Loving You - Dramione/Blinny Veela

Ch. 15

After Hermione said her goodbyes and gave them both hugs before stepping through the portrait hole, Blaise turned to Ginny.

"Red, could I speak to you for a few moments?"

"Uh, sure Blaise," Ginny responded nervously.

Blaise chuckled slightly. "If you would prefer, I could walk you to your dorm so that we're not just awkwardly standing outside of the Head dorm?"

"If you want to," Ginny said, blushing.

They took off in silence, not a word said between them and a comfortable silence settled over them.

"Hi Draco!" Hermione greeted him happily.

He smiled at her. "Hey birthday girl!"

She blushed, shaking her head at him but still smiling. "How was your day?"

"It was pretty good, but that's not important," He said, waving her off. "What is important is that you had a good day."

"Oh, it was wonderful!" She exclaimed, sitting on the couch. "Ginny spent the day with me in Hogsmeade; I got four new books!"

Draco grinned, already knowing she was excited about that. "That's good! What are they about?"

She excitedly started to tell him about each book as he poured her a glass of wine. She barely noticed as he set it in front of her, standing near her and nodding as he listened to her talk. He enjoyed hearing about what made her happy; his Veela hummed happily in his chest as he continued to listen.

A flash of ginger caught his attention though and he bit his lip as he saw the kitten race down the stairs.

"...And the third book, which might be my favorite, is-" Hermione paused when she suddenly heard scratching on the back of the couch. "What in the name of Merlin?"

She stood up, holding her wand out in panic as she waited for the source of the sound to reveal itself. Draco simply laughed at her and shook his head.

The kitten popped his head up from behind the couch, before reaching both paws up and pulling itself up onto the back of the couch. Hermione nearly dropped her wand, staring at the kitten in silence before squealing.

"Oh my goodness, look at you!" She squeaked, running over to the kitten and gently picking it up. "You are so precious!"

She looked at the kitten as it squeaked back at her, reaching out a paw towards her face. She cooed at it and held it against her shoulder, looking back at Draco.

"Did you do this?" She asked with a mixture of suspicion and happiness.

He grinned at her as he said, "Happy birthday, Hermione!"

Ginny, unable to take the sound of just their footsteps any longer, asked, "What were you wanting to talk to me about?"

"Well," Blaise started, putting his hands in his pockets, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to lunch with me tomorrow in Hogsmeade."

Ginny nearly dropped her bag in shock, stopping in her spot and staring at him. "Lunch...with you?"

He looked back at her and immediately froze. He hadn't entirely thought out what he would do if she said no. "I mean...if you'd like to. It's perfectly fine if you don't-"

"I'd love to!"

A grin spread over his face and his chest nearly burst with happiness. She smiled at him, jumping up and down slightly in excitement and his Veela wanted so badly to grab her and hold her to him with a tight hug. But he fought his urge as they continued to walk to Gryffindor tower, settling for walking as close as possible to her. They accidentally bumped each other a few times, but he noticed with glee that she didn't move away from him.

Draco couldn't stop smiling as he watched Hermione play with the kitten. She seemed to have completely forgotten about everything around her, but he didn't mind. She was so happy in her own little world, he nearly forgot about the other cat until it jumped up onto the counter in the kitchen, grabbing both of their attentions.

"Draco, is that a second cat?" She asked in shock.

"Oh, yes," He said sheepishly. "I had difficulty deciding which one you would want, so...I got both of them for you."

"Oh Draco!" She gasped, looking over at him. "You did not need to do this!"

He shrugged. "I knew you would love both of them, and it's your birthday. I wanted to get you something special."

She clicked her tongue at the black cat who immediately jumped off the counter and slowly made its way towards her, rubbing against her outstretched hand.

"Well don't you have some pretty green eyes," She cooed. "You're so sweet too!"

"The shop keeper said they were both boys," Draco said. "Since they're your cats, why don't you be the one to name them?"

She smiled and nodded before asking, "How were you able to get away to Diagon Alley?"

Shrugging, he replied, "McGonagall gave me special permission and a time limit. It took a little bit more work to get her to let Blaise come with me, but she thought it would be good to have someone come with me to make sure I followed the time limit."

Hermione laughed. "I can understand her reasoning. I can only assume that you shopping takes as long as Ginny does, but only because you're obsessed with perfection."

"You make that sound like a bad thing!" He grinned while shaking his head. "You'll thank me for that trait in the future."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Erm..." He faltered. "Just a figure of speech."

She looked skeptical but seemed to accept the answer, focusing back on the cats who were now both laying against her. Looking between the two cats, Hermione was silent for a few minutes before looking at him and grinning. "The orange one will be Godric, and the black one shall be Salazar."

Draco laughed at this.

They stopped at the stairs and she turned to him. "I can make it from here. You should head back before you get into trouble."

Blaise shrugged. "What are they going to do, expel me for walking around?"

She giggled and he smiled widely before saying, "So I'll pick you up here tomorrow?"

"If you can stand being seen walking through Hogwarts with a Gryffindor," She teased. "How does noon sound?"

"Sounds perfect," He replied.

Before he could react, she wrapped her arms around his neck, surprising him with a hug. He hesitated before wrapping his arms slowly around her waist and holding her tightly to him. He smiled into her hair, breathing in her wonderful scent while his Veela practically thrummed in his chest with excitement.

But after a few moments, he felt her release her hold and he wished desperately for the hug to continue but knew not to push boundaries. He reluctantly pulled away and smiled at her, nodding his head. "See you tomorrow, Red."

She grinned. "Goodnight, Squeakers."

He laughed and watched as she walked up to her portrait, giving him one last smile before disappearing behind the Fat Lady. He turned away after a few moments and walked back through the corridor, grinning from ear to ear.