Serendipity

Chapter 7:

Nothing happened between Hermione and Blaise for weeks. They saw each other during Prefect meetings, but Hermione made sure that she had some excuse or another to leave them quickly thwarting Blaise at every turn. Nothing happened between the two of them until a Tuesday late in March.

With three weeks left before their event, Hermione was looking over sheets of notes and schedules for Serendipity while waiting for Ancient Runes to begin. Her color coded times and coordinating band names shimmered in her vision as everything fell into place perfectly. No one could deny her particular flare for timetables; you only had to ask Harry and Ron.

Adding small notes to the pages in front of her she never saw Blaise walk into the room, but it was the shift of weight on the bench next to her that brought her attention to him in the end.

"Hullo," Blaise said cheerily as he placed his bag beneath the seat.

Hermione turned towards the newcomer occupying the usually vacant seat next to her. She openly gawked at him as he settled.

Looking past Blaise she saw Theodore and Daphne Greengrass, the only other Slytherins in the class, walk into the room. The two of them were quiet and did not have the fervent defiance that Malfoy would in the situation. Daphne was surprised that Blaise had moved seats, though Theodore motioned for her to ignore it.

"So, you're not going to talk to me," he whispered as class began. It wasn't a question and she was pleased that he understood as much about her. She smiled to herself as she turned to the front and put away her work. Good try, she thought, but this class is too easy, barely a challenge for you.

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Blaise did not get the guts for Hermione's challenge until a week later in Transfiguration. With Harry in one of his more social moods sitting with Ron and droning on about Quidditch or the like, Hermione found herself with another empty seat instead of a companion for class yet again.

Neville came into the room just in time for class juggling books, pens, and a number of other cumbersome articles. He made his way through the room towards the seat next to Hermione with much trouble. He received help from Blaise's elbow in dropping a few items feet from Hermione's seat. When he straightened himself up he discovered that the seat he was after was now taken. Dejected, Neville made his way to another seat near Seamus whose attention he tried to gain to no avail. As all the other Gryffindor boys were more than engaged in the conversation, no one noticed Blaise take the seat near Hermione.

That is except Hermione, but then that was the point, wasn't it?

McGonagall began the lesson shushing the Quidditch analyzers and bringing everyone's concentration to the highly advanced practice of self-transfigurations. The class period progressed quietly for the most part.

By sixth year the students had developed a certain level of tact at hiding conversations during class that they lacked in younger years. Everyone knew that Blaise was sitting next to Hermione by the end of class without causing enough stir to alert their professor on the development. Malfoy looked tickled pink with the possibility of new ammunition.

Blaise never tried his luck at actually talking with Hermione at the end of class, but silently packed his things up. He gave her a smile and a wink before heading out the door ignoring Malfoy who practically ran after him, as dignified as he could muster.

"Shove it, Malfoy," came Blaise's response to the harassment in the hallway.

As Hermione walked away she caught what sounded like "They're working on a project," coming from Daphne in way of explanation.

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Hermione made her way to the Room of Requirement that Thursday for DA. Talking with Harry and Ron throughout the day she sensed something was up, but neither let on what it was. When Blaise walked through the door with another Slytherin, she knew immediately the cause of their bizarre behavior.

Blaise came over to the trio at once. "This is my cousin Adrian Pucey, I was telling you two about. Adrian, Harry and Ron. Mates, Adrian." Harry and Ron shook hands with the tall Slytherin. He looked nice enough, but Hermione could not believe that Blaise was here, let alone another Slytherin. "And this is Hermione."

"What is this about?" Hermione asked nodding curtly in Adrian's direction.

"This is my cousin. I told him about DA and he was interested." Blaise looked at Hermione keeping all pretenses at being innocent; his cousin shifting on his feet next to him.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm a member."

"You quit."

"I'm back."

"You can't just decide that."

"Harry and Ron said it was okay." The two in question sheepishly looked away from Hermione when she turned on them.

"You let him come?"

"Well, he is a member . . ." Harry tried to say before Hermione turned back to Blaise.

"They only trusted you because I did."

"Don't you anymore?"

Hermione took a deep breath. She did not want to have this conversation, least of all here in front of everyone. "How can I?" she asked quietly.

"Maybe you two should, uh, talk?" Ron suggested. "Outside?" He looked particularly hopeful for a resolution between them.

Hermione left the room and Blaise followed soundlessly mouthing 'thank you's' to Harry and Ron.

"Are you happy now?" Hermione asked in the hallway after they turned into an alcove. "You got want you've wanted. Now what is it that you want to talk about?"

"To be fair, I did want to come back and Adrian did want to come as well, separate from, uh, this." He motioned between the two of them.

Hermione nodded. "I see."

"We used to be friends." Blaise looked at Hermione nervously. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Hermione's brow furrowed. "But it's your fault."

"Mine?" His eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "How's that?"

"You got weird."

"You did too."

They got silent and just looked at each other for the longest time saying nothing.

"You ignored me," Hermione said suddenly in the silence.

"You ignored me."

"But only after you did." Hermione shook her head. "We're getting childish."

"I know," he smiled. "See, this is silly."

Hermione smiled back at him. "In many ways you're right, but there are deeper things behind this. I'm going to be honest. I was hurt when you blatantly ignored me. You change your attitude without notice. I don't know how to act with you. And yes, I don't know how to trust you anymore."

"I guess I wouldn't either."

"Why aren't you just who you are? Why do you have three different faces?"

"It may be easy for you to do, but if anything it's dangerous for me." Blaise placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't know how I could convince you, but I am worth trusting. I've learned too much about consequences since the Yule Ball. Slytherin is different than other Houses, Hermione."

"I know, I've been learning." Hermione looked at him. "And it's hurt, but I think I'm beginning to understand why."

"That's not why I've been acting the way I have been. If anything it was to -" here he paused to smile. "To protect you. Obviously that didn't work. Perhaps you were right in not wanting me to protect you."

"I often am," she teased. Getting serious again, she continued, "I understand, but it's better to be on the same page."

Looking into his eyes she saw him as the person she'd connected with last term. "It's Slytherin, I know. But I can't always show my true colors. I can't ..." He pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I can't. It's not safe. Not now."

Hermione thought of the news of three Muggle-born wizards recently killed by Death Eaters. The attacks were the first in months, but struck home with her. "I know," she choked back a sob at the relief Blaise presented. "I want to trust you. So, tell me about it. Tell me everything. I need to know."

That night they sat in the alcove hidden from passersby talking for hours about the events outside of Hogwarts and each other. That night Harry reinforced a rule of confidentiality to ensure that Hermione and Blaise's disappearance did not become the tastiest piece of gossip in the school and thus guaranteeing the safety of what would become their greatest link to the other side.

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The Prefects Commons had been taken over by Hermione's group early in April and on the Wednesday before Serendipity, the commandeering forces rallied there, placing the final details down while working to commit as much of the plans to memory as humanly possible. At the moment, the four Prefects were full of energy, though within the next three days they knew they'd be exhausted past the need for sleep.

Organizing the five acts they had secured for the weekend had not been as gruesome a task as they expected. Now the four of them knew they could help plan any major event in the future. Perhaps Hermione's real calling was as a music festival director, but she doubted it. This was fun, but not an opening to a career for her in the same way that Ian was inspired.

Hiroko was going through the schedules. "Fantastic Beasts start us off tomorrow night by the lake. Friday is Blood Sucking Fiends in the ruins followed by a DJ with Muggle music on the terraces near Greenhouse 4. Saturday evening begins with the Tremlett Trio during dinner on the front lawns and ends with Supernatural Whimsy as the headliner in the Great Hall." She put down the schedule. "Looks good to me."

The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement. "We'll be communicating with each other through our wands this weekend, so pay attention to them," Ian said.

"Mostly we just need to be present for set up and take downs, split as needed to take care of the bands, roadies, and managers. All the paperwork and payments are done - don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Hermione looked sternly at every member of the group.

"It seems like all the major work is done, it's just a matter of being available to people so they can ask questions and get answers quickly." Ian scratched his head as he looked over some notes. "I think we've done really well with this. Planning and everything. Serendipity should run smoothly."

"Did we get the posters out in Hogsmeade yet?" Hiroko asked.

Blaise shook his head. "Will be done by the morning. All the posters around the school have gone out and every student should have received information this morning in the mail."

Hermione nodded. "Everything seems to be in place. We've done all the preparation we could. Inevitably, something will go wrong, but we are ready to handle that when it happens. In any case, I think we're done." She looked at her papers. "Yeah, I think so. Remember to call on any other member of this group if you need us, that's what we're here for."

Hermione saw Hiroko take in a long deep breath. She and Ian packed their things up and headed out. It was only a moment or two later that Hermione noticed that Blaise had not left yet.

"Posters in Hogsmeade need to go up," Blaise said as he stood up.

"Right. I can take care of that, I have free time now. Just let me know where you want me to put them."

"Oh, don't want my help, I see." He smiled at her. In the past two weeks they had regained the friendship they'd lost since the Yule Ball. "No need to keep Blaise around."

"No, no. Not that. I just thought you were too busy or if not, might want to take the chance to rest in the calm before the storm."

"And you don't need to rest?"

"I suppose as much as anyone else," she agreed. "But I'd love your company."

"That's what I like to hear."

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Once Serendipity began, Hermione was thrown into the midst of color, light, and music. Her memories of the weekend blurred together out of the pure joy it was to run. Between the exhilaration she received from putting on a successful event, the energy from other students in the audience and the attention she acquired from Blaise, it was one of the best weekends she ever remembered having.

Fantastic Beasts, a young band from Edinburgh, opened Serendipity with vigor. Two large bonfires blazed on either side of the stage to bite back the late chill of the April evening air as well as to provide lighting. From backstage Hermione watched as everyone danced and the firelight played happily like the smiles on their faces.

"Well done indeed, Miss Granger." Blaise's deep voice woke her out of her reverie.

"Don't call me that." Hermione wrinkled her nose. "'Miss Ganger,' sounds like a professor calling on me in class."

"It's wonderful, Hermione." She loved the way he said her name. It caused goose bumps to form along her neck as the words fell from his lips and then wound around her neck to her ears.

"Thanks, but I can hardly take all the credit." Hermione turned to look at him finally. Blaise caught her eyes with his and the stare was smoldering.

"Of course not." He smiled. "Hiroko and Ian really did help out a lot."

"And there was you."

"Me? Yes, I suppose I was there too." Blaise looked over at the audience over Hermione's head.

"Trying to play modest?" Hermione was in high spirits from the evening's performance, its reception by the crowd, and thus was in the mood to play along with Blaise's games. Perhaps she really did like this, whatever 'this' was, between them. Like a secret, precious to her and that was enough. No one had to know what, if anything, was happening between them. Maybe she liked it better that way even.

Blaise lowered his eyes back to Hermione's. "I suppose I don't have to be, do I? Have lots to brag about if I wanted to."

"Oh, no. I've inflated the ego." She shook her head while placing her palm on his arm. "I'd be careful if I were you," she confided. "With your head the size it is now, it'll be difficult to fit through small spaces."

Blaise placed a tentative hand on hers, covering it completely as he looked in her eyes.

"Hermione!" Her wand sparked into life emitting Ian's voice. "Can you come to stage right?" he asked interrupting the moment.

"Of course, be there in a moment," she responded, eyes never leaving Blaise's.

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Friday afternoon before the Blood Sucking Fiends concert, the Prefects helped the roadies unload equipment to the ruins. Flitwick was also helping, having offered to enchant floating baubles of light in the area. In the setting sun the space looked, and was, magical. Hagrid helped create a special barrier to protect the students from the animals of the Forbidden Forrest. Everyone was in on making Serendipity the best it could be.

Hermione was carrying a box of glass baubles to Flitwick and found herself bouncing around a young roadie hauling speakers trying to keep her footing. After a moment or two of confusion of steps they finally worked their way around each other.

"Careful there, love," said the twenty something year old wizard. "I usually save dancing for later. How about it?" He winked at her before carrying the amplifiers toward the stage.

"He was flirting with you!" Blaise made Hermione's breath catch and heart flutter as he glared at the roadie from where he untangled wires.

"Don't be so surprised, Zabini," Ian said quietly from his side, indicating that he thought Hermione was quite flirt-worthy. Hermione blushed quietly to herself over the whole ordeal and continued on her way to Flitwick without commenting at all. Let him get anxious, she thought briefly before facing Blaise whose eyebrows still formed a straight line above his eyes. She smiled at him and gave his arm a brief rub to comfort him and then continued to get more glass balls.

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"Are you busy?" Blaise's voice crackled across to Hermione's wand during the concert that night.

"No, why?"

"Just wondering."

"But why? What do you need?" she asked impatiently.

"Just wanted your company is all." There was a pause. "Want to help me get more water from Greenhouse 4?"

"All right, meet you in a minute."

When Hermione did get to the Greenhouse 4, she found that Blaise was more than capable of transporting the water back to the DJ stand on the terraces and doubted that she needed water any time soon.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Blaise moved from the other side of the darkened greenhouse to Hermione's side. "Just taking a moment away from the chaos."

"Rest is good." Hermione perched on a counter ledge.

"That roadie leave you alone then?" Hermione quickly turned to see Blaise become slightly pink. "It's just that if that was unwanted attention ..." His voice just faded off as they looked at each other.

"I'm not out there dancing with him am I?"

"Only because I called you."

"I wasn't."

"Oh." Blaise cleared his throat and stood, paced a moment, and finally stopped in front of Hermione. As if drawn together by an unknown force she moved closer to him. He placed a hand on her arm and she stopped with a question in her eyes.

"We need to be careful." Blaise's voice was a deep rumble, low and quiet.

"I know. You're right." Hermione began to move away, but Blaise caught her arm again and pulled her close back to him.

"I didn't mean now." He smiled and moved forward. His eyes locked on hers. Their foreheads brushed and their lips were bare seconds away from a kiss, but instead they stayed there looking at each other without a word. Though perhaps more intimate than a kiss at the moment they were scared to make the final effort of touching lips.

Hermione pulled away to get a better look at Blaise. The moonlight cascaded across his face giving it a silver sheen. "I don't want to get hurt." Blaise began to speak, but she motioned him to be quiet. "But I do want you."

Blaise looked at her speechlessly. He moved in for a kiss, but this time Hermione's hand rested on his chest stopped him from coming closer. "We've done that, but that only caused more problems." She searched his eyes. "Don't hurt me, Blaise."

"We have to be careful this time. I don't want to hurt you - ever. But that means we need to be careful." Blaise looked at her.

Hermione looked around the greenhouse. "Perhaps it's for the best that no one knows."

"We can't tell anyone," Blaise agreed.

"If anything, especially you." They began to move closer to each other again.

Blaise wrapped his arms around Hermione, enjoying the pleasure of holding her. He nodded, "I know. I know. Especially me."

They gazed at each other in the silence, getting drunk on each other, torn between admiring each other and making a move.

Hermione came closer, bringing her hands up around Blaise's shoulders as she turned her face up to his. "Are you okay with that?" he asked. She nodded and finally he moved in, his lips connecting with hers.

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Serendipity went off smashingly. Before she knew it, Hermione found herself helping along the clean up of Supernatural Whimsy's set, the last one of the weekend in the Great Hall. All the students had left, as had the band. Parties were probably raging in the House Common Rooms throughout the school, but Hermione and Blaise with excuses to stay, did just that.

Crew members were packing up the last of the equipment and the stage would be taken away the next day, but otherwise the Great Hall was deserted. Hiroko and Ian had gone to their Houses ages ago to join in the festivities they felt they finally could enjoy fully. Professors had come up to the group on repeated occasions to give a pat on the back and compliments aplenty.

"I think my favorite part was seeing Snape try and skank to the Blood Sucking Fiends' set." Blaise laughed as the two did a thorough sweep of the grounds. He grabbed Hermione's hand unexpectedly and twirled her around, dipping her, and then planting a kiss on the lips. "Let's do this again," he whispered before they straightened.

"If you insist," she smirked. For the weekend they'd escaped life and consequences in an alternate universe of Serendipity. They continued to circle the grounds hand in hand avoiding the hour when they'd have no excuse but to go to sleep. Tomorrow only promised homework, final clean-up, and their old lives.

"We can't tell anyone?" he asked her quietly.

"No, we decided." Not even Ron or Harry, she told herself.

They had come to a small grouping of trees near the lake where they first talked in September. Blaise lay down his cloak and sat on it pulling Hermione into his lap.

She turned to face him as she continued to trace on his leg. One of his hands began the same motion on her upper arm before pulling her into a passionate kiss. When they pulled apart, she asked, "Will anything be the same? Will this ever be normal?"

"Not any time soon." Blaise's eyes showed his worry and he just held her until the cold forced them inside the school again.

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Blaise and Hermione purposefully avoided each other throughout the following week. At least this time Hermione understood what was happening. Through their classes with each other they picked other partners and sat so that they couldn't see each other as to not give anything away.

It was all for naught as Malfoy had a vendetta and did not care if his taunts were truth, though this time he seemed to hit on something. After Blaise's behavior in Transfiguration a few weeks ago and the success of Serendipity, Malfoy needed an outlet and that outlet was Hermione in the hallway between classes.

Blaise stayed back to talk with McGonagall and so did not see the cause of the fight, but emerged in the hall amidst a blazing row between Hermione and Malfoy. Harry and Ron held her back, knowing full well the power of her rage and of what she was capable. Harry kept a careful eye on her wand.

"You Death Eater son of a bitch," she was yelling at Malfoy as Blaise came into the hallway. He could not hear Malfoy's retort and thought he was probably better for it. Instead he walked to Hermione with all intents on calming her down.

"Relax, Hermione," he said once he reached her. When her eyes turned on him, he took a step back stumbling due to the anger in her eyes.

She took a deep breath before talking to him. "Maybe you can do it, Blaise, but I can't. I can't ignore him. He's too vile."

"Come with me." Blaise exchanged looks with Harry and Ron before they released Hermione into his care. Blaise began to lead her away.

"Oh, I see how it is. Zabini's trying to protect his Mudblood bitch." It happened in a flash. Blaise spun around punching Malfoy in the face, much to the surprise of everyone including the dark haired Slytherin who stood there looking at his now bloody knuckles.

He glanced up quickly to Malfoy who was in a right state now. "Doesn't seem that she cares, kid," Malfoy managed to say through the blood rushing out of his nose. "Now isn't that just like the twat she is? Gets what she wants without finishing you off herself." He shook his head, "But that might be because she's all dirty blood." Taking a moment to wipe the blood away with his handkerchief, he paused only to continue in his drawl, "I hope you aren't doing anything to taint yours, mate."

Blaise managed to gain all the control he could muster and keep himself from flinging himself at the pale vermin of a human and beating the living shit out of him. "You're not even worth it." Blaise spit at Malfoy's feet before going off to find Hermione.

Blaise found her finally in an abandoned classroom down the next corridor. There are too many of these lying about, he thought about the empty room. Handy though.

Hermione was in the back of the room on the floor sobbing. He crossed the room and sat across from her. He wasn't sure what to do with her now that he found her. He patted her arm in that way of boys who have no idea how to stop girls from crying. It was like a plumbing leak to them. They were sure that once the leak was fixed so was everything else, but how to stop the leak? He was clueless.

"Hermione?"

When she looked at him, she saw a scared sixteen year old boy with a flushed face and bloody knuckles. "Why'd you do that?" she asked, he voice coming under her control once again.

"Huh?" he asked so eloquently.

"Hit him. Why? I'm the irrational one. We can't both be. One of us needs to have our emotions under control."

"Did you hear what he said?"

"What about it?" Hermione stood up, anger welling up in every blood vessel. Blaise knew to tread carefully as her anger was now directed at him.

"I don't know. It upset me." He stood too. "You're right, you have to stand up for something."

"What about not letting anyone know? What about being careful, Blaise? What about not getting hurt?"

"Some things are unavoidable?" Blaise shrugged his shoulders. Blaise thought for a moment and realized that he had every right to be mad at her and not the other way around. "But what about that? I was only standing up for you." He crossed his arms and rather childishly added, "You started it."

"Me? I started it?" Hermione's face was bright red again. "I think Malfoy had something to do with that."

"But you had the option to ignore him and move on, surely."

"I can't do this, Blaise. I can't go back and forth not knowing where I am with you or how to act with the rest of the world. I don't like pretending."

"I don't either, but we decided -"

"That it was for the best, but maybe it isn't." She paused, took a breath, and began again. "I love when we are together. I loved this weekend, but I can't help but wonder if it's worth it."

Blaise's head went for a spin. "Don't say that. You don't mean that." They were very close now, arguing with each other in low voices. He pulled her close and kissed her. "What are you afraid of loosing? I'm the one who just put himself on the line there. The other Gryffindors won't flinch if you told them we're together. It's not like that in Slytherin! I just lost everything I've done these last six years to maintain survival - for you."

"This is too risky. For me and for you, especially for you."

"I know. I was careless last semester. I let too much slip and people noticed. I thought I was being subtle. I was wrong. I tried to fix the damage and now this. This is not subtle." He scrunched his fists in his hair. "How did you do this to me?" He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her again.

"This is ridiculous! I can't fight with you like this!" Hermione said breathlessly.

"I know, that was the plan," Blaise smirked at her all too sexy for her liking.

"I can't deal with you now." Hermione shook her head. She was breathing hard, psyching herself up for what she needed to do. "I, I need to go. I need to... We'll deal with this later. I need to go." And then she did, leaving Blaise standing alone and confused in the middle of the empty classroom. The course of events left him in a daze as he left the classroom directionless. Looking down the hallway he felt impending doom. At the end was a significantly pissed Snape with crossed arms and a malicious Malfoy was not far behind him.