Ginny was clutching a rolled-up newspaper, which Hermione guessed to be today's edition of the Daily Prophet, and she was thankful that the dreadful picture was carefully concealed. Zacharias was beside her, holding a bucket and grinning at Hermione playfully. Very funny. she thought.
"How're you feeling?" asked Ginny anxiously. "We already brought some food up from the kitchens to Montecino Tower, and we brought the work you and Draco missed up there as well."
"I feel fine. Well, enough to not puke anytime soon." She gave Zacharias a pointed look, and he shrugged. "Thanks for that. I'm starving and ready for some essays. Why the surprise party?"
"Well," Ginny replied, biting her lip. "Ron's not the only one mentioned in Skeeter's article… and we thought you deserved the right to know. You probably didn't get a chance to read anything this morning." she added.
"If you really do need to upchuck again, I'm prepared." said Zacharias, motioning to the bucket. "And it's even charmed so that your spew doesn't smell bad!"
"I'll be fine, thanks." snapped Hermione. Ginny handed her the newspaper after taking a deep breath, and Hermione was about to unfurl it when Draco came back.
"Madam Pomfrey says we can go, but that you shouldn't get any more stre- HEY!" He frantically scampered over and snatched the newspaper out of Hermione's hands. "As I was saying, you shouldn't get upset for a while. So don't even THINK about looking at this." He glared at Ginny and Zacharias. "What're you two doing here?"
Ginny tossed her flaming red hair indignantly. "In case you've forgotten, Ferret, we're her friends too! In fact, I've been friends with her for far longer than you have, so you can go and-"
"I'm here to make her puke smell nice." Zacharias smiled serenely, tapping the bucket proudly.
Draco sneered at Ginny, but had no comeback to make to her. However, he took out his embarrassment of being so unintentionally rude by snapping at Zacharias, "Well, well. Look who's so thrilled at visiting his friend in the hospital. Have you lost your mind with that kind of inappropriate humor, or has Heather snogged you senseless today for not blowing up a potion?"
"Drake." Hermione said quietly. "Let's go up to Montecino Tower and have this discussion there instead. Gin and Zach have been very thoughtful today, getting our work for us and even bringing up food to our common room. It's waiting there right now, so let's go. I'm sure you're hungry after skipping lunch because of me."
"I can do anything for you, darling." Draco replied smoothly, caressing her pale cheek lovingly. Ginny gagged silently from behind, and Zacharias made a funny little spasm and sound, which, thankfully, went unnoticed by Draco.
"We'll Apparate." Draco said, helping her Hermione to her feet again. "I trust that you two told Lady Montecino Hermione's ill, am I right?"
Ginny and Zacharias nodded, and Draco smirked. "Excellent. Then she won't be mad. See you later."
With that, Draco and Hermione disappeared, and Ginny rolled her eyes. "Can I break your ankle and then mend it after we get by Lady Montecino? I don't feel like walking."
Zacharias snorted. "Why don't I do the breaking and mending? For some reason, I don't believe that you'd only break my ankle for this scheme to fool Lady M."
"You're right." Ginny nodded seriously. "It's never a bad thing to throw in a Bat-Bogey Hex for good measure."
"Don't you think Lady Montecino won't ask how I got injured?"
"That's easy." Ginny said, whipping out her wand and laughing as Zacharias flinched. "Relax, I'm not going to hex you just yet. And as to your question, I think a threat about saying something to Heather would put you in your rightful place."
Late in the evening, the four friends were still discussing Ron's outrageous appearance in the Daily Prophet. Hermione was so grateful that Draco understood that she hadn't thrown up because of any remaining feelings for Ron, but the fact that one of her friends, no matter how sneaky and traitorous he was, had done something so horrible.
It was an unspoken understanding, and Ginny and Zacharias themselves didn't quite understand. Hermione had refrained Ginny from writing a letter of disgust to Ron, although Draco was all for it.
"I'm sure he's already gotten plenty of hate mail from people all over Wizarding Britain." Hermione said calmly, patting Ginny on the shoulder, who was still seething at Rita Skeeter's beaming picture underneath the article, proud to be the author of this scandalous piece of writing.
"But Mione, he's humiliated our entire FAMILY." Ginny moaned, slumping further. "You know we already don't get a lot of respect," she looked pointedly at Draco, who rolled his eyes, "and now Ron's gone and made it worse! Oh, I just don't know how I'm EVER going to see him again without hexing him into oblivion." she said bitterly.
"I'm sure it's even more uncomfortable for your boyfriend right now, Weaslette." Draco smirked playfully. "Maybe he wasn't the one who took that picture, but who knows if he or Longbottom, or even that Auror himself stumbled into-"
"Stop that, Draco." Hermione hissed as Ginny covered her ears with her hands and started making loud noises to block out Draco's rather nasty images. Her boyfriend just grinned. "And I suppose you're not upset about the stupid journalist calling you Weasel's poor girlfriend?"
Hermione shrugged. "I honestly couldn't care less about what that cow says. I was indeed his girlfriend, but this picture was taken only yesterday, and my break-up letter had to have reached him before then. Bubble should be back anytime, so either way, Skeeter's wrong. I wonder if I could sue her for this little mistake."
"Well, I'm just glad you didn't throw up again." Zacharias said happily as Draco threw him a dirty look. "But you're going to have a tough time during classes tomorrow. Everyone in our classes told Gin and me to tell you how sorry they feel about your situation."
Draco started cracking up as Hermione smacked him. "Zach's lying, you twit. There's no way people feel any sympathy. We're going out, remember? That must make everyone think-"
"-that you cheated on Ron before he did on you?" Ginny finished lamely, finally uncovering her ears. "Well, don't worry about that. You never confirmed it to the public, and I'm sure people will know the Skeeter cow's only up to her usual antics of lying and spreading rumors."
"The Daily Prophet's really losing its touch." Zacharias noted. "Under Fudge, all it did was make fun of your boyfriend Potter. Under Scrimgeour, all it did was tell the public that everything's okay. Under Shacklebolt, all it does is report on gossip."
"Kingsley just wants some peace and quiet so nothing blows out of proportion. We just ended a war, you know." Ginny rolls her eyes, defending the beloved member of the Order.
"Well, when I'M the Minister of-" Three pairs of eyes instantly zipped to Zacharias's face. "You, Minister?" Draco sneers. "I'd rather snap my wand than-"
"What a great goal, Zach." interrupted Hermione, elbowing Ginny to support her and casting a glare at Draco. "I'm sure if you put your mind to it, you can-"
"-stop being so deluded." Ginny finished for her. Hermione frowned, but Ginny added, "I don't know. Maybe Heather can become Minister, and you can be her husband and almost as important."
"I think Zach's just jealous of how famous we are." Draco said smugly.
"As if." Zacharias snorted in response to his friends' snide remarks. "Watch me become more famous than 'The Chosen Captain' or 'The Boy Who Scored' or whatever they call your boyfriend these days." Zacharias said indifferently.
"Below the belt." Ginny smirked. "Quidditch-related. So predictable, aren't we? You know what this means; Hufflepuff's scared of Gryffindor shooting that Quaffle right up their-"
"Why don't you guys just make sure Ravenclaw doesn't win?" Hermione asked weakly. "You guys could team up against Trevor! Wouldn't that be better?"
Draco, Ginny, and Zacharias looked at Hermione as if she had gone truly insane.
The rest of the week passed fine, or as fine as fine could be with all that was going on. Hermione found that she simply didn't care about anything related to Ron or Trevor, and if anything was directed at her about her relationship with Ron, Draco was there to be living testimony that none of that was true. It was kind of thrilling to watch him menace any potential rude commentators, and especially so when he did it for Ginny as well. Her birthday was celebrated quietly with Draco, Ginny, Zacharias, Heather, and Kreacher, who had baked her a lovely cake that she made sure to take a picture of with her Muggle camera, along with all of them having a great time in Montecino Tower.
The next waltzing class went as well as the first two, as students of all shapes and sizes attended, and after it was over, Hermione and Draco had rounded up the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Quidditch teams to meet in the Great Hall. Hermione earnestly explained her gift-exchanging and celebration party ideas for Saturday, how each team could exchange presents right before they changed for the match, and then after either team won, the winners would hold a private and small party for the losers and everyone'd be happy. These propositions were met with reactions ranging from unease to mischievousness, but Draco's glare told everyone that whatever Hermione said was law. There would be no arguing, although Professor McGonagall herself, who had first approved the ideas, had agreed with Draco secretly that these plans had a tiny likelihood of succeeding.
Trevor Birch was as popular as ever, even after his parents were sentenced to life in Azkaban for their numerous crimes that were fully unearthed by Draco's father. Draco was happy that his father received his two-thousand Galleons, and Trevor was happy that he had a new "bad boy" image that rivaled even that of Draco's. In truth, though, Draco's past appearance as that type had all but vanished when he was announced Senior Boy, and he only used the memory of it to intimidate people, much to his friends' amusement.
"Shame, I liked him more when he was trying to be 'momma's boy' all the time." Ginny yawned.
"If Potter heard that, he'll make sure Birch becomes 'dead boy' or worse." Draco replied.
On Saturday, both teams received their presents at breakfast, with Ravenclaw coming over to Slytherin table first, where Draco was eating for once this year, along with Hermione of course. Each player had in his or her hand a package about the size of a pack of gum, and smugly handed them to the Slytherin players. Draco snarled very audibly when he found out that his present was a toothpick, as were the presents for the rest of the team. Trevor Birch seemed ecstatic for being able to elicit this response from the usually composed Senior Boy, and Hermione had even put her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder to make sure he didn't lunge.
However, Draco soon relaxed and it was Slytherin team's turn to hand over their gifts. They had all decided to get identical gifts as well, for each player handed over a package about the size a ring box. Hermione knew all hopes of a party after the game were dashed when the outraged roar of Trevor Birch and the shocked gasps of his teammates filled the Great Hall as they opened their presents and saw Draco Malfoy's toenail and those of the other Slytherin players' nestled comfortably on a puffy mini-cushions inside plain cardboard boxes.
The first match of the year between Ravenclaw and Slytherin was spectacular in itself, with each team playing fantastically. Brevis Birch himself made an appearance to support his brother, (followed by hordes of cameramen and journalists, of course), to the dismay of Professor McGonagall, who couldn't do anything about it as the family's relationship was highly publicized and she would be criticized for not allowing the two now effectively-parentless brothers not have a chance to show affection. However, for once, the commentator, a sensible and unbiased Hufflepuff fifth-year girl named Eleanor Branstone, relayed all the details of the match professionally, and the Headmistress was glad that she had finally found someone on Lee Jordan's level or higher.
Not a single goal with the Quaffle was made throughout the entire game for either team. Brevis was an amazing Keeper, and so was Harper. Both teams' Chasers were mediocre at best, so it was a rather uneventful game. The brilliantly memorable part was when Draco accidentally fell off his broom while he was flying directly above the golden Snitch, and squashed the protesting sphere beneath him when he landed flat on his face. So the score was one hundred and fifty to none when Ginny, Zacharias, Draco, and Hermione were celebrating with Slytherin House in the dungeons, although Draco was teased mercilessly by Ginny and Zacharias for his unusual win, even though Draco restated over and over again that it was intentional.
On Sunday, Bubble came back to Montecino Tower with letters from Harry and Ron to Ginny and Hermione. The four friends were working diligently on their homework when the handsome eagle owl daintily tapped on the window in Draco's room. As Draco handed out each letter to their respective recipients, Zacharias took this as his cue to go, muttering something about "Heather and future campaigns…"
Hermione and Ginny both read their letters from Harry first, who wrote of only Neville, Dawlish, and the beautiful scenery of Albania. Not a word was mentioned about Ron, which could only mean that Harry was neutral in this situation and would probably explain his true feelings in person. Granted, Ginny's probably contained a lot more personal writing, but Hermione was satisfied that Harry seemed to be handling everything, including her and Ron's break-up as well as Ron and Jane Dawlish's affair, without too much discomfort. Maybe Dawlish killed Ron, and Harry doesn't want me to know just yet, so he's pretending everything's all right. Hermione thought, before reminding herself that idea wasn't very funny. I guess it's Draco rubbing off on me. she laughed internally.
Ron's letter to her was rather peculiar, for it was an endless letter of gratitude and apathy rolled all together. He was grateful that she didn't mind too much about Jane, or even the fact that he had been unfaithful. His apathy towards Draco made Draco furious, though. "Man, I had wanted an excuse to curse Weasel to bits since Dawlish didn't do it for me!" he had groaned.
Hermione gave him an irritated look and was glad Ron was all right. Ginny had shrieked when she read that Dawlish had filed for divorce, and that Ron was currently in the process of trying to convince Jane to elope with him. "Mum's going to KILL him." she howled.
"Not much of a loss, is it?" Draco asked scathingly, earning him a glower from Hermione.
"At least he loves her." Hermione sighed. "He wrote it about ten times in this letter. I just hope things can eventually become normal enough to where we can meet without any awkwardness in the future."
"Fat chance." Ginny huffed. "Seeing as he might not be alive when he comes home."
Ron's bit of glory was taken differently by others in the school over the next few weeks. At first, all the boys idolized him for being able to mess with such a powerful man's wife, and all the girls swooned at Ron's supposed "charm" for being able to snag such a beautiful woman. Ginny, Hermione, Draco, and Zacharias, on the other hand, found these attitudes quite despicable, and Ginny made a point of convening all the Prefects with Zacharias to instruct them to quiet exclamations pertaining to this train of thought. "Take as many points as you want for any inappropriate remarks that relate to this." she had said flatly, and even Trevor Birch did as he was told, though he took more points away for Slytherin students than for those in other Houses.
The teachers were disgusted as well, and Professor McGonagall herself had assured Hermione that she believed nothing Rita Skeeter said about Hermione and Ron, much to her pleasure. In the end, Dawlish's now ex-wife was sent back to Britain in disgrace although she was interviewed to no end, while Ron and Dawlish were obligated contractually to stay in Albania with Harry and Neville until the holidays. Hermione often wondered if Ron was still in one piece, or if Dawlish had finally lost it and obliterated him. She was surprised she still cared about him to that extent, but she truly wanted to keep him as a friend, as long as he could accept Draco.
The only other things that happened during the rest of the first semester after all the excitement Ron and Trevor had caused had finally blown over were Quidditch matches. The second match was between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and true to her word, Ginny flattened Zacharias. Hermione was glad she had discontinued her ideas of gift-exchanging and partying after the first match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, as she knew Zacharias would've undoubtedly hexed Ginny as her present. The other matches were not as exciting and nor were they as hotly contented, but by the holidays, Gryffindor was first for the Quidditch House Cup, Slytherin and Hufflpuff were a close second and third, and Ravenclaw was the outlying last place.
Draco was very pleased that with Trevor's inability to coach his team as a leader effectively came to losses in matches, as well as a decrease in his popularity. However, Trevor was still a Prefect with a hotshot brother, as well as a decent individual Quidditch player, so therefore, Draco couldn't be completely satisfied with seeing Trevor sink to the very bottom of the Black Lake. Hermione suggested that he satisfy himself with spending more time on his homework, much to his exasperation.
Their homework had increased more and more, until it was impossible to get more than five hours of sleep per day, since not only did they have to deal with their schoolwork, but waltzing classes, Quidditch training, and job applications consumed all other time. Hermione was thinking about a position in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, in order to promote "S.P.E.W," which amused Draco and Zacharias, whose families still owned house-elves, to no end. However, they were careful to keep their light ridicule to a minimum, and usually just agreed with what she said. Ginny wished to join the Holyhead Harpies after her seventh year at Hogwarts was over, but also applied for a position in the Daily Prophet as well, wanting to "actually make it a decent read."
Zacharias was very secretive about his applications and would only discuss his future with Heather. They knew he was hiding something, probably an ambition that was far-fetched and possibly embarrassing, and so just assumed that he was still considering the position of Minister of Magic, as he had said before when he was joking. Draco wanted to pursue his entrepreneurial interests, and so his applications were in the form of letters to companies that might offer him positions in which he could do business.
So when Hermione realized that the Christmas holidays were to start the day after tomorrow, it felt like a smack in the face. Where did all that time go? she wondered. She hadn't even thought about what she was going to do. Stay in the castle? Go to the Burrow and see Ron? What about Draco?
However, she needn't have worried about that, for as she was finally finishing her Charms essay, Draco leaned towards her across the glass coffee table, alone in their common room, and asked her if she would like to spend Christmas with him in Wiltshire.