Hello readers!

I hope that you have managed to forgive me for the week's absence. I literally got home two hours ago and got in to edit this chapter and post it on here because I felt too cruel in depriving you all for any longer! I have not slept in over 30 hours, so I hope it is worth it! Just in case you're wondering: my parents are at work and my sister is asleep, so I haven't been heartless in ignoring them! I apologise if there are any mistakes that my sleep-deprived state may have missed, but I love the ending of this chapter. I hope that you will too, and I suspect you will if you have enjoyed it thus far... or just like Klaine sweetness... and if you don't then you may have picked the wrong genre of fan-fiction!

I have written sooooo much more while on holiday. Of course, I am writing about 20 chapters ahead of what I am posting, but I am staggering it because I want to be sure the structure holds up and that I am not forced to rush through my writing in order to bring you updates. Stay tuned, as I shall probably update again today, since I feel too mean for the lack of additions to the story this week!

Thank you again to everyone who has shown an interest, and to any new readers who see this! Love to you all!

Chapter Seven: Plotting.

"Put your hand on the bannister and put the rest of your weight on me," Blaine instructed in a soft voice.

They had managed to make it through most of the castle with Blaine supporting Kurt, who could not walk on his hurt foot. They had shrunk back before setting off for the castle, allowing the crowd from the Quidditch match to flock past them. Blaine had wanted to avoid his team, although realistically he knew it was stupid to do so, since they'd all be waiting for him in the common room when they finally got there.

"Okay, I'll try," Kurt said through gritted teeth, the difficultly being that his right arm was also injured from Karofsky's constricting hold, and he found it hard to grip the bannister. The right side of him was not doing well today, it seemed.

"Grip it with the other hand on the left side, that one's okay now… isn't it?" Blaine asked, remembering that it had been the one that Karofsky had injured beforehand, and feeling slightly sick at thinking of all the ways he had maimed Kurt thus far.

"Yeah, it's fine," Kurt assured him, not regarding the thought so favourably himself.

"Right, well, put your right arm around my shoulders, it won't hurt there," Blaine said, quickly switching to support Kurt's right side, the side on which he had the injured foot, causing his body to press almost completely against Blaine's side as he helped him carefully up the stairway.

Even though his present circumstance should have been mortifying, he couldn't help but feel a deep thrill run through him, his stomach contracting delightedly as he and the older boy were squeezed so tightly together, so that Kurt could feel every curve of his body, every patch of warm skin through his Quidditch uniform.

"Where is everybody else?" Kurt asked, feeling quite breathless, but determined to find something to alter the inappropriate route his thoughts were taking.

The place seemed deserted.

"Waiting, I guess," Blaine muttered ominously, swallowing as he looked up at the Fat Lady's portrait.

After a long while they finally made it up the stairs and they both paused once outside the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You know you weren't the seeker; it wasn't your fault they lost," Kurt said, attempting to comfort the boy that was propping him up. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but notice the toned muscles of Blaine's firm torso. Friends, Kurt, you are friends, he told himself sternly.

"They all saw me leave the stadium though, they all yelled after me, wondering where the hell I was going," Blaine grimaced, apparently unaware of the inner torments of the boy at his side.

Kurt turned his head to give him a sympathetic smile, "You'll have to face them some time… may as well be now. Courage, remember?"

Blaine broke into a grin despite his anxiety and took a deep breath, "You're right. Yes. Okay... Thestrals."

The portrait swung open, admitting them entrance.

As the two had expected, the entire Gryffindor team had been there waiting for them.

Well, for Blaine. They were most likely intent on berating him to no end once they had set eyes on him.

When they first saw their Chaser's face one of the team opened her mouth with the clear intent to begin an angry statement, but then all eyes flitted onto Kurt… To his frame slumped against the 6th Year and his limp foot dangling limply by his side.

Finn was the first to react, "Dude, what the hell? What happened?"

He jumped forward to help Kurt on the other side as the Quidditch team quickly parted ways through the middle, allowing Finn and Blaine to support him over to a nearby seat.

Mercedes and Rachel, who had been sitting near the back of the room, suddenly got to their feet and ran over to their battered friend, instantly beginning to fuss.

"Oh my gosh! Kurt, what… Where did you go to?" Mercedes asked, eyes widening in concern.

"What happened?" Rachel demanded, rounding on Blaine, hands on hips.

"Pipe down, Rachel, it isn't his fault for Christ's sake," Kurt snapped, wanting her to back off the older Gryffindor.

"You tell us, then," She said, looking to him suddenly.

"Man you're bossy," He whispered in annoyance, fingers reaching up to his temples. He was exhausted.

"Kurt you're hurt! You have to tell us what's going on." Mercedes said sounding frightened.

"Yeah, come on man; does this have anything to do with how you've been acting recently?" Finn asked, sitting next to his brother, sounding much calmer than the two girls, yet still clearly vexed by the sight of him. Kurt was thankful that he had at least one friend that hadn't been sent into wild hysterics.

"I think you should tell them, Kurt," Blaine said. He turned around to the other Gryffindor team players that were gathered around. "Guys, I am so sorry for what happened earlier, and I will make it up to you all, I promise, but do you mind giving these guys a little privacy?"

They didn't even seem to be irritated with Blaine, merely nodded still looking a little startled by Kurt's condition as they all moved away to the other end of the common room and some of them went up to their dormitories, in order to give them their space.

Blaine made to move away as well, not sure if it was his place to invade, but Kurt's head jerked up in a flash. "No, stay. Please?"

He wasn't about to reject such a sweet request from those sapphire eyes. Blaine returned and crouched down next to where Kurt sat, wanting more than anything to hold him, but feeling that the countertenor may have been opposed to such an action in the presence of his friends.

He probably wouldn't have complained that much…

"Kurt?" Rachel said insistently.

"All right, enough, I'm going to tell you," Kurt barked. He took a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry… Right…You have to promise to let me finish explaining before you kick off, okay?"

"Why?" Mercedes asked automatically, causing Kurt's jaw to tense slightly but he inhaled deeply, keeping in mind that this must be distressing for them.

"Please… Please, will you just promise to let me say it all? If you want to be told you have to promise me this."

He laid out his terms simply.

They glanced at each other, not liking the foreboding sound of these words but then they turned back and nodded.

"Idunnsheewhayyhafftschtacheer" Kurt tried to say through the thermometer Madame Pomfrey had shoved in his mouth.

"Excuse me?" Finn chuckled.

He yanked the thing out of his mouth, "I don't see why I have to stay here." He said again; "I feel fine."

She thrust the thermometer back into his mouth with a defiant glare, which he returned sulkily.

"Because you may catch a fever from the potions they had to give you to mend your arm and ankle." Finn told him, all though Kurt already knew this information, since Madame Pomfrey had told him so 17 times already that morning.

The woman in question took the thermometer and examined it.

"I don't get why they give you something to cure one thing that will then damage you in another way." Kurt muttered darkly, folding his arms tightly across his chest. He hated hospitals, even if they were the tiny wing like this one. They supplied him with miserable memories that he would rather forget entirely and his whole body screamed to be free from his medical confines.

"Well, we can cure a fever easily, we just need to see if you have one," Madame Pomfrey said huffily, having had enough of him as much as he had of this place.

"And you have to go to class," Kurt reminded Finn, looking at him sternly, as though he had suddenly become the parent or carer, even though it was him laid on a hospital bed.

"No way, man, I'm staying. Besides… Burt would kill me if I weren't here."

"No he wouldn't; he and Carole would kill you if you failed your exams because you're being an overprotective-"

"You're fine." Madame Pomfrey interjected quickly. "You can go within the next half an hour."

"Why do I have to wait another half an hour?" Kurt asked exasperated, proving so by his voice reaching an extremely high pitch.

"You don't. That was a joke."

"Some pretty black humour you've got there…" He grunted, giving her a most disagreeable glare.

She sighed and walked away from his bed, smiling slightly once her back was turned.

As soon as she had done so, Kurt swung his legs around to the side of the bed and stood up, feeling good to be back on his feet again. Immobility certainly did not suit his personality, or fashion sense for that matter.

"Hey, take it easy." Finn said, getting up and rushing to his side.

Kurt rolled his eyes, swatted his hand away and walked over to the cupboard that held his clothes. "Honestly Finn, will you cut it out! They don't call it magic for nothing."

He looked back over his shoulder just in time to catch sight of Finn's disheartened expression as his dismissal.

Kurt chewed the inside of his cheek, feeling bad. It had been a tough few days for Finn after the realisation of what had been going on with his newly instated brother.

"Sorry…" Kurt said, trying to rectify his bad attitude. "I do really appreciate you being here, Finn. It… It means a lot."

His face relaxed into a more joyous expression and Kurt was suddenly overwhelmingly thankful to have the boy before him as his brother.

Then he turned around holding up two waistcoats. "Now should I wear purple or green?"

Finn looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Perhaps Kurt had expected too much after his rush of gratitude, he clicked his tongue and turned back away, mumbling, "Don't know why I bother…"

Other than their initial reactions of outrage, shock and horror, his three friends seemed to have mostly settled down about the Karofsky issue since he had told them. They hadn't mentioned it to him for the couple of days he had been at the hospital wing. Once he was back in classes, they seemed to stay off the subject for a little while, however he knew they would not be able to bite their tongues on the topic for long.

This was confirmed when they were out in the grounds for Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

Mercedes picked the awkward time of when he had just wrestled a Bowtruckle into its cage to pounce on him about the unpleasant subject.

"You should go to Dumbledore about it." She told him frankly.

"No," He replied automatically, desperately trying to fasten the latch before it escaped again. "I shouldn't."

"Kurt, this guy is seriously bullying you." She protested, astonished at his unwillingness to take action. "I'm not even sure that term is a strong enough word to describe it! You should tell one of the professors or Dumbledore or your Dad or-"

Kurt straightened up, breathing heavily from the previous energy he had just exerted.

"Listen, Mercedes, I don't want to get teachers involved in this and if you tell my Dad…So help me god I will never forgive you; he doesn't need any stress right now."

"You should tell him, Kurt." Mercedes said, standing her ground, hands on hips as she squared up to him, her feisty character not about to back down.

Kurt crossed his arms. "It's my decision."

Mercedes bit her lip, "I know it is…and I'm not going to go behind your back Kurt… Or I don't want to, because I think you should be the one to tell them. But if you're not willing…"

"No, Mercedes!" Kurt said fiercely.

How many times would he have to tell her?

"What, so you're just going to creep around here in constant fear of what this guy might do to you? No way Kurt, what if next time Blaine or someone else isn't around? What are you going to do when there is no one there? What if he does something worse?"

She seemed to shudder at the thought.

The fire of questions did send a sense of dread through her friend but he shook his head; "Look, Mercedes, I know I have been sort of…difficult recently. I also know that I have taken a lot of that out on you and now I look back on that I realise that I was out of order. You are only ever looking out for me, with my best interests at heart, and I get that - I really do. You're my best friend and you know me better than anyone…" He relaxed his arms and stepped forward slightly, widening his eyes pleadingly as he tried to convince her; "I just hope that you can trust me on this; I am asking you to give me a little bit of time. I just… I need to find something out first… before I report anything."

Mercedes looked up at him for a long moment. It was odd, he was still the same person he had always been; he never lost that, even when he was clearly disrupted in several areas of his life. He never lost sight of who he was and he could never be broken. But now she saw something else behind those eyes, a new brush of maturity that had taken over the irrational and erratic boy she had known for so long. It wasn't as though it had completely taken hold of him yet, but it was reaching in, she was slightly in awe of how much he had grown up in a matter of months.

"Thank you for saying that Kurt, and I'm not in any way upset with you now that I realise the situation. I don't totally understand why you didn't think you could come to me, but it isn't like I would ever hold that sort of thing against you. Of course I believe in your judgement, but…what is it that you need to find out?" Mercedes asked, straining to comprehend everything that was going on with her fellow Gryffindor.

Kurt closed his eyes, trying to remain patient, picturing the saddened look in Karofsky's eyes. "I can't say right now. I know you won't like that answer, but… just…don't tell anyone. Make sure the others don't either. Give me a bit of time."

Mercedes looked puzzled by her friend's odd request and was about to open her mouth to protest when Hagrid's giant dustbin lid-sized hand clamped down on Kurt's shoulder.

"A'right there, Kurt?" Bowtruckle didn't nip ya did 'e?" He asked, sounding concerned in his rough voice.

"No, I'm fine." Kurt assured him, looking up at his friendly face.

"I know you just got out the 'ospital last week an' I don't want you fallin' ill on us agen" He said seriously.

"No, thanks Hagrid, I'm just a little tired is all."

Hagrid nodded and clapped Kurt on the back, a little too hard so that the boy almost fell forward, but he didn't notice as such, and walked off to check on one of the other students.

Rachel came up to the two of them, "You okay?" She asked brightly.

Kurt nodded, then over her shoulder he saw that Finn was talking to Quinn, the pretty Ravenclaw girl who Rachel had taken such a disliking to. Kurt looked a little alarmed as Rachel was about to follow his gaze and he hastily kicked the Bowtruckle cage so that the door flung open. "Shoot!" He exclaimed loudly, wrenching her attention forwards once more. "It escaped!"

Rachel and Mercedes reached for their wands and rushed after the little guy. Kurt frowned as he watched Finn and Quinn talking.

This could only spell trouble.

"What were you talking to Quinn about the other day?" Kurt asked as he and Finn walked down to the Quidditch pitch. Blaine had left Kurt a note outside their dormitory that morning, which Kurt still had tucked neatly into his breast pocket, and planned to keep hold of it for a long while (not that he was about to tell anyone that part):

Kurt,

We have Quidditch practice this evening; would you like to come along and then you and I could go to the library afterwards to study for a bit? I feel as though I haven't been able to see you much recently, and I want to make sure everything is okay.

Please say you will go, else you are sentencing me to a very dull evening of Transfigurations Theory, and you wouldn't want to do that to me now, would you?

Blaine.

Blaine asked Kurt to study a lot with him these days…

"What?" Finn asked.

Kurt had to collect himself in order to recall the question he had just asked his brother: "In Care of Magical Creatures? I had to let loose one of those little tree demons to stop Rachel seeing… I thought you liked her?"

Finn seemed a little taken aback my Kurt's tone. "I do… Quinn was just telling me that I did a really good job in the game against Slytherin and-"

"Do you want to be with Rachel or not?" Kurt cut across him, stepping forward to block Finn and coming to a halt, arms folded.

"What? Yeah, of course I do, look me and Quinn are friends and she-"

"Listen Finn, I don't know what is going on with you and Quinn or whether or not it is harmless as flies – which is a stupid expression as flies are vermin and far from harmless – but besides, you hanging around with her is only going to upset what you have with Rachel. Or what you want to have." Kurt told him assuredly at a quick pace.

"I don't get why Rachel gets so funny about these things…"

Kurt shrugged. "She's insecure. She's a teenage girl; it's like their right or something."

Finn frowned and looked down. "She doesn't have to be so rude about it, though, I really don't like that side of her."

"So…now you don't like Rachel?" Kurt asked, looking to one side in confusion, his brow furrowed, "Seriously, you have to make up your mind and tell me here."

"I never said I didn't like her, just not that part of her. Can we carry on; I'm going to be late here," He said, starting to walk again.

Kurt quickly fell into step with him once more. "Okay, well that's fine, you don't have to like every side to her. Nobody is perfect, but I assure you, her caring so much about Quinn is only a good thing."

"It is?" Finn asked, befuddled.

"Absolutely, it means that she cares enough about whether or not you like her or else she wouldn't get so touchy about it." Kurt informed him, often having to spell out the way of girls to his brother, who was utterly clueless. It was a shame really; he had a far greater need to understand them than Kurt did.

"I guess…"

"I thought you two were going to sing together anyway? I've heard you, Finn, and you have an amazing voice. Honestly, this is me, and I wouldn't tell you so if you didn't. I won't tell you that it's as good as mine (when it isn't) but I assure you if you sing something to her, Rachel is going to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West, or Elphaba if you will." Kurt chuckled slightly, but Finn just gave him a gormless expression and so he decided to translate it into terms he would understand in flat monotone: "She'll like it."

Finn twisted uncomfortably as they approached the pitch. "I don't know; she hasn't spoken to me an awful lot about it lately."

"Hmmm," Kurt mused as the other Gryffindor players came into view, already flying through the sky on their brooms. "You know what you need?"

"What?"

"A grand gesture," Kurt told him cheerfully.

"What do you-" Yet before Finn could finish his question addressed to the flamboyant Gryffindor boy the rest of his team came swooping towards them.

"Come on, Hudson, get your behind in the air!" The seeker yelled at him, diving towards them, but pulling up short at the last second.

Kurt skipped to the side as the female Chaser did a ring around Finn, "You're not going to save anything from the ground, get your ass in gear!"

"They certainly seem to have a fixation on your rear end, don't they Finn?" Kurt smirked.

He ignored his brother, instead kicking his leg over the broomstick in his hand and shooting off into the sky.

Kurt watched him go until another familiar face zoomed down and hovered on his broom just in front of the countertenor.

"Hi there," said Blaine, a sweet smile creeping onto his features.
"Hello," Kurt said zealously, face lighting up, his heart beating just that little bit faster as he watched the delicate fluttering of Blaine's curls in the wind and the charmingly flirtatious glint in his eyes.

"You accepted my invitation then?" He asked, letting go of the broom with his hands and sitting back, balancing with his feet crossed beneath the broomstick.

"Wouldn't miss it," Kurt assured him and he was almost certain that his heart skipped a beat when Blaine broke into a grin at that answer.

"Anderson!" A yell from behind them sounded.

"Oops, gotta go!" Blaine said, fastening his hands back onto the broom after having jumped slightly at the barked order and almost slipping off of it. "Talk to you in a bit, yeah? Make sure you get a good seat."

Kurt sat down by the stands and watched as the Quidditch practice progressed and slowly drew to a close. Something about the way that Blaine played, ducking and diving like a majestic bird in a flurry of crimson colour, made it much easier to admire the sport, all though he still didn't fully understand the rules.

The team eventually called it a day and literally came back down to earth to join Kurt.

Finn walked up to him first as Blaine had to put away the Quaffle.

"Grand gesture?" He asked instantly before anything else.

Kurt smiled wryly. "Been thinking about it all this time?"

"Yes," Finn replied, a little grumpy.

Kurt smiled and hopped off the seat he had taken and walked past his brother, "I haven't quite straightened out all the details just yet, but when I do you'll be the second to know."

"Second?" Finn asked, turning around to look at him, the unhappy expression still fixed on his features.

Blaine walked up beside Kurt who gave the 6th year a triumphant look, "Why yes, I have to clear it all with my partner in crime first."

"What am I doing?" Blaine asked blankly, feeling a little out of the loop as he looked between the two of them quizzically.

Kurt clasped his hands together behind his back and bounced on the balls of his feet, "We can't discuss it here, and Finn has to go back to the common room where I shall fill him later."

The Keeper opened his mouth for a moment but then caught Kurt's gleeful expression and decided that, whatever it was, he wasn't about to reveal it now, meaning Finn would have to leave his protests until later. He shut his mouth, tried to give his brother one last pleading look not to plan anything drastic, and then headed off towards the castle.

"What are you plotting?" Blaine asked slowly, looking a little apprehensive himself as he too noticed the devious glint in Kurt's eyes.

"We should get to the library before it gets dark," He said, ignoring the questions purposely as his voice flourished musically. "We both know that I don't have a lot of luck when it comes to hanging around here at night."

Blaine frowned a little, some scheme must definitely be working away inside that head of his to have him making jokes about Karofsky, who since their last meeting, had kept a great distance from Blaine, even staying quiet in class and making his escape as soon as the bell rung. He was curious about the Slytherin's actions, but as of yet had not been able to confront him, as he would have liked to. He was most definitely avoiding the both of them.

In the library the two boys sat with their heads together in one of the back aisles. They had spent all of 10 minutes studying, but had now turned their attention to Kurt's master plans.

"I suppose we could pull it off… if we get everyone else to agree to it." Blaine mused, his eyes drifting upwards in thought it over, before flitting back down to land on the boy next to him whose arm was gently pressed against his own, proving rather distracting. He internally slapped and checked himself. Confused by his own absurd reaction to such trivialities.

"I should think so - why would they object?"
"Well, it is a little unorthodox," Blaine told him.

"Dumbledore allowed you and your friends to sing on Valentine's Day," Kurt reminded him, confident in his idea.

"That was kind of different though, I mean we would have to interrupt-"

"It would be wonderfully romantic though, wouldn't it?" Kurt said dreamily in a wistful voice, staring off into the distance.

Blaine watched his swept-away features and paused for a moment to admire them, now feeling a little caught up in it all himself for some reason he couldn't place... "Yes, I suppose that it would."

"Well it's decided then, do you think your friends would help out?" Kurt asked eagerly.

Blaine hesitated for a moment, those piercing eyes drilling into his soul once more, finally managing a quick nod in response. Kurt looked delighted and Blaine felt a little guilty; he really didn't know if the others would be on board, yet he had to try.

"So… what was the other thing you wanted to tell me?" Blaine asked after a moment.

Kurt's face fell for a second and Blaine felt his muscles tense a little. When Kurt's face turned downcast that way he had learnt that it usually meant one thing.

"Karofsky," Kurt confirmed; "I need to talk to him."

Blaine had an impulse to immediately reject the idea but he decided to hear him out, "What about?"

"I just… know I saw something else there the other week." Kurt said, looking a little frustrated and Blaine could tell he was trying to picture the Slytherin's face as he did so. Kurt had told Blaine about that, naturally, about how he felt he had seen something besides anger in those dark eyes, and although Blaine found it hard to believe himself, he trusted Kurt's judgement.

Blaine sat back, exhaling through his nose and looked at Kurt a little fearfully, "Do you want me to talk to him with you?"

"Yes," Kurt admitted instantly, however soon after saying so he shook his head sullenly; "But I can't. You can't be there because I don't think that he would tell me if you were. I think he was going to say it right before I kicked him, but obviously that just enraged him. I need to talk to him calmly… And on my own."

Blaine was in awe of the amount of strength Kurt had within him. "And if he…?"

"I'll have my wand at the ready this time," Kurt said, unwavering.

"Do you think this will work?" Blaine asked after a moment.

Kurt shrugged. "I have to try."

Blaine nodded slowly, mulling a thought over his head for a moment. He put his hand out over Kurt's own.

Kurt turned sharply at the contact, his eyes flicking down to their hands for a fraction of a second and then up to Blaine's eyes. This was not like the first time their hands had touched; which had been when Blaine had tended to his injury. That had been clinical and methodical, checking for broken bones. This was a warm and caring gesture. Yet it also felt like something more than that, to Kurt at least. Something magical. A magic that went beyond what was learnt in a classroom. A magic that could never be explained.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt again," Blaine whispered, his eyes shining in a way that told Kurt that he meant the words ardently.

Kurt bit his tongue and managed to laugh, although he was pretty sure it was just nervous laughter, "I don't really want to get hurt again either… but thank you. I will do my best to stay out of harms way."

Blaine nodded once and slowly took his hand off of Kurt's. "So… Transfigurations?"

Kurt forced a smile, in truth feeling quite saddened to feel the void on the back of his hand where Blaine's had just been.