It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. Thing were expected of her. She was expected to marry the Wizarding World's Saviour. She couldn't. Failing that, it was though she would end up with his best friend. She wouldn't. And then, one day, she saw the man she loved, in Diagon Alley. And then she saw his blonde friend and recognised his face, and expectation hit her again. She shouldn't.

He saw her. His blonde-haired friend laughed, a called names and he did too, sensing something unknown, and that worried him. Things rarely worried him, because thing were rarely unknown. She was different – and that was dangerous.

He also saw her friends. The black-haired one, already doomed to fail, and the red-haired on who followed her with an idiot's devotion. He saw the love she had for them both, and jealousy rose unbidden from within. He buried it, along with the strange new feeling he had encountered upon seeing her. She was toxic. She was intoxicating. She would be forgotten.

She loved her friends, in the same way she loved her parents. They may have loved her more, but she could not return their love. They were in awe of her, but she needed someone to be in awe of.

The image of the boy from Diagon Alley kept returning, unwanted.

He succeeded where she failed – at least, that's what it seemed. He had flings with other girls. After all, he was attractive and they were willing. Once he got what he wanted, he backed out. He couldn't give them the thing they wanted in return. He had given it to someone who despised him. Or so he thought.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Watch out yourself, Mudblood."

"Miss Granger and… Mr Zabini, I think. Your potion will be Veritaserum."

"I don't want to be here any more than you do, Zabini, so let's just finish this as soon as possible."

"You're wrong, Granger. Have you even read the book?"

"I don't think I am wrong, Zabini. Look here – it says… oh."

"Oh c'mon, don't cry over some potion ingredient, Granger. I thought you were better than that."

"Is this all about your boyfriend or something? The blithering fool or the doomed hero?"

"Go to hell, Blaise."

"It's a joke, Hermione. A fucking joke. Get over it you pathetic Mu-"

"Finish that sentence an it'll be your last, Zabini. And at least I'm not sleeping with anybody who crosses my path because Malfoy doesn't bend that way!"

"A proper insult at last, Miss Granger. Perhaps part of your brain is working."

"Mr. Zabini, you have taste when it comes to insults, if nothing else. I suppose that's something."

On the outside it was a safe relationship. Both were forced to be seen together, and to talk together. To both of them, however, it was dangerous. Tolerance had given way to respect and respect to friendship and friendship to…

But that was a story for tomorrow, because sometimes tomorrows never come.

A/N: Be brutal, be brutal! This is my first (and probably only) BZ/HG fic. I have never read one of these before in my life, so excuse me if it isn't at all reasonable. This is, by the way, a surprise for my friend Sarah, who introduced me to B/Hr, something I would never personally consider. Especially seeing as I am an avid Hr/R shipper. It was hell, disowning your own ship, but I may just survive. Maybe.