Hermione's annual Hallowe'en party was in full swing. At this point, guests had already paired up and were grouped around the table of snacks and sweets, on the makeshift dance floor, or gathered around the campfire in the backyard. They were so engrossed in the festive atmosphere that no one noticed the fashionably late couple that had just slipped in through the front door. Well, almost no one.
"Is everyone seeing what I'm seeing or am I just piss drunk?" Ron asked his group.
Harry's reply was short. "Nope, definitely seeing it.."
"Being drunk may cause you to see double, Ronald, but it doesn't cause hallucinations," Hermione informed him.
Ginny leaned in to add her two cents. "I knew he was bringing a plus one, but her?"
"Hey, Hannah!" Ron attempted to quietly (not so quietly) get the witch's' attention. "Psst."
Hannah, reacting to her name, looked around the room until she caught Ron's arm motioning her over.
"Did you know about those two?" Ron lifted his chin in the direction of the couple that had just arrived.
The pair each had a bottle of butter beer. The bottles had been charmed to continuously stay cool, evident by the frost on the glass even hours into the celebration. They were keeping to themselves, tucked away in a dark corner of the room as others danced close by.
"Oh, yeah! Never in a million years did I think I'd ever see those two together."
"No kidding," Harry agreed. The others reacted with the same sentiment.
"What I would give to be an extendable ear during that first date," Hannah added.
"He's got to be doing it for good press, yeah?" Harry figured.
"If he was looking to improve his image, I don't think she would be who he would go with." Hermione interjected.
"Potent love potion?" Ginny guessed next.
"Nah, blackmail," Ron interjected. "It's gotta be blackmail."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," Hermione chastised him. "Besides, everyone in the Wizarding World knows his secrets."
"Well, you have a go at it then, 'Mione. What evil do you think has befallen our friend in order for her to—oi, bloody hell! They're snogging!"
Sure enough, the odd couple was wrapped up—in more ways than one—in each other. No other guests, besides the group that had formed around the Golden Trio, were taking notice and seemed to think it odd.
"Honestly," Hermione paused for a moment. "I haven't the foggiest.
"You two should set up a double date," Ron suggested, looking between Harry and Hermione.
"Are you mad?" Harry asked in disbelief. "Things may be sorted between us but, I'm not about to be forced to make conversation with him."
"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Harry gave his girlfriend a bewildered look. "What? I'm curious," she admitted.
"Oh, look!" Hannah pointed at the couple making their way through the crowd. Their hands were clasped tightly, as if they didn't want to lose each other in the sea of people. "They're headed right for us! I—I think I heard someone calling my name from over there." Hannah made a quick exit to the backyard.
Ginny scrambled to catch up with her. "I'll go with you!"
"Everyone be polite," Hermione gritted through her teeth.
"Hello, everyone!" Luna cheerfully greeted them. "Thank you for inviting us. You have a lovely home, Hermione. Though, you may want to make sure that's not a Heliopath in disguise." She pointed at the bonfire outside. "Bad luck that would be."
Draco chuckled as a small smile played on his face. Harry made a side-way glance at his friends to see if they were just confused as he was. They were.
Then, Draco said something Hermione thought she would never hear. "Yes, thank you for the invite, Granger. Hallowe'en has never been a big event in my family, so even if this party is a disaster, I wouldn't know it."
"Uh, thanks, I guess?" Hermione said.
"Don't mind him," Luna apologized. "I know you're all wondering how Draco and I got together." She bluntly called them out in a way that only Luna could.
The Trio responded at the same time. "What?"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Not that we owe you an explanation," Draco cut in.
"You're right, Draco. We don't owe them an explanation, but don't you just love to tell the story? They're obviously curious."
"Yeah, go on, Malfoy," Ron encouraged him. "Tell us the story." Hermione elbowed Ron in the side.
Draco looked down at Luna with admiration. "Luna tells it the best."
"Well, if you insist." She blushed. "Now, remind me where we ran into each other. I remember that you had Wrackspurts all around you, but I can never remember the name of the place."
Before Draco could answer her, Ron interrupted with a gasp. "It's worse than I thought. You used the imperius curse on her!"
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione yelled in unison.
"Excuse me?" Draco stepped forward looking like he was ready to sock the youngest Weasley boy in the face, but Luna pulled him back.
"Luna, can you hear me?" Ron yelled loudly—as if speaking louder was going to combat the supposed curse. "Do you need help? Blink once for yes, twice for no."
Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Harry chose this moment to interject. "I'm sorry about him. He's had too much to drink. C'mon, Ron." Harry started to lead his friend away from the war zone he'd almost created. "Let's go get some fresh air."
That left Hermione to deal with the aftermath. "You know what would be fun? How about a double date?" She couldn't believe the words had left her mouth.