familiar ; draco malfoy

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

The unlikely group of friends and acquaintances stayed at the Three Broomsticks for much longer than they had initially planned.

Even though the beginning of the night was filled with Blaise's sarcastic and arrogant remarks, he couldn't help but take a liking to the few people Ramona called friends.

The magic of alcohol only served to strengthen the unlikely bond between the Slytherin and Gryffindor boys. Such a bond had birthed from their mutual hatred towards Nott and Montague, two of Blaise's housemates that had made their way onto Blaise's bad side in a short period of time. Loyalty ran deep in the Slytherin house, but family was family, and Blaise wanted his housemates to suffer for the crude things they said about his cousin.

And by the end of the evening, the three of them appeared very invested in creating a plan of revenge, but Ramona was certain that they wouldn't remember much of it tomorrow. The pub was near closing time when they decided to leave and most people had already retreated to their common rooms anyway, spare for a handful of students celebrating someone's birthday.

Ramona insisted they get Blaise to bed soon, not sure weather she could handle carrying her cousin through the hallways in his drunken state, but also knowing that she had to stop their planning before they finalized it. They were all pretty tired so there were no complaints at such a proposal, all pretty drunk as well- except Ramona who, aside from the fact that she didn't like to drink much, remembered that she didn't really have a filter when she was drunk and decided it was best to keep control of the things she said.

She had just returned from the bathroom, preparing to leave, when she overheard their great plan in its final stages; one that had its roots in revenge, but would blossom into a masterpiece- or something of the sort.

"You'd actually have Ramona snog Montague to distract him? It's not her we're punishing. And besides, you wouldn't be able to live through that sight," said George after Fred laid out an entire three part mission. Blaise seemed very invested in the conversation, nodding along, but it was evident that he wasn't registering a word of what they were saying.

"Georgie, kiss my ass while you stab me in the back, won't you? And snogging Nott in this case isn't an option, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Montague is the lesser of two evils," retaliated Fred, sweating from how fast he was speaking, or perhaps from the three shots of fire whiskey he had downed moments earlier, or perhaps from embarrassment that Ramona had overheard the end of their conversation.

"I'm not snogging anyone," Ramona jumped in, set on breaking their plan apart. She was glad that the boys were bonding and talking instead of arguing- she was, after all, concerned that Blaise's distaste for the Weasleys would ruin their night. But no matter how great their bonding was, she didn't want them to cause trouble because of her.

"She's not snogging anyone, we need a new plan," Fred echoed, eager to change the subject before George could sabotage him even more. Ramona was very aware of the blush that rose to Fred's cheeks and wondered weather he actually had a crush on her, for it could have been stupid brotherly banter. But she didn't want to draw more attention to it, wanting to keep Fred from feeling uncomfortable.

"So you're not going to take one for the team, Xanthos," George sighed. "What do you reckon, Zabini?"

"I bet it's nice to have a brother," said Blaise distractedly, eyeing the twins, growing desperately sad all of a sudden and dragging attention away from the twins' bickering. "Ramona is the closest thing I have to a brother, you know. I've never loved anyone quite as much. Only that she's a girl. But I don't really think that makes a difference, yeah? She punches like a bloke. Even swears like one too. This one time when we were kids-"