When she woke up again, she was in the Gryffindor common room. Fred and George Weasley were causing a ruckus with some of their usual tricks and schemes while Ron patiently sat by her side. When he saw that she was awake, he smiled and brushed her hair out of her face.
"Morning, sleepyhead. You passed out in Potions. Harry and I carried you back up here. We got some strange looks, but the Hufflepuffs were quite supportive. We got a bit of help from that Susan Bones girl. You know, the one in our Herbology class."
Nikki smirked and reached up, caressing Ron's cheek. His eyes closed in response to her touch and he sighed in contentment.
"So how do you think you did on that test?" she asked.
"Dunno," Ron shrugged. "It took five minutes for that bloody owl to fall asleep. I'm not sure what kind of marks I'll be getting for that. What about you?"
"It went rather well," Nikki sighed. Except that Draco sat next to me, she thought to herself.
"I'm glad," Ron grinned, running his hand through Nikki's black hair. He saw a certain worried expression in her face and tilted his head to one side, cocking an eyebrow. "Everything all right?"
"Yeah," Nikki said quickly. "Of course. How did Harry and Hermione do?"
"Hermione got highest marks, naturally," Ron rolled his eyes. "As for Harry, I dunno. I think he did rather well. Ginny's burn cleared up after a few minutes, but she said there was a pinching feeling while it worked. I don't think that was supposed to happen. No explosions, though. Nothing too bad happened."
Nikki nodded and sat up on the couch. Checking the time, she yawned and stood up.
"Well, I suppose we ought to be going to Transfiguration. McGonagall will have a fit if we're late again. And I'd feel awful to be missing it when Harry has such an important presentation today." She stood up and started to leave. Ron followed behind her through the door.
He was quiet for a few moments before taking Nikki's hand and pulling her aside.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," Nikki smiled. "Anything."
"Well, you know how there's going to be that Winter Dance on Christmas Eve?"
"Yes."
"Well…would you go with me?" he asked bashfully.
"Why wouldn't I?" Nikki chuckled. "I'm your girlfriend."
Ron grinned and slung his arm around Nikki's shoulders.
"Okay. C'mon, then!"