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Chapter 24 – You're not alone.

Blaise was beyond tears over the abduction of the only girl he had ever loved. No, tears which were long gone had been replaced by a white hot rage that surged through him like molten lava. And now the excessively angry Slytherin was pacing the Headmistresses office, in which he, along with Bree, Harry and Ron, were being all but held captive awaiting the return of their professor. The silence was broken when the large wooden door was slammed open, and a very harassed Professor McGonagall hurried in, followed by Lupin, Alexis and the middle aged man that Blaise recognized as the one Hermione had been talking with at the feast. Alexis made to rush over to Blaise, but Bree stood and gently grabbed hold of her arm, shaking her head mutely.

"Children, I do apologize for the wait" said McGonagall surveying the room of ashen and in Blaise's case, angry faces. "I would like to introduce to you Theodore Markham" she said gesturing to the middle aged man standing beside McGonagall's desk, hunched over a pile of papers. At his name he looked up and gave the group a small tired smile. McGonagall gave a small nod and continued. "It was to be announced this evening at the feast, but this is to be the new Minister of Magic and he will be assisting us with solving this tragic event".

At this news the group gave a small gasp, and Harry, after receiving a small nod from Lupin to whom he had looked to, stood and made towards the new Minster. "You have my complete service" said Harry seriously, holding out a hand to the minister, who surveyed him and with a sigh of relief grasped Harry's hand in a brothers-in-arms fashion. At this Ron looked from the window he had been peering out of. "And mine" he said, in something of a strangled voice. The Minster nodded

"Thank you. You have no idea how much that relives me. And how about you Blaise?" said Theodore, turning to the dark haired Italian boy who's pacing had stopped "will I have your services also?" Blaise raised and eyebrow at the Minster.

"I will die in order to save Hermione. You do not need to question my service or my loyalty." And at that he turned on a heel and stormed from the room. The startled occupants looked to one another and in an instant Bree had jumped from her seat and followed Blaise. She found him not far from the headmistresses office, both hands on the wall, leaning against it like he had just run a marathon a needed a break. Before her very eyes, the girl watched her twin break down, tears leaking from his eyes, dropping to the flagstone floor, and he dropped to the floor in what appeared like slow motion. It broke her heart to see Blaise like this. Their whole lives her brother had been the strong one. The one who held them all together everytime the lost a father due to the curse on their mother. Everytime the death eaters had stormed the manor. Everytime they went their separate ways to school, Blaise was the one who owled everyone at least once a week. Twice, if he'd had a particularly trying week. This Blaise, crouched and broken against the wall, was not the Blaise Bree knew. But he was still her brother, and she closed the short distance between then, dropped to the floor beside where he sat, his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting on his arms, his lithe body racked with sobs. Neither said a word. Blaise simply turned to his twin and clung to her as though he might disappear if he let go. They sat there for what seemed like an age, until Blaise lifted his head looking into Bree's eyes so deeply it scared her.

"Blaise, this isn't you." She whispered, fearing that if she spoke any louder she too would break down. Blaise's watery eyes pieced her soul like nothing else and it terrified her. He pushed away tears vainly.

"I love her so much Bree. So much its agony. Sometimes it hurts so much I think I might be sick because it's like I don't know what to do. And now… I was going to ask her to marry me. What if I never get that chance now?" She had never heard Blaise speak so forcefully about anything before, because he had never felt anywhere close to what he felt for Hermione. Moments later Blaise took a deep shuddering breath, calming himself, putting back on the mask of indifference and then the two of them were making their way back to McGonagall's office.

The occupants of the office were either pacing or seated, but each of them was bouncing ideas off each other as how best to proceed, but each person went silent when the two re entered.

"I'm sorry" said Blaise, his head slightly downcast. "And I'm ready. To help." A brief nod from Harry and a small smile from the Minister and they were right back into it.

"Perhaps they've returned to the manor Voldermort was working from before his downfall?" suggested Harry, but Teddy shook his head.

"Not possible. Every location that Voldermort had been occupying was destroyed right after he was". Harry resumed his pacing at this and there was silence again as the group continued to come up with ideas.

"How about you Bree?" Teddy asked, turning his head to where Bree sat next to Blaise. "Ive heard nothing but amazing stories of your magic and I am quite sure that all those stories were understatements. I would hope that perhaps you, would know of something?" His question was laced with hope and anxiety. his first official duty as Minister was not going well and already he was feeling the stress.

"I know a tracing spell" Bree said after moments thought, and at this the room instantly perked up. "But it can only be performed if I had an item from the place they were. Perhaps if we had a piece of robe or something of that nature" And the anxiety settled in once more. They had nothing, and no leads and the more time that passed the more it became unlikely of finding Hermione alive.

Hours passed, ideas were scrapped and a red tinge began to show on the horizon to signify the coming of dawn. They had nothing. They were no closer to solving the problem than they were 5 hours earlier. They were all tired and finally McGonagall had had enough,

"This is getting us no where, and all of us are tired and angry. I want all of you off to bed right now. You may all stay in the heads common room if Blaise will allow it. There are come spare guest rooms and lounges." The weary group nodded. All but one. But before Blaise had a chance for an angry retort Teddy silenced him.

"Blaise, we understand your worry. And we're not giving up. But right now we have no idea where they are and no way of finding out and even if we did we would only cause Hermione more harm by rushing into something blindly and without sleep. We are all exhausted and emotional. We will regroup here at 5 this evening and start up where we left off." He sunk into McGonagall's chair with an exhausted sigh, watching as the headmistress ushered the semi reluctant group through a portrait hole that would lead directly to the heads common room. Blaise cast one last lingering look at the Minster before the portrait was closed with a resounding thud, and the small group made their way down the dark stone corridor.

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Blaise had sworn he wouldn't fall asleep. It just didn't seem right. And so he sat in the window seat of his room and watched the sun rise. He blinked and suddenly the sky was a little darker, thunderous black clouds rolling across it and rain pounded his window, and the excruciating pain in his neck told him he had been much more tired than he first thought. A look at his watch told him that the group would be reassembling in an hour, so climbing stiffly from the window he made his way downstairs to where Harry and Ron were still asleep on the lounges. He assumed Alexis and Bree were asleep in the guest rooms, and quietly he made his way across the common room and through the portrait.

He found himself sitting in a chair in front of McGonagall's desk with a steaming mug of coffee watching his professor and the Minster pour over notes that might give them a clue to where to start looking. But every lead seemed to be leading to a dead end. A persistent tapping at the window startled the three and they glanced up to see a magnificent bird perched on the window sill, the rain rolling off its black feathers. Teddy opened the window with a flick of his wand and the eagle owl soared in and landed gracefully on the desk, sticking its foot out so they could take the letter. And then it was gone. A reply wasn't expected and something in the pit of Blaise's stomach told him that it wouldn't be good news.

Teddy read the note quickly before fixing Blaise with a hard and slightly anxious look.

"Go wake the others. It's from Malfoy"

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Yay, another chapter! Hope you like. I will be putting the picture link on my profile page 