That night the boys came up the stairs they found the four girls all sat in a circle on the floor in the middle of the room. They sat around a large supply of chips, dip, chocolate solid and melted, Bertie Botts, fruit, nut and marshmallows, however it was not the large amount of food that grabbed the boys attention it was the large quantity of fire whisky that sat in front of the girls. Once case sat open in front of the girls, with four bottles removed and opened for each of the girls, whilst Hermione leant against four additional cases, stacked two high and one deep. Hermione sat with one arm resting on each stack, whilst clutching a half full bottle of fire whisky in her right hand.
"Well look who it is?" Hermione commented, noticing the boys' arrival.
"Oh look, the thorns in our sides." Pansy continued.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Harry asked, obviously shocked by the girls' attitudes.
"It's called 'I Never' Potter, and if you don't mind your interrupting our game" Millicent replied confidently.
"Like you four have ever done enough for it to warrant being a decent game" Blaise smirked.
"Well we would ask you to join us, if I thought you had the cajones" Hermione challenged.
"Never underestimate the size of my cajones" Draco replied planting himself between Pansy and Millicent, directly across from Hermione, and helping himself to a bottle of fire whisky.
Never ones to back down from a challenge the remaining in three boys grabbed a bottle of whisky and joined the circle, Blaise between Hermione and Pansy, Ron between Hermione and Ginny, and Harry between Ginny and Millicent. Pansy, Ginny and Millicent all raised their bottles in toast to a smirking Hermione, who took a swig from her bottle before placing it on the floor, with a devilish glint in her eyes.
"Let the game begin."
As the night drew on and the amount of alcohol, the boys were already starting to realise how much in common they had, and it was clear to tell that possible friendships were beginning to form, particularly after Harry and Draco both drank after Blaise said;
"I never wanted to change who I am."
The game was now focused on the 'I never's' of everyone's sex life, or in some cases lack there of.
"Ok, ok, I got one" Pansy exclaimed giggling "I never had sex with someone in this room."
At this Harry, Draco, Blaise, Ginny, Pansy and Millicent all drank, but what really shocked the group was the fact that Hermione drank and Ron did not.
"What the fuck? You cheated on me?" Ron exclaimed
"No, Ronald I did not cheat on you. You need to get over yourself if you think you're the only person I've ever dated, especially considering we were only together for about three weeks. But thanks at least I know what you really think about me."
"Oook, moving on" Harry said recognising the beginnings of a fight, "I never had sex at Grimmauld Place" realising that everyone in the group had at one point sought sanctuary at Grimmauld place either during or after the war, he smirked wanting to know who had had sex in his house.
This time only Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Draco drank.
"I never had sex with Hermione Granger" Ron yelled visibly glaring at Harry.
"Don't look at me you idiot, it wasn't me" Harry exclaimed
"But that only leaves… and Hermione would never…"
Both boys turned their heads just in time to see Draco take a swig of his drink his eyes locked with Hermione's, lowering his bottle to reveal a smug smirk, at the six shocked faces surrounding him.
"Damn!" Blaise whistled "I bet that was hot" Blaise looked up to find seven faces staring at him questioningly "What, common with the sexual tension between these two, the sex is bound to be hot." "Right?" He added between Hermione and Draco.
"Which time?" Hermione answered smirking.
"Well, how many times have you two had sex?" Blaise asked shocked, not expecting the reply.
"Um" Hermione replied thinking.
Harry, Ginny, Pansy, Blaise, Millicent and Ron, were all glancing between the two expecting an answer.
"Are you gonna answer the question or not?" Ron exclaimed clearly frustrated with the situation and brimming with anger.
"I'm counting" Hermione and Draco replied in unison, causing the pair to lock eyes before bursting out with laughter, which soon became infectious to the rest of the group, as Ron stood up and stormed out of the room.
"Should someone go after him, he seemed pretty pissed" Blaise asked.
"I wouldn't not unless you want to see him banging Lavender Brown over a desk." Hermione replied.
"Ok, and on that note I think I'm gonna go to bed." Ginny announced, closely followed by a chorus of 'Yeah's' and 'me too's'.
Later that night whilst everyone else was asleep, Hermione sat on the couch staring into the fire.
"Can't sleep?" Draco said coming down the stairs, wearing only his pyjama bottoms.
"Nah, can't seem to switch off" Hermione replied, hugging her knees causing her oversized t-shirt to bunch up around her thighs
"You too?" Draco asked sitting down beside her and taking in her off the shoulder shirt. "Look I didn't mean to…"
"It wasn't your fault" Hermione interrupted.
"I tied not to drink, but I couldn't stop it, I don't know what happened."
"The Fire Whisky was laced with Veritaserum; the first bottle you guys drank was anyway. We were just so frustrated with the way you guys were treating each other, we took some as well to make it fair" Hermione explained.
"That explains a lot."
"I'm sorry, I never meant for it to go that far." She apologised.
"Yeah, you never meant that for a lot of things." Draco said sourly.
Sighing, Hermione exclaimed, "Why do you do that? Why are you so convinced that I regret what happened between us?"
"Because you never talk about it, with anyone, the look on everyone's faces proved that. Besides you do? You do regret it, don't you" Draco replied turning his head away from her in frustration.
"No I don't, I have never regretted it." Hermione replied standing.
"Then why don't you talk about it?" Draco yelled rising to meet her.
"Hey, I get you guys have got issues, but if you keep screaming at her like that you and me are gonna have some issues, alright?" Harry interrupted coming down the stairs, Pansy following closely behind him.
Draco sighed flopping down in a chair, rubbing his hands through his hair.
"What exactly happened between you two?" Pansy asked glancing between Hermione and Draco.
The pair stared at each other neither of them really wanting to have this conversation, but both also realising that the conversation was both essential and inevitable. Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"The night Ron and Draco had that fight, at Grimmauld place, well that the night we first… you know. I was playing nurse, you know patching him up after what Ron did, we started talking, and…"
"The night of the fight?" Harry asked.
"Yeah" Hermione replied quietly.
"Merlin, Hermione that was over 18months ago, how could you not tell me?" Harry fumed.
"Wait," Pansy said putting her hand on Harry's arm, "how long were you two together?"
"2 weeks shy of a year" Draco replied, looking at Hermione.
"And how much of that was, just sex?" Pansy asked taking a seat, with Harry sitting beside her, "The full, almost, year or…"
"Two months, alright, two months" Draco replied sharply, before sighing and looking back to Hermione, who had sat down opposite him.
"Hermione?" Pansy questioned.
"Two months," Hermione replied softly, smiling to herself at the memory.
Draco couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face as he took in Hermione's expression.
"And how long was it before you realised you loved each other?" Pansy continued, causing both Hermione and Draco's heads to snap towards her, before quickly glancing at one another.
"Alright, forget that, what happened, I mean what ended it?" Harry asked realise that neither were comfortable with Pansy's question.
"What do you think happened? Given how stubborn we both are. We got into a fight, a big one, and err… we both stormed out, screaming obscenities and saying that we were over, except this time neither of us could swallow our pride and apologise. And before I knew it we were coming back here and Dumbledore was telling me that I was going to be living with him." Hermione explained, not being able to bring herself to meet Draco's eye.
"What were you fighting about?" Pansy asked.
"Weasley had seen us, looking like we didn't hate each other, and um…" Draco began.
"He accused me of being a traitor, saying that I might've just as well have made friends with Voldemort, given how I'd just betrayed you, Harry, and how could I consider myself any kind of friend if I was getting all 'pal-y' with Malfoy" Hermione continued.
"And when Hermione talked to me about it, I pretty much flipped and… well you know the rest" Draco finished looking at the floor.
"Wait, so you're telling me, that the reason the pair of you have pretty much been miserable this past 6 months is because of Ron?" Pansy exclaimed, "I can't believe this, I mean seriously you two, your Hermione and Draco since when have either of you ever taken that kind of shit?"
"Yeah, Hermione of got to agree, I've never seen you as happy as you were last year, and it was obviously because of Draco." Harry added.
"Seriously Draco, how could you best thing that happened to you, slip through your fingers because of Weasley?"
Draco looked up at Hermione, to find her smiling at him a slight blush in her cheeks, before her smile turned into a very Slytherin smirk.
"Right, um, do you two think you could give us some privacy, we some talking to do, you know things to work out." Draco said abruptly to Harry and Pansy.
"Yeah, course" Pansy replied.
"Sure" Harry said, joining Pansy as they both stood fighting the laughter, that was close to bursting from them, as the ran up the stairs. "Oh and err… keep it down" Harry smirked before disappearing at the top of the stairs.