A/N: I'm back! Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up! I moved recently and got caught up in all of that. I also started a new job and that's been taking up a lot of my time. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, I made it a bit longer than normal because it's been so long since I updated. Don't forget to review! I really love hearing your input on this story :) Now, onto the good stuff...
"How was your walk?" Draco asked when Blaise and Hermione walked into their apartment.
"It was lovely." Blaise said with a smile. "We have some time before the dance, right?"
"We have some time before the feast then there's going to be a little bit of time between the feast and the ball to get ready." Draco said as he stood from his seat on the couch and walked over to Blaise and Hermione.
"That gives us some time." Blaise said smiling.
"Time for what?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Time for this?" Blaise asked as he bent his head and kissed Draco's neck before biting down gently, eliciting a moan from Draco.
"Mhmm, definitely time for this." Draco said as he hungrily kissed Blaise's mouth and started to pull his shirt up over his head.
"Shouldn't we go to the bedroom or something?" Hermione asked.
"Who needs a bed when you have a perfectly nice floor?" Draco asked.
"Or a lovely kitchen counter?" Blaise asked with a smile, "We've made some good memories on that counter."
"Maybe we should made more memories? I've always had a fantasy about that desk and what we could do on it." Hermione said with a shy smile and a blush creeping into her cheeks.
"That desk does look good." Blaise said as he grabbed Hermione around the waist.
"Yes, very good." Draco said as he started to kiss the back of Blaise's neck.
"It's okay if we're a little late to the feast, right?" Hermione asked.
"Totally okay. We have more important things to do that eat. We have each other." Blaise said as he lifted Hermione up on the desk and settled between her legs and Draco continued to kiss the back of his neck.
"Looks like we ended up on the floor anyway." Hermione said with a giggle.
"We ended up on the counter too." Draco reminded her with a devilish smile as he kissed down her sternum.
"The desk was a great starting place, love. Wonderful suggestion." Blaise said as he splattered her neck with small kisses.
"We can't do this again. We need to get ready. Also, I have rug-burn." Hermione said with a small groan as Draco reached his destination. "Fine, just one more time." Hermione said with a moan as she arched her back.
"He drives a hard bargain, right? We'll heal your rug-burn in a minute." Blaise asked smiling against Hermione's neck.
"Shut up and kiss me." Hermione said as pulled his face up and kissed him passionately.
Hermione smiled at Ginny and Harry as she walked to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She, Draco, and Blaise had just under half-an-hour to eat before the food disappeared and they had to go get ready for the ball.
"You're awfully late." Ginny said with a sly smirk. "Any reason why?"
"Draco, Blaise, and I made up after a fight." Hermione said with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"From the fight today? The one that you were crying about? The one that I comforted you about?" Harry asked quickly.
"Yes, that fight. We always end up forgiving each other and it never takes us long to do it. Blaise and I talked everything out. There's something so different about this relationship. Not just because there are three of us but also because we all want to work on it; we're willing to put all of ourselves into the relationship. It's not 50/50 it's a 100% effort every day; even when we're mad at each other. We all have big personalities so it's easy to argue but we all love each other so it's also easy to forgive each other." Hermione explained with a smile.
"How could you already forgive him? He made you cry." Harry asked.
"Because I love him, Harry. We talked about the issue and we resolved it. This relationship works for a lot of reasons and our ability to talk about the issues we face is one of those reasons. You seem awfully curious about me forgiving my husband." Hermione said with a glance at Harry. One of the benefits of being good friends with someone for a long time is being able to tell what the other is thinking with just a glance.
"I just don't want you to get hurt. I'm still not sure about their intentions with you." Harry said, his protective nature coming out in full force.
"Harry, I love you for being so protective, really I do, but I think that their intentions are nothing by honorable. Besides, I fought in a war, if anything starts to go down I can take care of myself." Hermione said with a good natured smile on her face.
"I've no doubt about that. I've seen you fight and you're a good fighter but…don't you not want to fight anymore. I'm kind of sick of fighting, of bickering, of seeing other people fight. I just want it to be over already." Harry said with a bit of annoyance.
"We're still teenagers, Harry. If I were you, I would be more concerned about when no one is fighting. The less people fight the more mischief manages to happen. Draco, Blaise, and I are fine and we will continue to be fine so you don't need to worry." Hermione said casually.
"But if you're not fighting then you're just going to get into mischief." Ginny said with a sly smile.
"That is exactly my plan, Ginny. That is exactly my plan." Hermione said with a gentle blush, a small smirk, and a significant glace towards her husbands. "Are you still coming to my room to help me with my hair and everything?"
"Of course! You know I love that kind of thing." Ginny said smiling at her best girl-friend.
"What's taking so long?" Draco complained. "We're already five minutes late. We went to the feast late and as Head Boy I don't think it's appropriate for me to be late again."
"Stop huffing. I'm sure that Hermione is going to be done soon." Blaise said as he put a bookmark in his book on healing.
"Maybe we should go check on them? What if something happened?" Draco asked his face was a cool mask of indifference but Blaise knew better.
"Seriously? They're both war heroes, I'm sure nothing happened." Blaise said in response to Draco's questioning. When Draco huffed again Blaise said, "Do you want me to go check on them?"
"Yes, please. I mean, I would but I'm comfortable and I'm very sore from earlier today and I have plans to work out tomorrow…" Draco trailed off as he wet his lips, something he knew would get Blaise going. He smirked a little at the lusty look Blaise had on his face in that moment.
"Stop doing that! If you're so bloody sore then we can't very well fuck around, can we?" Blaise asked as he got up from the couch and made his way to the bathroom door.
"We can always hope that after the ball I'll not be quite as sore. Now, check on our wife!" Draco said in a teasing manner. He really did love Blaise and his infinite ability to love him even when he was being annoying.
"Okay, I think that's enough primping." Blaise said after he knocked on the door to the bathroom that Hermione and Ginny were occupying.
"There is never enough primping!" Hermione teased through the still closed door.
"Hermione, you were stunningly beautiful before you went into that bathroom. You don't need primping." Blaise said. When he heard no response he sighed deeply and said, "Draco and I will be waiting downstairs in the Entrance Hall for you and Ginny we'll have Theo with us, okay?"
"Okay, Ginny and I will meet you all there in a bit." Hermione shouted through the door. She waited until she heard the portrait close before she quickly asked, "Do you think they'll like my hair like this? Maybe they won't like my makeup? Should I change my dress?"
"Hermione, they'll love your hair and your makeup. Didn't they buy you that dress?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, we got in a bit of a tiff about it. I told them I couldn't accept it, it's too extravagant, too expensive, just too much. They insisted and said that I was worth it. You know how much I hate gifts." Hermione said with a sigh as she re-adjusted the dress for what must have been the hundredth time.
"Stop fidgeting!" Ginny reprimanded her, batting her hands away. "And I know that you don't like gifts but you look so stunning in, Draco and Blaise won't know what hit them. Actually, they probably will considering they bought you the gown. If you keep on touching your hair it's going to get messed up. I did not work this hard on your hair for you to ruin it."
"Sorry, Gin. I'm just nervous." Hermione said as she fidgeted with the front of her dress again.
"Why on earth are you nervous? You're going to be on the arm of two of the most dashing men I know, you're in a beautiful dress that said men bought for you, no one is going to be shocked by your appearance with said men, and you look stunning. If something goes wrong, and I'm not saying that it will, you're the brightest witch of the age; if anyone can figure something out, it's you. Don't worry, don't be nervous, just relax and have a good time with your husbands." Ginny said reaching out and giving Hermione a short hug.
"I hate it when you're right." Hermione said with a smile on her face as she moved away from her best girl-friend. "One last check?"
"Hermione, you look wonderful. Do you have your wand?" Ginny asked.
"Of course, I don't leave home without it." Hermione said as she smiled at her little inside joke with Ginny. When the war was in full swing and all the chaos was happening, Hermione was about to leave the Burrow to find supplies that the crew needed to defeat Voldemort. Ginny grabbed her arm and in all seriousness asked if she had her wand. She told Ginny that she was the smartest witch of the age for a reason, and it wasn't because she was silly enough to leave her wand at home during a war. Ginny laughed and told her that it was just her protective instinct coming out for the girl she considered a sister. It was that conversation that really cemented the bond between Hermione and Ginny. It seems silly but having Ginny refer to her as a sister and realizing that she called the Burrow home was the guiding light for Hermione when she felt consumed by the darkness around her. She knew, from that moment on, that if she needed support she could always turn to Ginny. Every time after that Ginny would ask if Hermione had her wand and she would respond in the exact same way. It little conversation was one of the few things that brought her comfort in the harsh times.
"Good, now let's go see your husbands! What are they going as to this ball?" Ginny asked out of curiosity as she and Hermione started to make their way to the Entrance Hall.
"Well…there was a bit of an argument about that because neither one wanted to go as Godric Gryffindor but this is a replica of Lady Gryffindor's dress." Hermione told Ginny.
"But, what are they going as? This is a costume ball." Ginny said.
"Blaise is going as a young Merlin and Draco is playing the role of a young King Arthur." Hermione mumbled.
"What was the argument about exactly?" Ginny asked confused as to why Hermione was annoyed by the costume choices of her husbands. She was sure that Draco would look dashing as a king and Blaise was handsome enough that he would look good in anything.
"They match and I'm left out. I get that neither of them wanted to be Godric but I was hoping that one of them would be Salazar Slytherin or something in the same time period so we could all match at least. I mean, really, Hogwarts was founded in 990 and Arthur was around in the late fifth and early sixth century. We aren't even in the same time period. It's just me being silly and girly and wanting to wear matching costumes. It's really not an issue, just a bit annoying is all." Hermione confided in Ginny.
"You could always pretend to be the Lady Morgana. That would work." Ginny said with a half-smile as she anticipated Hermione's reaction.
"Seriously? You want me to go as an evil, slightly-crazed witch just to fit in with my husbands? Ah yes, I can see it now, the illicit love affair between Arthur and Merlin being almost accepted but people talking about crazy Morgana behind her back. How very fitting." Hermione bit out with anger.
"Hermione, it was only a joke. Besides, the only people talking about you behind your back are the people who are super jealous that you get to bed the two hottest blokes in school at the same time. Have you seen your husbands? You can't blame people for being jealous that you get them all to yourself! Now, I believe your husbands are waiting and my date is as well. You really do look lovely, Hermione." Ginny said before she opened the portrait door and waited for Hermione to walk across the threshold before closing it again. She looped her arm in Hermione's and off they went.
"Of course I've seen my husbands. I've seen a lot of my husband's today actually. They really are glorious." Hermione said with a smirk as she allowed Ginny to pull her towards the Entrance Hall.
"Seriously? It's bad enough that I'm barely getting any, the last thing I want to hear about is your amazing sex life." Ginny said with a chuckle and a brilliant smile aimed towards Hermione.
"Are things not going well with Theo?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Well, I'm going to the ball with him but I don't know where we stand as a couple. He's really good in bed but things got kind of awkward after he had boy's night with your husbands." Ginny said with a bit of a blush creeping up into her cheeks.
"Do you know why it got awkward? I mean, I doubt that Blaise and Draco said anything to Theo to make it awkward." Hermione told Ginny, confident in her husbands.
"I know, I didn't think that they would. It was Theo who made it awkward. He's friends with Viktor and he's the one who told them about Viktor wanting to get back together with you after the war and stuff. He probably really contributed to the argument that you got into with them and I talked to him about it. I think that he was embarrassed about how drunk he got. He told me all about what they talked about and then things got weird. He's been guarded ever since." Ginny explained to Hermione. "I just don't know what to do. He doesn't want to talk to me because he doesn't want to accidently reveal anything again but I really want him to trust me. It's still kind of a new relationship but I think that we should be to the point of trusting one another. I trust him and I tell him things that I probably wouldn't tell most other people but he doesn't trust me enough to do the same."
"Seriously, Ginny? He's a Slytherin. He doesn't trust easily. He probably feels bad about breaking Viktor's trust like that and now he's probably more hesitant to have you trust him. He's pulling away from you so you don't trust him and he can't break your trust. I think it might be his way of protecting you. He likes you too much to hurt you." Hermione speculated to Ginny. "If you want you can ask Blaise and Draco about it."
"No, I don't want to bother them. Besides, you three have a lot going on right now with the drama that happened with Viktor and Ron and I don't want to just add more things to the growing list of concerns in your relationship. It's whatever; Theo and I will get through it or we won't." Ginny said with a shrug. "We should probably continue to our dates. They're going to flip when they see us."
"Yes, Gin, they're going to flip when they see us." Hermione said with a chuckle as she looped her arm in Ginny's.
"Merlin, what is taking them so long?" Theo asked harshly as he turned on the ball of his foot to continue pacing.
"Theo, you may want to calm down. They'll be here; just give them a minute." Blaise said calmly.
"That's what you said five minutes ago. We're ten minutes late." Theo said grumpily as he continued to pace.
"Okay, seriously? What's going on with you? You've been super jittery today." Draco asked, blocking Theo's path so he would stop pacing. Theo gave a miniature growl and tried to push past Draco. "You're not going to push me out of the way, Theo. You can growl and huff all you want but I'm not moving. What's going on?"
"What does it matter?" Theo asked angrily as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"It matters because you matter, you arse. Now, tell us what's going on." Draco said.
"Marriage has made you soft." Theo teased with a little smile playing on his lips.
"Shut up. What's going on with you?" Draco asked seriously.
"Ginny and I are fighting, I guess." Theo said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You guess? You don't know if you're fighting?" Blaise asked with a smirk on his face knowing that this little jibe would make his friend talk.
"She's just so…Gryffindor. At first, I really liked that about her. She's not afraid to take charge and get stuff done. It's just that the more I spend time with her the less I like it. She's so…" Theo paused for a long moment trying to think of the right word, "feeling. She has all these bloody feelings and she tells me all about them and I just don't understand why. I'm a Slytherin, for Merlin's sake! You don't trust a Slytherin with your feelings. She's brave and she's bold and she's not afraid to tell me what's going on in her life. She certainly isn't afraid to say that she's feeling happy or melancholy or whatever other bloody thing she's feeling. At first it was little like 'oh, that makes me so happy' now she says things like 'Theo, I'm really feeling…'. Like, who bloody well cares what you're feeling? Right?" Theo raved with a petulant look on his face.
"Seriously? Your problem is that she telling you her feelings? I won't speak for Draco but I like it when Hermione tells us her feelings." Blaise told Theo, Draco nodded in agreement.
"Not so much that she's telling me. It's more, I don't know, like she's not at all afraid to tell me. She's reckless with them. She'll just flounce up to me and say 'I'm feeling really bad about my body today' and expect me not to make fun of her for it or go and tell my friends about it. She just tells me and I don't know why." Theo huffed in frustration. "And it's different with you and Hermione. She doesn't have to tell you, you can feel her emotions. And you're married! You're supposed to give a rat's arse about her feelings."
"You're dating Red. You should give a rat's arse about her feelings. I don't know her really well but I think that she either trusts you a lot or she's just that open with most people." Draco said with a shrug. Seeing the look on Theo's face Draco asked, "Which one has you more bothered, her trusting you or her being this open with most people?"
"Both." Theo said.
"Have you tried talking to her about, oh I don't know, your feelings?" Blaise asked with a bit of a smile.
"Kind of." Theo said. When he saw the questioning looks his two best friends were giving him he sighed and said, "I told her that I was worried that I started a fight between the two of you and Hermione. After we had our boy's night I was worried that what I had told you about Viktor had upset the both of you and caused that fight that happened this morning. I told her about what I said to you and she kind of gave me this look like I had grown three heads. Then, she asked me why I told you two about Viktor. I felt like she was kind of judging me. I was already really uncomfortable between her telling me her feelings all the bloody time and having just confided in her. She wasn't happy with me confiding in her, I guess."
"Theo, mate, I love you, really I do, but you're such a moron. I guarantee that she's not upset that you confided in her. She's probably just caught between her loyalty to you and her loyalty to Hermione. You didn't cause that argument, either. We needed to have a conversation with Hermione about Viktor. We have that business dinner soon and we needed to discuss some things before we went. The only thing that you contributed was us telling us that he wanted to get back with her, we weren't entirely sure about that one. You didn't cause the argument to happen, you didn't add fuel to the fire, and you don't have anything to feel bad about." Draco said to Theo reassuringly.
"Now, about your problem with Ginny having feelings. Get over yourself. She likes you enough to have you know her feelings. I think that's kind of a big deal. Especially if she's telling you when she's not feeling good about her body. That's a pretty sensitive topic for most people. Let her trust you, but, more importantly, be worthy of that trust." Blaise told Theo.
"What if I'm not worthy of that trust? What if I hurt her?" Theo asked quietly.
"Red doesn't seem like the type to blindly trust. You must have given her a reason to trust you. I know that you probably won't listen to my advice but here it is anyway. Let it be, let her trust you with her feelings and start trusting her with yours. Gryffindor's may be annoying sometimes but they make really good wives." Draco said with a sly smirk on his lips. His last comment made both Blaise and Theo chuckle which broke the tension that had seeped in during their heavy conversation. "You good now?"
"Yeah, I'm good now. Thanks." Theo said letting his arms drop down to his sides.
"No problem. Who would have ever thought that we would be the people that others came to when they needed relationship advice?" Blaise asked Draco as he came up and hugged his husband from behind, placing a light kiss on his neck.
"Will the two of you stop that? It was bad enough when I walked in on the two of you dry-humping each other on the couch in the common room last year." Theo said with a laugh as he pushed on Draco's shoulder, which didn't cause the blonde to budge even a bit.
"Wait, you saw us last year?" Blaise asked as he pulled his lips away from Draco's neck.
"Yes, I saw you. Why do you think I reacted so well when you told me? I mean, I would have probably been fine with it even if I didn't already know but I got time to process before you even said anything." Theo said with a shrug.
"Is that why you were kind of distant for a few weeks last year? We thought that you were upset about breaking up with that girl from Austria." Draco said to Theo.
"Yes, that was why I was kind of distant. That break up was really hard though. She was…something else." Theo said with a bit of a laugh. "I much prefer my current girl."
"Well, I'm happy to hear that." Ginny said with a smile as she approached the three men who had not noticed her approach. She pushed past Draco and Blaise to place a quick and chaste kiss on Theo's lips.
"Where's Hermione?" Blaise asked after he looked around trying to get a glimpse of his wife.
"She should be coming down the stairs about…now." Ginny said. She smiled a huge smile as she watched both Draco and Blaise turn around quickly to look at the stairs with expectant looks on their faces.
Draco and Blaise both gasped when they saw Hermione appear at the top of the steps. They quickly ascended the steps to grab hold of Hermione's hands and help her down the stairs.
"You look so amazing in that gown." Draco said as the three of them approached the last step on the staircase they were descending.
"You changed. I thought that you were going as Arthur and Merlin." Hermione said smiling brightly at them.
"Well, then you would be left out and we weren't even in the same time period. So, we decided to change. Normally I wouldn't be okay with someone having the same costume as me but Blaise and I just look so dashing." Draco said with a smile as he kissed her cheek gently.
"Lady Gryffindor should have her Lord beside her, don't you think?" Blaise asked with a charming grin as he put his hand on the doors to the Great Hall. "I think that we look dashing in red and gold. Even if it does make me feel like I'm betraying my house."
"Betraying your house but wooing your wife, I think that might be a fair trade." Hermione said with a smile. "Are we all ready for this? I'll be honest, I'm a bit concerned about how people are going to react when they see us."
"Every eye will be on you. People won't be able to comprehend your beauty so they'll just stare at the angel who is before them. We'll dance and we'll laugh and we'll love every second of it because we're doing it with you." Draco said charmingly.
"That was extra sappy, but thank you. I love you, both of you, so much." Hermione said.
"And we love you, Hermione. Now, as the muggles say, the party don't start 'til I walk in and I'm sure that everyone is excited about the party. Let's go." Blaise said, he kissed Hermione and Draco quickly but passionately before he pushed the doors open.
The chatter in the Great Hall stopped when the triad walked in. Hermione heard whispers of praise of her beauty and of her luck to snag two hot blokes. She felt anxiety swell up in her as she started to hear the whispers of people who were jealous and made harsh comments about her. She started to fidget as she stood between Draco and Blaise. After what felt like an eternity she felt Blaise lean down and say, "Breathe, love, don't let them get to you." Hermione smiled at him and took a deep breath.
"Mrs. Malfoy-Zabini, may I have this dance?" Dumbledore asked with a smile gracing his features.
"Of course, sir." Hermione replied with a smile of her own as she stepped away from Draco and Blaise and took Dumbledore's proffered hand. As they started to dance the Great Hall filled back up with chatter and laughing. "Thank you for making this less awkward."
"It's no problem, Hermione. I dare say that people do nothing if not thrive on gossip. You look lovely tonight and your husbands look rather dashing. I will admit, I am quite surprised at their costume choice." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.
"As am I." Hermione told him honestly. "They were supposed to be going as Arthur and Merlin, but they wanted to match with me so they changed. At least, I think that's what happened. I didn't know of their change until I saw them tonight."
"It's a shame that neither of them wanted to come here as Salazar. They both live up to the best that house has to offer. Cunning, ambitious, resourceful, great leadership potential, not to mention their devotion to the things and people they love. Truly, the best of the Slytherin traits." Dumbledore said with a secret grin. He noticed that Hermione simply nodded in agreement with his sentiments. They danced in a comfortable silence until the song ended. "Thank you again for this dance, Hermione." Dumbledore said with a bow.
"No, thank you. You're quite the dancer Professor." Hermione said with a smile and a little curtsy.
"I hope that you enjoy the rest of your evening." Dumbledore said before he turned on his heel and walked away before Hermione could respond.
Hermione jumped when she felt arms come around her waist from behind. She quickly settled down when she felt Draco's familiar form and breathed in his familiar scent. He started to sway in time to the music, bringing Hermione with him. "Did you enjoy your dance with Dumbledore?"
"Mhmm," Hermione hummed noncommittedly; she laced her hands over Draco's and relaxed into his embrace. She said, "I think that a dance with you would be better."
"Well, then. A dance you shall have." Draco said, carefully turning her around in his arms. He smiled contently when Hermione's arms automatically went up to wrap around his neck and her fingers started playing with his hair. "There is no place I would rather be right now than here with you. You look so amazing tonight. You actually took my breath away when I saw you."
"I just wanted to look good for you and Blaise. I wanted to show you how proud I am to be yours. I am proud to be your wife and I wanted to live up to that role." Hermione said with a shrug.
"You could be dressed in a rag with your hair a mess and no makeup on and still look amazing, Hermione. I am so proud to have you on my arm tonight and I'm sure Blaise is too. You've no role to fill, just be you because I fell in love with you and all of your little quirks." Draco said before he place a chaste kiss on her lips.
"All of them?" Hermione asked timorously.
"Yes, all of them. Even the one where you scrunch your nose up when you don't believe what Blaise or I just told you." Draco said as he kissed the tip of her nose. "You made that face at me the first time I told you I love you."
"Sometimes I still don't believe it. That you and Blaise could actually love me seems too good to be true." Hermione said shyly, not looking at his face.
Draco put two fingers under Hermione's chin so she would look up at him. "I know, in the very core of my being, that I will love you until my dying breath and I don't think that I'm overstepping my bounds when I say that Blaise feels the same way. Can't you feel every ounce of love and adoration that Blaise and I feel towards you through our bond?"
"But that argument this morning, it was bad Draco. All I felt was anger and hurt coming from both of you." Hermione said as she nibbled her lower lip in worry.
"People in love can still argue, Hermione. The next time that we argue, and there will be a next time because all of us are stubborn, try to feel past the hurt or anger. I guarantee that you'll find love, always." Draco said before he kissed her again.
"Promise?"
"Promise." Draco responded with a smile.
Hermione smiled up at him as the song ended and sighed in contentment as they continued to hold each other. By the end of the night Hermione had danced with her husbands numerous times and had even danced with Harry and Theo a few times. Her feet hurt and she was tired, but she was happy. Happy that the Ball went well, happy that she got to have a good time with good friends, happy that Theo and Ginny seemed to work out their issues, and she was happy that she got to go home with two people who loved her more than she could have ever hoped to be loved.