The Rose In The Rain | Dramione

Chapter 22

"What is wrong with me, Ginny!" Hermione yelled at her redheaded friend, her brown eyes wide with horror. "I agreed to his moronic bet, and if I lose, I may never see my damn wand again."

"Why didn't you just take the wand from him?" she asked, flashing Hermione a questioning stare from across the table.

The girls were sitting in the library, working on some homework for Transfiguration. Hermione had also been writing out replies to Harry and Ron's letters, and had taken the opportunity of alone time with Ginny to explain her bet with Draco.

"I wasn't thinking straight — he was insulting me, talking about his friend Theodore's girlfriend, rambling on with utter nonsense, and when he brought up people I've dated, I lost focus and I just... agreed," she explained weakly, rifling through her Transfiguration textbook as she searched for the correct page. "Let's just focus on our work, okay?"

Ginny's lips formed a frown, but she nodded nonetheless, poising her quill in her hand as she stared down at her blank sheet of parchment. "About that," she said, slowly lifting her eyes to Hermione's. "Care to help me out?" she asked as she stifled a laugh, motioning to her paper.

Hermione rolled her eyes, sliding her textbook across the desk to Ginny. "Read that page, then write about it," she explained vaguely, already scribbling away at her parchment with her quill.

"Very helpful," Ginny mused sarcastically, rolling her eyes as Luna walked into the library, accompanied by Neville, Hannah Abbott, and an unfamiliar boy. The group quickly spotted the two Gryffindors and approached, all wearing bright smiles.

"Hello," Luna greeted airily, her voice soft.

Hermione forced a smile, her mind briefly wandering to her conversation with Draco, where he had insulted her peculiar friend. She hadn't even defended Luna. "Hi," she said, pushing away the intruding thoughts. "I haven't seen much of you this year — any of you, really."

Ginny nodded in agreement, flicking through the Transfiguration textbook Hermione had given her without even glancing at the pages. "What brings you lot here?"

"We came to study," Hannah explained kindly, her eyes locking with Neville's. His cheeks flushed and he quickly focused his gaze elsewhere.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged an amused glance at Neville's behavior, as the unknown boy shuffled his feet. "I'm Rolf, by the way," he introduced, straightening his Hufflepuff tie. "Rolf Scamander."

"No way!" Hermione gasped suddenly, eyes wide. "Scamander... as in Newt Scamander? Author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?!"

Rolf nodded sheepishly, his pale cheeks blushing a shade as dark as Neville's as his eyes darted from Hannah to his shoes repeatedly. "That's my grandfather," Rolf informed Hermione, who looked thrilled. As Rolf took a seat beside her, the two quickly began discussing Newt Scamander, leaving Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Hannah to converse amongst themselves.

"What's going on between them?" Ginny whispered to Luna, jerking her head subtly in Neville and Hannah's direction.

"I think they like each other," Luna explained with a light laugh, smiling slowly at her best friend. "They're quite lucky, I suspect the Higgles will leave them alone now," she added mysteriously, leaving Ginny to shake her head in amusement at the girl's randomness.