The Flatmate Chapter 2: Table for Three, a harry potter fanfic

Title: The Flatmate

Author: silveris

Rating: R

Warnings: Not HBP-compatible

Genre(s): Post-Hogwarts, slight humor

Summary: Blaise and Hermione are flatmates. Blaise and Draco are best buds. One night, the flat gets burglarized just as Blaise, Harry, and Ron are leaving for Italy. They can't leave Hermione to fend for herself, so Draco suggests she go with him on his three-day vacation to Scotland.

AN: I'm sticking with the Italian!Blaise and completely ignoring the black Londoner JKR mentioned in HBP. As I said, this isn't entirely HBP-compatible.

Chapter Two -- Table for Three

Sluggishly, Hermione made her way towards her bed, kicked her sandals off, and collapsed on top of the bed facedown. She remained in that position for a good fifteen minutes, drifting in and out of consciousness. Her limbs felt like lead and there was a strange buzzing in her head. She was caught between getting up to change into her nightgown or just sleep in her work clothes.

When she began to feel stuffed, she decided to get up and change. Slowly, she lifted herself up with her arms and yawned. The she noticed her answering machine. There was a message waiting to be heard.

Thinking it could be someone from work, particularly her neurotic colleague Shirley, she crawled over to the bedside table and pushed the machine's button.

"Hi, Hermione. Harry here. Listen, Ron and I are having lunch at Bracelle Avenue tomorrow and we'd love it if you could join us. We haven't had lunch together for two weeks now. We miss you. Okay? Call back anytime."

Hermione smiled. Harry and Ron were pretty busy, too. Although she bet they had loads more fun with their jobs. They were Aurors, but unlike the Aurors of old who were hell-bent on hunting the now-destroyed Voldemort down, they were now branching out on keeping the peace in and out of wizarding society. They were more like policemen, only cooler, because they could do magic and had an air of being secret agents about them.

After Harry killed off Voldemort, the former became even more famous (which was an understatement) and rich. Everyone expected him to retire the crime-busting lifestyle since he had no reason to work his ass off anymore, but he continued on to become an Auror. Ron strung along, of course.

Then the two men were taken in to be Seeker and Keeper (Harry and Ron, respectively) for Puddlemere United. Hermione wondered how they managed to cram all of that in their schedule, but then again, the Auror department never ran out of workers to dispatch. So sometimes, Hermione found the two out on the field, getting interviewed for a bust, and other times she'd get a message on her phone that they were in some part of the world playing Quidditch.

She envied them, honestly. They always seemed to have all the time in the world.

She lifted the receiver and dialed Harry's number. The answering machine greeted her.

"Hello, Harry, and Ron, if Lavender allowed you to actually stay in your flat tonight. I miss you both, too. And yes, I'd love to join you for lunch tomorrow. See you then."

She hung up, and deciding to forego the changing into a nightgown, promptly lied down and slept.

Hermione woke up with the sun peeking in through her window. She guessed it was nearly seven. She could already hear the honking of the cabs outside.

"Good morning, Hermione," she muttered to herself. "What a fine day for another adventure in the Guidance for Underage Wizards office."

Inside, she was frowning. She was willing to bet twenty Galleons that the troublesome boy, Eli Weston, would be back again with yet another sob story. Then she'd recommend Azkaban.

Pushing that tempting thought aside, she pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the closet where she chose a new outfit her mother had sent her from Paris. It was a simple dress, really. White with blue flowers. Nothing much about it. No cleavage enhancing features or slits to show skin. It was a plain dress, and she liked it.

After studying the dress, she walked out of her room and straight to the bathroom. She passed by Malfoy still sprawled on the couch. He was lying on his stomach, one hand and leg dangling down to the floor. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, and continued to the bathroom.

When she opened the door, however, Blaise was already inside. He was washing his face. He had been shaving. He noticed Hermione and glanced at her briefly before he continued to wash.

"Morning," he greeted. He pulled a towel from the rack and wiped his face. Hermione walked over to the sink next to him and returned the greeting, after which she began to brush her teeth.

Hermione studied Blaise's reflection on the mirror as he busied himself with arranging his shaving materials on the small shelf next to the mirror.

He was coming on quite nicely. He had a nice fair complexion, a long nose, full pink lips, charming light brown eyes, and soft black hair. She had a crush on him when she first moved in, but that faded when he began to tackle her as if she were his younger brother.

"Nice shirt," Hermione managed to say after she washed her mouth. She was looking at his white oversized shirt, which had the words "Sssshhh! My Roommate is Hot!" in bright red letters on it, with a sly grin on her face.

Blaise looked down at his shirt and smirked. "Yeah, this? From a new store beside Madam Malkin's. Forgot what it was."

"Well, at least you have excellent taste," she said.

"Oh no, not me. Draco picked this for me when I asked him to buy me a white shirt. He bought himself a shirt from that store, too," Blaise explained as he crossed the room, took off the shirt and tossed it into the hamper.

Hermione nodded. "Right," she muttered, watching as Blaise waved and walked out of the bathroom bare-chested and in his boxers.

After a nice warm bath, Hermione traipsed back to her room, once again passing by Draco who had now turned to lie on his back. He had his face covered by his arm, though.

A few minutes passed and Hermione emerged, ready for work. Blaise was sitting by the table with Draco downing a cup of steaming coffee.

"Someone's up early," she said. She grabbed her purse, which she had unceremoniously tossed on the couch last night and got squished by the drunk Malfoy, and helped herself to the coffee left on the pot.

When he didn't reply, she sat down across him and said, "Nothing for me?" She took a sip of the coffee and smiled.

Malfoy shot her a sulky look and finished his coffee. Blaise merely shrugged his shoulders when Hermione implored to him with her questioning look.

She gazed at the clock behind her and stood up, "I'd better get going now, boys. Duty calls."

"Bye," Blaise said as she made for the door.

"Bye, Blaise. And you, Malfoy. Get some rest, shake it off," she said and closed the door behind her.

Miraculously, Eli Weston did not visit Hermione's office that day, which was a relief. There was a thirteen-year old who came in, though. She was using too much magical cosmetics and now they won't come off. Hermione couldn't blame the girl. The mother was clearly at fault, too, judging by the amount she had on.

After a bit of counseling, Hermione gathered her purse and traveled to Muggle London. Harry and Ron were already sitting on a small round table with an overhead umbrella outside Bracelle Avenue, the Muggle café they frequented a few months ago when their schedules weren't so hectic.

Ron waved when he saw Hermione approach. Harry followed suit. She waved back gleefully and quickened her pace.

"Harry, Ron!" she exclaimed as she kissed their cheeks and sat down. "I haven't seen you for a while. Wow, Ron, that cut is so you."

Ron smugly smiled and raked his red hair with his fingers. "Well, I had to get a new look, with the ladies recognizing me everywhere."

Harry chuckled and punched Ron's arm lightly. "Yeah, right. Lavender made you get that cut, more like."

Ron looked indignant, but regained composure and turned his attention to Hermione. "So, how's our princess?"

Hermione blushed. "Ron, I'm not your princess!"

"Yes, you are. You know we love you, Hermione," Harry said, smiling brightly. "Anyway, we invited you—"

A waiter suddenly approached them and began setting large mugs and plates down, stating their orders, "Cappu-ccino, cheese cake, frappu-ccino, chocolate brownie, mocha-ccino, cho—"

"Thanks, we can take it from here," Harry said. Ron was trying hard not to snigger at the weird waiter who left the table after setting down the last chocolate cake.

"Oh, guys, you remembered my favorite cheese cake and mochaccino!" Hermione gushed as she attacked the cheese cake with her fork eagerly.

"Of course," Harry said. "Anyway, Hermione, we invited you for lunch because we have something to tell you."

Hermione looked up from her plate, swallowed the slice in her mouth, and darted her eyes from Harry to Ron. "What?"

"We'll be gone for two weeks," Ron said before Harry could.

Harry frowned a bit but continued for Ron, "Yeah. We have a Quidditch seminar in Italy, and then we'll be touring most of the country."

Hermione fed herself another slice and nodded.

"Is that okay with you?" Ron asked after sipping nearly half of his cappuccino.

Hermione nodded again, sipped her drink, and said, grinning, "Of course. Two weeks, right? I can live with that. I'll just have to eat lunch with Shirley in the moldy confines of the Ministry cafeteria, but that's okay."

Harry groaned apologetically. "We're really sorry you have to put up with her, Hermione. But you can come here, you know. You can eat here without us. Bracelle knows us already."

Ron nodded in agreement.

Hermione smiled at them and said, "Really, Harry, Ron, I'm fine with that. Come on, we're grownups. You have jobs to do, and so do I. There will always come the time when we're going to have to miss lunch with each other for two weeks straight."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked.

"Absolutely," she replied.

"Well, if ever you'll feel lonely, you can come up to our office and eat with Blaise. He gets food delivered to his cubicle everyday," Harry suggested. He was starting to dig in to his chocolate cake.

Hermione nodded. "Okay, but I hear Malfoy's there most of the time."

"He's quite okay," Ron said.

"Yeah, he is. Except last night," she quipped and took another sip.

Harry and Ron nearly dropped their forks. "What?" Harry asked, sputtering.

Hermione looked at them innocently, and soon got the miscommunication. "No, no, that's not what I meant! He was drunk and woozy last night after a celebratory drink with Blaise in the flat. They had twelve firewhiskies. Or was it thirteen? Anyway, he was elated Pansy broke up with him. Then he passed out on the couch."

"Wait, Malfoy got drunk in your flat? What about Blaise?" Ron asked interestedly.

"Blaise can hold his alcohol," Hermione answered, finishing her cake before continuing. "Malfoy had it bad. He was impossible to talk to. And he was truly unfit for travel so I made him stay over for the night."

"And Pansy broke up with him?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"Finally?"

"Finally."

"I guess that explains it," Ron said. "He asked us and Blaise to go to this club to celebrate. But Harry and I had a staff meeting with the team so we declined. Mind you, Hermione, he was so happy. He was jumping around."

Hermione imagined Draco skipping around the Auror office, all giddy and joyful to have shaken off Pansy Parkinson at last. She grinned and continued to finish her cake and drink.

Lunch passed by pretty quickly, and after a few short discussions about Quidditch, Aurors, and troubled teenagers, Hermione was sitting back in her office, waiting for the next juvenile delinquent.

For an hour or two, there was no knock on her door. Well, there was one, but it was just Shirley who came in to check if Eli Weston's name was spelled E-L-I or E-L-I-E.

By three-thirty, Hermione got a memo from Blaise. She held the fluttering purple memo tight as she read:

Hermione,

Dinner tonight at Pearsons?

She smiled and scribbled a reply at the bottom: Sure. See you tonight. Then she had off back to its sender.

By five o'clock, Hermione tidied up her office and gathered her things, prepared to leave. Then she bid goodbye to Shirley who was writing a report about Eli (still not done).

When she arrived at Pearsons, a posh restaurant in Diagon Alley, Blaise was nowhere in sight yet. However, a familiar figure approached her.

Draco nodded at her and said, "Come on, we have a table for three by the window. Blaise will be a bit late, a few minutes, he said."

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked back to the table he had come from. Hermione walked behind him. He wasn't completely rude though, as he pulled up a chair for her across him and waited until she sat.

"Why are you here?" she asked good-naturedly.

However, he thought she meant he was unwelcome and grimaced a bit. "Blaise invited me, if you must know."

Hermione wanted to apologize for her brash question but figured it was useless. He was already enjoying a glass of wine. The bottle was sitting in a bucket of ice beside him.

Great, he's going to get himself drunk, she thought inwardly. I won't carry him, if that's what he's thinking.

"Would you like some wine, too?" he asked after an uncomfortable silence. She shook her head but he poured some for her anyway. "You need some, Granger. Come on, just this once. I haven't seen you loosen up and drink."

He inched her glass closer to her in invitation.

She looked at it hesitantly. He read what she was thinking and said, "Don't worry, Granger. You're not going to get drunk with that. It's just a glass-full."

Studying the patronizing look on his face, Hermione decided to try it. Then that was it. Just one glass. She raised it to her lips and took a sip. Her face lit up. It was actually sweet and bubbly.

She continued to sip more until her glass was empty. Draco was smiling at her, an eyebrow cocked as he poured more in her glass. "We are going to have a great time, Granger."

…to be continued

AN: The waiter sequence (where he states the order in a weird manner) I got from Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret? where a waiter interrupts a heart-to-heart talk between Emma and her parents with his cappu-ccino routine. Really great book!