Vacivitas

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One

"So...is this what you do all day?"

"What do you mean?"

"Eat, read, and play games?"

"Yeah," Tillian says. "Knight to E5."

"You git," Ron curses as his piece is taken. He stares at the board in contemplation. "Anyway, seems a bit boring, don't it?"

"No," Ginny says. She's tossing one of Draco's old Snitches up into the air and catching it again, her body stretched out on a chaise. "What else are they supposed to do?"

"Yeah, living with a ferret, you've got to make do," Harry jokes. It causes Ron to snicker.

"Hermione, have you seen this?" Neville gets up from his armchair and rushes to where Hermione's sitting on the floor and knitting with Faye. "This book details every single usage of Mandrake in history. The first recorded usage was in China in 1550 BC! Can you believe it?"

Harry stares up at him. He's sitting on the floor across from Hermione, looking at some old Quidditch magazine. "How do you know what BC means?"

Neville looks confused. "Why wouldn't I? What else is it called?"

"Neville, do you know who Jesus Christ is?"

"No," he says with a confident smile. "Is he a singer?"

Harry and Hermione exchange glances before they burst out into sputtering laughter. It's not even that funny. They're just so happy to be together that everything is ten times funnier. That, and the thought of Jesus Christ being a singer has Hermione in stitches.

"Sold out concerts across the world," Harry says between howls. "Three hundred Number One hits."

"And he wears leather pants and a crop top," Hermione adds. That sends Harry to the floor on his back, holding his stomach.

"It has to glitter," Tillian says through a smile.

"Stop," Hermione says, falling into a fit of giggles that has tears streaming down her face. "You guys are ridiculous."

Neville scratches the back of his head. "...so he's not a singer?"

There's silence before Harry and Hermione lose it again, which makes Ron and Ginny laugh, followed by Faye. Tillian cracks a smile, which Hermione supposes is the best she's gonna get. She has always thought Tillian reminded her of Ron when in reality, he's a lot more like Draco.

This is the fourth day since her friends came back into her life. They'd spent every waking hour together, luxuriating like kings and queens. As much as they dislike him, they're thoroughly enjoying what facilities Draco has to offer. Ginny took an hour-long bath. Ron's been in and out of the Dining Hall constantly, eating absolutely whatever he wants. Harry found Draco's Quidditch memorabilia room that Hermione had no idea existed, but she figures Harry would be the one to find it. And Neville's been in Heaven with the Manor's wealth of Herbology texts.

When she looks at things this way, it's easy to see why the Order decided to focus on survival. Everyone's happy. Content. Safe. Hermione understands that. She understands that very well.

Still, Draco is nowhere to be found. No one's really asked after his whereabouts, which Hermione doesn't think is shocking, given they all dislike him. Tillian mentioned once that it was strange he'd been gone so long, but that was it. And now Hermione feels like her seams are bursting. Like there's parts of her bleeding out into the air in their search for him.

What the Hell is his problem? How could he do that? Just...tell her all those lovely things, sleep with her, bring her a new reason to keep breathing, and then...disappear? He's got to stop doing this.