Recap of Chapter Eight

'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.

A/N: Wow. Shout-outs to repeat reviewers xchloee (Heh, I knew I'd hook you!), riaroo400, Nichole87, Lena2244 (you may just be right…), Rissa1986, GeekybyNature (I know, I'd be top of the list!), kimbclar, Snowflake Dazzle, Virginie Cires, pgoodrichboggs, Green Eyed Lana Lee (I'm determined to win you over to the DD idea!), BadWolfJiggy, MGB84 and LullabyTales. Special shout-outs to new reviewers ZoeyOlivia (I gave you fair warning! Why not give the DD thing a bit longer and see if it grows on you?), loveyd4u, thelittleredgirl, Keke Koorime, mangoandpassionfruit and ceekatz. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback my lovelies, I really do appreciate it.

So the plan for tonight was to update TGWPH but the boys wouldn't leave me alone! Blaise was smouldering at me, Draco was murmuring seductively in my ear and Theo offered me a back massage – what's a girl to do but give into them?

Today's story / author recommendation is Yours by AmOrFoReVeRmOrE. Unfortunately it's on hiatus but it's sooooo good!

Chapter Nine

Half an hour later Blaise entered the library carrying a wicker basket. Thankfully Madam Pince never showed her face before noon on Sundays or she might have guessed its contents and shooed him right back out. After about 10 minutes of searching he eventually spotted Hermione in a faraway corner tucked behind a pile of books.

'Hello piccolo, I brought breakfast. Am I forgiven?' He tried for a winning smile.

'Technically you didn't really do anything wrong, I suppose,' she replied hesitantly.

'Yes I did and I'm sorry. I came on too strong and frightened you out of your own common room,' Blaise stated contritely. It was against his nature to apologise and it came out a little stilted but she appreciated the effort and nodded in acceptance. He grinned and sat down opposite her before beginning to unpack the picnic basket.

'What are you doing? You can't bring food into the library!' Hermione was horror-struck at his lack of respect for the rules. He rolled his eyes and moved the books to the other end of the table to protect them from any stray crumbs.

'That better?'

'Marginally,' she grumbled, but perked up moments later when she spotted pain aux raisins and almond croissants and a flask of coffee. When she was halfway through a pastry Blaise dared to speak again.

'You're avoiding the Great Hall,' he said flatly. 'This is the second morning you've not gone down for breakfast, you skipped the Welcome Feast and last night you claimed you were still full from lunch and wouldn't come down with us for dinner. What's bothering you dolcezza?'

Hermione took a sip of coffee to give herself a moment to think. She opted for honesty. 'Two things. Firstly, I don't want to talk about the war and I know people will ask me about it. And the second thing is, well… I've spent so long with just Harry and Ron and then summer with only the Weasleys, I've gotten out of the way of being with a lot of people. I feel a bit scared of big groups and crowds now. The last time I was surrounded by a lot of people was the day of the battle. I couldn't face taking the Hogwarts Express on Friday so I apparated to Hogsmeade and walked up once I knew everyone would already be inside.' She had been directing her words at the pastry but when she finished she looked up at Blaise and saw compassion in his eyes.

He reached for her hand and held it in both of his, 'thank you for telling me that, I know it wasn't easy. We'll help you, we can all go down to lunch together and if you like you can sit with us – I doubt anyone will bother you with questions then.'

'A Gryffindor at the Slytherin table? Whatever next?!' Hermione gasped in mock dismay. 'If I had a string of pearls on I would be clutching it in consternation right about now,' she teased. Blaise laughed in return.

'Hey, Snape is all about bridging the gaps between houses this year; he's making all Slytherins take Muggle Studies so we'd be setting a good example,' he winked.

'You are taking Muggle Studies?' Hermione couldn't contain a snigger at the mental image of Blaise learning about things like televisions and toasters. Draco and Theo too, oh this was going to be good she thought to herself, smirking.

'Yes. I've already embraced muggle clothing,' he replied indignantly. It was true, all three men had worn jeans yesterday and they looked incredible. Hermione was reminded of seeing Blaise in nothing buy flannel pyjama bottoms not long ago and blushed. It shouldn't be legal to look that sexy. She'd seen Harry and Ron in various states of undress over the last year and they definitely weren't in the same league.

'So you have,' she agreed. Blaise looked at her expectantly. 'It suits you,' she admitted, reluctant to massage his already healthy ego.

'I know,' he said smugly. Hermione stuck out her tongue in response, causing Blaise to bite his to prevent a suggestive comment escaping. The last thing he needed was to scare her off again. 'Okay, I'm going to leave you to your books now piccolo, if you're not back in the common room by 1pm then I'm coming to find you to take you down to lunch,' he warned. He packed up the basket and quickly dropped a kiss on her forehead before leaving.

Draco and Theo were lounging in front of the fire when they heard the familiar sound of an owl hooting at the window. Theo leapt up and went to retrieve the parcel, which was addressed to him.

'What have you got there, anything interesting?' Draco asked, looking up from his copy of George Orwell's 1984. During the summer he had visited Flourish & Blotts and steeled himself to speak to one of the booksellers about muggle literature. To his surprise they had a small section at the rear of the shop and he bought everything that was recommended to him. It had begun as a way of paying lip service to his godfather Severus's advice (order) to find out more about the non-magical world, but to his surprise he found himself enjoying the books and going back for more in the weeks that followed.

'I ordered a book for Granger,' Theo gave a wicked grin, which immediately made Draco suspicious.

'What book? What have you done, Theo?'

'Remember how you oh so delicately asked our little mouse if she had ever touched herself? Well given her negative response I thought she could use a little instruction, and you know how she loves to learn from books,' he smirked and handed it to his friend.

'The Modern Witch's Guide to Pleasure? She'll be mortified, mate,' Draco warned.

'Agreed, but I think she'll be curious enough to at least look at it, and hopefully try some of the solo techniques. Of course I'll be sure to tell her that if she needs any assistance I'll be on hand to help her out, so to speak,' Theo said suggestively. Draco narrowed his eyes at the other man.

Luckily Blaise chose that moment to come through the portrait hole. Sensing the atmosphere he approached his friends cautiously. 'What's up?'

'This,' Draco held the book aloft for Blaise to see. 'Theo thought it would be appropriate reading material for Granger,' he ground out. Blaise read the title, the blurb on the back and finally looked down the contents page.

'This is going to overwhelm her,' he commented. He turned to the chapter on self-pleasuring and marked the page before returning the volume to Theo. 'Tell her to start with that chapter,' he advised. Then he sat in the chair next to Draco and took a moment to choose his words.

'Look, I get that you're unhappy with Theo because you think he's making a move on her. Well guess what, so am I. I've just had breakfast with her in the library,' Blaise raised his hand to forestall protests from his fellow snakes. 'I've got an idea, it's somewhat unusual but I'm just throwing it out there. What if we were to share?'