Ch. 4

About an hour later, the two girls were enjoying the sunshine by the lake, slightly away from everyone else who had the same idea. They had conjured up some blankets, Hermione sitting on one while Ginny was skipping rocks across the lake.

"Ginny, you're going to make the giant squid angry," Hermione jokingly warned.

The red head looked back at her friend as she flicked her wrist, sending a small rock flying across the lake. "What's it going to do? Walk up here to come get me?"

Hermione shook her head and leaned back onto her palms, closing her eyes and soaking up the sunshine. She took a deep breath and felt utterly relaxed, more calm than normal.

What the two girls didn't know is that not too far off from them, two Veelas sat under a tree, watching them.

"So you got her drunk?" Blaise asked playfully, nudging his friend.

Draco glared at him. "I did no such thing. I only poured her two glasses, she poured the third one herself."

He looked back at the brown-haired girl sitting on the blanket. She looked so radiant in the sunlight,and he felt content as he knew his mate was happy. He could feel her relax from where he sat, though he knew it was partly because he was there, as he also felt a wave of calm over him. But he always felt it in her presence.

Blaise in turn was watching his mate as she skipped rocks across the lake. He smiled before running his hand over his head. "I don't know how to talk to her, mate."

Draco looked over at his friend before looking at Ginny. "Have you talked to Slughorn yet?"

"I did; he seemed apprehensive but once I explained the situation he was more receptive to the idea." Blaise laid back against the grass with an arm beneath his head. "He said he would consider placing us with our mates."

"I mean if nothing else, you still have the Slug Club. You'll always see her there," Draco offered, leaning back on his elbows.

A group of girls slowly walked by, giggling at the two boys as they did and whispering to each other. Normally Draco would love the attention, but now he just ignored it, focusing on his mate. She seemed to have noticed their presence, and Draco felt her previous calm ripple with a mixture of curiosity and slight annoyance.

"Is that Zabini and Malfoy over there?" Ginny asked, sitting down next to Hermione on the blanket.

Hermione nodded, groaning slightly. "Have you noticed the two of them always seem to be around us in their time off?"

Ginny shrugged. "I haven't been paying attention honestly. Though I will say, they look good."

Hermione looked over at Ginny, raising an eyebrow. "It's funny you say that. I happen to know that Mr. Zabini fancies you."

"I'm sorry, "

Blaise sat up immediately, his extended hearing picking up on the girls' conversation. He then looked over at Draco, growling. "You told her?!"

Draco returned the growl. "No, she managed to guess it! Besides, don't you Ginny to know?"

"Yes, but I wanted to be the one to tell her!" Blaise groaned angrily.

He laid back down onto the grass, his hands over his eyes. Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking back over at the girls. Blaise could be such a drama queen. If anything, he did Blaise a favor.

"Maybe this can work out for us," Draco said, a sudden realization hitting him.

"You better hope it does," Blaise grumbled.

"No, listen to them!"

"Wait, wait, wait."

Ginny was standing up again, pacing around in front of the blanket. "There's no way he can be interested in me. Harry told me that he had called me a blood traitor on the train during your sixth year."

Then she stopped, groaning loudly. "And there's Harry!"

Hermione couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you sure there's Harry?"

Ginny glared at her friend before faltering and sitting down on the blanket with a sigh. "I don't know anymore, to be honest."

"You never told me everything that happened over the summer, Gin," Hermione said, reaching out to squeeze her friend's hand.

"Well..." Ginny started slowly. "The start of summer was fine. But then he started showing signs of the war taking a toll on him."

She sighed and continued, looking down at her hands in her lap. "He started pushing everyone away, especially me. When I confronted him about it the first time, he apologized and things were alright for about a week. Then the fighting started. We would fight over small things; he would have these outbursts and then leave the room, sometimes leaving the Burrow to go Merlin knows where."

Hermione listened intently as Ginny continued. "Then he started preparing for Auror training with Ron. They would be gone for hours on end. He really started to pull away then. I didn't know what to do. I still don't. I spent so many years hoping that I could be with him, and now I finally am. And it's...nothing like I had hoped."

She wiped away a tear and Hermione's heart broke for her friend. "Oh, Ginny. I'm so sorry. I should've owled you to see how you were doing. Hell, you could've spent the summer in Australia with me."

Ginny smiled weakly. "Thanks, but...I feel like that would have just prolonged it. And I knew you were busy, I didn't want to intrude on what you were doing."

"I still feel bad, I should have been there for you."

"I honestly thought it was normal," Ginny sighed. "I mean, the man died during the battle. There's no way you can go through that without there being some sort of effects."

Hermione chewed on the inside of her cheek. "He might need to go to therapy."

"To what?"

"It's a muggle practice for when one goes through something traumatic and they can't quite cope on their own. It's proven to have been very helpful," Hermione explained. Then she reached out to squeeze her friend's hand again, giving her a small smile. "Just give him some time. Like you said, he died. He's been through so much more than any of us can imagine."

Ginny sighed. "Maybe. I'll try to talk to him about us when he's here next weekend. Is this kind of what you went through with Ron?"

Hermione shrugged. "Somewhat. It was more of figuring out that we only loved each other as siblings than romantic partners. After everything settled down, we had a talk about it because it just felt awkward and forced. Plus, he's apparently found someone at the Ministry."

"Sounds like you may have a chance after all, mate," Draco said, nudging Blaise.

Blaise nodded, but Draco noticed his friend was bristling with anger. "I'm not happy he's coming to see her next weekend."

"Blaise, it sounds like they honestly won't last much longer," Draco said, trying to calm him down. "Would you feel better if we follow the girls to wherever they're going?"

"Like you weren't already planning on doing that?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I was; I just wanted to make sure we were on the same wavelength." Draco looked back out at the girls, before a sudden figure running towards the boys caught his attention and made him groan. "Oh no!"

"Draco!"

The two boys groaned as Pansy stopped in front of them, panting slightly. "Where have you two been? I've been looking all over for you!"

"We just wanted to get some sun for a bit," Blaise said.

"Well, why don't you come sit with me and the others?" She said, gesturing behind her towards the group of girls that had giggled at them earlier.

Draco didn't fail to notice that she directed the offer mainly to him. He shook his head, looking out at the lake. "Not today, Pansy."

She then plopped down in front of them, scooting close to Draco. "Oh come on; I've hardly seen you all week! I've missed you!"

A sudden ripple of jealously and confusion hit the air around Draco, and he grinned slightly as he knew it didn't belong to him. Was Hermione really jealous?

Pansy unfortunately took his grinning as a sign that he missed her too and nearly flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck while Blaise laughed.

"Pansy please, try not to look so desperate!" He laughed, rolling his eyes.

Draco growled and unhooked Pansy's arms from his neck, pushing her off. "Pansy, don't. I've already made it clear that I am not interested in you."

She looked at him, heartbroken. He didn't notice though, instead focusing on the fact that Hermione and Ginny had left their spot and were almost up to the castle already. He looked over at Blaise, who nodded in understanding and they both stood up.

"Sorry, Pansy," Blaise said. "Draco and I have essays that we need to go write."

And with that, they both left her there, following their mates into the castle as Draco silently cursed Pansy for the public display and possibly ruining what small relationship he had with Hermione.