"Malfoy? What the hell are you doing on the sofa?"

Malfoy? Light sears her eyes as she cracks them open. Ow. Draco is here? And whose voice was that?

"Hey, Weasley." A yawn stretches it out. "Oh, cheers."

"Need one of these, too?"

"Nah, the coffee is enough. Thanks. Hermione probably will though."

Hermione doesn't know what else is on offer in her living room, but coffee sounds brilliant. She rolls out of bed and her stomach rolls with her. Oof. There's a glass of water on her side table and she fumbles for it, gulping it down.

What time is it? Nine? Bugger, Pansy will be here in half an hour. Hopefully she's dragging Blaise and Theo with her, because Hermione's plan was to leave for Thorpe Park before ten. Her stomach takes another lurch.

"And how are you doing today?" Ginny's leaning against her doorframe, coffee in hand, unbearably smug.

"Not excellent." Hermione holds out a hand and Ginny passes her the coffee while twirling a vial.

"Hangover potion?"

"You're a gem." She downs it in one and follows it with a healthy gulp of coffee. "What's going on, Gin? Not that I'm complaining, but why'd you pop in?"

"Wanted to check on you. Haven't talked since you were at the pub with Zabini and told me you'd just gone out with Nott two days before. Now Malfoy's on your sofa and it was hard to miss the snogfest that happened last night in the corner. Then you got absolutely obliterated, so let's chat."

She hears a snort from the living room and Malfoy wanders up. She's annoyed to see that his rumpled appearance suits him, looking generally mussed and wrinkled like she's had him in bed when she clearly still hasn't. His dangling hair over his eyes can't hide the sleepy, slightly lazy air to him and he yawns again.

"You told Parks to be here at half nine, right? I need to change while you two talk. I'll be back soon."

Before Hermione can give him any sort of direction about what to wear, he's disappeared. Blast, she curses. He cannot wear a suit to Thorpe Park. Oh well, she'll transfigure his clothes into something better suited when he gets back.

"Pansy's stopping by soon? What are you lot up to today?" Ginny's interest is piqued, her eyes bright.

"We're going to Thorpe Park -" she begins, expecting to need to explain but Ginny squeals.

"No, you're not! Are you really? Can I come? Please?" Hermione's too shocked to respond and Ginny bulldozes onward. "My dad is obsessed with that place, but he's never been! None of us have! Oh, please bring me along. Who else is going?"

She's practically bouncing on her toes, making Hermione feel a little ill again. "Hold still, Gin. Of course, you can come."

Ginny tosses her another potion that Hermione identifies as a Pepper-Up. She downs that one too, twitching away from the peculiar feeling of the temporary steam rising from her ears.

"And it'll be us, Draco and Pansy, obviously, and Blaise and Theo." She sucks down more coffee gratefully, rising to start getting ready.

"Speaking of which," Ginny follows her into the bathroom, "are you on some sort of dating rotation, here? What's going on?"

Hermione cracks a smile, beginning to feel like a living, breathing, regular sort of person again. Clearly she hadn't been last night; there's more toothpaste around the sink than in it. She grimaces and reaches for the first potion bottle marked 'vitamins.' Ginny doesn't seem to pay any attention.

"Blaise and Theo were a prelude to Draco. He's had a crush on me for ages, and they were trying to provoke him into staking a claim. He still wouldn't, so they finally outed him."

Ginny tries to absorb this, still looking somewhat puzzled. "And now you're dating?"

Ignoring the phrasing that 'dating' implies 'not casual,' Hermione asks, "Is it dating if he sleeps on the sofa?"

"Why did he sleep on the sofa? Were you that drunk?"

"He slept on the sofa because he hasn't shagged me yet and wouldn't do it last night either. So I guess, yes, I was that drunk. Let me brush my teeth."

Ginny waits, not patiently, until Hermione finally spits and rinses.

"Would he have shagged you if you had been sober?"

"I haven't a sodding clue," she says, a little bitterly, and drinks more coffee. She winces at the combination of the coffee with the residual taste of toothpaste. Ugh. "I'd like to hope so. Maybe tonight; who knows?"

"What's his angle?"

Hermione yanks a shirt over her head. "He's trying to be all proper about it. His intentions are pure or some bollocks. I don't know."

"You'd rather they were less pure," Ginny states, not asking.

"Wouldn't you? Look at him."

Ginny snorts. "Fair enough."

"Did I see something almost happen between Draco and Ron last night? What was that?"

Ginny fidgets, uncomfortable. "Ron… well, obviously, everybody saw you snogging Malfoy. Ron didn't like it much. But it's none of his business anymore, and I told him so."

"Hermione?" she hears from the living room, interrupting Hermione's intended follow-up questioning of this topic.

"In here!" Ginny calls back but Hermione is already moving back out of her room. Almost time to go.

Pansy has a handful of hangover potions with her. "Oh, lovely, you're up and about. Hey, Weasley. Is this your doing?"

"Accidentally. Hey, Theo."

Theo dusts himself off as Blaise rolls out of the Floo. He freezes momentarily at the group already in the living room.

Ginny is surveying the lot of them, hands on her hips. "Alright, now, I don't think any of you have any idea what we're about to go do. Do you?"

Three sets of eyes turn to Hermione, who shrugs. "Muggle amusement park. Entertainment."

"Yes, but do you fully understand what sort?"

She shrugs again. "Doesn't make much of a difference to me. I hope there's lots of different sorts."

Ginny claps her hands, excited. "Brilliant. Now, I've never been, but my dad talks about Thorpe Park all the time. He's fascinated by it. The best of the best there are things called 'roller coasters.'"

Blank stares meet her. "Okay, I'll take care of this. I've heard a few things I think we should take into consideration."

She scans up and down Hermione, in shorts and a t-shirt. Pansy's dressier and Ginny tilts her head, considering. "You want trainers for this, Parkinson. And not a skirt. No, don't go back home. I can do it."

With a point of her wand, she fixes Pansy's clothes. The wizards have started to mutter and Ginny interrupts. "I'll do the two of you next."

Hermione isn't sure, but she thinks she sees a bit of concerned perspiration on Blaise's brow. Theo interrupts her train of thought.

"Shorts and trainers for us, as well?" And Ginny takes care of that, too.

In a flash of inspiration, she plaits Hermione's hair and weaves two Dutch plaits into Pansy's shorter hair, tying them off right near the witch's chin.

"What -"

"Trust me," Ginny says with confidence. "You'll look far less dishevelled at the end of the day this way."

"Hermione, what the hell are we about to go do?" Pansy asks, now worried. She casts looks over at Blaise and Theo, who shrug.

Draco steps back out of the Floo, in a perfectly distracting suit and Pansy starts to laugh. "That won't work, apparently."

He does a double-take at Hermione's legs and goes rather pale. He swallows hard and Hermione wonders if she'd been going the wrong route with her outfits up to this point. Theo elbows him in the ribs and says, "Muggle fashion isn't so bad, is it, Malfoy?"

Draco shakes his head in unison with Blaise, who, Hermione recognises, hasn't said a word since he arrived. Maybe he's hungover, too.

But Draco's clothes do require some modification. Hermione does the honours, transfiguring his trousers into shorts while Ginny begins to quickly plait her own hair by hand. Theo barks out a laugh as Draco splutters indignantly.

"We haven't seen Malfoy's knees since sixth year! They're so delicate and shapely! Look!"

She puts him in a t-shirt while he gives Theo a hard shove ("Couldn't you at least make it collared?" he whinges, tugging at the neck of it) and trainers, leaving his dress socks for last and trying not to laugh.

Theo tackles Draco around the neck from behind and Draco almost staggers into the sofa. He yanks back with one hand and grabs Theo's shirt, wrestling him off until they both begin to grapple. Ginny bounces up and down another time or two on her toes, then abruptly takes a peek down her own neckline.

"Hermione? Can I maybe borrow… a different over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder? I don't like transfiguring things near my tits or I'd just do that instead."

Theo stops wrestling at once and Draco flips him over his shoulder. He lands on his back on the sofa and Draco cheers. "Ha!"

Paying sole attention to Ginny's chest and not Draco claiming victory, Theo chokes. "A what?! Also, you were perfectly happy to transfigure things near our bollocks. I don't see the difference in value, myself."

Blaise is frozen wide-eyed, staring fixedly somewhere above Hermione's fireplace and nowhere near Ginny. Pansy's laughing now, too, and Ginny blushes a little. "I'm guessing that term never made into the upper echelons of pureblood society."

"No, I can safely say it hasn't," Pansy gasps, trying to control herself. "Why do you need a different one? Is it something I need, too?" She hops up and down a little, looking downward, the ends of her stubby braids moving along.

Theo doubles over laughing from his position upside down on the sofa, feet kicking in the air, and now Draco's surveying Hermione's chest with thinly-veiled interest. She declines to bounce in place on principle.

Ginny, trying to remain dignified in the face of such lexical fascination, says, "I've heard wearing a sports bra is helpful on roller coasters. More comfortable. I think mine today is ill-suited to the job and I don't want any bits and bobs spilling out. That's all." She hikes the straps up under her thumbs and shakes her head.

Blaise is beginning to sweat and Hermione tosses him a hangover potion. He juggles it briefly and gives her a quick half-smile.

"And what is a 'roller coaster'? Why would anything be spilling out anywhere?" Draco asks with suspicion.

"You'll see. And none of you three need to worry about this part anyhow. How about it, Hermione? Can I borrow one?"

Hermione ventures back into her room with Pansy close behind Ginny, and Ginny does a quick survey of the bra situation at hand. Hermione pulls out two sports bras for herself and Ginny while Ginny swaps Pansy's bra straps to a racer-back style for more support. "That should do it. I don't even know how much difference it makes, mind. But at least we're trying."

"What about wands?" Pansy says, looking at her short shorts dubiously.

"Won't need them," Hermione supplies. "All Muggles. But if you feel better having it, we could put an extension charm on a pocket, I guess."

"As long as you can still sit down," Ginny chimes in.

This unnerves all three wizards, who are obviously accustomed to forearm holsters for wands. In the end, eager to get on with things, Hermione transfigures a belt to work as a chest holster of sorts. That seems to satisfy them and two more belts are produced. Finally ready, Hermione looks around.

"Anybody else need another hangover potion, a Pepper-Up, or more coffee? Anybody need the loo? Right. Let's go."

"Hermione, have you lost your bloody mind?"

Pansy's hissed words float right over her, unnoticed. Hermione's gawping at the massive steel structure before them. Something with rows of seats and people fastened to it goes screaming by, so fast she could have missed it. Amazing! Her thick plait actually fluttered from the wind of it. She can feel her grin stretch from ear to ear.

Ginny grabs her hand, jumping in excitement. "Let's go! Where's the entrance?"

"Agreed, honestly, Hermione, I don't know about this," Theo rambles, staring upwards. "You Gryffindors are mental. We have a healthier sense of self-preservation."

"They don't sound like they're having fun," Pansy insists as the next apparatus literally screams past. "They sound like they're about to die."

Rolling his jaw, Draco cracks his neck to the side and looks down at her. He sighs and starts to walk. "Over here, it looks like. Come on, you lot."

"Really, Hermione, why are we all here?" Theo whinges and Draco claps him on the back of the head. "Ow!"

"Because I felt rather put out by last weekend. I was quite imposed upon and you all owe me."

"Even Draco?" Blaise asks, speaking for the first time all day. "Seems like you're less put upon lately."

"Even Draco," Hermione emphasises, narrowing her eyes at him. "Now, if he'd shagged me already, I might be less tetchy."

"So this is his fault, is it? Noted. If we die here, I know who to blame."

Draco shoves Blaise's shoulder with a hand, making the other wizard jog to the side. He ends up behind Ginny, who's practically dragging Hermione. She wriggles her wand out, casts a quick Notice-Me-Not charm on it, and pulls out some Muggle money. Pansy gives her an odd look as they approach the turnstiles to get in.

"Six, please," Hermione supplies, and when it comes time to pay, she winces. She'd been afraid of this when Ginny wanted to come, too. She doesn't have quite enough and she knows nobody else here has Muggle money. Furtively, she casts a quick, mild Confundus on the clerk and hears Draco muffle a low laugh.

"Hush," she whispers, stuffing her wand away. "I'm not proud of it."

"I think they're doing just fine for money, here," he assesses with a scrutinising look about. "I think you can forgive yourself."

"Where to first?" Ginny enthuses, looking around wildly with sparkling green eyes. "Where's the biggest one?"

"The 'biggest one' is Zabini over here," Theo says with a casual air and Draco snorts, covering it with a cough. Blaise looks embarrassed, a little shifty, and something strikes Hermione. She looks at Blaise from the corner of her eye, watching the wizard watch Ginny from the corner of his.

Ginny points to the northeast, and it seems as good a plan as any to Hermione. "Lead the way, then."

Blaise follows shortly behind and Hermione tugs Draco's arm as Theo and Pansy pass them by. "Does Blaise fancy Ginny?"

Draco stares, watching. "D'you know, he might. He's never said anything, though."

"Can't imagine why he would," Hermione rolls her eyes, "after how ruthlessly they treated you. Probably decided he'd rather suffer in silence."

Ginny is leading them on a direct path to something called 'the Swarm,' weaving through people as fast as she can. Hermione notices with approval she's hardly giving any of the others an opportunity to process that they're surrounded by Muggles, in a Muggle place, full of Muggle things. They barely even have a chance to look at what they're passing. Although she doubts Ginny's even thinking of it like that; the other witch is too excited to get to the good bits.

They approach a massive, crazy-looking steel contraption with more of those moving cars attached holding screaming people. But – Hermione blinks, hoping she saw it right as it blew past, their feet were dangling.

"Uh-uh," Pansy says, shaking her head and backing up a step. "Nope."

"Ginny," Hermione begins with a nervous look at the others, "maybe we should ease them into it. There must be smaller ones than this, yeah?"

"Nope," Ginny says, echoing Pansy with a bold look. "And if we do it, they have to do it. They can't let us do it and chicken out themselves. So let's go! Parkinson, you too. You'll be fine and without you, we can't properly shame the men."

Pansy grimaces, looking up with dread. "How does that thing work? Why don't they all plummet to their deaths? Do all Muggles have a secret death wish?"

"I'm sure some do." Hermione starts to walk, followed by Draco, Ginny (enthusiastic), and Pansy (reluctant). Blaise and Theo exchange a look and begin to drag their feet behind the rest. "But look at it this way – aren't you all braver than Muggles? Come on, they're all doing it."

"Shameless," Theo mutters.

"Harsh," Blaise grumbles, but Hermione knows that he won't stay behind if Ginny is going.

"I'm beginning to understand what you meant about the over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder, Gin," Hermione contributes as they reach the end of the queue to wait. "Bits and bobs could spill out all over. Although this looks like the ride holds us in by the shoulders, too."

"It had better," Theo stares up, "if our feet are dangling. Merlin's tits, Hermione."

Draco's eyeing a group of people skipping the queue. No one protests, Hermione notices, and she sees his eyes narrow as the group produces their tickets for scanning at a different kiosk.

"Can we do that?" he nudges her.

"Spot what it is that's different and we can replicate it, I suppose. Keep your eyes out."

He takes this task seriously and Hermione surreptitiously watches Blaise, more and more certain that she's right. He's standing closer to Ginny, now, although he's still not talking directly to her.

She tries to think if she's seen him interact with Ginny one-on-one. The pub nights are different, everybody with a drink, groups chatting, loads of noise. It's easy to have a distracted pseudo-conversation. Maybe it's just a recent thing. But either way, Hermione shifts until she's next to Ginny in line.

"How are things with Harry?" she asks in a low voice. Harry hadn't been at the pub last night and Hermione hasn't been paying much attention. Pansy leans on her other hip to get closer to the conversation, too.

Draco starts up a conversation with Blaise and Theo, although Hermione notices Blaise is trying to listen in. Draco's keeping one finger casually hooked in Hermione's back shorts pocket and she smiles.

"Well," Ginny sighs, also in a whisper, "he's taking that job in Finland."

"What?" Hermione gasps, forgetting to keep her voice down. Draco's finger tugs on her, but she ignores him. "I had no idea about that. When?"

"I thought I told you. Or that he told you. I don't know. It's been a whirl."

That easily could have happened, Hermione thinks guiltily. "You probably did, and I should have remembered. What job?"

"That coaching gig, the one for the Scandinavian Quidditch team. He wavered on it for a while but I don't want to move. Finally, we decided to take a break for a bit. We just… reached an impasse, I guess." Ginny looks off sadly, and Hermione regrets mentioning it. "Well, I don't know which came first, the impasse or the job offer. It's been… tough for a little while now."

"Gin, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I feel bad."

Harry's moving? Hermione's a little numb. But it's not as if they can't visit. And he's out there, living his life. It's different from Ginny's life, but he's still living it. Both of them are.

She feels quite odd.

They're nearing the front of the queue, now, the overhead speakers blaring a repetitious cycle of safety warnings. 'No loose items. Hats and sunglasses must be stored before the ride. No riders below 1.4m tall.'

Theo looks a little green and Hermione nudges Pansy. "Give him a bit of moral support, would you? You'll do better than that."

"Don't bet on it," Pansy grumbles, but goes and stands next to Theo anyway. "Come on, Nott. We can do this. The Gryffindors are doing it. Hell, the Muggles are doing it. The Muggles built the blasted thing."

"That's not reassuring in the way I think you intend. You can't honestly tell me that makes you feel better about it."

"Well, you're taller than 1.4m, and if kids that height can ride it, so can we."

"That's the spirit, Parks," Draco chimes in unexpectedly, tugging on Hermione's back pocket again. She leans back against him and he puts his chin on top of her head. His hands slide to her hips, his fingers tracing the hem of her shorts against her thighs.

"I figured it out," he murmurs into her neck and she fights the shivers that go down her spine. "They have a special mark on their tickets that lets them go ahead. Look." He gestures towards the next batch of people skipping the regular queue. Hermione does notice something different as they hold out their tickets for scanning.

Draco looks down at her ticket, dangling from a very silly-looking lanyard round her neck, like all of theirs. Glancing around, he withdraws his wand, shielding it with his body. He points it at her ticket and the mark appears on it, a green sort of icon near the bottom right corner. She grins and pulls over Ginny, then Pansy. The wizards follow.

"No queue next time," Draco smirks.

"Well, maybe a bit of a queue," Hermione acknowledges fairly. The group that just passed them still have a short wait, but it's significantly less than their own has been.

"Still, far less waiting. We can fit in a lot more while we're here."

"Oh, lovely, so we get to do more of these rides?" Pansy groans, looking a little green herself as they move closer to the front.

Ginny isn't even paying attention. Her eyes are locked on the cars of riders, unloading and loading fresh people from the queue. Most are hooting with excitement, grinning and slapping hands. The riders exiting the ride look overwhelmingly windblown and exhilarated, wide-eyed and dishevelled, and Hermione can't wait.

"Thanks for the plait, Ginny," she says, acknowledging for the first time how crucial that bit probably is. Ginny grins over her shoulder at Hermione as the next car of passengers moves off towards the insanely steep steel hill going up, up, up, feet dangling in the breeze.

"This is insane," Draco says in her ear. "I think Nott might faint."

"Then you and Blaise have motivation not to," she quips. "Looks like we ride in twos. Pansy, are you in charge of making sure Theo doesn't faint?"

"Sure, sure. Unless I do first, you know."

"Not allowed. Ginny, you've got Blaise, over there?" A sly prompt, and Draco pokes her in the side. She flinches away, giggling.

They're at the front at last. Hermione and Ginny both take a symmetrical survey of their group, making sure no one is about to bolt as the next car pulls into the station and unloads its cargo.

"Really, Hermione?" Pansy groans with a wince as she makes her way to her designated seat next to Theo, and Hermione and Ginny answer in unison.

"Yes!"

Blaise hasn't said a word and looks alternately thrilled with his good fortune at sitting next to Ginny, determined not to pass out next to her, and dread at his potentially imminent death. The shoulder restraints come down over their heads and he grips them for dear life as the Muggle attendant checks and doublechecks the safety latches.

Hermione looks at Draco, grinning wildly. She grabs her own shoulder restraint, locked solidly in place against her torso, and wishes she could turn round to see the others.

"I don't think I've ever seen you look this excited," he says loudly, over the latest safety warning they've been hearing on repeat for half an hour. "And I've been paying attention a long time."

"He has," shouts Pansy from behind and to her left, a slight gurgle in her voice. "He really has. Hermione, if we die on this…"

"If we die on this, Draco will wish he'd shagged me first!"

The floor drops below them to allow their feet to hang and she hears Pansy shriek. The car starts to move and Ginny lets out a whoop.

"Crazy fucking Gryffindors," Theo moans as the car begins to climb the steel hill. "Mental, fucking suicidal, this isn't bravery. This is…"

"Shut it, Nott!" Ginny yells happily. "You big baby, Zabini isn't whinging like you!"

Hermione laughs, feeling the wind in her hair as they reach the crest of the hill. She hears Draco mutter, "Zabini and I have slightly mad witches to impress," and looks over to see his jaw a little tight.

"Look down!" shouts Ginny at the very top, and Hermione hears a chorus of groans.

The car tips the hill and falls downward, turning them right into a corkscrew. Pansy's high-pitched scream from behind them nearly bursts Hermione's eardrums.

The sun flashes in her eyes as they turn and she feels the force of their speed against the backs of her eyeballs. The rest of the ride is lost in a haze of screaming and wind gasping down her throat every time she opens her mouth. She's desperately grateful her hair isn't loose and pledges to buy Ginny's lunch today in appreciation.

It's over too fast, far too fast, and they're coming to an abrupt slowdown to wait and disembark the car. But the benefit to it being fast – they can do loads more. And Draco fixed the queue hiccup!

They unload in a jumble of hopping and staggering and stumbling, and Draco wraps an arm around her shoulders.

"Alright, that was pretty great. But do you still hate flying?"

"On brooms? Absolutely." She shudders.

Ginny's chosen their next heading and Hermione's perfectly happy to trust the other witch's judgment. She follows along without further comment, glancing over her shoulder to check that none of their other three are unconscious or vomiting. Nope; full headcount present, and they're all trudging along to the next ride, too.

"It's better than that, though," Draco insists. "I can show you."

"No, thank you. I never trust I'm not going to fall out of the sky. There are no shoulder harnesses or safety restraints up there, you know."

"No, I'm the safety restraint up there, thank you. And it's my magic keeping the broom in the air. How can you trust this… this Muggle thing, over my magic?"

This is probably a fair comparison. Hermione's forced to think about it.

"I don't know yet. By the end of the day, maybe we'll see." She wrinkles her nose at him and runs to catch up with Ginny, following signs towards something called 'Stealth'.

"My dad's talked about this one," she's saying loudly to the others. "One of the tallest and fastest in the UK! He's no idea how it works!"

"Taller and faster than the one we just did?" Pansy squeaks and Ginny beams, thrilled.

"This is brilliant," Ginny says through a mouthful of funnel cake, sugar dusted across her chin. "I can bring Dad back for his birthday and actually know my way around. He'll lose it. He's always wanted to come, but, well -"

She shrugs and Hermione understands. Mr Weasley has always been a bit overexcited around Muggle things. Being here without a guide of sorts to navigate things - more than just the park map - could be a disaster. Ginny can manage nicely now.

"Thanks for the snacks, Blaise."

Blaise had no reservations whatsoever about Confunding a Muggle manning one of the little food kiosks. They are positively gorging on rubbish and Hermione took special notice of Blaise carefully delivering Ginny's requested sugar-piled plate. Ginny, for her part, looks down at her white-tipped fingers.

"I'm making rather a mess of things, aren't I?"

"The music here isn't bad," Pansy comments, gnawing on a salty pretzel.

Theo scoffs. "This? Muggle nonsense. It's frivolous and horrid."

"It's upbeat and energetic," Ginny says, agreeing with Pansy. "What's with you, Nott? You're such a grump. You'd think we were torturing you."

"Theo can pick the next ride," Hermione offers. "Off name alone. Let's see…" she turns around, looking for a directional sign of what's on offer. "'Vortex,' 'Samurai,' 'Tidal Wave,' -"

"That sounds watery. I'm not getting wet," refuses Pansy immediately, vetoing the last.

Theo is looking more interested. "Well, that's my pick, then. Tidal Wave it shall be. We are shattering every comfort zone here, today."

"You're such an arse, Nott. Can't believe you want wet pants and shorts the rest of the day."

"Are you a witch or aren't you? Dry thyself, Parkinson."

Ginny deposits the last of her funnel cake in the next bin they pass and takes a running start to Blaise. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she jumps onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Blaise makes a funny sort of half-stagger, half-freeze in surprise before looping his arms under her knees to hold her on his back. "What the hell are you doing, Weasley?"

"I've never seen you so quiet, you weirdo. Aren't you having fun? You're not acting like Theo over there, like we're actively trying to kill him, but -"

The residual sugar on her fingers leaves white powdery tracks on his black shirt and she giggles. "Whoops. Sorry."

Blaise, evidently deciding he's been too reserved today and is drawing suspicion, turns his face to her arms around his neck. He sticks his mouth around one of her fingers and sucks off the remaining sugar, and Ginny squeals.

"Sorry," he shrugs beneath her grip, "but you've got them right there."

Hermione thinks Ginny's more playful than flirtatious, but she's happy to see it either way. Blaise's whole demeanour has lit up.

Theo launches himself onto Draco's back unexpectedly, clambering on with knees and elbows akimbo.

"Nott, get the hell off me!"

"My fingers need licking," Theo insists, trying to shove one inside Draco's mouth.

"Take it up with Parks. Maybe she'll do you a favour if you don't make her ride the water ride. Gerroff!"

Pansy pulls a face. "Ooh, not likely."

Draco begins trying to forcibly remove Theo, who's now attempting to stick his little finger up Draco's right nostril. "Bogey hunting!"

"Theo," Hermione says sweetly, "would you mind getting down so I can have a ride, by chance?"

Draco stops wrestling long enough to shoot her a grateful look and Theo dismounts at once.

"Of course, my lady. I'd be happy to let you ride me anytime."

He stoops to ostensibly allow Hermione on his back and Draco trips him instead. "Tosser."

Hermione hops onto Draco's back and he hoists her up with his hands under her knees. "Much better," he sighs.

"Well, I'm half his size, for one thing," she comments fairly, "and for another, I promise not to shove my finger up your nose."

"Not something I ever expected to hear from a woman perched on my back, but I appreciate it. You can put them in my mouth though, if you like."

"Maybe later. If you finally let me."

She hopes he will. She's getting new exposure to his back – hard and muscley – and his shoulders – sexy and broad. She grips a little with her legs and rests her chin on his shoulder.

"Do stop trying to seduce me. I realise I didn't give you much reason to trust on this front, but I'd like to be in charge of something. I'm supposed to be the seducer, here."

"I don't think this bit counts as much of a 'seduction' either way. At least not in public," Hermione notes with a fair bit of regret.

"Tell that to Zabini, over there." They both glance at Blaise and Ginny. Hermione thinks she can hear Ginny talking about her dad and his obsession with the amusement park. "He's as happy to be touching her legs as I am to be touching yours. Muggles do have their apparel nicely sorted."

"You could have touched them before now, you know."

"I'm blatantly aware, thank you," he replies dryly, stroking the backs of them lightly with his fingers. She shivers and presses her lips to his neck. He steps slightly further from Theo and Pansy before saying, "I'll shag you into next week. You may or may not be walking properly at work. It'll be up to you whether or not you can even speak properly when I'm done with you."

In the face of this, Hermione's having trouble speaking properly now.

"Promises, promises," she manages at last and feels his shoulders shake with silent laughter.

They come off Tidal Wave properly drenched, Pansy having shrieked curses at Theo the whole way down the giant water-fuelled hill. She stomps into the ladies' loo conveniently located right off the ride's exit, fuming, and Hermione wrings out her long plait as they follow. Ginny shoves Pansy into one of the toilet stalls, the large one at the end that can accommodate all three of them.

Hermione's fastest to her wand and dries them all off, wondering how much more Ginny would like to do here today. Her own motivations have shifted a bit, after Draco's declaration, and she hardly dares hope he meant tonight.

"I think there's one more dangly one," Ginny informs them. "'Nemesis Inferno'? Oh, there's a sign. It's that way."

The general grumbling of the group has ceased, Hermione's pleased to note. The roller coasters are quite fun and Hermione thinks she'd like to return here again. She knows Ginny would be on board.

But now…

They wait in the short queue for Nemesis Inferno, thanks to their fast-track access, and Draco can't stop touching her. Sometimes it's the finger hooked in her back pocket or a belt loop. Sometimes he traces the hem of the shorts against her thighs. He tucks flyaway curls escaping from her plait behind her ear.

He hops up to sit on one of the queue barriers and pulls her back between his legs. She leans back happily; it's been a long day and she's tired. No longer hungover, no, but even so: being that drunk doesn't lend itself to quality sleep.

She's not even paying attention to the others talking around them, but he stills his absent ministrations. Hermione realises Pansy's speaking to Ginny in a low voice about Ron.

"So what's going on with your brother?"

Ginny looks at Pansy with a wry smile. "Which one?"

"The one who was being a giant prat at the pub last night."

"Oh, you know…" Ginny sighs, casting Hermione a cautious look. "I think he's just trying to look out for her. Or maybe he's just offended with how our lovely Hermione has been moving on past him. Bit hard to tell."

"He doesn't want to get back together, does he?" Pansy, unlike Ginny, is oblivious to the fact that the others are now listening intently.

Ginny's face says she isn't at all sure, one way or the other, and Hermione chimes in.

"If he does, it's because he still wants the girl he knew in school. Actually, Ginny, I think what he wants is someone like your mum."

Theo snorts behind a hand but Hermione keeps going. "He wants someone to stay at home and raise a small Quidditch team."

"A rubbish Quidditch team," Draco grumbles and Ginny swats him.

"Excuse you. I'm quite good, thank you."

"So it was your work schedule that did it?" Blaise asks her curiously, derailing the Quidditch debate before it can devolve.

Hermione shifts her weight, hoping Draco will start stroking her skin again with a bit of a prompt. She's realising she can't imagine being here with Ron. Draco's hands feel like the right ones on her. She's loving the secure feeling of being tucked up close to him, comforted in the face of his absolute adoration. She shouldn't and it makes her feel guilty all over again, but she shoves this to the side.

Stotch and Kingsley keep telling her to live. But what does it mean to live, anyway? Right now, it's leaning back against this strong chest, feeling his arms around her, waiting to ride another death-defying steel contraption engineered by genius Muggles and surrounded by her unexpected set of friends.

She takes the plunge of the conversation before she can second-guess herself. "It didn't help. But I think the final straw, among other differences, was me telling him I wanted to be tied up in bed."

Ignoring the generally shocked reactions this provokes across the group, Hermione sighs. "He said it was degrading and he couldn't understand why I'd want to do that – or have him do it to me, specifically. I don't know which part was the core of the complaint. He was, ah… quite appalled."

Pansy recovers fastest, as they've danced around this general topic of discussion plenty. "I thought you were getting too dominant for him in bed."

"Well, yes. But that usually took the form of me telling him exactly what I wanted from him. It was all rather experimental." With a nod at Theo, she says, "We've been stepping outside comfort zones today. Well, I pushed and shoved Ron right outside his. Sorry to inform you, Gin, but your brother is quite conservative. Traditional. Well, one of them, anyway; I don't know about any of the others, you'll be glad to know."

"Apology not accepted. That was a frightful amount of detail. And I'm not at all soothed by the implication that he's like our mum and dad," Ginny says as they reach the front of the queue at last.

Hermione is equally relieved to reach the end of the conversation. Blaise and Theo are goggling at her, mouths agape and Draco is behind her. She's glad for that, just now. She doesn't want to know what he thinks about it. Not yet.

"Close your mouths before you draw flies," Pansy snaps at the other two wizards, clambering into a seat next to Theo and wrangling with the over-the-head restraint. "It looks like you're all a bunch of prudes. Adapt, won't you?"

"No, Pans, they just all expect me to be the same Hermione Granger from Hogwarts. Just like Ron," Hermione says, but without rancour.

"Stupid fucker," Draco says, with rancour, and she can't stop a grin.