This was the reason I didn't drink. And in that moment I vowed that I never would again.
My mouth felt like it was packed full of cotton wool balls. I ran my tongue around my mouth, trying to rid my mouth of some of the dryness, but immediately stopped on a gag. As my head jerked back into the pillow, pain shot across my forehead, round my temple and down the back of my skull.
I was aware that my breath did not smell good. I tried to force some movement into my limbs but the ache and wave of sickness that rose from my fragile stomach was just another piece of evidence drawing me to the conclusion that I was not just hungover. I was mortifyingly and embarrassingly hungover!
With a groan, I turned on my side and forced my eyes to open. After a few minutes, I shuffled myself up into a seated position, whereupon the room suddenly spun around, and with the spinning, memories of the previous night slammed into my brain knocking me back against the headboard.
Images of the previous night flashed though my mind in quick succession. Dancing, drinking, shots, laughter, Ron kissing Lavender and… I closed my eyes again and my cheeks burned with mortification, me kissing Cormac. I buried my face in my hands. I was such an idiot.
I heard the dormitory door open and through a crack in my fingers, I saw Ginny breezing into the room.
'You look like crap,' she declared cheerily, looking way to way too sober and happy for someone who had been drinking the night before.
Thanks Gin. I love you too.'
She blew me an air kiss. 'Just keeping it real. Besides you're about to love me a whole lot more. She held up a glass of water, a vial of something and a piece of toast.
I gave an involuntary gag and wouldn't have been surprised if I had turned green. She sighed and set them down in the table beside me. 'You need to eat something.,' she advised. 'And the potion should help with any headache.'
I downed the glass of water first, quickly followed by the potion before I began nibbling on the edges of the toast.
After a minute of silence, Ginny leaned forward with a long 'so?'
So, what?'
'So, last night.
When I quirked a brow at her in reply, she elaborated. 'So, you and Cormac? When did that happen?'
There is no me and Cormac. Nothing happened.'
Right,' she said slowly. 'So it wasn't you that I saw wrapped around him, practically shagging on the dance floor?'
It was a good thing I had finished the glass of water, or I would have sprayed it all over her. 'I was not nearly shagging him,' I cried out indignantly. 'We kissed and that is definitely all that happened.'
Well, that's not what it looked like and that's not what people are saying.'
Oh great, so people have nothing better to gossip about than the fact that I kissed Cormac McLaggen.'
So how was it?'she asked, leaning forward.
How was what?' I asked, forcing myself to take another tiny nibble of toast.
'The kiss! Come on, Hermione. What was he like?'
He was… fine.'
She looked disappointed. 'Just… fine?'
Yes. Just fine.'
And are you seeing him again?
No. It was a one time thing. Over. Done.
Hmm. Pity. Although maybe it's just as well.' She eyed me thoughtfully. 'Ron has been in a hell of a mood all morning.
My heart gave a jump, but I forced my face to stay impassive. 'And what does that have to do with me?
I don't know.' She eyed me thoughtfully. 'You tell me.
There's nothing to tell,' I insisted and it was true. Whatever I may have imagined, there was nothing going on with Ron and I. He had made that much clear. Whatever his problem was, it was definitely not because of me. 'You know how much he hates Cormac,' I offered as an explanation.
Ginny gave a small smile at my denial. 'If you say so.
I forced myself back to my toast, ignoring her. I tried to change the subject. What are your plans for today. 'Are you having quidditch practise or are you all too hung over for that?
'Well, actually, that's why I came up to find you. Doesn't your detention start today?
Shit! I totally forgot. Why the hell didn't you tell me before?' I shouted at her, as I leapt out of the bed.
'I dunno, I forgot,' she shrugged. 'You side tracked me with all the gossip. You'd better go though. It's twenty to one and your detention starts at one.
Fuck! Ginny, McGonagall's going to kill me if I'm late,' I yelled, knocking her out of the way as I ran to the mirror in the bathroom to check my appearance. I gave a small shriek when I saw my appearance. Globs of mascara were around my eyes, grey and pasty pallor and lipstick smeared around my mouths. My hair however, which should have been resembling a birds nest at this point, actually still looked pretty perfect; a little wavier than the previous night, but still perfectly smooth and shiny. I was going to have to seriously thank George when I next saw him. The man was a genius.
Already late, I regrettably didn't have time for a much needed shower, so I splashed my face with cold water, wiping off the remains of the make up hoping that it would at least make me look slightly better than I felt.
Knowing that I was late, I ran down the stairs, ignoring the swirling nausea inside and sprinted through the common room, aware that there were many pairs of eyes on me. I was vaguely aware of someone calling my name, but I ignored them and kept running. I was already late as it was.
I ran all the way into the library skidding to halt when I saw Madame Pince standing with Malfoy. I glanced at the clock on the wall behind her, 1:03 it said. Damn, I was late.
I am … so… sorry… I'm late,' I managed to say through gasping breaths.
I had to bend over; feeling very light headed and rested my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath and keep myself from falling over in a heap at the librarians feet. I lifted my head slightly, to see Madam Pince looking at me in slight shock. Malfoy on the other hand, who was leaning casually against the librarians desk, gave me a quick once over with his swift gaze, giving me a look that was one of unmistakable, sheer disgust.
I did my best to glare back at him. Yes I was perfectly aware that I looked like crap. I was breathless, my face was flushed, I was sweating and I was very close to throwing up again. Not to mention the fact that I was dressed in muggle clothes. Something that Malfoy would most definitely not approve of, but Malfoy could still go to hell.
Well, don't make a habit of it, Miss Granger or I will have to report it to Professor McGonagall. Please ensure that you make the time up at the other end.
Oh, don't worry, I will,' I said a little too haughtily. I was only three minutes late for goodness sake. She continued to witter on about what we had to do, but I was barely listening, focusing more on trying to keep the contents of my stomach firmly where they belonged.
I felt pure relief when Madame Pince finally stopped talking, although I quickly realised that I didn't actually have a clue what I was supposed to be doing. I followed Malfoy over to the bookcase at the back wall of the library and hovered slightly, watching as he lay some parchments down neatly on a nearby table. He then moved over the bookcase and started to look through the books. I tried to watch him to work out what he was doing, but I was still totally clueless.
As fascinating as I'm sure I am, are you going to stand there and stare at me all day, or are all you actually going to do something?' Malfoy said, not even bothering to turn around.
I flinched as he spoke, mortified that he thought that I was staring at him again, but still too stubborn to admit that I didn't know what I was meant to be doing.
After another moment of me hovering like an idiot behind him, picking up the pieces of parchment before putting them back down, he sighed and turned around.
We have to check all the books on that list and write down the reference numbers, making sure that they are all put back on the shelf in the correct order and record any that are missing or damaged. Merlin, Granger, it's not hard.
I simply glared at him in return, not willing to give him any more of a reaction than that. He rolled his eyes, completely unintimidated by my withering stare.
You'd better do the writing today. I don't want you going up the ladder and throwing up on my feet.
Why? Worried that I'll ruin your shoes. What are they? Pixie made in Paris?' I scoffed.
'Elf made from Italy,' he replied without missing a beat. 'Much better quality.
Whatever,' I muttered. 'And I'm fine.
Sure. You just reek like a brewery and look-' he waved a hand in my general direction, '-like that, but yeah, totally fine.'
My jaw clenched in irritation and I had to force myself to take a deep breath and stay calm, trying not to repeat what had gotten me here in the first place. I forced myself to smile at him. 'Actually I wasn't drinking beer, so if anything I reek like a distillery not a brewery.'
'Is that supposed to make it better?' he sneered.
No,' I shrugged. 'But if you're going to insult me, you can at least do it correctly.'
He gave me another eye roll. Something I was noticing he did rather a lot. Or maybe it was just around me.
Did you even bother to bring a quill?' he asked, looking around for the bag that I hadn't brought.
Considering I only just found out that I would be needing one. No.
He sighed again and gave me the large, very expensive looking eagle feather quill from out of his own bag. 'Try to to destroy it.
After that, we quickly got to work, working in complete silence. Just like in potions class, we developed a way of working together that required minimal talking. I would read out a book from the list, he would find it, inspect it and I would mark it down. It was surprising how well we worked. I had been expecting his usual name calling , sarcastic comments or even the occasional hex as payback for him being here. It was my fault that he was in this situation after all. Not that I was ever going to admit that to him.
We worked that way for the next hour or so. I had got over the nauseous phase of my hangover and was into the ravenous stage. I distracted myself from the boring task by happily fantasising about what I would have for dinner that night, since I had missed both breakfast and lunch, when a familiar obnoxiously loud and pompous voice nearby nearby voice, snapped me out of my daydream.
Excuse me Madame Pince,' the voice drawled in a way that I knew he was trying to sound charming. 'Could you please inform me where Hermione Granger is. I believe she is currently carrying out a detention here.' I could imagine him leaning over the desk trying to give her a winning smile, thinking that he could charm the prim and proper librarian.
Moving quicker than I would have thought possible, I dropped the quill, plummeted to the ground, my knees slamming into the hard wooden floor. I scrambled forward and peeked through a small gap in the shelf beside me, looking out to the reception desk. Under my breath I groaned when my worst fears were confirmed. Cormac was in the library and asking where I was. Of course it was Cormac. I should have known after the last time we had been together, he did not give up easily. But then how the hell did he know I was here? I was absolutely sure that I had not mentioned it the night before, but then since I could only remember parts of it, it seemed plausible that maybe I had.
I was sure that strict and always follows the rules Madame Pince would keep me safe. There was no way she would allow visitors when I was in the middle of a detention. So I was stunned when a soft pink blush appeared high on the librarians cheeks and the corner of her mouth quirked up in a small smile that she was trying to hide. She was actually falling for his charms the traitor. Madame Pince raised her hand and pointed in the direction where I was currently hiding. As Cormac turned his head to look in my direction, I ducked down again to make sure that he wouldn't see me. Call me a coward, but I was still mortified that I had kissed him again and with the way I was feeling, I did not have the energy to give the rejection chat again.
I pressed myself flat against the bookcase trying to work out what I was going to do. Scanning around I tried to find somewhere I go, somewhere I could hide, but I was running out of time. I could hear his loud footsteps creaking on the floorboards, coming closer and closer with every second. If I was going to move then it had to be now.
I stood up, still hunched over and ran to the end of the aisle, pushing past a startled Malfoy aside as I did. I crouched down low to hide behind the bookcase in the next row, trying to stay hidden. I pushed one of the books on the lower shelf to the side, so I could see what was happening. I was currently looking at Malfoy's knees. He was still standing in the same spot where I had nearly knocked him off his feet. I leaned forward, shifting my angle so that I could look up at his face. His eyebrows were furrowed, his whipping from side to side as looked around in confusion. He had just turned around in the direction that I had ran and made a move forward when a noise to the left caused both of us to turn.
Oh, Malfoy,' came Cormac's surprised voice, 'What are you doing here?'
I couldn't see Malfoy's face anymore since he had moved out of my eye line, so I watched Cormac instead, praying that he wouldn't see me.
'What does it look like McLaggen?' Malfoy said, his voice dripping with disdain. 'Detention.'
Oh. I thought Hermione was doing her detention here. Is she here?' Cormac asked, seeming to be completely unaware of the daggers that Malfoy was shooting at him. I had seen that look used many times before, usually used in younger students who would often run away in tears. I had to wonder if Cormac was really brave or just completely oblivious to the very real danger he was in. I was leaning towards completely oblivious as Cormac ignored Malfoy's piercing stare and continued to look around the aisle, peering behind Malfoy as if I were somehow hiding in the narrow space behind him. If only he knew.
I waited with baited breath, waiting for the moment where Malfoy would surely rat me out. Of course he would. What reason did he have not to? This would be perfect revenge for what I had done to him after all. I was mentally preparing myself to stand up and face Cormac, I would damned if he found me hiding on the floor, when Malfoy answered.
Does it look like it?' he said throwing out his arm and gesturing to the empty space around him.
My breath caught in my throat and my mouth dropped open. Draco Malfoy had just lied for me. He had just helped me. Seriously, what was going on today?
Oh really,' Cormac continued, not taking the hint. 'Because Madam Pince told me that she was over here.'
Well, Madam Pince must have been mistaken.'
Merlin, that girl is hard to track down.' He leaned back against the bookcase, folding is arms across his chest and crossing his ankles, looking like he was settling in. 'She's like Cinderella,' he said dreamily. 'A kiss at midnight and then she disappears and you can't find her again. I won't let her get away so easily this time.'
Malfoy gave Cormac a look that said he didn't have a clue what he was talking about and that said he really didn't care. My face twisted in disgust and I had to fight against giving a very loud, very audible and very frustrated sigh. That boy was seriously deluded. We had a drunken kiss and his warped imagination; it turns into a flipping fairy-tale with him in the role of Prince Charming. I rolled my eyes, raising my hands up in complete exasperation, but accidentally knocked a book on the shelf with my elbow. Ducking back down low to keep hidden, I saw Malfoy's leg tense and Cormac's head swung immediately in my direction.
What was that?' Cormac asked, peering over to where I was hiding. I crouched even closer to the floor, determined to stay hidden.
What was what?' Malfoy said, sounding bored.
That noise.'
'I didn't hear anything. Now if you don't mind McLaggen, as fascinating as all this is, I'm in the middle of an absolutely riveting detention.' Draco's tone was dismissive but also clear. The conversation was over.
Right, well if you see her can you tell her that I'm looking for her.'
Oh, I'm sure she knows already,' Malfoy said, a trace of amusement creeping into his voice.
I heard footsteps moving away but I stayed where I was, not wanting to move in case he came back. As I sat crouched on the floor I mentally cursed myself and my own stupidity. This was why I didn't like losing control. What the hell had I been thinking? This was exactly the way things had gone before. We had one kiss, which I had only done to make Ron jealous and then Cormac had trailed me around the castle, trying to pounce on me at every available opportunity. Damn alcohol, making me forget. Clearly nothing good ever came from it. A voice suddenly interrupted my mental chastising.
He's gone,' Malfoy's said through the bookcase. 'You can stop hiding now. Or do you intend to leave me to all the work alone?'
I stood up, brushing the dust from my knees and crept back round to the other side of the bookcase, feeling distinctly awkward. Of all the people I would have wanted to witness that little scenario, Malfoy would have definitely been on the bottom of the list. In fact he would have been so far down the list that he wouldn't even have been on the list. Yet he had helped me to hide. Why would be have done that? He would never willingly help me. It didn't make sense. Whatever his reasons, I was surprised to find that I was grateful to him. Who would have thought?
'Em, thanks, for, you know,' I flicked my eyes to him before quickly pulling them away. 'For not telling him,' I said as steadily as I could, already feeling the hot flush of embarrassment trail up my neck and spreading in a red stain on my cheeks.
He merely nodded, barely even glancing in my direction. We quickly went back to working in silence, although I was now completely distracted by other thoughts swimming around my head. In the back of my mind I was wondering how on Earth I was going to avoid Cormac but the thought at the front of my head, the thought taking over most of my thoughts was Malfoy. I could feel my eyes continually flicking over to where he was working, watching as his quill scratched against the parchment, a small frown tugging at his mouth. What was going on with him? Why had he helped me? Why wasn't he saying anything to me? I had given him the perfect ammunition to make fun of me, to put me in an awkward position and yet he wasn't using it.
We had barely managed another ten minutes of work, before my stomach gave a rather embarrassing rumble. I felt my body stiffen slightly at the noise, but tried to act as if I hadn't heard anything. I gave a quick glance at Malfoy and saw that he had given a quick glance in my direction, an unmistakable smirk forming on his lips. I turned back around and closed my eyes in mortification.
I tried to focus on what I was doing, hoping that I could forget about the growing hunger in my belly. I cursed myself for not eating more of the toast that Ginny had brought me that morning. Desperately I tried to hold my stomach in, hoping that would stop the rumbling, but it didn't work as my stomach let out an even more loud and unmistakable growl.
I winced, hoping that he hadn't heard. It wouldn't be long before he made some sarcastic remark at my expense and with every subsequent rumble I winced, waiting for the insult that was sure to follow. I heard a rustling behind me where Malfoy was standing and gave a quick glance to see what he was doing. For one crazy moment I wondered if he was reaching for his wand to hex me. However, nothing could have prepared me for what he was about to produce from his robe pocket.
I was stunned as he pulled out a chocolate frog and held it out to me. I merely stared at him, well aware that my eyebrows were so high up my forehead that they were probably meeting my hairline.
'Well, do you want it or not?' he asked, still holding the frog out to me.
My mouth opened in shock again. He was giving me a chocolate frog. He was actually offering to give me a chocolate frog. I still hadn't moved when he spoke again.
'Don't go reading anything in to it,' he said clearly seeing my mind working overtime. 'I just can't stand listening to the sound of your stomach for much longer. Growling trolls make less noise than you.'
I fought to contain my blush of embarrassment, scowling at him instead. But what he said jolted me back to reality. Of course I couldn't take his chocolate. It no doubt was poisoned, seeing as it was Malfoy.
'No thanks,' I said shaking my head. 'I'm fine.'
Reading my hesitation and knowing full well the reason, he added. 'Trust me, if I wanted to hurt you, I would like to think that I could think up something more creative than poisoning a chocolate frog.'
'I've no doubt,' I said, my tone more biting than I intended.
He just mumbled a low, 'whatever,' and made a move to put the chocolate frog back into his pocket when my stomach gave an almighty rumble, even louder than the ones before.
I groaned at my body's perfect timing and looked back to Malfoy, to see him looking at me with one eyebrow raised. He pulled the frog back out of his pocket and held it out to me once more his eyebrow still raised, daring me to take it.
Never one to back down from a challenge I reached out and took the chocolate, muttering my thanks. He just nodded and went to back to cataloguing the books. I couldn't believe that I had just accepted food from Draco Malfoy. It's amazing what being hungry could make you overlook.
I tore the paper off the chocolate frog as quickly as I could manage and only hesitated slightly, before ramming the whole thing into my mouth. I chewed quickly, before swallowing, and I couldn't help the loud satisfied moan that escaped from my lips as the creamy chocolate slid down my throat, sending a warmth through my entire body. Merlin that tasted good. Totally normal and ordinary chocolate. I turned around to find Malfoy's eyes on me, before he quickly turned back to the books on the shelf.
We fell into silence again for the rest of our detention; however the silence was at least on my part, slightly awkward.
I couldn't help but wonder at Malfoy's actions. He had helped me out twice today. It may only have been a piece of chocolate, but it was actually something nice. Malfoy had done something nice to me. I had never seen him do anything like that before, not to anyone, least of all to someone like me.
I eyed him uneasily for the remainder of the detention, half expecting him to turn around and yell 'surprise, got you' or have him hex me, having lulled me into a false sense of security. But my worries were totally unfounded. He barely even looked my way, in fact he seemed to be looking anywhere but where I was. I just couldn't figure out this new attitude and it annoyed me. There was nothing I hated more than an unsolved puzzle.
When four o' clock finally came, Madame Pince came over and told Malfoy that he could go, since he had arrived on time for his detention. However she made me stay for the full three minutes extra, watching me work alone, counting down the exact seconds until I too could stop. I started to tidy up all of the pieces of parchment that we had been using, placing them back into a neat order. I tried my best not to glare at Madam Pince as I gave her the parchment back. I usually got on well with her, but her pettiness today annoyed me. Due to her stringency over three lousy minutes, I was left to tidy up alone, meaning that it was actually closer to quarter past four before I could actually leave.
I figured I would wait in the library until dinner, as it wasn't served until five and it would take me at least ten minutes to get back to the common room and then another ten to get back down so it hardly seemed worth it. I selected one of my favourite books and chose a quiet table away from everyone else enjoying a quiet moment of peace and solitude.
Just before five o'clock, I made my way down to the great hall. Malfoy's chocolate had kept me going, but now I was ravenous. I hesitated slightly at the entrance of the great hall. What if Cormac was in there? I still wasn't ready to deal with him yet. But I quickly snapped myself out if it. I was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake. I was supposed to be brave and yet I was scared of facing a boy and owning up to my mistakes. I had faced far worse in this school and faced far worse people. I would handle Cormac if he was in there.
I walked into the great hall, ignoring the many people staring my way. No doubt no longer interested in the fact that I was part of the Golden Trio, but more likely because of my escapades the night before. I kept my eyes firmly ahead of me and kept my head held high. I was a proud Gryffindor and even though the petty gossip did bother me, there was no way that I would show it.
I sat myself down at the quiet Gryffindor table and dived straight into the food, moaning with satisfaction as I bit into turn roast beef. Every time someone else entered the great hall, my eyes snapped to the side to see who it was, giving a sigh of relief when I saw that it wasn't Cormac.
I was glad when Harry, Ginny and Ron finally came to join me at the dinner table. Ginny was still smirking at me, Harry looked slightly uncomfortable and Ron just looked angry, with his jaw tight. I could tell that they were waiting to see who was going to bring up the night before first, but I as damned sure that it wouldn't be me. I wasn't going to make it that easy for them.
'Hermione, how was detention?' Ginny asked, trying to keep the smirk off of her face, although I couldn't figure out what was so funny.
'Fine, thank you,' I replied keeping my tone light.
'How was Malfoy? He didn't give you a hard time did he?' Harry asked seeming concerned.
'No, he was fine actually. Not a derogatory insult in sight,' I said diving into some chicken pie.
'So, em, it was completely uneventful. You didn't have any visitors then?' Ginny asked, straining to keep the excitement out of her voice.
I narrowed my eyes to look at Ginny. How the hell did she know? I groaned as I realised. Of course she must have told Cormac where I was. How else would he have known that I had detention in the library?
'Ginny, you didn't. Tell me that you had nothing to do with him turning up there,' I pleaded with her, although I already knew the answer.
'Well, he might have asked me and I may have let it slip where you would be.' Ginny said trying to keep her expression innocent.
I glared at her as she continued. 'Oh, come on, Hermione, he's cute and he's so into you and you need to let your hair down every once in a while.'
'Ginny, I will say this once and once only.' I slammed my cutlery down onto the table beside me with a loud clatter. 'I do not like Cormac and I never have. I was drunk and it was one kiss. That does not mean that I like him or want anything more with him and it certainly does not give you the right to interfere.' I said, my voice getting louder as I spoke. I could see Harry and Ron sitting wide eyed, determined to avoid the conversation, although I would swear that Ron had a slight smirk on his lips.
Ginny at least has the grace to look slightly remorseful. 'Look Hermione, I'm sorry I was only trying to help.' However her remorse only lasted so long, flickering to intrigue in the blink of an eye. 'Well what did you say to him? Did you let him down gently?' Ginny asked, trying to get more gossip.
'I haven't actually spoken to him yet.' I admitted.
'But he went to the library looking for you and you said you saw him in the library.' Ginny asked questioningly, clearly confused
I sighed, trying to think of a way to avoid saying what had actually happened, but nothing was coming to me. Lying was not a strong point.
'Well, I may have seen him coming and then I might have, sort of hid from him.' I leaned over to add another scoop of mashed potato to my plate, acting as if what I had said was perfectly normal.
Ginny's mouth dropped open, but Harry and Ron just burst out laughing, only stopping when I shot a deathly glare their way.
'Oh, Hermione, why didn't you just talk to him. He's completely head over heels for you and you can't keep him hanging on.'
'I'm perfectly aware of that, Ginny, but I will speak to him when I'm ready to speak to him. You know I'm not good at this sort of thing and I really didn't need to be doing it in front of Malfoy of all people.' I said, my voice getting louder again.
'How did you manage hide from him Hermione, especially if Malfoy was there?' Harry asked, trying very hard to keep the grin from his face as he sensed something I was holding back.
'It may have involved hiding behind a bookcase and practically lying on the floor.' I said grinning in spite of myself at the ridiculousness of the situation.
'But didn't Malfoy rat you out?' He asked with raised eyebrows.
'Nope. Believe me I was just as surprised as you,' I said in response to Harry's furrowed brow. 'But then he was probably just trying to get one up on Cormac. They're surprisingly similar you know. Always going on about 'my father' this and 'my father' that.
'But seriously Hermione,' Ginny began, re-joining the conversation, 'you are going to speak to Cormac, aren't you?'
'I suppose so. Eventually,' I added as an afterthought. I guess I did really have to talk to him at some point, but I was secretly hoping that he would get the hint if I just avoided him for long enough. After all it had worked the last time.
'Good, well now's your chance. He's just walked in.' Ginny was looking at me with a rather pointed expression on her face, practically daring me to do it.
My head flew round to see Cormac strutting into the hall with his group of friends and I noticed that he had people staring at him as well, although where I had been mortified, he seemed to be enjoying it.
'Oh shit.' I whispered. He was walking up the side of the table where I was sitting. I did not want to see him, especially in the great hall, in front of half the population of Hogwarts. I really didn't need an audience to my personal dramas. So I really had only one option left. Make a run for it. Again. Yes an extreme reaction, but Cormac had a way of making me act irrationally and I had been doing that enough these days. So in a bid to avoid more irrational behaviour, I ducked under the table, ignoring Harry's yelp of surprise as I gripped his thigh and quite literally pushed him to the side. I crawled up and slid up beside him on the opposite side of the table, swinging my legs over the side of the bench before standing up, brushing off the crumbs that were sticking to my knees and scurrying toward the great hall door. When I was about to pass Cormac, I let my hair fall over my face and I turned my head to the side to avoid him seeing me. Once I was past him, I all but ran out of the great hall, faltering only once when I caught the amused glance of a certain blonde wizard who was watching me the entire way.