Chapter Eight: Playing Games

"It was days before I could feel again," Hermione whispered, looking at her Healer. "Order members avoided me as if I was responsible or knew something about his ascension. I couldn't stand the accusing glares or pitying glances." Hendrix glanced away, uncomfortable, and scribbled onto her notepad.

"Was there any indication or hint that he would…that something like that could have happened?" Alexandra watched as the witch across from her blinked away tears in her downcast eyes and she shifted her gaze back down to her paper to give her some privacy.

After a moment, she spoke. "None. I refused to believe it for days. After all, if Draco really was our enemy, he knew the location of headquarters. Why hadn't he attacked us?"

Alexandra nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Yes, that would seem to be the most logical plan of attack."

Hermione smiled to herself, her gaze still focused on her hands. "I kept telling myself that there was some misunderstanding and none of it was true. Potter thought I had gone mad. So did many others. He had me confined to my room for "my own safety" and that of the others who were busy planning a way to stop my lover.

"I think I did go mad for a bit there as I paced my bedroom day and night, getting very little sleep as I replayed the last 2 years of my life, looking for any indication that Draco could have done this. I ignored Potter, Weasley and Molly, my only visitors during that time, and did everything I could to reconcile reality. I even made lists.

"At some point, after a few weeks of Weasley and Potter's many sightings of Draco at their skirmishes, did I began to consider that maybe he had become the Dark Lord. And maybe that's what he had been apologizing about when he held me on our last night.

"I felt dirty. Tainted. And everyone made sure I knew it. I had held, kissed, loved and fucked the new Dark Lord. There wasn't a scarlet letter big enough for the guilt they felt I should feel. However, I couldn't bring myself to actually feel it. I was called a whore and insane through my bedroom door by cowards."

Hermione smirked as Hendrix shifted in her seat. "However, after many failed attempts and a number of injuries to the Order numbers, did our great leader deem I was needed, regardless of my sanity. I was released and included in a reconnaissance mission."

-.-

The moonlight above drowned the forest in a cerulean blue and dappled her skin in shadows.

Hermione gripped her wand tighter as she moved from tree to tree. She forced herself to take slow and even breaths as she made her way deeper into the heart of the forest. She glanced over her shoulder to see Ron disappear behind a tree a few paces back. To her side she noticed Kingsley and Lupin continue forward.

You can do this. She focused forward again, minding the uneven terrain.

She stopped when Harry lifted his hand. He motioned for Ron and Kingsley's group to head left and Lupin's team to head forward. He pointed at Hermione and sent her right as he moved forward with Lupin.

Hermione glanced around her and noticed that only she was sent right. Balling her free hand into a fist, she silently walked towards the tree line with the intention of determining the location of any wards.

A twig snapped behind her.

Hermione spun, her wand ready and pointed at the darkness, a stunning spell on the tip of her tongue. Her honey eyes frantically scanned the shadowed trees for her enemy, searching from the floor to the tree tops as she cursed Harry for sending her alone.

Breathe. She reminded herself when her lungs burned for oxygen. She took a small gasp of air, frightened to make any noise.

Another twig broke.

Hermione swung her wand to her right towards the sound. Again, she was met with only darkness.

An owl called in the night.

Hermione felt ice cold fear fill her veins as she looked out into the night. It felt as if the darkness of the forest was growing darker with every passing second. She glanced up at the moon and swore it had dimmed.

She flinched as something else snapped near her.

Panic began to tense and immobilize her muscles. Something or someone was stalking her. And she was all alone.

As the shadows seemed to surround and overcome her, she heard someone cry out off in the distance before red sparks were sent into the air.

An attack.

Hermione took a breath and began to make her way towards the sparks and sounds of a battle. Suddenly, she felt a wordless spell hit her in the side and sent her crashing into a tree. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her but she reached blindly for her wand.

"Accio wand." She watched in horror as her wand flew from her fingertips into the hands of a masked Death Eater. The Death Eater stepped into a ray of moonlight, illuminating the cold, white porcelain mask on his face.

Hermione struggled against the spell. It felt as if a giant snake had coiled around her and the tree and constricted with her every heartbeat. She winced as the tree bark dug into her back.

"I assure you, Granger, all you're succeeding in doing is ruining your blouse." Hermione froze at the voice. It was familiar but she could not place it.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" She demanded in a horse voice. The man smirked, twirling her wand between his fingers. He dropped down in front of her and roughly grabbed her chin with his free hand.

"And of course, I'm going to answer to you, Granger. You truly are hilarious, little muggleborn." He tapped her nose with her wand before releasing her chin, chuckling.

Her cheeks reddened. "Well, I'm just a funny person." She spat, forcing her body to relax. The spell ceased its constrictions and simply pinned her to the tree. He obviously wasn't going to kill her or he would have already. He'll probably torture me. She suppressed a shudder at the "torture" the Death Eater would inflict on her. She again cursed Harry.

"My, my Granger, given up already?" Hermione glared at him but remained quiet. While her entire torso was immobilized by the phantom serpent, her fingers poked into the dirt, feeling for any sort of weapon. They closed over a small rock.

She watched as the Death Eater went rigid, turning and listening to the battle in the distance. She also tried to make anything out from the din of battle cries.

The Death Eater sighed, shaking his head. Hermione frowned.

"Why don't you just kill me and join your friends over there?" Her fingers closed tighter over the rock as the pressure across her chest lessened. She pushed slightly forward and it took a few seconds for the spell to kick in and force her back into the tree. The delay would be her only chance for escape.

"Are you that eager to die?" Hermione stopped at the curiosity in his voice. He seemed genuinely confused by what she had said. This could help her.

She shrugged and looked away from him. "We're all going to die someday. No one lives forever." She forced herself to fake nonchalance and keep looking away from him even as she shook in fear. She heard him move and drop to one knee right in front of her. She gripped the rock tighter.

"You're not the girl I remember." He whispered, reaching out to turn her again.

Tensing, she lunged forward, striking with the rock against his mask and forcing him to overbalance. He cried out in surprise and pain as the porcelain shattered against his face. He fell back, Hermione riding his body down.

She lifted her hand with the rock to strike again but was jerked back against the tree by the spell. She screamed at the pressure and her failure. He would surely kill her now as he swore violently.

He tossed the ruined mask into the forest with a curse and ran a hand over his face, checking for injury. He completely ignored her beyond the frequent "stupid bitch" and "why the hell am I doing this." He remained in the shadows, still masking his identity.

Hermione panted against the tree, adrenaline coursing through her veins.

"Go ahead, kill me now, you bastard!. Don't make me wait for it."

"Oh do shut it, Granger! You are probably the most annoying witch I have ever met." The man stepped forward into the light, causing Hermione to gasp.

"Zabini?"

"Yes, you dozy cow. I think you broke my nose!"

Hermione stared, completely dumbfounded. Blaise Zabini stood before her, holding his swelling nose and stomping like a child having a temper tantrum. He grabbed his wand, pointed it at his nose and whispered a healing spell. A blue mist surrounded his nose and she watched as his nose realigned itself with a sickening crack. Grumbling, he pocketed his wand and picked hers back up from the forest floor. She flinched when he pointed it at her nose.

"That hurt, Granger. How would you like that?" She pressed back against the tree, fear flashing in her eyes.

"Zabini, no—I—"

"Just…don't talk. Do us both a favor and shut up." He stood up, gingerly touching his nose as he turned back to listen to the battle. Hermione closed her mouth, swallowing the scathing reply.

Pursing her lips, she shifted uncomfortably against the coils. "What game are you playing, Zabini?"

"What part of shut up don't you understand? Brightest witch, my arse." He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped her wand against his shoulder.

Hermione bristled at the barb but wisely kept quiet. The two sat in the forest in silence as the battle waged on in the distance. She wasn't sure how long it lasted. It felt like hours but it could have been minutes.

At some point, Hermione turned her attention to the Death Eater in front of her. What was he doing? Immobilizing her and then what? He hadn't hurt her or interrogated her. Sure, he removed a powerful witch from the battlefield but, as was evident from the spell keeping her in place, he was a force to be reckoned with himself.

Finally, green sparks flew high into the night sky, replacing the cerulean with viridian. Seemingly shaking himself awake, Blaise took his wand from his pocket and pointed at Hermione. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for pain.

"Finite incantatem."

Hermione sighed as the coils disappeared and she was able to take a proper breath. She glared up at the man as he lifted his hood back over his head. He turned back to her, smirking.

"You may not want to mention this to Potter, yes?" He tossed her wand off to her right. Hermione's eyes followed its path before she turned back to him.

"Later, Granger." And with a pop, he disappeared.

-.-

The quill fell from Alexandra's hand.

"He just let you go?"

Hermione chuckled, smiling at the Healer.

"Yes, he did. Trust me, Hendrix, I was just as shocked as you. I couldn't even imagine why Blaise would do such a thing. Not only was I a muggleborn, a Gryffindor, and part of the Order, but on top of that I had just broken his nose." Here, she paused to giggle. "And yet, he did nothing to hurt me."

Alexandra bent forward in her seat to retrieve her fallen quill. She took note of her patient. She was smiling and quite calm as she thought back on the memory. She quickly wrote it down in her notes.

"When the rest of the Order found me later on, I was wandering the forest, completely dazed. They assumed I had been stunned in the early part of the battle and was ignored. I didn't bother to correct them. I had a feeling that if I told Potter what had happened, he wouldn't have taken it so well.

"I spent the time that morning back at Headquarters trying to make sense of what happened as I helped heal the injured from the fight. I was informed by Potter that he had seen Draco kill an Order member, Ashley Nuella, a witch from Spain who had joined a few months earlier. I ignored everyone and once I had finished, I shut myself back into my room to figure everything out. I would get my answer a few weeks later."

-.-

Hermione sighed as she moved forward alone again. The number of able Order members had dwindled considerably and now, as she had done the few other missions before, she travelled alone to her destination. Her goal was an outcropping of stones that marked the edge of the believed Death Eater hideout. She whispered a spell to search for traps. When nothing was recognized she continued forward.

"Accio Hermione's wand."

"Damn it, Blaise!" Hermione cursed, turning on the smirking Death Eater who dangled her wand above her head. She jumped for it once in a futile effort to retrieve it, causing him to laugh.

"I can't believe you actually jumped for it." Huffing, Hermione stomped over to a boulder and dropped down against it, her arms folded over her chest. She pouted as Blaise laughed harder.

She knew the drill. It had happened almost every single time she was on these missions. Blaise would sneak up on her, steal her wand and detain her from completing her mission or returning back to the rest of the Order. She noticed this only happened when a battle between the Light and Dark occurred,

"A battle again?" She asked. Blaise nodded, eyes still full of mirth as he walked towards her. He tucked her wand into his robe and sat across from her. Hermione closed her eyes and dropped her hands to rest in her lap. One drifted to press against her stomach. She opened her eyes and frowned. She had not been feeling that great that morning and the nausea seemed to be returning with a vengeance. She had not mentioned it to Harry.

"A bad one?"

Blaise shrugged, closing his own eyes and leaning against the mirror boulder.

"I never know since I'm occupied elsewhere."

Hermione smiled despite herself. Ignoring the circumstances, she realized she had come to look forward to seeing Blaise. While they did not hold the most lengthy conversations, after some prodding, she usually got him to talk to her about something interesting.

"Blaise?"

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow but did not open his eyes. Hermione sighed and leaned her head back to look at the stars.

"Why do you keep doing this?"

"Why do you keep coming out alone?" He countered, unaffected, eyes still closed. Frustrated, Hermione ran both hands through her curls.

"I'm serious, Blaise. Why are you out here looking for me? Shouldn't you be doing missions for Draco or something?"

"I am doing a mission for him." Both Hermione and Blaise froze at his admission. Never before had he acknowledged that he was doing this for any other reason than his own enjoyment, though she had had her suspicions. Blaise swore and stood up.

"Ignore that, Hermione. I didn't say anything."

"But you did!" She scrambled up, chasing after him as he moved down the hill.

"Please Blaise," she whispered desperately, grabbing his arm to stop him. "I have to know. I have to know the truth."

Blaise chuckled humorously, startling her. "What is the truth?" He whispered to himself. He glanced down at the witch in front of him and felt himself soften. Cursing, he pulled her to sit down with him.

"Alright, listen. I was never supposed to tell you this but, whatever, why not? Draco ordered me to protect you during the battles. I'm supposed to find you, keep you away from the fighting and then send you on your merry way after it's over, just as we have been doing. I wasn't really supposed to talk to you but you and your charming ways broke that rule. Draco did warn me about them…"

"Draco ordered you to protect me? He…still loves me?"

Blaise started at her question, disbelief written clearly on his face.

"Of course he does, you stupid witch. What, just because he's the "Dark Lord" that means he's inhuman?" Hermione was confused by Blaise's manner as he continued on, scolding her. While his voice was mocking and insulting, there was some underlying message she couldn't make sense of. She knew he was trying to tell her something but she couldn't figure it out.

"And it's beyond me why he would even want to—Did you hear that?" Blaise froze, standing slowly, wand out. Hermione stood behind him, searching around for anything as well.

"Stupefy!"

Hermione screamed as Blaise was hit with a red light and thrown to the ground. Hermione fell to the floor, grabbing her wand from his pocket and pointed at their attacker. She gaped at her rescuer.

"Ron?"

"Hermione! Are you ok? I saw that bastard on you and I was scared!" He pulled her numb body into his arms, hugging her close. She turned out of his arms to look back at Blaise.

"Is that Zabini? Everyone was wondering where he has been." Ron kicked him in the side, Blaise's unconscious body absorbing the whole impact.

"Ron, stop it!"

"He could have killed you, Hermione. I know you don't like violence but this piece of shit deserves it." Ron moved forward to hit him again. Before Hermione realized what she was doing, she lifted her wand and cried "Stupey!"

Ron's body seized up at the spell and he tumbled forward onto Blaise's body, unconscious. Sobbing, Hermione rushed forward and shoved Ron off of Blaise. She grabbed Blaise's wand and shot silver sparks into the air. Seconds later she heard a Pop! and turned to find a confused Pansy Parkinson standing a few feet away from her.

"Granger?"

"Parkinson, you have to help Blaise." Pansy rushed forward as she spied Blaise, checking for a pulse.

"Ron stupefied him. He was going to hurt him and I, I—" Hermione broke off, choking on her tears. Pansy seemed completely uncomfortable and unsure how to act towards the girl in front of her. She reached forward and awkwardly patted the girl on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Hermione nodded and turned to Ron.

"We need to make this look good, Parkinson."

"I understand."

-.-

"On three."

"My three or your three?"

"Just get on with it!"

"One,"

"Two,"

"Three."

"Enervate." Hermione pulled Ron to stand, wand pointing at Blaise and Pansy. Ron look groggily around, his eyes settling on Parkinson, who held an unconscious Zabini and had her wand pointed at the two of them.

"Next time we meet, I'll make sure it's the last!" Hermione inwardly grimaced at Pansy's threat. Rolling her eyes, Hermione took her turn. "Yeah, well, next time you shouldn't shoot people in the back like a coward, Parkinson!"

Pansy gasped at the "insult" and pouted.

"You must have me confused with your precious Saint Potter!"

"You stupid—"

"Forget it, Ron. She's not worth it."

Pansy huffed and sneered.

"Blood traitor." And with that, Pansy disapparated from the battlefield with Blaise in tow.

AN: Hey everyone. Here is the latest installment all the way from South Korea! Hope you enjoyed it! I've been abroad awhile for school and work and have been insanely busy!

I've reworked the outline of this story so it does not drag as much as it would have on the old outline. We'll be getting into the really stuff soon!

Please review!