By Reason Of Birth

A New Trio

Despite Hermione's weak protests, it was two hours later and after she was soundly asleep that she was left alone in her room, though there were new wards up to alert everyone should she be in physical distress.

Harry had long earlier Flooed Sirius to let him know that Hermione was all right but he would be spending the night, just as the Notts had owled the Grangers telling them that Hermione had had an accident and was injured, but would be fine and that her adopted parents could come and see her the following day.

It was after midnight when Harry, Theo, and Blaise retired to Theo's room, sprawled out over his king-sized bed and sofa. They were quiet for a while, the night's events taking the time to sink in now that they had the opportunity to think and not react.

Eventually, Harry spoke, his curiousity obvious through his tiredness. "Okay, so you couldn't say anything when your dad was there, but we aren't going to just let this slide, right?"

"Of course we aren't going to let this slide, Potter," Theo said, reverting back to the name the boy was referred to in Slytherin house. "But we can't be all Gryffindor about it; waltzing up to Draco and letting him have it won't work."

"Technically this is Hermione's fight, and we aren't allowed to be involved at all. It's never stopped anyone, but we can't do anything that can be traced back to us," Blaise elaborated.

"Why not? I mean, what happens if we are found out?"

Theo and Blaise exchanged a look, and Theo shrugged before Blaise answered. "Well, mostly just the honor of the family would be at stake because it implies that the person wronged can't handle the situation for themselves. More importantly, or just as importantly, depending on how you look at it, is that I really don't think Hermione would be very happy to learn that anyone intended to do anything to hurt someone else on her behalf."

"You have a point there," Harry responded as he lolled his head around on the back of the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. "And I, for one, never want to find myself on Hermione's bad side. She can be one of the scariest people I have ever met."

Once again, Theo and Blaise shared a look, but this time it was out of confusion. They had seen that she had a spiteful side to her, but they had yet to see anything from her that would would make Harry Potter of all people place her amongst the scariest people he knew.

"What are you talking about? Hermione may not always be the nicest person, but the word 'scary' has never come to mind when thinking about her," Theo said.

"Then you have yet to get to know her. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll evenutally agree," Harry grinned.

"Aren't you going to give us an example?"

"Nope. But back to the subject at hand. So we can't do anything obvious; what can we do?"

"It depends a lot on what Hermione chooses. I hope we can convince her not to call the Aurors," Theo said, running his hand through his short hair.

"That won't be a problem," Harry told the two sceptics. "She may enjoy the rules, but she knows when to break them. She just doesn't break the small rules. Once she knows why going to the Ministry would be bad, she'll be fine with it. She won't call him to a duel; she's good but she doesn't know how good he is. I'm sure she'll choose his punishment, I just don't know what she'll have him do."

"Then I guess we'll just have to wait for her decision before we make plans," Theo concluded, glancing over to Blaise, who was laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts. "Blaise, you okay?" Theo asked, poking his friend in the arm.

"What? Yes, I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"Hermione." Theo rolled his eyes and Harry looked at him suspiciously.

"What about Hermione?" Harry asked. He had noticed Blaise's eyes follow Hermione around, and seen flashes of jealousy cross the other boy's face whenever Hermione was close to another male, himself in particular.

Blaise glanced over to Harry, who was now leaning forward on the sofa, his eyes narrowed. "Potter, I have, for lack of a better word, wanted Hermione for a very long time. But for that bit of time where we didn't know if she would make it, I can't even tell you how scared it made me. It made me realise that I care for her. A lot. It's no longer the image of her that I had built up that I want, not after spending time with her this past week. I want her. The real her, with her weaknesses and strengths, with her insecurities, her courage, her grace."

Blaise stared into Harry's eyes, trying to convey the sincerity of his words, ignoring the surprise that was shown in Theo's. If anything, this declaration put Theo to ease a little, knowing that his friend was seeing his sister for who she was, and that he wouldn't expect from her the little things that he had projected into her personality before he had spent any time with her.

Harry slowly stood up, keeping Blaise's gaze as he slowly strode across the room, stopping at the edge of the bed. By the time he was there, standing next to where Blaise sat, both Blaise and Theo were tempted to cower back a bit. Harry's aura was pulsing violently, though they couldn't tell whether or not he was making it happen.

"Blaise, you seem like a good guy, and I hope that we can become mates. That said, Hermione isn't just my best friend. She is my family. And if you do anything to hurt her, anything at all, you will wish you got off as easily as Voldemort."

"Understood," Blaise said, holding out his hand. Harry took it and the two shook hands, Harry's aura settling back down.

The next hour was spent talking about all the things guys talk about, Theo filling Harry in on the newest developments in Lilah's plan, and Harry telling them about his own burgeoning relationship, making them promise to keep it a secret until after he told Hermione.


Chapter End Notes:
thanks to the readers reviewers and the beta lupie.