Chapter 6
The last time Hermione woke up with an extreme hangover, she was naked. Thankfully, this time when she woke up she was in a soft nightgown with one of the fluffiest blankets she had ever seen wrapped around her. The sound of snoring briefly frightened her, but when she found the source of the noise it was Harry sleeping peacefully on the other end of the couch. His hair was splayed in all directions in typical Harry fashion, and despite her headache, she found herself smiling at the man.
When it was just the two of them during the Horcrux hunt, Hermione often found herself unable to sleep. Even though she was exhausted, she could never settle when it was just being the two of them. She frequently just stared at Harry while he was sleeping. It was often the only time she ever saw him relaxed during that time. When awake, he was constantly tense and was never without a crease between his brows. Watching him sleep was one of the only things that helped Hermione feel calm during those nights.
When she looked away from Harry, she noticed a vial of a hangover potion with a note tucked beside it. Hermione quickly took the potion and grabbed the note to read it.
Mione,
Ran out to grab some breakfast from the place Harry likes a few blocks away. He always craves it when he drinks too much.
Don’t worry, there will be food for you as well.
Gin
Hermione placed the note back down and stood to use the bathroom. Harry briefly shifted when she stood, but he burrowed back into the pillow under his head and resumed snoring.
After returning from the bathroom, Hermione heard rustling in the kitchen and assumed Ginny was back from getting breakfast. When she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by the familiar redhead and her brother with her.
“Hey, ‘Mione.” Ron offered her a sheepish smile. She briefly smiled back before turning her attention to the spread of breakfast food on the table.
“Wow, did Molly open a restaurant close by?” Ginny barked a laugh and placed a to-go cup of coffee in front of her. Hermione thanked her but then pointed at her friend.
“Gin, did you even have any conversations with that man you set me up with?” Ron’s eyebrows flew up at her question, and he looked between the two women.
“Yes, they were just in passing though. He seemed nice enough.”
“He has over 10 house elves because he keeps buying more when they cannot replicate the recipes his childhood elf made. And he hasn’t even heard about giving elves a proper wage!”
Ginny cringed at her words, “Ok, ok. I will do some more research before the next one.”
“Please. I cannot sit through a conversation like that. If I wanted a terrible date, I would finally give Cormac a chance.”
“Cormac giving you issues again?” Ron looked up from his breakfast platter to look at her with concern. Hermione smiled at him and shook her head.
“Nothing I can’t handle. Our departments just overlap a lot these days.”
“Aight, if he gives you too much trouble let Harry and I know. We can straighten him out.”
“Yeah, if straightening him out means leering over him until he threatens to call his father, Hermione is in the clear!” Ginny said, pumping a fist sarcastically. Ron rolled his eyes at his little sister while Hermione struggled to hold in her laugh.
“I am fine, trust me. No need to go all big brother on me, Ron.”
“And that definitely wouldn’t work, considering Hermione is much older and wiser.” Harry rounded the corner as he spoke, rubbing his eyes before placing his glasses back on his nose.
“Potter! You live!” Ginny exclaimed. Harry winced and silently sat down and started enjoying his breakfast.
“No ‘thank you’ Potter? I thought the Dursleys had at least taught you some manners.”
“Thank you, and I am far too hungover for you to bring up the Dursleys right now.”
Hermione smiled as she looked around the table. She felt nostalgic, them all sitting around the table at Grimmauld Place. It made her feel like they were young and only slightly touched by the war. She missed those children, sometimes.
Bringing herself back to the present, she turned her attention to her former boyfriend.
“How is Jo? You seem to be in good spirits, so is everything going well.”
“Everything is going fine, thank you. I want to hear about this date you went on last night.” Ron said with a lopsided grin. Hermione rolled her eyes and dropped her head into her hands.
“Ugh, he was awful. Unbelievably narcissistic, he went on and on about his childhood house elves and how he hadn’t found a good one. When I asked what wage he provided them, he looked at me like I had grown a second head.”
“Oh Gin, did you set her up with Malfoy?”
“More like childhood swot Malfoy. At least now Malfoy has some morals.”
Harry finally looked up from his plate, and when Hermione looked at her friend some color was finally back into his face.
“I can help Gin with screening next time. Make sure the guy isn’t a swot.” Hermione patted her friend on his arm at the suggestion and turned her attention back to the female redhead.
“If the next one is that bad, I will send you a howler.”
“Noted.”
-
When Hermione finally flooed home, the effects of the hangover were coming back in full force. She felt immediately faint upon arrival and she quickly sat on her small couch. Abernathy greeted her with a faint meow, and the large feline jumped onto her lap and nuzzled into her neck.
“Yes, Abey. I’ll feed you right away.” Once she felt the stirring in her head settle, she put a can of wet food into the food bowl as quickly as she could muster. She entered her bedroom with full intention of crashing down but was greeted with the abundance of clothes Melody had left in her apartment. Instead of clearing off the bed, she laid facedown on the fabric and took a few deep breaths.
Standing made the spinning return with the accompaniment of nausea. She suddenly regretted the potatoes she had scarfed down with her friends. She weakly summoned some water to sip on and continued to take deep breaths to will her hangover away.
It was going to be a long day.
Hermione must have dozed off because she jolted awake when someone poked her cheek.
“Wow, boss. Someone must’ve had a memorable evening.” Melody said with a wide grin. Hermione groaned and shoved her face into the bed.
“I am never drinking ever again.”
“I second that, because you are drooling on my clothes.” Hermione rolled off the garments scattered on her bed with a mumbled apology. She reached for her wand that had made its way to the floor and with a quick wave the clothes were drool-free.
“Wanna talk about your date?” Hermione just shot a look at her co-worker.
“Whew, that bad, huh? Now I understand why you look like you got kicked by a giant, no offense.”
“Offense taken.”
“Maybe I can set you up next time! Oh, I’ve got just the bloke, Hermione! And, he doesn’t work in the ministry, so no chance for awkward encounters if another date goes in the pot!”
“Wow, you make it sound as if I was the problem.”
“I’m sure you were a delight, men are always the problem,” Melody said as she folded her clothes neatly. Hermione scoffed and sat up to help her friend.
“Says the married one.”
“Brooks is the exception, not the rule. My dear friend, we will find you your exception!” Melody pumped a fist and scooped up her folded clothes. With a wink, she turned and exited her apartment before Hermione could say a word of protest.
She forced herself to stand due to her stomach roaring with hunger. When she stumbled out to the kitchen, she was greeted with the sight of Melody’s pastries on her island counter.
“Merlin, Brooks is a lucky man.”
-
The full-sized mirror Hermione owned was not used often, so standing in front of it was not usually what she did before attending Molly’s Sunday lunch. She found herself there, however, periodically smoothing her top down. She decided to wear a pair of cream linen pants with a soft orange tank top since the May weather had been so beautiful.
Not because she was going to be seeing a certain redhead.
Her thoughts had continued to wander to Fred. She had remembered most of the evening they had spent together, and despite the rough nature of some of their encounter, her thoughts revolved around the sweeter moments they had.
The first time he kissed her that evening, for example. He had cradled her head in his hands and whispered so softly to ask her permission. Even after she willingly gave it, he kissed her slowly and softly. As if he was taking all of her in at first.
Hermione shook her head and turned her gaze away from her mirror. The redness on her cheeks was only because Melody left that blush for her and she used it, right?
Merlin, Ginny was right. She needed to get laid.
She needed to get her thoughts off Fred. The thought of seeing him today sent her heart into her stomach. Before reaching for the floo powder, she squatted down and gave Abernathy a scratch on his favorite place behind his ears.
“Any advice, Abey boy?”
He responded with a content meow and nuzzled her softly.
“You’re right. All I need is you, boy. And maybe some red wine later.”
Giving the cat a farewell pat on the head, she stood and finally grabbed the green powder. She took a deep breath, it was only Fred. There were going to be so many Weasleys there, she didn’t even need to speak to him if she could avoid him.
“The Burrow!”
When she exited the fireplace, her stomach flipped and she placed a hand over her mouth. As a child, the floo would make her queasy but it hadn’t in a while. She took some deep breaths and it subsided. It was probably just remnants of her hangover, the firewhiskey still somewhere in her system.
“Hermione!” Molly’s curls bounced as she reached to wrap her arms around her. Hermione gave the matriarch a tight hug, and when she pulled back Molly placed both of her hands on the side of her face.
“We missed you last week, dear. Only Percy and Penelope are here so far, my prompt ones! They’re in the kitchen helping me with the meal.”
“Do you need another set of hands?” Even though she was dreadful at cooking, she always tried to help Molly in any way she could. Usually, this was just chopping vegetables or setting the table due to her burning some sides on previous occasions.
“No, dear, we are almost done.” Hermione greeted the couple when she walked into the kitchen, and she took her normal seat at the table. They made small talk until Molly handed her the place settings, but she directed her to the garden to set up.
“It would be a shame not to take advantage of this beautiful sun, so I had Percy set up the outside table when he got here.”
The table was set and Hermione was helping bring the food out to the table as the rest of the family arrived. Everyone was sitting down to eat as the twins arrived in their normal late fashion, and Hermione felt her cheeks warm as Fred’s smile directed toward her.
Luckily, she sat between Ginny and Ron that day. Her newly fixed friendship with Ron had a lot of perks, and one of them was avoiding sitting next to Fred.
“Ron, dear. When are you bringing Jo to lunch? She was such a delight to meet at the banquet. I really want to know more about her.”
“Mum, we haven’t even been together for that long. I don’t want to overwhelm her with the whole family.”
“She’s already met all of us! I’ll invite her Mum, don’t worry.” Ginny said, throwing a glance at her older brother. Ron simply rolled his eyes at his sister’s words and assured his mother that she would come to brunch soon. Hermione was able to avoid Fred’s gaze for the most part until he directed a question at her.
“What do you think of the perfume, Hermione? We need a review from our most loyal customer.”
“I’m sure your most loyal customer is a ten-year-old boy who terrorizes his parents, but I do like it. Wasted a few spritzes of it on Friday, but I think Melody might come by to get some!”
“Wow, have you turned a new leaf, Min? Didn’t take you for the lady-lover type.” Hermione’s jaw dropped when she understood what he was insinuating.
“She helped me get ready for my date on Friday! That’s how she smelled the perfume. Honestly, maybe you’re the ten-year-old.”
“Oh, Min, I’m messing with you,” He looked around briefly before muttering his next words just to her, “I know you are definitely into men.”
Hermione’s cheeks immediately warmed and she looked away from Fred. She muttered a quick sentence about going to use the bathroom and practically ran into the burrow. Taking the steps two at a time, she then locked herself into the washroom on the second floor.
The look Fred had given her. She immediately thought again of the night they had spent together and she needed to get away from him. Even though they agreed to stay friends, there was some part of her that knew everything was different now. She couldn’t get him out of her head.
Splashing some cold water on her face, she willed the thoughts to go away. She could not be thinking of her ex-boyfriend's brother this way. It had just been a while since she had been with someone, that was all. That was the only reason her thoughts kept going back to him.
To the freckles that dotted his cheeks. His dimples that were slightly deeper on his right cheek.
She took a deep breath and stared at herself. She had to pull it together. She just needed to shag someone new again. It would fix these thoughts for sure.
When she finally returned to the table, the twins had disappeared and some of the other Weasley children were giving their goodbyes to the matriarch. Ginny suggested that the remaining adults play a round of quidditch, so Hermione kindly excused herself and thanked Molly for the meal before leaving.
When she got home, she forced herself to immerse herself in a book. While her thoughts swirled with images of a classic romance, she couldn’t help but see a certain redhead in the handsome love interest of her novel.
She just needed another good shag. That was all it was, just a shag.