Trailblazing And Stargazing - Chapter 24 (here Comes The Smut)

Trailblazing & Stargazing - Chapter 21

“Granger.” Zabini and Nott said in unison, slightly nodding in acknowledgment. 

She held out her hand to each of them in turn and, of course, they did the pretend kiss instead of shaking it like normal people. Pureblood etiquette! She managed not to roll her eyes. She should give herself another Order of Merlin First Class just for this incredible act of self-control.

“Zabini, Nott. A pleasure to meet you. Your muggle tuxedos are perfect, I suppose Pansy helped?”

“I can’t speak for Blaise, but I’m always perfect.” Smirked Nott. Hermione laughed, Draco snorted.

Zabini rolled his eyes. “Nott, if it weren’t for Pansy, you would have come here looking like my Great Aunt Cornelia when she comes back from vacationing around the world wearing bits and bobs from every country.”

“Now I absolutely need to meet her!” Chuckled Hermione.

“Three Snakes and a Lioness, I could write a story about this and become even more famous than Beedle the Bard” came Pansy’s voice. She was wearing a long black dress, with a high slit and a high neckline, the bodice was covered in lace. Her eyes quickly met Hermione’s who nodded imperceptibly.

“This is Agathe Fournier, my girlfriend.” She looked her friends in the eyes and squeezed Agathe’s hand. Agathe was rather petite, her hair was a light shade of brown and it was tied in a low bun at the nape of her neck. She was wearing a pink dress, with a corseted top and a full tulle skirt that reached her calves. She smiled timidly.

“Hello Agathe, I’m Hermione. I’m so happy to meet you.” Hermione shook her hand vigorously.

“Nice to meet you Hermione. Pansy told me you are her first client here in Britain.” Unlike Fleur, Agathe barely had a French accent.

Draco took Agathe’s hand and brought it towards his lips without actually kissing it. “Enchanté. I’m Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.”

Hermione barely held back a snort. She could actually picture Draco as a wizarding James Bond. Nott and Zabini pretend-kissed Agathe’s hand, introduced themselves and greeted Pansy.

“Pans, are all witches this beautiful in France? Because I’m thinking of moving there if that’s the case.” Theo whispered, all too loudly, in his friend’s ear.

“The witches of Great Britain would be devastated to lose you, I’m sure.” Scoffed Blaise from behind.

Pansy rolled her eyes. “If you behave, I might think about introducing you to someone. Salazar knows it’s about time you two gave up your rakish ways.”

“You sound like my mother, Pans.” Laughed Draco as they reached their seats in the center of the Grand Tier.

Trailblazing & Stargazing - Chapter 10

A little snippet from chapter 10, online now.

Just Pansy being sassy.

“Mini-Weasley, enough with the pre-teen drama, stand with your mother and hold her like you would for a waltz.”

Hugo gawked. “Why?!”

Hermione was perplexed, as well. “Why would he need to dance with me?” she asked.

Pansy sighed and rolled her eyes. “Now, Granger, I know you were brought up differently, but you’re supposed to be the brightest witch of our age, surely you have figured out, by now, that you are going to have to open the dances at the Gala.”

“Oh, surely someone else will.” She countered

“Granger, who opens the dances at a gala?” asked Pansy, slowly.

“The host or hostess.” Sighed Hermione.

“And where is this Gala being hosted?”

“At the Ministry of Magic.”

“And you are…?”

“The Minister of Magic.” She huffed.

“Yes, Granger. I’m very proud of you for figuring it out. Now, before you say anything else. No, you cannot open with your ex-husband, you just announced your divorce, that would be confusing. And no, not Potter either, he is your best friend but also a head of department, opening with him would imply that he is more important than the other heads. You cannot open with any guest for that same reason. Hence, your son is the best option. After the opening dance you can do whatever you like. Now, please stand close so that I can match your shades of blue. It was bad enough that stupid Malfoy didn’t tell me he would open the dancing with you and not his mother, made me look like an amateur.” Parkinson groaned. 

Trailblazing & Stargazing - Chapter 35

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53573164/chapters/150120247

Someone knocks at Professor Granger's door. She puts her phone on her nightstand and walks to the door.

H. "Malfoy. What are you doing here?"

D. "I came to redeem myself by warming your frozen arse."

H. "Malfoy, skipping chaperoning duty is not the way to my knickers."

D. "Ha. But there is a way to your knickers!"

Hermione rolls her eyes and slams the door on his face. He's still smirking. Smug prat.

A few moments later her phone chimes again.

Hermione Granger and the Dramione shippers - chapter 10

Breakfast in the Great Hall

If ever there was a Guinness world record for brightest blush, Hermione was sure she would win it. She felt her cheeks reach the temperature of Mount Vesuvius’ Pyroclastic cloud that burned Herculaneum.

“How?” She asked in a whisper, to avoid drawing attention from the few students still lingering in the Great Hall. She was, pointedly, not looking at him.

“It appears, we are both curious, Granger. I think I should smirk now. I heard it does something to your insides.” And he did, in fact, smirk. But her insides were too twisted to react to it. “Anyway, you gave me enough information, so I went on a quick trip to Hastings, yesterday. By the way, sorry for standing you up. Did you have a good time with Pomona?”

Hermione nodded slightly.

“Good. Perhaps we could start a new… what’s it called? Ah, yes, ship. Would it be Pomione or Hermona? Although, I must say, I’m pretty fond of Dramione. I’ve read some… rather creative things.”

Trailblazing & Stargazing - Chapter 22

Hermione stirred as the light of the rising sun grew stronger. She felt a warm arm around her waist and someone’s breath coming from somewhere entirely too close to her lips. It took her brain a few seconds to remember where she was, and with whom. Bloody hell. She’d spent the night on a godforsaken beach in Cornwall snogging Draco Malfoy! She kept her eyes closed, she needed to think. 

Was this a good thing? What would Ron and the kids say about this? Rose was dating Scorpius! That would be awkward, wouldn’t it? And what would the Wizarding World think of this? Oh shit! She was the Minister of Magic and he was a member of the Wizengamot. There weren’t any laws against it but surely people would have things to say. Not that she hadn’t wanted it. She had come here willingly and had enjoyed it very much. Part of her actually wished they had even gone beyond snogging. But… they were on a beach! Anyone could have seen them!

As she lost control over her spiraling thoughts, she felt him stir as he too woke up. She closed her eyes even tighter.

“Good morning, Hermione.” He whispered. Then, his eyes focused on her scrunched-up face and he said. “I was awakened by the sound of your brain thinking too many thoughts at the same time.” He kissed her forehead.

“Good morning, Draco.” She said, eventually opening her eyes. “It’s just… I realized that coming here wasn’t perhaps the smartest idea.” She saw his face morphing into a frown and immediately clarified. “Not that I regret this. I like spending time with you and this was… nice. But we shouldn’t have slept here, in the open. Anybody could have seen us.”

“I’m sorry. You are right, I should have apparated us back home. I didn’t think of the possible consequences. Hopefully, nobody saw us. I suppose you wouldn’t want to let the world know about this.” He pushed down with his hands to sit up, his eyes sad and downcast. She sat up with him and placed a hand on his cheek.

“I am not ashamed of this, Draco. But we haven’t even really started dating, and I only recently finalized my divorce. I would just like to come out with this on our own terms, not the Prophet’s.” She leaned towards him, pulled his face down and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

“Can we start dating today? I’d like to apparate us to my house. There we can have breakfast, get changed and spend the rest of Sunday doing whatever you like.” His eyes were bright now, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“If you promise that Carson won’t poison me.” She teased.

Little self-esteem boost. 30 kudos in 24hrs is a lot, at least by my standards. I started writing because I needed a way to keep my brain from forgetting English, and that's still my main motivator, but it's nice to know someone appreciates it.

Trailblazing & Stargazing - Chapter 20

The month of February was a whirlwind. The Grangers had moved back into their home in Hampstead Garden Suburb, the reform was brought to the Wizengamot for a third time and, as expected, rejected. It would, hopefully, be approved in the second week of March. The Werewolf Integration Act had caused quite a stir and the Ministry had, again, received several howlers.

Her life had been, overall, hectic, but on Friday the 26th she had time to meet with Ginny and Luna for lunch. They met at the Leaky Cauldron because, as lovely as she was, Luna had a tendency to risk breaching the statute of secrecy when out around muggles. Her friends were already sitting at a table when Hermione arrived, she stopped at the bar to order her drink before joining them.

“Hello Hermione!” Said Luna in her dreamy, tinkling voice as she lowered her Spectrespecs from her head to her nose. “You are surprisingly wrackspurt-free. I’m glad to see things are turning out all right.”

“Hello Luna! I am, in fact, doing rather well, all things considered. How are you?” Hermione said as she sat down with her friends at the wooden table, hanging her bag on the back of her chair.

“I’m doing well, settling down in Hogsmeade, I’ve already met with Minerva and Hagrid about my teaching position next year. But Ginny has news. Her head is full of wrackspurts but she won’t tell me why, she wanted to wait for you and not have to repeat it.”

“What news, Ginny?” Asked Hermione as she accepted her butterbeer from the waiter.

“I’ve received an offer from the Harpies. They want to hire me as second coach, I’d become Head Coach when Sylvie Goray retires next year.” Said Ginny before taking a long sip of her butter beer.

“That is great Ginny!” Exclaimed Hermione.

“Oh, yes. A thrilling prospect!” Chimed Luna.

“It is, and I’m honored. But I’m not sure. I haven’t told Harry yet.” Ginny sighed, slouching.

“Why not? Surely he’d support you.” Hermione placed a comforting hand on Ginny’s arm.

“He would, but working as a coach would mean I’d be away most weekends. During the week Harry comes home late every night. We would hardly see each other anymore.”

Fics I loved - part 1

This series was my introduction to fan fiction. I had just finished the umpteenth re-read of the Harry Potter books and I thought I wanted to know more about Hermione. Google brought me to this series and I was immediately in love. The series is not yet complete, book 5, Hermione Granger and the Order of the Phoenix, was published a few days ago. If you love Hermione, go read this series.

Of drought and downpour - chapter one

Inspired by the song "It's raining men"

Last night's plot bunny brought me here, more to follow over the next few weeks.

Hermione and Luna were sitting at the Sugar & Spice, a muggle-style coffee shop on the corner between Knockturn and Diagon Alley. A muggle born witch, who had graduated from Hogwarts a couple of years after they had, owned it and it had been a smashing success since it had opened a little over a year ago. It had become their safe haven for Saturday morning chats. Coffee tables and mismatched armchairs were distributed in small clusters, each area was enclosed in a privacy charm that allowed patrons to enjoy their time there without being ogled or overheard. People could see that someone was sitting but they could not focus their attention on anyone who didn’t want them to. White bookcases lined the lower part of the walls, everyone was free to take or donate books. Beautiful posters of magical and muggle cities as well as natural landscapes decorated the top part of the sage-green walls.

Hermione sipped her pumpkin spice latte and nibbled on a blueberry scone as she listened attentively as Luna recounted her date with Ernie McMillan.

"Hermione, believe me, it will take me a week to get rid of all the wrackspurts I caught. I can feel them crawling all over my head!” She scratched her scalp with an annoyed scoff. “He was 15 minutes late, and that alone is never a good sign. He was wearing dragon-hide boots! Can you believe it? They seemed vintage so I tried to ignore them. Vintage is the only exception I make, you know. We went to that posh French restaurant just beside Gringotts and he ordered for me, the audacity! He insisted I should really try the erumpent fillet! Me! Eat an erumpent fillet! I stood up and left." With a scowl and a sigh, Luna took a long sip of her double caramel oat latte followed by an indulgent bite of her triple chocolate vegan brownie.

Hermione shook her head disbelievingly. "It’s as if they don't even care to know anything about us. Everyone knows you became a vegan in seventh year! Ernie was with us, sat at the same bloody table!” she protested. “I went out with Hercules Monroe last night, he graduated from Hogwarts in 1994, Ravenclaw. As we were walking, he asked me what I thought of the House Elf Liberation Act. And before I could even reply, he started berating it and saying that whoever had written it had never met a house elf. We didn't even reach the theatre, we were going to watch the Phantom of the Opera in muggle London. I left him alone in the middle of Leicester Square." She scoffed.

Luna was shocked. “He is a solicitor, he should know who had that law passed! Was he just trying to insult you or is he that much of a moron?”

Just as they both resumed their breakfast, Ginny stormed through the door and headed towards the counter. When her order had been taken, she crossed the crowded sitting area and reached their table, throwing herself down onto the plush armchair her friends had kept for her and tossing a copy of the Daily Prophet on the small table. The words ‘The boy who lived to be dumped’ flashing in bold letters above a picture of Ginny stomping out of Grimmauld Place as Harry stood on the doorstep looking puzzled.

"I. Am. Done. The Boy Who Lived can go fuck himself! Why did I even start dating him? Why did nobody tell me I was idolising him for all the wrong reasons and he was only with me because he wanted to be a Weasley?"