Place Your Bets
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine as they all belong to JKR.
"Mistletoe."
"Mistletoe?"
"Yes, mistletoe," Hermione said with a firm shake of her head, her tone warning that she was done with talking about the subject. Then a look of horror materialized on her face. "Don't tell me that you think there could be any other reason I would be kissing Malfoy?"
"What other reason could there be?" Ron's rhetorical question was chock-full of sarcasm, but that was nothing new. Ron would probably die before going a day without making at least one sarcastic reply.
"Exactly," Hermione said quickly. "I'm so glad you understand."
"Still it is rather strange, don't you think? It is March, you know. I would have thought the house elves would have taken down all the mistletoe already." Ron glanced at Harry. "You did mention it to Dobby, didn't you Harry? That Hermione here has been afflicted by all this mistletoe that's been leftover from Christmas, and they really need to finish getting rid of it all."
"Of course I have," said Harry. "He assured me that all the sprigs were taken down long ago."
"They must have missed a few spots then," Hermione sniffed.
Ron exchanged a look with Harry. "That must be it. Because house elves are known for being sloppy with their work like that."
"It is. Are you done with the subject yet? Or have you forgotten that it's your birthday, Ron Weasley? Let's get back to the tower so we can properly celebrate it," Hermione ordered her two friends.
"Now that's the best idea you've had all day."
"Mistletoe!" Blaise cursed as he kicked the sofa Pansy and Vincent were sitting on. "Those blithering idiots! How could they fall for that one again?" He gave the sofa another kick.
"Watch it," Pansy told him sternly. "There's no need to take your bad mood out on the sofa. Particularly when we're sitting on it."
"Not to mention that you don't want to attract Draco's attention," added Vincent. He glanced at the stairs leading to the boys' dorm. Draco had stomped up them not too long ago, blatantly upset that his girlfriend had abandoned him for her friends. "You don't hear anything, do you Greg?" he asked.
"No," answered Greg. He was sitting by the stairs with an extendable ear held up to his ear. "I think he might have cast a privacy ward, it's so quiet."
"Which means he would have also charmed the door shut so none of us can get in. I guess that means we're all sleeping out here tonight. Again, I might add," Blaise grumbled. "He's as bad as those useless Gryffindors these days. I can't believe he didn't say a damn thing while that swot he likes to swap spit with went on and on about mistletoe. And have I mentioned I don't know what's more pathetic—Granger's inability to lie or her friends' inability to see through her paper-thin excuses?"
"Are you finished yet?" asked Pansy. "Honestly! Since when have you become frustrated with all things Gryffindor?"
"Don't mind him, Pansy," said Theo Nott. The lanky, black-haired wizard sat on a chair by the fireplace, examining a notebook. "He had bet on today. Lost ten galleons, he just did."
"You did?" Pansy made a face. "Can't say that I'm sorry for your loss, but why did you pick today of all days? It's Weasley's birthday. I'm not a fan of the witch, but I don't think that Granger would be so cruel to break the news that she's with Draco to him on his damn birthday."
"It was wishful thinking on his part," Theo answered before Blaise could get out a word. "He said it would serve Weasley right to learn that his precious Hermione was snogging the enemy on his damn birthday." Theo looked up from his notebook to peer in Blaise's direction. "He's never liked Weasley, not after he came out second best in that scuffle he got into with Weasley over his staring at the Weasley tart."
"Fuck you too, Nott."
"No thank you," the other boy replied evenly. "Well? Do you want to pick another date? Or are you calling it quits like Pansy here?"
"Did anyone pick the first of April yet?" Blaise asked. When he saw Nott shake his head, he continued, "That's as good as date as any. Maybe some prank will blow up horribly and lead to the Gryffindors discovering what their golden girl's been up to lately."
"Or rather, who she's been doing lately," Theo added snidely. "All right then. I'll set that aside for you for now, but I'll open that date up again if I don't have your money by tomorrow evening."
Blaise nodded in agreement.
"And by the by. About your last comment. Please don't forget that no participants in our little betting pool are allowed to interfere in the Gryffindors finding out. If I find out that the prank that led the Gryffindors to discover Granger with Draco…" Theo leveled a stare at the other boy, who couldn't bring himself to meet it. "All bets will be off, and the house will keep your funds. Got it?"
"Yes, yes, I'm no fool," said Blaise. "Which is more than I can say for members of a certain House."
Pansy snorted in a most unladylike manner. "Please. That's what…the third time you're throwing your money away? I hardly call that not being foolish."
"What about you, Pansy?" Theo asked. "The date you picked has come and gone. Care to go with another?"
"Thanks, but no thanks," she replied primly. "I don't see the point of throwing more money away."
"She's just bitter," said Blaise. "I can't believe you settled on Valentine's of all days. Could you be any more girly?"
"I don't know. Could you be any more of a git?"
"Don't ask him that. He'll try," said Theo. "So before I put the book away…are you certain you don't want to try your luck again?"
"No, I'm done with trusting luck to work out for me," she replied.
"Have it your way then. Just remember you can't win it back unless you bet again."
"Of course you would say that," she answered back.
"Mistletoe!" Ron screeched.
Ginny winced as she placed her hands over her ears, and all around the common room, she could see everyone else doing the same. "Keep it down, will you?" she told her brother. "I know Hermione went to bed early because you all have that test in Transfiguration tomorrow, but you don't have to go and wake her by wailing like a banshee. Honestly! Did I get all the common sense in the family?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Neville asked her as Harry chuckled from his end of the sofa.
"Sorry Ginny," said Ron. "I just can't believe that girl. She's been feeding us the same damn lie ever since we caught her last month! Can't she try anything new?"
"Hermione's never been good at lying," Harry noted. "That's not a bad thing."
"Yes, but you'd think that after the years she spent with us skulking about the castle, she would have learned a thing or two about deception. In the beginning, I didn't know what to be more disappointed about—her choice in wizards or her inability to put together a decent lie. Now it's definitely the latter. Tell me Harry, where did we go wrong with that girl? Where did we go wrong?" Ron's shoulders slumped morosely.
Ginny ignored the hand signals being exchanged between Harry and Neville—the other two boys were evidently questioning if Ron was sorted into the right House—and focused on her brother instead. "Stop that," she ordered. "It's not the end of the world if Hermione can't tell a fib to save her life. It's rather refreshing actually. I'm used to being surrounded by prats who wouldn't know the truth if it bit them in the arse."
"That's only because you like to be around Slytherins. Zabini? Nott? Who's next, Goyle? I swear, if Hermione wasn't busy snogging Malfoy every chance she gets"—Harry started gagging in the background—"then you would be aiming for that wanker."
Ginny tossed her head haughtily. "What's wrong with liking Slytherins? Or is that your insecurity speaking again? Don't worry Ron. I'm positive you'll find someone to take pity on you one day, even though you're a horrible boor."
"You might be a bit biased there, seeing how you're his sister and all," Harry noted. He pushed his glasses back. "But speaking of Slytherins, I heard an interesting rumor today."
That earned him the attention of everyone present. "Well? What is it? Go on and tell us," Ginny prodded him impatiently.
"It appears that the Slytherins are under the delusion that we don't know about Hermione running around with Malfoy. They currently have a betting pool on when we'll cotton on."
"Please. How pathetic do they think we are? Of course we know she's lying! I mean…mistletoe? Four times in a row no less! After Christmas has been long over too! Give me a break!" Ron threw up his hands and looked as though he was going to start ranting again.
"They're Slytherins. They're known for underestimating us. But I can think of a way their foolishness can provide us with a bit of entertainment."
"Oh?" said Ginny. She knew where Harry was going. She only hoped that she had saved enough that she could buy her way in.
Harry fidgeted with his glasses again as they had fallen forward once more. "What do you say to starting a betting pool of our own? For when the Slytherins will figure out that we know about our resident Romeo and Juliet," he suggested.
"That's brill," Ron said admiringly. "If we ever got around to writing a Gryffindor code of conduct that would have to be in there. Never pass by a chance to point and laugh at the Slytherins."
"Thank you. Malfoy wouldn't count of course, in case Hermione decides she's done with hiding from us."
Ron tilted his head. "That makes sense. I'd like that to happen, actually. It would give us yet another reason to laugh at them behind their backs." Everyone else nodded their heads.
"Exactly," said Harry. "Shall we say five sickles to pick a date?"
"That sounds reasonable enough to me," said Ginny, breathing a sigh of relief. She had enough for one bet, and maybe she could scrounge up enough for another. "Though let's have Neville be in charge of keeping track of all the bets. I don't trust you. You're too sneaky by far."
Harry clasped his hands to his chest, miming a blow to his heart. "That hurts, Ginny, that really hurts."
She rolled her eyes. "Only because it's true."
He chuckled in response.
If one wanted to be blatant about having a secret, meeting at midnight was the best way to go about that. Then the whole school would know you had something to hide. Those who were serious about keeping secrets secret, however, soon found out that there was a lot of privacy to be had amongst the crowded hallways during the day.
"April first," a voice called out softly as the Gryffindors trudged out of Transfiguration the next day. It was perfectly pitched so only one person would hear it. The other person nodded twice, indicating that the message had been received.
That was all that was needed for plans to start getting made.
Harry walked through the portrait hole and almost stepped on Ron.
"Watch your step!" Ginny called out just before he did.
Harry looked down to see Ron sprawled out on the floor right by the entrance to the common room. "That's dangerous," he said mildly.
"For Ron that is. Not for anyone else," Ginny asserted. "That's why I haven't bothered to move him. Seamus and Dean offered a little while ago, but I told them not to worry about it. If anyone happens to step on him, then it's his own fault."
"And not yours?" Harry cocked an eyebrow at the redheaded witch as he moved to take his usual perch on the sofa in the center of the room.
"Oi! You heard me. I am trying to warn people about him being such a nuisance." She shrugged eloquently. "You didn't have to react so quickly, you know. Then it would have been a genuine accident that I had tried to prevent."
"With family like you, he doesn't need enemies."
"Oh, it's not just me. I would say it's the twins and Percy too. Bill and Charlie are all right though I think that's mostly because we don't see them that often."
"So what got him like that?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," said Ginny.
"Yeah," piped in Neville. "Ginny and I were just sitting here, minding our own business, when Ron stalked in and promptly collapsed. Seamus and Dean were on their way out, and they were going to take him to the hospital wing but…" Neville looked sideways at Ginny, and that was all the explanation Harry needed.
"How long has it been?"
"Not long," said Ginny.
"Maybe ten minutes," said Neville.
Harry pondered what they had told him. Ten minutes was a bit long for Ron to still be out, but then his best friend did so love to be melodramatic. He decided it was best for him to take charge of the situation. Neville wouldn't dare go against Ginny—Harry suspected the other wizard fancied Gin—and if it were up to her, Ron would be left out all day until someone did manage to step on him.
"If he's not up in the next five minutes," said Harry to Neville, "you and I will take him to the hospital wing ourselves."
"No!" cried Ginny. "Don't do that! You'll spoil all my fun. Besides, he's my brother. I should be the one to decide what to do with him, seeing how he's family and all."
Harry shot her a look.
"Fine, fine. Spoil my fun." She slouched down in her seat and pouted. "Don't think I won't forget this though."
"I can live with that," said Harry. The three of them arranged themselves so they could start a quick game of Exploding Snap. They had not been playing long, having only got the cards dealt out, when a groan issued from the floor. Turning around, the three Gryffindors saw Ron woozily sitting up as he held his head.
"Ow," he hissed. "Does anyone know what hit me?"
Harry, Ginny, and Neville managed somehow to share a glance between them all at once. Then Harry nodded at Neville to speak, which caused the color to drain from Neville's face. To his credit, he did try to speak but all that came out was a squeak.
That left the floor open to Ginny to tease her brother, an opportunity of which she took full advantage.
"I don't know what hit you, brother dear." Her voice was laced with sugar. "I was hoping you could tell us. You simply walked right in and fainted dead away." She regarded him through narrow eyes. "I always said that it was you who was the delicate flower of the family, not me."
"Shut it." Ron rubbed his head and winced. "So I fainted. Is it too much to ask for you to have cushioned my fall? Or at least check to make sure that I didn't injure myself?"
"It happened so fast I didn't have time to draw my wand," returned Ginny. "And the only thing that you really hit was your head. No great loss there."
Harry interrupted the two of them before the siblings could start a real fight. He knew from experience those lasted forever, and he wanted to know what had caused Ron to faint sooner rather than later. "So why were you feeling so delicate anyway?" he asked.
"I wasn't feeling delicate. More like sick to my stomach," stated Ron.
"That's how I feel whenever I have to watch you eat," Ginny sniped.
"Not helping here, Ginny," said Harry warningly.
"Thanks Harry. Nice to know I can count on my friends. Merlin knows I can't count on my family. Take Gin here! She would only be happy to help me if it were to an early grave."
"Would not!"
"Would to!"
"Would not! Mum would kill me!"
"Aha! The truth comes out!"
Harry could feel a headache set in. He held up his hand, drawing the attention of the two Weasleys. "Enough already. Ron, explain."
"You see, it started with Mum always wanting a little girl. Dad tried to talk her out of it, saying that there hadn't been a witch in his family for ages. So once Ginny was born, Mum and Dad spoiled her rotten, making her into the annoying bint that she is today."
Harry coolly stared at Ron. "That wasn't the explanation I was asking for."
"So sorry. You should be more specific, you know. You only have yourself to blame."
Harry pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I understand now why you left him lying there."
"Thanks."
"Oi! Et tu, Harry?"
"I think we're getting a little off track here," said Neville. "Are you still feeling ill, Ron? Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?"
"No, no. She can't help me." Ron rolled his eyes and groaned. "It was bloody awful, I tell you."
"What was?" his friends asked impatiently.
"Catching Hermione with Malfoy this time around."
"Oh no. Don't tell me she trotted out the old mistletoe excuse again?" Ginny said with a sigh.
"No. That's the bright side. We finally weaned her off saying mistletoe whenever any of us sees her with Malfoy."
"So what did she say?" questioned Harry.
Ron buried his face in his hands. "She said that Malfoy was choking on something so she tried to help him by putting her tongue down his throat to get it out," he whimpered. "It was so pathetic. Malfoy even turned red and started coughing and choking from the shame of it all."
"Maybe there's a chance that she was telling the truth after all," Neville offered tentatively.
Ron's head shot up to regard the other wizard. "The stupid prat started coughing because even he couldn't believe what a bloody awful excuse Hermione had come up with. His eyes went wide and he looked as though he was going to say something to her when he started choking." Ron sighed. "Figures that you would believe Hermione," he said to Neville. "No one else does."
"You know, I think it might be time for us to put Hermione out of her misery," Harry said slowly.
"What?" said Ginny.
"Does that mean I finally get to hex the wanker into oblivion?" asked Ron excitedly.
"No Ron," Harry said patiently. "I thought we already went over why it's not a good idea to do anything to Malfoy."
"Remind me again."
"Because you'll have an angry Hermione to deal with afterwards," chorused Ginny and Neville.
"And an angry Hermione is a scary Hermione," added Harry, shooting a look at Ron telling him that he should already know that from experience.
"Oh right." Ron thought about it. "I think she might forgive me. With time."
"Before or after she hexes your balls off?" asked Harry. "Anyway, as I was saying, I think it's time we put the poor girl out her misery. Not by getting rid of her boyfriend so don't even try suggesting that again, Ron. Hermione's lies keep getting worse and worse, and I think it's because she doesn't want to lie to us."
"She doesn't have to," said Ron.
"She doesn't know that. I think it's time to let her know that we know."
"How?" was the question bandied about the room.
Harry held up his hand again to signal for silence and waited for everyone to quiet down. "There's only one way to do it. And that's to be as blatant as possible. Tell her that we know what's going on, and why she's been so secretive these days, and how no one is fooled by all her excuses for snogging Malfoy."
"We have to say that we don't care too," said Ginny. "That is, we're not upset or anything of the sort. She probably has been trying so hard to keep her relationship a secret because she's afraid of being accused of conspiring with the enemy." She gave her brother a significant look.
"Fine, fine," said Ron. "So when should we have this confrontation?"
Neville frowned. "Malfoy doesn't count, remember?" he said. "So the date we confront Hermione doesn't matter for the purposes of our bet."
"Of course not," Ron said. "I think we all remember agreeing to that when we put our sickles in the pot."
"Before we do anything, though, we should probably run this by everyone else. We don't want anyone thinking the wrong thing here," said Ginny.
Harry nodded. "We can do that later this evening. That will be good. We can also arrange for multiple mobile strike teams to track Hermione that day."
"Multiple mobile strike teams?" Ron repeated. "Harry, you do realize that we're not at war any more, right?"
"Sorry," said Harry, pushing his glasses back. "Old habits die hard. Anyone want to suggest a date?"
"April Fools," said Ron. "Because I for one will be hoping that Hermione will smile at us and tell us that this has all been one awful joke when we confront her."
"That sounds good to me," Harry replied. He brushed his fringe out of his eyes, then pushed his glasses back as he looked around the room. "If nothing else, we'll get to be amused about what excuses Hermione will start spouting off."
Everyone else in the room groaned.
"I think I'm going to have to get that girl a book," muttered Ron. "Something along the lines about how to lie to people in a way that won't leave them laughing in your face. That would make a nice Christmas present, I think."
"Her birthday is sooner," Neville remarked.
"Good point," said Ron. "Though frankly, it's not soon enough. At this point, I don't know if I want to be on the team that catches Hermione with the ferret."
"Side bet anyone?" asked Ginny. "On what Ron's reaction will be to Hermione's lies once when we corner her?"
Ron sputtered angrily as the rest of the room came up with suggestions as to how Ron would over-react the next time.
Theo frowned as Blaise entered the room. "Get over here, Zabini," he ordered.
"What is it?" the dark-skinned boy asked.
"I have a source," said Theo, "that says there's a plan afoot for the Gryffindors to discover Draco and Granger together on April first."
Blaise held up his hands. "I have nothing to do with it. Slytherin's honor."
"Good," said Theo. "Then you won't have any complaints when the rest of us take turns tailing you for the entire day. Just to make sure you haven't cheated of course."
Hermione sighed as she rested her head against her boyfriend's shoulder. It had been a long day. It seemed that everywhere she turned, another one of her friends was waiting there to greet her. It was not an ideal situation for a witch looking for some a place to spend alone with her boyfriend. Of course, it was April Fools, so Hermione already had a built in excuse in case she did get caught. The only thing was she didn't think Draco would appreciate her saying that their relationship was only a joke.
Draco had started to press her in earnest to just be honest with her friends and let them know that she was with him. The argument he had laid out before her was that if she couldn't tell a decent lie, then she had no business trying to conceal something this big from them. Left unspoken was that he was wounded by her not telling them already as though he didn't mean that much to her. Hermione wanted to take the honest route as well. The only thing was she kept scaring herself with worst case scenarios. She had nightmares about it even. Last week she had one where she told her friends and they had left her, saying that they couldn't be friends with her any longer. Then after she had been abandoned by all of them, her boyfriend left her too, telling her that she had been a great fling but nothing more. That night she had actually woken up in tears. When she was with Draco, Hermione knew that he would never do anything of the sort to her. When she wasn't with him, her old insecurities and fears would start to flare up, and frighten her once more.
He kissed his way up her neck and then over to her ear. He whispered, "Thinking about something, love?"
"Only about you," she answered as she turned her head to meet his lips with hers. She was thinking of him and how scared she was to lose him. When their lips parted, she wrapped her arms around him. "I don't ever want to let you go."
"Hello Hermione," said a voice off to the left side. She and Draco whirled around to see the bright blue eyes of Ron Weasley looking directly at them. "Well?" he asked. "Come on. I know you have to have an explanation for this one."
A glance at her boyfriend was all Hermione needed to know that he did not want her saying anything about how this was some sort of elaborate prank on him. "You bet I have an explanation," she said weakly.
"Go on then. I'm just dying to hear it," prompted Ron.
"Or don't rather," said Harry, coming up beside the redhead while folding up his invisibility cloak. Right on his heels were Ginny and Neville. Hermione silently cursed the day she had ever showed Harry how to expand his stupid invisibility cloak so more people could fit under there.
"Yes, please don't. I don't think Ron could survive another one of your awful excuses," Ginny said. Hermione's eyes widened with fear. "No, no, don't be like that," said the other girl. "We're not angry."
"Just disappointed," added Harry. Hermione thought then and there that all her worst fears had been realized. This was it. They were going to leave her, saying that they couldn't be friends with a girl who had fallen in love with the boy who used to make their lives miserable.
"Yeah," snorted Ron. "Disappointed that after all these years and everything we've been through…you still don't know how to lie! Do you know how many times you used the damned mistletoe excuse on us?" he asked.
"Not that many," she replied faintly as she tried to process what they were saying. It was incredible to think that they were upset because she lied poorly to them and not because she was with Draco. She could hardly believe it.
Draco winced beside her. "You used mistletoe for an excuse three times by my count."
"Five," said Ron gravely. "Five times before she finally got the hint that it wasn't a very good one. That was painful." He shot a look over at Draco. "Though not as painful, I imagine, as it was for you that one time she said her tongue was down your throat because you had something caught in it."
"I did. Her tongue," said Draco glibly.
Ron blanched. "Thanks. Really needed to be reminded of that image there."
"You were asking for it, Weasley."
Hermione was busying looking to and from each of her friends. "You're not upset with me?" she asked them, hoping that she had heard them right the first time.
It was Neville who spoke up then, the dear sweet boy who had been her very first friend at Hogwarts. "Upset with you? Just because you're with him?" He smiled and shook his head. "No, Hermione, none of us are. You're our friend."
"You mean more to us than that," said Ginny.
"Besides," said Harry, "you tend to think a lot before you act so if you're with him…he must have done something to merit your affection." He shrugged. "Like Neville said, you're our friend. We can't try to control your life or who you love. That wouldn't be right."
"Although if you do decide to call it off, could you let me know in advance when that will be?" Ron said out-of-the-blue. "Because there will probably be a betting pool on that shortly, and with your help, I know I can win."
"I don't think you can win anything if I never break up with him," said Hermione.
"What would you do with the pot if I broke up with Granger?" Draco pondered out loud. Hermione punched him in the shoulder. "Not that I plan to, Hermione, so stop that. Just wondering."
"Oh, that would be the least of your concerns," said Harry. He pushed his glasses back and then started cracking his knuckles threateningly. To Hermione's surprise, both Neville and Ron followed suit.
"Because if you did," said Ron, "we would feel free to go after to you."
"And after the boys got done with you, then it would be my turn," purred Ginny wickedly. "Because there are some things that as men they couldn't bring themselves to do to you." All the Gryffindor wizards turned pale at her words and crossed, then uncrossed their legs. If Draco was affected by the threat, he didn't show it.
Suddenly Harry whipped his head around to look behind him. "What's that?" he asked, drawing his wand.
"What's what?" said Ron.
"I thought I heard something," said Harry.
"I didn't hear anything," Ron stated.
"Me neither. I think you're just imagining things. You really need to get a handle on your paranoia," Ginny said.
"I don't." Harry quickly cast a disarming spell at thin air. To everyone's surprise, not one but three wands came floating back to him. "I knew someone was there," he told them smugly.
"And yet we still can't see them," Hermione said with a sigh. Some things never changed; her boys would always need her to clean up after them. She took her wand and with one fluid motion undid the concealment charm that had hid the other observers. Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and Blaise Zabini now stood before them.
"I told you that you were getting too loud," Parkinson hissed at Zabini. "But no. You never listen."
"That's just brill," said Harry. Hermione was probably seeing things but her friend looked happy to see the other Slytherins. Everyone else seemed rather upset, which was more like the response she would have expected.
"Yeah brill," muttered Ron. "Oh well."
"Let me guess," said Draco. "You all had a bet on when the Gryffindors would find out about me and Hermione."
"Got it in one," answered Nott, a note of admiration in his voice.
Draco shrugged carelessly. "Well it's what I would do. Zabini here was celebrating?"
"Yes. Today was his day," said Pansy, volunteering that information without batting an eye.
A smirk spread across Ron's face, and Hermione knew that Zabini wouldn't like what he had to say next. The two of them had been at odds ever since Ron and Zabini got into that fight; Hermione wondered if there was something more to all the tension between them.
"Trust Zabini to pick today. He does so love to lose," Ron said smugly. "We didn't find out about them today. We've known about them since Valentine's."
Amidst Zabini's howl of anguish and everyone else having a laugh at the wizard's expense, Hermione almost missed the brief flash of celebration that danced behind Parkinson's eyes. She wondered if her friends and the rest of the Slytherins would ever find out how well they had been played.
"I think you got the better end of our bargain." Potter's voice floated up from behind her. Pansy sighed before turning to face him.
"That's hardly my fault. You were the one who set your bets so low. If you wanted to win more, you shouldn't have done that."
"Then less people would have been able to join in," Potter groused.
"Too bad for you that your House is full of beggars," she remarked snidely.
"I think we should split both pots equally. Seeing how it took both of us to arrange it all."
She crossed her arms and tilted up her chin as she stared him down. "I don't think so. That wasn't part of our original bargain."
"What if I want to modify the terms?"
"Go ahead. Try." She smiled winsomely at him. "I am certain that you'll find your fellow Gryffindors feeling less than charitable towards you and your actions. As for my House, there might be some grumbling but they actually will admire what I did."
"This isn't over," he promised and stalked away.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Gryffindors. Not only can they not lie, they don't even know how to make a decent threat." She continued to make her way back to the dungeons.
After the corridor was empty again, Draco and Hermione stepped out of the alcove they had hidden in.
"Well, that was interesting," Hermione said wryly.
"I thought Potter had something to do with it," Draco stated. "It was all too convenient how he was the one to pick up on the other Slytherins being there." He glanced over at his girlfriend.
"What?"
"How much do you want to bet that those two will get together?"
"Oh dear," she said. "Don't tell me that—"
"If it worked for them, why can't it work for us?" he asked rhetorically. "You're much more clever than Potter, and Pansy has always been the second most cunning person in Slytherin."
"After who? Goyle?"
"Ha ha. After me of course."
"Of course," said Hermione. "I don't think it would work. They would suspect something."
"Don't fool yourself. None of our friends have figured out that they were set up. It's as though they're asking to be taken advantage of again."
"Thrice over perhaps?" She raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Because personally I think Ron will get with Zabini before Harry and Parkinson come to terms."
"I didn't need the image of Weasel snogging anyone, much less that git Zabini in my head, Hermione."
Her warm laughter filled the air. "Let me help you get rid of it then. And no more talk of bets for now." He was only too willing to agree to that suggestion.
Author's note: Hope you liked this one. I would love it if you would leave me a review. Thanks.