, instead he glanced beside him at Vince who seemed to have fallen asleep on the table, and then to Draco hunched over resting his head on his hand. He saw in front of him Theo similarly bored out of his mind staring at a slowly melting candle, wax dripping into its base. Beside him was Blaise who he could see had just finished writing the rules, he crossed his arms and sat up straight, but he wasn’t facing the front any more. His gaze was firmly locked on something on the right side of the classroom. Greg tried to follow his line of sight, but he couldn’t see past all the Gryffindors sitting on that side, blocking his view. Whatever was just past Weasley’s head had Blaise’s full attention.

The class watched as Slughorn brewed the potion as a demonstration of what they would have been doing this lesson and then finally they were dismissed.

Greg and Vince wasted no time heading to the Great Hall. Dinner time, it was always the best time of the day, way better than breakfast or lunch, because there were no more classes to worry about for the day. The two shoved their way down the corridor, through first years and ‘accidently’ shoulder-checked a Gryffindor or two.

“Shove off you pricks” One Gryffindor called back at them only earning a snicker in return. The doors to the Great Hall were in their sights when a loud voice caught their attention. It was Brown with two other girls strutting their way out of a side corridor directly in front of them and the Great Hall. Even though they were a good few feet away Greg hear almost every word they. He would have ignored it if she wasn’t talking so loudly, it was hard to not listen.

“-and honestly it’s kinda sad isn’t it?” Brown giggled. “Sad but funny” 

“I’d be embarrassed if I was Granger.” Laughed the Ravenclaw. 

“Embarrassed? I’d be mortified! Can you even imagine?” The other girl, another Ravenclaw said.

“And having the whole school know, I’d hide my face! I’d never come out in public again.” The first Ravenclaw exclaimed.

“She already hides her face. In books, in her own hair, up the Professor’s arses.” The second Ravenclaw sneered.

“Hey, hey" Brown giggled wagging her finger at the other two in a mock scold. "There's no need to be like that. At least it's not you.” She said, the girls were now just outside the doors to the Great Hall and too far away for Greg to hear the rest of what was being said. The three giggled again and Brown held her finger to her lips and shushing the other two before entering the Great Hall. Greg looked to Vince to gauge his reaction to that but it seemed Vince either found a way to block them out or didn’t care in the least. He supposed he shouldn’t really care either. It wasn’t his business, he wasn’t interested in gossip and they weren’t talking about him anyway. But then, he also had been hearing a lot about Granger today. A lot. Too much probably. She was everywhere and everyone was talking about her. It was kind of bothering him how much Granger had seemed to take up so much of his thoughts and time recently. 

Although, when he really thought back to that afternoon between them in the forest and she’d smiled so sweetly for him, he didn’t mind that… and together on the broom, well that hadn’t been terribly unpleasant. With her pressed up against him,  ‘that had been…’ Something he shouldn’t think of right now, out in public. He attempted to clear his head and focus on food as the two finally reached the Great Hall doors.

“I’m starving!” Vince moaned, shoving the doors open.

“Mm” He replied half-heartedly. 

Hermione sat in the Great Hall, surrounded by her friends, eating dinner and for the first time in a great long while she was doing simply just that. No book propped up on the table, no scrolls on her lap, no parchment, no quill nor ink well. Her head was held high and she was going to be engaged in the conversation and enjoy her friends company.

It was chaotic at the Gryffindor table. Loud chatter and louder laughter. This time Hermione joined in, tonight's topic: The up-coming Hogsmeade weekend.

“Don’t know about you lot but I’ve been saving up for a new broom." Seamus said." I’ve got myself a Comet 290 at the moment but it’s feeling a bit slow. Harry, how’s your Firebolt holding up?” Seamus asked.

“It’s still as brilliant as when I got it." Harry replied “You thinking of getting a Firebolt?”

“Nah, too expensive, I don’t have that much… unless there’s some looney out there trading in a perfectly good Firebolt. I’d gladly fly a secondhand. ” Seamus said thinking it over.

"Hoo'd b sch'pid nuff to do tha?" Ron 'said' with a mouth full of mash potatoes

“Erh, Ron gross." Ginny grimaced. "Maybe you should get a Cleansweep like me.” She said turning back to Seamus. ”70 miles per hour. It’s not bad, or maybe a Nimbus? They’re pretty good.”

“You could go to Sprintwitches.” Hermione added. “The owner said she's got secondhand quidditch equipment that she keeps out the back. Might find a good deal on a broom.”

“What’s this now?!” Seamus said smiling at her. He then leant across the table to whisper “Have you been keeping your love of Quidditch a secret from us?” Hermione blanched at the accusation. This earned a snort from Ron, he smiled at how easy she was to rile up.

“No!” She huffed. “I went with Ginny last trip to pick up her new gloves and shin pads. The shopkeeper was showing us around, she mentioned that everything out on the floor was new but she kept traded in equipment in the backroom.”

Seamus laughed at her miffed expression. “I'm just playing. That's a good idea.” he said. “So what’re you lot going to do there?”

Neville piped up happy to announce that he'd received an owl telling him the little herbology shop Dogweed and Deathcap now had new Flitterbloom bulbs in stock, which he had been waiting for since before term began. Hermione listened as he enthusiastically told them all about how it grew and how to properly care for one.  She had only gone to the little Herbology shop a few times and never for too long, only to collect the ingredients she needed for potions. Maybe she'll stay a little while longer and browse through the many magical plants available. She could spare some time between the bookshop and sitting with Harry and Ron at the Hog's Head Pub. 

“-dy hell is he looking at?” Ron grunted causing Hermione to snap out of her thoughts. She turned following Ron’s eye to the Slytherins table ‘oh please no’ she thought desperately, ‘not Goyle again, please’. She felt her face heat up at the thought of all the rumours that were sure to start up again. However, it was not Goyle’s eyes she met across the Great Hall, but those of Blaise Zabini.

“M-maybe… he’s interested in how to grow his own Flitterbloom. They’re harmless you know, really good house plants.” Neville said hopefully, causing Ron to scrunch his nose.

“No offence, mate, but I don’t think so.”

“Oh…”  

Hermione only barely registered what the two were saying, too unnerved by the unbroken eye contact she and the Slytherin were engaged in. Then his eyes flickered the rest of the Gryffindors, with seemingly everyone's eyes on him he calmly turned his gaze to his own table and took a sip from his cup seemingly unfazed by the many eyes of Gryffindor now staring him down. ‘What did he want?’, ‘What did he know?’ Hermione felt her heart clench, what if he saw them out on the broom. Oh Merlin, no.