♕ eight

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 "Now, you remember what you're supposed to say, right Draco?" Ginny hissed as the pair made their way down the corridor. Draco rolled his eyes. 

"Yes, I know my line, you've only reminded me seventy-five times today."

Ginny gave him a quick slap upside the head. 

"That's for being sassy without permission," she declared. Draco turned away so that Ginny couldn't see him and rolled his eyes.

They had reached the Charms corridor, which they knew Ron would be heading down as soon as class ended.

Ginny counted down. "Three, two, one...

The moment the bell rang, students emerged from classrooms on either side of the corridor. Since everyone was eager to get to lunch, Draco and Ginny were constantly being shoved and pushed about in the hall. 

"Excuse me," Draco said politely to a passing Fifth Year. 

"Get on with it, you cockroach, I don't care if you're only a First Year! When I was eleven, I knew how to walk with a purpose!" Ginny growled to almost everyone she ran into. 

Soon, they caught sight of a head of fiery red hair in the crowd. Ginny and Draco shared a look and hurriedly made their way toward Ron as the crowd began to thin. 

"Oi!" Draco exclaimed, as rehearsed, bumping into Ron 'accidentally.'

"Watch where you're going, Malfoy," Ron growled, reaching down to pick up the book that he dropped. Ginny made her way across the corridor and toward her brother, putting a confused expression onto her face. 

"Hey, Ron, have you seen Hermione?" she asked, pretending to look around. Ron rolled his eyes. 

"Haven't seen her," he drawled, starting to walk away. 

"Well, if you do happen to run into her," Ginny hastily continued, "tell her that I just got the butterbeer shipped in."

Ron stopped in his tracks and turned around, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

"Butterbeer for what?" he asked curiously. Ginny tried her best to appear exasperated, but Draco could see her satisfied smile. The plan was working. 

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Ginny frowned. "Hermione's party. The one in Hogsmeade tomorrow night."

Ron's jaw dropped and so did some of his books, falling to the ground with a thump. 

"What?" he snarled, ignoring the textbooks spread out on the ground. Ginny rolled her eyes. 

"Must I repeat everything in order for it to penetrate your thick skull? Her party, Ron," she said loudly, as if she were speaking to an infant. "P-A-R-T-Y. Party." 

Ron shook his head in disbelief and took a step closer. "I know what a party is, Ginny. Why is Hermione having one, and why was I not invited?"

"Because you dumped her, you idiot."

"Okay, fine; but why is she having a party? Hermione never does anything fun."

"Correction," Draco broke in, remembering his lines from earlier. "Hermione never did anything fun with . But now that she's hanging out with a different crowd, Hermione's all for having a good time."

Ron looked taken aback, as if this were hard to believe. 

"So what, is it just you two and Hermione then?" Ron sneered. Ginny shrugged. 

"Yeah, it's just us. Oh, and Harry, and Dean, and Luna, and Cho, and Neville, and Seamus, and Pavarti, and Ernie, and Zacharius, and Lee, and Justin, and Katie, and Angelina, and Pansy, and Vincent, and Oliver, and Greg, and Phillip, and Hollister, and Cormac, and Colin, and Dennis, and Padma, and Hannah, and Susan, and Blaise, and Terry, and Martha, and Michael, and a couple dozen more..." Ginny listed off the people who had already responded that they were coming on her fingers until she had too many people to count. Ron's eyebrow creased into a frown. 

"Whatever, I don't care. I have plans anyway," he spat. 

"Plans that late, really? Because the party doesn't start until seven o'clock on Saturday evening at 103 Main Street in Hogsmeade," Ginny said innocently, managing to inform Ron of the time and place of the party. Ron narrowed his eyes, as if taking in the information, and then shrugged. 

"I don't know, I might not have plans. I was thinking of last weekend," he said in a hasty attempt to recover. Ginny rolled her eyes. 

"Well, Hermione doesn't really care who comes, and the security's pretty lenient. Gosh, I hope no one gets in without an invitation though!" she exclaimed in mock worry. Ron, oblivious to Ginny's bluntness, smirked as if he had tricked the information out of them.

"Thanks for letting me know, Ginny," he said, turning around to make his way down the hall. 

Behind him, Ginny turned to Draco and gave him a quiet high-five. 

"That was a job well done," he said, impressed. Ginny shrugged. 

"It's not that hard to trick him. He's Ron."

"Fair point," Draco admitted. The pair turned and made their way down the corridor in slightly awkward silence. Draco didn't quite know what to say. 

"So, Draco," Ginny began suddenly, smoothing down her robes. "You and Hermione?"

Draco frowned. 

"What about Hermione?"

Ginny shrugged nonchalantly as they turned the corner.  

"I mean, you guys are spending a lot of time together."

Draco raised his eyebrows. 

"What are you suggesting, Weaselette?"

Ginny scoffed. 

"I'm not suggesting anything, Malfoy, I'm just curious as to your sudden... uh... closeness, that's all."

Draco rolled his eyes. 

"We have a common enemy, obviously. I'd like to see Weasley crash and burn as much as she would."

"I'm just saying," Ginny said defensively, "You two get along well."

Draco shook his head. "Hermione's cool, Weaselette, but she's not my type, okay?" 

Ginny put her hands up in mock surrender. "Fine, jeez, I'll give it a rest."

But it was obvious to anyone who could see the mischievous glint in her eye; that Ginny Weasley was definitely not going to give it a rest. 

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