A few people (very few as practically no one responded to the intermission. It was short but as this note shows you, I still need input.), mentioned that the last chapter was confusing. This, unlike most of the other chapters, was not meant to be confusing so I will explain. The intermission, as well as clearing my thoughts so I could sleep, was meant to give you a few clues about Incognito. It told you the basic age range (7 – 19) and that Blaise and Cassandra take a personal interest in their agents. I will be developing this further but Blaise and Cassandra are primarily interacting with their leaders and those whom they have a special interest in. I also wanted you to see the general way Incognito acts before you read their next scene (which is not in this chapter but I am planning it) and think that Blaise is a heartless evil Slytherin.

I have decided to ask for beta's again. I would like two, at least one of which has a firm grasp on grammar and one of which has an idea of British culture and language. If you have both that would be even better. I will be starting my next semester of TAFE soon so the chapters will not be coming quickly.

The second binding

Many people thought that Hermione was not able to fly and many, strangely enough, attributed that to a dislike of the speed involved. When you are sitting on a stick in the sky you have no protection at all from the force of the air you are flying through. With your robes flapping and the wind passing by you so quickly you barely have a chance to breathe it in, a dislike of fast speed does cause a problem while flying on a broom. Those people who thought that Hermione was afraid of flying would definitely be rethinking their position when they saw Hermione and Blaise flying down the freeway in a convertible with the wind sweeping out their hair and a huge smile on both their faces because the truth was that Hermione loved speed. She loved the feel of the wind flying past her face, she loved the sight of the world around her blurring into a multicoloured streak and she loved the idea that if she could only go fast enough she could leave the world and her troubles behind. It was because her love for speed that Hermione preferred not to fly, she was inclined to get so lost in the sensation that she forgot to pay attention to where she was going, which tended to result in unpleasant wake-up calls. This was why her parents refused to buy her the motorcycle she wanted.

Blaise noticed the sheer happiness on Hermione's face and decided to give her a more pleasant wake-up call, he raised the roof of the car. Hermione quickly noticed the loss of wind and frowned.

"What did you do that for?" she asked.

"I had to get your attention somehow and I would rather keep both hands on the wheel."

"Well you have it. What do you want?" She was most definitely annoyed.

"Just wanted a talk. I have overheard a fair few future alumni talk about your fear of flying. A lot of the students think you have a fear of heights but others suggested that you don't know how to control your broom and have a fear of making it go to fast."

"It would have been the younger students that thought I was afraid of heights, I have had no problems leaning over the astronomy tower which our classmates can attest to. I am cautious of flying too quickly but not for the reason I am sure you and those of whom you speak are alluding to."

"I gathered that myself, why don't you fly often?"

"There is no need. I spend too much time helping Ron and Harry with their problems and doing my course work as it is. I loose myself in my thoughts when I am flying, I don't keep track of time and could easily spend hours simply flying over the country side, provided I don't crash into a plane or tree of course. Why don't you fly if it's such an unnatural thing?"

"It's not unnatural. People just talk about you since all your friends spend so much time flying. Most of us just don't have any reason to fly at Hogwarts. Anyway, the safest place to fly is the quidditch pitch and that is often booked for team practice."

"I noticed that myself too. Do you want to talk about Cassandra now? Even just to tell me a little about her?" Hermione asked.

"Not really but you obviously want to hear about her. As I have said before, I've known Cassandra since I was five, almost six. We met at a party held at her fathers house, Cassandra had been locked in her room and I was curious about what was behind her door. As a child I had a natural talent for locks and could channel my natural magic to open any lock I encountered. Cassandra was scared of me, she had never met a person before. Her mother had died in childbirth and her father despised her. She had a house elf who cared for her and that was the only living thing she had ever seen before me. I gained the house elfs' trust and convinced her to bring Cassy to visit me occasionally. She would pop in and see if there was anyone around, if I was alone she would bring Cassy and we would play together, or I would do my homework with her. When my parents built my house I invited Cassy to live with me. To the best of my knowledge her father has not realised that Cassy has left her room yet."

"She seems very possessive of you." Hermione observed.

"For many years the house elf and I was the people Cassandra had ever seen. This is the only fight we have ever had. We came close when I left for Hogwarts but … Anyway, she is worried that you are threatening her place as my closest confidant. I would have introduced you today but it won't go well until Cassandra calms down a bit."

"Jet was a bit possessive of my time too, until Hogwarts anyway. We knew other children obviously, since we went to school, but we were just drawn to each other. I would think we are soul mates but we are related."

"Cassandra and I felt the same way, we still do in a way. I know when she enters a room even when I am absorbed in something else, I will do everything in my power to make her happy. I would jump in front of her to protect her from harm and I know that she would do the same for me. I imagine we would look like we were playing leap frog, jumping in front of each other like that. I see Cassy as my angel, my guiding light in my darkness. Cassy tells me that she thinks I am her refuge, I dark place to hide from the rest of the world."

"It sounds like she is in love with you, and you with her." Hermione was a bit jealous. She knew that this wasn't a loving marriage but she would prefer if her fiancée wasn't in love with someone else.

"I love her and I can't imagine my life without her but I am not 'in love' with her. She is more my sister then my lover. I almost raised her, I taught her about the world and the people in it. I taught her to read and to write and to count. We grew up together and that gives me too much knowledge about her to become her lover or husband. I would think that the same would occur to her."

"You told me once that Cassandra loved Disney and fairy tales didn't you?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe, you're right if I didn't." Blaise answered.

"I think Cassandra sees you as the prince who has rescued her. I think she believed that you will marry her to give her a 'happily ever after'. That would cast me as the wicked witch her tries to ensnare the prince to keep the princess trapped." Hermione reasoned.

"I've already freed her, if you must put it in those terms. She is away from her father, has muggle qualifications and access to enough money to set her up for life. Isn't that enough for a happily ever after?"

"How many children's stories have you even heard of when the girl doesn't marry the prince?"

"Well if your such the expert how do I deal with the problem?" Blaise asked.

"Put her to sleep and wait for another man to wake her up?" Hermione suggested. "We're entering Greenwhich, do you know where the registry office is?"

"Yeah, I looked it up."

Blaise and Hermione spent a good minute standing outside the office before they entered and made their way to the appropriate counter.

"Can I help you?" The woman behind the counter asked Blaise with a flirtatious smile. She completely ignored Hermione.

"Yes, my partner Hermione and I would like to give official notice of our intention to wed."

The woman looked Hermione over and sneered. "Do you have written consent from your parents to be married?"

"I am 18." Hermione replied and gave the woman her passport. Her tone was very smooth but she was imagining how she would torture the woman if she got the chance.

The woman harrumphed. "I will also need to see evidence of your address and of the legal ending of any previous marriages."

Hermione gave the woman her most recent bank statement which had been dated for the previous week while Blaise gave her his passport and bank statement. The woman's eyes widened as she saw the balance of Blaises account but she just gave them their documents back then shuffled some paper from under the counter before giving them a form. "Please complete this."

The form just asked questions such as their names, age and where they intended to marry. They quickly completed it and gave it back. The woman scanned it as she had their passports.

"If you intend to have your ceremony here there's another form for you to complete." She said. Blaise and Hermione completed all the paperwork the woman found that she could throw at them. An hour later they were on their way back outside.

"I believe that someone promised me an ice-cream." Hermione hinted as they went down the elevator.

"I believe someone promised not to bring up the subject of my childhood friend."

"Really? I don't recall that being the subject of a promise. I recall some mention of the subject, yes, but not in the proximity of the words 'I promise' or 'I swear' or even 'I vow'."

"I don't remember uttering the words promise, swear or vow either."

"I said that I would wait outside if you promised" Hermione stressed the word promise "to get me an ice cream. You said 'Fine' which was an acceptance of the promise."

"Did you ever plan to be a lawyer? You have an unholy passion for the intricacy of people's words."

"How is remembering the word 'Fine' an example of paying attention to intricate wording? Or remembering the difference between a willingness to wait and a promise?"

"The way you dissembled the conversation reveals close attention to the subtleties of the conversation."

"Let' say that I concede the point, which I don't, how is that a bad thing? It would limit the amount of misunderstandings in our interactions."

"Or increase them as you read more into my words then I had meant to say."

"But you wouldn't say anything that you didn't feel at that moment. Words spoken in anger are still heart felt and therefore reveal what the person is feeling."

By this point they had gotten out of the elevator and were making their way through the foyer to the doors, passing by a woman who was waiting on a courtesy seat against the wall.

"Blaise, really." She said as she got up. Blaise stopped walking and turned around with Hermione.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" He asked in shock.

"Why, I came to meet Hermione of course. Your father contacted Robert and asked for a picture but I rather wanted to meet her in person. How are my dear?"

"How did you know I was here?" Blaise asked before Hermione could reply.

"Zachary told me that he saw you driving though the gate. I of course flooed Albus to ask why you weren't at school and he told me that he gave you and Hermione a pass from school to notify your marriage. And you really should not interrupt Blaise, I asked Hermione a question."

"Who's Zachary?" He asked.

"Zachary is our new guard for the gates. Now allow Hermione to answer the question or I'll revoke your allowance for the next three months."

"I'm well, Mrs. Zabini, thank you for asking. How are you?" Hermione asked politely. It was really a pointless question.

"I'm well too, Hermione. You're not nervous though? I was almost terrified before my wedding, offcourse I only met Zachariah a month before hand while you have had these six years to get to know Blaise. I must admit he never mentioned you much, but of course we rarely see him even during the holidays so he wouldn't have had much of a chance." Mrs. Zabini laughed and began to draw the group out the doors towards a small café nearby.

"I'm not really nervous. Blaise and I are getting to know each other splendidly. In fact we had planned to use this afternoon to do so. You know, get away from the confines Hogwarts places on us. The house rivalries and so on…"

"Of course, a splendid idea." Mrs. Zabini agreed. She seemed about to go on when Blaise interrupted again.

"What happened to William? I thought he was in charge of manning the gates."

"William was living beyond his means. When your father and I realised we questioned him about it. William refused to answer our questions so we fired him. I was beginning to be unsatisfied by his performance anyway. I can't count the number of times I have tried to find you on the grounds and been unable to though William swore that you hadn't left and the floo had not been used. Since you intend to use this time to get to know each other and I wish to know Hermione better why don't I accompany you this afternoon? Really, it would suit both of our purposes."

"Mother, I think Hermione and I would be more comfortable by ourselves. We have so little time at school…" By this time they had arrived and were sitting at a small table with a waiter taking their orders. Mrs. Zabini ordered a latte and waited for the waiter to leave before replying.

"Nonsense Blaise, Albus told me how you two are sharing a suite at school. I'm not sure I am happy about that actually, sex should not occur until after the vows have been spoken. I do hope you haven't indulged yourselves yet."

"Mother! Never speak about that in front of me again!"

"You're eighteen now Blaise. You should know how you came to be here. How old are you Hermione, when is your birthday?"

This day was not going well for Blaise. Cassandra was pissed at him, his parent had fired his guard so he would need to find blackmail insurance against the new one and now he was stuck with his mother for the foreseeable future. Life sucked.

"I'm eighteen, my birthday was on September 12th." Hermione answered.

"You're older then my Blaise. He just turned eighteen two weeks ago but to me he'll always be my baby boy. What is your view on children Hermione?" By now both Hermione and Blaise had managed to collect their cool and only their eyes widened at that comment.

"They're small?" Hermione replied in an attempt to divert her future mother-in-law's attention.

"Yes, they are. It helps their cuteness factor. I believe that a child's cuteness is a defence mechanism, it makes adults who have never had children still feel compelled to protect them. How many children are you planning on having?"

"Blaise and I haven't actually discussed that yet. I hadn't planned on having children until finish university. I suppose with the stipulations of the contract we shall have to try a bit sooner but we certainly won't be trying for our first until after we finish Hogwarts and I won't consider having more until our first is toilet trained."

"But the need to try and conceive an heir is specified in the contract which is magically binding. Even if you have a muggle wedding, which you are obviously planning on doing, the contract will sense that you are now wed and if it senses that you are not trying to keep the terms of the agreement it will exert it's magic to prompt you to do so."

"How, exactly will it do that?" Hermione asked a bit sceptical, even with her experience with magical contracts.

"Well, it will increase your sexual drive at the very least. Depending on the circumstances of the breach of contract and your fathers intentions at the formation of the contract, it may also increase your fertility to make it more likely that you conceive. Haven't you read the contract yet, my dear?"

"Professor Dumbledore gave us a summary of the terms but it didn't mention anything like this. He made it sound like we had to make at least one attempt when we were comfortable with each other, not a continued effort as soon we signed the sign the papers. How can the betrothal contract magically bind us to its terms? We're not mentioned by name, we didn't sign it and it didn't say that we had to marry, just consider the idea." Hermione was outraged but remained mindful of her surroundings and so whispered her disbelief, very vehemently.

"But we put on the rings, the rings came from the betrothal and bound us to it." Blaise explained.

"Did you know about this?" Hermione asked. She thought that she could trust Blaise but this would be a major betrayal.

"I found out yesterday but you were so happy after being miserable for a week that I didn't want to ruin your mood. I planned on telling you today, while you had ice cream and cake and all those things that make the world go round but then we had this unexpected," Mrs. Zabini glared and Blaise quickly added a compliment "yet lovely, addition for our outing and I didn't get the chance."

"I can't have a baby this early in life, Blaise. I need to finish school, I need to go to uni and get my degree. I don't even know what degree I want yet but I know I need to go to uni without a child to get it."

"Why do you need to go to uni? Blaise is perfectly capable of supporting you and your children. He has a job waiting for him at his fathers company as soon as he finishes Hogwarts and will have a steady income for the rest of your lives. He will be able to keep you in luxury, you have no need for a degree, you will not even require your NEWT's though I suppose you could complete them by correspondence if you must insist." Mrs. Zabini pointed out.

"I have planned on going to Cambridge University since I was six years old. I have been completing muggle courses by correspondence to gain enough credit to get into the program, every summer I take some classes to increase my chances of being accepted. I have worked for six long years to get into that University and the stupid separation between wizarding and muggle education has made that work very tiring and difficult. I will not forsake that dream so you, your husband and my parents have a grand child to tote around when your children have only just become of age. You can damn well wait until I am ready and that won't be for at least another four years so deal with it."

"You seemed like such a polite child when I first met you, I am glad to see that my first impression of you was wrong."

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked.

"Blaise needs someone who will challenge him. That requires a person who is not always bound by social conventions. However you will be entering the wizarding high society and that requires you to bow to conventions at least some of the time. I have seen that you can do both, you will be a good wife for Blaise."

"I suppose I am glad that you approve of me, though I think your logic to be flawed." Hermione eventually replied after thinking the idea through.

"And in which way do you think my reasoning faulty?" Mrs. Zabini asked.

"I feel that I was rude and lost control at the times when politeness would most be needed at a social gathering of enemies. The wizarding elite is comprised mostly of purebloods, they will sneer and attempt to chip away at my self control for the chance of seeing me lose it, it is at those times when politeness and exquisite manners would be most needed. While I have doubts that you had purposely set out to test me, your remarks could be expected from those I do not call friends and my outburst would not have served me well had it occurred in that circumstance."

"True, but I am able to train you. Albus has informed me that he is trying to hasten your marriage so as to ensure the ministry knows of it's legality before the auctions and can not try to force into the farce. This also allows me to train you for the rest of the school year as you attend functions at our manor over your breaks. As I will be the hostess, I can control the type of people who will be present so that any slips you may make early on are not seen by any that would use it against you. And, of course, Blaise can help you inside of school. He learnt exceptionally quickly as I child, he may be able to teach you his tricks." Mrs. Zabini replied.

"I would be grateful for any assistance that you, or Blaise, could provide me." Hermione accepted the unspoken offer, her mind running through the possibilities that this would present her as Blaise did the same. Mrs. Zabini stood up.

"Well children, I must go. Hermione, it was a pleasure to meet you."

Blaise rose to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. "It was lovely to spend some time with you mother. Tell father that I said hello."

"I will baby. Bring Hermione to the house for Christmas. We can begin to decorate her room and introduce her at the Yule ball."

"Hermione may have plans with her parents for Christmas."

"You're parents are invited too, my dear. I dare say Zachariah will be elated to see your father again, and I would love to meet them both myself."

"I shall convey your invitation with them and let Blaise know of their decision."

"Thank you for that. Good bye Blaise, Hermione." Mrs. Zabini kissed both on the cheek then swept out of the café.

"I was beginning to believe that she would never go." Blaise said.

"I understand why you didn't want to meet her this morning. How did she get me to use such formal language? I could barely understand what I was saying."

"I would have to say that it is a gift of hers. I spent almost a year searching for any kind of spell which could have that effect and couldn't find any."

"It's irritating. Let's go, we've been sitting here for over an hour. I think the wait staff is getting annoyed."

"We ordered, and we made the meal last for most of our conversation. They have no right to get upset, but as we are finished we should leave. Where do you want to go?"

"A park," Hermione decided "with swings and maybe a pond or lake with ducks. It's a school day s there shouldn't be many little ones around."

"As my lady demands, so shall I do." Blaise bowed extravagantly.

"Do not use formal language around me for at least another hour." And they left.

A/N: Can you tell whose talking in these conversations? It is tiresome to write Hermione said, Blaise said, Mrs. Zabini said every single line but if you are getting lost and having to re-read a few lines to work it out let me know and I will make more of an effort to include the characters names to keep it sorted.

Challenge of the day. This is what I was listening to while waiting 14 hours in transit at the airport for my plane to come. And that wasn't counting the marvellous time waiting in line for customs. I wrote this entire chapter on this trip and I still have almost two hours until I can board my second plane. Anyway, challenge: I want artist and song title. I will also give a bonus for anyone who can tell me the approximate time in the song for the two lines, it only occurs once though to me it sounds like a chorus. Just think about it, you'll get it:

(You make believe, that nothing is wrong until you're crying, crying on me. You make believe, that life is so long until you're dying/ dying/ dying on me.)

The reward is whatever you want, provided its written words. I can answer a set of ten questions or so, or I will detail a history of a character. You might ask for a Incognito adventure using your name or I can give you the classic preview. Just put your request in with the song info.