I Did Something Bad
They’re burning all the witches,
even if you aren’t one.
They got their pitchforks and proof,
Their receipts and reasons.
They’re burning all the witches,
even if you aren’t one.
So light me up (light me up),
light me up (light me up).
Light me up,
go ahead and light me up (light me up).
Light me up (light me up),
light me up (light me up).
Light me up (light me up),
light me up (light me up).
They say I did something bad.
Then why’s it feel so good?
They say I did something bad.
But why’s it feel so good?
Most fun I ever had,
And I’d do it over and over and over again if I could.
It just felt so good, good.
~ I Did Something Bad by Taylor Swift
~*~ May 1999 ~*~
As Hermione Granger hurried down the path from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade, she contemplated the many thoughts running through her head. From revisions to prepare for her NEWTs in the coming months, to whether she would be going back to Australia to visit her parents, to what she would do after graduating. As she waved to one of the shop owners, Hermione admitted to herself that she always looked forward to Hogsmeade weekends. Not for the butterbeer or the shopping opportunities, like others did. No, as she turned around the bend, it was because of Harry Potter, her best friend. He would always be waiting for her outside of the Three Broomsticks, just like he was right now.
Her steps faltered for a moment as she took him in. He looked different from the way he did when she saw him two months ago at the last Hogsmeade weekend. Older, somehow exhausted. But when he turned his head and spotted her, the smile that took over his face made the anxiety in her chest loosen.
“Not working yourself sick with NEWT revisions, I hope?” He asked when she met him at the door and gave him a quick hug before he opened it.
Hermione pulled out her small planner as Harry scanned for a table, “No, I have a very detailed plan. I am very happy with my progress.”
Harry grinned as he found them a table towards the back, and they sat down. “Of course you did.”
Hermione laughed as she laid out her planner. “I will have you know that I have started a study group. We have the detailed schedule that we follow.” She was about to explain the schedule that she had drafted when a seventh-year from Ravenclaw approached their table. “Hello, Issac.”
“Sorry to bother you, Hermione. I have a quick question about our Arithmancy assignment.” Issac stated.
Hermione nodded as she listened and explained the assignment in a way he could understand. The boy nodded, and she smiled at him as he walked off.
Looking at Harry, she noticed the way he was frowning, but before she could ask him what was wrong. He sighed and asked, “Hermione… why are you still with Ron?”
She slowly blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I just…” he trailed off as he shifted, seeming uncomfortable with the way he took the conversation. “I don’t understand why you two are still together. You’re here at Hogwarts. He isn’t.”
Hermione frowned. “You and Ginny are too,” she said, trying to understand what point he was trying to make.
Harry rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually… we aren’t. We broke up two months ago.”
Hermione’s mouth dropped open. “What? Harry, why didn’t you tell me?” She nodded at the waitress as their food was brought to them.
He started playing with the label on his butterbeer. “It was mutual. We realized that we were holding onto something that belonged to… two years ago. The fear, the need for comfort. Ginny said it was partly hero worship, partly the connection to Tom. After everything had settled and it got… physical,” Hermione wrinkled her nose as he stopped with a cough. “Right. Anyway, once the thrill faded, we decided we were better off as friends. Molly wasn’t thrilled.”
Hermione stabbed a tomato in her salad with more force than necessary. “I’d imagine. I think she was planning a joint wedding for the four of us.” She sighed. “I think Ron and I are over.”
Harry stared at her. “Really?”
Hermione nodded, “Last time I saw him, after you and Ginny left, Ron and I got into a row. I told him I want to go to Uni after I graduate.”
Harry leaned in closer. “Really?”
Hermione bit her lip, feeling self-conscious, “Do you think it’s weird?”
“Weird?” Harry asked, sitting back, shaking his head. “Not at all. You and Ron do argue a lot, and as far as Uni… honestly, I’ve been thinking about it myself.”
Hermione looked at him, surprised. “But what about Auror Academy?”
Hermione watched him close his eyes, letting out a long exhale. “I’m tired, Hermione. Tired of feeling like I’m still fighting for my life. Tired of the instructors telling me that my form is off, or the things that kept us alive ‘wouldn’t work in the field’. Some of them haven’t been in a real fight since before my dad and Sirius were trainees.” He ran his hand over his face. “And one of them keeps calling me James.”
Hermione reached across the table and took his hand. His fingers tightened within hers, as if he were searching for an anchor. “Oh, Harry,” she murmured.
He swallowed hard. “I’ll be nineteen this year, Hermione. Dad was thriving in the programme at my age. He was already being offered Hit Wizard training, and he and Mum were married.” He looked at the table, “And I feel like I’m treading water.”
Hermione squeezed his hand, “Harry, listen to me. You are not your father. You can’t compare yourself to him. He lived in a different world. You fought a war. WE fought a war, and we won it. You don’t have to continue fighting just because he did and wasn’t able to. You’re allowed to choose a different future.”
Harry’s eyes looked at her, unsure. “Then what do I do?”
She smiled. “That’s what Uni is for. To explore and learn. To figure out what calls you. There are counselors, courses, and even aptitude tests. No pressure to have it all decided right away.”
He breathed out slowly. “Will you help me?”
Hermione bit her lip to hide her smile. “Of course I will,” she said.
~*~*~ May 2001 ~*~*~
Apparating onto the steps of Grimmauld, Hermione opened the front door, then slammed it behind her so hard that the stained glass windows rattled. The sound echoed through the hallway, but instead of the past shrieks of Walburga Black, a gentler voice drifted through the hallway.
“My goodness, child,” Mrs. Euphemia Potter, Harry’s grandmother, peered down at her from her frame. “What on earth is the matter?”
Hermione hung her coat up on the hook and groaned in frustration. “Men,” she muttered, “I swear Harry is the only good one left.”
Euphemia lifted a painted eyebrow. “Did you and Ron break up again?”
“Yes,” Hermione snapped, then sighed. “Yes, and I hope it’s for good this time. I don’t know why I went back to him.”
“Habit and safety,” Euphemia stated, “Both are dreadfully hard to break. Go on, go find my grandson.”
Hermione ran a hand through her hair. “Harry?! Are you home?”
Somewhere upstairs, something crashed. Followed by a female voice yelping. “Ow, Harry!”
Hermione froze. Harry never brought women home when she was there. It was an unspoken agreement that neither of them would. Not even she and Ron would stay together upstairs. But Hermione knew they existed, even if she didn’t see them.
Hurried footsteps echoed from the floors above, then Harry called. “Be down in a second!”
“Oh, fantastic,” Hermione muttered, rubbing her temples as she started walking toward the kitchen. “Just what I need.”
As she entered the kitchen, the lights came on, and she grabbed an apple from the bowl, biting into it.
A minute later, a young woman that Hermione had never seen before came down the stairs in rumpled clothes. She glanced at Hermione before slipping past and out the front door.
Hermione let out a breath as she saw Harry appear on the stairs, his hair disheveled, shirt missing, and his feet bare, “Really? That makes her the third different girl this month.”
He shrugged as he scratched his stomach. “I don’t understand it either.”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “It’s because you are a football player.”
Harry snorted, “That can’t be it.”
“Harry,” she stated, “You are on the university team. You’re the captain, and you have that stupid thing where, despite being a jock, you are nice to people. You are just a disaster.”
He frowned at her as he got into the refrigerator, “Why are you so upset?”
Hermione bit her lip. “I broke up with Ron. Again.” She sighed, “He got jealous when I mentioned seeing Hudson at work.”
Harry looked back at her, his expression shifting. Soft, concerned. The look that made Hermione’s heart skip. “Oh, Hermione…”
Swallowing hard, she looked away, blinking back the tears. “It’s just… I’m so tired, Harry. I’m tired of the back and forth. The arguments. The way he gets jealous of my schedule, ambitions, my desire for a degree… everything.” She stated, throwing the apple into the rubbish bin with a thud. “I kept thinking maybe we could grow into each other again, but all we’ve been doing is growing apart more.”
Harry walked over to her, leaning against the counter beside her. Close enough, she could smell him. A spicy scent, combined with sweat, fresh cut grass, and something that was uniquely Harry. “You made the right choice.”
Hermione huffed out a laugh. “Then why do I still feel awful?”
“Because breakups hurt,” Harry said, “Even if they are for the right reasons.”
And Harry would know. After he and Ginny broke up, he had a constant revolving door of women. Only a few that Hermione even got to know. She hated how he always knew what to say to her, hated even more how comforting it was.
Hermione looked at him, “You don’t have to stay home with me. I know you probably already have other plans.”
Harry snorted, “Hermione, please. She just came over to borrow notes from class.”
Hermione raised an eyebrow, and Harry rolled his eyes, “And then she asked if she could stay for coffee. I didn’t realize it was an invitation for more.”
Hermione rolled her eyes, “You’re hopeless.”
Harry grinned, “I know.” Sending warmth through her that she always tried to ignore.
She looked away before he could see the blush on her cheeks.
“Come on, let’s get a drink and head into the drawing room, and you tell me what happened this time,” Harry suggested, reaching for glasses.
“Ron and I broke up again.”
Luna sighed through her mobile phone, “I don’t understand why you keep going back to him, Hermione. You two are just not meant for each other.”
Hermione sighed as she left the campus library where she worked. “I know, but being single is so lonely.”
“I get that. I am lucky I found Neville when we were as young as we were. He set the bar so high that no one else has met it until Rolf. You have to find your person, then see them that way. I’m guessing he isn’t your plus one for our wedding anymore?” Luna asked.
“No,” Hermione stated as she hurried to the underground and passed Parvati, waving to her.
“Hey! I’m in a hurry, but look! You are in Witch Weekly,” Parvati said, excited as she handed it to Hermione.
“Who was that?” Luna asked.
“Parvati,” Hermione said as she watched Parvati run away toward the campus, “Luna, I have to go, I’m going to the Underground, and I’ll probably lose you.”
“Call me back before you leave today. We have to go over the last minute party details,” Luna stated.
“I will,” Hermione said as she hung up and went down the stairs to the Underground.
Once on the train, she sat down away from everyone and opened the magazine. She saw a picture of herself from when she and Harry went to Diagon Alley, with a caption about her fashion choices. Articles such as “Best Witch Fashion of 2001” and “Is the food scale your new best friend?” met her until she stumbled upon an article that made her stop.
WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?
THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF LOVERS A WITCH HAS IN HER LIFETIME IS 2.5
How many wizards have you slept with? Too many? Too many? Too few? What your number says about you.
Hermione gasped, “2.5? No way! Holy shite!”
A woman nearby looked at her, and Hermione shook her head, “I’m sorry. I just saw this article, it says the average number of lovers a woman has is 2.5.”
The woman nodded, “Yeah, that seems very high.”
Hermione looked over at her in disbelief, “High?! That’s too low. 2.5 is low.”
“Whatever you say, dear,” she said as the train stopped and the woman stood up to leave.
As people came and went, Hermione pulled her journal out of her bag and a pen. Biting her lip, she thought of all the people that she had dated, then wrote Ron first. Placing a star next to his name since he had been the first person she had slept with, too.
People I’ve dated.
Ron *
She wrote Julian, her first college boyfriend, after she and Ron had broken up for the second time. They had been together for nearly three months, when she had slept with him and hated it so bad that she broke up with him.
People I’ve dated.
Ron *
Julian *
The underground finally made it to her stop at Highbury and Islington, and Hermione stood up, hurrying out of the train. It had started raining since she got on the Tube, so she hurried back to Grimmauld Place and made it there within five minutes. Kicking off her shoes, she quickly greeted Euphemia before rushing up the stairs to her room.
Jumping into the shower to warm up her drenched body, she had just finished washing her hair when she remembered the man she had dated after Julian. “Theo!”
A brief month-and-a-half romance with Theodore Nott started after a chance meeting between them at Flourish and Blotts. He had been old-fashioned, and while not totally set in the Pureblood traditions, he had not wanted to have a sexual relationship unless they married. This led him to propose after only seven weeks, sending Hermione running.
Jumping out of the shower, she ran down the hallway naked to her room and added Theo to her list, before running back to the bathroom, only to hear the door downstairs as Harry came home.
People I’ve dated.
Ron *
Julian *
Theo
Disapparating into the Scamander’s back garden, Hermione looked up at the home and inhaled. There were many people already gathered, conversing, and with a glance at her watch, Hermione realized she was late. Hurrying inside, she went through the back door and looked around.
“Finally!”
Hermione tried not to groan out loud as Molly Weasley walked over to her and hugged her. “Sorry, I got soaked earlier on the Tube and had to go home and shower. You look great.”
Molly touched one of her curls and made a noise, then glanced at her dress. Tutting, probably at the length, as it reached her knees. “Where’s Ron?”
Damn you, Ron.
“Ron is probably at work, I would think,” Hermione said.
“Why aren’t you wearing those robes that I bought you? They would look amazing on you,” Molly stated.
“These are the robes, I just… updated them,” Hermione said, looking around, “Is Luna upstairs?”
“Yes, she is, and the poor girl is a wreck,” Molly said, “Rolf is not back from his hunt yet.”
Hermione pointed to the stairs, “Well, I am going to go check on her.”
“Good idea,” She stated as a house elf came over with a glass of elf wine. “Thank you.” Letting Hermione slip away.
“Oh, Hermione! Viktor is here!” Molly yelled up the stairs.
“Good for him,” Hermione said as she reached into her clutch, pulled out her journal, and added him to her list.
People I’ve dated.
Ron *
Julian *
Theo
Brandon
Billy
Michael
John
Hudson
Viktor*
“Hi!” Hermione said as she entered Luna’s room at Rolf’s parents’ house.
“Thank Merlin, you are here!” Luna said as she walked over to her, “Can you get my zipper? Has Molly found you yet? She is worse than a wet hen.”
Hermione zipped it up for her, “Yes, unfortunately.” Hermione said as Luna walked into the ensuite bathroom, “Hopefully she calms down once Ron is here and he can tell her that we are over.”
Luna came out of the bathroom, “Ron isn’t coming.”
“Why not?” Hermione asked.
Luna sat down on the bed and started putting on her shoes. “Because Ron and I… we had something in the past. Rolf wasn’t comfortable with him coming.”
Hermione gasped, “When? Why didn’t you tell me?” she said, sitting at her vanity.
Luna sighed, “It was only for two months when you were with Thomas. It wasn’t even serious.”
Hermione sighed as Luna walked back into the bathroom, and she took out her journal again to add Thomas, a muggle that she had dated last year, to her list.
People I’ve dated.
Ron *
Julian *
Theo
Brandon
Billy
Michael
John
Viktor*
Thomas
“What are you writing?” Luna asked, putting in her radish earrings.
“Just… notes for a toast,” Hermione stated.
“Are you going to quote that William Shakespeare or a Newt quote from Fantastic Beasts?” Luna asked as she stood up.
“Depends,” Hermione said with a grin.
“Are you coming?” Luna asked.
“Go ahead on down, I’ll be there in a second,” Hermione told her.
Luna ran her hands over her dress robes, then left the bedroom, leaving Hermione to herself.
Biting her lip, Hermione looked over her list, then added one of her coworkers that she had gotten drunk with at a club and slept with in April, before she and Ron had gotten back together, to her list.
Counting their names, she gasped, “Ten?! I’ve dated ten men and slept with four of them?! Shite!”
After Luna’s engagement party was over, Hermione found herself in the new hit restaurant in Diagon Alley, sitting at a table with Luna, Ginny, Padma, Parvati, and Hannah, enjoying their drinks as the music blasted around them.
“I would like to make a toast!” Ginny said as she stood up, “Here’s to the last days of your life before you are tied down like a ball and chain. To Luna and Rolf!”
“To Luna and Rolf!” They cheered, then hit their glasses together and took a drink.
Hermione bit her lip, looking around, “Ooh! Let’s play a party game!”
Hannah looked at her, “Really? A party game?”
“Yeah! What to play, what to play! I have an idea! Let’s write down how many people we’ve dated and slept with,” Hermione said as she looked at Parvati. “Great idea, Parvati!”
“What?” she asked, confused as Hermione got up and grabbed some napkins, bringing them back over. “Write your numbers down and place them into this glass, then we will pick a number and guess whose number it is.” She held out her empty glass, “Luna, you go first.”
Hermione held out the glass for everyone to fold their papers and place them in, then sat back down. “All right, the bride has the honours. Go ahead, Luna, and choose.”
Luna reached in and unfolded the paper, “Three slash one.”
“That is me,” Padma shrugged.
“No, no, no. That’s not how we play. We’re supposed to guess,” Hermione said.
“Who wasn’t going to guess, Padma anyway,” Parvati said as she tipped back her glass, “She practically married Amil when we were in primary.” And she looked at her twin, “Who were the two others?”
“Well, I counted Ron, because technically he asked me out,” Padma stated, “And I saw Dean for a brief moment in sixth year.”
Ginny gasped, “No way! Before or after I did?”
“After. I think it was a pity date, honestly,” Padma stated.
Padma reached in and took the next number, “Eight slash five,” making everyone gasp.
Ginny grinned, “That just means that I double the woman that you are,” she said with a wink, as Luna looked at her, “Don’t look at me like that! I dated Harry, two Quidditch players after him, then our seeker.”
Hannah frowned, “But don’t you play for the Holyhead Harpies?”
Ginny winked as she sipped her wine, “She was a very thorough lover.” Making Luna gasp as she reached in and pulled out the next numbers, “One. Wait, who the hell lied?”
Hannah blushed, “No, that’s mine. I’ve only been with Neville.”
“Isn’t that fucking cute?” Parvati said as Hannah reached into the cup and pulled out the next one.
“Eight and seven?! Who has slept with seven men?” Hannah asked.
“That would be me,” Parvati said with a grin, “College parties are amazing.”
“What a slut,” Padma joked.
“What is the big deal?” Parvati asked, looking at her.
“That is seven penises in one vagina, and who knows how many women they’d slept with besides you. So, it’s like you could have slept with a hundred people,” Padma said, disgusted.
“Get over yourself. It’s not like they were all in there at the same time,” Parvati said.
“Here I’ll go,” Hermione said as she reached in and picked out her paper, then fake sneezed as she ripped it, taking off her four.
“Bless you,” Hannah said.
“Oh, look at that. 1 and 0, I got myself,” Hermione stated.
Parvati, who was sitting next to her, reached down and grabbed the paper. “So, what is this four you tore off for then?”
Ginny gasped, “Ten? You’ve dated ten wizards?”
“I haven’t slept with all of them!” Hermione defended.
Parvati grinned, “Hello, friend.”
“Fine, I am at ten, and I’ve slept with four of them. More than twice the average,” Hermione said as she took out the folded article, “There is even a whole article about it in Witch Weekly. I was thinking that playing this game would make me feel better about my number, but it made me realize the bitch on the Tube was right. It’s high.”
Hannah took the article, “96% of witches who have been with five or more lovers can’t find a husband.”
“It actually says five?” Hermione gasped.
“Who cares what some lonely witches that are probably not satisfied are saying?” Parvati stated, “It’s sexist nonsense.”
“Actually, that study was conducted by Jemima Figg, the leading magical researcher in medical magical research right now,” Hannah stated, making Hermione groan, “I see it all the time at St. Mungo’s. These old spinsters are coming in, lonely, husbandless, and their magic is starting to wane.”
Hermione chewed on her lip as thoughts ran through her head. What if I dated past my magical limit? Am I broken? What if I never find the person who feels like the one? Like home?
“Okay, okay, well that’s not going to happen to me, if researchers say that five is the limit of lovers and I am at four, that gives me one more chance,” Hermione stated as she stood up and held up her glass, “I’m not going to sleep with anyone else until I know he is the one. The next man that I sleep with will be my husband.”
She held her glass out to the girls, “To taking control of my destiny!”
The girls cheered her. “You can do it!” Hannah said as they all took a drink.
Hermione woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and the driest mouth she had ever had. Groaning, she rolled over and gasped when her back hit someone’s shoulder.
Glancing over, she saw Seamus. “Oh, shite!”
Grabbing a shirt off the floor and her clothes, she put it over her head and ran out of the bedroom to his bathroom. Sitting on the toilet, she called Luna.
“Hello?”
“I slept with Seamus!” Hermione groaned, “How much did I drink last night?”
Luna gasped, “Well, you stayed after everyone else left. Seamus really? Well, congratulations, I guess you are marrying Seamus. You said five would be your husband. I didn’t think it would have happened this early, but here it is. Rolf!” she shouted, “Hermione is getting married!”
“Fucking shut your mouth,” Hermione stated, “I’m not marrying, Seamus Finnegan. I feel disgusting!”
Luna laughed at the other end as Hermione got back into her dress. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Go home and take a nice hot shower and scrub my body raw,” Hermione stated as she left his shirt on the bathroom floor and looked out the bathroom to see if he was up. Then left down the hall looking for the front door. Instead, she found the fireplace and the floo jar. Grabbing a handful of powder, she stepped inside, “Grimmauld Place.”
“Did you just run away?” Luna asked, garbled as Hermione went through the floo, then stepped out into the drawing room, only to find Harry.
“Yes, I did,” Hermione said as she hung up, and Harry looked up at her, “Morning.”
“Morning, where were you last night?” Harry asked.
Hermione dropped her stuff to the floor and then threw herself onto the couch next to him, “I’m an idiot. I am a hopeless, slutty idiot.”
“Um… no, you aren’t,” Harry said, “Why? Who were you with last night?”
Hermione groaned, “Seamus.”
“Seamus?! As in Seamus Finnegan?” Harry asked, surprised.
“Don’t, because it’s nothing worse than I am telling myself,” Hermione muttered as she looked at him.
A week later, Hermione found herself in a bakery with Luna, stuffing her face with various cakes.
Luna laid her hand on Hermione’s as she went to take another bite, “Slow down. You’ll make yourself sick. The idea is to taste them.”
“Why? It doesn’t matter!” Hermione groaned, “I’m going to be a spinster forever. No one will ever want me now, so my figure doesn’t matter. No one will ever see me naked again.”
Luna snorted, “Like you are going to be celibate for the rest of your life.”
Hermione set her fork down, “I don’t have a choice! I said I was going to stop at four, and look, now I am at five. Fuck, Seamus.”
“Well, you already did,” Luna said, writing down her opinion of the chocolate raspberry cake.
Hermione took another bite, “Promise me that you won’t put me at the singles table with Seamus.”
Luna looked at her, “No promises, seating is really complicated.”
Hermione groaned as she looked at people walking into the bakery. The man looked very familiar to her, but she couldn’t place who he was. “Does he look familiar to you? Did we go to school with him?”
Luna looked up, “No. Does he look like someone to you?”
He turned towards her, and Hermione gasped, “That’s Julian! I think… he’s lost a lot of weight, though.”
“I didn’t meet him, did I?” Luna asked.
“No, no one did. All we did was go out to restaurants,” Hermione stated, “Shite, he was the first person I slept with other than Ron, and he would always put icing on my neck.”
“Eww,” Luna said as he glanced over towards them. “Go say hi.”
Hermione stood up and walked over towards him, and his eyes met hers. “Julian?”
“Hermione? Wow,” Julian said.
“I cannot believe it, you look so good,” Hermione said.
“You too,” Julian said as a woman walked over to him and put her arm around him, “Hermione, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Eve. Eve, this is Hermione. We went to college together.”
“Wow, so how did you two meet?” Hermione asked.
“At work,” Eve stated. “Well, it was so nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Hermione said as she walked over to Luna, then watched them pick something up and leave, “I cannot believe him.”
“Didn’t go well?” Luna asked.
“He said we went to college together, like he didn’t want her to know he dated anyone in the past,” Hermione huffed, “Men are stupid.”
“Well, you did go to college together, right?” Luna asked.
“Not the point,” Hermione stated, staring out the window, “I can’t believe he was the same guy. He even looked taller.”
“A lot of guys get more attractive as they age,” Luna stated, taking a bite of cookie dough cake. “I mean, look at Draco Malfoy. He used to be a total jackass. Now look at him. He’s donated a lot of money to St. Mungo’s, is studying to become a healer, and has dethroned Harry as most eligible wizard. People change.”
Hermione stared at her. “You’re right. Luna, you are a genius. I don’t have to be celibate or marry Seamus. Julian can’t be my only ex who has gotten better with time.”
Luna stared at her as Hermione jumped up. “What?”
“See you later!” Hermione said, grabbing her purse and leaving the bakery.
After spending the rest of the day at the London Public Library, searching the internet and phone books for all the Muggles she had dated. She was down to three, and she had no clue where they were. Theo, she knew he worked at the Ministry. Thomas, Brandon, and Billy were unknown. Viktor was now engaged to a Harpy on Ginny’s team. She had seen Michael in passing between classes. John had moved to France, and Hudson was someone she worked with, and she knew he was with someone. The librarian came over to tell her they were closing and had to leave the library to go home.
Walking through the front door at Grimmauld, Hermione threw her purse down onto the floor instead of hanging it up.
“Hermione, is that you!?”
Hearing Harry’s voice made her gasp. Rushing into the drawing room, she grinned, “Harry! Just the man I wanted to see.”
Harry held up his hands, “I didn’t do it!”
“No, nothing you’ve done. I just,” Hermione sat down next to him, “I need your help.”
Harry frowned, “What kind of help?”
Hermione bit her lip. “What kind of connections do you still have with the Auror Academy?”
“Some people, why?” He asked suspiciously.
“Do you think they could help me, or you could help me find not only some wizards, but some muggles too?” Hermione asked, pulling her list out of her pocket.
Harry looked over the list and looked up at her wide-eyed, “These are the guys you’ve dated. Did one of them give you something?!”
“No! God, no,” Hermione gasped, “Nothing like that. I just…I want to see where they are. See if they’ve changed and maybe if they want to date me again.”
Harry stared at her as he took another bite of his sandwich, “You are finally moving on from Ron, but you are going back to one of these guys?”
Hermione took the list from him and stood up, “Never mind.”
“No! No… I’m glad you are finally moving on from him. You need to get out and date, but why go through all this trouble and not someone new?” Harry asked.
Hermione sighed, “No, no one new.”
“Sometimes new is good, though,” Harry told her as he sat down, taking another bite of his sandwich. “New is better than old.”
“Of course you’d say that, other than Ginny, the longest relationship that you’ve ever had was with that sandwich,” Hermione told him.
Harry winked at her, then took a big bite of his sandwich, making her roll her eyes, and then she walked upstairs to her bedroom.
