Just Pretend

This chapter was beta-ed by my great beta Molls. Thank you.


Once Draco had spent some time outside and calmed down, he realized it was getting late and walked back into the house. He felt horrible. How could he do those things to Blaise? Draco used Jennifer as the excuse to pick a fight with Blaise, basically forcing Blaise to fight with him. Draco sighed. He never meant to take his anger out on Blaise. Blaise hadn't done anything wrong.
Draco decided to check on Hermione and go to bed. As he walked towards her room, his face registered the confusion he felt when he saw Jennifer sleeping on the floor by Hermione's door.
Where was Blaise if Jennifer was out here? He must have gone to bed and Jennifer stayed down here. He opened Hermione's door, and there was Blaise sleeping in a chair in the far corner of the room.
He looked over at Hermione. On her end table were three books and extra blankets for her were piled on the end of the bed. Blaise must have brought her all of that so she would be more comfortable. While Draco was out trying to calm down, Blaise had taken care of Hermione.
Draco was touched. Even though Draco left, Blaise took care of Hermione. When Draco was with Pansy, Blaise didn't want to be any where near her. But here he was taking of Hermione as though she was his sister. For him to care for Hermione like that went a long way with Draco.
As he stood in the doorway surveying the room, Draco could understand why Blaise was in the far corner of the room. Hermione was inevitably frightened by him, too. Would she be that way with all men? Draco decided not to wake Blaise and turned to leave the room.
Draco looked down on Jennifer. He bent down and picked her up, carrying her bridal style. She was too skinny. It was like he was lifting a feather. He would tell Blaise in the morning that he needs to make sure she eats more. Blaise took care of Hermione for him, so it was only natural for Draco to take care of Jennifer and put her to bed.
Draco pushed open the door to Jennifer's room with his foot. He very carefully laid her down on the bed. He grabbed the covers that were piled up at the end of the bed and covered her with them. As Draco left the room, he quietly shut the door.
Draco slowly walked back to his room. He was so deep in thought, he didn't even notice when he ran into Blaise. Overcome with gratitude for his friend, he found himself at a loss for words.
"Glad you made it back in one piece," Blaise commented softly.
"Yeah. Listen, Blaise about earlier..." Blaise cut him off mid-sentence.
"Don't worry about it, mate. I get that you needed someone to take it out on and I guess I was the first person you got your hands on," Blaise said lightly, not to be too serious.
"Thanks, Blaise."
"Think nothing of it." Blaise laughed as if they just shared a joke.
"No, I mean it. For understanding me and for taking care of Hermione."
"Draco, I get it," Blaise said, a bit annoyed.
They said their good nights and went to bed. Blaise waited until Draco went into his room and then he quietly crept down the hall to Jennifer's room.
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Hermione felt trapped. She couldn't tell the difference between reality and her dreams anymore. She felt so confused. A figure was coming towards her but she couldn't run and found that she couldn't scream. All she could do was cower in fear, waiting for the attacker to jump her. The figure got closer. It was Harry. Harry was going to hurt her again. Hermione shut her eyes tight. She wanted this to be a dream. She didn't want to go through that again.
How did he get into her room? Her mind was telling her to run or scream, but she could do neither. She lost her voice, her legs felt like she'd been hit with a jelly-legs jinx. Why wasn't anyone with her? Why did they leave her?
She didn't want to be alone. Bad things happened when she was alone. Why wasn't he attacking her? Hermione slowly opened her eyes. She gasped. This time she saw Draco. His hand shot out towards her.
Finally able to scream, Hermione shot straight up in her bed with a piercing scream. It was a dream. It was all just a stupid dream. She looked around frantically trying to find someone to comfort her.
Her bedroom was thrown open. Oh dear Merlin, this wasn't a dream after all! She screamed again.
"Hermione! Hermione! It's me, Draco!" Draco yelled over her scream.
"What is it, Hermione, why are you screaming?" Blaise ran in behind him.
Shocked, Hermione just stared at them stupidly. So it wasn't a dream. It was Blaise and Draco in their boxers, wands out, ready to take on whatever was making her scream.
Hermione blushed and turned her head. "It was a bad dream. Sorry I woke you up." Hermione said softly.
"Who the hell is screaming at--" Jennifer looked at a grandfather clock in the corner "--at seven in the bloody morning?!"
"Hermione had a bad dream. Go back to bed, cara," Blaise told her soothingly.
"Blaise, I'm not going to always listen to what you tell me. I did when you didn't what me to see you fight with him," she said acidly as if it were poison coming off her tongue. "I know you like to think you always know what is good for me but -"
Blaise interrupted her to argue back.
Draco walked into the room closer to Hermione as the two carried on their spat. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, not wanting to startle her.
Hermione didn't say anything. She just nodded like she was in a trance of some kind.
"Hermione, do you remember who hurt you?" Draco asked. Hermione stared at him as if he had grown another head with antennas.
"No. I don't remember. Draco, I don't want to talk about this anymore," Hermione said.
"Well, why don't you come eat breakfast? It will only be us. Ms. Zabini is out. You must be hungry," Draco suggested.
Hermione nodded. "I want to shower first," Hermione said softly.
Their attention was drawn to the increasing crescendo of the fight in the corner. "Blaise, stop yelling at me in Italian! I can't yell at you back. I will just start yelling random things back at you," Jennifer said exasperated. "I am going to shower and get ready for the day," she announced, turning away.
"Cazzo!" Blaise groaned, imagining what she would look like naked.
Draco looked back at him. From growing up with Blaise he knew a bit a Italian. He was pretty sure that cazzo meant fuck. Why was he saying fuck -- Draco replayed what he had just heard. Realization dawned on him. Jennifer said she was going to shower.
Jennifer was confused, why was he mad about her showering? She didn't say anything. She looked at Hermione. "I will meet you down here for breakfast. Merlin, it is way to early for me." With that being said she went to take a shower.
Draco left the room so Hermione could take a shower. Hermione would take a shower in the bathroom in her room. It wasn't as big or beautiful as the one upstairs but Hermione didn't yet have the fortitude to climb the stairs.
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Jennifer turned on the shower and then started to strip. As the bathroom started to fill with steam, she lifted Blaise's shirt up over her head. Once it was off, she lifted it to her nose and inhaled deeply, taking in his scent.
She sighed and then dropped the shirt on the bathroom floor. She turned to get into the shower when she heard that same Italian word she didn't understand earlier.
"Cazzo!" Blaise said softly.
"Blaise! What are you doing!" Jennifer yelled as she tried to cover herself as best as she could.
"Come sei bella," Blaise muttered walking towards her.
Jennifer wasn't sure what that meant. No one had ever saw her naked before. She could imagine that her face was as red as a cherry. Blaise took her wrist away from covering herself and kissed the inside of her hand.
Jennifer looked away. She couldn't look at him. Blaise then took each of her fingers and kissed it. Then her grabbed her chin as if he were grabbing glass that would break at the slightest touch and turned her head towards him.
He captured her lips in a firm possessiveness. Jennifer couldn't even think about being naked anymore. All she could do was to think about what his wonderful, soft warm lips were doing to her.
His lips traveled against her jawline until he reached her ear. He nipped it softly before whispering, "Ti voglio." God, did he have a way with words.
He started to sprinkle soft little kisses on her neck. His hand that had been resting on her hip slowly made its way to her ribs just under her breast. His other hand was on her lower back bringing her closer to him.
He stopped to look into her eyes. "I'll stop whenever you say so, cara. Do you want me to continue?" He asked, his breathing shallow, his forehead resting against her forehead.
She listened to him breathe for what seem like years. Did she want this? Did she want him?
"Yes," Jennifer finally whispered.
That's all Blaise needed to hear. She watched him strip his clothes so quickly that she stood there stunned for a minute. He led her into the shower. The warm sprays of water hit them both.
Jennifer's eyes took him in. He was amazing. His body...there were no words to describe it. He was so tan, so fit, so solid. She reached her hand out to run it over his abs. He had this little line of hair that traveled down to his -- No! She wasn't going to look at his cock.
No way in hell. But she was so curious. Bugger! She forced herself to look back up at his face. He had a smirk on his face. That caused Jennifer to smile. He bent his head down to kiss her again.
Jennifer leaned her back against the shower wall. Blaise kissed down her throat, her collar bone. He softly kissed the top of her breast. Then he paused, waiting for her permission to continue.
"Go on, Blaise. Please?" She didn't want to beg but it felt so good. He felt so good.
He kissed her nipple before taking it his mouth. His used his index and thumb to roll her other nipple into a bead. Her skin was so soft.
"Blaise," Jennifer moaned. She wasn't sure if it was the water that was running down her thighs or her own juices. "Please, Blaise." Jennifer was on the verge of tears. She was so wet, so turned on. She couldn't believe it. No one had ever affected her this way before.
"Please what, Jennifer? Tell me what you want me to do," Blaise said innocently against her breast.
Jennifer blushed. "I want you to taste me," she said softly. Blaise lifted her leg onto the ledge. He knelt down until he was right in front of her pussy.
"Bella," he muttered.
Jennifer hoped that was an Italian word and that he wasn't calling her by another woman's --
"Oh! Blaise!" Jennifer moaned when she felt his tongue run across her hairless slit. It was unbelievable what he could do with his tongue.
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Draco figured that Hermione wouldn't have any clean clothes. As he walked into her room, he smirked as he witnessed Blaise sneaking into the girls' bathroom. Looking through Hermione's things, he grabbed her a shirt, pair of panties and a pair of jeans and a bra.
He went back to wait for Hermione. When he heard Hermione turn off the shower, he stood up. She came out in only a towel and gave a small gasp of surprise when she saw that he was in the room holding a pile of clothes for her.
"Thank you! I kind of forgot that I needed clothes," she said softly.
"Well, I can't have you running around here naked." Draco smiled as he dropped her clothes on the bed and turned to leave. Hermione came up behind him and hugged his waist. This shocked Draco. He hoped this was a sign that she was getting better.
Hermione didn't know why she hugged Draco but she did. She felt safe with him. In her mind, she knew it was ok to show him affection. She wanted him to know that she was ok and that he didn't need to worry. But at the same time...she really wasn't ok.
She decided that she was just going to put on a tough act and pretend that nothing bothered her. She just hoped that Draco wouldn't see through her act.
How was she going to tell him that it was Harry who hurt her? She couldn't. He would kill Harry in a heartbeat. Her only choice was to keep it bottled up.
Draco turned around and hugged her close to his body. She was getting him a bit wet but he didn't care. "Hermione, I love you so much," Draco whispered.
"I love you too, Draco." He hugged her even tighter when he heard her muffled sobs in his chest. What shocked Hermione was when Draco started to cry.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione. It's all my fault. This is all my fault. How could I let something so horrible happen to you? I hate myself for letting that happen to you," Draco cried like a newborn.
Hermione was speechless. She wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault--that everything was ok but her words would have fallen on deaf ears. He was going to believe what he wanted. She decided to just hold him for now and talk to him when he calmed down.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm just so sorry," Draco mumbled weakly against her hair, embracing her as though their lives depended on it.

Come Sei bella = how beautiful you are.
Ti voglio = I want you
Cazzo = Fuck
Bella = Beautiful