The Down Low

Blaise blinked. He rubbed both hands over his face, roughly, and then dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. No, nope, no. It was impossible, what he had just seen. He'd been up late studying for O.W.L.s, and that could really be the only explanation - he was tired, and the exhaustion was making him hallucinate. Because there were very few things that he knew with certainty in this world, and one of those was that Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger absolutely loathed each other. Which could only mean that he'd completely imagined catching Draco with his hands under her uniform skirt in a dark corner of the Alchemy section of the library.

Books tucked under his arm, Blaise started walking towards the Great Hall for dinner. Gods, he needed to get a good night's sleep in. He slipped onto the bench next to Pansy, who hardly spared him a glance, as she continued her diatribe to Daphne about the shoe choice of some Ravenclaw fifth year. Blaise poured a glass of pumpkin juice for himself, fixing a plate from the larger shared plates in front of him. Draco slid in next to him, saying nothing, and started immediately making himself a plate, rolling his eyes at something Goyle said. Grabbing his goblet, Blaise sipped the juice, savoring the sweet taste. From the corner of his eye, Blaise caught something red hanging out of Draco's uniform trouser pocket. Definitely not. Girl's knickers. Very frilly, lacy, obviously knickers.

Juice spluttered everywhere as Blaise coughed, tears coming to his eyes. Pansy shot up.

"Blaise! What the fuck!" She dabbed angrily at the juice staring her uniform sweater vest. Blaise just put his head in his hands and groaned.

oOoOo

"Blaise, that's simply not true," Pansy said with a pitying chuckle. "Don't be an idiot. Draco wouldn't touch Granger with a ten foot pole. Not to mention what would happen if his parents got wind…Paying war reparations is one thing, actually supporting an inter-blood relationship is another."

Blaise sighed. He'd spent the better part of the last fifteen minutes trying to convince Pansy what he'd seen, but she would hear none of it.

"Not to mention, Blaise," Pansy continued, fishing an apple from her school bag and taking a bite, "Draco was just with me last week. Like, with me. Clearly he's not over the whole break up." She took another bite. "Why would he do that if he was screwing Granger? Surely she wouldn't be the type to put up with that kind of indecisiveness. Also, we only did make the split official a month ago, and that's giving Draco more credit than we both know he deserves, moving on that quickly."

Blaise grimaced. "I'm not so sure, Pans. I swear, he had knickers in his pocket at dinner the other night." Pansy only shrugged.

"Probably nicked them from me," she said, crunching into her apple once more.

oOoOo

"Shh," Draco hushed from the bed beside Blaise's. Blaise had his curtains drawn, so he couldn't see who Draco was hushing, but he was certain the blonde wasn't alone anymore. Blaise had spent the past hour trying to fall asleep, but couldn't stop going over the day's Arithmancy lesson in his head. A feminine giggle cut through his thoughts.

"I told you, be quiet," Draco hissed, but absent of any malice. Another giggle.

"Scared someone will discover us," the girl's voice asked teasingly. Blaise knew it was familiar, but couldn't quite place it. It definitely was not Pansy, however. Or any of the other Slytherin girls for that matter.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Naughty girl," another feminine laugh that turned into a low moan. The wet sound of kisses against smooth skin. Blaise's eyebrows had disappeared into his hairline.

"Oh, oh," the girl moaned quietly. There was the sound of shifting, the rustle of clothing as it landed on the wood floor beside the bed. Blaise felt as if everything was louder than it should've been - could they hear him breathing? He closed his eyes, slowing his breaths, feigning sleep just in case. The noises that carried through the silence next were - and there was absolutely no other word for it - lewd. Blaise's eyes shot open.

The wet slurping and sucking coming from the bed closest to him was undoubtedly lascivious, leaving everything to the imagination about what was happening over there. If Blaise had any experience of the sort (which he most definitely did), some girl was being eaten within an inch of her life in the bed next to him. The breathy little gasps escaping the curtains made it seem like she was fast approaching her own peak. A muffled scream came soon after, and Blaise wondered whether it had been a hand or a pillow smothering the sound.

"Fuck," Draco growled, the springs of the bed slowly starting to creak in a rhythmic, obvious way. "Granger, you have the tightest pussy I've ever had."

Blaise clapped his hands over his ears so hard he was sure they'd heard.

oOoOo

Theo Nott shook his head, setting down his gardening spade. Hardly anyone had opted to take Herbology this year, and Blaise and Theo were the only Slytherins to take part.

"Not possible," he said, shaking his head again. "I just saw them having a screaming match in the third floor corridor on my way here. In fact, he called her an "obnoxious cow with teeth like a beaver's". That hardly sounds like words from a lover, now, does it?"

Blaise pushed the soil firmly around the wolfsbane in front of him. "I'm telling you, Theo. I've seen it, I've heard it. They're definitely fucking. Why wouldn't he tell us?"

Theo shrugged, picking up his spade before digging up another of the dark green plants, handing it gingerly to Blaise. "I think you're mental, but why don't you ask him?" Blaise sighed.

Why hadn't he thought of that?

oOoOo

"Hey mate, got a second?" Blaise took a seat across from Draco in the Slytherin commons. It was mid afternoon on a Wednesday, so the room was practically empty except for a couple third years sitting closer to the fire. Draco had tortoiseshell-framed reading glasses perched on the end of his aristocratic nose, and he looked up with a friendly smile.

"Blaise," he said, straightening up and removing his glasses. "You've been so damn busy studying, I almost thought I'd done something to upset you. You've hardly said two words to me the past three weeks." Blaise winced.

"Sorry," he mumbled, fumbling with the collar of his shirt as was his anxious habit. Draco frowned.

"What's wrong," he said immediately, searching Blaise's face for a clue. "What's happened? Is it your mother?" Blaise almost laughed.

"Gods, no. Nothing's wrong," Blaise sighed. The young man sitting across from him had been one of his closest friends for the last seven years - why was he so damned nervous? Draco leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Out with it then." Blaise took a deep breath.

"AreyoufuckingHermioneGranger," he gasped out, feeling a blush heat up his caramel complected cheeks. Draco's brow furrowed.

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning closer across the table. "I couldn't understand. What was that?"

"Are you," deep breath, "having intercourse," a grimace from them both, "with Hermione Granger?" There was a sticky, uncomfortable silence between them then and Blaise waited patiently to get hexed.

And then Draco started laughing. Deep, belly laughs, that trailed off into breathless chuckles as he wiped away tears from the corner of his eyes. He slapped a hand on the table then and Blaise jumped.

"Me," Draco drawled, putting an elegant finger at himself, "fuck Hermione Granger? You've got to be joking, mate. Good one." He laughed again, replacing his glasses and turning the page in the book in front of him. "That's class."

So it was settled then. Draco wasn't fucking Granger. Right?

oOoOo

Blaise made his way back towards the dungeons from the library. It was late, far later than he expected, and no one else was out in the halls. Everything was silent, except for the sound of his footsteps reverberating off of the old stone. One more O.W.L exam to go and he would be done, and he could go to bed at nine o'clock like he liked. He hummed to himself, feeling more at ease than he had in weeks. It was almost over.

That's when he heard it. A loud crack, followed by a distinctly feminine scream. It seemed to be coming from behind a door up ahead on the right and Blaise took off in a sprint, wand readied in front of him. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was abuse against a woman - just ask Step Father #5 - and he was prepared to do his worst.

Swinging the door open, Blaise swore loudly, throwing his wand to the ground almost hard enough to snap it in half. Bent over an old desk was Hermione Granger, still in her uniform skirt and little else. Blaise could make out the red imprint of a hand on her arse cheek - his eyes went wide as he quickly realized she wasn't wearing kickers and he spun on his heel, facing the doorway.

"No," he shouted, stomping his foot petulantly. "I can't fucking believe you, Draco!" There was some noise behind him, a few quick footsteps towards him as Hermione pushed around him and through the open door, out of sight.

"Blaise," his best friend began slowly. "She wanted it to be kept a secret, so that's why I didn't say anything. To be fair, I didn't exactly deny it, so you can't be too mad…" Blaise was breathing ragged, annoyed breaths.

"I've known for weeks - weeks, Draco! And everyone has made me out to be crazy, shit, I didn't want to believe it myself," Blaise spat. "But you could've just told me! I wouldn't have said anything. No one would've believed me anyway- clearly." He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he stiffened.

"Please, Blaise, just keep it quiet okay? We're still trying to figure out what exactly we're doing and I - well, you know, I think I - " Draco stumbled through his words. Blaise's eyes went wide as saucers and he finally spun around to look at his friend.

"You love her," he said slowly, a grin spreading slowly across his face. It faltered. "But wait, what about Pansy?" Draco sighed, looking down at his shoes.

"A cover," he said with a shrug. "And believe it or not, it was her idea. Said that Potter was onto us, and that I needed to do something to throw off the scent." Draco scrubbed his hands over his face. "I hated it, and I told her that as soon as it was done. I didn't even… finish. Couldn't." Damn. Draco had it bad.

"Fine," Blaise said with a shrug, "I'll keep this between us. But so help me, if you both aren't a little more discreet, I swear to Salazar I'll scream it from the Astronomy tower loud enough for everyone to hear. I don't like walking in on you doing… what exactly was it that you were just doing?"

Draco smirked, shoving both hands in his pockets and walking around Blaise to the door. "Let's just say, Head Girl Granger is a glutton for punishment." Blaise stuck out his tongue in a mock retch and Draco laughed, heading down the hall, whistling.

oOoOo

"Still think they're fucking," Pansy drawled smugly, nodding her head in the direction of Draco and Hermione. The curly haired girl had both hands on her hips and was screaming up at the aristocratic blonde who only rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

Blaise didn't take the bait. The couple had been, as he'd hoped, quiet through the rest of the week, and Blaise was able to finish his last O.W.L and even get ahead on some packing. The year was almost over, and in three days there would be a ceremony for all of those who had completed their last year of Hogwarts. Then he would be off to summer at home, on the Amalfi Coast, before starting an internship as an Unspeakable at the Ministry. His hard work had paid off, and everything was falling into place. He leaned against the trunk of the tree in the courtyard behind him, closing his eyes. It was a beautiful spring day, everything was lovely.

The screaming match faded and Blaise focused on the back of his eyelids, lost in a daydream about lying under a striped umbrella on a stone beach. In fact, it was quite warm enough to have shorts on now, and Blaise decided a quick change was in order and took off into the castle towards the dungeons. He strode quickly through the halls, humming contentedly to himself. Rounding a corner, he smacked straight into Harry Potter, who looked as if he'd seen a ghost, but worse. He looked like he'd seen Voldemort rise from the ashes.

"Alright, Potter," Blaise said, steadying the shorter boy in front of him. Harry shook his head slowly, blinking up at Blaise, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

"Potter…" Blaise was concerned now. He looked around, about to call for help.

"Do not," Harry said sharply, and Blaise almost jumped, "Do not. Go any farther down this hallway. If you wish to keep your innocence. And your lunch in your stomach." Potter pushed past him, and Blaise peered down the hallway, noticing a shifting lump beneath a tapestry up ahead. Realization struck him, and his eyes drifted downwards, noticing two pairs of shoes - one dragon hide, the other tiptoed Mary-Jane's.

Blaise sighed, rubbing at his temples, before taking off in the direction of the Astronomy Tower.