Claire, Redheaded bibliophile, Love is Unwritten, dianapham12, jordanjcollie, pillowwolfpup, leara the demon brat, dramione beats romione anytime, KatieGallagherDare, Krystal Alspaugh, sinister-creation, chellywood, StarGirlPotter, kvance, thebeebeegun, hnwhitlock2000

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Blaise Zabini was sure of three things.

1.) He was the most handsomest guy at Hogwarts. Well, until Felix showed up. But that didn't count.

2.) Draco was his best mate. Even if he was a git.

3.) Luna Lovegood had to be the weirdest person he had ever met.

And watching her now, he was sure number three would always be the most solid fact. He was handsome, but with Felix now here, he was overlooked by much of the female populace. And Draco was and always would be his best mate, but he was going through something with Granger, and had become distant. Well, he had become distant ever since the war had ended, but even more so now, and that made Blaise sad.

He, Draco, Pansy had been a trio since before Hogwarts. They had really connected on account of their difficult relationship with their parents. Pansy hated hers and rightfully so, Draco could never be good enough for his father, and Blaise's mother was never around. So they had bonded as kids and the friendships had grown stronger as the years went by. Blaise remembered pulling pranks on one another in first year and then the hilarious incident in which he spiked Pansy's pumpkin juice in fourth year. He had gotten cursed for that one.

Then of course there was Blaise sitting back and watching Draco's little crush for Granger and Pansy's crush for Weasley play out.

Oh, he wasn't the oblivious idiot people thought he was. He may act like he was clueless, but in his experience that always played in his favor. People tended to overlook Blaise as a mastermind and just see him as the womanizing Italian, an image which he was quite proud of. Or so he let people think.

Because in all honesty, it was tiresome and repetitive, being a man-whore. The realization that he was just like his mother, only a male, had slapped him in the face in Sixth year, and he tried desperately to change. But having certain habits for years tended to be difficult to break. Plus he wanted what Potter and the Weaslette had, or whatever the hell it was Draco had with Granger.

He wanted love.

He cringed.

It sounded, well, unmanly for him to admit that. It made him seem like a total pansy, a phrase which he could never take seriously for obvious reasons.
But he knew it was what he wanted, and that's more than other people could say.

Oh, he went about it the wrong way, screwing the bints first and then trying to see if there was anything there.

That formula didn't work.

But as he sat there in the library, watching Looney Luna Lovegood just spin or dance or do whatever the hell it was she was doing, he couldn't help but notice how...nice she looked.

The sun caught her bright blonde hair and gave it a lovely glow. She wasn't wearing the schools ghastly uniforms, but instead opted for Muggle clothing (which frankly, Blaise liked better). It was a simple purple sweater and jeans but they looked quite lovely on the odd Ravenclaw. Then there was her smile.

Blaise had never seen that kind of smile. It just lit up the entire room and made him feel warm. Homey.

Blaise shook his head back and fourth vigorously.

This was Looney Lovegood! The crazy bint of Hogwarts that was always looking for creatures that didn't exist. Blaise couldn't like her. What would Draco say?

'Who gives a fuck what Draco says? Or thinks for that matter? After all the shit that he's pulled with Granger, I deserve to like whatever female I want.' Blaise thought.

But he knew that wouldn't work.

Despite everything that was going on with the blonde, Draco was still his friend and Blaise valued his input.

Blaise sighed. It seemed he was out of luck in the love department. It also didn't help that he didn't know the girl one bit. He knew from having class with her that her favorite color was purple and that she did like to read. Granted not as much as Granger. No, Lovegood did it for the enjoyment as far as he could tell. She was also rather shy, which Blaise thought was cute.

There was also one other thing Blaise had noticed. If he was being completely honest, Blaise believed that Luna Lovegood was sorted into the wrong house. She just seemed to have this sort of 'knowing' about her. Like she could just look at you and she knew all your secrets, or what you were thinking. It was strange. She gave him a distinct Slytherin vibe. And it was kind of hot.

Blaise sighed again. It was not meant to be, his little crush on Lovegood. He couldn't let his feelings get in the way of logic, so he went back to his studies.

Pansy watched Blaise stare at the blonde Ravenclaw with a smirk. That boy was anything but subtle. Despite being a Slytherin and friends with Malfoy, he did a horrible job with hiding emotions and keeping a poker face. The poor sod had a thing for Lovegood, she knew. she noticed things.

She looked over at the boy sitting next to her.

She sighed. Unfortunately she also knew that Blaise knew about her crush, so she couldn't really say anything on the matter of Blaise's love interest.

She couldn't really say what it was about the ginger oaf. He was more of a 'brawns' kind of guy, but he wasn't a total idiot. At least Pansy liked to think so. As to when her crush for him started, well, that was a complication in and of itself.

It was around fourth year actually. The Triwizard Tournament had brought a whole manner of excitement to Hogwarts, unless you happened to be Potter and it just brought a new round of 'Fuck My Life'. It was after Dumbledore had announced the victors of each school and Potter's little add on. Weasley had become quite sullen and angry. He and Potter had drifted, and she could understand.

Even though Potter had not put his name in the Goblet, it was hard being the friend of someone famous. Not that Draco was really well known, but the name Malfoy brought attention to him. Infamy more than fame now, but that was neither here nor there. She didn't mind it really, not at first. But as they got older it was hard being shoved back. Not that she wanted the limelight, but to be noticed would have been nice. She didn't want to be invisible.

It was when Weasley was talking to Granger when she had overheard the conversation. Weasley was saying the things that she felt, and she found it hard to believe that he felt the same things she did. That they actually had something in common. That alone had brought her attention to him.

There were small things the next year. Weasley had filled out somewhat and had joined the Quidditch team, and she liked a man in uniform.

Then there was Sixth year where her father had really made her want to kill him. He came to her with a sadistic smile and told her, "when all things were over, and we are at the top, you will marry. And I've already picked out the perfect groom."

She had no delusions. She knew that she would have had an arranged marriage, but she would have thought she would have some say in it. But no. Her father had chosen Vincent Crabbe. And he had done it just to piss her off. Crabbe wasn't very smart. That she could deal with. It would have been better in fact. She could do her thing, and he could do his. But Crabbe had a sadistic streak in him that reminded her too much of her father. She would never raise any children in that sort of environment.

She wanted kids. And she didn't just want to have them to keep her lineage going. She wanted to give a child a good life and give him or her love; a life she never had.

That was why she made fun of the Weasleys. They had an actual family. One with love and holidays and warmth that Pansy never had. And Ron Weasley embodied that wish. But she started to developed actual feelings for him as time went. She didn't just think of him as a thing that she wanted, but someone she actually liked.

He had a lot of bluster, but she thought that was cute. He was a good bloke.

She was pulled out of her thoughts with Weasley's question on Charms homework.

Weasley had just come up to her one day and asked for tutoring. Randomly. She had given him a raised brow and a weird look and he had fumbled with the explanation that he was having difficulty in some classes. She had brought up the fact that he had Granger, but he had just shrugged his shoulders. She wasn't an idiot. She knew this gave her a plausible excuse to spend time with him, something she had wanted to do forever. She wanted to make sure that he wasn't too good to be true.

She was happy to know that he wasn't. He wasn't perfect by any means, but who was?

XXXXX

Draco Malfoy was let out of the Hospital Wing that evening. Mrs. Pomfrey had bustled about him with some worry, given him some Pepper Up potion and sent him on his way.

It was just after dinner, and he wasn't hungry. He had been contemplating his visitors all day.

First there was Valerie. She was hiding something, and Draco wanted to find out what is was. He knew it would be difficult though, but he felt that she had something more to do with the magical creature world than she was letting on. Over the years he had learned to trust his instincts. For some reason she wasn't completely loose, or herself around anybody. Well, anybody except Felix. He had noticed that, and he wondered if there was something going on between the two.

Speaking of Felix, Draco found himself rather mad at the Veela. Or at Veela? If was bloody confusing; Felix's counterpart needed a new name. He had admitted to playing with Draco's emotions, amping them. Making him jealous on purpose. Granted he didn't know that the vampire's would be outside, Draco was being a little resentful.
And then there was Granger, who he was on his way to see now. He knew she would be in the library for the time in between dinner and the library's closing. He had to speak with her. After everything he had come to realize something.

She wasn't hard to find. She was in her usual spot in the library in the back at a table in the corner. She had books all around her and was scribbling furiously on some parchment.

She didn't look up as he stood there by the table or acknowledge him. He wasn't surprised.

"Granger?"
She sighed heavily and put her quill down. "What Malfoy?"
"About today-"
"No." She went back to writing on her homework.
"Look, Granger, I'm-"
"What part of no do you not understand Malfoy?" Her eyes were blazing as she looked at him. But there wasn't just anger there. There was a sad desperation there. She didn't want to talk about this. She was tense and stiff and looked as if she was ready to jump up at any moment.

Realization dawned on him. She thought he was there to make fun of her. She had admitted to him that she had feelings for him and that she didn't know what to do. And past Draco would have made fun of her, for her revelation. But he couldn't do that, not now.

"I was going to say...it's the same for me."

Her expression fell into one of...nothing. She had a total unresponsive face.

"You think you're the only one confused about all of this?" He gestured between the two of them. "I don't even know what the fuck THIS exactly is. But whatever it may be, all I know is that I feel. Something. For you," he finished lamely.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What game are you playing Malfoy?"
His eyes widened in surprise. "I'm not-"
"Because you can't pull everything you have and then come and say something like that. I admitted to you that I felt something for you, but that doesn't mean I want it. I don't. At all. I was fine with going about things with you as they used to be; yelling at each other and hoping we didn't see the other during the day. You're being unclear. You obviously don't want anything to do with me, or you wouldn't have lied about the library, nor would you be angry at me for something I didn't even do."

She gathered her stuff up and put it in her bag. With a wave of her wand, the books flew off the table and back in to the shelves.

"Goodbye Malfoy."

Oh, hell no. He didn't get attacked by two vampires, nearly killed, become drunk, go through Blaise's ridiculous jokes and Pansy's looks, the snickers from Blaise and Pansy about his being Granger's Potions partner, and a whole mess of fucking emotion to be told "goodbye."

He suddenly realized why everyone was so annoyed with the two of them. This prolonged game of cat and mouse was exhausting, old, and GAH! He was sick of it! Granger didn't see him coming.

He grabbed her by the shoulders, shoved her up against a book shelf, and kissed her hard on the mouth.

To say she was angry would be a grave understatement.

She made a noise of angry protest and tried to shove him off. He grabbed both her hands and pinned them to the bookshelf with one of his hands. She tried kneeing him in his bits, but he pressed against her all the more, so there wasn't any room to move.

She tried wrenching her lips away from his, but he cupped her cheek with his free hand and kept it still. She was still trying to move, so he bit her lip. She gasped in protest, but that allowed his tongue access to her mouth.

She froze at the strange invasion. Hermione had never been kissed like that. She and Ron had certainly never had those kinds of kisses.

He tasted like, well, Malfoy. It wasn't really something she could describe. Or her brain wasn't working enough for her to.

He pulled back from her and forced her to look at him.

"I think that's clear enough, Granger."

She looked at Malfoy and blinked several times.

"Uhhhh," she trailed off.
He smirked. It didn't look cruel anymore, not on him. It looked kind of hot now. She shook her head.

"See you around Granger."

He released her and strode out of the library.

XXXXX

Veela strode down the hallway to the library, alternating between eating the sandwich he had and whistling. He was fingering the potion vial in his pocket when he saw Malfoy exit the library with a very satisfied smirk on his face. A wave of pleasure, happiness, and desire hit him straight in the face. He got a whiff of raspberries, sunshine, and roses and had to stop to breathe. Good Lord, something happened to Malfoy. A moment later, Hermione strode out of the library as well, but she didn't seem to notice his presence as she passed him. He got the same smell from her that he did with Malfoy. There was also the faint whiff of finality that came with a major decision. But he could also smell Malfoy on her. Which meant...

Ah.

He smirked, took a bite of his sandwich, and strode into the library.

About fucking time.

XXXXX

Draco had a lovely nights rest.

Which was more than he could say for Blaise.

"Ugh."
"Blaise mate, what did you do?"
He lifted his head up from his arms. "I don't...I don't remember." He dropped his head back down.

Pansy put her hands on his shoulders and shook him none too gently. Blaise groaned.
"Remember that time he spiked my pumpkin juice?"
Draco smiled. "How could I forget? You ended up-"
"WELL ANYWAY, I got Blaise back."
Draco, Pansy, and Valerie all laughed.

"You have to tell me what happened with the spiked pumpkin juice." Valerie said.
"Not even if I was Imperioused," Pansy replied.
They laughed again. Blaise sighed.

It was actually a quiet morning in the Great Hall. Students ate their food and talked a little with their house mates. Things had calmed down a bit, thank Merlin. Draco and his friends were enjoying the deliciousness that is bacon with some toast. Draco was happy.

Blaise picked his head up and shot Pansy a glare. "You know Pansy, the last thing I remember was being with a lovely Slytherin bint. So ha!"

"Oh really?" She leaned closer. "Are you sure it was a bint and not a bloke?"
Blaise's eyes widened and one started to twitch. "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, but wouldn't I?"
Blaise stood up with a grim expression. "I think I'm going to go take a shower. I feel-"
"Dirty?" Pansy offered with an innocent expression.
Blaise grimaced and walked off.
"Well, we probably won't see him during Potions or the rest-"

Draco was hit in the face with a bird.

Well, not really. The bird actually ran into him.

"Dammit!" Draco yelled. Some people peered his way and gave him a weird look.
Sebastian hooted. Draco grabbed the parchment that the bird had in his beak.
He hooted again.

"I think he wants you to pet him Malfoy," Valerie said with amusement.
Draco looked up from his letter. "And you know this how?"
"Well, just look at the poor fella'." She patted the eagle-owl on the head. He hooted.
Draco went back to his letter.

Dearest Draco,

I hope you are doing well at Hogwarts. I miss you terribly, and the house is so quiet since you've left. I can't stand it, you not being here. Your father is either pacing the floor or cursing the Ministry. Or both. I can't wait for the winter holidays, and you can come home.

I would also understand if you didn't want to. I know you and your father haven't gotten along since the war, but I'm hoping you two will fix the rift. I love you both dearly, and I know that your father loves you.

Enough of that though. I want to hear all about your stay at Hogwarts. What's happened? Have you made any new friends? Have you met a girl?

With love,
Mother.

Draco smiled. Of course his mother would want to know if he met a girl over everything.
His smile slipped.

He did technically meet a girl. Granger.

He had thought about everything the night before, and made a decision. He liked Granger. Really liked her. It sounded ridiculous, not just because of whom they were and their history, but it sounded as if they were children. He was an adult for Merlin's sake! And he liked Granger dammit!

But he also didn't know if he could, well, ever be with her. He had thought about that as a possibility, dating Granger. And if it was...yeah. He would.

But there were too many things in this world that disrupted the possibility. There were still Death Eaters out there, although most were caught. Not to mention the Voldemort sympathizers. They were still out there, and they were still a threat. Draco didn't want to put Granger in harm's way, any more than she was.

And Mother...he wasn't sure how Mother would take it. She was trying with her beliefs, but if it was difficult for Draco, it had to be even harder for her.

He took his mind off of the letter and back to his friends. Other owls were flying in and delivering mail to their kids.

"So what's this gift that you and Blaise were getting me? You know, for getting well?" Draco asked Pansy.

Pansy's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" She just sat there.
"Well?"
She raised her arms over Draco and shook them. "I release you from your curse." She put her hands back down.

He looked over at Valerie. She smiled. "I took off your and Hermione's attachment spell."
He looked back over at Pansy in surprise. "How'd you manage to get that done?"
"You mean aside from Blaise and me selling our souls?"

Valerie snorted. "Please. I'm not a Weasley."
Pansy laughed. "No, but we owe her one. Or ten."

That would make sense. He did fight with Granger in the infirmary, and nothing had happened.

Pansy started getting into the story of spiking Blaise's Ogden's when and owl swooped by Valerie and dropped a letter. Valerie was laughing at Pansy's tale as she picked up the letter, but when she looked at it her laughter stopped, and her smile slipped. Draco and Pansy did not notice, too wrapped up in laughing at Blaise's deserved misfortune.

Felix could sense something wrong. He turned around to see Valerie gingerly holding the letter in her hands. It was a Muggle envelope, generic and white. He could sense her unease and dread as she opened the flap, which was tucked in instead of being licked shut. She took the letter out and started to read.

A sinking feeling hit Felix and he could feel her pain, her sadness. There was a churning feeling in his gut that he knew was from her.

Felix had always been tuned with others emotions. For the most part he had learned to block out pointless people and pointless emotions. It got easier over the years. He was always more aware of the emotions of people he was closest to. His parents and his little sister, his friends back in America, and Valerie. They had only been friends for two years, but she was his closest and best friend. He could feel her emotions most of the time, even when he wasn't paying attention. He only ever couldn't feel them is if they were too mellow or if she was blocking him. Something she did very little.

Valerie crumpled the paper in her hand, rose out of her seat and strolled out of the Great Hall.

Draco and Pansy looked up at her abrupt departure with confused faces. Felix got up and tore after Valerie.

XXXXX

Hermione was in potions class just sitting at her desk. She and Malfoy had gotten done with the brunt of the work, and all they were doing now was waiting for the potion to finish, and then they were done.

So it was just her. And Malfoy. Sitting there.

She was interested to see that Blaise, Felix, and Valerie were gone.

She had grabbed the latest edition of The Prophet from Harry.

There were several headlines in The Prophet, most of which she ignored.
GREATEST WIZARD RANKINGS: WHERE DOES HARRY POTTER STAND?

DEATH EATERS: WHAT THREAT DO THEY POSE TO YOU?

NEW WIZENGAMOT BILL TO BE CONSIDERED

VOLDEMORT SYMPATHIZERS CAUGHT IN ATTACK

That last one worried her. There were still people out there who thought the same things that Voldemort did. And they were still attacking. She was going to read more on the subject until Malfoy took the paper.

They were in the back of the room now, since they were just waiting on their potion and everyone else had something to do.

She almost started yelling at him (the spell was gone so she could do damn well as she pleased without repercussions) when she saw how serious he was.

"We need to talk," he whispered.
"What about?"
"About the theory of the Troll Wars what in Merlin do you think about?!" He whispered furiously.
She chuckled.

"So...what...what are we exactly?" She asked with uncertainty.
"We'll, I think we can both say that we like each other. Right?" He said just as uncertain.
She ducked her head and nodded. "So where does that leave us?

Damn. Draco did not think about that. He had just thought about if he liked her or not. Dammit, now there were more decisions!

"I'm not really sure."
"Do you think...that, well...dating?"

Draco sighed. "Do you think that's a good idea? Can you imagine what people will say?"
"Well, they already think that we're dating don't they?"

Draco had asked the same thing of Blaise a while back. There was maybe two percent of Hogwarts that thought they were. The rest just figured that he had lost a bet or something. No one would believe if they were dating.

He sighed. "Granger, I just don't think that us dating is a great idea."
"Well, why not?"
"I just..." He sighed again.

"Oh."

Hermione knew that things were too good to be true. Just because he liked her, didn't mean that he would act on it. She was Hermione Granger. And he was Draco Malfoy.

"Ok," she said.

Whatever powers that were, were really looking out for her. The bell for next class rang and she could leave in a dignified manner.

Draco watched her leave and smacked himself in the face. He gathered his stuff and left. He passed the stairwells, where Felix was walking up.

"Hey.'
Felix leaned against the railing and put a hand on his forehead and blew out a stream of air.
"Uh, is there something-"
"Oh, there's many things wrong. But that is information to which I cannot explain. But YOU can tell me why Granger is feeling the way she is and why you have the sense of doom about you."

Draco didn't really want to say anything, but if anyone could help with a relationship conundrum, it would more than likely be Felix. So Draco told him.

Felix threw his hands in the air. "So damn close! Dammit Malfoy, just when everyone was getting all excited..."

"Who's everyone? What other people are there other than you, Valerie, Blaise, and Pansy?"
"There's a lot more people than you think. I can't even name them all."
"From Hogwarts?"
"More or less, anyway! But Malfoy, you should take the chance with Granger. I mean, you just told me you liked her! Come on, Malfoy. Times are different, man. There are so many people here and out there that would back you and Hermione up."

A patronus came, a great big snarling wolf. It wasn't just a plain wolf. Draco had seen moving pictures of Canadian wolves before. They were huge.

"McGonagall needs us. Now." It ran off.

Felix grimaced. "Fuck."
"What was that?"

"Remember those things I couldn't tell you about? This would be one of them."

There must have been a look on Draco's face because Felix sighed. "Draco, I'm not trying to get all your secrets and shove you away from mine. I will tell you, you'll figure all this out eventually, but now...it's not great. And I'm not just saying that."

Draco would have pressed the issue, would have agreed, but the look on Felix's face was sincere. So Draco went to class.

XXXXX

He had to jump behind a statue to dodge the fireball.

"ARGH!"
"Would you just-"
"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, DAMMIT!"

It was the middle of the night. He had gotten her patronus about 2 in the morning to meet her in the hallway, saying there was something urgent she needed to tell him. It was dark and the only light came from his wand and hers. It cast a light over her that highlighted her anger in a rather scary manner. He had (thankfully) thought to cast a silencing charm earlier just in case a prowler or two came around.

Her eyes were blazing and bloodshot. Her hair was a mess, and she still had soot on her clothes from the Floo. There was some soot on her cheek, just a smudge, but he wanted to reach out and wipe it off. An absurd thought to be thinking when one was getting fireballs thrown at them.

"I know things ar-"
"Are royally screwed the fuck up?! That doesn't even begin to describe the situation!"

She threw another fireball from the end of her wand, but against the far wall, away from him. It left a scorch mark, similar to the one on the statue he was hiding, er, standing behind.

"Look, Val..." Felix started.

Valerie did something he'd never thought he'd see her do. She broke down crying.

"I'm done. I can't- I can't do this anymore!"
She collapsed onto her knees in the middle of the floor with her head in her hands. She sobbed and it caused her shoulders to shake.
"I'm tired of dealing with everything, of dealing with THEM. How can they expect me to do something, when every single idea I propose is shot down and pushed to the side?"

Felix sighed. This was not the way he was hoping things would go, adding even more shit to an already screwy day.

Veela, the smug bastard, had decided to make his next conquest a nice little Hufflepuff witch. Who had a boyfriend.

Needless to say, it did not end well, and he still needed a recharge. It's not like he could just plug himself into a socket and-

Moving on!

And it was strange. If there was a girl that Felix suggested, Veela said no. The only girls that Veela actually paid attention to were the 'untouchables' like the Hufflepuff girl. Someone far too young, a teacher (not even going to bother with THAT explanation), taken, gay, blah blah so on so forth. It was getting annoying. Veela needed to say yes to someone soon, or Felix would start to deteriorate. He'd only ever had that problem once, and Valerie had had to kiss him. He wanted to avoid that at all costs.

It was just...after they had kissed, it was rather awkward and he thought that he had feelings for her. But given circumstances with some things, there was no way they could ever be more than friends. So Felix had shoved aside his feelings and buried them under concrete inside a volcano.

"That's a bad metaphor you know. Volcanoes erupt. Are you saying your feelings will eventually erupt?"

"Shut up Veela."

He hated these internal arguments.

His other half knew his thoughts, and he knew Veela's thoughts. They knew what was happening when the other consciousness was dominant. There were times that they gave each other privacy, and went deep inside the recesses of where ever the hell they were, but for the most part, they knew everything about each other. And it was damned annoying.

Valerie's sobs brought him back to present time.

He felt horrible. He was busy thinking about himself when Valerie was breaking down.
He strode forward and knelt in front of her. He was just in pajama pants and a tank top and it was cold in the hallway. The floor was even colder. How fitting.

He lifted her chin up. "Hey. You've gotten through much worse, and been through so much to start breaking down. Markus can go fuck himself. Same with the Council and the rest of-"

"I can't go home."

She said it so quiet that he almost didn't hear.

"What?"
"That's what was in the letter. What they sent. I can't go home. They said I could come back to get my stuff, but then I'd have to leave. I can't-"

She started sobbing again.

"Well, your parents can go fuck themselves too. You can stay with us for the holidays. My sister loves you, and my parents already consider you part of the family. Hell, you can move in. They understand. Until then you will kick some ass."

"There's another problem."
"What?"
She hesitated. "The Wizengamot is putting the bill through. It passed."
He sighed. "We figured that-"
"And the Council wants to discuss plans for retaliation."
"When?"
"Samhain."

He closed his eyes and leaned back. "Fuck."