Summer Nights

Author: Bea Mendes

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger x Blaise Zabini / Dramionaise

Genre: Friendship

Rated: K+

Summary: Hermione, Draco and Blaise work together at Hogwarts and managed to create a friendship. But now it's summer time, which means going to their apartment in Muggle London. Nothing better than the threat of heat strokes to unite them.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and it's characters are not mine. Don't sue me. With all due respect: I love the Queen s2 I think she is absolutely and simply awesome and I wish I was in England to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee!

A/N: This is the end of the story!

I liked to write it so much. It took me at least two summers to actually write everything and at the end I ended up writing fifty pages on my notebook :)

- At the end of the story there is a sort of glossary for some things said in this last chap.

Chapter Three

Part Seven - on and beyond

"Are you absolutely sure?" Hermione asked her best friend. Harry and Ron had apparated into the house ten minutes ago and explained how Kingsley had found out who was threatening them and how all was well now.

"Positive." Harry said all serious.

"How were things around here?" Ron was looking attentively to the Malfoy's and the Zabini's, his had was close to his wand and his tone of voice clearly indicated he wasn't wondering about random things that could have happened during lock down.

"Oh, please, Ronald. Don't be absurd!" Her tone of voice wasn't the she usually used at their bickering, oh no, she was really angry this time. Maybe it was for the fact that the parents wouldn't go to the Ministry and rat on her.

"Hermione! You know we can't trust them!" Ron was shouting by now, his temper getting the best of him.

For some reason no one knew, both friends drew their wands and pointed at each other and started shouting curses, their wands were throwing them in form of colourful energy.

Nobody dared to intervene, letting them blow off some energy. Of course, everybody knew one of them would get hurt in the end, if not both. They all stood on the side lines and at times they dodged some spells that went their way.

Sooner rather than later the blow came. The energy coming from them both was quickly escalating and six people on the room were shocked to see how the redhead was good at what he was doing at the duel. Sure, he was an auror, but honestly they did not see that one coming. Ron sent Hermione a rather nasty spell her way and she retaliated throwing him a spell that gave the receiver the feeling of receiving a slap to the face.

Of course, Ron chose this moment to shout a rather effective "Protego!" instead of just dodging out of the way. Her spell rebounced and hit her right back. Everybody stopped breathing for a couple moments, just watching as her face turned to the side with the magical slap. Considering she was pretty angry, the blow was big... and so was the sound of the slap. She slowly turned her face forward, her gaze slightly unfocused.

A thin line of blood ran down her cheek and pretty much that did the trick to snap everybody out of their stupor.

Much to everyone's surprise, Lucius and Pietro appeared suddenly in front of the young witch with their wands drawn, creating a barrier between her and the rest of the trio. Of course, the person who was really in danger was Ronald Weasley, but anyway.

"I think you two should leave." Blaise's voice was low and threatening, much different than the way he usually spoke. Before Harry or Ron could say something, Draco spoke too.

"It's our house." He looked at Potter and raised his eyebrow, not to start a fight, but to make some sense enter his head. It worked.

"Let's go Ron." He put his hand on his friend's shoulder and apparated them away.

Slowly Lucius and Pietro moved away from their guarded stance and were met by their wives, which had slight smiles on their faces, they felt proud for their husband's attitudes. Draco and Blaise moved closer to Hermione.

"I can handle my own battler." The young witch spoke as she saw the parents moving to go home.

"Of course you can." Lucius made a gesture with this hand, dismissing her angry and still slightly surprised tone of voice. "You just shouldn't have to handle them."

With that being said, they disapparated. The statement honestly surprised her, but a smile appeared on her face.

"Let's get this blood wiped clean." Blaise grabbed her hand and lead her to sit on the couch as Draco went to pick a bowl of water and towel.

Immediately she thought about saying something about their muggle-like ways and how they could just heal her cheek magically, but she thought again and kept quiet, proud of her work. She took a couple seconds to glance around. The living room had remained pretty much intact. There was a hole or two on the wall, but nothing a flick of her wand couldn't fix it.

"Stay still, this will hurt a bit." Draco knelt in front of her and wet the towel to wipe the blood away. She cringed when he touched her bruise. "Sorry." He put medicine to keep it from getting an infection.

"Why on Earth would you-"

"I couldn't let Ronald imply you had done something against me. They should know better than saying this to me. I think it's pretty clear that we can trust you."

Blaise, on her left side, conjured a stylized band-aid and put it on her cheek to cover the small cut. Draco smiled at it.

Hermione wanted to see the band-aid but she could wait a moment or two. She looked at Draco, still kneeling in front of her. He was so close and she suddenly saw how adorable he was. She couldn't help but lean forward and kiss him. It took a moment for him to kiss her back, but soon enough she parted away from him. Though it was short, this definitely wasn't like the kiss on the park. That one was merely a peck on the lips, this one actually meant something for them both.

She was feeling rather silly as she turned to look at Blaise in the eyes. He was looking at her in such a sweet way, but as she analyzed his eyes more, she could see a bit of pain in them. It was in that moment that she made a big decision. She lifted her left hand to his cheek and leaned forward one more time. Her face sported a good Gryffindorian courage look, but inside she felt rather afraid of receiving a rejection. Gladly for her, Blaise didn't back up and the two kissed.

Part Eight - the middle

The next day Hermione woke up with the sound of whispering voices. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Draco on one of her sides and Blaise on the other. They had shared a bed. Not in the biblical sense of the expression, of course!, it was way too early for something like this. The young witch smiled at their worried looks and got up from the quite warm bed.

If one would ask about the next moment to the two Slytherins, they would say the curtain was opened quite forcefully and quickly. Hermione's smile grew bigger as she saw the clouds covering the whole extension of the sky. She opened the window and stick her arm out, and she giggled at the feeling of the unseasoned cold that was gracing her that moment.

"Get up, scared faces." She smiled at them both. "I want to take you somewhere."

She swiftly moved to her bathroom with the intent of taking a shower. She looked at the mirror and noticed how good she looked considering the whole duel the night before, she looked rested and felt that way too. Hermione stepped closed to the mirror and examined her band-aid

It was red and had a golden lion, there was a "G.P." in beautiful golden letter as well and she would only assume they stood for "Gryffindor Princess". Besides that, she could see a smaller almost faded golden heart on it. The band-aid was so cute she couldn't help the tears that appeared on her eyes and the "awn!" sound that came out of her mouth.

Forty five minutes later they were all at Starbucks, the smell of coffee entering their lungs and making them smile largely. Hermione told them to sit a table and went to order coffees for them all. She was met by James again.

"Hermione! Fancy seeing you here!" He smiled at her and then noticed the band-aid and the faint bruise on her cheek. "What happened to your cheek?!" His voice was low so he would not attract attention to her. He looked over her shoulder, to Draco and Blaise (both sporting not amused looks toward him). "Did one of them do this to you? You need to press charges!"

Hermione smiled softly at him, amazed that he remembered her name after only seeing her on time before.

"Don't worry, James, it's not their faults. They're the good guys here." She looked back at them and laughed at their slightly jealous glances. "This one was actually done by my... hand, so to speak. Really, don't worry. If one of them hit me," she pointed to the table, "they would definitely not see daylight ever again."

James smiled at that and let her order.

"White Mocha Frappuccino Grande with mint?"

She laughed at that.

"Make it a Venti and add hazelnut too, I'm in the mood to try new things." He nodded as he registered it. "Give me a Caramel Macchiato Grande and a..." She looked around the board to choose something for Blaise. "A Chocochip Grande with chocolate."

James charged the coffees and moved to prepare them.

"Nice band-aid, by the way." He smiled softly at the customized thing. "I didn't know you could do that!"

"Yeah, I didn't either." She absently touched it and smiled softly.

"Well, here you go." He put the three coffees in front of her. "Do you want me to help you?"

"No, don't worry, I'll take theirs first. Can you keep an eye on mine?"

She took the coffees to the boys and returned to get her happiness-on-a-cup¹. "Thanks, James."

Hermione called them to put sugar and other things in their cups. Blaise only added a bit of sugar but Draco was bolder and wasn't a bit shy about adding lots of sugar, the same amount in vanilla and just a touch of cinnamon. He mixed it up and tried it, smiling at what he did. He was a natural.

"Grange, I gotta say, this coffee's awesome!" Blaise was happy, his coffee was definitely childhood-on-a-cup¹.

"Yes, I want this to be my last drink." Draco closed his eyes as he drank more of his coffee-sugar-rush source¹.

"Are you drinking cold coffee?" Blaise was making a face at her own choice. "Eek! Cold coffee tastes like foot! How can you drink it?"

"Oh, shush." She rolled her eyes. "It's summer. It's insane to drink hot coffee. And taste it, mine's with mint and hazelnut." She offered her cup as they walked out to sit outside.

She definitely could see they had enjoyed, but proud as they were, she was sure she'd never hear them saying it.

"You guys, I gave something I want to say." She continued as she got their attentions, she sipped her coffee and focused on them one more time. "I don't think I'll go back to Hogwarts when school term starts."

"What? Why wouldn't you return? You know out parents aren't going to say a thing."

Draco was quiet for a moment.

"Is it because of us?" He motioned to the three of them with his fingers. "Is that why you brought us here? To give us a nice cup of coffee and say you're leaving school... are you gonna say you want to move out too?"

"Sure, Draco. That's what my plan was all about! Ditching you and giving you cavities." She emphasized on the plural as she arched an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes for good measure. "Last night made me think."

"When did you have time to think?!" Draco half shouted and received a blow on the head from his best mate.

"As I was saying, it made me think and I realized that as much fun I have being a teacher and taking points from students, I never wanted to be one. I mean, I only took the job because McGonagall needed help after the war!"

"You never wanted it?" Blaise was a bit shocked, she looked happy at her job.

"No!" She smiled softly. "Being a teacher was never part of the plan, I just think I pushed my dreams aside for all these years. I don't want to do that anymore, maybe I did it because I didn't know what I wanted for sure..."

"You're telling us that you didn't know what you wanted in life?"

She thought for a couple moments on what Blaise asked.

"Yeah. I guess I am." She smiled softly and leaned against her arm chair, her cup in her hands. "Ever since the War ended, Ginny knew she wanted to open up a restaurant - I think she found her passion for cooking before, but I'm not sure. Harry and Ron always wanted to be Aurors - the was only fixed the idea with glue to their heads. Ever since fourth year Neville decided he wanted to work with Herbology and now he's publishing papers and other studies about plants we didn't even know how to use!"

Hermione was going too continue her speech on her colleagues but she was interrupted.

"Okay, okay, we get it. What were your wishes?"

"Well, I considered being a Medi-Witch. St. Mungos even sent me letters over the years to go there, but I don't know. I thought about working at the Department of Mysteries too, but what if it's too lonely?" She sighed and felt lighter. "Did you want to become teachers?"

"I wanted to be an auror?" Hermione raised her eyebrow to Draco.

"Get out of here! This is like me saying I wanted to be a Death Eater, impossible!" She laughed quietly.

"Exactly. It's not like I could really think about it, really. It was impossible without some dark plan behind it. But I don't know, I never really thought about it, I was only a pawn back then, it wasn't really my wishes that mattered."

Hermione's quiet giggles died slowly on her throat as she listened to what he said.

"Oh. I never thought about it like that... What about you, Blaise?"

She expected a different answer, considering his family wasn't actually followers of Voldemort, but she had a feeling she would hear something in those same dark lines.

"Something like what he said... I don't know, if Voldemort had won, I would probably have gone to Italy with my parents and would probably end up working on Zabini Enterprises, but I think I'd like to be an auror as well. We actually secretly trained to it right after the War ended... Kingsley sometimes sends us letters too."

"You're kidding!" Hermione was divided, feeling happy and at the same time a little sad.

"You know what, mate? I think we should change careers." Draco told his friend with the beginning of a smile.

The morning passed quickly as the boys chatted excitedly and drank more coffee. For lunch, Hermione took them to Trafalgar Square and they ate cheeseburgers at a lovely Italian-American restaurant that was packed with tourists² and for the afternoon she took them on a city tour.

"It's embarrassing that you don't know London." She shook her head when they were crossing Green Park, on their way to Buckingham Palace.

"I still don't understand why this Queen is so important." Draco said exasperated and a few gasps came from the people near them. Hermione quickly saw the commotion that was about to spread and quickly added a "God save the Queen" while dragging both boys away to a far tree.

"Listen to me! For the last time: you can't go around saying things like that! I don't care if you think it's all rubbish or even if you don't understand it. If you are born in a Commonwealth country then she's our Queen. People have died for less in the past, you know?"

"But Hermione! I refuse to be her subject, we're wizards!" Blaise whined to her.

"First you are Englishmen, then you are wizards. Always love your country and respect our Queen. Is it so hard for you to follow? You were supporting Voldemort, for crying out loud! She is so much generous next to him!" They both were ready to say something back to her, but she quickly shut them up. "Oy with the poodles already!" Obviously they did not understand what she meant, but shut up at last.

They moved on with the city tour and Hermione was pleased to see they didn't talk about the subject anymore - she didn't care if it was because she forbade them, she was just happy and decided about telling more about England to them. Honestly, it was rather comical that they knew nothing about the Muggle world, not even their own country!

The three of them moved back to their house, both Draco and Blaise were carrying bags with "I love London" products. Hermione thought it was very funny.

"Thanks for those... uh... fish and chips?" Blaise raised his eyebrow.

"Does Ginny have them on her restaurant?" Draco's eyes were shinning.

"I don't think so, but hey, why don't you suggest it to her? She'll like it."

As they finally got to the house they saw Harry and Ron sitting on the front steps, clearly waiting for them... oh well, for her.

Ron got up and looked at her bruised cheek.

"I'm sorry." He truly looked sorry.

"It's okay, Ron." Hermione hugged him to her. "It would be you today if you hadn't blocked it." She smiled at him.

"I'll drop the subject." He smiled back.

"So, what are you doing here?" Draco cut the crap, wanting to know the other meaning of the visit.

"Well, Herms, we wanted to know if you want to go today to that club, you know, since we didn't go yesterday."

Hermione thought for a second and smiled.

"Sure, we'll go. What time do we meet you there?"

Part Nine - oh happy day

"Stop complaining, I can hear you, you know?" She finished applying mascara on her eyes as she kept hearing their complaints coming all the way from one of their rooms.

Hermione looked one last time at the mirror and applied a spell with her wand, to keep the look gook like that all night. She smiled at her reflexion and went out to pick her annoying roommates.

As soon as she stepped inside Draco's room the boys stopped talking.

"You look beautiful." Draco smiled.

"That you do, bella."³ Blaise agreed softly.

"Oh stop it." She was blushing. "And you know how I am when you speak Italian... or French for that matter."

Blaise and Draco spent all of their lives next to each other, it is only natural they both spoke French and Italian. Strange as it may sound, Hermione didn't speak any of those languages, but seeing how they were always speaking them she started considering learning them for quite sometime - but just never had the time nor will to start classes.

"You look très chic, chérie." Draco opened his smile more and more to her annoyance.

"C'est vrai, mon ami." Blaise spoke in a fun, careless way, his voice carrying a bit of the Italian accent.

"Vogliola, amico. Vogliola molto e adesso." Blaise looked at Draco and saw the truthfulness and desire they expressed. It was rather funny, he spoke about her in front of her - even better!, looking at her - and she had no idea what he meant, even though his intense gaze made her think things.

"Oh-ka-y." She looked to the wall on her right side for a moment before turning back to them. "Let's?"

"Shouldn't you say alons-y?" Draco raised his eyebrows and smiled again.

At the club Hermione was surprised to see that it was decorated with taste and looked nothing like the tasteless flyer she received from Ron. She even double-checked the name of the club.

"Hey! Glad you made it!" Harry hugged her and shook hands with the Slytherins. It made Hermione's mouth drop a bit, but she recovered quickly and kissed her friend on the cheek. Ron didn't shake hands, but he did nod, so the with considered it as also a step forward.

"So..." She looked around noticing people around the group. "What kind of Whiskey we'll be drinking?"

It turned out to be a Muggle club. The music was cool, even though sometimes it was too loud, and l'ambiance as Draco put it, was good.

Hermione danced with Draco and she danced with Blaise, there were songs they could all dance together, so they did. Her friends could see and feel there was something different about them and of course, Ginny was always jumping in excitement when she saw them. After a rather intimate moment with Blaise while Draco was there, next to her and holding her hand (fingers intertwined, mind you) Hermione felt the need for air and in the middle of her runaway she met Ron.

"You know, Hermione... about us, or should I say about what happened between us-" He looked agitate, but she cut him off quickly.

"Oh, Ron, I thought it was clear that we're better of as friends." She sighed deeply. "I'm sure you saw me with the boys and I'm not gonna lie, sure, there's something going on between us. I don't know what yet, but there's something. And yes, between Draco, Blaise and me." She had a pity expression for her friend.

"I was gonna say I'm sorry again for our fight..."

There was an awkward silence as they both stood staring at each other without expressions and Hermione broke the moment by turning away and leaving to the bar.

"Vodka tonica, please." The bartender quickly gave her the drink and when she was grabbing money he stopped her by saying:

"This one's on me. You look like you need it." This, obviously, didn't cheer her up and she drank the damn drink quickly and ordered another one, this time making sure she threw the money in the guy's direction. She was about to drink again when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hey, her, what's going on?" Blaise was the owner of the hand.

The witch turned around and saw that Draco was also there. Perfect.

"What's going on between us?"

"What do you mean, cara?"

Draco was more "hands on" to answer her. Like, literally.

"What do you want, Hermione?" He put his hands on her hips and roughly pushed her closed, he lowered his head in a way that their lips were touching. "It's up to you. We want you, Hermione." He took a deep breath and pushed her gently away, keeping her at arms length, but he left his hands where they were. "But if you don't want us just say it."

Hermione pushed his hand away from her hips in an angry way and scowled.

"Of course I want you too. I only asked a question, you know?"

Draco and Blaise smiled at what she said and the Italian dropped his arm on her shoulders and kissed her cheek with a grin on his lips.

"Want to go home, cara?"

On their way to the exit she waved a goodbye to her friends.

"You know," Draco sneaked his arm around her waist. "You're finally getting better at scowling. Very Slytherin of you."

"You have no idea." She said quietly and laughed.

They went home the muggle way, after Hermione reassured the babies more than ten times that nothing would happen to them at 3 A.M. on a Saturday night. They grabbed a night bus and got to their destinations.

Funny thing, the moment the door closed behind them, Draco grabbed her waist and turned her to him, finally being able to kiss her.

Her knees began to buckle and she had to put her hand on his shoulders to steady herself. She felt Draco being pulled away from her and leaned against the closest wall, catching her breath with some difficulty. Before she had time to think, another set of lips crashed against her own, and she didn't need much to know they belonged to Blaise this time.

A single thought ran through her mind.

"How on the Wizarding World am I gonna survive to them?"

They talked and kissed more on the remaining of the night, getting to know each other better - well, Hermione got to know them better and vice-versa.

Draco and Blaise talked more about their "mateship" and as she listened she began to like them both more and more.

The first rays of sunshine were beginning to enter the window and she thought it was better to call it a night.

"I think I'm going to lie down." Of course, as she saw the looks they gave her and how they quickly got up after her she felt the need to add: "No shananigans." She turned away and began dragging herself to her bedroom, all the way listening to their whining voices.

"But we already slept together yesterday." Blaise said with a different tone of voice and Hermione could bet a few galleons that Draco was wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, you make it sound so dirty!" She looked over her shoulder and winked before entering her room.

The next morning... erh, afternoon didn't come quickly, luckily for them who needed to rest. The three of them slowly got up and soon enough they were at the kitchen, eating breakfast together on the counter.

"You know, I had a funny dream yesterday. I was working on the Ministry and then I grabbed some papers and went to some office. Guess who I found there." Hermione looked pointedly to Draco who instantly choked on his Froot Loops. "Oh yeah, I found you! And there was even some fancy tag on the door with your name on it. But that's not all. Guess who else I saw there, wearing what looked too much like a muggle suit and was visiting from Italy."

Blaise who was laughing at Draco while helping him instantly choked too - on his own saliva, Hermione feared.

She patted them both on the backs. "There, there."

"A job on the Ministry? Quickly visiting friends between business meetings? Are you kidding me? What's next?, becoming our parents?"

Hermione snickered at Draco's panicked voice and resumed eating as if she hadn't said a thing.

"So... about your parents." She said after finishing her cereal and while buttering a toast.

"What about them?"

"Well, are you going to say something to them... you know... about us?"

"Jeebus, woman! We didn't even take you on a date yet." Since Blaise's tone was sarcastic she didn't even answer.

"Oh! I know how we could approach our parent on the subject!" Draco turned all his attention to his best mate. "How about 'we figured a way to unite the families!'? Watcha think?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed. "It just makes you two sound gay." She dismissed them easily.

"Okay. Then maybe we just won't tell them." Draco pouted and Hermione thought he looked adorable.

"Oh, come on. You'll need to tell them, they're your parents!"

Neither noticed that the boys parents had entered the house and obviously heard Hermione.

"Tell us what?" Gabriella's voice rang loud and clear.

Blaise and Draco exchanged quick glances and gulped. Hermione smirked. Very Slytherin of her.

Sort of glossary:

¹ Coffee-sugar rush source: it's basically what I described in the story, a Caramel Macchiato Grande with lots of sugar and the same amount in vanilla and just a touch of cinnamon. It was the first coffee I tasted at Starbucks and always drank it when I had afternoon classes so that I would stay awake. After all, it's coffee and lots of sugar.

Happiness-on-a-cup: my second experience in Starbucks - a White Moccha Grande with Mint (when you order it hot it's a very comforting drink and when you order it cold make sure to wait a bit so that the ice can melt with the coffee, my tip is to eat/drink the cream first). If you feel adventurous I strongly suggest you order it with mind and hazelnut - it gets very good.

Childhood-on-a-cup: my third Starbucks experience - it's just the Frapuccinno Chocochip. You do not need to add sugar and if you order it Tall you will appreciate it more than the Grande (I don't even want to imagine buying a Venti); and well, it tastes like childhood because of the bit of chocolate (:

By the way, if you order the White Moccha Grande with only hazelnut then it's called "Christmas-on-a-cup"... much like a good Toffee Nut which is usually around for Christmas.

² The lovely Italian-American restaurant at Trafalgar Square that was packed with tourists: this place actually exists. It's called "Little Frankie's" it's a franchise from "Frankie & Benny's - New York Italian Restaurant & Bar". I went there when I went to London and I can say it's a very nice place to eat :)

³ Bella means beautiful.

Très chic, chérie means very chic, darling.

C'est vrai, mon ami mean it's true, my friend.

Vogliola, amico. Vogliola molto e adesso means I want her, mate. I want her a lot and I want her now.

Alons-y? means let's?.

Cara means darling.