Disclaimer: I don't own J.K. Rowling's characters…

Plot based on pixie-dust-24's Dark Desire…

Recall

"Did you tell them the truth?" Draco asked, softening ever so slightly.

"Of course not!" Hermione snapped and jerked her arm, freeing her from his tight grip.

"What then?!" Draco asked.

"I lied," Hermione said with a tinge of sadness.

Chapter 11

Uncertainty

Hermione didn't want to break down in front of him. She turned around, her robes flapping around her ankles. She walked back to the common room.

Draco stood there. He didn't know if he should feel relieved but he did. He didn't want to disappoint their parents and the Dark Lord. He couldn't let her wreck what they wanted for her.

Draco walked back to the Slytherin tower thinking about all the possible things that could happen if the two others of the Golden Trio received Hermione's letter. He could remember a few lines in the letter he threw to the fire.

I won't be studying in Hogwarts this year, Draco recalled.

Draco met Blaise along the hallway.

"Head Boy," Blaise greeted and raised his hand. Draco regarded him with a nod.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked.

See you after graduation, Draco remembered from the letter.

"I'm on my way to the Hospital Wing. My bandage needs fixing," Blaise raised his injured arm, the bandage hanging loose around it.

Draco nodded. "See you later."

Blaise walked on and met Ivana along the way. She looked a bit off at that time.

"Ivana! Where are you going?" Blaise asked. Hermione looked up at him.

"I'm going out for a walk," she replied glumly.

"I'll go with you," he said. It wasn't a suggestion. It was more like a command.

"But…" Hermione didn't want to be rude but she wanted to be alone.

"Come with me to the Hospital Wing for a while," Blaise said.

Hermione couldn't protest.

He's a Slytherin, came the thought.

Blaise held her by the wrist as they walked to the Hospital Wing, his injured arm hanging loose on his side.

"Does your arm still hurt?" Hermione asked.

"No," Blaise said flatly. "It extends the deadline of my reports."

Hermione smiled and shook her head. Blaise grinned at her.

"It's called advantage," Blaise said and winked at her.

Blaise had his arm re-bandaged by Madam Pomfrey. Hermione started to think that Madam Pomfrey knew that he was faking it but wasn't reprimanding him.

"Let's go," Blaise said and pushed Hermione lightly by the arm so she'd start walking.

Hermione winced. "Ouch," she muttered.

"Why?" He asked. He knew he didn't push her that hard because he pushed her using his bandaged arm.

"Nothing," she said in a low voice, holding her arm with the other.

Hermione started to walk towards the door. Blaise's expression changed slightly. He reached out with his good arm and held her shoulder to stop her from walking. She faced him, slightly unmindful.

He made a move to raise the sleeve of her robe. He caught a glimpse of a bruise on her skin. She flinched and inched back. He was staring at her. She stared back but averted her eyes right away.

"What happened?" Blaise asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"What happened?" Blaise repeated; his tone a bit more demanding.

"It's nothing. I just hit something," Hermione said.

She couldn't look straight at him. She was staring out the windows of the Hospital Wing.

"Did someone do that to you?" Blaise asked. Hermione didn't answer. She turned around and started to walk towards the door again.

"Who?" Blaise asked in a tone that made her stop momentarily in her tracks.

It wasn't gentle and it wasn't harsh. It wasn't a request and it wasn't a demand. There was something about it but she couldn't tell what. She walked on after a few seconds. He caught up and stopped her again. He turned her around.

"You don't need to know," Hermione said nonchalantly.

"Who?" Blaise asked again, ignoring what she said.

She sighed and he relaxed a bit. He knew that she was about to give in.

"Who?" He pushed her to tell.

"Your friend," she replied.

They stood there for a moment just staring at each other. The other one was trying to read the other's mind while the other was simply staring.

"I'm going back to the common room. I don't feel like taking a walk anymore," Hermione walked towards the door and closed it behind her.

Blaise stood there for a while. His mind filled with thoughts. He rushed to the Slytherin common room.

Blaise cursed as the arrow of the archer stone statue along the hallway caught his bandage. He jerked it free. He cursed again. He was going to get it re-bandaged again the next day. It was too late at night to bother Madam Pomfrey just to tie up a fake bandage.

He made his rounds and cursed as he did so. He was alone. He wondered where Pansy, his counterpart as prefect, could have gone. Theodore was walking towards Blaise.

"Hey," Theodore greeted.

Blaise nodded. "You'll get in trouble if the Gryffindor prefects found you."

"I saw Weasley a few moments ago. He's alone. Let's go get him," Theodore said playfully and punched his palm.

Blaise chuckled. "Once we graduate, we'll get him."

"That's no fun," Theodore said and laughed.

They suddenly stopped laughing. They heard familiar voices down the hallway. They glanced at each other and hid behind the archer stone statue. Theodore crouched down and hid his face from view as he watched two familiar people walk down the hall, oblivious of the two Slytherins hiding behind the statue.

Theodore glanced at Blaise. Blaise was watching them intently. Theodore stretched his arm out to stop Blaise from walking out of their hiding place.

The Great Hall was filled again. The students were talking about Hogsmeade weekend that was fast approaching. Hermione sat farther away from Harry and Ron. She knew she wouldn't be going to Hogsmeade with them. In fact, she might not even go.

The owls flew in. A letter was dropped on Draco's lap. He stared at the red envelope, thinking it was a howler but it was not. He picked it up and turned it around.

Draco

His name was written in the handwriting he knew well. He opened it.

I heard you're still dating Ms. Parkinson.

I suggest you stop seeing her. I had a chat with

her mother the other day. I told her about you

and Ivana. She said she understands and plans

to arrange another gentleman for her.

Sia fedele.

Mom

Draco's eyebrows furrowed.

How did mother know about Pansy? He thought. He turned to Blaise. He was seated beside him eating and talking to Theodore at the same time.

"What's 'sia fedele'?" Draco asked Blaise. Blaise looked at him.

"Sia fedele," Blaise said and stared at the food thoughtfully. "Stay faithful, I think," Blaise answered and his eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"Latin?" Draco asked again.

"Italian," Blaise corrected. "Why?"

"Nothing," Draco said and resumed eating. I never knew my mother speaks Italian.

Draco thought about possible ways on how his mother found out. He cursed and looked up at Hermione who was eating alone. Hermione glanced back at him but her eyes seemed to be looking through him. She went back to eating and didn't look at him again.

"Casso Vinci!" Draco called out when Hermione was walking back to the Gryffindor common room. Draco caught up and grabbed Hermione's arm.

"Ah!" Hermione winced. Draco dragged her to one side of the hallway and turned her around.

"What do you want to happen?!" Draco hissed.

"What?!" Hermione stared at him, confused.

"Stop playing!"

"I am not playing! Let me go!" Hermione tried to free her arm from his grip.

Hermione knew Draco was too strong for her. She saw Blaise walking hurriedly towards them. He turned Draco around and punched him. Draco let go of her arm and touched his cheek that Blaise had punched. Draco looked at Blaise, both angry and confused.

"What in bloody hell was that for?!" Draco said in an angry tone.

Blaise didn't say anything. He glared at Draco for a while then took Hermione's wrist and walked away with her. Draco's face lit up in realization as he watched his best friend and his so-called fiancée walk away.

"Why?" Hermione asked Blaise. She wasn't sure which part was she questioning. Blaise glanced at her and smiled as if nothing happened. She looked at him surprised that that was his reaction to her question.

Blaise took her for a walk to the lake. They walked slowly as she stared at her reflection on the water. Blaise cleared his throat. Hermione didn't look at him. She was busy thinking about how she had arrived at this point of her life and wondered what was going to happen next.

"Why do you let him hurt you?" Blaise asked.

Hermione looked at him and shrugged. She didn't know if she really let him or she just couldn't stop him from hurting her.

"Why are you his target?" He asked.

"Maybe because I'm making his life miserable," she whispered and he heard it.

"How?"

They had stopped walking. Hermione looked up at the sky and silence surrounded them for a while. She sat down on the ground and Blaise did the same. They were sitting opposite each other.

"I don't know. I'm not sure," Hermione replied.

"Tell me. You do know why and I know you're sure," Blaise said. He was right but she didn't want to tell him the truth about her 'relationship' with Draco Malfoy.

"He's tied to me," Hermione answered. Blaise stared at her in confusion.

"I don't get it," he suddenly said.

"Never mind. It's not that big of a deal," she replied.

"It is. That's why you don't want to tell me."

Hermione glanced at him. He was reading her well though she thought she wasn't that transparent.

"You can trust me," Blaise added with a half-smile, half-smirk.

"I'm Gryffindor. You're Slytherin and you're talking about trust," Hermione pointed out and laughed. Blaise laughed with her.

"As ironic as it sounds. Really, you can trust me," Blaise said, suddenly becoming serious.

Hermione chuckled and played with the grass on the ground. Blaise waited for her to say something.

"What?" Hermione asked him when she noticed him staring.

"I'm waiting," Blaise replied.

"For what?" She asked again.

"Explanation…?" Blaise said in a tone of uncertainty and shrugged.

Hermione watched him. She did feel different but she wasn't sure if she was supposed to trust him.

"I'll tell you next time…?" Hermione said in the same tone of uncertainty.

Blaise just stared at her without saying anything then he suddenly smiled and said, "Alright."

The rumor about the fight between the two friends, Blaise and Draco, were passed from one house to another. The ones who knew them were the ones who listened. The Slytherins have noticed the distance between the two. They sat seats away from each other during class and meals. They would not say a word to each other directly.

"Tell the Head Boy that the House Head is waiting for him in the office," Blaise told Pansy.

"Why don't you tell him yourself?!" Pansy fumed. "I'm tired of being the bridge!"

Blaise snorted and left her there ranting. He muttered: "As if."

Just like how rumors are, there were different versions for that single event but none of the edited versions mentioned anything about the Gryffindor girl that was caught between the fight – at least not yet.

Author's Note: I'm sorry I posted this just now. I had to meet my professors and stuff.

Anyways, hope you like it. :) Thanks for the reviews! Thank you soooo much:)

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