A/N: This one's a little long. I'm beginning to think this fic might be much longer than I hoped for. But I'm trying to tie it all up. Most of chapter five is already written, and I think chapter six will be the wedding. Maybe. There aren't that many plot threads in this fic, so I'm hoping the wedding chapter will be done. That said, I'm a pantser, and I've been wrong about my own writing before.

In a way, I sort of miss writing Jily, because I spent so much time with them that their voices just flowed out of me. I struggle a lot more with these three. I think I might just want to write stories about grownups, because I no longer am a teenager, if only just barely. I hope I'm doing a good job. It's weird to write about characters that are older than me again, after so long writing about characters that are younger than me.

That said, every single one of my WIPs that isn't fanfiction is YA. So who knows.

The title comes from dodie's song, In The Middle, which is about having a threesome. Seems appropriate.

Hermione Granger was a phenomenal friend, a fact that was often underappreciated. She agreed to have Draco at brunch the moment Ginny suggested it. Ron grumbled, but conceded that if Malfoy was going to stick around, they might as well find out whether they can coexist in the same room together before they give him a formal invite to the wedding. Harry was especially pleased, because he hadn't even thought of it; in Ginny's opinion, this showed how clearly hopeless he was. "Where would you be without me?" she sighed as they got into bed Saturday night. Draco wasn't there, which was a real shame, in Ginny's opinion.

"I have no clue," Harry said. "My life would probably be a mess."

"You're a mess as is," Ginny pointed out, and he hit her playfully with one of the pillows. He wrapped his hands around her, though, and pretty soon she was unconscious.

Harry felt Ginny's breath even out and knew she was asleep. It was comforting, in a way, to know that she wasn't as nervous about tomorrow as he was. She was much sounder than he was. But it was hard to ignore the way his heart beat in his chest at the thought of Hermione and Ron disapproving of their relationship with Draco so soon. For so long, the three of them only had each other; their opinion mattered to him as much as Ginny's or Draco's did. Sometimes moreso. He was well aware of his faults by now, and Ginny's often matched his own; recklessness, for example. He hoped this wasn't reckless. He didn't want to give it up just yet.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he dreamed of sneaking into Ginny's room the summer after the War. The warmth in his arms in real life and the hesitant embrace in his memories blended together, and when he woke up, he couldn't tell the difference. He also couldn't figure out why he woke up, until he realized there was someone shoving him awake.

"Get up," Ginny whispered. "It's past nine."

Harry groaned and turned over, blinking at an incredibly blurry Ginny. He reached for the nightstand and put on his glasses. Ginny was already dressed and had her hair up. "Why are we waking up so early on a Sunday, again?"

"Brunch," she reminded him. "Hermione and Ron. And Draco. We – and by that I mean you – should be presentable, and I want to be at least fifteen minutes early. Go take a fucking shower."

"Alright, alright, no need to be rude about it," he said, but he made sure to grin so she knew he was teasing. Knowing she would hate kissing him before he brushed his teeth, he pushed her aside and got up. "When did we say – "

"Ten thirty, so get to it," she told him, and he did.

At about ten fifteen Harry joined Ginny in the living room and they Apparated together to the alley behind the Muggle restaurant Hermione had decided on. They waited at the entrance for the rest to join them, and Draco did soon enough. At that point they decided they would grab a table and wait for Ron and Hermione to join them; however they had underestimated Hermione, who had arrived a whole twenty minutes early. Ron was sitting with her, easy to spot in the crowd as an extremely tall, extremely skinny redhead. They had sat at a round table, thank Merlin, solving the potential issue of who would sit at which part of a rectangular table. Hermione waved at them, and the three of them walked over and sat down; Harry next to Ron, Ginny next to Hermione, and Draco right smack dab in the middle.

"Hey," Ginny said, smiling. Harry could tell that Draco was incredibly tense; was he nervous? Harry didn't think he had ever seen Draco nervous.

"Hey," Hermione said. "How've you been?"

"Good," Ginny said, and began telling a story Harry had already heard about an incident at the last match the Holyhead Harpies had played. Harry grabbed Draco's hand under the table, and felt rather than saw Draco's tension diffuse. Harry saw Ron pointedly look away from them.

"And what about you, Draco?" Hermione said suddenly. Draco jumped, obviously not expecting the question. "How have you been?"

"Oh, um," Draco said, looking nervous again. He tightened his grip on Harry's hand. "Well…"

"Is the bookstore doing well?" Hermione offered.

Draco stared at her for a moment. "Does everyone know about that?"

Harry saw Ron begin formulating an answer, and jumped in before he could say anything. "Only the people in this room," he promised. "Hermione found out when she was looking into bookstores that hold rare items for a project. She ran a background check on a few of the owners to make sure nobody was hustling her. Something didn't sit right with her regarding one of the bookshops' paperwork…" He trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Harry means to say he had someone spy on your bookshop," Ron said. "And you were spotted."

Draco cursed under his breath. "I thought I was being careful!"

"You were," Harry assured him. "You just weren't expecting…" He coughed. "A very dedicated and skilled individual to… be watching you."

"You mean you sent an Auror to spy on me," Draco said flatly.

"Yeah, mate," Ron said lazily. "Can we order yet? I'm starving."

Hermione flagged down a waitress, who brought over five menus. Draco seemed to be fascinated by the selection of unfamiliar Muggle foods, but Harry had decided on his order with only a glance at the options. When it seemed that everyone had settled on an option but Draco, Harry and Hermione both offered some advice. With their guidance, he had his order picked out, and when the waitress came over, they each told her their order. "And some water for the table, please," Hermione said pleasantly.

The waitress nodded, stuck the pen into her front pocket, and left them alone.

"So…" Ron said awkwardly.

"So," Draco said carefully.

After a short pause, Hermione said, "I've been wondering – what made you open a bookshop? You don't need the money. Even without what the Ministry confiscated."

Draco breezed by the last comment, and said, "Lots of books, nobody to read them." When Hermione looked confused, he continued. "The Malfoy mansion had a library bigger than some national libraries. A lot of them were rare books or first editions. I kept a few favorites for myself, but I have no use for most of them. You're right, though," he said, surprising pretty much everyone at the table, "I don't need to money. I pay the workers an outrageous salary, and donate most of the rest of it to charities. Well, one charity."

Hermione tried to get him to expand on the last point, but he refused, and soon enough their meals arrived in any case. When the conversation picked up again, they went back to the safer territory of Quidditch. Ginny was incredibly biased, of course, and Harry was dedicated to cheering her on, but Ron was still and ardent fan of the Cannons, who had improved only a little since Harry first met Ron. Draco surprised them all by being a fan of the Wimbourne Wasps, who hadn't reached even the semifinals in the past four years. He shrugged off their incredulous expressions with a simple "My mother was a fan," and they decided collectively to let it go. Hermione wasn't the biggest fan of Quidditch, but she knew the rulebook by heart nonetheless; this meant that she supported the Harpies by default out of loyalty to her friend, but had no real investment in the conversation, except to make corrections. Eventually, they moved on to other subjects; Ron told them of an experiment gone wrong at the joke shop, and Harry told them that he got a birthday card from Dudley. The shock on everyone's faces needed to be explained to Draco, and Harry had a feeling he didn't fully understand the situation, but he promised Draco would get a more detailed explanation later.

By the time they were paying – Draco examining the Muggle money that Hermione and Harry produced from their wallets curiously – it was already twelve thirty. The brunch had been incredibly successful, and Hermione produced a wedding invitation from her purse. She handed it over to Draco, who accepted it without saying a word. Ginny had told Harry that she'd warned Draco this was going to receive an invite; still, he looked shocked to actually have one. Hermione gave everyone but Ron a kiss on the cheek, clearly surprising Draco again, and they all made their way into the back alley, where they each Apparated to their various destinations.