n i n e

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Hermione had finished taking a cold shower but that wasn’t enough to cool her down. She was still hot and red from irritation and utter humiliation. She grabbed her wand to smooth down her curls but suddenly stopped halfway. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed as she set her wand down. She grabbed a hair tie from the cabinet and tied her hair back into a neat pony tail. She quickly bobby pinned her bangs back and walked out of her room. She walked down the stairs and became surprised when she saw Ginny, Blaise and Malfoy down on the couch. She furrowed her eyebrows and gripped onto her wand—just in case. “What brings you two here?” She asked after a while.

“It wasn’t my idea, it was this idiot right here who suggested we should eat breakfast together and discuss some matters.” Draco said as he cocked his head towards Blaise, looking away from Hermione.

“And you let them in?” She questioned Ginny as she raised an eyebrow with one hand on her hip.

“They looked desperate and besides, everyone’s out doing whatever.” Ginny said with a shrug and patted to the empty seat next to her on the couch. “Come sit.”

Hermione reluctantly walked over and sat down next to Ginny. “You guys should sit down, too.” She stated quietly.

“Yeah, sit down.” Ginny said and stared at Blaise intently giving him a sign.

Blaise understood and quickly took a seat in the single armchair and sighed. “Draco, sit down.” He said as he pointed to the empty spot next to Hermione.

Draco glared at Zabini while Hermione glared at Ginny and Blaise. “Why don’t you sit there?” Draco growled at his friend.

“Well, you probably know Granger way better than I do, so just sit down.” Blaise said as he shrugged it off. Draco sighed and cautiously sat down next to Hermione, unfortunately, Ginny was taking much of the space so that Hermione and Draco were close.

Hermione noticed it and looked at Ginny. “Ginny, scoot down a bit.”

“Nah, I’m good.” Ginny said and quickly brought out a brown paper bag. “I went into the kitchen and asked Skippy to whip something up for me. When I mentioned it was for you, he added an extra toast and an apple.” She said with a grip as she tossed it at Hermione. “Eat up, we have a long day ahead of us.”

“We do?” Hermione asked as she curiously stared at her friend.

“No, but hopefully you do.” Ginny said and slightly grinned at her friend.

Blaise also threw a brown paper bag at Draco. “I went to the kitchens, as well, and asked Skippy to whip something up for me. When I mentioned it was for you, he graciously added an extra bagel and apple.” He said as she tossed it over to Draco. “Dig in.”

“Thanks.” Draco muttered and opened up his paper bag, reaching in to grab some food.

“So, I’m guessing everyone left for the holidays?” Hermione asked as she bit into a warm toast. Ginny nodded and slightly grinned.

“Oh, yeah, Pansy Parkinson left. She said that she wasn’t going to stay at this boring, old school and started ranting off about Malfoy.” Ginny said with a scoff. “She’s quite a character.”

“She left?” Draco asked with a small smirk.

“She left.” Blaise said with a nod.

“This winter break is going to be great.” Draco said and slightly stared at Hermione.

Hermione locked eyes with him and immediately looked away as she looked the other way. “Anyways, I have something to say. Since I have to take care of Malfoy, Madam Pomfrey talked with the headmistress and she approved of us living in the Heads’ common room during the whole break. We’re allowed to invite a friend to live there with us since there are four bedrooms. So, I choose Ginny and I’m guessing you’ll choose him?” Hermione explained and stared at Draco.

“Right you are.” Draco said and stared at Blaise. “This is going to be interesting.”

Ginny flashed Hermione a big grin, revealing her perfect set of pearly whites. “This is going to be very interesting. I wonder how it’ll be like . . . living under the same roof with two Slytherins.” She said as she stared at Blaise and Draco.

“We wonder how it’ll be like living under the same roof with two tedious Gryffindor girls.” Blaise commented back with a smirk.

Ginny glared at him and Hermione scowled. “Pack your bags right now and meet us at the infirmary.” She said coolly as she stood up. “We’ll meet in an hour, so meet us there and don’t be late because we’re going to leave.” Hermione quickly walked off to her room with the rest of her breakfast.

“Now, that she’s gone.” Ginny started and stared at the two reckless boys in front of her and smirked. “Don’t piss me off while we’re living in the same dormitory. I have a short temper and I feel like violence is always the answer. Don’t piss me off, don’t piss Hermione off—just don’t piss us off.” She told them sternly. “If one of you two pricks piss me off or Hermione, I assure you I will throw a hex at one of you. I won’t hesitate, I’ll promise you that.” She threatened and left after glaring at them for a few long seconds.

Draco and Blaise let out a breath that they didn’t know they were holding and exchanged glances with each other. “Feisty ginger, huh?” Draco asked with a she’s-pretty-scary-look. “But, hey, it’s okay. I understand why you take a fancy to her, if you guys ever do date, I will try to support you guys.” He mocked his friend as he stood up with his breakfast.

“Whoa, you think I fancy her?” Blaise asked with a shocked look spreading across his face.

“I don’t think,I know.”

“What? How?”

“You told me during our fifth year, remember? You came up to me and told me that you liked an aggressive ginger that had multiple loser brothers and told me to keep it a secret. Simple as that.”

Blaise immediately felt a red blush bloom across his cheeks and cleared his throat. “That was, what, like three-four years ago?” Blaise asked with a small scoff. “I don’t fancy her anymore.” He said as he brushed it off.