Couldn't let Hermione's birthday pass without an update. It's way overdue, anyway. Also, had forgotten I had left off with such a cliffhanger. Sowwie.

For the curious: Since last time they checked me for both gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, but I'm fine. Well, except for a few the things that made them check me in the first place, I suppose. XD But, really, fine. Just really busy with this whole getting-ready-for-baby thing. Never knew that would take so much of my time. But then again, I also never knew that pregnancy would be this hard on your nipples. 'nuff said. Oh, and those of you who asked: The due date is November 11th. ;)

Also, in the next few days I have to finish my entry for the dmhgficexchange. Guh. It's an anonymous exchange so can't really say which story is mine etc before the reveal, but I'll make sure to put a link in my profile to the exchange so you can check it out, if you like. If nothing else, it's a steady supply of Dramione fics, starting in about a week. You have to join the community to read anything NC-17 posted, though.


Draco looked from Tracey to Blaise and back again, considering the odds of Blaise getting parts of his anatomy hexed off him before the night was over.

His calculations resulted in pretty good—or rather bad—odds.

"You were being an arse to Lucinda," Tracey accused.

Lucinda? Probably either the girl Blaise had rejected or a girl who had tried to use Blaise for a seat. Draco lightly shook his head. Didn't Davis understand that Blaise was pining for her and couldn't care less about anyone else? If he wanted to be left alone, they should just respect that and go bother some other bloke.

"Blond one?" Blaise asked with a shrug. "She was being a nuisance. Good riddance."

"Not like you to turn down a pretty girl." Tracey folded her arms. "And so rudely too. Continue like this and you'll soon have ruined the reputation you worked so hard for."

"Why do you even bloody care?" Blaise was fairly growling. "So I didn't feel like snogging your little friend, so what? Since when do you get to hire me out? All evidence to the contrary, you don't own me and I don't have to whore on your command."

Draco was a bit shocked at the venom in Blaise's words. He tried to imagine what was going on and how Blaise felt, but failed to get anything more than a basic idea.

Tracey shook her head, looking sad. "You make a mean drunk. Stop drinking and go to bed."

"Will I be permitted to go alone?" Blaise asked, the bitterness still evident in him. "Or maybe you will want to come along? How about it, Trace, another ride for old time's sake? I'm sure I could still manage to make it worth your while. Or would you prefer it if I charged for my services? Or maybe you should charge for yours? I'm a little confused here…"

To Draco's great surprise, Tracey's eyes were filling with tears. She was not as cold and indifferent as Blaise was insinuating and his friend was currently being a huge arse. "Blaise…" he muttered, hoping to stop him, but nobody heard him. There was too much noise and they were too absorbed in their own conversation.

"Fine," she finally said. "Go to hell, Zabini. What do I care?"

She was about to walk away when Blaise suddenly straightened and changed his tactics. Maybe he'd seen the same as Draco. "Wait," he almost pleaded. "Wait… I'm sorry. I didn't mean… You aren't… I'm just a jerk, you know that." He paused long enough for her to turn to look at him. "But I'll do whatever it is you want… for a kiss."

She stared at him incredulously, seemingly almost forgetting her hurt in her surprise. "What? Forget it! Do you honestly think I'll be this easily—"

"Just a kiss!" Blaise interrupted. "Because it's Christmas. Because you know what a miserable holiday it is for me. Because I miss you. One kiss and I'll go to bed and not offend you or any more of your friends. That's what you want from me, right?"

She still stared at him.

"Please?"

Draco looked away, unable to watch anymore of this. It seemed so painfully familiar to him. This bit he could understand, and he hated the certainty that his friend was about to receive a very painful rejection.

After a few moments the silence from them prompted him to turn his head back and his jaw dropped.

This certainly didn't look like the rejection he had imagined. In fact, he felt obliged to turn his head away again. Tracey was actually sitting on Blaise's lap, and their kiss seemed very… intimate. It actually hurt Draco in a very strange way to see how in love Blaise was with the girl he was kissing.

Draco was extremely confused, but then again, Blaise always seemed to get what he wanted in the end. Draco didn't usually envy him this, but right now he was powerless not to hate his friend for the ease with which he seemed to draw his girl in.

"Doesn't she have a boyfriend?"

Draco didn't notice who said that, but he looked up to see that the couple were beginning to attract attention. And, indeed, Tracey did have a boyfriend, didn't she? Poor bloke, he hadn't signed up for this.

"No…" he heard her mutter in that same moment. "Blaise, stop. No more. You should go."

"Come with me," Blaise whispered. "You know I didn't mean what I said. It wouldn't be like that. It never was and never will be. Not with us."

She shook her head. "No, Blaise… it's over between us. This was stupid. I don't know why…"

Blaise's eyes dropped and his jaw clenched at her rejection. Ok… maybe he didn't have it so easy, after all. Tracey began pushing at the arms surrounding her to get up and he let them drop, not fighting her as she got to her feet. "You're happy with him, aren't you?" he finally quietly asked. "But he will hear about this and he won't be happy…"

"As I said, this was a mistake." Tracey was avoiding Blaise's eyes as she was righting herself, trying to look inconspicuous although it was obvious that half the room was secretly watching.

"Tell him… about us," Blaise said, his voice sounding strangely strangled. "What was before, I mean. Say I used it to blackmail you. He didn't see; he won't know the difference."

Tracey shook her head. "He'll kill you."

Blaise shrugged, trying hard to look indifferent, but still showing the pain of his rejection. "I've dealt with jealous boyfriends before. This way, you probably won't lose him." He abruptly got to his feet. "I'm going now. I promised, after all. Night, Tracey. Night, Draco."

To Draco's great surprise, Blaise's walk wasn't even unsteady. It seemed he could hold his liquor pretty well, no matter what it had seemed.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. So, Blaise had obviously known he'd been listening. That was sort of embarrassing—for both of them. Yet Blaise hardly seemed embarrassed at all—but then again, he was never embarrassed about anything. He opened his eyes again to find Tracey staring at him. Clearly, she hadn't known he'd been listening, him and the girl on his lap being the only ones close enough to actually hear, and she was embarrassed.

Serves her right.

Draco knew things weren't as simple as they seemed, they never were, but how could she kiss someone who was clearly head over heels for her like that and then tell him it was nothing but a mistake? He found it cruel and heartless.

"I know what you're thinking," she said. "And you're wrong."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're a Legilimens, then?"

She ignored him. "He exaggerates. He's like that. He's melodramatic and a bit of a romantic, and lately he likes to play the part of the tragic hero. Right now he thinks that he… that we might somehow fit together, but if I were stupid enough to throw away everything for him again, it would just be more sneaking around and he'd get bored within a couple of weeks… Blokes like him… It's a mistake to ever take them seriously."

He could tell that she believed it. What he couldn't exactly tell was whether she wanted it to be different, or whether she didn't care. Nevertheless, he shook his head. "You're the one who's wrong. You're not the first girl to turn him down, you know. You're not the first girl to develop feelings for him, either."

Tracey's eyes widened and she exhaled sharply. "He told you about that?"

Draco shrugged, showing all his considerable indifference to her feelings. "He's human; he needs to talk to people sometimes. Learn to live with it." He paused, considering whether he'd do Blaise a favor or just the opposite by saying anything more. He finally decided that he just hated for the bird to continue being so ignorant and that he could hardly do any damage as it was. "Here's what was different with you," he calmly continued. "He didn't break it off as soon as he suspected you might like him as more than a good shag, and he didn't let you go without a fight as soon as you got sick of him. He does want to be with you, but he wants you to be happy more, and he probably would never be able to offer you a full relationship, which seems to be what you want. He understands that part and accepts it as a reason for you to reject him, so there's no need to invent new reasons by claiming he doesn't care about you. He does. He just proved that, didn't he? He'll let you blacken his name and your boyfriend blacken his eye just so your happiness won't be marred by your own inconstancy."

Tracey was looking away, and Draco could tell that she didn't want to believe him and probably wasn't even listening. He sighed. Well, like he'd just said, there were plenty of reasons for her not to go for Blaise. It wasn't as if anyone expected her to be his dirty little secret forever, no matter what their feelings might be. And, anyway, he was just here to make Blaise happy, and since Blaise was gone…

He tapped the girl on his lap on the shoulder, briefly wondering whether she'd been paying any attention. Probably not. She seemed busy with her own lot. "Excuse me," he said, when he finally got her attention. "Think you could get off so I can go to bed?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Now, there's a new one…"

He stared at her in puzzlement for a second, before he realized what he'd said and groaned. "Think you could get up?"

She actually took the time to consider. Cheeky. "Perhaps. If you could tell me why Zabini was snogging Tracey."

A good shove would send the girl sprawling on the floor. It would be quick, efficient and, well, very amusing. Yet, Draco found himself just smirking and saying, "Blaise would snog anyone. In fact, he almost snogged me once on a dare. Better be careful around him, little girl."

Of course, there was nothing quite as entertaining as patronizing younger students, and she didn't disappoint in the way she scowled at him. It was mostly funny because she couldn't be that much younger, really. It was hard to tell just how old she was, but if he should venture a guess, he'd say she was probably sixteen. Heck, a couple of months ago he might not have minded her position so much, but right now… he couldn't feel less interested in having her here.

"I know about Zabini, you twit. A sister in your year, remember? Not to mention that he's not been shy with the girls in my year. But this was different and don't you dare deny it. I'm neither blind nor deaf."

Draco pursed his lips, wondering if she had been listening before, but decided that he might as well continue lying. Let her call him on it to his face if she had been listening. "He was drunk. He gets a bit dramatic when he drinks. Sometimes snogging really doesn't mean anything, you know."

The girl nodded thoughtfully. "As when you snogged that Granger? Now that was a sight—" She squealed as he almost toppled her to the floor when making a sudden movement, and then she giggled. "Or maybe not. Interesting."

He scowled, wondering how this had all ended back at Hermione. "Exactly like that," he forced out.

"Why did you kiss her?" The girl tilted her head slightly, looking at him.

"Why not?" He immediately recognized the mistake of not dismissing the conversation right away. Now she would think this was something that could be discussed—damn it.

"I can see many reasons why not but very few why you would."

He sighed. "She was there. It really doesn't take more than that." It was funny how someone as relatively inconspicuous as Daphne could have such a… perky… sibling.

"Oh, good reason. Of course. That explains everything." She rolled her eyes.

He shook his head in bafflement. "Since when do I have to explain myself to some girl I don't even know?"

She beamed at him. "Since you found out that she's a gossip and that if you came up with a really good story she'd spread it and people might go easier on you."

Draco paused. They might go easier on Hermione as well—or, rather, he might find a way to make it so people no longer thought there was a connection and she'd stop being bothered by it. "Too much to drink, girl snuggling on my lap… You people seem to vastly overestimate the willpower of a spoiled seventeen-year-old wizard like me." He shook his head again. "I don't understand why people think it's anything more than that…"

She frowned thoughtfully and nodded. "There's one flaw in that story, though…"

He stared at her expectantly and she motioned towards his glass and herself. He realized what she was saying. "Maybe I learned my lesson," he pointed out. "Last time gave me nothing but trouble."

She pursed her lips and he knew what she was thinking. It wouldn't compare. She was the right blood, the right house, the right everything. Hell, she was even prettier than her older sister. He just… didn't want anything to do with her. He didn't want anyone but Hermione. Acting the typical spoiled seventeen-year-old wizard didn't come to him very naturally these days.

Suddenly, she seemed to reach a decision. "Here's the thing," she announced. "You're a bit of a moody brat, but I sort of like you. You let me sit here, even though I know you considered less chivalrous options, so I'm going to help you out."

He leaned back into the chair. "Would this help by any chance involve you getting off my lap?"

"Eventually," she said dismissively. "Now, be a good boy and play along. It might take a bit after the stunt you pulled yesterday."

He opened his mouth to ask what she was on about when he felt her lips against his and froze. His first instinct was to push her away, but he hesitated. This would help quiet the talk about him and Hermione, but the girl probably had ulterior motives. She probably still thought that Draco Malfoy would be worth catching, seeing as he didn't advertise the fact that he was reduced to nothing but a broke refugee. But if she thought she could use him, wouldn't it be appropriate if he used her instead? If it would help Hermione get rid of the talk she seemed to hate so much?

He closed his eyes and tried to ignore that he didn't want this kiss.


Ginny shrugged. "Run-of-the-mill, really. He just snogged some girl. Only, people are a bit surprised with the… you know… everything that's been going on, and the pureblood arses are pleased that he finally seems to focus on someone with the right blood and background."

Hermione coughed as discreetly as she could to dislodge the bit of carrot that had somehow gotten stuck in her throat. "What?" she croaked, once she was fairly sure she could breathe again.