A/N: Not what I wanted to do in this chapter, but I thought it would be fun to see what the others were up to. We'll get some more detailed adventures later, too.

Also, Ginny is my favourite character in this story. Many thanks to Monica Forte for reminding me to include her. :)

—

Harry could see his own epitaph clear as day. 'Hero of the Wizarding World, Slayer of All Evil. Died too young, in search for some dim sum. May he rest in peace.'

Ron took the lead back at the square and has been in front ever since, dragging his less and less enthusiastic teammates around. Harry thought he'd seen the same set of buildings for the third time now.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Goyle asked, looking at one of the more memorably repeating statues from their last hour of torment.

"Duh."

"How do you know?"

Ron turned around but continued walking, now backwards. "'Mione said that it's something I would like, so I'm looking for things I like." He turned back, barely dodging a fire hydrant. Harry felt a migraine start behind his temples.

"Ron can you please-"

"I might have a solution for you, Mr Weasley." Zabini's rich voice cut through Harry's desperate attempt to stop this mess.

Ron slowed down, letting Zabini catch up to him.

"What, you think I don't know what I like?" he frowned.

"Contrariamente. I presumed that there are many things you fancy. Some, you know already, some yet wait hidden, eager to be discovered. Therefore, I would suggest a way to hunt down this one thing as soon as we can, in favour of finding some of the more surprising treasures of London."

Ron came to a full stop and turned to the wizard, eyeing him suspiciously. "How?"

Instead of an answer, he quickly bowed and left them in the middle of the pavement. He approached a Muggle man, and after a brief conversation, he returned.

"Dim sum is a meal we may enjoy in the part of the city called Chinatown." He smiled at Ron, whose mouth was open in shock. "It is a two-minute walk from the right turn we continuously… avoided."

Goyle growled, and Harry felt like doing much the same. Ron frowned once again, but quickly set out to their new, finally defined destination.

"Thanks, Zabini." He shouted, looking back, but marching farther and farther.

"It was my pleasure." He replied with a charming smile.

—

Ginny was grinning covertly as they approached the large metal structure, and Greengrass stopped as if hit by an Impedimenta.

Turning to the girls trailing behind and putting her hands on her hips, she issued a silent challenge. Luna quickly bounced past her, still slurping on the bubble tea she'd got on the way.

The snake, on the other hand, stood still, back ramrod straight. Her narrowed eyes flipping between the goading lioness and the imposing wheel that could only work by magic.

Ginny remembered the first time she saw the London Eye, her mixture of awe and confusion. The metal lines and the white frame were too thin. Groups of people were ushered into glass spheres that moved around endlessly. It was a very pretty death trap.

Greengrass probably had the same idea.

"I let you two enjoy this one without me." She said to Ginny, but she was having none of it.

"So, you're going back to Trafalgar Square alone? To tell Hermione you failed?" She arched her eyebrows.

Daphne sneered at her, but before she could get out another word, Luna skipped back to them and looked her deep in the eyes.

"Sometimes the snakes have to spread their wings and dance with the birds in the sky," she said.

"Snakes don't have wings." Daphne rebutted.

"Yes, they do. We call them dragons." Luna stated with complete confidence and smiled at the Slytherin girl. "Come, let us see you soar."

—

"Then Luna grabbed her hand, pulled her all the way to the line, and did not let go until we all got off the damn thing. Her face was all green, and Luna just told her that we need to work on her flying skills or Madam H. will not let her pass." Ginny threw her head back in laughter.

It was so nice, sitting on her bed, swapping stories with the witch. Laughing about the silliest things. Hermione only learned to appreciate these moments not so long ago.

Hermione snuggled back into her pillows and bunched up duvet. The cold November weather chilled her to the core, so now she basked in her warming charm. No matter how much she appreciated the advances of Muggle science, her magic still made her soul dance and the hairs on the back of her neck stand in excitement.

"So, you did get your squirming snake in the end," she said to a sprawling Ginny.

"Oh, squirming, snarling and squealing. I swear Luna's a genius." Ginny grinned at her victoriously. "What about your snakes?"

Hermione recounted her day, so immersed in the smallest details about the two wizards that she did not notice the sudden change in her friend's expression.

"So, I think I'm going to make him squirm too." She finished, slightly out of breath.

The plan was getting more and more detailed by the minute. She just needed some reference, a control group - Theo would do, probably - and an exhaustive list. She should be able to finish it tonight before the thoughts slip away.

"Hermione…" Ginny sat up and crawled closer. "Can you actually hear what you're saying?"

The question got Hermione off-guard. "Yes?" she said hesitantly.

"You said you want to make Malfoy squirm," she insisted.

"Yes? You've been saying the same for days now."

Ginny shook her head forcefully. "It's not the same. I don't care for the bloody snakes, so I can taunt them all day long. But 'Mi, you love the git."

Hermione's breath hitched. "I… I don't-"

"Then you fancy him. Same difference." Ginny cut her off. "Okay, imagine that I said the same thing about Harry. How would that make you feel?"

How would that make her feel? She'd probably assume that they had a fight or that Harry did something bad.

Hermione frowned.

"Now, think about whatever you've plotted and swap Malfoy to Harry or Ron," she continued.

She could imagine the disappointment in Harry's eyes, the anger and hurt on Ron's face. It made her stomach twist and she felt the sting of swelling tears. The carefully constructed tower of her plans now creaked, crashed and crumbled under the weight of her own consciousness.

"You really shouldn't play with his feelings. Even he deserves better."

Ginny's words stung like a slap. Draco's ashen face from their first meeting this year suddenly etched itself into her mind. He was prepared to die this year. Probably the previous years too. And she wanted to push him even further.

Bloody hell.

Hermione had not even noticed the warming charm wearing off, but Ginny grabbed her shaking hands, and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

"What do I do?" she sputtered, still fighting her tears back.

"You go and talk with him. Like nice, functioning adults." Ginny smiled and hugged her.

"When I had my first big fight with Harry I was so angry I yelled my throat hoarse. I thought 'Well, this is it, it was fun while it lasted, but there's no going back now.' We were just so pissed off at each other."

Ginny circled her back with one hand as she whispered into her ear.

"Mum grabbed us both and locked us into one of the spare rooms where she stores our old family relics. Journals and photos and such. She told us we're not allowed to leave until we sat down and talked," she huffed. "We were there for hours, just scowling in silence. We took to reading the journals just to spend the time. That's when I found it. My old diary. It had every single photo of Harry that was published in the Prophet, cut out and preserved in a stasis charm." Ginny pulled back with a bittersweet smile.

"That's when I knew that I could not let go this easily. I went to Harry, apologised, and we actually sat down and talked. It was hard, but every time I wanted to cut him off instead of listening and trying to understand, I looked at one of the photos. It took some time, but we worked it out in the end. Mum was really happy with us."

"That's amazing Ginny."

"Do you know what's the weirdest thing about this all? I can't even remember what we were fighting about," she laughed, and it eased Hermione's soul a little bit.

"I'm glad you two could work it out, but I still have no clue what to tell Draco."

"The truth?" she asked.

"Hey, Draco, let's go on a date, but only if you're not an evil git anymore?" she quipped and Ginny just rolled her eyes.

"Come on, 'Mi. You can do better than that. In fact…" Ginny bent down and grabbed a cloak from her bag. It was Harry's.

"Don't ask why I have it."

Ginny jumped from the bed with the grace of an athlete and pulled Hermione up as well. Before she could object, she led her to the portrait, charmed her shoes on, then pushed her out the door, draping the cloak on her.

"Don't come back until you two had a talk. Bring his scarf back as proof." Her parting words echoed in the empty stairway.

—

A/N: So, I understand if you do not like where I am going with this, but I'm dead set on writing fluff, not angst. Also, please do not play with your loved ones' feelings! This PSA's been brought to you by Ginny Weasley.

I'll be back on… Monday? Monday!

(They really need to have a talk.)

Love,

LydieBerry