The next morning they wake up and Hermione goes to the bathroom. When she comes back, Blaise is fully dressed and he gives her a good morning kiss before saying, "I'll make you some breakfast." He stands by the stove, cooking up some pancakes, when Draco enters. "Breakfast for three?" he asks and Blaise rolls his eyes but nods, pouring in some more batter. Just then Hermione enters in a vest and pants, exclaiming, "Look at this!" He spins to face her and bursts out laughing as he sees what she is pointing to. There are hickeys all over her neck and chest and from the looks of them, they are un-healable. "How did you do this?" she cries but Blaise cannot answer; he can barely breathe for laughing. Draco looks from one to the other and then begins to roar as well, as Hermione shrieks, "It's not funny," before disappearing up to her room. She emerges minutes later, wearing a red turtleneck and a pair of high-waisted jeans with ugg boots and a gilet, makes an obscene finger gesture in the boys' direction and flounces out.
Hermione vindictively ignores him for the whole day, making a big show of fussing over Dean, Seamus and Neville, just to spite him. Sure enough, he gets angrier and angrier until when she puts one hand on Dean's chest when he makes her laugh, Blaise has had enough. He grabs Draco, Theodore Nott and a group of 7th year Slytherins and takes them back to his common room, where they get drunk. Hermione, despite her show of ignorance, notices when he disappears and after spending a couple of hours with her friends in other houses, who she has been neglecting, she slinks back to their common room.
When the portrait hole swings open, Hermione gives a massive eye roll as she is pulled through. Blaise forces his lips on hers, breath stinking of alcohol, and she quickly shoves him away. "If this is how you're going to respond to every single fight, you can forget it. I'm going to do some work," she says angrily. Blaise widens his eyes and replies furiously, "As opposed to you? Who just ignored me all day, playing up to other boys to get to me? Real mature, Hermione, seriously. You should give lessons. Or maybe you should give lessons on being a whore." The sarcasm bites and then that catty comment, that crosses the unwritten line, pushes Hermione too far and her hand snakes out and slaps him round the face. "Stop drinking, you child! All of you get out of here! I need to work!"
She storms up to her room and locks the door, before throwing herself face down on the bed. Blaise simply uses the bathroom door and walks in, angrily shouting, "Oi! I wasn't finished! Who the fuck are you to tell me to stop drinking? You're not my mother, you're my girlfriend! You're supposed to be drinking with me, letting me hold your hair back when you puke! That's what we're supposed to be doing, Mi, not fighting like an old married couple!"
She flushes bright red and tears roll down her cheeks as she shrieks, "Sorry if I'm not a normal nineteen year old, Blaise! You know full well I've faced stuff no nineteen year old should ever have to face, and I'm sorry if I can't just forget about that and go back to being a typical teenager. But I can't. I'm older than my years, I know that. I had to obliviate my parents and make them forget who I was, and then watch as the last of the Death Eaters tortured them to death anyway. I faced torture of my own and watched as someone I loved took a knife that was meant for me. I've killed people, tortured people, so no I can't get drunk with you and pretend that I'm a normal teenager who's lived a normal life because I'M NOT. I tried moving on, you know that. I went out and got drunk and look how that turned out. I ended up on the front of the Daily Prophet. So I can't do it; I can't be normal. And I hate it."
He stares at her, eyes wide, before replying softly, "I wouldn't love you if you were. You're beautiful, funny and kind, like so many nineteen year olds. But you're also brave, strong, clever, loyal and fierce. And it's those qualities that I most love about you. I know you've tortured people, killed people, and I hate that you've had to go through it, I really do. But you're no worse a person for it, because you had to. Everyone had to, Mi, and it's made you stronger. We can make it through anything, you and me. Promise."
Floods of tears are still pouring down her cheeks as she asks gently, "What happened to you in the war?" He blinks at her for a few moments before walking over and sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I didn't want to be on Voldemort's side. I didn't believe his views, I'd heard too many rumours and I didn't want him to win the war. But my family weren't having it. Claiming it was for my own good, they locked me in the basement of my house for six months straight. It was cold, dark and damp, and I had very little food for all that time. If Snape hadn't have found me, I would have died down there. But on my way back to Hogwarts with Snape, I was captured by a group of Squibs who supported Voldemort. They stuck me in a tank of water and electrocuted me for fun. That went on for about a week before they could get me out. After the war ended, I had to go through about 9 weeks of intensive therapy because I had developed phobias of water and the dark, plus I was starved and the electricity had affected my magic. I was a mess. It wasn't pretty. But I turned it around eventually and I'm never going back to that place. I don't speak to my family at all. Which is why I'm happy to have you. Because you're my family now."
Tears were streaming down her cheeks as he told his story and now she wipes them away, moving to the mirror and fixing her make-up, saying as she goes, "I'm really sorry, you know. I'm sorry we couldn't stop him sooner. I'm sorry your family were so awful to you. I'm sorry we fought. But I want you to know that no matter how many rows we have, you will always be the person I love the most. You're my family too." He walks over to her and kisses her ardently.