Recap of Chapter Seven
'I see what you're getting at Theo, you're talking about a Daddy Dom,' Blaise said slowly. He swallowed hard as his palms broke out in a sweat.
'Exactly,' Theo inclined his head while trying to ignore the excitement fluttering in his abdomen.
'We've got a lot to talk about,' Draco spoke up. 'Meeting in your room tonight after she goes to bed?' Theo nodded in assent.
A/N: Wow. Shout-outs to repeat reviewers slythkris, riaroo400, roon0 (lucky, definitely lucky!), Nichole87 (heh, welcome to the dark side!), Lena2244, Rissa1986, Dutchess of the Depraved (hell yes!), GeekybyNature, saillorgemini, Antjex3, kimbclar, Snowflake Dazzle (thanks for your supportive comments), Virginie Cires, pgoodrichboggs, BritishTonyDinozzo, and LullabyTales. Special shout-outs to new reviewers Cking39478, Carmyska, AriaSuoh21, RedSavvy, MGB84, imranramji1, colao, mooncrazy1992 and my anonymous guest. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback my lovelies, I really do appreciate it.
Today's story / author recommendation is Gingersnaps by HufflepuffMommy. A story with Draco and biscuits, seriously, life doesn't get much better than this.
Chapter Eight
Hermione sank into the steaming hot bath gratefully, she was shattered from shopping, a long chat with Ginny and sending owls to both Harry and Molly to reassure them that she was being looked after by friends and although she was deeply hurt, she would be okay. The smell of bluebells was soothing and the bath oil covered her skin in a soft sheen. It was heavenly.
Afterwards she happily put on her new tartan pyjamas, the flannelette was soft and cosy and reminded her of a pair she had gotten one Christmas when she was younger. There was a family tradition that one of Father Christmas's elves would deliver a parcel on Christmas Eve while Hermione was in the bath. Inside would be new pyjamas, marshmallows for her bedtime cocoa and a new book. Even after she was old enough to know it was really her parents the Grangers kept up the tradition. Those times would never come again and she blinked away tears at the realisation. With a loud sniff she turned and headed out of her room to make herself some cocoa.
'Hey Princess, you look utterly huggable in those,' Draco smirked. She rolled her eyes in response but submitted to his tight embrace nonetheless, awkwardly enjoying it. 'I'm almost glad you talked me out of the silk nightgowns I wanted you to have. Almost. Although my favourite has got to be you wearing my shirt,' he grinned into her hair and placed a kiss on top of the curls so gently that she wouldn't feel it.
'Yes, well, they weren't exactly practical for a stone castle that gets draughty in the winter,' Hermione mumbled into his chest, completely ignoring the shirt remark as she had no clue how to respond to it. 'Now let me go, I'm on a mission for cocoa,' she pulled away.
'Cocoa? What are you, 80?' He scoffed.
'It's a well-known bedtime drink, whatever your age happens to be,' she replied with asperity. 'Plus Paddington Bear drinks it,' she mumbled under her breath. Blaise, who was fixing himself a decaf coffee, was close enough to hear her.
'A what bear?' He echoed in confusion. Hermione sighed.
'Paddington Bear. He's the main character in a series of muggle children's books, they were one of my favourites growing up,' she felt a bit silly telling the Slytherins and leaned over to let her hair cover her face as she warmed the milk. She missed the knowing look that passed between them.
Blaise moved to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. 'Malfoy's right, you are utterly huggable in these,' he squeezed her lightly in approval, inhaling the scent of bluebells. She cleared her throat nervously.
'If you're quite done manhandling me, I'm off to bed. Goodnight,' and Hermione took her cocoa and her red cheeks back up to her room, leaving two smug men in her wake.
An hour later the snakes convened in Theo's room with a bottle of Dragon Barrel Brandy. Blaise recounted the cocoa incident to Theo, who had been showering at the time. He listened and ran his hands through his bronze hair.
'Okay, cards on the table. I know it goes against our Slytherin instincts but for Hermione's sake I think we need to be honest with each other about our intentions. I want her, pure and simple. She's clever, engaging and beautiful. She makes me feel like I want to look after her, protect her – I've never felt this way before about anyone,' Theo took a slug of brandy. Shit, you've done it now, Nott, no taking it back. Gods, I hate sharing my feelings.
'That pretty much sums it up for me too,' admitted Blaise. They both turned to look at Draco.
'Yeah,' he nodded. 'Add in six years of insulting each other, sexual tension and not being able to save her from my evil bitch of an aunt and you've covered it. I won't back down from going after her and I will fight for her if she doesn't choose me,' Draco said seriously. His friends looked at him; he wasn't being aggressive but he wasn't kidding either.
'So where do we go from here?' Blaise asked.
'Damned if I know,' replied Theo.
Sunday morning brought the kind of steady, persistent rain that lasted all day but Hermione didn't mind one bit. She loved rainy Sundays, they were perfect for curling up in front of the fire with a good book. A trip to the library was definitely in order. She chose to dress before heading downstairs to avoid any more hugs, it wasn't that she didn't like them, just the opposite, she liked them too much and she was uncomfortable with that. Wearing jeans and a lightweight grey jumper she went in search of coffee.
Blaise was already at the coffee machine, half-naked like the day before. Hermione couldn't take her eyes off his back, the way his muscles moved under his hazelnut skin was mesmerising. At the sound of her footsteps he turned around and greeted her warmly. 'Good morning dolcezza, how did you sleep?'
'Fine thank you, and you?' She took the proffered mug of coffee appreciatively and followed him over to the sofa. Blaise looked at the shadows under her eyes and wasn't fooled.
'Liar. You look tired,' he countered. Hermione scowled into her coffee, she really didn't want to talk about this. She had gone so far as to leave a reminder note on her bedside table to cast a silencio before going to sleep; the last thing she wanted was for one of them to hear her having a nightmare. Unfortunately she was still haunted by memories of the day Ron left them, being chased by the Snatchers, and being tortured by Bellatrix. Perhaps Draco would be able to understand it because he had seen more than his fair share of horrors during the war, but Theo and Blaise hadn't really been involved it. She worried that she had already told the men too much about her, she didn't need to add her nightmares to the list.
'Is it your habit to wander around without a top on?' She parried.
'Really, dolcezza, you're saying that with a straight face after yesterday?' He smirked as she turned bright red.
'That's different! It was a one-off. I only took the top off because I couldn't stand have anything related to Ronald Weasley touching me!'
Blaise moved closer and brushed his knuckles against her cheek briefly. 'I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to bring it up. Let's not think about that tosser. If you give me two minutes to throw some clothes on I'll escort you to breakfast, if you like? You're too thin, we need to feed you up a bit,' he teased.
'Tired looking and scrawny? Enough with the flattery, you're laying it on too thick,' Hermione said waspishly. Then she flicked his nipple, just because it was there and she could. He winced.
'The lion cub has claws,' he observed with raised brows. 'If you wanted to touch me all you had to do was ask. In fact, consider yourself allowed, I give you an open invitation to fondle me anytime you like,' he winked.
He made her nervous and so she fell back on her default coping mechanism. 'I'm going to the library,' and hastened out of the common room before Blaise had a chance to stop her.
Nice one, idiot. Now you've gone and frightened her off. Blaise sipped his coffee and stared morosely at the unlit hearth.