Sodalis

Chapter 16

Hermione did not sleep the rest of the night and left her bed early in the morning to shower. As she stood under the warm spray her thoughts ran wild.

Professor Snape? Why in the world did I have a dream like...that...with the Professor? And while I was sleeping next to Harry. Hermione roughly washed her hair, soaking the curls and dousing them with shampoo and then conditioner. But why did it feel so good? I've had...fun...dreams before but nothing that actually elicited a palpable reaction. She recalled how wet her underwear had been in those moments after she woke up with a scream. Her nerve endings were ringing with the pleasure of an orgasm, so sensitive that she was relieved Harry had simply gone back to sleep. What is going on? What does Snape have to do with any of this?

When she returned to her room she found a note from Harry telling her that he was stopping at the dorms to shower and change and would meet her in the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione sighed with relief, not sure how she would be able to look at him without blushing in shame. He had been so attentive since her stay in the Hospital Wing and Hermione found herself relishing the attention. They had not kissed since the last time when she had kicked him out which made her feel guilty. But Harry didn't complain, only making her feel worse about the dream she had.

As she dressed she pondered everything. Her heart still ached at any vague notion that reminded her of her parents but with so much more to take in, and catching up mentally with her classes, she was able to process the grief rather quickly. At least she thought she did, maybe her mind subconsciously knew she had already done her grieving once before. The warm tether on her pinky that felt like Harry had seemed to grow more intense with how much time they spent together recently. She needed to go to the library some time that day, there was research to be done. Maybe she would find something to explain away the tugs of magic she was feeling.

As she left her rooms she ran into Ginny and some other 6th years.

"Hermione!" Ginny greeted her happily and told her friends to go on without her. The younger girl hooked her arm onto Hermione's, "Let's have a girl's day today! I can even invite Luna, Lavender, and the twins and we can bunk up in your rooms and paint each other's nails. It's Saturday and you need a night to see what trash is in Witch Weekly this time instead of the boys making you do their homework. I've missed you. I know you and Harry are a thing now, I'm happy for you, but you're my friend too and you need to split your time with us too."

Hermione laughed and nodded, patting the girl's hand, "I'd love that, Gin. The whole Harry thing is rather confusing if I'm honest and I would love to talk it out with someone. It's not as if I can talk to Ron or Draco about it."

"Ooooh 'Draco' now is it? Even memory loss couldn't prevent you from taking pity on the ferret?" Ginny said teasingly.

"Trust me, it was odd for me too. But from what Ron and Harry have said, we had all mostly put our differences aside barring quidditch and the boys snarking at each other," At that moment they made it to the Great Hall. She scanned the Slytherin table and spotted the blond who was looking over at them. The two girls waved a greeting before taking their seats at the Gryffindor table.

"Yea, he's not so bad now that he turned traitor. Takes after his Uncle instead of his Dad, thankfully," Ginny piled some eggs onto her plate as Hermione prepared some oatmeal and fruits.

Harry had told Hermione that Ginny didn't know about Lucius' change of allegiance or his newfound spy role, the less people who knew the better. It still baffled her how much had changed. "He's smart and his mother was very helpful that day in the hospital wing. By the way, I still have no idea why I was sent there. Harry says it's all complicated and that Dumbledore told him to ease me into everything."