Velvet Persuasion

Chapter Ten:

Harry's eyes widened in shock. Hermione knew? Hermione knew?

He sighed. Ron gave him a confused look from his place opposite Hermione, on Harry's other side. Harry shook his head, noticing that Snape chose just then to lock his eyes on him.

He would just have to deal with Hermione after class.

Harry locked eyes with Snape so that Ron and Hermione would notice that they were being watched. He glared at Snape for a moment, and then looked down, pretending to work.

The only thing on his mind was Blaise.

(scene shift)

Draco's smile did not falter. He knew that Harry suspected him as a cause for Blaise's disappearance, and relished it.

Hermione had begun to whisper something to Harry, probably to tell him to calm down.

But even Draco had not suspected Blaise would skip class. Despite having to find him, Draco was elated. Blaise would only avoid him for a while; there would be no mistake later, for at least now Draco knew that nothing could keep Blaise from his grasp. Nothing.

Not even Harry Potter.

(scene shift)

As soon as class ended, Hermione told Ron to go onto class without her or Harry.

"Why?"

"There's something we have to take care of Ron; something important."

Ron hesitated.

"Please, Ron?"

Ron looked at Harry's face, saw the sad expression, and nodded. "…okay." He sauntered over to the end of the hall, glancing back at his two friends before turning a corner.

Harry turned hastily to Hermione. "You know?"

Hermione nodded. "Blaise is—"

Harry's head turned from her, his eyes locking themselves on Draco, who—as always—was the last one to exit the Potions classroom.

"Potter," he said shortly, ignoring Hermione. He left quickly.

When he was out of earshot, Harry hissed, "He's going to look for Blaise!"

"Calm down, Harry; you don't know the half of it!" Hermione told him about the conversation that she overheard.

"Bastard," Harry muttered. "But that doesn't explain anything."

"I was such an idiot! I never saw it before!"

"Hermione…I don't get it."

"Harry…Blaise…he's an empathy."

Harry took a leaf from Blaise's book, and blinked. Twice. "What?"

"An Empath! Harry, it all makes sense! How Blaise was able to please all of those people, how he was able to get you—"

"I went willingly with Blaise," Harry said defensively.

"I mean—" Hermione sighed. "It also explains why Draco has so much of a hold over Blaise…everything's connected! How can you hate someone who always understands how you feel?"

Harry shook his head. "…how?"

Hermione huffed. "Harry! Must you be so thick? Blaise is an empath. Empaths can feel the emotions of other people. Harry, if he can read your emotions, of course he knows how to respond to you, how to make you feel better. And if he's an empath, he can be overwhelmed by other people's emotion, even controlled by them!"

Harry's expression darkened. "That's how Draco's using him."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, Harry. Now we have to find Blaise!" she paused. "This…will be tricky. Blaise will sense our emotions and know we're near. He'll move to avoid us. And with our particular emotions towards him right now…he'll recognize us immediately."

"That's how he can find—"

"All of us without looking. Yes, Harry. I've figured that out. We need to find a way to conceal how we feel. Or get rid of them all together. I found a—"

"No," Harry said solemnly. "We'll just…look for him."

"Harry…"

"Blaise and I have been keeping secrets since day one, and I want him to know that I'm there to help him. If I go look for him, I want him to know what I'm doing. I want him to know how I feel, so I can be a friend. Or at least try to be as good a friend as he was to me."

Hermione was outraged. Harry didn't understand the meaning of any of this at all. "Harry! You don't know what you're getting yourself into! Don't you get it? All the tenderness, the kindness, everything that he did for you; it was all done on the basis of how you felt. He only tells you what you want to hear, does what you want him to do! He doesn't mean any of it!"

"If he didn't mean any of it, he wouldn't have done it."

"Harry, you don't—"

"Hermione, thanks for helping me. But…thanks," Harry shook her hand happily and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll find him." Then he ran down the hall.

"Harry—" Hermione called, but he was gone.

(scene shift)

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…Blaise, I know you're here."

Draco had gone to the only logical place Blaise would; outside, to the pen full of Thestrals.

Despite not being able to see them, Blaise got along marvelously with the creatures. It was the only place that offered him comfort. Draco knew this.

"Blaise," Draco said, his voice becoming serious, "Harry is wondering where you are."

Nothing.

"Blaise. If I must find you, I—"

"Fuck you and fuck Harry," Blaise said suddenly, from far away. Draco smiled.

"Haven't you already done that?"

Silence.

"Blaise. I know you can feel me. Do you want me to come and get you? The Thestrals…cannot hide you forever. I'll wait all day if I have to. You know I will." A pause. "I was actually surprised that you disappeared for two days. Were you here the whole time? How did you eat?"

"What the hell do you want from me?" Yes. Blaise's voice was far off; he had to be near the back of the pen.

Draco sighed. "I just want you to promise me you'll be back in Slytherin Dungeons after dinner. That's all. You keep all your promises, don't you Blaise?"

"…"

"Blaise…you honestly surprised me when you didn't show. Snape seemed a bit shaken, not to mention the Gryffindors. I want you to leave here before Potter finds you. Go to the Common Room. Relax. Take a load off."

"Why? So you can add another one?"

"I will come get you if you don't stop speaking like that."

"I'll go in a moment."

"I'll walk you in on my way to History."

"I…I'll go in a moment."

Draco mounted the fence that constructed the pen. It was a rather large space, but Draco could see Blaise, huddled in the back, once he stood atop the gate. He didn't really believe Blaise; if he left things up to the other Slytherin Draco wouldn't see him for a week.

"I'm coming for you, Blaise."

"I know."

The Thestrals seemed to clear from Draco's path as he moved towards the back. He walked straight through his line of sight, and after a few moments of traveling he found himself in front of Blaise indirectly, for he was sitting behind the largest Thestral of them all. It was the only one that did not budge.

"Trained it, eh?" Draco said good-naturedly.

"…no."

"Then tell it to move."

"…no."

"Blaise. Must we go through this again—"

"Malfoy!" sounded a voice from above them, and both Draco and Blaise looked up to see Harry, astride his broomstick, looking back down at them.

A/N: Yep. That's my explanation for Blaise's whore-mongering. Empathy. It's not really that bad a reason, and in the world of Harry Potter, if conforms to their rules of magic. You'll see later that Blaise's magic works both ways. I kinda wish I knew someone like the Blaise in this story; someone who understood my emotions implicitly. It's nice to have someone who knows how you feel without the need for all those words—words can be confusing to some people in terms of relationships—and emotions hold feelings that a lot of people don't want to talk about out loud.

Anyway, I think this is shaping up to be a pretty good fic. I didn't like this after I wrote it, but I have to admit that it's a nice simple story.