Needing Is One Thing; Getting? Getting's Another

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Prompt: "Anonymous asked: Hermione pt 2 in the Needing is One Thing series is just perfection. You captured all those feelings of inadequacy so well - and of course they are contrasted with what we as readers know of Draco's agonies over wooing her. The end where he basically says he just adores her is perfect. I'd love to see a snapshot of Draco's continuing anxiety over 'keeping' her and Hermione finally realising she loves him too and that they do have a future. SJ"

Blaise: Part 1

Fall 2004

"She's been distant," Draco murmured, pacing a bit.

Blaise was sitting on his armchair, watching Draco stalk around his library like a loon. He looked only vaguely sympathetic. "Well, you did have what sounds like a fairly explosive argument," he pointed out, his voice a low drawl. The constant drama of Draco's uncertainty had been amusing, at first, but now Blaise just found it boring.

Draco stopped, staring at the fire. "Do you think she'll end it?" he asked, quietly.

"No," Blaise sighed, but he knew Draco wasn't listening.

The blond began to pace again, faster and faster and likely wearing a hole in Blaise's imported rug. "She will. She probably ran off to Potty or Weasel and they're convincing her to break up with me right now," he muttered.

As he passed Blaise's chair, the man's hand shot out, grabbing Draco's wrist in a death-grip. "Sit down," he enunciated, through his teeth, "before I break your legs."

Grumbling, Draco shook his hand off and flopped into the other chair, looking mutinous.

Blaise gave him a good, hard stare, which Draco returned irritably. They'd never been able to intimidate the other very well; he supposed that was why they'd remained such steadfast friends over the years. "She's as obsessed with you as you are with her," he informed him, flatly. "Although given your disposition, one begins to wonder why."

"Shut the fuck up," Draco muttered. He let his head drop back against the armchair, eyes closing. This girl was going to drive him insane.

He opened his eyes again when Blaise pushed a glass of Firewhiskey into his hand. "Relax," he suggested, his exotic and aristocratic features the very personification of annoyed condescension. "You'll make up with her and everything will return to as it usually is."

"You'd better be right," Draco sighed, and downed the glass in one go.

They'd been ignoring each other for most of the get-together at Potter's, one day later. Although, unbeknownst to each other, Blaise saw every single time they shot longing glances at one another. It was all he could do not to roll his eyes so hard that they fell right out of his head.

"So how are things?" Hermione asked. "Anyone new in your life?"

"Stop prying into my romantic life," he ordered. He never let anyone get away with as much shit as he let this girl, he knew. There was simply something about her that seemed able to effortlessly cross any boundaries a person tried to set up.

She was lucky he liked her.

Grinning, Hermione scooted towards him a bit. "It sounds like there is," she teased. "Who is it?"

"As usual, your powers of perception are breathtaking," he murmured, the slight edge of sarcasm the only indication of his mockery. "You should have been a Divinations witch."

She scowled, her nose wrinkling. "That's revolting," she huffed. "Come on, tell me."

"Why do you think there's anyone?"

"You seem, impossibly, more smug than usual," she snorted, raising an eyebrow at him. "Besides, I need an uplifting romance to eyeball while I deal with my little fiasco."

Both of them glanced towards the kitchen, where Ginny and Draco were talking.

"What did you fight about, again?" he wondered.

Her lips pursed, her cheeks going a little pink with embarrassment. "Tea," she muttered. At his withering look, she defended, "Listen, if you'd been there, it would make more sense. He was being a prat."

"That's all he ever is," he reminded her.

She frowned. "That's not true. Sometimes he's very sweet, he's usually really funny, and–" He just regarded her, unimpressed, and she flushed again. "Oh, shut up," she muttered, standing. Ginny and Draco were gone from the kitchen, and she glanced around for them before heading off to find them.

Blaise suddenly got a bad feeling when he realized that neither Draco nor Ginny were anywhere to be found, and got to his feet as well, following her.

"Draco?" she called, wandering through some of the less-populated areas of the house. There was no immediate response, and Blaise came to a stop at her side. He knew of everything that had gone on between Ginny and his friend, of course, but it had been months. He had no reason to suspect that anything untoward had happened.

There was just that gut feeling.

After that beat of silence, footsteps sounded on the stairs to the basement, and Draco came out. He looked calm enough, on the surface, but Blaise knew him well enough to detect the faint air of panic around him. "Hermione," he said, shooting a glance towards the basement door. Shooting Blaise a meaningful look, he started to lead her away from it. "I… I want to apologize–"

"No, I should. It was such a stupid fight," Hermione said, softly, as Blaise headed for the door. He just barely made out her murmuring as he got on the stairs to head down: "You know I love you, right?"

There was stunned silence, and then he could practically hear Draco's grin. "You do, do you?"

"Don't be a prat!"

Their voices faded away as he headed down the stairs. He wasn't surprised to find Ginny there, her eyes rimmed red and sniffling. She startled upon seeing him, and dashed at her eyes again, summoning a smile. "Hey. Something's in my eye," she said, before he could ask. "It's so dusty down here."

Sighing through his nose a bit, Blaise crossed the room and patted her shoulder. She seemed surprised by the gesture of comfort, and he saw the moment when she realized that he knew.

Red flooded her face. "Don't mind me," she said, quietly. "Just being an idiot, like usual."

"Must be a family trait," he observed, and smirked a bit when she shot him a glare. He led her over to a couch and sat her down, and then quietly sat down next to her. For a few minutes, he just kept her company while she sniffled and struggled to compose herself.

After those few minutes, she turned to him. "How's things going with Neville?" His gaze shot to her, eyes widening, and she grinned through her tears. "He told me. Nothing stays a secret from me for long, you know."

He was glad of his dark skin, because he could feel his face heating a bit. He wanted to snipe something about Draco's crush on Hermione being a pretty damn good secret, but he didn't dare spawn off any more waterworks, what with Draco and Hermione finally making amends upstairs. His friend would surely kill him. "It's fine," he said, shortly.

She smiled. "He's a good guy."

"I'm aware."

"You'll look very cute together."

"You're pushing it, Weasley," he warned her, and she laughed, the last of her tears fading away.