Chapter 3: Breakfast, Banter and Little Red
The rest of the day was fairly peaceful for Hermione, despite her constant confusion over Draco. Luckily her constant thought throughout the day had worn her out so she slept a dreamless sleep, leaving her fresh and ready for the day when she woke up in the morning.
She knew that Harry and Ron both had a free period first thing so Hermione didn't bother to wait for them in the common room, letting them sleep in. She excited the portrait hole and got the shock of her life.
"Excellent." A disembodied voice said to her left. Hermione jumped a mile and pulled out her wand, eyes wide and wary, and her brain ticking over all the spells she knew. "Sorry." The voice said and Draco Malfoy appeared with a roguish grin on his face. "I was practising my invisibility charms."
"Well they worked." Hermione said her hand on her chest to calm her beating heart. "What are you doing up here anyway? Other than scaring the life out of me."
"I came to pick you up for breakfast."
"Why?" Hermione asked confused, effectively knocking the smile off Draco's neck.
"I was awake early. I was only going to walk you down there and I honestly have been meaning to practise invisibility charms." Draco looked so sincere that Hermione couldn't help but smile.
"I guess walking down with you wouldn't be so bad."
"Excellent." Draco repeated. "Let's go. I'm sorry about scaring you, that wasn't my intention but I figured I might get my balls hexed off if I waited for you visibly, especially if you came out with Potter and Weasley." The pair began to walk down the corridor.
"Well, Potter and Weasley are still asleep, they have a free period."
"Well then no worries of getting lynched before breakfast."
"Why, is that worse than getting lynched after breakfast?"
"Most definitely, breakfast is the best meal of the day." Draco grinned, winking at her. "I'd feel better about being lynched after breakfast, as I'd have the knowledge that I'd had a very good last meal."
"Yesterday, what did you mean when you said, that doesn't mean all the individuals are?" Hermione asked, unable to stop herself with her curiosity peaked and the opportunity ripe. Draco took a deep breath before he responded.
"It meant that I'm not close minded. My Father is, but I am not."
"How do you know?"
"I know because otherwise I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't enjoy your company and instead of wanting to kiss you I'd want to hex you." Draco fell silent and stared at the floor, unknowingly mimicking Hermione who was deep in thought at what she had just been told.
They stayed that way until they reached the doors of the great hall. Before they could enter, Draco grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her behind a large pillar.
"Look, I know I'm a lowlife Slytherin and your friends would freak, so would mine and my parents would curse me into next week, but Hermione Granger, I want to date you." Draco pulled Hermione's hand to his lips and brushed them softly along the surface. "I'm not asking for an answer right now, I'm asking you to think about it."
Draco walked away, into the great hall, for the second time in as many days leaving Hermione stunned.
"Where have you been?" Blaise asked when Draco sat down as the Slytherin table. "You left for breakfast half an hour ago."
"I took a detour."
"Where to? France?"
"No." Draco glowered at his friend, knowing that he wouldn't be left alone unless he told the truth. "I went to Gryffindor tower, to pick up Hermione."
"Where is she then?" Right on cue Hermione walked through the doors, her brows furrowed and walking into people from the lack of attention she was paying to her surroundings. Blaise watched as she almost sat down at the Hufflepuff table, as opposed to her own. Blaise snorted, "You certainly said something to her, alright."
"Wasn't it you who said and I quote: tell a girl anything to get them into bed?"
"Yeah, but you're trying to date her, not fuck her. Be careful what you say. See you second period." Blaise grinned in his usual way and excited the hall, at exactly the same time as a certain redheaded Gryffindor was entering.
"Little Red." Blaise said, effectively getting Ginny's attention.
"I don't appreciate nicknames from Slytherins." Ginny snapped, and stalked back out the great hall, her long hair its usual vibrant colour, her appetite curbed.
"Wait! Ginny, hold on." Blaise hurried after her.
"What do you want, Zabini?" Ginny spat his name, doing her best to show her contempt, her wand firmly clutched in her right hand.
"Look, there's a Slytherin party Saturday night and I am formally inviting you."
"Slytherins wouldn't want me there, I'm a blood traitor, remember?"
"I want you there and I'm a Slytherin. If anyone has a problem with it they can take it up with me. Plus it's a Slytherin party, everyone will be trashed they won't care who comes. I'll pick you up at eight on Saturday outside your common room." Not leaving any room for arguments, Blaise walked away down the dungeon stairs. As soon as he was out of sight and hearing range, he began to run. "Shit, I gotta plan a party. The things I do for sex." Blaise muttered before he said the password and entered his common room.
Walking through his common room, he grabbed Theo Nott by the collar and pulled him along into their dormitory.
"I need your help." Blaise winced as he spoke; he wasn't a fan of asking for help, even from his friends.
"What do you need?"
"I need a top of the range Slytherin party on Saturday."
"Saturday? But it's Thursday."
"This is why I need your help, Theo. Can you take care of advertising for me?"
"Sure thing, who are we inviting?"
"All Slytherins, of course and all other fifth years and up and naturally that includes people from other houses." Blaise grinned, this party would be good. Theo's eyes widened in shock.
"You have three days to plan this Blaise!"
"I can do it. Look you do the advertising and I'll get Draco to help with the booze tomorrow and we'll deal with the spells Saturday morning. Simple."
"I hope so. Good luck." Theo smiled and headed out of the dormitory to his first lesson, muttering spells on the way.
In her Charms class, Ginny was panicking. The Slytherin parties were legend in the halls of Hogwarts and the evidence was the number of Slytherin students who often turned up to lessons on a Monday with bad hangovers after an all-weekend party. And Ginny was invited. Formally.
Ginny smiled when Natalie MacDonald sat down next to her. Natalie was the only Gryffindor fifth year to have been invited to a Slytherin party recently, and she was also one of the biggest gossips in town. Natalie knew everything about everyone and every party.
"Hi, Natalie. Do you know if there is a Slytherin party on Saturday?" Ginny asked, as innocently as possible.
"In fact, I do. There is, but it's on the DL, very secret and very recent. I only know because Graham Pritchard invited me just before class. How do you know about it?"
"I got invited." Ginny said, hoping the subject would be dropped.
"By who?" Natalie asked immediately. "It's all fifth years and up, but it's quite short notice so people will probably only be there by invite."
"Blaise Zabini." Ginny muttered.
"No." Natalie's eyes were wide in disbelief. "Seriously?" Ginny nodded. "Oh this is exciting. God this is going to be fun. Graham's meeting me in the entrance hall at eight; you can come down with us."
"Actually, Blaise said he was going to pick me up outside the tower." Ginny winced as Natalie's eyes widened again.
"Seriously? Damn, I've never heard of such a thing." Flitwick walked in the room and Natalie was forced to be quite as he began to speak in his high-pitched voice.
In her seat, Ginny was slightly stunned; it didn't look like she was going to have much of a choice but to go to the party with Blaise. Immediately, Ginny's brain switched straight to what she was going to wear, after all she would have a common room full of Slytherins to impress.
Hermione stood outside her Arithmancy classroom conversing with Terry Boot about the previous lesson and the homework they had been set.
"It shouldn't be too hard. Anyway, I have to go; I have Care of Magical Creatures." Terry smiled and turned, hurrying down the corridor.
"Goodbye Terry." Hermione checked her schedule and began to head to Ancient Runes.
"Hermione! Mind if I walk with you?" Draco called, catching up and falling into stride alongside Hermione.
"Not at all, seeing as we are going the same way." Hermione did her best to instil nonchalance into her tone, but she was tense, she hadn't had a chance to come up with an answer for Malfoy yet, but she was leaning towards no, since she was dating Ron.
"Look, I want to invite you to a Slytherin party on Saturday." Draco said, breaching the silence.
"Oh." Hermione's mouth fell open in slight shock.
"It's all very last minute, Blaise only told me about it just before Arithmancy but do you want to go? I know that the Weasley girl, Ginny, is going with Blaise."
"Oh." Hermione said again, her brain struggling to catch up with this new development. "I suppose it couldn't do too much harm."
"Excellent." Draco grinned; he hadn't expected her to agree at all. "I've got to go catch up with Blaise, but I'll see you in Ancient Runes. Save me a seat." Draco winked and took a turning down a corridor to the left.
Hermione smiled and carried on down to their Ancient Runes classroom. She was slightly worried that more and more each day, she was considering taking Draco up on his offer and dating him as opposed to Ron, but she pushed that to the back of her mind. She needed to talk to Ginny at lunch.
When lunch rolled around, Hermione was waiting impatiently at the Gryffindor table. As soon as Ginny appeared in the doorway, accompanied by Luna, Hermione jumped up, mumbling her excuses to an inattentive Harry and Ron and hurried over to Ginny.
"Come with me." Hermione whispered to her friend and pulled on her hand, leaving her no room to argue. They excited the room, with Ginny whining about being hungry. Hermione opened the door to a small ante-chamber off the entrance hall and entered it, muttering two spells: one for the light and another to soundproof the room.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ginny asked with her hands on her hips, her temper flaring up again.
"I need to talk to you about the Slytherin party."
"Oh are you going?"
"Yeah, I was invited."
"By a Slytherin?" Ginny gasped "Who?"
"Draco."
"Malfoy?" Ginny's eyes were wide as Hermione nodded.
"Don't look so shocked I've heard from a very reliable source that you're going with Blaise Zabini."
"Who told you?" Ginny looked horrified that this gossip had already spread.
"Well, Draco, but th-"
"You've certainly been talking to Draco a lot." Ginny giggled and Hermione blushed, suitably embarrassed.
"Yes but I was thinking, is this cheating?"
"What, going to a party with them? No. It's what you do at the party that decides whether you cheat." Ginny smiled. "And if you don't mind, I think I'll go have lunch with my boyfriend, I'm starving." Ginny left the chamber, and a thoughtful Hermione.
"Looks like I'm going to a Slytherin party." Hermione said to herself as she undid her charms and left the chamber. "Could be quite the experience."
AN Just want to say thanks for the reviews :)