A/N: A silly little one-shot, created as sheer bribery. How come? Mh, take a stubborn beta (let's call her MrB, yes?) with a serious wrist problem (she aquired, if you ask me, by writing and working too much, but hey, I'm a biology teacher, no physician) and try to convince her that she needs to take some time off. You'll come to the conclusion that the Slytherin way is the only one that promises success. So you bribed her with a prompted one-shot. That did the trick. Yay! The prompt was: Draco and Harry compete for Hermione's attention on New Year's festivities. I asked: Who's going to get her? And she said: It's your decision...see what I made of it.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to JKR. And I don't make any money from this.
The last day of the year. A time to find closure, to finish business, to cut the ties with heavy things. Standing on the cusp of something new, something hopeful, something exciting.
That was what New Year's Eve was to many people, and probably to most attending the Ministry of Magic's Festival. When Hermione entered the room, she felt the excitement buzzing in the air with expectations and magic. She straightened her modest red dress, ending at her knees, and scanned the mass of people for two special wizards. Her eyes met many familiar faces and greeted most of them with a smile that ranged from polite to friendly. After all, she was well known in the ministry as Head of Research and Investigation.
Finally, her brown eyes were met with two pairs of stunning eyes: one forest green, the other icy grey.
The former belonged to her best friend, Harry Potter. His divorce from Ginny in spring had caused quite a public uproar. The Chosen One divorcing his wife -shocking! Hermione knew better, for she had experienced the break-up sitting in the front row: Ginny and Harry parted ways amicably and were still on good terms, especially when it came to care for their two-years-old son James. She was deeply touched whenever she saw Harry handling the toddler lovingly and gentle, giving him all the attention he'd never had as a child. It made Hermione yearn for a family of her own. Often, she would be around when Harry had James, cuddling with them on the sofa, reading him books and bathing him while his father prepared dinner. And there were moments, increasing in number, in which Hermione forgot it was two friends with one divorced friend's son at the table and not a couple with their love child. It felt so natural, so normal, so right. Particularly when the evening ended with an empty bottle of red wine and his arms around her while her head rested on his shoulder. The Brightest Witch of her Age wasn't ready to address the shift in their chemistry yet, too big was her fear that she saw things that weren't there and could only endanger the friendship she cherished above all. The elephant in the room had to stay where he was, even in the new year.
The other pair of eyes were found in a stubborn head whose owner's intelligence almost rivaled her own. Harry's partner in the Auror Division was none other than Draco Malfoy. He was still cocky and arrogant, but he had learned to use his talents wisely, and that included hunting criminals. The blond had blasted the marriage contract with Astoria Greengrass, signed by his doting parents, into pieces straight after graduating from Hogwarts. That, paired with his pleasant appearance and fit physique, made him a very sought after male specimen. Harry told her he was very secretive with his female -and sometimes male- conquests, never brought them into the spotlight that came with being a successful Auror with more money than the Bank of England and sole heir to his family fortune. And it didn't stop him from being a flirt through and through. Furthermore, it didn't stop Hermione to play the game with him.
While she and Draco had more than outgrown their past biases, the relationship between them was an entirely different one than with Harry. Where Harry was safe and warm, Draco was cocky and thrilling. Where Harry provided her with the intimacy and security of a more than decade long friendship, Draco promised the rush of the dangerous unknown. While she could communicate with Harry without words at many opportunities, the intellectual battles she fought with the young Malfoy left her breathless and challenged. And with the uncanny feeling that Draco was a tempting fire she could easily get burnt with.
She crossed the distance to the waiting wizards. "How's the Devious Duo doing today?"
"Fantastic, obviously. Though the company has gotten stellar since you arrived." It was Draco, of course, with his lips curled into his characteristic smirk.
"What my trollish partner here wants to say, is: you're looking beautiful" She gave her best friend a peck on his cheek and a smile in response to his charms.
"Thank you, Harry. You're both quite dashing yourselves." And they really did. Draco, in his classic black robes, and Harry, in his well-tailored muggle suit; they were a clear eyecatcher for every straight witch. Just when she realised she was staring at her best friend and his colleague, a tornado in the form of Pansy Parkinson swooped in and all but dragged Draco to the dancefloor. The blond shot them an apologetic glance and went off to dance with his best girl friend. In the past years, Hermione had learned what a vibrant personality Pansy was, once she peeled off the layers of snobbishness and pureblood behaviour. More important, she had been Draco's rock in the darkest times, and for that, she deserved Hermione's respect.
Naturally, Harry's arm slung around her shoulders. "How was Christmas with your parents?" he asked.
"A bit weird with the warmth in Australia, but otherwise, as usual. 'When are you going to settle down with a nice man? All your friends have started a family, even Ron, why didn't you? Maybe, if you worked a little less?', " she imitated her mother's voice and rolled her eyes. Harry chuckled and pulled her a bit closer into his embrace. "James's with Ginny at the Burrow?"
Harry's face fell a bit at her question. "Yeah. Ginny and Molly nagged me into coming along, but it didn't feel right, you know?" Hermione nodded her head in understanding and pressed a comforting kiss on his cheek. Comforting silence spread between them, until Harry addressed her, with a somewhat tensed undertone, "Shall we go for a little stroll in the gardens? I can't stand these gaping vultures anymore."
She giggled, for she had spotted how many young witches looked at the Auror as if they stripped him with their eyes. "Yes, let's."
The stroll turned out as an hour and a half talking, laughing and bantering. Harry repeatedly cast warming charms on her and she summoned their favourite red wine and some snacks for a spontaneous picnic. But Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that he held something important back. After a lengthy discussion about whether or not he should get James a toy broom for his third birthday, Hermione sighed deeply. "Spill it, Harry. There's something you aren't telling me." His hesitation was another proof to her.
"I know it's all wrong, and you're most probably packing me with a ferret punch as soon I finished talking, but... I can't keep it to myself anymore. There's a reason why Ginny and me didn't work out anymore, Hermione." His green eyes held something akin of desperation.
"You were too young to marry and to start a family. You haven't had the time between the war and the public's expectations to explore what you want," she listed the reasons she had thought of in the past year.
"Close, but not entirely right. I still love Ginny, always will, but we weren't meant for each other. And Jamie is the best thing that could ever happen to me."
"So? Where was the problem?" She could tell he was nervous, because he ran his hands through his dark hair, tousling it even more than it already was. Familiar with his habits, she reached out to straighten the untamable mass of raven hair again. That was when Harry's hands fell down to grip her wrists.
"The reason was that I came to the conclusion, and Ginny even before me, that my heart belongs to someone else. It hit me like lightening exactly one year ago." With a weird sensation settling in the pit of her stomach at Harry's intense gaze, she remembered the last year's ministry function. It hit her like a hammer; the moment when the two of them shared one of their rare dances, shortly before midnight. They forgot the time, and when the clock chimed, they were still on the dancefloor together. The had locked eyes, and for a moment, she thought he'd leaned in to kiss her. She remembered the butterflies that erupted in her seemingly out of nowhere. But Harry had settled for a tight hug instead that left her breathless nonetheless.
"What are you trying to tell me, Harry?" She could hear her own anxiety in her voice, torn between excitement and fear.
He breathed in deeply. "I fell in love with my best friend." The elephant had made himself known spectacularly. "And I want her very much to want me back." For once, Hermione Granger was devoid of words.
"I- I don't know what to say. I'm half-convinced that this is one of the weird dreams I had recently, involving you, me, and - forget it. I'm astonished." Relief flooded Harry's expression.
"So, you're not punching me or hexing me?"
"What? No! Harry… you know how much I love you. And I won't deny how much I thought about this scenario in the past months. But this is big. And... I have to think about the big things." The wizard dropped a gentle kiss on the crown of her head.
"Alright. I'm very much aware I dropped a pretty heavy bomb on you. And I know how that brilliant mind of yours works. That's why I'm leaving you to think all of this through, okay? Just- just know, you mean the world to me, no matter how you decide."
With a slightly elevated step, the man retreated to the building again. While many women would be appalled at the thought that a man declared his love to them and then left -she wasn't. She wasn't because she was Hermione Granger and he was Harry, her best friend, with whom she had been to Hell and back, who knew her better than anybody else. He emphasised with her, aware that she needed time to process the few, but oh so meaningful words they had exchanged.
She debated her plans and intentions back and forth when she heard footsteps approaching. Confident steps, like the wizard that made them.
"You look like you're in desperate need for a glass of champagne," Draco declared without introduction and handed her one.
"Leave it to the Slytherin Prince to rescue the damsel in distress from her own mind." She took the champagne anyway. "How was Christmas for you?" Hermione asked in an attempt to distract herself.
"Alcoholic, in one word. First with Theo and Blaise, then with Harry. He needed a shoulder to cry on, the sappy Gryffindor." No malevolence lay in his voice, only compassion. "I haven't delivered my last present yet." He produced a small box from his robe pocket.
"Draco," she asked, honestly surprised, "is this for me?"
"That depends on if you were naughty or nice this year." This goddamn smirk again. It should be forbidden. She snorted in reaction. "Well, I guess I have my answer then. Open it anyway." He handed her the box.
Despite the darkness of the night only being lit by her famous bluebell flames, Hermione saw the necklace sparkling when she removed it from its container. A small symbol of infinity, made completely of small diamonds on a thin silver chain. She felt her heart flutter at the implications.
"It is, truly, beautiful. But… this is too much… I can't take-" Her refusal was interrupted by Draco's finger on her lips, effectively silencing her.
"You can. Let me help you to put it on." Obediently, because she didn't really want to let him down, she turned around and bared her neck to him by securing her curls to the side. She heard him taking in his breath sharply before she felt his hands fastening the necklace. The way his fingertips ghosted over her skin caused goosebumps to erupt on her scalp and arms. However, his hands didn't leave her, and his thumbs traced small circles on the juncture of her neck. "Are you cold, Hermione?" It was a secret to her how he could make her name sound sinful, and she wasn't too proud to admit she enjoyed -on a primal level- how he staked his claim on her.
"No. Quite the opposite."
He hummed appreciatively and, a second later, his surprisingly warm lips pressed kisses where his fingers lay before. Instinctively, her arms curled around his head and sunk into the soft blond her as if they belonged there. The warmth of his body behind her, the seductive touches; the witch's brain was meddled. It was so tempting to give in now, to start the new year with a bang -in the literal sense, because this is where it would lead to. They had always been volatile together, and the physical part wouldn't be any different. Though, there was this nagging warning in a corner of her mind that screamed at her to stop instantly.
"Harry…" she all but moaned.
"I'm open for anything, love, but I'd appreciate the first night to be exclusively you and me." His choice of words and his husky voice only added to the lust. No. This was too important. With effort she faced him, and the molten silver of his pupils clawed at her resistance.
"What I tried to say is… Harry talked to me just before you came to me. And he… confessed that he's in love with me."
The change on his face was drastic: he didn't show the sneer she was so familiar with in the past, nor was he angry. It was the first time Hermione observed sadness on the proud man. And her heart cracked at the sight.
"I suspected as much, though I didn't expect him to actually make a move on you."
Hermione palmed his face in a soothing manner.
"I guess that means a change of plans for me, then?" the wizard went on, "Because whenever I compete with Harry, I lose. I should probably pull a Hufflepuff here and back out. After all, you've been friend for ages, and it would only mean a little step to change the character of your relationship. But by Salazar, I want you." The longer he spoke, the stronger his conviction grew. Oh yes, Hermione had no doubt how much Draco Malfoy wanted her.
She groaned inwardly, her normally so organised brain in an overload. She was a bookworm, an insufferable know-it-all, and still she apparently had two attractive, intelligent men waiting on her doorstep. She wished she had kept the time-turner to go back and tell her thirteen-years-old self that things would, really, get better. She sat on the nearby bench with a huff, torn between hysterical laughter, giggling and crying at the sheer insanity of it all. Then, her rational side finally took the reins again, and she started to think. Really think, while Draco remained standing by her side, unmoving and as patiently as she had never seen him.
It may have been some minutes, or it could easily been an hour that thoughts raced through her head like lightning, before she brandished her wand with determination, sending her otter patronus out. Draco merely raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Hermione bestowed only a smile on him before Harry arrived, slightly flushed in his haste to follow her call. Upon spotting his partner, he slowed his steps.
"Is everything alright? Your patronus sounded urgent."
"We will see, Harry. I've done some thinking." Both men chuckled silently at her admission. She fixed them with a stern glance. "Harry you have to know that Draco submitted a similar...proposition like you."
"Merlin, Hermione, no need to be so clinical about it. The tension between the two of you could ignite a fire in the North Sea." The ease her best friend spoke with, utterly devoid of jealousy or ire, strengthened the woman's resolve to pursue her plan. Brown orbs connected with grey.
"I'm aware this custom hasn't been exactly common in the past decade, though it has a long tradition among the pureblood elite. Originally established as a way to help the lesser number of witches out and still procure legitimate heirs-"
"Damnit. Leave it to Hermione Granger to figure out the most brilliant way out of this misery and still follow the wizard society's rules," Draco whistled.
Harry, on the other side, reacted bewildered. "What do you imply, Hermione?" he addressed the witch.
"Well… I can't chose between the two of you... So I won't." She was very much aware of the stubborn timbre behind her words.
Harry's confusion was still evident, and so Draco stepped in, a wicked smile on his handsome face.
"Our nymph won't settle for either you, her best friend, the Chosen One, or me, the Malfoy heir. She wants both of us. At the same time…"
To say Harry was surprised would be an understatement. "Just for clarification: A triad?"
Hermione and Draco nodded before the blond added, "I'm in."
The tingle in Hermione's abdomen was back with full force. With an expectant smile, she focused on the green eyed wizard.
"What do you think, Harry?" she inquired softly.
"That this is crazy. I came here to declare my love to my best friend tonight, awaiting to maybe damage our friendship or finally take a step towards something more. This option, well; it didn't even exist in my head."
"But I want to explore something beyond friendship with you. Nothing has ever felt more right."
"And that makes me happier than you could ever guess." Harry ran a single finger over her cheek. "But here's the thing: I'm not as open in my sexuality as Draco," the blond shrugged his shoulders at the other wizard's words, "maybe we aren't compatible or something."
"Harry," Hermione sighed, "I don't expect you to fool around with him with me watching. Though, I want you to understand that I want to be with him very much. And not only in a sexual way."
"Alas, you'll find I'm even more irresistible than usual when it comes to that, Potter." Draco winked, and this typical cocky gesture of his did loads to alleviate the tension.
For a while, nothing happened. But when Harry's lips curled into a carefully confident smile, Hermione's heart soared.
"I've fulfilled everybody's expectations since I was eleven years old. It's about time that I decide on my own, don't you think? I've loved you for far too long to let this opportunity pass, Hermione. And, even if I'm not into guys, I've come to trust you with my life, Draco. And that is an important basis for a relationship." Another wave of relief washed over her, and she could see Draco relax even more. Before she could say something, however, Harry raised his voice again, this time with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "To make it clear: I'm the one who informs Lucius."
When the clock struck twelve a little later, Hermione shared the first kiss with Harry. She revelled how much in synch they were and still it meant an entire new category of love and desire to finally give into their long-harboured feelings. The following kiss with Draco was different in an exhilarating way: his heart beat so fast under her hand on his chest, his tongue traced so carefully over her bottom lip to ask for entrance -he wasn't only after physical satisfaction, he presented her his heart and soul. And she would give hers to him and Harry in return.
She felt herself looking into the future with exciting expectations. Even if they surely had hindrances to overcome and obstacles to fight among themselves and others, she felt like an entirely new chapter of her life had just begun.
A/N: *ducks and runs* I KNOW, CRAZY! I must say that MrBenzedrine recent one-shot 'The Secret' totally rekindled my liking of Harmony, though Dramione is the best ship EVER in my eyes, like, seriously, why didn't it appear in canon? If you like, leave a review or a cookie at my doorstep.
P.S.: Can anyone identify the Big Bang Theory reference?