Recap of Chapter Nine

'This is going to overwhelm her,' he commented. He turned to the chapter on self-pleasuring and marked the page before returning the volume to Theo. 'Tell her to start with that chapter,' he advised. Then he sat in the chair next to Draco and took a moment to choose his words.

'Look, I get that you're unhappy with Theo because you think he's making a move on her. Well guess what, so am I. I've just had breakfast with her in the library,' Blaise raised his hand to forestall protests from his fellow snakes. 'I've got an idea, it's somewhat unusual but I'm just throwing it out there. What if we were to share?'

A/N: So today marks both a sad and a happy event, I've come to the point where there are too many reviewers for the last chapter to keep doing individual shout-outs for everyone, crumbs! So instead here are some special mentions: coyg81 (I'm totally fangirling all over you and on my knees to beg you to please put 'This Life' on ff, please, please, please! For some reason AO3 doesn't like my phone); GeekMom13; Lena2244 (you have given me giggles at the incongruous mental image of Snape leading a rendition of Kumbuya in the Great Hall….); bL00D pRINC3SS; pgoodrichboggs; and Dutchess of the Depraved.

I laughed at how many of you used the phrase 'sharing is caring', wow, I have such dirty – I mean warm and loving – readers ;-) You guys should check out coyg81's story, 'Draco's Surprise', it's scrumptious.

Chapter 10

'What the fuck? What the actual fuck, Zabini?' Malfoy yelled. 'She's not a bottle of firewhisky to be passed around,' he glared at his friend.

'Don't you think I bloody know that?' Blaise asked quietly, keeping his calm. He had expected a volatile response from Draco, he needed time to process the idea before he would react reasonably. He turned to look at Theo to read his expression.

'I won't say it hasn't crossed my mind,' Theo returned his gaze steadily. 'We've never cared enough about a girl before to argue over her, so we're in uncharted territory here. This would be a way to keep our friendship intact and keep her. That's assuming that she even wants us. We would need to tread carefully,' he mused.

'You're not wrong there. I made a suggestive remark this morning and she virtually ran for the library, that's why I went along with breakfast, to apologise and try to put her at ease with me again,' Blaise said ruefully.

'She's scared of sex, of close relationships and intimacy in general I think. Plus she's recovering from the war, it's going to take a long time,' Draco interjected, his face sombre. 'She still has the scars from Bella you know, it was a cursed knife,' he sighed as another wave of self-loathing rolled over him. Why hadn't he done something to stop her?

'Draco,' Blaise touched his arm, 'you couldn't have prevented that. Your aunt was one crazy bitch. If you'd tried to step in she would have tortured you or worse, then gone right back to torturing Hermione. You know that's true,' and he gave Draco's arm a sympathetic squeeze. 'Why don't we speak to Snape about it? It's possible that there's a potion out there which could help the scars,' he suggested. Draco and Theo both nodded in agreement.

'While we're at it I wouldn't mind asking my godfather why he set this whole thing up,' Draco gestured his hand to encompass the living space. 'With Severus there's always an ulterior motive, not that I'm complaining about it,' he smirked. His face changed as something occurred to him. 'I'm not shagging either of you, I have no leanings in that direction whatsoever,' Draco said vehemently.

'I wasn't suggesting it,' Blaise laughed at his friend's discomfort and grinned at Theo.

'I think we're all agreed that we're straight and don't harbour any secret crushes on each other,' Theo said firmly, his eyes still full of amusement at Draco's outburst. He thought for a moment. 'Look, I think you're both right about the book, though it pains me to say it. I'll keep it back for now. How about we spend the next few days just being with her, spending time with her after classes? I've already asked her about study sessions for Arithmancy, and seeing as we're all being forced to take Muggle Studies this year she might agree to tutor us. It should be easy enough to persuade her that it's quieter to work in here than in the library. That way we get private time with her and brownie points for wanting to put in extra effort to learn about muggle culture,' he reasoned like a true Slytherin.

'Easier than you think,' Blaise chimed in. 'I got her to admit that she's been avoiding the Great Hall because she's uneasy being in large groups of people, so even though she adores the library she'll avoid it at busy times,' he explained. 'By the way we're taking her down to lunch at 1pm. She doesn't want people grilling her about the war so I said she could sit with us at the Slytherin table if she wants,' Blaise finished.

'Oh yeah, and just what did our princess say to that little suggestion?' Queried Draco, eyebrows raised.

'She was more receptive than I thought, she found the idea of everyone else being scandalised rather funny. I think she'll do it,' Blaise returned.

'Excellent,' said Theo. 'That's even more time with her if we include mealtimes. We need to strike a balance between convincing her how blooming wonderful we all are and how she can't live without us, and giving her time alone so that she doesn't feel smothered,' he cautioned.

'I want to make another suggestion to our game plan,' Blaise announced. 'Remember what she told us about her dad reading to her? I think we should take it in turns to tuck her in at night and read her a bedtime story,' he proposed.

'Genius,' beamed Theo. 'She's craving affection and I'm guessing you guys want to fulfil that need as much as I do.' The other men nodded in response.

'I'll see if I can order those books she mentioned last night. What were they about again Blaise, some kind of bear?' Draco asked him.

'Poddington I think. No, wait…. Paddington, that was it. Paddington Bear. She'll love that,' Blaise smiled at the thought of reading to Hermione while she wore those adorable tartan pyjamas. Of course it would be a bit of an effort to rein in his carnal urges and restrict himself to a chaste goodnight kiss, but the endgame was worth going slowly for.

'Theo, you've been in her room, did you happen to notice if she had any of her childhood books in the bookcase? We could read her books from our own childhoods but they're bound to be different from muggle ones, they may not have the same comforting effect,' Draco queried.

Theo shook his head, 'sorry mate, I didn't get a chance to look at her books. If she had left them at home then they would have been vanished along with all of her other things when she wiped her parents' memories. Bloody heartbreaking,' he added quietly.

A minute later the silence was broken by Hermione's return. 'Hello,' she smiled, clutching a pile of books to her chest. Theo swiftly stuffed The Modern Witch's Guide to Pleasure down the side of the armchair before returning her greeting.

'Just in time for lunch. May I escort you to the Great Hall, princess?' Draco placed her books on the table and took her hand to lead her downstairs to eat. Hermione held his hand tightly and took a steadying breath, she could do this, even if the butterflies in her tummy disagreed.