"...and he keeps getting close. Like really close, but then he ends up pulling away. Do you think there is something wrong with them?" Ginny stopped their advancement a few feet from the door to the classroom they were headed towards.
"Do I think there is something wrong with your breasts because your boyfriend is afraid to cop a feel?" The absurdity of the question had her scoffing in disbelief.
"I mean… He has faced a dragon for Ceres' sake! Why would he be spooked by a boob?" Her friend tried to rationalize with the nonsensical way teenage boys' minds worked.
Hermione grabbed the witch's arms and gave her a quick shake. "Listen to me… He was terrified before doing that, too. If it is bothering you that badly, do it for him."
"I can't just… Do it for him." Ginny shook her head at the thought. "Harry is… Special."
"Special or not, he is still Harry, and you are going to have to bludgeon him over the head with your express permission." She tried to sound consoling instead of exasperated and slightly nauseous. "Once you do, I'm sure he'll… turn into a raging groping beast."
"You really think so?" There was an uncommon uncertainty that curled the girl's shoulders.
"Ginny… I know so." Hermione hated to see how badly this silly predicament had flogged her friend's self-confidence. "Your bosom is lovely, I promise. Don't get in your head because you decided to date someone with the romantic history of a monk, okay?"
"Ugh! You are right!" It sounded more like an accusation, but the redhead straightened her posture and gave a small smile of reassurance.
"I routinely am…" She smirked back and took a step away. "Are you ready to go and get so drunk that we forget about idiot boys and their issues for a night?"
"Alright, Miss Smarty-Pants. Bring on the fun." Ginny said, gesturing for her to go ahead.
After a quick roll of her eyes, Hermione made her way over to the door. The loud revelry was muffled by the thick wood but guaranteed the distraction that she needed. Yet her hand hovered near the handle as her own doubts started to race.
"Mystery Guy in there?"
"No clue…"
"And he is one of the idiots we are forgetting?"
"Yup."
"This might actually be fun then; let's go!"
With the tiny nudge of encouragement, she flung open the blockade and stepped into the remodeled room. Completely different than the first time she had entered. It was darker, the floating candles replaced with orbs of strobing colored lights. Most of which pulsed to the slow beat of the Celestina Warbeck ballad being slaughtered by the tiny witch singing.
All of the makeshift seating areas were swapped for cushioned benches that lined the majority of the walls. One was left to feature the long ornate table that held the bottles of liquor and other goodies for attendees to sample. As was promised, featured prominently in the middle of the large room sat an old record player. A modified version of the spell Dumbledore used to instruct the impromptu performance in fourth year caused the song's lyrics to appear above the head of the current inebriated serenader. Golden cursive letterings faded and transformed as the piece went on.
The entire effect was some weird jumble of derelict gothic mansion mixed with a stereotypical muggle dance club. Garish and audacious, somehow- it blended together and worked. Unconcerned with the crowd of people around the crooning singer who was finishing up her set or the few groups who had settled themselves along the perimeter to converse, the pair made their way over to the table of sustenance.
After a quick appraisal of the contents, Hermione grabbed the closest unopened bottle of clear alcohol. She broke the seal and, forgoing the courteous measure of a shot glass, took a lengthy pull. Wincing against the choking fire that ran from her throat to her stomach, she offered the bottle to her companion.
"Classy…" Ginny's mischievous taunt accompanied the raised eyebrow at her unexpected behavior. The witch accepted the libation and drank before trying to study the label in the inconsistent flashing of the lighting.
Impatient for the sedating influence, she reached over and seized the bottle back. Another long swig that didn't burn as severely went down, and she winked, "Whoever the owner is… They will not be wanting this back after my dirty little lips have been all over it."
"Isn't that stealing?"
"Oh no, not stealing… Taking advantage of their bigotry to attain our very own bottle of some rare ancient vintage of whatever luxury brand this comes from." Hermione explained a mock look of innocence on her features.
"That's my girl!" It was Ginny's turn to take a second shot. Seeing the way that she greedily eyed the vessel of liberation, the witch clutched it to her chest with one hand and took hers in the other. "See anyone we know?"
A quick scan of the darkened room full of shadowed faces and she gave a half-hearted shrug, "We know nearly everyone…"
"That's not what I meant." Exasperated with her incisive answer, the redhead did her own prefatory study of the faces closest to them.
"McLaggen and Hopkins are over there." Hermione pointed to one of the isolated groups that had gathered around the periphery. The two older wizards were sitting with a small congregation of naive fifth years. None of whom she could place a name to, given the unique context of fashionable informality. Their costumes of adulthood were too at odds with the prudish homogeneity the everyday uniform of Hogwarts provided.
"Ugh! Remind me why I let you talk me into this again?" Ginny asked, her hand flexing around the neck of the bottle as if she was also contemplating her own quick descent into overindulgence.
"Loads of reasons! Making new friends, networking with your 'fans', free booze, you love your best friend…" The list fell from her lips effortlessly as her eyes continued to scan the larger crowd of bodies that were waiting for the next performer to ready the record he had chosen.
"But what mainly sealed the deal was you didn't want to waste another night of your precious youth watching an epic wizarding chess marathon."
"Yeah yeah… Fuck it… Let's mingle." Her friend's compliance had an edge of sinister foreboding. With no warning, she started toward the group that had been pointed out, taking the pilfered liquor along for the short jaunt.
Hermione followed a step behind, wishing she would have pointed to any other group of their fellow students. She didn't want to deal with the unearned machismo the two boys possessed while sober, much less the added levels of cockiness that would, undoubtedly, be bolstered by their drinking. A replay of the sloppy and unrequited courting from Slughorn's Christmas Party was not a part of her plans for the night.
"Look, Carl! Here are two more beautiful witches who couldn't resist our charms!" Cormac slurred. His eyelids were heavy, and his normally poised stature had started to slouch, betraying how blitzed he had managed to find himself in the short amount of time since the party had begun.
The other wizard wasn't in much better shape and did little to hide his assessment of their appearances. Lingering far too long on the various parts of their bodies that were enticing to him, it took a long time for him to respond, "Mmmm… The more the merrier, I say!"
"Then it must be unfortunate that we have no interest in joining your menagerie of wide-eyed admirers." Ginny glared down at the pair, already annoyed with the attempt at philandry. "We only came over for some small talk as we wait for anyone, who is even slightly more entertaining, to come along."
"You approached us… Must mean you want to join our growing pride." Hopkins goaded as he stared openly at Ginny's breasts and then gestured vaguely to the surrounding girls.
Interrupting the jesting, Hermione smirked. "You two would be lucky to form a coalition."
"A what?" Asked the tiny and confused brunette who sat pressed up against McLaggen.
"Coalition… It is when a couple of male lions decide to band together because they were rejected by their pride for being spineless juveniles who couldn't protect themselves, much less the females around them." Her explanation was met with hostile glares from the wizards as the young women around them started to look at the pair in a different light. No longer a fulfillment of the delusional fantasy of an older man showing them attention, they were suddenly the leftover scraps of Gryffindor House.
"Better alone than stuck with a frenzied hellcat who thinks her shit doesn't stink." Hopkins spat out as he righted himself. His shoulders squared and defiant; it was a lame attempt at intimidation through feigned dominance.
Undisturbed by the show of pretension, Ginny took a step forward so she towered over the immature adolescent, "Of course you would tell yourself that… Makes all the free time you spend with your hand seem much more rewarding."
"Hey now, you might be surprised by the pleasures that a young wizard's hand can bestow, Miss Weasley." A husky insinuation from behind interrupted whatever half-witted response that was hastily being cobbled together inside of the two drunken minds.
"Sweet Le Fay, can this night get any worse?" Ginny responded to the rich voice that had only recently become immediately recognizable and just so happened to belong to the single obliging Slytherin they knew.
"Things can always get worse. Particularly when taking the current state of affairs into account." Blaise challenged back.
Hermione turned from the clique of aimless jesters-turned-surprised spectators to the imminent verbal scrimmage with a sense of trepidation. She knew that mending the hurts accumulated over centuries of rivalry wouldn't happen rapidly, but was one civil interaction too much to ask for?
Apparently it was…
"Is that a threat, Zabini?"
"We were born with two ears and one mouth."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Therefore, we should listen more than speak, Weaselette."
Even under the uncanny coloring from the motiffed lighting, the flush of heat that turned Ginny's face a dangerous shade of maroon couldn't be overlooked by anyone who was paying attention. Her trembling wandhand was, thankfully, still wrapped firmly around the neck of pilfered alcohol. Otherwise, there was no telling what she would have done to the brash admirer.
"Such profound wisdom, if only you took your own advice every now and then." Hermione cut in, attempting to keep her tone light through her mounting annoyance.
"My recommendation has always been followed much more closely than the masses would be led to believe, m'lady." Blaise teased, his dark gaze still fixed on the fuming redhead beside her. Daring the witch to retaliate.
"Says the wizard who cannot go thirty seconds without philandering," She quipped.
As his eyes brazenly traveled along the lines of Ginny's curves, the corners of his mouth twitched in amusement, and Blaise responded, "What can I say? I am powerless against nature and the allure of a beautiful consort..."
"And you are also powerless against the allure of being an absolute troll!" Ginny lectured, closing the distance between herself and her perceived adversary. She started to wag her finger at him, the spitting image of what her mother must have looked like twenty or so years ago.
"Us foolish lions are not looking too bad now, huh?" McLaggen's heckle was ignored by the bickering triad and surrounding flock of girls, but he did get a short chuckle from his sullen companion.
Suddenly, the belting of the current crooner ceased, leaving the murmur of other conversations as the sole protection from being overheard by unwelcomed listeners. Hermione knew she needed to diffuse the situation before they attracted more onlookers. Especially those of the Slytherin variety, who would add flames to the barely contained fire.
"A troll? You must be a gutsy little stray to stand up to such a vile monster."
"Oh please, don't flatter yourself. My brother took on a troll at eleven!"
The corners of his mouth twitched to quell a smile. Instead, Blaise cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, we have all been regaled with the tale of repentant chivalry partaken by your dancing buffoon of a brother. A feat that, if I remember correctly, would never have been needed if he had the brain power to breathe and take in his surroundings at the same time. Right, Granger?"
"That is enough!" Her tone was rougher than she meant for it to be, but Hermione was over watching this play out. Every tense word between the two was another brick added to the wall of alienation. "The both of you!"
Ginny glanced over and looked as if she might shift her wrath towards her friend for a moment, but some miracle caused her to cave and take a step back. "Whatever. You're not worth it."
Unable to control himself, Blaise flashed one of his famous smiles and closed the distance between them again. "I've never heard any complaints."
For a moment, Ginny had him fooled. Seemingly cowed by Hermione's rebuff, she returned his smile and tilted her head to the side, "Really?"
Buying what was being sold. He shrugged and leaned down to mock whisper in her ear, "Ditch the blockhead, and you can find out for yourself."
Hermione shifted from foot to foot, wondering if she should get between the two before Ginny got physical with the poor bloke. Zabini was treading close to a broken nose with his ludicrous proposition…
Before she could make up her mind on if he needed to learn his lesson or not, the witch pulled back just enough so that she could stare up at him with an innocent expression, "Why would I do that when all I have heard from the loo chatter is you couldn't last long enough to satisfy a single one of the unfortunates who were taken by the dung falling from that asshole you call a mouth?"
"Feisty!" Blaise appraised.
Ginny ignored the latest slight and brought the forgotten bottle to her lips. Instead of one customarily quick sip, she took three continuous gulps of the searing liquid to muffle her raging emotions. Once pacified, she silently shoved the vintage spirits towards Hermione. Her arm remained outstretched as she waited to be relieved of the encumbrance.
"Be nice." Hermione hissed as she grudgingly took the offering.
"Tell him... I have nothing left to say." The set of her clenched jaw showed the finality of Ginny's dismissal.
So much for any chance at building some interhouse unity…
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Quick Author's Note:
During Blaise and Ginny's little back and forth, Blaise uses a broken up and reworked quote from Zeno of Citium- "We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say." Gotta give credit where it is due! .