Two weeks after moving into the flat with Hermione, Draco had received a letter. It came with a black owl, which pinched his finger after delivering the letter. He recognized it instantly.
Blaise.
Ever since they were at Hogwarts, Blaise had trained his black owl to pinch Draco's fingers every time it delivered him letters containing good news. At first Draco had been annoyed but it soon began to feel like something personal, like a secret sign only Blaise and he knew. It might have been childish but that made him feel special for someone.
That day, the same owl came and, as it pinched his index finger, Draco knew what the content might be about. Blaise was writing to inform Draco about something that made him happy. Sure enough, as soon as he opened the letter, Draco read the following:
'My Dear Draco,'
Draco grimaced. He never liked the way Blaise was always teasing him by saying My 'Dear' in every one of his letters. But he had to admit that his friend will probably never change. Therefore, he ignored the addressing method and continued to peruse the letter keenly.
'I am writing you from Scotland. I just came back from Italy yesterday and I should arrive in London tomorrow evening. I'll Apparate at your place tomorrow, at 6 PM, so make sure you let me enter or else I'll send you a cursed letter.
Also, depending on how much I like the time I spend with you, I might prolong my visit to England indefinitely. I miss your ugly face and nasty attitude.
Love,
From me to myself as always'
Draco folded the letter smiling to himself. It was just like Blaise to write something like that.
'Ugly face and nasty attitude? Who's he kidding', Draco thought, his feelings swinging from being amused to being annoyed.
Tomorrow evening at 6PM, Blaise had written. That meant he knew the address already.
'Mother, perhaps.'
He didn't consider his address to be a secret but regardless, it still made him feel uncomfortable knowing people could find him so easily. But Blaise wasn't just any people. He had been a good friend of his for many years and they had their methods of finding each other.
Putting the letter onto the desk, Draco took a deep breath. He will have a visitor tomorrow, but he wasn't alone in the house. He cringed at the thought of who else was in there. He thought about whether he should tell Hermione about Blaise's visit or not.
'Why would I?' he told himself, annoyed at the thought. 'He's coming to visit me, why should she know about it? It's not like I have to report to her everything I do.'
He battled with the idea for a few hours before finally deciding to let her know tomorrow. It was good enough that he gave her a heads up, he didn't have to make an effort and tell her one day ahead. With that decision made, Draco scribbled a reply to Blaise's letter and tied it to the black owl's leg.
***
The next morning, Draco waited for Hermione to bring him his treatment potions thinking that was probably the best time to tell her about Blaise's visit. Therefore, instead of keeping his door tightly shut like he usually did, he opened the door wide enough to see her face.
"Someone is coming over today." he said breathlessly, before taking the tray from her hands and shutting the door in her face.
Hermione remained still, eyes wide with surprise. She barely got to hear his words before the door was shut in her face, but she thought she caught the words 'today' and 'coming over'.
So, someone was coming to visit Draco today. That was good enough for her. As it was Friday, she had plans of going out on her usual Friday errand and thus she could avoid anyone that came and allow Draco to receive his guest without interruptions.
Nonetheless, she was surprised that he had told her. That was something she hadn't expected of him. It was almost like he was considerate of her.
***
A few hours after he talked to Hermione, Draco heard her leave. He sighed in relief. That meant he and Blaise would be alone and could talk without being interrupted. In his reply, he had informed Blaise of his living situation, but he was still relieved to know they would be alone in the house.
Five minutes before six, Draco started pacing his room, looking at his watch nervously. When the clock struck six, Draco glanced around, hoping to see Blaise Apparating any second. He had permitted him to Apparate inside the entire flat as a precaution, since he forgot to let Blaise know which one was his room.
'Why isn't he here yet? Did something happen and he won't be coming?' Draco asked himself.
That moment, the trail of his thoughts was suddenly interrupted by loud noises. Puzzled, Draco opened his door and listened. He distinctly heard a screech, followed by loud bangs and hisses.
Baffled at what could possibly be making those strange noises, and knowing that no one else was supposed to be in the house, he got out and started for the common room.
The sight that met Draco as soon as he got there was so shocking that it took him a few seconds to register everything.
He saw Hermione, her hair even bushier than usual, if that was even possible, her face bright red, with one hand holding her wand and with the other…
Draco blinked twice, making sure he was seeing right.
With the other hand, Hermione was holding his friend, Blaise, by the collar of what had probably been a perfectly fitting shirt, but now looked like it had been through a slicing competition. His hands and neck were scratched and he was sporting a bloody nose.
Draco heard hissing noises and, looking around carefully, he saw a ginger cat, lurking around Blaise and Hermione, its bushy tail flailing, while he hissed and growled.
"What…" Draco started but Hermione cut him off immediately.
"Took the word right out of my mouth, Malfoy." she said, narrowing her eyes at him, hot anger in her voice. "What is the meaning of this? What's this person doing Apparating inside my room?"
"What? I have no…" Draco said honestly but his voice faltered upon seeing Hermione's look.
"Oh, save me your would-be ignorance." she told him scathingly. "He's your friend so what's he doing in my room if not playing one of your stupid games? I'm sure you put him up to it, didn't you, Malfoy?" she asked hotly, shaking Blaise violently, holding him tightly by the back of his shirt.
That seemed to jerk Draco back to reality. He glared at Hermione, crossing his arms.
"I did no such thing. How could I… why would I…"
"How could you not? Why would you not?" she retorted, her face getting even redder due to the effort of yelling and keeping a hold on Blaise, who was swaying dangerously on his feet. "You tell me someone will come visit you and not long after… 'this' shows up in my room." she finished, throwing Blaise a disgusted look.
"I don't see the problem. How could I have known this stupid git would appear in your room instead of mine?"
"Hey…" Blaise started but was cut off by one of Draco's looks.
"You stay out of it. Pervert." Hermione said, accompanied by one of Crookshanks's hisses.
Draco was really upset by now. He was still glaring at Hermione, arms crossed, and legs spread, as if ready to challenge whatever she would throw at him.
'I had the courtesy of letting her know someone was coming here. It's her problem that she doesn't keep her room safe, or that she decides to come back early, unannounced. She was supposed to be out.' he thought angrily.