A Debt Repaid:
Chapter 10
"Alright now that we are all on the same page, let's get to work." Harry said to room of open mouthed Malfoys and one Minerva Mcgonagall.
"So...Hermione is your sister?" Draco asked astonished.
"Yes." Harry said excitedly; he now had a family with his own mother and father and a sister all to himself.
"Well okay then." Draco replied slightly shocked but glad to have another person who knew Hermione as well as, and probably even better than, he did working with him.
"Let's think, if I were Hermione and I didn't wish to be found where would I go and why?" Harry asked the room at large, all of them trying their best to "think Hermione". "Well," Harry started answering his own question. "Hermione has always been very cautious in her planning of things, so she would think everything through before taking action." He turned to his parents and asked, "How long has Hermione known about the debt and the payment for it?"
The two looked at each other a moment having a conversation with their eyes. "About a day and a half."Iris told her son, hoping he could make something of the information.
"That would be time enough for her to come up with a completely infallible plan. I would know I've seen her do it in less time." Harry smiled fondly remembering all the times she had saved his arse in school with her extraordinary plans.
"Wow, well she's efficient I'll give her that." Draco said in an awe and admiration tinged voice. How could one person possibly asses the situation, weigh all their options, and come up with a fool proof plan to avoid said situation after hearing of it only a day and a half in advance? Needless to say Draco's respect for his MIA fiance grew in that moment.
"Well I may have something." Harry said hopefully. "If she were to go anywhere it would probably be somewhere we would never dream to look for her." Harry went back to concentrating and zoned out for another minute. " I propose we split up and look for her in all possible places she would be first then we check all the places she wouldn't be."
"Meaning...?" Draco said motioning for Harry to elaborate.
"Meaning places she doesn't like or associate with herself and her interests. Example: she would be in the Hogwarts Library she wouldn't be at the quidditch pitch." Harry and his parents shared all of Hermione's likes and dislikes, both magical and muggle.
They all agreed to search for Hermione as best they could. "So we set out to find Ms. Granger today and return here to discuss any leads we find?" McGonagall asked the group.
"Sounds good Minerva." Narcissa said hoping they found the girl soon, she didn't want her friends to suffer only having one of their children with them again. "You are all welcome to use the Manor as a base of operations if it would help." The kind hearted blond offered.
"Thank you Cissa, we would love to stay with you!" Iris said hugging her friend close to her.
Draco observed his mother and her friend and wished Hermione hadn't run off like she did. The last thing they needed was for her to get herself into a dangerous situation, when they had no clue where she was and were unable to help her.
Suddenly they all heard the front door swing open and hit the wall as someone walked in. "Cissa! Draco! I'm home!" A man's voice called from the entrance way. The group in the sitting room froze as they heard footsteps approaching them. "Narcissa? Draco?"
They all gasped and Narcissa nearly fainted at the sight of her "incarcerated" husband. Draco was wrong THIS was the last thing they needed.
Zabini Manor
Hermione stepped out of the floo and into a neat and tidy parlor she would soon familiarize herself with. The walls had a very nice beige and scarlet patterned wallpaper and the rest of the room was set to that color scheme. The roaring fireplace, squashy looking armchairs, and numerous bookshelves left the room looking very comfy cozy and lent a welcoming feel to it. Hermione walked over to one of the shelves and browsed the titles excitedly.
"You just can't stay away from books for any length of time can you?"
She heard from the doorway. "Blaise!" she ran over and hugged the slytherin who had become her friend through Advanced Arithmancy and many study sessions in the Hogwarts library. He had rescued her more than once from skipping dinner and sleep in her quest for knowledge. "Thanks for letting me stay here. It really means a lot to me."
He returned her enthusiastic embrace, "No problem Mione. Although you could just marry the bloke, he's not that bad anymore."
Hermione looked at him in shock. "No no no no no no no! I absolutely refuse to marry that ferret and if you turn me in, I will disappear off the face of the earth and you'll wish you'd never been born." Her face was red and she looked rather angry, you could hear the magic crackling in her hair.
He backed up from her a bit hands up in surrender, not doubting her threat one bit. "Okay, okay it was just a suggestion. Besides I know how much you dislike him."
Hermione looked at Blaise sheepishly. "It's not so much the fact I don't like him, as it is the fact I don't trust him or any of them really."
"Who the Malfoys?" Blaise asked confused.
"No, well sort of, but it's mainly my parents! It's just this whole bloody situation! I can't believe they would do this to me! They practically sold me to the Malfoys, and expected me to just accept it?! How could they think I would be okay with this?! I didn't have a say or anything! Do they even know me at all?!" Hermione was getting over the shock of the past few days, as she hadn't really had to process what was happening at the time of it all, and all that shock was turning into righteous indignation and fury.
Blaise knew she needed to get it all out of her system, so, he let her rant and rave to him about the injustice of it all and how she could never go back or trust her parents again.
"I'm just so hurt and angry and disappointed that they could do this to me!" Hermione was beginning to calm down after her tantrum as the toll of the past few days caught up with her. She clutched Blaise for dear life as she cried all the emotions swirling inside her out onto his shirt.
He held her gently and rubbed comforting circles on her back telling her he was there for her and would help her through everything. Hermione's sobs dwindled down to soft tears and she was left sniffling quietly as Blaise handed her a tissue. "Feel better?" He asked as she cleaned her face and blew her nose.
She nodded and hugged him again. "Thank you so much Blaise! I don't know what I would do without you!"
He looked down at her and smiled, "You'd be a crying mess with nowhere to go and no game plan. That's what you'd do." He magically sent her things to the guest room she'd be staying in and walked her up to said room. "Now I expect you to get a good nights rest and if you need anything just call for Nilly she's the housekeeper and head elf around here. Also my room is just a couple doors down if you need me."
"Thanks again Blaise I really appreciate it." She said before bidding him goodnight and collapsing on her bed not even changing into pajamas before she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
A/N I am very very very sorry for not updating in forever but I have been extremely busy and not inspired at all! I found my muse hiding in a corner and trying her hardest to come up with this just for you! I guess I must have forgotten to feed her creative genius... anyway I hope you all can forgive me for not being a regular updater like most authors but hey you never know when I'm going to post a new chapter! :) Please Read and Review as they make me more likely to update ;) Let me know what you think!