Disclaimer: I own only the plot, not the characters; they're J.K. Rowling's.

Figure That One Out

Hermione noticed that she hadn't seen Ginny lately, and now that she wasn't at dinner, she was starting to get worried for her friend. She had seen her around the Gryffindor common room but they never really had a chance to talk and Hermione had a lot to talk about. Unbeknownst to Hermione, so did Ginny. When she came to dinner that night she was nervous, and everyone could tell. She kept running her hands through her long red hair and she was twisting and ripping her napkin. Her green eyes kept looking around and stopping momentarily on the Slytherin table.

"Hey Ginny, are you ok?" Hermione asked, taking her friends hand. She almost jumped out of her seat when she heard Hermione's voice. She looked at her best friend nervously, knowing she couldn't hide from her. Besides, she desperately needed someone to talk to, and Hermione seemed like the best person under the circumstances.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but um, could we possibly talk after dinner?" her speech was a little shaky and it just added to Hermione's worry.

"Yeah of course, where?" was Hermione's reply.

"How about out at the lake? It's a really nice night."

"Yeah, sounds good." Hermione could see the relief in her friend's eyes. This didn't stop her from occasionally glancing at the Slytherin table.

"Whoa!" she heard Ginny say as she jumped slightly, and then bent over to pick up a small, black and grey ball of fluff. It was Rascal, Blaise's Kit Kat, and it was rubbing up against Ginny's face happily purring. It seemed to have been followed because just then a grey one jumped into Hermione's lap. She recognized it as Spunky. Then, Felix came out of her own pocket. Spunky jumped in surprise but soon started batting at Felix's ears playfully. Felix jumped onto the table away from its attacker just in time for the desserts to come. The sparkle in the creature's eyes as it ran up and down the length of the table, shortly followed by the other two was mischievous to say the least. It jumped into every chocolate dish it came across, and sampled it. Draco and Blaise came up behind them blushing slightly.

"Sorry about that, couldn't keep them back," Blaise said, his eyes lowered as Ginny's shocked expression looked up at him.

"That's ok, what are they," she asked purely curious.

"They're Kit Kat's," Hermione answered as she managed to catch hers while it tried to run by once more. It was fidgeting and trying to get free back to the little party on the table but Hermione managed to get it back in her pocket. "They absolutely love chocolate," she explained giggling as the two boys tried to catch theirs unsuccessfully. Noticing they were trying to be captured, Spunky and Rascal took one big bite each of a chocolate cake and the jumped into the laps of Ginny and Hermione, trying desperately to hide in their robes. This was all a big game to them. It was to Ginny and Hermione as well as they saw the blush on Draco and Blaise's faces at the prospect of going into the girls robes to get their Kit Kat's back. The whole hall was in and uproar of laughter at the Gryffindor tables little fiasco. There were plates knocked about and little chocolate paw prints between all the dishes at every inch of the table. Draco cleared his throat still clearly embarrassed.

"Um, a little help please?" he asked looking at her and then down at the spot in her lap that was jumping around playfully.

"I'll try," Hermione said giggling. She put one of her hands under it's rib cage and the other held up it's legs so it couldn't get out of her grasp as she lifted it to Draco.

"Thanks." He looked down; his cheeks tinged pink, waiting for his friend to receive his own from a very amused red head.

"Hermione, help me, it won't keep still," Ginny said frantically trying to get a hold on the mini cat.

"Alright here, just a sec." Hermione cupped her hands in one side of Ginny's lap so it couldn't move away when Ginny tried to catch it. Finally she got her hands around the creature and handed it to Blaise who was smirking with amusement.

"I could have helped," he said taking his fidgety kitten from her.

"Nice try," Hermione said, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. It was Ginny's turn to blush now and when she blushed, she went all out. "Well, I think dinner is pretty much done, why don't we go have that talk now." Hermione stood up and straightened out her clothing. Ginny followed her friend's example before linking her arm with Hermione's and leading her out to the grounds. There was a slight breeze that blew the girls hair behind them as they walked. It wasn't cold though. It was just enough to form ripples on the lake. They sat down on the cold, lush grass and Hermione leaned in towards her friend, placing her chin on the back of her hands and linking her fingers to show Ginny had her attention. She watched as her friend let out a nervous sigh and lean back against the tree behind her.

"Well, you see, there's this guy, and um, you know him. Really well actually. I um, well, he's really cute, but he's in Slytherin." She was ringing her hands. She looked up just in time to see the gears start turning in Hermione's mind.

"Blaise," she said remembering how his Kit Kat made a run straight for Ginny when she came to sit down. Shock crossed Ginny's pale freckled face at what Hermione had said.

"How did you know?" Ginny asked, purely bewildered. Hermione smiled at her friend, thinking this was the cutest thing in the world.

"Well you see, Kit Kat's can sense a bond between it's owner and another person, even if those two people don't notice it. His Kit Kat ran straight for you when it came in the great hall." She finished. Ginny sat contemplating that for a minute, but then a smirk graced her features.

"You know what this means don't you?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"That you and my brother like each other," Hermione answered smiling back at her, genuinely happy for her and her best friend. Little did she know, her friend had something else on her mind.

"I was thinking more along the lines of how Draco's followed straight for you, you said it yourself, they sense bonds," Ginny explained triumphantly. Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Your right, I didn't even notice that, but that doesn't make any sense. He's hated me for like, ever! He wouldn't start liking me just because I'm his best friend's sister. Besides, I certainly don't have any feelings for him besides friendly tolerance." She answered more to assure herself than Ginny. Ginny just kept smiling.

"You said they could sense them even if their owner couldn't, makes perfect sense to me." Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion. Then her expression changed to defeat.

"I guess we'll just have to see," she answered.

Later, in Dumbledore's office, Minerva McGonagall sat in a plush red chair on the other side of Dumbledore's desk. She was looking at the smiling professor worried. What did he have to smile about? Probably something controversial, like always.

"I can smell inter-house unity," he told her, his eyes looking at his phoenix thoughtfully. It flapped it's red and gold wings and then buried it's head under it's wing like an owl and went to sleep.

"What makes you say that?" she asked curiously.

"You saw the display at dinner tonight, and you know very well what that means." He said with his smile evident in his voice. She frowned at this.

"Ah yes, about that Albus, Hermione and Blaise are siblings now. What do you think of that?" She lifted her brow almost accusingly at the man across from her. It didn't faze him though.

"I think it is great for them, but as I can see, you have also come to the realization that it is not the most likely thing to happen. What are your thoughts?"

"Well Albus, I think it has something to do with Voldemort. We both know very well that Mr. Zabini is a death eater. Why would he divorce his perfectly bred wife for a muggle?" She crossed her arms over her chest for emphasis.

"You have a point Minerva. I think all we can do right now is have the order keep a close eye on it though because they haven't broken any laws, there isn't much else we can do. Hermione and Blaise are safe here for now and seem to be getting along quite nicely. I think we should use this to our advantage, don't you?" She sighed in defeat.

"I do Albus, but what do you think we should do?" He lifted his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, all four of them are prefects, all we have to do, is pair the four of them up for projects, maybe even the ball. You and I both can't deny that Draco and Blaise are the brains and the leaders of Slytherin. If they become friends with Gryffindors, the rest, or at least a great deal of them should follow." He looked at her face a reaction. Her thin line of a mouth curved upwards in a mischievous smile.

"I love being in charge," was her reply to the scheming headmaster.