Hermione breathed deeply and walked out towards the Quidditch pitch. Draco spotted her before Blaise did, and waved widely to her.
"Hermione! Come to join us for a fly?" he teased.
"No!" Hermione squared her shoulders and forced herself not to get off track. Did Draco pout there for a second? No, she had to stay on topic. "I actually wanted to talk to Blaise about something." She attempted a smile, and Draco's pout turned into an intense frown, his shoulders slumped a little.
"Oh, that's cool," the blond said. She approached the taller boy, but as she opened her mouth to speak, Blaise held up his hand.
"Draco, the lady asked for some privacy," Blaise said. Hermione tried to protest, as there was no reason Draco should be specifically excluded, but Blaise didn't bother to listen.
Draco glared at Blaise from where he was fiddling with a Quaffle, some five feet away, and didn't move. Blaise rolled his eyes.
"We'll talk in the stands, yeah?" he said, as he grabbed Hermione's hand and lead her towards the stands. She noticed a smirk on his face, but chose not to comment on it. She glanced back at Draco, who had taken the Quaffle up in the air with him, and was glaring at them and sneering.
"What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked. She took a seat next to Blaise.
"Oh, nothing. So what did you want to talk about?"
"I've noticed Theo's been looking… sad lately, and I'm beginning to think that something's wrong. I just have no idea what," she explained.
"You know Theo is gay, right? Like mega gay."
"Yes, I am aware of his sexual orientation. I also know it doesn't stop me from being his friend. I thought, since you're his best friend-"
"I'm what? I'm not his best friend. That's Daphne."
"You're not?" Hermione frowned. "But you might at least know what's up?"
"Nope! To be honest, I don't think he even tells Daph about any of that kind of stuff."
"But, he has to confide in someone."
"I really don't think so. He's a Slytherin. He probably keeps it in like the rest of us."
Hermione sighed, and neglected to voice her opinion of Slytherin coping mechanisms, though his statement likely wasn't far from the truth.
"You sure you don't know anything that might help?" she tried, one last time.
Blaise looked thoughtful for a moment, and let his gaze drift back to the pitch. In the stilled silence, she followed his gaze to where Draco was taking shots at the hoops with the quaffle. Each time he turned to retrieve it, he glared at Blaise. Draco noticed my staring and turned away.
"Well," Blaise finally said. "I don't think I can be of much help, but I can keep an eye on him."
"So there's nothing I can do?" Hermione let out a sigh.
"Why don't you try talking to Daphne? She might be a bigger help," he offered. Hermione nodded and tried not to grimace. Pansy and Daphne had teased her for years.
"I'll give it a shot. Thanks Blaise."
"No worries!" He said. He glanced over the pitch again, and then leaned in towards Hermione His face was close to hers, so their noses almost touched. He grinned.
We'll figure out what's bothering him and help. Don't worry too much about it," he whispered. A deep blush colored Hermione's face a bright pink. He leaned back again smirked at her reaction. He glanced across the pitch yet again and burst out laughing. Draco was hovering not too far away, though clearly out of earshot, as he was yelling, and Hermione couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Don't worry. I'm not gonna-" Blaise started to yell back, but stopped as the quaffle that hand been in Draco's hands hit Blaise square in the face.
"Oh my god! Blaise!" Hermione exclaimed. Draco flew over in a panic.
"I didn't mean to actually hurt you!" Blaise coughed, but otherwise looked okay.
"Why the hell would you do that?" Blaise spat out.
"You- you know exactly why," Draco said. "You were the only person I told about that."
"I was just messing around with you." Blaise took the quaffle and threw it at Draco's face in a smooth motion and it connected.
"Please stop hurting each other!" Hermione cried, but both boys were laughing.
"That's it. We'll settle this in battle!" Draco exclaimed.
Draco took off with the Quaffle tucked under his arm and Blaise summoned his broom from the field below , both completely forgetting about Hermione. She sighed and made her way back inside the castle. Slytherins were absolutely insane.
