Stylistic Harmony

Chapter Five
Three weeks had passed since Hermione had agreed to be Malfoy's escort, he had kept his word, she didn't talk to him, so he didn't bother her. Only when they studied in the library did he break his silence, but strictly for questions relating to schoolwork, nothing more. Hermione answered his queries with icy coolness, but surprisingly she found in him the perfect study partner. He was shockingly intelligent, far surpassing her in Potions and Arithmancy, she had never realized. After two days of playing babysitter, Harry and Ron begun to escort her everywhere, so it was an odd sight seeing them in the corridors, the Golden Trio with a Death Eater on the side. Most of the lower years were petrified of Malfoy, his notoriety spreading like wildfire down the years, so they generally kept away from Hermione which became a problem because of her role as Head Girl. Blaise helped when he felt like it, recently she had gotten the weirdest feeling that he was coming on to her, so as a rule she ignored him at all times. All in all the two Slytherins were not really bothering her too much, it was Ron and Harry that were getting to her. Her epiphany that they had finally got the message that she could look after herself was short-lived, Ron was with her at all times bar the classes they didn't share, and Harry joined him when he had the time, Ginny tagged along sometimes to. Hermione felt as thought she was surrounded, watched 24/7, the only times she felt free were in her classes with Malfoy and in her common room with Blaise, this she found strange seeing as she never spoke to either of them, but the fact that they didn't smother her was rather appealing. Everyday her anger rose and then one day it happened, she snapped and Ron, Harry and Ginny were on the receiving end, unluckily Blaise and Draco were also witness to her outburst. It all started the night before, Ron had found her bawling her eyes out from the sheer stress of life, he had put his arm around her and comforted her, telling her it was alright and that he loved her. For once in his life he had been compassionate and caring, but then he had ruined it by trying it on with her. Hermione had shrugged him off of her and said,
"For Christ's sake Ron! You almost had me thinking you were anything but a horny hormonal rat! Thanks a lot." She had run back to her common room, to her dismay, Blaise and Draco were lounging on the couch, she slammed the portrait door shut. This had broken them from there silent relaxation, they took one look at her and surprisingly looked concerned. This frightened Hermione more then Ron's 'advances', she ran past them up to her room and collapsed on her bed in hysterical sobs. She cried herself to sleep.

Draco looked at Blaise and smiled. It had started, she would be theirs by the end of the week. The two Princes of Slytherin were that much closer to ensnaring their Princess, with that thought in mind they both slipped into a somewhat drunken slumber.

****She felt her blood boil, she was so angry and so wanted to have her revenge. How dare they treat her like she was a China Doll? Where would they be without her? She felt herself growing more and more resentful towards them, this erupted into feelings of sudden hatred. She needed something more, so she ran, heading for the one place she knew would relieve the tension and hatred boiling within her. She reached her destination within seconds, raising her hand to knock, she jumped slightly when the door opened before she had even made a noise. Peeking round, she found the room empty and dark. The dark colours were contrasted by the silver of the moon shining through the open window. She shivered, someone was watching her. She began to regret ever coming here, they had said that she was welcome at any time, but never before had she taken them up on the offer. Now she was here she was scared. Scared of what she was becoming, scared of what she felt, scared that they knew what she wanted before she did. A noise resonated through the darkness, a match flared up in the corner, illuminating the dark eyes of the one that struck it. The smell of expensive Italian cigarettes seeped into her nostrils, she inhaled deeply, knowing the smell all to well. She stood transfixed at the figure in the corner, he chuckled lightly,
"We knew you'd come eventually." The other presence in the room came up behind her, she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck, the whole situation made her flush with exhilaration. A strong pair of hands snaked around her waist, brushing her hair to one side, he planted feather light kisses down her neck, had he not been holding her around the waist, she would have fallen to the ground with the sensations he was awakening in her. The anger she had been felt began seeping out of her, dissipating with his touch. The first person stubbed out his cigarette and moved to stand directly in front of her, chucking her under the chin he said,
"I knew you wanted this, us. Tell me, why tonight? You could have had this when we first offered, but you chose now, why?" She struggled to answer, the other man's hands had moved under her blouse and were currently stroking her sides gently, she breathed in sharply, composing herself enough to answer him,
"I was angry, so angry. They were smothering me, treating me like I was a weak pathetic little girl. After everything I've done for them? They just keep me around so they can feel like they have some use in the world. Not anymore, I need people who want me for me, they can't give me that. I know that you two can. I don't care what you are, what you've done," she turned her head to stare into the dark grey eyes of the man behind her, "Show me your world, show me what its like to be on the winning side. Make me feel something other then weakness." She turned herself fully around to face the man with the grey eyes, he spoke in a low husky voice in her ear,
"I always knew you'd end up like this Hermione. Falling apart in front of me. Don't fear this, love, we have the power to put you together again. You are stronger then they have let you believe, with us you will be a Queen, the most powerful woman on this earth. I'll show you my world, my love, you'll be its Queen, and we'll rule it, like we were born to." She succumbed to him, to them. First was Draco, ravaging her mouth with his, then Blaise wrenched her out of his grasp and kissed her slowly. She was burning from the heat of it, she heard him whisper in her ear,
"Hermione, Hermione......"*****

"HERMIONE! WAKE UP!" She awoke to find Ginny Weasley standing over her, Hermione sat upright in her bed, "Hermione, you missed breakfast, Ron sent me here to find you. Are you okay? You looked slightly, erm, frazzled." Hermione got up and looked in her floor length mirror, her hair was sticking out in all directions and her face was red, She looked a wreck. She stormed into the bathroom and got into the shower, she turned the water to freezing, for the first time in her life needing a cold shower. She began to mutter and curse under her breath, her teeth chattering,
"God damn Slytherins, stupid dreams. Fuck him and him. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. How can I be thinking that, of all things, and with them. Utterly uncalled for, ridiculous. DAMN DAMN DAMN." In her anger she began to hit the tiles of the shower room, hit after hit after hit. The tiles began to crack, her hand bleed, turning the water crimson, she collapsed in the corner of the shower, shaking uncontrollably, she cried and cried until she had no tears left. Then she picked herself up, dried off, wrapped her hand with a bandage and went to get ready for the day.

"Arghhhhhh!" Draco shouted as he woke, he moved to get off the sofa, but the pain in his head was so extreme that he only managed a few centimetres before he collapsed again. "Oh god, oh god," he had a mammoth hangover, as well as another small, well not exactly small, problem rising. He needed a shower, a cold one right now. He got up, his anger surging, as he passed him he pushed Blaise off the sofa, he fell to the floor with a thud,
"Ergghherhghh," he mumbled incoherently, "oh god, I'm dying. Eurgh! I am never drinking again," he then realized something, he had just had the most puzzling dream, maybe it had been the alcohol or maybe it was because of the plan, either way he had a problem to go take care of in the bathroom, he stumbled up the stairs. Someone was in the bathroom, Hermione's door was closed, so it wasn't her, it had to be...
"MALFOY!! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SHOWER RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!!" The door to Hermione's room opened with a bang, she stood there, her hair loose around her shoulders, that fire blazing behind her eyes,
"Zabini, if you are going to be shouting course and horrible language, please do it elsewhere, and why the fuck is Malfoy in OUR bathroom? Oh wait, I forgot he must have stayed over yeah? Aww, are we having the lover's bathroom fight?" She immediately wished she hadn't said that, considering the nature of her dream last night. She felt herself blushing, Blaise raised his eyebrows,
"Well, well Miss. Granger, what on earth are you blushing about? Is the thought of me and Draco that appealing to you? Hmmm? I knew you wanted me," he braced himself for her to whack him round the face again, but it didn't come. Instead she said in a controlled voice,
"Are you sure it isn't the other way around Zabini?" A truly Slytherin smirk split across her face, she looked down to his crotch then back up again to his face, laughing she slammed the door in his face.
"Hahahahaha. She sure got one over on you there mate," Draco stood in the door of the bathroom, a miniscule towel barely doing its job, cold water dripped off of his hair, "Don't worry Blaise, there's still some *hot* water left." He sauntered past, Blaise almost hit him, but controlled the urge and entered the bathroom.

Draco waited for her in the Heads common room, luckily their class was second period so they hadn't missed anything as a result of oversleeping. He felt somewhat tense about seeing her, especially after all the dreams, and last night. If she was feeling anything like what he was right now, she would be aggressive and irate towards him, mingled with the undeniable feelings of lust. This was going to be fun. She stamped down the stairs, not looking, she would have ploughed straight past him had he not stepped right in front of her, she bounced of his chest, her head snapped up. On seeing him, her steely determination faltered, he had literally stopped her in her tracks,
"Not trying to get out of your duties as escort today are we Granger?" He smirked the trademark Malfoy smirk, she looked about ready to fly off the handle at him, but managed to compose herself,
"How could I? Seeing as you're standing right in front of me and apparently spent the night passed out on the sofas in my room, then used my shower this morning. There's no getting rid of you, if I didn't know any better, i'd say that you like spending all your time with me," she peered under her eyelashes at him, a fake coy look of innocence on her face, she pouted, "Is the big bad Slytherin Prince losing his cool?" That was when he surprised her, he moved with lightening fast speed, his Seeker reflexes moving into overdrive, grabbing her arms and slamming her back into the wall,
"Maybe I do like your company, Granger. Our conversations are all so scintillating," he was whispering right in her ear, his deep voice sent shivers down her spine, "I watched you talk 'down' Zabini earlier, quite entertaining, makes you wonder though doesn't it, what could he have possibly been thinking?" He raised an eyebrow. His proximity to her was startling, she could see right into his eyes, deep grey pools; his eyes had always been so cold, but now she could see something in them, unmistakable lust. She placed her hand on his chest and shoved, he stumbled backward,
"We're going to be late for class, ferret. Let's go." Snatching up her school bag, she marched out of the portrait hole, if she had stayed longer she would have seen Blaise emerge from the shadow of the stairs, a mischievous glint in his eye, he looked at Draco who was smiling back at him, the blond walked over to him, and patted him on the shoulder,
"See, nothing to worry about mate." Blaise nodded and watched as Draco walked out of the door. Blaise went back to his room, they were closer to achieving their goal. Every time he thought of the brunette girl now he got chills down his spine, the power in her was unimaginable, together they would make an unstoppable team, the world would cower at their feet. He had to admit, after the dream last night, his need for her had become greater, it had taken all his willpower not to take her then and there when she had stood on the threshold of her door, and again when Draco had had her pinned against the wall. He sighed, entering the bathroom for yet another cold shower.

Hermione hadn't said another word to Draco all morning, he hadn't spoken at all. Everything was getting to her, Harry's unpredictable temper, Ron's incessant attention, Ginny's moping that all Harry did was yell at her. She was aching for a fight, to just lose control and shout, she willed Malfoy to say something, anything giving her the outlet she needed to hex everything in sight. The opportunity came at lunch, it was not Malfoy however who caused her to snap. As predicted by Blaise and Draco it was of course the wonder idiots who finally tipped her over the edge. They had all been seated together, the atmosphere was tense, as it always was when Harry and Draco were forced into company with each other, Hermione was seated opposite Ron and Harry, Ginny was on her right, Blaise and Draco to her left, though slightly further down the table. Harry was in a foul mood, Ron was trying to be funny and Ginny was whining at Harry, she reached for her goblet of pumpkin juice, at the same time Ron reached for it in order to hand it to her, all in all it resulted in the juice being tipped into her lap. She stood up, knocking the table, her hair wild and her anger overspilling,
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE RON I CAN PICK UP A GLASS OF SODDING JUICE MYSELF! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" She gestured to her robes which were soaked through, the two Slytherins watched with amused, smug expressions on their faces, Ron started to garble an apology, "What thats I can't understand you? GOD! I've had it with this! I never have a moment to myself, if its not you trailing after me, its you sending Ginny to find me. Its bad enough I have to be in Malfoy's company all the time, who knew that you two could actually annoy me more then he is right now!" They sat there in shocked silence, Hermione had never acted like this before, her normally brown eyes had darkened to almost black in her rage. All the students in the Great Hall had turned to watch the drama unfold, Blaise was lounging back in his seat his hands behind his head, Draco had picked up his goblet and was treating it like light entertainment, she did not let the fact that she had an audience deter her, however Harry had now stood up, he shouted back at her,
"SO SORRY HERMIONE, SORRY THAT WE ACTUALLY CARED ENOUGH TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU! You know what HE is," he gestured at Draco, who mouthed 'me' with mock concern, "You know what he did, we just wanted to protect you from him, we weren't sure how well you'd handle it." This made her more angry, if that was possible,
"EXCUSE ME? How well i'd handle it? How many times have I saved your ARSE POTTER? More then I can count, I am perfectly capable of handling myself. I don't need you or Ron to protect me, and for God's sake get over yourself for one minute! Yeah you've had it rough but blaming yourself for everything its stupid and self righteous." Ron jumped up,
"Hey Hermione that was below the belt, you can't say that! His parents died, so did his Godfather. Then he lost the one person who could help him finish this! He has every right to be angry with the world."
"Thats just typical isn't it, jumping to his defense. I'm meant to be your girlfriend, surely you can understand what I'm saying?"
"You know what I can't be bothered to argue with you on this Hermione, you want to act like a spoilt little brat thats fine, just go off and get killed, leave us to it." Hermione's jaw dropped, so this what they thought of her,
"Ron's right, just shut up and go stick your head in a book or something, we'll do better without you." Harry, Ron and Ginny got up and left the hall, she sat down and calmly finished her lunch. When she had finished, she got up and wandered from the Hall, neglecting her escorting duty. Blaise got up to follow, but Draco made him sit down,
"Not yet, leave it 10 minutes. Then we go find her. I know where she's gonna go." Blaise could not fathom what Draco was planning, the argument had gone well, for them that is. Potty and Weasel had acted as they had predicted, they hadn't expected Ron to wish her dead (Draco had had to prevent himself from decking the red haired moron) but this left her isolated from them, vulnerable, exactly how they wanted her. Ten minutes passed, still Draco did not move, Blaise was getting itchy feet, if they didn't go now she would be lost to them, to bitter and lonely to accept anyone else.
"Malfoy, come on let's go!" The reigning Prince of Slytherin got up, downed his remaining juice, with the extra shot of Firewhiskey that he had added to it, Dutch courage and all that, and sauntered out of the Great Hall, Blaise followed behind. The students could not help but watch, especially the girls, the presence that they both commanded was astounding, the way they moved, with purpose, the girls practically fell out of their seats. Draco threw open the main doors and stepped out into the sunlight, his gaze piercing the landscape before finally settling on the large tree on the shores of the Black Lake; sure enough a solitary figure sat under the tree, they had found their prey.

She watched the sun bounce of the lake, the rays bouncing off in all directions. Disordered, like her life. As much as she had wanted to let Harry and Ron know that she had issues with how they were treating her, she hadn't expected them to retaliate in quite the way that they had. She didn't want to absolutely fall out with them, they were her best friends. Two shadows fell across her, she sighed,
"If you've come out here for Round two, forget about it, I don't want to argue anymore," whoever it was didn't answer, she looked up. She didn't expect this, "Come to gloat? Save it, I don't want to listen to two Slytherin prats laughing at me." The blond smiled, so did the dark one, Draco spoke first,
"On the contrary Granger, quite the opposite. We've come to stop this." She was confused by his statement, the feelings that were surfacing were scaring her, it was like her dream,
"Stop what Malfoy?" This time Blaise stepped towards her and said,
"Stop this feeling that your feeling, the feeling that they've caused in you."
"We've been watching Granger, watching them suffocate you, starve you of all the oxygen in a room. I also watched you when we were alone, you were different, more alive. Blaise noticed it to." Blaise took two steps towards, her, he was standing so close, he ran one long finger down her cheek,
"They don't appreciate you, they don't treat you how you should be treated, like a Queen." The words reverberated round, echoes from the dream, Draco's head snapped towards him, Hermione's eyes widened,
"What? I mean, I mean.. you expect me to believe that two Slytherins, who may or may not be DEATH EATERS, think that they can treat me better then my best friends who I have known for six years! You have got to be kidding," she laughed nervously, Draco stepped towards her, whispering in her ear again,
"It's true, I know you feel it to, I know what you want, I dreamt it to..." Draco had put two and two together, twice now echoes of his dreams had spilt into reality, she had been dreaming about him, he could tell by the way she avoided his gaze, how certain phrases rattled her, how she knew exactly how to rattle him; now it seemed that they were sharing the same dream, with Blaise there to. "The three of us, its inevitable, you know it and we know it, we're more alike then you think Hermione. Don't let the past get in the way." She turned from them both, they smiled, it was working,
"Don't let the past get in the way Malfoy? You have hated me forever, you are evil, manipulative and cruel, I am nothing like you. Don't call me by real name, you don't have the right!" She ran from them, back to the castle, she couldn't go back to the Head's common room, or the Gryffindor common room, or the library, they were all places she would be found. She went to the seventh floor, walked three times back and forth, then entered the Room of Requirement, funnily enough, it became for her an exact replica of the room from her dream the other night. The bed, the balcony, the moon, it was the same. The only thing missing was the two people in the room for that she was kind of grateful. She collapsed on the enormous bed and was out like a light. She awoke several hours later, feeling more exhausted then she was before, having had missed all of her afternoon classes, she wanted to go back to her common room to make up for her truancy, but the common room meant Blaise, and Blaise meant Draco. She didn't understand why they had said all that shit to her, she was a Mudblood, the lowest of the low to two Pure-bloods like them, what on earth did they want with her? Were her dreams of him becoming reality? Harry and Ron had abandoned her, were Malfoy and Zabini offering themselves in place of them? No, that wasn't it, she had never had dreams of Harry and Ron like that; they weren't offering to be her friends, they were offering her something more, something forbidden, something she longed for. How long would she be able to fight this feeling that was brewing in her head? The feeling like the world that she was living in was a smoke screen, and if she let them Draco and Blaise could clear it, show her more, much more.

"Well that went swimmingly." They were back in Blaise's Heads dorm room, Blaise was pacing back and forth taking long swigs from a bottle of Firewhiskey, he was pissed, "What were you thinking Draco? You came on too strong, she's right, you've hated her for years, now you're turning round and saying you want her? You totally freaked her out!" Draco said nothing, he didn't even look at him, Blaise came up right next to him, "Draco!! Are you listening to me?!" He hit him on the arm, Draco moved fast, curling his fingers around Blaise's throat, the Italian barely had time to react before he was slammed into the stone wall,
"Do that again and I will make sure you won't ever shag anyone again. Clear?" Blaise nodded, fear was evident in his eye, Blaise was slightly bigger then Draco, not in height but in muscle, but Draco's strength was amazing, a mixture of Quidditch and weight training, Blaise knew better then anyone to underestimate the Malfoy heir, "I can't believe you are questioning this. Didn't you see it, we got under her skin. That dream we had last night and don't say you didn't dream it to, she had it to. I could tell. I think that some of the dreams I've been having recently she's had as well. I don't know what this means, but I know that its telling me that she's the one. All my life I have been someone else's puppet, my Father, Voldemort, hell even Dumbledore tried to use me, I learnt this summer to be my own person and I realize now that I can't do that without her. All the teasing, the fighting has led to this, me and her, we belong together and with you, we will be the strongest alliance this world has seen. Are you in or are you out? After all this was your idea."
"I'm in. It's just taking longer then expected." He handed the bottle over to Draco who drank the remains of it. Blaise walked to the window and lit up, dragging the smoke into his lungs. It was a filthy muggle habit, but Blaise couldn't give it up, neither could Draco. They heard the portrait door open and close. Hermione. He left Blaise and went to go talk to his Queen.

He found her curled up on the couch, a look of deep thought etched on her beautiful face, he sat down next to her, she looked at him in alarm, and said in a small, weary voice,
"Please, Malfoy just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you." She made to get up but he pulled her down again. He looked at her, sincerity in his eyes, his beautiful eyes,
"Hermione, I swear to you, I don't want to hurt you. Let me explain everything, I need you to understand this. Will you give me that?" The seriousness in his voice made her really take him in, close up he was almost angelic, but the sadness in his eyes, and the faint scar bisecting his lip, told her that this was a very different person from the one that tormented her for six years. She gulped, not really trusting herself to talk, she managed to say,
"Ok, talk."
"Last year, I did something incredibly weak and stupid, I realize that now. But, you have to believe I did it to save my Mother. Voldemort was going to kill her if I didn't follow through with the plan, I had to save her. It was during the summer, when I was hiding out, that I kept thinking about you. I couldn't understand it, why would I spare a thought for you? When I got back to the Manor I dreamt of you, we were together in the dream, I didn't want to believe it. But then we got back to school and there you were, the same as always, defiant and unafraid. I realized something, the dreams I was having, they all meant the same thing. All my life I have been told what to do, by my parents, teachers, Voldemort, I didn't want to do that anymore, I wanted to be my own person, I can't do that without you." He paused allowing her to take it in. She had to know this, "Hermione, I am so sorry for all the crap I have laid on you, it was never the way I truly felt. All that Pure-blood shit, my Father beat it into me, I couldn't care less. You are the most powerful, amazing person I know. I want us to be together, let me show you what its like to be someone other then who you are expected to be. Blaise, he is a part of this to, he has had almost the same kind of life, he wants you. We're here for you, anytime you need us, we'll be waiting." She didn't reply immediately but after a while she spoke,
"I dreamt of you to. I didn't know what to make of my dreams, I was a horrible person. I betrayed my friends just to be with you. But then, in one dream you were leaving me, the unbelievable pain I felt that I might never see you again, it felt like it killed me. I don't know what to make of what you've said. I don't know if I can trust you, right now I feel I can't trust anyone. I'll see you tomorrow." And that was that she went to her room leaving him staring into the fire.