The following morning, Hermione and Matt woke slowly. The aftereffects of their passionate night were still felt. Hermione looked up at Matt as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tucked a few unruly strands of hair behind her ear. He grinned at her and kissed her on the lips.
"Good morning." He said quietly.
"Good morning to you too." Hermione replied sweetly as she slowly sat up, the covers dropped from around her, revealing her nude body. She blushed as Matt drank in the sight.
"That was really special, last night."
"It was for me too." Hermione smiled as she propped herself up on an elbow. His arm slipped around her shoulders, and she sighed contentedly.
"If we would not be missed by the others…" Matt began.
"We could stay like this…"
Matt hummed a positive reply; Hermione had reached the same conclusion he had and shared it. After a few more long blissful moments of cuddling Hermione sat up.
"There's something I want to talk to you about." She began. Matt sat up and repositioned the pillows so he could lean against them.
"Alright, what's up?" he asked, curious as to what Hermione wanted to discuss.
"It's about my fifth year, here."
"Oh! Am I finally going to get to hear the story of the ministry?" he asked and looked at Hermione, his attention entirely focused on her.
"Yes." She took a steadying breath, and reminded herself she could do this. "At the end of our fifth year, Harry had a sort of vision planted by Voldemort in his head." Hermione began; Matt nodded along. "He saw his godfather, Sirius Black, being held by Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic. It was a trap, of course."
"A surprisingly good one really. I can see how Harry would have taken the bait." Matt replied.
"Yes, well, we, that is to say Harry, Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, and I all went to Ministry of Magic in London. Death Eaters ambushed us. They wanted a prophecy about Harry and Voldemort. Voldemort wouldn't get it himself, so he wanted Harry to retrieve it for him and then have his Death Eaters steal it from Harry and bring it to him." Hermione continued.
"Wow, both lazy and evil." Matt observed. "He must've had a real ego to do that."
"You've no idea." Hermione said. "Anyway, we escaped the initial trap and fought a bunch of the Death Eaters…except…"
Matt raised an eyebrow and reached out to her, finding her hand, and taking it in his to help comfort her and give her some strength.
Hermione had not told anyone what was in the letter from Madam Pomfrey about her test results. She was afraid that her newfound condition would be a deal breaker for many people. Hermione felt genuinely happy for the first time in a long time, maybe even ever. She was afraid that by saying it all aloud, the world she had been building for herself would all come crashing down around her. She was not sure how Matt would take this, and it could spell the end of everything between them.
Everything might come apart and Hermione Granger might just become another name on a list of former girlfriends that Matt Santini had as he moved through life. Her own future might not contain any more happiness, this could be the last time she ever felt this good. But it was not right to hide this secret any longer. She needed to know, she needed to see his reaction. Hermione gathered all her Gryffindor courage and pressed on.
"Except?" Matt asked gently, he knew there was more, and he was prepared to hear it all.
"Except, we lost the fight, Neville broke his nose, Ron was injured by a brain, Ginny's ankle was broken, and Luna was knocked out…and I got cursed. I was unconscious for some time, not, obviously as long as you were, but still. I barely survived and the only reason I did was because I managed to silence my attacker before he could cast the spell. If he had been able to speak it, I would be dead." Hermione had still not gotten to the worst news.
"Oh, Hermione! I'm glad you're all ok now." Matt said in a soothing tone, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand.
"But I'm not…you see there was some lingering effects. I…I…I Oh, Matt, I can't have children!" Hermione threw herself into Matt's arms and buried her face in his shoulder so she could not see his face and reaction.
Matt was stunned. He could not believe that Hermione had such a terrible thing happen to her. She was probably the least deserving of all the people he knew to have a condition like sterility forced upon her. Matt wrapped his arms around Hermione and held her close.
"Oh, my sweet Hermione. It's ok. I'm not worried about that." He spoke comfortingly. "I don't have to have kids. And honestly? You're enough for me. If it's just the two of us from now on, I'm good with that. And if we really find we want a little one, we can always adopt!" his hands wrapped around her bare back and gently rubbed her.
"You really mean that?" Hermione said as she slowly pushed herself up off his shoulder. Matt nodded, smiling.
"Yes, I do. I love you, just the way you are." He said, his hand came up to cup her cheek, his thumb caressing her cheek gently. Her own hand met his as he held her gaze and leaned down to kiss her. Hermione returned the kiss and fell into his chest afterwards.
After cuddling for some time Hermione smiled at Matt as she looked up at him and grinned down at her.
"Perhaps, we could repeat last night?" she asked. Matt eagerly nodded and leaned down to whisper in her ear. Hermione looked scandalized but slowly nodded.
"Yes, I suppose we could try that, a little early morning snack before breakfast?" she asked, and Matt nodded. They shifted their positions in the bed as sheets were thrown off and Hermione crawled towards the end of the bed, her head between Matt's legs as her knees rested on either side of his head.
Neville and Luna looked up to see Ginny walking into the Great Hall, late and looking severely disheveled.
"Morning Ginny." Neville said as Ginny sat down with them. Harry was right behind her and gave her a quick kiss before going up to the staff table.
"Did you have a lovely night?" Luna asked.
"It was, once Harry and I left the dance." She said and pulled a plate of food over to herself.
"What happened?" Neville asked as he sipped orange juice.
"I'll tell you later. Where're Matt and Hermione?" Ginny asked, worry evident in her voice.
"I dunno, Matt never came back to the dorms last night." Neville admitted.
"I thought I saw them going to the Room of Requirement." Luna said as she ate a cut up apple. Ginny turned red at the thought of what her best friend and Matt were up to all the way up there.
"You know, we ought to go into Hogsmeade today." Neville said and looked up in shock to see Draco Malfoy sauntering over.
"You know, Longbottom, that was about the most fun I think I've ever had, last night." Draco said as he plopped down beside Neville. He snatched a Granny Smith apple up from a bowl on the table.
"Yeah? Liked the dancing huh?" Neville asked with a grin.
"You know, I really did. Astoria's a good dancer. Granger's decent too." Draco went on.
"Who all did you dance with?" Ginny asked.
"Let's see, both Astoria and her sister, Granger, Lovegood, Abbott, Astoria, Granger, Astoria and oh yeah, didn't we have one too?" Draco said, listing off his partners in order.
"Don't forget about our group dance and I think you forgot Matt." Neville replied.
Draco laughed, genuinely.
"Yeah, that Santini, he's a hoot, know what I mean?" Draco asked as he ate his apple.
"Matt's quite the character. He seems to really be ok here. And he loves Hermione." Luna observed.
"You guys really don't mind that I'm here, do you?" Draco said, noticing that none of the Gryffindors or the Ravenclaw were glaring at him or minding his presence.
"Well, you're not being an ass or making fun of any of us our friends, so no, not really." Ginny replied. It was scathing but truthful. Draco sighed.
"Yeah, well, the war changed a lot of people." Draco replied. "I wish I had been better…" he lamented. "But it's not too late, is it, for me, I mean?"
"You did help Harry fight Voldemort when it came down to it. And he vouched for you at the ministry. So, if Harry says you're ok, then I'm ok with you too." Nevile replied.
"It's never too late to make amends." Luna added.
"Yeah. Why don't you join us? We're going to Hogsmeade today." Ginny said.
"Are you sure?" Draco asked, surprised. He had never been asked to go with anyone to the village before. Every time he had gone, it had been his idea, and he had to be the one to ask others to join him. Not that Crabbe, Goyle, or Pike often felt like they had a choice.
At that moment, Matt and Hermione walked into the Great Hall. Hermione was wearing what appeared to be one of Matt's T-shirts, it had a graphic on it none of them recognized and was overly large on Hermione's small frame, and a pair of sweatpants. Matt had changed into a similar outfit of T-shirt and sweatpants. Their hands were interlocked with each other as they sat down at the table, the pair seemingly glowed as they joined their friends.
"Morning." Ginny said with a glance between the couple.
"Good morning!" Hermione said brightly, looking happier and chipper than she had before.
"Morning guys, Luna, Draco!" Matt said acknowledging the Gryffindors and the others in turn. "What's brought you to our table?" he asked cheerily as he pulled over a plate of pancakes.
"Well, we wanted to see our friends of course," Luna replied. "And you, naturally."
"Yeah, couldn't help but reminisce about last night. Hell of a party." Draco said, with a hint of a smirk.
"Yeah?" Matt began as he added butter and syrup to his stack of pancakes, looking at Draco with a grin of his own. "It was the dance, wasn't it? I'm sorry Draco, but I'm spoken for." Matt said, holding up Hermione's hand which he had yet to let go. She cleared her throat at him and released her so she could properly eat. Draco merely shook his head with a slight grin.
"We were just discussing going into Hogsmeade today, after breakfast. But I imagine you two don't want to, huh?" Neville said with a slight smile.
"Neville Longbottom! Were you just teasing us because we didn't come back to the dormitory last night?" Hermione asked, putting on a mock tone of shock. She reached over to pull a bowl of porridge towards her. Neville looked bemused and stammered to find words. Matt barked out a laugh.
"Neville, she's teasing you!" Matt said with a smile. "As for going into Hogsmeade, that sounds fun, it'll be a nice date!" he said, and gave Hermione a side hug which she leaned into and grinned about.
"Oh no, not a date. You two aren't going to start snogging on the way there, are you?" Ginny groaned.
"No, not on the way there, we don't want to trip and fall or anything like that…now once we're safely in the village, all bets are off." Matt said back and chuckled as Hermione started to turn red. Neville and Draco exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Ginny made a retching sound again which only made Matt laugh as he was trying to eat. "Careful Gin, you're going to choke if you don't cut it out." Matt teased between mouthfuls.
Ginny stuck her tongue out at Matt. He grinned, finally coming out on top of one of their exchanges.
"So, Hermione, are we in for Hogsmeade?" Matt asked, he wanted her to sign off on it too, although truth be told, he was going wherever she was. So, if she decided she was not going to the village, neither was he.
"Yes, I think it'll be lovely to go with my boyfriend!" she emphasized the last word and Matt simply beamed at her as he ate. "And we can do all sorts of things to – er – I mean, with each other." She played along with the bawdy joking, her cheeks flushed but she wanted to get one in on the others anyway. Ginny visibly shuddered.
"Oh, come on, Gin! I caught you and Harry slipping out of here early last night. I know what you were up to, gettin' a little rowdy!" Matt teased. Ginny's face turned scarlet to match her hair.
"What?! You found out? Who told you?!" she asked, flushing.
"It wasn't that hard to piece together. Harry slipped out first, then you about ten minutes later. It's smart. Doesn't look suspicious or obvious what was going on. No one notices, you just 'got tired' and left for bed early, right? And you still get to have all the fun."
"Well, I wouldn't call that all fun…" Ginny replied.
"Well, that sort of thing does take effort and work. Right Hermione?" Matt said and gave his girlfriend a little nudge.
"Oh, yes, it does. You've got to find the right balance of forcefulness and comforting." Hermione astutely observed. "Eye contact is vitally important as well as physical touch." She explained. "Not to mention communication, you've got to state your feelings and intentions."
"Should we be hearing this?" Neville asked, looking flushed.
"It's quite alright with me, I'm assuming so with you, Matt?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, we're all adults here, it's fine to talk about these sorts of things." he replied, not bothered by the nature of their discussion. The group chatted lightly for a few moments more as Matt and Hermione finished their breakfast. They split up afterwards, Luna off to Ravenclaw Tower, while Draco headed for the dungeons and the Gryffindor quartet made their way back to their own tower. They had all agreed to meet up in an hour's time to go into the village.