Life and Times
Rating: R
Ship: HHr (main emphasis)
The (unlovely) procedure: all rights go to JKR for previous plot and characters, Scholastic, Warner, and whoever else has their hands in HP.
Author Note: Trying an unorthodox way of storytelling, I had a few friends read and scrutinize this piece because of its Avant Garde-esque feel. I haven't read anything like this in any literature, adjoining heavy film techniques with pure text. Not sure if one can create a "musical" without a screen (derived especially from the "choreography" written), but I've tried and the people who did read it laughed at the humor and enjoyed the analogical song choices. So, here we go with something different.
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Chapter Thirty - Desire
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Long tapestry of a myriad of colour fell across the wooden floor. Behind the opaque threads of fabric a window, seemingly ten stories high, tried its best to let in the sunlight so wanting to come inside the lesson. Professor Flitwik, the short, stumpy man flittered about down below and inside the circular format of the classroom. Step upon step, a staircase of desk and chair gradually ascended to the exits at the top. I picked a seat, sitting beside Cho who sat beside Katie on my right. We were in the second row from the top with me at the aisle.
I couldn't have cared less about the teaching. My eyes never left the person I most adored nearside the single ray of light escaping from the window drapes. Flitwik cast some charm that backfired and I wasn't one to gasp, oblivious that anything but the angel lived. All mahogany locks of flowing hair. How her tassels weaved themselves amongst her shoulders, crisscrossing on her school jumper and below. She didn't notice me, and what girl would who sat aside Prince Potter?
She sat how he did, imitating nearly the slightest of breaths he took, aligned and close to the boy girl's clamored over. She did this without knowing, instinctively, like they were really meant for each other. The knot in the pit of my stomach grew as I watched them. I had my hand supporting my head, an elbow on the desk. I sighed longingly at how she livened up the room just being there.
Who really cared about Potter? I surely didn't.
I sighed, my bosom inching in and inching out to my observer's interest. I hadn't known Cho and Katie were looking at my gaze. They had followed my eye, the straight line right to Hermione, and the melancholy malaise that followed the slump of my posture.
Cho poked me with her index finger, the nail puncturing the grey cloth of my jacket.
When I didn't respond, she accidentally bumped me with her shoulder, making me tip and fall to my left. I grabbed the desk's ledge and caught myself before I could land face-first on the floor.
"What is it with you lot?" I demanded beneath a seething breath, a tad flustered.
Cho fluttered her eyelashes at me in a most mocking way.
Katie fanned herself, looking as if she were hot.
"Oh, cut it out the both of you." They could hear the irritation coming from my lips.
"What you looking at there, Weasel?" Katie teased with a haughty accent.
"Something fancy your eye?" asked Cho in that same sort of haughty tone.
My eye wandered back from the two to Hermione who I had caught glancing at Harry. The knot within me grew.
"You know very well what I fancy…" I answered cat-like, biting the air.
"Have you told her how you felt?"
"No…" I slipped further in my slumping shoulders.
"She won't know unless you tell her, Gin."
I couldn't take my eyes off Hermione. I felt my throat clinch, restricting, keeping me from talking. Words wanted to fall from the tip of my tongue, but my tongue ran dry. My eyes bugged out the moment I saw Cho and Katie staring from their side.
I saw Hermione glance back at me.
She smiled her smile and gave me a furtive wave.
Somehow, as I watched her turn back around, those golden brown locks dazzling in the light of the sun, I found my mouth quenched.
I spoke, my voice inside an unknown melody.
I looked back at Cho and Katie, singing, "I don't know, but I think I maybe…"
My eyes shot back at Hermione from afar, "…Falling for you, dropping so quickly…"
The unknowing harmony rose with the treble of my words. Some students around us turned and shushed me.
My eyes went to them the moment I saw them swish in their seats, their fingers over their lips to show how much they wanted me to shut up.
I purposely scaled the tune of my vocals higher, glaring at those agitated classmates, "Maybe I should keep this to myself!"
I slid easily to the aisle, descending to the following row of desks. The ones who attempted to hush me followed my form, their gaze ascending to see my hop on the long, rectangular wood. I kicked the first peer's books, the satchel slipping away and his notes sprawling the width to the next row down. Those students flipped around, watching me as I punted the next student's Charm literature to the floor, stomping on the subsequent pages of the adjacent student's text.
I heard the ruffled sound of Flitwik behind his moustache yell at me to, "Get down this instant!"
"Wait until," My voice increased, the invisible chorus rising with me as I hopped down to the next row of the desks. "I know you better-"
My shoes left faint, dirty prints as I walked over more sheets of loose-leaf, more people's belongings with each of them hollering at me until I made it to the middle aisle.
"I am trying not to tell you," Skipping the stairs to the floor, my eyes on Hermione who had obviously caught my attention with all my ruckus.
Flitwik got in my way, stopping me with more pointing, more angry looks.
"But, I want to," The Professor impeded me with his dwarfed body a step before mine. I tried to close in on Hermione, and with the help of Katie and Cho, I made my move. Katie had grabbed the scruff of Flitwik's coat. Cho held his stubby legs, carrying him behind the scenes.
"I'm scared of what you'll say," The rolls of parchment I'd kicked everywhere began to float, circling the high ceiling. "So, I'm hiding what I'm feeling-"
I jumped in front of Hermione, her cinnamon irises bedazzling within the radiance of her sun. Her lashes flashed in blink as she studied my performance, a cute, subtle smirk on her face.
Her brows rose.
"But, I'm tired of holding this inside my head!"
The window burst forth, the panes folding the curtains backward to bring a breath of flourishing fresh air. The atmosphere went sweet with the antique smell of old Hogwarts and of spring. Once the brush of earth's sigh swirled amongst us the curled parchment fluttering transmogrified into pure white doves. My Weasley red hair caught up in my face.
I smiled when Hermione smiled.
I appeared at Hermione's side, ignoring Harry who looked on with a gaping mouth of such bewilderment. I put my elbows on her desk, the grey wool material of my school jumper softly slipping as I dropped to her height. I sat with my knees on the floor and quietly sung to her, "I've been spending all my time just thinking about you."
Hermione straightened in her chair, leaning closer to hear me.
"I don't know where to-" I sprung up from the floor, Hermione following me with those pretty doe eyes. From the brilliant white light shot sifts of red rose petals to dance with the doves flying above our heads.
I reached my hands out to her and she took them, her touch delicate when I led her with me to stand.
"I think I'm falling for you," I whispered to her, and only to her. Her eyes hadn't left mine whilst I stepped from the baffled onlookers, Flitwik fighting Cho and Katie in the corner of the room.
"I'm falling for you…"
"I can't stop thinking about it!" Our fingers laced together, I brought her to me. We were out on a ledge overseeing the lake from our height in one of the many towers.
The sun complimented her brunette tresses, making the darkened locks honey-coloured in the spotlight of us.
"I want you all around me!" I swiftly swiveled on my heel and took Hermione's arms so they settled about my waist. She stood behind me, my arms inclined with hers. I held her as she held me. "And, now I just can't hide it!"
"I think I'm falling for you…," Our heads, our faces, our lips grew closer. "I'm falling for you…"
My vocal slid an octave, calming its volume.
Her lips a centimeter away, I spoke in sudden silence, the doves, the rose petals encircling us.
"Falling for-"
The bell rang, shaking me from the interlock of Hermione's eyes and arms. She took off without a word behind Harry, grabbing her books and leaving me at my desk near the exit. She was whispering to Harry, smiling so lovely to the something he replied with. I had to turn away, my stomach churning, to only see the eyes of Katie and Cho so seemingly in the know of the situation.
"Do you think I should ask her to the Yule Ball?" I said this quick within one gulp.
"Go for it!" exclaimed Katie, giddy.
"Only one way to find out!" chimed Cho, nudging me with the side of her body with a wink.
I guess I wanted to be a hunchback after slipping further into that turtle shell posture. I stretched my hands out and gripped the far edge of the desk. I sighed into saying, "…She'll never want me."
I let everyone out first, Katie and Cho behind me when I finally stood up to exit.
Stepping out into the hallway a baseline began by the beat of my shoes hitting the floor of the corridor. I carried my books clutched to my chest and peered out. Light fell from the stained glass window panes, creating this rainbow atmosphere of the full spectrum. Students and faculty alike were cast in different shades of color depending on how where the walked.
I pushed my way through the crowd of people only to notice them looking back and staring at me.
The students parted, my eyes quickly noticing the familiarity of Dean and Oliver, even Seamus with his grey vest and Gryffindor tie.
Inside the division of people, far down the hall, I saw Hermione traipsing happily behind Harry. I could see the perky hop in her step, how her hair swayed in unison to that spritely animation. The elation, and how she hadn't notice me, stopped me in my tracks. The sea of students suddenly began stomping, their wands sparking a beat-the beating of my longing heart.
I gritted my teeth and showed them, my lips peeling back in a snarl. I took the forsaken little bow from my hair and let the flames fall over my shoulders. I threw my book aside, the school literature and parchment scattering across the floor, the heaviness landing in several thuds.
It was like we'd practiced our choreography, those students slipping around me, readying that part of me which wanted to scream. It was all I could take until it began with a snap of my fingers, my eyesight on Hermione and Harry all pleasantly pleased.
I flicked my head down, the fire that was my tresses slinging towards the floor, and back up in an even quicker crack.
I pushed the sleeves up to my elbows and slid my arms up like a hawk from my sides, dipping my head slightly back and rang out, Katie and Cho alongside me following my lead.
"How was I supposed to know?"
I took my arms, waving them from their bird-like position downward diagonally, much like the disco we'd learned from Muggle Studies. Up and down my left arm went, in line with everyone else who imitated the language, growing closer to Hermione and Harry chatting silently against a column down the hall. "That something wasn't right here?"
I felt the air on the exposed areas of my legs between my dark grey knee-high stockings and the pleats of the black skirt when I jumped. The sounds of a hundred feet clopped against the floor, the heels of our rubber soles smacking the hard stone. My Gryffindor tie loose to my neck waved with each striking gesture.
"Oh baby, baby," As I'd go beyond the torches lining the corridor they'd erupt with a plume of smoke and fire. I swung my right arm, and then my left, connecting them together at fingertips and jerked my elbows out in halt, the lyrics and formulation of human and magical instrument resounding into affinity. "I shouldn't have let you go-"
The distinguished peppery chroma of my unfastened jumper stretched as my elbows popped outward, the white collared school shirt pulling where I'd unbuttoned the four small clear buttons underneath my throat. My tanned skin in the wash of pale Britons cued me as the point of linear perspective.
But, she didn't look at me, enraptured in the single conversation with Harry.
I belted out, reaching out to Hermione with my hands and then one atop my heart, my knees inward in my stance. In my peripherals, I saw Katie and Cho repeating the same sort of motion with all its drama. "Show me how you want it to be!"
"Tell me, baby," I sauntered on forward, the screen of the student body encased within the spectacular colours of stained glass, darkened only when out of sight of the lighting torches. I patted my chest, my eyes carefully observing the grin of Hermione at Harry and shook my bosom. "Cause I need to know now-"
My left foot forward, and then my right, we all as a unit continued approaching the two, "All because-"
I placed my palms on my thighs, swiveled my hips in a twist as my fingers felt the ruffles of my skirt. I swished my hair to the side in a flourish of vibrant red, the fire of a nearby torch illuminating the already flame red hue of the strands as they fell. I swished my head back to the front, taking my hands from my thighs, my hips gyrating, the skirt billowing in our produced wind and wrapped my arms around me in an embrace.
"My loneliness," Strummed the arrangement of my chords, speaking to Hermione who hadn't even turned her head at the unreal performance, or anything. "Is killing me…"
"I must confess, I still believe," With a curve of my frame, I slithered downward by the top of my head and back up, side-stepping in display. My skirt spun with haste, my knee bending with a point of my buckled shoe and down again with my figure sideways in canter. I slipped back down, elbows up, the skirt circling again with a whoosh when I turned completely around and back again, seeing both the skirts of Katie and Cho and slacks of Oliver, Dean, and Seamus as well as the rest do the same.
"When I'm not with you," I pointed at Hermione who still remained blind of the strange uproar at Hogwarts, and then held my head, my fingers in my hair, pulling at the threads as I sung, "I lose my mind-"
I stood with my legs slightly apart, reaching out to Hermione and screamed in sing-song, "So, give me a sign!"
I leapt, my shoes tapping, the shock of several hundred shoes tapping, too, rumbling after mine. I kept my arms near my side, only to point firmly at Hermione with my right hand, flipping Weasley-red out of my sight when my hair fell in front of my face as I did so in a maddening expression and squint.
"Hit me baby one more time!"
A thunderous sound of textbooks dropping struck in one concentrated accent, terminating quickly to utter silence. We all stayed still in our final postures until I heard Hermione laugh audibly, the annoying voice of Harry laughing too. They ran off down a connecting corridor leaving me in my breathless, heart-lost state.
A bell rang and everyone scattered, securing the belongings they dropped and rushed off around me to their destinations. Some went into classrooms for lessons while others ran off in the direction of the moving staircases.
I'd planted myself, dropping to my knees with a sigh when it was all over. Scrambling, I gathered the books and notes I'd slung on the floor together in some mish-mash of disorganization and ran off where the rest had left me for the stairwell, the smack of my heels the only noise to be heard in the end.
They were serving the most horrendous cabbage and bean soup. It was soup, I hoped, stirring the concoction that looked like I'd destroyed something inside my cauldron during Potions. A bubble of lime green popped, expulsing this odor that made me wrench. Of course, when I looked down the line of the Gryffindor table I saw Ronald lapping it up like some underfed dog.
Gross.
God, and I'm related to him…
I pushed the bowl away, what little taste buds fading as my stomach lurched from a rancid onion-like odor. Katie sat to the right of me. She busily read the Prophet and its lies, absentmindedly chomping some apple to the core. Cho sat to my left, looking in the same state of disgust as I had with a similar bowl of the soup in front of her. She held her hand over her nose and mouth and prodded the side of the bowl away.
The stuff had to be hazardous and needed to be carted away as soon as possible.
I knew exactly where Hermione would be sitting. I'd watch her from the corner of my eye come in through the Great Hall doors if I were here early and sit in the three seats reserved for our "Triumphant Trio". Seamus, Dean, and Oliver all sat around them. It was like this clique that only a privileged few could get into by means of risking your very life. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I hadn't found the time to jump in front of a bullet and remained at bay… Or, so I told myself.
I sighed, slipping down to tabletop where my chin met my folded hands. I peeked down the line again to see Hermione leaning into Harry as they spoke. She looked at him in such a way that made my blood boil and skin crawl. I was jealous. Yes, I was jealous. I wanted Harry out of the picture. I wanted Hermione to look at me the way she was gazing at him. They breathed each other's breath for Christ's sake. God! It infuriated me. Who needs Voldemort when you have a red-headed monster meters away?
"Whatcha looking at, Weasel?" It was Cho's voice. Katie was still caught up in some frivolous article on the yellowed print.
"…What do you think," I sighed, mourning secretly for my heart as it died when I saw, and then heard, Hermione giggle at something terribly stupid Harry had to have said.
It was Harry-he wasn't funny the least.
His jokes were worst than Ronald's, and that's saying something.
Simply outrageous.
Cho patted my back. I didn't take my eyes off the beauty with her vibrantly cinnamon eyes.
"Cheer up," Cho exclaimed, seeking to appeal to me as a friend. She sort of shook me, but I didn't bother turning to her if she wanted me.
"I say," Katie piped in. She made me flinch, the little witch all quietly eavesdropping. Katie then turned her head to face me. "I say you walk right down there and ask her."
"It's going to eat you alive if you don't," Cho added with enthusiasm. "So, go!"
She pushed on me.
I leaned up erect. "But, what do I say?"
I glanced between them, resuming after a pause, "I don't want to look like some moronic wanker. Merlin knows I wouldn't want to steal Ronald's true talent."
Cho's face dropped, that enthusiasm in her expression falling, "Uhh… You go up and ask her politely if you could speak with her privately-"
"And then, you shuffle your tiny arse right on out of here," continued Katie from Cho.
My eyes went to Katie.
"And pop the question!" Cho made a popping noise with her tongue. "Easy."
My face flipped back to Cho.
"Simple." I'd flicked my head back and forth between Katie and Cho's banter that the world started spinning.
"Durr…" Cho tapped the empty space where the bowl used to be on the table. "Knock on wood."
"Let's go!" Katie began to rise and pulled me along.
"Hey!" I shouted, feeling Cho assist in standing me up.
"I'll save you some of this incredible soup for later," Cho gave me another push when I was on my feet. I faced the Gryffindor line, and Hermione about ten people in.
Katie started me going with a pull.
I couldn't believe what I was doing
Me. Ginevra. Female. Hermione.
Hermione. Me. Ginevra.
I thought every single eye in the Great Hell watched me.
I felt like a dunderhead, a fool for thinking this would work, that Hermione Granger would ever accept my invitation to go to the Yule Ball. She obviously fancied Harry and everyone knew that. I heard Ronald complain consistently about the subject of the "Trio" actually being the "Duo".
It'd drive me into a headache!
I wanted none of it!
Overwhelmed, I stopped, turned around, and started back the way I came in posthaste. I could feel the flush of my cheeks, but then halted once more at the faces of my two girlfriends egging me on with their thumbs up. They shooed me to turn back around and I breathed deep, exhaling, trying to relax.
One step forward.
That isn't hard.
Three steps… I'm doing okay… She's so beautiful…
Eight steps… I can smell her…
Eleven… Only one step away…
The inside of my mouth dried. My throat quenched of thirst.
I heard Hermione's horribly cute giggle, saw her toss her long locks of hair that captivated all of my attention, and saw Harry "accidentally" brush his fingers along her hand as it lay stationary on the table. They hadn't even noticed, nor did I think it happened by accident… I was stone. I was too young to have a hot flash, but it happened. The room swirled. I nearly dropped, fainting, but this obscene anger riled within me.
I was on the other side of Harry in a second, a few centimeters from his face, striking out my words like a cobra, "Harry is a friend… Yeah, he's been a good friend of mine…"
My eyes went to Hermione, speaking softer, "But, lately something's changed that isn't hard to define…"
I was on the opposite side of Harry instantly, at the same distance, biting the air between us and smelling his annoyingly pleasant cologne, "…Harry's got himself a girl and I want to make her MINE!"
Appearing beside Hermione, I laid my head on her shoulder as she continued to talk their chit-chat, "And, she's watching him with those eyes…"
Taking mental pictures, glimpsing from the side at all of Hermione's features, her figure, her insanely attractive feminine framework, "…And, she's loving him with that body, I just know it!"
Jerking my head, squinting at Harry, lashing at him, "And, he's holding her in his arms late, late at night!"
I took the bowl from Ron's disgusting face, Ron moving onto another as if I hadn't done a thing, and stepped one giant step onto the Gryffindor table. I dumped the cabbage and bean soup atop Harry's head, the lime green oozing down that stupid mullet of his.
I kicked his lunch aside, singing with the balanced beat of a thousand feet stomping, mimicking drums, "You know, I wish I had Harry's girl! I wish I had Harry's girl!"
Tipping over his pumpkin juice with the heel of my shoe, the orange splattered and stained his crimson and gold tie, his white school shirt soaking the hue with ease, "Where can I find a woman like that?!"
I lay between them with my knees bent at right angles, atop the table, the space now emptied. Hermione dazzled me, glancing at her grin, seeing her smile, the faint, natural rose in her cheeks, "I played along with the charade… That doesn't seem to be a reason to change…"
Departing from my gaze, I shot back at Harry in a snarl, a grimace, "…You know, I feel so dirty when you all start talking cute…"
I went back, smiling at Hermione's smile, but her eyes on Harry, "I want to tell her that I love her-"
I turned, snapping at Harry, "But, the point is probably MOOT!"
I was back between Katie and Cho, a stainless silver tray in my hands. Combing the flaming red of my hair with my free hand, I peered at my reflection, "And, I'm looking in the mirror all the time, wondering what she don't see in me…"
I eyed Cho, swiveling on my rear, my voice eager, "I've been funny. I've been cool with the lines-"
I flipped around to Katie who stomped, clapped, and shook the Great Hall with everyone else. I questioned, "Isn't that the way love's supposed to be?"
I was behind the podium, on stage of the Great Hall, encircled by members of the Hogwarts' student paper awaiting me to say something for their headline. I looked down at my notecards and saw, scribbled one right after the other the same sentence.
I pointed at them, waving my arm around to each and every one of them, "I want Harry's girl!"
I slammed my fist down on the podium, pointing off into the dining room where Hermione sat, "I want! I want Harry's girl!"
Flakes of snow plummeted from the upper reaches of the pillared-roof of the Great Hall. My eyes there, I saw not the support beams, but a sky churning of sparkling ivory. When I dropped my gaze back down, the Hall had suddenly changed into one large ice sculpture. Dark blues and silver etched the walls and crawled up the columns. The candles had dispersed as well as the tables and everyone had on formal wear.
My hands went to grip the podium, but grabbed thin air. In front of me the podium had left a microphone kickstand, my wardrobe not of the uniform-kind but morphed into black leather pants and a white sleeveless shirt which read, "Team Hermione". I wore a S.P.E.W. badge proudly, chrome flecks upon my vermillion hair surrendering to gleaming off the brightened cerulean fires of various iced-over torches.
I took the microphone in hand, the kickstand falling toward me as I stepped forward. A band imitating my apparel played behind me, the strum of their guitars, the illustrated sound of drums helping the cacophonic melody linger.
I searched for Hermione mingling the crowd, but couldn't find her. I repeated the invisible tracing, recounting each soul in utterance to find my special someone. Nothing dazzled, everything felt bleak until the shining force of life struck silence in the room.
Hermione, wearing her periwinkle gown, traipsed from the outskirts. She came from the grand doorway. People let her through, separating if having to, to let her in. Everyone was present-and I mean everyone, including Dumbledore and Cedric Diggory.
And, of course Harry Potter done up in some handsome tuxedo.
He looked like a monkey.
Big ears.
Goofy smile.
His hand out to Hermione while she approached the center.
I shook my head.
I snapped my fingers.
I had enough of this.
From the crowd came Katie and Cho. They headed right for Harry, picking him up from under his arms and dragged him off to the trophy room. No one seemed to notice this, nor the screaming or the fighting he displayed. I smiled when they shut the door behind and gazed back out at my gorgeous girl.
The drummer clapped his stick together, and then began.
The guitarists followed suit.
A light from the sky landed on Hermione, accentuating her beauty in glow.
Stagelights shined on me while the rest of the Great Hall fell into shadows.
My lips to the microphone, my eyes never leaving Hermione, I felt the red handkerchief on my wrist slide down my forearm as I signaled the start of the song with a nod on the side.
"Ohh…," I moaned into the mic, smiling back at Hermione's smile. "I don't hardly know her…"
My voice settled smoothly, soft. "…But, I think I can love her."
The base guitars grated their strings in a steady six pattern, the drummer lightly hitting in the silence between each grind.
"Crimson and clover…," I found myself mouthing so quietly I felt as if we were the only two. I'd dreamed of making love with her and the sound, so secretive, so whisper-like, was the subtly I wished to converse with after such a magnificent deed.
"And, when she comes walking over… I've been waiting to show her…," The shine of my hair glittered, weaving my head slightly to the beat. I didn't blink. I don't think I breathed either, scared if I did one or the other she'd fade away.
"Crimson and clover-over and over-!" The drummer picked up the pace at which the sticks collided. The loudness of the guitars amplified into a furry. I leapt off the stage in a hurry, the snowflakes like shards of glass bringing crystallized sparkle within the Hall.
My low-tops squeaked only a bit with the rush, a beeline to Hermione. I didn't have to push my way through, the bodies removing themselves, spreading into halves from the stage. I grabbed Hermione's hand the moment I could, circling, twisting her form as I rounded a step. She swirled with me, our hands together, our figures matched in flashes of dance.
She kicked her heel up, and I did as well, hearing her laughter brought an even bigger grin to my face. We spun, our feet quick and never nudging. I felt her warmth, and it felt good. I smelled that vanilla scent always upon her, nearly salivating by the aroma. Her eyes bright, the lithe fairy came to me when I pulled her, slowing down our step when the music lessened in rate.
I had one of her hands in mine, the other finding her small waist while she clung onto my shoulder. Our hips were together. Our heads, our sight at the same height. I could see the ever-so-slight freckles on her nose. I could feel her tepid breath rise in temperature…like mine. Gently I moved her in slow dance.
"Yeah…" I sighed. Like a flower, she was so delicate in my arms.
"…I wanna do everything…," I winked and her eyes widened.
She let on that knowing smirk.
"What a beautiful feeling…," I moved in, tilting my head to the side.
She needed to be kissed.
My reddened lips aside her naturally pink, I sighed into another, "Crimson and clover…"
I went to kiss her-
"Gin."
My grip was lost.
I opened my eyes to see Hermione's face fade into fumes of white smoke.
I grasped at the smoke in fright and felt nothing.
The music ended.
The Great Hall and all its spectators vanished.
I was left in darkness…only to reopen my eyes and see Neville. He knelt by the sofa where I sprawled out on. I wasn't drunk, going almost twenty-four hours without alcohol. I wasn't high. Neville had flushed any marijuana he got his hands on down the toilet; though, one might think I was by the…dream?
I remembered waking up from our bedroom when the shower came on. He worked nights and was about to leave. I think I wanted to meet him before he left for the Ministry, but I found more solace on the sofa cushions than in my own bed. I had my arms wrapped tightly around a pillow. I blinked at him, feeling his hand on my stomach while I stretched, wiggling.
I put a smile on, seeing him beside me.
"I didn't want to leave without letting you know," Neville kissed my forehead. He ran his thumb where the bangs of my hair hung. "Did you want me to pick up any breakfast?"
I shook my head "No" in answer.
"Okay," He lightly kissed my lips. "I put a lasagna in the oven. Just turn the dial to two hundred twenty for a half hour."
He stroked the side of my face, my hair cascading from the sofa. "You really are lovely…" His voice had a certain roughness to it.
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.
He kissed my cheek, hearing him get off the floor.
"I'll see you tonight" was the last thing he said before migrating to the exit and apparating by his tenuous pop.
I was glad he wasn't telepathic.
But my happiness came with a cost, and I felt guilt-ridden like the rest of these days, weeks.
I rolled over, grasped the pillow once more and fell back to sleep.
I sought for that white smoke again.
{Songs in order of appearance: Colbie Caillat - Falling For You; Britney Spears - One More Time; Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl; Joan Jett (cover) - Crimson and Clover}
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