The events of the previous night swarmed around his mind like an undying plague. Blaise had been an arse, but Akane moved past that. He had lied straight to her face, but she still went through with his plan. Their conversation moved in wave-like lulls, up and down and back again. It was confusing, but somehow fitting to their unique relationship.
Blaise was glad he got an answer, though he wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. The potion had only confirmed something he had barely started to accept, and now it had been thrown in his lap, staring him right in the face.
Akane was good. She was kind, and she cared, and she had a decent sense of humor. She was quick with spells and possessed a strong curiosity that Blaise could appreciate- most of the time. She put forth the effort to understand him, which was nice. Not a lot of people did that anymore.
Did Blaise love her? Not yet.
It was harsh to say but it was the truth. He liked her, sure, but he didn't quite trust her completely. Love was something slow and difficult, Blaise knew that, but if he'd learned anything from his mum, love was fleeting. It hadn't hit him, so he wasn't going to push it. He didn't want to force his relationship with Akane to be something it wasn't, and it was clear that the girl still held regards for Diggory and McLaggen.
It made sense, and he supposed it would in the long run, but now? Blaise was more confused than anything else. So, he turned to a constant for support.
Draco had woken up sometime in the middle of the night with curses of agony, effectively waking up everyone else in the Hospital Wing. Pomfrey had been trying to change his bandages, but the blond would snap anytime she came close, still paranoid over her seeing the mark on his arm.
"Blasted witch," Draco scowled. He tried crossing his arms but immediately halted, as the splinch on his torso was still healing. "I don't trust her."
"You don't trust anyone," Theo noted, still sitting in that same seat, almost appearing worse for wear than the injured student beside him.
Growling, Draco grabbed the glass of water that had been placed on his nightstand and took a swig. "You've got a look on your face, Blaise," he stated. "Speak."
Blaise pulled out one of the vials from his pocket. He tossed it to Theo, who caught it with waiting palms. "I did some research," Blaise announced, gesturing to the potion. "That's the Soul-Cleanse Solution."
Theo held it up and observed it appreciatively. "It's rare."
"Yeah, it is," Blaise agreed.
"Is it dangerous?" Draco asked, intrigued.
Blaise only gave him a look. "What do you think?
"I don't know, Blaise," the blond snapped. "I've been out cold for three sodding days, I'm a little behind on things, wouldn't you say?"
However, Theo replied for him. "It's similar to Veritaserum, but not quite the same." He passed the vial to Draco, whose scowl only deepened at the dark purple liquid. "It smells like Amortentia, and it reveals the soul's deepest thoughts and desires."
Blaise nodded. "Yeah, it does."
"So?" Draco asked, ever the foul attitude. "What'd you learn?"
"Smells like the New Girl," Blaise answered. He braced himself, preparing for their predictably dramatic reactions.
"Mikoshiba?" Draco clarified. "Really? Her?"
"She's not so bad," Theo said.
Draco frowned. "Well, no. She's no Pansy, but… that's a bit surprising. I didn't think you liked her like that."
"Me neither," Blaise retorted.
Theo asked next, "What are you going to do about it?"
Good question. Blaise honestly didn't have an answer. He was typically the flirt-and-fling type, and the closest thing he'd had to a real relationship was with Padma, all that time ago. But even then, that wasn't a relationship, and they ended up being rather good friends.
Could he handle a relationship with Akane? Probably.
Did he want a relationship with her? Maybe in the future, but not now. The tension between her harem was still uneasy, not to mention the fact that the girl had a sodding harem. Blaise has said it before and he'll say it again: he's not willing to share.
"Seeing as you look as lost as Weasley in Potions," Draco drawled. "Let me try and help. Do you like her?"
"She's decent."
"What do you like about her?"
Blaise thought for a moment. "She's smart, and quick. Witty, sometimes. She's good at quidditch." She tries. She makes the effort. She cares.
Theo this time. "What do you not like about her?"
"She's nosy. I don't trust her completely." He was basically reciting to himself what he already knew, and he couldn't see how this was helpful. Leave it to the two most unlikely contenders to try and counsel him in romance. "She's too… everything else."
"Not Slytherin enough, you mean?" Draco asked. Blaise nodded. "Remember, Zabini, she was put into our house for a reason. I don't care for her, personally, but I know a Snake when I see one."
Shrugging, Blaise said, "She cares too much."
"Caring is a good thing, sometimes," Theo pointed out. "I know you say you don't. But it's good that she does."
He frowned, not wanting to hear anymore. He appreciated the effort, but there were things he needed to consider. It was nice to know that the two didn't judge him for it, though.
Subtly, Draco glanced up and down the Hospital Wing. Pomfrey had retreated into her office and the single other student- a second year Hufflepuff with the flu- was asleep. The blond still lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, reminding Blaise a bit of Pansy. "Theo and I've been talking."
Blaise wasn't sure what to expect from the duo anymore. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Draco nodded. "Before you came in, actually."
"Thanks for clarifying."
The blond huffed. Theo jumped in. "Draco, Pansy, and I are going to run away."
A beat.
"What?" Blaise couldn't hold back the surprise in his voice. "When?"
"Winter break," Draco answered. "This whole 'Death Eater thing' clearly isn't working out." He gestured between the two of them. "I'm not having fun, Theo's not having fun, and Pansy's just worried, which is all sorts of strange. So we're going to run away."
"Just you three?"
Draco hummed. "Well, if you hadn't figured it out, this was an invitation. We're also considering talking to the Greengrass sisters, and I think Pansy went to Bulstrode. Crabbe and Goyle are a bit daft, honestly, so I think they'll be fine."
"Pucey's graduating," Theo added.
This was quite a turn, and it took Blaise a moment to process. He knew Draco was struggling with his task- the evidence was visible- but he didn't think they'd actually bail. Blaise was planning to with his mum, but from the sound of it, his friends were planning on leaving everything behind.
"Where will you go?" The words spilled out. He was sounding rather unlike himself and more like a certain female, but he couldn't help it.
"The States," Theo supplied. "We don't know where yet."
"How?"
"Apparition won't work," Draco frowned, choosing this time to poke at this bandages. "It's too far, and I'm not taking risks."
Theo continued. "We're going to fly into New York."
"On a Muggle plane?"
Draco's frown deepened and his lip curled with displeasure. "Yes, a Muggle plane."
"Bloody hell," Blaise cursed, struggling to imagine Draco boarding the cramped metal-death trap.
"There are a lot of things we need to do beforehand," Theo said. "So if you want to come with, just let us know before break."
Blaise offered a bewildered nod. "Yeah, yeah."
Now he had another issue at hand. Would he abandon his education here to avoid the incoming war? Would fleeing with some of his closest- and only- friends be the best choice?
It's not like he had many others.
Something held him back from agreeing on the spot. "I'll think about it."
The two offered matching nods.
He first noticed that something was wrong when Akane didn't show up to Transfiguration. Her Gryffindor friends seemed equally bewildered, but McGonagall didn't leave much room for discussion, immediately diving into the lesson.
McLaggen confronted him after class.
"Where's Akane?" the heathen nearly shouted. His breath smelled atrocious, but this was not the time to comment on it.
Blaise offered McLaggen a judgmental look. "How would I know?"
McLaggen tried to shove him to make a point, but Blaise sidestepped him before he could. "Did you do something to her?"
"Fuck no, why would I?"
"You're in this as much as the rest of us," McLaggen growled, resembling a true beast. "I don't trust you, Zabini."
Blaise shrugged. "Good. Feeling's mutual."
"I know you were with her last night."
Blinking, Blaise set aside his instinct to insult. "Smart boy. But I didn't do anything to her."
"Did you walk her back to the common room?"
"I'm not a babysitter, and Mikoshiba's mature enough to handle herself," Blaise scowled. At McLaggen's angered expression, Blaise added, "No. She said she had to stop by the kitchens, so we went our separate ways."
The Gryffindor was two beats away from exploding. "You left her-"
"Of course I did," Blaise snarled. "She told me about Japan's gender bias. Unlike you, McLaggen, I'm not going to shove my chivalry down her throat. She's a big girl."
McLaggen only let loose a grunt. "Sod off, Zabini. You're helping me find her."
"Yeah, I figured," Blaise sighed. As much as he hated being around the heathen, Blaise had to admit: if McLaggen didn't know where Akane went, would Diggory? Would anyone?
Turns out Diggory didn't know either.
"Sorry, Zabini," Diggory frowned. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."
"McLaggen's in a right mood about it," Blaise noted.
Diggory only looked back at him. "Rightly so. Aren't you?"
"Yeah, but-"
"She's missed two classes in a row," Diggory pointed out. "And you were at the hospital wing earlier, you said. Was she there?"
Troubled by this, Blaise replied, "No."
"Something's wrong," Diggory concluded. "This isn't like her."
It wasn't, and Blaise knew the implications, but it didn't make teaming up with one-half of the harem to do something about it any more appealing. Akane had mentioned a fourth, but Blaise hadn't been focusing on that at the time and didn't ask. That left one member of their makeshift group, and it left a bad taste, knowing Akane didn't willingly give this piece of information away.
Blaise and Diggory ended up meeting with McLaggen outside of the Great Hall at lunch, and McLaggen's mood had soured considerably. His jaw and fists were clenched, muscles tensed, clearly on edge. He paced around the corridor and nearly leapt when spotting them.
"It's that bastard Katsushi," McLaggen blurted, glaring in the direction of the Great Hall. "I had Apparition with him, and he wore that sodding smirk the entire period."
"I don't trust him," Blaise stated, probably for the fortieth time.
Diggory shook his head. "I don't either. Did you talk to him?"
"I bloody well tried! But the sod kept Apparating away every time I came up to him, like it was some sort of game," McLaggen spat. He was nearly seething, skin burning red with rage.
"What about Harry, or any of them?" Diggory asked instead. "Did you ask them?"
McLaggen huffed. "I did on the way here. They haven't seen her either."
"Well shite," Diggory cursed, a rare sight. "I'll tell Dumbledore." He darted into the Hall at a brisk pace, startling a few underclassmen exiting the doors.
McLaggen turned to him, eyes ablaze. "What are you going to do, Zabini?"
Suddenly, Blaise remembered what he told Akane last night before things got quiet with her obvious lie and the shielding of her arm.
"What was your plan?"
"Guess you'll never know, will you?"
"Hmmm. I doubt you'd do something with a lot of blood, too messy. Potions is what you are very proficient at, poisons would be your strong suit. But how would you administer them?"
"You've got it all wrong. I'd hire Crabbe and Goyle, have them knock whoever out, then I'd administer the potion, and throw them down into the Chamber of Secrets."
Crabbe and Goyle weren't around, but McLaggen was, and this time, Blaise had a target.
"I think," he began, catching McLaggen's rabid gaze. "I'm going to go take care of someone, if you'd like to help."
McLaggen gladly agreed, and the two charged into the Great Hall, eyes set on a certain Tomoda Katsushi.
