"Did you tell him?" Bellatrix demanded fiercely, her high voice reverberating off the walls and stinging each ear it landed upon.
Lucius cringed. "I did. Yes." He nodded curtly before taking a sip of the brown ashen-coloured liquid in Rodolphus's outstretched hand.
"And?" Bellatrix shrieked impatiently, her eyes popping out of their sockets in an attempt of emphasis.
"He really likes the girl" Lucius commented dryly, taking another sip.
Bellatrix sneered. "You told him to back off though, didn't you?"
"Of course I did" Lucius hastened to add "He just didn't take it well"
"So he won't stay away from her?" Antonin sniggered, rolling his eyes. "Knew she couldn't count on you"
"Of course he'll stay away from the girl!" Bellatrix screeched at him "We need her and now that he knows that he'll back off!" She turned to Lucius "Won't he?"
Lucius fidgeted "We shall have to see. He didn't give me a definite answer, but the girl was in the vicinity at the time and he probably didn't want to hurt her feelings"
"Hurt her feelings?" Bellatrix shrieked once more before rambling on in an incoherent manner.
Rodolphus sighed and passed a bottle to Antonin as well.
It was going to be a long night.
The next few days were absolute torture for Draco, Hermione, Pansy, Blaise and Theo. When they decided that Draco should ignore Hermione, they never discussed how they would split themselves, so neither would be lonely and none of the three seemed to want to choose between Hermione and Draco, used to spending their time with both of them together rather than separately, Hermione and Draco had to try and remember not to talk to one another or even make eye contact while passing in the corridors, in case either of them sent a swift smile to the other and someone saw.
They didn't exactly know who they were supposed to be putting on this show for, anyway. How were the Death Eater's able to see what was going on at Hogwarts? Did they have a spy? If they did, then 'said' spy would probably be in Slytherin and that meant that the two couldn't even converse in the common room. Hermione didn't even speak to him much while in their own dormitory or alone together, as she was afraid that the Death Eater's might've bugged the castle…or maybe Rita Skeeter was doing their dirty work for them. She couldn't risk Draco's life for something as trivial as a "hello" or a small smile. It was dangerous and, even though Hermione was accustomed to danger, she didn't encourage it. Due to this, they hadn't had a chance to discuss their kiss during the Winter Ball and Hermione was starting to feel jittery and overwhelmed with the multitudes of thoughts swimming through her head on the matter. It was driving her crazy!
Ginny had the easier task. She anyway usually conversed with the two while separate, so this change didn't affect her much. In fact, she didn't even stress her mind about choosing which group to join, but simply followed Theo, as was her custom.
The school, as expected, couldn't play a blind eye to the blatant alteration in friendship groups and from the moment that Draco and Hermione sat on opposite ends of the breakfast table that morning whispers started to flood the school.
"If the Death Eater's are following the rumour mill to find word on you, then you've certainly pleased them" Harry confirmed, while trying to take a sneak peek at Hermione's essay in the library about a week after the Winter Ball.
"I just wish I knew why" Hermione stressed, almost tipping her ink pot over in distress. "What minuscule benefit do they get if he talks to me or not?"
Harry shrugged unhelpfully, staring gloomily at his unfinished essay and sighing. "I thought it'd be quite the contrary, to be honest" he agreed.
Nodding noncommittally, Hermione continued to survey her essay for any non-existent mistakes, but her eyes stopped scanning the page after a few seconds and she was staring into space.
Harry stared at her for a moment.
"You think too much" He announced, beginning to roll up his essay slowly, as if contemplating whether to do so was intelligent, but before Hermione could say anything in objection he continued "You need a break"
The next thing she knew, Harry was pulling her down the corridor, ignoring Hermione's incessant protests.
"I'm not even supposed to near him!" Hermione cried, glaring indignantly at Harry, while gesturing too Draco.
"A day out, you say?" Pansy asked curiously, her eyes twinkling, ignoring Hermione completely.
"Yep" Harry nodded.
"Actually-" Hermione began, but Harry cut her off.
"I didn't think I'd ever say this, but- I think you're right, Potter!" Blaise agreed heartily, clapping Harry on the back. Harry grinned appreciatively.
"You've asked Dumbledore?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded. "And he said yes?"
Draco scoffed. All eyes turned to him. "Dumbledore'd say yes to anything the Golden-boy proposes"
"Which is another reason why-" Hermione began once more, as loudly as she could, but Harry silenced her this time, which turned out to be useless as she simply undid the spell silently and continued "Another reason why we shouldn't wander astray"
"Come on, Hermione" Theo pleaded "It's not like the Death Eaters can be hiding behind a signpost or something."
"Lucius Malfoy apparated into the school grounds" Hermione interrupted. "Who knows what else they can do?"
"There'll be other witches and wizards. We won't be alone like that night" Draco reasoned.
"What if they have bugged the whole of wizarding London?" Hermione iterated, rather hysterically now.
"We'll can forage in muggle London instead" Ginny declared. Everyone stared at her in disbelief. Everyone except Hermione.
"You know what, Ginny" Hermione said quietly before anyone else could vocalise their dislike for Ginny's idea. "I think that that's a brilliant idea!"
"Muggle London" Draco moaned, when he went to get dressed 'appropriately' as Hermione had dictated. "How are we going to survive in Muggle London?" Thankfully, Hermione wasn't there to hear Draco's complaints.
"I didn't hear you complaining in front of your girlfriend" Blaise sniggered.
"She's not my girlfriend" Draco replied in a small voice, freezing momentarily as he reached for his dress robe trousers and examining them, as if checking whether they were good enough for a casual day in Muggle London. "We haven't discussed anything"
"But you want her to be?" Theo asked, expecting the answer.
"Of course, but we can't make assumptions"
Theo and Blaise shared an eye roll. Draco was too much trouble to deal with sometimes.
"Do you think that these are muggle enough?" Draco asked, waving a different, more casual pair of trousers for Theo and Blaise to see.
"This is all that Weaselette's fault" Blaise declared, shaking his head at Draco's choice and rummaging around his own endless box of casual clothes.
"Hey!" Theo exclaimed "Don't blame her! She did nothing wrong! She just wanted Hermione happy"
"And Hermione just wanted everyone safe" Draco finished, guessing Blaise's next victim and defending her with more righteousness than he could've expected from himself a year ago.
"You two are sissies" Blaise groaned, finally extracting a pair of muggle looking trousers/jeans and a hoody from the bottom of his pile. "A ha!"
"Hey, when did you get them?" Theo demanded "You've never worn them before"
"The occasion never occurred" Blaise shrugged, heading towards the bathroom to change.
"I can't believe we're here!" Hermione squealed, as she ran into the shopping mall, ignoring the stares she and her friends were getting from other Christmas shoppers. She changed into her girl self for the day, deeming it unecessary to go about in disguise while surrounded by muggles.
"It's a group of shops, Granger" Harry deadpanned, having joined the group of six for once and feeling quite proud of himself for fitting in.
Pansy hit him on the arm and glared at him. "Don't spoil her fun" she hissed furiously in his ear. Harry just chuckled.
In turned out that Harry was doing anything but spoil her fun, as Hermione bounced around the shopping mall, peering over excitedly at the objects on display, the others following right behind her.
Soon, Ginny and Pansy had matched her frenzy and the three of them had forgotten the boys who were right behind them, eyeing the stores sceptically.
"This one looks classy" Blaise pointed at 'Primark'.
"Not classy. No." Hermione chuckled. "But cheap. Yes. Come on"
She lead the way into the vast store already filled with muggles. Draco expertly avoided bumping into one on the way in, giving Hermione a tentative smile as she looked over.
"Cheap?" Theo called to Hermione, looking scandalised. "We're not short on money, you know"
Hermione ignored him.
Some things they had to learn from experience.
A/N: Well, what do you think? Dragged on a bit? Superfluous? Please leave a review!