t w e n t y

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Hermione felt very nauseous after apparating. She hadn’t realized she had her arms wrapped his neck, with her head on his chest, eyes completely shut. She gasped and jumped a good few feet away from him and cleared her throat. “A warning would be nice, next time.” She told him as she fixed her hair and clothes. She licked her lips and chewed on the inside of her cheek.

Draco slightly chuckled and stared at Hermione. “Well, let’s shop.” He said with a grin as he walked towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. “Help me pick out a broom for Zabini.” He said as he entered the store with Hermione.

“I hardly know anything about brooms. You should’ve brought Harry along with you to pick out Blaise’s present.” She teased him as she looked around the place. “Just pick one, I mean, brooms are practically sticks.”

“Just sticks?” He asked, appalled by her blunt description. “They aren’t just sticks. They are—“

“Explain it to someone who actually cares about broomsticks, Draco.” She cut him off and suddenly got a good idea. She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “Look, why don’t you pick out Blaise’s present and I’m going to go buy Ginny and Harry’s present. I think it wouldn’t be bad if you bought Ginny something, too. I’m probably going to buy Blaise something.” She said with a smile.

“Do I have to buy Weaslette one, too?”

“It’d be nice, Draco.”

“Fine.” He grumbled and looked around the store.

“Well, I’m going to go . . . elsewhere. Meet me back in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in about two hours.”

“Splendid. I wouldn’t mind getting away from you. I think we spend too much time with each other.” Draco said with a sarcastic tone, a smirk playing on his lips.

Hermione slightly sneered and quickly slipped out of the store. She ran to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions and checked the time. “I have 118 minutes to buy five presents.” She said and sighed. “This is going to be stressful.” She groaned out and quickly scanned the store. “A nice travel coat would be nice for Harry and Zabini . . . a cute dress for Ginny?” She whispered to herself as she looked around the place.

---

Draco waited until Hermione was out of the store and immediately checked the time. “Damn, I need to buy three presents in 119 minutes.” He sighed and looked around the place. “Blaise and Weaslette, I’ll get them something from here and Hermione . . .” His voice trailed off as he nodded. He immediately a Thunderbolt 3000 off the shelf and examined. “It’s the newest thing, so Blaise would like that.” He said as he shrugged and looked around the store and groaned. He grabbed another Thunderbolt 3000 off the shelf and shook his head. “Weaslette is very lucky this year . . .” He quickly walked over to the owner. “I’ll buy these two.”

---

“Thanks to you, genius, we lost two hours worth of time.” Ginny pushed Blaise lightly.

“Subtract 30 minutes from that. We shopped for an hour and a half.” He corrected Ginny and looked at her. “Besides, I had to buy my own Christmas presents, too.” He said and glared at her. “You and your freaking invisible boyfriend bought a lot more presents than me so don’t complain! It was smart for us to buy our Christmas presents here. It’s not every day you sneak out here without getting caught, you know.” He said and sighed.

“Okay, fine.” Ginny sneered and looked at what was hopefully Harry. “Let’s go visit my brother.” She said and quickly walked over to her brother’s shop. She waited for the guys to come and walked inside. She immediately spotted the red-headed boy upstairs. “Let’s go.” She said to the boys and quickly climbed the stairs. “Hey, George.” Ginny said casually, ambling over to her older brother with Blaise and (an invisible) Harry behind her.

“Wha—Ginny? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at school?” George asked with shock as his little sister brought him into a hug. He pushed her off gently by the shoulders and stared at her. Then, his eyes traveled over to Blaise. He blinked twice as he rubbed his eyes. “Okay, we need to go somewhere more private.” He decided and took them behind the store where they could talk. “So, Blaise Zabini? Ginny?” He questioned his little sister with concern.

Harry took off his cloak and smiled at George. “I’m here, too.”

George slightly jumped and looked at the odd trio and sighed. “I’m going to have a headache real soon.” He grumbled and licked his lips. “Coming over here, was one thing . . . bringing Harry along was another thing, but coming here with Blaise Zabini is yet another thing!” He yelled at his sister with shock.

Ginny simply smiled and lightly punched him on the shoulder. “Ah, loosen up, George. I just made a few new friends this year. After all, our new headmistress is promoting house unity. And that’s exactly what she’s getting.” She said with a sneaky grin.

“Speaking of headmistresses, what are you three doing out here?” He asked curiously, folding his arms across his chest.

The three of them exchanged glances and frowned. “We’re here to buy Christmas presents.” Blaise spoke up after a while.

“Does McGonagall even know you three are here?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

“She’s not aware of it . . . well, not yet at least.” Blaise told him carefully, choosing his words wisely.

George stared at them with a straight face but it soon cracked and a big smile replaced his frown. “Wicked! You guys snuck out of school without getting caught?” He asked and high fived Harry and hesitantly and awkwardly high fived Blaise, then pulling Ginny into a side hug. “You really are my little sister, aren’t you?” He asked teasingly at her and chuckled. “But why are you three really here?”

“We have to find someone.” Harry said, being as vague as possible.

George stared at Harry for a while before responding, “Wow, that narrows it down, Harry. May I ask who you’re trying to finding?” He asked with sarcasm dripping from his voice.