Roommates || A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 16

Sunlight woke her. Squinting through one eye, the other squeezed shut, Hermione stared at the dust motes dancing in the light. She felt fuzzy-headed and exhausted and it took a few moments to remember where she was. She was lying on her side with Draco spooned up behind her, one arm draped over her waist.

She lifted her head to listen for a moment. Draco breathed slowly and quietly behind her. The building was silent. Everyone—or almost everyone—was asleep this soon after dawn. She'd have remained asleep herself except for the sunlight stabbing her in the eyes. The window had blinds. She could close them—but now that she was awake, she felt the need to return to her own room. She felt...dirty, sticky, and didn't want anyone to smell her morning breath.

Slipping out of bed without waking Draco was easier thought of than accomplished. She didn't want to talk to him until after she'd had a chance to use the bathroom, brush her teeth, maybe even shower. Simply moving was painful—she discovered sore muscles in all kinds of places, some of them quite intimate. The thought brought a rush of delightful memories and a grin that stretched her cheeks. A little tenderness was a small enough price to pay for what she'd experienced.

Once she was standing by the bed, Hermione picked up her backpack and retreated to the shared bathroom. She locked both doors before brushing her teeth, using the toilet and taking a quick shower, carefully keeping her hair dry. She dried herself with the towel she'd used the night before, then unlocked the door to the other room before scurrying out and closing the bathroom door behind her.

Draco was still dead to the world. Going back to sleep seemed like a great idea—but she wanted her own bed. She dressed hastily, gave the room a quick once over to make sure she wasn't leaving anything behind, then knelt beside Draco's bed with her backpack slung over one shoulder.

He didn't react to his name though she called it several times. A couple of firms shakes finally roused him. Draco peered at her through slitted eyes. He mumbled something but she didn't catch it. "I'm going home," Hermione told him. "Thanks for a terrific night."

"Yeah, it was great," he mumbled. "Do it again sometime?"

Hermione nodded, excited by the prospect. "I'd like that." She hesitated, wondering should I kiss him? What the hell. Why not? She did, and did her best not to take it personally when he returned it only half-heartedly. She wasn't sure he was really still awake at that point.

She didn't meet anyone leaving his room. Everyone was dead to the world, just as she would be on most mornings. She was a night-owl by nature and almost never saw the world so soon after dawn. The campus looked very different with the morning light slanting in from the east. It glittered on the dew covering everything. The air was brisk—cold when the wind kicked up—and Hermione shivered in her thin t-shirt.

She was happy to reach her own dorm, and happier still to enter her dorm room, only dimly lit by what little light penetrated the window curtains. Judging by the size of the lump under Ginny's comforter, she wasn't alone in bed. No surprise there.

Hermione closed the door with exaggerated care, then crept the short distance to her own bed. She removed her shoes but didn't bother undressing otherwise. She snuggled down into the bedclothes and let a long, silent sigh carry her away. Ginny could have an orgy in the next bed and she wouldn't notice. Not this morning.

Ginny and her guest were gone when Hermione woke up. She knew without looking at her alarm clock that it was nearly noon. Night owl she might be, but her mother refused to let any child of hers sleep all day. Too many years of such discipline made it impossible for her to sleep past noon. She lay gathering her will power for a minute, then flung the sheet and quilt aside and climbed out of bed—and rediscovered all the aches she'd accumulated the night before. They were, if anything, worse than before.