Between Us - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 23

"Am I seeing things, or did Draco and Hermione just run by?"

Blaise and Theo had made their way into the Three Broomsticks, posting up by a window away from everyone else.

"Most likely," Blaise answered before taking a sip of his butterbeer.

Theo looked out the window again and said, "And there are the girls."

Blaise also peered through the glass, finding the bright red hair that he would recognize from a mile away. He frowned and looked down at his mug, sighing.

"Merlin, it's like you and Draco switched places."

He looked up to see Theo shaking his head as he went on: "Just go out there and apologize to her!"

"Are you kidding?" Blaise scoffed. "If she doesn't hex me, Pansy for sure will."

"You're being ridiculous." Theo rolled his eyes and looked outside again, his brow furrowing. "It looks like the girls stopped, actually."

"Really?" Blaise asked, looking outside again.

Sure enough, Pansy and Ginny were standing outside, looking around and gesturing towards different shops. They seemed to be trying to figure out where exactly to go next.

"I'm surprised they aren't going after Draco and Hermione," Blaise said in a light tone.

"Maybe they want to give them some privacy," Theo suggested slyly.

Rolling his eyes, Blaise shook his head before nearly choking on his drink. "Shit, Theo, they're coming this way!"

"Why are you panicking?" Theo asked, amused. "All you did was kiss her."

"Yeah, and it upset her so I'm trying to give her space," Blaise scowled.

"Whatever," Theo said, waving him off. "Wait 'til they come inside and then we can go."

"It feels so much better inside right now," Ginny sighed, rubbing her arms as she shivered.

"It'll feel even better once we have some butterbeer," Pansy said.

They made their way to the bar and ordered their drinks, finding a table right next to the bar. The Three Broomsticks was filled with students and townspeople all trying to stay warm, and the conversations were filling the warm space. The crackling of the fireplaces helped fill in the background noise, and Ginny couldn't help but smile at how cozy everything felt.

"I really hate to keep bringing it up but..."

Ginny looked over at Pansy, who seemed a bit uncomfortable as she asked, "When are you and Blaise going to start talking again?"

"I'm not sure," Ginny said. "I probably shouldn't though until I sort things out with Harry."

"Merlin, Ginny, just break up with the guy," Pansy sighed. "You don't sound happy at all, and frankly I miss us all being able to hang out together."

"I miss it too, but that's not giving Harry a fair chance," Ginny replied sadly. "And I do miss talking to Blaise. I miss hanging out with him, I miss laughing with him, I just...miss him."

Pansy's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, looking down at her butterbeer. "He's a wonderful guy. We got fairly close in a short amount of time and I was worried that Blaise suddenly coming into my life was clouding my judgement but it's really not. I've realized lately that I truly like Blaise. And that thought terrified me at first because of Harry but now it's more like...I feel better around Blaise than I did around Harry. Blaise lets me talk about things that I couldn't talk about before and he actually listens."