This Life

Chapter Seven

Hermione's nerves were on edge as she watched Draco and Blaise walk towards the table she was sitting at, noticing their apprehensiveness as they sat down. As she was already positioned at the head of the table, they each took a seat on either side of her. Taking a deep breath, she was about to speak when Blaise beat her to it.

"What's this all about, Hermione?" He asked gently, looking at her while stirring a teaspoon of sugar into his tea.

"Well," she began, nervously fidgeting her hands in her lap and smiling at him. "I wanted to tell you both that I've thought about what Malfoy and I spoke about yesterday morning. So much so in fact that I was actually quite distracted through classes and pretty much the whole day." She noticed Malfoy raise an eyebrow, obviously unbelieving that anything could distract her from classes and learning. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Malfoy. Even Harry and Ron asked what planet I was on yesterday."

Draco grimaced at the mention of her two best friends. If it came down to it, he could quite possibly stand to be around Potter for short periods of time but he despised Weasley, and he knew Blaise felt the same way.

"Anyway, I'm deviating from the point I'm trying to make," Hermione continued, blind to the looks the boys were giving each other across the table — looks that said they were possibly not going to like whatever it was. "I've thought about nothing else for the last twenty-four hours, and I've decided that you may be right, Malfoy."

Draco dropped the cup he was holding in shock. "Shit!" He cursed, moving out of the way of the tea dripping over the edge of the table towards his lap. He righted the cup and quickly used a Scourgify to clean the mess away and sat back down. "Sorry about that," he gestured, "It was just a surprise to hear you say I was right about something, Granger."

She gave him a small smile before reaching for the teapot and began refilling his cup.

"As I was saying, I think you're right, Malfoy. The war is over, and it's time to move forward. I'm not saying it'll be easy, in fact, it'll probably be downright difficult for us to be nice to each other, but—"

"Oh, I don't know about that—" he interrupted smugly, a sly grin turning up one corner of his mouth.

She rolled her eyes. " As I was saying… I think I'd like to try moving forward by calling a truce with you."

He held onto the cup this time, even though his hand started to shake a little. Looking over at Blaise, and seeing the shocked look on his face, Draco didn't know how to answer. Blaise gave him a small nod of his head as if to say, 'It's ok, Draco. Answer the woman'. They hadn't been expecting this.

"I don't know what to say, Granger. To be honest I was kind of expecting you to tell me to go fuck myself." The surprised blond laughed, running his hand through his hair.

Hermione giggled at this. "I'm sure you were. You should have realised by now that I like doing what people least expect of me."

"True, and I obviously agree with you. We do need to move on. So what do you suggest? Where do we start?" He asked nervously.

"Well, how about tonight after the Prefects' meeting, the three of us spend some time here in the common room and get to know each other a little better? I mean, I know you and Blaise know each other but… well… you know what I mean." She looked down at her feet, slightly embarrassed at her floundering.

Hermione had lost all sense of reality yesterday, her mind stuck on the conversation between herself and Draco. She was still a little astounded at his apology and his admission that he trusted her, telling her they needed to reconcile their differences. He had done nothing to help during her torture at the hands of Bellatrix, but yesterday he'd been so sincere — she could see it in his eyes. Thinking only about what had happened to her during the war, she'd never stopped to think about what Draco had been through — why would she? Yes, he'd let the Death Eaters into her beloved school and had tried to kill their headmaster, but the fact that he hadn't been able to go through with it should've made her stop and think at the time.

Hermione had realised how horrible it must have been for Draco to be living with that vile monster in his house. Anything could have happened to him during that time that she had no clue about; he was probably suffering flashbacks and nightmares like she was.

Having not seen him since the night of the final battle, it seemed like he was a different person now, but she still didn't know if she could properly forgive him for all that had happened, and that thought wasn't sitting well with her. Hermione had always had a forgiving nature but some things took time.

She was, however, willing to call a truce so Blaise could enjoy having his boyfriend around. The minute he said or did anything untoward to her, she would just have to hex his balls off.

Blaise brought her away from her thoughts and back to the present. He reached across the table and took her hand gently, stroking the back of it.

"Are you sure, Cara ?" He asked quietly. All he could see in those beautiful amber eyes was a steely determination.

Moving her hand out from under his, and placing it in her lap, she responded with a sigh, "Yes, I'm quite sure, Blaise. Anyway, if the other students can see us getting along it will do wonders for house unity. I believe Professor McGonagall is going to be making an announcement at dinner on Sunday about some changes she'll be implementing this year, and guess what?" She asked, looking from one to the other. They both gave her bemused looks. "House unity is at the top of her agenda."

Hermione stood from the table and went to collect her school bag from the sofa, leaving both boys open-mouthed before they seemed to rally.

"If that's true, Granger, let us walk with you to breakfast. Better start this house unity thing off right," Draco declared. "Plus, I want to see everyone's faces." He laughed.

Ever the show-off, she thought rolling her eyes.

"Erm… yes, okay, then," she answered, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

Both wizards were out of their seats, grabbing their own bags and escorting her out the door, the three walking quickly down the hall before Snape said anything. It was unnerving having him in that portrait.

Blaise took one side and Draco the other so Hermione was walking between them, falling into easy conversation about classes and what other ideas McGonagall might be coming up with, when they reached the door to the Great Hall. Silence descended in the cavernous room as they entered.

"Well, that's caused quite the scene," Draco whispered leaning down to Hermione's ear. She stilled at his close proximity but kept a straight face in front of everyone; she wasn't comfortable having him so near to her.

Blaise, realising her sudden distress, also leant down and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

"See you tonight, Cara, " he smiled, pulling his soft lips away.

Hermione felt heat bloom across her face as the dark Italian winked at her before walking off to the Slytherin table with Draco. That was the second time he'd called her Cara, she'd have to look up the meaning in the library. She knew it was Italian but, unfortunately, she didn't understand a word of that language. Making her way over to the Gryffindor table she noticed Harry watching her, looking deep in thought, his eyebrows drawn together. Ron, who had a fork halfway to his mouth but had stopped its movements to watch her with Draco and Blaise, had a scowl across his face. Then she noticed Ginny's face, glowering at her.

Hermione pasted on a smile and took her place in between Harry and Ron.

"Good morning, everyone," she greeted them all brightly, reaching for the pumpkin juice and some toast.

"Err, Mione?" Ron started, placing his fork back down on his plate and rubbing the back of his head.

"Yes, Ronald?" She answered her friend.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That, with those two pillocks. Why was Malfoy whispering in your ear? And why did Zabini kiss you?" He asked incredulously.

"I was merely walking to breakfast with my roommate and his friend, and they were saying goodbye." She didn't look up from buttering her toast as she wondered herself why Draco had leant down to her, nevermind why Blaise had felt the need to drop a peck on her cheek. She noticed Harry listening closely.

"But why?" Ron pestered.

"Because the Gryffinwhore is obviously sleeping with one or both of them." Hermione heard Ginny mutter under her breath, earning a giggle from Lavender.

Turning to face the redhead, Hermione asked, "What was that, Ginevra?"

Ginny's face turned scarlet as she realised Hermione had heard her. A bit more loudly, she repeated herself, "I said, you're probably sleeping with one or both of them."

"GINNY!" Ron and Harry shouted at the same time, making some of the other students turn to see what the commotion was.

Ginny flinched slightly at the angry way her boyfriend and brother reacted.

"What? It's probably true. You know what a slut she is. First my brother and then you, Harry. Now she's moved onto the Slytherins."

"Merlin, Ginny, how many more times do we have to go over this? Nothing happened between Hermione and Ron or Hermione and me. When are you going to learn to accept the truth?" Harry angrily whispered, standing up and grabbing Ginny's arm to escort her out of the Great Hall.

Hermione turned to Ron with tears in her eyes, embarrassed that other people had heard. "Ron, why is she always like that with me? I... I don't understand. I've never done anything to her."

"I don't know, Mione," he answered, putting his arm around her shoulders so she could huddle against his broad, familiar chest. Normally she would brush off Ginny's constant insults or scathing looks with a quick retort, but she just couldn't be bothered anymore. She could see Lavender and Parvati giggling together further down the table, sending her mean looks.

~•~•~

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco and Blaise were quietly seething after watching that little display.

"I'm telling you now, Blaise, that's the last time that fucking weasel bitch is going to treat our girl like that," Draco whispered so no one else would hear.

"I wholeheartedly agree, Draco, and I think I've come up with the perfect solution." Blaise winked at him and Draco smirked back. No one was more cunning or devious than Blaise when he was upset about something.

They watched as Ron released Hermione so she could stand and make her way out of the Great Hall. She looked over at them and they both smiled, Draco throwing in a sly wink for good measure. Her sad eyes seemed to light up as she smiled shyly back before departing.

~•~•~

After lessons were finished for the day, Hermione walked up to Professors McGonagall's office for their weekly tea and chat. She was sure that the new headmistress would be too busy for this now she had the school to run but, after Transfiguration this morning, McGonagall had informed the Head Girl that she'd still like to see her.

She knocked, hearing a quiet 'enter' from the other side a second later. Hermione opened the door and immediately relaxed at seeing her professor and mentor.

"Good afternoon, Headmistress," she said brightly, making her way over to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

McGonagall looked up from her paperwork to smile warmly at the girl she'd come to care so much about.

"Hermione," she greeted her. "Take a seat. I'll be right with you."

Once McGonagall had finished her paperwork, she peered over at her student. She looked happier and more herself than the older woman had seen her in months. Pouring tea for both of them and passing one over she asked, "How have you been, Hermione? Are you settling back in okay?"

Taking a sip from her cup before answering, Hermione replied, "I'm fine, thank you, Headmistress. Classes have been going well, and we have our first Prefect meeting tonight to arrange a patrol schedule and get started on the arrangements for whichever ball we decide to have."

"That's fabulous, Hermione, but I want to know how you are? How have things been living with Mr Zabini?" She asked.

Hermione gave it some thought before replying. "Well, I must say I've been quite impressed with Blaise. He seems like a caring person and has been nothing but nice to me. He's looking forward to properly starting his Head Boy tasks and, of course, Quidditch." She rolled her eyes.

McGonagall laughed at this. Of course, her favourite student didn't like Quidditch; she had an irrational fear of flying.

"So you're both settling in well then? That's good to hear. And how about Mr Malfoy? Have you had any interaction with him yet apart from classes?"

"Well, yes, I've seen him and spoken to him actually. He… he apologised to me." Hermione cleared her throat and avoided McGonagall's eyes as she sipped her tea.

"I beg your pardon?" The surprised Headmistress answered back.

Hermione looked up and caught McGonagall's incredulous stare.

Placing her teacup on the desk, and folding her hands in her lap, she continued.

"He sought me out at the lake yesterday morning and apologised to me. He said he was sorry for everything that had happened from the moment he met me, how he'd like to leave it all behind, and for us to move forward... maybe become friends... but I'm… well, I'm not so sure I can do that."

"I understand completely, Hermione, but—"

"It's okay, Headmistress. I told him this morning that I was willing to call a truce." She declared, reaching for her tea again. "It seems he and Blaise are quite close and only seem to have each other, so I know Malfoy will want to spend time in our common room. I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Blaise no, so I called a truce with Malfoy. We can be amicable, I'm sure of it. The war has changed him just as much as anyone else, and I don't think I really understood what he's been through. In fact, I still don't know what happened to him in the last year, but it can't have been anything good. So I'm willing to give him one last chance to prove to me that he isn't the prejudiced bully I've come to know and loathe."

This cheered her mentor up, and she smiled brightly at Hermione.

"There's the girl I know," she declared proudly. "I wouldn't blame you if you never gave Mr Malfoy another chance, but the fact that you are willing to try amazes me, Hermione. Truly, you are the Brightest Witch of Your Age; you can see logic and understanding where most others can't."

"Well, we shall see what happens over the next few weeks, Headmistress. I'm certainly not making any promises though."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, my dear."

They both talked for a little while longer before the dinner bell could be heard and Hermione stood to leave.

"You know where I am if you need anything, Hermione," McGonagall reminded her. Lifting her heavy school bag onto her shoulder, she smiled at her favourite professor, "Of course, Headmistress. Thank you," she added as she left the office and made her way to the Great Hall.

~•~•~

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Hermione made it back to her quarters in record time, having not been stopped by anyone, for once. She still had forty-five minutes to shower, change and set up the meeting. She didn't notice Blaise around so figured he must have been off somewhere with Malfoy. As long as he made it back in time, it would be fine.

She walked into her room and dumped her bag on the floor by her desk, reaching to undo the bun that held her mane of curls back all day as she grabbed a towel and made her way over to the bathroom. Opening the door she was shocked by the scene that greeted her and froze — realising the boys must've cast a Silencio on the room as she hadn't heard the water running, but they'd failed miserably with a locking charm.

Blaise was standing against the back wall of the glass shower, water running in rivulets down his toned chest. His head was thrown back, eyes shut tight as whimpers and moans were falling from his lips. Hermione's eyes travelled down to see Draco kneeling between Blaise's spread legs. He had his hands on his boyfriend's hips and his head bobbed up and down, giving Hermione the perfect view of Blaise's cock sliding in and out of his mouth as his lover's hands guided his head up and down.

Hermione just stood there, utterly frozen, but couldn't seem to tear her wide eyes away from the scene in front. She carried on watching as Draco moved his right hand around Blaise's hip and grabbed the base of his shaft. He started moving his hand in time with his mouth, up and down. She looked at Blaise's long dark cock sliding in and out of Draco's mouth, it was glistening with what she thought would be Draco's saliva and Blaise's precum. She gasped suddenly and Blaise's eyes shot open. He smiled and pulled Draco's head up.

"We have company, lover," he said without breaking eye contact with Hermione.

She was breathing hard, her hands were clutching the towel to her chest, and it felt like her heart was going to explode through her ribcage. Without rising, Draco turned his head to Hermione, his grey eyes were blazing and dark with lust. Looking away from Blaise and facing Draco, she felt trapped by his stare.

"Like what you see, Granger? Why don't you join us?" He smirked, before turning his head back and resuming what he was doing.

Without saying a word, Hermione turned and fled from the bathroom. Just as she stepped away, she heard Blaise say, "Too bad. Maybe next time."

FUCK! Hermione slammed the bathroom door closed and cast a Locking Charm. She threw herself down on her bed and tried to get her breathing under control.

What the actual fuck did I just see? How am I ever going to look them in the face again?

She spun her head when she heard the doorknob rattle on her side.

"Granger? Open up." Malfoy shouted from the other side.

"Go away," she called back.

"Come on, Granger. Prefects will be here in twenty minutes, we need to talk about this."

"No, we don't. And I didn't see anything anyway, so go away and leave me be, Malfoy."

"Fine! Be a stubborn wench, but we will be talking about this after."

"After? After what?" She shouted back again. There was nothing to discuss as far as she was concerned. She could picture him rolling his eyes from the other side of the door before he answered her again, sounding exasperated.

"After our Prefects' meeting, oh Brightest Witch of Our Age. We'll be discussing our "getting to know each other" time, remember?"

Oh, that. Damn, she was still going to have to go through with that. She'd suggested it, and she'd look an idiot if she backed out now. Screaming internally at herself, Hermione moved from the bed to the bathroom door, unlocked it and threw it wide open.

Draco stood against the doorframe with nothing but a white towel around his waist. She didn't mean to — she really didn't — but she couldn't help not stare at the Malfoy heir. He had a very fine body — pale skin and toned muscle. All that Quidditch, she thought. The noise of him clearing his throat made her blush as Hermione realised she'd been caught looking at him. Feeling her cheeks heat, she looked up into his playful grey gaze.

"Well?" He asked, smirking at her embarrassment.

"Yes, Malfoy, Okay. I hadn't forgotten. Now can you please sod off and put some clothes on?" She asked, averting her eyes from that hypnotic stare. What the hell was happening to her? She'd never thought about Malfoy in this way before — or ever, for that matter. She'd been thinking about him too much since that damn apology yesterday morning. It was like the man had had a personality transplant; he was so different from the spoilt, arrogant bully she'd known for seven years. She was intrigued to find out more about him.

"Your request is my demand, princess," he grinned before sauntering back towards Blaise's room.

Merlin be damned, he had a fine arse. Shaking her head to clear the images of a half-naked Malfoy in her bathroom, Hermione was feeling quite flustered as she grabbed the quickest shower of her life — trying not to think about what had been going on in the bathroom only minutes before — and got dressed in jeans and a soft green jumper, deciding to leave her long curly hair down before taking a deep breath and entering the common room.

She blushed when Draco looked at her over the back of the couch and winked. Bastard! She screamed in her head before averting her eyes and walking directly towards the armchair.

Some of the eighth year Prefects had already arrived and were sitting themselves down at the study table — Harry sitting next to Lavender of all people. Hermione was not happy about one of Ginny's cohorts being made a Prefect but that decision was out of her hands.

Sitting the other side of Harry was Pansy Parkinson — Can my life get any worse? — then Blaise came out from his bedroom also smirking at her. Yes, yes, my life can get worse! She grabbed her bag from the side of the armchair and made her way over to the others, Draco following behind, taking a seat next to Pansy.

Hermione sat next to Blaise and was just sorting through her notes when the others arrived. Padma Patil and Michael Corner from Ravenclaw along with Susan Bones and Zacharias Smith from Hufflepuff. She looked at Blaise, and he nodded his head for her to start; they had already discussed what needed going over yesterday.

"Hello everyone," Hermione started. They all turned to look at her. "So, the first order of business is getting the rotas out to you all for patrols, which will be starting on Monday. Headmistress McGonagall has given us this first week to settle back in before normal duties start again." There were a few groans and sighs at this before she continued. "You will all be expected to sort out the sixth and fifth year Prefects from your own houses this year as well. McGonagall wants you all to have a little more responsibility and not leave Blaise and I with a massive amount of work to do. Also, we've been given permission to hold a ball and we must all agree on what we'd like to do — Halloween or Christmas. As it's an extra year for us, and there's so much studying, she told us we were only allowed to host one ball and an end of year party on the last Saturday of school."

They all seemed to cheer up at this piece of news before the arguing began over which ball to host. Lavender and Susan wanted Halloween while Pansy wanted Christmas. The boys were sitting there looking bored and uninterested.

"Okay, okay, enough," Blaise shouted to restore order. They all looked at him, instantly halting their arguments. "We'll hold a vote if we can't agree. Hands up for Halloween."

Lavender, Susan, Michael and Zacharias raised their hands.

"Christmas it is then, six to four outnumbered. Sorry, ladies," he grinned wickedly over at Lavender. He knew Hermione wanted to host the Christmas Ball and, even though he and Draco would have preferred Halloween, they planned to make their Christmas-loving witch happy and give her what she wanted.

Lavender and Susan both huffed, while the boys still looked bored.

Hermione and Blaise handled the rest of the meeting, explaining that a small common room next to the library would be used as the eighth year Prefects' office and they would find their pigeon holes inside, along with Hermione's and Blaise's, and that all further meetings would be held there. Patrol schedules were handed out and a date put forward for the next Prefects' meeting in two weeks time. As they all stood to leave, Hermione remembered one thing.

"Before you all go, I should warn you that the Headmistress is going to be making some changes and will be addressing the school about these on Sunday at dinnertime. She expects us all to co-operate with her and set a good example."

"What kind of changes?" Susan shyly asked.

"It's not for me to say. She'll make the announcement on Sunday."

Susan nodded at Hermione on her way out of the door while Harry made his way over to where she was still sitting.

"Good meeting, Hermione. How are you feeling?" He asked, concerned for her well-being. She'd looked a little nervous having to address everyone, Harry not knowing what she'd stumbled upon beforehand.

"Fine, Harry. I'm fine."

Harry picked up her tone of voice and changed the subject. "What's with the portrait? You never told me Snape was your portrait."

"Didn't I? Sorry, I've had a lot going on since we came back."

"Like what?" He asked, frowning slightly. He wanted to make sure she was okay, and that the snakes weren't giving her any trouble.

"Oh, it's nothing I can't handle. Can we speak about this another time? I've got notes to write up from the meeting to hand into McGonagall, and homework to do. Then I've got to start making plans for the Christmas Ball, and I've got to go to the library as well."

"I know when you're giving me the brush off, Hermione, but we will be talking about it. And soon," he tacked onto the end. If someone, or something, was bothering her, he'd find out.

"Sure, sure," she answered, and he knew he wouldn't get anything else from her and was, essentially, being dismissed. She stood up and hugged her best friend briefly before he left the common room as well.

Sighing, Hermione turned to face the two Slytherins still sitting at the table.

"We can work on the notes for McGonagall in the morning, Hermione. No more work tonight, alright?" Blaise asked.

"Blaise, surely—"

"No, Granger," Draco interrupted her, "Blaise is right. No more work tonight. Now, we are going to move over to the sofa, have a drink, relax, and get to know each other as you suggested."

She frowned at his forceful tone but didn't argue back.

"Well, then," she said, packing her notes away and moving over to the seating area, "you'd better get the Firewhisky out. This evening is definitely going to need alcohol."