Paper Hearts

by Bex Drake

Chance happenings can have unexpected outcomes no one expected the outcome of this one. DMHGBZ ONE SHOT

Goal: DM/HG/BZ

Rating: PG-13/12/T

Disclaimer: The characters and world of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling; the lyrics used at the beginning of this story belong to The Goo Goo Dolls. I am not making any money from this venture.

Lyrics from: Iris

Warnings: HBP spoilers! In the form of canon!Blaise (kind of).

Summary: Chance happenings can have unexpected outcomes; no one expected the outcome of this one.

Note: My thanks to Chelonian who acted as my beta, and waded through this a couple of times for me- your help was much appreciated. This story is for you, for your kindness in helping me.

In accordance to policies I have removed the lyrics but kept the details of what inspired me to write this, in case anyone is interested.

Paper Hearts (1/1)

It was getting ridiculous; no, it was ridiculous- there was no getting about it.

To the world and his wife there's was a platonic relationship between two Pureblood wizards, which was nothing remarkable; they were just best friends. Although, in her opinion, there was no 'just' about it. They had spent their entire lives living in one another's pockets, which, she reflected, was probably the whole problem. Neither of them appeared to have realised that their friendship had progressed beyond the just friends stage, or if they had realised it they were unprepared to jeopardise their current friendship by remarking on it. If that was the case, she noted sourly, then it was rather noble of them; it was remarkable as well as, from her experience, nobility wasn't a common Slytherin trait.

Hermione Granger had been dating Blaise Zabini, the Silent Slytherin, for two years, since her eighteenth birthday. The main 'issue', as far as she was concerned, was that Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy came as a package. To invite one into your life was to invite both; she loved Blaise and hated Draco, or at least that was what she told herself. Intellectually she knew that love and hate were flipsides of the same coin, but she stoically refused to investigate her feelings too closely- you could only love one person at a time, right?

Upon the discovery of her relationship with Blaise, Harry and Ron had announced her crazy for willingly associating herself with a Slytherin- didn't she know that all who went into that house turned out bad? She had promptly turned around and accused them of being bigoted and no better than Lord Voldemort; their relationship had been never been quite the same after that, but she was willing to overlook the tension and to ignore the looks, for the sake of something that had once been her world. They still met up monthly; these meetings meant the world to her, and she would not, and could not, give them up willingly.

In the two years she had adjusted to having Malfoy as a permanent feature of her life. She didn't exactly like him, but then she didn't dislike him either. He was trying too. He never called her a Mudblood or remarked on her upbringing. Both of them were trying to find a middle-ground because they both had the same goal: to be a part of Blaise's life. She thought it was rather adorable, though highly impractical, that both wizards seemed to put their friendship above all else; it did, however, have a downside: it meant that Blaise would, if it came down to it, choose Draco before her.

"I cannot believe you are doing this to me," Blaise said all traces of his usual calm and aloofness gone. He scowled at the witch in front of him; the only person to have ever had the audacity to dump him. She made no move to respond; he hit the table in frustration making the mugs on it jump. "Why? Will you at least tell me why you've suddenly decided we're over? Was it because I'm too possessive? Or because you've 'found someone else'- the usual cliché when someone doesn't want to say why?"

"So if I say, it just isn't working, you'll leave it alone?" He just looked at her; his expression said it all. "I thought not," she muttered. "I love you."

"Then why are you breaking up with me? For someone who prides themselves on being logical, you're not making any damn sense." She threw her arms up in frustration; she should have known it wouldn't be easy. Grabbing her coffee cup she poured herself some more coffee before taking her seat.

"Relationships aren't logical." She threw back. He smirked realising he had managed to unsettle her, and hoped he would get a straight answer. "But that's beside the point. You want to know why I'm breaking up with you. Fine I'll tell you. I'm breaking up with you because it's not just me you're in love with, is it?" He was taken aback by the accusation callously thrown at him.

"What makes you think something as ludicrous as that?" He demanded; she gave him a scathing look. He raised an eyebrow in response; she rolled her eyes.

"I'd accuse you of lying, only I've come to the conclusion you probably wouldn't be. Though I'm not sure if that would be strictly true," She reflected, her eyes growing thoughtful; she physically shook herself and straightened her back, a sure sign she was on the offensive. He snorted and waited for her to begin her tirade. "I know you love Draco Malfoy." That one comment threw him; how could she possibly know that? He had only recently admitted that to himself, and he had no intention of anyone ever finding that out.

"Of course, he's my best friend." He covered, "Who doesn't love their friends? If that's all the problem is, I don't see what the fuss is about."

"You love him as more than a friend; you're in love with him," she said bluntly. He opened his mouth to deny her claim; she held up her hand, a gesture asking him not to interrupt. "Don't bother denying it Blaise; it's a statement of fact."

"Okay, let's for a second pretend you're right Hermione; what does it have to do with anything? He's my best friend and it's you who I'm dating. I don't see what the problem is." He was genuinely puzzled; okay so he had feelings for Draco but he was never going to act on them so there wasn't a problem because he loved Hermione as well.

"The 'problem', as you put it Blaise, is that I want you to be happy."

"I am happy. I'm happy with you." He put in sounding exasperated. "Okay; I love Draco- big fat hairy deal! It's never going to happen; we're going to spend the rest of our lives as just best friends because I'll be damned if I'll risk losing his friendship for anything." He shot a glare at her; for an instant looking like a petulant young boy. "If you say anything I'll deny it." She rolled her eyes.

"No I will not mention this conversation or my suspicions to him, unless you say I can," she said. "But did you ever think that maybe your excuses for not taking your friendship with him to the 'next level' might also apply to him?" She demanded; he snorted.

"I doubt that. Draco is only interested in girls."

"And from your behaviour to date the same could be said of you, could it not? And you are interested in him, so gee, might it not be possible for him to be interested in you too?" She asked her tone full of sarcasm. "Although you do have better taste in girls," she remarked abruptly. "At least they can string more than two sentences together without the threat of an aneurysm, or toppling over because they're top-heavy."

"I've been dating you for the past two years." Blaise observed; she flashed him a triumphant smile.

"Exactly," she said sounding like the cat that had got the cream; he rolled his eyes, sometimes the similarities between his best friend and his girlfriend astounded him. This was one of those times.

"We both agree that I like Draco as more than a friend and that there's a possibility he might feel the same; but where does that leave us?" He asked ignoring her remarks about the string of girlfriends Draco had had; all of which were blonde, had big busts, and had one brain cell which they had probably shared between them.

"I don't know," she admitted sounding a little forlorn. She took a sip of her coffee as they lapsed into silence. "If- if you could-" She growled in frustration at her inability to formulate what she wanted to say, without sounding like a complete prat. "What do you want?" she asked softly.

Blaise regarded her speculatively before asking, "If I wanted to have a relationship with both of you?"

"As in?" she questioned unsure of what he meant. "Both of us at the same time in a three-way relationship, or perhaps having two different relationships going on simultaneously, or did you have something else in mind?" she asked listing all the possible combinations she could come up with. "Or perhaps you'd like us to be friends and for you to go out with Draco?" she added as an afterthought. If he was serious about wanting a relationship with both of them then Hermione wanted to know damn well where she stood; it was the only way she could be sure that she wouldn't end up running for the hills in the middle of however they decided to handle it. One thing she knew for certain was that, at the end of the day, she wanted some sort of relationship; she just couldn't imagine her life without him or without Draco, for that matter. The niggling little voice at the back of her mind was telling her she was being foolish, nay, traitorous to be considering a relationship with both of them; she knew she should be listening to it, it had always been the voice of reason before, but she wasn't.

Blaise mulled over her question with care, knowing that one false move could send the whole thing crashing down around his ears. For a while it had been a fantasy of his to sleep with both Draco and Hermione simultaneously, and here Hermione was offering it to him- well, she was saying that she might be willing to give it a go. "Are you saying what I think you are?" He asked, "Would you be willing to give a three way relationship a go?"

She looked at him and saw the concern in his eyes. He didn't want to push her away, and for that she was immensely grateful. "Yes," she replied simply. "I- I think maybe if… I think it could work."

He was glad that Hermione was willing to give it a go however, there was still the fact that he had no idea how Draco felt; it was all just speculation and guess work. To do this they needed to have concrete facts. He said as much to Hermione, "I'm going to Floo him and ask him to come over, so we can get this mess sorted out." She nodded in agreement; he crossed the kitchen and stood in front of the fireplace Floo Powder in hand, before turning back to Hermione. "If he's not interested, are we going to stay as we are?"

"I'd like to." She responded, "But it's not just up to me, is it?" He nodded and turned back to the fireplace. After a quick conversation with Draco he turned back to Hermione.

"He said he'll be with us within the hour and he wants to know what all the fuss is about." Hermione snorted.

"I'll fix up something to eat then," she said standing up and flashing Blaise a mischievous smile. "And you're not to tell him that I was the one who did the cooking." She added, "Otherwise all the food will go to waste. 'Though why he thinks I cannot cook is beyond me." Blaise shook his head, used to Hermione's indignation about Draco's digs at her cooking. There was, as far as he was concerned, nothing wrong with Hermione's cooking. Draco thought that too he just liked winding Hermione up, Blaise wasn't going to reveal this to Hermione because he knew he'd suffer disgruntlement from both of them if he did, so he pretended he knew nothing.

As promised Draco arrived at their house an hour after Blaise had called, "Mum wanted me to meet yet another eligible Pureblood, in the hopes that I would finally settle down and stop going through the dregs of the wizarding under classes." He explained as they walked into the kitchen, where Hermione was already waiting at the table. "Hello, Granger," he said in greeting flopping in a chair. "I hope there's a good reason for this Zabini, Mother was terribly unhappy that I had to go."

"And you, of course, were devastated that you couldn't stay." Blaise added; Draco smirked.

"Well I wouldn't go that far, though Petunia Parkinson does have some advantages."

"She's Pansy Parkinson's second- or is it third- cousin." Blaise explained at Hermione's enquiring look; she nodded thoughtfully. "She's terribly dull. Mum thought I should have at least some stability in my life, so I got to see a lot of the Malfoy's and the Parkinson's when I was little."

"Isn't she the one who won Witch Weekly's beauty contest three years in a row?" She asked, much to Draco's surprise; Blaise nodded, she was indeed that witch. "Well, she did seem very beautiful. Though I can't help but wonder if world peace is a requisite answer, for all those who win such contest whether it's in the wizard of the Muggle world." Draco frowned, but she resolutely ignored him and began eating the scones she had in front of her.

"Alright Zabini, what was so urgent that you wanted to speak to me as soon as possible?" He demanded ignoring the food that had been placed in front of him.

"I thought Slytherins were supposed to be subtle." Hermione remarked.

"We are; Draco's just a little impatient." Blaise informed her, she nodded. "It's something to do with the fact he always gets what he wants." Draco scowled, knowing that Blaise, at least, was taking the rise by pretending he wasn't there. "Hermione broke up with me," Blaise said abruptly as if that explained everything, which indeed it did although Draco didn't know that.

"Right, so she's still sitting in the kitchen because?" Draco asked sounding dubious.

"I broke up with him, and I'm still here because he told me I'm delusional, and then that I wasn't. Then he decided the third person, you, needed to be here to sort this whole mess out." Hermione uttered ignoring the black look Blaise sent her way.

"Let me deal with this."

"Fine," she said flippantly. "Have it your way, I won't say another word unless one of you talks to me."

"What's going on?" Draco demanded completely confused by Hermione's explanation of events; Blaise smiled at him indulgently and he began to get worried. Zabini only looked like that when either he wanted something or he was up to something, Draco was unsure which scenario he detested the most. "Granger, explain. In English this time." Hermione looked at Blaise. H sighed, wondering if they were both consciously thwarting him, or if he was just lucky.

"Go on, explain it to him then," Blaise said sounding disgruntled. Hermione threw him a half apologetic, half amused look.

"Is there anyone you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with?" She asked bluntly. Blaise turned a laugh into a cough upon catching the outraged expression on Draco's face. "Come on Malfoy, it is a reasonable question. It's not like I'm asking you for your vault number at Gringotts because I copied your key." Blaise snorted; she shrugged, "Well, it was the only absurd question I could think of off of the top of my head. I'd like to see you do better smarty-pants!"

"Not that it's any of your business Granger, but of the available witches it seems highly doubtful," Draco sneered. She nodded thoughtfully before turning to Blaise.

"Which of us do you think he'd answer, and not… you know," Hermione asked, "avoid the question or just not give an answer?" Draco scowled. Blaise shrugged, truth be told he had no idea which of them would be better equipped to handle this part of the conversation.

"Hello, I'm still here," Draco snapped. Hermione smiled at him indulgently and his expression darkened. "Will one of you tell me what the fuck is going on, or I'm out of here." Blaise sighed and gestured for Hermione to continue.

"Well, I dumped Blaise because," she paused thinking how best to put it, "from the way you were both acting I concluded that you both had a thing for the other, and I didn't want to get in the way."

"How very altruistic of you Granger," Draco sneered, apparently unaware that he hadn't denied any of her suspicions; Hermione gave Blaise an 'I told you so' look. "But nothing's going on between us." He turned to Blaise, "I don't see why you couldn't have told her that yourself."

"Malfoy, I didn't say there was anything going on," Hermione said sounding exasperated; "I said I was getting sick of the pining looks you were both directing in the other's direction, so I decided to do something about it. So, I broke up with Blaise so that one of you could make your move. Was that blunt enough for you to not edit in your head?" Draco spluttered. Blaise didn't look too pleased either, but Hermione ignored him for the most part and focused on Draco as he was the Wild Card.

"Pining?" He gasped, "I'm not some dog pining after my owner."

"So you're not going to deny it; just my wording?" She questioned highly amused by the usually composed blond's lack of composure.

"No." He paused, and then the meaning of what he had said hit him. "I mean yes." Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Well which is it?"

"Play nice Hermione," Blaise chided. "Can't you see you've made Drake loose his composure?" She rolled her eyes but remained silent. "She's pretty relentless isn't she?" He asked Draco, keeping the subject seemingly inane. "She should have been sorted into Ravenclaw or Slytherin, if she didn't have Muggle parents, rather than Gryffindor don't you think?" Draco nodded.

"Yes, she was wasted in Gryffindor," he concurred. Hermione stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"I was quite happy where I was," she retorted. "I liked being the smartest, it meant I wasn't continually tested which I would have been in Ravenclaw- not that I wouldn't have relished the challenge mark you." She smiled wryly, "Besides, I bet even Slytherin was tame by comparison to the Gryffindors need to… test boundaries." Blaise snorted and Draco raised an eyebrow at her explanation of why the Gryffindor house tended to be the one which broke the rules. "You're changing the topic Blaise Zabini; don't think you're getting out of it."

"I wasn't," he protested, coffee cup half-way to his mouth. "If I was going to, I would be much more subtle." He pointed out, which she had to admit was true. Usually if he wanted to steer her away from a particular topic she didn't realise what he had done until hours later, much as it galled her to admit that even to herself.

"Fine," she conceded, "you weren't trying to change the topic." He smiled triumphantly; she just rolled her eyes and glanced at her watch. "As much as I'd love for this 'love fest' to continue, I'm supposed to be at the Burrow in a couple of hours."

"Going to see Potty and the Weasel?" Draco enquired icily; Hermione pulled a face but managed to keep her scathing retort to herself, for which Blaise was immensely thankful. Hermione and Draco had been known to go from normal to five in one second flat.

"Anyone would think you were jealous, Draco," he purred "and that, I believe, is my prerogative."

"I am not jealous," Draco hissed in retort. "I just don't see what is so special about 'The Boy Who Lived'" he spat. "It's not like he survived on his own merit, is it?"

"He did beat you at Quidditch, and fought the Dark Lord and lived several times," Hermione put in helpfully, "maybe that's why he's 'special'?" Draco threw the roll of kitchen towel at her; she ducked, a smile on her face. "What?" she asked feigning innocence.

The smile faded; suddenly she was serious, her eyes flicked to Blaise before asking, "Do you love Blaise as more than a friend?" Draco regarded her completely pole-axed; did he love Blaise as more than a friend, he wasn't sure. How did you know? Zabini had always been a constant in his life, so he'd miss him if he wasn't anymore.

Hermione watched him, face solemn, as he searched his thoughts. "I think you might," she said softly. He looked up at her startled. "You have a certain look in your eyes, and you're always watching him." She titled her head and brought up her arm, so she could rest her head on her hand. "I'm not jealous, just curious" she added seeing panic start to develop in the depths of his eyes.

He looked at Blaise and then back to her. He felt trapped. "I-" he faltered.

"Would it help, if Blaise answered my question first?" she questioned, her voice soft, afraid that she would scare him away. "If I asked him, whether he thinks of you as more than a friend?" His eyes darted to Blaise who was in that instant both his doom and his salvation. Blaise looked away not offering help, but not taking it away either. She sighed, "You know Malfoy, you used to be the talk of the girl's bathrooms at Hogwarts; it was always 'he talked to me; he actually talked to me' or they were talking about your latest girlfriend, how she wasn't good enough for you and how they'd be better."

"I'm touched Granger," he said glad of the distraction, "I wouldn't have thought you would have been into gossip." Hermione smiled wryly.

"I may not have been, but I was always told about your latest conquests. I think you had the whole of the female population in all of the houses drooling after you," she paused and blushed. "Even me," she admitted "though I was always careful not to let anyone know this. It wouldn't have done anything for my reputation would it? Gryffindor's little virgin know-it-all couldn't possibly have thoughts like that now, could she?" She tapped the table, "Of course, the virgin title wasn't exactly true," she added mischievously. Blaise and Draco regarded her scandalised. "What? Oh, you thought that because of my two 'watchdogs' I'd have been blissfully free of any male contact but theirs and therefore unable to. Well, unless it was with them." She visibly shuddered, "I can honestly tell you I was more likely to have willingly slept with He Who Must Not Be Named or your father, Draco, than either of them." She laughed at the twin looks of revulsion on their faces.

"Thank you for sharing that," Draco said looking suitably disgusted. "Just what I needed; images of you having sex with the Dark Lord, or worse my father." Hermione laughed.

"I wouldn't have willingly slept with either," she confided impishly, "as they're both a little too old for my taste. Now you I might have," she winked at Blaise, "if only to see Harry and Ron's faces when they found out."

"Gee, thanks for that" Draco said sounding highly displeased. "It's nice to know I rate above my father and the Dark Lord in regard to your taste in men." He took a deep breath and answered her question; "Yes."

"Good," Hermione said brightly getting up. "I'll leave you guys alone." She walked towards the hallway and had almost made it out when Blaise grabbed her arm.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of it that quickly, Hermione Granger. This is completely and utterly your fault. You were the one who wanted to pick apart Draco and my relationship. You were the one who couldn't leave well enough alone; so don't even think about scuttling off to Harry and Ron. Besides which, I thought you were quite happy to have a three-way relationship."

"What?" Draco spluttered but he was completely ignored as Hermione and Blaise faced off.

"I am; but don't you think that maybe you and he might need to work out the new 'kinks' in your relationship before we go any further, or did it not cross your mind?" She demanded.

"We need to work them out of our relationship too," Blaise pointed out practically, "and what about your relationship with Draco."

"Malfoy and I don't have a relationship."

"Exactly." Blaise shot back looking triumphant. "That is exactly my point; you and Draco aren't even friends, yet."

"Excuse me," Draco interrupted "don't I get a choice in this?" To his surprise, and discomfort, they both turned to face him wearing similar expressions of impatience. "On second thought, I'll wait till you've finished," he said hastily.

Hermione snorted amused before continuing her 'discussion' with Blaise, "Besides it's not like I can devote the next month or two to it, which you can. You know I'm going to the Burrow for a while, I organised it months ago. And, aren't you guys going off somewhere to do… male pureblood stuff?" she hazarded; Blaise laughed in amusement at her description of the activities he and Draco had planned. Suddenly the tension in the room vanished.

"You could always cancel." He suggested reasonably, neither wizard missed the wistful look that flittered across her face.

"It wouldn't be worth it," Hermione said, "Harry and Ron want to count my fingers and toes to check you haven't been mistreating me, and you haven't let Draco play." She rolled her eyes, "They're almost like possessive older brothers; it's disturbing" she admitted.

"Why do you let them get away with it?" Draco asked hesitantly, sure that she'd take offence but he was honestly curious as to why she put up with them.

She shrugged; "I guess because they've always been like that" she responded. "I'm sorry to cut and run but I have to get going; maybe we should have had this conversation at another time."

"There never would have been a good time, Hermione," Blaise responded. "Drake and I'll talk about it, and what it means for us. Hopefully by the time you come back we'll have worked something out." Her eyes flickered across both of them; it was obvious that she didn't want to leave. She kissed Blaise goodbye and hesitated when she came to Draco unsure how to proceed. To be on the safe side she decided to do what she would have normally; she nodded politely and then exited the room. From there she headed up to the room she and Blaise shared to grab her bags. As she passed the kitchen on her way out, she could hear them talking quietly. She paused. For a moment she felt excluded: on the outside looking in. Shaking herself she left the house and apparated to the Burrow.

Hermione was half an hour late arriving at the Burrow, consequently Ginny was the only one there; the others had gone out for the day. "Hey," Hermione said, "sorry I'm late. Things got a little complicated," she explained apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," Ginny advised. "I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Oh?" Hermione asked intrigued; what would the red-head want to talk to her about? It wasn't as if they were particularly close; they were almost strangers but without the awkwardness, as they had had to share a room for many years being the only girls in the group. "About what?" she enquired, her curiosity evident.

"This and that," Ginny replied mysteriously. "Is the rumour true- are you dating Blaise Zabini?" Hermione frowned wondering why Ginny had asked that; it wasn't exactly a secret that they were.

"Yes," she said. "I've been going out with him for two years."

"And you didn't tell me!" Ginny squealed sounding offended.

"I thought Harry and Ron would have done; they were so pissed off with me when they found out…" she trailed off, "They didn't tell you?" Ginny shook her head.

"Nope; neither of them said a word about it. I wondered why they were annoyed with you; they wouldn't tell me why, Ron just told me to keep away," she said sounding thoroughly disgusted. "If I were you I'd keep a low profile; Ron's on the war path and Harry isn't much better."

X-X-X

She was tired; tired to the bones. Tired of it all; the stupid pettiness exhibited by Harry and Ron had propelled itself way past the point of forgiveness. They called themselves her friends and believed that they knew what was best for her. She wanted to strangle them. She was not, nor had she been for a very long time, a naive little girl who didn't believe that the dangers of the outside world would hurt her. Hermione knew first hand just how dangerous the world could be. She wore the scars on her heart.

Once inside her house she lent against the door and heaved a sigh of relief; for now it was over. Tears crept unbidden down her face as she sank to the floor. They were tears both of loss and of relief. She bit back a sob, not wanting to alert anyone she was there, if anyone was home. How long she lay there she didn't know, but eventually she pushed herself to her feet. Grabbing her bags off the floor where she had dropped them she padded silently along the hall to the kitchen.

Rummaging through the cupboards she came across some carrot-cake and cut herself a slice. She fixed herself a calming cup of tea and sat down at the table, before contemplating what to do next. She was two- almost three- weeks early coming home, the original plan had been for her to stay for a month or two; but she couldn't bear to stay with the accusations hanging heavy in the air. Her friendship with Harry and Ron was over. This time, she knew, there would be no reconciliation because she could not forgive nor could she forget.

If it had been the first time, she could have forgiven them, but it wasn't. If she was being truthful, the events had been a culmination of things that had been building up for years. She ran a hand through her hair distractedly as she concentrated on the tea and cake before her, hoping that they would give her the answers or, at the very least, some divine inspiration would strike. Nothing happened.

She couldn't stay, that she knew; it wouldn't be fair on Blaise or Draco. The question was, then, where did she go? The first thought that struck her was that she could go and visit her parents, but then she remembered that they were on a cruise ship somewhere in the Med. So, that idea was shot down in flames. Then inspiration struck. She had always fancied visiting the capitals of the world. She had enough money in the bank, so why not?

She smiled for, what felt like, the first time in days.

"Granger?" She looked up into eyes the colour of storm clouds; different shades of grey swirled around the pupils, like clouds in a stormy sky. "Blaise said you wouldn't be back for weeks." She nodded; taking in his whole appearance she realised he was nude except for the towel around his waist. He was pale like all natural blonds, and veins shone through his skin like the veins in marble.

"I- I'm just going to get my passport and then I'm off," she explained; the decision made for her. "I just thought I'd grab a quick snack and drink first," she flashed him a smile and hoped that her eyes weren't red, and that her skin wasn't blotchy. Unfortunately, for her, luck seemed to have buggered off somewhere for the long-hall; it tended to be a bitch like that.

"Are you okay?" He asked, having studied her for a while; Hermione had a feeling that everything was conspiring against her. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd been crying." He frowned, "You haven't- have you?" Silently appealing to any god that would be nice enough to interfere, Hermione formulated an answer.

"Well… I did get something in my eye earlier," she lied blatantly and hoped that he would drop it.

"Draco?" Blaise called from somewhere in the house; Hermione cursed silently. It looked to her as if Murphy was having a field day.

"I'm in the kitchen," Draco responded. "Hermione's just dropped in," he added. Hermione wished suddenly that the Earth would swallow her whole, or at least find someone else to torment. Unfortunately, no one was listening to her. Blaise walked into the kitchen looking perplexed.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks."

"I did," she ground out, glad for an excuse to be angry. "I just changed my plans slightly- okay? So I'm here to grab my passport and then I'm off." Even to her it sounded too curt; it gave away she was hiding something. She stood up abruptly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just grab it and be on my way."

"Not so fast," Blaise said his treacle coloured eyes narrowing. "What is going on? And don't give me any rubbish about a change of plans Hermione. I wasn't born yesterday."

"You could have fooled me," she muttered rebelliously, other than that, though, she remained sullenly silent, glowering up at him. She was not going to tell them why she was upset; at that moment even the mere thought of sympathy made her angrier. She did not want anyone's sympathy, so she brushed past both wizards into the hall and headed to the room she used as an office- though in actuality it was more of a library than an office. She wrenched open the filling cabinet and began riffling through it trying to find her passport.

"Hermione," Blaise said sounding exasperated.

"Go away." She instructed; "There isn't anything going on; I am not running away from anyone." Crap! She uttered silently pausing slightly in her pursuit of her passport. Please don't let him pick up on that; but of course he did.

"What do you mean you aren't running from anyone?" He asked softly; she froze. She couldn't lie to him and risk everything but equally she couldn't tell him the truth: that Harry and Ron had given her an unforgivable ultimatum. She just couldn't. She swallowed; she was trapped between the devil and the deep with no way out.

"It's from Potty and the Weasel isn't it?" Draco asked from the door, "It's from those two you're running- isn't it?" She was rooted to the spot, fear denying her use of her tongue so she just nodded. A stray tear escaped and poured down her cheek.

"Yes," she whispered the sadness and the anger mingling together until they were one and the same. She stayed where she was, eyes focused on nothing in particular, until she had mastered her emotions. She looked up at them, framed in the doorway, one with skin as pale as moonlight the other with skin as dark as midnight- was she the shadows stuck between?

She flopped back into her chair, the fight abruptly draining out of her. She watched them through her eyelashes as they whispered together, obviously trying to work out how best to approach her. She smiled tiredly, suddenly wishing it was all over. She had naively thought that the downfall of Lord Voldemort would bring about the end of prejudices; she had been sadly mistaken. If anything it served to heighten them; the Death Eaters were still searching for someone dark enough, someone twisted enough, to lead them.

"What did they do?" One of them asked at last, she wasn't sure which; wasn't sure if she cared or if she didn't, wasn't sure of a lot of things. She looked up at them and smiled sardonically.

"Guess," she whispered and laughed; the laugh was darker than the sky at night without its stars. They exchanged looks, their expressions telling her they thought she had finally lost it, but no she was still sane, just letting the bitterness consume her. It was fitting after all that it was the glorious golden Gryffindors that pushed her into the abyss, not the sly scheming Slytherins. No, they were the ones watching as she fell into the chasm.

They exchanged looks again; "Guess," she prompted, "the irony of it will amuse you, I'm sure." They didn't look happy, so she fought; fought to give them the face they expected: the face of someone hurting. Despite their worry, she couldn't resist asking; "So what do you think: me as the new Dark Lord, well Lady? Do you think I'd fit the bill?" Upon seeing their expressions of horror she burst out laughing, "Thank you, I needed that," she said honestly.

"Oh-kay…" Blaise said sounding dubious.

"Harry and Ron basically told me I had to choose: them or you, because, apparently, I can't have both." She looked thoroughly infuriated by this demand; "and, in case you're wondering, I am utterly pissed off. Not sad, not thankful, not anything but angry. How fucking dare they give me an ultimatum. It's none of their goddamn business who I sleep with." Grabbing the mug that held her pens she flung it across the room; it crashed into the wall with a satisfying thud. "Their audacity just astounds me." She added, trembling slightly as she fought to gain control of her anger and frustration so she wouldn't rip the room apart.

Blaise and Draco exchanged looks. For a while they had thought an ultimatum like that might be in the pipeline, they just hadn't thought either Potter or Weasley would be stupid enough to give it. Angry tears fell down her face. She was just so unbelievably angry with her ex-best friends: she couldn't even bring herself to feel sad at the ending of such a long friendship. She looked at the two wizards in front of her helplessly. Neither of them were big fans of Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. If anything they were the opposite, but it hadn't been them who had demanded she choose. For that she was grateful.

Kneeling down in front of her, Blaise gently took one of her hands in his own. Holding her gaze he placed a kiss on top of it. "I'm sorry Hermione," he said sincerely, "I'm sorry that they asked you to choose." She gave him a watery smile, wondering, not for the first time, what she had done to deserve someone like him. He tugged gently on her arm, and she let him draw her towards him. They stood kneeling on the floor in a hug. Looking up she caught Draco's stormy eyes watching them with a soft yearning. Silently she beckoned him to them. He shook his head looking wistful. Slowly, she drew back from the comfort Blaise offered, all the while keeping her gaze locked with Draco.

"Well, I guess I better get going," she said forcing a smile, "if I want to see some of Paris today." She got up and brushed her trousers, then headed to the filing cabinet and found her passport first try. She smiled wryly as she fished it out of its compartment.

"You don't have to go, Hermione," Blaise said, but she shook her head, eyes unconsciously flickering to Draco.

"No, I don't have to." She agreed heading back to the kitchen where she had left her bags. "I want to. It's hardly fair on either of you if I make you cancel your plans just because mine are." She added, hurriedly, as Blaise opened his mouth to protest: "Besides, I've always wanted to visit the world's capitals; and this is as good a time as any to begin. I'll go to Paris first, stay for a couple of days there. Then I'll go onto erm… Berlin, yeah Berlin and stay there for a couple of nights before I go onto…" She shrugged, "Whatever city takes my fancy after that- maybe Rome?" She smiled enthusiastically. "It'll be fun," she insisted, catching their dubious looks. "A new city every couple of days, that way I can't get bored." Her smile faltered slightly as she realised it would be a good way of keeping away from Harry and/or Ron should they decide to demand why she hadn't picked them. Picking up her bags she started moving back to the front door.

"Stay," Draco said, surprising both of them. "There's no need to run off Granger." She turned back to him and searched his eyes; whatever she was looking for wasn't there so she turned and began making her way to the front door. "Please. Hermione, don't rush off because of me." She paused where she was, keeping her back to both of them. He took a deep breath before beginning, "Blaise and I have been talking, and he's told me what he'd like. I- I'm not sure it'd work because- because neither of us have been anything more than acquaintances." She nodded in agreement. "Hermione, look at me." Slowly she turned around to face him; her face was blank and unreadable. He swallowed, "But I'd- I would like to give it a go. I'd like us to be… friends. To begin with at least." She smiled at him; for a moment they shared a perfect understanding: for Blaise they would both try to be friends and if that worked, then, they'd try and be lovers. If it didn't, they would try something else.

"Would you guys like to come to Paris with me?" She asked looking at both of them, "I know you've probably got something planned but well…"

"I think we can manage that, can't we Draco?"

"Yes, I think we may have a few days free but I'll have to check the calendar."

X-X-X

It had taken a long while for Hermione and Draco to become friends and then lovers, but they managed it- not without a little help from Blaise though. Few knew about their relationship; they didn't keep the fact that they were a ménage à trois a secret, equally they didn't shout it from the rooftops.

Hermione lent against Draco on the sofa of their house in Rome, he had an arm wrapped possessively around her waist, as they watched Blaise mimicking someone he had met at his work. "But I cannot do that for you Signor. But of course Signor. How are the family Signor?" He pulled a face, "The man was driving me mad." He glared at Hermione, "I cannot believe I let you talk me into moving back to Roma."

"It could have been worse, it could have been la France," Draco said pulling a face. "Then it would have been Monsieur Malfoy this, Monsieur Malfoy that." He shuddered. "No, thank you." Blaise pulled a face. Hermione sensibly kept quiet.

"The day could not get any worse." He said sinking into a chair opposite to Hermione and Draco.

"Don't say that! You'll jinx it and my day's been perfectly…" She paused, the word she was looking for momentarily eluding her. There was a loud crack and a House Elf appeared by the door.

"Signori e Signora," it said respectfully in greeting. "Signora, Signorina Weasley is here to see you along with two other guests." Hermione frowned.

"Did they give you the names of the other two guests?" The House Elf shook its head looking uncomfortable.

"Signora, Signorina Weasley said it was to be a surprise. I is sorry if I did wrong." Hermione smiled benignly at her, her mind already running through the possibilities of whom these guests might be.

"Tell Ginny, that I'll be with her in a minute. I want you to take them to the parlour, and lay two extra seats, Alda." She instructed.

"Make those four extra seats, Alda," Blaise said before the House Elf had gone.

"Very good, Signor," she responded dutifully and disappeared with a loud pop. Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"We thought we'd say hello to Miss Weasley," Draco supplied.

"And we want to make sure these guests aren't who we think they might be." Blaise added seriously. "I will not have either Mr. Potter or Mr. Weasley in my house." His eyes darkened with anger; he and Draco exchanged significant looks- they still owed Harry and Ron for hurting Hermione. She smiled gratefully at them, glad she wasn't going to walk into the unknown on her own.

"Thanks," she said simply smiling. "I'd better finish getting dressed." She disentangled herself from Draco and headed towards the bedroom; she wanted to change into a new robe she had bought, not the one she had been wearing all day whilst she had been working.

"We'll wait here for you." Blaise called after her.

She returned a quarter of an hour later. She was dressed in a silk black robe that clung to her like a second skin. Her hair was pulled back neatly into a bun and she was wearing a light dusting of makeup- just some eyeliner and some lip gloss. She smiled at them and turned slowly, allowing them to take in her whole appearance. "Well, what do you think?" She queried mischievously. "Do you think this will do or should I change?"

"That is…" Draco began.

"…fine. No. That's- that is to say, you look really beautiful." Blaise finished. She smiled at both of them. Together the three of them headed to the parlour talking quietly about this and that. Hermione paused outside the room, squared her shoulders and took a deep breath, before walking in. The first thing she noticed was the auburn hair of Ginny Weasley. The years since Hermione had last seen her had treated Ginny well; her milky skin was flawless, with a spattering of freckles dancing across which she'd had for as long as Hermione had known her. Her hair hung over her shoulders in loose curls that were already falling out. Her blue eyes widened and then lit in a smile when she caught sight of Hermione. She got up out of the chair and flung herself at the elder, smaller, witch.

Pulling back from the hug she looked down at the cheerful face of the witch she saw as her sister, despite her brother and boyfriend's current feelings. "Hermione!" She squealed. "It's been too long! How has life been treating you?" Hermione laughed.

"I'm fine; Blaise and Draco have been taking good care of me." She gestured at the two Slytherins who were standing in the doorway watching in amusement as the two witches greeted one another. "You? Who have you brought with you? I thought this was just supposed to be us catching up."

"I'm okay." Ginny promised. "It's been very quiet without you. Zabini. Malfoy." She added in greeting. "What have you been up to? Harry and Ron wouldn't let me owl you, so I had to settle for the rubbish in the Prophet." Hermione laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "Erm… as to who I brought well…" She laughed nervously, "I just want to let you know that it wasn't my idea, and personally I thought it was a very bad one and well…"

"It's Harry and Ron isn't it?" Hermione asked sounding as disgruntled as she felt. Ginny nodded shamefaced. "I'm not speaking to them, so you can tell them to go and… and take a long walk off of a short pier." She scowled. "I never want to speak to either of them again."

"Oh," Ginny said sounding uneasy. "I don't think they'll go until you've talked to them. I err… convinced them to wait outside so I could erm…" Hermione turned to the door to ask Blaise and Draco for their advice only to find them gone; she swallowed her curses and turned to Ginny.

"I tell you what, why don't you take me to them now and I'll… set them straight." She suggested.

"I really am sorry about this, 'Mione." Ginny admitted as she and Hermione made their way to the front of the house. "I tried talking them out of it; I even got Mum to forbid Ron to come with me." She shrugged looking totally nonplussed.

They walked out of the house to find the four wizards already in the middle of a duel; Ginny stared in shock at the scene before her whilst Hermione narrowed her eyes in anger. Abruptly she turned her back on the scene before her and stalked inside heading blindly towards a room; she ended up in the library. Having locked the door with the key, and with a spell, she sank into a chair trembling with rage. Tears of anger and regret fell down her cheeks. It had been almost like a physical blow seeing Harry and Ron again, until then she hadn't realised quite how much she missed them. She was furious, though, that the four wizards were duelling over her- she was not some prize to me won.

Hermione was sitting staring into space in the dark room when Alda popped, literally, into the room. "Signora?" She asked; Hermione jerked out of her trance and blinked at the worried House Elf in front of her. "Signor Blaise and Signor Draco sent me to fetch you. They is worried Signora."

"Can you get me a sandwich from the kitchen, Alda?" She asked.

"What sandwich would you like?" Alda asked treating her like she would have had Hermione been a child.

"Chicken, if we have any, please. If not, then cheese will do."

"I see what I can do Signora. You go see the Signori- yes?" Alda looked at her quizzically; Hermione shook her head, she didn't want to see either of them just yet. She wanted to have something to eat which would give her enough time to compose herself. "I get sandwich." With that she was gone and Hermione was left on her own again.

When Alda returned twenty minutes later, after assuring the Masters that Hermione was alright, she found her in exactly the same position she had left her in. With a silent sigh she placed the plate with the sandwich in front of her Mistress. "There you go," she said. Hermione smiled at her and picked up a sandwich, slowly, she began eating it. Alda watched her as she consumed the sandwich, satisfied that her Mistress had eaten she began her next course of action.

Alda gently took Hermione's hand in her own and began petting it like she would a child's hand; Hermione looked at her eyes wide. "Come Signora, it's time for bed." She soothed gently tugging at the hand. Hermione stood up and allowed Alda to lead her from the room; Alda removed the spells Hermione had placed there with a wave of her hand, and continued along the hall and up the stairs. "Signorina Weasley is staying in a guest room." Alda added as they reached the top of the stairs.

Hermione nodded and allowed Alda to take her to the room she shared with Draco and Blaise. When she entered the room she found them waiting for her. She glowered at them, freezing in the doorway. She turned and was about to head for another room when she discovered she was subject to a freezing charm. "If you'll excuse us Alda, there's something we want to say to Hermione." The House Elf nodded and disappeared.

Hermione fumed silently waiting patiently for them to undo the spell. "Let us explain," Draco began calmly.

"We'll undo the spell if you promise not to do anything stupid," Blaise said the voice of practicality. Absently, she wondered how they expected her to answer. She rolled her eyes betting they hadn't thought that far ahead. She felt the freezing spell lift, but she made no move to do anything knowing that they would expect rebellion on her part at this point.

"Explain then," she said bitterly. "Explain to me why you took it upon yourselves to fight Ron and Harry. For God's sake! You're adults now, not kids at school." Draco reddened, but both men returned her accusing gaze steadily. "Well?"

"They started it," Draco said petulantly. Hermione raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"They did actually. We went outside to see what they were up to, why they suddenly decided that they wanted to talk to you. I'll admit we went out there with the expectation of hexing them to oblivion, but they were the ones who were the first to cast a hex."

"They accused us of corrupting you, of leading you astray." Draco snorted, "There's about as much chance of us achieving that, had we wanted to, as there is of snow in hell." Unwillingly Hermione sighed.

"I take it things escalated from there?" She asked resignedly. They nodded. She smiled satirically, "Well in that case I guess I should forgive you guys and apologise for assuming the worst of you." Both wizards understood that this was her way of apologising and saying she forgave them. "What stopped the duel anyway?" She asked allowing them to lead her to the bed.

Draco and Blaise exchanged a wry look; "Ginny Weasley is not someone to trifle with," Blaise said as if it explained everything, which it did.

END