♕ twelve

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"Alright gang, that was a good one," said Ginny as she paced up and down in front of the fireplace of the Gryffindor common room.

"That party was amazing. Dean and Seamus, great job on the breakup songs. Harry, babe, great job with spilling the pumpkin juice. And, not to toot my own horn," she stopped pacing for a brief moment, "but I did some pretty good jealousy rousing over by the bathrooms."

"What did you say?" Luna asked excitedly. Ginny shrugged. 

"Oh, you know, just, 'I heard Terry Boot from Ravenclaw has got his eye on Hermione, blah blah blah, Zacharias Smith just asked her out, blah blah blah."

The group snickered, while Hermione blushed scarlet. 

"Sod off, Ginny, I hope everybody knows that that's a complete lie."

"We know, Hermione," Ginny reassured her. "You've got your sights set on someone else."

Before she could blush, Ginny moved on. 

"Safe to say, my brother knows Hermione's fun. Step Two is officially being put into action. We need to show Ron that Hermione is romantic, so get me some ideas!"

Once again, the group began to brainstorm. Everyone was fired up from the success of the party so there were plenty of ideas flying around- but none of them seemed to stand out. 

Blaise suggested that Hermione get a new boyfriend, but that idea was immediately shut down, since it was a long-term commitment, and the plan would be over before then. 

Seamus suggested that she set up a romantic candle-lit dinner for her and a 'fake date,' but Ginny pointed out that Ron wouldn't be there to see the date, so what was the use? 

Finally, Neville spoke up. 

"Well, the ball's coming up, right? Next week. One of us should ask Hermione in a really big romantic gesture in front of like, the whole school or something, so that Ron's sure to see it."

"I'm already going with Seamus-"

"I'm already going with Dean-"

Said Dean and Seamus in unison. They both blushed scarlet and Ginny wolf whistled and applauded while Harry wiggled his eyebrows at his friends. 

Neville nodded. 

"Well, seeing as Dean and Seamus aren't available and Harry is obviously going with Ginny... oh, look at that!" he said with a gasp. "Draco is the only male human available! I guess Draco will have to ask Hermione to the ball!"

"Hey!" Draco exclaimed indignantly, "what about Blaise?!"

Blaise hurriedly shook his head. 

"No, not me, I have plans, uh..." He silently pleaded to Neville for help. 

"Milking my, uh, my cat," he finished. 

Neville clapped his hands triumphantly.

"So there we have it!"

Ginny snickered. "You up for it, Draco?"

All heads turned toward the startled Slytherin as Neville continued.

"Draco should ask Hermione to the dance with a really big romantic gesture- like a herd of unicorns... or a swarm of pixies spelling out 'DANCE?'"

Everyone began to nod.

"Ooh!" Ginny piped up. "The boys could go shirtless and paint the letters on their ches-"

"NO!" shouted Harry, Neville, and Seamus in unison.

Only two people seemed to be against the idea.

"What about us?" Draco and Hermione said in unison. Neither had agreed to the plan and the group was already proceeding full steam ahead.

Ginny rolled her eyes. 

"Draco, Hermione, please put aside your selfish personal differences for the greater good! Do you guys want to make gingerpubes cry or not?!"

Draco looked a glance over at Hermione, who was blushing furiously and staring determinedly at the floor. 

"I'll do it," he said at last, "but only if Hermione's okay with it." 

"I'll do it," Hermione said quietly. 

"Wicked. So when will Draco ask Hermione to the dance?" Ginny asked. 

"It has to be when Ron's around," Dean reminded them. 

"And it has to be in a grand way," Luna added. 

Soon, the group had a fully formulated plan. 

In a few hours, after dinner, Draco would ask Hermione to the dance with a giant enchanted sign. He would ask right after dinner so that all the Gryffindors would be coming up to go to the Common Room. Including Ron.

Needless to say, he was... slightly nervous. 

"Hermione," Ginny called, "you need to help your boyfriend make your surprise sign,"

Hermione blushed even deeper and gave Draco a small smile, sliding into the armchair next to his as Draco rolled out a sheet of parchment. 

"Alright, Granger, what should my tagline be?"

Hermione thought for a moment, scrunching up her eyebrow. 

"It's gotta be catchy... and romantic."

Draco nodded. 

"How about... 'will you enchant me at the dance?' And we can put, like, little sparkly wands and colorful spells on it."

Hermione thought for a moment. 

"Ehh, too mainstream," she said at last. "I'm sure tons of people are planning to say something like that."

Draco nodded in agreement. 

"Okay then, you got any ideas?"

Hermione glanced around the common room, looking for inspiration. 

She caught sight of the Gryffindor quidditch poster on the wall beside the fireplace and gasped. 

"Ooh! What about- 'I know you don't play Quidditch but you sure are a Keeper!'"

Draco's face lit up. 

"That's genius, Hermione!!" 

Suddenly, his face fell. 

"But it doesn't say anything about the dance..."

Hermione grimaced. 

"Ooh, you're right."

They sat in silence for a few more moments, brainstorming. What would be romantic enough, snappy enough, and funny enough that it would make Ron jealous? 

Suddenly, Draco's eyes lit up. 

"I've got it!" 

Hermione whipped around, excitement flooding her system. Draco paused dramatically, his hand poised in the air. 

"Can I Slytherin next to you at the dance?"

Hermione's jaw dropped and she jumped out of her chair. 

"Draco that's perfect!!!!"

He spread out the parchment across the coffee table in front of them and pulled out his quill, beginning to draw. 

"Guys, come over here!" Hermione called to the group. Heads turned as they made their way over to the fireplace where Draco and Hermione were sitting. 

Everyone loved the idea. Luna and Neville grabbed their own quills and began helping Draco scrawl the message in big bright letters. Ginny and Harry spoke in excited tones about what they thought Ron's face was going to look like while Dean and Blaise thumb wrestled in the corner. 

Hermione glanced around at her friends and felt her eyes welling up with tears of joy. McGonagall was right. Friendship was more important than differences. 

"Done!" Draco announced. He tapped his wand to the parchment and the letters began glowing. A few cartoon stars that Luna had drawn began sparkling and Neville had enchanted the word 'Slytherin' to flash from silver to green and back again. Hermione grinned. 

"Alright!" Ginny shouted, "Step 2 is in session!"

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