"Oh, so you told her then, yeah?" Blaise asked her, and Ginny looked to see the boy staring at her, his finger absentmindedly twirling a lock of his girlfriend's pale blonde hair while the two sat on the deep green sofa across from her.

"Ginny didn't tell her, I can still see the nargles floating around her head," Luna responded in a flowery voice, directing a knowing look to her boyfriend.

"Of course, lovely, I should have noticed them."

Ginny watched the two, still so unsure how this relationship could possibly work as well as it does. She let out a long sigh, and rubbed her hands against her jeans, hoping the fire would soon warm her fingers. Of course, she hadn't told Hermione. It's not as if she were still hung up on her brother; Ginny was surprised at how quickly she seemed to get over it, once they had a couple bottles of fairy wine, of course.

"Luna's right, I definitely did not tell her, it would ruin everything, and she definitely does not need anything ruined," Ginny said to Blaise letting her head hit the side of the armchair she was sitting against.

"Better get on with it, Weasley. She's right fit, you know, I'm close to asking her out myself," said Theo and Ginny moved away to send a nasty look at the boy, who was sitting in the chair she was using as a backrest.

Ginny reached for her wand, prepared to send a bat boogey hex to the Slytherin when she heard the footsteps on the stone steps, signaling the arrival of more. The four of them simultaneously quieted, all wise enough to wait until the mystery student went to their room, not even Slytherin's trusted each other.

"Who's right fit?" the mystery voice asked, and Ginny tried not to externally groan at the arrival of Pansy Parkinson. It was never good when Pansy had information, let alone secrets.

"Granger, I suspect," Malfoy responded, following his girlfriend as the two moved to join the growing group.

"Luna, why do I keep coming here with you?" Ginny mumbled, annoyed at the amount of people suddenly involved in this conversation.

"And here I thought we were friends," Blaise directed at the redhead with a smirk, and Ginny let her head fall against the side of the velvet chair with a thud.

"Granger? Why the sudden interest in Granger?" Pansy asked, an air of shock laced her regal voice, and Ginny was surprised not to hear any disdain mixed in as well.

"She's smart, and obviously a powerful witch," Draco responded, and he dropped himself into the armchair opposite Theo, before straightening his leg and allowing Pansy to perch herself on his thigh.

"Plus, her arse. Mmmm and that hair, could you imagine gripping it while you bury yo-" Theo added, unable to continue as Ginny reached up and managed to pinch his nipple through his sweater, squeezing tightly until he stopped. Theo recoiled into himself and pushed her arm back with as much strength as he could, hoping she wouldn't rip the skin clear off.

"Honestly, she'd probably be a popular betrothal prospect if she weren't a mu-" Ginny had her wand out of her jeans, aimed at Malfoy before he could continue his sentence.

"Watch it, Ferret," she snarled at him, her patience growing very very thin with the group.

"Ooh, touchy, Weaslette. I was going to say muggleborn," he cooed, a smirk gracing his face as he stared back at her.

Ginny narrowed her eyes and placed the wand next to her, she seemed to need it readily available in the Snake Pit tonight. Her eyes moved away from Malfoy when she noticed Pansy squinting at her as well. She turned her gaze towards Luna, a questioning look as she silently begged her best friend to supply an answer to Pansy's bizarre shift in body language.

Luna returned the look with an oblivious smile, no longer following the conversation it appeared.

"Give it a second," Blaise said to Ginny instead as Luna placed her head against his shoulder.

Ginny turned back to Pansy, apparently waiting for whatever was meant to come.

Blaise was right, it didn't take long.

Pansy's eyes grew wide, and a knowing smile crossed her painted red lips.

"Delicious. I didn't realize you played that way," Pansy said with a calculated tone, her eyes roaming Ginny, studying her as if she were prey.

"I'm pansexual, Parkinson. I don't play any specific way. And anyone would be a right git to not notice Hermione Granger," Ginny replied, rolling her eyes at the girl. Merlin, even her boyfriend had a crush on the witch in his 4th year!

"No judgements, just observations…"

"Miserable snakes," Ginny groaned again, cursing herself for the third time tonight that she hung out Slytherins since returning to school. She moved away from the chair, and laid flat on her back, letting her hands run over the plush rug beneath her, and closed her eyes, letting herself imagine the rug was the black sweater Hermione wore yesterday.

"So, you still haven't made a move yet then, not since you're moping around here instead of snogging, Granger," Draco supplied after a moment.

"Obviously not, you pale swot."

"I've got an idea," Theo exclaimed, and Ginny saw him bring his forefinger to his mouth, chewing on the nail as he thought.

"Great, mate. We need to get all the bad ideas out of the way first," Blaise responded, and Ginny couldn't help the tug at the corner of her lips at his comment.

"It's a solid idea! Just hear me out!" Theo begged the group, though no one was likely to listen to him when his last idea ended so chaotically.

"Theo, just last week you convinced us to break into Snape's old potion storeroom because you were convinced it led to a sex chamber," Ginny snorted, letting her arm drape across her eyes as she recalled the event.

"And when Filch caught us in just a potions storeroom, you knocked the nearest row of jars down to avoid getting caught," Draco continued.

"We didn't get caught! Though I'm still not sure the room didn't double as a sex chamber, you all saw the chains!" Theo proclaimed, and Ginny wasn't sure Theo knew what sex looked like, nor a potions storeroom apparently.

"You didn't get caught, mate. Ginny, Draco, and I spent three lovely days in detention, scrubbing every stone in the Entrance and Great Halls," Blaise told the boy, ensuring Theo remembered the story correctly.

"Yes, the rest of us just caught mumblemumps from whatever potions he destroyed!" Pansy exclaimed, pointing a manicured finger at Theo, "your fault!"

"Oh I didn't mind so much, the mumbling was really interesting, it helped clear my aura. It had been getting really fuzz you know," Luna replied thoughtfully, and Ginny watched as she turned to her boyfriend waiting for him to agree on her unusual aura.

Blaise nodded fondly at the girl, apparently he knew all about her fuzzy aura.

"See! Luna appreciates my ideas!" Theo said to the group, apparently taking Luna's words as agreement. Ginny snorted again, oh sweet delusional Theo.

Blaise and Draco sported matching looks of disbelief, apparently 18 years of friendship didn't do much to curb their surprise.

Always a proper heir, Draco managed to compose himself first, his face returning to its masked state before asking, "fine, what's your plan for Weaslette?"


Ginny crept back to Gryffindor tower around midnight, why they fought in a war but still had a curfew was beyond her.

She had long lost Luna and Blaise as he walked his girlfriend back to Ravenclaw, but Ginny suspected they stopped to snog somewhere, and she wasn't going to hang around with Filch doing rounds.

She was closer now to Gryffindor, maybe 3 minutes away, if that, so she picked up her pace certain she had heard Ms. Norris near by.

As she turned the corner, she ran face first into another wall, and felt her body fall backwards rebounding off the solid fixture.

"Ommphf," Ginny grumbled, rubbing the elbow that broke her fall as she went to stand back up.

"Ginny?" a voice whispered in the dark back at her.

"Hermione? I didn't know you had the invisibility cloak," Ginny replied, suddenly noticing the gentle waves of iridescent magic that cloaked its wearer, it was extremely hard to notice, even if you weren't looking for it.

"Harry lent it to me when he visited on the last Hogsmeade weekend, doesn't have much use for it right now. Now come on before Filch sees you," Hermione responded, and Ginny saw her lithe hand reach out from under the cloak and drag Ginny toward it.

Ginny felt her stomach flip upon Hermione's touch, but the excitement was cut short when Filch's raspy voice was echoed through the halls.

"Who's out past curfew?" he groveled, and Hermione let out a squeak before pushing Ginny toward the nearest wall, body flush against hers. The invisibility cloak covered Hermione's back and was held against the wall over Ginny's head, ensuring the two were hidden.

"Tell me when he's coming," Hermione whispered to Ginny, unable to properly watch for Filch with her back exposed and her front to Ginny.

Ginny could feel the lump in her throat grow as the warmth from Hermione radiated across her chest. She had never been this close to her before, well, never like this. They had hugged on occasion, for goodbyes or whatever, but this felt different...

Especially when Ginny thought back to last week in Hermione's dorm, when she pressed her lips to her hair and swallowed her sadness. She hadn't seen Hermione since then, she was avoiding the Golden Girl, too embarrassed to acknowledge the unusual night that transpired between them.

But now, now she was closer to Hermione than she had ever been. Now she was drowning in her scent of ink and cinnamon. Hermione smelled comforting and warm; and Ginny was utterly hopeless in this position.

"Ginny, is he close?" Hermione asked again, and Ginny realized how oblivious she had been for those few moments.

As the question erupted from Hermione's mouth, Ginny spotted Ms. Norris rounding the corner, and where she was, Filch followed.

Ginny lifted her hand up to cover Hermione's mouth and tried to ignore the soft lips touching her palm.

"Shhh…."

Filch turned the corner shortly after, and Ginny watched as Ms. Norris rubbed her long tail against the wall opposite them. Ginny prayed that Filch pass quickly, she was growing nervous and was sure her palm was sweaty now.

"Okay, he's gone," Ginny whispered to Hermione once Filch passed, finally bringing her attention to the girl.

Ginny knew they were close, obviously, but she hadn't considered just how close Hermione's face was until she looked up to see her big brown eyes staring back at her. Her eyes were prettier up close than Ginny had imagined, there were flecks of gold surrounding her pupil, and her eyelashes were long, framing her round eyes beautifully.

"Yes, right," Hermione mumbled softly as she looked back at Ginny, "gone."

Ginny looked back at Hermione, not wanting to end whatever was passing between them. She took the time to study her face, a pink flush laid across her cheeks and nose, and Ginny took her time observing the soft lines of Hermione's face.

"s'pretty," Ginny heard Hermione whisper, and Ginny was sure her heart was going to pound out of her chest any moment now.

"What?" She muttered back, suddenly wondering if what she heard was right.

"Your eyes. The brown is brighter than I thought, and the firelight makes them glow."

Ginny suddenly felt herself growing brave at Hermione's declaration and placed a delicate hand on her waist, wondering if she should risk a kiss. Ginny's eyes moved to Hermione's mouth on their own accord, and could feel the heat growing in her stomach as Hermione's tongue traced her bottom lip.

She could kiss her, she could, and she might kiss her back.

Might.

That might held Ginny back, made her remember that the woman against her was her brother's ex. Her ex's sister. And one of her longest friends.

This was horrible, lust and fear simultaneously coursed through Ginny's brain as she struggled to make a decision.

Hermione made it for her. She let out a light cough as she cleared her throat, and let her hands fall from above Ginny's head on their place on the wall. The invisibility cloak no longer providing them the quite privacy of their secret moment.

Hermione moved away from Ginny and laid the cloak in the crook of her elbow, casting one more curious glance at Ginny before saying, "let's go, before Filch comes back."