The Initiation Chapter 26: Enlighten Me, a harry potter fanfic

Author's Note: Now

Author's Note: Now. The chapter we've all been waiting for. The revealing of Blaise's crush. The reason Draco is such an incredible ASS about his sexuality. A small, VERY SMALL, realization of not-exactly-platonic feelings. And the Harry/Ginny head off.

IMPORTANT: Okay, so the 'Blaise POV' section contains slash. As in male/male romance. It's actually longer then I thought it was when I wrote it (in the summer, I know, LONG time), and I'll mark where it begins and where it ends. However, if you're interested in what happens between the, give it a shot. It's just some snogging, nearer the end of the section. All it means if you skip it is that you don't get the complete details and the chapter will be shorter for you. MUCH MUCH shorter.

The start is Blaise POV. The end will be marked as END OF POV! Got it?

Disclaimer: I do not own it.

'Blah blah blah.' Is her writing in detention.

Blah blah blah are her thoughts.

Blaise POV

"So, can your remind me how you know Gavin again?" Harry hissed to Blaise as they neared their destination. He'd shown Gavin the passage, explained where he would end up and then they'd had to gone. They couldn't exactly show up from Hogsmeade later if Filch hadn't seen them leave.

"For the last time, we're friends from awhile ago and his parents are old friends with my father. But they don't see each other anymore." Blaise replied, "My mother doesn't like them." Harry recalled hearing about Blaise's mother, the famously beautiful one.

"So you're close?" Pansy asked curiously, she'd never actually met this person in Blaise's life before that year, and while they'd talked about him before, it was different knowing Blaise fancied him.

"How do I answer that? We've seen each other a lot more lately... But yeah, I guess we're close."

"So you're going to tell him, right? That you like him? And you're going to kiss him, right? That was the deal." It still amazed Blaise how casually and calmly Harry could bring this up; talk about it so easily. Especially after Draco's reaction. But then as had Harry said, he had experienced everything from Blaise's point of view.

"Well-"

"Come on Blaise, he's got to know." He was saved any kind of answer when they walked inside and Gavin waved them over, smiling. His stomach turned upside down and he fought to keep from grinning madly. He had light brown hair and grass green eyes. He was about an inch shorter then Blaise and had a bit more muscle. His grin was infectious and his voice was deep and warm, it made Blaise's heart rate speed up.

"Hey, Blaise." He smiled, "Harry, Pansy."

"Hi Gavin." Blaise said, sliding into a chair across from Gavin, beside Harry. "Is there anything new with you?"

The other boy shrugged, "Loads of homework."

"I think the teachers are trying to drown us in it," Blaise nodded, "Snape gave us an essay for three rolls of parchment!"

Gavin laughed softly; it made Blaise's stomach twist. The subject changed abruptly when he said, "One of my friends told me you've been looking upset lately." He pretended to be interested in his spoon and then looked up, watching Blaise intently.

"What? Who said that?" He felt his skin grow warm, one of the more embarrassing side effects of having Gavin focus on him.

"Just a friend. Apparently you look like 'a nervous wreck that could break into hysterical lunacy at any point in time.' Something wrong?"

"Such a nice description." Blaise said dryly. Gavin said nothing and he went on slowly, "Draco and I had a row."

A guarded look crossed the blonde's face, "You and Draco had a row? Must have been pretty bad if you're that upset."

Blaise sighed, thinking of Draco wrenching his arm away. "Well yeah. He's my best mate."

Harry nudged Blaise from under the table with his foot, but when he glanced at him the raven haired boy was looking away. "Do you want a drink, Harry?" He covered up, thinking of a reason for his unexplained glance.

"Sure, butterbeer." Harry replied, Gavin and Pansy both asked for the same. Blaise went up to buy the drinks, trailing his fingers across the table as he walked. They grazed Gavin's and he pulled them away quickly, hiding his blush.

The walk away from the table set him in a bad mood. He was the one friends with Gavin, why did he have to be the one to leave? And then his mind reminded him that the reason he felt that way was because if he had a choice, they would not be just friends. That just darkened his mood.

He grew impatient as he watched Harry and Gavin talk about something that was evidently funny, since Gavin laughed. Hot jealousy pooled in his stomach and he tried to convince himself to be reasonable. Really, they weren't even dating or anything.

When the barmaid handed the drinks he took them quickly and strode over to the table, annoyed with his uncontrollable feelings and that Harry had made Gavin laugh.

"Here," he shoved the bottle of liquid at the Gryffindor harder then necessary, handed the other to Gavin and slid Pansy one across the table.

"Thanks, man." Gavin said, popping the lid off it and taking a drink. "How long are you and Harry stuck together?" Blaise lost his train of thought as the blonde licked his lips, momentarily losing his head as it was filled with mist.

"And Pansy." Harry put in, noticing his lapse in responding.

"Don't forget me." She said.

Blaise turned his bottle thoughtfully, tearing his eyes away. "We don't really know. It could be awhile. You know it's sort of a drag, being stuck to someone."

"Yeah," Harry chuckled. "Er, I'll be right back." He stood up abruptly, excusing himself to use the bathroom. As Blaise watched him he turned around and widened his eyes in a do it kind of way.

"Yeah, I have to touch up my, erm, lip gloss." Pansy mumbled, grabbing her purse and hurrying away. His palms were getting sweaty and he forced himself to meet Gavin's intense stare. The brunette's eyes met his and he felt his blush intensify.

"Are you okay?" Gavin asked, looking concerned. "You look kind of sick."

"I think I need some air," Blaise gasped, staggering to his feet. He felt dizzy, and realized that he probably loved Gavin.

"Blaise?" His hand reached out and grabbed Blaise's forearm to steady him. The contact sent Blaise's insides to shreds and all he could do was nod and get out of there as fast as he possible. Thankfully, the alleyway between the two buildings was not too far from Harry or Pansy that there would be a flying incident, as he had taken to referring to the time in the Great Hall that Draco and Hermione had crashed into each other midair.

Gasping for breath, he leaned against the side of the building, where no one could see him. He released it in short puffs, forming frosty clouds in the cold air. Shivering, he regained his composure. It had never felt like that, being close to someone he fancied. Which, he realized, he hadn't even really done. He'd had small attractions, but nothing with this intensity.

"Blaise," Gavin had evidently decided to follow him, "Do you want to go back to the school? Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey."

"No. No I'm fine." He said, running a hand through his hair. I know exactly what she'd say. I was experiencing 'intense attraction', or something equally irritating and obvious. Maybe he should stop seeing Gavin, at least until his feelings got under control. His mind protested loudly against that idea. But he couldn't go on without saying how he felt, it was getting to be too much. At least when Gavin let him down he would know not to hope that there was even the slightest chance…

"Are you sure? What's wrong?" He was walking hesitantly closer.

"Nothing, forget it." Blaise answered dismissively. "I'm cold, let's go inside." He made to move around the other male, but one of Gavin's hand reached out and took his wrist, stopping him as their sides brushed together. "Don't," Blaise groaned as electric bolts flew through him, making his head spin.

"You can tell me." The voice was soft and reassuring, obviously mistaking his groan for one of discomfort. He couldn't help it. He relaxed against Gavin's side and let his hand slide into Gavin's, lacing their fingers together. As he turned back to him he saw Gavin's eyes widen. They were so close. Gavin's increasingly ragged breaths blew hot air across his cheek, not helping his control at all as pleasurable tingles shot through him. He was moving even closer. Blaise's heartbeat was pounding in his ribcage.

Gavin's eyes were wary as they searched his face, looking for a sign. For permission. Blaise gave it to him, stepping closer until their hips, chests, and foreheads were touching.

And then he was against the wall with Gavin's lips on his own, their bodies crushed together. Gavin's free hand (their others were still entwined) was in his hair, on his chest, fingering his belt buckle in a tantalizing way but never actually making a move to undo it. It both frustrated and encouraged Blaise; the kiss deepened. He was on fire. Blood was no longer flowing in his veins; it was flames, licking every inch of him, heating him until he would combust. But still, he was there, able to feel every twitch of Gavin's body against his own, every finger gripping his hair. He was drowning in the heat from their bodies. He couldn't breath, his head was spinning, he needed to breathe.

They broke apart, panting heavily. "Blaise?" Gavin's voice cut through his haze like a knife. "You-you're-"

"Yeah," he said breathlessly.

"I-I don't- I don't understand," his voice was ragged and Blaise leaned forward, closing the gap between their lips. Automatically, it seemed, Gavin responded. Blaise's hand wove back into his hair, pulling his head closer.

"I like you," Blaise murmured against Gavin's lips, the only thing he was able to say that was quite clear in his head. The rest as just a bunch of fuzz. "A lot."

Their lips connected again and they pushed ever closer to each other, if it was possible. The attraction to Gavin was now burning under his skin, causing a swelling bubble in the pit of his stomach. This was real. He was really there.

"We should stop," Gavin panted, pulling away, bit his lip and then kissed him again. A strangled noise escaped his mouth as Blaise ran a hand over his chest under his robes and he pulled away again. "I need to stop."

"Why?" Blaise mumbled, not relinquishing his grip.

"Because if I don't now," he gasped as Blaise's hot mouth found his neck and closed his eyes, "I don't know when I will."

"I don't care." He said stubbornly, removing his lips from Gavin's jaw line for a few seconds.

"Blaise."

Perhaps it was only that tone that caused him to actually realize that there were other things they should figure out. Like, for example, if they were going to be in a relationship. If they would tell anyone. If it was a fluke. He drew his hand away from Gavin's hair and leaned on the brick wall he was pressed against, taking deep, shuddering breaths. Gavin pivoted so he was standing beside him, their hands still linked between their bodies.

"So you… you like me?" Gavin asked, a slight hesitation in his words.

"Yeah." The fear of rejection began to course through his veins, what if Gavin didn't actually like him that way? What if he just hadn't gotten anything in awhile? He felt guilty for thinking it like that, but his stomach was twisting in vicious knots that had nothing to do with their interlocked hands. Well, not the whole thing.

"Do you have any idea how much I wished you were going to say that? I thought it wasn't possible, you know, and I thought I was going to screw things up just now." Gavin said, "Because I like you too. More then I should." Relief shot through his body, so much that he sighed and leaned his head against the wall.

"So you want to, you know, be, er, together-then?" Blaise asked, all his boldness was gone from their snogging and he was feeling quite shy. He'd never actually kissed a boy before, and now that he had it seemed quite obvious that he had missed out on something. He just didn't know how to actually go about this type of thing.

Gavin's hand found his and he squeezed it, "I do." This sent tingles through his skin again, though not so strong he wanted to snog him senseless. Hopefully there'd be other opportunities. "Who knows? About you?"

"Draco, Pansy, Harry and Hermione. My parents." He said softly, his fight with Draco coming back strongly.

"Are they all okay with it?" Gavin asked cautiously, aware that this was a tense subject.

"No." He said, "My parents don't care, quite shockingly enough, but they don't address it at all. Hermione and Harry are fine. They've been so great about it and everything. Pansy is delighted, I think she sees this as the reason I was never attracted to her. But she's happy for me, I think. Draco-"

"Is not." Gavin said grimly, his body stiffening.

"Not really," Blaise laughed humorlessly, concealing a sob behind his words, even though he felt it was quite obvious to Gavin how he was feeling about it.

"Maybe I should talk to him," he said, his voice sounded threatening, like he thought there wouldn't be much talking involved. More like beating to a bloody pulp.

"No," Blaise said. "He's still my best mate, even if he… doesn't agree-"

"What the hell are you talking about? How can he be your best friend if he's totally not ok with this? This is part of who you are, that's not going to change. Obviously he's hurt you pretty bad, so why the hell are you convinced he's going to 'come around' or something, or that you can ignore this? Because you can't."

"I don't know," his voice cracked and he stopped speaking.

Quite obviously, Draco had hurt him and he really wasn't over it. Obviously he'd be a bit out of everything, first he was agonizing over his unexplainable feelings that he didn't understand and couldn't get rid of. That was last year. He'd told his parents, who had actually been sort of supportive. Then he'd suspected it was all some kind of fluke, because he hadn't felt anything in awhile. And then Gavin had surfaced and he was hit with them again, only then realizing he couldn't ignore them.

And then he thought Harry might have started suspecting, what with him seeing Blaise staring at Gavin and how he blushed upon contact and, more recently, the mention of his name. Pansy didn't really pay attention, too caught up in her own little world. Draco and Hermione were too busy always trying to figure out what they were doing to each other and screwing up their relationship again and again to pay much attention to what went on with him, Harry and Pansy. Then the potion happened, and obviously Harry felt everything.

"I'm sorry," Gavin whispered.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I think we should go."

As if on cue he heard the sound of a bell, the kind that rang when the door to a shop opened. Harry and Pansy came around the corner, curious looks on their faces. They caught sight of them, began to grin furiously and stopped. "Sorry, should I-"

"Naw, we were just saying we should get going anyway." Gavin said, squeezing Blaise's hand and then dropping it. "If people don't know, we should wait until you're ready to say something about it."

"Thanks," Blaise said, his voice was hoarse and he cleared his throat noisily. "Are you going back to the castle or-"

"Are you doing anything, you know, important? Or can I stay with you?" Gavin asked casually and watched Blaise intently.

"We're going to The Three Broomsticks to meet a few other friends. Do you want to come?" He asked brightly.

"Sure."

Blaise smiled shyly and they turned to walk back into the little restaurant. And suddenly, in the course of five minutes, everything seemed so much prettier. He stole a glance at Gavin out of the corner of his eye and then grinned when he found that his boyfriend- it felt really awesome to be able to think that word- was looking at him as well.

END OF POV

Hermione and Draco were currently walking into Honeydukes. They'd gotten up and she'd seen Blaise off with a bright grin and a saucy wink (she was feeling uncharacteristically cheerful that morning, though perhaps it was because of the event that had occurred the previous night).

Hermione rested her head on Draco's shoulder, feeling too pleased and happy and content to be embarrassed. And then a new emotion bubbled gently, as though it had been simmering in her for awhile and was now being recognized. She froze when she let itself fill her. It was affection. But different that what she felt for Harry and Ron. Not just in intensity. It was…did she fancy him? No. No, surely not.

Maybe it was a fluke. She could just be feeling out of sorts and just didn't understand what she was feeling. That was it, yes.

"Granger." It so soft and so amazing that she looked up at him and stared. "Can you let go of me."

She leap away from him and covered her face with her hands in a desperate attempt to conceal her intense embarrassment. Yeah, it was back. "I'm sorry. I was, erm, well I was just-!"

He stared at her, one lip quirked slightly upward. "I know. I don't much mind when you're just-!" He sauntered to his room and then looked back at her. "And I most certainly do not mind when you use me as a teddy bear, though I'd rather to be on something softer. A couch, or a bed, perhaps."

She decided she probably wouldn't mind that either. And then quickly edited that out of her thoughts. Actually, she'd hesitated for a second, mulled over the obscurity of it and then edited it out.

Then she slowly walked upstairs, 'Sense and Sensibility' in tow and sat on her bed.

And then she smiled and spent the rest of the evening remembering his warm arms. And editing it out.

She did not fancy him.

"Anything in particular you want?" He asked her and they moved over to inspect a large collection of Icy Sugar Quills, which would numb your mouth and then pleasantly shoot forth bursts of sugary sweetness. Or so the sign said.

"Chocolate, perhaps." She said and they walked over a little ways so she could inspect the chocolate. Eventually she picked out a box of assorted chocolate and read the label, making sure there were no raspberry creams or something equally horrific. She wasn't very fond of chocolates with fruity flavoring, and had actually taken to avoiding blueberries ever since Draco had told her he was allergic.

And for the strangest reason, being most specifically not because she fancied him, she didn't even have the urge to slip him something with blueberry in it so his face got hives all over it, or his tongue swelled, or anything embarrassing and potentially dangerous.

She paid and stood beside Draco as he bought some chocolate as well, and then they left together. Slowly they strolled down the street in companionable silence. "Granger?"

"Yeah?" Her stomach was doing flip flops and she scolded herself. Why are you acting this way? You don't even like him!

He looked calmly at her. "What time do we have to be at The Three Broomsticks?"

"Oh, erm," she tried to remember. "Twelve O' Clock?"

"We've got about ten minutes. We could walk very slowly." He chuckled slightly and she smiled, wondering if her heart had always jumped this irregularly around him.

"I suppose." She replied, "And do what?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Talk, obviously. I didn't know it was such a foreign concept."

She shrugged. "I didn't know you were capable of having a conversation with someone that didn't involve you being an arrogant ass."

He smirked. "I do try."

"I didn't know you were capable of actual effort." She rolled her eyes and Draco laughed.

"Life is more interesting with you around, Granger."

She blushed heavily and looked away, furious with herself. You don't even like him!

Unknown to her, Draco had looked in the opposite direction and rolled his eyes at himself. Why did you say that?

"Erm…thanks." She said and they walked on in silence, both feeling horrifyingly awkward. "Why did you act like that to Blaise?"

"What?" He looked at her, surprised at her abrupt question.

"Why are you so unkind to him about his sexuality?" She looked away from him and switched the bag from her right hand to her left.

"I…He's my good friend." He started lamely. "I've been living with him for nearly six years, and he's been keeping this from me all along? Our other roommates, how are they supposed to feel? My father-"

"It's about your father?" She snapped, angered on Blaise's behalf. "You've just turned away possibly your best friend because of your father?"

"You don't understand." He snapped back, "Purebloods are supposed to be the elite of society. We're raised being told that we're going to get married to a wealthy, pureblood woman and then have an heir to our fortune to continue on the line of our families. Being attracted to males is wrong. How do you make an heir with another male? You can't."

"That's a bit rich." She snarled. "So you could never be with someone who wasn't pureblood because your line would be impure? That narrows down your marriage options a bit."

"I don't get to decide who I marry. Custom shows that my parents pick several young woman of appropriate blood once I've graduated and I'm supposed to pick one."

"You don't even have a choice?" She was horrified. Of course, people had been heard of having arranged marriage, but this just seemed much more awful then Mrs. Pestel's daughter being married to someone from out of the country so she could go to an expensive college.

"I get to choose between several women, I just said." He said impatiently. "That's more then most families give their children."

"And how do they choose the women? Prettiest? Best at sex? Most wealthy?" She asked quietly, her previous anger replaced by a churning emotion in her stomach.

"They ask me." He replied in the same tone, stealing a glance at her. "They will consult me about which woman I know, have heard of, then make me meet before they officially include then. Though it does not appear so, little of what my parents do is not for me."

"Really? What of the scars all over your back?" She asked and pretended not to notice the offended look on his face.

"My father…" He sighed. "It's personal, but my father…Over the summer, Blaise, Theodore, Crabbe, Goyle and I were taken with the Death Eaters to a raid on a small village. They gave us cloaks, but no masks and told us to kill all that got in our way. It was…chaos. I saw a man, perhaps my age now, holding a woman and a child to him as he tried to fend off the Death Eaters. We all saw it, it was nearly the end of the battle –though you couldn't call destroying a muggle village with magic a real battle. He saw me. I know he did, and he looked at me and screamed for help.

"I wanted to. Merlin, Granger, I wanted to run over there and help him. But I couldn't, or I would be killed. Strangely enough, I thought of Potter right then, and a little voice in my head told me that Potter would have saved them. I was dragged forward with the others, and they ordered us to kill them. I couldn't… The Death Eaters…one of them killed the man. He aimed for the woman and he jumped in front. And…Father apparated both Blaise and I to the manor, and as did Nott, Crabbe and Goyle's fathers.

"That's why he hurt me. He was angry and scared. He told me. I'm their only son, Granger. It doesn't mean I'm just an heir."

"Oh." Had the story not been so depressing and interesting, she would probably still be reveling in the glee that he had told her it was personal, and then proceeded to tell it to her with almost no hesitation. "That's…"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Do…" She began cautiously."Do you want to be a Death Eater?"

He stared at her intently and then, to her intense disappointment, they were at the Three Broomsticks and walking through the doors. "Stop for a second." She said and turned to face him, finding that he was a bit close for comfort. "If you treat Blaise like you did yesterday, I'll-I'll- well I'll do something you won't forget."

He nodded rather then reply, his eyes trained over her shoulder and she turned. His eyes were focused on a table not to far away where Harry, Blaise, Pansy and someone she didn't know were sitting. She did know, however, that he was extremely good looking.

They slowly walked over to them, Hermione both trying to distinguish from their body language when they realized Draco was there, and exactly how comfortable Blaise was with the other male at that moment.

"Oh, Hi Hermione." Harry said when he saw her and ignored Draco completely.

"Hello." She smiled brightly at them, her eyes lingering on Gavin a second too long for Draco's liking.

"This is Gavin Lembargo." Blaise hurriedly introduced and blushed a little. "Gavin, this is Hermione Granger."

"It's a pleasure." She said cheerfully and they sat down at the end of the table. "So how is everyone?"

"Good." Was the general reply and she nodded, trying to wrack her brain for something else to talk about. No way was she letting this get awkward.

"When is the next Quidditch game?" She asked and watched nearly all the table's occupants' eyes lit up.

"The Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw game is in a few weeks." Harry said and Draco nodded empathically.

"And the Gryffindors are going to get their asses kicked." He smirked at Harry, who glared.

"Just like the Slytherins have been trying for years, right?"

"Without you they wouldn't have a chance. And you win by pure luck." Draco snapped.

"You know Malfoy, catching the snitch isn't pure luck. That's what Seekers are supposed to do, though I doubt you've realized that since you haven't done it yet. Or are you just that bad?"

Draco flushed lightly.

"The Gryffindors are formidable opponents, but you'll notice Slytherin wins all their other games." Everyone turned to Hermione in surprise, because the defense had come from her and not Draco.

"Aren't you a Gryffindor?" Gavin asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes. So?"

"You just defended a Slytherin."

"Inter-house unity is not a crime." She said tersely and then quickly added, "I can like who I want, and be friends with who I want." She didn't want Draco to think she was only being friendly because of Inter-house unity. No, because its really because McGonagall asked me to.

She banished that thought.

Gavin nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment a woman popped out of nowhere and asked what they were going to order. It was strange, really, how you could forget you were in a restaurant, bar, diner, whatever, and then a waiter would appear and you would be startled.

She mulled this over and concealed a blush by leaning forward to get her glass when Draco took off his coat and his hand brushed her side. Her skin burned and she pulled away from him. She did not like him!

Pansy brought up the subject of Professor Candy, and she was talked about until their food arrived. Strangely, Hermione couldn't find anything to contribute to the conversation and sat in silence. Draco was silent too, though probably because of the company, and shot her three looks until they began to eat.

Not that she counted.

To focus on something besides Draco –she'd noticed that her mind centered around him more lately- she decided to look around at everyone at their table and try to determine what they were thinking. It was something that sometimes amused her.

Pansy was smiling lightly, though it was more of her lips turned up slightly. She would look at Blaise and Gavin and then down at her plate, frown slightly and then sighed. Hermione guessed (she might not be accurate, but fancied herself pretty good at this) that Pansy was wondering if she would find someone she liked as much as Blaise did.

Harry was looking anxious and shredding up a piece of bread, frowning at his plate. She couldn't find an explanation besides his usually moodiness, and was disappointed with herself. Unless it was something with Ginny.

Gavin and Blaise were talking animatedly and she'd seen (after dropping her fork and bending over to pick it up) that they were holding hands under the table. Both looked a bit awed by the other. She took this to mean that they were together, and were surprised by this turn of events, while they were infinitely happy with the development.

She turned to Draco and was startled to find him looking at her. She held his gaze for a second and felt a jolt in her stomach. Perhaps this food wasn't agreeing with her.

She pushed away her plate and opened her purse and dug out a few sickles to pay for the meal. "You want to leave?" Draco asked her softly and she nodded.

He paid for his meal without another word and she said goodbyes to the table's occupants. They walked out, side by side, and she tried to quench the feeling of relief that came with being alone with Draco, and not with other people and him.

It was a strange sensation, really. Wanting to be with your friends, but once you got there all you could think about was one person and how much you wanted to leave. It was difficult. Every time she was with Draco she was, for the most part, happy, even though she still yearned for her friends' company. When she was in their company, she wanted to be alone with Draco.

"Do you want to go back to Hogwarts?" He asked her, his tone a bit more light then it had been inside.

"Yeah." She said and they walked up to the castle, talking amiably about nothing in particular, but meaning everything words alone couldn't describe.

That evening at dinner, Hermione felt terribly drained. She and Draco sat down and when he asked if she was alright she nodded. She probably hadn't slept very well the previous night, she couldn't quite remember.

She looked up when the doors to the Great Hall opened, and she smiled when she saw Harry, Pansy and Blaise walk through, all looking cheerful. Actually, Harry looked quite nervous about something, and the other two seemed to be egging him on.

He nodded, and looked over to the Gryffindor Table. Hermione followed his line of sight and focused it on-Ginny. She turned back to Harry, who was taking purposeful strides towards the girl (who looked up suddenly and saw him).

Before she could count to three he was at the red-head's side, who looked up at him. And then, so quickly Hermione could only gape, Harry leaned down and kissed her!

Harry kissed Ginny!

She stared in surprise as Ginny stood up and Harry straightened, his arms wrapped around her waist and hers went to his neck.

Someone wolf-whistled. People clapped and she began to smile.

Ron was gaping at them, his mouth hanging open and she laughed out loud, unconsciously gripping Draco's hand as she watched Harry finally do something he wanted.

The couple broke apart, both beaming and then Harry, seeing every eye in the hall on them, blushed heavily. Ginny merely looked around challengingly at the people in the Hall (particularly a girl named Romilda Vane, who had shown an uncommon interest in him that year).

Hermione sighed happily and turned back to her meal. That was when she realized she was holding Draco's hand, and turned quickly. He was looking down at his plate, blushing slightly. Like she'd been burned, she ripped her hand away and looked away.

"So…" She began lamely and coughed. "Detention tonight."

"Yeah." He answered. "7:00."

"Mmhmm." She replied uneasily and shifted. "This is a good salad."

Draco frowned. "You're eating kidney pie."

"Oh." She looked down to find that, indeed, she was eating kidney pie. "I see."

"Are you finished?"

"Yes." She said and leapt to her feet. "Yes, that is a good idea. We should leave for detention now."

Draco nodded, still looking faintly amused and followed her out. "Feeling okay, Granger?"

"I'm fine." She said forcibly. "Absolutely fabulous."

He grabbed her elbow and pulled her around gently. "Really?"

"Yes." She said and avoided his eyes. "Leave it."

He nodded reluctantly and they walked on in silence. A very awkward silence on Hermione's part. She snuck a glance at Draco and then sighed loudly.

It was going to be a long night.

As it turned out, Vector made her write lines. 'I will not ever disrupt the class again with my own personal conversations and/or distract others from their rightful education because of my own petty problems,' to be exact.

Draco sat in the chair across from her, his homework resting beside him and they both began to write. For a long while (Hermione filled up ten inches of parchment with her lines) no one spoke.

"So are you going to apologize to Blaise?" She asked conversationally.

"No." He replied and closed his Transfiguration book. "Why?"

"Because you should feel remorse for your actions." She said irritably. "Do you?"

"No." He shook his head. "I said what I wanted to say. He should apologize to me."

"You can't control who you love." She snapped. "Though your parents must be having a fair time trying to control who you do."

"Why are you so obsessed with that?" He asked, slamming open his Defense Against the Dark Arts book.

"Because it is not right!" She said loudly and lowered her voice as Professor Vector looked up from his desk. She scribbled down another line and then spoke more quietly. "If we wanted to be married, you wouldn't be allowed! That's not right. If you love someone yo-"

"Save me the Gryffindor chivalries." He said dryly. "You can't have everything in life you want, Granger. Not everything is as easy for purebloods as it is for half bloods or muggleborns. We have traditions to uphold. We do what we must for our family lines. You think it is simple. Its not. That's one of the reason muggleborns shouldn't come into our world. It must be simple for you to join in our lives and then tell us we're being irrational, and discriminating unrightfully for what has been sacredly upheld!"

"Really?" She whispered furiously. "How does your father react to the fact that he follows a half blood himself? Your precious Voldemort isn't pure."

Draco stiffened. "I don't believe you."

"Not surprising. I'm a muggleborn, aren't I?"

He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it. Feeling insulted –though she tried to convince herself that it had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn't defended her against her own verbal insult-she turned back to her parchment and didn't speak again. This never ending battle was, quite literally, never going to end.

At least she actually didn't fancy him, or it would be a lot more painful.

She accidentally wrote that down and blushed furiously, scribbling out the sentence until she went right through the soggy paper and onto the desk. Draco looked up when he heard the frantic scratching out but said nothing, wisely turning back to his essay.