The Internal Devices

Chapter 18

When Hermione walked through the door to her room, the first thing she saw was Ginny. The redhead looked ready to pounce, wand aimed at the other end of the room, where Hermione's bed sat. Confused, Hermione's eyes followed Ginny's fiery glare and landed on the smirking form of Pansy Parkinson draped across the covers.

"Erm...," she stuttered awkwardly, "What's going on?"

Ginny didn't take her eyes off Pansy but answered gruffly. "I have no idea. I just walked in to find this intruder."

Pansy cackled from the bed. "A bit dramatic, Red."

"Don't call me that!"

"I'll call you whatever I like, sweetheart."

"Snake."

"Lioness."

"Hermione!" Hermione tore her eyes from the ridiculous exchange and faced Ginny, who had lowered her wand and placed her hands on her hips. "Get rid of it! She's yours."

Hermione chuckled. "I'd hardly call Pansy mine. Maybe we should ask her why she's here instead of preparing to hex her?"

Ginny just rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall. Hermione figured Pansy was no longer under the immediate threat of the bat-bogey hex and faced the dark-haired witch again.

"Pansy?"

The Slytherin girl stretched her arms above her head and yawned. It was unnerving how cat-like she appeared at that moment. An image raced around Hermione's brain where she was a mouse being chased by a black cat with perfectly manicured green talons. She blinked a few times to focus. Pansy was already answering, but Hermione had missed the first bit.

"--but then I ended up outside the Gryffindor entrance. Some idiot first-year practically yelled the password coming in, so I followed a few minutes later. It's quite cozy, isn't it? I figured while I was here I might as well hang out with Hermione."

Ginny frowned suspiciously and sauntered over to the bed. Before Hermione could protest, Ginny lunged forward and pinned Pansy to the bed. Pansy didn't look too upset with the development and winked over at Hermione.

"Are you using my best friend for some sort of sick serpent game?" Ginny growled in the other girl's face. Finally, Pansy's expression hardened a bit. She swallowed slowly and cocked her head to the side. Ginny's long red hair tickled Pansy's forehead.

Hermione honestly didn't know what to do. In fact, she didn't really know what was happening. She rarely mentioned Pansy to Ginny, but Ginny had known it was Pansy who invited her to the Slytherin party. She realized she may have failed to mention that she often spent time with the Slytherin girls and that she really enjoyed their company.

"Would it be so unbelievable if I told you I rather like your bushy-haired friend?" Pansy asked. Ginny narrowed her eyes and took in the other girl's relaxed posture, despite being tackled. The girls glared at each other for ten full seconds before the side of Ginny's mouth twitched.

"Oh gods, no," Ginny complained, releasing Pansy and stepping back a bit. She looked over at Hermione, but Hermione could only grin. "It's okay Gin, it happens to the best of us."

"What?" Pansy asked suspiciously.

Ginny groaned and crossed her arms. "My brother is going to kill me if he finds out. Harry too."

"What?" Pansy asked again. This time Hermione laughed and leaned over and loudly whispered in her ear. "She likes you. Ginny likes her friends feisty. You can stay."

Pansy flashed a sly grin at Ginny and sank back into the pillows. "Brilliant. Tori's coming later with the firewhiskey. Do you two have any nail polish? I need a touchup." Before Hermione could answer in the negative (she chewed on her nails far too much to keep them painted), Ginny tossed a nice shade of red at Pansy's face, which the Slytherin girl caught deftly. She inspected the color, and Hermione assumed she would refuse, but Pansy began lathering it onto her fingernail. Ginny humphed in approval as Pansy passed some sort of test. Oh, gods, Hermione didn't know if this was such a good idea. These two women could be the death of her.