Chapter 10

Hermione flew back from Milan. It cost a fortune due to the short notice, but she didn't care. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and the Slytherin creeps as she could.

Seriously, what else has she expected? What sane person wouldn't expect a Slytherin to turn on them. Now she would be heading home to the much deserved 'I told you so's'. With her own stupidity, she didn't deserve to be hurt, just disappointed in herself.

She arrived back at her flat at an indecently early hour of the morning and she was exhausted from lack of sleep. Although the exhaustion and her spinning mind refused to settle down for sleep, so she just lay there until it was dawn, when she got up and went to work. There was no point staying home and moping, better be distracted.

The distraction only worked partially, but her mind swung between sorrow and anger. Sorrow because it had seemingly been perfect, and anger because it had been an illusion that she had bought into hook, line and sinker. Perfection doesn't cut you off because a misunderstanding. And really, what do you mean to someone if they are willing to just jump to a conclusion without a chance to explore what was really going on. And even if she had been kissing Flint, on purpose, then wouldn't he want to know why or even to simply establish that she had been? It wasn't like he had seen it himself.

It didn't matter, she decided, what was done was done, and he'd shown his true colours. Colours that she neither respected nor tolerated. This was just going to be relegated to an embarrassing short chapter of her life that might occasionally be dragged out at dinner parties in the coming years, something along the lines of 'Oh, you dated Blaise Zabini at one point, didn't you?', to which she would respond 'I had a short lived experimental phase' like someone would describe a one off tangle with lesbianism.

And let's face it, it was so much better this way in the long run. It wasn't like she would ever be happy with the incessant focus on shopping, dressing up or the idea that one's worth was completely tied to family connections, wealth and exclusivity. Things that were in no way in her background or psyche, not to mention going against her core beliefs. It was actually a good thing this had happened, better sooner than later, she rationalised.

There was a knock on her door a few days later. She wasn't expecting anyone, but likely it was Harry.

It was Blaise, and she wasn't sure whether she was happy or not about it. Maybe he had some level of decency to actually say what he wanted in person. Although she might be better off just never seeing him again. She sighed and let him in. This was going to be awkward. Just one of those things you had to do like ripping off a bandage that had already served its purpose.

"Come in, I guess." She said.

He stepped into her apartment. The place he'd spent so much time, in which he was now unwelcome.

"I spoke to Flint, he confirms it was something he initiated." Blaise said.

"Really?" Hermione said. "I actually told you that, but I'm glad you finally got the story straight even though my word seemed to count for nothing."

"I'm sorry." He said and had the decency to look admonished. "But its all be straightened up. I've asked Flint to leave, and I want you to come back with me. I have a port key sorted, we can leave in a few minutes. We'll just put this behind us like it never happened."

"But it did happen Blaise." She said. There certainly was temptation in just going, 'ok, lets go', but she knew she couldn't just forget about it.

"But you weren't at fault. I know that, and I am sorry the whole thing happened."

"I'm not." She said.

He looked confused and suspicious. "How can you say that? You're glad he kissed you?"

"I am actually because it showed me what you are all about." She said. "I don't give a stuff about Flint or that fact that he kissed me. But what I do care about is that you failed on the first hurdle, the very first hurdle."

"How do you expect me to react when you're found kissing someone else?" He challenged.

"With a bit of faith, I guess." She said. "I'm just not interested in being with someone who is going to be suspicious every time I talk to another guy, or more importantly someone who assumes the worst of me. Find someone else."

"I'm sorry, I should have known you would never do something like that. Loyalty is very important to me and I reacted. I should have had faith in you."

"Loyalty is important to me too, and you didn't show any. And yes you should have, but as a result, I have now lost faith in you."

Her statement seemed to take him by surprise. She guessed the 'let's put the whole ugly incident behind us' was all he typically needed to say to a girl to get her to fall into his arms again, but she had higher standards.

"Come on," he said, "you don't mean that. We were great together. Don't give up on that too easily. Come with me, I'll make it up to you, I promise." He stepped closer to her. "Your comfort and pleasure will be one hundred percent of my focus. I will dote on you. Here, I got you something."

He pulled out a box. It was obviously jewellery, about the size of a bracelet.

You've got to be kidding, she thought to herself. She took the box and opened it, just see how much her compliance was worth to him. This was obviously the strategy for getting girls to forgive. The Slytherins bought things to get what they wanted.

It was very nice. An intricate silver design that obviously must have cost a bit.

"Its very nice." She said and closed the box. "But I think it would look better on someone else. Someone who would give it the appreciation it's due."

She gave it back to him.

"So, you're not coming?" He said with uncertainty. The genuine uncertainty that he hadn't really shown so far. So far, everything had gone to plan, he would apologise, she would sulk until she got the promised of attention and regard, and a token of his affection equal to the worth of her relenting. This was all standard MO, she realised, and it cheapened everything.

"No." She said. "We're done. Have a nice life."

Blaise showed surprise and she could see his mind working. She imagined that he was recalculating the worth of the required token.

"Just go." She said.

"I'll prove to you that I'm worth it." He said.

"You've already proven that you're not." She said and indicated towards the door, "Bye, you need to go. Don't want to miss that port key."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it, which she suspect was doing him some favours as anything he said next would probably make her despise him more.

He left her with a bad taste in her mouth. What in all heavens had she been thinking when she took up with him? He was all the despicable things the Slytherins were, why had she not seen that? Although she knew the answer, because he looked great, the sex was awesome and she really, really wanted to deceive herself into thinking he was more than he was. She really was the biggest idiot on the planet.

He returned back to England a week later, as had probably all of the Slytherin crowd. She saw him in court one day. He smiled at her and she made a pained smile back that in no way reached her eyes. Professional courtesy, she decided.

She didn't stick around to give him a chance to talk to her, instead strode back to her office to dump her things before going to the pub as was customary after a day in court.

She ordered a butterbeer and proceeded to take it the table where her colleagues were.

"He hasn't given up, you know." Someone said to her left, a disturbing familiar voice that her subconscious seemed to know. As a person stepped aside, she could see the black clad form of Draco Malfoy. Of all the cursed things, why do I deserve this?

"Doesn't matter." She said. "I've given up on him."

"He can be very persuasive." Malfoy almost purred.

"And I can be remarkably stubborn." She replied and it make him chuckle.

"Good girl." He said and she wasn't quite sure what he meant.

She didn't want to know. "Urgh." She said. "You know the best thing about not seeing him anymore, is that I don't have to see his friends. So scram."

"Now, now Miss Granger, we were getting on so well, not need to be nasty. This is a public space, you need to be a bit more tolerant."

"I'm not nasty, you are." She said with sharpness. "On an astonishing number of levels. And let's not even have the discussion on the virtues of tolerance. I am afraid you would be out of your depth."

"Here he comes." Draco said watching her. He had this awful habit of staring, probably some presentation of his belief that he is allowed to pin people with his own superiorness.

"Who?"

"Blaise."

Oh crap, Hermione thought and didn't quite know what to do.

"He is here looking for you." Malfoy continued in silky tones that conveyed his amusement. "Here to convince you of his virtues."

Hermione couldn't decide whether heading over to her colleagues was good, he would just come over, but what choice did she have?

Malfoy took her full glass of butterbeer gingerly out of her hand.

"He hasn't seen you yet, you can slip out the back and he'll never know you were here. Thanks for the beer." He continued with that infuriating smirk. She really didn't want to take his advice, just for the fact that he had solved her problem for her. It felt like she would owe him something, but that was the lesser evil of being pinned down by Blaise for the evening.

She huffed with annoyance and proceeded to sneak out the back door. She didn't even get a sip of her butterbeer and now she had practically bought Malfoy a drink. This sucked.