October seemed to fly by in an instant. It felt like only the day before Matt and Ginny had written their acceptance replies to the Ministry confirming they would indeed be presenting Hermione and Harry respectively with their awards. Matt would often ask Neville about various parts of the Battle of Hogwarts and the actual conflicts that had been fought at the school.
Neville even told him about the skirmish inside the school while Harry and Dumbledore were away, how he, Hermione and Ron had lead members of their group, Dumbledore's Army, into a fight against Death Eaters that had infiltrated the castle.
Matt reciprocated by telling Neville about some of his more spectacular adventures at Ilvermorny. He knew how much his fellow Gryffindor enjoyed plants, so he went into great detail about the Venomous Tentacula, how it had mutated, and how he and his friends had to stop it. It seemed that at the same time Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the others were having their adventures, Matt, Cassidy, and David were having their own.
Ginny had been particularly interested in the group's capture of the four beasts representing the four houses of Ilvermorny. Matt had always been fond of retelling that story. It had involved a lot of extracurricular training to accomplish. Ginny likened it to the Triwizard Tournament, which had happened at the same time.
Both Ginny and Neville were relieved to learn Matt never had to deal with escaped prisoners, innocent or not. Although both were sure that had Sirius ever met Matthew Santini, Hero of Ilvermorny, he would have quite liked the young American. Matt rolled his eyes at their imposed title on him, but it was too catchy, and neither would let it go.
Matt held back a couple of stories, including a particularly dark one from his third year that he was not proud to remember. Hermione never asked about that year in particular, and he knew he would not hide it from her if she did, but it was the only school year no one had asked questions about. He was fine with this and did not point it out to his friends.
The constant inquiries into his previous adventures made the time go by quickly. Before long, the week prior to the ceremony was upon them and Matt was growing ever more excited and slightly nervous. Even Hermione noticed he was slightly edgier than typical of him.
"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked him one evening as they did homework in the common room.
"Yeah, I'm just nervous is all. It's a big day, coming up and I don't want to mess anything up." Matt admitted.
"You won't." Hermione replied coolly and confidently.
"Oh? How do you know?" Matt asked.
"Because you're doing this for me, and you have never let me down yet. Even when I didn't know I needed you to be there for me, you were." Hermione recalled.
"What do you mean?" Matt asked as he scribbled on a piece of parchment with his quill.
"The train station and the thunderstorm to name a couple." Hermione replied.
"Oh. Yeah, I guess I was. We do make a pretty good team, don't we?" he said as he remembered the incident on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. He would have to ask Ronald how his shoulder was doing. Part of him wanted to ask him about his sperm count as well, following Hermione's kick, but decided against pushing it too far.
"Thank you." Matt said looking at Hermione with a smile.
"Whatever for?" Hermione inquired.
"The vote of confidence."
"You're welcome." Hermione replied with a wink and a smile.
Matt was annoyed that Professor Slughorn had decided to hold his first dinner party on Friday the Thirtieth. He had not expected to have to attend the party right before going to the Ministry the following day. Ginny gave him small reassurances, pointing out that not only were Matt and Hermione attending but she would be joining them as well. Matt was forced to admit she did have the shorter end of that stick. He would have Hermione with him, but Ginny would not have Harry, as it was meant mostly for students.
"You're sure I don't need the full-on dress robes?" Matt asked as he looked down at himself. He was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and tan khaki pants.
"Yes, you'll be fine." Ginny said as Hermione was still getting ready. "And don't worry, there won't be as many people as there usually is, I don't expect."
"Why is that?" Matt replied.
"Well, a few have graduated, thankfully. Hermione, especially will be glad."
"I feel like there's a story here…" Matt said.
"Oh, there is. But I'll have to tell it to you on the way, we'll be late." Hermione said, coming up behind him. She was wearing a very nice-looking turtleneck sweater and jeans. She had her bushy light brown hair pinned behind her ears. Matt grinned at her.
"You're looking lovely." He said and stuck his elbow out. Hermione gladly took as the three of them climbed out of the portrait and wished Neville a good evening.
"So why are you relieved that some potential members of the, what did you call it, the 'Slug Club', have graduated?" Matt asked as they walked through the corridors.
"Oh, well, you see, there was this boy…" Hermione began.
"Uh-oh. Someone I need to watch out for?" Matt asked.
"Not at all. You see, his name was Cormac McLaggen. He had a bit of a crush on me, really." Hermione said it like it was the most vile and disgusting thing she could think.
"Sounds charming." Matt deadpanned.
"Oh, he wouldn't leave me alone, would he Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"No, not even after she ate Dragon Tartare for the bad breath." Ginny replied with a giggle.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Matt replied. He felt Hermione squeeze his arm out of affection.
"Needless to say, I'm quite glad to be rid of him. He was vile. He never asked me a thing about myself. All I heard about was how great he was!" Hermione complained.
"Good lord. Talk about ego. He had no idea, did he, that he should have been curious about the sexiest witch in all of Hogwarts, rather than his own amazingness." Matt scoffed. Hermione squeezed his arm and leaned into him.
The party itself was surprisingly tolerable. When they arrived at Slughorn's office, it was quite a bit larger inside. Matt figured the professor must have transfigured it for his own needs. Hogwarts was truly an amazing place. There was a table set for eleven people, including Slughorn and ten students. Matt sat between Ginny and Hermione, often slipping his right hand under the table to hold Hermione's left. He awkwardly ate with his left hand, but no one really noticed. And neither Ginny nor Hermione were going to comment on it.
Matt noticed that Slughorn, while head of Slytherin house, did not favor his own students over the houses. While both Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy were present, Draco chose to sit next to Ginny and Blaise kept his distance, there was Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot both from Hufflepuff. To Matt's surprise, Luna also joined them accompanied by one of the Carrow twins, Matt never figured out which one it was between Flora and Hestia.
As they ate and talked, Matt learned that Ernie and Hannah had been invited due to Ernie's blood status and Hannah's skills at healing spells. She had been instrumental in triage during the pause in the Battle of Hogwarts and helped heal injuries sustained by both students and staff. Matt learned that Blaise was incredibly wealthy, and his mother had taken on yet another husband.
Slughorn interviewed, to a degree, each student in turn. Luna's father being the editor of the Quibbler, which had gained an incredible amount of popularity during the lead up to and a portion of the Second Wizarding World, made her a popular candidate for the gathering. Anthony's status as Prefect and the skill and bravery he had shown during the Battle of Hogwarts made Slughorn want to get to know him better.
The potions master was extremely interested in Draco, given Malfoy's familial wealth and the fact that the family betrayed Voldemort in the eleventh hour made Slughorn curious. Ginny and Hermione's presence was obvious with Ginny's incredible magical prowess and her skill at Quidditch. Hermione being the top of the class still and her prior standing with Slughorn in the club. Finally, Slughorn got to Matt, saving him for the last.
"Tell me, my boy, what brought you here, to Hogwarts?" Slughorn asked.
"You didn't know, Professor?" Matt asked confused. "I was found by a former classmate of mine in a No-Maj or as you call them, Muggle, Hospital. He wrote to the Scamander family, and they had me slip into the school during the previous Headmaster's tenure. I was kept in the back of the hospital wing. No one really noticed until after the fight was over."
"I'm shocked! However, did you end up in a Muggle hospital?" Slughorn asked.
"Well, I was there, wasn't I? At Ilvermorny, when it happened." Matt said and paused. He shuddered. Images flashed in his mind, people in black robes, the courtyard, screams and a flash of fire. "Excuse me." Matt said and got up to slip out of the office. Hermione shot Ginny a worried look.
"Oh…was it something I said?" Slughorn asked as Hermione left the table to go check on her boyfriend.
"Matt?" Hermione asked quietly, finding him in the corridor outside.
"Yeah?" Matt replied flatly, his breathing seeming to slow at her voice.
"I'm here." She simply replied and wrapped herself around his arm. Hermione felt the tension leave him in her presence and his breathing slowed to a normal pace. She found it comforting that she too had an effect on him, much the same as he could calm her. "Do you want to talk about it?" she whispered.
"Just some flashbacks…" Matt replied and leaned his head on hers.
"Let's go. I'm not really wanting to go back in there. Do you want to go to the Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked.
"You know, that isn't a bad idea." He replied. As they were about to leave, the others started to file out of the room. Draco, Ginny, and Luna hung back but Matt was tapped on the shoulder by Ernie with Hannah.
"Hey, sorry about what happened in there. You look ok though. You know, that was some really tasty food, though, wasn't it?" Ernie asked.
"Yeah, it really was. I'd love to get the recipe sometime." Matt replied.
"Why? Are you interested in cooking?" Hannah asked.
"Well, you know, I think I am." Matt said thoughtfully.
"You'll be pleased to know, there is a cooking club. One of the House Elves does it. He teaches some quite delightful recipes. I can let you know when it starts up again if you'd like to join?" Ernie asked.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you." Matt said with a smile and the two Hufflepuffs waved goodnight.
Draco, Ginny, Luna, and Hermione had slipped back into Slughorn's office to give Matt a little privacy and a chance to talk with someone not in Gryffindor. Hermione knew he loved hanging out with her Ginny and Neville, but she also could tell he was a social person. The interaction with new students might help him just a bit.
Matt noticed the four of them standing around a set of cauldrons with Slughorn having given a bemused look to Matt before slinking off.
"What did you smell?" He heard Ginny ask Hermione.
"Well, still new parchment but it's wood smoke and…"
"What are you four talking about?" Matt asked.
"Oh, just what this potion smells like…" Ginny said wafting it over to Matt. He looked taken aback for a moment and thought.
"Well, I get where Hermione was saying new parchment, but I don't get wood smoke. I get hints of spearmint, like toothpaste, but mostly it's Hermione's perfume."
Ginny exchanged a wide-eyed and nearly elated expression with Hermione who was grinning.
"Alright there Santini? You looked a bit pale." Draco said.
"I'll be fine." Matt reassured him. "But thank you."
"Matt, your head is all full of Wrackspurts. It's worse than usual too." Luna said with an almost sad expression.
"Like I said, I'll be fine." Matt gave her smile.
The five of them slipped out of the office with Draco and Luna breaking off to return to their respective dorms. Matt and Hermione walked Ginny back to Gryffindor tower before slipping off to the Room of Requirement themselves.
"He was completely out of line, Slughorn! I can't believe him!" she complained as they sat on the bed.
"I don't think he meant to trigger a flashback." Matt said but he did not sound confident.
"He knew what he was doing." Hermione said. Matt sighed and nodded. The pair turned their backs to one another to change, although Hermione waited until Matt turned back around.
"Take off your shirt." she commanded. Matt looked confused. "For me?" Hermione asked. Matt did so, revealing his chest, some dark hair covering him. Hermione blushed and made a motion for him to turn around. Matt did so and closed his eyes. He waited for her patiently and she cleared her throat, indicating he was allowed to face her again.
Matt's eyes grew wide as Hermione stood before him wearing only her bra and panties or, as she called them, knickers.
"Hermione, you're…really hot." Matt blurted upon seeing her half naked. Hermione blushed and climbed onto the bed with him.
"I thought we could sleep like this tonight?" she said as they laid down next to each other.
"I'd like that." Matt said as they shared a kiss. Hermione cuddled against him, and the pair quickly fell asleep in each other's arms.