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Second Chances	By : ShigeSato Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > Het - Male/Female Views: 2964 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings or named spells/objects in the Harry Potter franchise. They are the intellectual property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I make no profit from this story.

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"GRYFF-IN-DOR! GRYFF-IN-DOR! GRYFF-IN-DOR!"
The chanting became unbearable as Ginny and her teammates were foisted into the Gryffindor common room upon the shoulders of the crowd. Of course they'd won. Ginny was one of the best Chasers that Hermione had honestly ever seen – although she didn't know much about Quidditch, she could certainly tell that – and even though they had lost Harry as Seeker, the rest of the team had rallied together around the new girl who had replaced him, and they'd beaten Hufflepuff 310-80.
Ginny dropped to the floor and ran up to hug Hermione. "Thanks for the support out there."
"Always," Hermione smiled back at her friend.
"Right, now that's that, I have to shower and change, quick!" Ginny proclaimed, "I've got an important date tonight!"
"Have you?" Hermione questioned, following her into the girls' dorm and sitting on her bed as the noise of the crowd behind them receded. The party in the Room of Requirement was tonight, so she was surprised Ginny was blowing it off to go and see a guy.
"Of course! You invited Blaise to the damn party!" Ginny called out from the bathroom. "Now I have to actually make an effort, and put on make up, and wear a nice dress…do you realise how much stress your little bout of altruism has caused me?"
Hermione laughed. "He's seen you a million times around school. What's different about tonight?"
"Tonight," Ginny called, "we're actually hanging out. He's going to talk to me, up close, and I can't look like-" she popped her head round the door and circled a hand over her face, "-this."
"Gin, I don't think it'll really matter whether you turn up with half a ton of make-up on or in your Quidditch robes. Either he likes you or he doesn't," Hermione replied evenly. "Getting to know someone is about learning what they're all about, not what they look like. He knows that already."
"Oh, stop being so pragmatic and so…you about it," Ginny sighed. "I don't need to know him. I just need to snog him."
Hermione frowned. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, it's so…"
Ginny emerged from the bathroom with a towel around her and sat on the bed next to Hermione. "Look," she said, "I did the knowing him thing. I did it with Harry for seven years. He was all I wanted. When we got together and it wasn't how I thought…well, maybe it's time for some other tactics. I want to get Harry out of my mind, and so this time I'm following my instincts instead of my head. Does that make sense?"
Hermione nodded. She hadn't thought of it that way. What possible better way to forget someone than to go after someone who was their exact opposite in every way? "You're right, Gin."
"Maybe you could use some more instinct in your life as well," Ginny remarked, moving over towards the mirror. "You do everything with your head. Let it rest for a night. Go with the flow."
"There's just nobody I even like like that," Hermione protested.
"Is that because there's nobody there, or you just weren't looking?" Ginny questioned, and Hermione let it hang in the air. Honestly, she didn't know. After all, when she actually, really took a moment to notice – well, she'd seen the handsomeness behind Blaise's smile, and she'd noted how good Theo had looked the other morning, and honestly, Seamus had a sort of ruggedness about him now…
She sighed. "You're going to cause me to fail my exams, aren't you?"
"I'd never," Ginny replied with a cheeky smile, "but I might just help you lose your virginity along the way."
Hermione spluttered. Half indignantly, half resignedly, she replied, "No need, thanks, your brother saw to that."
"With Ron? Really?" Ginny asked, flopping down on the bed next to her friend again. "OK, I have to hear about this story."
Hermione groaned and put her head in her hands. "It was a stupid idea. We weren't really…hitting it off, it was all sort of awkward, and Ron thought that it was maybe because we just saw each other as friends. So his genius idea was to have sex, and then once we'd seen each other naked it might ignite the chemistry a bit more."
"You went along with that?" the ginger girl asked incredulously.
"I mean…" Hermione faltered. "I really thought things could work with Ron. It was like you and Harry, you know, we were just supposed to be together, it was how it was…I'd probably have tried anything to save our relationship at that point. Needless to say, the sex was just as awkward as the rest of it, and about a week later we called it quits."
Ginny burst into a peal of laughter. "Wow. Okay, I think I've figured out why you don't care about boys. Trust me, when the sparks are there with the right one, you'll feel it. You'll want it. Just promise me you won't be all Hermione about it and reason yourself out of something before it's even begun, OK?"
"I promise," Hermione replied, secretly thinking this was all nonsense anyway. There wasn't even anyone she liked. She'd probably spend most of this evening supervising Ginny and Blaise, or trying to convince people to talk to the Slytherins. Or helping Neville while he threw up all his Firewhiskey, that was what she usually did.
Later that night, the two girls stood in the Room of Requirement, laughing and talking with Neville, Luna (her lacy dress replete with owl feathers), and Seamus. Though Ginny and Luna weren't technically eighth-years, they had been included in all of these parties, because they were as much a part of the group, or more so, than others. Hermione cast a glance around the room, sipping her Butterbeer, and saw Dean and Parvati getting very friendly on the sofa, whilst Anthony Goldstein, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Padma Patil cheered and took shots of Firewhiskey behind them. There were other conversations going on around the room, as well, but it was getting to that point in time where everyone was pleasantly tipsy and you could feel the buzz.
Abruptly, though, the atmosphere dropped, and Hermione knew only one thing could have caused it. She looked over at the entrance and sure enough, the snakes had arrived. Blaise had brought almost all of them with him – Goyle, who made a beeline for the alcohol, Theo, who looked somewhat uncomfortable and shuffled his feet, Malfoy, who looked disinterested at best and kicked his feet against the floor, Millicent Bulstrode who tried to awkwardly hide behind Blaise, and lastly Pansy, who stepped forward and glared. The boys were all dressed up very smartly in oxfords and brogues, and both Pansy and Millicent had beautiful long dresses on. Blaise looked confident as his eyes found Hermione, and he proffered her the bottle of Firewhiskey he'd brought along.
"Ogden's Finest," he proclaimed, handing it to her as she went to greet them.
"Thanks," she replied with a grin. "You all look really nice."
"Yes, well, some of us actually dress up for special occasions, Granger," came the contemptuous voice of Draco Malfoy from behind him. "Perhaps you should try it sometime, it might detract from that bird's nest on your head."
"Be nice," Blaise chided, but Hermione shook her head. He had called her Granger, that was an improvement on anything that had ever passed his lips before. "Come on in," she said, gesturing them past the door. "They're with me. After all, they're eighth-years too," she said to the room as a whole, and after some muttering and uncomfortable glances, some of the chatter resumed.
"Don't mind them. They'll come around," she said to Blaise.
"Shut up, Granger," Pansy snapped. "We're scum to them. I don't need to spend all night being looked down on."
"Perhaps if you weren't glaring at them, you'd make more friends," Blaise retorted snidely, and Pansy only glared harder.
"Out of my way," she said, and pushed past them to follow Goyle to the alcohol. Malfoy slunk after her, still looking disinterested, leaving her with Theo, Millicent and Blaise.
At that moment, Ginny popped up out of nowhere. "Is that Ogden's?"
"Yes," Hermione replied, handing her the bottle. "Ginny, this is-"
"Blaise Zabini," he interrupted her, holding out a hand to Ginny. "We've never been properly introduced. To be honest, neither have we, Hermione," he added, and she chuckled. Ginny shook his hand and introduced herself with a wide grin.
Blaise then turned to Hermione, and she shook his hand with a laugh. Taking his cue, Millicent stepped forward with a nervous smile. "I'm Millicent," she said, "but please call me Millie."
"Hi, Millie," Hermione said, really pleased with how this was going. "Hermione."
Theo cleared his throat and pulled at his beautiful black silk tie nervously. "Theodore Nott." He held out a hand to Hermione, and she shivered at the deep timbre of his voice. She'd never actually heard him speak before. She shook it with a smile. "Hi Theodore."
"Theo, please," he added. "Theodore feels so…formal."
"It's nice to properly meet you," she said, and meant it. So far, things were going well, at least with the ones she would have dubbed the 'reasonable' Slytherins.
Before long, she, Ginny and the three Slytherins had found a place to sit, and were chatting away about school and drinking some of the Firewhiskey they'd brought. It was nice, reflected Hermione, to talk to people she didn't already know – to have some new and interesting conversation, instead of already knowing everything there was to know, as she did about many people in her own house.
As the night progressed, Ginny and Blaise sat closer and closer together on the sofa, and Hermione didn't intervene. She knew her friend wouldn't thank her for it, and anyway, Ginny could take care of herself. She was glad that her friend's crush seemed to be working out. Based on Blaise's body language and the way he had an arm casually slung behind her shoulders, he found Ginny just as interesting as she found him.
She was startled by an arm suddenly being thrown over her shoulders, and looked to her right at the previously unoccupied space to see white-blond hair and a trademark smirk. "So, Granger," Malfoy began in an obnoxiously loud voice, clearly drunk, "what's it like to have an actual, physical bird's nest on your head? Enlighten us."
"I wouldn't know, Malfoy," she replied tartly, gently picking up his arm and placing it in his lap, "so I'm afraid I can't entertain us with that particular tidbit. Why don't you tell us what it's like being a ferret? I'm sure we'd all like to know."
He glared at her, slurring. "Fuck off, Granger. That was four years ago. Get some up-to-date insults or get out of my face."
"Actually, I was already here," she said, getting in his face even more, so close she could see the colour of his eyes. "So why don't you fuck off and get out of mine?"
"Oooohhhhh," chorused Blaise. "Didn't know you had claws, Hermione."
"There's a lot of things you probably don't know about me," she said with a hint of pride. She could be mysterious and interesting too.
"Why don't you enlighten us?" Malfoy cut in again, his words melding into one another. "Let's play a game of I Never Ever."
"Well, that sounds like fun," Ginny said, sitting up from under Blaise's arm. "I'm in."
"Yeah, why not," Theo said. He'd been quiet most of the evening, sitting to Hermione's left, leaning back against the wall and listening rather than talking. She wondered if this was what he was always like.
Millicent said nothing, so Hermione shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" She wanted to show that she could have fun, too, and she wasn't about to back down to Malfoy's obvious challenge.
Malfoy grinned like a wolf, then turned and called over his shoulder. "Oi! Shitheads!"
Pansy and Goyle turned from where they were sequestered away in a corner to look at him with obvious disdain. "Get over here, we're playing a game."
"What game's this?" Hermione heard a voice behind her, and Neville appeared, flanked by Luna and Seamus. She was grateful to see them. They must have decided to give the Slytherins a chance – either that, or they were checking she and Ginny hadn't got into trouble. Either way, she was happy they were there.
"We're playing I Never Ever," she announced proudly, aware that the buzz in the back of her head was getting stronger, and her decisions were definitely influenced by alcohol. "You in?"
"Hell yeah," Seamus said, sitting on the floor beside them. Neville shrugged and sat down, and Luna smiled her strange, dreamy smile and plopped herself next to him, feathers covering the floor, just as Pansy and Goyle arrived, sporting identical scowls, to complete the circle.
"Alright then," Malfoy began, pouring each of them a shot of Firewhiskey. "Let's really get this party started. Never have I ever streaked naked across the Quidditch pitch."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, figuring that nobody would be drinking, but Blaise glared at Malfoy and took a shot, muttering "Low blow, mate," – but astonishingly, so did Seamus, cheeks tinged pink from both alcohol and embarrassment.
"Finnigan?" Pansy asked with obvious surprise. "No way."
"It was a dare," he admitted. "Back in first year. Oliver Wood and them lot had a 'Scots club' which they invited me to, but there was this initiation test. I had to run across the pitch starkers while they threw Quaffles at me. Bloody club weren't worth it, it ended up disbanding in fifth year 'cause of Umbridge anyway."
Neville burst into laughter as he refilled Seamus's drink. "Oh Merlin, I remember that! You came in at midnight all bruised and bashed up, I thought you'd been out with Harry and Ron or something, they were always sneaking out. I wish I'd known, I'd have put Quaffles in your bed for a week!"
"Why'd you think I didn't say anything?" Seamus muttered, shaking his head.
"Alright, well, now we've kink-shamed Finnigan let's move on," Malfoy announced, as though he were the appointed game master. "Granger, you're up next."
Hermione thought for a moment. "Er…never have I ever…kissed someone in the library," she finished lamely, aware that it was a pretty pathetic turn but not really knowing what else to say on the spot. Pansy laughed derisively and down her drink, as did Blaise, Malfoy, Ginny, and – Luna? "Luna?"
"I was in there inspecting a Nargle infestation in the Restricted Section, and Argus Filch found me. I tried to explain what I was doing there but he wasn't listening and threatened to take me to the Headmaster. So I kissed him to distract him and then ran away," she explained blithely, as though it was the most normal thing in the world.
Ginny spat out her drink and Neville made a face. Hermione blinked, unsure what to say but also unsure what she'd expected from Luna in the first place. Malfoy looked equally stunned. "Eww! Filch? That's gross!" exclaimed Millie.
"It was the best idea at the time," Luna explained with a smile, unfazed by the reaction.
"Gross, gross, gross," Blaise announced, shuddering, and picked up his newly filled glass. "Alright, my turn. Never have I ever sneaked off castle grounds without permission."
Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and Neville all took a shot – their adventure to the Ministry in fifth year was well-known, after all – and unsurprisingly, so did Malfoy. Hermione supposed his task from Voldemort in sixth year might have had something to do with that.
There were no surprises there, so they moved on, getting steadily drunker and louder. Ginny slouched back into Blaise, almost cuddling him at this stage, and Seamus passed out on the floor after having to take four drinks in a row. Hermione was giggling uncontrollably, feeling very light-headed, and even Malfoy and Pansy had stopped frowning and started to smile. It was unusual to see Malfoy smiling, but it actually suited him, Hermione thought. If only he wasn't such a vile human, he'd be much better looking. She sighed into her drink at her train of thought, then immediately began giggling again. She'd never been this drunk before.
"Never have I ever…" began Millie, who was swaying dangerously on her seat, "had sex."
Hermione watched, curious, as Ginny, Blaise, Malfoy and Pansy took shots, then shrugged and knocked hers back as well. As awkward as her experience with Ron had been, she thought it counted. Audible gasps sounded from around her, and Malfoy snorted to her right. "The Golden Girl? You're kidding me."
"Was it Weasley?" Pansy asked, genuinely seeming interested.
"Yeah," Hermione admitted. It seemed better that it was someone she'd been in a relationship with, at least. "Just once," she added with a small shrug.
Malfoy burst into laughter. "Weasley managed to worm his way past the Iron Knickers? Alright, I owe someone five Galleons, but I can't remember who."
"Hey," Neville cut in, "don't be an ass, Malfoy."
"Come on Longbottom, you're not telling me you thought any different. Not really," Malfoy said derisively. "Everyone knows Granger is the most prudish girl in the school."
"Well, evidently not," Hermione cut in, desperate to stand up for herself. She didn't have to take this from him. She knew how most people in the school viewed her – bookish, unapproachable, prudish – but she wasn't really that way, she just focused on her studies and boys were a secondary concern. If anyone had asked, if anyone had noticed her, maybe they wouldn't see her that way at all. "Sometimes people aren't at all what they seem."
"No offence, Granger," Malfoy said rudely, "but it's not even that. I'm genuinely surprised anyone wanted to go near you in the first place, since you're not just the biggest prude in the school, but also the ugliest. Though, I suppose, it was Weasley, so he barely even counts."
That had done it. She wasn't about to take this lying down. The alcohol in her veins fuelled her courage, and she stood up, hands balled into fists. Ginny sat up, watching her nervously, and the rest of the group had fallen silent. "Fine, I haven't had much experience. You've probably had sex with everyone in your entire House, and I congratulate you on being a man-whore, Malfoy. But the one thing I can say is, unlike you, at least my partner wanted me for something other than my parents' money!"
Malfoy glared at her in fury. She'd crossed a line, and she almost gulped, but stood firm. He deserved this. He deserved this for everything he'd ever said to her, for everything he'd ever done, for all the insults and jabs and tricks and nastiness. She felt braver than she ever had. He raised a hand and it looked like he was about to slap her, but at the last second he narrowed his eyes and turned, stalking away and out of the Room of Requirement without a word.
Hermione let out a deep breath she didn't know she had been holding and looked at the rest of the group. Everyone seemed dumbstruck – even Ginny, who stared at her with wonder.
"Nobody's ever called him out on his bullshit like that before," remarked Pansy. "I'd better check he's alright." She got up and followed him out of the room, adjusting her green dress which was slightly off kilter, showing her bra strap underneath.
Blaise took a breath. "Well, I'd say that's enough of I Never Ever, wouldn't you? Who's up for a game of something else?"
While the others began to chat again, rousing Seamus who blinked blearily, Hermione chewed her lip. She was sober enough to remember that this had been her idea, that she wanted them all to get along, and there she was rising to Malfoy's taunts and throwing her inter-House unity idea out of the window. Suddenly, she didn't feel very good.
"Are you okay?" asked a deep voice beside her, and she raised her eyes to Theo's concerned face. He was sitting very close to her.
"Yeah," she muttered. "I just wish I hadn't said anything. I shouldn't've said anything…"
"Honestly," he said, hands running through his rumpled hair, "I think he had it coming. He's been dishing it out for years, he needs to learn how to take it. And what he said about you wasn't fair."
Hermione snorted. "Yes it was. Everyone knows I'm the hopeless, prudish, ugly bookworm, sitting alone in the library with her nose in a book and a stick up her ass."
Theo shrugged. "I never thought that about you. I don't think many of us did. If I'm being completely honest here – I'm pretty sure Malfoy only said all that stuff because he fancies you, and he's annoyed that someone else got there first."
"He fancies me? That's a laugh, he's never done anything but seek to ridicule me," Hermione replied. "It's not exactly like I've been unapproachable for all these years, is it?"
Theo sighed. "It's difficult for us. For purebloods. I mean, none of that shit matters right now, when we've just had a war over it," he admonished quickly at her sidelong glance, "but you have to understand what it's like. We can't just drop it all and do what we like. There are rules. You're a Muggle-born, and if even a whisper of that had got back to Draco's parents, well, being pulled out of school would have been the least of his troubles."
Hermione considered this. It was plausible. What wasn't plausible was the thought that Malfoy, blond-haired Prat of the Century, would ever find her in the slightest bit attractive. "I still don't believe you," she said finally. "There's just no way. He could have anyone."
"Except you," Theo pointed out with an arched brow. "And the grass is always greener, right? It's in our nature to want what we can't have." Hermione sat back in her seat, her mind reeling. "Of course, I'm not saying any of this to get you to act on it, or anything," Theo added quickly, his hand in his hair again, "but just so you don't feel bad. It's all just bluster and he doesn't mean a word of it."
"Thanks, Theo," Hermione said genuinely, and smiled at him. He was lovely. A lovely Slytherin. She hadn't thought there was such a thing. He smiled back, dark eyes twinkling, white oxford open casually at the neck, and her heart fluttered a little bit. Just like it had used to do when Ron smiled at her. Theo was really, really good-looking when he dressed up, and she found herself wishing she could take that shirt right off him and catch a glimpse of what was underneath. Oh no. Oh no no no no.
You're drunk, she reminded herself forcefully. You're drunk, so don't do anything rash.
Just then, a crash sounded behind them, and Hermione looked round to see Millie had fallen off her chair. Everyone else was laughing, except Ginny and Blaise, who were indistinguishable in a tangle of limbs and furious snogging that was taking up the couch. Hermione laughed as Goyle helped Millie to her decidedly wobbly feet and offered them all a shy smile. "I'd better take her home," he said as she stared up at him with abject adoration in her gaze.
"I'll come too," Theo said, putting his hands on his knees and standing up, "Blaise can find his way back when he's finished. Thanks for inviting us all tonight, it was a blast."
Blaise either didn't hear his name or didn't care. He and Ginny were completely caught up in each other. Theo stood on the other side of Goyle, dwarfed by his giant size, and put his arm around Millie's other shoulder, supporting her, and together the three of them waved and departed.
Neville stood, too, and looked around the room. "Looks like the party's dying down," he commented, "so I'm going back to Gryffindor Tower. Anyone else coming?"
"Yes," Hermione said, sparing a final glance for Ginny who looked like she wouldn't be done for a while. "Let's head back, it's late. Or early."
It was only a short walk back to their dorms from the Room, as both were on the seventh floor. Luna walked out with them and then departed for Ravenclaw's common room, and so Hermione was left with Neville and Seamus. Seamus was absolutely sloshed, leaning on Neville for support and grinning wildly, proclaiming how fun the night had been. He was right, though – she'd really had a lot of fun, despite the argument with Malfoy.
As they approached the portrait hole, Hermione let the two boys go first, half-pushing Seamus up the steps as Neville dragged him from the other side. She was about to follow when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled away into an alcove. Alarmed, she tried to scream but felt a hand cover her mouth almost immediately.
"Granger, it's me," a voice hissed in her ear, and she could smell the Firewhiskey and hear the slurred tones of the blond git himself. She relaxed; at least it didn't look like she was in danger.
"What is it?" she hissed when he moved his hand away. "Have you come to apologise?"
He snorted. "Malfoys don't apologise."
"Then what?" she demanded, but instead of answering, with a predatory look in his eyes, Malfoy suddenly leaned down and kissed her fiercely, bruisingly. He pushed her against the wall, his lips mashed onto hers, and despite everything it felt really good. Despite everything, fuelled by alcohol, tension and hormones, she kissed him back. They parted, breathless, and stared each other down; then without a word, tie askew and hair ruffled, he spun on his heel and left her there.
What in the name of Merlin was that about?
Utterly confused, head spinning, for once Hermione decided to just go to sleep, and worry about the consequences of all this in the morning.
That night, Hermione dreamed of Malfoy's rough kiss, and the thrilling and tantalising sensations that had passed through her body, but in her dream it wasn't Malfoy who had his hands on her, who was kissing her to within an inch of her sanity – it was a dark-haired Slytherin with a twinkling smile and a casual open shirt.
Shit.
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Second Chances