His Friend
Hermione realised she couldn't give Draco the benefit of the doubt after hearing Snape and Draco's conversation a few days before. Not after what he said about pride and being chosen. Why did it always matter so much? Why were they dragged into a war that no one wanted them to be a part of? They were, and still are, a bunch of kids in the end and yet here they all were acting like pawns in someone else's game of chess. That didn't make any sense!
Harry never wanted to be chosen, he didn't like that kind of attention. He just wanted to have a good time with his friends and enjoy the new world he had found himself in. Yet from the very first day he stepped into this world, it appeared as though everyone wanted something out of him. To meet him, to shake his hand, to be his friend, to be referred to as his friend, to try to understand how he managed to survive, and to learn everything there is to know about him. To be more than who he is.
He ultimately sculpted himself into the hero they had imagined him to be. Although Hermione didn't like it when he placed himself in danger, he would go to any lengths to keep those around him safe. And he was doing it out of love for them, not because he was named as the chosen one by some prophecy.
Draco, on the other hand, did not appear to share the same views. He enjoyed boasting and highlighting his achievements. But she didn't once see him putting himself in harm's way for his friends like Harry would. He lacked the strength or selflessness to take risks for the benefit of others. But he was still chosen!
She would have assumed that he was under threat, but he didn't appear to be frightened. She had no idea what he was chosen for but he was extremely proud of it, and she felt scared. Not just for herself, but for everyone.
She was terrified for him as well when they referenced him, and even though they never stated his name, she knew precisely who they were talking about. Last year, she had a brief encounter with him at the Ministry, and she found him to be more frightening than she had imagined. She remembered not wanting him to know who she was if that was possible. The mere thought of it made her feel sick.
For the previous two days, she had managed to avoid Draco, but today, while on patrol, she had no choice but to see him. She had no idea how she would behave naturally around him and how big of an impact he would inevitably have on her. It was best for her to maintain her distance and think out what to say to him without giving anything away. She undoubtedly had no other option than to wait for him to tell her to mind her own business—something he wasn't doing that much recently, by the way.
When she got to the Clock Tower Courtyard, she went to find a spot near the walls and sat down on a bench in a quiet corner. The weather was nice, the sun was out for a few minutes, and the courtyard was quiet despite the bustle in the corridors. Her eyes scanned for a friend, waiting for them to come and sit next to her but as she looked around, none of them was near at all. She sighed, she could enjoy her sandwich by herself if she so wished. As she reached into her bag for her food, she caught a glimpse of an interesting sight in the distance. A tall figure, wearing a green tie walked towards her and stopped in front of the bench where she had chosen.
"Blaise?"
He gave her a smile and scratched his neck. "Hi, Granger."
She smiled a little. "Addressing people by their last names is a Slytherin trait I suppose?" She asked with a slight laugh.
"Does that mean you actually are a Slytherin in disguise then?" He replied with another question.
She rolled her eyes. "I don't do that to people I know, or the people I'm close with."
"You still call Draco 'Malfoy' though?" He raised a brow and sat next to her. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No, of course not.“ She shook her head and inched away to give him space. He looked at her, waiting for her answer. "As for Draco," she emphasised on his name and cleared her throat. "I only do that because he almost never calls me by my name, so why should I?"
Blaise chuckled slightly, looking even more striking. It wasn't until now that she realised how handsome he really was. Now that she took a good look at him, she understood what all the fuss was about. She was blind, indeed. "I thought you two were close?"
"Close?" She snorted. "Have you even met him? I don't think he truly is close to anyone."
"He's close to me."
He was quick to reply.
"Maybe I shouldn't be talking to you," she joked but thought for a second. What was he actually doing here? He wouldn't casually come and say hi to her if it wasn't necessary.
"Did he send you? Is that why you're here?"
His eyes widened ever so slightly and he chuckled. "No, he doesn't know I'm here, and I'm not stalking you by the way. I saw you sitting here uncannily alone and thought to offer a company."
"Oh...okay," she nodded. "Wait, what do you mean 'uncannily alone'?"
"Do I really need to explain that one?"
He answered, raising his eyebrows. His hands reached out and took a piece of her sandwich she hadn't eaten yet. She watched him bewilderedly and tried not to smile.
"I know the house animal is a lion, but you don't actually have to move around in packs, right?"
"We're not doing that!" She spoke out suddenly, making Blaise stop mid-bite. He looked confused as well.
"Well...I say the Weasleys are a pack of their own," he smirked. "I don't see you with them that much though anymore, something going on maybe?"
He wasn't even trying to be subtle about it, but it didn't bother her. She knew how sly he could be if he wanted, plus he seemed to be enjoying himself, so, she let it slide.
"Nothing's going on, I have prefect duties, that's all." She finally took a bite of her sandwich, using it as an excuse not to speak more on that topic.
"Ah, yes, that sounds like someone I know." He shook his head comically, and the crumbs of bread fell down his chin at the same time.
"Really? Because all that he does is to complain—"
"He...?" He tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, thinking hard. "You mean Draco? I thought we weren't talking about him; I was thinking of Pansy." The side of his lips twitched upwards.
"Pansy?" Hermione cleared her throat in a subtle way. "I wouldn't know, she works with Ron, not me."
"Ah...I see, okay." He grabbed his chin with two fingers before looking at her again suddenly. "What is it that prefects do exactly? I have heard of it, of course, but Draco never really tells me much. As for Pansy... she would rather listen to Professor Binn's boring, old history lectures than to talk to him ever again."
She tried all her best not to grin at this. "That doesn't sound like the Ron I know at all!" She exclaimed sarcastically.
He eyed her for a second and shook his head. "She says he keeps talking about quidditch, his relationship, or the things he did with you and Potter, but I'm almost sure he's just talking bollocks." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Cause she said that he only talks about the most stupidest things like how he got that scar from a quidditch training, or how he likes to wear his socks inside out. I mean, why do I even know that?"
Hermione laughed at this and shook her head, Ron apparently did do as she said. "That's partly my fault, I'm afraid." She pressed her lips against each other. "He told me he was sick of hearing her talk about Draco all the time and I told him to do the exactly the same and bore her to death as much as he can."
"Granger..." She saw him sharing his shock openly for the first time. "You dirty, little, genius witch!"
"Um... thanks?" She replied awkwardly. She didn't know whether he meant that as a compliment or an insult.
"No, seriously, I don't know how I never did that before!" He said, grinning like a kid who had just gotten their candy for Christmas.
"You suffer from the same issue?" She asked curiously, she was eager to get to know this guy and maybe gossip about Pansy a bit.
"Yeah. Ever since Draco stopped talking to her altogether, she's been nagging me nonstop about this and that. I couldn't just tell her to shut up since our families do business together and keeping her company is kind of my part too, I've never been too harsh on her—"
"What do you mean because of business?" She interrupted quickly.
"Well... because it's business, I can't say much except that it's completely legal... Also, the friendship between our families goes beyond the business, so..."
"Wait..." Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. This was all too much. "Why are you telling me these?"
He stopped to think for a moment and scratched his chin as if he was asking the same question to himself, too. Then he finally said, "I guess I wanted to see where this little friendship would go." He pointed at her and then at himself.
Her heart started beating faster and she felt her cheeks burn red. They had never been on bad terms, but calling them friends was a very strange idea that seemed ridiculous at first glance. "We're friends?" She asked, unsure.
He smiled and shrugged. "Well, that's what you said when you came to our table, didn't you?" He said and grinned.
"Yeah." She replied quietly. "But being friends is not that, you know it, right? We don't ever spend time together and even if we did, it would've been weird, I think."
He sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "We are spending time together right now, are you calling this weird?" He challenged.
"I'm not..." she mumbled. He was right; it wasn't weird talking to him at all.
"So??"
He questioned her again. Even though she tried to become friends with them, it never felt like they could get along, but he stood in front of her as proof that not all Slytherins were scumbags. If anything they could definitely be considered as friends, even if they wouldn't speak a word to each other much. That's why the whole thing was still confusing to her. But she was glad that she managed to call Blaise her friend.
A few seconds went by. Neither of them spoke and just stared at each other. "I'd love to be your friend," she said and he broke into a smile.
"Great! Now we can nag about Draco and Pansy together."
"What?"
"I'm just kidding," he waved his hand in the air. "I just wanted to lighten up the mood, I won't gossip about my best friend to you." He winked at her.
"Then let's gossip about mine?" She suggested.
"Potter?" He asked and she nodded. "I don't know if there's anything to say. We have been practicing for quite some time now and he still manages to annoy me. I mean, he's not the person I thought he was, obviously... but he can be an annoyingly good dueller sometimes." He shrugged.
"That's not too bad," she observed and chuckled. "I thought you would hate him and not like to see him."
"Oh, I absolutely loathe him." He declared vehemently while shaking his head. He leaned closer. "And not because he's a Gryffindor or the chosen one or the whole Harry Potter thing but, you know, it's true. Everything's that said about him and his morals seems to be true and it makes me uncomfortable."
Hermione blinked at him several times in surprise. "I don't know how to feel about this," she admitted eventually. "Do you not want to continue practicing with him?"
"No, of course I do! It is the most fun I have lately and his skills are too good not to mess with." He gave her a mischievous smile and laughed, but it only made her more concerned. "Stop looking at me like that, Granger, we're playing nice, really... Ask him if you don't believe me."
His eyes were full of mischief and she couldn't hold back her smile. It was just so easy chatting with him, it made her forget all the troubles that lay behind her for a moment.
"I'll choose to believe you, alright," she agreed, laughing softly at his childish behaviour.
"Don't tell anyone I said that but I learned a few tricks from him, y'know?" He said and then gave her a look. "But he's still no match for me, we've been taking duelling lessons and even duelling with each other, Draco and I. Hard work pays off," he winked.
"Yeah," she remembered the first time they duelled and a few other times after that. He was obviously more experienced and faster than her, and thinking of what Blaise said about Harry, she had learned a lot from Draco as well. "What exactly did you learn from him?" She asked curiously.
"Everything and nothing really," he chuckled. "He pointed out the importance of the basics and told me how even the simplest spells managed to save his life... also the Patronus Charm." He said casually.
"P-Patronus?" She stuttered, remembering how she was going to teach Draco how to cast it in exchange for his help. He had taught her Vinculus Fidei, and she was going to teach him Patronus, but they never got around to it. She had forgotten about it, frankly, but the thought of seeing his Patronus was still intriguing to her.
"I couldn't produce a full, corporeal Patronus though," he explained with a small frown, "he said I was thinking way too much about it and it's better to just let it go and let it happen? Does that make sense to you?"
Hermione smiled, sharing the sentiment. "I struggled with the same thing, but I came through in the end. He told me to focus on a happy memory but I just couldn't, so I focused on the feeling itself and let it happen as he said, and then..." she paused and pulled her wand out from her pocket.
"Expecto patronum!" A silvery-white light emitted from her wand and formed a beautiful figure of an otter. It ran around them for a while before disappearing in the direction of the clock tower.
It was a rather simple Patronus and it only lasted a couple of minutes. But she felt proud of herself nevertheless. She couldn't even remember what she was imagining before casting the spell.
Blaise turned to his side and looked at her in awe. "Wow," he whispered. " Did you just imagine something happening here? Did you make up the image in your mind?"
She shook her head, blushing in embarrassment as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't really remember..." she murmured.
"I'm impressed," he uttered after another long silence. "Draco never told me you could do that."
His name was enough to bring her attention back each time. She felt a tingle rush through her body every time his name came from his lips. The feeling was different compared to the way she felt when he was near her though. Whenever someone mentioned his name, she wanted to know what they were talking about; now his best friend was sitting here with her and she wanted to get everything she could from him. "I, also, was going to teach him this."
He tilted his head, curious. "Really? Why?"
"He said it was a waste of time to be using the spells we already know and suggested teaching me some sort of a bonding spell."
"Vinculus Fidei?" He asked. She nodded and he hummed in understanding. "How convenient. Did you do it?"
"Yes, but I soon realised it was only one way and I might've kindly forced him to complete the spell." She bit her lip sheepishly.
"He completed it? When did this happen?"
He questioned her and her eyes turned towards the sky, trying to remember the date but somehow she just couldn't.
"It was around the time with the game between our houses I think," she answered and watched him as his face lit up with an epiphany. "What? What is it?"
"Could you happen to be having a bad day? Even though you guys won..." He mumbled the last part to himself.
"Why?" She thought about it for a second. Then she gasped. "Wait... we were still bonded. That means..." She waited before speaking her mind out loud. She almost knew he found her because of their bond but she didn't know other people could notice a change in him. "He felt it?"
He snorted. "You're unbelievable... Yes, of course, he did. I noticed something was off, but I had no idea he was bonded to you... that is an interesting turn of events." Hermione felt a blush creep upon her cheeks as his gaze lingered on her features. "Are you okay though?" He asked softly, his voice lowered a little.
"Yeah," she replied quickly, "It was stupid, I didn't know he could actually feel it, I mean I knew, but... I think I forgot we were bonded at the time."
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it is strange," he muttered. "It is also strange that he accepted to complete the spell, but I guess it makes sense if you threatened him a little, right?"He added with a raised eyebrow.
"I had to be safe, I couldn't just let him feel me. It had to be equal," she defended herself. "But I didn't think he would actually do it."
"Well, yeah," he agreed easily and sighed. "We did that spell so many times together. Sometimes to get out of trouble, sometimes just to annoy the shit out of each other but I think we both understand the rules by now."
"What are you talking about?"
The voice they both knew well came from behind and they turned to see Draco standing there looking rather confused and demanding. "What are you two doing here?"
Seeing him in front of her for the first time after that party felt a little overwhelming. He was dressed nicely in a white shirt and black pants. He had a tie hanging loose around his neck and looked very handsome and elegant. His hair was falling gracefully over his forehead. His demanding eyes were fixed on her, waiting to see how she would answer.
How was she going to answer? She didn't even know how to act around him anymore now that she knew he was her enemy and she was his, too. That didn't sit well with her at all. And yet, she found herself unable to find it within her to answer him in any way and simply said nothing at all. Her mind was racing inside her skull and her heart was beating frantically against her ribcage as she tried her best to keep her cool and hide the feelings that were threatening to take control of her again.
A moment passed before he broke the silence. "Well?" He questioned impatiently.
"Talking, you idiot." Blaise answered finally. She felt grateful that he spoke out before she did.
Draco let out a sigh. "I meant why are you two talking? I didn't know you were..." he looked at her. "Close."
"We were trying to actually." Blaise smiled and turned to her. "And I had such a pleasant time, but I must get going now."
She suddenly felt panicked at the thought of being alone with Draco. They were in plain sight, he couldn't do anything, but it still felt like a trap and she couldn't help but feel terrified. "Oh, okay... thank you for today..." she stuttered awkwardly.
"No problem," he replied. "See you later, Granger." He smiled at her and put his hand on Draco's shoulder who simply glared at him, and then walked away.
"Care to explain?" Draco asked in a somewhat irritated tone as soon as he was gone.
"Explain?" She repeated, her brows furrowed. "Why do I have to explain anything to you? Like he said, we were talking."
"It's natural that I want to know when I overhear my best friend and my, my partner, or a girl he's not even close with, talking about me," he said. His tone sounded harsh, but he continued on. "What did he say?"
"Nothing much, he told me how it was going with Harry and I told him how it was going, or rather went with you."
"Okay... what else?" His eyes narrowed.
"Why? Is there something you don't want me to know?" She challenged him with her own gaze and raised an eyebrow.
Draco stared at her for a few seconds, before showing his trademark smirk. "Is there something you want to know?" He asked in a playful manner.
"Yes," she answered immediately and he patiently waited for her answer. There were so many things she wanted to ask, but this wasn't the right time or place. "We are on duty this evening, you remember, I hope?"
He sighed and shook his head as he chuckled. "Does it even matter anyway?"
"Of course it does!"
"Alright, Granger, I'll be there. But don't think I forgot this."
She nodded and turned away from him. She needed him to go, and she was relieved when his footsteps disappeared in the direction he previously came from. She felt like crying and the only reason she hadn't was that there were still people around in the corridors and she didn't want any more talk about her crying out of nowhere.
If there was something she could do tonight, it was to make sure that he didn't learn what she found out about him. If he did, all the conversations they had, all the times they spent before would lose all their meaning. They would have no choice but to stand against each other and call each other 'enemies'. And frankly, she wasn't ready to do that yet.