A/N: I own nothing. Please enjoy!

Warning: There will be violence and blood ahead.

Draco felt nauseated. They had been in the café for only a couple of minutes and there was no sight of Hermione yet. Something in the blonde told him to flee, but Blaise had sat down right next to him and effectively blocked the exit. They had ordered tea, as it was prepared in a pot and would be ready, when the woman (or women, supposed the Italian) arrived.

"Nervous?" smirked Blaise, seeing his friend fidget.

Draco forced a matching smirk on his own face. "You wish." He would never admit the truth about his feelings just because they were friends. The habit of concealing his emotions behind meaningless words and actions was something he picked up during Hogwarts. It had proved useful in the war and he was certain it would help him now. All he had to do was break his ties with Hermione permanently, right?

The bell over the door chimed. The boys looked up, expectantly. Draco's breath hitched, as he watched Hermione enter. She was saying something to someone behind her. She laughed. "Mesmerizing," he found himself thinking and realizing how dangerously close he was to just saying it out loud, he bit his cheek and forced a sneer on his face. Blaise kicked him under the table and he grimaced briefly, but it was enough – she had not seen his sneer.

"Malfoy. Zabini." She greeted them, a hint of a smile still lingering on her face. Draco wondered what had made her so happy. "This is Fleur Weasley. I'm sure you remember her."

"Please, miss Granger," Blaise said smoothly. "Call me Blaise. After all, we've exchanged enough notes to be friends." He offered a charming smile that Hermione responded with one of her own. "Madame Weasley," he nodded at her companion too. He could feel his friend glare at him, but as usual, he shrugged it off. He had enough experience with Malfoy's glares.

"Call me Fleur," the blonde witch corrected him. Based on the "are you an idiot?" look on her face, Blaise guessed she sensed Draco too. He winked at her inconspicuously.

"If I'm going to call you Blaise," Hermione tried out his name. "You must call me Hermione. Same to you, Malfoy."

"You can call me whatever you want," commented Draco dryly, wondering about the notes Blaise had mentioned He had never told him about any exchanges he had with the witch. It angered him. As the Italian ordered tea for them, he sank deeper into his chair.

"Well, Draco," Fleur turned her attention to the male-veela. "How are you?"

"Alright, I suppose," he replied, sitting up straight again. Fleur had that look in her eyes that reminded him of his mother. He didn't bother to ask about her, but Fleur answered anyway, describing her wonderful children and their antics.

"So, Hermione," Blaise leaned forward in interest. "How's work?"

The witch stirred her tea with a spoon, waiting for the sugar cube she'd added to melt. "Flexible," she answered honestly. "I'm taking a break to focus on research. It's satisfying."

Blaise smiled wistfully. He understood the sentiment well. Their eyes met and Hermione blushed, taken aback by the intense look in his eyes.

"You look wonderful, by the way," Blaise mentioned almost offhandedly. "Light blue really suits you." He motioned towards her blouse which complimented her skin in this light. Hermione wasn't convinced he was paying her an honest compliment, but she thanked him nevertheless.

"Thanks." Her cheeks reddened even more. Blaise had always been lovely in their brief missives, but today, he was especially charming. It was easy to forget why they were even there. Hermione bit her lip and glanced at Malfoy who was sipping his tea quietly, pretending not to pay attention. Their eyes met for a moment and the man frowned.

"Malfoy, what's your favorite book?" Determined, Hermione turned away from Blaise to face the blonde.

"I don't have one," he answered without looking up. It wasn't exactly a lie. He had many.

"Did you read the book I sent you?" Hermione inquired, when he didn't say more.

"Yes." He looked at her, but didn't elaborate.

"Well?" Hermione tried to stay calm, but her face was beginning to show signs of her exasperation. "What did you think?"

"It was alright."

Hermione huffed. Blaise kicked Draco under the table and shot him a look. Draco shot one right back at him.

"Which book did you send him?" he inquired, stealing the woman's attention while Fleur leaned over to whisper something in his friend's ear.

"Matilda. Do you know it?"

"I do." Blaise lied smoothly and looked at Draco with pity. "It was a sweet story. Matilda reminded me of you at Hogwarts. And I really enjoyed the ending." He had found a summary of the book in an a muggle studies textbook, read it through and filed it away to use it to make himself appear more pleasant to Hermione.

The witch smiled brightly. "I've read it countless times." After a small pause, she added: "Same goes for Hogwarts: A History."

"Me too!" chipped the man enthusiastically. "Especially the Hogwarts: A History." A blatant lie – he hadn't even read it once. "I have the first edition at home." That was true and he hoped that this would spark Hermione's interest even more.

"Wow! I'd love to see that one!" she said cheerfully, but her voice wasn't full of sheer excitement as Blaise had expected it to be. "Old books are charming." But they were also delicate and it was impossible to read them at a fast speed without risking destroying them, especially when they were imbued with old magic. She had tried creating a charm that would protect the pages from getting ripped, but even with her mind, it wasn't much use, even if she had almost succeeded. Ancient magic was ancient. You didn't undo runes with spells. You didn't undo spells with runes (most of the time).

Blaise grinned. There was no hesitation on his face although the dark aura his friend had started to give off was starting to scare him. He leaned over and took Hermione's hand in his. It was softer and gentler than he had expected, filling his heart with warmth so suddenly that he almost lost his composure. He smiled nervously and tried to entwine their fingers, when the witch pulled her hand away. She didn't look at him, but her cheeks were pink.

Someone kicked him under the table. Blaise winced but because it couldn't have been Draco, he figured it was Fleur. The blonde witch glared at him, silently asking him to stop whatever game he was playing. But to Blaise, this wasn't a game. He didn't even spare her a look, keeping his undivided attention on the brunette in front of him.

"Draco's mother is hosting a charity ball. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me there?" he was totally serious. His heart skipped a beat, as he waited for Hermione to react. Someone took a sharp breath (Draco? Fleur? Or was it Blaise himself?).

Hermione frowned. If this was a trap, she wasn't going to fall for it. She was smarter than that. "Blaise, you are sweet, but you know that I can't. I've already agreed to be Malfoy's date," she said with a terse, but polite smile. She was flattered, of course.

Blaise was sure Draco could sense his heart breaking. If he was paying attention. The Italian hoped he was.

"Drake won't mind," he laughed awkwardly. He turned to face his friend who was angry beyond measure but who managed perfectly to hide his true feelings. "Will you?" Draco didn't answer. Fleur was about to intervene, when Hermione sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Blaise, but the answer is still no." She looked at him kindly. "It's not that I don't like you. You're charming and you know that. But my life is complicated now. I couldn't possibly drag you into this too."

"What if I want to be in this mess?" Blaise croaked, voice full of sincere desperation. Fleur suddenly felt sorry for him – she could tell he wasn't faking it. Whether it was veela intuition or just the sound of his voice, she couldn't tell. The sight in front of her was pitiful to say the least. What was Blaise's plan?

"Excuse us for a moment," she stood from the table and motioned the other woman to follow her to the ladies' bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, she turned around and gave Hermione a stern look.

"We don't 'ave much time," she said hurriedly. "You did a good job declining 'im. But you're not making any progress with Mr Malfoy."

"I know," huffed the brunette in annoyance. "I honestly just don't know how. He's so… distant. A stranger. Anyway, I'm pretty sure Blaise was just joking. He's that kind of guy, always making people laugh and all that."

For a moment, Fleur considered hiding the truth, letting her stay disillusioned. "All he said was truth," she blurted out before she could stop herself. Hermione's eyes widened in genuine surprise and Fleur added quickly: "And no, there's not a trace of love potion on him."

Hermione shook her head. "He's not stupid. He has had plenty of opportunities to invite me out, even before this thing with Malfoy happened. So why?" She furrowed her brows.

"There's a bigger problem. You need to show Draco that you're willing to try."

"I can't just force myself on him!" Hermione exclaimed, immediately frustrated by Fleur's words. It was obvious that Malfoy didn't want her help. He'd barely said a word, even when she'd asked him a question. "I don't even like him!"

"It doesn't matter!" Fleur's voice echoed in the empty bathroom. "He may not admit to it, but he's life depends on it."

The brunette's answer was just a whisper: "I know."

As soon as the two witches had left, Draco had stood up, careful not to flip the table. Blaise looked at him absentmindedly, so when the blonde's fist hit him straight in the face, he didn't try to fight back.

"You bastard," Draco whispered coldly, ignoring the blood on his hand. He was blinded by anger. "I trusted you!"

Blaise smirked, earning another punch in the face. It hurt like hell. He chuckled, as Malfoy hit him again, a vision of pure rage. Magic radiated off of him like never before. Sparks were flying. Blaise forced himself to focus on how Hermione's hand had felt in his, the warmth that enveloped his heart.

"Listen here," he slurred, blood mixing with saliva. The metallic taste in his mouth disgusted him, but he pushed it out of his mind. "Listen, do you..."

"What the hell are you doing?" Malfoy hissed through his teeth. Blaise groaned and a little bit of blood trickled down his cheek, evidence of the blonde's momentary lapse of self-control. He wiped it away with a sleeve and tried to get up.

"Do you feel that?" he coughed, wobbling as he tried to stand up straight. "The jealousy raging inside you? It's just a small taste of what's to come."

"Your future," he spat. His lip was bleeding too, Draco noticed. Blood and spit swirled in the Italian's mouth. He spat again. "Are you really going to act like this, whenever someone shows any interest in her? Rob her of happiness, if it isn't with you?" He would have smirked bitterly in that instant, if it wasn't for the pain. He wiped the blood from his face again.

He limped closer and bumped his fist against Draco's shoulder weakly. "Do you see now how dumb you're acting?"

Draco inhaled sharply, closing his eyes. His fists were balled into fists, but he could feel confusion overtake his anger. He felt shame.

The right thing… he thought bitterly. Why can't I ever do the right thing? He had made up his made that the right thing for him to do was to let her go, but even so, he couldn't stick to it.

"What's going on here?" Fleur's shrill voice interrupted them. Hermione gasped and rushed to the injured wizard's side, drawing her wand and casting a spell to stop the bleeding. Even though her movements were mechanical and well-trained, Blaise enjoyed the attention he was getting.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Was it really necessary?" The question was rhetorical, but both men answered "Yes." as if she'd addressed them.

"You're still using that perfume," Blaise spoke out loud, recognizing a scent that had haunted him for years. "The one you used at Hogwarts."

It surprised Hermione. "I'm not wearing any perfume," she was quick to deny, although it wasn't entirely true. Perhaps her shampoo had left a scent.

"Very lemony." Blaise smiled. "I like it." He glanced at his friend. Fleur had moved next to him and was telling him something in a voice too quiet to hear, even though they were close by. "Anyway, I'm sorry how this turned out. I should probably take Draco home. He needs to cool his head. He's a stubborn brat, but… he'll come to his senses." He leaned forward and kissed Hermione, before any of them could react. "Sorry for that," he added after the quick peck on her lips. "It's probably the only chance I'll get to do that."

Hermione nodded, unsure and surprised about his behavior. Blaise got up, grabbed Draco and flooed them away.

"I do like her," admitted Blaise once they were back in the manor, leaning his back against the cool stone wall. "But you're my friend, Draco. That's something important too. If I had to choose between yo and her, I would choose you. Great friends are harder to find than pretty and clever girls." He chuckled.

"I would choose her," Draco remarked honestly. "Even without the veela thing."

Blaise snorted. "I know. So I'm not making you choose."

"Thanks."

"You really need to stop being an idiot. Otherwise you're going to doom us all."

"Yeah right." Draco started walking away.

Blaise called after him: "I'm serious! Wonder Boy is going to have a field day if you keep this up!"

The blonde smirked. As if he'd ever let that happen again!