Between Us - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 15

That Saturday was the first quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. Ginny was feeling a mixture of excitement and nerves as she hadn't played a quidditch match in over a year, considering the events of the previous school year. She had only managed to eat about half the food on her plate, and Hermione was getting worried.

"Everything's going to be fine," Hermione said reassuringly.

"I know, it's just been so long," Ginny said, looking down at her plate. "And it's my first match as captain."

"And you're going to do amazingly!" Hermione smiled.

Ginny half-heartedly returned the smile, her stomach still a bundle of nerves. A note suddenly landed in front of her, making the two girls jump in surprise. Ginny reached for the note, opening it up and reading it out loud.

"'Good luck today! We're all cheering for you! –Pansy, Theo, Draco, and Blaise'," She said, a smile forming on her face as she read off each word. "Aw! That was so nice of them!"

The two of them turned to look across the hall at the Slytherin table and saw the other four looking back at them, as if they were waiting for the reaction. Ginny grinned widely at the four of them and mouthed a quick 'thank you', to which they waved in response back.

"They've really gotten to be great people," Ginny said, looking at Hermione. "And I noticed that Draco's actually starting to warm up to other people too."

"Yeah, I think I got through to him to give others the chance to see that he changed," Hermione shrugged, remembering that night.

Their patrols had gone much quicker since they were talking again, and Hermione found a wonderful conversational companion in him. He seemed to think the same thing as he would find a new subject to pick her brain about almost every night since. She couldn't deny that she was definitely enjoying the change, and she was even starting to learn quite a bit about Draco.

The Hall was suddenly filled with the sound of owls as the mail arrived, and both girls looked up. Hermione, though, wasn't expecting anything except the Prophet. But after a few minutes, she was surprised to see that Ginny hadn't gotten anything either.

"No letter from Harry?" Hermione asked, looking up to try and find Pigwidgeon, Ginny's owl.

Ginny looked all around for the familiar small owl, but after a few minutes she sighed in defeat and put her head in her hand. "I haven't heard from him all week. I hope he's alright..."

"I'm sure he's fine," Hermione said gently. "They could be in a rough patch of training right now."

Staring down at her half-eaten plate of food, Ginny sighed again. Another note suddenly drifted down in front of her and she snatched it out of the air, reading it to herself this time.

Stop worrying; you're going to do just fine. And you better finish your breakfast, Red.

She turned around again to see Blaise watching her with a smile on his face, and she rolled her eyes in response but couldn't hold back a smile.

"Who's that from?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just Blaise," Ginny answered, folding the paper up and putting it with the first note. "Telling me to not worry."

Hermione gave her friend a skeptical look and asked, "Have you two gotten close?"

Shrugging, Ginny answered, "I mean, we talk during rounds like you and Draco do. We're somewhat friends now, I guess. He listens, which is really nice."

"Just don't forget about Harry," Hermione sighed.

Ginny didn't answer, looking back down at her plate and picking up a piece of toast. She did feel somewhat guilty about being closer to Blaise now, but it was hard not to be when they had to patrol together every night. And he really was a great listener; he would let her vent about things that were bothering her, or listen to stories about her growing up. And he never asked about her relationship with Harry again, which she was thankful for.