Chapter Ten.
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"You're going home today, I hear." Julia said as she ushered Hermione into her office. "Are you excited to be leaving?"
"Yes," Hermione smiled, "Although I was hoping Blaise would have a flat for us by now, I'm not looking forward to being at home on my own."
"That's understandable, Hermione," the woman told her sofly, "Have you perhaps considered asking Blaise to move into your apartment while you search for a new one?"
Hermione, in truth, hadn't thought of that, as obvious a solution as it was. She'd had other thoughts and ideas running through her mind since she came into the unit, primarily the whole Draco issue, and now the decision that they had reached together yesterday. She knew that Blaise was particularly fond of her apartment, though, so didn't think he would turn her down.
"I could do that," She nodded, thankful for the idea. "Draco and I have decided not to pursue a romantic relationship."
"Oh! That's very surprising," Julia said, her eyebrows raised, "How did you reach that decision?"
Hermione described in detail the full conversation that had occured with Draco the day before, including that he had asked Harry to approach her because he knew that Hermione would react better if the idea had come from Harry first. The therapist made copious amounts of notes before turning to Hermione, smiling proudly.
"I must admit, Hermione, as much as I did not expect this outcome, I find myself feeling extremely proud of you, and Draco, to an extent." She admitted and Hermione smiled.
"Have I made the right choice?" Hermione asked, voicing her only concern.
"I can't answer that question for you Hermione, you know that." The woman said kindly, "How do you feel about the decision you've made?"
That was the problem though, wasn't it. How did she feel about losing the potention for a romantic relationship with the one and only man she had been in love with in her lifetime? And for such a long time? She was grateful that he would be in her life in whatever capacity and she hadn't found herself heartbroken yet...
"Relieved, I think?" She said, though it came out sounding like a question and Julia nodded, smiling.
"I can say that my pride is based on the fact that this decision is an extremely logical one, and also very forward thinking, which means that the your depression is lessening in his severity, as it must for you to think about such a time in the future." Julia told her and Hermione grinned.
"Hopefully. I'm feeling much better, though it is early days." Hermione nodded.
"A close friendship is solid, constant and familiar, Hermione. I think, in my professional opinion, that if you entered into another relationship with Draco, your mind would suffer because of all the unknowns and what ifs, as well as comparisons that you would both make, subconsciously or not. Do you understand?" Julia said gently.
"I'm not sure to be entirely honest." Hermione chuckled, frowning.
"Ok, imagine this. A few years down the line, if you become romantic with him, he asks you to marry him. Would you think back to the first time, and compare it? Is it as romantic? Does he mean it as much?" She asked, nodding when Hermione winced slightly. "And you said he mentioned that he enjoys teasing you and pushing your buttons, can you ever remember him doing that with Eloise?"
"No, he was always sweet." Hermione grinned. "I understand better now. It would be an entirely different relationship. If he teased me mercilessly, which he absolutely would, it would never work. I'd end up hating him. Again." She chuckled and the therapist nodded.
"Is there anything that you want to talk about today that can't wait until your regular weekly appointment?" She asked as she smiled at the girl thought about it.
"No... I don't think so." Hermione answered.
"Good. Remember, Blaise will be supervising your potion every morning and evening, at least until we can be sure to expect no more mishaps." Hermione groaned and nodded. "It's for your safety, Hermione. I've already spoken to Blaise and he knows what to do. Now of with you. Go home and I will see you next week."
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Blaise had practically squeezed the air out of her lungs when she suggested that he move into her apartment for the time being, until they could find a new one. Apparently, he had fallen in love with the place after his first visit, and when he told her that he thought it felt like 'home', it had forced Hermione to rethink the idea of moving at all. If Blaise was that comfortable in her apartment, and she could avoid the hassle of packing and moving, she was sure that there were changes she could make there to make it feel like a fresh start. Hell, even him moving in with her would feel like a fresh start.
The first and only fight during their friendship had been over the bedrooms, the day that he moved in. The same day that she left the hospital. Hermione had wanted Blaise to take the master bedroom, which had until this point been hers, while she took the smaller guest room, as the master had it's own bedroom and held far too many memories of her relationship with their now shared friend. At first, Blaise had refused point blank, prompting her to shout at him for being too stubborn. After a few heated words, though, Hermione had persuaded him by arguing that if she never had to put the toilet seat down before she used it or clean up his facial hair clippings, it would be worth it. Also, it meant that she gained full and exclusive use of the beautiful, huge roll top bath that was in the main bathroom. He had relented, though reluctantly.
The next fight, hadn't occured until a week later, and had begun a few minutes ago. It was also the reason that Draco and Harry had entered through the floo, shocked to see their friends locked in what they instantly believed to be a duel. Blaise and Hermione had spent the last five minutes explaining to their guests why they had been stood in the middle of their living room with their wands pointed at each other.
"...and Blaise thinks the walls should be green, which I completely disagree with. That's why I had just cancelled the charm he cast that made the living room look like the Slytherin bloody common room!" Hermione snapped, glaring at Blaise, who chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"Well, I can only assume that the Gryffindor common room was red?" Draco snorted and Harry nodded, chuckling, "In that case I completely understand why Blaise wouldn't want it to be red in here."
"You guys need to come to some sort of compromise." Harry offered and Hermione stomped her foot in anger.
"That's precisely what we were trying to do!" She shrieked and all three men winced. Now that her voice had reached it's normal state, she could become quite shrill when she was angered.
"Right, calm down, here's the plan." Draco said, stepping before the others and taking charge of the situation, "We all take a wall each, charm four squares of different colours, yes colours Blaise not shades of green, and then we can decide on a favorite, got it?"
"Who died and made you king of my castle?" Hermione huffed.
"Just bloody do it, witch." He growled and winced when she slapped his head as she passed by.
The four unlikely friends stood in the middle of the room half an hour later, slowly turning in a circle to look at all of different colours that had been chosen. Some were obvious choices, such as Draco's dark green and Harry's crimson, but others were complete shockers, such as Draco's bright pink, which had caused a lot of raised eyebrows and snickering. Hermione had already chosen her favorite and, annoyingly, Blaise had chosen it.
"I like the mid purple." Draco said, pointing to it once they had seen them all.
"My choice! Good man, Draco!" Blaise exclaimed, slapping his friend on the back.
"Hermione?" Harry urged, nudging her with his elbow.
"Yes, fine, that was my favorite too." She grumbled and flicked her wand, causing the square to spread and cover all of the walls.
"Thank god for that," Draco sighed, flopping down onto the sofa as Harry laughed. "Now go cook dinner, woman, I'm starving." He teased, nudging Hermione towards the kitchen with his foot.
Hermione rolled her eyes as she walked to the kitchen, shouting back that she wasn't his bloody house elf, but she couldn't help but grin to herself as she cooked dinner as planned. She had been relieved to find that the transition from potential partner to close friend had been surprisingly easy. The awkwardness that had surrounded them was gone and what was left was a friendship based off of mutual teasing and nearly constant light hearted bickering. It was comfortable, and more importantly it was safe, and safe was exactly what Hermione needed.