The Cure for Boredom

Muggle!AU

What am I doing here? I thought, looking around the almost empty bar. It was a miserable Wednesday night and the 'usual crowd' of drunks and middle-aged-men-with-nowhere-to-go were the only living creatures that occupied the cramped space – except for the occasional rat. I checked my phone for the sixth time in two minutes, waiting for someone to give me something to do apart from stare into the decreasing froth of my beer. Heaving a large sigh, I grab my glass and take a large gulp, finishing the cup and peering through the end. The taste makes me want to puke, but it still does the job for a fraction of the price. After placing it back on the bench, I snap my fingers together, gaining the bartenders attention. He smiles at me in a very customer-service kind of way and nods when I wave my fingers over the glass, silently asking for a refill. As he does that I check my phone again. Nothing.

"Urgh!" I sigh, leaning my forehead onto the bar in front of me.
"Bad day?" I whip my head up to see the bartender in front of me, smile softly – much more genuine this time.
"I'm just bored," I answer. "You know when you just have those days and all you want to do is something reckless?" He nods.
"Hey, that's every day of my life!" His laugh is really nice, the kind you just can't help but smile when you hear it. So I do, and somehow find myself laughing along with him. "So, do you have any plans?" I can tell that he's only talking to me because of how incredibly bored he must also be – as I am the only one who has bought anything off him within the last hour and a half.
"Something insane probably," I chuckle, swirling the new beer he's poured me. I take a sip, cringe and almost spit it back in the cup, but swallow it anyway.
"If you hate the taste, why do you keep ordering it?" He asks, as he watches me repeat the same action again.
"Because I'm cheap!" He shakes his head and I watch him head over to the bar and pour some random coloured liquids into a mixer and shake. Skillfully, he fills a glass with the drink and smiles as he places it before me.
"There. Drink that and I promise you'll love it." He nods to the glass.
"I can't –" I began, but he just stops me with his hand.
"No, I insist. It's on the house." Skeptically, I raise the glass to my lips. I can't say I knew exactly what was in the glass, and for all I know he could have poisoned me – or drugged me. But who would be crazy enough to do that at their workplace? The concoction hits my tongue and instantly I was in heaven.
"Oh my god!" I say, almost downing the glass. "That is amazing!"
"I told you," he laughs and moves the beer further away from me. "Now don't go drinking that too fast!"
"Whenever anyone tells me that I can't do something, I prove them wrong." I smile and he smiles back.

"Thank you," I quickly say before I forget as I go to take another sip. He just smiles and says:
"You're welcome." Before heading off to serve another customer.

I open my phone, quickly finding Harry's contact, and start typing:

'So bored. At bar. Going to do something stupid. Please don't worry if I don't come home until late or even later – I'm gonna drink until someone is hot enough to make out with.'

It takes a minute or two, but I finally get the reply:

'Have fun, and don't die. I'll leave the door unlocked. Also, update me on your progress when you can ;)'

I smiled at the little 'go get 'em' from my room-mate and clicked the 'off' button. As I did, a man sidled up beside me. He leaned up against the bar, his arms extended and flexed – perfectly showing off his toned biceps. He obviously knew this, because a moment later he glanced in my direction and flashed his fake, but gorgeous smile at me. This I did not mind, and even found myself returning. But still... it was so obviously fake. I take this chance to text Harry, surprised at how easy and how not-drunk I had to be to complete my nights' goal.

'Found a beauty. Text results soon.'

The man lifted a hand to call the bartender over, and after waiting for the small nod, he turned back to me and asked:
"Can I get you a drink? I hear the punch is real boss." I was startled but lattered and nod my head. The man looked back over his shoulder and held up two fingers. The bartender nodded once more, and placed down the glass he was cleaning. The man looked back to me, smiling again.

"Hey, I'm Cormac. Do you got a name?" I almost rolled my eyes at the terrible grammar he was using, but restrained myself and took the hand he had extended.
"Hermione." We shook.
"Beautiful name," he said, then turned to the bar to pay for his drinks quickly, before returning to me, "I bet your numbers' just as pretty." My jaw dropped. While I had expected him to come on strong, I hadn't expected that. I gave a little giggle and shook my head.
"You're going to have to try harder than that!" Another giggle. What's with all the giggling tonight? Must be the beer. But he just smiled and placed a frothing beer in front of me.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Beer's not exactly my drink," I said, biting my lip softly. He smiled and narrowed his eyes slightly before downing his and taking a sip of mine.
"More for me."

"So, what do you like to do when you're not hanging out here?" He asked, ordering me another of 'whatever she's drinking!'. The bartender smiled and repeated the actions I watched earlier, although the 'customer-service' smile had returned.
"Hm, I guess I'm always working so I don't really have that many hobbies." There was a buzz, and I quickly checked my phone – it was Harry:

'Ooh! Good-luck!'

"A girl like you looks like she could have a whole lot of fun, if you just tried." He winked at me then and my eyes widened. Oh no.
"Mmhmm," I replied, nodding my head with a pursed-lipped smile. "I guess I could." He took a large swig of his drink, and my eyes moved to behind the bar where the bartender was watching from the other end. I quirked a brow and sent a questioning glance at the guy, as if inviting him to say something – teasing, if you may. He just smiled and turned to another customer who was waving his hand frantically, trying to get his attention.
"So," I said, looking back at 'Mr Handsome' before me. "You seem like a very confident person?"
"I'm not going to say I've had bad luck with the ladies, no! Don't get me wrong." A wink." But I've learned that sometimes you need to just go for what ever you want, even if it ruffles some feathers." I nod my head, smiling slightly. What am I doing with this guy? The way he speaks is in a 'typical jerk' kind of way, and that never leads anywhere good.

With a sad sigh I pick up my phone.

'Don't get your hopes up, Potter. So much testosterone, so few brain cells. Not even worth a good smooch.'

His reply was short and sweet:

'YOLO.'

I stare at the text for a moment before looking back to 'Muscles'.
"...and by then you've either got the body or you don't, and I did. So –" He looked back at me. "Something wrong?"
"No! Everything's great." Harry's right. I wanted to do something stupid. Just I was about to chuck everything into the fan, and kiss him, he said:
"I'll be back, I've got to use the little boys' room," he said in what I assume he meant as a seductive tone, winked at me, then quickly placed his lips to mine. He pulled away with a huge grin and walked off. I cringed slightly as I turned back to my drink, and shake my head as I down the lot, as well as the second one Cormac (was it?) bought me. Within seconds I feel the alcohol hit me, and I have a funny feeling in my finger tips.

I grab my phone and swipe to unlock. It takes me a second to realise that I have opened messenger and are about to send a message. Oops, too late! Another giggle.

'Gin! Hey, I was wondering: Would it freak you out if I started dating your brother?!'

I only had to wait a second before I got a reply:

'Wait, what? You like my brother... Which one!?'

'No no no no! I don't liek your brother! I just wondered if youd find it, like, weird? !'

'Hermione, are you drunk?'

'no...but I might be real soon!'

'Where are you? I'm coming.'

'NO! I'm here to have fun youll just ruin it!'

I turn off my phone, so there are no more distractions just as I see Cormac heading back to where I was waiting. He was stopped by someone just outside the bathroom and I tap my foot impatiently, but suddenly feel like I'm falling. Great, now I'm in someone's arms.
"Hey! Are you okay?" I hear the bartender ask, and I can kind of see him.
"You... you're r-really blurrrrrrrrrrry!" I stretch the 'r' far too long as I try to speak, but my head is killing me. "I'm gonna vom!" I yell, bending forward and retching – though nothing came out. He is blurry but I can make out the concern on his face.
"Hey, can you hear me?" I try to tell him that, of course I can hear him. But none of the words actually came out. Suddenly there is this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. What is wrong? Those drinks can't have been that strong?
"I'm gonna take you home," he says calmly, and then I see Cormac approach.
"Hey, what are you doing, mate?" He asked, trying to look as big as possible.
"I'm taking her home, she's far too drunk."
"I can do that?" Cormac offers, holding out his arms for me.
"Nah, but thanks!" The bartender says, "I think I can handle it!" Then he leans in really close and all but whispers, "I think it might be best if you clear out... I wouldn't want you or her to be here when the cops come for their 'routine' check..." he let his voice peter out, but his eyes stared straight into Cormacs'. Without another word from the man, he left.

"Come on, Drunkard," the bartender, named Eli I later found out, laughed – his hands on my arm.
"You ruined it!" I say, far too loudly and almost fell over, leaning into his body as we walked.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I cock-blocked you and Mr. Boyband!" He chuckled. "'Some girls just can't refuse my good looks, my style and my charm, and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift.' I mean, did you even listen to him speak? He was such a tool!" His face hardened slightly and he looked straight ahead. It had been a couple hours since Cormac left the bar, and Eli's replacement had arrived, leaving him free to escort a very drunk me home.
"Can I ask you a question?" He said seriously, looking across at me. I nod. "What's the rush? Why are you hurrying to get into a relationship that'll never work?" I feel my forehead crinkle in the middle as I frown.
"I dunno?" I say softly, "I'm needy? Plus! Not a relationship I was lookin' for." I wiggle my eyes brows and grin, which takes a surprising amount of my attention, meaning I am once again almost on the floor.

The world is spinning and everything hurts. I lean against the ground and clutch my stomach, my other hand pressed against my forehead.
"I hurt..." I mumble, and Eli leans down and starts rubbing my back.
"What hurts?" He asks in a soft voice, his eyes darting over my face and down to where my hand was clutching my abdomen.
"Everything!" There are tears in my eyes now and he looks worried. Then suddenly everything goes black, and Eli's face goes missing.

"Hermione! Hermione!?" I hear his voice, and the blackness disappears slowly. But there are lips on mine, and air was begin pushed into my lungs. I gasp and cough, rolling onto my side.
"Everyone just needs to stop kissing me!" I say, wiping my mouth. But I stop when I see how he's looking at me. His face was paler than before and his eyes were wide.
"I'm going to call a doctor, okay?" He says, lifting my free arm around his neck and helping me into his arms. I nod, clutching his shirt, and hear myself tell him how nice it feels to be in his arms. Damn it, drunk me.

We arrive at an emergency room, which I found out that Eli was taking me to all along. No wonder he didn't need my address when he was walking me home. One of the nurses approached and asked him what happened.
"I think she was drugged, I've seen it before." The nurse nodded and asked him how we knew each other and he explained that he worked at the bar and she nodded her head.
"Drugged? Don't you mean drunk?" I mumble into his shirt, and the nurse suggests I be put into a bed instead. She writes down information on a chart as Eli tells her as much as he can. Name: Hermione. Age: I don't know. Emergency contact: Just for now put me. I'll contact anyone else I can figure out.

I hear Eli looking through my bag and then I hear my phone unlock. I should really get a passcode for that. It rings for a moment, then Harry picks up and I hear his voice, Eli has put it on loud speaker:

"I'm only answering in case it's a friend emergency. If you're getting laid, I don't actually want to know."
"Uh, Harry? This is Eli, you don't know me but –"
"Oh my God! Is Hermione alright? Who the eff are you?"
"She's going to be fine, but I'm with her at the hospital. I just thought I'd find someone who she knows, and you seem to be important..." there was a small pause where he might have looked back at the phone, "considering all these hearts next to your name."
"Where are you? I'm coming."

I didn't hear any more, because soon after that I was asleep.

It was really bright when I woke up. They had moved me into a private room. My head was aching and my stomach felt even worse. Even my throat was getting in on the parts of my body that feel like they're on fire train. I blink a couple times before I can see around me. Harry has his head on my legs, the rest of him curled in the chair pulled up to the side of my bed. I smile slightly as I move the hair on his forehead out of his eyes. Which hurt like hell, I might say. I cringe and close my eyes again, letting a small moan of pain escape my lips. I hear movement, then Harry's voice.
"Hermione? Are you awake?"
"I'm sorry, you've reached somebody who's currently not operating," I mumble, a frown covering my face.
"You scared the crap out of me. You know that?" I crack open an eyes to see his face; deep blue circles under his eyes and his hair messier than its usual self. "As soon as you're feeling better, I'm going to kill you!"
"I'm sorry."

I look over to the clock on the wall. 10:45.
"I'm late for work! And, in that case, so are you!" I say, trying to swing my legs out over the bed and get up. But before I make it even one swing, my body convulses and my muscles scream in pain. And so do I.
"Hermione! You're not going to work! And neither am I, I took the week off to care for you." He pressed a hand to my shoulder and pushed me back into the bed. I humph but let him do it. That's when I see him. Eli from the bar. His eyes are wide as he stares at me, obviously awoken by my screaming. Harry must have followed my gaze, because he quickly whispered:
"He's been here all night... won't leave."
"How are you feeling?" He asks, rubbing his tired eyes but staying in the chair across the room.
"As good as I can be, I guess." He smiles, I smile (which obviously came out like more of a grimace... great).

Harry was smiling at me, his hands folded in his lap.
"So," he said softly, "how was your night? Did you have fun before you were drugged?"
"So much." I dead-panned, staring straight at him.
"Just see where recklessness gets you, children!" He said in a high-pitched, teachers sing-song voice.
"I'm annoyed. I'm going through a highly emotional situation right now and you're just sitting there mocking me." He just laughed.
"Oh, and I called your parents," Harry said quickly, and then stood, as though he planned to leave.
"What!?" I asked loudly, my eyes wide.
"I thought they should know you were in hospital. They're out getting coffee at the moment." I threw my head back into my pillow and sighed, my palms pressed against my eyes.
"No, no, no, no, no..." I mutter, my insides churning. My parents are probably going to murder me. Taking a deep breath I rub my eyes softy and take a deep breath.

"Maybe I should go before they get back?" Eli said, standing up and heading for the door. I watch as he leaves, something in my stomach telling me I should go after him. So I do. My legs hurt and I'm clutching my stomach, but with Harry's help I make it to the door.
"Hey, it's okay. I can go from here," I say to Harry, and he nods, but waits a few feet behind me. I walk down the hall as fast as I could, until I see him.

"Eli! Wait!" I called after him, and cringed slightly at the weird feeling of wearing nothing more than practically a shower screen over mu body. He turned around, confused. "I'd like to see you... again."
"I'd like that too."
"If I turned up at your bar and you were off soon, would you get a drink with me?" He smiled, and looked down at the hospital gown.
"Maybe not a drink, you drunkard. But I'd like dinner?"
"Dinner sounds great. Also, I was drugged - not drunk. So, that insult is irrelevant." We both laughed and then I smiled awkwardly and also looked down at the gown.
"Well...I'm naked. So I'm gonna go," I say quietly, and sidle back away from him.
"Only almost naked," he winked and walked away, calling "I'll see you," back at me. With a huge smile I make my way back to my room.

Gingerly I lay back in my bed, Harry frowning at me as I do.
"I couldn't let him just walk away?" I say, and he shakes his head.
"You could have just gone to the bar when you were better?"
"What? And creepily loiter every day until he works again? No thank you!"

There was a knock at the door and we both look up to see Ginny in the doorway.
"I come bearing coffee gifts!" She was smiling, and as she looked at me she shook her head. "How was your 'fun'?" She asked softly and placed a light kiss on my forehead before gently kissing Harry too. "Hey, babe."
"Hey," he replied with a smile.
"My fun was great, thank you very much. You know, until the... drugged bit... then it kinda sucked." They both laughed. I reached out for the coffee, suddenly feeling so tired.
"Thank gosh for caffeine!" I sigh.

Let's just say that my parents were a nightmare. Tell me how worried they were, and how I should be more careful. Through tears that surely could have been shed before I woke, my mother said the cliched words: I thought we taught you better. I pursed my lips and nodded my head, knowing that they were just scared. I would have felt the same if I were in their position. But it still kind of sucked to be a 'disappointment' child, for once.

A/N: Words – 3503

Chocolate Frog - (Silver) Fire Crab: "Write about someone who looks attractive, but has a horrible personality..."

Getting Around - Cormac Mclaggen

Gringotts -

(Various Prompts: Feelings & Emotions)

[Open]1-4) Confident, easy, free, kind. [Happy]5-6) Great, important. [Alive]7) Free. [Good]8-10) Surprised, bright, close. [Positive] 11) Confident. [Strong] 12) Free. [Angry] 13) Annoyed. [Depressed] 14-15) Terrible, bad. [Helpless] 16) Empty. [Indifferent] 17) Bored. [Afraid] 18-19) Scared, worried. [Hurt] 20) Aching.

(Various Prompts:Prepositions)

1-17) About, behind, down, across, considering, after, beside, against, along, except, around, before, outside, but, within, by, worth.

(Dialogue Prompts: TVD)

1) 2. "Can I get you a drink? I hear the punch is real boss." - Alaric Saltzman

2) 15. "Would it freak you out if I started dating your brother?" - Bonnie Bennett

3) 52. "I'm gonna drink until someone is hot enough to make out with."- Caroline Forbes

4) 32. "Whenever anyone tells me that I can't do something, I prove them wrong." - Caroline Forbes

5) 19. "So much testosterone, so few brain cells."- Liv

6) 1. "Some girls just can't refuse my good looks, my style and my charm, and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift." - Damon Salvatore

7) 75. "What's the rush? Why are you hurrying to get into a relationship that'll never work?" -Caroline Forbes

8) 76. "Everyone just needs to stop kissing me!" - Caroline Forbes

9) 77. "I'm only answering in case it's a friend emergency." - Caroline Forbes

10) 18. "I'm sorry, you've reached somebody who's currently not operating." - Alaric Saltzman

11) 9. "I'm annoyed. I'm going through a highly emotional situation right now and you're just sitting there mocking me." - Caroline Forbes

12) 7. "Well...I'm naked. So I'm gonna go." - Alaric Saltzman

13) 10. "I come bearing coffee gifts!" - Bonnie Bennett

14) 23. "As soon as you're feeling better, I'm going to kill you!"- Bonnie Bennett