Hermione's Pov:

I hadn't even realized that the boys were all sitting over in the booth the entire time. When we heard their laughter, I almost fell out of my chair trying to see where it was coming from.

And this time they had Theodore Nott with them.

Pansy led us over to the table and slid in beside Theo. After getting settled, she leaned into his shoulder, causing him to smile as he looked down at her.

Looks like they were telling the truth.

I smiled at everyone as we stopped at the front of the booth. Ginny nonchalantly sat down in the spot next to Blaise. Which left me to glare at her as I slid next to Malfoy on the opposite side of the table.

His silver eyes watched me as I moved next to him, almost as if teasing me. 

"Hey, Granger."

I smiled at him, "Hi."

The group settled down and took a moment to take each other in. Ginny and I were definitely in new territory for a pair of Gryffindors, but for some reason, I didn't feel nervous at all.

"So," Theo said, as he leaned back and glanced around at everyone. "What's been happening while Pansy and I were gone?"

"We were going to ask you the same," Blaise snorted, as he passed everyone a fresh mug of Butterbeer.

The Slytherin smirked as he took a sip of his drink. "Nothing much to be honest. How about y'all?"

"Y'all?" Ginny laughed.

Malfoy chuckled next to me, "Theo is from America."

I blinked with surprise, "What about your accent?"

Ginny laughed, "Ah, so that's why you weren't in any of our classes today."

The entire table erupted in laughter as the American rolled his eyes and took a long sip from his butterbeer, trying poorly to hide the grin that was plastered all over his face.

"What made your family move out here?" I asked as I took a sip of my butterbeer. "Also, it's nice to meet you, Theo."

"Nice to meet you," he said as he wrapped his arm around Pansy. "And honestly, it's a long story."

"You went to Ilvermorny?" Ginny asked.

"Mhmm," he nodded as he set down his finished cup. "End of the day. Hogwarts is better."

"Of course it is!"

"That goes without saying."

"Imagine thinking otherwise."

"Obviously!"

Theo shook his head, "Yeah, they tried to take my wand when I went there"

Ginny's eyes widened, "Really?! Why?"

"I had gotten it before I went there my first year," he said, as he rolled his eyes and looked over at his friends. "Which ... disrupted the Sorting Ceremony."

I frowned and looked between him and Malfoy. "What do you mean disrupted?"

His green eyes made their way over to mine. "I'll have to go into detail some other time," he tapped his fingers on the table and looked towards the bar. "But for now, let's focus on getting drunk!"

"Sounds like a plan," Blaise laughed, as he looked up at our host as she stopped at our table

"Does anyone need a refill?

My eyes quickly made their way up to Madam Rosmerta. Malfoy ordered us all another round, after making sure at least one of them had cinnamon in it.

"So tell me," Ginny leaned into the table and pointed between Pansy and Theo. "When did this start?"

"The beginning of the summer," Pansy smiled.

I folded my arms, "You two seem happy together."

Pansy rolled her eyes and smiled. "He's special" she stated," and he makes me feel special. He's like an adventure that I never want to stop having." She nuzzled into his chest and smiled, "He also makes me feel safe."

"Awwwwwwh!" Blaise teased, wiping a couple of nonexistent tears off his cheeks.

Suddenly, butterbeer shot out of Malfoy's nose, which caused just about everyone left at our table to erupt into uncontrollable laughter.

Malfoy wiped his face, glaring at his friends as he turned away from me.

"Help," Ginny wheezed, from her spot at the table, "I can't breathe."

Blaise smiled down at her, "Are you alright there Red?"

The redhead nodded as she took a deep breath and looked around the bar, "Am I crazy or has everyone been looking at us since we arrived?"

I followed her gaze and couldn't help but notice that she was right. There were normally regulars gossiping and occasionally getting into fights, but it seemed like we had been at the center of attention.

Then again, I guess that would make sense.

Until very quite recently, none of us could stand being in the same room together. Now, it seemed like we all starting to become friends.

We all laughed once again as Ginny raised her glass to a few onlookers from the bar that had been staring at us like we were in a zoo exhibit.

"Cheers," She smirked, as she turned back around to face the group.

"You don't care what anyone thinks do you Red?" Blaise laughed, as he shook his head and raised his glass.

"Why the hell should she!" Theo laughed, as he tried to avoid the playful nudging of Pansy beside him.

"Because some people aren't used to being able to speak their minds," Pansy said. Her light green eyes flashed, as she sipped her butterbeer and looked over Blaise's shoulder. "Which is really quite a shame. It must be terribly boring."

I turned around to follow her gaze towards the entrance of the Three Broomsticks. It was starting to get more and more packed as it got later in the afternoon.

The door swung open, nearly hitting a few students as they were making their way out. A group of Hufflepuffs and a few older wizards came walking in.

Zacharias Smith led his friends into the bar and looked around until their eyes landed on us. 

"Hmm," Malfoy smirked, as he looked across the room. "That's very true."

I peeked over at Malfoy from the corner of my eye, trying to fight that small feeling of curiosity that had started to grow in my stomach again.

What was going on?

"Let's try to behave," Pansy sighed, as she glared between the three boys.

"Why?" Theo asked as he looked between Ginny and me. "If I were them, I'd remember what happened last time."

Pansy slapped his arm and glared up at him. "Don't."

Malfoy and Blaise traded glances and looked back at us. Clearly, they were not pleased with how this conversation was starting to go.

I traded a confused glance with Ginny and looked over at the group of badgers. They were all glaring over at the boys and it was getting difficult to not address the tension that had started to build.

"Hold on," Pansy huffed as she got up and headed over to the bar. 

Madame Rosmerta nodded after she leaned in and murmured something. Then she turned to wave away a couple of house elves who were blocking the walkway behind her.

Theo's arm found its way around Pansy again as she settled back in the booth. She smiled at Ginny and me before she turned and whispered something in her boyfriend's ear which caused him to smirk.

I'm starting to think that this smirking thing originated from this friend group.

 "I'm sorry about that," Theo said, as he looked around the table, "Pansy told me to apologize to our new friends."

"Oh, gee," Blaise exclaimed, as he cupped his heart. "I feel so much better."

Once again, the group erupted into laughter. Which caused all of the Three Broomsticks to stop what they were doing to look over at something that until the other day, I thought was impossible.

Malfoy and I laughing with each other.

An hour or so had gone by and we were all trading stories from our younger years. The drinks never seemed to end and I'm ashamed to say that I was starting to get a little tipsy

I just had to explain to everyone how I had accidentally turned into a cat in our 2nd year.

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as they laughed, which caused me to look down at my lap and try not to blush out of pure embarrassment.

Why didn't they ever look at Ginny?

Because she's too busy looking at Blaise. A familiar voice sounded throughout my head

My eyes shot up towards Pansy, who was smiling innocently as she sipped on her drink. How'd you do that?

She sighed and sat back in the booth. We've all been doing it since we were kids.

I took a drink of my butterbeer. Are you all Legilimens?

Blaise laughed at something Theo had said, causing us to break eye contact. 

Maybe 'Draco' can explain it to you sometime, she teased.

My cheeks became warm and I stuck my face back into my mug before anyone else could notice. But not without casting a small glance beside me.

He wasn't looking at me, so I had a chance to look at him without having to confront those stupid eyes of his.

Theo burped, which earned him another arm slap from Pansy, "I know this is a strange time to ask, but we don't have assignments due on Monday do we?"

"I hope not!" Blaise laughed, as he moved yet another glass to the center of the table. His eyes glanced between Malfoy and Pansy before landing back on the redhead beside him. 

I blinked and looked between all the Slytherins and realized something.

"Now that I think about it," I turned to look at Malfoy and Blaise. "I remember seeing you two in Potions, but afterward neither of you came to any of our other classes."

Malfoy traded glances with Blaise and took a large sip of his drink as Pansy started to laugh.

"Wow!" She clasped her hands together and looked between the two of them. "So are we all already behind in our classes!?"

"Come on guys!" Theo laughed, as he ran his hands through his hair. "We were hoping that we could get your notes or something."

"Hold on," Ginny said, after she finished her drink. Her eyes made their way to the couple. "Why weren't you two in class?"

Pansy sat back and raised her eyebrow at Theo. "Yeah, please explain that darling."

He rolled his eyes and looked between Ginny and me. Meanwhile, trying to keep himself from laughing as he began to fill us both in on the kind of morning that they had.

"So there's a seagull living in the Slytherin dormitory?" I asked, trying as hard as I could to imagine what it looked like flying around and dodging Pansy's spells.

"Oh no!" Blaise answered, pointing over at Theo. "That bloody thing moved into my room while Theo was hiding from Pansy."

Malfoy laughed as Pansy whipped around.

"That's where you were?!"

"Listen," Theo started, smiling down at her. "You were quite emotional that morning, so I thought it was best to give you your space."

"Yeah and because of that," Malfoy said, gesturing to Blaise. "I had to give up one of my beautiful couches..."

Blaise rolled his eyes, "I can't believe that's the takeaway."

"Listen," Ginny said, smiling over at Blaise sweetly. "They said that you could stay as long as you need right?" She brushed her hair behind her ear. "From what I can tell those sofas are comfy."

"Yeah, they're full of surprises," Blaise said, as he looked over at Malfoy, who couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

If something else was said, I couldn't tell you. My eyes were locked on his smile.

For so many years, we've gone to school together. Not once did I see Malfoy smile unless it was a cruel smirk or when he laughed at someone.

Now, it was like he was an entirely different person.

I sighed and looked around the table. 

We all were.

"Did we lose you, Granger?" Blaise laughed, spilling some more butterbeer on the table.

"Y-yeah sorry I was just thinking about something," I smiled, as I sat back in the booth. "You're all so different than you were growing up." I looked at Malfoy, "Especially you."

"I hope I am," he said, as he looked around the group. "You guys all deserved better from me back then."

"Mate," Blaise said, as he nudged him and gestured to the center of the table. "We're free now."

"Yeah, stop focusing on the past!" Theo waved down Madam Rosemerda, "Could we get a round of firewhiskey!?"

Everyone turned to look at him as she flicked her wand and sent six, quite full, cups of firewhiskey toward us.

"Firewhiskey?" Pansy asked, trying not to laugh. "What's wrong with butterbeer?"

"The place is about to close." he laughed, as he looked down at her.

Ginny groaned as she looked over her shoulder at the clock on the wall. She flicked her wand and sent the pile of empty glasses back towards the bar.

Malfoy and I leaned in closer as he reached to grab a glass, accidentally touching hands under the table.

A sharp pinch rang throughout my arm, which caused me to jump.

Malfoy quickly moved away from me as well, looking down at his hand and then across the table at Blaise.

He turned his attention back to me as the others each picked up their drink. "Are you okay?"

I blinked with surprise, "Oh, yeah. I think we just got shocked or something." I smiled at him, "I'm okay." 

Malfoy looked at me for a moment before turning his attention back to the center of the table, "Good."

A strange fluttery feeling came over my lower abdomen. Please no, not now, I groaned inwardly, He's right there.

He smiled to himself as he brought the glass up to his lips and took a sip.

"It's good right?" Theo said, he turned the glass over in his hand. "Not much compared to some good old American scotch, but it's not bad."

Ginny wiped her mouth after taking a large sip, "I'm still surprised that you're American." She looked over at me, "Do you know anyone else that is?"

I shrugged, "I'm not sure."

Pansy sighed after she took a big drink and nudged Theo. He leaned down as she started whispering something in his ear.

He smirked, "Oh really?"

Blaise squinted and nearly choked on his drink.

Pansy's face turned red, which only caused Theo to smile even harder. Malfoy was leaning over the table shaking his hand as Ginny was trying to not fall out of her chair from laughing.

I blinked and looked around at everyone, "What's so funny? What did she say?"

"I don't know," Ginny laughed, pointing to the couple in question, "but they're probably freeaaakkyy."

Laughter filled the street as we all stumbled out of the Three Broomsticks. 

I smiled to myself as I looked back at the group. We hadn't noticed it at the time, but when Pansy had gotten up to go to the bar, she slipped Madam Rosmerta a pouch of Galleons and told her to just keep the drinks coming.

"Careful, Red," Blaise teased, as Ginny started to lead us.

"Worried are we?" Ginny laughed, as she looked back. "As far as I'm concerned, we should keep this party going!"

"That's the plan!" Theo called out, as he and Pansy caught up to us.

I looked between the couple and smiled. They were wearing matching white jackets, but they were like something I had never seen before.

Theo's was bigger and looked much more articulate, while Pany's was slick and looked like something out of a magazine cover.

Each one was snow-white with matching black runes and symbols around the sleeves and chest. Pansy reached inside of her jacket and pulled out a bottle of wine, which appeared with a small green flash of light.

Pansy winked at me as she cracked it open. She took a swig and passed it over to Ginny, who accepted it gladly. 

I blinked with surprise and continued to look at her outfit. The thought hadn't even occurred to me that you could put an expansion spell on clothing.

Where could you even find a jacket like that?

Theo made it for me.

I shook my head and made eye contact with Pansy. I've got to get used to this whole legilimens thing. 

She laughed and stepped up beside me as we followed Blaise and Ginny back towards the carriages. Makes things a lot easier, believe me.

She reached into her jacket once more, and after a small flash of green, she had another bottle of wine in her hands.

I glanced over at Malfoy. Can he do it too?

Make jackets?

No, I nearly laughed. Legilimens.

She giggled. He's talking about you right now.

I tried to keep myself from blushing for the rest of the way back to the castle.

It was safe to say that after a few minutes of riding in the carriage, the alcohol started to take effect on everyone.

We said goodnight to Theo and Pansy when we got to the main staircase. The sound of their laughter echoed as they descended downstairs towards the dungeons. 

"Do we want to head upstairs?" Malfoy asked as he looked around the group.

"You're funny," Blaise said, as he looked over at Ginny. "I don't need to carry you do I?"

She whipped into a weird stance and pointed her wand at Blaise, "You wouldn't dare try to touch the wand of the Supreme Practitioner of the Infamous Bat Bogey!"

Blaise laughed as he stepped towards her, gently reaching out for her wand, "As terrifying as you are Red, I don't think your wand is facing the right way."

She snorted, "As if I would let a sneaky weaky Slyyyytherin trick me."

Malfoy chuckled from next to me, "This is going to be a long year."

Draco's Pov:

After a few minutes of making our way up the stairs, the speaker system crackled throughout the castle. Which caused Granger to jump and reach for my arm.

Something in my chest exploded as I looked down at the Gryffindor. Her eyes grew wide and she pulled herself back and quickly looked away.

"Hear ye, hear ye," Theo's voice rang throughout the corridor.

"Oh wow," Granger laughed, as she