-x-

Shades of Green

Chapter 4: Which To Bury, Us or the Hatchet?

-x-

They were collected in Draco's room, who still had his Prefect's quarters after he had returned to school.

They had collected Daphne and Romilda from their suite, and grudgingly, Ginny came along as well, after a lot of strong arming and pouting from Kennedy.

Ginny's interaction with Draco had left her a bit less than enthusiastic to be in a room with him, especially when there was whiskey involved, but she knew it would incredibly rude to decline.

Even if she already had a mountain of homework piled up.

Already collected in Draco Malfoy's room were Adrian Pucey, Terrence and Draco. Blaise was missing, but considering the incident at Quidditich tryouts today, Ginny wasn't all that surprised.

Terence made eye contact with Kennedy, patted a spot next to him on the floor.

She gave Ginny a look of pure bliss, before scuttling over to him.

Romilda looped her arm with the redhead's, grabbed Daphne's wrist and dragged them over to the broken circle of boys.

Ginny found herself seated beside Daphne and Draco, but it was so typical for today that she didn't even question it.

Romilda took no time in cozying up to Adrian, who poured her a drink and handed it to her with a wink.

Draco did the same for the remaining girls, as well as himself.

"To a wonderful semester, fraught only with fun and laughs." He raised his glass.

There was a murmur of here, here's, before clinks could be heard.

After that, things started to get a lot more comfortable.

"Go Rosie, it's your turn." Daphne laughed.

They had started a game called "One Up" where the premise was simple, to start off with someone admitted something small about themselves. After that, each person would have to "one up" the one before them. If they didn't have something to say, it was time to take a drink.

The game was beginning to get a little wild.

"Well, I see Daph's making out in a broom cupboard and take it a step further." She had a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. "Sex in a broom cupboard." She burst out into a fit of laughter.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh too, only Kennedy would be so bold as to admit such a thing.

"I see that, and do one better." Terence gave the blonde a half grin. "Sex in the prefect's bathroom."

He was good.

Kennedy couldn't help but lock eyes with him, the chemistry was insane.

"How about you, Draco." Romilda egged on. "Surely you've got something."

Draco seemed pensive, but then shook his head and took a drink instead.

Ginny was surprised.

"Little Ginny, anything?" Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"Sex in Dumbledore's office."

It was enough to make Draco spit his drink out all over himself.

Ginny doubled over in laughter, of course she had been making the whole thing up, but the looks on everyone's faces was too much to handle. They all looked as if they'd been caught in the lewd acts they'd just admitted to.

Of course, Draco's reaction was by far the funniest.

She could've sworn he went paler in those few seconds he believed her.

He made eye contact with her, it was the first time since their mini row in Hogsmeade. It was nice, playful, almost as if to say "Touché."

"All right." Adrian clapped his hands together. "Clearly, Weasley takes that game." He tipped his glass towards her, before drinking it.

Ginny just laughed, because by this time she was absolutely mortal. They all were, really. Except Draco who really didn't seem that effected. But Ginny surmised he was just better at hiding it.

Draco was nothing if not reserved, even with some of his best mates.

While the rest of them looked as if they could go on all night, Ginny felt herself growing more and sleepier by the minute. She knew if she didn't go to her room now, she would end up sleeping on Terrence's floor. And that was not something she wanted to do.

"This was fun, but I'm spent." She announced, clumsily standing up from the floor. "I think I'm gonna turn in."

There were murmurs of discontent, but Ginny just flashed them a charming smile.

What surprised her, was Draco standing up to steady her. "Don't worry about it." He waived Daphne, who was about to get up. "You stay, I'll make sure she gets to her room okay." He assured the auburn haired girl.

Daphne chewed on her bottom lip, unsure of whether or not she should entrust her very drunk, very pretty, best friend to Draco Malfoy, playboy extraordinaire.

She looked at Ginny for confirmation.

Ginny looked from Daphne to Draco, before nodding. "Yeah, you stay Daph. Have fun." She said, still so giggly. "Draco can walk me."

It was the first time she hadn't called him Malfoy.

But Draco chalked that up to her inebriated state.

Still, he noticed how incredibly pretty she made his name sound.

Poetic, even.

He navigated an unsteady Ginny through the dungeons, she was a bit unbalanced but nothing he couldn't handle. Until, the stairs to the girls dormitory happened upon him. This would be tricky.

He knew from experience with Pansy, that the stairs leading to the girls dormitory had been enchanted not to let a male up them. However, he also knew from experience with Pansy (as well as other women who he didn't want to think about at the moment) that there was a sneaky spell to get around it.

Once he applied the spell, he hoisted Ginny into his arms, because he didn't want to have the responsibility of helping her hobble up the stairs and quite possibly toppling over. The last thing he needed was for his Chaser to be sidelined because of an injury.

Surprisingly, she didn't protest, instead just laid her head against his chest. He knew it must have been the firewhiskey, otherwise she would be kicking up a tantrum by now.

He reached her bedroom door, carefully opened it with one hand and pushed it.

"That one." She pointed jerkily a few times. "Thass my bed." She said happily.

She was cute, even he had to admit it.

Her cheeks were tinged pink, her mouth was stained red and she looked content.

Not worried and angry, as he was used to seeing her when she was around him.

Carefully, he set her down in her bed, he was just about to put the cover over her, when her hand caught the sleeve of his robe.

He was completely off guard.

Her eyes were wide open, staring up at him, her hand still clutching his sleeve. "I dind't mean it, you know." She said, lifting her head up a bit, so she was just centimeters away from his face

Draco could smell the whiskey on her breath, practically taste it. It was intoxicatingly sweet, much the way he thought of her from time to time.

"When I said that stuff. You know…" She did a forward motion with her hand, the one that wasn't clutching on to him for dear life. "About you being bad."

"I mean you are. You're bad." She hiccupped. "But a good…bad." She started to giggle. "If that makes sense."

He just listened to her drunken ramblings in amusement.

"Bad for me." She admitted. "Really bad for me." Her grip loosened on him a bit. "But good…still." Her hand dropped from his sleeve.

But for some reason, Draco remained there, sinfully close to her lips.

"I'm supposed to hate you, Draco." She yawned. "But you make it really hard to do that." Her eyes began fluttering close.

He just smirked.

"Thank you." She mumbled, half asleep.

"For what?" Draco asked softly.

She opened her sleep laden eyes, "Making sure I was okay." She gave him a smile.

And Draco felt a little disarmed, because it was the first genuine smile he had ever received from the redhead.

It was beautiful.

He had always thought she was hot, everyone thought Ginny Weasley was hot. She had this air of mystery about her, plus there was something attractive about her lack of belonging. Everyone knew she wasn't supposed to be in Slytherin, it made no sense, even she knew it. It gave her a perpetual chip on her shoulder, and a permanently bitchy attitude.

It was oddly refreshing, because every other witch he came in contact with was at his beck and call. Literally just waiting for his commands.

She never really gave a damn about him.

It was intriguing.

She was interesting when the other girls had gotten boring.

But this, this side of her was something to behold.

He was sure that smile would resonate in his mind for years to come.

"Don't get used to it." He said.

"Pfft." It was the only response Ginny could give, with what little energy she had left.

A moment later, she was out like a light.

-x-

The rest of the week had been dreadful, especially the second day when Ginny woke up with a grueling headache and zero motivation. Her classes were abnormally difficult, and she was having a harder time than usual acclimating to her workload this year. Maybe it was because it was seventh year and she had drained just about all her potential for medimagic somewhere around fifth year OWL's.

Still, Saturday morning Ginny found herself waking up at eight am and dragging her sore body to the library. She knew she had to get through at least half of her homework in the six hours she had before Quidditch practice. Though she wasn't sure if that task was easily accomplishable.

Between her Potions essay that was unnecessarily long and demanding and her charms homework that required hours of attention, Ginny wasn't sure if she'd even be able to get to her work for her other three classes.

She resisted the urge to bang her head on the desk.

Minimum of six feet of parchment on the uses of moonstone, medicinal only, (include at least twelve) in depth and detail.

Slughorn had absolutely lost his damn mind.

To add to her annoyance, she was surprised not to see Draco in the library, at least if he was miserable she would feel a little bit better about her current state. He was one of the only other people she knew taking Advanced Potions II, and she wondered why the hell he wasn't working on this stupid essay that was due about two days from now.

She hadn't really had much interaction with Draco since the night they had all gotten absolutely mortal.

Kennedy had done her the great favor of informing her that it was Draco who had brought her to her room, tucked her in and all.

Ginny had barely any recollection of it at all, though she did briefly remember jerking him forward by the sleeve of his robe and looking into those breathtaking gray eyes. What in the world she had been saying was absolutely beyond her but it was the only conjoined memory she had of the night.

She had seen him at practice on Wednesday and in her classes, but he hadn't said much to her. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing of consequence.

And even though she hated herself for it, she didn't like how he was treating her as nobody all of a sudden.

Not when he'd been paying such close attention to her the last few days. She hated herself for even noticing, but she couldn't help it.

Draco was a pretty big deal around the dungeons, not that she ever really cared about that sort of thing before. But the fact that he seemed to be noticing her instead of the gaggle of witches that threw themselves at him on a daily basis, it was somewhat validating.

In the most bittersweet way possible, because she hated herself for giving him that kind of power, even for a second.

"Ginny."

The redhead looked up meet the eyes of the source who had called her name.

Hermione, of course, because who else would be in the library on one of the last weekends of summer.

Ginny smiled at the brunette, gesturing to the spot in front of her.

Hermione put her books down, "How are you?" She asked.

Ginny just nodded.

"I would expect you to be outside, enjoying the sun." She grinned.

"I wish." Ginny sighed. "However, my course load decided otherwise."

Hermione nodded. "I get it." She agreed. "Of course, Ron and Harry couldn't get out of the castle quick enough." She rolled her eyes.

"Quidditch?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.

Hermione shrugged a shoulder. "Eventually, I'm sure." She said, opening her Advanced Magical Law textbook. "Lord knows the two of them are attached to their brooms as if they were extra appendages." She added.

"But right now they've gone to see your brother in Hogsmeade." She informed Ginny.

"I've got a few, Hermione." Ginny ribbed good naturedly.

Hermione met her with a grin. "George, of course. He's opened the joke shop again." She said with a smile.

That was the best news Ginny had heard in a very long time. "Really?" her eyes lit up, George had been so lost these last few months, it literally hurt her to see him. He had been working with their father at the Ministry, not being able to go back to the joke shop without his twin, but anyone could see that George Weasley was completely miserable.

"When?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"Just yesterday, I believe. Or so Ron says." She told her, equally as enthusiastic. "Harry and Ron just want to go for moral support, show him he's never going to be alone."

Ginny couldn't stop herself from smiling, "That's amazing. George has been in such a dark place." Ginny had begun to think he'd never be the same, but this was a small step forward. "I should pay him a visit." She frowned at her list of homework assignments.

"Of course you should. You know he'd love to see you." Hermione agreed.

She knew that was true, Fred and George had always been her goofball older brothers, they never took anything seriously. Not even that she had been sorted into Slytherin.

She'd always appreciated that.

"Anyway, have you taken a look at the Alchemy homework?" Hermione asked, as a change of subject.

Ginny shook her head. "I've barely done anything." She admitted. "It's difficult?" She asked, suppressing a groan.

A pained look crossed Hermione's face, "Yes." She said honestly.

And if Hermione was saying it was difficult, that meant it was damn near impossible.

Ginny let her head fall onto her textbook with a dull thump. "Guess I won't be leaving here any time soon." She muttered into the book.

"Hey, I'll help you." Hermione promised, patting Ginny's hand affectionately. "Besides, you've taken all the supplementary classes for Pre-med, you can't quit now that you're so close." She encouraged.

Ginny knew Hermione was right, at this point she knew she had no choice, she just had to suck it up and do what she had set out to do.

She wouldn't turn back now.

Nothing was easy, it's not like Harry would have any easier of a time being an auror. Well he might, it was Harry after all. But Hermione had basically just as tough of a course load as her, considering she wanted to go into Magical Law Enforcement, more specifically, she wanted to go into Ministry reform. Which meant grueling hours of paperwork and days on the Wizengamot per trial.

No one had it easy.

Ginny was just about to say something when she was interrupted by a six foot two frame standing over them, specifically, Draco Malfoy's six foot two frame.

His usual grimace was in place, his grey eyes were hard and emotionless the stubble she had been used to seeing, a bit more grown out.

"What do you want, Malfoy." Hermione narrowed her eyes up at the blonde.

Draco just let out a snort through his nose. "Nothing from you, Granger." He retorted. "So you can go back to worshipping Potter's trousers now."

Ginny had to hold back a laugh, the image was just funny, not the callous jab.

"Shouldn't you be out trying to find yourself a new Dark Lord to follow?" Hermione spat.

For a second, Draco's façade fell away, it was literally a momentary fallacy but Ginny saw, what Hermione had said struck a chord.

That was peculiar.

Ginny could tell he wanted to tell her off, call her a Mudblood and damn her to hell. But for some reason, he didn't. He held his tongue, ignored her comment, and instead fixed his stare on the redhead who was doing her very best to keep herself uninvolved.

"I need a word with you, Ginevra."

It was so formal, not just the use of her full name but his tone as a whole.

Ginny didn't like it.

"I'm quite busy, Malfoy." She said, keeping her voice neutral and her gaze on her parchment.

"Well unbusy yourself for a moment."

"Unbusy isn't a word." Hermione pointed out childishly.

"I'm perfectly well aware of that, Granger." He said over his shoulder. "Though thank you for being an insufferable know-it-all, once again."

Hermione just glared at him from over her textbook, before rolling her eyes.

Just to avoid another minute of their useless bickering, Ginny picked herself up out of her chair. "Shall we?" She asked, irritated beyond belief.

Draco just gave Hermione a satisfied look, before nodding.

Ginny followed him out of the library, considering she knew she was one noise warning away from being kicked out of the library all together by Madam Pince.

"Yes?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh relax, Ginny." He waved her off. "Not everything is supposed to be a battle."

Ginny didn't change her position.

Draco just sighed.

"Well?" She asked, tapping her foot.

"Zab has somehow managed to sprain his ankle." He began. "Madame Pomfrey said there's no way to mend sprains as there's no break in the bone, she gave him a Pain Killing Draught but he's being a right baby about the whole thing." He explained.

Ginny just raised an eyebrow. "So?" She knew how Blaise was, she had to tolerate his demeanor for the majority of the time he was dating Kennedy.

It hadn't been a pleasant time in her life, to say the least.

Draco sighed again, this time exasperated. "So." He said patiently. "We need someone to sit in for him for the first game, I was wondering if you had any suggestions."

She was surprised to say the least, since when did Draco Malfoy take anyone's opinions into consideration when making decisions.

"You look like a Hippogriff caught in headlights." His tone was smug.

He was happy to have stupefied her.

Ginny shook herself out of it. "Well, you caught me off guard is all." She told him.

"You're clearly the best player on this team, Ginny. That isn't really contestable." He left out the "after me" bit because he assumed that was general knowledge. "I trust your judgment more than anyone else on the team." He informed her. "Lord knows they've got half a brain between all of them." He muttered to himself.

She could barely believe her ears, this was so not the Draco Malfoy she was used to.

Maybe Voldemort had imperiused him or something and it left long lasting effects on his mind.

"Uh. Well." Ginny stuttered. "Did you have any contenders?" She cleared her throat.

Draco shook his head. "I was thinking of asking Pucey to come in for a game, but he's not much of a chaser." He said regretfully. "Other than that, I hadn't seen much promise in anyone." And he wasn't willing to gamble the first game of the season on some inexperienced flyer.

If Adrian Pucey was as good as it was going to get for interim chasers, then Ginny figured they might as well forfeit the upcoming game against Ravenclaw. Adrian was a beater, he was good at it, it didn't require much but brute strength.

He'd be a terrible chaser.

Ginny was quiet, "Well. I have a suggestion." She began tentatively. "But you'll have to trust me on it." She stipulated.

Draco nodded slowly.

"Astoria." She said.

His eyebrows shot up, "That tiny thing?" He couldn't even take her seriously. "She would get knocked off her broom if the wind blew the wrong way!"

Ginny just put two fingers to her temple, boys were so hard to deal with when it came to Quidditch. "She's probably stronger than she looks." Ginny challenged. "Besides, she's quick and being small could work to our advantage."

"I'm listening." He crossed his arms over his chest leisurely.

"If we get her the Quaffle, she could probably get it to a goalpost from mid field before the other team even knows what's going on." Ginny could practically see it playing out in her head. "It's a bit of a risk, I know. But it's better than betting on someone with half a brain and more bravado than he knows what to do with." Which was most of the male population of Slytherin House.

"She's sharp, she's agile and she's got a good sense of improvisation." Ginny continued, "She can definitely hold her own. And for anything external that goes awry, me, Kenny, Terence can definitely pick up the slack." They were seasoned veterans by this point.

Draco looked impressed, Ginny had a good head to sports among other things. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't even the slightest bit turned on by her right now.

"All right." He said slowly. "You've sold me, Weasley." He said with a lazy grin. "We'll give Greengrass Junior a shot."

Ginny was pleased with herself.

For some reason, it felt good to show Draco she knew what she was talking about.

"But if she gets knocked out of the air, it's on your conscious." He warned.

Ginny just rolled her eyes.

She and Draco continued their conversation in hushed tones as they made their way through the library. As excited as she was to see her plan in action, Ginny knew she had to get some of her work out of the way, otherwise Quidditch might as well be a far away memory because she would have to quit the team.

"All right, so I'll get her to practice today. She might as well see what the team is like when we're playing."

"Sounds good to me, I think she's gonna be great. You'll see."

Ginny sat back down at the table across from Hermione. The aforementioned brunette greeted her with a smile, giving Draco a look of mild disgust.

"Aren't you late for something evil?" She spat, Hermione just couldn't leave well enough alone. "You know like practicing unforgivable curses or making a list of all the muggles you want to torture in your spare time?" She leered at him.

"Hermione…" Ginny sighed, with a shake of her head.

Draco wasn't even being a git right now, she could lay off of him sometimes.

The brunette gave Ginny a look of confusion.

Draco just let out an unamused chuckle. "And shouldn't be sitting on Potter's broomstick in your spare time?" He drawled. "You know, riding your way to fame."

Hermione looked at him, loathing and repulsion evident in her dark brown eyes. "Don't make me punch you again, Malfoy." She threatened dryly.

Draco's face paled a little, as his third year nosebleed courtesy of Hermione Granger, came back to him.

Without another word to either girls, he turned away and brushed past them.

-x-

By the time Hermione had gotten back to the Head Boy and Girl dormitory, it was well past nine p.m. Harry was lounging in the common room, what looked like his Cursebreaking textbook at his feet. He had a very concentrated look on his face, as his quill traced patterns in thin air.

The site of him immediately put Hermione at ease.

Their quarters were nice, a common room to themselves, private bathrooms for each, their own rooms as well. Both equipped with guards warding out the person of the opposite sex. Though Hermione imagine if she and Harry had wanted to get naughty, they could do it right here in the common room. The only people that could come in were the ones who knew the password.

Hermione blushed at the thought, pushing those kind of musings to the back of her brain where they belonged.

Besides, they had given enough people the password to their quarters.

Namely Ron, who used it as he pleased.

Harry noticed her come in and greeted her with a soft grin. "Hullo." He said, he voice soft and low.

She felt a shiver twirl its way up her spine. She set her books on the side table.

"How was your day?" He asked, getting up from his spot on the floor.

Before Hermione could protest, he was already making his way over to her. "Okay I suppose, though seeing Draco Malfoy did put somewhat of a damper on it." She rolled her eyes.

Harry knitted his eyebrows. "He didn't do anything out of line, did he?" He practically demanded, placing his hands on her upper arms. "I knew we shouldn't have pardoned him and his mother of all charges, he's a bloody death—

"Harry, slow down." Hermione interrupted him with a smile. "He didn't do anything, I promise." She assured him. "Just his normal, annoying, asshole behavior is all."

She saw the tension leave his clenched jaw, "You let me know if anything changes, hmm?" He rubbed her arms up and down soothingly. "I hate throwing my weight around but I'll get Malfoy expelled at the drop of a hat if I have to." The last part was said mostly in mirth, his green eyes twinkling.

"Stupid death eater." He said under his breath as an afterthought.

Hermione gave a soft laugh, "I'll keep you updated, ." She raised a hand to cup his cheek.

She felt his visibly relax under her touch, she loved she could calm him like that.

He pulled her over to the couch, she settled herself beside him, tucking herself under his arm. "Enough with Malfoy. How was your day?" She asked, laying her head on his chest.

Harry nuzzled his cheek against her soft brown hair, "Pretty good." He admitted. "George is doing so much better, I think he really needed to get out of that job at the ministry." He mused.

Hermione just nodded, listening to him and his heartbeat with one ear each.

"He's got some inspiration, talking about expanding the joke shop out of Diagon Alley and all over Britain." He continued, "For Fred." He added.

"That's ambitious." Hermione noted affectionately. "I don't see why he shouldn't."

"I think the same thing." Harry agreed in his low baritone, "I reckon he could pretty much do business anywhere. Everyone could always use a good laugh."

"Hmmm." Hermione murmured in agreement, letting her eyes flutter shut. "And how about Ron?" She just loved hearing him talk, his voice was beautiful.

She could listen to him on a loop forever, and she was convinced she wouldn't get sick of it. As disgustingly love struck as that sounded.

"In fine form." Harry laughed, Hermione loved that sound too.

She hadn't heard it enough the past year and it was a damn shame.

"Do elaborate."

"Well, him and Luna are getting on rather well. But it seems that Ron refuses to give up his single bachelor shenanigans." Harry said lightly, playing with Hermione's fingers.

"Which would include?"

"The usual, working his Weasley charms on unsuspecting females." Harry chuckled. "He's got game, our best friend, I'll definitely give him that. The ladies seem to love him." He said, a bit surprised.

"Well, it's about time. Because he certainly loves the ladies." Hermione said wryly.

Harry laughed again, "Poor Luna, she has no idea what she's dealing with."

"And what about you?" Hermione picked her head up to look at him. "Any single bachelor shenanigans for you?" She kinked a playful eyebrow.

"Tons." Harry played along. "The blondes just can't seem to keep their hands off me."

Hermione didn't find it so funny, she swatted at his shoulder with a pout.

He just laughed some more, "I'd be hard pressed to find a witch who could hold a candle to you, Hermione." He couldn't have said it with more conviction, staring straight into her eyes.

His gaze was electric, sending shocks up and down her entire body and she couldn't look away.

"You, Harry Potter, underestimate yourself. You have got some game too." She said, once her breath wasn't caught in her throat.

Harry smiled at her, "Well, I'm trying my hardest to charm a very beautiful woman." He said unabashedly.

Hermione blushed under his gaze, "Yes, oh so beautiful." She said sarcastically.

Harry just let out a sigh, "Because you weren't featured on the cover of this month's issue of Modern Wizard Monthly." A tasteful, yet provocative picture of Hermione flooded his mind.

Posing on the front cover was his demure best friend, in nothing but an oversized boys button up and a Gryffindor tie hanging loosely around her neck. They had put sexy black frames over her eyes, a quill in her mouth and a stack of books by her luxurious legs. It was meant to be an illustration, a prelude to the interview within the magazine, all about how Hermione was returning to Hogwarts to finish her education.

Her blush deepened, "That, that was nothing. They…" She trailed off, hiding her face in her hands.

Harry's face melted into a loving grin at this adorable sight. Lightly, he removed her hands from her face. "My point is you looked and are beautiful." He said tenderly, raising her chin up to look at him.

"Honest?"

Harry nodded. "Do I like the thought of anyone but me seeing you in such a state of undress, not really. I might have to buy every copy once it's released, so no one else sees it. " He scratched the back of his head. "But as far as magazine covers go, I've never seen a better one." He winked.

Hermione just shook her head, "You're too good to me." She said with a shy smile.

He kissed the tip of her nose, "Never." He disagreed, "I'm just happy to be here, Hermione."

"Well these are rather nice lodgings especially considering what we'd become accustomed to." She joked.

Harry shook his head, "You know what I mean." He insisted.

She nodded, "Of course I do. And you know I feel the same way." She bent his neck towards her so she could place a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"I know I say this all the time, but you and Ron are literally the most important things in my life. You know that, don't you?"

Hermione just beamed up at him. "Is this your way of saying I love you, Harry Potter?" She asked dreamily.

"You know I do." He said without missing a beat.

Still, the reaction caught Hermione a bit off guard. "Not the friends kind of I love you…" She elaborated.

"Well definitely that kind too." He said with a shrug. "But yes, the eternal kind as well." He grinned down at her.

Her breath hitched in her throat, that grin paired with those green eyes still made her lose her train of thought. "M-me too." She gulped.

Harry just chuckled, "C'mere." He pulled her into his arms.

And Hermione could only just hope she would never have to be anywhere but here for the rest of her life.

-x-

A/N: Sorry about the delay, these last few weeks have been hectic, what with exams and such. But here is the 4th chapter, edited and complete! I hope you all enjoyed it.

I know the Ginny and Draco romance is slow to build up, but isn't that the fun? Plus, I think it's more believable if Ginny's feelings go from loathing to hate to mild dislike etc, then from hatred to love in the span of three chapters, right?

Draco is a bit of a mystery, but his dark past (especially the two years he spent under Voldemort's subservience) will be addressed in due time.

I hope the little H/Hr bit at the end wasn't too fluffy, but I can't help it, I'm a sucker for their love.

Well, that's it really. I hope you all are well and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this latest chapter. Feedback is just so encouraging because it just reassures me of my writing or allows me to understand where I'm lacking. So please, if you have any constructive criticism as well (about anything) I'd love to hear that too!

Thanks for reading & I wish you all Happy Holidays! (if you celebrate Easter or whatnot)