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Hermione apparated into Grimmauld place to find Ginny sprinting around the kitchen preparing every meal under the sun. Her usually kind hazel eyes were contorted with stress and her forehead was in a constant state of worry.
"Gin," Hermione lightly placed her hand down on her friends shoulder, "You've gotta calm down. They're gonna be here any minute." She tried her best to put on a soothing voice despite all the worries currently plaguing her own mind.
"I'm fine." The ginger snapped. Harry entered the kitchen and upon seeing the look on his fiancés face, embraced her in a hug.
"It's gonna be fine sweetheart," he mumbled into her hair, "Ron just flooed me and said he was just waiting for Pansy to arrive at his place and then they're gonna apparate over." He rubbed her back one more time before pulling away and looking straight into the eyes that had owned him since sixth year. "I need you to be accepting ok?" She opened her mouth to protest but he put one gentle finger against her lips, "I know it will be hard but Ron obviously really cares for her and well…we really care about Ron so we'll be nice." Hermione almost laughed at how parental her scar headed friend sounded.
A loud crack sounded just outside the door causing Ginny to jump and scurry back to the oven to check on her casserole. Harry gave her one last assuring look before walking out of the room and greeting the guests.
"Thanks so much for inviting me over." Pansy's nervous voice made its way through the papery thin walls causing the red head witch to clench her wand tightly.
"Ginny…" Hermione warned just before the happy couple entered with Harry.
"Hey Gin!" Ron bounded up to his sister and gave her a loving hug. She remained stiff for a split second before wrapping her arms around him and putting on an almost genuine smile. Pansy remained awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen.
"Pansy it's so good to see you again!" Hermione shook the Slytherin's hand and gave her a supportive smile. She accepted the gift of integrity with gratitude and mouthed a small 'thank you' the bushy haired witch.
"Well," Ginny smoothed out her jeans, "the casserole is almost done, just about 15 more minutes. Would you like a drink of anything Pansy? We have butterbeer and firewhisky." Harry blinked stupidly at his fiancé for a couple of seconds. She sounded truly happy to have the sleek black haired witch in her home.
"Oh just water thank you." She gave a reluctant smile before settling down on the couch. Ginny turned her back to prepare the drink and threw Ron a cup to get his own refreshment.
"So Pansy, where are you working right now?" Harry sat down in the armchair across from her.
"Well I'm currently in the process of opening my own witch's apparel shop in Diagon Alley. I just signed the papers for the lease yesterday so now I just have to set up shop and get the word out." Her voice oozed of passion as she spoke of her profession.
"That's so cool! It will be nice to have a truly stylish store so close." Hermione gushed. Pansy's cheeks flushed slightly at the praise. Ginny interrupted them to hand the petite witch her water and sit in the chair next to Harry. Her eyes threw daggers for a second; Pansy luckily missed it, before they returned to their welcoming tone.
"So Ron, you gotta tell me how you guys met!" Harry cleared his throat while looking sideways at Ginny.
Ron's ears turned red and he put an uncomfortable hand behind his neck while his other grabbed for Pansy's trembling one. "Well I was helping out at the shop because Fred felt sick about three months ago and I heard the bell ring right before we were about to close up. I lifted my head from the front desk to tell the customer they only had a couple of minutes when I saw her." The couple was both blushing furiously now, "Here was this stunning witch walking up to me and my mouth just went dry. I didn't even recognize her at first." He turned his lovey-dovey expression onto Pansy who giggled slightly, returning the same look. Ginny looked ready to vomit.
"Are we still on for quidditch on Wednesday?" Blaise laid back on the couch in Draco's study. He was swirling around a firewhisky in his hand while admiring his new engagement ring.
"Yeah," answered Draco distractedly, "That sounds good."
Blaise sighed loudly and set his drink down, "Alright mate, what the hell is up your arse?"
"I'm fine" the blond retorted quickly.
"No, you're not fine. You've been gloomy all evening. Didn't even lift an eyebrow when I announced my engagement to Luna."
"It's just…work stuff." Draco muttered.
"Work stuff." Replied Blaise sarcastically, "Mate you hardly even go into work! You just sit at home and make plans for the company months in advance and send it in."
"Fine!" The pale wizard spat, "It's bloody Granger."
The darker wizard lifted a perfectly manicured eyebrow, "Oh now we're getting somewhere."
"She's infuriating. I can't stand to be in her presence another god damn day. The woman makes no sense what so ever and is condescending and confusing and-"
"And you can't keep your eyes off her." Blaise smirked.
Draco whipped his head around to glare at his friend but crumbled after a couple of seconds, "I don't know what's gotten into me." He whispered before plopping down onto the couch across from his fellow Slytherin.
"Sounds to me like Hermione 'Golden Girl' Granger wooed you."
"But that's just the thing!" Draco spat at the ground, "She didn't do a bloody thing! She's avoiding me now just because we kissed and I know she liked it and –"
"Whoa mate," Blaise interrupted, "You didn't tell me you snogged her!" He gave Draco a hardy pat on the back, "Well done!"
"Not well done Blaise," he clenched his teeth, "She hates me now and won't even look me in the eyes. I thought that I just needed to get her outta my system you know? One good snog and we could be done with it, but it's like I need her. After one taste I'm fucking addicted." He put his head in his hands in defeat.
"You've got it bad." Blaise stood to refill his drink, "But she obviously does too. I mean if she kissed you back, she's already physically attracted to you. There's gotta be some mental attraction growing too if she can't look you in the eyes. The fact that she is ignoring you is almost a good thing."
Draco looked up in confusion, "A good thing? Blaise I want to feel her ass, not watch it walk away from me." The dark wizard roared in laughter.
"If she's ignoring you, that means she has feelings for you too. She obviously just feels guilty about liking you because of your guys'…colorful past." He took a sip of his drink, "Think about it, if she didn't care about you, she would just think of it as a casual snog with no emotions attached. But there were emotions there. From the look on your face, there was a fucking bucketful of them." Draco felt his mouth go into an unfamiliar smile. "She wants you mate. Just give it some time."
"Well that didn't go so bad." Harry's voice was much less tense than earlier that evening. But Hermione suspected it had a great deal to do with his four cups of firewhisky.
"Yeah," Ginny sighed, "She's nice. I hate it." All three laughed at Ginny's stubborn voice. And once they had started they couldn't stop. Hermione was doubled over the counter clutching her aching sides before the last giggle subsided.
"Well I should probably get going. I have to go into the hospital early tomorrow morning for Narcissa's treatment."
"Speaking of which, how is that going? With Malfoy and everything?" Asked Ginny. The brunette froze as the previous night's events came crashing down like a bucket of ice water.
"Fine. We're…civil." She could hear her own voice shake, "Well like I said I need to get going. I'll owl you guys later." She quickly gave them each a goodbye hug and left with a very rushed crack.
Hermione landed clumsily in her flat, probably due to all the firewhisky, and gripped her bed for support. She was just about to undress when a pair of strong muscular arms wrapped around her middle and before she could let out a scream; a hand covered her open mouth.
A/N: I'm a terrible person! I'm soooooo sorry this chapter is so much shorter than they usually are...by about 1000 words...I know I feel bad. But I am swamped with homework and I'm going to camp this weekend so I wanted to give you guys something at least! Sorry for the cliff hanger too...I'm really mean tonight. And sorry if there are typos...it's pretty late at this point. Regardless, I hope everybody likes it and please please please review! I just hit 6,000 hits on this story and I would absolutely love to hear feedback from people. I cannot express how much it makes my day! Thanks again!