The Zoom Call
“Draco Malfoy, joining an American fraternity? Merlin!” exclaimed their beloved McGonagall. Her words were filled with disbelief and distress, but mirth sparkled in her eyes. “My, my, Draco. How the States have changed you!”
Draco’s face flushed red. He looked practically scarlet; comical considering his normally very pale complexion and somewhat cool demeanor. Hermione noted this with glee, fighting a losing battle against the grin desperately trying to overtake her features. Bringing this escapade up with Professor McGonagall had been a very good decision indeed.
He let out a huff thick with exasperation. “It was accidental! And I have not joined a fraternity, I’ve been invited to join a fraternity. There’s a difference,” he sniffed.
“However there is a party tonight for the new pledges, which he has been invited to,” Hermione interjected, smiling.
“Oh? Do tell,” said McGonagall, leaning closer to the screen.
Draco shot a lethal look at Hermione. Hermione shrugged, smiling even wider. She was having too much fun with this, she knew. She resolved to apologize to Draco after the Zoom call.
“Anyway, Professor, how is everyone over there?” Draco asked, bluntly changing the subject.
Although the Zoom calls were supposed to be weekly, for over a month they had been meeting-free while Professor McGonagall dealt with some sort of school emergency that she absolutely refused to speak about. Hermione and Draco strongly suspected it had something to do with the Weasleys. But as a result of the mysterious debacle, they felt they were long overdue for some updates on their friends and family.
“Now Draco, I’ve already said you both can call me Minerva. No need for all the professor nonsense,” Professor McGonagall said indignantly. “But everyone is doing rather splendidly, I must say.” She stared off pensively, mentally sifting through bits of information and stories that might be pertinent to share.
“The Harpies and Canons are in their last stretch of preseason scrimmages, I'll be sure to send you pictures from Ginevra and Harry's first games.” She raised a brow at Hermione. “Has he told you he plans to propose soon?”
Hermione gasped, jumping from the couch. “No! He absolutely did not! I swear! It’s like he forgets he has a phone!” She quickly stomped off to grab her phone from her backpack. Upon return she flopped back onto the cushions, furiously typing away. “I’m so sorry, Professor. Please, go ahead.”
“Minerva. But yes, I suppose that will be happening soon.” She tapped her finger to her chin. “Let’s see. Ron is still working with his brothers at their rather unfortunate establishment. He and Miss Parkinson are still going steady. She just had an article published in The Prophet. Ironically, it was a criticism of celebrity coverage and entertainment journalism. Neville is doing well in his Herbology studies in Oxford. Vincent and Gregory have introduced a Cincinnati chili option to their menu. I’ve heard mixed reviews. That is really all that has been going on at the moment. Your friends are blessedly a much calmer group to interact with now that they are not causing trouble in the halls every day.”
Hermione, now done berating Harry for having some of the worst communications skills in the history of the entire human population, smiled once again at their professor. “That’s wonderful! Thank you for the lovely update, Prof- Minerva.”
McGonagall nodded once. “Yes. Well, I suppose I’ll leave the both of you to the rest of your afternoon. Draco, I expect a detailed account of this fraternity party next week. Goodbye.”
Draco gasped. “Professor!”
The Zoom meeting ended.
The two of them sat in silence for a beat. Then Hermione shrugged. “I still think you should go.”
“Seriously Granger? You think this is a good idea?”
Hermione paused for a moment, considering his question seriously. As amusing as the idea of Draco partying with the Greek crowd was, she did not want him to be put in a potentially dangerous situation. Would this be one of those situations? It was rather unfortunate how much he’d grown on her in the past year and a half. But, they did possibly need to make more friends. John and Savannah had tried to get them to go to more than one mixer or event that she and Draco had turned down, preferring a night in with some books or a juicy reality TV show. Would they wind up at graduation regretting not taking advantage of their college experience? With that thought in mind, she finally looked at him and nodded. “I do. Like I said earlier, I think it would be an excellent opportunity to meet new people. At the very least, you will probably have an entertaining story to tell everyone at home if things go poorly.”
He snorted. “Right. I guess I’ll go, then.”
“Wonderful!”
“But only if you go with me.”
Hermione blanched. “I’m sorry…what?”
What proceeded was an embarrassing, borderline absurd amount of vicious bickering. Names were called. Jabs - physical and metaphorical - were made. Lincoln-Douglas rules were instituted. But in the end, Draco managed to convince Hermione to accompany him to the party, and with a much smaller amount of blackmail than he had thought would be needed.
“Well, it’s settled then,” Draco said pompously. “We’ll leave here at eight and see what it is like to party with an American fraternity.”