Ginny was confused for a while. She couldn't really understand what to do. She hated Cormac's very existence. She wanted him to have no part in Jade's life but she didn't exactly want Draco to fit in her life either.
"I've had loads of conversations about this with Fred. I know why I'm not leaving here and it's because of those two." Astoria said as Ginny set a pear tart on the counter to cool.
"So I'm confused now. You wanted them to be together before but now it's a bad idea?" Ginny asked.
"Things got a little too real for her. Oh I wish I could have a piece of that." Fred said, looking at the steaming pear tart.
"Listen here, fat arse. I'm trying to get my friend's life in order and you're here talking about some pie." Astoria yelled, going back to Ginny.
"It's a tart, not a pie you Neanderthal." Fred said.
"I know it's weird but they need to be together." Astoria said.
"Here we go again." Fred droned.
"What's your problem?" Astoria asked.
"My problem is that you're indecisive. What happens when Ginny gets them together? You object at their wedding? You're just going to change your mind again because you're insanely unpredictable and mental." Fred said.
"Hang on. I never said I would link those two up." Ginny said.
"Uh, yes you are." Fred said.
"No I'm bloody not. What do I look like?" Ginny asked.
"Some old hag baking cookies." Fred said.
"Fuck off!" Ginny said.
"Who the hell are you talking to?" Harry asked, from the doorway of the kitchen.
"Nothing." Ginny said.
"Tell your husband and see what side he takes. Come on, Gin. This has to do with us finding our peace. Those two need to be happy and they always end up looking happy when they're together. You saw it, right?" Astoria asked.
"She saw it all right." Fred said.
"You sounded like you were talking to someone. Are you on the phone or something?" Harry asked.
"Do you see one of those around me? I don't talk on phones, love." Ginny said. Harry smiled at her and took a quick peek behind him.
"James is sleeping, your Mum and Dad are out of the house." He said, slowly walking towards her.
"This is going to be really disgusting to watch." Fred commented.
"Let's just see how equipped you are, Golden buns." Astoria said, clapping her hands together.
"Oh no, this is too weird." Ginny said, pushing Harry off.
It didn't take Ginny long to comply. Astoria and Fred were haunting her and she quickly felt Draco's pain. Two years with these two would have been unbearable for her. Harry found her behavior odd. He tried to understand why Ginny was as coiled as a rattlesnake every time he walked into the room after hearing her having a conversation. During the Christmas party that was held in the Burrow, he told Ron about Ginny's behavior.
"I think she needs those anti-psychotic pills." Harry murmured to Ron as they watched Ginny giving sharp pointed looks at a specific empty space. Ron squinted, watching Ginny look like she was hissing to herself and rolling her eyes.
"Mate, I think you're going to have to give her a rabies shot too. She looks unsafe to be around." Ron said. The two men took a gulp from their Firewhiskeys, watching Ginny.
"What are you two up to?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"What's my sister up to? That's the million Galleon question." Ron said, nodding towards Ginny.
"Will you two just shut up for a few seconds and let me think?" Ginny whispered fiercely.
Fred and Astoria clamped their mouths and nodded. Ginny fanned herself and took a deep breath. She enchanted the mistletoes which flew up and away.
"This is going to work, right?" Ginny whispered, seeing Fred and Astoria nod excitedly.
"Gin, do you need help?" Jade asked, walking into the kitchen. Ginny yelped and Jade let out a short scream, jumping up. "What?" Jade asked.
"What's the matter with you? You can't knock before you walk in, or something?" Ginny asked.
"What's wrong with you? What's wrong with her? It's you two isn't it? Why are you two troubling her?" Jade asked, Fred and Astoria.
"Now this has just gotten weirder." Harry commented as he, Ron and Hermione watched Jade and Ginny talk to each other and an unknown presence in the kitchen.
"Do you think they're possessed? Ron, does your house come with a book or something, so we can know about its history?" Hermione asked.
"Mione, you need more wine. This isn't Hogwarts, just two loony women having a go in the kitchen." Ron said, walking away with Hermione.
"I'm married to one of those loony women, you know." Harry said. The doorbell rang and Ginny shot up.
"He's here!" she said, going for the door.
Jade raised her eyebrows, looking at Astoria and Fred who tried to look away. "What's going on?" Jade asked but Astoria walked away.
Fred looked at the ceiling and started counting the tiles. Before Jade could ask Fred what was going on, she could hear Scorpius's cheery voice. Her heart started to quickly pound at the thought of Draco being here and an overwhelming hot waved passed from her stomach, up to the very top of her head. She peeked through the kitchen doorway, seeing Draco shrug his cloak off and curiously look at a mistletoe that was hovering over his head.
"Oh, wow. Okay." Draco said, looking at the mistletoe and looking down at Ginny who was trying to smile as wide as possible at him. He didn't want to be rude but he definitely didn't want to kiss Ginny either. He quickly glanced at wherever Jade could be but saw Astoria already cooing over Scorpius. Draco shrugged and quickly leaned over, kissing Ginny's cheek.
"What the hell?" Ginny asked, jumping back.
"Oh uh, this mistletoe. Relax Weasley, I'd dream about having sex with a badger than have those type of thoughts about you." Draco said, hanging his cloak.
"I'm very flattered and relieved. Sorry about those, I don't know who enchanted them." Ginny shrugged, turning red and walking away. Draco put his hands in his pockets, watching her leave. He stepped into the living room and greeted the rest of the family members and friends.
"Would you like a glass of water?" Ginny asked, Draco.
Harry sensed that there was something off about her. She was being too nice to him. She was bright red as she spoke to him and he didn't miss the kiss that Malfoy gave her on the cheek when he first walked in. Harry was positive that Malfoy would die tonight.
"Um, sure." Draco said.
"Okay, well the kitchen's right there." Ginny said, pointing towards the hallway.
"Ginny, don't be rude." Molly said, getting up from her seat but Draco got up.
"It's all right, Mrs. Weasley. I have no problem." Draco said. He walked off, uncomfortable at how everyone was looking at Ginny.
"I can never get over Aunt Augusta's ring." Jade said, looking at the beautiful oval cut diamond ring with Neville.
"I'm so nervous. It's just been giving me anxiety all week. I've never kept any secrets from her up until now. This is just the hardest secret to ever keep. I just want to tell her about it because it's so exciting!" Neville said. Jade smiled and hugged him.
"Just hang on to the look on her face when you ask her." Jade said.
"Hello." Draco said, from the doorway.
Neville and Jade looked up to see him walking in. Jade could see how uncomfortable Neville became and she couldn't blame him. He quickly said a 'hello' and walked past Draco.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Draco said.
"No, not at all. We were just talking about the ring that he's going to propose with." Jade said. Draco raised his eyebrows.
"Ah. Longbottom's getting engaged?" Draco asked. Jade put a finger to her lip.
"Quiet! Hannah's here too." Jade said.
"Who's Hannah?" Draco asked.
"Hannah Abbot? She was in almost every single class you were in all throughout your life. You can't remember Hannah Abbot?" Jade asked.
"I remember you." Draco said with a small smile.
"Oh, do you now? A few years ago, you couldn't care less if I were dead." Jade said.
"That's definitely not true." Draco said, slowly walking over to her and seeing her shake her head. "How are you?" he asked. Jade nodded.
"I've been better. Slowly getting back to work. I'm graduating soon." Jade said.
He stopped a foot away from her. She could feel his warmth and smell his fresh cologne from the homely baked food that Molly had been cooking all day. There was a sudden urge to reach out to him and hug him. His hugs reminded her of Fred's hugs. The way the two would use their entire body to wrap around her, it was all Jade wanted to do. She looked up at his face, wondering what he was thinking. She looked a little away from him and saw the mistletoe buzzing around his head.
"What is that?" she asked.
Draco sighed and tried to swat the mistletoe away.
"It's been following me ever since I set foot here. I even had to kiss Potter's wife but it still wouldn't leave me alone!" Draco said. Jade laughed and pointed at him.
"You kissed Ginny?" she asked.
At that point, Ginny walked in, looking at the two of them. Draco turned around and blushed, looking back at Jade.
"I'm not making rounds on my wife's best friends." Draco scowled. Jade couldn't help but laugh.
"I thought the two of us would be awkward but…actually…you two aren't that bad." Jade said.
"Why don't you go fuck off!" Ginny said, leaving. Draco couldn't help but grin when he saw Jade laugh harder. "I'm sorry. I can just imagine the look on her face." Jade said.
"Well if you weren't hanging around out here, you would have actually gotten to see it. Potter must be somewhere, shitting himself." Draco said trying to grab the mistletoe but it would dodge and go back above his head, flitting away. "How the hell do I get it to leave me alone?" Draco asked.
"You've got to get someone to give you a good snog." Jade said. Draco looked at her and from his facial expression; Jade could see that he was enjoying himself.
"Are you coming on to me? I wouldn't mind a good session with you." He winked.
"I'm not snogging you but good luck." Jade said, patting his chest and leaving.
"Right, because your heart is written out for your one true love, McLaggen. I'm so silly." Draco said.
Throughout the evening, Draco walked around with the mistletoe still following him. Everyone thought it was so odd for him to be the only one. Draco tried to avoid the women at the party but ended up kissing most of them. Jade watched him walk around, trying to make small talk with the rest of the men. He looked and felt so out of place but was doing his best to be friendly. She saw him sit next to Neville and start a conversation. Neville looked highly uncomfortable with Draco sitting next to him and talking about whatever he was talking about. After a few words here and there, Neville finally turned around and slowly became engaged in the conversation.
"What do you suppose they're talking about?" Jade asked Harry who shrugged.
"I thought you two liked each other." Harry said. Jade looked at him, blushing. "Well it's not like no one knows." Harry said.
"Sometimes I'm so confused about him." Jade said.
"I'm pretty sure he's been confused about you too. He's had his eye on Ginny since he walked in." Harry said.
"Malfoy? At Gin? No, I think you're mistaken a little bit." Jade said. Harry looked at Jade, giving him a heavily doubtful face. He looked back at Ginny who was murmuring behind her fingers, looking at Malfoy.
"She's been talking to herself all week and won't even let me get close to her." Harry said.
Jade saw Fred and Astoria looking deep in thought. That was never good.
"I'm sure she's just a little stressed about this dinner. Don't worry, I promise she'll get back to normal before you know it." Jade said.
"I never understood what that ever means but if you say so." Harry said, watching Jade leave.
"If he's just so interested in a different Longbottom, what am I supposed to do?" Ginny shot back.
"How do you end up with the wizarding world's most famous figure and not be able to match-make two people? I'm not arguing, just saying." Astoria said, throwing her hands up in defense when Ginny shot her a look.
"Well it's obviously harder than it looks. Don't worry Gin, I don't think I'd get those two to start snogging if I were alive and well right now." Fred said, patting where his heart was.
"Why are you in a corner by yourself? Talking like you have some type of disorder?" Jade said, smiling at Ginny.
"Because talking to these two makes me feel like I'm going nutters. For once, I'd like to sleep without these two singing and screeching all night." Ginny said. Jade turned to Astoria and Fred.
"And just why is this happening?" Jade asked.
If their faces could blush, they would have been bright red now. Astoria and Fred looked at each other like gaping fish.
"Well…I missed Ginny. So…I decide to sing her lullabies…you know…because I died and all." Astoria tried to say, wistfully. Jade looked uncomfortable. It had hit the spot. She looked guilty for asking and looked away.
"Let's just have a glass of wine, love." Ginny said, taking Jade's arm and walking her towards the living room. They could see Neville guffawing at something Draco was telling Bill, Charlie and Arthur. Neville had taken a few drinks. He was constantly pulling at his collar and his face was flushed.
"He looks like he's fitting in well." Ginny said, handing Jade a glass of wine. Jade only gave Ginny a small smile and drank. After a while, Neville left his seat and Jade took a seat next to Draco.
"Having fun?" Jade asked, seeing Draco turn and flashing his teeth at her.
"The Weasleys are human after all." He said.
"Oh really? And my cousin? He's human too?" Jade asked.
"Definitely cooler than you." Draco said. Jade finished her wine and looked away.
"Then you should snog him from now on." She said. She looked back at Draco, seeing him smirk at her, his eyes playful. He didn't say anything for a few seconds but she wouldn't have minded if he kissed her then. With everyone stirring around them, they could only sit next to each other, smiling as if they shared a private joke with each other.
"Sweetheart, you just can't sit around with an empty glass." Hermione said, walking over and filling Jade's glass with more wine.
"Mione, no! I've had too much!" Jade yelped. Hermione clicked her teeth.
"Sorry love. That'll just be your last, then." Hermione winked.
"Oh, I definitely won't be able to finish this. Do you want it?" Jade asked Draco, pushing her glass away.
"Are you crazy? I have to apparate with Scorpius in once piece." Draco said.
"Right, sorry. I'll just have this then." Jade said, taking the glass away.
"Are you sure? You're not the one proposing to someone tonight so…" Draco said, seeing Jade shrug.
"At least someone's getting proposed to. I'll drink to their long and happy life together." Jade said, raising her glass lightly.
"Everyone…hello, there." Neville said.
Everyone looked at Neville who started sweating and shuffling around. "So I just wanted to know if everyone was having a good time." Neville said. Everyone was silent for a second before breaking into a light chatter, agreeing that they were having a good time. "Um, okay, okay. Um, Hannah, are you having a good time tonight? I mean, you've met everyone before, right?" Neville asked, seeing Hannah look surprised at him calling her out all of a sudden.
"Uh, yes! Everyone is wonderful!" she said.
Neville looked at Draco who motioned him something quickly.
"So Hannah, I don't think many people have known you like I have. I just want to tell them a little bit more about the woman…I love." Neville said.
"Neville-" Hannah started but Neville shook his head and laughed.
"Um, I've known Hannah since we've taken Herbology in Hogwarts. I can say that she is one of the kindest, generous and beautiful person I've gotten to know. Y-Y-You're my best friend. Like the best. I'm most comfortable when I'm with you and I can tell you anything in my mind without worrying if you'll judge me for it. I mean maybe you will but I know you know me better than that." Neville said. He put a hand in his pocket, still speaking. He took a step forward. "I seriously can never understand how I would love another person as much as I love you. It's impossible. Do you ever wonder that?" Neville asked Hannah who shook her head, already crying.
"Me either." Neville said.
Jade looked at Fred who was standing near the doorway as Neville got down on one knee. She couldn't help but have her heart at her throat to see Fred watch Neville proposing to Hannah. He looked saddened and disturbed at the same time to experience something that he had never gotten to do. She turned her attention back on Neville and Hannah who were kissing. She wouldn't be able to handle it if Fred looked at her. She was crying as she congratulated the newly engaged couple and roughly wiped her tears constantly. For some reason they wouldn't stop and the lump in her throat hurt even more.
"Are you doing all right?" Ginny asked, seeing Jade nod, hugging her goodbye.
"I think it's because I had too much to drink. I'm just going to go home and sleep." Jade said.
"Okay sure. Owl me in the morning. Hey Malfoy, are you going home now?" Ginny asked, turning to Draco who was button up Scorpius's cloak.
"I thought we were sleeping over?" he asked dryly.
"Could you see that Jade can get home safe?" Ginny asked. Harry walked towards them.
"I'll drop-umfh." Harry grunted when Ginny elbowed his stomach.
"Harry! You have balloons to pop somewhere, don't you?" Ginny asked. Jade and Draco broke into a snorted laughter, trying to look away. Harry looked at Jade who shook her head at him.
"Don't strain yourself, trying to think Potter. She's safe in my hands." Draco said, starting to leave.
"Goodnight, everyone." Jade said, opening the door. Jade and Draco both smirked at Harry and Ginny before the door shut between them.
"What the hell was that about?" Harry asked, his arms in the air.
"I actually don't know what the hell that was about but do you mind if I drop my things off?" Draco asked, trying to hold a sleepy Scorpius on his shoulder and a few bags. Jade took the bags from him.
"Let me drop you off actually. I'll be fine going home on my own." Jade said.
"This is a little embarrassing." He said.
They apparated to Draco's apartment and walked in.
"I'll be back. Let me just put Scorpius to bed." He said.
Jade nodded, watching him leave and found a counter to put Draco's things aside. She saw a box of paintings on the corner of the kitchen floor with paint brushes and tools. There were random paintings of the Black Lake from the view from the Astronomy Tower during the sun set. Another one was a painting of two students in the snow.
"Don't look at those." Draco said. Jade shook from getting startled.
"Merlin. Don't do that." Jade said.
Draco walked over to Jade and tried to take the painting from her but Jade jerked it away from him. "Longbottom." Draco said sternly.
"Malfoy." Jade said, gently pushing him away.
"Please don't make my life any harder. Give it back." Malfoy said.
"Did you paint these?" Jade asked.
"Mind your own business." He said, his patience getting thin.
"I'll give it back if you tell me who painted them." Jade said.
"I will manhandle you and you won't like it one bit." Draco said, his eyes darkening.
"I think I'll be the judge of that." Jade said.
Maybe it was a stupid idea to challenge him. What if he hit her? What would she do then? Draco made a quick move towards her and Jade flinched, moving herself into a wall. Draco grabbed her arm and tried to pry it off from behind her but Jade used her legs to press harder into the wall. He tried to slide a hand between the wall and her back but he didn't want to end up actually having to hurt her. They were both pressed against each other, pressing into the wall. Jade didn't understand what was going through her mind or why she was actually doing this but they must have looked pretty idiotic, wrestling each other against the wall over a painting.
Draco reached over and unbuttoned the top of Jade's blouse.
"Hey!" Jade said, her hands automatically touching her chest. Draco snatched the painting and took a step back.
"Amateur." He grinned, rolling up the painting.
"Bully." Jade said, shoving his chest with one hand.
"That's illegal, Longbottom." Draco said, seeing her try to button her shirt back on.
"Oh is it? And you trying to take my shirt off is perfectly fair?" Jade asked.
He didn't answer. His playful expression left as he silently studied her. Jade thought her heart racing because of the struggle that they just had but she felt her body tensing the more he looked at her that way. He placed a hand through her hair and set it behind the nape of her neck. Jade rested her hands on the sides of his arms as they both assessed the situation for a few seconds before closing the space between them. Jade felt sharp pangs of euphoria moving up her stomach, exploding in her chest as he kissed her. She put her arms around him, hoping her legs wouldn't give out on her. He tossed away his painting as he wrapped the other arm around her waist. He kissed the corner of her mouth and gently tugged her skirt down. Jade unbuttoned her blouse and shrugged it off, standing in front of him in her black and pink silk underwear. Draco took his shirt off in one pull and followed her into his bedroom.