Clever Mischief

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Clever Mischief, Chapter 3: All Work and No Play
Date: Thursday, August 25, 2005
Location: Hogwarts Library
Character: Hermione, Seamus
Rating: Any Age
Complete

“Now really, Miss Granger, I’m most disappointed in you! Did you not receive the memo or did you just decide to ignore it?”

The familiar Irish lilt disturbed the quiet of the library. Despite the disruption of silence, Hermione’s lips twisted into a welcoming smile as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and looked up from her book. She carefully schooled her features before she saw the mischievous blue gaze she knew awaited her and dryly asked, “And what memo would that have been, Mister Finnigan?”

“Tsk, tsk.” He clucked his tongue as he walked into the library with a purposeful gait she recognized all too well after five years. “What memo, she asks with that innocent tone that completely hides the wicked vixen within. You know very well what memo of which I speak, Miss Granger.”

“Tell me something, Mister Finnigan. Do you ever stop and actually listen to yourself speak?”

“Now why would I do something stupid like that?” He arched a sandy brow and smirked. “I make perfect sense to me so bugger anyone else.”

“Wicked vixen?” she repeated with a snort and roll of her eyes. “Have you been eating pure chocolate straight from the bowl again, Finnigan?”

“Oi, Hermione,” he gasped and clutched his heart before he practically fell on top of her desk, deliberately pushing her book away with his theatrics, “your words strike my heart as surely as poisoned arrows-” Seamus looked at her and his lips started to twitch. He finally started to laugh. “Okay, I can’t go on. This is too over the top - even for me. See what you do to me, Granger? You make me…dramatic!”

“So what’s your excuse for the other twenty years of your life?” She smiled as she shoved him off her desk. “Stop disrupting my desk, you dramatic prat.”

“If you keep being mean to me, I won’t give you your pressie,” he taunted as he opened a small square box to show her fresh chocolate covered cherries. “The chocolate is still waaaaarm.”

“I’m going to tell Ambrosius that you’re being evil and force him to revoke your chocolate privileges,” she warned as she looked from the chocolate to Seamus and back again. “You don’t play fair!” She stuck her tongue out at him before she snatched the box away. “You know my weakness for chocolate covered cherries.”

“Of course I do,” he said smugly. “Why do you think I brought them with me? Bribery is the only way to ever get any time with you once term starts. And that, my girl, brings us back to the memo.”

Hermione pursed her lips and opened her top desk drawer. She withdrew a piece of parchment and held it up. “This is your memo?” Before Seamus could reply, she adjusted her glasses and read, “’All work and no play makes Hermione a very dull bird. First, Finnigan, calling me a ‘bird’ is a definite indication that you wish to be hexed. I’m considering boils on your bum just because of the humor of watching you try to sit properly but your bribe may save you from that fate. Second, such silly distractions to my preparations for the new school term merely succeed in causing me to work longer hours to make up for the time it takes to read the silly missives in the first place. Third-”

“Oh please,” he groaned and shook his head, “don’t give me a third. Do you have any idea how annoying your blasted lists are, much less when you actually number them? It‘s another level of Hell, I‘m sure. Beyond Inferno rests ‘Hermione Granger‘s Endless Numbered Lists‘ and it‘s worse than purgatory, I’ll bet. You’re very fortunate that I adore you anyway and bring you chocolate.”

“Are they?” she asked innocently. There had been a time when Seamus’ antics had been an annoyance. While they were in school, she’d often found them bothersome and had never been particularly close with him. That had changed after the war, though, as had nearly everything. When Voldemort was gone, it seemed that nothing was really the same anymore. People were gone, familiar places were left in ruins, relationships had ended while others had just begun. Her friendship with Harry and Ron, by that point, had transcended mere friendship; the three of them were family regardless of parentage and blood.

Hermione watched Seamus roll his eyes and make a face at her before he stole one of her chocolates. There were many people in her life that she considered ‘friend’ that she’d honestly have never considered more than a passing acquaintance years ago. Other than Harry and Ron, she was closest with three men she’d barely known prior to the war. Well, she’d known Neville more than Seamus or Kingsley but they’d never been really close until he’d come to Hogwarts for an apprenticeship with Professor Sprout. When she’d retired, Hermione was glad that he’d stayed on to fill the position. Kingsley was quiet, moody, and bluntly honest.

She’d actually been friends with Seamus longer than the other two. He was flirty, liked having fun, and needed her more than even Harry and Ron. He’d lost Dean in the war, an event that caused such sadness to fill his eyes when he didn’t think he was being observed that she couldn’t help but want to cuddle him and make things better. She understood what he felt, in a way, and she knew that understanding had helped bring them together as friends. They’d talked about Dean several times, usually when he was drunk and just needed to talk or cry or be hugged or often all three, and she knew that it had helped but there were still times, not so often as the years had passed, when she’d notice him grieving.

More often than not, when he felt melancholy or depressed, he’d put on a big smile, owl her some silly note, and then come visit her or insist she visit him at Honeydukes or his flat in Hogsmeade. When she’d received the owl from him early that morning, barely an hour after dawn, she’d known to get her work done early because Seamus needed a distraction and he enjoyed attempting to make her relax and have fun, which rarely ever worked but it did, at least, cheer him up.

A loud snap in front of her face caused her to blink and focus on Seamus. He was smiling but she saw the concern in his blue eyes. “You okay, Hermione? You drifted off there for a bit and didn’t even scold me for stealing a second piece of chocolate.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him before she glared playfully. “Don’t steal my chocolate, you git, or it won’t be considered a bribe since there won’t be any left!”

“I’ll just make you more,” he promised before he attempted to get another. He glared at her when she slapped his hand and gave her his best pout before he realized that wouldn’t work and tried the fluttering eyelashes. “Please? I need chocolate.”

“Why didn’t you bring a box for yourself, then?” she asked as she grudgingly handed over a chocolate covered cherry. “There. That’s it, though. The rest are mine and you owe me peanut butter fudge, Finnigan.”

“Hmph. I think you only keep me around for the free candy,” he grumbled good-naturedly.

“Of course,” she said matter-of-factly. “The ability to make delicious confections is a talent that I should require from all of my friends.”

“You’re a cruel woman, Hermione Granger.”

“Yes, but I’m also the cruel woman with the rest of the chocolate,” she reminded as she held up one of the chocolate covered cherries and smirked.

“Did I say cruel? I meant generous and sharing.” He grinned as he held out his hand. “You know you finished your work ages ago. You’ve probably got things ready for students despite it being a couple more weeks before they get here. Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”

Hermione tidied her desk and stood up. “We can stop by the kitchen on our way,” she decided as she took his hand and tucked the box of chocolates into the pocket of her robe. “I’m sure Dobby would help us make a picnic to take down to the lake.” She smiled at Seamus and bumped his hip with hers before they walked out of the library.