Triangulate

Hermione's world stopped as her eyes met Harry's. Brown and blue, the sky and the earth colliding. Her heartbeat began to beat in her neck and suddenly it got too hot and hard to breathe. She felt a smile spread across her face, seeing nothing but the man whom she'd followed to the ends of the earth at first for ideology, then friendship, then because wherever he went, he took her heart with him.

Harry went up to her, and she felt her eyes widen with eager anticipation. Harry looked at her as though he were seeing her for the first time. She tilted her head, her smile getting broader if that was even possible. She brushed a curly strand of hair behind her ear, batted her eyelashes at him, repressed the urge to twirl to show off her dress to him. How did he manage to bring out the woman in her that she didn't even know was part of her?

"Hello," she said, wishing desperately to have said something witty instead. Something to make him fall in love on the spot.

Harry's smile was incredulous, and his emerald eyes sparkled in the light of the thousand fireflies Hermione only then noticed were whizzing around the room. She stared at him, unblinking, imprinting the memory to her brain.

"Hermione," Harry said.

"Do you find me beautiful now?" she trilled, giggling, blushing.

"Hermione," Harry said, touching her shoulder and caressing it gently. "You've always looked beautiful."

His warm touch startled Hermione; Harry seemed to notice what he had unwittingly done and withdrew his hand. She missed his touch immediately; the spot he had grazed with his fingers suddenly felt cold without it.

"Ahem…" Harry said, clearing his throat. "I'm – I guess I should find Ginny."

It was as though someone had poured cold water over Hermione's head. The magical moment popped like a soap bubble. Why did she have to get startled? Wasn't his touch what she craved, anyway? Why was she so afraid of her own feelings?

He had more power over her than she had self-control, she realized as she watched him walk off into the crowd. There was no telling what she might do for him next, as she would have given her life for him, had come close to it on numerous occasions during their official seventh year where they had been off hunting Horcruxes to put an end to Voldemort's reign of terror over the wizarding world.

Finally, Harry disappeared into the crowd completely. Hermione chided herself for being so afraid after braving her fate for so long. Hermione, the girl who wasn't afraid of anything but love. Her love for that one boy. The Boy Who Lived.

"Granger," drawled a voice. "I just can't believe it's you."

"Neither can I," Hermione snapped. "What do you want?"

"I noticed you checking Lover Boy out," Malfoy said, pointing to Harry who had since met up with Ginny. They were far away, but Hermione could still make out that Ginny's eyes were red, and Harry was caressing her shoulders in consolation. Hermione gulped hard, swallowing the bile rising up her throat. "What do you see in Saint Potter anyway? He wouldn't know how to treat you right, anyway."

"He defeated the Dark Lord," Hermione snapped. "So I think he knows what to do with his wand better than you, Malfoy."

Malfoy raised his eyebrows then burst into incredulous laughter. "You really are the brightest witch of your age, Granger. The wittiest, too."

"Do you want something I could be interested in?" Hermione snapped. "Right now, you're just wasting my time."

"Hey, you owe me at least as much time as the amount I spent trying to get your silencing charm off me. I tried to flirt with Astoria Greengrass – the hottie over there," Malfoy said, pointing to a tall, pale and raven-haired beauty clad in emerald and silver. "But I was just opening and closing my mouth without making a goddamn noise, like some goddamn fish."

"Did the House Elves not teach you not to swear in society, Malfoy?"

Malfoy laughed again. "Wow, Granger, I'm actually enjoying this conversation. Who would have thought?"

"That makes one of us," Hermione said, and her eyes travelled briefly to Ginny and Harry, now kissing under the mistletoe. "Excuse me," she said, "I now have to go vomit."

Malfoy cried out after her, but she already had her back turned to him, walking away and disappearing into the crowd. After talking briefly with each of her friends, she took refuge in the corridor, taking off her painful high heels and crying silently into the palms of her hands, behind which she hid her pain.

Suddenly, there was a tap on her shoulder.

"May I sit?" Cormac McLaggen asked.

Hermione looked up from her palms, baring her tear-stricken cheeks, sniffling miserably. She considered him and deemed his company better than her solitude.

"Sit," she said coldly.

McLaggen smiled; this was invitation enough for him. "Who are you crying about?"

"Does it have to be a who? Can't it be a what?"

"The evil in the wizarding world has been defeated. What would there be to cry about?" McLaggen asked.

Hermione looked at him again, as though seeing him for the first time. His beautiful blond curls, his warm brown eyes, his full lips and bright smile. That, coupled with his deep, suave voice and perfectly fitted dress robes gave him an air of sophistication and old money charm.

"I can't find anything wrong with your reasoning," Hermione said at last, eying the bottle of Butterbeer in his hands.

"Do you want some?" McLaggen asked.

Hermione nodded. Anything to take the edge off. Her thoughts remained overactive, and she needed to dull them until she could feel happy again. Even if only for a moment.

She took a sip.

"Wow," McLaggen said. "You can really hold your liquor."

"Sorry," Hermione said, handing him back his bottle half-empty. "I can get you a new one…"

"No need," McLaggen said, looking deep into her eyes. "I've got everything I need right here."

Hermione smiled. After all, if everybody was coupled up and she hadn't kissed anyone since Krum, wasn't she allowed to move on? The rest of her friend group had, in any case. And she had the same rights.

"Really?" she asked, smiling coyly.

McLaggen seemed to notice the change in her demeanor; the way she angled herself towards him, the way she smiled and batted her eyelashes at him… There were only so many signs a girl could give before she was considered desperate.

"Really," McLaggen said, and Hermione saw that he needed to restrain himself to not stake his claim on her there and then. Being wanted so made her heartbeat accelerate, but she could still keep her head on, unlike with… "And you know what you can do to get back at the one who's got you crying like this?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow, smiling smugly, as though awed by his own wit.

"What?" Hermione asked, her smile turning into a grin.

"Make them jealous," McLaggen said, making Hermione laugh.

Her positive reaction was the last straw that made the dam of his desire overflow; he leaned forwards, cupping her cheeks softly, and began to pull her in for a kiss…