Hermione could've stayed standing there for another hour, another day, another week, another year, or even for the rest of her life. Luckily, Crookshanks was the one that brought her back to her senses, scratching on her bedroom door loudly to go relieve himself.
She let him out and then changed quickly. She zipped in and out of the bathroom, grabbed her things, and raced out into the common room, where Draco stood standing casually at the portrait door, which was still open from Crookshank's departure.
As Hermione trotted up to him, he looked at her, and smiled, taking his hand out of his pocket and offering it to her. Hermione hesitated for a moment, an image of Ron's face from her nightmare enveloping her mind.
But everything was forgotten as soon as Draco, sensing her confusion, wrapped his arm around her shoulders anyway. "Just put him out of your mind, Hermione. There's no point in thinking about him now. He can't do anything about it, and to tell you the truth, I don't think he would mind that much."
Hermione grimaced. "It just feels wrong, like I'm being unfaithful." They were walking down the staircase slowly, and Hermione was glad for the abundance of steps.
Draco replied when they were almost at the bottom, however. "How much faith do you think he has in you? Enough that he can tell you where he is? Even Potter can do it, and yet he can't. I think what you're doing is justifiable."
Hermione bit her lip, and then sighed. Draco's logic was sound, and she agreed wholeheartedly when he spoke out the doubts that had been bothering her.
Thus the couple walked into the Great Hall, hand in hand. Ginny and Zacharias were already eating breakfast, and didn't even look up when the other two sat down. Both were concentrating on writing letters, no doubt to their families, and their plates were empty, goblets still half full.
However, it seemed that both sides had made peace, since Ginny wasn't shooting Zacharias death glares, and Zacharias wasn't cowering to his side of the table. Hermione pulled out her Herbology notes and studied them, nibbling on her muffin. Beside her, Draco was forking in slice after slice of bacon.
The morning classes flew by, partly because it was a Friday, and partly because no one could stop talking about the waltzing class in the evening. Hermione and Draco were interrogated by group after group of students about what to expect, and the questioners were disappointed by the simple response, "You'll see."
During lunch, Hermione's usual queue of fans wanting her autograph for family or friends outside of school doubled, and she wouldn't have been able to eat a thing, if not for Draco bellowing at them all to "Scram!" during the last ten minutes of the meal.
The four spent their break period studiously writing essays, filling in charts, and memorizing facts. They worked so well together and kept each other on task that they had five minutes to spare in the end, and decided to bring the harp down to the Great Hall and keep it behind the High Table.
Hermione and Ginny waited patiently as Draco and Zacharias set down the harp in the corner, and Ginny beamed at Hermione, whispering, "Glad you finally made a move, sis." Hermione just blushed.
Suddenly, a voice behind her said, "Hello, Miss Hermione. May I talk to you for a moment?"
Both girls spun around to face a towering Trevor Birch, who was standing directly in front of Hermione. It was almost inappropriate, for their faces were mere inches apart. Hermione wished Draco was here to protect her. She could barely face Cormac McLaggen in sixth year, and this boy was far worse.
Ginny replied for her first. "Sure, Hermione would love to have an audience with you. Let's do it right now."
Trevor stared at her, a look of disgust on his face. "I meant in private, sorry." he sneered. "I wouldn't want to speak with a filthy blood traitor like you."
Hermione gasped, shocked. She knew Trevor to be a self-absorbed moron, but she didn't know he was one of those blood supremacists.
Ginny pursed her lips, her lips almost invisible. Her hand crept into her pocket, but Draco was restraining her arm in the next second. His nostrils flared, his skin snowy white on Ginny's tanned and freckled arm.
Trevor took this chance to draw out his wand, and pointed at the trio. Zacharias bustled over and drew his own wand as well. He put his arm reassuringly around Hermione's shoulder as Draco gave a curt nod, and started steering her out of the Great Hall, his wand still aimed at Trevor.
Draco said clearly, "Ginny, let's go. We need to get to class. He's not worth it. We can deal with it later."
Ginny remained frozen as a statue, and Trevor grinned, training his wand back and forth between Draco and Ginny.
Draco started pushing an unmoving Ginny sideways, never taking his eyes off of Trevor's wand arm. Hermione and Zacharias watched from afar with bated breaths.
Finally, Trevor stowed his wand away sharply. "That's all right. Granger and I can talk later, perhaps during the waltz class. I don't need to put up with this riffraff."
At this, Draco let go of Ginny. "And who do you think you're calling riffraff?" he sneered, pulling out his wand.
However, this proved an unwise move, for Ginny charged Birch straightaway. She tackled him front on, and the two collided on the stone floor, wrestling vigorously.
Draco burst with laughter, as Ginny had the obvious upper hand, tearing Trevor's hair from his scalp. Chuckling, he stowed his wand away, and then hoisted Ginny up.
Birch was still rolling on the ground. "She's killed me. She's killed me." he kept moaning.
Draco gave a heaving Ginny a friendly pat on the back, and said "That was absolutely beautiful. Almost as gorgeous as the time Hermione punched my face in our third year."
Ginny gave a small grin, fixing her hair, and picking up her school belongings again. "He deserved it. I only hope I get to do it again in the near future."
With that, they joined Hermione and Zacharias at the doorway. They were a peculiar sight, for Hermione's mouth formed an "O" as she stared at them, while Zacharias shook with silent laughter, clutching Hermione's arm for support.
As the four headed off to class, Zacharias finally spoke, saying, "Man, I would pay big money for that to happen again, just so I can take a picture."