InsaneJournal

Who: Hermione and Zach
When: First week of school
Where: Library
What: Meeting~
Rating: Low
Status: Complete!


Zach was studying for a test in advanced computer hardware at the library. It was a favorite place of his, because he could people watch a little, and yet, he could also be alone, as few people approached others at the library. He thought it safe. He hoped so, anyway, and so it had been, so far.

Zach needed to do well on this test and was sure he would, but he also feared not doing well. And what if things got worse? What then? Ugh. he shook his head and wondered now if he could do this. His anxiety had been bad lately. Only when he was spending time with a few close friends did it abate. Even here, in a safe place, he felt it lurking. He sighed and concentrated on studying.

Hermione was a little surprised at how many of the tables at the library were taken. It was so early on in the semester, though, the study habits of her peers hadn’t started to deteriorate. She moved to the table that only had one person sitting at it, and gave a tiny knock on the wood to catch his attention.

“Do you mind if I join you? This might be the only table left in the whole library,” she said softly, using her library voice.

Zach looked up, and stared, mouth open. “Oh wow. I mean, er... y-yes?” He flushed purple and scrambled to pull books back from her side. “S-sure. I, ah... yes.” He tried not to hyperventilate when the pretty woman talked to him,

“Thanks.” Hermione said, giving him a smile. She slipped into the chair opposite his and set her books down. “It’s the first week of school, I think. Brings people to the library to study. But it tapers off after the first week, only to rise up again during midterms and finals. Fair Weather Library patrons.” She said, giving him a grin.

Zach swallowed, then nodded, focusing his mind on the fellow studier rather than the girl. “O-okay, yeah. Lots of weirdness and lots of people here.” he nodded. “Also, the weird plague and San Francisco made a lot of people late and slow on school. Now they have to make it up.” His own school had closed a lot. He hated that.

“San Francisco?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I was stuck in the hospital with a blue face, like a lot of the people around the county,” she said, nodding. “I’m glad that a lot of the teachers and professors are giving a lot of extra office hours and study time to make up for it. So many people were affected.”

Zach nodded. “All of my classes have extra hours and extra credit. It’s making my life a little frantic.” He shuddered. Rooms full of worried people filled him with dread. Normally it was bad but survivable. Right now it was really bad.

“I’m really sorry. I hope that it lets up.” Hermione said, gently. “I’m used to being ahead in my classes. Right now I’m just breaking even. It’s a little frustrating, to be perfectly honest.” She said, then leaned back in her chair. “But hey, at least people aren’t questioning my study habits now.”

Zach nodded. “I’d be fine, but I, I ah, I d-don’t do well with p-people.” He shivered, even thinking about it making him more anxious. “C-crowds are worse.” Then he nodded. “G-good on you.”

Hermione blinked at him. “Am I crowding you? I can find somewhere else to sit,” she offered, then moved to stand. She didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. There were other places to sit, she was sure of it. Or she could go back to her place and force Jim to let her study.

Zach waved a hand. “No, not you.” He fought to keep his breathing under control, sweating a little. “I have aggravated anxiety disorder. Crowds like classrooms make it hard for me to concentrate... or sometimes stay conscious.”

Hermione nodded, though she had no idea why he was in a library with lots of people if he had this disorder. “Do you need to go home?” She asked, glancing around at the other tables full of people talking and laughing. “You must feel awful here.”

“No. I get too distracted there. I have to be somewhere public where discomfort will keep me studying, or else i will slack off.” He nodded. He shivered. “Sometimes, I do. But it’s worth it.”

“Is there anything that I can do?” Hermione asked, gently. She unpacked her laptop from her bag and opened it so she could study there at the table with him.

Zach shook his head and swallowed, smiling., “N-no. Just, you kno-know, be yourself.” he swallowed, working to keep panic and anxiety out of his mind. He did mantras in his head, slowly, and this time, this time they worked, and he slowly calmed again.

“Okay.” Hermione said, giving him a smile. She was a little nervous for him, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She turned to her computer and began to study.

He smiled over at her and studied for a while. An hour or so later, he pushed his books back and hmmed. “What are you studying?” He needed a few minutes’ break.

“Chemistry.” Hermione responded. She’d pushed her computer aside and was working out equations with a pencil and paper on the table in front of her. She lifted her notebook so he could see. “Not exactly my strongest suit, but I’m doing all right with it. What about you?”

“Fundamentals of advanced computer engineering. “ He peered at her paper, then tapped one place. “You’re doing good, really good, but that last number there is wrong. Your math is right, but the count was off by one.” He flinched a little, knowing people didn’t like being corrected.

Hermione gave a little nod. She wasn’t that big into computers, as much as he knew how to use them she wasn’t interested in that field of study or work. “Ah, I see.” She said, and brought her pencil around to correct her mistake. “I understand the theory, but sometimes the busy work trips me up.” She said, sheepishly.

Zach nods. “Same with me. I have a tutor for every class to make sure I get the concepts. Once I do, I have no problem. But, you know, getting them gets hard on bad days.” He nodded. Anxiety, and a high metabolism, and a lot self esteem meant that he tended to lose things while listening and had to have them repeated.

It sucked.

“Understood. I generally pick up things pretty quickly. I’m a fairly good student, though college is quite a bit different from high school.” She said, leaning back in her chair with a little sigh. “And I have quite a few more distractions now than I had then.”

Zach nodded. He hmmed, remembering her name and her posts among hundreds as he thought, his mind categorizing and cataloging everything he had read in a moment. “Ah, the dreams, yes? And a relationship?” He couldn’t remember right now, more, because of his stress level.

“Yeah, actually.” Hermione said, giving him a smile. “My boyfriend and I eloped over New Years. So... I’m starting a new semester as a wife. For the first time. It’s a bit... well, I take it very seriously.” She said, nodding. She did, too. Hermione didn’t take anything lightly in her life, least not the important things like being married.

Zach smiled at her. “Cool! Congrats! I would do something like that, if I had someone like that. I could never deal with a wedding.” He nodded, shivering at even the thought.

“I bet. It sounds serious to me and I’m not even living it.” he hmmed. “I think you will do great.” He smiled at her.

She blushed. “Thanks.” She said. “It was just... on a whim. Not the type of thing I normally would have done. I’m sure that my second mother will be very upset when she finds out.” Hermione hadn’t told Mrs. Weasley yet. “But my parents are in Australia, so they weren’t around to help me plan a wedding... We might do something in the fall, though, to celebrate with all of our family and friends.”

Zach chuckled. “I don’t do that sort of thing myself, but you have to do what your heart tells you I think.” Right? Right.

He grinned at her and nodded. “Sounds like fun.I hope it goes well for you.”

“Thanks.” Hermione gave him a smile. She gave a yawn and a stretch, and then closed her laptop. “I should probably get home to said husband. I’m sure he’s going to want dinner, and pizza takes nearly an hour to deliver.” She grinned, though she was far from kidding. She didn’t know how to cook much of anything, and they lived on take-out for the most part.

Zach pulled out a card and handed it to her. “That’s the number of my favorite pizza place, open all night and they have brownies, too.” He nodded. “If you call them before you leave, you can save time on the delivery.” He smirked.

Hermione gave a laugh and accepted the card. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” She slipped it into her pocket and gave him a smile as she shouldered her bag. “It was nice sharing a table with you.” She said, then lifted her hand to wave at him and turned to head out of the library.

Zach watched her go and smiled. “May you find your night good, Hermione.” He really wanted it to be a good one. And somewhere, someone else was listening. And her night would be a very, very good one indeed...

FIN.