Why Don't We Go There (A Dramione Story)

Eight

"You what?!" Ginny yelled, I hushed her quickly, glancing around her deserted dormitory.

"I didn't do anything!" I told her, wringing my hands anxiously.
"So, what?" Ginny asked, slightly calmer than before, "he just kissed you?" I nodded and she made a face. "Ew."
"Hey!" I argued, glaring at her, I sat back down on her four-poster for the third time.

"Sorry, I didn't mean you, I just meant..." She trailed off, making another face. "It's Malfoy."
"He's not that bad." I mumbled, lying back on her pillow. I'd finally made the decision to tell Ginny about what had happened at the lake with Malfoy earlier in the day, needing someone to help figure out what I should do, I just hoped she could ignore her own grudge against him and be non-bias for me.

She made a gagging sound and turned to me, "what are you going to do?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. He's still a ferret, but is it just me, or does it seem like he's changing?" Ginny seemed to think about it for a second.
"Towards you, sure." She allowed, "He's still just as much of a git to the rest of us though."
"Oh," I said, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice. "What has he been doing?"
"Just the usual." She said, giving me a sympathetic smile, I didn't press her for anything more, afraid of what it might be. "You like him, don't you?" she asked when I didn't say anything.
"No." I said automatically, but she just gave me a look that told me she knew I was lying. "Yes." I sighed dramatically. "I mean maybe. Well, I don't know." I told her, and when I looked over at her, her expression was confused, when I thought back to my answer, I realised how confusing it must have sounded, making me laugh out loud.
"Uh, right." Ginny said eventually, "because that narrows it down."

"Sorry," I said, laughing again. "I just don't know how I feel about him."

"Well, I think that's something you need to figure out." She told me, patting my arm gently.
"It doesn't matter anyway. We're both prefects from rival houses, if we got together, can you imagine what would happen?" I said, my eyes widening a little.
"Who cares what everyone thinks? They aren't your friends, and those who are will respect your decision. And if they don't, then obviously they're not real friends." She said, folding her arms across her chest.
I shook my head, trying to make sense of everything, "we're getting ahead of ourselves. It's not like we're actually together, hell I don't even think we're talking at the moment."
"Why not?"
"Well, when he kissed me, I sort of ran away."
"Hermione." Ginny groaned, throwing her head back. "Why would you do that?"

"Um, because it's Draco Malfoy?" I raised my eyebrows at her.
"True." She relented. "I still can't believe he kissed you. Did anything else happen?"

"Well he sort of told me he liked me, but he didn't really say it in so many words, so I don't know."

"No way!" She gasped, "what happened?"

"Well," I started, and preceded to tell her everything that had happened leading up to the kiss.

"Whoa." She whispered when I finished, a smile plastered on her face.

"So, yeah." I said, "he didn't tell me straight out."

"But it was strongly implied." Ginny finished, I just nodded, staying quiet. "Where's the flower?" She asked, looking around.

"I dropped it when I left." I said, frowning.

"Oh" Ginny said disappointed. We both glanced over at the clock on the wall at the same time.

"Dinner time." I told her and we both got off her bed.

"What are you going to do if Malfoy tries to talk to you?" She asked as we descended the staircase that lead to the common room.
"I don't think he will, our tables are on opposite sides of the room." I told her, and then added more quietly. "Don't tell Harry or Ron about him, will you?"

"Of course I won't," Ginny quickly said, "if Ron had such a problem with Viktor, I'd hate to hear what he'd say about Malfoy."

"Me too." I grimaced, plastering a smile on my face as we met the two boys near the entrance portrait.

"He's looking at you again." Ginny whispered in my ear for the fourth time during dinner.
"You know, you don't have to tell me every time he looks this way." I murmured, purposely keeping my eyes down, feeling my cheeks redden. Is he really looking at me so much?
"Of course I do, how else will you know? You won't even look up from your plate." Ginny said matter-of-fact. I sighed and glanced up at her, giving her an annoyed expression. My eyes automatically wandered over to the Slytherin table, searching for him, I spotted him a couple of seconds later. He wasn't looking at me, I noted with relief, Pansy Parkinson, however, was looking directly at me, or glaring would be a better word for it. The moment our eyes locked, she smirked and brought her hand up and ran it along Draco's forearm, I saw him glance at her and then down at her hand, she leaned in to him, whispering something and he rolled his eyes before moving her hand off of his arm. I looked back down at my plate, biting my lip to stop myself from smiling too openly.
"He's looking." Ginny whispered, my eyes instantly shot up, looking back at his table, we locked eyes a second later. A small blush creeped onto my cheeks, and I thought I saw a ghost of a smile on his face, making a smile that mirrored his appear on my lips.
"What are you smiling at?" Ron asked, sounding amused, turning around to try and see what I was looking at.
"Nothing" I told him, looking back down at my plate and continuing to eat my food. He just shrugged and started eating his again.

"Students, a word before you retreat for the night," Professor Dumbledore said, rising from his chair at the front of the room, making everyone else hush even though he hadn't raised his voice. "The second Yule Ball is fastly approaching, we will be housing the same guests as we had during the Triwizard Tournament, so please be aware and cautious of the preparations being made." Ginny and I exchanged looks.
"I didn't know the other schools were coming." I whispered, I heard Ron scoff as he mumbled through his mouthful of food. "What was that, Ronald?"
"Nothing." He mumbled, almost unintelligibly. I just raised an eyebrow and turned back to Professor Dumbledore.
"Our guests will be arriving in 5 weeks time, I hope you will make them feel welcome when they get here. You may leave once you've finished eating." He told everyone, and with a wave of his hand, the entry door opened.
"Malfoy was staring at you so much." Ginny whispered as we exited the Great Hall after finishing our meals.
"No he wasn't," I whispered back quickly, "and in future, don't stare at him! You'll make everything awkward."

"I wasn't staring at him," she argued, frowning.
"Yes you were, how else would you know he was looking at us?" I said, starting to ascend the staircase.
"Okay, I'll stop." She grumbled, trudging up the stairs ahead of me.
"I know you're just trying to help." I called out to her, rushing to keep pace. "Which I don't get by the way. Don't you hate him?" She just shrugged.
"I mean, he's a ferret. Sure." She mumbled, "but if he's what's going to make you happy... then I'm all for it. I do wish it was my brother that you were so infatuated with though, I'd love us to be sisters."
"You're already my sister" I told her, smiling, "just like how Ron is already a brother to me." I added pointedly. "And, I'm not infatuated."

"You are a little bit." She laughed, linking her arm with mine.

"Am not," I mumbled, but smiled anyway.
"You are," She said, and continued before I could argue again, "but I get it. The guy's attractive. If he gave me the time of day, I'd probably fall for him too."
"Excuse me," I said quickly, "no one is falling for anybody." I shook my head, but couldn't help imagining how it would be like to one day fall in love with Draco.