Between Us - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 4

"So, how were rounds with Malfoy last night?" Ginny asked curiously the next morning at breakfast.

Hermione paused, quickly swallowing the food in her mouth and looking down at the table. "It actually was not that bad. We had an interesting conversation."

Ginny gave her a surprised look as she asked, "Really? What about?"

"Well..." Hermione shifted in her seat. "It was mainly about his family's business."

"Oh yeah, Malfoy Apothecary," Ginny nodded. "I nearly forgot about that."

"Yeah," Hermione shrugged. "He's apparently hoping to take it over."

"Er...good for him?" Ginny said slowly in an uncertain tone.

Hermione laughed. "Yeah, that's about how I feel. I don't know though, he was actually somewhat nice last night. I'm not dreading doing rounds with him again."

"Well that's good!" Ginny took a drink of juice and then said, "I actually had a weird encounter last night too."

"Oh really?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ginny nodded. "I ran into Zabini after I finished rounds."

"What did he want?" Hermione reached over to grab another piece of toast.

"I honestly have no idea," Ginny answered. "It just seems like banter, looking back on it. He did apologize though for calling my family and I blood traitors, so there's that."

"That's always nice, but did he mean it?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"I'm pretty sure he did, actually," Ginny said.

"Huh. Well...just be careful," Hermione said with a sigh.

They continued eating and chatting about random subjects until breakfast was over. Charms was first, and the two girls had the class together with the Slytherins.

"This is going to be interesting," Ginny muttered as they walked into the classroom.

Hermione nodded in agreement and the two of them sat down in the second row towards the middle. After a few moments, they watched as Draco, Blaise, Pansy, and Theo all walked into the classroom and posted up on the other side.

As the group of Slytherins sat down, Ginny noticed that Blaise was watching her, and when they made eye contact, he gave her a wink followed by a grin. Ginny felt her face heat up and she looked down at her desk, her brow furrowing.

"Everything alright?" Hermione asked quietly.

Ginny nodded silently and kept her eyes down, which only made Blaise chuckle from the other side of the classroom.

"What's got you in a good mood?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"Just having some fun," Blaise answered, shrugging.

Draco rolled his eyes and looked over at the other side of the room where Blaise had been looking moments before. He noticed that the Weasley girl looked very embarrassed about something, and Hermione shot a look over to their area, catching his gaze.

He held it for a few moments before nodding at her slightly. Her eyes widened in surprise but she nodded in return before looking away, focusing on the front of the classroom. He thought he saw her cheeks turn slightly more pink, but before he could get a good look Professor Flitwick stepped up onto his podium and the class quieted down.

"Good morning, everyone!" He greeted cheerfully, looking around the classroom. "I'm happy to see you all back under better circumstances. Let's get right into it, shall we?"