The Forgotten Zabini

XXV

Hermione woke up with a thrumming headache, much too early in the morning. It was that time where the sun was a bright glow, just rising enough that the dew in the grass twinkled and the morning doves sang. She sat up in bed and looked around, feeling disoriented. Ginny was knocked out next to her, mouth wide open making gentle snores that whispered around the room. Hermione padded to the window and the doors to her balcony slid open as if they knew she wanted to go out. On the balcony, Hermione closed her eyes and breathed in, gripping the railing and inhaling the faraway scent of magnolias.

"'Mornin," a throaty voice said. Hermione jumped and patted her sides for her wand, realizing she left it on her nightstand. Her head snapped up to see Malfoy, leaning against the railing of his balcony across the courtyard on his elbows, wearing only pastel yellow trousers, smoking a cigarette. Hermione sighed. "I thought we had an intruder for a moment," she said, suddenly feeling very self-conscious in just her nightdress; her hair was surely a tangled nest around her head. "No. Just a Malfoy," he said with a smirk. "Hmm," Hermione smiled lightly.

"Sleep well?" Malfoy asked cordially, taking a puff from his cigarette and blowing out the smoke as he waited for Briar's response. Hermione had to quickly peel her eyes away from his bare chest. "Yeah, I did, actually. 'Spose it's not hard after drinking the amount of champagne we had," she replied. Malfoy laughed once, running his hands through his ruffled hair. Hermione almost shivered when she heard the deep, raspy laugh he gave. What on earth was wrong with her this morning? "You know smoking kills, right?" she said, raising a manicured eyebrow.

He gave her a deep look and then just rolled his eyes, looking away. "Bloody hell, Briar. Quit being a swot for once, will you?" Hermione hmphed. "So we're on a first-name basis now. Wish I had been made aware," she said grumpily, crossing her arms to cover her own chest. Malfoy shrugged and straightened, stubbing his cigarette into a ceramic ashtray. Gosh, those hands. Hermione bristled when she heard Ginny shift. "Briiiiii... close the windows, for merlin's sake," she mumbled. "I've got to go. See you... Draco," she said before she did something stupid to embarrass herself. She returned to her room, the sound of his fading laughter ringing in her ears.

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Ginny raided Hermione's closet as Hermione tried to braid her hair with a spell she had forgotten. "I can't decide between a midi skirt or cargo pants!" Ginny cried in distress. Hermione stopped her half-hearted attempts and paused. "What color is the skirt?" she asked for context. "How do you not know? These are your clothes, Mione!" Hermione huffed. "I've got 6 bloody types of midi skirts, how do you expect me to know!?" she said, standing up to help her poor friend out. She sighed when she saw the state of her closet; discarded items littered the floor like a carpet, surrounding a half-naked Ginny standing in front of a mirror, frowning.

"Ah, there you are. Sorry for the mess," Ginny said unabashedly. "No worries. Now, what was your issue?" she asked. 15 minutes later, they were strolling to breakfast, Ginny in olive green cargo pants, leather sliders, and a brightly patterned halter top Hermione would never even consider wearing. Meanwhile, Ginny took the job of ditching Hermione's braiding attempt and instead gave her a headband to push her now sleek hair back ("straightening charm," Ginny had said. "Had to learn it after Fred and George convinced Percy to try a muggle perm a few years back.")

Breakfast was held outdoors, where most things seemed to take place now that the weather was good. Orion was sitting cross-legged on his chair, munching on a piece of golden-brown toast, whilst Ella and Aediva spoke of what to do for the day. "...but Mum, please, we haven't been to Diagon Alley in sooo long. We could go to Florian Fortescue's- and we'll stay out of your way at the shop!" she said, trying to convince her mum to go along with her plan. Aediva didn't seem too keen on it as Hermione sat next to her. "Good morning, mum," she said brightly. Aediva patted her hand in greeting. "What a lovely outfit," Aediva commented.