Hey guys...so, I had a space cadet moment and deleted this chapter on accident.

I reposted it but didn't change anything, so if you've already read it, you can skip it.

Sorry for the goof!

I said ooh, ooh
You got me in the mood, mood
I'm scared
But if my heart's gonna break before the night will end
I said, ooh, ooh we're in danger
Sleeping with a friend, sleeping with a friend

-Sleeping with a Friend By Neon Trees

By the end of the day, Hermione was thoroughly pleased with herself. She had been leered at by by 80% of her male classmates, and she'd been glared at by 95% of her female classmates, and it...felt...great. She had made it a point to ignore Ron whenever he was around, only talking to Harry and Ginny during breaks and lunch. After her last class, she was walking to her dorm when she heard Lavender screaming things at Ron that she couldn't make out from that distance. As she rounded a corner, she saw Ron with a read face and Lavender with tears in her eyes. Lavender stopped mid yell when she saw that Ron wasn't paying attention to her anymore and turned in the direction of his distraction.

She saw Hermione and narrowed her eyes into slits, "This is all your fault!" Lavender screeched.

Hermione had planned on just cruising by without acknowledging either one of them, but it appeared that Lavender had other ideas. Hermione stopped and raised a brow at the blonde girl, "I beg your pardon?"

Lavender stormed up to Hermione and got in her face, "Blaise Zabini gives you a pity fuck and now of a sudden you think you're hot shit!?"

Hermione took a step back in disgust and then sneered at the blonde, "Jealously doesn't suit you, Lavender."

Ron stepped forward and grabbed Lavender's arm, pulling her back, "Lavender, stop it! This isn't Hermione's fault!"

Lavender jerked her arm out of Ron's grasp and cast one more scathing glare at Hermione before running off down the hall.

Hermione turned to Ron, "What the bloody hell was that all about, Ronald?"

Ron ignored her question and changed the subject, "Hermione, I'm sorry about yesterday."

Hermione looked at him warily, "I don't want to talk about this right now, Ron; I've got better things to do."

Ron scowled at her, "What, like Zabini?"

Hermione could feel her anger rising, "What business is it of yours?"

Ron sighed, "I don't want to fight with you anymore, Hermione; I really am sorry."

"An apology isn't going to cut it this time, Ron. You have no idea how much you hurt me yesterday with all those things you said to me. You chose your slag of a girlfriend over me; I can't just forget that."

Ron looked devastated, "Hermione, please-"

She cut him off, "I just need some time, Ron."

Before Ron could respond, Hermione quickly walked away.

Hermione was sitting on the couch reading a book with Crookshanks in her lap when the door to the common room opened. She looked up and smiled when she saw Blaise saunter through. He came over and plopped down next to her and stroked the sleeping feline's fur.

"You are quite the celebrity today, Miss Granger." Blaise smirked.

Hermione set her book aside, "What are they saying about me now?"

"Apparently, Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown have been fighting all day because of you." Blaise imitated the voice of a teenage girl and Hermione laughed.

"I know; I caught one of their fights. Ron tried to apologize to me for being a git, but I told him that I just wasn't ready to forgive him."

Blaise smirked at her knowingly and she quirked an eyebrow at him, "What?"

"If Weasley wasn't such a moron, you would be with him right now instead of that slag Brown."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione was confused.

"The entire school, with the exception of you, apparently, knows that Weasley has been in love with you since...third year?"

Hermione scoffed, "Yeah, ok; whatever you say, Blaise."

Blaise chuckled, "It's true, Hermione."

Now Hermione was beyond confused, "Are you serious?"

Blaise just nodded.

"But, he-then why is he-I don't-" Hermione didn't know where to start.

Blaise put a finger to her lips to silence her, "The only thing I will ever give that imbecile credit for is for being smart enough to know that you are way too good for him. He settled for that slag because he knows that he doesn't deserve you. He's spent the last six years using you for your brains, and now that he's seen your full potential, he's kicking himself."

Hermione let the words sink in before she scoffed, "Well, that's just stupid."

Blaise grinned, "That's already been established, love."

Crookshanks jumped off the couch and wandered over to the door and then looked at Hermione expectantly. Hermione went over to let the cat out and then turned back to Blaise.

"Ron is a good person, Blaise. He's just-" Hermione trailed off.

Blaise went over to Hermione and leaned down and placed a kiss on his favorite part of her body; the skin just below her ear. She always made the most delicious sounds when he kissed her there. Now was no exception and Blaise smirked at the sound.

"He's just too stupid to see what's been right in front of him all these years." He whispered in her ear and Hermione shivered.

Blaise moved his lips from the sensitive spot to her jaw and hen up to her lips. He kissed her deeply and Hermione let out a strangled whimper; he never ceased to make her feel like she was on fire. Blaise broke the kiss and then grabbed Hermione around the waist, hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her towards her room.

Hermione shrieked, "Blaise, put me down!"

Remembering from the last time that he had had to get into Hermione's room, Blaise said the password as Hermione squealed and giggled over his shoulder. He walked into the room and unceremoniously dumped Hermione onto the bed before pouncing on her.

"While yesterday was very enjoyable, I want to take my time with you." Blaise quickly said a contraceptive charm and then nuzzled her neck as be began unbuttoning her shirt. She sat up just enough so he could remove it and while he was at it, he made quick work of her bra and threw the garments to the side.

Hermione blushed as Blaise looked at her breasts and he smiled, "Don't be shy, love; your beautiful."

Blaise leaned down and captured her lips in a searing kiss as his hands worked on removing her skirt. He trailed his lips down her jaw, over her throat, and passed her collar bone before pulling one of her pert nipples into his mouth. Hermione gasped and wound her fingers through his hair, encouraging him to continue. Blaise lavished equal amounts of attention on each breast as he unbuttoned her skirt and pulled it out from under her, tossing it aside to join her other clothes. Blaise quickly removed his own shirt and then brought his lips back to hers as he snaked his hand into her underwear and sank a finger into her center; Hermione whimpered into Blaise's mouth at the new sensation. He added a second finger as his thumb played with her sensitive nub. Hermione broke their kiss and moaned loudly when his fingers found that perfect spot inside her. She could feel the pressure starting to build inside her and she whimpered Blaise's name, asking for more. Blaise quickly divested himself of his pants and boxers and shimmied Hermione's underwear down her legs before kissing her again as he slowly slid himself into her, causing her breath to hitch. Blaise groaned at the feeling of how tight she was and Hermione wrapped her legs around his hips, meeting his thrusts until they found the perfect rhythm.

Blaise leaned down and whispered huskily in Hermione's ear, "You are fucking incredible, Hermione."

Hermione could feel the pressure inside her building back up and when Blaise started running his tongue along that super sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, Hermione felt herself come undone and she screamed out his name as pure ecstasy flooded her veins. Feeling her walls clench around him pushed Blaise over the edge and with one last thrust, he released himself inside her tight channel, before collapsing on her. He rolled off of her and they laid next to each other for a few minutes, catching their breathes.

Remembering their first encounter, Hermione smiled and looked over at Blaise, "Thanks."

Blaise smirked at her, "Thank you."

Hermione turned herself in Blaise's direction and sat up a bit, propping her head on her elbow, "So, is this like a friends with benefits kind of thing?"

Blaise raised an eyebrow in question.

"It's a Muggle term; basically, it means that we are friends who occasionally-"

"Shag?" Blaise offered.

Hermione grinned, "Yeah."

"Hmm...that's a good idea." Blaise turned towards her and propped himself up as well.

"Yes, I think it is."

Blaise studied Hermione's nude form and ran his fingers along her side and over her breasts and she closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation. Blaise ran feather light touches all along her body as he watched her face and in a matter of moments he was hard again.

He grabbed her hips and roughly pulled her closer to him and whispered huskily in her ear, "It's a very good idea."

Hermione wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down to her lips as they went for round two.

A few hours later, Hermione woke up alone, except for the single red rose that was on her pillow along with a note.

Ci vediamo più tardi, bella ragazza. (See you later, beautiful girl.)

At that moment, Hermione decided that it was time for her to learn Italian.

After dinner that night, Draco was in his bedroom doing his homework when he heard a scratching on his window. He went to the window and saw his family's owl, Persephone sitting on the ledge with an envelope tied to her foot. Draco opened the window and the owl flew in and perched herself on his chair and Draco found her a treat. He fed the bird, and stroked her feathers as he read the letter.

My Dearest Draco,

I am writing to let you know that things are moving along more quickly than we had first thought on this end, and to be prepared to put our plan in motion sooner than expected. I will let you know as soon as I have more details.

I hope that this letter finds you well. Your sister asks about you on a daily basis and says that she misses you terribly, as do I.

Take care my beautiful son.

All my love,

Mother

Draco folded up the letter and stuck it in his pocket as he watched Persephone fly out the window, and then he headed off towards the dungeons.

He walked into the Slytherin common room and immediately saw Blaise and Theo in the corner playing a game of Wizard's Chess. Blaise looked up and Draco motioned for him to come over. Blaise stood up and pulled Theo up with him and they all left the common room. When they were out of earshot of everyone else, Draco handed the letter to Blaise. He read it and then passed it to Theo.

"Sooner than expected? When the hell is that supposed to be; next month, tomorrow?" Blaise barked.

Draco leaned against the wall, "Well, originally it was supposed to be after school got out for summer. Looks like we might be testing Snape's escape route of this school."

Theo cursed, "I was kind of hoping that I'd at least get to graduate before all this shit goes down."

Blaise slapped his friend on the back, "Come on now; you know we aren't normal."

Draco snorted, "That's an understatement."

Blaise sighed, "We all pretty much knew this was coming; nothing's really changed."

Theo kicked the wall, "Yeah, but this makes it more...real."

Blaise smirked, "Looks like you'll just have to shorten your list of conquests for the year."

Theo grinned, "Nah, I'll just have to work through the list faster."

The boys all chuckled and went back to the common room and did their best to forget about the soon to come events that would no doubt change their lives forever.

Until next time, my faithful followers/reviewers! :)