August | Hermione Granger x OFC

Chapter Ninety-Five

CW: element of SA 😳

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"Hi."

"Hi."

"You look dashing," Robyn said honestly. Astrid really did look dashing in her pastel pink suit. It had brown accents, so Robyn matched her by wearing a brown dress (long-sleeved, obviously. She would be too paranoid with only a Glamour Charm covering her arm).

"And you look really pretty," Astrid replied, looking her up and down (respectfully, of course).

"Thanks," said Robyn, and then she looked around casually as if her cheeks weren't pink. For one, she hadn't exactly felt confident in her appearance since the whole permanent scarring thing as per Hermione's 'SNEAK' curse – which was not Hermione's fault; Robyn never should've opened her big mouth, even if the person she told about the D.A. was only Dylan, who was not only completely trustworthy but also completely harmless.

No, she felt no resentment at all...

Anyway.

Two, she wasn't used to Astrid being so nice – not that she was normally mean or anything, but, well, back when they first met, Astrid had been quite...antagonistic, to say the least. And now here she was, looking at Robyn appreciatively and calling her pretty and making her blush.

She only wondered what had changed. Maybe it was because they were no longer competing for a place on the Quidditch team, or maybe Astrid fancied her or something ridiculous like that.

Anyway.

Astrid held out her hand for Robyn to take.

Robyn took her arm instead.

Astrid may be capable of making her blush, but there was only one girl whose hand she wanted to hold.

"All right," Astrid shrugged, going along with it, "shall we?"

Robyn sighed at herself for letting her mind wander to Hermione and nodded at the younger girl. "Let's go."

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Laughter, music, and loud conversation filled Slughorn's office, which was surprisingly large. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings so that it looked as though they were all inside a vast tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the centre of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house-elves were negotiating their way squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables. Robyn wondered if Winnie was here – she hadn't had much time to see her this year.

Either way, none of the pretty decorations or the ambient music mattered, because all Robyn could see was Hermione, and all Robyn could hear was her sweet laughter at something Ginny said.

"Do you miss her?"

"Yes," Robyn said immediately, not at all paying attention to her surroundings – so much so, in fact, that she wasn't even sure who she had just answered. "Wait, what?"

It was Luna. "Do you miss Hermione?" she clarified as Robyn stared with wide eyes.

Right. The Ravenclaws had found their way to each other almost immediately, and they had promptly made their respective dates fetch them some drinks.