The three of them returned late that day so they went back to their dorms.

They had prepared to reveal the truth to Draco and Hermione at the Christmas feast, but nothing had prepared them for the scene that awaited them.

***************************

Christmas Feast, Great Hall, Hogwarts

Ginny had gone on first, not wanting to be seen together with Blaise, as it would arouse unnecessary suspicion.

As they entered the Great Hall for dinner, Blaise and Luna saw Draco happily eating his Christmas feast out of Pansy's fork at the Slytherin table.

Amidst all the festive faces, Hermione was looking miserable as she silently ate out of her own plate, while Ginny comforted her, giving Draco scathing looks.

If glares could kill, Draco would be dead twice over by now.

"Oh! This is going to take a lot more work to fix, than we'd planned", Luna observed.

"You bet", agreed Blaise, as he scooted over to his table.

***************************

The next day Blaise, Luna and Ginny were at the Owlery Tower, huddled together, discussing their next course of action, while waiting for the fateful letter from the twins.

"So, Malfoy is now going out with Pansy?" Asked Ginny.

"Yes", Blaise sounded exhausted. He was tired of trying to instill some sense into his best friend.

"I thought he hated her", Ginny probed.

"Well apparently he hates himself more", Blaise said cryptically.

"Excuse me?" Ginny demanded an explanation.

"He's miserable with her", Blaise clarified.

"Didn't seem that way at the Christmas feast yesterday", Ginny responded bitterly.

"Trust me, he is. He just doesn't show it.

I've known him for years. He's a really good actor and an excellent Occlumence.

He thinks Hermione likes Ron and he's convinced himself he likes Pansy. He doesn't want to break Hermione's heart again, or so he says", Blaise was clutching his hair in his fists now.

"You know very well that's complete nonsense", Ginny snorted.

"Yes, and so does he. I just don't know how to convince him", Blaise raised his hands up in resignation.

"Maybe it's not you who has to convince him", Luna patted his shoulder kindly.

"What do you mean?" Blaise looked at her in confusion. At that moment, he would give anything to see his best friend happy.

"Maybe he needs to hear it from himself", she said waving a little pink box of Love pills.

Just then, an elegant brown owl swept in through the window and landed in front of Blaise.

It was from the Weasley twins. He opened the parchment and read the dates and his worse suspicions were confirmed.

"Well, screw it!" Blaise cursed.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

Blaise lifted his head and revealed a smirk. "Well let's just say we won't be needing these Love Pills anymore, to know who Draco likes", he spoke.

"What? Why?" The girls asked in chorus.

"Because Pansy has been giving them to Draco ever since he made that Unbreakable Vow. Probably even before that", he told them chuckling to himself.

"How would you know that?" Ginny was questioning his sanity now.

Blaise snorted, showing them the letter, "The dates on the parchment. Besides, haven't you seen how she always insists on feeding him herself. She's been slipping in those pills for quite sometime now"

"But that would mean..." Luna trailed off, as understanding dawned on both the girls' faces.

"Yes. Her plan backfired. She probably thought he'd end up realizing his love for her and finally confess. But he was already in love with Granger.", Blaise voiced out their thoughts. 

"He's been jealous of the Golden Trio for years," Blaise explained, "Especially Granger. At first, we just thought he hated the fact that someone who had no Wizarding lineage outranked him. At that time, all of us hated her for it, anyway. But then, he had no reason to be jealous of Weasley, but he was, and you wouldn't believe how much. It was then I started to connect the dots. Granger was the only thing Weasley had that he didn't."

"And he made the bet under the influence of the pill. No wonder he wanted Hermione as his prize", Luna observed, her eyes wide, with the sudden comprehension that had dawned on her.

"So that's it. Go and tell him. What are you waiting for?" Ginny urged him, hoping it would motivate him to do something about the situation.

"I doubt he'll change his mind even after hearing it from me. He firmly believes Hermione is in love with Ron.

Besides, I think Pansy probably stopped drugging him up since she realized it wasn't helping. That is how he's able to maintain his distance from Granger and stay sane", Blaise informed them.

"What if Hermione tells him? He'd have to believe her then", Luna offered.

Ginny rejected the idea, "I don't think Hermione will ever try making up with him. You know, once bitten and all. If Malfoy doesn't want her, she'll let it stay that way".

Luna offered an alternative.

"Maybe there is a way. You remember Fred and George said this works best when both partners have taken it", she said pointing to the pink box.

Blaise shook his head. They didn't know Draco like he did. "Either way, I think he's still capable of masking his emotions. He learnt Occlumency from Bellatrix", he told them.

"But there's one thing he can't resist can he?" Luna brightened up as she thought of an idea.

"What is that?" Blaise asked, curious as to what she had come up with. He had begun to trust her instincts.

"A nice challenging bet?" Luna offered.

"What about Hermione?" Ginny asked, "I doubt the Love Pills will have much affect on her either. Remember how Ron gave up so easily? It's not a Love Potion. If she doesn't want to talk to him, she just won't."

"Hermione is very kind. She'll never refuse help when it's wanted will she? And if Draco needs her she'll be there for him", Luna assured her.

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked.

Why would Draco need help? He thought. Draco has always been self reliant. He prefers it that way.

"People get hurt often during Quidditch Matches don't they", Luna said, with a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

"Are you saying this because Slytherin is playing against Ravenclaw next?" Ginny asked, still not sure where Luna was heading.

Luna just shrugged. "People get hurt after Quidditch matches as well."

And then Blaise realized.

"Merlin's beard yes! That's it! You're just brilliant Luna!"

In his excitement, he picked her tiny frame up and kissed her full on her lips, swirling her around like a little child.

A moment later, realization of his actions dawned on him and he put her back down.

"Umm.. I'm sorry", he apologized.

"Oh, don't be. I'm not. It was rather nice", Luna nodded her head.

Blaise was too embarrassed to stay now. "I guess I'll just go then", he said, turning to leave.

Luna waved her hand as he awkwardly descended down the stairs.

"You didn't give him one of those Pills did you?" Ginny asked Luna after she looked to see if Blaise had really gone.

"No, I took one for myself", Luna clarified.

"What? Why?" Ginny asked her, shocked at her eccentricity. Only Luna could think of experimenting freakish stuff on herself. That's after her twin brothers, of course.

"I wanted to know. Your brothers were right. It really helps put things into perspective."

"And?"

"And it felt good", she said smiling dreamily.

***************************

Author's Note:

Yet another update!!! Yaaay!!

This chapter is dedicated to 🎉🎉🎉🎉

 thegirlwholoves2read for her continuous support for my book, as well as PieEatingPanda and feltsonislyfe for their valuable support. Also dedicated to he_whomustnotbenamed for her wonderful comments and spreading smiles. #spreadlovenothate

Stay tuned for the next chapter: Game Plan

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