Chapter 25: Only Hope
"They know," Blaise repeated again and again. His face was bruised nearly beyond recognition.
Draco stared at the scene, completely shocked. I didn't have the luxury of comforting anyone, I had to act, now. I levitated Blaise into my bedroom and onto my bed, then began stripping his shirt to further assess his injuries.
I was able to get the bleeding under control with no problem, but Blaise had clearly been a victim of the Cruciatus curse. If I didn't intervene immediately then he would suffer the same fate as Neville's parents. I had a very small window to help Blaise.
"Listen," I told Draco, gripping my wand. "I'm doing something similar to what I did to you when I figured out why your memories are blocked, but this is more dangerous. I'm going deeper into his mind. If I don't, we might lose Blaise as we know him. I just have to let you know, there's a chance I might not make it back from his mind."
"You can't!" Draco said, grabbing my hand. "Please, Hermione."
I smiled sadly. "I'm his only hope."
It killed me to do it, but I ripped my hand from Draco's, and with the spell I was plunging farther into Blaise Zabini's mind than I had ever gone in any mind before. The Cruciatus Curse was Unforgivable because the pain was so unbearable that it drove the victim into the innermost parts of their mind to escape it. But when people flee that deep into themselves, the mind shuts down to protect the victim, and it leaves the victim locked inside themselves, away from the world forever.
Blaise's Mind Space was set up like a street, with a variety of buildings that each contained some sort of party or social event. Some were welcoming, others exuded hostility and discomfort. I noted one in particular that was undeniably a Muggle rave. I would have to ask him about it later.
Carefully examining the different compartments of his mind, I found myself pushing forward into a moderately sized mansion (if there was such a thing). It was a slightly smaller scale of the typical pure-blood family mansions, not really extravagant in any way.
The door creaked open, and I winced at the sound. I was feeling incredibly unsettled. I didn't even know what was in the innermost depths of my mind, and now I was simply strolling into Blaise's mind without permission.
I walked into a tasteful parlor, lit and warmed by a fire that created a homey atmosphere. The occupants of the room didn't take notice of me, they were entirely too wrapped up in their little gathering. Blaise, younger than I had ever known him sat with an extremely younger version of his mother and a man that looked so much like Blaise that he had to be his biological father.
Over the years of our friendship, Blaise had told me a bit about his various stepfathers, but he had never told me of his biological father. A part of me was happy that Blaise had at least some memory of a father that loved him, but it killed me that I had to rip him away from this, his happiest memory.
I watched Blaise's father animatedly read to the little family. Before I interrupted I vowed to myself that I would see Blaise as happy as he had been all those years ago.
Swallowing, I cut off Mr. Zabini. "Blaise, it's time to go."
As one, the silent family turned to look at me. Young Blaise asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm your friend, Know-It-All Granger," I said with a small smile. "But I really need you to come with me, Blaise."
Behind me, the front door began to swing shut. Somehow I knew that if it closed completely, Blaise would be locked within this portion of his mind, and I would possibly be locked in with him.
"I want to stay," Blaise said petulantly.
The door swung shut a few more inches.
"I'm sorry," I told Blaise sincerely. Before he could realize what was happening, I grasped the child under his armpits and threw both of us out of the door.
We hit the ground hard, but mere moments later the door swung completely shut behind us.
"No, I want back!" Blaise yelled, flailing. I let the child go after a sharp elbow hit me in the ribs. "I want my parents!" he wailed.
"They're gone," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"No!" He screeched, clearly working his way up to hysterics.
Grabbing his shoulders, I forced him to still. "I'm so sorry Blaise, but we can't do this. I know it hurt. I know you really just want to hide from all of the pain. But I need you now. Remember that we're friends. Remember Draco, and Pansy, and that Muggle girl that was in love with you when you would visit me at my University. Please don't leave all of the people that love you. Remember us, Blaise."
The child blinked rapidly, but each time I saw more and more of the Blaise I knew. With a gasp, he grabbed my arm. "Granger, they used legillimency. I fought, but the Death Eaters know Malfoy is with you. Take him and run. Go somewhere out of the country. Save yourselves."
"What else did they do to you?" I demanded, furious on his behalf.
"Nothing I won't recover from, thanks to you," he said, trying to shove me away.
"Just one more thing in case we never see each other again," I said. Embracing the child, I continued, "I know you'll find someone who makes you as happy as your parents were."
With that I released the spell, but even the short period of time I had spent deep in Blaise's mind was affecting me. It felt like I was ripping myself from the trap of his mind, and like I was losing part of myself in the process. Back in my own body, my head throbbed, and my mind just felt… battered.
"Death Eaters got to him," I told Draco, shutting my eyes to block out the excessively bright lights. "I need you to go to the house and start collecting clothes, food, anything useful for both of us. It will fit in here," I said, thrusting my beaded bag at him. "I'll take Blasie to St. Mungo's."
When I grasped Blaise's hand, it was cold. Luckily with my medical training, I knew how to apparate with an unconscious patient in tow.
Staggering a bit from the feeling of apparartion on top of my headache, I dragged Blaise to the nearest cot in the wing that dealt with mental afflictions.
The Healer on duty frowned. "Ma'am, you can't just occupy whichever beds you please."
I flashed her my healing license. "Hermione Granger, this is an emergency. This man was attacked by Death Eaters. He has some severe physical injuries that need to be taken care of, but his attackers used the Cruciatus Curse extensively so I need you to monitor his mental state carefully to ensure he makes a full recovery.
The Healer snapped a salute. "Yes ma'am."
I listed Blaise's full medical information before telling the Healer seriously, "I'm trusting you with one of my closest friends. Make me proud."
She couldn't do anything more than squeak before I apparated away.
Alone at my apartment, I scanned for anything we might need. Finding nothing vital, I picked up my phone, dialing Harry's number with trembling fingers. As I expected, I got his voicemail.
"Harry, I need you to take care of Crooks and Archimedes for a while. Blaise was attacked, and he's in St. Mungo's right now. Please check on him for me, and leave me out of the crime report. And if I don't see you again…" my voice choked up a bit. "I'm so proud of you, Harry. You've become the greatest man I know. You'll be the best husband and father, so don't worry a bit. You're the best of us and I want you to have the best life. I'm saying 'best' a lot, aren't I? I just want you to know that the day you came to save me from that troll was the luckiest day of my life. I don't regret one second of being your friend."
Turning off the cell phone, I placed it on my kitchen table and left my apartment for what might be the last time.
A/N: Sorry, this update is late and short. I just moved back to college and I've gotten almost no sleep for like a week because anxiety. Oh well. It's not my best writing, but I hope you all still enjoy it! Things should settle down a bit once I get into a routine and know what to expect out of my schedule. I have a professor that advised us to go sniff a tree when we're feeling stressed, or when you're frustrated, or have writer's block. It sounds a little crazy, but maybe I'll go try tree-sniffing.
I hope everyone is having a great time with what little summer they have left! Let me know how I can improve my writing, this was a big chapter and I would love suggestions of how I could improve it. Follows and reviews are always a huge help to me!