A Conversation in the Garden

Blaise and Hermione had been sitting in the garden for about half an hour and neither had spoken a single word. They were currently busying themselves by looking anywhere but at each other. Suffice to say, Hermione found their "bonding" awkward. She felt as if they were two five-year-olds who had been pushed together by their parents to play together. Actually, the five-year-olds would probably not be so judgmental and would just play whether their playmate was from a different House or not.

She certainly was not a child anymore, although still barely one in the eyes of the law. That is until Edmond changed her papers at the end of their holiday. She had been told her real birthday was the 19th of June 1980 instead of the 19th of September. Not that it mattered if she was nearly a year younger than she had thought. Hermione doubted anyone who had experienced the effects of the recently ended war could still be considered a child. It was sad how it had aged them all. Harry was only fourteen when the pressure of defeating Voldemort had been put on his shoulders. Then, just two years later, he had defeated Voldemort with the help of Ron and Hermione. Most of the Wizarding world was still reeling that a teenage wizard had defeated the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time. Or at least the Dark Wizard who had caused the most damage; many argued that Grindelwald was actually the more powerful one. Regardless, Voldemort had caused a hell of a lot of damage and had forced much of Britain's young wizards and witches to mature faster than any child should.

Hermione had taken to tapping her finger in a nonsensical beat against the table. Blaise snapped at her a mere minute after she began the annoying sound.

"Could you stop that?!"

"Sorry." She mumbled. Now that the silence had been broken, even if it wasn't by conversation, Hermione felt the need to continue speaking. "Blaise, this is ridiculous, we have to say something. Do you want to spend the summer like this? You know Edmond is going to keep forcing us into these impromptu meetings." Hermione said.

"I wasn't aware we were on a first name basis." Blaise said in that carefully controlled tone of his. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes at this.

"Considering the fact that we both have the same last name now, I thought it would be ridiculous to call each other by Zabini." Blaise looked like he was going to be sick at the idea of this.

"Really! What is so utterly repulsing about me that you can't stand to say a single civil word!? I'm not exactly thrilled that I'm a Zabini either!" Hermione exclaimed.

Blaise appeared slightly uncomfortable at her question like he could not think of a good enough reason.

"It's just you're…" He trailed off into silence. What was he supposed to say? Too Gryffindorish? That wasn't even a word and he was not about to say it in front of the bookworm of Gryffindor. Slytherins had standards of intelligence to live up to, for the most part. Crabbe and Goyle were already too lost to care how intelligent they came across as.

"I'm…?" Hermione prompted. Blaise however, remained tight lipped. Hermione sighed at his reluctance to talk.

"Look, I realize that neither of us actually enjoy the other's company right now, but at least try to think of something to say: anything really." At his continued silence she went on. "Then I'll start." She said with determination in her voice.

"Alright, something we both would like to talk about… Quidditch?" Blaise raised an eyebrow. He did not enjoy Quidditch as much as the fanatics, but he would bet the entirety of his Gringott's vault that Hermione cared for it even less than him. "Okay, I don't really want to talk about that, but at least I'm trying." She did not really try after that though. Blaise felt like sighing and waited through a minute of what was becoming oppressive silence until he spoke.

"I feel like the Ministry is doing an awful job with the rebuilding efforts." He said casually. The new topic worked and Hermione instantly perked up to reply.

"They're trying their hardest though! Voldemort decimated not only Wizarding Britain, but also the Muggle world. The Ministry is trying to help the muggles, help the magical community and help round up any remaining Death Eaters all at once. I suppose that is a bit foolish since they are-" Blaise interrupted her.

"Spreading themselves too thin?" Hermione nodded and he scoffed at this. "Not really. So what if they're doing all three of those things at once? They should be able to do that. Is that not the point of the many different departments of the Ministry?"

"True, frankly though, there aren't as many people left working at the Ministry anymore. They were either killed during the War, fled to a safer place and have yet to return, or were injured so badly that they are incapable of having a job like that. People from less important sectors are moving into positions that need to be filled. Mr. Weasley used to be the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department and then Head of a department created by Scrimgeour to find counterfeit items, but now he's helping with the rebuilding effort."

"The Ministry is putting the wrong departments behind each of those endeavors. Instead of having the Aurors round up the Death Eaters they have some of them traipsing through Muggle England casually fixing problems they come across. Don't you find the government we have now rather misguided?"

"The Minister does seem to be a bit of a duffer." Hermione reluctantly agreed.

Instead of one of the more obvious choices for Minister after Thicknesse had been removed, they chose some obscure Head of a department, Terrence Hessley, possibly in the hopes that he wouldn't be too big of a loss if one of the few loose Death Eaters decided his death was imminent. At least that was the only reason Hermione could think of for putting such an incompetent man as Hessley in charge now of all times.

"I've heard if this continues for much longer, those in higher positions are considering someone like Kingsley Shacklebolt as Minister. Hessley's probably starting to sweat a bit if he cares much for his current position." Blaise said.

"Transitioning Ministers is never really a smooth business, but I think it would be for the best. We really need a strong leader right now." Blaise nodded and Hermione took a second to soak in how bizarre a feeling it was to have an intelligent conversation with someone like Blaise. Before she could muse over the situation for long, a different House elf than Faery interrupted them with the crack of apparition. This one gave a small bow before speaking.

"Master Blaise, Mistress Hermione."

She was instantly reminded of Edmond's promise to discuss House Elves in the future. Hermione realized it was foolish to expect the house elves to treat her any differently than Blaise, but she was not expecting them to recognize her as one of their Masters, or Mistress in this case, so soon. Maybe she could convince them to not treat her so formally.

"Forgive Baxter for interrupting your conversation, but there is a guest waiting in the parlor for you sir. It's Mr. Draco Malfoy, sir."

Sweet Circe.

"Bring him here Baxter." Blaise told the small elf.

"Maybe I should go." Hermione said as she started to stand up. Somehow, she felt like talking with Malfoy would not be as easy as it was with Blaise. If you could even call that easy; that was probably the most awkward start to a conversation Hermione had ever experienced. It would take awhile to adapt to the cool and calculating tone all Slytherins seemed to take when holding a conversation. Well, the Slytherins that she had conversed with. The same probably would not hold true for the Slytherins of lesser intelligence.

"Really Gran-… Hermione, if Father insists upon our getting along you might have to get used to Draco. Trust me; I don't look forward to the possibility of being around those that you call friend either." Blaise said, "Besides, I find both of you have personalities that can be near impossible to deal with at first so perhaps you'd get along. Somehow…Maybe if one of you got a severe head injury…" He added as an afterthought.

"Very funny, but it's hard to ignore that I've dealt with Malfoy for years and I have never once gotten the impression that we are kindred spirits. And you may not have to worry about my friends for awhile; after telling them about all this," she gestured towards the Manor behind them "We may not be on speaking terms for a couple of days or so."

"Brilliant. A couple of days and I'm sure I'll just be dying to see them. Do make sure you arrange a meeting sometime this week. We can have tea and pumpkin pasties whilst we all wonder why we ever hated each other." Hermione could not help but smile at his sarcasm. When he wasn't being hostile or rude, Blaise could be a funny guy. Well, in an I'm-putting-you-down-with-my-dry-humor kind of way.

"Just sit Granger." Hermione reluctantly sat down at his command "Good. Perhaps we can attempt to revive our only civil conversation before Draco arrives. He knows about you of course, but he'll probably be horrified to learn that I went a few sentences without insulting a Gryffindor."

"I think he'll survive." Unfortunately. Hermione added in her mind.

"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Hello Draco." Hermione closed her eyes and refused to turn around and see the blond nightmare. She could practically feel him drilling holes into her head.

I will not acknowledge him, I will not acknowledge him, I will not acknowledge him. Hermione thought.

Very mature. Maybe the presence of so many Slytherins kept calling the little Slytherin in her mind forward.

I'm already trying to deal with one very unwelcome presence at the moment and another is not needed. So bugger off. Go back into some dark recess of my mind or wherever you came from.

Oh yes, because I love darkness, evil and such. It's interesting you find me so annoying Ms. Zabini as I am a part of your mind not some arch nemesis or something.

Why do you insist on calling me that?

You might as well get used to it; after all, it is your legal name. You even have a nice Z on your shoulder to forever mark you as a Zabini.

Bugger.

In her anger, Hermione had forgotten to ask Edmond about the Z marking her shoulder. As soon as she followed him into the fireplace, either the mansion or the whirling flames had wiped any thoughts about tattoos and shoulders from her mind.

"I see you already have a guest Blaise." Draco commented lightly. Hermione looked up to see the newest addition to their party. He had moved to stand near Blaise and gave Hermione a passing glance before ignoring her.

At least he didn't acknowledge me with something about my blood.

That's because you are a pureblood you dolt.

Oh, right.

"You could say that. I've been getting the feeling that father wants to give her a more permanent residence." Blaise said. Both of the boys clenched their jaws at that statement, although Draco looked like he was in a significantly higher amount of pain.

"That's…interesting…" Draco managed to get out past his still clenched teeth. Blaise nodded slightly and gestured to the seat opposite next to him. Unfortunately, it would put him face to face with Hermione as there were no other chairs available. Draco realized this immediately and hesitated.

"Are you sure Blaise? I wouldn't want to intrude." Although Hermione had yet to look at him, she could practically see him mouthing "Make me leave, make me leave!"

"It's nothing. I'm sure Gra– Hermione would appreciate an addition to our tea. Right?" Blaise asked Hermione.

She made a noncommittal sound of agreement and it was settled. Draco sat opposite Hermione and the awkwardness that the two Zabinis had worked past earlier returned full force.

"So Blaise," Hermione began "How do you know Edmond has plans for me to stay here?"

"He had Faery prepare a room for you. It doesn't take my amazing powers of deduction to figure out he wants you to stay here." Blaise said.

"Right…"Hermione said trailing off. Did she really want to stay there? It didn't feel right, but nowhere else felt right at the moment either.

The trio fell into silence once more. Blaise took the time to contemplate his father's sanity. Did he really expect them to get along? So they could hold a civil conversation, that didn't mean they were ever going to be best buddies.

While Blaise was berating himself over using the word "buddies", Draco was occupying himself by observing one of his greatest Gryffindor enemies.

This though, was not the Bookworm of Gryffindor to whom he had grown accustomed. While her hair had previously been a frizzy brown mess sitting atop her head, it now fell softly around her face in golden waves with a hint of curl. Her eyes were a light blue color, but since Draco did not occupy himself with remembering every detail of Hermione, he could not tell for sure if her eye shape had changed. It certainly looked different… as did her lips. They were somewhat plumper than before... perhaps they had always been like that; wouldn't he have noticed though? He definitely would have noticed the other changes and knew that for whatever reason her appearance had been altered.

Draco raked his eyes across her face searching for anymore differences between this girl and the one he had known (of) since first year at Hogwarts. No more could be seen, but Draco was finding her new appearance…

…Increasingly…pleasant… -er than it was before! I can't find that former-beaver attractive. She still looks the same as she ever has. She is exactly the same with a few differences.

Draco then realized how long he had been staring at Hermione. That could come off as creepy…

Maybe it should not be called staring. It was more like he was trying to see if he could look at the same spot so long that she would disappear. Yes, that was it.

He blinked.

No, she was still there. Perhaps he could do something about that…

"Well Granger, I'm sure much of the Wizarding world can now understand your natural adeptness for magic. Now that we know you're pureblood it makes so much more sense." Draco drawled out. Hermione however did not rise to the bait in the way he wished. Instead of yelling and allowing him to sit back and watch the show of her fury, she responded in a casual almost not caring tone.

"Really Malfoy, you come out of a war fought on prejudice, yet you can still be the same chauvinistic prat you were all along. That's quite the achievement. " Hermione said without looking at him. She was employing the (not so) useful coping method of pretending he wasn't there and it was just the same slimy Slytherin that existed in her mind.

"I never said I felt that way; only that there are others who were wondering." Draco said with a slightly miffed tone. His ever present sneer returned as he got the distinct annoyed feeling that came along with being admonished. Hermione was just wondering how the boy second in class could be such an idiot.

"You may have not said you felt that way just now, but you did imply it. Besides, I believe the dozens of times in the past, not only at school, but also when you were working for the Order, provide enough instances of you outright saying it."

Draco opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a swift kick to his shins by Blaise. The two entered into a glaring match and Hermione watched with thinly concealed exasperation.

"As fun as this has been, I think I'll take my leave now." Hermione said as she stood up. Before either of the boys could respond, she turned towards the path and walked away quickly. She was well aware that she was practically running away, but she didn't stop until she had reached the interior of the Manor and was out of sight.

Unfortunately, she could still hear the conversation going on between the two she had left behind. The raised voices drifted up to the slightly ajar door and Hermione could not help but hear. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go.

"Damn it Malfoy, the one thing I ask you not to do and you go right ahead and do it!" Blaise yelled.

"It's not my fault she's so intolerable!" Draco shot back.

"Surely you're kidding. She wasn't the one trying to antagonize the other person! Really Draco, when I say control yourself, I mean it. If you can't let go of your hatred, then at least attempt to hide it and don't pick at her."

Draco bristled at his words. Why did he feel like he was arguing with one of the adults who favored Hermione all of a sudden?

"Why are you so defensive about this?!" Draco asked.

"Unlike you I am coming to accept the fact that she is my sister! I haven't reached the point of liking that yet, but I see no reason to pretend she is anything else and treat her as we did before. You are my friend and I'm asking that you act mature. I'm not asking you to be friendly, Merlin forbid that will ever happen, but just act tolerable." Blaise was practically pleading by this point and it was obvious the anger had died out.

Hermione quietly closed the door the rest of the way. When she turned around to face the room she saw Edmond standing a few feet away from her. She felt a slight blush work its way onto her cheeks as she had just been caught eavesdropping.

"Hear anything interesting?" Edmond questioned casually.

"No, nothing at all." Hermione said innocently. "Perhaps a few birds singing, but nothing else."

Edmond just gave her that almost smile of his and turned towards a hallway.

"Come, I know you want to ask me about the Z on your shoulder and we need to discuss your living arrangements as well."

He started walking at a leisurely pace and Hermione gravitated to his side. Their walk was quiet as Hermione was thinking about the conversation she had overheard. They approached a closed door and Edmond opened it for her then stepped aside. As she was entering the room he spoke.

"You know, Blaise would not have stood up for you if he didn't like you."

Hermione paused in her step and responded.

"I don't really know him, but I figured as much." She said.

"Whether or not he realizes it, he's already accepted you as family, but it will take longer before he shows that on the outside. As for Draco, I've known him since he was young and he too will come around… eventually; he's just not one to easily adapt, but when he does, he often finds the new situation benefits him more than he could have imagined." Edmond finished. He gestured for Hermione to continue walking so she blindly entered the room.

As he shut the door behind them, Hermione wondered exactly what did he mean by his last statement.

~TBC~

Thank you to the reader who pointed out I never really described Hermione's different appearance. It's just sometimes I think about a detail so much in my head it feels as if I've already included it. It's true that sometimes authors are simply waiting until a future chapter to reveal something, but this was an oversight on my part. No beta and all that, but I cope. :) As always, reviews are appreciated.

Until next time! xxxxxxx