As always, thanks to my amazing beta, FalconHonour!
Had the Second-Year Slytherins not been so on edge, they would have found the extreme measure the school took to steer clear of Potter and Weasley hysterical. Even their own House wasn't immune: one end of the Gryffindor table was always terribly overcrowded with the lions packed in as closely as they could, while Potter and Weasley sat in lonely splendour at the other end, a good ten to fifteen feet away. Classes with Gryffindor become a scramble to get the best seats possible-the ones furthest away from where Potter and Weasley sat.
In fact, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, when Pansy found Sally-Anne Perks, Fay Dunbar and Lily Moon sitting at the Slytherin girls' usual table, she leaned over the desk and glared at the Gryffindors. She growled, "So help me Merlin, if you do three do not move your Circe-damned asses out of our seats, I will find a way to turn Potter's shampoo into magical hair dye so that he'll have bright pink hair for the next six months. And I will pin it on you."
The three Gryffindors paled at the threat and scrambled over to where the Gryffindors normally sat, although it was not at their usual table, which happened to be next to the one Potter sat at. When Finnigan and Thomas came into class last, their eyes bugged at the only other available table. Knowing they had no choice, they had swallowed before scooting their chair as far away from Potter and Weasley as possible and sitting down hastily. They flew from their seats the moment the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson.
Of course, there was a great surge to go home for Winter Break. That included those who had believed they would have to stay. Although the trip to Cyprus was supposed to have been a couples' retreat, immediately after Justin's petrification, a letter had informed Hermione, Daphne, Draco, Theo, Blaise and Ginny that they were now coming too. Pansy and Hannah had been invited as well, but they had turned down the invitation so they could spend Yule with the Abbotts. Still, the group was very excited, Ginny especially so, as she had never been out of the country before. As Ginny packed for the break, she let her mind wander back to mid-November.
Fred and George stood in the middle of the Slytherin common room, trying their absolute best to look unintimidated. Ginny sympathised with their plight, it certainly hadn't been easy to stand in front of every Slytherin's eyes the night she was Sorted, but luckily Professor Snape had been at her back, and she'd at least had the advantage that everyone in the room had seen her be Sorted into Slytherin, no matter how much they disliked it. Fred and George, however, didn't have that luxury.
However, what they did have that Ginny hadn't was advice. She and Emmeline, who had started going steady with Fred within weeks of the school year starting, had coached the twins on how to act in front of everyone in Slytherin. How you couldn't show weakness as an outsider. A weak outsider would have no chance at becoming an insider.
Emmeline had agreed to help after her and Fred's date in Hogsmeade had gone extraordinarily well. Not that she'd let on, of course. Not unless you counted the smile and light blush she had worn in the Slytherin common room after getting back from Hogsmeade. When pressed for details by Daphne, Emmeline had admitted that they'd agreed to go on another date when the following Hogsmeade weekend rolled around. Fred, though, was a different story. It was as if he'd won the lottery or something. He had grinned ear to ear for the week after, and had taken to carrying Emmeline's bags to classes that they shared.
The next day, Ginny and Emmeline had marched Fred and George to the library and sat them at one of the back tables.
"We're going to try and have you two voted into Honorary Slytherins," Emmeline said.
"What's that?" asked Fred.
"It means that you'll be allowed into the common room. And that Professor Snape won't hate you as much. Maybe." Emmeline supplied.
"And you get all these books and resources and stuff that only Slytherins get. But you have to be voted in. And once you're in you have to keep your grades up."
Fred and George groaned in tandem. "Do we have to?"
"Yes." Ginny glared.
And now, t seemed as if all the long hours had paid off. At the front of the room, like royalty, sat the most important members of the house of Slytherin: The fifth year Prefects, Lennox Pyrites and Fiona Vanity, Marcus Flint, as the Quidditch Co-Captain, the sixth year Prefects, Thomas and Carrine, the seventh year Prefects, Nicholas Sayre and Tiffany Dupont. At the head of it all was Professor Snape.
"So," Snape drawled, "Why on earth should we let the two of you into Slytherin?"
George cleared his throat. "I get that you all don't like Gryffindors usually."
"And we're Gryffindors," said Fred.
"But we've never had anything against you guys."
"And we want to do this. For Ginny. And for Emmline."
"What about the pranks, huh? You can't claim to have nothing against us after pulling pranks on us for the past three and a half years" Montague shouted.
Fred raised his hands defensively "Hey, it's not like we single any House out!"
"Yeah, we're equal opportunist prankers."
"Dear Merlin," Snape rubbed his temples, "How would any of this benefit us?"
Fred and George looked at each other. "We can't promise to stop pranking you guys."
"Equal opportunists, like we said."
"But, we can spare you from the worst ones," Fred offered.
"Like how you should avoid the orange juice tomorrow morning," grinned George.
Fred shrugged, "And if we don't get in...well, who knows what food the polyjuice potion will end up in."
"You were the ones who stole from my storage cabinet?" Snape looked murderous.
"Wow," Theo whispered under his breath. "How'd they get past all of his wards? It's enchanted to the moon and back."
"You two got past my wards?" Snape repeated, seeming a little less angry this time, a little more...impressed. "And you brewed polyjuice potion?"
George shrugged. "Yeah, I mean we're not dumb or anything. Oh, and we tested it on ourselves first, if that's what you're worried about."
"Besides, why would we try and pay attention in class? It's all boring stuff anyways."
Professor Snape looked like he was trying his best to keep it together. "You brewed Polyjuice Potion by yourselves. In Fourth Year. After getting past my wards. Is that what you're saying?"
"Merlin no," Fred shook his head violently. "We did the ward stuff in First Year. We needed to get the ingredients to make an Ageing Potion to put in Dumbledore's goblet to see what would happen."
"He just got more wrinkles," George supplied. "But the first time we brewed Polyjuice was in our Second Year. That was the time we paid a couple of First Year Hufflepuffs to run around and cause chaos, Polyjuiced to look like us, while we also ran around and caused chaos."
"Ah, that was a brilliant time," laughed Fred.
Professor Snape buried his face in his hands. He waved one of them in the air, his voice strained. "Go ahead. Vote."
"All in favor of voting Fred and George Weasley in as Honorary Slytherins?" asked Tiffany Dupont.
Slowly, and almost begrudgingly, about three quarters of the Slytherin's raised their hands. Ginny looked around, her eyes wide and shining.
"All against?" asked Nicholas Sayre. The remaining Slytherins raised their hands. "Alright then, it looks like Fred and George Weasley are now Honorary Slytherins. As Ginny Weasley and Emmeline Rosier were the ones to raise your case, they will be responsible for telling you everything that this entails and holding you responsible to the standards associated with being Honorary Slytherins."
The twins broke out into large grins. "Wicked!" They high-fived each other and started to do some kind of a victory dance.
"Stop, stop, stop," Snape said, finally looking up. Fred and George froze, their faces falling. "You two will be meeting with me this Tuesday afternoon so we can discuss just how - and where - you two brewed Polyjuice Potion in your Second Year. And I will be providing additional out-of-the-classroom instruction for Potions. You two are obviously not challenged enough in it." The twins exchanged a look. "That wasn't a request."
Ginny laughed to herself at the memory as she folded a pair of socks, putting it into her trunk. She wasn't sure who was more begrudgingly content with the arrangement, Fred and George, or Professor Snape. The twins refused to admit that they liked doing the extra work, but they had - reluctantly - admitted that not being limited by the Potions curriculum was pretty nice. And Professor Snape still glared at Fred and George as though he wanted to kill them half the time, but he had also begrudgingly complimented the twins on their innate knack for potioneering. Professor Snape also had taken it upon himself to provide more challenging material for the twins in other classes as well.
The twins really were quite brilliant. They just didn't see the point in putting work into something they deemed useless, like studying (why would one need to study if one instinctively understood the principles of everything one was being taught, after all) or writing essays. Ginny was glad to see other people finally recognising that the twins weren't lazy or stupid, the only reason they didn't care a whit about school was because they were bored out of their minds.
"Hey!" Hermione's voice pulled Ginny out of her thoughts. "Come on, we want to get the best seats on the train!"
Ginny laughed, and finished stuffing the last items in her trunk before dashing off to join her friends.
Hermione let her toes sink into the sand and giggled as Ginny looked at the ocean in awe.
"I've never seen the ocean before," she softly admitted.
Daphne came up from behind and hugged the redhead. "Well, now you have."
They were interrupted from a whining from behind. "Is nobody going to do cartwheels with me?" Astoria whined. She focused on Ginny. "Ginny. Can you do a cartwheel?" Ginny nodded. Astoria rushed her, grabbing the girl by the hand and tugging her out towards the water. "We're going to do them in the waves," she announced.
Hermione looked at Daphne and cracked a smile. "They're getting along well."
"Were you expecting anything different?"
Hermione noticed Ginny and Astoria running towards them, their smiles promising mischief. "We've created a monster, haven't we?"
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Stop being so dramatic. It's Yule Break. We're going to have fun."
Hermione let herself be pulled out to the edge of the tide by her sisters and Ginny, and started doing round offs in tandem with Daphne. Once the two finished, they turned to an awestruck Ginny and Astoria and gave overdramatic, sweeping bows.
Loud classical music started drifting through the air, and the girls looked up at the beach house to see Selene setting up a wizarding radio. Daphne grinned mischievously. "Lady Greengrass," she said, curtsying deeply, "May I have this dance?"
Hermione giggled, "Why of course, Lady Greengrass." Hermione took her sister's outstretched hand and the two started waltzing, as the waves lapped at their knees.
Once the dance ended, they were greeted by applause and wolf whistles. Looking up, flushed, Hermione saw Draco, Blaise, and Theo standing at the edge of the sand, with their trousers rolled up.
"Took you guys long enough to get here," Ginny laughed, "What were you all doing anyway?"
Draco said, "Mother and Father said that we could all go to the town center, as long as we all stick together."
"Wicked!" Ginny grinned.
"I think I'm going to stay here," Astoria decided, "I want to explore the house."
"Anyone else want to stay back?" Hermione asked. When nobody answered she grinned. "Okay, come on! Boys, do you know how far away it is?"
"It's a five minute walk," Theo answered. "We're supposed to be back by before seven tonight, so that gives us two and a half hours. Aunt Cissa gave us some money to grab dinner for ourselves."
The group of Slytherins found themselves in the centre of Póli Mágou in no time at all. The town square was lively and bright, full of white houses and businesses whose windows were adorned with sea glass. The streets were cobbled and vendors lined the way with carts and pop-up shops. The carts advertised traditional greek food, bottles of wine and various oils, artisanal soaps, olives, and jewelry made of seashells, beads, and seaglass. The shopfronts were much more diverse, with restaurants, boutiques, antique shops, bakeries, bookshops, and apothecaries represented liberally. There was a wand shop that, if the signs were anything to go by, was run by the Baros family. A sweet shop, that seemed to be the regional version of Honeydukes, had windows full of displays of candies in all colors of the rainbow. There was the Cypriot branch of Zonkos, a broom shop, and even a small shop where you could buy Tarot cards and Crystal Balls, and have your fortune told.
The kids looked at each other, smiles on their faces.
"So…" Blaise trailed off, "We meet back here in an hour and a half?"
"Sounds good," Hermione grinned. The group scattered, like the bursting of a firework, each running off to different shops, their eyes wide.
Draco, of course, ran off to the Quidditch shop, having been ogling the broomsticks in the windows ever since he'd laid eyes on them. Broomsticks were fundamentally the same around the globe, but they had different tweaks and quirks in different places. For example, in the United States and Canada, the ends of the brooms were composed of more straw than what was typically seen,which made them much faster, but made steering a little bit harder. In Eastern Asia, different woods were used, like bamboo and koa, which enabled a Quidditch player to ride upside-down, should they choose to do so. In Australia and New Zealand, the brooms were dead straight all the way through the wooden part, without any twists or bends, making it a little harder to stay on.
The brooms of Cyprus were no different. Their oddity, which was prevalent throughout the Middle East, the end of the brooms fanned out in a semi-circle shape, which allowed for greater control while steering. As Draco looked at the broomsticks in awe, a shop associate came up behind him.
"See something you like?"
"Oh, I'm just a big Quidditch fan. I'm visiting from England, so I'm just looking at the differences between your broomsticks and ours," replied Draco.
"Oh, then I've got a book for you!" the shopkeeper grinned. "Lots of pictures and lots of words, but you look like a smart boy, so I'm sure you can handle that." He led Draco up to a stand of books, titled 'Quidditch and Broomsticks: A Comprehensive Worldwide Guide'. "Are you on a Quidditch team at your school or anything?"
Draco swelled with pride. "I am. I'm the Seeker for Slytherin-I go to Hogwarts."
"You've got the build for a Seeker," the shopkeeper commented. "You know, my wife is English. She went to Hogwarts as well-she was a Ravenclaw. Wasn't on the Quidditch Team though, she didn't care for the heights. She did go to every game though."
"What team does she support now?"
"Wimbourne Wasps. She grew up in the area, and we met at the Club World Cup back in '81. The Cyprus Centaurs were playing the Wasps, and we made a bet. If the Centaurs won, she'd go on a date with me, and if the Wasps won, I'd have to buy myself a bunch of Wasp merch and wear it for the week. The Wasps won, but she agreed to go on a date with me anyway" He chuckled, "Although I did end up having to go on the date fully decked out in yellow and navy."
"How long have you guys been married?"
"Since '84. Quidditch helps you pick up chicks, in one way or another, although you shouldn't start thinking about that for another couple of years."
Draco sighed, "Too late."
"Does she like you back?"
"Nope."
"Well, we can change that. Is she into Quidditch?"
"Not really, but she's my best friend, so she goes to my matches anyway."
"Ah," the shopkeeper smiled knowingly, "She's already your friend, eh? That's more than half of the battle right there. Just keep doing what you're doing, and it'll pay off, eventually."
"Yeah," Draco mumbled, "But I think she likes somebody else. He's a Seeker and he's two years older than me. Just about everybody in the school likes him."
The shopkeeper scrunched his brows in thought, "Wait for her then. If they start going out, wait it out. These things tend to all work out when everything is said and done."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup. And don't go and start trying to listen to other boys' advice. You lot are all just as clueless as each other. Don't go dating other girls to try and make her jealous, because that'll end up hurting everyone involved in the end."
Draco made a face. "Why would I want to date any other girl when she's right there?"
The shopkeeper laughed. "That's the spirit, boy. Keep a good head on your shoulders and be patient, and it'll pay off."
Hermione watched her friends scatter throughout the town square, laughing a bit to herself. It wasn't a big surprise as to where everyone was going. Draco was headed towards the Quidditch Shop, and Daphne was going to one of the clothing boutiques. Theo had made a beeline for the quill and parchment shop, while Blaise had gone to the shop where the seer was set up. Ginny seemed torn between going to the Quidditch shop with Draco and the sweet shop, and ended up deciding on the latter. Hermione, unsurprisingly, headed for the bookshop, though she did shout after Ginny to buy her a bumper pack of Sugar Quills. Astoria would never forgive them if they didn't bring her something back.
The bell above the door tolled as she entered, and Hermione breathed in the scent of the bookshop: the old parchment, the dried ink, the slight tang of salt from the open window that looked upon the sea. Walking down the aisles of books, she ran her fingers down the spines, feeling the leather and the fabrics that made up the covers. She was so caught up in looking at the books, she walked straight into somebody. Stumbling backwards, she flushed and blurted out an apology, before looking up to see who she had inadvertently run into.
"Hermione?"
Her face broke into a smile as she saw Cedric Diggory standing in the aisle. She had been spending more and more time with Cedric since Justin had been Petrified and found herself really liking the Hufflepuff boy. Maybe even liking him a little too much. "Cedric! I didn't know you were here for break!"
Cedric grinned, and ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't know you would be here either. Who are you here with?"
Hermione tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm here with my sisters, Daphne and Astoria, but you've never met Astoria before, she's going to be a first year student next year. My parents are here too, and so are the Malfoys, and Sirius Black. Ginny Weasley, Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott tagged along as well. It was all sort of like a last minute thing that we were even coming here."
"Oh, same here," Cedric admitted. "I wasn't supposed to go home for break, since my dad's on a business trip in America, but he didn't want me staying in Hogwarts with everything going on, so he arranged for me to come along with my second cousins on my Mum's side. I mean, I'm not complaining, since I don't get to see them nearly enough, with them living in France, and it's absolutely gorgeous here. How long are you guys here for?"
"All of break," Hermione answered, "We're portkeying back to England on the second of January. What about you guys?"
"Well, my cousins are staying here until mid-way through January, because the Beauxbatons break is much longer than ours. I was going to catch a portkey back on the 27th of December, but they've all been trying to get me to stay longer."
"So will you?" Hermione asked shyly.
"Well, now that I know that you're here," Cedric winked, "Why would I go back to England any earlier than necessary?"
"Will you need any help in changing your portkey?"
Cedric waved her off, "No, thank you though. My cousins' parents, my Aunt Apolline and Uncle Auguste, are the French Ambassadors to England, so they can get a portkey to England from wherever they are just about any time they want."
"Oh, the Delacours!" Hermione said, "Dad and Uncle Lucius are acquaintances with them through foreign trade and all that. I'd love to meet them all and spend some time with you guys while we're here, if that works for you?"
Cedric grinned, "That'd be great. Are you all free tomorrow night? We can meet up somewhere on the beach at six and spend the night. I can owl you the details?"
"That sounds great."
After much negotiation and wheedling upon the kids' parts, the adults had relented to a beachside sleepover. Of course, it had become much easier to convince them once it was revealed that it was with the Delacours and Cedric Diggory, names that their parents were already familiar with.
As dusk fell upon the island, the group of Slytherins made their way down the beach, heading towards the agreed area to meet up. After a few minutes of walking, they saw a group of people jumping and waving them over.
With Cedric was an indescribably beautiful girl, with platinum hair and silver eyes, who seemed to be about Cedric's age. Next to her were two boys and a girl, each with dark hair and light eyes, who looked similar enough that Hermione guessed them to be siblings. Another girl with dark skin and hair the colour of chocolate was grinning at the approaching group, next to a boy with slightly lighter skin and darker hair.
"Hermione!" Cedric called.
"Hey Cedric!" Hermione greeted.
"Hermione!" the blonde girl beamed, her voice had a light French accent, "We have heard so much about you from Cedric!" Whether it was the light of the sunset or not, it seemed as if Cedric's cheeks went a bit red. The girl laughed, "Where are my manners? Bonjour, my name is Fleur Delacour. Cedric is my second cousin. These are my friends and my other cousins. We all go to Beauxbatons Academy."
One of the boys with dark hair stepped forward with a smile. He looked to be the oldest of the three with dark hair. His French accent was much thicker than Fleur's. "I am Christophe Delacour, Fleur is my cousin through her father's side, so Cedric and I are not technically related, other than through marriage."
"I am Christophe's brother," said the other dark haired boy, "Laurent Delacour, and Marguerite," he gestured to the dark-haired girl, "Is my twin sister."
"Hi, I'm Marguerite," Marguerite introduced herself.
Then the dark skinned girl next to her gave the group of Slytherins a smile. Unlike the others, her voice had a Dutch accent, although there were hints of French in it. "My name is Sara Visser. I'm not related to Fleur, although she is like a sister to me," she joked.
The last boy introduced himself as, "Rafael Martins," his voice had a light Portugese accent. "I'm not related to anyone here, but when Cristophe invited me to Crete over break, I thought I would come." He grinned. "I suppose it's now your turn."
After the Slytherins introduced themselves, Fleur clapped her hands, smiling. "Wonderful! I have much planned for tonight, so let's get started! She waved her wand, and a blanket appeared on the ground. The Slytherins gaped.
"What?" Marguerite asked, confused, "It is just magic."
"Do you guys not have traces on your wands?" Hermione asked. "Like, we can do magic in our homes, because the ministry can't tell who it's coming from, but we're not able to do it out in the open like that."
"Oh!" a look of realization crossed Fleur's face. "We do not have Traces on our wands in continental Europe, unless you are a criminal. Even then, it's just to monitor the kinds of spells that you use."
"Wicked," Draco breathed.
"I suppose that the government trusts us to not do magic in front of Non-Magiques?" Laurent offered, "I believe that Cedric said that you call them Muggles."
Cedric nodded, grinning at the Slytherins, "Yeah. Don't worry, I totally freaked when Fleur turned my hair bright yellow in the park when we were eleven. There were Muggles there, but we were up in a tree so nobody could see us."
"Enough talking," Rafael laughed, "It's time to play Spin-The-Bottle!"
Hermione felt herself going red, but Daphne shrieked in delight and pulled her twin over to the blanket. Fleur sat elegantly, her legs crossed. "Before we start, I shall explain the rules of the game so that we are all on the same page. We will each get a chance to spin the bottle one time. Whoever it lands upon, you must kiss on the lips, unless if you are blood-related to them, in which case, you shall give them a kiss on the cheek. The kiss on the mouth can be however chaste you want it to be, or it can be very french," she winked. "Any questions?"
Draco went red, "What if it lands on someone the same gender as you? Like if I spun it and it landed on Theo. Would I have to kiss him? Like on the mouth?"
The Beauxbatons students burst into laughter.
"I forget how rigid the English can be!" said Laurent.
Fleur shot a look at Laurent, before giving a kind smile to Draco. "If you are uncomfortable kissing someone of the same gender as you on the lips, you can kiss them on the cheek instead. Anything else?"
"Daphne and I are soulmates, like we're soul bonded and all that," Theo blushed. "What are we supposed to do?"
"I believe that's up to the two of you," Marguerite shrugged.
Theo looked at Daphne. "I'm okay, as long as we keep the kisses quick and simple."
Daphne nodded in agreement, "Sounds good. But if it lands on you, I can do whatever I want," she grinned mischievously and Theo blushed.
Fleur looked around to see if anyone else had questions, before setting the bottle down. "I shall start, and then the bottle will pass to my left."
Laurent, who was sitting on Fleur's right, gasped and mock glared at her. "Cousin!"
"Why do you think I chose the left?" Fleur said coquettishly. She looked back up at the circle of teenagers. "Before we start, I should warn you that I am a quarter Veela, as is Marguerite. However, neither of us are seventeen yet, so our Veela side has not activated yet, so that shouldn't affect the game at all." She took the bottle by the neck, and spun it quickly. The bottle landed on Rafael, who laughed and clapped his hands. Fleur grabbed the Portugese boy by the face, and drew him in for a long, deep kiss. The Beauxbatons students started wolf-whistling, while the Hogwarts students looked around a bit shocked. Blaise shrugged, and joined in with the cheering.
When Fleur drew back, she returned to her spot in the circle, and passed the bottle off to her left, to Cristophe. When Cristophe spun the bottle, it landed on Cedric. Cristophe smirked at Cedric. "I'll keep it quick, Tommyboy." He drew in Cedric for a quick kiss. Hermione's head suddenly spun-the idea that she might kiss Cedric tonight had completely escaped her notice.
After that, the bottle went to Marguerite, who ended up french-kissing Sara, before passing the bottle off to Blaise. Blaise spun the bottle, and it landed on Ginny. The two went a little red in the face, as the circle cheered the two on in encouragement, before Blaise crossed the circle, and kissed Ginny. It started a bit tentative on both parts, but Hermione could tell that it had become much more certain after a few moments. It was Blaise who drew back, uncharacteristically blushing, passing the bottle off to Draco.
Draco looked at the bottle a bit nervously, before spinning it. When it landed on Hermione, the two both turned the colour of a tomato, and the Slytherins started whooping and hollering. Draco seemed to gather his courage, and approached Hermione. Something settled in Hermione's stomach as she bit the inside of her cheek as Draco was right in front of her. Hermione felt his warm lips land on hers, and opened her mouth a bit slightly. Her stomach turned to butterflies, and after a moment that might've been a few seconds or a minute, Draco drew back bright red, passing the bottle off to Daphne, who ended up passionately drawing Theo into a deep kiss. She drew back, a satisfied smile on her face, and gave the bottle to Hermione.
Her heart pounding in her chest, Hermione spun the bottle by the neck, and felt herself go red when it landed on Blaise. Her stomach in knots, she approached him, her stomach a bit tight. Okay. Whatever. Who cared! It was just like kissing any of her other friends! It was just that she was the one doing the kissing. She closed her eyes and kissed Blaise, her mouth slightly parted. After Blaise reciprocated the kiss for a moment or two, the two drew back and started laughing. There was no spark whatsoever.
"What are you two laughing about?" Fleur asked.
"It was like kissing a sister," Blaise explained, "I mean, if I had a sister. No sparks there."
Hermione nodded in agreement, as she passed the bottle off to Theo, who wound up kissing Sara on the cheek, and passed it off to Ginny. When Ginny landed on Marguerite, everyone expected another peck on the cheek, but Ginny grinned wickedly. "You're all cowards," she declared, before kissing the French girl full on the mouth. Ginny passed the bottle off to Cedric, who took a deep breath when he spun the bottle. It landed on Hermione, and the circle erupted into hollering, especially from the Beauxbatons students. As Cedric crossed the circle, Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat. When Cedric was a foot away from her, he whispered, "Is this okay?"
Not trusting her voice, Hermione nodded slightly. Encouraged, Cedric put one hand on the small of her back, and leaned in. His lips were warm and smooth against hers, and when Hermione let out a small gasp, he swept the entrance of her mouth with his tongue, testing the waters. Her stomach fluttered and Hermione opened her mouth further, allowing him access, and let Cedric take the lead. She draped her wrists around the edge of his shoulders and leaned into his body, as a small sound came from the back of Cedric's throat. After a moment or two, he pulled back, looking somehow both proud and sheepish at the same time. Hermione smiled brilliantly at him, her cheeks pink, as he returned to his spot in the circle.
And as Sara kissed Laurent, Rafael kissed Daphne on the cheek, and Laurent ended the game by making out with Rafael, Hermione found herself glancing at Cedric. Whenever she looked at him, she found that he had already been staring at her, and her face would redden, and she would quickly turn away, before repeating the whole process over again.
When Fleur declared the game over, Hermione found herself sitting out on the edge of the tide, watching the moon. As someone sat down next to her, she turned her head to find Cedric.
"That didn't have to change or mean anything. Not if you didn't want it to or anything like that," Cedric said.
Not able to look at him, Hermione continued staring out at the ocean. "What if I want it to mean something?"
"I'd like that," Cedric admitted softly. "Do you want it to change anything?"
"Not-not yet," Hermione blushed. "I'd like to get to know you a little better. Before doing anything more with you or doing that again. But from what I know so far, I like you a lot, Cedric."
"Good," Cedric grinned, "Because I like you a lot, too, Hermione."
Gathering her courage, Hermione turned to look at Cedric. His eyes shined in the moonlight, and it made her heart skip a beat. "I think I like you too much to want to do something without any real meaning."
"Me too."
"But I don't think I'm ready for that, not yet at least," Hermione admitted, "But I've got an idea of when. You don't need to wait up for me or feel obligated to do that or anything though."
"Don't undersell yourself, Hermione. When do you want me to ask you again?" Cedric asked, his face open and vulnerable.
Looking at him through her lashes, Hermione said, "Ask me again when I start third year, and I think I'll have an answer for you, Cedric Diggory." She offered him a smile. "Happy Yule, Cedric."
Poor Draco, I know. But he'll get there, eventually. I promise!