Ch. 13

As the afternoon turned into evening, the girls had been cut off from the wine after Ginny accidentally turned Blaise's hair bright pink with her wand while they were having fun trying to change colors around the dorm. She sat on the couch pouting while Hermione fixed Blaise's hair.

"I meant to change the couch," She muttered, crossing her arms. "I only had two glasses; there was no reason to cut me off."

The other three laughed and Hermione asked, "You were going to change my couch to bright pink?"

"Better than the ugly chartreuse color that you turned that flag over there," She retorted, pointing her thumb towards the now lime-greenish colored Slytherin flag that was hanging on the wall next to Draco's dorm.

"It does look rather ugly," Draco admitted, avoiding Hermione's eyes.

"Oh, like it was any better before," Hermione said sarcastically, grinning at him.

Blaise chuckled and looked over at Draco. They both knew their mates were feeling the alcohol, and they were most likely hungry.

"Do you two want to head to the Great Hall?" Blaise asked. "Dinner should be starting soon."

Ginny shuffled her feet on the couch, sinking down further and looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded in understanding, remembering that her friend didn't want to leave the dorm at all that weekend. She looked at the boys and said, "You two go ahead; I'll get the house elves to make us some plates here. We're not really in the mood to see anyone else right now."

Blaise bristled slightly at his mate's unhappy mood and then perked up suddenly. "Well how about Draco and I go get food for the four of us and we just stay up here?"

"That would be great!" Ginny said excitedly. Then she blushed, looking down at her fingers.

Blaise grinned while Draco looked at Hermione. "You two will be alright here?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you suggesting that she and I can't take care of ourselves?"

Draco put his hands up and leaned back. "I said no such thing. I just don't want anyone trying to come find you two."

"We'll be fine," She said, before suddenly grinning and adding, "If anything, Ginny will turn their hair pink."

The four of them laughed, and Draco and Blaise soon left through the portrait hole, heading to the kitchens.

"Ginny's certainly warming up to you," Draco said quietly, putting his hands in his pockets.

Blaise had a grin permanently plastered on his face. "I know; this is going much better than I expected. Of course, I'm sure the wine has a lot to do with it."

Draco clapped him on the back slightly and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure things will keep going well from here."

"I can't find the wine!" Ginny said in a frustrated tone. "He's hidden it so well!"

She and Hermione were ransacking the kitchen, trying to find the bottle of wine that Draco had taken and hidden from Ginny after the color mishap with Blaise's hair.

After a few moments, she groaned, stamping her foot slightly. Hermione chuckled at her and said, "How adult-like, Ginny. What if Blaise were to see you right now?"

Ginny whirled around to stare at her with wide eyes. Then she immediately relaxed, trying to play it cool as she shrugged and said, "I don't care what he thinks."

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled at her friend. "Whatever you say, Ginny."

Ginny leaned against the counter, smiling slightly. "He is rather handsome though, isn't he?"

"Who, Blaise?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow before shrugging. "I suppose he is."

"And he's funny!" Ginny went on, ignoring Hermione's comment and smiling slightly. "I haven't laughed this hard in a long time!"

"I told you this would be good for you," Hermione said, smiling as she searched through another cabinet. Ginny obviously was feeling the wine. "Just don't do anything rash."

"Oh no, I don't plan on dating anyone for a while, even if they are as handsome as Blaise," Ginny replied as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking down at the floor. "But at the same time, I just feel really...comfortable around Blaise. Like I've noticed that I feel suddenly calm and relaxed whenever I'm in the same area as him."

Hermione paused and looked at Ginny. "That happens to you too?"

"What do you mean?"

As she stopped searching through the cabinet and leaned against the opposite counter to face Ginny, Hermione said, "Ever since I started spending more time with Draco, I noticed that as soon as he enters the same room or area I'm in, I just feel the weight of everything come off my shoulders."

"That's how I feel with Blaise." Ginny chewed on the inside of her cheek for a few moments before asking, "When did this start?"

"I'm pretty sure I first noticed when we were partnered with them for Potions," Hermione said slowly, looking down at the floor as she thought about it. "Even when I came back from the house party and nearly fell over, I didn't really panic after he was holding me. It was like I literally couldn't panic."

"Do you think maybe it has to do with what Draco could possibly be?" Ginny asked curiously.

"It could be, I haven't had the chance to research it yet."

"Well, why not ask him?"

Hermione paused. "You mean, just ask him what he is?"

Ginny nodded. "Maybe that's what he wanted to talk to you about?"

"Maybe. But I can't just straight up ask him if he's some possibly dangerous creature," Hermione said before sighing. "I feel a little bad now that I've been avoiding talking to him if that's what he wanted to talk about."

"If anything, I should be the one feeling bad," Ginny offered sheepishly. "I basically intruded on your night to talk."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm sure he understands. Besides, he hasn't tried to bring it up since then so he may be waiting until I bring it up. He seems to enjoy just hanging out with us. Same with Blaise."

Ginny was silent for a few moments before she looked at Hermione with a slightly panicked expression. "If you feeling relaxed has to do with Draco possibly being some type of creature...does that mean that Blaise could possibly be the same thing since I feel the same type of calm?"

"I don't know, Gin," Hermione said slowly, thinking it over. She hadn't really made that connection before. "I suppose after I talk to Draco, we can compare notes and maybe you can talk to Blaise then about it?"

Before Ginny could respond, the portrait hole opened and Draco and Blaise walked in holding two plates of food each.

"Dinner is served!" Blaise announced happily. He faltered slightly when he noticed an odd emotion coming from Ginny. Hesitation? Caution?