Chapter Ten: Drunken Fights

Ron looked around the room to see if Harry was back. The crowd in the room had slowly been as people went off to the other rooms, including his date, Kira, but she had gone off with Kimberly, Harry's date, to the bathroom and to say 'hi' to their friends. He wandered around when he saw that his make-up covered friend wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Hello Potter."

Ron's head shot up and he looked around the open doorway into the kitchen where there were two boys and a large mess standing by the island and refrigerator across the room. He saw Harry's head shoot up. Sure, Harry hadn't made a major change in his appearance, neither did he or Hermione, but none of them looked easily recognizable, at least not to anyone who would know them. That was when it hit him,

Harry, and Ron, looked at the boy speaking. Ron could only see his back and could tell that the second person in the room had only entered recently. They eyed the boy carefully, Harry more shocked and Ron more curious.

Draco Malfoy walked around the house looking for the girl who occupied his thoughts and dreams. There were people everywhere. He had wanted to catch up with her before the place go too crowded, but she had been held up by her friends before he was kidnapped by his own friends and taken downstairs where he was like a king for his skills.

After an hour, he was finally able to break free and walk around in search for her. He knew that it would be a mistake, but he had to.

As he rounded the corner, past the snogging couple and flirting teens, he saw a familiar face walk into another room.

'Maybe I should tweak this,' Draco thought to himself, 'just a little.'

Draco stepped into the room and stopped.

"Hello Potter."

Harry Potter's head shot up. There was silence for a full minute before anyone said anything.

"W-what do you mean 'hex'?" Hermione asked Emelyn. No on knew that she was a witch. She and her parents had decided not to tell anyone except for her aunt and uncle, but they swore that they would never tell Emelyn.

Emelyn looked confused. "Well you are a witch, aren't you?"

"You know, if it wasn't for a few slip-ups, I probably would never have recognized the three of you," Draco said.

"Malfoy?"

"Brilliant deduction Potter."

"What are you doing here?"

Draco leisurely strolled around the island to the side that Harry was on and stopped when the two were just two feet from each other. "Well I thought that I might stop by, grab a few anchovies and head back to Hogwarts," he said sarcastically. "I come here every summer and I would appreciate it if you would not tell Ama-Hermi-Granger about this."

Harry looked puzzled. "Then why tell me?"

"Because I want to ask her out."

Hermione didn't know what to say. "How do you know?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Because you go to school with Drae," was about to escape Emelyn's lips when all of a sudden the girls heard a commotion in the house and forgot their conversation to run in and find out what was going on. When they got to the kitchen, they saw a big group preventing them from getting inside, but could tell that there was a fight going on.

"YO!" Emelyn yelled. "WHOEVER IS STARTING A FIGHT IN THIS HOUSE HAD BETTER COOL THEIR ASSES."

People saw her and began to move aside to let her and Hermione pass though, but the fight didn't stop. By the time Hermione and Emelyn got to the middle, they saw three heads and six fists in a big blur of movement, but they could tell who it was.

Emelyn leapt in and grabbed Drae while Hermione did the same for Ron and Harry.

"Drae, Chase, Neo, what the hell is going on?" Emelyn demanded.

"Okay everyone, nothing to see here," Vinny, Nate and Lissie said as they, Pop, Lana, Bobby and Rita ushered everyone out of the area.

When everyone was gone, Hermione and Emelyn let go of the boys.

"Now will someone please tell me what the hell you think you were doing?" Emelyn demanded once more.

The boys were a mess. Drae (I'll start to call him Draco in the next chapter except when talking about Hermione. If it's Drae, then that's what she's thinking, same with Draco) had a black eye and his hair was everywhere. Ron's hair was falling over his have with only a big red mark on his cheek. Harry had suffered the least and had only jumped in a minute before Hermione and Emelyn got to them, so all he got was a punch to the jaw from a weak angle.

None of the guys said anything, or looked at one another. Emelyn gave them all a look, but they all remained quiet until Kira and Kimberly stepped into the doorway.

"It was just a misunderstanding," Drae said. "Neo and Chase didn't have anything to do with it." He looked at the boys. "I must be a little drunk because I was acting crazy."

"What was the misunderstanding?" Hermione asked.

Drae looked at her, then down at the floor, and she understood. They were fighting because of her. She looked down, ashamed of everyone, not knowing what to do or say.

"You guys go over to your dates," Drae said, motioning to the doorway where the girls stood silent. "It was my fault, I'll go sit outside or something."

Harry and Ron looked from Drae to each other to the girls then to Emelyn, who sighed and motioned her head to the girls. Harry and Ron walked out, putting their arms around the girls and walking away in silence.

Emelyn looked from her cousin to her friend. "I think I'll leave you two here," she said gently and walked out.

Hermione was standing, looking at the floor. What was she supposed to do? She hadn't felt this way for a boy in a long time and here he was getting into drunken fights with her best friends.

Draco softly cleared his throat and took her hand in his. "Maybe we should go outside. I would like to talk to you."

Hermione silently followed his lead up until the doorway when she pulled him back. She looked up at him, tears ready to fill her eyes, and said, "thank you." Then she kissed him.