Signum Vitalis (a dramione story)

In which there is a Weasley and a Malfoy

Hermione explained Ginny's presence by saying she was a cousin visiting from England. This worked until John actually got a good look at her after the first class.

"Your cousin is Ginny Weasley?" John said loudly, causing several of the other students to look back at them. He leaned over Hermione and grabbed Ginny's hand in a firm grip. "Wow. Can I get an autograph? Are you coming back? I could bring a jersey or something for you to sign. I've got all the merchandise. Sweatshirt, pants, socks. Big fan."

Ginny shook his hand with a bemused smile playing on her face. She looked over at Hermione and mouthed, "Pants?"

Hermione glared back and whispered, "Drop it."

Ginny's smirk grew and she turned back to John.

"You know her?" Daryn asked, leaning forward to get a good look at Ginny.

"Uh, yeah. She's the Holyhead Harpies' chaser? Excellent single-handed broom navigation and her feints are legendary!"

Daryn nodded and then yawned. "Sorry, I'm sure it's really impressive. I'm not much into sports," he apologized.

Ginny smiled at Daryn as well and then addressed John. "Of course I can sign something for you. You sure you wouldn't want it to be something more interesting... like your pants?" She followed this with a flirtatious grin.

"Um, I mean, sure," John stumbled. "But it's a little weird, don't you think? Usually it's the shirt that people sign."

Ginny's grin only widened at John's response and her eyes flicked towards Hermione. "Oh... sometimes I get that request from very eager fans."

"Shut it, Ginny," Hermione groaned.

John cocked his head and looked between the two of them. "I feel like I'm missing something here."

At that, Ginny bent over her desk and started giggling.

Draco cleared his throat and Hermione looked over to see some of that devilish humor in his eyes too. He completely ignored her frantic gesture to shut up. "When British hear pants they think what's left after you take off your trousers," he informed John with a flat tone belied by the smirk pulling at the edge of his mouth.

John's eyes went wide.

"She was joking!" Hermione said rather loudly. "She has got an awful sense of humor."

"I'd say it was a rather wicked one," Draco said, flashing Ginny a thumbs up.

Ginny looked surprised and then gave him a tentative smile.

The upside of that conversation was that everyone got distracted from questions about why Hermione might lie about Ginny's identity or why she was there in the first place. Moreover, the tension that Hermione had been dreading between Ginny and Draco never reached the levels she had thought were unavoidable. During the rest of the school day they mostly ignored each other but when they did interact it was with cautious politeness. In fact, there was more tension between Draco and Shandra than Draco and Ginny. Shandra had taken to completely ignoring Draco or referring to him as if he wasn't present. Everyone else was quick to point out how immature she was being, but Draco had started a habit of leaving when they were in the decision-making part of their group project conversations. She had just finished one of these strained conversations when she turned to see Draco and Ginny talking in low tones. However, when they saw her watching, they immediately stopped.

"You don't need to stop because of me," Hermione offered but neither of them choose to finish their discussion. She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I need to pick up some supplies that Harry asked for. Ginny, could you continue your guard duty and escort Draco home?"