Just Another Casanova

Chapter 14

The fire was starting to die down. An orange glow encased the room, casting shadows in every corner. The occupants were sitting on the couch, one with his arm slung over the other casually. Alessandro had left some time ago, leaving two best friends to wait for tomorrow.

Hermione had her feet folded up under her. Harry's suit jacket had long been abandoned, his tie loosened. His thumb was stroking her bare shoulder, sending comforting shivers up and down her arm.

"Do you miss Ron?" she asked suddenly, disturbing the silence.

"All the time," he answered. "He was my best mate."

Hermione shifted so she was facing him. "If I could go back in time, Harry, I would give my life to save him."

"Don't say that," the Boy-Who-Lived insisted. "I may miss Ron, but to imagine life without you is even more painful. Besides, Ron's still with us, 'Mione, everywhere."

She nodded. "Maybe you should take over my job. You'd be good at it."

He chuckled. "I'll leave the healing up to you, Hermione. I make the messes and you clean them up; we work well like that."

Hermione smiled. The fire popped and Crookshanks stood from his position by the fireplace, heading towards the bedroom and, most likely, Hermione's fluffy, currently unoccupied, bed.

"You were right. He is a lot like Marcello."

"Maybe that's what I love about him so much. In him, I see Marcello. I actually think having Alessandro around is like having a small piece of him back and I think that's what's made it so easy. Coping, that is."

He nodded, smiling. "I'm glad you're finally piecing your life back together, Hermione."

"Did you ever doubt me?" she asked.

"I knew it had to happen sooner or later. We all rely on you too much. If you couldn't be the reasonable, sensible one...I don't know what I'd do." Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and flicked it. Wordlessly, a log floated from a nearby wicker basket and hurled itself into the fire. The sparks shot up into the chimney and soon the flames were roaring with life once again.

"I fear we're too attached, Harry. Neither of us knows what we'd do without the other. What would become of us if we were separated? Not necessarily died, just...took a different path."

"We'd best not find out." He grinned. "From this moment on, Hermione Granger, we're attached--mind, body, and soul."

"Well, that's a bit unfair, isn't it?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's what's best for us--emotionally, spiritually, physically...."

She smacked him on the arm again. "I don't think I need say that now I'm linked to you for life, Harry. I think I already was."

He grinned again, causing her to smile. "It's because you love me," he pointed out, waving his pointer finger at her.

She grabbed the finger and pulled it down from her face. "Merlin knows I do...and I have absolutely no idea why."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Hermione's trim frame was laying on top of Blaise, her chin resting on his chest, moving up and down with his even breathing.

"You didn't shag me just in hopes to get it out of me, did you?" His arms were encircling her waist, resting on the small of her back. Only a blanket covered their bare skin.

She smiled. "Nah, I had other reasons."

"Like what?"

She shrugged innocently. "You're a good shagger," winking.

He chuckled. "I suppose I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should, Casanova." A comfortable silence fell. "Should we be doing this?" she asked a few minutes later.

"What? Sexing in your office?" She smacked him again, though it was hard from her position. "It burns more calories than a fast walk," he said. "Think of it as free exercise."

She smiled; Blaise was good at making her do that.

"Do you think your secretary's caught on?" he asked curiously.

"Lanette? Probably, seeing as how our sessions have gone from an hour to two and a half and the door's always locked." She sat up, pulling the blanket around her nude form.

"Oye, what about me?"

Giggling, she grabbed his boxers off the floor and tossed them to him. "There."

"Oh, I see how it is," he said, slowly shrugging on his clothes. "Two shags and you're done with me, huh?"

She laughed. By now she was sitting in her leather chair, the rich blue blanket engulfing her small body. "What'd you want? A tip?"

He frowned and tossed a pillow at her. Gracefully she ducked out of the way, her face turning red from a fit of giggles.

"You're not the stuck-up, knicker-twisted girl I remember, Granger," he commented, still pulling on his pants.

"People can change. Is it a bad thing?"

"Do you think I'd be complaining?" He chuckled and made his way towards her. "I like you like this; more free-spirited."

"Me too," she agreed. "With you around Blaise, its not such a hard thing to be."

"Well I'm glad." He placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them. She moaned softly. "I just wonder, Granger, if I haven't ruined you?"

"Ruined me?" she echoed, turning in her chair to face him, the blanket slipping off one of her shoulders. "How would you be ruining me?"

"By depriving you of more time-worthy relationships."

"Blaise," she said soothingly, "my relationship count when you got here was zero and without you it'd still be zero. We may not be a match made in heaven, but we work for now, don't we?"

"I suppose."

She sighed deeply. "We were both looking for something and found each other, that's not a bad thing."

He bent down near her. "I just wish so much more for you than this."

She smiled sadly. "I don't regret anything I've done in my life...not anymore, and I don't regret this. Life will come, and maybe my prince charming will come with," she added. "But in its own time and until then, I assure you I'm perfectly content."

He smirked and began winding her frizzy hair around his finger. "I just wish I could be that man for you."

"There's room for compromise," she insisted, smiling. "After all, you are a damn good shagger and that definitely puts you leagues ahead of all the other men I know."

"What about Potter?"

"Harry? I wouldn't know."

He raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Your telling me you've never shagged the Boy-Who-Lived?"

She nodded. "He's my friend," she stated as if that answered everything.

Blaise shrugged and grinned. "That never stopped me before. I've shagged my therapist."

Hermione smiled and stood, wrapping her arms around Blaise's still bare waist. "And was she good?"

"Ah," he shrugged, "she was alright."

"Alright?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Well, we can't have that," she remarked playfully. Hermione pulled him towards the couch, the blanket falling off her near the desk.

"And just what are you going to do to change my opinion? I assure you, once my mind's made up, it's made up." Blaise fell onto the couch and she climbed on top of him.

"We'll see about that, Mister Zabini," she replied slyly, undoing his belt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So?"

"Alright, I'll bump you up to an eight." He gave a lopsided grin.

"An eight? That's it?"

"Hey, I've shagged a lot of women. I have high standards. But trust me, you're a high eight, and I've never had a ten."

She smiled. "Well, I suppose that makes me feel better," she responded sarcastically. "Now, you really have to be going. I have to be going."

"Have a date, Granger?" he asked coyly, pulling on his pants.

"I'm just meeting Harry."

"So that's a 'yes,' then?"

Now fully clothed, Hermione pushed him a bit harshly towards the door. "Goodnight, Zabini."

"After that, it most certainly will be," he said, cocking a thumb towards the couch. Hermione's cheeks turned red, but she kept shoving him towards the door.

He was almost out the door when she noticed his shirt was balled up in his hands and not on his body. She cocked an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"

He grinned, showing thirty-two pearly whites. "Giving the poor girl a clue," he replied, indicating Lanette. Hermione just laughed, gave him one last push to get him out the door and closed it behind him. She always felt so good around Blaise. Why can't he be the one? she questioned. But she knew that free feeling just wasn't enough.

Blaise's grinning face soon dissolved from her mind and was replaced with midnight hair and fierce green eyes. She smiled. Harry was cooking tonight.