Hey everyone! First of all, thank you so much for the response to last chapter! I got some very nice reviews, and a bunch of new followers - we're over 100 now, which is AWESOME! Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter just as much. It was pretty fun to write!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all rights belong to JKR.

XXX

Ch. 7: You'd be Surprised

If you had asked me a month ago, "What's the worst turn your trip to Paris could take?", my answer would not have been, "living with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini while my attempted murderer was on the loose," simply because I never would have even imagined it, even in my wildest nightmares. Yet here I was, sitting at the kitchen table in the Zabini home in France, with Malfoy and Zabini whispering in the other room.

Once Malfoy and I had come to the unsettling conclusion that staying here – as temporarily as possible, of course – was my only option, I had asked to borrow an owl in order to pen a letter to Charlotte telling her to stay away from my hotel. I didn't want to tell her the truth, fearing that, like Harry, she would overreact and possibly endanger herself in the process. Instead, I made up some false story about a pest infestation taking over the hotel, and I told her vaguely that I would be staying with an old classmate nearby for the time being. I hoped desperately that she wouldn't look closely enough to poke holes in my story.

Signing the letter, I cast a quick drying spell over the ink, folded it and rose to bring it to Malfoy to send with his owl. However, as I approached the doorway leading back into the front room, I heard my name being tossed back and forth in hushed voices. Curiosity getting the best of me, I tucked myself behind the wall, listening closely to the two boys on the other side.

"This is bloody hilarious," Zabini was saying.

"Yes," I heard in Malfoy's trademark sarcastic lilt, "a killer is on the loose, what a riot!"

When Zabini spoke again, I could practically hear his eyeroll. "Okay, obviously that part isn't so funny, but, come on! This is Granger, the bane of your existence, the only thing that stopped you from being top in our year, the cause of so many of your rants back in the Slytherin common room, the -"

"I get the point, Blaise."

"Right, so this is Granger and not only do you save her life, but then you invite her to stay with us, while you two – what? Team up with the rest of the Scooby gang and solve the mystery?"

I rolled my eyes at the reference, but Malfoy clearly didn't understand. "The what?"

"You blood-supremacists really are missing out on some great pop culture," Zabini huffed. It was then that I recalled that, despite Zabini's pureblood and Slytherin status, there had been a television in the sitting room. "Anyway," he continued, "that doesn't matter. My point is that if fifth-year Malfoy could see you right now he would probably punch you in the face and ask what the hell is wrong with you."

"Oh, now it's wrong to save someone's life? Sorry, I must have missed the memo."

"I'm serious, Draco; if you're just doing this out of guilt, like it's some kind of repentance for what happened during the War, then I've told you before how I feel about that mindset." Zabini's voice had grown softer, but I still managed to hear. It was a strange concept for me, imagining Malfoy feeling emotions like guilt and remorse, but, then again, I suppose him saving my life was a strange concept as well.

"It's not that, it's just…" he trailed off, then sighed. "Well, I can't really explain it."

There was a lull in the conversation, and I recognized my opportunity. I stepped into the room, clearing my throat to make my presence known. Both boys turned their gazes toward me, but I looked directly at Malfoy. I raised my letter. "I've finished, if you wouldn't mind letting me use your owl."

He nodded and stood to approach me. I could feel Zabini's eyes on me, but I refused to look toward him, choosing to deal with only one snake at a time. "I'll bring it out to the owl right now," Malfoy said as he plucked the letter from my hand, and then he was gone without pause.

With Malfoy gone, I had no choice but to meet the gaze of my other host. He was looking at me, an unreadable, but not unkind expression on his face. Suddenly he sat up straighter. "I'm an awful host, I'm sorry. Please, sit," he smiled, gesturing to the chair across from him.

I moved robotically, extremely thrown off by Zabini's actions. Though our interractions were quite limited, he was far from anything I had expected. "Um, thanks," I said.

"Can I get you anything? Biscuits? Tea?"

I opened my mouth to respond – with what, I don't even know – but I was interrupted before I could. "We already had tea," Malfoy said as he reentered the room.

Zabini looked at him with a smirk and a raised brow. "Oh, now there's a limit on how much tea you can drink? Sorry, I must have missed the memo."

Malfoy rolled his eyes as he flopped down onto the couch beside Zabini. "I really hate you sometimes, you know."

Zabini seemed completely unfazed by this. He merely smirked before leaning forward in his seat and clapping his hands together. "So," he began loudly, "what's the next move?"

"Well, if I'm going to be staying here, I need to retrieve my things," I said, already having thought ahead.

"That's not possible," Malfoy scoffed.

I turned toward him, already feeling the beginnings of a scowl on my face. "Oh, and why is that?"

He threw his arms up. "We've been over this! Trap, remember? The whole reason you're staying here?"

"Yes, I remember," I snipped. "But what do you expect me to do? I have no clothes, no nothing."

Malfoy appeared at a loss for ideas, turning to stare moodily out the window. Zabini, however, was quicker to think. "Well, what are the odds that the killer is still there? I mean, it isn't like they can camp out there forever. They probably just went straight there to wait for you, then, when you didn't show up, they left. Surely it will be safe to go back to get your stuff soon enough."

"You have a point," Malfoy allowed.

"First of all," I said, holding up a finger, "it is disturbing how your Slytherin minds work. I mean, seriously, it sounds like you've planned something like this out before. Second," I ticked up a second one, "if that is the case, why can't I just go back to my room and stay there? Like you said, it isn't like they can wait around forever."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and mumbled something that sounded like, "Bloody Gryffindors."

Zabini shot him a look and responded to me much more openly. "Just because they can't wait forever doesn't mean they won't come back."

"And you sitting there, all alone, when they do, well, you'll be a sitting duck," Malfoy continued for him.

I narrowed my eyes. "I will not be a 'sitting duck'," I said, offended at the comparison. "I did survive and win a war, remember."

"I wasn't questioning your ability, I think we all know you're more than capable of handling yourself," Malfoy said. My eyes widened at his admission, but he continued before I could analyze whether or not that was actually a compliment. "The issue is more that they could show up when you're sleeping, or with twenty men, or catch you completely by surprise and overpower you. You'd have to be constantly on alert, which isn't possible, and may not even be enough if they brought more people."

He actually made some very sound points, which was extremely annoying. "I suppose that's true," I conceded.

"So, really, your options are to stay here or have someone stay with you at your hotel," Zabini explained.

I sighed. "I guess staying here does make more sense, but that doesn't change the fact that I need to get my things."

We were all silent for a bit, thinking of plans. Finally, Malfoy spoke up. "Okay, how about one of us goes to your hotel, stakes it out for a bit to see if anyone is there, and then when we know it's safe the three of us all go there while you quickly gather what you need."

"Not a bad idea," Zabini said.

They both looked at me. I shrugged. "Seems like it would work."

"Great," Malfoy said, and then he turned to Zabini. "So, which of us is going to stake out the hotel?"

Zabini made a dramatic show of thinking about it, balling his hand into a fist which he tucked under his chin, staring off into the distance. Then, he said, "Oh, that's a tough one, but I'm going to have to go with, since it's your plan, you do the work."

Malfoy stood with a groan. "I don't know why I even asked."

Zabini smirked and waggled his fingers in a wave goodbye. I was again utterly thrown off by how un-Slytherin the boy really was. In fact, I was still staring at him in confusion when Malfoy spoke to me, and I completely missed what he had said. "Sorry?" I spluttered.

"I said, can I have the name of your hotel and the room number?" He held out a piece of paper and quill.

"Oh, right, of course," I said hastily, grabbing the offered items and quickly jotting it down.

After I handed him the paper, he regarded it for a moment, nodded, said, "I'll be back," and apparated away.

I turned back to Zabini, who was still smirking. "And then there were two," he said.

"Lovely," I mumbled, then cleared my throat uncomfortably. "Look, um, thank you, for letting me stay here, I mean. I appreciate it."

Zabini literally waved my thanks away with a flick of his wrist. "Please, no need for thanks. This place is huge, and what am I going to do, throw you out on the street while someone tries to kill you? I'm not some monster."

I shrugged. "Still, thank you."

He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "You're welcome."

We fell into a slightly awkward silence. I drummed my fingers lightly on my knee, looking out at the view out the window. We were in the countryside, and we had a lovely view of some rolling hills.

"You know, you're shockingly calm for someone who has a killer on the loose." I turned back to find Zabini looking at me in curiosity.

My lips tugged upward in a faint smirk. "I suppose I've had so many people trying to kill me in the past that I've grown a bit desensitized to it."

He tilted his head in thought. "Yeah, I guess you would."

He was still looking at me, and my curiosity was finally getting the best of me. "Zabini?" I asked.

"Oh please, call me Blaise. I never understood Draco's excessive surname usage."

I smiled a bit at that. "Okay, Blaise?"

"Yes?"

I thought of how best to phrase what I wanted to ask and decided to just go for it. "What side were you on during the War?"

At this, Blaise frowned for the first time since I had gotten here. "Well, I suppose I didn't really join either side. You could say I was on 'side Blaise' even."

"What do you mean by that? I mean, I don't remember seeing you at all really during everything – where were you?"

He shrugged. "I did whatever I had to to stay alive. I played nice with my fellow Slytherins and purebloods, but I didn't make enemies of you and your side either. Honestly, I mostly tried to fly under the radar. I stayed in Hogwarts as long as possible, keeping my head down, but then at the last minute, when things really escalated, my mother pulled me out and she brought us here. France wasn't involved in the War, so we hid out here until everything died down."

I had been unconsciously leaning forward as he spoke, and I now sat with my elbows on my knees. "I don't understand," I told him. "You're not a blood-supremacist?"

He rolled his eyes and scoffed. "No, I think that's all a bunch of bullshit."

"But, you're a pureblood?"

He quirked an eyebrow at that. "So is your friend Neville, is he a blood-supremacist?"

"Well, no, but he's –"

"A Gryffindor?" Blaise finished for me. "And, what? Because I'm a Slytherin it automatically makes me hate anyone with 'un-pure' blood? Last I checked ambition and cleverness were the Slytherin traits, not bigotry and hate."

I sat back in surprise. "You're right, I'm sorry for assuming."

He sat back too, any traces of the previous heat in his expression gone. "No, I don't blame you for assuming; I'm really more of the exception than the rule, if we're being honest here."

I let out a small laugh at that. "You have a point there."

"Besides," he continued. "I should be the one apologizing."

"For what?" I blanched.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I may not have supported the other side, but I didn't exactly stand up for people like you either. If your side had lost, I wouldn't have done a damn thing about it. I put self-preservation above doing the right thing, and for that I am sorry."

I wasn't exactly sure what to say to that. It wasn't as though I could tell him it was alright, because really, it wasn't – if everyone had the same mindset, we would live in a world run by evil right now. Instead, I decided to say, "Well, we can't all have the famous Gryffindor courage." I smiled, and Blaise quickly followed suit.

"No, I suppose you're right."

"So, how did you end up with your beliefs? If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't mind," he said. "I guess from my mother. It's only been me and her as long as I can remember, you see." I think he could tell I was about to tell him I was sorry about that, because he quickly went on. "Don't be sorry – my father is not missed. Anyway, my mother, despite being a pureblood, has always been appreciative of muggle things. She loves fashion, and muggle fashion is so far ahead of ours, so that's where it started for her. And then she found television, and she absolutely adored that, so she had one installed in all of our homes. It went on and on like that, her finding little things she liked about the muggle world. So, for me, I've just always grown up around muggle things. When I was young, I had both a wizard and muggle tutor; my mum appreciated the importance of muggle concepts like math and science. That's why I think blood-supremacy is idiotic, because first, it has no logical foundation, and second, there are so many things we could get from muggles that would make our lives even better. I mean, I know we have magic, but come on, it isn't like we can just ignore science," he laughed.

I grinned. "I've always thought the same thing. I always made sure to continue reading muggle textbooks even as I went through Hogwarts," I explained.

"Of course you did – you're a nerd."

I laughed, knowing that he was teasing. "Okay, so now I have to ask, if you have these beliefs – well – how do you and Malfoy get along?"

He rolled his eyes at that. "Don't let Draco fool you – he isn't who he appeared to be when we were at Hogwarts."

"How do you mean?"

He contemplated his response for a moment. "Well, that's really something you should speak to him about, not me. But all I will say is that I would describe Draco as a child as a parrot – repeating things he heard and not understanding them. Obviously, it is much more complicated than that, but, like I said, that is really something that should be between you two; it shouldn't come from me."

"Are you saying Malfoy doesn't really believe that stuff?" I asked, extremely incredulous.

He shrugged. "I'm saying he isn't who he appeared to be at Hogwarts, and, if you're going to be staying with us, I would ask that you give him an open-minded chance."

I scoffed. "I'll do that when he promises the same of me."

"You'd be surprised."

Before I could ask Blaise any further questions, a loud crack signaled Malfoy's return. He looked at me with a bored expression, then turned to Blaise. Something he saw in Blaise's expression must have told him something, because he asked, "What were you two talking about?"

Blaise merely waved him off. "Nothing important. Now come on, was there anyone there?"

Malfoy shook his head. "No, it looked completely deserted, and I even got closer and cast a few spells. I'll want to cast a few more spells to double check before we go in, but I say we go now."

Blaise and I both nodded and stood. I took Blaise's arm to side-along apparate him since he didn't know where we were going, and then we were off.

I was focused intently on apparting, but still, in the back of my mind, Blaise's words kept replaying.

You'd be surprised.

XXX

Credit for the idea for this Blaise and Hermione interaction goes to one of my friends, and, if you're reading this, I believe you know who you are ;) So, just a heads up that I may not be able to update next week, or it may be a late if I do. I'm moving back into college this weekend and next week is my first week of classes so that may be a little crazy. I'll do my best, but just no promises. Hope everyone liked this chapter, a little bit of background on Blaise, and perhaps some ideas forming and doors opening in Hermione's mind? We shall see!

Reviews are always appreciated, I love to hear what you guys think!

Thanks for reading :)