Chapter 35

Hermione and Ginny did indeed uphold Reece's request. It may have been a little longer than ten minutes but they had to sneak up there after all. He had to be a pain and choose the one place that was out of bounds – but Hermione couldn't blame him for that. The meeting had to be secret after all.

"He does not!" Hermione snapped in denial as they carefully made their way up the stairs.

"I'm telling you, he does." Ginny continued to badger. The two had been throwing comments at each another since Ginny's initial comment about Reece fancying Hermione, and it was most certainly not over once the two reached the top of the staircase. The girls stepped out into out of bounds area, spotting Reece leaning suavely against the railing admiring the view and made their way over to see why he had asked them up here so suddenly.

"How are my two favourite girls?" He asked cheekily as Hermione took a spot on his right and Ginny took one of his left. Hermione appeared unimpressed by his comment – which was what he had expected, whereas Ginny seemed to be rather amused.

"Good thanks." The redhead replied, smiling apologetically at Reece when Hermione refused to answer. "We haven't spoken in ages!" Ginny droned on, dragging out her words so that Hermione would soon become agitated. "How are you at the moment?" Reece turned his head and glanced at Ginny for a second. She had this mischievous look on her face that was telling him to play along, and even though he didn't know why, he knew it was in some way connected to Hermione.

"I'm doing alright actually," Reece replied pleasantly. "Everything's fine with Malfoy and them lot, even though I got a bit of a roasting for helping out yours truly." He nodded his head at a stern faced Hermione. She was acting a bit off, Reece noted. Perhaps it was because the last time they had spent time together it was because she was in tears. Or maybe something was just getting under her skin today. Gosh, what if it was as Pansy Parkinson so eloquently described: that time of the month? "I also had a chat with Daphne about the end of summer – turns out Yaxley had sent the Greengrass family a letter and luckily Daph and Astoria covered for me, so that's all fine as well I guess." Reece continued speaking to the redhead as Hermione didn't seem to be up for a conversation. "So I suppose everything's fine at the moment. How about you Granger?" He asked, keeping all cheekiness out of his voice as he did so. "Anything new? Anything you wanna get off your chest?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking about that article." Hermione said in a tone of annoyance.

"I recall reading that." Reece turned to Ginny, giving her a look of question. The redhead simply shrugged and continued to look out over the grounds, taking in the stunning view as Hermione burst out into a rant.

"I mean – what complete and utter rubbish. I can't stand that woman; she writes all sorts of silly lies and people believe them. Me and Harry together? He's like my brother and just because I'm spending a lot of time with him because he and Ron are arguing-" Hermione stopped suddenly, watching as Reece's eyebrows rose because of her mention of the ongoing conflict.

"Those two are fighting? When did this happen? Over what?" Reece asked. Sympathy seemed to be in his tone for some reason. But it wasn't for them. No, no, no. It was for her. Because it was obviously taking a huge toll on her and those two idiots were too selfish to realise.

"My brother has decided that he's a bit jealous of Harry." Ginny stated, receiving a glare from Hermione that told her to be quiet.

"But honestly it's nothing." Hermione told him in attempt to cut the conversation short.

"Doesn't sound like nothing." He commented, removing his forearms from the railing and moving away from the edge. Reece began walking slowly, placing his hands in his pockets as he walked round the room in circles. "It sounds like it's hurting you Granger, and you know what I'm like when I see a 'stunningly pretty'," Quoting Skeeter's article was incredibly tempting and Reece just couldn't help himself. "Girl in distress." Ginny turned to look at him and he couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as he examined the smug smirk that was plastered to her lips. "What's got you all smug little red?"

"Don't call me that." Ginny snapped, the smirk not leaving her face. "And I was just thinking about something I said to Hermione earlier," One of Reece's eyebrows rose in question as Hermione spun round and smacked her friend roughly on the arm.

"Ginny." Hermione warned, an embarrassed blush rising up her neck as the youngest Weasley snickered. Ginny had grown up with many older brothers after all, and she was therefore excellent at teasing.

"What?" The redhead asked innocently as Reece stopped himself a few feet in front of the two girls.

"You know what." Hermione snapped.

"Oh," Ginny said as if she were clueless. "Well I think I'll ask him anyway," Reece watched the two blankly, noticing that Hermione now appeared to be incredibly confused whereas Ginny still looked as if she was enjoying herself immensely. "Reece I was wondering – do you think Hermione's pretty?"

"Absolutely." He replied without a second of thought. If he was internally regretting his decision, Reece didn't let it show. Instead he gave Granger a wink, smirking at her as her jaw fell in shock. Ginny was most amused. She would have been after all, as her plan was unfolding exactly as she had wanted it to. "I know a naturally pretty witch when I see one little red, don't look so amused. She doesn't cake it all on like Tracey Davis does – she isn't orange faced and honestly Granger-" He turned to talk to Hermione specifically. "-only a fool would ignore the fact that you're nice to look at."

"I swear to god if you call me little red again I'll hex you so bad you'll be in the hospital wing until Christmas." Ginny threatened feistily as Hermione continued to stare at him in shock. "You just said Hermione's nice to look at." She squealed suddenly and Reece frowned. She'd just manipulated him. He knew a manipulator when he saw one and Ginny had most certainly been playing a game since she had got there.

"Nothing to say Granger?" Reece questioned smoothly as he unconsciously brought his hand up to rub his jaw. She still didn't speak; her face was nearly as red as Malfoy's when he got angry and the embarrassment was clear. Granger wasn't used to getting compliments. But Reece would soon change that, because she deserved to be complimented. "It's not just my attention you've captured you know. Krum finds you most interesting; why do you think he sits in the library so much?" Now it was Ginny's turn to be shocked as well – the youngest Weasley was a Quidditch fan and his mentioning of Krum had thrown her off her game.

"Ooh Hermione," Ginny squealed once again, grabbing the arm of her friend excitedly pulling the older Gryffindor out of her thoughts. "This is like one of those romance books. The handsome Slytherin aristocrat," She gestured to Reece. He didn't appear very happy with her labelling and the direction of which this conversation was turning, but she continued nonetheless. "Or the famous Quidditch star. Who will you choose?" Hermione had now regained most of her wits, and she shot Reece an apologetic look before glaring at the girl beside her once again.

"Ginny stop being so ridiculous." She said firmly. "Reece just answered the question you forced on him, you can't just jump ahead like Rita Skeeter and act like this is a love story, or something." Although the comment was harsh Ginny had been expecting it – she had riled her friend up after all, and she knew what to expect.

"Handsome Slytherin aristocrat, Ginevra?" Reece asked in the most pompous voice he could put on, even using her full first name for effect. "If I didn't know any better I'd say that you're heading somewhere with this."

"Well I was until Hermione stopped me." Ginny replied sassily.

"She's not stopping you now." Reece nodded, gesturing for her to continue as he gave Granger another smirk.

"I was just going to say that the 'us against the world' stories are the best and if you two were together it would be…magical."

"And life threatening." Hermione added tensely as Reece nodded his head slightly confirming that the bookworm was correct.

"I knew it!" Ginny suddenly shouted. "Neither of you denied actually wanting to be together, you just said that if you were it would be bad. I knew it, I knew it, and I knew it." She was celebrating, leaving the other two standing speechless as they stared each other down. Reece looked at Hermione just as she looked at him, but his gaze wasn't as intense as hers. He felt as if she was stripping him down, all of his feelings and thoughts were open to her just because of his eyes and Reece had never felt so transparent. "When we were at home and I sat with you two for the first time it was like I saw this spark floating between you – you're so good for each other and you have similar interests and you're both smart and it's just meant to be."

"Call me pessimistic, but I don't see this 'spark' floating between us." Reece said coolly.

"Well neither do I." Hermione jumped in, her speech even colder than Reece's as she folded her arms defensively.

"Well now that's settled," Reece said, his voice appearing quite dark and deeper than it had been. "And we've established that there's no 'spark', I need to be somewhere, so I'll be off." Reece turned away from them and began walking, allowing the hurt he was feeling to finally appear on his face. Ginny had really been trying. She'd tried too hard though, bless her Weasley heart. Reece couldn't help but feel anxious as he began moving down the stairs; he and Granger were never going to be the same. It was too awkward now.

"I can't believe you did that Ginny." Hermione said once they were sure Reece was out of earshot. "We're really close friends – we've never crossed the line of friendship or anything and now it's going to be really awkward between us. Who knows," She complained rather dramatically. "Perhaps he'll suddenly freak out over the fact that I'm muggleborn and we'll never talk again-"

"Merlin, Hermione," Ginny sighed exasperatedly. "Did you see the way he looked at you?" Hermione nodded, still angry and upset with the whole situation. "I just gave him a push to admit that he keeps an eye on you. He does it every day 'mione, you just don't see it. Whenever Reece is in the hall at the same time as us he's always flicking small glances at our table – at you. None of his friends see it, because it's really discreet, but you've just got to know to look for it and then you notice it. He might have just walked out then but I swear to freaking god that was a defence mechanism because he really, really likes you."

"You've put a lot of thought into this." Hermione huffed as she digested Ginny's words. "Do you really think he likes me, you know, like that?"

"I've put a lot of thought into it because it's honestly killing me watching you two dance around each other when you'd obviously be so much happier together. I might have overdone it just now-"

"Might?"

"-and I might have pushed you both a little too far and made Reece really uncomfortable, but after today he'll soon come to his senses, and then he won't be able to stop thinking about you. You'll be on his mind twenty four hours a day and-"

"Ginny this is not a romantic novel!" Hermione near enough shouted, bursting into laughter along with Ginny after a few tense seconds. "Seriously," Her tone had suddenly changed to one of worry and doubt. "What if he doesn't have any feelings for me at all? And how do I know that if I get my hopes up he won't just knock me down?"

"Because he looks at you the same way my dad looks at my mum." Ginny said softly. "That's why I'm going to do everything in my power to get you two together, because love like mum and dad's is rare, and seeing it between you two- you both make each other really happy, and Reece deserves a little more happiness, don't you think?"

The day of the first task eventually arrived and the school was buzzing. Reece tried to stay optimistic as he was having breakfast with Fleur and had to do his best not to mention anything about danger to keep her nerves at bay. Juliette, Fleur's bombshell of a friend, didn't seem to grasp the concept of not worrying the French champion, and consequently let the words 'you could die' slip out of her plump lips. It was safe to say that Fleur was a nervous wreck when Madam Maxime appeared to take her student to the champion's tent, and once Fleur was out of sight Danielle began scolding Juliette for her lack of sympathy. Reece sat amused during their friendly spat as he ate his large breakfast.

"No one died," Millicent Bulstrode had stated the obvious to Reece not long after Potter collected his golden egg. "And that's a reason to celebrate." She had then hinted to Reece and Theo as she clung onto Goyle's arm in a way that looked incredibly uncomfortable.

As the clock struck midnight, Reece, Theo, Millicent and Goyle made their way down to the common room and waited patiently for the last group of Slytherin sixth years to retire to bed. Most of them did as it reached half past twelve, but Adrian Pucey stuck around and once Reece nodded to Millicent she whipped out the two bottles of firewhisky that had been hidden under her lime green bathrobe. She handed one of them to Reece for himself, Theo and Adrian to share – keeping a bottle for herself and Goyle. Both of the caps were popped simultaneously as Adrian spoke.

"You fourth years sure know how to have a late night sesh." Pucey said as Reece took the first swig from the bottle. He did his best not to grimace as the bitter liquid burnt the back of his throat as he passed the bottle over to a slightly hesitant Theo.

"Don't chicken out now Nott." Goyle chided, pulling Millicent onto his knee and drinking from the bottle that she was pressing to his lips. Theo gave in to the comment, drinking a moderate sized sip before passing the bottle over to Pucey.

"So we all just gonna sit in silence or what?" Reece questioned as the bottle returned to him. After downing about a quarter of the bottle in one, he moved to the empty sofa and flopped down onto it, lying on his back so that he could look up at the ceiling. He wasn't at the sick stage, but the quick consumption had moved him onto the dizzy stage. Adrian wandered over, taking the bottle from Reece's hands before returning to his armchair.

"Until we get drunk enough." Millicent finally replied, taking a drink from her bottle while subtly running her free hand up and down Goyle's body in a way that appeared to be flirty. "And when we are drunk enough, I suggest we play a game or have a chat." The five continued to drink right up until both bottles were empty. By that time Goyle and Millicent were snogging sloppily while Adrian danced around the room, making Theo cackle and Reece snigger at his drunken antics.

"I wanna, go forawalk." Reece slurred to Theo, trying to get up from his comfortable position on the floor and smacking his face on the coffee table accidentally. "Oww…" He moaned as he cupped his jaw. Adrian and Theo burst out laughing, not caring that they could wake anyone up with their roaring cackles. "Shutup you wankers." There was a bit of blood running down his chin, but he didn't notice it or even feel the pain in his mouth. Reece stood up – this time successfully – and began stumbling his way over to the portrait. Only when the portrait swung open did he feel two hands on his shoulders, pulling him backwards.

"Wow, mate," Adrian paused to burp. "You can't go out. Filch'll kill you, and you're drunk."

"But I just wanna go and see her." He whined, swaying on the spot and giving Adrian the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.

"Who?" Adrian asked as he pulled Reece back again. "Fleur?"

"Just let me goooooooo…"

"No."

"Please." Reece slurred, patting Pucey on the shoulder in some sort of friendly gesture as his attention moved to the snogging couple. "I really need her." Adrian sighed as he looked to the open portrait in thought. "She makes me-" A drunk hiccup cut up his words. "-forget about all thebadshit I'm thinking about."

"If you get caught, don't you dare, drop me in shit." Adrian said seriously, gripping Reece's shoulders tightly before releasing them completely and wobbling back over to a hysterical Theo.

Somehow Reece managed to avoid Filch and Mrs Norris all together. His enemy on his trip was in fact the many sets of moving stairs that confused him to no end. In the state Reece was in all he saw was blurs as they moved and at one point he even tripped up a set, falling onto the hard stone and struggling to pull himself up using the banister. Eventually at around two o'clock he managed to find the right painting. But unfortunately for a drunken Reece, The Fat Lady was sleeping, snoring loudly as he stood in front of her.

"Oi, woman." That may not have been the best choice of words but Reece's filter was gone and anything that came to mind poured out. The Fat Lady stirred in her sleep but did not wake up, leaving Reece to sway on the spot as he glared at the painting. "Fat Lady." One eyelid peeped open; then the other followed. "Yo." She looked down at him coldly, her lip curling up in distaste when she noticed the colour on his Hogwarts robes.

"A Slytherin." The Fat Lady sighed dramatically. "A Slytherin in the middle of the night." Her tone was one of complaint and Reece rolled his eyes before losing his balance and stumbling to the right slightly. "Oh lord, what have I done to deserve this?" She continued, placing her hand to her head and pretending to faint.

"I need to- I need to speak to one of your girls." Reece garbled, falling against the structural support beside him and leaning on it to keep him on his feet. "Please, let me see her." The Fat Lady stared down at him blankly for a brief moment before snorting.

"Who?" She questioned dubiously.

"Hermione Granger."

"I really don't think she'd appreciate being woken at this ungodly hour!" The Fat Lady replied immediately, not bothering to conceal her shocked expression that had appeared upon the mention of the Gryffindor princess' name. "And I also don't think that she'd want to see you either." She said harshly. Reece simply glared at the painting, his eyes making her large form blur slightly so that he could see two of her.

"You don't think she wants to see me?" He asked the woman quietly. Reece's mind was running as fast as the speed of light now; and the main thought that appeared was the talk with Ginny and Hermione. Ginny had mentioned a spark, but the two of them had shot down her suggestion without second thought. Reece hadn't spoken to Hermione since and he really, really wanted to speak to her. The firewhisky had just given him the extra push to go see her.

"No, I don't think she does." The Fat Lady shot back sharply. "Off with you then," She waved her arm briskly at Reece as he let go of the banister beside him. "Off with you, you drunken scoundrel!"