Cheers, Potter.

Here we go.

Draco's POV

"What do I do Connie?" I wallowed, as I had been since the night in the Room of Requirement, "Why did I suggest it? I don't know anything about the muggle world! What if I embarrass myself in front of –" my throat caught on nothing, "everyone..."

Her reply came simply: "Oh, behave," She threw a pillow at me playfully and smiled from her upside-down perch on the Common Room sofa. Now that her burns were healed over, she was more comfortable lounging around than she had been, like the scars gave her some sort of 'Street Cred' as she'd called it, "I'm from Yorkshire, I've never been anywhere, least of all to London! How exactly do you expect me to help in this situation?"

"Well, at least explain to me what I should expect!" I implored, helplessly.

"I'm barely twelve-years-old," she looked at my panicked face with a dead-pan expression, "What do I know?"

I crossed my arms and put my feet up onto her stomach, making her huff and sit up properly, "Don't sulk," she ordered, "it does not become you," she said it with a false register that was far too similar to my own accent for my liking.

"I think Harry Potter might disagree," Blaise said, jumping over the back of the sofa to gracefully land between the smaller Slytherin and I, "Word is that he thinks this is a date."

I felt all of the blood in my body rush to my head and roar in my ears, Constance's instant reaction to this was, of course, to bust a gut laughing, Blaise was poking me in the ribs with a mischievous grin on his pointy face. How could he think it was a date? If this was his idea of a date then I had no clue why half of the wizarding population would want to date him at all. But, what if it was a date? How should I act? What should I say? What should I wear? What did he expect?

"Stop it," Pansy sighed from her perch on an armchair, I'd no idea when she'd arrived and I suddenly felt a nervous laughter bubble in my throat, though I didn't let it escape.

"Stop what?" I asked.

"Over thinking it," she rolled her eyes, "Why would he think it was a date? There are fourteen of us going – he'd have to be a particular sort of stupid to consider it even slightly romantic,"

I considered it for a moment and decided it was entirely possible he was that kind of stupid.

I resumed spiralling.

Blaise caught on and quickly added, "I doubt even Potter would be that inept in the romance department."

"He'd better not be." I folded my arms, almost sulking and eliciting a whole new wave of laughter from my friends.

This was going to be a long day.

~Ж~

After another hour of stewing and agonising, I couldn't bear being in my brain anymore so I endeavoured to find a solution. Unfortunately, that solution was six floors up, and I was woefully unfit after several months of wallowing in self-pity and hatred... not to be dramatic.

Eventually, I hauled myself up the spiral staircase and paused outside the door to catch my breath. As if on cue, the door opened to two Ravenclaws who looked surprised, but not negatively, to see me, sweating profusely and panting on the other side of it. One of them called for their housemate to come out to meet me.

"Draco!" Luna swanned out into the hallway and threw her arms around me, I stumbled back a few steps but couldn't help a small chuckled from escaping my throat, "I was just going to come and find you,"

"You were?" I asked, shocked.

"Of course, I know how you are and thought you could use some company before this evening." She linked her arm through mine and she all but dragged me back down the stairs I had struggled so hard to climb.