Between Us - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 7

Hermione and Ginny were slowly strolling down the main street of Hogsmeade, arm in arm. They had already gone to Tomes and Scrolls where Hermione bought a few new books on different subjects she was interested in pursuing, and Ginny had purchased a new set of quills.

"Where to now?" Ginny asked, looking around at the different shops. "We were actually in there for a less amount of time than I expected!"

Hermione laughed and pointed towards Honeydukes. "I could go for some treacle fudge and cauldron cakes!"

"Sounds perfect!" Ginny exclaimed, wheeling them towards the brightly lit sweets shop.

The shop was extremely busy with all of the students restocking their sweets collections, and the air was buzzing with excitement. Ginny immediately went to one of the side walls that held the different types of candy while Hermione slowly made her way towards the chocolates, avoiding the eyes of those around her.

She still found it odd when random students would greet her and stare at her in awe. For the most part she would smile and greet everyone back, but the constant attention still made her very uncomfortable.

"Excuse me?"

She whirled around to see a small blonde third-year looking at her nervously. Hermione looked past the girl to see three more girls huddled together and watching them carefully, whispering to each other.

Turning her attention back to the blonde, Hermione forced a smile and said, "Yes, can I help you?"

"You're Hermione Granger, right?" The girl asked quickly.

Hermione nodded, groaning inwardly. The girl's face split into a grin then and she jumped up and down excitedly. "My friends and I have been wanting to ask you: what's it like being the smartest witch in the world?"

She laughed at that, shaking her head slightly. "I'm actually not the smartest witch in the world; I have to study and work hard at it just like everyone else."

The girl's smile faltered slightly as she gave Hermione a confused look. "But didn't you practically take every class available in your third year?"

"Yes, that bit's true, but I had a bit of help and I received special permissions from the Headmaster at the time," Hermione explained. "It's not something I would recommend though; nearly drove me mad how busy I was."

The other three girls had moved closer by then and one of them piped up. "Are you really dating Ron Weasley? What's he like?"

"He's a right prat, and extremely stubborn."

Ginny appeared next to Hermione suddenly, grinning. "Trust me; I'm his sister."

The girls immediately started to open their mouths but Ginny quickly grabbed Hermione's arm and said, "Alright girls, I'm sorry to have to steal her away but we have a birthday to celebrate."

After pulling Hermione away and out of the store, Ginny shook her head and sighed. "It's really annoying when people do that."

"Thankfully it doesn't happen too often," Hermione said. "Most of the time they just stare."

"Yeah." Ginny kicked a small rock in frustration as they continued walking down the road slowly. "We can go back later on after they leave. Why don't we go get a butterbeer?"

They made their way to the Three Broomsticks, finding a table in a back corner where there were less students. Ginny ordered two pints at Hermione's protest of her friend buying the drinks, but gladly accepted as they sat down.

"I'll buy next round," Hermione insisted.

Ginny laughed. "We'll see."

"So how is Harry doing?" Hermione asked before taking a sip. "I saw you got a letter from him today."