That evening the head boy and head girl walked back into their common room, exhausted but satisfied. They had survived their first day as both heads and teaching assistants. Hermione let herself fall on the couch. Draco followed her example and said

"I wonder if this heads' quarters come with assigned house elves. I could use some herbal tea."

Hermione didn't have time to roll her eyes. With a pop a female house-elf was standing on the coffee table, bowing.

"Good evening, mister and missus heads. Winky is at your service."

Hermione's eyes opened wide. This was the house elf that used to work for the Crouch family. The last time she saw her the little thing was drunkenly crying, drowning her sorrows in butterbeer. Draco was smiling widely.

"Good evening Winky. I am Draco Malfoy and this is…"

The elf interrupted

"Missus Granger." Then she pointed a bony finger to Hermione's face

"Missus Granger would not give Winky clothes. Winky is a Hogwarts house elf now, tis' hers family now. Winky needs her family."

Hermione blushed and answered quickly

"Don't worry, Winky, I don't try to give house elves clothes anymore. I'll be happy to be your family if you want."

Winky smiled brightly

"Winky is honored to serve the heads' as if they are Winky's family."

Then the elf looked between Hermione and Draco and held her hands together, then rested them against her cheek, batting her eyelashes.

"Young master Malfoy and missus Granger make a lovely couple. If yous gets marrieds Winky would have been your first family elf."

Hermione blushed crimson, but Draco was unfazed

"Thank you, Winky. That is a lovely sentiment. Now would you mind getting us some herbal tea and a couple of cauldron cakes?" he said, winking at Hermione, who got even redder.

When the elf popped out Draco said

"House elves are notorious gossips and very active matchmakers. Don't be surprised if she starts doing things to promote the mood," he said making air quotes.

At that moment a tray of tea and cauldron cakes appeared on the coffee table. The plate with the cauldron cakes was outlined with rose petals in the shape of a heart. Draco chuckled and moved to pour the tea while saying

"Told Ya"

Each week the two heads were running on a very busy schedule. They were happy about it though, it felt great to have so much school duty and no crazy war looming on the horizon. They got to be young and, school work aside, feeling carefree again. Draco didn't have many friends left in Slytherin house. Goyle dropped out and was under house arrest, Zabini, Nott and Pansy Parkinson had left for America, to finish up at Ilvermorny. So he was spending a lot of time in the Gryffindor table. Even if Hermione was not there he would simply sit with Ginny and Neville. With Ginny, he had entered in a good-hearted smartass competition, and with Neville, he had found an unexpected friendship, as the Gryffindor's interest in advanced Herbology was very in tune with the Slytherin's interest in potion making. Draco was planning on having his own large-scale potions company, and he was testing the waters to get a feeling from Neville as a possible business associate, although he was not letting his intentions be known yet. Still, he found himself spending weekend afternoons with Neville helping him reset the greenhouses that had been damaged by the war. One of those afternoons they were preparing soil when Draco asked

"So. You and Ginny. Is it already happening or what?"

Neville blushed. It was the first time that this kind of conversation involved him directly. Yet, he felt strangely proud that Draco Malfoy, rumored Slytherin sex god, was asking him about girls.

"Not yet. I'm not very good at… making my intentions clear. And since when you call her Ginny?" he asked amused.

"I only call her that behind her back," Draco smirked. "Well you better get with the program, Neville, otherwise she's going to be too busy snogging someone else."

Neville turned to face him

"Well, you are the rumored sex god. Tell me what the hell to do."

It was Draco's turn to blush.

"If I was a sex god I would have Granger eating from my palm," he said and then lifted his hand palm side up "do you see her eating here? Because I don't."

Neville laughed at his antics and then asked

"Well, how did you get Parkinson to eat from your palm?"

Draco snorted

"I didn't get Pansy to eat from my hand. She grabbed it forcefully and never let go. Slytherin girls are like that. They pretty much choose their intended husbands as soon as the sorting hat puts them in the dungeons."

Neville laughed loudly at that.

"Well, I guess that makes two of us that need to do something soon, otherwise we are going to end up a couple of old creepy wizards sitting on a bench in Diagon Alley watching young witches walk by."

Draco snorted

"All right, that is not what I want for my future. So, you give me advice and I give you advice. Go!"

Neville thought for a minute.

"Hermione needs to be told upfront, so no Slytherin around," he said making air quotes, "you have to tell her to her face that you like her and want to court her. But she will probably freak out and need time to think, so don't give her any kind of ultimatums. Tell her and then give her time if she needs it."

Draco nodded, then it was his turn to think.

"Ginny has too many brothers, so talking to her the way I do puts me in the brother zone. I think you could also be direct to her or if you are not up for it, I have an idea: bring her flowers. You are a pureblood, you know all about flower arrangements and their meanings, right?"

Neville nodded, and Draco continued

"She may know too, but just in case bring them when I can see them, so I can throw casual comments about the meaning."

They spent the rest of their time in the greenhouse plotting while preparing flower beds.

The next day at dinner the two girls and Draco were sitting at the Gryffindor table when Neville arrived, bringing a bouquet of red camellias and put it in front of Ginny. Hermione squealed and then covered her mouth, embarrassed. Draco held back a snort and looked at the flowers. He waited to gauge Ginny's reaction. The younger witch blushed but looked confused.

"These are lovely, Neville. What kind of flowers are they?"

Draco mentally rolled his eyes but waited for Neville to answer. The Gryffindor boy was a bit shaken that Ginny didn't even recognize the type of flowers.

"They are camellias" he answered simply. Draco decided to save the day. He looked at Neville, nodding in approval

"Proof of passion. Very nice, Neville."

Neville looked grateful for the clarification, and Hermione nodded a bit too enthusiastically. The whole table was staring at them. Draco had to make an effort to not shoo them away. This was so not the Slytherin table. So he caught Neville's eye, nodded slightly towards Ginny and then towards the exit of the hall. Neville got the message.

"Ginny, do you want to go for a walk?"

She stood up like a coiled spring and Neville rushed to hold her hand and walk her out of there.

Hermione sigh.

"That was so cute! I'm so happy for them."

Draco nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, me too" he said and give her hand a squeeze. She looked a bit surprised and he panicked. Oh Merlin. He may be sitting in the Gryffindor table but he was still a snake. He gave her a sweet smile and they both looked flustered and went back to their food. Draco breathed heavily. If he didn't get his bearings soon someone may beat him to the punch. But his biggest fear right now was to make a fool of himself in front of his adored witch. Get your shite together, Malfoy, before someone steals her away.