Story: Act number 2715
Author: LadyLissaLight
Summary: Kingsley Shacklebolt is cornered in his office by three overbearing wizards. When they emerge, a change takes hold of the wizarding world – Act 2715. What is this act and why does it have Hermione spending so much time with Blaise Zabini? DMxHG!
Blaise put down his spellbook as the flames in his fireplace turned green.
"Blaise," called Hermione from upstairs. "That'll be Ginny, tell her I'll be down in a minute."
Blaise shouted back an affirmative, then watched the flames carefully as the familiar red headed girl stepped through, prepared to start his teasing. He was stopped short however, by how beautiful she looked.
Her dark red hair was piled on top of her head and she was wearing a short black dress and boots. He stared.
Luckily she didn't notice, too busy muttering angrily and trying to do up the clasp on her necklace, which had gotten caught in a stray tendril of her hair.
"Ugh!" she grunted, scowling, then noticed Blaise.
"Hello Zabini." She muttered.
"Hermione will be down soon," he told her, watching her angry face in amusement.
She continued to struggle for a few more moments, her face growing ever more red, before she swore and flung the necklace away from her, ripping some hair out as she did so. "I give up." She said, glaring daggers at the necklace.
Blaise smirked. He rose from his chair and went over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Ssh. Red, calm. Breathe."
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Right."
He bent and retrieved the necklace, picking the hair off and calmly placed it around her neck before once more repeating, "Breathe."
"Thank you Blaise," she uttered. "That always works."
They both paused, before Ginny went pink and quickly said "I'm going to er, see what's taking Hermione so long." She scurried away, leaving Blaise to his memories.
He stood in the corner, a slight crease between his brows as he watched the red head pace in front of him.
It was his third D.A Meeting and so far he'd not been allowed to say or do anything. It was the youngest Weasley's plan to let the remainder of the group grow accustomed to having a Slytherin among them, before he was actually allowed to contribute.
It was a smart plan and he knew it. The Longbottom kid didn't trust him in the slightest, but the Lovegood girl liked him. She was weird, but nice, in her own way. Weaslette was a natural born leader, from what he could tell, and right now everyone in the room was watching her pace.
Longbottom looked worried, Lovegood looked unconcerned, and Weasley looked unbelievably stressed.
"Alright." She sighed. "I can't think of anything else right now, so meeting adjourned. We'll think about it overnight. I'll contact you all with the galleons for the next meeting."
The room began to file out, everyone looking troubled. There was an informer in their midst, it seemed, as Dennis Creevey had been caught freeing a house elf that had been bound in ropes, when the D.A all knew the Carrows were supposed to be away from the school that weekend. Luckily Dennis had gotten off fairly easily due to some quick thinking, but Weasley was determined to find out who the traitor was. She just didn't seem to know how.
Longbottom cast him a suspicious look and Lovegood waved her fingers dreamily at him as she followed the former, leaving him and Red alone in the room.
He liked the youngest Weasley, he'd eventually decided. She was worth the respect many afforded her, including himself. She was definitely brave, but she was also smart and quick and tough, and so Blaise thought they could be friends.
She sighed again, massaging her temples. He stepped towards her.
"Red."
She turned. "What, Zabini? This isn't working. I just -"
He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Calm. Breathe. Close your eyes and breathe."
She closed them, her body stilling and took several deep breaths. Blaise felt her shoulders relax a little. Eventually she opened her eyes.
"Better?"
"Better." She smiled at him, before suddenly slapping her forehead. "Zabini! That's it!"
The next day she'd caught the traitor.
"Blaise?"
Hermione's voice jolted Blaise out of his reminiscing. He looked up and saw Hermione coming down the stairs, frowning at him. "Is something wrong?"
Blaise looked over her pretty outfit, a short purple dress and heels, and looked away. Hermione was beautiful. Just as beautiful as Ginny. So why couldn't he have feelings for her? They were going to be married after all. He couldn't just pine away for Ginny Weasley for the rest of his life, especially as she seemed so enamoured with her match, Dean.
He had to give up on Ginny and focus on Hermione. It should be simple. Hermione was funny, smart, a good listener…
He stood up in determination. "Hermione, when you get home, we should talk."
She looked puzzled and a tad worried. "Okay… is everything alright?"
He nodded. "Goodnight."
He walked up the stairs and past her and Ginny, ignoring the latter, still forcing himself not to think about her in that dress.
XXXXXX
Draco watched from the kitchen as Weasley came out of the fireplace, watched Blaise's expression as he saw her, and watched him place the necklace around her neck, before they both turned red and Weasley practically fled.
He was about to emerge from his hiding spot in the kitchen when Granger and Weasley came down the stairs together. Draco couldn't help but doing a double take when he saw what Granger was wearing. It was short and purple and undeniably hot.
Everyone knew she looked good in pink and purple since the Yule Ball in fourth year, and it seemed she was using that to her advantage again tonight, with a dress of purple and her hair swept over her shoulder in curls. She and Blaise were conversing, before she sat down and slipped on a pair of even more purple shoes, making her legs look almost sinful.
Draco stared until they left the house, then mentally slapped himself. Ridiculous. Granger was Granger, who cared what she looked like?
It was the same argument he'd had with himself through a lot of Hogwarts, especially at the yule ball and Slughorn's Christmas party, where he'd caught a brief glimpse of her as filch hauled him into the room.
Leaving his lurking place, he headed upstairs to find his housemate.
"Hey." He knocked on his friend's door. Blaise was lying on his bed staring moodily at the wall.
"Hi."
"Granger and Weasley going out I see?"
"Mhm."
"What's up with you?" Draco scowled.
"Nothing."
"Is it anything to do with the puppy dog looks you were giving Weasley?"
Blaise finally looked at him properly, a glare on his face. "What?"
"Oh come on, you think she's hot," Draco said easily.
"Oh." Blaise looked relieved. "Yeah."
"Me too. In fact, I thought I'd have a go with her…" Draco egged, knowing this was the only way to get Blaise to spill.
"Don't you dare!" his darker friend snapped. "Don't you touch her."
Draco smirked. "Wasn't going to."
"Should've known. You always were a prude." Blaise glared at him, but it was more resigned than angry this time. "I don't want to talk about it."
"But you admit there is something to talk about."
Blaise nodded curtly. "End of conversation."
"Fine," Draco shifted his shoulders.
"I need a drink. Let's get out of here." It was said suddenly.
Draco unhitched himself from the wall and shrugged. "Okay."
"There's a new club here in London," Blaise nodded, getting off the bed and removing his shirt, before rifling through his cupboard to find a new one.
Draco rolled his eyes. "See you in a few minutes."
He returned to his own room and looked through his wardrobe. Draco normally hated going out. He'd prefer to sit at home and drink with a couple of friends than go out and dance. The pounding of the music always irritated him. But Blaise was in a mood, and Draco figured he might as well go. He didn't exactly know what to wear, though. Blaise usually went for the extravagant 'here I am, ladies!' look, but that was not at all Draco's style.
In the end, he donned a simple black button down, refusing to act like a girl on a date and hover over different options.
He emerged from his room to find Blaise waring an olive green shirt, open at the neck, with his hair gelled into spikes, waiting impatiently. "Hurry up!" he whined.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Let's go."
They left the house and made in the direction of the new pub, Blaise walking quickly and Draco upping his pace to keep up with his fried. "Why do you want to go to the pub so badly?" he muttered.
Blaise shrugged. "Heard there's good booze."
"There's good booze in the house." Draco snorted.
"Okay, maybe I felt like following the girls," Blaise admitted, not looking at Draco.
"What?" he growled, just as Blaise stopped in front of a new building Draco hadn't seen before.
His friend shrugged and they joined the few people wandering inside.
Draco looked around and sighed internally. It was much too 'wow factor' for him. There were weird pulsing lights and girls dancing on tables and a stage with a band signing, not to mention the wall long bar with four bartenders.
"What ever happened to a quiet beer at the Leaky?" he grumbled under his breath.
They sat down at a table and a scantily dressed witch took their order before whirling away.
"I cannot see Granger and Weasley coming here," Draco commented, glancing around.
Blaise was frowning. "You're right. They have too much 'girl power'" he sketched the words with his hands, "to come to a place where we're served by hookers."
Draco rolled his eyes. "I was going to say because Granger's too much of a prude and Weasley's too poor to afford any of these drinks, but say what you will."
Blaise glared at him briefly, but was distracted with the arrival of his firewhisky.
"Maybe I was wrong and they aren't here," Blaise said finally, after a few minutes of looking around at the other tables.
"Or maybe they are." Draco nudged his friend.
Blaise turned and they watched Granger and Weasley enter the club with a few other girls, the seven of them already looking like they'd had a bit to drink.
"Must have made a stop along the way," Blaise commented, his eyes on Ginny Weasley.
Draco, who was watching Granger, nodded absentmindedly before downing some of his scotch.
"By the way, Hermione told me you got really drunk a couple of days ago and she had to make you a hangover potion. I hope you thanked her." His dark friend said out of the blue.
Draco grunted. He didn't do thankyous. They were unnecessary. She wouldn't have done it if she hadn't wanted to, he hadn't forced her, and so he felt no need to thank her.
"You didn't, did you?" His friend was still watching Weasley.
The girls were now sitting down at a table which one of the dancing girls stood upon, while another girl dressed in the same scanty uniform as the one that served their table, was taking their orders. He could see Hermione and Ginny talking. Or rather, giggling, with a blonde next to them.
"Isn't that Estella?" Blaise asked, squinting.
"Who?"
"Weasel's fiancée," Blaise answered, still squinting at the girls.
Draco shrugged, not having met the girl.
"You never thanked Granger!" Blaise said suddenly, returning to his original point. "Go over there now and thank her. I'll come too."
Draco looked suspiciously at his friend, who'd been refilling his firewhisky constantly. He knew an excuse for Blaise to chat up a girl when he saw one, but he smirked as he thought of the ear chewing Weaslette would give him. "Yeah." He shrugged. "Let's go."
Blaise grinned and rose to his feet. The two of them picked their way around a few other tables, before they reached the one full of giggling girls.
"Hey!" Blaise grinned at them all. "Wassssup?"
The girls looked up. A few of them gave each other looks, while one of them ignored Blaise and eyed Draco, smirking. The last two exchanged a look, and stood up. "What are you doing here?" Granger snapped, looking at him.
"Yes, what ARE you doing here? Stalking us?" Weaslette hissed at Blaise.
The other girls all looked at each other and whispered excitedly.
Blaise grinned lazily. "We wanted to see our favourite girls and tell them how lovely they look tonight. Right Drake?" He nudged Draco, who was still looking at Granger.
"Hm? Right, yes." He agreed, earning himself a spiteful look from the brunette.
"You're Draco Malfoy!" One of the girls said suddenly, standing up. It was the same one that had smirked at him a minute ago. She had smallish eyes and wasn't very pretty in Draco's opinion.
He waited for the sneer and the nasty comment, perhaps a drink thrown at him. It was what he'd been getting before he left for France.
Instead, the girl smiled at him. "You're even better looking in person," she almost purred.
Taken aback, Draco glanced awkwardly away… and saw Granger's face. She was glaring at the other girl, dislike showing in her eyes. Somehow, probably because he'd been drinking, this gave Draco what seemed to be an amusing idea at the time.
"Why thank you," he said in his best modest voice, stepping closer to Granger, who looked at him curiously. "And what's your name? Any friend of Hermione's is a friend of mine." He grinned, sliding his arm around her small shoulders. She stiffened slightly, but her dislike of the girl seemed to trump her dislike of him. Oddly, he felt triumphant.
"Oh, you two know each other?" the other girl narrowed her eyes.
"Oh yes, the three of us live together." Blaise put in, wrapping his arm around Ginny, who rolled her eyes. "In fact, all four of us are… how do you say, bffs?"
The girl looked irritated. "Really? Hermy, how come you never mentioned this?"
Blaise and Draco looked to Hermione, who had been silent up until now and seemed to be internally debating whether she should play along or not. Finally, she said "Well we generally keep it quiet because Draco has all these weird followers that come to stare at him and he gets a bit creeped out…"
Draco swallowed a snort of laughter at the girl's expression. Blaise had no such qualms and sniggered quietly. Weasley and Granger traded loaded looks.
"Anyway, we're having a girl's night out, so you two can leave now," Granger shooed Blaise away before glancing at him. He wasn't sure what the expression on her face was, but she ended up saying "You too. Both of you, go away!"
Blaise sulkily walked away, leaving a chuckling Draco to follow him.
XXXXXX
Hermione was sipping her Elvish Elixir and listening to Naomi and Alexis chat about their irritating fiancé's with much mirth, when Ginny's arm slipped through Hermione's and pulled her away.
Reaching a dark corner, she stopped. "What was that before?" she asked, sounding impressed.
"What?" Hermione asked, frowning. Her head was pleasantly hazy and she couldn't remember what Ginny could be talking about.
"With Malfoy! You totally played along!"
"Well duh. It's Jan. I hate that bitch." Hermione said loudly, causing Ginny to laugh.
"I reckon you two could get along waaaaay better if you tried!" Ginny nodded her head furiously. "I mean, did you see him laughing at what you said! Besides," she giggled, "He's so good looking!"
"Gin, you're tipsy!" Hermione said in amusement. "You'd never say that sober!"
"Exactly!" Ginny gave a little jump. "That's why drinking is so fun! Because I can admit that Blaise looks so damn good tonight that I just wanna…" she made several motions with her hands which made Hermione's eyes widen.
"Oops! He's your fiancé Sorry!" Ginny grinned, not sounding sorry at all. "So, Blaise or Malfoy? Who'd' you rather shag?"
Hermione started to laugh. Ginny was right, this was funny. "Neither! Malfoy's a dick and Blaise… I do not see him that way!"
"So you Malfoy in that way but his dickness gets in the way?" Ginny raised her eyebrows and nudged Hermione.
"Ha, ha hilarious!" Hermione said sarcastically. "And dickness is not a word. I'm going back to my drink."
She marched back towards the table in the direction of her drinks, only to walk straight into… "Hey! What are you still doing here?"
Malfoy smirked at her, the lights making his hair shine different colours.
"Blaise wanted to keep spying on you two, so…" he shrugged.
She scowled at him.
"Oh come on Granger, you didn't mind me an hour or so ago." He said easily, smirking again.
"Yes because Jan was drooling all over you, the bint," she said darkly, rolling her eyes. "Anything to put her in her place."
"Jealous of her?" He grinned. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"I am not. I have no reason to be. She's unintelligent and our boss likes me better!" she said childishly, her drink making her say things she normally wouldn't. "Besides, did you see the look on her face when she saw you?" she giggled, almost forgetting who she was talking to.
Malfoy was leaning against the wall, a slight smirk on his face, watching her almost thoughtfully. "You're a fun drunk. Granger," he said eventually.
She stopped giggling. "I'm fun anyway!"
He raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "Not that I've seen."
Her cheeks flared brightly suddenly, and her eyes shone with anger. "Well it's not like you know anything about me! How would you know if I'm fun or not when you never gave me a chance?" she said sadly.
He regarded her quietly again. "It's not like you gave me one either."
"I didn't march up to you and call you a mudblood," she snapped.
He shrugged. "Okay."
He went to turn away, but her hand snagged his sleeve. "Don't walk away from me!"
He turned around again, eyes flashing. For some reason, her mind jumped to Ginny saying loudly "So you see Malfoy that way but his dickness gets in the way?"
"Very well Granger, what would you like me to say?" he frowned.
"I don't know!" she snapped. "But how dare you say I never gave you a chance when you clearly hated me from the moment you first saw me!"
"I didn't hate you Granger." He said quietly.
"Okay, this is too weird for me," she said suddenly, changing her track and backing away. "You hate me. I hate you. That's it."
He looked slightly disappointed. "Okay."
She turned away, her head spinning slightly. Draco Malfoy had NOT just said that he never hated her. It had to be the alcohol.
"Ginny," she called, seeing her redheaded friend chatting with Meagan. "Let's go."
XXXXXX
A/n – I liked this chapter. It was fun for me to write, especially because Draco and Hermione had a civil conversation, and I find those (for obvious reason) easier to right because I don't have to keep coming up with insults and ways for them to get angry.
Review pretty please?
Lissa