familiar ; draco malfoy

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

It was safe to say that disappointment colored the evening in shades of red and gold.

The two agreed to go for drinks before continuing to the Gryffindor party; it was forbidden to mingle in other student's common rooms, but neither girl was about to refuse the invitation. Ramona insisted on changing before they went back to the castle and thought of the Three Broomsticks as a safe place with few students- for most parties occurred in the common rooms.

The walk from the quidditch pitch to the Three Broomsticks was a dreadful one and Ramona hoped she would not encounter anyone she knew- however, weather or not she knew them didn't matter. She wore her Slytherin uniform and a ridiculous lion hat. That in itself was hilarious enough- and, if you looked past the giant hat, you'd see a grimace of agony like no other.

The hat itself made her seem closer to 6'0, so she she was certain that no passerby could miss the attraction.

Even though most of their friends were in their common rooms, that was not the case for the rest of the school. Many students had the same idea as them- and when they walked into the Three Broomsticks, Ramona wanted to obliviate herself to forget the faces of her peers once they saw her. The inn was crowded, and a bit smoky, but very loud once people started to notice her.

It wasn't the lion's roar she concerned herself with anymore. The laughter was louder. Though not everyone laughed when they saw her; some wept. There was not a face in the room that didn't immediately light up at the ridiculous scene.

One of those faces aggravated her more than the rest; the loudest and throatiest laugh of all belonged to none other than her blood relative who, upon seeing her, seemed like a man possessed.

Blaise was not only amused. Blaise was close to passing out from the force of his laughter and, still stood at the door, Ramona only wished to turn and leave. He, however, walked over to her- though walking could not have been the right world to describe it- and hid his face in his hands, peeking through his fingers to look at her once every few moments.

Great booming laughter rolled from his mouth. Hot tears were streaming down Blaise's face and he could not utter a word for the life of him, though jokes were brewing in his throat, choking him.  It was a laughter that Blaise could feel in his lungs, so hard that it took his breath away. The lack of oxygen didn't matter. He would have accepted death then and there if it meant that the last thing he saw was Ramona in that hat.

Shenoticed the snickers and jokes that  were coming from the table of Slytherins in the corner of the room and Ramona took the momentum of everyone's attention to strut down the room, turning around so that everyone could get a good look.

Deciding that it was easier to go with the joke than fight it, she bowed down dramatically and outstretched her hands at her sides as she came up, pointing a hand in the direction of the table where Slytherin's team sat.

"That was a pathetic game, Slytherins," she announced loudly, "I don't think I'll be betting on you anytime soon."

Graham Montague, the team captain, rolled his eyes at her words and laughed- he couldn't do anything but laugh as he looked at her. The girl spinning around in the middle of the inn looked incredibly joyful in that moment, burying the embarrassment and embracing the joke.

Even though she was not one to crave attention, she didn't mind making the most out of her doom. Wearing the hat and being laughed at was much worse than laughing along.

Ramona's theatrics were far too amusing as she spun around, the lion head eventually roaring and terrifying the table of two Ravenclaws next to her. One of the poor girls almost fell off her chair and as Ramona stretched out her hand to help, the girl ushered her away and stood up by herself.