At Sardinia Island, there was a buzz in the atmosphere as The Magical Creatures team met with the filming and production team for the first time. Standing at the front of the villa they would be staying at for the duration of the shoot, everyone was busy introducing themselves to each other, and talking about how crazy it was that Bee Zee would finally be revealing who he was. The Magical Creatures team could barely contain their excitement at being able to visit such a luxurious island and stay in one of the best accommodations no less. Their favourite part? It was entirely free, paid for by Bee Zee Entertainment. They were all thanking Lady Luck that their client was a top international singer, because only a star would choose a glamourous island as their destination to hide from the rest of the world, rather than a cave in some remote part of the world. Common sense might have told one that the latter was a better place to cut off contact, but they definitely weren't complaining.

Ginny smiled as the breeze blew her hair gently, the warmth of the sun on her skin. The entire place had a relaxed vibe, and she absolutely loved it. Her work was usually meant an intensely hectic schedule and this was a nice change. Perhaps this trip wouldn't be as disastrous as she imagined it to be. As she scanned the crowd, she felt a mixture of relief and disappointment that Blaise wasn't there. In the days leading up to this trip, Blaise had occupied most of her thoughts. She had gone through all the possible scenarios that could happen while they were together on this island, and she had rehearsed all her responses as well. This time, she would not be caught off guard.

Clearing her throat, Ginny clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, "Hello everyone! We'll begin filming in 2 days' time, so we have our work cut out for us for the next 2 days! Production team, please confirm that all the locations we have scouted are still suitable for their respective scenes. Work together with the logistics team to get the set ready. Filming and lighting crew, please test your angles and shots. Audio department, do a noise level check at all the scenes, I want to hear how much of the ambient noise will affect us. Magical Creatures team, please look out for the safety of everyone on this island, including the tourists. You guys know best what needs to be done for the creatures, so I'll leave you to settle that, and don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. Any questions?"

George stood at the back with his hands in his pockets, observing the way Ginny organised everyone. Impressed, he thought to himself, "She doesn't have that much of a presence normally, but seeing her like this, I understand why she's one of most sought after directors. Just like that she's managed to mobilise everyone, get them to stick to their schedules, and now give direction to every team in such an efficient manner. It's not easy to get 80 people, all from different departments working together like that."

Alex's hand shot into the air as he called out, "I have a question! Can I get your number once filming is done?"

Everyone laughed and George shook his head as he smiled. This is why he loved having Alex around; he always knew how to lighten the atmosphere and make everyone feel comfortable.

Ginny laughed along, "That depends on how well you perform for this project. Anyway, everyone involved in this music video, including Bee Zee and the lead female actress will be staying together at this lodging. It's easier for the schedule if we're all together. Let's unpack our bags and meet here in an hour. We'll go through the filming schedule over lunch." With a chorus of "Yes!" and "Let's go!" everyone started moving towards the villa and chatted excitedly.

Just 15 metres behind everyone, Hermione was watching from afar, hiding behind the trees. She hadn't told George yet that she was there, and she had a sinking feeling that he would throw a fit because she had directly gone against what he told her. No matter how much she thought about it, there was no way George was going to calmly accept the fact that she was there… She needed a good excuse.

Just as she was mustering up her courage to go up and talk to her team, a hand suddenly tapped her on the shoulder from behind. Hermione yelped and jumped a little in shock, whipping around and almost hitting whoever was behind her. When she saw who it was, she breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, hi Blaise."

Blaise laughed, "Why so jumpy? What are you doing here anyway? Are you on vacation?"

Hermione replied sheepishly, "Well sort of. I won Pandora's romantic getaway with you."

"Oh you? Really?"

Rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, Hermione said hesitantly, "Yeah, it's kind of strange right?"

Blaise suddenly put his arm around her shoulders, "What are you talking about? I'm so glad it's you, rather than some random stranger that I'm forced to put up a front with." Leaning closer to her, Blaise tilted his head and teased, "Ah… This can't happen… I believe in things like fate. I think we're destined right?"

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes, "A Gryffindor and Slytherin are never destined."

Blaise chuckled as he stepped away from her and asked, "Fair enough. Have you eaten yet? I'm really hungry, I just came out of the Auror's office."

Hermione asked incredulously, "What? You were in the Auror's office?!"

Shrugging, Blaise replied innocently, "Yeah, because I stole something…. A woman's heart."

Hermione laughed again, "Then... I think you might be going back in again soon."

Blaise flashed his signature charismatic smile, "A punishment I'm willing to take. C'mon let's go get something to eat, I know a great place around here."

Hermione smiled, "Sure, let's go." It really surprised her how comfortable she felt around him. If only he had been like this in Hogwarts, they might actually have been pretty good friends. The anxiety she felt earlier about explaining to George why she was there faded away, as she realised that she had a perfectly legitimate reason to be on the island. As they walked and chatted, Hermione felt her mood lift and a sense of carefreeness filled her for the first time in a long time. She missed this feeling, of not having to worry about much, of just being able to enjoy the presence of a friend.

"Well here we are, my lady" Blaise said as he exaggerated a bow, his head outstretched towards the restaurant. Hermione curtsied in response and said, "How kind of you, sir."

It was a cosy restaurant with an open concept that overlooked a glistening lake. The entire place was spotlessly clean, tables and chairs all arranged neatly in a symmetrical pattern. With the windows opened, the translucent curtains swaying gently in the breeze, Hermione broke into a smile. The place matched her peaceful mood perfectly. It was totally empty too, except for 1 table and – Oh. Suddenly, Hermione froze. The carefree feeling left, replaced by a mixture of nervousness, anger and happiness, then resentment at both him and herself for even feeling at all happy to see him. Her mind went blank, her mouth dry. It was the first time she was seeing him again after that last incident. She had hoped she wouldn't need to see him again, but maybe what Blaise said was true, maybe fate really did exist.

Leaning back against a chair, with his arms and legs crossed, Draco just looked at them, his expression cool and unreadable. Tilting his head slightly, Draco said, "Funny running into you here."

Blaise whipped off his sunglasses and scowled at Draco, "What's this? Why are you here?"

Draco shrugged, "I have to at least know about my debtor's whereabouts. You owe me for getting you out. This is your favourite restaurant on this island anyway Blaise; you're so predictable. The girl you're with looks familiar too."

Blaise put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, "I brought her here today; she's my guest."

"But your guest can't seem to take her eyes of me."

Blaise looked at Hermione, then Draco, and back to Hermione again before replying, "Um, she's just glaring at you."

"Well I did tell her she's prettier when she's angry."

Ignoring Draco, Hermione tapped Blaise and pointed, "Let's just sit at another table." Walking to a table as far away from Draco as possible, Hermione determinedly looked forward, resisting the urge to look at Draco.

Blaise wrinkled his nose as he looked between Hermione and Draco again, noting the tension. "What's going on? I'm really really curious… What exactly is going on between the two of you?" he asked.

Draco replied indifferently, his eyes still fixed on Hermione, "There are about 171,000 words in the English language and I speak 5 languages; but I can't find the words to describe us."

Blaise snorted, "It can't be that complicated. Anyway we're all going to be on this island for the next week or so, you'll have plenty of time to figure it out then. Well Draco, seems like my guest who supposedly can't take her eyes off you wants to eat with me instead of you."

Draco raised an eyebrow and said nothing, still sitting in the exact same posture as the start of the conversation.

Opening a menu, Hermione asked casually, as though she couldn't feel Draco's gaze bearing holes into the side of her head, "What's good here?"

Right then, a man, presumably the manager, ran up to her and Blaise and apologised, "I'm sorry sir and ma'am, but all the tables have been reserved."

Blaise scowled again, "is the person who booked all the tables..." points to Draco and glares, "that jerk there?"

"Yes."

Draco smirked smugly and shrugged, "Have you forgotten who I am? If you book a table, I can buy the entire restaurant."

Blaise growled at Draco, "You are the most difficult person I've met in my life."

Draco pointed at the entrance of the restaurant and replied, "You can either eat with me or be free to leave if you want. Just know that I can book every single eatery on this island too."

Blaise looked at Hermione and said, "Can we just eat here please? The food here is so good and I've been thinking about it for hours."

After going through ten different reasons why they shouldn't eat here in her mind, and finding that none would make her seem weird or difficult, Hermione made a face and sighed, "Ok fine."

Blaise winked and whispered to her, "Don't worry, we can get back at him too."

As the 3 of them sat at the same table, Hermione glumly poked at her food. It looked great, but she didn't have the appetite for it. She just wanted lunch to be over, and get some distance between her and Draco.

An awkward silence filled the room as all three of them ate in silence. Blaise shifted nervously in his seat; he felt like he had unwittingly gotten caught in a cross-fire of some sort. Wanting to crack a joke to help lighten the atmosphere, he glanced at both Hermione's and Draco's expressions and decided that maybe it was better not to say anything.

Little did Blaise know that while Draco and Hermione were physically sitting there, both their minds were far away. In Draco's mind, he kept replaying the scene that night when Hermione came to the club with her ragged bag that broke at the buckle. He couldn't forget the expression of horrification and shame on Hermione's face, or that he had exacerbated those emotions. He couldn't forget how downcast she looked, when he had gone over to her house to apologise, but found her sitting at the park nearby. She didn't know he was there, but he had watched her for an hour, hating himself and also wondering why everything had to be so complicated. Why he couldn't express how he really felt properly, why he couldn't bring himself to tell her that he had waded through his lake again, even further this time, just to get the magic cleaner box back. How he had gone back into the store at the Pandora after Hermione had left, finding the store attendants trying to pack up the mess he made on the floor from throwing all the clothes at Hermione, and telling them to pack everything up for him. Those bags of clothes, that magic cleaner, were all sitting in his house, seemingly worthless but full of significance for him. It was frustrating but there were so many emotions and thoughts bubbling beneath the surface of his cool demeanour.

In Hermione's mind, she thought back to the few hours before she met Draco at the club, trying on multiple outfits over and over again… Wanting to put together the perfect outfit, but finding that all the clothes she once thought looked pretty decent, didn't seem nice enough anymore. Feeling annoyed that she was even putting in effort for this, but not being able to bring herself not to care.

After ten minutes of chilly silence, Blaise couldn't take it anymore. He took a look at Hermione, cleared his throat and lifted his glass. Angling himself towards her, he smiled and proposed a toast, "Here's to a wonderful trip together and to your eyes that are more glistening and beautiful than the night sky."

Draco's hand froze midway as he was cutting his steak and slowly looked up to stare incredulously at Blaise. He had heard those cringe-worthy type of words come out of Blaise's mouth multiple times to other women before, and usually he would just roll his eyes and walk away. But now that Blaise was saying them to Hermione, it really got under his skin.

Hermione's mind stalled a little trying to figure out what Blaise was talking about, but she quickly caught on to what he was doing. Smiling coyly, she replied, "Could it be that my eyes are beautiful because a star that fell to the earth is sitting right in front of me?"

Draco choked on his food and started coughing, trying to get a few words out in between coughs but was coughing too intensely. Ignoring him, Blaise continued, gasping in fake concern, "Oh no, tell me if I'm too blinding, I'll turn around."

Hermione opened her eyes wide and the pitch of her voice went higher to a sickeningly sweet tone, with her hands making small waving gestures in front of her. She replied, "Oh no no. I'd rather go blind instead."

Draco dropped his knife in a mixture of shock and disgust. He couldn't believe what was happening in front of him. Who was this girl and what had she done with Hermione? What game were the two of them playing? All words had escaped him. He didn't even know where to begin to condemn them for their actions. It was written all over his face anyway; his expression half incredulous and half murderous.

Resting her chin on her hand, Hermione leaned a little closer to Blaise and said, "Actually, I've been a fan of Bee Zee for many years... Can we call each other by pet nicknames from now on?"

Blaise laughed heartily, "Of course! You may not know this, but I'm a pretty easy man."

Hermione smiled shyly, her hand covering her mouth and eyes looking down at her plate, before looking back up under her eyelashes, "Well I'm not a woman who doesn't give chances either."

Draco hit the table and glowered at them, "Stop it. You're crazy, both of you."

Blaise turned to Draco and shrugged nonchalantly, "Sorry bro. Looks like she prefers me over you. If you want any tips on how to win a woman's heart, all you have to do is ask instead of sitting there with your pouty face and – Hold on I have a call incoming. Oh shucks it's James, he's gonna start screaming at me for something or the other."

Turning to Hermione, he said, "Sorry Hermione, looks like I've got to run and find my manager before he murders me in my sleep. But we'll still have plenty of time on this romantic island together so don't worry. We have more than enough time for our love to bloom."

Draco threw his fork at Blaise and growled, "Just go away already."

Blaise stuck his tongue out at Draco, gave a smile and wink to Hermione, before apparating off to find James.

The moment Blaise went off, the atmosphere in the room changed. Hermione looked down awkwardly, unsure of what would happen next. But Draco had no qualms letting his annoyance show, as he turned to Hermione and asked sarcastically, "What was that you said just now?" Mimicking her in exaggeration, in a high pitched and nasally voice, "I'd rather go blind instead. Call I call you by a pet nickname?"

Hermione blushed unconsciously, and tried to hide her embarrassment by retorting, "When did I ever sound like that?" She just wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide. Seriously, what had she been thinking! How could she play along with Blaise to such an extent; if Harry or Ron had seen her doing that, they might have immediately taken her in for questioning as to where the real Hermione was.

Draco pointed a finger at her and accused, "Look at that! Why do you only glare at me but become a 17 year old fan girl in front of Blaise?"

Hermione said, "Because he treats me like a real person. Not like someone who treats me like a poor and neglected neighbour."

"That man has women on a national scale."

"Well that man is with me right now, instead of all those other girls."

Draco let out a breath angrily, "I'm going to go crazy. Don't you read the newspapers? That man is a total player!"

Before Hermione could reply, a voice cut in and said jokingly, "Never thought I'd see the day that both of you are sitting down and having a civil conversation."

Hermione turned to the voice and broke into a smile, "It's not civil, trust me. I haven't seen you in so long Ginny, why didn't you call me and tell me that you're back! I just found out that you're the director working on this music video too!"

Ginny replied, "I didn't know you were working for The Magical Creatures either! I'm sorry I know I left for abroad pretty soon after I graduated Hogwarts, and I haven't really kept in contract with anyone since then. But I'm back now! I was just walking past and thought I saw you, but when I saw that you were sitting with Malfoy and not beating him up, I couldn't be sure."

Draco remarked, "Well she's still the most difficult person to have a meal with in my entire life."

Ginny shrugged and said, "Are you upset about the time when Hermione punched you? Let it go, we're all grown up now."

Hermione laughed and said, "Oh that's one of my most precious memories from school. I felt so proud of myself after I did that."

Draco muttered under this breath, "It didn't even hurt that much when she hit me anyway."

Ginny looked around and said, "Are you guys done eating? There's a VIP lounge nearby that has great ambience and I know the barista there that makes a mean coffee. Wanna go? We can catch up on all these lost years! Draco you don't have to come if you don't want to."

Draco stood up and said, "Why wouldn't I want to? If you guys are going to gossip about me I want to be there to hear it."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Not everything's about you, Draco." Pulling Hermione up from her sit and linking arms with her, Ginny smiled and said, "Let's go."

"What? What do you mean my friend can't come in?" Ginny yelled at the manager.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we have a strict policy. No one who spends less than a 10 million a year is allowed into this lounge... You and Mr Malfoy may enter, but your friend is prohibited," the manager of the VIP lounge apologised.

Hermione felt her mind go blank as she watched Ginny berate the manager and the manager looking rather taken aback by her, but still standing his ground. She should have known. Why did she even think that she would be allowed into this VIP lounge? She wouldn't even be allowed into any lounge, looking like she usually did in her sports attire, taking care of the creatures.

Just as Hermione was about to tell Ginny that it's fine, Draco said in a disinterested tone, "Stop it Ginny. This man is right, Hermione shouldn't be allowed here. The whole point of this lounge is the prestige, which lowers the moment someone like Hermione is allowed in."

Hermione's heart sank. Hearing the manager say it didn't really hurt. She was already used to people looking down on her. But now that Draco was saying it, the words stung a lot more. Without saying a word, Hermione turned around and walked away.

Ginny turned to Draco furiously, "Why did you have to say that for? You're an idiot."

Draco lifted an eyebrow and replied coolly, "Was anything I said wrong? Grow up Ginny, this isn't school anymore. The Weasleys might have gotten away with being poor in Hogwarts, but this is real life. Wealth is power, you should know that by now."

Ginny's mouth gaped like a goldfish, struggling to find a retort, "Well… Well even if that's true, you didn't have to say it like that. You've clearly hurt Hermione's feelings, so go and apologise to her. Deal with it, don't expect me to clean up after your mess."

Sighing, Draco turned around to look in the direction Hermione had left, "I guess so. This feels too familiar. I need to learn how to keep my mouth shut sometimes."

As Draco started to move off in Hermione's direction, Ginny shouted at him, "Run, you idiot. Why are you still sauntering? The longer you leave Hermione upset the angrier she's going to be at you!"

Without turning back, Draco replied, "I don't run, Ginny. It's undignified and makes you look like a commoner."

But he did take heed to Ginny's words and started walking ever so slightly faster. He groaned inwardly, "Draco you're so stupid. Why can't you resist making such comments and pissing Hermione off? This is what, the fourth time already? You have issues man."

Draco spotted Hermione in the distance, walking slowly, lost in her own thoughts. As he caught up to her, Draco looked at Hermione carefully and asked, "Are you angry?"

Hermione didn't reply him but continued staring blankly ahead as she walked.

"Why aren't you answering me? Are you angry?"

Replying quietly, her eyes still looking straight ahead, Hermione asked, "How can someone do that?"

Draco sighed, "I knew it was going to be like this. Honestly, I wasn't taking the man's side. I was just siding with the rules. It's like that in Pandora's VIP lounge too; actually the spending requirement is even higher at Pandora."

Hermione replied numbly, "That's not what I'm asking. I meant, how can someone spend 10 million dollars? What kind of people are they that they spend so much money?" Stopping, she turned to Draco and said in exasperation, "And spending so much in just 1 year? How are they so much greater and different from me?"

Draco said simply, "You wouldn't understand even if I tried to tell you."

Hermione glared at him, "I'm sure that as long as you're not explaining it in another language, I'll understand."

Draco crossed his arms and asked her, "How much money do you have in your bank account?"

Hermione looked away and said, "Not much. Why?"

Draco nodded, 'Well, that's it. That's how you're different."

"What?"

"You know exactly how much is in your account, but those people, they have no idea how much is in theirs. Because the amount in their multiple accounts are fluctuating every day, every minute, every second. Do you know what social groups are created in the social economy's labour organisation based on division and income? It's class. When they spend 10 million or more a year, they only want 2 things. Inequality and discrimination. If they can't control you and rule you, they'd rather have you completely discriminated against. To them, that's reason and common sense."

Hermione didn't reply, and looked Draco straight in the eye. For a few minutes, there was silence between them as they just looked at each other. An unspoken communication passed between them. Hermione knew that what Draco told her wasn't just textbook knowledge you learnt in school. He was speaking from his own life, a life he had been born into. He belonged in that class. Yet, in the way he had shared this with her, she felt a genuine humility and simplicity, without his usual airs and snarky remarks.

Quietly, she asked, "Are you like that too?"

Without blinking an eye or breaking eye contact, Draco replied, "There isn't a reason I shouldn't be."

The truth of that hit Hermione in the face. Draco was entirely right in what he said and the way he acted. This was the life he had been brought up in and it was a different world from hers. She had unilaterally expected him to fit into her mind-set, when she couldn't even understand his. Looking away, Hermione started walking, "You don't have to be around me any longer. It's going to affect your reputation."

Grabbing her arm, Draco turned her around to look at him and said slowly, "I'm not going to do that."

Right then, George's voice cut through the air, "Hermione? Is that you? Why are you here?"

Startled, Hermione jumped away from Draco and freed her arm from his grasp. Whipping around, she saw George and Alex standing there, one looking perplexed and the other unhappy.

Stammering, Hermione replied, "Um..I just happened to get a free plane ticket here so I thought I'd come. You can yell at me if you want. You don't have to let me participate in the music video, I just want to watch. Please just don't tell me to leave."

"So you secretly followed us here? What free plane ticket?"

"I kind of won the Pandora prize of a free getaway with Bee Zee, and it happens to be here now…"

Looking away, George muttered, "Shouldn't have bought the bag and entered the competition in her name."

Clearing his throat, George asked gruffly, "And what about your lodging here?"

"Oh you don't have to worry about that! I found a public bathhouse just 10 minutes away from the filming location!" Hermione assured.

Draco turned to her, wrinkling his nose, disdain in his voice, "What? A public bathhouse?"

George raised his voice slightly, "Were you always this irresponsible? Or your head's gotten so big that you don't care about what I say anymore? I told you not to come for this and yet you're here. I told you not to stay in public bathhouses because they're unhygienic and who knows what actually goes on there, and you're still there."

Hermione stammered, "No, that's not it…"

"Then why are you still acting this way?"

Struggling to find an explanation, Hermione just kept silent and looked down.

Sighing, George reached into his pocket and took out a key card, "We'll be done location hunting in two hours, so go wait in the room. Let's have a proper talk today."

Hermione broke into a smile – she knew this meant that George had relented and wasn't going to oppose her being here anymore. "Yes!" Hermione said gratefully as she took the card key from him.

"See you later," George said as he walked past, not even bothering to acknowledge Draco's presence.

Hermione continued walking on with a bounce in her step, looking around with a huge smile on her face. She had been worrying about George's reaction ever since she stepped on the plane, but it had gone much easier than she expected.

Draco followed after her, calling out, "Is that something to be happy about? When a man tells you to go to his hotel room and wait?"

Hermione didn't reply but continue smiling, breathing in deeply as she stretched out her arms and looked towards the sky, "It's really windy here; the air is fresh and the sun is bright. Should I go and take a shower to clean up?"

"Do what? What did you say?" Draco shouted at her as he watched her walk off.

Immediately, he took out his phone, punched a few numbers and barked, "Walter! I need you to get another room now."

"Ahh Mr Malfoy, the whole production team and The Magical Creatures team are all here, so there aren't any empty rooms left. We barely managed to get one for you too."

"Barely? What do you mean?"

"Well... We didn't know that you would be coming here too, so we only managed to get a room because another guest, who was already staying in the room, agreed to let you stay with him."

"Who? Blaise?"

"Yes sir. Looks like you know too who's the only person who would agree to let you stay in a room with them," Walter blurted out before covering his mouth after realising his mistake. He quickly said, "Ok got to go sir, too many things to settle these few days." Without waiting to hear Draco shout at him, Walter cut the call and made a mental note to avoid Draco for the rest of the day.

On the edge of the beach, looking out to the ocean and the setting sun, two people stood silently next to each other.

"Is this a coincidence?" Blaise asked quietly. Ever since James had told him that the director was Ginny, he had protested vehemently but the outcome was still the same. She was still directing it, and he still had to see her every day for a week.

Not looking at him, Ginny replied coolly, "Don't you know who I am by now?" Despite her external demeanour, her heart was pounding. She would not let him see how affected she was by him. She would not appear weak. She was a strong independent woman who didn't need him. That's what she had rehearsed and told herself many times over; she could get through this conversation.

Blaise put his hands in his pockets, "How did you guys even know I'm here?"

Ginny scoffed, "It's not difficult. Even all the Bee Zee fans would be able to track you down."

Biting his lip and looking at Ginny, Blaise said, "I heard you had a blind date with Draco."

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Ginny replied nonchalantly, "Oh so you know about that too. Seems like it has progressed a lot between our parents."

"And you? What do you think?"

"Well he's the top one percent among the top one percent of men around, who wouldn't want to take him off the market?"

Blaise's expression hardened, "I see."

Ginny continued, "But if I'm going to marry your best friend, wouldn't it be uncomfortable if we remained like this? I'm sure we would have to see a lot of each other in the future."

"You… How can it be so easy for you?" Blaise asked, anger and hurt seeping into his voice.

Ginny shrugged, "Why shouldn't it be? Of course we didn't break up cleanly, but our relationship wasn't ardent enough to leave any feelings up till now."

"What?"

"We weren't in love. That's how I remember it anyway."

Blaise clenched his jaw and his fist. He couldn't believe what Ginny was saying. How could she be so cold and clinical now, as though what they had between them was nothing? Was it all just a one-sided love? Was his memory just impaired? His heart had been shredded by her once, and it had taken him so long to recover. But it looked like maybe he hadn't fully healed yet. Well then, two could play this game. If she said it didn't mean anything to her, then it didn't mean anything to him either.

Ginny asked, "Why were you with Hermione just now?"

"She's here with me as my guest."

Feigning disinterest, Ginny asked, "Oh? What's the relationship between the both of you? Didn't know you guys were friends in school."

"Oh we weren't. But she's the woman I'm dating right now."

Stunned, Ginny blurted out, "Lies. She's not your style."

Blaise looked at her and said, "She's not like you."

Without waiting for a reply from Ginny, Blaise turned around and walked away. He didn't know how much more he could take. He just said the first thing that came to his mind to make the playing field even. But that didn't make him feel better at all. Her words still cut like knives, just like the very last conversation they had before Ginny left.,,

It was a dinner after Ginny had graduated from Hogwarts. Blaise had prepared everything, from booking the restaurant to the candles and the flowers. He had never felt so nervous before, yet immensely excited. It was going to be the start of a new season in their lives together, he was sure of it. This was just a formality to go through, when their hearts had already synced as one.

Walking to where Ginny was sitting, Blaise kneeled down on one knee and opened a box, revealing the diamond ring. Something seemed a little off from Ginny's expression, but Blaise shrugged it off, maybe she was just surprised.

Smiling, Blaise said, "Ginevra Molly Weasley, you were the main character in all of the love songs I've written until now. But I'm not going to make you the main character in my future songs anymore. Come out of my songs now, and become the main character of my life. Will you marry me?"

Ginny looked down from the ring, then to Blaise. Swallowing hard, she looked away and said, "What should I do? I'm sorry. I was never serious about this relationship. A celebrity is someone to date briefly when we're young, not someone to marry. I was about to get sick of you already, why couldn't you wait a little longer? That way we could at least have had a clean break up without any of this awkwardness."

Shaking his head to get out of that memory and wiping away his tears angrily, Blaise continued walking away. This was a memory he wanted to delete, but unfortunately human brains aren't computer hard disks. It had kept replaying and replaying and replaying for months. Just when he thought he had finally stopped thinking about it, it came up again. He wasn't going to let her hurt him one more time. This time, it would be the other way around, and he knew just how to do it.

Please review and share :)