Author's Note: The next chapter, sorry it's taken so long. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters.

A week later Hermione found herself fussing in front of the mirror before her meeting with Zabini. She'd been debating over which sweater to wear for an hour, and just when she finally thought she'd landed on the right one she was questioning herself again. With a sigh she looked down at her watch and saw that she didn't have any more time to debate. If she wanted to be on time she would have to apparate in the next five minutes; so it looked like she was stuck with what she had on. She spared another moment to look in the mirror one last time before she headed out of her room.

Everyone was home that particular Saturday afternoon and they sat in the living room with their muggle television showing the news. When Hermione emerged Harry was relieved to see that she hadn't particularly dressed for the occasion, she wore one of her simple skirt and sweater combos. Still, she was looking bright and happy and it twisted his gut. But he smiled along with Dean and Ginny until she was out of the apartment. When the door shut behind her his face fell along with a deafening silence.

"I still don't like it," Ginny said quietly.

They were meeting at a muggle café that Hermione and her friends frequented; when she apparated into the alley just around the corner butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She took a moment to gather herself before she set out. When she opened the door to the small establishment her eyes found Zabini immediately. He looked just as forceful as ever as his eyes cruised over the menu. Hermione would have been lying if she told herself that he wasn't attractive, because he was. The beautiful dark skin covered exquisite bone structure and the dark eyes were alert and intelligent. As if he sensed her watching he looked up and held her eyes. She swallowed her nerves and made her way over to the table to take a seat.

"Zabini," she said quietly.

"Granger." There was a slight question in his voice, but for the moment he didn't push. The waitress appeared to take their orders and they waited in silence for their drinks. Once they were settled, Hermione with water and lemon and Blaise with a glass of wine, he spoke again. "Why did you want to meet with me Granger?"

She shook her head. "You know perfectly well why I wanted to speak to you. What you did for me, I'll never be able to repay you for that."

"There's no need to thank me," he told her a bit stiffly.

"But there is! You didn't have to save me, you didn't have to…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish.

He shrugged. "You can say it; I didn't have to kill my best friend to save you."

To soothe her throat and her nerves she took a drink of her water. "Yes, you're right. I guess what I want to know is why."

"We were on the same side, you and I. I couldn't very well let you die, no matter who was after you." For the first time in their conversation emotion crept into his voice.

Hermione allowed herself a moment to study him and learned that his eyes couldn't lie. "You really cared for him didn't you?"

Blaise's first reaction was to go on the defensive at the question, but he forced himself to relax and considered the answer. "He was my best friend, but he was also a victim of his upbringing. Not all of us were able to overcome the ingrained prejudices to see the right side of things. Draco carried on the family name and tradition, he didn't know any better."

"I'm sorry, so sorry that it came down to me or him." She broke off as the waitress appeared with their lunches. "I'm sorry that you killed him because of me."

He shook his head. "I told you that you needn't be sorry. If it hadn't been you it would have been someone else. We were two different people, and either way we would have come up against each other. He was my best friend, but our paths took us different places."

She picked at her salad. "Still, I can't help the way I feel, and I feel horrible."

Blaise sighed. "Look at it this way Granger, would you rather be dead now?"

"No but…"

He cut her off. "Okay, did you think Draco deserved to die?"

"After what he'd done I don't see any other…"

He cut her off again. "That's a yes, complicated but an affirmative answer none the less. If you're alive and he deserved to die why should it make a difference that is was me who killed him?"

Tears sprang unbidden and unwanted to her eyes. "Because you loved him."

For a moment he could only sit there stunned. He felt slightly shell shocked but finally nodded. "Yes, I love him in my own way. He may have been a bastard but he was the best friend I ever had. When he wasn't raving about muggle-borns and the Dark Lord he could be very funny, even compassionate. Nobody ever saw that side of him other than me."

She nodded and said nothing. She knew the pain of losing your best friend, the little piece of your soul that went missing when you realized you would never see them again. She could only be grateful that she still had Harry. Without him she wasn't sure how she could have gone on, and she imagined that for some time Blaise must have felt the same way. "I know it may not seem so, but I know how you feel. Losing Ron… well I'll never quite be the same."

"Yes, you're right. You're never really the same, but you can move on, and that's what I've been doing."

Hermione looked down at their plates with a frown. "It seems we've both lost our appetites."

"That doesn't surprise me, considering the circumstances."

"You're right. I should probably go anyway; we're expected at the Burrow later for dinner and Molly seems to want us there earlier and earlier every time; wedding plans, you know for Ginny and Dean. Thank you for meeting with me." She stood and seemed to consider him for a moment before she spoke again. "I'd like to see you again."

He inclined his head slightly and searched her face. "Why?" he questioned.

"Honestly? I don't know."

The candor both impressed and surprised him and though warning bells went off in his head, he nodded. "Okay."

She nodded, feeling slightly amazed that he had said yes. "I'll owl you."

When she returned to the apartment she was accosted by a frazzled Ginny. "Thank God you're here, I was afraid you weren't going to make it in time to go to the Burrow with us. My mother owled, she wants to talk about the dress! We're not getting married for a year and she wants to talk about the dress! You've got to run interference!"

Hermione fought back a grin. "Calm down Gin, she's just excited. We'll go, we'll let her talk about the dress a little then I'll steer the conversation in another direction."

The redhead nodded and took a couple of cleansing breaths. "Okay, okay, you're right. It'll be fine."

"Yes it will be. Now Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

The grin she'd been holding back came on full force. "Don't you think you're going to want to wear something more than jeans and your bra to go to your mother's?"

The younger girl's eyes widened and she looked down to realize that she had completely forgotten her top. With a little yelp she rushed back to her and Hermione's room, shouting thanks over her shoulder. Laughing to herself Hermione went into the kitchen in search of a drink. She walked in and found Harry sitting at the table with the Daily Prophet spread out in front of him and a frown on his face.

"Damn it," he muttered. "Damn it all to hell."

"What's going on?" Hermione asked. She opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water before turning back towards him. "Bad article?"

He yanked his glasses off and massaged the bridge of his nose. "The worst in a while."

"What this time?"

He passed her the paper. "Third page."

She opened the Prophet to page three to find a full color picture of Harry and Tonks embracing along with the headline 'Harry Potter Steals the Heart of Former Hogwarts Professor's Wife'. Her mouth dropped open. "You and Tonks? Where do they get this rubbish?"

"They get it wherever they can find it, and some days they follow me everywhere so it isn't that hard to get. I saw Tonks yesterday just outside the Ministry and she shared some good news. We hugged and now all of the sudden I'm a home wrecker."

Hermione couldn't suppress a giggle. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard that term associated with a man."

Harry tried to look disapproving but couldn't quite manage and a smile broke through. He put his glasses back on with a sigh. "I know, it's ridiculous, but people will believe it. That's the horrible part about it."

She sat down at the table. "If you're worried about Remus…"

"I'm not worried about Remus. He's like a father to me, and Tonks is more and more becoming like a mother, and he knows that this is utter crap. I just worry that other people will believe it and won't let them alone."

"It'll be fine Harry. They'll find some other news in a few days and won't give this a second thought."

"I hope you're right." Glancing at the clock, he stood. "We'd better get going if we want to make it to the Burrow on time. The last thing Ginny and Dean need is Molly on their case for something else, he said a bit fondly.

Hermione rose as well. "You're right. It's bad enough I've got to distract a woman from choosing her only daughter's wedding dress, we needn't add a lecture on punctuality to the heap."

When the four of them arrived at the Burrow it was to a full house. Fred and George were demonstrating some of their new products for Bill and Charlie in the yard and Remus and Tonks were chatting with Arthur at the table. As Dean slipped quietly away from the wedding plans and Hermione and Ginny worked to head Molly off at the pass on the dress issue, Harry moved to sit at the table.

"Arthur," he acknowledged with a nod as he sat. He turned his attention to Remus and Tonks. "Look, I'm sorry that you two got shoved into the spotlight with me. It's bad enough they won't leave me alone but dragging my friends into it…" he trailed off and ran his hand almost violently through his hair. "It's completely uncalled for."

Lupin shook his head. "It's fine Harry, we all know the entire thing is a complete fabrication anyway."

Tonks gave a little wave as Arthur got up to try and rescue Ginny from her mother. "It really is fine Harry. But speaking of that picture, we decided we're going to tell everyone our good news tonight at dinner."

He grinned. "That's wonderful. Everyone's going to be so excited."

"We know," Remus told him, paling a bit.

"It'll be fine," Harry reassured his friend. He heard George calling his name and with apologies excused himself to see the latest of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It wasn't long before he was sucked into the fun of it all, and he was engrossed in the most recent trick until Molly called them all in for dinner.

When they were all settled around the table and everyone's plates were full Remus cleared his throat. "Tonks and I have an announcement to make. We're, well that's to say…"

"We're having a baby," Tonks told them excitedly.

There was a moment of stunned silence before everyone began cheering and talking at once. "It's wonderful, just wonderful," Molly sobbed, wiping away tears.

"You sure it's not Harry's baby Remus?" Fred asked with a wink. "The Prophet is bound to think it is."

Remus laughed and Ginny tossed a roll that hit her brother square between the eyes. "Don't be an ass."

Harry cleared his throat and held up his glass. "Let's have a toast; to Remus and Nymph..." He trailed off with a grin when Tonks stuck her tongue out at him. "To Remus and Tonks."

"To Remus and Tonks," everyone chorused.

As excited chatter began again Hermione regarded Harry from across the table. So that had been the news that had started the Prophet on this particular tear. She couldn't help but think it was a shame that the paper had managed to turn such happy news into some sort of scandal. But no amount of media attention could take away the happy look on Harry's face, and that certainly meant something. But sitting there, thinking about the article, Hermione couldn't stop herself wondering why more pictures like that didn't show up in the papers. Surely Harry had plenty of women after him, but he was never seen with any. Come to think of it, Harry hadn't been on a date since the end of the war. How peculiar, she thought, that that should be the case. As the usual din of the Weasley abode continued around her, she sat and wondered.