Fandom: Harry Potter
Title: Loving Support
Pairing: Blaise Zabini/Draco Malfoy/Pansy Parkinson
Rating: PG13
Contains: No warnings.
Word Count: 1000.
Notes: For fan_flashworks Challenge #2, "Triangle". This is set in my "Silver Trio" 'verse, where Blaise, Draco, and Pansy are an established polyamorous triad. OT3! :)
Summary: What Draco needs is to know they're there.



Blaise finished drying himself off and tossed the towel over the middle hook behind the door. Pansy's towel was neat and straight on her hook; Draco's had fallen to the tiles, as usual. Blaise rolled his eyes and left it as he strolled out of the bathroom. "You're going to have a wet towel in the morning," he said, dropping onto the edge of the bed and shaking Draco's ankle.

Draco, head buried under a pillow, mumbled an acknowledgment - or swore at him, Blaise wasn't sure. He twitched the blanket aside, crawled up the bed, and straddled Draco's hips before ripping the pillow away. "What was that?"

"Fuck you, Zabini," Draco said without heat. He folded his arms under his head. "I had a long day. Don't give me any shit, all right?"

Blaise lifted his brows. He settled both hands on Draco's shoulders, automatically kneading into the tight muscles. Draco always carried his tension at the base of his neck and tonight it felt like there were rocks under his skin. Blaise massaged Draco's shoulders and neck, working into the knots with the heels of his hands. "You haven't been this tense since that three-week suspension a couple of years ago," he said in a low voice. "Don't tell me it happened again."

Draco stayed silent, and Blaise thought that was all the answer he'd get, then Draco sighed and shifted under him, arms sliding out to either side and head flat on the bed. "Six weeks," he muttered. "Cut down from twelve as witnesses reported that I was attacked and was only casting to defend."

Blaise stilled. He looked down, noting the tightness around Draco's closed eyes. "Do I want to guess the reason?"

Draco turned his left arm over, palm facing up. He curled his fingers into a fist, tensing the muscles in his forearm. Under his skin, the fading brand seemed to move. "Same reason it always is."

Blaise swore under his breath. He didn't bother to respond, not verbally. There was nothing new he could say. He moved to the bed, pulling Draco's arm over his chest after hauling the blanket to their waists. He smoothed his hand over the dark brand, covering it with his fingers.

Draco let him touch, but didn't move otherwise. "Where's Pansy?" he said after a minute.

Blaise felt a small tightness in his chest. He hated when Draco ignored things like this, pretending that it didn't happen or wouldn't happen again, but he'd learned not to fight it. Draco would only talk when he wanted to, and Blaise had to accept that he didn't want to often.

He rolled to put his arm over Draco's back. "She's finishing up the shopping list for the weekend. You ate all of the lemon biscuits again, by the way. She was not very pleased to discover that."

Draco gave a silent laugh, his body shaking against Blaise's. He wriggled in the bed to face Blaise, hand on his waist and legs tangled. "She'll just have to deal with it. She knows I like those."

"I do," came Pansy's voice from the door. "And this trip I'm buying raspberry. Maybe I'll actually get a couple of biscuits this time." Blaise looked up to see her shimmying out of her clothes. She crossed to the bed and pulled her nightshirt from beneath the pillow. She tugged it over her head, glanced at Draco's back, and met Blaise's eyes.

Blaise shook his head just the tiniest bit. Pansy chewed her lower lip and sighed without sound. She crawled under the blanket and pressed close to Draco's back. Kissing his shoulder, she reached across him to rub Blaise's arm. "You'll never guess what the neighbors did today," she said.

Blaise closed his eyes and listened to her story. Between them, Draco slowly relaxed, and by the time Pansy finished, Draco had fallen asleep, his entire body at ease. Blaise brushed Pansy's cheek and spoke in a whisper. "Suspended again."

Pansy exhaled. "That explains a lot. I assume he refused to talk about it?"

Blaise nodded, stroking a bit of Draco's fringe back. "Like always. He'll be underfoot for the next six weeks. Hope you can deal with that."

"I'll buy extra biscuits," Pansy said. "And put him to work in the garden. Plenty of cleanup to do before spring planting." She snuggled in close, stretching her arm over both men. "I'll keep him busy, Blaise. Don't worry about him."

"I always worry. You know I can't help it. You'd think that one day I'd get used to how people treat him."

"Just some people. And not all the time." Pansy propped her head on her free hand and looked at him over Draco's sleeping form. "Things are better than they were. We're making progress."

"Not fast enough to suit me." Blaise held his breath as Draco shifted, one arm slipping behind to curl over Pansy's hip. Blaise kissed his forehead and sighed. "I just wish I could fix things for him."

"You're doing enough already." Pansy stroked his face, her fingers slipping around the shell of his ear. "You're here for him. You love him. Don't you think that, when all is said, when he comes home from a rough day, what he really needs is to know that we're here for him? That no matter what else is going on, he can always come home and know that we're both here, that we both love him?"

"I know. But I still want to do more."

Pansy chuckled quietly and nestled down into the pillow. "Then wake him up in the morning in your special way. He'll appreciate that more than anything."

Snorting, Blaise reached over to smack her arse. "Of the three of us, I think you're the one who appreciates that the most. You little voyeur."

Pansy giggled. "True."

Blaise hid a yawn and snuggled down into the bed. "Good idea, though. I'll do that, you buy biscuits, and we'll keep him busy."