Ch. 36

Hermione sighed and lowered her wand, glaring at the two boys. "You should probably not surprise us like that."

"Sorry, 'Mione," Harry answered. He was staring at the end of Ginny's wand, as if ready to dodge any hex sent his way. "We didn't know how else to get you away from those two."

"We didn't need any form of rescuing," Ginny growled, not lowering her wand. "We were perfectly happy with them. What gives you the right to show up and think you can just take us both back?"

Harry glared at Ron who simply shrugged. "Sorry, mate. Clearly it was good to warn them, because otherwise we'd be getting hexed right now."

Hermione looked over her shoulder and saw Draco and Blaise standing just inside the Great Hall, watching the four of them. She shook her head and Draco nodded, though she could tell he was still ready to spring into action if needed.

"Who are they?" Ron asked, nodding towards Draco and Blaise after seeing Hermione's actions. She breathed a sigh of relief when it was clear that neither Harry nor Ron had recognized Draco and Blaise in their masks.

"It doesn't matter," Ginny answered, bending her elbow to pull her arm in, still pointing her wand at Harry. "All you need to know is that we are dating them."

Harry's shoulders dropped. "Dating?"

"Yes, Harry," She said in a low voice. "I warned you. I told you that day in the Three Broomsticks that I would not be waiting for you this time. And you have the nerve to come back to see if I was?"

"Ginny, please," Harry said sadly. "I made a mistake, I was not thinking straight."

"It's too late!" She exclaimed. Her voice echoed throughout the corridor and caused Harry and Ron to flinch. She grew quieter and said, "I am happy now. I do not want you back, Harry Potter."

Hermione reached out and put her hand on Ginny's, lowering her friend's hand and looking back at Ron and Harry. "Right now is not the time to discuss everything. Just know that yes, we both are dating the two boys behind us, and we are both happy. Any questions you have will have to wait for another time, because neither I nor Ginny will be answering them. Tonight is meant to be a happy night, and I'll be damned if another ball is going to be ruined for me by a jealous man."

She glared at Ron while she said this last statement before taking Ginny's arm and pulling her back into the Great Hall. Ginny was seething with anger and Blaise immediately handed her another drink, this one presumably firewhiskey since she downed it like a shot after smelling it.

Draco took Hermione a bit further from the entrance of the Great Hall into a corner away from Blaise and Ginny,and asked her in a low, concerned voice, "Are you alright?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "I completely forgot they were showing up."

"Just say the word and I will take care of them," He offered, taking her hands.

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "No, it's alright. I doubt they will bother us again for the rest of the night. Let's just enjoy tonight."

He returned her smile and gave her a small kiss before walking with her back to Blaise and Ginny. Ginny was already pouring herself another glass of wine, professors be damned, and Draco grabbed a glass for Hermione, handing it to Ginny.

Ginny filled both of their glasses to the brim and clinked her glass against Hermione's before the two girls quickly drank a good bit of the wine and wandered over to the dance floor together.

They danced for what felt like hours, not caring about the fact that their exes had both shown up to get them back. They danced with their Veelas, with each other, with anyone that wanted to dance with them. Well, anyone that their Veelas approved of. After learning that Seamus and Dean were together, the two Veelas reluctantly allowed their mates to dance with the two boys, who soon pulled the girls in with the rest of the Gryffindors. This was much to the Veelas' dissatisfaction, but they relented and held back, not wanting to upset the girls any further.

Draco suddenly felt a tug on his arm and turned around. Pansy was standing behind him with her arms crossed against her chest, obviously unhappy.

He rolled his eyes and asked, "What do you want, Pansy?"

"I see you managed to find a witch who's as pretty as me," She started. She nodded towards Hermione's back and Draco smirked slightly when he realized Pansy had no idea it was Hermione.

Draco narrowed his eyes immediately, but couldn't say anything as she went on. "Come now, Draco; I thought you would be finished with this phase. While I'm happy that you are done with the Granger girl, I'm trying to be patient but you're taking a long time to accept the inevitable."

"And what, pray tell, is the inevitable?" He asked in an angry tone.

She smiled. "Us marrying, of course!"

She grabbed his hand which he immediately pulled out of her grasp and said, "Pansy, for the last time, "

"But Draco-"

"No, Pans," He interrupted. "I'm done. I'm not going to be with you, not now and not ever. I am still with Hermione and . You need to accept that and move on!"

Before he could react, she grabbed the front of his shirt and attempted to smash her lips against his. He turned his face just in time and she ended up kissing his cheek, and when she pulled away he grabbed her wrists and pushed her away.

"Pansy, that's enough!" He yelled. His cheek began to tingle slightly and he glared at her when he recognized the scent coming from her gloss. "Did you seriously put a love potion in your lip gloss?"

She gave him a sheepish look before meekly saying, "It's only a mild love potion..."

"No, I am done." He glared at her. "I was going to try and possibly salvage a friendship with you, but now, because of this, I am well and truly done. I want nothing to do with you, and don't you dare attempt anything with me again or so help me Merlin I will make sure you regret it every minute of the rest of your life!"

He gave her a menacing look that caused her to cower in fear before running away. Blaise put a hand on his friend's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "Come on, mate. Don't worry about her. Just focus on Hermione."

Draco breathed in deep and straightened up before turning back and nodding. "Thanks, mate."

They returned to the large group and even joined in the group of Gryffindors, much to the delight of their girls and continued to dance on into the night.

Hermione pulled Ginny away after a while, muttering to the boys that they were heading off to the toilets. The two girls leaned against each other as they stumbled out of the hall, giggling to themselves.

"'Mione, can you imagine this is what the rest of our lives are going to be like?" Ginny said in wonder as they entered the ladies' bathroom. "Between Blaise and Draco, we will be attending parties galore!"

"I sincerely doubt that this is what their events will be like, Ginny," Hermione responded with a laugh. She had no idea how much wine she had had at that point, but she also didn't care. "I'm hoping that the after-parties are like this though!"

"If not, we will begin a tradition!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly.

After they had both finished, they stumbled out of the bathroom and tried to walk in a straight line towards the Great Hall, but Ginny pulled Hermione aside when they got to the bottom of the staircase. "Hermione, I need to sit for a moment. My head is spinning a bit."