The Gloriana Set

Flying High

Notes:

I apologize for the delay—I was serving jury duty last week, so instead of writing and editing I was off dispensing frontier justice.

Now I'm back, and here's a nice, long chapter, just packed with stuff. Props to anyone who can recognize the adapted line from "The Godfather."

"I want you to have the right to be angry."

Hermione spent the rest of Wednesday not thinking about that statement. She didn't think about it in Arithmancy or during lunch, or in Herbology. She didn't. PORN that night was a disaster. Malfoy made proper concentration almost impossible since he insisted on standing against the back wall and, well, looking at her. Hermione could hardly hold her wand properly, what with "I want you to have the right to be angry" not playing in a continuous loop in her head. Why did Malfoy say that? What did it mean? Why wouldn't he explain himself? And what was that expression he was wearing now? It wasn't sneering or haughty or flirty or even amused. He almost looked content, just stood there watching Hermione make paper origami shapes float or expand or change color, and when she glanced at him he'd just nod encouragingly. What the hell was that?

After PORN she stormed back to Gryffindor Tower, found Ginny in the common room and dragged her upstairs. Ginny sat on their small sofa as Hermione stood before her, practically acting out her morning conversation with Lavender. (Her description of Moaning Myrtle had Ginny laughing so hard that Hermione had to threaten to leave before she would calm down.)

"Can you believe that?" Hermione shrieked when she'd finished describing the scene in the bathroom. "Can you believe that?"

"Which part?" Ginny asked. "It all sounds unbelievable. I think I'll visit Myrtle myself—give her a little thrill. Blaise does this thing where ..."

"You're disgusting," said Hermione, hands on hips. "I'm talking about why Lavender lied! She lied because I'm mean to Draco Malfoy! Who does that? Who even thinks that?"

"Well, you do yell at him and hex him quite often," Ginny said, sitting back so Crookshanks could jump on her lap. "But don't worry. I think he likes it." She winked. "I bet he remembers your punch during Third Year quite fondly. Talk to Luna, she's into all kinds of kinky things like that. She says the—"

"You're mad," Hermione said. "Stark, raving mad. But that's not the worst of it. I go back to Potions, and ..." she described her and Malfoy's conversation, "... and then he says: 'I want you to have the right to be angry.'"

Her roommate's eyes widened. "He said what?"

Hermione repeated the statement. "What does that even mean?"

Ginny tilted her head slightly, considering. "I don't know," she said finally.

"You don't know. Everything else, you have a hundred opinions, but on this, you don't know."

Ginny pushed Crookshanks off her lap and grabbed her robe and toiletries bag. "I wouldn't care to speculate."

"What?" Hermione was ready to bust out the windows again. "You love to speculate! You spend hours speculating about the stupidest things! Please, Ginny." Hermione followed her friend to the door. "I need you to speculate! I simply can't extrapolate from that sentence without additional data!"

Ginny, however, would not be moved. Her attitude, which had only been strengthened by nearly two months of dating Blaise Zabini, was that Slytherins simply could not be parsed out. Hermione, she stated, would have to Gryffindor up and ask Malfoy directly what he meant.