Prompt: Discrepant

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Apparently the key to social invitations was hanging around Longbottom, Draco thought with bemusement. I can't believe that my social life these days depends on bloody Longbottom.

Draco followed Neville up the path to Ginny's cottage, but with reluctance. Neville turned back to him and said, "Will you come on? For the hundredth time, this wouldn't have been a real date. We tried that a few times, it's never worked."

Before entering the house, Draco noted the view from the porch – a docile river flowed amid a peaceful forest. He could picture her sitting here, sipping her tea, blocking out the noise of the surrounding village. As he walked across the threshold, he felt immediately as if he were embraced by warmth. A fire burned in the fireplace, lighting a cozy living room with parchment colored walls. The flames lit bookcases and chairs, and he noticed piles of books with pieces of paper marking her progress. They walked through to a second large room, a cheerful yellow kitchen abutting a dining area with red accents. The table was set for three, and Draco couldn't remember the last time he was surrounded by such a sense of welcome, even in his childhood home.

Before they sat down, Draco asked, "Is there someplace I can wash my hands before we eat?"

Ginny looked to the haphazard pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, and said, "Oh yes, there's a guest bathroom upstairs. Just go straight to the top."

As Draco ascended to the second floor of her home, he noticed a dramatic shift in color scheme. The hues of the guest bath reminded him of the sea after a storm. Exiting the room, the frosty white of the hallway seemed tangible as an autumn breeze fluttered through an open window. Unable to stop himself, he peered in the three open doors – a sage guest room, a chilly pink spare room, an icy lilac master bedroom. The discrepancy between the public face of the rooms downstairs and these private spaces was something Draco found fascinating and made him take pause. Which was the real Ginevra Weasley? Warmth and welcome, or cool and private? Or was it a combination of both?

As he stood there deep in thought, an enormous cat leapt through the window. Hearing the thump as the beast landed, Ginny called up, "Draco? Can you shut the window after Crookshanks?"

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A/N: 400 words exactly

I've always been very curious about what happened to Crookshanks during the Horcrux hunt. I like to think that he was with Ginny.