VIII
Stormhaven Castle, Present Day
Midnight, (May 1999)
Hermione studied the handsome Italian wizard, looking to see if he had been joking, "The beasts slave..." she said slowly.
"It's not an easy task, it means you have to agree to a blood oath. To bind yourself to Draco, your powerful magic and your past with Draco already make you attractive to It but giving it what It craves will not be easy. It desires the strength your magic gives It, even if the effects last a short time. Since the Dark Magic and necromancy that Draco has to perform for the Dark Lord as the tithe for his freedom and isolation take a great deal of the Shroud's magical strength, leaving it weak... unable to control the share of Draco's soul that It considers Its own."
"Why won't it be easy?" she whispered, drawing the comforter up to her chin as if to ward off a chill.
"You have to understand..." Blaise sighed, "When I managed to get Draco out of the dungeon at Hogwarts, he was barely alive and barely human, the only reason he survived was sheer tenacity and Theo's expectational genius. Those runes you saw yesterday on his body keep the other beast in check, but the Shroud is both powerful and intelligent, to think Snape managed to steal Its magical essence and weaponize it makes It even angrier, It will do anything It can to gain control of a living host. That isn't a condemnation... it is simply the nature of the beast."
"The Shroud." She frowned, "Refresh my memory, I was always terrible at care of magical creatures."
"The Lethifold." He rattled off as if he had learned everything, he could have about it, "is a creature found in tropical climes, closely related to the Dementors they are classified as magical beasts despite their human like intelligence. They are dark creatures by nature and have exceptional control over all elements of dark magic... necromancy, demonology even animism." He gave her a little grin as if embarrassed by how much he knew.
Hermione's head was spinning wildly, be his slave? Have that thing feed on her magic? Again, and again?
"So, you've brought me here to be a human sacrifice." She said bitterly, "To become the scapegoat of these things ... that are now indelibly bound to him."
"You won't die." He said firmly, his dark eyes blazing with conviction, "I wouldn't let you and nor would Draco, despite what you think he's still in there. A bit broken and disillusioned but there, nonetheless. Besides, other than you and me he has no one. His parents agreed to this, you understand. They were so disgusted that their son... their only son would defy them for you that they allowed this to happen to him."
Hermione closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, her brain still trying to process what Blaise was telling her.
"You owe it to him." said Blaise, quietly. firmly. "You owe him the same loyalty he showed you when you asked him to take a chance on you and he agreed. He could've lied to you Granger, he could have led you along... gone back to the Dark Lord's side. It would have been easy for him, he wouldn't be in this state, but his conviction carried him through it and now it's trying to survive. You owe it to him to try... even if you fail... to try and get his humanity back. He is changing and every day the creatures within him quail and scream for freedom and everyday his human half fights them back but the human is getting tired and he's losing hope and once that happens it's only a matter of time before he becomes exactly what they wanted him to when they gave him this potion... a mindless beast in a human body."
Hermione jumped out of the bed and began pacing, "And what happens if I say no? What if you're asking too much, it's not like I'm alone in this, Zabini. You forget I made another promise." She walked over to Teddy's crib where the child was awake, studying the mobile above his head. His plump arms waving their soft baby fists trying to catch the moving toy, she ran a gentle hand over his downy brown hair.
"The child won't be harmed, no matter what you think of us we only beat our children on Sunday's." he said with a grin, letting her know he was joking.
Hermione was so weary, "It's been so long." She whispered, "I've only thought about him to curse him in my mind for the past two years Zabini... what, what if I don't love him anymore? What if the sacrifice you're asking me to make is too big? The price too high? The cost too devasting to me? I have given everything. Everything. To the cause. I would have died to make sure Voldemort never won but we failed, I've lived in fear and pain since then and now you're asking me to do it again except this time we don't even know if my pain if worth anything? Can do anything."
"If there's anyone who can help him overcome this, its you. You're scared and rightly so... it's a battle for Draco's soul. If you think his soul isn't worth saving, I'll leave you alone, I won't bother you again and you can remain in Stormhaven castle for as long as you'd like. Under my protection."
"Why would you offer me that?" she whispered, looking away as if ashamed at her cowardice.
"Granger." He replied with a gentle smile, "You changed Draco and that will forever be something he is thankful for, it is my duty as his sworn brother to protect and respect your wishes above all else. He will always love you, even though these creatures inside him would have you believe otherwise."
"Why do you care Zabini, would've been easier to let him die." She said, her voice quavering on the last word.
"Unbreakable vow." He said with a casual shrug, "And a personal promise dorsum vestrum semper habetis."
"Always have your back." She translated quietly, studying the enigmatic man before her... realizing that she really didn't know any of the depths that made up Blaise Zabini.
His friendship with Draco was the purest form of brotherhood she had ever seen, an unalienable bond built on, she imagined mutual respect and love. Her throat was suddenly scratchy and her eyes misty as she remembered Harry and Ron and for a second Zabini blurred in front of her eyes and it was Harry.
"We stick to our convictions because they're right and just, not just when we get rewarded for them otherwise what's the difference between us and Him."
"I'll do it Zabini, for the sake of his soul. For the sake of our future."
But in her heart a bud of fear was taking root, whispering into her ear how it could all go very wrong.
...
A/N- Apologies for the short chapter its more of a filler anyway, but I felt like these two needed to have a moment. The reason I wrote this so short and uploaded it is because I wanted to start the next chapter with a Voldemort scence and it just didn't feel right to leave the last chapter on that note.
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