A/N: Many thanks to everyone who added this to their alerts or favourites, and special thanks to lollapalozzafanatic83 for the first review of my first Harry Potter fanfic. I do hope you all continue to enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: Not mine.
The broken clock is a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight
Maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time
I am here still waiting though I still have my doubts
I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out
I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart that's still beating
In the pain, there is healing
In your name I find meaning
So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
I'm barely holdin' on to you
Lifehouse – Broken
Draco shook his head and went to refill his coffee cup, questions flying through his mind. He simply could not comprehend what he had just witnessed.
When had Blaise and Granger gotten so close? And just how close were they? Was she really one of his conquests? Why was she so upset about a few words that to his mind were far from the worst he had directed at her? What made Blaise so protective of her? Just what was going on upstairs?
He set his mug down on the kitchen table and wandered over to the pantry, where he grabbed a box of cereal at random. Glancing down, he noticed it was the cereal that Blaise had been fond of since Hermione introduced it to him in their final year at Hogwarts. Honey Nut Cheerios, apparently an American muggle brand. Shrugging, Draco went to grab a bowl from the cupboard, moving through the cupboard with ease born of familiarity. The two boys had known each other since infancy, and when they were growing up Draco would often spend time with Blaise and his mother in the London townhouse during the summer. Catherine Zabini had signed the home over to Zabini upon his graduation from Hogwarts, and Draco knew he loved living there.
He sat at the kitchen table eating cereal and drinking coffee for ten minutes before he thought, fuck it, and headed upstairs to satisfy his curiosity. Not sure where they would have headed, he decided to start at the top and work his way down, though he was almost certain they would not be on the very top floor because it consisted solely of the expansive master bedroom suite. He hesitated briefly in the small sitting room at the top of the stairs, then crossed to the door to the bedroom, where he stopped in his tracks.
He stood silently in the doorway, shocked at the sight before him. Blaise was sitting on the far edge of his king-sized bed, his back to the doorway. Hermione was stretched out on her side, her head laying on Blaise's lap, one of his hands resting comfortably on the dip of her waist while the other combed gently through her curls. Draco could hear the low pitch of Blaise's voice and her soft murmur in response although he was unable to make out the words they spoke, but the affection between the two was unmistakable when his friend lifted her hand to press a gentle kiss to its back.
It was a decidedly intimate moment, and Draco was suddenly seized with the uncomfortable feeling that he was intruding where he had no place. He backed away from the room in confusion. What had happened in the kitchen had given him an inkling of the closeness between Blaise and Hermione but he never would have imagined this kind of easy familiarity for them. He made his way back to the kitchen, dazed and with no better understanding of the situation than when he went looking for them.
He was just pondering whether the two of them were actually in a relationship when a voice broke him out of his reverie. "Hello?"
"Pansy?" he muttered, going to the sitting room to answer the fire call.
"Draco!" she cried the moment he stood in front of the fireplace. "Is that really you?"
He nodded. "In the flesh."
"What are you doing in London? I did call the right place, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did. I'm coming back to England, Pans. I was going to let you all know today, Blaise was simply my first stop."
"Really?" she asked. "Hang on, I'm coming through."
He stepped to the side to make room, and the moment she was in the room she threw her arms around him. "It's so good to see you!" she smiled. Then her expression changed, and she stepped back to slap him hard across the face.
"Ow!" he yelped, glaring at her. "What the fuck?"
"That was for not keeping in touch with me, and for not coming to my wedding," she stated primly.
"You're such a bitch," he grumbled.
"Oh please, you deserved that," she said unremorsefully. She sank into the leather armchair to the right of the fireplace, looking up at him critically. "I am glad you're coming back, though. I was beginning to think you hated us all. Or that you had eloped with some Beauxbatons trollop and were going to stay in France forever."
"Not bloody likely." He sat on the couch and shook his head, already moving on from the slap. "Mother will remain there, at least for now, but England is home for me. It was time."
"Good. And I'm glad you decided to let us know." She furrowed her brow then and looked around the room. "Speaking of which, where's Blaise? The whole reason I called was to let him know I would be able to come to brunch after all."
"He's, ah, upstairs." He hesitated, not sure how Pansy would react to the news that Hermione was here as well, then realized that she probably already knew about the relationship. "With Granger."
She snapped her head back from looking into the kitchen in search of Blaise. "Hermione is here?"
He noted with curiosity that her tone carried more of concern than disdain, a change from the way she always spoke of the Gryffindor when they were all at Hogwarts. "She was already here when I arrived, although she didn't stick around down here very long after I asked what Blaise was doing with a mudblood."
"You asked what?" Pansy nearly shouted, getting to her feet.
"What he was doing with a mudblood," he repeated. Her ire confused him to say the least. At school Pansy had always prided herself on being pureblooded, never hesitating to put down muggleborns for their heritage. "What of it? It's nothing she hasn't heard from me before."
"She doesn't deserve that, Draco," she snapped.
"Okay, what the bloody hell is going on?" he asked, impatience getting the better of him. "First Blaise jumps to her defense, which I suppose I can understand because they did become friends in school. But then she's crying on him? Since when does Granger cry? And when did you become her number one fan?"
"Merlin, Draco. Must you always be such a git?" She glowered at him as she made her way over to the stairs.
"Wait! Seriously, Pansy, what is all this?"
She sighed and came to sit at the other end of the couch from him. "Things have changed since you left. A lot of what you want to know is really not my story to tell, but for now you should know that Hermione has become a very good friend, and I won't stand for you belittling her or calling her those horrid names. Neither will Blaise."
Blond eyebrows shot up to his hairline at this explanation. "Friends. You and Granger? Really? As I recall, you were even more cruel to her at school than I was, the only difference was that I did it to her face."
"Yes, friends!" she exclaimed angrily. "We aren't schoolchildren anymore. While you've been off doing Merlin knows what, some of us have grown up. Can you really look me in the eye and tell me that you think that one's parentage defines them?"
He looked away. It was a question he had asked himself countless times since the end of the war, and he still had no answer. "I don't know."
"Well, that's more than you would have admitted at Hogwarts, so I suppose that's better than nothing."
"You and Granger are really friends, then?"
"Yes, we are. She was even a bridesmaid at my wedding, which you would have known had you bothered to come."
He groaned, and was about to open his mouth to retort when they heard Blaise call down the stairs. "Malfoy, are you still here?"
"In the sitting room with Pans."
Pansy got up again to wait for Blaise at the foot of the staircase. As soon as he appeared in her line of sight, she asked, "Is she okay? Are we still having brunch?"
The Italian nodded. "She'll be fine. And I thought you couldn't make it to brunch?"
"Change of plans," she shrugged. "Really though, she's okay?"
"Yes, really, all things considered," he said, shooting Draco a heated look. "Go on up to see for yourself, though. I need to explain some things to Draco."
She gave him a hesitant look. "Blaise . . ."
"It's fine, she told me I could tell him some things."
She nodded, then smiled briefly at Draco. "I'll be back down in a little bit. It really is good to see you, Draco."
Blaise came over to take the seat Pansy had just vacated as soon as she had disappeared up the stairs. "Okay, mate, I imagine you have some questions. I can explain some things, but there are others you'll just need to hear from Hermione."
Draco nodded. Whatever had happened in his absence was enough to make two Slytherins fiercely protective of a girl who was the last person he would ever imagine needing protection, and he was naturally curious to know more. "So, what happened?"
"Let me start by asking you a question. What do you know of her life after the war?"
He furrowed his brow, thinking back to the time before he and his mother left for Bordeaux. "Well, obviously we all went back to Hogwarts after it reopened for our seventh year. She was Head Girl to your Head Boy, and earned a record number of Os on her NEWTs. After we graduated, she had plans to become a healer at St. Mungo's."
"Anything else?"
"Well, she and her male counterparts vacationed together for a month after we graduated, although I don't know where. She was dating the Weasel, and I think they were all sharing a flat once they came back from their holiday. That's all I know."
Blaise sighed. "So as far as you know, she's a healer, dating Ron Weasley, and living with him and Potter?"
"Right. Although, speaking of Scarhead and the Weasel, how do they feel about their princess being friends with Slytherins?"
"You're in for a bit of a shock. She hasn't spoken to the two of them in almost four years. Or, more accurately, they haven't spoken to her. And they certainly don't all live together."
Draco's jaw fell open as he stared at his old friend. "Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack."
"What the bloody hell happened? The three of them were practically joined at the hip all through school! Everyone knew she was going to marry the Weasel! And Potter doesn't speak to her?"
"It's a bit of a long story, but it all started when she caught Weasley cheating on her. Needless to say, that didn't go over very well."
"He cheated. On Granger," he deadpanned.
"Yes."
"The man must have had a death wish. Or did he manage to forget the bit where she's the most brilliant, accomplished witch of the age?"
Blaise snorted. "Yes, well, if he did forget, she certainly reminded him. After she got over the shock, that is. I believe she actually created two of the hexes she used on him, specifically for that purpose."
"Good for her," he smirked. "So, he cheated on her. And now they don't speak? I would have thought she would forgive him eventually, they were all friends for so long."
"As I said, that was just the start. They were at least civil to each other after that, though Hermione did move out of the place the three of them were sharing."
"And Potter? How does he fit into all this?"
"He refused to take sides, said he didn't want to choose between his two best friends. He and Hermione remained close, but if you ask me things between the three of them were never quite the same. Still, it looked like they would have eventually gotten back to being the annoyingly close Golden Trio, until . . ." he paused, looking at something over Draco's shoulder.
"Until what?" the blond asked impatiently. "Well?" He turned in his seat to see what his friend was looking at, and was astonished to find that Hermione had managed to come downstairs without him noticing. She stood at the foot of the stairs, now sporting a pair of cropped black leggings under the men's shirt, her face inscrutable except for the sadness in her eyes. Pansy was behind her, gripping the wrought iron railing of the staircase with one hand while the other rested on Hermione's shoulder in a show of support.
"Mia?" Blaise queried softly.
"I'm fine," she reassured him with a small smile. She turned her gaze to Draco, her voice even. "I believe he was telling you that things were on their way back to normal between Harry, Ronald and I."
"Yes, and then something else happened?" he couldn't disguise his curiosity.
"Indeed. I spent six months in Australia with Adrian Pucey."
