Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me.
Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, I was having major writer's block. Please give me more ideas, and we will see where this story heads.
Chapter Twenty
The dance lasted for a few more hours, then people began heading back to their dorms. Hermione and Draco had to stay the latest, to clean everything up (magically, of course), and Blaise and Ginny stayed just as long.
The four friends left the Great Hall together, and walked along the halls, trying to keep quiet, but failing miserably.
"Do you mind if I go back with Ginny?" Hermione asked Blaise. "You and Draco can have the dorm all night, and I'll just spend the night at Ginny's." She turned to her friend. "That's okay, right?" Ginny nodded, and Hermione turned to Blaise.
"Yeah, that's fine," Blaise said. "Draco and I haven't had a slumber party in, like, forever."
Hermione smiled and gave her boyfriend a kiss, then went in the opposite direction with Ginny. They walked down the corridor, talking about everything, and entered the Gryffindor common room somewhat quietly. The room was empty, and the two lounged on some couches.
"So, did you talk to Ron?" Hermione asked.
Ginny nodded. "He told Harry, but only because he felt so horrible for revealing his secret. Apparently, Harry isn't mad at Ron or me, but he is a little upset that you know. I think it's just best if you lay low for a while."
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and both girls looked up to see Ron descending them, his hair mussed and his eyes sleepy. As soon as he saw Hermione, however, he woke up completely.
"What are you doing here?!" he asked, keeping his voice quiet, hurrying over to Hermione. "Harry is going to be coming down in any minute!"
"What?!" Hermione stood up. "Why are you guys awake now? Where am I suppose to go?"
"Back to your dorm!"
Hermione sighed, exasperated. "Blaise and Draco are both back there, and I think it would be extremely uncomfortable if I were to suddenly show up."
"Ron, have you seen my socks?" The trio looked up as Harry walked down the stairs. When he saw them, he stopped, and muttered, "Shit. I'm going back to bed." He started to turn around, but Hermione stopped him.
"Wait," she said. "Who says we can't hang out like we normally do? I mean, everything is out in the open, so we should be fine, right?" She looked around at their faces for agreement.
Ginny sighed, and plastered a smile on her face. "Hermione's right. Just as long as we don't talk about anything...uncomfortable, we will be great. We haven't really hung out in a long time. Right, Ron?"
Ron shook his head slightly, smiling. "They're right, Harry. We've had worse things happen to us, right?"
Harry's face broke into a smile. "You guys are insane," he said, but he finished walking down the stairs. "Seriously, Ron, have you seen my socks?"
Hermione and Ginny sat next to each other on one of the couches, while Harry and Ron looked for Harry's socks. Hermione leaned in close to Ginny, and lowered her voice. "Do you think it would be okay to ask how the dance went?" she asked. "Like, if they thought that people liked it, and stuff?"
Ginny thought for a moment. "I think it should be okay," she said finally, keeping her voice low. "Just try to stay away from the...you know." Hermione nodded, but waited until Harry and Ron had sat down across from them before bringing anything up.
"So, do you guys think the dance was a success? Do you think people liked it?" Hermione looked at her friends' faces expectantly.
"Yeah, I think people liked it," Ron said. "I mean, I know I enjoyed myself."
"Everyone seemed to be having fun," Harry chimed in. "You guys did a good job. I definitely think you should plan more dances."
"Thanks," Hermione said, relieved. "We both thought it was good, but I just wanted to see how other people felt."
They spent the rest of the night talking, until finally they retired to their dorms. Hermione and Ginny shared Ginny's large bed, and whispered until they could see light shining through the windows. They finally fell asleep, but they only got about two hours of sleep.
When Hermione and Ginny finally woke up, the entire girl's dorm was empty. Ginny loaned Hermione a blue miniskirt and yellow sweater, plus black boots. Ginny changed into jeans, a pink long-sleeved tee, and white kitten heels. They did their hair, and walked down to the Great Hall.
There was a commotion in front of the doors. A bunch of students were standing around in a circle, but Hermione and Ginny couldn't see what was going on. They pushed their way to the front of the group, and caught snippets of conversation. Hermione stopped when she heard her name, and turned to the third year standing next to her.
"What did you just say?" she asked the boy.
He looked up at her, a little afraid. "I-I just said that they're fighting over some seventh year. Granger, I think her last name was."
Hermione reached out behind her, not turning away from the boy, and grabbed Ginny's arm. She pulled the girl next to her. "Tell her what you just told me," Hermione ordered, pointing to Ginny.
"They're, um, fighting about some girl, Granger is her last name." It was clear that the boy was terrified.
"Who is fighting?" Ginny asked.
"Harry Potter and that Blaise guy," another third year chimed in. "Yeah, they've been going at it for, like, ten minutes. One of the prefects is trying to find a teacher, but I don't think he's having any luck."
Hermione and Ginny looked at each other for a beat before shoving their way past people. They finally got to the front of the group, and saw Harry and Blaise beating the shit out of each other.
"Stop it!" Hermione cried, but they ignored her. She turned to Ginny. "We have to do something."
"But what?" Ginny asked.
Suddenly, Dumbledore pushed past everyone, grabbed Harry and Blaise by the backs of their shirts, and carted them away. The students watched him walk off, the two boys struggling, until they were out of sight. The hall emptied out quickly, and Hermione and Ginny entered the Great Hall last. Most of the students looked at Hermione, but avoided her gaze. She and Ginny sat near the end of the Gryffindor table, closest to the door.
"Shit, Hermione, do you, like, wear a certain perfume that causes men to go crazy?" Ginny asked, her voice low.
Hermione smiled meekly. "I still can't believe they started fighting. I thought we had settled everything last night."
Ginny stood up suddenly, scanning the table. "What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
Ginny left their spot without saying anything, but returned seconds later with Ron. She sat him next to them. "Why were Blaise and Harry fighting?"
Ron sighed, looking at their faces. "Besides the obvious reason?" He looked at Hermione. "I don't know what happened. Harry and I were walking to breakfast, and Zabini came up to us. He said he wanted to talk to Harry, alone. I went into the Great Hall by myself, and, about five minutes later, they started fighting. They must have said things to each other, that the other one didn't like."
"I guess we won't know what happened for sure, until we can talk to one of them," Ginny said.
Hermione stood up. "I'm going to go. I'll try to find out what happened, and I'll be back in about an hour."
"How will you find them?" Ginny asked.
"You saw how bad they looked, right? They're probably going to go to the infirmary after talking to Dumbledore. I'll go wait there." Hermione hurried off without a look back.