New Beginnings

Author's Note: Hey all, sorry for the delay. Just an FYI, I'm gonna be out of town for about a wk, sans computer, so no updates. While I'm gone, I will try to work on the next chapters of Behind Closed Doors for y'all.

Enjoy!
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"Good Morning, you two. You're a bit early, aren't you?"

Blaise couldn't tell if he was more angry for being left out or hurt that Draco didn't trust him enough to tell him about…her. He still couldn't believe it; he wasn't going to believe it until he saw her with his own eyes. It was one thing for Draco to fall for some muggle-born, but her? Had he lost his mind completely?

Blythe walked past her husband and gave Draco a kiss on the cheek. "Hi D." Blythe smiled at Draco and her husband trying to keep the atmosphere light. She turned to look at her husband with her hand atop of Draco’s, making it clear that she was going to protect him, even from Blaise. Draco met Blythe when she was attending Harvard Business School and teaching at Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had just started the foundation and he was looking for supporters. The Witches and Wizards in the States were protected from Voldemort’s and his insanity as well as the stupidity of bloodlines. Many of them were distant cousins of families in Europe but they really didn’t care. He and Blythe became fast friends. She was able to help him navigate the American Wizarding and Muggle world as well as taught him how to set up an international non-profit organization. Draco found himself confiding in Blythe about more than just business matters and before he knew it, she was as close to him as Blaise was but in a different way. Draco could talk to her about relationships and get her advice about women and she never laughed at him. When Blythe graduated, she worked at Salem School full time until Draco asked her to work with him and Blaise. At first, Blaise was resistant but just like Draco, he fell under her spell and they later became a couple. Now Blythe stood at Draco’s side, glaring at her husband, almost daring him to cross her regarding this matter. Blaise looked from his wife to his ‘brother’ and back then sighed, the anger in his eyes turned to hurt.

“We’ve been here for about 45 minutes. We came in but you were…busy.” Draco’s face went blank.

“P…Pardon me?” He stuttered.

“I was worried about you. You hadn’t come for lunch with us in three weeks and I haven’t spoken to you at all. We came early so I could check on you. Alice wasn’t there so I let myself in, like I always do. And…you…had company.” He let out a sigh, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Draco’s had his face buried in his hands. ‘Hermione is going to be mortified. Did Blaise know it was Hermione? SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!’ He felt a warm hand running up and down his back, he looked up; it was Blythe. She gave him a warm smile to let him know that everything would be ok and Draco sighed then started to explain.

“I didn’t mean for you to feel left out, Blaise, I really didn’t. This isn’t stuff I usually talk to you about. I’ve always talked to Blythe about…relationship stuff. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d want to hear about it.”

“You’re my best friend, and I thought I was yours, how can you say that?” Draco shrugged. “You are my best friend, both of you are.”

“Draco, is it true?” Draco looked Blaise in the, his jaw tightened. ‘Here it comes.’

“Is what true, Blaise?”

“Are you really with Granger?” Draco clenched his fist.

“Her name is Hermione and yes, we’re very much together.”

“Why? Why her?” Draco stood, stopping Blaise.

“I’m not having his discussion with you like this.” He walked over to the washroom door, knocked gently.

A cheerful voice replied,“Come in, Love.”

Draco closed his eyes momentarily. This was going to upset her, he knew it, but there was no way around it. He opened the down and entered, closing the door behind him. Hermione was fixing her hair in the mirror, when she saw Draco’s reflection. She spun around and kissed him before he knew what hit him. He leaned against the heavy wooden door, pulling her warm body to him as he deepened their kiss. Almost instinctively, his hands traveled up her torso and began to fondle her supple breasts.
“Oh Draco…please don’t stop…” her sweet voice was filled with lust and need, need for him. This was worse than a dagger to the heart, denying her. He hated the idea of denying her anything. He slid his hands back down to her waist as he kissed her forehead. He could hear her whimper in frustration.

“I’m sorry, Angel. We have to stop.”

Hermione’s breathing was ragged as she tried to calm herself. ‘How does he do it? The man can get my panties wet just by kissing me. Am I that easy?’

“Hera, I need you to listen to me. It’s important.” She nodded; her cheeks still pink with arousal. “Blaise and his wife know.” She gasped. “They kind of walked in on us earlier but we didn’t notice.” Hermione covered he her mouth with her hand as her tears began to fall. She was so embarrassed, she truly wanted to die. She tried to stifle her sobs but it only made her whole body shake. Draco held her; he kept saying over and over, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” When she finally started to calm down, he lifted her chin to look at her; he wiped her tears away.

“Are you ok?” She shook her head, no.

“But I will be.” He stroked her face and smiled.

“My brave little Lioness, you don’t need to be here while Blaise and I hash this out. Why don’t you go upstairs and I’ll meet you up there as soon as I’m finished.”

“Draco, I don’t want to come between you and Blaise. He’s your best friend.”
“And you’re ‘my life’; I’m not going to choose between the two of you.” He kissed her on the forehead and opened the door.

Blythe could see that Hermione had been crying and her heart went out to her. She shot her husband a dirty look; he made eye contact with her then conspicuously inspected his shoes. Draco had a tight grip on her hand as Hermione clutched his arm like a scared child.

“Hermione, you remember Blaise”, they nodded stiffly at each other. He turned to Blythe, “And I am honored to introduce you to one of my dearest friends in the world, Blythe Zabini.” Hermione’s glance slowly moved up from the floor and settled on the face of the woman before her. Her face lit up as she ran into Blythe’s arms; her tears started again. This time, they were happy tears.

It was Draco’s turn to be completely confused. Blythe smiled, “We’ve known each other since University. I’ll explain later. You two need to talk.” She disapparated, with Hermione in her arms. He stood staring at Blaise, blankly.

“Did you know any of this?” Blaise shook his head, no.
“She just told me about 5 minutes ago.” Draco nodded absently with the befuddled look on his face, still staring at the spot where the women had stood.

“Draco, why didn’t you tell me about her?” Blaise asked, quietly. Draco shrugged.

“Exercising conflict avoidance, selfishness, stupidity, you choose.” Draco walked over to the leather sofa, sat down, resting his head on the back of the sofa. “B, I love her. It’s the real thing, man. I wanna marry her; have kids with her…the whole deal. This isn’t just some random shag.” Draco ran his fingers through his hair as he sat forward. “I want what you and Blythe have. I know I can have that with Hera.” Blaise looked at his friend; he could tell he was sincere.

“What about when you two come home? What will happen then?” Draco knew exactly what Blaise meant but he didn’t want to acknowledge it if he didn’t have to.

“This is our home”, Draco stated, with a defiant tone. Blaise gave him an annoyed look.

“You know what I mean, D?” Draco sighed and got up and began to pace.

“Why do we ever have to go back? I’ve been able to spend time with you guys without anyone knowing. Most people don’t even remember that I exist anymore.”

“First of all, D, people still know that you exist. They just don’t know where the hell you are. Second, you do own and operate the most successful charitable organization in wizarding history; you really should see what your vision has built. You have nothing to hide from, neither of you do. You didn’t do anything wrong; everyone knows the truth for years.” Draco quickly tried to change the subject.

“Are you going to try to get along with Hermione or am I going to have to hex you into next year?” Blaise rolled his eyes.

“So you really love her, huh?”

“Yep.”
“There’s no changing your mind?”

“Nope.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to deal with it, won’t I?”

“Yep. Well, there is one good thing, she’s no longer a package deal.”

“What?”

“The Golden Trio is no more.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“What happened?” Draco looked away.

“I don’t think it’s my place to say. Suffice to say, they’re not like they used to be.” Blaise nodded, trying, but failing, to figure out what he meant.

“Shall we go see our lovelies or do you want to go over the proposal?” Draco asked.
“The proposal can wait, let’s go see the girls. Where did they go?”

“Knowing Blythe, they’re upstairs, either curled up on the sofa or on our bed trying to calm her down. Hermione was pretty upset.”

“I’m really sorry about that D.” Draco put up his hand and shook his head.

“We should’ve locked the door. She’s a very private person; the thought of you seeing us in such a compromising position completely mortified her.”

“It’s not like I really saw anything. I saw her bare back, so what?” Hell, I’ve seen much worse… You and ‘insert Hogwart’s slag name here’, in our dorm room, in the Room of Requirement, in the Quidditch locker room…” Draco couldn’t help but smile at that comment.

“It’s not just that, B. For all of her outward strength, Hera is very fragile on the inside. To her, for you or anyone to see a moment like that, when she’s let’s herself be completely vulnerable to me, it’s like they’ve violated her soul. Does that make sense?”

“Sorta…I thank Merlin every day that I was born a guy. It’s gotta be way tougher to be a girl.” Draco nodded in agreement. Blaise walked over and sat in the leather chair. “So, am I gonna get any details or is that reserved only for Blythe.” Draco smiled as he replayed the last 3 weeks in his head.

“You really want to hear about this?” He asked, tentatively.
“Draco, you’re my best friend, I haven’t seen you smile very much in the past few years. When you talk about Hermione, you smile, really smile. That’s good enough for me. By the way, why do you call her Hera?”

“It was something that just kind of stuck. I couldn’t stand when ‘the wanker twins’ called her ‘Mione’, Hera was much prettier and it suits her.”

“Blythe has always called her Mia, which is probably why I didn’t know who she was. She’s been talking about her for years…literally. So, how did this all happen?”

“We went to the same school and I did my best to stay away from her and I succeeded for a really long time. Then one morning, I stopped to get hot cocoa at a local coffee shop and she was there. She showed up her, I’m still not quite sure why. We talked for a couple of hours then I walked her to school. She’s a professor at the university, she teaches muggle and wizarding classes. Oxford offers a graduate degree in Wizarding Arts. Anyway, I surprised her with lunch in her office. To make a long story short, we didn’t leave each other’s sides for the next 3 days. I knew I was in love with her by the end of night one. We’ve been living between both of our places ever since, a couple of nights here, a couple of nights at her place.” Draco couldn’t help but smile as he told Blaise about the happiest three weeks of his life.