Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction using characters and entities from the Wizarding World trademarked by J. K. Rowling. Original plots, dialogue, and characters are mine.
Beta Love: Mama2HPBabies
Chapter 2: Forgiveness and Friendships
It was the first of September and Hermione, Ron, and Harry arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters early. They wanted to avoid the stares and crowds and walked quickly to the apparition check-in.
"Granger!" A voice called behind her followed by running footsteps.
She turned around and saw her counterpart, "Hey Zabini."
"I'm glad I caught you before you got to Hogsmeade," he puffed. Running full sprint with a trolley was no easy task. "I owled the Three Broomsticks and the school this morning. Everything is set. The elves and carriages will meet us at the pub to pick up our trunks and will be back later to take us to the castle. Oh, hi Potter, Weasley. Sorry. Got excited."
Harry and Ron looked at the two of them utterly confused.
"Guys, I told you that Blaise and I had a head start on planning for the year. He's talking about the reception for the eighth years before the feast. Remember?" She attempted to jog their memories.
"Ah, right," Harry said. "It should be fun to do something without all the little kids."
"You have no idea. Granger and I have big announcements, but we'll save those. Go on and check in. I'll see you there," Blaise said excitedly.
"Why don't you just come with us?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I have to wait for Draco and Greg. Because of their, um," he hesitated, "situation. They need to be escorted by a responsible party, and as head boy, I fit the bill."
"Oh!" Ron exclaimed, understanding what Blaise was implying, "Their probation! I'm sure Malfoy was miffed to not make head boy again. Fall from grace. Fall from power."
Hermione and Harry looked at him with shock and embarrassment. Hermione slapped him upside the head, and Harry threw his hands up.
"I apologize for Ronald, Blaise," she said annoyed, "He's a bit thick and has a complete lack of tact when it comes to sensitive subjects. I'm sure Malfoy has his own reasons as to why he turned down the post. McGonagall is a fair woman and would have offered it to him, didn't she?"
"She did. Asked Daphne, too. Both of them want to focus on their mental health and families. I think stepping down from leadership roles, to take a break a for personal development, is brilliant and shows maturity. Hate to prove your assumptions about my friends wrong, Weasley. You know what they say when you assume," Blaise almost lost his cool, but regained his composure and directed his attentions back to Hermione with a smile."I had to pull a lot of strings at the Ministry to become an approved chaperone. Um, you and Potter are too."
Realizing what he was referring to, she said, "Oh! Is it because of—"
"Yeah, but we are going to ruin all the surprises. Oh, they just got here. See you later." Blaise walked over to meet up with Draco, Greg, and their auror escorts.
"So when did you two get so chummy?" Harry asked with an insinuating look.
"After he had found out I was head girl, he owled me, and we had some similar thoughts about our current situation and came up with some pretty creative solutions."
Hermione's vague answers didn't sit well with Ron. "So you two an item?" he said with an obvious hint of jealousy.
"No, Ron. I'm not romantically involved with every male friend. If that were the case, I would have snogged all of your brothers and most of Gryffindor House."
Harry threw his head back in frustration knowing that things would never change between these two.
—xoxox—
"I've got it from here, gents," Blaise said handing the signed form back to the aurors. The men nodded and left their charges with Zabini.
"So what were you and Granger talking about?" Draco asked.
Blaise grinned and shook his head, "Just Head Boy and Head Girl stuff. We'll fill everyone in at the reception. Look, Theo just got here. Let's all sign in and head to The Three Broomsticks."
"Hey," Theo said as he walked up. "Did I miss anything?"
"Just Draco getting jealous of me talking to Granger," Blaise joked.
"I hate you guys," Draco grumbled.
—xoxox—
"This reception was a great idea, Blaise, but how do we get everyone to mingle more?" Hermione asked nervously while holding her butterbeer. Inter-house unity wasn't going to be an easy task, even with a Gryffindor Head Girl and Slytherin Head Boy.
"Let's round up the leadership first, so prefects and Quidditch captains, talk to them and go from there," Blaise suggested. "I'll grab what's-their-faces from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and you get Draco, Pans, Potter, and Weasley."
"Blaise, you can't call them 'what's-their-faces'!" Hermione scolded. "Hannah and Ernie from Hufflepuff, and Padma and Anthony from Ravenclaw."
"See we are already a great team. Good job, Granger," Blaise winked at her.
She laughed as she walked over to the group of Slytherins. Zabini was easy to talk to, but she has a less than friendly history with Parkinson, and an even worse history with Malfoy. Hermione steadied her breath and already prepared for backtalk.
"Hey Granger, welcome to the snake pit," Theo called her over. "Can I get you a drink?"
She lifted up her mug and said, "Got one."
"I got your next round," he said with a wink.
Hermione blushed and said, "Thanks, Nott. Actually, I'm here for Malfoy and Parkinson. Zabini wants to have a meeting with all the prefects and captains."
"Yeah, sure. Where are we meeting?" Pansy said with a casual snobbishness.
"Back room," Hermione answered, putting on a fake smile.
"Granger, wait," Draco called to her as she started to walk away. "Can we talk for a minute?"
He received the oddest looks from the Slytherin girls but goading smiles from the boys.
Hermione didn't want to talk to him just yet, so she attempted to make an excuse, "I need to get Ron and Harry. They're needed in the meeting, too."
"Pans, grab Weasley and Potter. We'll meet you there." She scoffed at his orders but complied either way. "Problem solved, so can we chat?"
She sighed and nodded as he led her away from the group.
Theo cleared his throat to get Draco's attention. He tapped his watch and said, "Christmas. Don't forget."
Draco scowled at him, placed his hand on the small of Hermione's back, and tried to get away from his friends as quickly as possible. They found a corner away from prying eyes and eavesdroppers.
"Malfoy is this about the—"
"Letter. Yes. So you did get it?"
She sighed, "Yes, but I just didn't know how to respond. It was long. Really long."
"Well, it was seven years of apologies and appreciation for everything you did at the battle and my trial. I meant it all. Sincerely," he said while staring her in the eyes, trying to prove he was telling the truth.
"I know. I have it on me. I've read it at least three or four times."
"And?" he asked hopefully, impatiently.
"I appreciate the apology, it may take me some time to forgive, but I'm looking forward to starting fresh." She gave him a half-smile.
"Then I'll start." He held his hand out and said with a cheeky grin, "Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy. I'm a spoiled only child. My mother and father didn't make the best parenting decisions, so if I say completely terrible things, just put it all on them. I'm not responsible for any of it. Also, if I tend to abuse my power as prefect and Quidditch captain, I give the Head Boy and Head Girl full permission to tell me I'm being a twat."
She laughed and took his hand, "Hi Draco Malfoy, I'm Hermione Granger. I'm also a spoiled only child but manage to hide it a little better. I'm bossy and overstep my boundaries, as most only children do, and have to be reminded to play well with others. As Head Girl, I have no problem calling you a twat, prat, tosser, or even wanker, if it so fits."
"Granger, the mouth on you!" He joked, not having let her hand go just yet.
"Oh, I spent more than my fair share of time with the Weasley boys. This stuff just rubs off on you," she smirked, finally releasing his hand. "You ready to go to this leadership meeting?"
"Yeah. So what have you and Blaise been cooking up?" he asked as he tucked his hands in his pockets.
"You'll see."
—xoxox—
After the leadership meeting, the very excited group gathered the rest of the eighth year students to the center of the pub. Blaise and Hermione stood on one of the large tables as a makeshift stage.
Blaise was a shiny ball of charisma as he addressed the crowd, "Hello everyone! I really hope that after seven years together that you would know my name, but I'm Blaise Zabini, your Head Boy. The woman to my left, who really needs no introduction, but let's give it to her anyway, Hermione Granger, is your Head Girl."
Hermione blushed at the rousing applause, and lowered her hands up and down to signal the audience to settle down, "Alright, Blaise and I planned this reception for you before the Hogwarts Express arrives so we could reacquaint ourselves, discuss items that only pertain to our year—as our perks will make the underclassmen very jealous. Also, it gives us some time to unwind."
"What she means is we can get sloshed before having to deal with first years," he joked.
"You all can get sloshed," she pointed out to the crowd. The then pointed to all the prefects and captains, "You keep it together. Don't forget; you still have to escort first years to their houses."
"Make the fifth year prefects do it!" They heard Ernie holler from the leadership crowd.
"Actually, yeah. As Head Boy, I'm enacting eighth-year prefects get the night off and the fifth through seventh-year prefects are on babysitting duties. Any objections?" He looked at Hermione.
"Nope," she smiled.
"Settled. This is great because I already have cases of butterbeer, ale, and firewhisky being brought to our common room." He gave her a wink.
"Perfect segue, Blaise. Firstly, let's talk about how we are all legally adults. The ministry and board of governors know they messed up mandating adults to attend school and reworking laws so that attending Hogwarts wasn't a choice. So they've made some concessions. One, as adults, we are allowed to consume alcohol and smoke as long as it's within the eighth year compound. We will face disciplinary action if we exhibit any of this behavior in front of the underclassmen. Do not violate these provisions and ruin it for all of us. Secondly, we will receive every weekend off. As everyone has their apparition license, you may return home, go into the city, or just go to Hogsmeade as long as you return to Hogwarts by nine in the evening on Sundays. If you have your Fridays free, or you only class is early in the morning, congratulations, you have a three-day weekend."
The crowd cheered and murmured at the prospect of them having some liberties.
"Now about our compound," Blaise explained. "This is going to sound a little mental, but they converted the Chamber of Secrets. It was one of the few areas of the castle not completely damaged, and they had to move quickly to build this out for us. Now to go with the trusting adult aspect, this is a co-ed, inter-house dormitory, and everyone has their own room—for privacy" he said suggestively. "We have kitchen facilities, a bathroom that rivals the prefect's, workout and dueling gym, quiet study lounge, and a lifts to the castle and private terrace. Hermione and I had some heated arguments with the Governors and the Ministry, made demands, and we got what we wanted. You're welcome."
Blaise bowed, and Hermione curtseyed as the crowd applauded.
"Alright, enjoy the next couple of hours. The carriages will pick us up before fetching the other students at the station. We'll give you a reminder when to get your robes on," Hermione added before Blaise helped her hop off the stage.
Harry walked over and handed both Blaise and Hermione fresh pints. "Good job, you two. This year might actually be tolerable."
Blaise laughed, "Thanks, Potter. We try. We still have classes and NEWTs, so it's not all fun and games."
"I think I'm rubbing off on you, Blaise," Hermione said in jest.
"And I'm rubbing off on you. Putting all the responsibility on the underclassmen while we party?" Blaise reminded her.
"We did all this, we deserve a break," she said before taking a big gulp of her ale.
Draco walked up and extended his hand to Harry, "Potter."
Harry returned the gesture. "Malfoy."
"Blaise, you're much better at this job than I was," Draco said with a bit of defeat.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. You didn't have Granger. She's a genius," Blaise raised his pint and clinked it with hers.
"Yeah, I didn't," Draco said awkwardly and swallowed. "Um, I gotta go. Need to talk to Goyle about something."
"See you later," Hermione said.
Draco turned heel and walked away quickly.
"Well that was odd," Harry pointed out.
Blaise downed his beer to avoid saying anything.
—xoxox—
With the first of September falling in the middle of the week, Hermione and Blaise reminded their classmates to take it easy the first night. Truthfully, some of them were still drunk from the pub and went to bed with little resistance. Once everyone had gone to bed, the two of them shared a nightcap to celebrate a very successful first day on the job.
Their first day began with competency examinations for the entire school, with exception to first years. The Board of Governors needed to assess how the past year affected every student's progress and if alterations needed to be made to the curriculum. Naturally, Hermione settled back into the routine of academia. The surprise examinations felt like putting on her favorite jumper. For Harry, Ron, Dean, and many other students who spent last year on the run, the transition was difficult. While they excelled at practical exams in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms, written exams wore them down and challenged their memory. Of all the tests, none were as difficult as the practical potions exam; even Hermione doubted her abilities. While being on the run for several months, she was never afforded the time to practice the patient, precise art of potion making.
After a full day of back-to-back exams, the eighth year students were exhausted and looking forward to hanging out at their compound and knocking back a few butterbeers. On their way down to the lifts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were approached by Luna and Ginny. Harry side-stepped his friends and met his girlfriend to remind her of how much he missed her. He pulled her into his arms, planting sweet kisses on lips, chin, and neck. Their public display of affection was uncomfortable to their friends, but to the passing fourth years, it was seeing their favorite celebrity couple in real life. Their giggles snapped Harry and Ginny out of their hallway snog session.
"Run along," Hermione said in a caring, yet authoritative voice to the younger girls.
"So where are you headed to?" Ginny asked, then planted another kiss on Harry's lips.
"Oi! Get a room, you two. Actually. No. Don't get a room. Just stop snogging. Stop touching altogether," Ron still hadn't gotten used to the idea of his sister and best friend being a couple. Even worse, a couple that couldn't keep their hands off each other.
"Oh, Ronald," Hermione, rolled her eyes, exasperated. She shifted her attention to Luna and Ginny. "We were just heading down to our common room. I would love to invite you but only eighth years are allowed."
"Why is that?" Luna asked inquisitively with a dreamy look in her eye.
Suddenly Blaise butted into the conversation and mockingly said, "Because it's for grown-ups only, Lovegood."
Ginny scowled back at Blaise, then elbowed Harry in the ribs for snickering at the comment.
"Oh, come on, Blaise. Hermione," Ginny pleaded, "I'm seventeen, legal wizarding age. Really, why is it eighth years only?"
"I think they were granted privileges that we weren't. Is that right?" said Luna, always one to point out the obvious.
"Right you are," Hermione verified. At that moment, Draco walked past the group locking eyes with her and didn't break contact until he couldn't turn his head any further.
Ginny noticed and said, "Did Malfoy just—"
"—Check you out?" Ron interrupted.
"No..." Hermione responded.
Blaise cut off the group before they could speculate any further, "Come on, Granger. We need to finish those prefect schedules. See you at the meeting at half past five—Weasley, Weasley, Lovegood." He gave Luna a wink.
"Bye guys!" Hermione told her friends.
The Head Boy then hooked his arm around Hermione's shoulders and escorted her down to the lifts.
"They're not a thing, are they?" Ginny asked.
"I don't think so," Luna said plainly. "There is nothing about their energy that reads romantic. Strong collaborators, yes. But, I do think he is planning something in the relationship department, not for himself, but for a friend."
"How did you get all that from a five-minute conversation, Luna?" Harry asked.
"I just have a feeling," she shrugged.
"All I have to say is that it better not be Malfoy," Ron huffed. "Then I'll kill both Zabini and the ferret."
—xoxox—
As Blaise and Hermione stood in the lift, he leaned against the wall and asked Hermione, "So...Lovegood? She seeing anyone?"
The corner of her lip curled into the most devilish of smiles, "Why do you ask?"
"She's cute, sees through bullshit, but does it in a way that doesn't make you feel like an idiot. She intrigues me," he said coolly, buffing his nails against his robes.
"Hate to tell you, but she's seeing Rolf Scamander. They met over the summer at the anniversary of his grandfather's book release."
"So she's into wild animals?" he inquired with a hint of naughtiness.
"I'm not saying anything," she chuckled. A memory popped into her mind and her demeanor changed completely. Hermione sighed and said, "Just tread carefully with her, even if it's just friendship. She's not ready to make a lot of new friends right now and is still coping with what happened earlier this year—the kidnapping."
The color drained from his face and his charismatic grin faded. "You mean when the Death Eaters held her hostage at Draco's house?"
"Yeah." Hermione looked down at her feet and her body language tensed.
Blaise wasn't expecting the mood to change so drastically, so he did the one thing he could and gave her a hug. "Hey. I know. I know what happened. Draco told me all about it. He hates what happened and beats himself up daily."
"He told me. I'm doing the best I can to move from it and forgive him, truly. But it's not easy," she said resting her head on his chest as her eyes watered.
The lift doors opened and Draco was waiting on the other side. To his shock and surprise, he saw one of his best friends holding the girl he refused to admit he fancied. He didn't say a word. Draco looked at them both and stormed off to his room.
The Head Boy and Head Girl let go of each other. Hermione was shocked at Draco's behavior and began to get defensive. "Why is he so mad? Does he not like seeing a filthy mudblood like me being friends with you?"
Blaise couldn't help but laugh as they walked out of the lift. "For someone so brilliant, you can be kind of an idiot."
"Hey!" She stomped. "I'm not an—"
"He likes you, Granger. Like, likes you," Blaise explained. "He's not going to admit it to you or his friends because he hasn't even admitted it to himself."
She stood there gobsmacked, "You're lying."
"Why would I lie about that? I gotta go talk him down. Will you be in the study lounge? We need to finish those schedules."
"Yes. I'll work on them until you get back," she replied, uneasily as she didn't know how to process everything.
"Okay. See you in a bit," and he took off in a run.
"He's always running…"
—xoxox—
Bang! Bang! Bang! Blaise pounded on Draco's door. "Drake. Open up! Draco! Come on."
"Fuck off, Blaise," He pouted from the other side of the door.
"Fine, hard way it is. Alohomora!" he cast, but nothing happened.
"How dumb do you think I am?" Draco laughed
"Then stand back," Blaise paused to give him a moment to rethink his stubbornness. He drawled the next spell out as slowly as possible "Con—frin—"
Draco threw the door open, "For Merlin's sake. Can't you leave me alone? Do you really have to threaten to blow the whole dorm apart?"
"I'm not leaving you alone because you're being a tosser. When Draco Malfoy is lost in his own thoughts, he becomes dangerous. So sit the fuck down and listen to me," Blaise demanded.
"The authority is going to your head," Draco pouted.
"At least I have a head. Yours is all full of sawdust. Now listen. Nothing's going on between Granger and me."
"Hmph."
"Yeah, and you acting like this just proves you like her."
Draco didn't respond.
"That's what I thought. We were talking about Lovegood, and then Hermione brought up Lovegood's kidnapping, then she got upset thinking about what happened at your house. She's trying, Draco. She really is. It's not easy to forgive shit like that."
Draco started shaking, and his eyes started to water. Completely overcome with fury, he punched the wall and flopped on the bed rubbing his face. "Ugh, Blaise. Why her?"
"Reparo," Blaise mended the hole Draco created. "What do you mean, why her?"
"Of all the girls at this school, why her? Why do I fancy her? Why does she have to be a muggleborn? Why does she have to be better than me at everything? Why does she look so cute when she's...well, all the time. Why does she have to be Potter's best friend? Why did she have to be the one my cunt of an aunt had to torture and slice up? Why do our paths keep crossing in the absolute shittiest of ways?" His voice was desperate.
"Draco. I'm not going to explain how attraction and fate work. But what I am going to tell you is that you have an entire school year to figure shit out and make a move."
"Until Christmas."
"What do you mean until Christmas?"
"Theo gave me a deadline, remember? If I don't ask her out by then, he's going to make a move."
"He's going to hold you to it."
"I know."
"Well loverboy, nut up and come talk to her. We're talking about prefect shit anyway."
"Do you think she knows I like her?"
"Considering I told her, yeah."
"Fuck. I hate you."
"I know."
—xoxox—
When Blaise and Draco arrived at the study lounge, Hermione was standing over a table with papers and charts strewn everywhere along with pots of red, blue, green, gold, and black ink. She looked up and smiled at the two Slytherins. Blaise pushed Draco forward, encouraging him to talk to Hermione. The annoyed backward glance Draco gave was pure entertainment for Blaise.
Draco straightened himself up, as he tried to figure out what to say to Hermione, but she spoke first. "Draco," she paused. His heart jumped a little at her calling him by his first name. "I don't want anything to be weird between us."
Draco's mind raced and responded to everything she said in his head, but couldn't manage to say it aloud. Me too.
She continued, "I'm just dealing with a lot of things personally and processing my emotions is just—just—hard. You know?"
You have no idea.
"I just don't think I'm in the right headspace for a relationship."
Shit.
"But…"
There's a 'but?'
"That doesn't mean I don't like you."
You think I'm hot, don't you?
Hermione looked at him funny as his face contorted into different expressions, "Could we just start by becoming friends? We've never tried that before."
Yeah, I'd like that.
Wondering if he heard her, she asked him again. "Draco? What do you think?"
"Yes!" he said almost too enthusiastically. He tried to relax and act cool, "Friends is good."
"Great. So can you help Blaise and me with these schedules?"
"I'd be happy to."
Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a review. I'm also on tumblr: harrypotterandthegobletofwine and Facebook: saintdionysuswriter.
