My senior year of college starts next Monday, and if that doesn't instill fear into your heart and soul I don't know what will.
"Don't know if i will make it/ Maybe i should be anxious/ No matter where I go/ I'm dancing in the dawn of the unknown…" – Jake Scott, "Dancing in the Dawn"
"Hannah! A round for the table please!" Ginny Weasley called over the din of the Leaky Cauldron, perched next to Sirius in the booth so Ron could sit on the other side of her, closer to the edge of the table, leaving Hermione and Harry on the opposite side of them across the table itself.
Tonight they were meeting Ron's new girlfriend, probably to interrogate and judge her as all friends do, before setting out on the mission to get Sirius a girlfriend that didn't leave his skin crawling whenever a woman brushed up against him. Going by the nausea that would pass every time Ginny moved near him, he doubted it was her.
"Isn't it weird for you two? It's barely been a week," Ron observed as he glanced between Harry and his sister.
"We're on - thanks - we're on good terms," Harry said as he passed Hermione a beer and grabbed his own. "We agreed we're better as friends."
"And I'm the only one with the insane Weasley jealous streak, but we've discovered that I don't mind it when dudes hit on Harry," Ginny nodded, "I'm not comparing their boobs to mine, for example."
Sirius snorted and cracked a grin at that, taking his own beer with a nod to the waitress before she curtly whisked herself off to another table.
"How did you discover this?" Ron questioned with furrowed brows.
"We were each other's wingums," Ginny insisted proudly, high-fiving Harry from across the table as Hermione chuckled. "Gender-neutral term for being a wing-man. Harry found me guys he approved of, I found him guys I approved of. Seeing as we know each other so well, and want the best for each other, it's a perfect situation."
"Well, so long as you're both okay with it," Ron shrugged, although he seemed apprehensive.
Sirius grinned, reaching across Ginny and patting Ron on the back, "Relax, mate, they're good with it."
"Hey, isn't that Malfoy?" Ginny pointed out, catching the table's eye at the blond entering the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny turned back to Hermione and squinted, "You're, like, good with him? Right?"
"Of course, he's working on Sirius's case as well," Hermione nodded before the redhead shot out of her seat to stand and wave the Healer in training over.
His eyes widened and he glared before sulking over to them, only asking "What?" through gritted teeth and flared nostrils.
"Come sit with us, Malfoy," Ginny said, patting the table and batting her eyelashes at him as Ron's eyes practically bugged out.
"What?" Ron, Harry and Draco chorused, even as Hermione began to move her purse and cardigan out of the way so he could sit down.
"We've got room," Ginny insisted before giving a toss of her hair, "Unless you're meeting somebody."
Sirius disguised his bark of laughter as a slight cough, immediately catching on to Ginny's antics. Hermione quirked a brow and gave a twitch of the lips as well before standing and poking at Harry's side.
"Budge over, Harry, let Draco in so he can sit by me," Hermione insisted. "Unless you're meeting somebody?" She challenged Draco, although she did so with a smirk.
He huffed through his nose, removing his suit jacket and nodding his thanks to Harry as he slid out of the booth, followed by Hermione before the three slid in together.
"So, Draco," Ginny said, settling her chin in her hands as Ron scoffed beside her, outright glaring at his sister. "How's work going?"
"Just fine," he remarked as he settled his jacket next to Hermione's cardigan. "How's your curse going?" he looked to Sirius, who scrunched up his nose and took to downing gulps of his beer.
"He's discovered the matching system," Hermione offered as Draco turned his head to look at her. "Extreme discomfort when touching women who aren't his match."
"Oh, my Merlin, then I'm so sorry," Ginny insisted, suddenly scooting a couple of inches down the booth and nearly sending Ron into the floor, making him squawk and hang onto the table. Draco coughed on his laugh, Harry watching the entertainment as Ginny stammered her apologies.
"How'd you know you weren't my match?" Sirius asked in amusement.
"You've seemed uncomfortable ever since I sat by you, I figured it was because I was Harry's ex, but it all just suddenly made sense," she winced. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it, not your fault," he said with a tip of his bottle.
"Alright, I'm off for the night!" Hannah Abbott announced as she returned to their table, beaming at the group as the majority blinked at her in bewilderment.
Ron stood immediately, coughing into his fist before grinning lamely, "Guys, you know Hannah Abbott?"
A moment or two later, and the group seemed to catch on. "Oh it's you!" Ginny crowed, beaming back at the woman Sirius had been told was the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. "Well, Ron gets an E."
"Really?" Hannah smirked, hands on her hips as Ron sputtered beside her, "I'm only an Exceeds Expectations?"
"Well, Hermione's right here, Hannah," Ginny teased before the entire table reprimanded her, even Sirius, who had really no right to do so. The only ones who didn't kick up a fuss were Draco, who'd outright stolen Hermione's beer and was enjoying the show, and Hannah, who was laughing her ass off.
"Relax, it's okay," Hannah giggled, "Ginny and I were fast friends during my final year, with the D.A. We pick on each other a lot, but we've got thick skins."
"Have a seat, Hannah," Ron sighed, begrudgingly sitting her beside his sister and pulling up an unused chair for himself.
"Not to sound rude, but Ginny's gotten that out of the way, I thought you were dating Neville?" Harry asked, wincing when Hermione took to kicking his leg. "You didn't kick Ginny!"
"Ginny caught me off-guard," Hermione seethed, "That is rude, Harry!"
"I don't mind, but thanks," Hannah laughed again, stealing Ron's beer with a quick wink to him. "We broke things off. For the best, really, and he's a sweetheart, but we're both too focused in our careers. We'd go weeks without seeing each other, buried in our jobs. I need someone like this one to drag me out of work, or I'd be working myself into an early grave." At this, she patted Ron's arm and smiled, and Harry, Hermione and Ginny all seemed to give almost imperceptible nods, and Ron began to breathe easier.
"I think you've passed, Abbott," Draco drawled, flashing a quick grin when Hermione snatched her beer back with a glare, and Ginny deflated slightly before perking back up.
"Now, I've heard we're in the mood for match-making," Hannah insisted eagerly, eyes darting around the table at her prey.
Ron grimaced, "Hannah, really, they're all here to see you - "
"Find me one, Hannah," Ginny cut him off, even as her brother groaned.
"Well, you didn't hear it from me, but I believe that Blaise Zabini is recently single," she smirked.
"Don't date him," Draco advised warningly, "He's a playboy. He's single because his latest friend patched things up with her husband."
Ginny and Hannah grimaced together, and Hannah muttered, "I didn't hear that."
"If you want relationship, I say pick up Abbott's leftovers," Draco declared. "Sounds like Weasleys are decent for workaholics."
Hannah blinked before turning to Ginny, "Actually, that wouldn't be half bad. And I wouldn't mind."
"I could definitely pull him out of work," Ginny hummed, tapping her nails against the table as Sirius watched the proceedings play out before him. "I'll owl him in the morning."
"When did you become a matchmaker, Malfoy?" Harry questioned.
Draco blinked before grimacing, tugging at his collar and attempting to hide behind Hermione's hair. "Liquor loosens lips, and all that. I've an extremely low tolerance, and Pansy was often a fan of playing Cupid."
"Kinky," Sirius teased, having no idea who Pansy was, even as the table snickered and Draco glared.
"You're exempt from my matchings," Hannah waved a flippant hand towards Sirius, even as he put on an affronted expression. "You've got weird who-do on you, which makes you exempt."
"Who-do?" Sirius repeated, the other Purebloods blinking back at her as Hermione and Harry shared a laugh.
"Do what?" Harry chuckled.
"Remind me of the babe," Hannah stated primly.
"What babe?" Hermione grinned.
"The babe with the power," Hannah recited, as the four others watched in awe.
"What power?" Harry and Hermione chorused.
"The power of voodoo!" Hannah continued, before the three burst into laughs once more.
"Muggleborns," Ginny murmured, almost as if she were trying to explain it to herself before taking a long sip of her beer.
"She's half-blood, Ginny," Ron reminded quietly as Hannah passed him back his own drink with a smile.
"Oh! Hermione!" Hannah insisted suddenly, patting the table with her hand, "I've heard Viktor's back in town. Got traded to Puddlemere United."
The table grew quiet, and all eyes landed on Hermione, who flushed a tiny bit red before she tossed her mane over her shoulder. "So?"
"So - please, Viktor has been the standard for all your other relationships," Harry scoffed, standing his ground even as Hermione took to glaring at him.
"Harry James, he has not!" Hermione insisted.
Draco, Ginny and Ron all made incredulous mutters, and Sirius relaxed back in his seat to hear what had to have been a doozy of a story.
"He has not!" Hermione declared.
"You do seem to have a type," Ginny insisted placatingly.
"Quidditch players," Draco agreed with a somber nod.
"I - I do not!" Hermione punched the table. "Have a type!"
"Viktor Krum, Cormac McLaggen - " Ginny began to tick off on her fingers.
"He absolutely does not count," Hermione seethed.
"Ron Weasley," Hannah offered with a jab of her thumb in her new boyfriend's direction.
"It's the physique, isn't it?" Sirius asked, positively gleeful as he watched his roomie turn a bright red and glare everyone down. "Ooh, no, it's the stamina. Which is it? Both?"
"Shut the definite fuck up," Hermione said, aiming a kick to Sirius's leg but hitting the booth instead, going by the thunk of the wood and her slight wince.
"Pity we didn't hit it off in school, Granger, I could've been another notch on your Quidditch bedpost," Draco lilted, yelping once Hermione punched his arm, although it got a round of laughter from everyone at the table. "Woman, that fucking hurt!"
"Good!" she growled back before swiveling back to Sirius, "I'm punching you when we get home."
"Kinky," Sirius purred, cackling when Hermione groaned and slumped into her seat, covering her face in her hands. "There's nothing to be upset about, everybody's got a type."
"Besides," Hannah began soothingly, taking Hermione's hand and patting it gently, even as the brunette looked at her in exasperation. "I hear Viktor's very excited to get reacquainted with certain friends from Hogwarts."
Hermione snatched her hand back and stood, beginning to climb over the back of the booth seat, even as the table begged her to come back and Harry and Draco each had to tug her back into place.
"Do not make an even bigger scene," Draco sniffed before sliding her own drink back into her hands, although a considerable portion may have been sampled by himself, "Drink your emotions like the rest of us."
After about an hour of playing catch-up, the new couple decided to call it a night, and Draco was eyeing his watch soon after.
"It's not even midnight," Sirius pointed out to his blonde cousin, Harry having relocated to sit next to Sirius and giving Ginny a spot next to Hermione as she tipsily mumbled about her impending letter to the new Herbology professor.
"Well, you know how dramatic my mother can be," Draco said as he stood and gathered his things. He eyed Ginny, slightly a mess at the end of the table, and decided it was best to step over the booth to make his escape as well.
"Hey! You yelled at me for that!" Hermione chided.
"Yet I never make a scene," he said before giving a playful low bow, "Thank you ever so much for allowing my presence to grace your company this evening."
"The pleasure is ours to see you go!" Harry called, although it did seem to be without his usual malice. Draco scoffed and turned on his heel, Ginny blowing a raspberry after him.
"So, ready to get out there?" Hermione asked Sirius, pointing out to the still packed bar.
Sirius grimaced. Normally, he wouldn't mind rubbing elbows with lovely witches, but ever since he discovered the feeling of his skin crawling at the touch of another woman's hand he grew more and more apprehensive. In his slightly inebriated state, he was fairly sure he may vomit by the end of the night.
"I'll go with," Harry offered with a smile, grinning when Sirius settled a grateful hand on his shoulder.
"I'll babysit this one," Hermione said as she patted Ginny, who was scrawling out her introduction to her letter on a napkin, much like a student preparing for an essay due in the morning.
Sirius took a fortifying breath before standing with Harry, making his way to the bar and gently inserting himself in the conversation of two witches. He thought it was going great, as each of them smiled and batted their lashes at him, but it all went south when one and then the other placed their hands on his arms.
"Ex- excuse me," he said, taking almost three steps back as he felt his stomach revolt against him.
"Let's get you home," Ginny said as she appeared next to him certainly more sober than she had been ten minutes ago, Hermione on his other side and each of them carefully using napkins to guide him to the door.
"Harry?" he questioned.
"He's good," Hermione said as they made their way out the door, her mouth quirked in a grin, "He's got company."
"Nice," Sirius groaned, taking a breather and sliding down the brick wall of the alley to the Apparation point. "I'm gonna die."
"You will not," Ginny insisted as she crouched down next to him, sifting through Hermione's purse and popping two tiny pills into his palm. "Don't be dramatic."
"What're these?" he questioned as he squinted in the dark to read them.
"Acetaminophen," Hermione said, "Anti-inflammatory, it'll help lessen your hangover."
"You," Sirius said as he popped the pills into his mouth and pointed up at her, "Are a gorgeous and sexy witch." He dry swallowed and thumped his head against the wall once more. "Viktor is a lucky, lucky man."
Hermione took a swift kick at his foot, which got him and Ginny laughing again.