Here I am pain in hand.

I am nothing now, but dust and sand.

I'm surprised you're still reading this because it only gets worse from here. It turns out that Blaise's plan did work and for those two wonderful weeks, he had her all to himself. They went out to eat, walked the beach, teased each other in the potions lab. The didn't talk about the kiss but there wasn't anything awkward about it after the red faded back to black and her eyes could meet his again. It felt more like it was supposed to happen. It was natural. But of course all good things must come to an end eventually, they knew that. That didn't mean they wouldn't drag it out or enjoy every possible moment they could.


Blaise heard her footsteps before the soft giggling. She'd been doing it for the last few days after all, coming to wake him up that is. And she'd managed to fail in her surprise attacks every time. He was a very selectively light sleeper after all and she was always so loud compared to the silence of the Zabini manor. Unfortunately, Noemi had been held up and wouldn't be coming until after she had to go back with her family, so Elena did not get to meet the sister Blaise loved so much. She did however meet his other three sisters, his stepfather, and his mother and finally understood why Blaise didn't really like coming home as much as he should have. She came to the same conclusions about his family that took him years to come to within a few hours.

One,...two,...Three!

She pounced and Blaise caught her mid-air to roll her over and into the blankets with him. She squeaked in joy and surprise as he grinned down at her, sitting up to look at her. The first time she'd pounced on him in his sleep, he wasn't prepared at all. Blaise hated pajamas, so unless it was an ungodly temperature or he was sharing the room with someone, he slept naked. You can only imagine how that ended. She'd jumped on him just as he'd opened his eyes and landed square on top of him. He choked at the feeling of her entire body settling on top of him. She'd stared at his bare chest for a moment in awe, almost afraid to touch him before he'd regained his senses. When she sat up to greet him and tell him it was time to get up so they could go play, her soft weight shift back into his lap and he'd almost thrown her out of the bed in fear that she would realize he was naked and very much attracted to her.

He told her in an almost shaking voice, pulling the comforter higher around his waist, that he'd be down to breakfast in a minute and she'd vacated the room none the wiser of the hell she'd played on his desire for her. From that day on, he slept in at the very least boxer shorts just in case she'd decide not to jump on him but pull the blankets off him.

"No fair, how do you always know?"She pouted.

"It would help if you didn't always giggle..." He replied softly, pushing the wisps of her from her face and smirking down at her as the blush filled her face.

The black runes were officially visible along her neck like a sick tattoo but he payed no attention to them. Instead, he leaned down to kiss her forehead gently and inhale her scent. She hummed in delight beneath him and Blaise rolled to his feet as she lay there in his bed. She looked every bit of what he'd imagined except clothed. Her hair was tossled, her eyes were half open and staring up at him warmly. He was almost tempted to crawl back into bed and lay with her for a moment. It was one of those rare morning that he was wearing sweatpants instead of the boxer shorts that made her blush.

Anyway, he said something about a shower and headed towards the bathroom so they could start the day and finish the report that really only needed a few more sentences. Between the two of them, they'd finished the potion early technically and just waited to bottle, cap, and test it. Blaise to be the test subject after a lost game of strip poker.

He almost melted into a puddle of embarrassment and laughter at the thought of it.

It all started when Massimo, one of his best friends, came over with his girlfriend Claire to meet the girl that's had his best friend "hotter that Vulcan's forge." Elena laughed and shook his hand at the joke, Blaise was ready to kill him. After a few hours of swapping stories and waiting for Blaise's mother to leave them alone for longer than a few moments, Claire pulled out a deck of cards, announcing the group tradition of strip poker. If she'd had to play it before their friends would lay off and let she and Massimo date in peace, Elena would have to play for Massimo to lay off the "just jump her already" jokes. She shrugged and, for the sake of Blaise, agreed though she wasn't quite sure why she had to go through the rite of passage. It wasn't as if she and Blaise were dating...

Were they?

In the end Massimo made the guys lose down to our boxers while Elena and Claire remained fully clothed. Blaise knew that it was just part of the game to see what type of girl Elena was, how they'd started this tradition he couldn't really remember.

Luckily for the boys, Elena was kind enough or too embarrassed, to make them strip all the way down. If it had been in Claire's hands, who had no shame about seeing two fine Italian men strip in front of her, they would have been stripped completely and Blaise may have been scarred for life upon seeing his best friend and his bestfriend's girlfriend have sex on top of the table. Not to mention the in-trouser problem that had arisen at the mention of playing strip poker with Elena...

Yeah... That wouldn't have turned out well. Nothing's awkward until you try to stay friends when you know best guy friend has a hard on for you.

Aside from that nothing really exciting happened sort of. Okay so going swimming at night in the lake by the Manor with Elena was pretty great but not overly so. Elena was the one who suggested they sneak out in the middle of the night to go swimming. She'd convinced him to do it and guide them through the small forest to where the water dove right in to the cold water and floated around on the surface, staring into the starry night, and enjoying each other's company. When the sun started rising they headed back in, dried off and fell asleep by the fire in the foyer. They were lucky they hadn't gotten sick.

He laughed a little turning off the hot water and stepping out of the shower to dry his hair and wrap a towel around his waist. She was still on the bed, staring off into nothing while the curse pulsed with her life on her shoulder. It was happening more and more frequently now. She would lay there as if in a trance. It'd started off lasting only a few moments that she couldn't remember and got longer. A few seconds, a minute...and hour. His fists clenched involuntary at the sight of it every time and he crossed the room to try and break through it like he'd done everytime before. He kissed her cheek gently and called her name softly and she blinked her eyes returned to normal and she sat up looking as lost as she had every time. The necklace that Draco had given her on Christmas jingled with the movement as she turned to look up at his face. It was a dog chain and tag that Malfoy had enchanted and given to his "fiancée" at Christmas. Blaise still wanted to kill him for that silver chain resting around her neck. She was forced to put it on and while Blaise was ready to kill Draco, she'd said that it only made her look adorable. He would never tell her that he'd heard her crying a few hours later, after she realized that it was an anchor for the curse and she couldn't get it off.

"How long was I out?" She asked.

"A few minutes, I was in the shower." Blaise said. "I'll remember next time to invite you to join me."

She flushed and laughed before getting off the bed to leave.

"Breakfast, food... Chocolate," she teased. "Don't take forever to get dressed okay?"

She left then and he couldn't help but laugh, slathering lotion on, pulling on clothes to follow her bare foot out of the room. She hadn't even made it to the stairs when he caught up with her and lifted her into the air. She squealed in surprise as he spun her around and laughed at her pathetic attempts to get out of his arms.

"Blaise!" She scolded as he set her down and headed down the steps before she could swat him.

"Chocolate," he teased and ran. She flew down the stairs after him and they arrived in the small room they took to eating meals together.

The official name was the Black Parlor, but Elena had always referred to it as the "Ocean Room" since it was decorated in shifting shades of blue and out the window they could see the Sea. She said it was her favorite room besides the library so they ate, barring guests and his mother's demands, in the "Ocean Room." A small pot of chocolate fondue was situated on the small table along with an assortment of fruits and pastries.

She claimed the seat to the left and he sat in the seat across from her. He opened the pot as she poured his coffee and poured herself tea.

"You're so British," he teased.

"No coffee for you," she said pulling the cup back before he could lift it from her hands.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, "If you're not going to let me drink my coffee, then how else are you going to wake me up? Are you going to be my morning treat?"

She flushed, "Why do you always do that?"

"Because it works," he said taking the cup from her with a grin.

That and I'm serious...

"One day, I'm going to use your own techniques against you..." She promised dipping a strawberry into the pot.

"You're much to innocent for that," he said. "But if you do, it'll be an interesting thing to see."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he refrained from saying something along the lines of putting that to better use and smiled at her childishness. They talked the morning away and made plans for her last day of peace before three days back at home and back to Hogwartts. For the last morning they would be together, he got up early and went to wake her up. He floated down the steps and into her room to round the bed with a smile. She was a wild sleeper it seemed because the sheets were tangled in her legs and twisted around her sleeping form. He chose to ignore the shorts that were riding up her hip and the t-shirt that rode up her stomach in favor for watching her for awhile.

When he saw the light beginning to enter the room he stepped back to make a running jump into the bed.

"Wake Up!"

"AAAHHHH~!" She screamed bouncing into the air and flailing around.

She'd flailed around so much she almost fell out of the bed until Blaise pulled her back from the edge laughing a little.

"Sorry, I guess it's easier when you wake me up."

She sat up with her hair sleep tousled and drowsy eyes to look sleepily at him across the bed and then at the clock.

"It's dawn..." She said. "Why have you done this thing?"

He laughed as she detangled herself from the sheet and he pulled them aside for her.

"It's your last day of freedom," he pointed out.

"Sleep~..." she moaned and flopped back on the bed.

"Of course," he said pulling the blankets back over her. "Go back to sleep."

"Stay," she murmured before he got up to leave.

Unable to deny her he slip back against the headboard and under the comforter so she could reach him.

"You're hot...I can see why you sleep naked."

He flushed, he didn't think she'd realized.

"You knew?"

"Well upon pouncing on you I did," she said. "It would have been awkward to point it out then."

He laughed a little, "But you didn't get off."

"No I didn't."

He refused to look deeper into that admission but slid down to lay beside her. They fell asleep for a few hours before her second alarm went off and it was time to face the music. They ate breakfast together and went their separate ways. He owled to tell her that potion worked perfectly a few days before the end of break and it felt like an eternity before he was standing on Platform 9 and three quarters hugging Noemi goodbye and looking out for Elena's arrival.

She hugged him tightly, "You keep in touch alright? And keep trying Topolino, I'm sure she's a wonderful girl."

He nodded and kissed her cheek. Noemi knew the majority of the story, but he'd left out the fact that Elena was cursed and set to be married forcibly to an abusing bastard. He didn't know what made him not tell her, but he'd successfuly kept his mouth shut about the entire thing. Getting onto the train, he was a little worried that he hadn't seen Elena or heard her voice... He was always so aware of her presence after all, it was unnerving to say the least.

He found Hermione and the rest of the Golden Trio first but they hadn't seen her either. He knew where to look then, it wasn't all that far of a stretch after all. He'd searched at least half the sixth year portion of the train before he found the compartment and slid it open. She was lying there, staring off into space with tears rolling in a seemingly endless stream down the sides of her face;instead of helping her, Draco was glaring down at her, looming over her looking about ready to strike for her lack of reaction.

"Get up, I said!" He screeched drawing a hand back.

Blaise caught his wrist and held back a maddening urge to break it beyond even St. Mungo's repair. Draco whirled on him with steely grey eyes that quickly melter at the white hot fury blazing out from Blaise's blue giant colored orbs. He swore his heart stopped with fear. His arm lacked strength as Blaise pushed him aside to lift Elena off the bench.

"How long has she been like this?"

"What the bloody hell-"

"How long has she been like this?" Blaise growled.

Draco swallowed, "Since we got on the train."

Blaise said nothing more and moved to carry her out.

"Where the hell are you going with my fiancée?" He screeched after making sure his heart was working properly.

Blaise didn't answer but carried her to an empty compartment at the very end of the sixth year portion of the train. It was a half compartment meant for only one or two people and was usually used for people that refused to be near anyone else. During his first year, it had been the only compartment he'd rode in.

He opened the door and closed it shut behind him, sitting with her in his lap and rocking her gently as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She was conscious beyond the glassy orbs, much deeper than she'd been before. She never told him what happened, or how it felt, when she went under but from the flickering emotions in her eyes when she came back, he figured it may have been better not to ask.

"Elena, honey," he whispered softly stroking her hair and rocking her gently. "You have to come back now, hon. Bella, Devi tornare adesso. Tornate adesso, per favore."

He chanted those words to her, kissing her face gently and humming soothing songs to her, songs she loved. Songs they'd played together, for much longer than he was aware of. When she finally came to the train was about to pull into the Hogwarts station.

"How long was I out?" She asked.

He shook his head, "The entire train ride..."

She cursed. She'd tried to fight it and fought it hard, but it had snuck up on her and pulled her down. Smothering her under the weight of pain and her cursed existence, it had shoved her down and run its course. It had never done that before... then again she hadn't been without Blaise since it started and neither had she been with Malfoy for so long.

"We should hurry and change..." She said before saying anything else.

Blaise nodded sadly, "It was different this time... wasn't it?"

She nodded as she pulled her cloak around her and he pulled his own around his shoulders as they vacated the train. The air was frigid and cold and they'd managed to sneak into a quickly departing carriage before Draco could find them. The boats took them across the water and they vanished into the castle of Hogwarts. Blaise walked her to the Ravenclaw entrance and watched her enter before heading towards the dungeons. The last thing either of them needed was for Draco to show up unannounced.

When classes started up again, Blaise made sure to be with Elena as much as possible. The incidents were less frequent and shorter until the end of the year. Blaise hoped that it was a sign that she was getting better, but with the black runes rising up and nearly completely taking over her skin, he knew that was a hopeless thought. Still he loved her, and protected her as much as he possibly could.

It was nearing the end of the year, finals were in full swing and driving everyone crazy. He'd never seen so many people in the library at one time except for in fifth year. They had study groups that met together and studied late into the night, way past curfew, and of course they were productive. Between Hermione, Elena, and Blaise there Harry and Ron looked about ready to throw in the towel.

"I can't take much more of this... my brain is going to explode," Ron groaned.

Elena giggled a little bit as Rafael came back and took the seat beside Hermioine and lay the armfuls of snacks on the table they shared in the Room of Requirements. Books were stacked everywhere only adding to the extensive Library that the room had produced.

"If we want to get into that class we have to ace this test," Hermione said as Elena opened a chocolate bar only moments from when Blaise decided to steal it from her.

"Hey!" She cried indignantly, "That's mine!"

He bit into it slowly and moaned just to spite her. He loved doing that to her. When she was filled with an emotion, in this case indignation, the blush turned into caramel, her natural skin tone. She wouldn't be so pale or sickly looking anymore. She looked like she should without the curse. He loved her that way and that was the real reason he teased her so. He just wanted to see her smile.

"It tastes good too," he commented. "It's chocolate you know-Hey!"

She swiped his thermos of coffee from his hand and grinned.

"You wouldn't," he said assuringly. "You hate coffee."

"But don't you see Blaise," she cooed. "It's chocolate flavored and that makes all the difference."

He expected her to unscrew the top and drink, as they all did. However, she tipped the thermos back and into her mouth and swallowed heartily until the container was empty. They all stared at her in amusement and shock as if she didn't quite understand what she'd just revealed. Blaise had been drinking from that thermos since they arrived.

She finished with a satisfied smirk, "An eye for an eye."

Blaise raised an eyebrow as she sat the thermos down and flipped the page.

"If you wanted to kiss me so badly," he said slowly smirking. "You could have said so."

She frowned and his smirk only got more hunter worthy as the blush started from the base of her neck and flourished upwards into that beautiful caramel color she was meant to be and her cheeks tinged red. Her mouth open and closed as if trying to find something to say, but nothing came out. She whirled on him, flushed.

"Tha-That's not- I-I didn't think..."

He smiled, "It's okay, Elena. We have plenty of time for you to admit how much you want to kiss me."

Her blush only got deeper as the entire table went up in laughter and the thermos refilled. He lifted it to his lips and drunk, never loosing eye contact with her.

"Stop teasing poor Elena," Rafael chuckled. "You know she's no good at this!"

"She'll learn," Blaise said setting the thermos down and going back to studying.

Elena flushed. She'd get him back one day, when he least expected it. She would learn, oh she would learn from the greatest and then he would be helpless! Helpless against her charm and wit and maybe one day she'd actually see him go red with embarrassment. Blaise had always seemed to be calm and collected no matter what happened she'd find out what would make him stumble one day and use it against him as pay back for all the times he'd embarrassed her. Didn't he know how she felt about him? Was he just teasing her with that knowledge or was he flirting with her? He was right, she wasn't good at it. She had never been in a position to be actually flirted with. She had plenty of experience fending off guys that felt the need to feel her up, but none that had tried to actively flirt with her.

Hell, she hadn't ever even gone on a date. She might as well have been as innocent as a newborn when it came to relationships, except for the fact that she had a maniac to deal with and a best friend that loved to tease her... She tried not to think about the fact that he'd kissed her but it didn't happen that way, instead a stolid sense of numbness washed over her and faded back into the constant aching throughout her system. It hurt less than it ever had before but it still hurt like hell.

"You okay?" Blaise asked as they got ready to sneak off to their respective Houses.

"Yeah," she said with a smile as the other left and they were left alone.

"I don't mean to antagonize you," Blaise said softly as they reached the door. "I'll stop if it bothers you so."

With bated breath he waited for her response, prepared to accept her decision. She turned around and hugged him tightly, embracing him closely, clinging to him.

"No, Blaise... you don't antagonize me." She said and he hugged her back rocking her gently and kissing the top of her lovingly.

"Good," he said. "I have a lot of fun watching you turn red."

She swatted his shoulder and pushed away from him.

"Mean person-"

"But you love me anyway."

She laughed and nodded. He would never be able to tell her how much the admission meant to him.


Blaise peered out the window feeling his stomach turn as he tried to stave off the memory of the summer before his final September 1st trip to Hogwarts. He wanted to dwell a little longer on the joy that had suffused his years before then and glared at the passing scenery, depressed by a sunny day. It felt like nature, the Earth, the Gods, and everything in his universe was taunting him with the knowledge that there was a special place in Hades for him for what he'd done and what he would have to do upon reaching the Hogwarts and trying to shuffle through another year of this.

With her so close, it would be painful, heart wrenching. There would be an all consuming agony that took over every time he saw her face and forced himself not to go to her. He didn't even want to think about how it would feel once he realized that, as usual, all their classes would be together with mutual friends and enemies. He had no idea how much fate had decided to wrench his arm behind his back for his decision.

No idea.