Hermione knew something was going on with Ginny when she joined them in the courtyard. Pansy seemed to pick up on it too, but she didn't say anything, instead giving the red head odd looks every now and then.
"Do you guys think I should try out for the Harpies?" Ginny blurted out suddenly, looking at the other two girls.
Pansy gave her a surprised look but said, "I think you'd do great on that team! Why do you ask?"
"She's been grappling with that decision for months," Hermione explained before looking at Ginny. "What brought this up, Gin?"
"I was just thinking about it after practice today," Ginny shrugged. It wasn't necessarily a lie, but at the same time she wasn't ready to admit that Blaise was the actual reason. "Trying to get different opinions on it since I'm going to have to decide what I want to do after graduating soon."
"I say go for it," Pansy shrugged.
"And you already know how I feel on it," Hermione said with a nod before frowning at Ginny. "Is this because Ron would try to steer you off from it over the summer?"
"Kind of, yeah," Ginny sighed.
"What?" Pansy asked, looking between the two of them.
"Whenever I would bring up trying out for the Harpies," Ginny started explaining. "My brother would always try to convince me not to do it. He was always jealous that I was better at quidditch than him."
Pansy's brow furrowed. "That's rather petty. Has he always been so insecure?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Hermione sighed. "I think that's why he jumped on the Auror training. He wanted to excel in something, and no one else in his family is an Auror."
"Still, trying to turn someone off from their dreams just because it would be more successful than your own is kind of a shit thing to do," Pansy said unhappily. "I say do it just to spite your brother."
Ginny laughed. "I kind of expected that answer from you. I'm really thinking about it, I guess I'm just worried that I won't be good enough."
"You are more than good enough for the Harpies," Hermione said in a reassuring tone before gesturing around them. "Anyone here would agree."
Pansy nodded before asking, "What does Harry think about it?"
"He's actually been somewhat quiet on it," Ginny said sadly. "Whenever I brought it up, he'd think it was a good idea, but he wouldn't ever stop Ron from trying to get me to change my mind, so I don't know..."
Scowling, Pansy said, "I feel like he should fully support you on that if it's what you want to do. Any good boyfriend should do that if it's going to make you happy and will be good for you."
Ginny tilted her head back and forth, agreeing. She looked away towards the edge of the courtyard, zipping up her jacket and putting her hands in the front pocket. Hermione watched Ginny quietly, thinking that Ginny wasn't telling her everything.
"Is there something else bugging you?" Hermione asked, nudging her friend.
Ginny looked back to see that both Hermione and Pansy were watching her curiously, and she sighed. "It's nothing. Really."
"Lies," Pansy said. "What's going on?"
"It's nothing, I promise!" Ginny laughed nervously. "You two are thinking too much into it."
"Okay, when I can tell something is wrong, something is wrong," Pansy insisted. "Come on, what's up?"
Ginny didn't answer for a few moments, but she breathed a small sigh of relief when they were interrupted by Theo's sudden arrival.
"Hello, sweetheart!" He said, wrapping his arms around Pansy from behind and kissing her cheek.
She giggled and looked back at him with a smile. "Theo! Where did you come from?"
"The Slytherin common room," He grinned. "I missed you."
"Aww," She cooed before giving him another kiss.
Ginny's nose crinkled but she laughed. "You two are sickeningly adorable."
"We get told that a lot," Theo said before squeezing Pansy. "Come on; dinner's about to start."
"Merlin, is it that late already?" Hermione asked as she looked down at her watch. "No wonder I'm hungry."
Ginny laughed as they all stood up and left the courtyard, making their way to the Great Hall. Pansy and Theo parted ways with the two Gryffindors before heading to the Slytherin table, and Hermione and Ginny both took their usual spots towards the center of the table.
"Okay, are you going to tell me what's bothering you now?" Hermione asked as they piled food onto their plates.
Ginny looked up and then back down at her plate nervously. "I, um...I just had another odd encounter with Zabini earlier."
"What happened?" Hermione asked curiously.
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, the red head nervously looked down at her plate. "I'm pretty sure he was flirting with me outright this time."
"Really?" Hermione asked in surprise, glancing past Ginny towards the Slytherin table. "What makes you think that?"
"He was perched up in a window on the fifth floor, which happened to be on the way to the Prefects' bathroom," Ginny explained quietly. "And he was making all sorts of comments that were indirectly calling me attractive."
Hermione glanced over at the Slytherin table again, this time noticing that the man in question was looking over in their direction. "He does smile at you a lot; he's actually looking over here now."
Ginny immediately straightened up and whirled around, finding Blaise at the table on the other side of the Great Hall. Hermione immediately saw his face split into a grin right before Ginny quickly turned back to her and put her head in her arms with a groan.
Hermione shook her head but then noticed that Draco was watching them as well. Her eyes met his, and surprisingly he didn't look away. There was a sudden rush of excitement in her chest that caught her off guard and she broke eye contact, staring down at her plate. She hadn't felt that way since...well, since she and Ron had shared their first kiss in the Chamber of Secrets.
Trying to regain her composure and ignore the sudden feeling she just had, Hermione cleared her throat and asked, "So, Blaise flirting with you; what exactly is the problem?"
Ginny lifted her head and stared at Hermione. "The problem is that...I may like the flirting."
"Oh, yeah that's not good," Hermione groaned. "You're just missing Harry."
"Do you think so?" Ginny asked in a pained tone.
Hermione nodded. "You haven't seen him in a few months, and you seem to be going through the same thing I was with Draco. The only difference in our situations is that Blaise seems to be giving you attention."
Ginny thought about that for a few moments before sighing. "You're right. I just need to ignore him and focus on Harry."
"Exactly, just don't let him get to you," Hermione said. "He's a nice guy and everything, but you've already got a boyfriend that you love."
Ginny nodded but stayed silent for the rest of dinner, her mind caught in a whirlwind of thoughts that centered between Harry and Blaise.
"What's up with the shit-eating grin?"
Blaise looked over at Theo and shrugged. "Just having a good day."
"I'd believe that if it weren't for the fact that you just started grinning out of nowhere," Theo said skeptically.
"It's because he was staring at Ginny and she looked back at him," Draco said nonchalantly, staring off absentmindedly.
Blaise glared at him while Theo and Pansy both gave Blaise a surprised look.
"Blaise, mate, we knew you thought she was pretty but..." Theo trailed off.
"But what?" Blaise demanded, turning to glare at Theo.
"But she's not available," Pansy answered firmly.
"So what?" Blaise asked. "I'm not making any moves on her."
"No, but you're messing with her head, and that's not fair to her," Pansy answered angrily. "I was wondering what was off with her earlier; you had something to do with it, didn't you?"
Blaise shrugged before looking back over to Ginny, who had put her head in her arms. This allowed him to see Hermione though, who was staring over at them. Her cheeks turned red suddenly and she looked down at her plate, and Blaise looked over at Draco, who was staring in the same direction.
"Hermione isn't available either, but I don't see the two of you getting onto Draco for making her blush," Blaise said quickly.
It was Draco's turn to glare again as Pansy groaned, putting her head in her hands. "What the hell am I going to do with the two of you bloody idiots...."
"Things are getting interesting," Theo said with a grin.
"Theo, shut it," Pansy growled to him before pointing a finger between Draco and Blaise. "And you two: stop messing with their heads. They're both very nice girls, they're both having some problems in their relationships and they don't need the two of you interfering and adding more problems!"
Blaise perked up at this while Draco simply raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "How do you know they're having problems?"
"She was with them in the courtyard before dinner," Theo answered before taking a rather large bite of food.
"For your information," Pansy said pointedly, shooting a glare at Theo. "I've become fairly good friends with them."
"That's definitely very good to know," Blaise said, a sly grin forming on his face. "Any other secrets you would care of divulge?"
Pansy crinkled her nose at him and took a bite of her food, staying quiet while he chuckled. "That's fine; I'll get them out of her eventually."
"No you won't," Pansy retorted. "I'm not saying a word."
"I didn't mean you," Blaise answered simply before taking a drink of his pumpkin juice.
"What?!" She exclaimed.
Blaise didn't answer though as his attention was caught by a piece of neatly folded parchment suddenly appearing in front of Draco. The blond hesitantly took it and unfolded it, scanning over the words.
Please come to the Headmistress's office after the dinner feast has ended.
"Oh Merlin..." Draco groaned, dropping the letter onto the table.
While the others grabbed for it, his eyes wandered and he found himself looking at Hermione again. She apparently had received a similar letter and was frowning at it before saying something to Ginny and prodding at her food, worry clear on her face.
"What do you think it is?"
He looked back to see Pansy reading over the note and he shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe just a task she wants us to do."
"'Us'?" Pansy asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
The other three Slytherins immediately turned around to see Hermione folding up her note as well, and Draco put his head in his hands out of frustration.
"It was a lucky guess," Draco lied, looking up.
"I'm sure it was," Theo grinned, looking at Pansy and Blaise who both shared the same knowing grin.
A/N: I love the idea of Theo being the smartass in the group. Good things are coming up very soon! Love you all! <3