The bell chimed for dinner. Rising from their places in each room, the four of them found themselves entering the hallway at the exact same time. Nott looked at Hermione, Hermione blushed and looked at Ginny, who was looking at Malfoy trying to see if he knew what was going on between the unlikely pair, but Malfoy was too busy watching Hermione and Nott to notice her stares. They all stood there in silence for a moment, until Hannah Abbott came rushing between them to head to the great hall.
Snapped out of their daze Nott found his words first. Taking a step back he said "Ladies first" gesturing that the hall was theirs.
Ginny stifled a laugh and grabbed Hermione by the arm and pulled her down the corridor. As if beyond her control Hermione looked back towards Theo and mouthed thank you.
"Well that went well." Draco mused to his best friend. "Can we eat now?"
Sitting at their own house tables the four kept close watch on one another. Eating mostly in silence, too focused on what might happen on the opposite side of the room. McGonagall rose to speak as dinner was wrapping up.
"Welcome back again students. I trust your first day of classes were enjoyable. We have a special announcement, this year in addition to the feast, on Halloween we will also be having a ball for fourth year students and above. Please be advised third years may attend if asked by an appropriate year level. More details will be released in the coming weeks. That will be all this evening."
This was it, the chance they both needed, a viable excuse to ask one another out. The only question was who would make the first move. Both had been given the same advice, that given the situation and history, Hermione should be the one to initiate any type of relationship. As to whether she had the courage to do so she was unsure. Their eyes locked on each other, she was wondering what was going through his mind, she smiled at the thought that he might be thinking of her and was pleasantly surprised to find him smiling back at her. This brief exchange had not gone unnoticed by their two best friends. Ginny raised an eyebrow at Malfoy, who simply nodded his head as if to confirm the feeling between the pair was indeed mutual.
Dinner had ended and the 8th years made their way back to their dorm. Dean, Seamus and Neville were sat in front of the fireplace of the common room along with Hannah Abbott, Terry Boot and Susan Bones. Their faces alight with laughter.
"Hermione, Ginny, come join us. We are going to play truth or dare." Neville mused, waving over his friends.
"I'm in!" Ginny announced confidently as she went to join them. "Hermione?"
Hermione looked down and realised she was still in her uniform from the day, having not changed before going to speak with Ginny. "Let me get changed and I will be down in 5."
She rushed upstairs throwing on a singlet top and a pair of old track pants. Pulling her unruly hair up off her neck and into the messiest of buns she walked into the bathroom. This was the longest she had ever gone with her scar exposed and she was quite enjoying not worrying what people might think. There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." she called
"Sorry" he mumbled, "just wanted to brush my teeth before bed."
Hermione looked at him closely as he begun brushing his teeth, he really was something. She had never taken much notice of the quite Slytherin before, having tried to avoid them all as best she could but there was no denying his beauty. He was perhaps, even more beautiful than Draco Malfoy. She had been staring at him for far too long now, he raised his eyebrow at her.
"Yes?"
"A bunch of us are going to play truth or dare, you and Malfoy should join us." She watched as he looked at her as if waiting for the punch line of a joke that never came.
"Sure… I'll just go grab Drake." And with that he turned from the bathroom and left.
Hermione felt a little frazzled but quickly brushed her teeth as well, as if almost wishful thinking. She made it back down to the others before Nott and Malfoy arrived with Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini in tow, giving her enough time to let the others know she had asked them to join. Dean and Seamus were sceptical at first but just one look from Hermione and they conceded. Ernie Macmillan, Padma Patil and Luna had also come to down to play.
They sat in a circle so that everyone could see one another. Hermione smiled as she noticed that each house was here, 5 Gryffindor, 3 Ravenclaw, 3 Hufflepuff and 4 Slytherin. All in all, not a bad mix, she was just hoping that this would all go smoothly, and past animosities could be left aside, and the game would remain friendly.
Luna cleared her throat, her melodic voice as soft and innocent as always "Shall we begin? I'll ask first, Hermione, truth or dare?"
"Truth." Hermione felt safe, this was Luna after all, she would probably ask about some obscure random creature that no one had any idea about.
"Who was the last person to see you naked?"
Well fuck…
