~ Hermione ~
I plop down next to Ginny at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Harry and Ron are sitting across the table from us. Who are sitting suspiciously close to each other, in my opinion. Ginny thinks that they're secretly dating and that's why they go to 'practice' so much. If they are, and that's a big if, I hope they know that I won't judge them if they decide to tell me.
I'm fifteen minutes late for lunch because Professor Slughorn told me to stay after class. It was about my want to apprentice for someone next year. He said he would be willing to do it so I accepted his offer. Now I have to tell Ginny and the boys.
"You look happy" Harry comments.
"I am" I reply, flashing him a big smile.
"And why is that? Did Malfoy finally ask you out?" Ron says bluntly.
"Shut up about that! And no" I hiss and narrow my eyes at him.
"Then why?" Ginny asks.
"Because Professor Slughorn said he would be more then happy to let me be his apprentice" I say.
"Congratulations Hermione! I'm so happy for you!" She exclaims, pulling me into a side hug.
"Yeah, congrats Mione" Harry and Ron say in unison.
I pat Ginny's arm and after a second she pulls away.
"So we're all coming back next year but not as students. Cool" Ginny says with a devilish grin on her face.
Ginny is apprenticing under Professor Flitwick while Harry and Ron are coming back during the Quidditch season to coach the teams. They're also going to hold the dueling club, something Professor McGonagall is reinstating next year for all students.
"So Blaise is apprenticing under Binns...is Malfoy apprenticing under anybody?" Ron asks me.
"Yeah, for Professor Dumbledore" I reply.
Professor Dumbledore is the deceased Dumbledore's brother and the fill-in professor for Defense Against The Dark Arts this year. Draco is going to be the new DADA professor next year. It'll be weird to hear students call him Professor Malfoy. Yet again it'll be weird to be called Professor anyways.
"Really? Cool" Harry says with a slight nod of his head.
Harry reaches across the table, causing his turtleneck to move slightly revealing a...hickey? What the hell? How did he get that?
"Okay! What the hell is going on between you two?" Ginny exclaims a little loud, drawing the attention of other students at the Gryffindor table.
Ginny glares daggers at them, effectively making them look anywhere but our small group. That girl is scary when she needs to be. Meanwhile Harry and Ron are blushing redder then Ginny's hair. Something is definitely up between the pair, no matter how much they would like to deny it.
"W-what do you mean?" Harry stutters, pulling his turtleneck over the hickey on his neck.
No wonder why he's been wearing turtlenecks all week. And I thought he didn't like turtlenecks.
"First you two are both at shady practices then you have a bloody hickey on your neck! There's something you're not telling us!" Ginny whisper yells at her brother and his best friend.
Harry looks around quickly, obviously paranoid that someone could be listening in to our conversation.
"Promise to not say a word of this to anyone?" Ron asks, a new found seriousness in his eyes that I have never seen before.
"I promise Ronald" I say.
"Promise" Ginny says.
"We are...in a relationship" Harry says quietly so only Ginny and I can hear.
"I figured as much" Ginny says with a shrug of her shoulders, looking somewhat disappointed.
"I'm really happy for you two" I say, giving the couple a supportive smile.
"Thanks Mione, it means a lot" Harry says, returning the smile.
"Really it does" Ron says, agreeing with his boyfriend.
Dang, I never saw this one coming. I always thought that Harry was going to end up with Ginny and Ron and I would end up together. But stranger things have happened in the world. Looks like I was wrong. I also didn't see that I would actually be the pureblood first born daughter of the Zabini family and Blaise's twin. At least both of these things are good and not bad.