obliviate » hermione granger

01.

not edited, don't point out mistakes :)

Carmen Druella Lestrange felt many things; anger, distain, animosity, jealousy, sadness, the occasional joy, etc.

But she couldn't quiet place the fleeting, blood rushing feeling she got from locking her eyes onto the knowledge-saturated honey colored eyes of the girl she couldn't get out of her head. The air was vacuumed out of her lungs, a numb feeling creeping up them, flittering around like a pride of wild lions chasing each other around. It made her want to vomit. It was a terrible feelings, and Carmen knew that she needed it to stop.

When her own gold freckled eyes were mirror from the fourth year Gryffindor's, Carmen scowled impulsively, expecting a heated glare, the same ones she receives when she walks side-by-side her cousin in the corridors, the Great Hall, and... well, pretty much everywhere. But as Hermione Granger's pink tinted lips twisted into a apprehensive smile, Carmen had no choice but to blink in confusion and turn to her cousin, who was already looking at her with a lifted eyebrow.

Draco Malfoy stayed silent, a knowing grin on his pointed features, amused at the heated glare switching to the female Slytherin's face. "What's that face for, Malfoy?"

The blonde shrugged, a half grin on his impish face, and Carmen could've sworn his eyes flickered to the Gryffindor table for a minute. His silence annoyed her to the point where she was seriously considering exactly how much trouble she'd get into for flinging mashed potatoes at his annoying face.

"I swear, Draco-" The curly haired brunette shook her head in warning before she was cut off by a very smug looking Draco Malfoy.

"You seem to have taken an interest in the Gryffindor table recently, Carmen, what's that about," He casually mentioned, shoveling another bite of his apple in his pearly white teeth.

This shut her up for a few minutes, before her head swung up in mock surprise, "Oh, is that Pansy walking over here?"

This sentence caused Draco to rush around, hazardously gathering his things and simultaneously fleeting his eyes around the Great Hall, "Really? Where, cover for me, say I have to go to the library-"

At the snort that left Carmen's throat, Draco stopped abruptly, shoving her shoulder, "You know you suck, so much, like, a sickening amount."

Carmen wiggled her eyebrows at her cousin, sending a wink as she got her stuff together, ready to leave. "Do I?" As she walked away, her ears missed the groan from her cousin at her lame joke, instead her entire being was captivated when her eyes met with a familiar pair as she passed the Gryffindor table.

The whole campus was buzzing with the news of the triwizard championship, the Hufflepuffs were thoroughly supporting Cedric, the Gryffindors were attached to harry potter, the Ravenclaws were practically bouncing off the walls with excitement, and the Slytherins were itching to watch someone fail.

While Carmen Lestrange was as Slytherin as the next snake, the teen still found herself sitting criss crossed in a wooden chair, deep into the skyscraper shelves of the library, her wild hair caped around her like a waterfall, books stacked around her, ambitiously reading up on her lessons. With everyone so caught up on this championship, they've all ditched studies, but Carmen couldn't help it, she found herself here until curfew each night, until it was only her and the knowledge filled Gryffindor that she has found herself captivated with.

It was an hour before curfew before she heard it; the scraping of a chair in the aisle ahead of her. She smirked to herself, her competitive mind relishing in the fact that she'd be the last one here, it was like she was winning a contest that wasn't taking place.

What shocked her, however, was when the chair two chairs away shrieked back, and a body flopped down onto it. Tensing her shoulders slightly, she shifted herself in her comfortable position, taking a chance and flickering her eyes to see the same face that releases a hoard of lions in her chest. Ten minutes from curfew, they both silently rose from their chairs, parting ways without words, and that was that.

This continued for weeks, before dinner Hermione would ofter be accompanied by Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, both of which shot her looks. Not necessarily aggressive looks, but knowing. Carmen didn't understand and she honestly didn't feel like asking them and then being interrogated by the cousin for even breathing around the same air pocket as Harry Potter. After dinner, however, Hermione and Carmen would sit in comfortable silence, both noses jammed into books.

The night before the first task, however, a ringing voice broke the comfortable silence Carmen was sitting in, unusually alone as Hermione hadn't shown up yet, but within five minutes of her absence, Carmen had assumed she'd gone to hang out with her gang of strange boys.

"You hungry?" A delicate voice rang out from beside her, and the curly haired Slytherin's head snapped up in surprise. Her glittering eyes flittered from the Gryffindor's face to the plate of baked goods and candy in her hands. An amused grin was shared between the two as Hermione sat next to Carmen.

"Starving," Carmen responded, her stomach turning at the light laugh echoing from Hermione's throat. Carmen's thin fingers took a fork, shoving a bite of a treacle tart into her mouth. Her reaction to the sweet must have been dramatic because Hermione's laughter rang through the air again, and Carmen decided she'd do anything for her laugh to go on forever.

"It's been a unlawful amount of years since I've had anything this sugary, my aunt would kill me if she knew about this," Carmen spilled after swallowing her bite of tart.

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed," Hermione joked, popping a chocolate in her mouth, a grin on her lips. The two spoke like old friends from a past life, sharing past stories. Throughout this time Carmen couldn't help but steer clear of the stories of her true childhood, the things she's seen, the things she knows. Instead she shared dorky stories of the adventures of Carmen and Draco, their secret hiding places around the mansion and the way they'd use old tunnels through the walls of the castle like home to torment their old nanny.

"You and Draco seem so close for cousins, I hardly know mine, let alone could so easily call them my best friend," Hermione half whispered an obvious sleepy look in her eyes, but she forced them to stay open, determined to know more about Carmen Lestrange. She was like a closed book with a padlock, and so far, she's only just deciphered the deeply coded cover page.

An odd look passed the Slytherin's face. "We've been through everything together, we were raised as brother and sister, he's always protected me." A reminiscent smile faded onto Carmen's face as she recalled her first day at Hogwarts, the harsh looks she got, the trips she had to avoid for her parents actions, but most importantly, the way she so desperately begged the sorting hat to sway its mind away from the house it was deciding on, knowing her family's reaction to having a Gryffindor child in their bloodline, she was on the verge of tears when she strutted her way to Draco's spot at the Slytherin table, and as always, he was there for her.

Hermione's eyes seemed to have caught sight of the time because she practically shouted out a curse, gathering her stuff together, Carmen following close behind, filling her arms with her homework, and for the first time, they paused before they parted ways, golden eyes meeting honey brown.

"You're not who I thought you were, Carmen Lestrange." Hermione Granger said, a strange smile on her lips.

"An utter bitch?" The Slytherin asked, but the Gryffindor shook her head, curls bouncing as she went.

"Not at all."