Disclaimer: The plot is mine, the characters are not.

Casual Manipulation
By: Azareth Sakura
Chapter One: Careful Consideration

Blaise looked around the Great Hall carefully, his beautifully dark eyes narrowed slightly as he looked. They had been back at Hogwarts for almost a month now, and a plan had finally started to take shape in his mind. This would be an excellent plan, The Plan that would bring his best mate out of his miserable state and give him a shred of well-deserved happiness.

Said best mate was currently glowering at his dinner plate, cutting his meat a bit harder than necessary. Draco Malfoy had a problem. Such a problem it was, that most of the seventh year Slytherins had already noticed his miserable state, even though Draco was notoriously good at keeping his emotions from showing. Consequently, the majority of the Slytherins left him alone, fearing for their personal safety. Except for Blaise, that is. But he was Draco Malfoy's best mate, and as his best mate, he was allowed certain allowances the rest of the school was not.

And that was where The Plan came in.

You see, over the summer while Blaise was vacationing in his Italian villa, Draco had come with. And that's when Blaise had realized Draco's brooding mood hiding beneath his usual sarcastic nature. Actually, the more Blaise thought about it, Draco had been acting funny for a while before summer; he had just never paid it any mind. But that was not important.

What was important, was that once he realized something was plaguing Draco, he'd made every attempt he could think of to figure out what it was. Surprised as he was that Blaise had cottoned onto his sentiments (not that he outwardly expressed his surprise), he refused to tell. Too bad Blaise was very cunning, very persuasive, and very Slytherin. Oh, and a ridiculously good looking best mate as well. Naturally.

He had finally figured when they had gone to a restaurant where two beautiful girls had been sending them looks all throughout the meal. Blaise had smiled at them before dessert, and motioned for them to come over and sit. He had fully enjoyed his companion's presence that day, but Draco had done nothing but sit there a bit sullenly and eat his dessert, occasionally answering the girl's questions.

That's when he realized Draco had not been with a girl for a while.

That's also when he realized that the problem could only be one of two things: a girl or that Draco was gay.

He had seriously hoped it was the former.

That night he confronted Draco about his suspicions. Well, more like, he burst into Draco's room and…

FLASHBACK:

"DRACO!" Blaise exclaimed as he barged into Draco's room.

Draco looked up at him annoyed, from where he had been just about to change into his pajamas and go to bed. "What?" he asked in an exasperated tone.

"Are you gay?" Blaise asked, "Because if you are, no matter what, I will still be your best mate. So long as you're not in love with me, that is."

"…You've gone mad," Draco said as he stared at Blaise in horror, "I like girls, you git."

"AHA! It's a girl then!" Blaise exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been acting strange all summer, and you haven't been with a girl in a while. I know you won't tell me what it is, but I've figured out that it's a girl. Tell me who she is, and we'll figure out how to stop you from being this way."

"Leave me alone, Blaise."

"Not until you tell me who she is."

"I said, leave me alone." Draco was starting to get angry now and Blaise could tell. But he wasn't about to back down now, or he'd never know.

"I won't tell anyone, you know that. Just tell me who she is!"

"IT'S GRANGER, ALRIGHT?" Draco burst out. "HERMIONE BLEEDING GRANGER." He repeated in a broken tone Blaise had never heard him take on.

Blaise's initial reaction had been to laugh and tell him to be serious, but that tone coupled with the devastated look on Draco's face made him believe the truth.

Draco Malfoy was in love with Hermione Granger.

And Blaise Zabini was going to get them together.

END FLASHBACK.

Blaise continued gazing around the Great Hall, this time finally resting his eyes on the Gryffindor table. Hermione Granger, Gryffindor's princess and all around know-it-all was sitting there eating with what Blaise deemed to be her two bodyguards (Harry Potter and Ron Weasley), Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors.

He realized that in order for his plan to work (which it most definitely would, he was getting sick of Draco's moping and whining) he would need to be able to get Hermione away from her two self-proclaimed protectors.

There was only one place, where he knew for certain, he'd be able to catch her alone— the library. It seemed as though luck was on his side tonight, because at that very moment, the Head Girl finished her dinner, bade what Blaise assumed to be a farewell to her friends, stood, and walked out of the Great Hall (by herself) to (where he presumed) the library.

Glancing around his own table quickly to see if anyone had been watching him watch the Gryffindors (none had), Blaise decided to take this opportunity to set his plan in motion.

"Draco." He said, getting the attention of his gray-eyed friend.

"What is it Zabini, I'm eating here." He replied somewhat moodily.

"Cheer up, mate, you're Head Boy, she's Head Girl, you both sleep in the same tower, things'll pick up eventually."

Draco muttered unintelligibly and Blaise plowed on, "Just continue being nice to her, alright? I've got some business to attend to now, I'll see you later." And so he rose from his seat, not missing Draco narrowing his eyes.

"What sort of business?" he asked suspiciously.

"Not the sort our dear old Head Boy would be interested in." Blaise smirked at Draco before leaving the Great Hall and heading toward the library.

Blaise entered the library, immediately searching for Hermione. He found her at her usual table, surrounded by several thick books, many pieces of parchment, spare quills, and a jar of jet-black ink. She had not noticed his presence as she was too wrapped up in her studies (as well as the fact that Blaise was every bit the sneaky silent sort of Slytherin), and so he decided to announce himself (politely) by clearing his throat.

Hermione looked up, saw Blaise, and he watched in slight fascination as her expressions changed swiftly from mild annoyance, to some sort of mixture of blatant distrust and curiosity. "Zabini?"

Blaise said nothing but continued to study her face for a few moments.

"Zabini! What is it?" She scowled at him as he continued to look at her in silence.

Finally he sighed and looked down. "I need your help," he admitted resignedly as he looked up at her face again.

The astonishment on her face was easy to read. "My help? Whatever for?" She asked.

"I have a problem." He began.

"So I realized." He gave her a pointed look. "Continue."

"Actually, it's Draco who has the problem."

"Malfoy?" She cried, "Malfoy has a problem-

"Would you at least hear me out?" He petitioned, "You're the Head Girl, it's your duty to help when asked, and I'm just asking for you to listen to me."

"Fine. You have five minutes to talk, and then I'm leaving."

"See, there's this girl... and Draco sort of is in love with her. It's tearing him up though, because she hates him and there's really nothing he can do to make her change her mind about him since he's been such a prick to her and her friends since he'd met her."

"Heartbreaking." Hermione said, rather dryly. "I fail to see why you need my help though."

"Honestly, and you're the brightest witch of our age? That girl? She's you."

Hermione began laughing rather loudly, earning her a reproving glare and "SHH!" from Madam Pince, and a strange look from Blaise.

"I think you're a bit touched in the head, Zabini. Malfoy hates me. All I am to him is a dirty little mudblood, unfit to breathe the same air as he does. This joke or whatever it is you're trying to pull won't work on me, Zabini, so you might as well leave me to my Transfiguration essay."

It was a dismissal, and both knew it.

"Granger, have I ever given you a reason to distrust me? In our seven years at school together, I've never done anything to you or your friends, in fact, I don't really recall ever speaking to you much if at all. I've never even once called you a mudblood, or even thought of it. I didn't grow up with Death Eaters for parents, as you may know- my mum's too busy being beautiful and fashionable to bother with the Dark Arts, and my father has been dead for a while. I'm a Slytherin by nature only, and the fact that my family's been in Slytherin for most of the past generations. I'm decidedly neutral in the war. I'm accepted by the rest of the Slytherins because I am one of them, and because I am one of them, the rest of the school doesn't accept me (Hermione noted this to be a slight exaggeration on his part; he had plenty of female followers in all of the houses due to his handsome features, Italian charm, and clever mind). So won't you just believe me? Please?"

Hermione sighed. He was right, and once again, they both knew it. "Alright, it's not you I've got a problem with, but honestly... Malfoy?"

"Has he even called you a mudblood once this year?"

At that, Hermione paused and thought back through the year. Blaise was right; Malfoy had been unusually quiet this year. He hadn't stopped teasing Harry and Ron, but he had stopped teasing her (a fact which the Golden Trio had actually picked up on and puzzled over for a couple of days), and never once did she hear him say the word, "mudblood." She had assumed it was since they were the Head students together fighting and arguing every waking moment of their lives would get very tiring. No matter what the reason though, Blaise was right, and judging by the knowing smirk on his face, he knew she knew.

"Oh alright fine. You're right. Happy now?" Blaise's smirk grew wider (if at all possible).

"Very." He replied smoothly, still smirking (damn him).

Hermione sighed and met his gaze. "Can I go back to my homework now?" She asked in a sort of whining tone even though she knew he wasn't finished.

"Almost," he said. "Just listen to my plan, alright?"

"Make it quick." She commanded.

"Right. Well, I have a plan to get him to stop being so miserable. It involves you..."

"If you think you're going to convince me to date him as your plan, sod off and forget it."

"That's not it at all," he replied silkily. "Hermione Granger, I'd like to ask you to be my girlfriend."

Author's Notes: Yes, this is a Draco/Hermione story. Give me some time, and keep reading (: