"Shane, Wes, Brian, stop that this instant. You know the rules. No magic in the halls."
The nine-year old boys looked more upset at being caught, than ashamed and replied, "Sorry, Ms. Granger."
Hermione wanted to laugh at their resemblance to the Weasley boys in their heyday, but she maintained her best 'McGonagall', "That was your last warning. Next time it's straight to the Principal. Do you understand me?"
All three nodded sullenly and she shooed them down the hall. She headed into the teacher's lounge to eat her lunch and read a book she had found in the school's library. As it was Tuesday, the children would have gym class right after lunch, so she had at least an hour and a half before she would be missed. She put her things down, pulled out her lunch and reached in her bag for the book just as her cell phone vibrated. She jumped a bit at the sensation and then reached back in to pull out the phone.
When she read the name on the screen she almost dropped it.
"Hello," she answered tentatively.
"Hi, Mione," Ron answered. "You busy?"
"Um, no, I'm at lunch. Aren't you working?"
"Yeah, for another hour or so, but I wanted to talk to you."
Hermione sat up straighter in her chair to brace herself for the oncoming fight, "About?"
"I'm off for the day and well, um, would you meet me for lunch tomorrow?"
"Why?" she asked warily.
Ron sighed heavily into the phone, "Do I now need a reason to see my best friend?"
Hermione didn't know what to say that wouldn't hurt his feelings, but thankfully he continued before she had to respond.
"Look, I miss you, okay? I just want some time with you. I know things are kind of screwed up right now, but you're still my best friend, Mione. We can talk about other stuff besides that gi…Malf…you know."
Hermione answered hesitantly, "You're right, Ron. Sure. Where?"
"How about that pizza place on 33rd at 11:30?"
"Okay. But, I only have an hour, okay?"
"That's fine. Thanks. See you tomorrow."
"Okay. Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
She hung up the phone and stared out the window for a second as she tried to figure out his call and invitation. Then she shrugged, if Ron was willing to try, she was.
The phone rang in her hand and jolted her again.
This time she answered with a laugh, "What is this? Weasley day?"
Ginny's tinkling laughter came back, "Well, technically, I'm a Potter. Who else called?"
"Ron."
"He did? Why?"
Hermione shrugged again, "He asked me to lunch. I guess he's trying."
"Ronald?!" Ginny snorted. "He's willing to get over Malfoy?!"
Hermione laughed a little, "Well, no. It was made pretty clear that we won't be talking about Draco at all."
"Ooookay," Ginny said.
"So, you called me, Gin. What's up?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were still planning to come this Saturday. And, to ask you to bring one of those fantastic cakes of yours for the birthday party," Ginny pleaded.
Hermione laughed, "Of course! I wouldn't miss Albie's first birthday! He loves me, you only want me for my cake."
"Well, they're good," Ginny giggled.
"What time do you want it?"
"Can you get here by one? Mom's coming around two and that'll give us some time to get caught up."
Hermione nodded against the phone as she smiled, "One it is."
"Draco can hang with Harry and the boys," Ginny stated.
Hermione wasn't sure what to say, "Um, he…what?"
"I said," Ginny laughed, "Draco can han…"
"I heard you," Hermione interrupted, "but, um, do you really think that's a good idea? Does Harry know? And won't Ron…"
"Stuff him!" Ginny exploded. "And, it was actually Harry's idea."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh. Mione let me ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"Do you really like him?"
"Harry?"
"No, Argus Filch! Draco, you idiot."
"Well, yeah. Why?"
Ginny ignored the question and continued, "Do you see this…relationship lasting a while?"
Hermione smiled as she thought about, "I sure hope so."
Ginny heard the way Hermione sighed her answer and her eyes flew open wide. She wasn't sure how far things had gotten with them, but she knew that kind of sigh. It was the one she used to get when she talked about Harry when they were dating. But, since Hermione hadn't made any confessions, she chose not to push. Instead she kept up her line of questioning.
"Do you honestly think I am going to not see my best girl friend on the planet for 'a while' because my brother can't get his head out of his arse?"
"Well, no, Gin. But, maybe right now isn't the best time to push things. I mean he's just starting to come around a little."
"Well, I want you here. You want to be with Draco. That means I want you and Draco here. It's a big house and I am sure he and Ron can avoid being together long enough to do any real damage. Besides, if he is going to be around for some time to come, Draco needs to start getting used to us, too, you know."
"I know. Okay, if you're sure," Hermione said skeptically.
"I am."
"I'll ask him."
"Good," Ginny answered. Then she added with a laugh, "Just don't forget that cake!"
"I won't," Hermione laughed back. "And, thanks, Gin."
"Love you."
"Love you, too. Bye."
Hermione put the phone down on the table in front of her and stared at it. The two very unexpected calls in under ten minutes had ruined her desire to eat. Her nerves were a bit frayed.
When the phone rang the third time she actually groaned before she read the name on the screen and smiled.
"Hey Blaise," she said as she relaxed back into her chair. "What's up?"
"Hey babe," he purred. "Did I catch you at a good time?"
Hermione laughed at the thought, but answered, "Sure."
"Good. You've been ignoring me."
"What?"
"Seriously, Mione. Since you've started up with Draco, you never call me any more. I missed talking to you."
"You just saw me at the party Friday, Mr. Needy," she laughed. "Now, what do you really want?"
Blaise laughed, "Okay, fine. I wanted to know if you guys wanna meet for Chinese tomorrow night?"
"Us guys?"
"I really want Chinese and D can't go tonight, but tomorrow's good for him and he said we should go out instead of ordering or conjuring. So, I called to make sure it was good with you guys?"
Hermione laughed at his avoidance of the question, "Okay, but who is us guys?"
"You know," he hedged. "You, me, D, and Beth…or somebody, doesn't matter, just so I'm not a third tire."
Men are so sad. His invitation and he doesn't want to be the third wheel. Yeah, right. Why can't he just admit he wants to ask Beth out?
She giggled, "Wheel, not tire. And, I'm free, but I don't know who else I can get."
"Oh," he answered, "well anyone's fine."
"Okay, I'll call around and see. Changs?" she asked.
"Yeah. Seven good?"
She smiled at his sound of almost frustration, but continued cheerily, "Sure. Thanks for the invite. See you guys then."
"Oh, okay. Bye."
"Bye Blaise."
This time it was her turn to call someone.
"Beth, tell me you're free tomorrow night!"
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
The next day Hermione stepped into the cool air of the packed pizza place and spotted Ron's red hair at a table in the back corner. He looked up as she entered and waved her over.
"Thanks for coming, Mione," Ron stood up and smiled at her.
Hermione smiled and gave him a brief hug before she sat down across from him, "Thanks for asking me."
"Well, we didn't really leave things right between us the other day," he said as he looked down at the table.
"I know," she whispered miserably.
"I don't like it," he sighed. Then he shook off the melancholia and looked at her, "So, tell me about your job."
For the next half hour they talked about their lives over the past two weeks. He filled her in on his take on his honeymoon. And, she talked about her job and the children. At first the conversation was a bit forced and stilted as they talked around all things Blaise, Draco and Beth, as that meant talking about Blaise. But, all their years of arguments aided them in getting around it to start talking like the friends they were. So, by the time she needed to get back to school, she almost felt like things were okay between them again.
"Ron, thank you for this. I really missed us," she smiled up at him as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the place.
"I've missed you and your smile," he answered with a hug. Then he straightened and looked down at her with a small frown. He started to speak and then seemed to think better of it as he stepped back.
"What?" she asked even though she knew what was coming.
He looked away for a moment, "Are you still wi…You two still, uh…"
"Yes," she answered softly.
He blew out a breath and nodded. Then he leaned down once again to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you Saturday."
She watched him turn to leave and remembered, "Oh, Ron?"
He stopped to turn back to her, "Yeah?"
"Have you talked to Gin?"
"No, why?"
"Well, you see, she and Harry thought, uh, that I, well, that Drac…uh, that is that he and I um, we should come together, and well…" she trailed off as his face darkened.
"They invited him?!" his tone was low, but his anger was obvious.
She nodded and waited for the explosion.
It didn't come. He simply turned and walked away.
Her shoulders drooped as she watched him turn the corner without a backwards glance. She shook her head and headed back to school.
"Why is this all so hard?" she sighed to herself.
Her discussion with Draco the night before hadn't been much easier. He had balked at going to Harry and Ginny's. And, when she admitted that Ron would be there he had almost backed out completely. She had asked nicely, then cajoled, and finally gotten snippy.
Their simple conversation had turned into their first fight since their school days. She crossed the street and smiled a little to herself as she thought about how much they had both grown, since neither had digressed into name calling over the phone. But, they had gotten angry enough at each other's unwillingness to bend and ended up hanging up with nothing resolved.
After she hung up the phone she had stomped around her apartment calling him all the names she had refrained from using on the phone. She had just gotten herself worked into a good lather about how he and Ron were just alike when he stepped out of the fireplace.
"Okay, that's below the belt!" he said interrupting her rant.
She had stopped mid-word and mid step and let out a scream of fright. And, then he had apologized for fighting with her. Her anger had drained away at the look of sincere apology on his face. When he agreed to go, if only so she wouldn't be upset with him anymore, she had jumped on him and kissed him silly.
Just as she stepped into the air conditioned school her cheeks flamed as she remembered how they had spent the next half hour making up.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
The next night, as planned, she and Beth showed up at the restaurant a bit late. Hermione had explained that by arriving after the guys, they would be able to see Blaise's reaction to Beth being there and then witness together if he noticed her enhancement.
It was all they could do to not dissolve into giggles at the extremely happy smile that crossed his face when he saw her, before he covered it back up with his trademark lazy grin. Then when Hermione stepped out of the way to greet Draco, they saw his eyes widen as they lowered to her chest.
"What did you do?!" he asked rather loudly for such a small place.
"What?!" Beth asked defensively.
Draco chuckled, shook his head and pulled Hermione down next to him.
"Hi there," he said as he kissed her briefly.
She smiled and leaned into him, "Hi yourself."
They both looked back up to see Blaise standing over Beth seething, "Why would you do something so stupid?"
"What do you mean, stupid?" she said as she poked him in the chest. "I am not stupid!"
He ran a hand through his hair in a very frustrated motion and said through clenched teeth, "I did not call you stupid, Beth. I said what you did was stupid!"
"You have no right to tell me…hey!"
Both Hermione and Draco's jaw dropped as Blaise took Beth's arm and quickly steered her out of the restaurant.
"What I wouldn't give for a pair of extendable ears right now," she laughed a little.
At his look of question, she added, "They were these things Fred and George created, gosh what was it, fifth year? They were little, amplifiers shaped like ears, and they had really long cords. We all used them to try and spy on The Order when we were at the headquarters and they wouldn't tell us anything. I say try because Mrs. Weasley caught us almost every time." Hermione laughed at the memory. Then she sobered a little, "F..Fr…Fred and George made all kinds of things like that."
Draco reached over and took her hand, "I'm sorry, Mi. That's a nice memory to have of him, though."
Hermione blew out a breath and smiled a bit at him, "Yeah. Yeah it is."
They were quiet for a moment and Draco looked over his shoulder to the door, "Should we?" Draco asked a bit worried for Beth.
Hermione looked outside to see them yelling at each other and saw Beth poke him again. When he stepped back and raised his hands in surrender, Hermione shook her head with a smile.
"I think Beth can take care of herself."
Draco turned more toward her, slid his hand to her and whispered in her ear, "Well, while they're gone…"
Hermione shivered as his tongue unerringly found the spot right behind her ear. She closed her eyes to let the sensation slide over her and reached out to lay her hand high on his thigh. He groaned a little as she squeezed his leg. He then angled his head and their lips met in a kiss that curled her toes yet again. They continued to savor the taste of each other as their hands moved steadily higher. Just as she was about to reach her goal they were interrupted.
"Hello!" Beth laughed. "You are in public!"
They jumped apart like caught naughty teenagers and looked up at the couple in front of them. Neither seemed particularly upset anymore.
"Mione, can you please come with me to the ladies' room?" Beth sighed, but smiled as she said it.
Hermione nodded and slid from the booth, leaving the guys at the table to talk. She followed Beth's quick step and as soon as the door closed exploded with questions.
"Wow! That was actually funny. But, what happened? What did he say? What did you say?"
Beth laughed at the barrage, but then frowned a little, "Well, you need to put them back to normal."
"What?"
"Yeah," Beth sighed as she puffed her chest out and admired herself in the mirror. "I'm going to miss them though. I was just getting used to them."
"Wait. Why? What happened?" Hermione asked again.
"Well, first he yelled at me for getting a boob job. If I hadn't been so mad about being manhandled, I might have thought his concern was cute. But, as it was, I just yelled right back at him that it was my body and I could do whatever I wanted to it. Then he yelled back that I was fine the way I was and didn't need surgery to change anything. Again, I would have thought it sweet if it hadn't been yelled in my face. So, I yelled back that he wasn't in control of anything I did to myself as he wasn't my father, husband or boyfriend."
Hermione interrupted, "So, why are we changing them back?"
Beth's smile turned a bit dreamy, "Well, then he stopped yelling and kissed me."
"What?!"
"Yeah, I think it was mostly to shut me up, but he didn't stop all that fast. Then, he leaned back and said, 'Beth, you were perfect the way you were. There was no need to change.'"
"Aww," Hermione smiled.
"I know!" Beth squealed. Then she continued, "So, then he said, 'Look, I like you, okay? A lot. I know I'm not your boyfriend or anything, yet, but I've heard those muggle surgeries are dangerous and I don't want you hurting yourself.' So, I confessed that you did it and he just smiled and kissed me again."
"Yet?" Hermione asked with a wide smile. Beth nodded happily.
Hermione smiled at her friend's joy, but was still confused, "Okay, so why do you want to change them back."
"Well, after he backed me up against the wall and kissed me senseless, he grinned and said that because it was magical then maybe it was okay. And, I got mad again and said, if he didn't like me the way I was then he didn't really like little old muggle me!"
"You did?! Good for you!"
"Yep. And, he looked completely confused and asked what my being a muggle had to do with anything."
"Told you," Hermione laughed.
Beth made a face at her and continued, "Well, I didn't know what to say, because I hadn't meant to actually say what I said, so I just stood there. But then he laughed and said that my being a muggle was part of what he liked best about me. Then he kissed me again."
Hermione just smiled as she finished, "So, I guess if he really likes me the way I am, then I don't need these."
They were interrupted by a woman coming in to use the bathroom and moved to the sinks to wash their hands. With the water turned on full blast Hermione mouthed, "Are you sure?" When Beth nodded Hermione quickly took her wand out of her bag and pointed it at Beth. One flick and she was back to normal.
Beth looked at herself in the mirror and sighed as she turned off the water and grabbed a paper towel, "Well, it was fun while it lasted."
Both left the bathroom giggling. When they reached the table, Blaise smiled at both of them. They watched his eyes flick down and back up and then he winked at Beth as he pulled her down next to him.
The rest of dinner was a laughing affair. Blaise started off acting like the ladies' man he was used to being, but after being teased by Hermione and Beth about his act, he finally let down his façade and relaxed. Draco enjoyed the company, the food, and the blush that crept up Hermione's cheeks every time he slid his hand over her thigh and toyed with the edge of her skirt.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
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