Last chapter :

"I thought you were the smartest, you always seemed to be the one to give others second and third chances. I guess I was wrong, I guess we were all wrong about you then."

With a shake of her head and a swoosh of her wand to clear the now cold coffee in front of her, Hermione stood up determinately. She resigned herself to the fact she would have to apologize in the near future at Malfoy, but she didn't need to do that today.

Chapter 3

"He said what?" exclaimed Ginny as she all but spit out her coffee. Sitting across from her at a small table in the Leaky Cauldron was Hermione, currently retelling her the events of her encounter earlier in the week with Malfoy.

"Oh yeah," said Hermione angrily. "And he had the nerve to act all sarcastic and calm and, just, ah, bugger him! Who does he think he is!"

Ginny smiled and looked at her best friend. For the supposed Smartest Witch of her Age, Hermione sure was oblivious to some things, usually related to men. Ginny reached across the table and put her hand on Hermione's in an attempt to calm her down.

"Hermione, you just didn't realize it because you don't know him yet, but that was as close to an apology as you are going to get. We all had a similar conversation one day or another, the funniest was with Ron." Hermione looked at Ginny disbelievingly.

"I'm sorry, I don't think my ears are properly functioning. Did you say Malfoy apologized to all of you?"

Ginny smiled again. "Oh don't worry, it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns. This is still Malfoy, I mean, he's usually only tolerable few hours at a time, but in one form or another, he managed to excuse his past behaviors these past years. You just weren't around to give him the chance to, being away all the time because of work."

Ginny let go of Hermione's hand and took another sip of her coffee, all the while noticing her friend's facial features slowly change into comprehension. "I'm telling you, you should have seen the boys, Ron's expression was priceless!"

Ginny smiled as she looked at the boys up in the air. It had taken Ron a while to accept the fact that a few old Slytherins would be joining them at their usual Saturday Quidditch match, but he had finally accepted after a stern "Ron! Let it go," from Harry. The red-haired witch congratulated herself on joining everyone together around a common interest. Of course, it would be that Quidditch would bring all these old sworn enemies together.

As she remembered the past week when she had accidentally knocked into Malfoy and Blaise during one of her outings in Diagon Alley, the three had gotten to talk and she had invited them to join them the following Saturday to play with herself, Harry and Ron. Harry and Malfoy had already let go of their prejudices a few months prior, choosing to acknowledge each other's presence in public, and Blaise had never been quite into all that Deatheather drama, which had made her work with him easier. Blaise had one time invited Draco along to a Friday evening at the bar and that had been when Draco had apologized for treating Harry like shit all those years. Both stayed pretty manly about it, and would never admit it out loud, but they had more in common than they knew.

Ginny looked back up at the sky to check up on who was winning the Slytherin versus Gryffindor 2 on 2 just in time to notice Ron swinging a particularly big bludger towards Malfoy. Blaise steered his broom towards the ground as fast as he could, as Harry did the same, only Ron remained in the air in a daze. Few minutes later, everyone was on the ground and Ginny was examining Malfoy's head for possible bruises.

"What the fuck Weasley," he exclaimed as he regained consciousness.

Ron approached him slowly, as if waiting for a punch to be thrown his way. "Um, sorry Malfoy. That wasn't clean."

"No, no, it's alright. I mean, I guess I had it coming after all those years," the blond wizard responded. "Really, it was my fault."

"No, I hit you with the bludger Malfoy, clearly it was my fault. I shouldn't have let my emotions come over me like that."

Blaise, Harry and Ginny all looked at each other while the two boys were still talking. It seemed something else was transpiring along with their exchanged words.

"No Weasley, I'm sorry, really," said Malfoy as he looked Weasley in the eyes with a pleading look for him to understand. Something finally seemed to snap in Ron and he nodded, reaching his hand out towards Malfoy, who was still lying on the ground lazily. Both men helped each other stand and when both were finally on their feet, Malfoy raised an eyebrow at Ron.

"The past is in the past, Weasley? What do you say?"

Ron could only nod, dumbfounded, as if he wasn't sure this was all really happening. Ginny smiled and reached out to squeeze Harry's hand as she finally understood what was truly transpiring in front of them. Malfoy nodded again and clapped one of his hands onto Ron's shoulder.

"Alright then, now that that's settled, Firewhiskey's on me," Draco said as he floated towards the house. "Come on Weasley, two shots and I bet you're drunk off your ass!"

Ron huffed and snapped out of his daze, jogging along after Malfoy. "Piss off, I'm sure I hold my alcohol way longer than you, ferret."

"And since then, well, suffice to say the boys get along when they have to," said Ginny to Hermione, as the two made their way through the almost deserted streets of Diagon Alley. They had left The Leaky Cauldron to continue on with their shopping as Ginny resumed the event of Malfoy's apology. "Don't get me wrong, they still fight and argue all the time, boys will always be boys! But, it seems to be more of a brotherly banter, if you know what I mean?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed as she looked back at Ginny. They entered a small quaint shop, in search of some clothing for baby Potter.

"Ginny, I'm not saying I don't believe you," started Hermione as she showed her a deep blue kit. Ginny frowned and shook her head. "It's just, I'm certain there's something behind all of this. It's still Malfoy, for Merlin's sake! Do you not see it?"

"Hermione, I swear to you, give him a chance. After a few times with him, you can't help but notice he's changed, and for the better. Although still arrogant, he's a handsome, sexy arrogant man," she grinned.

Hermione grimaced and her whole body shook as the biggest of shivers passed through her. "You're kidding Gin, seriously? Did you even really just say that out loud?"

"You've to admit Hermione, Quidditch has done wonders to his body, especially those strong arms."

"Oh dear Merlin, that's it, pregnancy hormones getting to your sanity!"

Ginny only laughed and kept on browsing through the store.

She's right you know, you felt those arms only earlier this week, a little voice in her head said.

Shut it you, that was an accident. I would never willingly touch Malfoy's big strong arms.

There, you even admitted it yourself! Ha, you did notice his body!

Most certainly not! That's, that is preposterous, now piss off will you.

If his arms are that big and strong, imagine what other parts of him are as-

That's enough!

"Hermione, are you ok?" said Ginny as she waved a hand in front of her eyes. Hermione shook herself out of her trance.

"What were you saying Gin? Sorry, I got caught up thinking about … Egypt, and, stuff. You know, work. Right." Hermione thought she was trying to convince herself more than Ginny.

"I was telling you how funny it was when just before you arrived at the shower this week, Harry was even mentioning to Malfoy how you guys would be a good match! I mean, he has to snag himself a strong-temper witch to be able to stand against him everyday, right?" said Ginny with a smirk. They only need a little push, she thought to herself as she looked at Hermione to see her reaction.

Hermione blushed bright red, possibly even more red than Ron had ever been, and her eyebrows shooted up towards her hairline. "Ok, that's. No. You're just. Why are we even talking about Malfoy still?" She flushed as she turned into a narrow aisle of the store and focused intensely at all the little objects on a shelf. "So, have you decided on names yet?" she tried to change the subject.

Ginny smiled knowingly and let Hermione steer the course of their steamy conversation back to the origin of their shopping trip. Ha! This will be even easier than I thought if she's only blushing at the thought of Harry pairing them up, she thought giddily.

Needless to say, no more word of Draco Malfoy, sexy, handsome but arrogant git, was ushered that afternoon. The two girls went on visiting a few other shops before coming back to the Potter residence and starting to unload their bags.

The following Tuesday was Blaise Zabini's first day as the official replacement of Ginevra Weasley, now Potter, at Hogwarts School of Wizardry as Quidditch Professor. To say the dark-skin Slytherin was nervous would be an understatement. However, his mother had always taught him to show no fear in whatever form, especially when he would be in front of twenty or so students.

"What could go wrong," he said to himself out loud while pacing his quarters. "Only a bunch of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Third years, no harm to come." He continued drilling a path around his desk as he impatiently glanced at his watch every few minutes.

Ginny Potter was due to arrive any minute and he would never admit out loud that he was ever anticipating greeting her as much as today. She had agreed to help him throughout his first week of teaching, but had agreed to only watch from the back of his class, as he would need to take the lead to be able to properly teach his students throughout the next year. If anyone would've ever told him he would be glad to see a Weasley this much, he would've laughed in his face, never believing the joke. Blaise smiled unknowingly as his pacing continued, while he thought back to the unlikely Quidditch match that had reunited the former students. He would've never thought to be on a somewhat friendly basis with his supposed nemeses, but today was glad that he could count on the Weaselette. She had sure done a number on more than one student at Hogwarts these past years.

"I swear, another ten steps and you'll have dug yourself a hole to China with all this back and forth," came the melodic voice of his long-awaited guest. Ginny stood in the doorway to his quarters, leaning against the framework of the door, her left hand stroking her growing belly absentmindedly.

Blaise huffed at the newcomer, but grinned nonetheless. "About damn time Weasley."

"It's Potter now, need I remind you."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, each one daring the other to break their staring contest. As Blaise lifted an eyebrow, daring Ginny to bow down, she cracked and smiled as she took a step forward to properly greet him as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Never pegged you for the nervous type, Zabini," she said as he turned around and led her out of his quarters, and lead the way to the Quidditch pitch.

"Yeah, yeah, Slytherin demeanor, Pureblood behavior. Never been good at that stuff and you know it."

"If only you weren't the only one Blaise," she let out wishfully.

Blaise looked sideways to Ginny as he kept on walking, the beginning of a thought forming at the back of his head. He opened his mouth to question the witch but was interrupted by the cheers of students coming from the pitch a few yards from them. They had obviously spotted Ginny, she had always been one of the favorite professors, but Blaise shook his head to clear his thoughts as he braced himself for his first class. Today is going to be one of those days, he thought, as he joined Ginny who was now shaking hands with her old students.

After four classes of Quidditch and flying lessons, one emergency trip to the infirmary with a student, and an incident with a fake wand that one of his fifth year students had replaced instead of his own, Blaise was heading to the Great Hall, Ginny Potter in tow. It had been one hell of a day, and Blaise hoped the year wouldn't follow in the same curious manner. As the pair reached the Head's table, Ginny left his side momentarily to greet the other professors, while he eagerly dug through his full plate of food. That trip to the infirmary had left him with only two minutes to spare for lunch, and he had to admit, the nervous feeling in his gut didn't seem to want to let him chow down a few bites. So Blaise had skipped lunch and had headed back to another of his classes.

Ginny plopped herself down beside him a few minutes later and she began to pill some food on her own plate. "That wasn't too bad Zabini, wasn't it?"

He laughed and then almost choked on his bite. "You are a crazy, crazy woman Weasley. I sure as hell hope it won't be like this the rest of the year."

Ginny roared as she kept on eating, a little smile tucked away on her the side of her lips. "Anyways, let's change your mind a bit from all the stress, shall we? Considering all your classes, I was wondering if you and Parkinson would be of attendance at the Ministry Gala this Friday?"

"You know I would never miss out on such fun events," his voice dripped with sarcasm. "I tried reasoning the witch, really I did. The only reason I could agree with her on for going was that she could parade one of her own gowns, and you have to admit, it's good for the business. So yeah, I guess I'll see you there?"

Ginny nodded as she kept on eating.

Pansy Parkinson had obviously followed her friends after the turn of events leading up to the War. She had been one of the more resistant to the change and had kept to her Pureblood ways even months after Voldemort's demise. However, after meeting a certain red-haired Weasley witch a fateful night in a pub on Diagon Alley, Pansy had to admit she might've been wrong in her ways for a few years. Ginny and Pansy had gone through with one of the most public and outrageous verbal fights to ever grace Diagon Alley, but in the end, the two women had come to an understanding. It still took years to form a semblance of friendship between the two, but each witch respected the other, and with respect came a form of loyalty that Pansy couldn't deny anymore. When her womanly logic would take over, Ginny would rightfully put her back in her place, and in revenge, when Ginny stormed up an overheated argument, Pansy would make her see reason. It wasn't the perfect friendship, but it was something.

Also, there was the fact that Pansy was now trying to make her own name in wizarding fashion as she had taken an interest in robes and gown designing. Whenever the two witches had a disagreement that would last them more than a week, Pansy would usually send Ginny a new dress or some kind of accessory or another, and vice versa, Ginny would be sure to feed Pansy some new gossip pertaining a witch or wizard, and the two would forget all past grudges.

An unlikely friendship, yes.

"Weaselette," stressed Blaise from Ginny's right side. She shook out of her daze and looked at him.

"I asked you, do you know if Granger is planning on coming too?" he asked.

"I would think so, yes, seeing as her team in only due back end of September."

"Good. I assume I'm not the only one who noticed the awkward silence from our recent gathering? Not to mention, all the possibilities of a certain encounter at said Ministry Gala?" Blaise put emphasis on certain words and looked at Ginny to be sure she understood the meaning of his words. She only smiled and kept on eating gracefully.

"I'm always a step ahead of you Zabini, when are you going to learn," she teased.

"You are more cunning than you think Weasley. Could've been sorted into Slytherin all those years ago if it weren't for that thing you call, what is it now? … Ah, yes, I believe some call it courage and bravery?" he taunted. Ginny turned her head abruptly, glaring at her friend. "Anyways, if you claim to be a step ahead of me, you wouldn't mind putting a few Galleons on the table for a small, friendly bet then, would you?"

At this, the witch only knotted her eyebrows in deep concentration, thinking of all the possible outcomes of their Friday evening. "You know Hermione would never fall for that classic charm and all."

"Ten galleons on Malfoy."

"I raise you twenty Galleons on Hermione. You don't know her like I do, she would never do anything with the ferret before knowing him properly."

"And you don't know Draco like I do, dear Weaselette. When he sets his mind on something, he usually does anything in his power to get it," he challenged. As the two stared each other in the eyes, baby blue battling with light green, an understanding was reached.

"Fine," Ginny retorted. "This won't be the first time you owe me over some petty bet Zabini. When will you learn to bet against me in anything?" she teased a she resumed her dinner.

Blaise only chuckled and the pair quietly finished their meal in silence. Friday couldn't come quicker, and Blaise couldn't wait to be twenty galleons richer if it meant it was at the expense of Ginny's failure to acknowledge the sexual tension between their mutual friends.

Two days later, Ginny and Blaise were making their way to the Great Hall for lunch in between classes when they round a corner and heard a familiar laugh. As they got closer to two figures on the side of the Great Hall doors, Ginny smiled and quickened her steps towards the entrance of the Hall.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed as she rushed quicker.

The two witches near the doors turned around and the youngest of the two wore an expression of surprise.

"Gin? I thought you were on leave!" replied Hermione to her friend as she received a hug. Blaise reached the group a moment later.

"I'm helping our dear Blaise for his first week. Nervous as hell this one is," she admitted.

"Language, Miss Potter," whispered McGonagall angrily.

"Weaselette," growled Blaise.

Hermione only smiled at the unlikely gathering. "It was great seeing you again Minerva. I will be back in your office late afternoon if that is good with you?" she directed at her past Headmistress. The older witch only nodded her approval before turning and heading into the Great Hall.

"Granger, good to see you again," greeted Blaise as he nodded towards Hermione in a welcoming gesture.

"Good to see too I guess," she replied with a weird looking expression on her face. Blaise then nodded back at Ginny and followed McGonagall into the Hall.

"What are you doing here?" ushered Ginny excidetely to her friend.

"Well, I'm only in town for a few weeks and thought I would make the best of it. Although our discovery of the Runes was a breakthrough, we'll still need all the help we can get to decipher their meaning. I thought I would pay Minerva visit and asked her if I could borrow some books from the Library."

"Of course this is about books!"

"I'm sorry Ginny, you know how work is important. I would love to stay and eat with you, but I'm running on a tight schedule."

"I know, I know," Ginny smiled. "At least tell me you'll be at the Gala tomorrow night?"

"As much as it pains me to say, yes I'll be there."

"Great! So what would you say to a little shopping trip tomorrow afternoon then? I'm sure Blaise won't mind if I leave a bit earlier than planned. And anyways, we need to find you a nice looking dress to woo you some wizards!"

Hermione blushed at the words of her friends. "Please Ginny, no more matchmaking. Need I remind you the disaster date with Cormac last year? I just want to enjoy my evening with my best friends I've missed so."

"Alright, alright. No matchmaking, but we are still going to find you the best dress in Wizarding London, and you will outshine all the other witches present at that Gala, whether you want it or not! I'm sure you've been missing out on dressing like a real woman, ever since you took on that project in Egypt. I am pretty certain you don't dress out of those muggle jeans and more than ordinary blouses you wear there."

Hermione genuinely smiled at her best friend. "Well, I can't deny you know me better than I know myself there, Gin."

"Trust me Hermione, I hope I really, really know you well then."

As the two witches parted ways with the promise to meet up the next day, Hermione couldn't help but think back to her friend's last words. What is she sprouting, she's known me better than anyone else for the past ten years. And with that, Hermione headed for the one place in Hogwarts she had always missed, her dear library.

Author's note :

Some more play on the name-basis, I know. Let me know what you think about it all!

Also, shorter scenes than the other chapters but asides from Draco and Hermione, I think the rest of the characters in this fiction have something to bring to the table, and ps. I just love Blaise's cockiness and attitude he often has in fics!

Don't forget to review your thoughts if you have two seconds :) See you all next time!